Chapter 46

Keeping his temper in check, he said, "Are you setting your Brother Chi up?"

He smiled. "Do you think it's appropriate to have a member of another girl group play the female lead in a boy band's love song?"

Gu Zhijing stubbornly muttered, "What's inappropriate about it?"

Sheng Chi watched him for another moment, then suddenly curled his lips.

"We agreed back then that we wouldn't shoot an MV for this song. But if you insist on shooting one, it's not out of the question."

"And there's no need to go to all that trouble."

Sheng Chi pinched his cheek, his expression calm, though there was a hint of mischief in his voice. "I'll talk to Sister Yu and have you dress up as a woman and play the female lead in the MV."

Gu Zhijing: "?!"

He was scared out of his wits. "Chi-"

Sheng Chi rubbed his head through his hat. "I'm kidding."

"But do you understand now? Your Brother Chi doesn't want anyone but you."

"Is that good enough?"

He continued teasing Gu Zhijing. "So can you keep your Brother Chi company while he experiences what being in love feels like?"

When the two of them came out of the aquarium, there happened to be someone selling headbands in various animal designs by the entrance.

Sheng Chi's teasing had turned Gu Zhijing's ears red inside the aquarium. Now an idea occurred to him, and he reached out and picked one at random, intending to put it on Sheng Chi.

Sheng Chi: "..."

He stepped back. "No."

"Why not?"

Sheng Chi put it succinctly. "Childish."

"How is it childish?"

Gu Zhijing kept trying to lure him in, wearing an innocent expression. "It's inconvenient for me to wear one with my hat on, or I'd definitely buy one too."

"Can't you go along with me? What happened to playing the part of a dutiful boyfriend? What happened to letting me keep you company while you experienced what being in love feels like? Are you going back on your word already?"

"..."

"Then pick another one."

Sheng Chi suddenly said, "I want that polar bear one."

Gu Zhijing made a surprised sound, then hurriedly swapped it for the polar bear headband beside it and put it on him.

He held back his laughter and happily admired him for a while. He was about to raise his camera, but after a moment's thought, he switched to his phone and pushed his luck. "How about we take, take a picture?"

Gu Zhijing was plotting to himself.

The captain definitely wouldn't like it.

Once they'd taken it, he'd save a copy for their two teammates, then keep it as evidence of the captain's embarrassing past.

If anything happened in the future, he could use it to threaten him.

Sheng Chi: "..."

He had meant to refuse, but when he saw Gu Zhijing's expectant expression, he paused. The words changed as they reached his lips. "Okay."

At a dessert shop in the distance, two girls were sitting and resting.

One of them tugged on her friend's sleeve. "Look, look, look! Two gorgeous guys are taking selfies over there!!"

"Hang on, hang on, let me see."

Her friend took one glance and nearly dropped her phone. "Holy shit, ahhhh!!!"

"Isn't that my husband and my daughter!?!"

"?"

"Why are your family relationships such a mess?"

"Also, the other one's obviously a guy too, right?"

Despite her excitement, the girl rolled her eyes. "What does me calling him my daughter have to do with his biological sex being male? Forget it, you wouldn't understand even if I explained."

"Don't just sit there, hurry up and help me record them!"

Five minutes later, in the Shengjing supertopic on Weibo.

[@Selling Vegetables to Raise a Cub Niangniang Sauce: [video] Ahhhhhhhh, I got the real thing!! Xiao Yu and Xiao Yuan aren't there! It's a date alone, right? A date alone!!! Boohoo, there's really no way this can end unless these two get married!]

In the blurry video she posted, two boys were taking selfies with a phone beside the aquarium exit.

They were too far away to make out their expressions, but the taller one could dimly be seen wearing some kind of animal headband.

The CP fans in the supertopic immediately went wild.

[What's that on Shacha Sauce's head?!]

[Bro! You've broken character!! What happened to being the supremely aloof, fierce A whose pheromones even smell like 84 disinfectant!!]

