The atmosphere at the venue was stiff and cold, but the livestream audience was watching with fervent excitement.
[What? I only switched over to Yu Xinyan and Yuan Man's separate livestream for a second. How did Shen Siyi and Song Nianxing end up hugging over here?]
[No idea. They aren't wearing mics, so I can't hear what they're saying, but Song Nianxing looks like he cried?]
[Yeah, I remember he seemed off after looking at his phone. Did the comments online make him cry?]
[Very possible, but I think Jiang Jingzhe should be the one crying right now, shouldn't he? What a huge third wheel, hahahaha. What did you come running back for, man?]
[Oh, right. Why didn't Jiang Jingzhe wait to come back with Qiu Bailu? Why did he run back alone? That's so weird. Did they fight when the cameras weren't on them? No way. After Taro Balls broke up, do we have to panic over Broken Dew too?]
[?? What do you mean Taro Balls broke up? We haven't broken up, thank you.]
[Diamonds aren't the hardest thing in the world anymore. It's the mouths of Taro Balls shippers. Those two haven't exchanged a single word in their separate livestream, and Yu Xinyan's face is cold enough to freeze someone to death. How is that not a breakup?]
As the comments rolled on, in the separate livestream, Yu Xinyan watched Yuan Man finish laughing and chatting with the leader of another boy band, then go off to chat with their visual member. He immediately ran his tongue over his teeth in displeasure.
The next second, seeing Yuan Man reach toward that guy's face, Yu Xinyan could no longer stay seated. He stood and strode over, catching Yuan Man's hand to stop him. "Why are you just touching someone's face like that? You have no manners at all."
As he spoke, his tone carried a sourness he hadn't even noticed himself.
Yuan Man looked at his hand, which Yu Xinyan was holding, a little dazed.
But the other group's visual member smiled and said, "It's fine. I gave him permission to touch it."
Yu Xinyan immediately shot him a glare. "How is it fine! And you, how could you just let someone touch you like that! That's so improper!"
The boy pointed at himself in utter confusion. "Huh? I..."
He was about to explain, but Yu Xinyan interrupted him with another click of his tongue, then looked at his group's leader beside him. "Keep your members in line. You're acting like this with the cameras rolling!"
"No, that's not it!" The leader also tried to explain.
But Yu Xinyan wouldn't listen at all and simply dragged Yuan Man away.
Only after walking some distance did Yu Xinyan stop. His brows drew together slightly as he grumbled in displeasure, "Getting handsy with other people while the cameras are still on. Aren't you worried it'll look bad? Being on the same team as you, I'm worried you'll embarrass me."
Looking at the hand holding his wrist, Yuan Man raised his eyebrows, unable to hide his delight. "You call that getting handsy? Then what about this..."
He gestured toward his hand with his eyes. Yu Xinyan followed his gaze, then abruptly pulled his hand back.
"I... I was stopping you from doing something bad, okay?"
"Something bad? We were just talking about skincare products. He asked me to pinch his face to check his skin condition. I was thinking that if they really worked well, I could get you a set."
Yuan Man paused, then chuckled and stepped closer to Yu Xinyan. "Yu Xinyan, you seem a little off~ I remember I used to do this with other people pretty often, didn't I? You never came over to stop me from doing something bad back then~"
Yu Xinyan's legs moved backward uncontrollably, and he blinked several times with a guilty look in his eyes.
Everything Yuan Man had done before surfaced before his eyes like a film rewinding.
Right, Yuan Man had seemed to go around chatting and laughing with people before too, like a butterfly flitting from flower to flower, sniffing at this blossom one moment and touching that blade of grass the next.
But back then, he could hear Yuan Man's inner voice. He knew that whenever Yuan Man got close to someone, he was either asking what brand their perfume was or what shade their lipstick was.
Besides, every time Yuan Man finished asking someone, he would mutter things to himself like, This smells pretty good, but I guarantee it doesn't smell as nice as Yu Xinyan, or Hmm, Yu Xinyan's lips look this good even without lipstick. I want to kiss him, or This accessory looks nice. It would definitely look even better on Yu Xinyan...
So he had never thought of stopping him. Instead, he had even felt a little smug every time.
But now he couldn't hear Yuan Man's inner voice. He could no longer be certain what Yuan Man was thinking, and could only endlessly guess whether Yuan Man thought someone else's skin was better than his. Or that someone else was better-looking than him? Smelled nicer than him? Or wasn't thinking about him at all?
His guesses led nowhere, and the anxiety in his heart kept mounting. When he looked at Yuan Man again, Yuan Man was smiling at someone else, touching someone else. Those scenes had become the only things he could now see and know.
He had thought he wouldn't care about Yuan Man's inner voice disappearing, but now that clearly wasn't the case.
He cared. He cared a great deal.
But why was that?
Could it be that he liked Yuan Man?!
Startled by that thought, Yu Xinyan abruptly came back to his senses. Looking at Yuan Man gazing at him with bright, clear eyes, he felt as though that gaze had scorched his heart. Not daring to look a moment longer, he quickly averted his eyes.
Probably not.
Yes, right. He must have been spending too much time lately with Shen Siyi, Song Nianxing, Jiang Jingzhe, and Qiu Bailu, so they had influenced him too.
Right, that had to be it!
(There's no way I like men, much less Yuan Man. Absolutely impossible!)
The instant a voice reached his ears, Yuan Man's gaze at Yu Xinyan grew much more bewildered.
Yu Xinyan clearly hadn't opened his mouth just now, so why had he heard Yu Xinyan's voice?
Then he saw Yu Xinyan open his mouth to answer what he had said earlier. "There's nothing off about me. I already told you, I was worried you'd embarrass the team. We weren't livestreaming before, but it's different now. Besides, who asked you to buy me skincare products? Keep them for yourself."
(Ridiculous. My skin is so soft you could squeeze water out of it. Do I need that stuff? You're such an idiot, Yuan Man.)
After speaking, Yu Xinyan turned and walked toward the door.
And Yuan Man became certain of one thing: what he had just heard was Yu Xinyan's inner voice!
It sounded like Yu Xinyan... really hated him.
At that thought, Yuan Man lowered his head dejectedly.
The comments immediately filled with heartbreak too.
[Forget it. What Taro Balls? They've really broken up now. And here I thought Yu Xinyan stopped Yuan Man because he was jealous, sob sob sob.]
[I thought so too, but now it really seems like Yuan Man is the only one suffering through an unrequited crush. That little expression as he lowers his head hurts my heart so much.]
[What if Yu Xinyan is just a bit of a tsundere? Based on my years of shipping experience, he's just putting on too much of an act. Or maybe he hasn't accepted that he likes men yet.]
[Hahahaha, forget Taro Balls already. Chen Mingyi is making me die laughing.]
Before you continue