"But there aren't any cameras right now." Chi Li withdrew his hand, then immediately turned his back to Shen Xunye. "Feels like a waste of flirting."
"Don't keep thinking about it going to waste." Shen Xunye's smile deepened. "Practicing flirting off camera is essential too, actually."
Chi Li nodded distractedly. "...That seems to make sense."
A competent actor certainly couldn't do without private practice.
Shen Xunye said, "Mm."
After washing the dishes, Fang Jin found Xie Weishui and Zhou Yang curled up together on the living room sofa watching a movie.
"Senior Fang." Zhou Yang patted the empty spot beside him. "Want to watch with us?"
Fang Jin casually sat down and got straight to the point. "Let's get along peacefully."
Zhou Yang was a little confused. "Are you talking to me?"
Xie Weishui wiped the fingers he had used to pick up chips with a tissue. "Chi Li really convinced you?"
Zhou Yang looked from one to the other, unable to follow their cryptic exchange. "Chi Li? What does this have to do with Chi Li?"
"He was right. I should consider your feelings instead of putting you in a difficult position." Fang Jin put on a smile that anyone could have seen was forced. "I should become friends with your friends too."
Caught between them, Zhou Yang went, "?"
What was this new plot development? This wasn't what they had arranged last night, was it?
"It's good that you can think that way, of course." Xie Weishui rubbed his fingers much harder and slowly spoke through tightly clenched teeth. "I really should thank Chi Li."
"What do you mean?" Having been ignored this whole time, Zhou Yang was getting frustrated. He turned toward Fang Jin. "Did Chi Li say something to you?"
"He did say a few things." Fang Jin held out his right hand to Zhou Yang. "Let's get along from now on, Junior Zhou."
[Oh my god, oh my god, their three-way relationship has taken an unexpected turn.]
[Actually, Fang Jin has just given up all hope, hasn't he...]
[Ah, so everyone really does get tired of the old and chase the new. Xie Weishui is no exception.]
[So what exactly did Chi Li say to Fang Jin?! [Curious] [Going crazy]]
Without understanding what was going on, Zhou Yang reached out and gripped his hand.
What concerned him more was, "When did you get so close to Chi Li?"
Those two had barely exchanged a few words yesterday, hadn't they?
"We're not exactly close." Fang Jin gave Zhou Yang, who wouldn't let go of his hand, a strange look. "We just sort of... had things to talk about?"
"What did you talk about?" Zhou Yang pressed.
"Is that important?" Fang Jin asked with a frown. "Junior Zhou, your grip is a little strong. You're hurting my hand, so... please let go of me first."
"Of course it's important." Zhou Yang immediately flung Fang Jin's hand away. "You-you're not hoping for something with Chi Li, are you?"
It had been like this when they were trainees too...
As long as Chi Li wanted to, he could easily make anyone his friend or even his fanboy, even if that person had once hated him.
"Me, with Chi Li?" Fang Jin didn't quite understand what Zhou Yang meant. "Something? What sort of something?"
"Junior." Xie Weishui rested a hand on Zhou Yang's shoulder. "Living under the same roof, everyone will get to know each other sooner or later. You... don't need to make such a fuss."
Chi Li, Chi Li.
Chi Li again.
Even when he wasn't here, he could still become the center of attention...
Why?
"Uh..." Zhou Yang finally realized that he seemed to have overreacted. "I know. I'm just curious how Senior Fang got to know him so quickly."
[Serious discussion: isn't Zhou Yang a little too concerned about Chi Li?]
[Didn't they say yesterday that they already knew each other?]
[Knowing someone doesn't mean you have to care, does it? And they clearly aren't close... forgotten the 'old cucumber painted green'?]
[If you knew a hottie like Chi Li, could you not care? [Drooling]]
[Blind guess: Zhou Yang had an unrequited crush on him.]
"I wouldn't say we know each other well." Fang Jin shook out the hand that had been squeezed out of shape. "We just chatted briefly."
"Oh..." Zhou Yang rubbed his nose. "Sounds like it went pretty well, huh."
"Junior." Xie Weishui tightened his hand on Zhou Yang's shoulder and forcibly turned him back around. "Let's focus on the movie."
Zhou Yang could only suppress his questions. "Okay, Senior."
"I'll head back to my room, then." Having gotten his point across, Fang Jin had no intention of staying.
Xie Weishui's expression flickered. "...Okay."
Upstairs, on the outdoor balcony.
Chi Li, Shen Xunye, and Jiang Lele, who had come after catching wind of them, gathered together.
Jiang Lele took the initiative to pour the other two some green tea freshly brewed from a small packet, his eyes sparkling as he gazed at Shen Xunye.
Chi Li lifted his green tea to his lips and blew on it. "So you really broke your leg twice?"
"I did." Shen Xunye moved his right leg. "Neither time was too serious, though. Two or three months of rest and I was fine."
"It looks like it healed well. Doesn't seem to have left any lasting effects." Chi Li recalled being lifted with ease the night before.
"None." Shen Xunye bit into a small matcha cookie. "I could handle breaking it a few more times."
"Pfft..." Jiang Lele covered his mouth, his laughter quite delicate. "Breaking your leg twice still didn't teach you a lesson?"
"I only said I could handle it, not that I was going to break it." Shen Xunye crunched the cookie in his mouth.
In fact, even without his family's ban, he had no plans to try extreme sports again.
It wasn't that he valued his life. He simply found them boring.
Boring things weren't fun to do, so they weren't worth doing.
"Actually, I'd really like to try too." Jiang Lele's words were full of anticipation and longing. "For a while, I often watched videos by those kinds of streamers... every time I watched, I'd get incredibly nervous right away, as if I were-"
Shen Xunye didn't have the patience to hear him out and looked straight at Chi Li. "What about you? Would you want to?"
With his sentence still unfinished, Jiang Lele could only lower his head and drink his tea to hide his embarrassment.
"Since you're asking, sure, I'd like to a little." Chi Li shifted into a comfortable position. "But in everyday life, I really haven't thought about it."
Shen Xunye asked with interest, "Then what do you think about?"
"Singing, dancing, standing onstage, hearing cheers from the audience meant for me alone." The more Chi Li spoke, the brighter his smile became.
It was the purest smile a person wore when talking about what they loved.
"Actually, me too." Seeing that Shen Xunye was clearly more interested in Chi Li, Jiang Lele could only turn his attention to Chi Li as well. "There's a small karaoke room and a dance studio downstairs. Want to go take a look?"
Chi Li tilted his head and looked at Shen Xunye.
They had originally planned to have a brief chat about their pasts to lay the groundwork for selling their ship later.
They hadn't expected Jiang Lele to catch them after only a few words.
"Yes." Shen Xunye made the decision for Chi Li. "Don't worry. I'll be your audience."
Chi Li stood up and looked down as he patted the hem of his shirt. "There are lots and lots of viewers watching through their screens too."
"But you can only hear my cheers." Shen Xunye tilted his head and teased him.