[That taste-it was obviously his wife who bought it for him!!! I'm speechless, does he really spoil him that much?!]

[Girls, hurry and put "Shacha Sauce is henpecked" in the public chat!]

While the supertopic was in an uproar,

Sheng Chi and Gu Zhijing had already returned from the aquarium, bringing their brief daylong date to an end.

As soon as they got back to the company and met up with Jiang Yu, they heard him shout, "Gu Jing, Gu Jing, did you miss me today?!"

Gu Zhijing: "..."

He quickly took half a step back, the corner of his mouth twitching. "No."

He sized Jiang Yu up with a serious expression. "Jiang Yu, if you've developed a mental illness, our group might be the first in the domestic entertainment industry to have a member admitted to a psychiatric hospital. This could be our chance to really break out."

Jiang Yu: "..."

Beside them, Xu Linyuan gloated as he switched off the camera. "I told you, Xiao Jing wouldn't pay you any attention."

"That's not fair, Gu Jing."

Jiang Yu shouted, "I saw it on my alt's feed. You looked pretty happy doing fan service with Brother Chi, so why is it so different with me?!"

Gu Zhijing's scalp tightened, and he instinctively retorted, "What fan service?"

"You didn't really think nobody caught you on camera all day, did you?"

Jiang Yu scoffed. "The fans who ran into you were just well-behaved enough not to ask for autographs or photos. Videos of you two out today are already everywhere! Did you really think I didn't see what you got up to?"

Gu Zhijing: "..."

The way he described it made it sound like they'd been sneaking off to have an affair.

Gu Zhijing really hadn't checked his phone on the way back.

Hearing Jiang Yu say that, he hurriedly opened Weibo and navigated with practiced ease to the CP supertopic in his most-visited list.

The whole supertopic felt like it was celebrating the New Year.

In every street and alley, the first words out of everyone's mouths when they met were, "This ship is killing me."

He clicked on a few videos at random.

There were fewer taken inside the aquarium. Most of the photos and pictures circulating were from after they came out, since there were more people passing through the exit and more who recognized them.

One had even caught him dragging Sheng Chi over to buy a headband.

At the time, he'd clearly meant to prank Sheng Chi and get something to embarrass him with.

But after a fan adjusted the filter, added a love song as background music and slowed it down before posting it, it really did have a hint of the romantic tension of two people on a date.

As Gu Zhijing watched, his ears turned red.

He didn't know when Sheng Chi had come over, but he watched the entire video with him and even chuckled. "Nicely filmed."

Gu Zhijing: "?!"

"...You, you don't mind?"

How could he not be the least bit distraught about his image collapsing?!

Now the whole internet knew he'd worn a polar bear headband! His status as the domestic entertainment industry's number-one golden gong was at risk! His girlfriend fans were going to run away!

But Sheng Chi smiled again.

Taking advantage of the fact that their two teammates were chatting and not paying attention to them, he lowered his voice a little. His expression was bland, but his words made Gu Zhijing's brain go numb.

"I do."

"But don't I want even more to measure up in your eyes?"

Sheng Chi really knew what he was doing.

Gu Zhijing stared at the photo he'd meant to keep as evidence of Sheng Chi's embarrassing past, which had now lost all its usefulness, and came to that conclusion.

He looked cold on the surface, but once you got to know him, that wasn't entirely true.

When necessary, he could rattle off flirty lines one after another.

No wonder he had the most girlfriend fans in the group.

"What are you spacing out for, Gu Jing?"

Jiang Yu tugged at him. "The fireworks are about to start! Appreciate the money our Brother Fei spent, okay?!"

Fei Yue had said he was going to spend a fortune on tonight's fireworks for them.

It was to celebrate Color4 being together and about to enter a new year.

Gu Zhijing hesitated over the delete button for a long time but didn't press it. He simply put his phone away and came up with an excuse. "It's too cold, so I was finding something to do."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone wrapped another scarf over the one he was wearing.

Sheng Chi's voice sounded beside him. "Still cold?"

Gu Zhijing: "!!!"

