"Ten."
As Shen Siyi finished saying it, he swiftly withdrew his hand.
"All right, we're done. Thank you, Nianxing."
Shen Siyi spoke with a smile.
The more Song Nianxing listened, the more embarrassed he became. "Th-this is it? Um... did we not do it very well? How about I cooperate with you and we do it again, Senior?"
"Hm? Why do you say that?" Shen Siyi raised his eyebrows, feigning surprise as he asked.
Song Nianxing instantly wilted and lowered his head. "I just thought... that wasn't good, just now. I touched your face, Senior, and you were so cooperative, but when it was my turn to cooperate, I..."
Shen Siyi narrowed his eyes slightly, and an involuntary smile curled his lips, but then he sighed. "I know you don't want contact with me, Nianxing. It's my fault. It's all right."
"That's not it!" Song Nianxing hurriedly raised his head to protest. "It's not your fault. It's me... I can't be normal about getting too close to people. Sorry..."
His voice grew quieter and quieter. The head he had finally managed to raise for a moment dropped again, sinking lower and lower.
He had been pretty since childhood, with a slight build, so people often wanted to... bully him.
Over time, he had developed an instinctive resistance to close contact with people.
Looking at him like this, Shen Siyi knew it was time.
Sometimes, a hunter needed to disguise himself as pitiful prey, retreating to advance~
So he raised his hand and lightly brushed the tip of Song Nianxing's nose, maintaining his usual gentle smile. "I understand. You don't really like contact with people, right, Nianxing? But you're also worried that dodging me just now was unfair to me, aren't you?"
Listening to him, Song Nianxing raised his head again in astonishment.
Shen Siyi understood him again!
He nodded emphatically, tears involuntarily shimmering in his eyes.
"Yes. I'm really sorry, Senior Shen."
Shen Siyi smiled gently and shook his head. "No need to apologize. If you really want to make it up to me, hmm... didn't you say today that you'd try sleeping with the plush toy I gave you tonight? How about changing that to sleeping with it every night from now on?"
Song Nianxing blinked in bewilderment. "That's all?" he said, then immediately nodded emphatically again. "Okay! I'll definitely sleep with it every night!"
Shen Siyi smiled in satisfaction. "It's a promise, then. If you don't sleep with it, there'll be a punishment~"
[There'll be a punishment~ This guy Shen Siyi makes it sound like he'll know whether Song Nianxing actually sleeps with it. I'm dying.]
[Does sleeping with the plush toy I gave you count as sleeping with me? Aaaaaah, is Shen Siyi really nursing a secret crush with that face of his?]
[I was going to trash the people shipping "Gleaming Starlight," but the more I watch, the more real it looks. Shen Siyi's the one with all the genuine feelings, while Song Nianxing is backing away. I've genuinely got nothing left.]
[Wait, is this really live and not edited footage? Shen Siyi really likes Song Nianxing? Is he blind?]
[Exactly. A pretty face who's only decent at crying scenes. I really don't get what he likes about him. He isn't worth one of my Lulu's toes. If you ask me, Shen Siyi should like my Lulu instead. I want to see him and Jiang Jingzhe clash over him.]
[Exactly, exactly! Why won't they give us "Broken Dew" shippers any footage? Does anyone understand how adorable it is that the two of them hid in the corner of the stairs and even took off their mics to whisper to each other? So sweet!]
In the corner of the staircase, Jiang Jingzhe watched Song Nianxing and Shen Siyi standing extremely close downstairs, his hand on the railing looking as though it might dig into it.
Qiu Bailu happened to be coming downstairs as well. Following his gaze with a glance, he immediately gave a smile of barely concealed smugness. "How many times have I reminded you today to watch your expressions? Sigh, if you really care about Song Nianxing, why not give up on our pairing and get along with him properly?"
Jiang Jingzhe turned his head to glance at him, his lips curling into a cold smile. "You want me to give it up? You think I don't know what you're thinking? The moment I back off, all our current fans and traffic will be yours. Dream on."
Unbothered, Qiu Bailu rested his hand on Jiang Jingzhe's shoulder and patted it, smiling without warmth. "How could you say that about me? I'm genuinely thinking of you too. If you really don't spend time with Song Nianxing soon, he might actually run off with Shen Siyi~"
Jiang Jingzhe raised his hand as well, covering the hand on his shoulder and gripping it hard. "You make it sound so nice, but you're just scheming to get Shen Siyi too. You want me to take Song Nianxing away so you can get close to Shen Siyi, right? Don't worry, you won't get a chance. Besides, Song Nianxing will never be able to leave me in this lifetime. Even if I don't like men, he's still mine."
Qiu Bailu furrowed his brows in pain and tried to withdraw his hand.
But Jiang Jingzhe refused to let him, instead pulling his hand down and taking it in his own, his smile a little crazed. "We haven't done the intimacy task yet, have we? Our pairing has to sell big."
Yes, it had to sell big!
Then he would have traffic and could become famous.
Once he was famous, he would have money, and people would listen when he spoke. Everything would get better, and then he could bring Song Nianxing back and keep living with him forever, just as they used to...
He now knew Song Nianxing liked men, and given how Song Nianxing couldn't leave him, Song Nianxing could only like him!
With that thought, he led Qiu Bailu by the hand into the living room, coming up to Song Nianxing and Shen Siyi.
Shen Siyi looked up at them first. "Doing the intimacy task?"
Song Nianxing looked up too, his gaze pausing on Jiang Jingzhe and Qiu Bailu's tightly clasped hands.
Noticing this, Jiang Jingzhe couldn't suppress the upward curl of his lips.
See? I knew it. I'm the one Song Nianxing cares about after all.
But the next second, Song Nianxing smiled and said, "You two are really lovely like this."
Just then, the PD's voice came over the speakers.
"All guests, please return to your rooms for the final segment of day one: sending your heart-fluttering messages."
As soon as the announcement ended, Song Nianxing and Shen Siyi stood up at the same time and headed upstairs together.
Watching Song Nianxing's retreating figure, Jiang Jingzhe's pupils abruptly contracted.
He said, lovely!!
Song Nianxing said he and Qiu Bailu were lovely like this?!
He wasn't jealous?!
He wasn't envious?!
I don't believe it! He must be deliberately pretending not to care. He must be!
The more Jiang Jingzhe thought about it, the harder he found it to control himself. His grip on Qiu Bailu's hand kept tightening, his knuckles turning white from the excessive force.
Qiu Bailu felt as though his wrist was about to be snapped by him, but with the cameras there, he couldn't lash out. He could only bite his lip hard and endure it, repeatedly signaling to Jiang Jingzhe with his eyes.
But Jiang Jingzhe seemed not to see him at all, only staring distractedly at the now-empty staircase.
Qiu Bailu instantly looked as though he had lost all will to live.
Seriously! Was there something wrong with Jiang Jingzhe?!
Ow, that hurt!
Before you continue