As it turned out, Pei Tingyun was the only one who couldn't sleep.
Xie Huan fell fast asleep less than a minute after lying down.
Listening to Xie Huan's breathing grow slow and steady,
Pei Tingyun felt annoyed in every possible way.
After everything Xie Huan had done, he'd left him too worked up to sleep, yet he himself was sleeping like a log!
Pei Tingyun rolled over indignantly.
Not only did Xie Huan not wake up, he held him even tighter.
He even mumbled unconsciously under his breath,
"Don't be scared, 'kay? Even if we really fall, I'll cushion you..."
Pei Tingyun's irritation suddenly vanished.
Faced with this big, silly dog who only wanted to protect him, he couldn't even bear to be angry.
Pei Tingyun gently patted the hand Xie Huan had around him.
This was the first time he had touched Xie Huan without wearing gloves.
Xie Huan's hand was rough, yet it felt very reassuring.
There was none of the discomfort he felt when touching other people.
Pei Tingyun's expression softened without his realizing it, and he whispered as though soothing a child, "I'm not scared. Go to sleep."
It was as if Xie Huan had heard him in his dreams.
He stopped mumbling and obediently went to sleep.
Xie Huan had strong bone structure and a rough personality, but asleep, he had a boyishness that wasn't usually there.
Watching Xie Huan's peaceful sleeping face, Pei Tingyun gradually relaxed.
Before long, he actually began to feel sleepy too.
Without realizing it, he fell asleep.
Early the next morning.
Pei Tingyun was startled awake.
For some reason, Pei Tingyun had slept particularly deeply.
He hadn't even heard the production staff knocking on their door.
Only when he heard the lock opening did he jolt awake in alarm.
He sat up and looked toward the door, his eyes filled with murderous intent. "Who's there?!"
Xie Huan woke at his shout.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw that his expression was off.
He immediately sat up and turned toward the door, placing himself in front of Pei Tingyun in a textbook protective stance.
Seeing the blond, blue-eyed chef from last night standing at the door,
Xie Huan frowned, his gaze sharpening too. "How'd you get in?!"
They had clearly locked the door last night!
The chef rattled off a string of English.
Xie Huan couldn't understand him and looked utterly blank.
But that was fine. He was a charlatan; he could divine things.
He closed his eyes, opened them, and knew what the blond guy had said.
Pei Tingyun had genuinely understood him.
The chef said that the production staff had knocked on their door earlier, but no one had answered. Worried something had happened, he had used the spare key to open the door and check that they were safe.
Though he had received a reasonable explanation, Pei Tingyun didn't let his guard down.
He made his expression as gentle as possible.
He replied in English, saying that he was fine.
The blond, blue-eyed chef then closed the door and left.
Before leaving, however, he gave the shirtless Xie Huan a long look, along with the fresh mosquito bites on his body and neck.
Xie Huan was baffled by the look.
Pei Tingyun followed the chef's earlier gaze and understood instantly.
Seriously!
Why did these mosquito bites look so much like hickeys?!
I clearly didn't do anything, but now it feels like even jumping into the Pacific Ocean couldn't wash my name clean!
Your Honorable Cluelessness!
I'm innocent!!!
But His Honorable Cluelessness didn't seem to hear his inward cries of innocence.
Because every minute after leaving the room, Pei Tingyun felt he was being subjected to strange looks from other people.
Everyone's gaze kept deliberately darting between him and the mosquito bites on Xie Huan.
Even the camera operator following them helpfully got close-ups of the mosquito bites.
The shipper fans in the livestream watched with complete satisfaction:
[It's only their third day on the island and they're already doing that stuff? This is so spicy!]
[I told you White Clouds and Black Soil were already dating!]
[Big bro is so chill about it. He actually came out in an old-man tank top without covering a single thing that needed covering!]
[Real couples should be open about it!]
What drove Pei Tingyun even closer to a breakdown was-
Everyone looked at them with an expression that said, "I get it."
Not a single person came over to ask about the marks on Xie Huan.
Which meant Pei Tingyun didn't even have a chance to clear his name!
At long last, Xie Huan himself said, "Man! Why are there so many mosquitoes? They're biting me to death!"
As he spoke, he scratched the mosquito bites on his body.
Pei Tingyun thought that since Xie Huan had made it so obvious, surely they understood what had happened now?
Tang Keni put on a look of realization. "Oh, mosquitoes! With so many mosquitoes around, how come they only bit you? I don't have a single bite."
Xie Huan missed the implication. He thought about it seriously, then slapped his thigh.
"Man! I got it! Must be 'cause I wasn't wearin' clothes when I was sleepin'."
The moment he finished, the shipper fans in the livestream went wild:
[Oh my god, are you allowed to say that?]
[No wonder they wouldn't show us what happened afterward yesterday. It couldn't be aired!]
[This is how unfiltered ordinary people are when they tell the truth on reality shows.]
Tang Keni was so shocked by Xie Huan's words that his pupils shook.
Yao Xuan also sucked in a sharp breath.
Only Gu Lin didn't think anything of it.
Because as far as he was concerned, Pei Tingyun couldn't possibly fall for a country bumpkin like Xie Huan. Their friendship was purely platonic.
Pei Tingyun pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed.
It's over. There's absolutely no explaining this now!
The production team provided breakfast that day.
In the director's words, it was to make up for the mistake of not getting them back to the villa last night.
Once again, Xie Huan demonstrated his outstanding ability to get straight to the point:
"Man! Got it! If we get you to make three mistakes a day from now on, we'll never have to worry about food!"
The Roaming Group members all chimed in, "That makes sense!"
The director: "..."
Hey, that's not how you work it out!
They ate breakfast at the Sunset Restaurant again.
To regain control of the show, the directing team had come up with another gimmick that day.
They had indeed provided breakfast, but to actually eat it, the members first had to complete the [I say, you eat] task.
The Roaming Group members thought the director was going to abuse his authority for personal revenge again by ordering them around as they ate.
But the rules the director announced had the Roaming Group members directing their own teammates to eat, in their assigned pairs.
One person would name a dish, and the other had to eat the correct one within five seconds.
The task lasted one minute. Successfully eating the correct dish five times counted as completing the task.
Members who completed the task could enjoy the rest of their breakfast freely.
If they failed, their breakfast would be taken away.
After hearing the rules, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as the director wasn't meddling, this task would be easy enough to complete.
However.
Looking at the first breakfast set placed in front of Tang Keni,
Pei Tingyun suddenly felt a sense of helplessness, wondering what on earth he had been expecting.
There was nothing wrong with the rules of this task, nor with the way they were supposed to complete it.
The problem was the labels stuck on the food containers!
There wasn't a single Chinese character on the labels. They were all in English!
And all the dishes were Western food!
That wasn't a problem for him.
But for Xie Huan, who couldn't read English, it was far too unfriendly!
Wait!
That's not right!