He suddenly grew a little nervous and couldn't even get a full sentence out. "Your daylong... experience of being in love isn't over yet?"

Sheng Chi paused, then suddenly smiled. "No."

He lowered his voice too, as if playing along. "This is simply from me as your older brother."

Gu Zhijing was momentarily dazed.

Just then, pink fireworks shot into the sky.

Gu Zhijing pinched his tingling fingertips, hurriedly looked away and clapped his hands. "Quick, quick, quick! Make a wish!"

He said, "I hope Color4 blows up again next year!"

Xu Linyuan: "I hope Color4 keeps winning awards next year!"

Jiang Yu shouted, "I hope Color4 gets on the Spring Festival Gala!"

The other three: "..."

Fireworks bloomed one after another in the sky, dyeing half of it in color.

Gu Zhijing's eyes filled with starlight, and then he instinctively looked at Sheng Chi beside him.

Sheng Chi noticed and turned to meet his gaze. "What is it?"

Gu Zhijing hurriedly came up with an excuse. "Aren't you making a wish?"

Sheng Chi looked down at Gu Zhijing.

Whether it was because of the cold or something else, his cheeks were slightly flushed.

He smiled. "I did."

"What did you wish for?"

"It won't come true if I say it."

"Damn, you should've said so earlier."

Jiang Yu said, "Doesn't that mean we can't get on the Spring Festival Gala?!"

Gu Zhijing: "..."

He gave Jiang Yu a push and looked back at Sheng Chi. "Ignore him. Come on, what did you wish for?"

Sheng Chi smiled, reached out and pinched Gu Zhijing's cold fingers.

"When it comes true,"

"I'll tell you."

Author's note: Shacha Sauce = Sheng Chi.

I went out to celebrate a friend's birthday today, boohoo. I'm so tired, so this is late.

Thanks to the little angel who threw a landmine: Mr. Tiger and Mr. Rabbit, 1;

Thanks to the little angels who supplied nutrient solution: Mr. Tiger and Mr. Rabbit, Meng Fuzhou, 20 bottles each; _vorbei, 2 bottles; Sweet and Sour Fish, T#T*^O^*, 1 bottle each;

Chapter 48

In the early hours of the first day of the new calendar year, fans in the CP supertopic were still incredibly excited over yesterday's sightings.

The CP's ranking on the ship chart had shot up along with their excitement, reaching third place.

Although a girl later caught an assistant following not far behind them, meaning they had probably gone out to record something for work rather than being on a date alone in the true sense,

that did nothing to stop the CP fans from continuing to go wild.

It had to be said that once interactions between two people were clipped out and slowed down, with their glances and the touches of their fingers and bodies replayed over and over,

anything could be edited to give off a romantic atmosphere.

After watching videos for a while, Gu Zhijing locked his phone and lay on his bed.

He closed his eyes for a moment.

He couldn't sleep.

The fans had seen only the tip of the iceberg and were already this worked up.

Let alone him, one of the people involved.

Today's daylong date.

His heart really had pounded like a drum, and the tips of his ears really had burned.

His feelings for Sheng Chi were real too.

But what about Brother Chi?

What did Brother Chi think?

Of course Sheng Chi treated him very well.

But his kindness still fell within the reasonable bounds of looking after the youngest member of the group. Even getting him to experience what being in love felt like was for work.

In modern society, his sexual orientation was still a minority one, not accepted by the mainstream.

If a normal straight guy found out that a friend of his was fantasizing about him-

Gu Zhijing couldn't help shuddering. He could already imagine Sheng Chi submitting a request to Brother Fei to have him kicked out of the group for being unfit to be an idol.

Gu Zhijing: "..."

He sighed very quietly and rolled over.

His phone suddenly vibrated.

He glanced at the message.

[Brother Chi: Still awake?]

Gu Zhijing: "!!!"

He instinctively looked up at the underside of the top bunk, a little dazed.

By the time he came to his senses, he had already sent a reply.

[How did you know?]

-[I heard you.