"Why do you say that?" Fang Jin instinctively looked toward the door.
"You want different things." Chi Li set the water aside, stood up, and walked over to one of the Skeleton Band posters. "...You're bound to go your separate ways."
He wasn't making that up. He genuinely thought so.
Gu Nan had once said that Fang Jin absolutely hated selling gay fanservice.
His participation in the show was, in a sense, an indirect route to his goal.
Only by gaining popularity here would people notice him, get to know him, and then... give his work a listen.
What he loved had always been music and the stage.
But Xie Weishui was different.
Compared with music and the stage, he enjoyed being the "center of the world" more.
Debuting as an idol was merely one of his backup routes to becoming the "center of the world."
Now that he had found an easier path at the Raising House, he naturally no longer cared about music or the stage.
Fang Jin knew this too.
But he didn't like spelling these things out on camera.
So he merely smiled. "Life is long. Only a handful of people can stay with you the whole way."
"Mm, you have a point too." Chi Li quietly gazed at the poster before him. "But doesn't one of the Skeleton Band's songs go like this? No matter how long or short the journey, don't force yourself. Walk with someone who's right for you, someone you like."
Fang Jin also looked at the poster on the wall. "But things never all go the way you want in life."
"I've noticed you're a pessimist." Chi Li shifted his gaze to Fang Jin. "Have you already gotten used to compromising, Fang Jin?"
Fang Jin stared back at Chi Li, stunned.
He wanted to deny it, but his throat felt stuffed with cotton, and he couldn't make a sound.
What he had kept avoiding admitting had finally been laid bare before him by Chi Li, this... this rude bastard.
Knock, knock, knock-
A knock sounded at the door, though whether it meant salvation or doom was unclear.
Chi Li raised his eyebrows slightly and reminded Fang Jin, "Someone's here for you."
Fang Jin drew a small breath, turned, walked to the door, and pulled it open.
"Fang Jin." Xie Weishui's slightly haughty voice came from outside. "Honestly, you... even if we're fighting, you can't just skip meals, can you? Here-"
Before he had quite finished, Chi Li had already sauntered over to the door.
He lazily greeted Xie Weishui. "Hello, Senior Xie."
Xie Weishui's expression froze, his eyes gradually darkening. "Why are you here?"
"Am I not allowed to be?" The corners of Chi Li's mouth curved in a half smile, as though asking, "What are you going to do about it?"
"Why is he here?" Xie Weishui switched to asking someone else.
Fang Jin took the meal box from Xie Weishui. "He came to chat with me."
"Chat." Xie Weishui nodded slightly, seeming a little jealous. Through gritted teeth, he said, "Are you done chatting now?"
The next scene didn't allow for a third person to be present.
"No," Chi Li answered first. He took hold of the doorknob and pulled inward, making as if to shut the door. "But you must be done delivering the food. Goodbye."
Like writing your scripts in advance?
Then what do you do when something changes and things can't follow the original script?
"Wait." Xie Weishui squeezed through the doorway and began directly shooing him out. "I have something to say to Fang Jin. Could you please step outside first?"
"I haven't finished what I have to say to him either." Chi Li looked utterly innocent. "Could you please not interrupt us?"
"Fang Jin-" Xie Weishui switched whom he was addressing again. "Tell him to leave."
Before Fang Jin could speak, Chi Li beat him to it again. "He's angry with you right now. Why would he listen to you and kick me out?"
Fang Jin: "..."
Indeed, not listening to Xie Weishui would be the more reasonable response.
But they had already agreed to act out a scene where he was reluctant but couldn't truly stay angry.
"Chi Li." Xie Weishui closed his eyes and took a deep breath to control his emotions. "Could I ask you not to cause trouble?"
"You've really misunderstood me." Chi Li looked hurt. "Actually... I knew you two had a fight, so I came to mediate."
Fang Jin: "..."
Xie Weishui found it ridiculous. "What?"
"All right, come in." Chi Li opened the door wider, welcoming him like the host. "Come in and tell us what you fought about."
[Chi Li, are you trying to drive Xie Weishui to his grave? Hahahaha!]
[Hey~ you really have no sense of boundaries.]
[Chi Li looks like a mediator on a relationship show... I'm dying.]
[Chi Li: no sugary little skits allowed in front of me.]
Fang Jin looked at Xie Weishui, then at Chi Li, and finally chose to say, "An outsider sees things more clearly. Maybe he'll have a clearer perspective on the problem than we do."
Xie Weishui: "..."
He had never expected Fang Jin to switch sides at this moment.
However unwilling he was, he could only enter the room.
"Go on." Chi Li sat up straight. "What did you fight about?"
Xie Weishui reluctantly began, "I was feeling pretty down yesterday, and Zhou Yang comforted me. He saw it. He thought I needed Zhou Yang more than him now, so he got angry."
"Is that right?" Chi Li sought confirmation from the other party.
Fang Jin nodded and added, "Three's a crowd in a friendship. I just told him to focus on Zhou Yang from now on and stop coming to me."
Nicely plotted.
Chi Li nodded to show he understood. "Looking at it that way, Zhou Yang really is a menace."
Getting under Xie Weishui's skin was just incidental. He hadn't forgotten that Zhou Yang was the one he most needed to deal with.
Xie Weishui hadn't expected him to turn the conversation toward insulting Zhou Yang. "...It doesn't have much to do with him."
Fang Jin immediately put his extensive experience selling gay fanservice to work and chimed in, "See? You're so protective of him."
Xie Weishui: "..."
This was the first time he had realized Fang Jin could be so dramatic.
"Weishui, you're wrong." Chi Li turned serious. "When you two fight, the third party is usually the biggest problem. Otherwise, why didn't you have any problems before the third party appeared? Let me ask you: after Fang Jin got angry yesterday, did Zhou Yang say anything?"
"Zhou Yang..." Xie Weishui began writing the script on the spot. "...He said he didn't want things between Fang Jin and me to become awkward because of him."
"Green tea. That's pure green tea." Chi Li immediately labeled Zhou Yang, then kindly reminded him, "Give him that big bag of green tea later."
The corner of Xie Weishui's mouth twitched. "...There's no need for that."
How could he not know Zhou Yang was green tea?
Not only did he know, but the viewers all knew too.
Because that was the persona he had assigned Zhou Yang.
"So Zhou Yang is the biggest problem between you two!" Chi Li "hit the nail on the head." "As long as he's still around, you'll clash over him again. To completely eliminate the rift between you, the only option is to make Zhou Yang disappear."