"Then let's break up."
Looking at the man sitting across from him, droning on with explanations, Chi Li abruptly spoke.
"...What do you mean?" As though someone had thrown cold water on him just as he was getting excited, Zhou Yang's expression instantly soured. "Chi Li, was all that patient explaining for nothing? Does seeing me do well really bother you that much?"
"I can't accept my boyfriend selling BL with someone else. If you're not my boyfriend, you're free to do whatever you want." Under the table, Chi Li dug his right hand into his thigh, the pain keeping him rational for the moment. "Let's break up. I won't stop you from pursuing a bright future."
"It's fucking fake. Fake!" Zhou Yang rapped his knuckles hard against the table several times. "It's like actors filming a show. It's fake! Can't you try to understand me?"
"You're the one who said you despised selling BL more than anything."
Chi Li didn't understand, nor did he want to.
He could accept people overturning their old views, but not in less than three months.
"That was before..." Suddenly looking guilty, Zhou Yang raised a hand to rub the tip of his nose. "I did despise it before... but who knew filling in at the Raising House would get me a hundred thousand new followers?"
Chi Li said nothing.
His gaze was still, like a frozen lake.
He simply watched, showing no emotion, yet seeming to say everything through his eyes.
Under that gaze, Zhou Yang grew less and less confident.
"Come on, wasn't I doing it for us? Once I make money, I'll buy you luxury goods, rent you a big place... besides, I promise I won't deliberately sell it, okay?"
"Now the whole internet is expecting you to 'come between' the 'Jinshui CP' and give them the messy showdown they love, and you're telling me you won't deliberately sell it?" Chi Li scoffed. "Who'd believe that? The production team has probably already written your script, haven't they?"
Zhou Yang sounded puzzled. "Isn't it enough if you believe me?"
Chi Li was speechless. "Do I look like an idiot?"
"Why can't I get through to you..."
"Let's break up." Chi Li didn't want to hear any more nonsense. It was giving him a headache.
"Fuck, you're taking this so seriously..."
"Let's break up."
"..." Zhou Yang took a deep breath, as though making some kind of decision. "If we break up, there's no chance of us ever getting back together. I don't go back to my exes. Don't regret it."
Chi Li looked steadily at him. "I absolutely won't."
The word regret wasn't in his vocabulary.
"Fine, but I have one condition."
"Say it."
If it wasn't too difficult, Chi Li was willing to oblige, to give this undignified breakup a little dignity.
Zhou Yang said, "Have breakup sex with me."
"..."
Splash-
After a brief silence, Chi Li grabbed the coffee beside him and flung it squarely into Zhou Yang's face.
"Fuck you and your whole damn family. Get lost."
After leaving the café, Chi Li returned to the company and practiced dancing for nearly an hour before his anger settled.
Panting as he leaned against the wall, he pulled his phone from his pocket.
Seeing the intimate pose he and Zhou Yang struck in his lock-screen wallpaper made his newly calmed heart flare with anger again.
He had known Zhou Yang for a year and dated him for three months. They had practiced together late into the night, shared a cup of instant noodles, and lain on the lawn outside the dormitory, looking at the sky and talking about their dreams, imagining a future glittering with starlight.
In Chi Li's eyes, Zhou Yang had been mature, dependable, and clear about his plans for the future, someone he could rely on.
But he hadn't expected that the man was merely good at pretending, that he was already rotten inside.
Before that shameless request, Chi Li had attributed their breakup solely to his own "emotional cleanliness obsession."
He had thought Zhou Yang wanted him to stay because he couldn't bear to lose him. He hadn't expected that Zhou Yang was simply unwilling to let go because he hadn't gotten him into bed yet.
Expressionless, Chi Li deleted every photo of himself with Zhou Yang from his phone, and a new message notification popped up at the top of the screen.
He tapped it.
The message was a video from Gu Nan.
"Brother Yang, I watched that video of you at the Raising House again today. It's almost at a million likes. Impressive!"
"Whatever else, you really do look good with the Raising House's star attraction. Loads of comments say you have way more chemistry with him than his current 'official partner.'"
"I heard you're heading over there in the next couple of days, right?"
"I've got a feeling Brother Yang's about to 'ascend' this time."
"The Raising House hasn't had a clip pull this much traffic in ages. As long as they've got working brains, they'll bring our Brother Yang over to save the day. Heh."
"If you can't replace Fang Jin, you can always join them and make it a love triangle~"
"Buddy, once you're famous, remember to give your brother here a hand. I'm counting on you."
"Don't say that, guys." Zhou Yang's voice finally appeared in the video. "I just got lucky and had one clip blow up. But Brother Li did tell me there's a very good chance they'll arrange for me to join the Raising House."
"A! Very! Good! Chance!"
"Then it's pretty much guaranteed. Just wait for your 'ascension'~"
"Why so modest, bro? Isn't tonight a celebration dinner?"
Zhou Yang said, "Ahem, nothing's official yet, so I wouldn't dare say that. Wouldn't dare. Haha, eat up and drink up, everyone. It's on me today."
"Brother Yang's so generous-"
"Brother Yang, take a picture with me later and give me your autograph? I'll be one of your longtime fans someday!"
The group crowded together noisily and downed a few drinks before Gu Nan suddenly asked, "Why isn't Chi Li here?"
The others chimed in. "Yeah, why isn't Chi Li here?"
"Isn't he always glued to you? Haha."
Zhou Yang finished his drink and smacked his lips. "Chi Li and I... had a falling-out."
Before anyone could ask, he continued, sounding deeply pained. "He doesn't want me going to the Raising House. He's afraid the gap between us will keep growing. He's... really jealous of me. Heh, some people are just destined to share your hardships but not your success."
The video ended there, Zhou Yang's hypocritical face frozen on the screen.
A sudden, inexplicable wave of nausea rose.
Chi Li clutched his chest and dry-heaved several times.
He gulped down a couple of mouthfuls of water, suppressed his nausea, and closed the video.
Gu Nan: When I came in and didn't see you, I figured you two might've had a fight.
Gu Nan: I thought he was drowning his sorrows. Turns out he was celebrating his ascension.
Gu Nan: And badmouthing you, too...
Gu Nan: What's going on with you two?
Chi Li didn't hide it: We broke up.
Gu Nan was Chi Li's younger cousin, and the only person at the company who knew he and Zhou Yang were dating.
Of course, they had kept their relationship as cousins secret too. Otherwise, Zhou Yang would never have invited Gu Nan.
Gu Nan: I told you he was no good!
Gu Nan: Fuck, he's badmouthing you again.
Gu Nan: I want to beat him up.
Chi Li: No need.
Chi Li: Don't dirty your hands.
Chi Li: The company has high hopes for him right now. You'll get punished if you touch him.
Gu Nan: ...
Gu Nan: This is so fucking frustrating.
Chi Li chuckled and typed with certainty: Don't worry. His good days won't last much longer.
Two days later, Zhou Yang officially moved into the Raising House.