Once the card had been drawn, Manman's boyfriend smiled at Jiang Mingxi, who sat across from him.
"Please ask one guest here for a hug. If they refuse, the task counts as a failure. The hug must last one minute."
Jiang Mingxi screamed excitedly inside: Yes~~
Zhao Jiayuan had been furious just a moment ago, but now he looked over at him, brimming with the joy of gossip. "Do you even need to choose? Obviously, you'll pick a certain someone~~~"
The director chimed in at just the right moment. "If you fail, ten yuan will be deducted."
Jiang Mingxi took a deep breath, rose from his chair, pushed it aside, and walked toward Song Lan.
Song Lan stayed seated without moving, only turning his head to look at him.
Jiang Mingxi stood beside him, his gaze as scorching as it had been last night.
He looked at him, asking as he lightly rubbed his arm, "Teacher Song, may I have a hug?"
[My breath just caught. Whether my dead ship comes back to life depends on this!]
[Just let your dead heart stay dead. There's absolutely no way. This is Song Lan!]
[Yeah, the chances are slim. Jiang Mingxi is so blatantly riding his popularity. It's already generous of him not to turn on him outright, never mind letting him hug him...]
That bullet comment hadn't even finished drifting across the screen.
The next instant.
[Aaaaaaaaah!]
[Hehehehehehe!]
[Heeheeheeheehee!]
A screen-filling flood of bullet comments surged in like a massive attacking wave of zombies.
There was only one reason.
Song Lan had stood up.
The instant Song Lan rose, delight danced in Jiang Mingxi's eyes. As though afraid Song Lan would change his mind, he flung himself straight into his arms.
Zhao Jiayuan howled beside them.
He egged them on.
He shouted, "A hug! A hug means both people have to hold each other!"
Jiang Mingxi wrapped his arms around Song Lan's waist and looked at him, his voice carrying a teasing lilt. "Teacher Song~"
As if under a spell, Teacher Song.
Raised his arms and wrapped them around him.
Zhao Jiayuan bounced around like a monkey on drugs.
Another monkey followed beside him: his fan, Manman.
[Oh my god! My ship is alive again! I can ship this! I really can! I'm going all in!]
[Waaah, I'm going back to writing my ship content!]
[Sis, remember to send it to me!]
[Zhao Jiayuan and Manman are me right now. At one point, I thought I'd never live to see Song Lan in a ship with anyone. I always thought he'd become a monk!]
[Song Lan didn't just hug him. His arms look pretty tight around him, too.]
Song Lan couldn't be blamed for holding him tightly. Jiang Mingxi had burrowed into his arms, switched off his mic, and was being outrageously flirtatious in an extremely quiet voice, murmuring, "Teacher Song, just having you hug me seems to have gotten me hard."
Song Lan felt a rush of blood shoot straight to his head.
He didn't know whether it was anger.
Or something else.
His whole body tingled.
His arms abruptly tightened around Jiang Mingxi.
Idiot!
How could he dare say anything and everything!
Then why hadn't he leaned against him even once on the way up the mountain!
He'd untied that ribbon so quickly.
Jiang Mingxi rubbed lightly against him in his arms.
A whole crowd stood watching right beside them, and the livestream was still running...
Song Lan couldn't withstand the thrill of it. Through gritted teeth, he said, "Don't move."
Jiang Mingxi tilted his head up a little, his gaze sly as he winked at him and whispered, "Teacher Song, you..."
"Shut up!" Song Lan's temples throbbed.
He couldn't handle this infuriating little menace.
Fortunately.
The minute was soon up.
Otherwise...
Song Lan practically heaved a sigh of relief. He pushed Jiang Mingxi away a little and, afraid of losing his composure, turned and sat down.
[??? You pushed him away right after hugging him? I sentence you to life without a wife!]
[Wait, Song Lan, why did you sit down so fast? Could it be... hehehe~~~]
[Could it be what? What? What!]
[He got hard, obviously. What else!]
[Aha~ Really? If you don't explain, I'm going to start spreading rumors!]
[Off to draw fanart of the real people! That hugging pose just now, plus three thousand words from me!]
[Can shippers stay in their own lane? Fantasizing like this is honestly so obnoxious and rude! Song Lan just didn't want Jiang Mingxi to lose ten yuan. They're on the same team right now, after all. I seriously can't with you people. Is your head full of nothing but filth?!]
[You've got math, physics, and chemistry in yours. Good for you. Mine's full of filth. Mind your business! Send me those three thousand words!!!!!]
Jiang Mingxi stumbled half a step backward, watching Song Lan with a gaze like a hook.
He'd been acting naughty in Song Lan's arms, but that was all.
He had only been teasing Song Lan.
He hadn't actually gotten that way.
But Song Lan had!
They'd been pressed so tightly together that he'd felt it!
Hehehe~
Was he going to become a complete man tonight?
Go from . to o!
He couldn't wait, couldn't wait!
After sitting back down, Song Lan didn't look at Jiang Mingxi again. Jiang Mingxi returned to his seat, delighted.
Like an idiot, Zhao Jiayuan looked at Song Lan, then Jiang Mingxi, then Jiang Mingxi, then Song Lan. Unable to help himself, he turned to gossip with Chen Chong. "I think they've got a chance!"
Chen Chong gave him a cool look. "You think everyone's got a chance!"
His icy tone immediately enraged Zhao Jiayuan. "Are you asking for a fight?!"
The staff beside them: ...
For the love of god!
No!
Absolutely not!
Terrified that the two would start fighting again, the director hurried to cue the next step while holding the pig's head. "It's Jiang Mingxi's turn to draw!"
Jiang Mingxi had just copped a feel of Song Lan and was still basking in it.
Grinning, he drew a card from the pile, then looked at Manman's boyfriend. "Please choose someone beside you and kiss them for one minute!"
Zhao Jiayuan immediately said, "You're not allowed to pick me!"
[???]
[Excuse me?!]
[Is there seriously something wrong with you?! Fuck! He has a girlfriend. Why the hell would he pick you?!]
[You embarrassing little shit, shut up! No talking!]
Zhao Jiayuan's fans immediately started roasting him.
The trolls and haters didn't even get a chance to speak.
After saying it, even Zhao Jiayuan thought something was wrong with him, and he stuck out his tongue.
Chen Chong had already been looking at him with disgust.
Seeing him stick out his tongue, he looked away with even greater disgust.
Manman's boyfriend turned to look at her. "Then shall I kiss you?"
Manman jumped up, wrapped her arms around his neck, and planted a smacking kiss on him.
The couple kissed, sweet and loving.
Jiang Mingxi watched with burning eyes.
Waaah~
He wanted a kiss, too.
His lips had only touched Song Lan's lips. He hadn't used his tongue yet!
Waaah~
He wanted to use it.
He wondered what it would be like.
Would Song Lan actively cooperate? Or would he be moving his tongue while Song Lan stayed still?
Would Song Lan hold him, then?
Would he let him sit on his lap while they kissed?
If he sat on him, would he still be like he'd been just now...
Jiang Mingxi pondered and pondered. By the time he came back to his senses, he was already looking at Song Lan.
He didn't even know how long he'd been staring.
Much less how heated his gaze was, how intense the look in his eyes.
Song Lan met his eyes for a brief moment, then looked away.
He couldn't look.
He'd only just managed to recover.
But he wanted to cover Jiang Mingxi's eyes, to keep anyone else from seeing the shimmering desire in them.