Bro, talk all you want, but why are you pressing up against him?!
Was this okay?
To Xie Huan, a straight-as-steel man built like a black iron tower, there was absolutely nothing wrong with this move.
But in the eyes of head shipper Tang Keni, this was the classic lovers' back hug in the kitchen!
It couldn't have been more suggestive!
Our chief fan Tang was having the time of his life shipping them.
But the director suddenly picked up his megaphone and ruined the mood with a shout:
"Xie Huan broke the rules!"
His sugar fix interrupted.
Tang Keni inwardly rolled his eyes furiously, full of resentment-
As a director, how could you be this bad at reading the room?
No wonder you've spent all these years in variety shows without a single dating show hiring you to direct!
Serves you right!
Xie Huan was equally unhappy at having his casting interrupted.
He glanced over with those wolfish eyes of his, which looked a little sharp when he wasn't smiling.
Then he lifted his and Pei Tingyun's four hands slightly, still pressed tightly together, to prove his innocence.
His tone was righteous and innocent:
"I ain't touched the potato, and I ain't touched the knife, so how'd I break the rules? What? I can't even touch a person now?"
Pei Tingyun, who had still been reeling in surprise a moment earlier, instinctively spoke up in his defense:
"I'm holding the potato, and I'm holding the knife. He's just standing against me. What are you going on about breaking the rules for?"
The livestream comments instantly joined the fight:
[Exactly! Qiu Ya's the one getting married, so what are you singing and dancing for?!]
[Redefining "standing against."]
[Hahaha, I'm dead. Big Bro's already rubbed off on Pei Tingyun. Now he's saying "going on about" too.]
[Just wait. By the end of filming, we're definitely going to have six of them saying it!]
The director was just about to argue.
But then he saw the assistant director beside him frantically signaling with his eyes.
At the assistant director's prompting.
The director saw the skyrocketing comments.
Then he muted himself.
Because...
He realized it wasn't just the comments that were skyrocketing.
The popularity was, too.
And the people driving those soaring numbers.
Were actually Pei Tingyun and Xie Huan's CP fans!
The director suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
He felt as though he had discovered the secret to traffic.
His gaze shifted back and forth between Pei Tingyun and Xie Huan.
Not sure yet. Better keep watching.
Without the director interfering.
Xie Huan continued guiding Pei Tingyun's hands, showing Yao Xuan what "running" meant.
The hands-on demonstration was complete.
Now Yao Xuan finally understood.
He had intended to take the knife and potato right away and get to work.
But the two pressed together showed no intention of separating.
Yao Xuan suddenly developed a little awareness of being a third wheel:
"How about... you two do the running?" And I leave?
Even though he never actually said "And I leave?"
Everyone heard the implication.
Pei Tingyun's secondhand embarrassment flared up again.
He hurriedly shook Xie Huan off and handed the knife and potato to Yao Xuan.
He himself looked as though nothing had happened.
He grabbed a handful of scallions to chop, feigning composure.
But before he could make the first cut, Xie Huan stopped him.
Xie Huan caught Pei Tingyun's wrist with effortless familiarity, looking baffled. "Whoa there, whatcha doing?"
Pei Tingyun took a deep breath and turned to meet his eyes.
Even though he was already so embarrassed inside that his toes could practically dig out a three-bedroom apartment, he couldn't lose in presence:
"What else? Chopping scallions, obviously."
The expression on Xie Huan's face suddenly became a little hard to describe:
"Those are garlic chives you're holding."
As his words fell.
The livestream comments filled the screen with [Hahaha].
Tang Keni and Yao Xuan couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
Gu Lin, however, didn't laugh.
Because he couldn't identify garlic chives either.
He wasn't quite sure whether Xie Huan was telling the truth or pulling their legs.
Pei Tingyun, who had earned the title of kitchen killer on his very first attempt at cooking, couldn't tell the difference between garlic chives and scallions at all.
But to maintain his perfect image as a cool, aloof top star.
Pei Tingyun could only declare confidently despite having no grounds to stand on, "Then we'll make scrambled eggs with garlic chives too."
He thought he had finally saved his top-star image.
Little did he know that one more sentence from Xie Huan would break his defenses again.
Xie Huan said, "Don't you not eat garlic chives?"
At that, Pei Tingyun's brows drew together slightly.
Ever since his debut, he had been plagued by sasaeng fans.
He had even suffered some particularly serious harm because of them.
So he almost never revealed his likes and dislikes publicly.
Precisely because he feared people with ulterior motives might exploit them.
And very few people knew that he didn't eat garlic chives in the first place.
Xie Huan had only known him for a day.
He shouldn't have known.
And putting that together with everything Xie Huan had said and done before...
Xie Huan seemed to know far too much about him.
Something was off!
Something was seriously off!
Pei Tingyun couldn't help growing somewhat wary.
His voice unconsciously lowered a little too:
"How do you know I don't eat garlic chives?"
Xie Huan keenly sensed that something was wrong with Pei Tingyun's mood.
He blinked innocently.
Then he looked in confusion at the three clustered to one side, watching the show:
"What, you guys didn't know about this?"
Yao Xuan and Tang Keni shook their heads in unison like rattle drums. "No!"
Gu Lin had often styled Pei Tingyun in the past.
He had happened to see Pei Tingyun picking all the garlic chives out of his meal box while eating.
So he could probably count as knowing that Pei Tingyun didn't eat garlic chives.
But he had barely said "I" when Tang Keni covered his mouth.
Then.
Tang Keni became his unofficial spokesman. "He doesn't know either!"
Gu Lin didn't understand why Tang Keni was doing this.
His wide eyes were full of question marks.
Yao Xuan, however, understood instantly.
Whether they knew really didn't matter.
What mattered was why Xie Huan knew.
Yao Xuan had a feeling that if Pei Tingyun kept asking, dog food might make an appearance.
So they had better stop being third wheels here.
As Yao Xuan pushed Tang Keni and Gu Lin farther away, he said:
"Come on, come on, come on. Help me run these potatoes!"
Xie Huan scratched his head in confusion.
Not eating garlic chives since childhood hardly counted as a dark history...
How come none of them knew?
He instinctively looked at Pei Tingyun.
At that moment, Pei Tingyun was staring right at him.
There was no curiosity in his eyes.
He didn't look angry either.
Xie Huan couldn't read it, but he sensed Pei Tingyun's tension.
His instincts told him he couldn't bring this up again.
So he gave a vague laugh and fobbed him off:
"Oh, uh, I heard it from someone else. Did I get it mixed up? If you want some, we'll add scrambled eggs with garlic chives."
The livestream comments once again began flooding the screen like crazy:
[No wonder Big Bro didn't suggest scrambling eggs when he saw the garlic chives earlier. Turns out he thought the youngest didn't eat them.]
[He really did! I'm crying!]
[I was laughing at Pei Tingyun mistaking garlic chives for scallions, only to get dog food thrown all over my face...]
[Burp-this single dog is stuffed.]
Everyone thought this bit was so sweet and so shippable.
But Pei Tingyun felt a faint unease.
Because Xie Huan's explanation was far too vague.
So vague that he couldn't believe it.
Xie Huan did indeed treat him very well.
Knowing that he didn't eat garlic chives wasn't a big deal either.
But...