With the match between Big Bro and Second Dog off the table, everyone joined in the task the director announced.
Mostly because this task required neither physical effort nor brainpower. It was just too easy.
Otherwise, they would have had to haggle with the director a bit.
The five of them sat down on the couch, each with a pen and a whiteboard.
The director posed the question: "What is Pei Tingyun most afraid of?"
All five wrote down their answers-
Yao Xuan: dirt.
Tang Keni: bugs.
Gu Lin: the cold.
Xie Huan: touching anyone other than me.
And Pei Tingyun himself wrote: awkwardness.
All five turned their whiteboards around at once.
The livestream viewers instantly burst out laughing:
[Okay, okay, so the whole point of this chemistry challenge is having no chemistry?]
[Five people, five answers. Incredible.]
[Our Pei Bao really is afraid of a lot of things, but what the hell is that answer Xie Huan wrote?]
[Hahaha, is this the superiority that comes with being his partner?]
Pei Tingyun turned to look at everyone else's answers, and his world came crashing down.
The others hadn't matched his answer, but theirs were all normal.
What on earth was Xie Huan playing at?!
Pei Tingyun did indeed have no trouble with physical contact only when it came to Xie Huan.
But seeing Xie Huan write it out like that felt wrong no matter how he looked at it.
Xie Huan was definitely slipping in his own agenda here!
Was he that afraid people wouldn't ship them?
As the saying went, one person's joy was another's sorrow.
The director was very pleased with Xie Huan's performance.
Exactly! Force-feed them that ship!
Since the Roaming Group had shown absolutely no chemistry on the first question, the challenge continued.
But before they started, Pei Tingyun raised an objection:
"Your question is too broad. It's hard to guess. Narrow it down, or we could spend all day on this one challenge."
Before the director could speak, Tang Keni jumped in:
"Little bro, how can you boost someone else's morale and undermine our own? Are we really a group with that little chemistry?"
Yao Xuan chimed in quietly, "I'm afraid so."
Tang Keni said, "...Then let's narrow it down."
The director was quite accommodating this time:
"Fine, I'll change the type of question. Which of the five of you likes eating eggs the most? One out of five. Simple enough, right?"
Simple it was, but the five of them still came up with three different answers.
The director posed another question: "Which of the five of you likes exercise the most?"
This time, four of them wrote Xie Huan.
Only Tang Keni wrote Gu Lin.
Yao Xuan looked incredulous. "Since when does Young Master like exercise?"
Tang Keni thought there was nothing wrong with his answer. "He walks the dog several times a day. How is that not liking exercise?"
Gu Lin said, "...Are you sure you're not a mole planted by the director?"
Pei Tingyun couldn't stand watching this anymore either.
He kept pointing at his own nose.
Xie Huan understood at a glance.
Pei Tingyun wanted them to write his name for the next question, no matter what it was.
Once the others caught on, they all gave him an OK sign.
Pei Tingyun finally let out a relieved breath.
The next second.
He sucked that freshly released breath right back in.
Because the director said, "Which of the five of you likes Xie Huan the most?"
Hearing the question, Pei Tingyun was so shocked that he froze.
Eight hundred symbols seemed to flash through his wide eyes in an instant.
The others, eager to stir up more drama, all wrote Pei Tingyun's name on their whiteboards.
Then every gaze swung straight toward Pei Tingyun himself.
At that moment.
Pei Tingyun gained a profound understanding of what it meant to shoot himself in the foot.
He should never have reminded them to write his name...
To avoid dragging things out any longer, Pei Tingyun had no choice but to stick to their agreement and steel himself to write one word on his whiteboard: me.
The shippers in the livestream went straight into celebration mode:
[You're too good at this, Director. I will support you forever!]
[He admitted it! He admitted he likes Xie Huan!]
[Oh my god! How is this any different from making it official?]
[Hahaha, Peipei has that helpless air of someone who dug his own hole and jumped into it.]
[Iconic moment unlocked: top star sets himself up.]
The chemistry challenge was finally a success.
As agreed, the Roaming Group received the snorkeling equipment the director had promised.
And they boarded the boat headed for the snorkeling area.
The task had been successfully completed.
Yet there wasn't the slightest joy of success on Pei Tingyun's face.
Seeing this, Xie Huan comforted him. "Aw, c'mon, it's fiiine. Ain't no shame in liking your bro!"
Pei Tingyun: "..."
Forget the Yellow River-even jumping into the Milky Way wouldn't clear his name now!
Once they reached the snorkeling area, the director still had a professional instructor give them some training before they started snorkeling.
Of the Roaming Group, only Gu Lin had tried this activity before.
Everyone else was very cautious after entering the water.
Even with professional safety staff beside them, Xie Huan held Pei Tingyun's hand the entire time and refused to let go.
He was afraid something might suddenly happen to Pei Tingyun and he wouldn't be able to act in time, so holding on throughout gave him more peace of mind.
But to Pei Tingyun, that gesture took on an entirely different meaning.
In the world he imagined, this was what Xie Huan was thinking-
You've already admitted you like me, y'hear? Don't even think about running!
And so Pei Tingyun was distracted throughout the snorkeling session.
He didn't remember a thing he saw underwater, only the feeling of Xie Huan gripping his hand tightly.
They ate lunch aboard the fishing boat chartered by the production team. It was all small seafood, freshly caught and freshly cooked-so fresh and delicious!
Everyone ate happily, except Pei Tingyun, who seemed rather unenthusiastic.
Xie Huan peeled shellfish and fed him one thing after another, but couldn't get so much as a smile out of Pei Tingyun.
Pei Tingyun was troubled.
This was only their third day on the island. He felt he couldn't let Xie Huan get him under his thumb just like this.
A J-type's feelings had to stay in his own hands!
That admission of affection earlier had only been forced out of him for the task. It didn't count!
Luckily, he had arranged for each of them to have their own boat during the afternoon sailing experience.
He could use the time apart from Xie Huan to calm down and think things through properly.
As the saying went, an outsider saw things more clearly.
In any case, until he fully understood exactly what he felt for Xie Huan, he absolutely could not let himself be led around by the nose again!
As it turned out.
Pei Tingyun did it!
He wasn't led around by the nose!
He was led around by the hand by Xie Huan!
Without gloves on, at that.
Here was how it happened-
After finishing lunch on the fishing boat, the Roaming Group prepared to head to the sailing experience venue Pei Tingyun had arranged.
As everyone lined up to disembark, Pei Tingyun walked behind Xie Huan and happened to see that the back of his neck had turned bright red from the sun.
Xie Huan had dark skin, so redness didn't usually show. For it to be that visibly red meant the sunburn was already fairly serious.
Xie Huan didn't even use face cream in his daily life, let alone sunscreen.
For some reason, the sight made Pei Tingyun's heart ache. As soon as they reached shore, he took out the sunscreen he always carried and handed it to Xie Huan, telling him to put some on.
Xie Huan had never used the stuff in his entire life.
But...