Chapter 14

The power of trending searches is no joke.

Fang Juexia was having lunch in the company cafeteria when he received a flood of screenshots and Weibo links from their assistant, Xiao Wen. He hadn’t planned to look, but Xiao Wen was clearly excited and bursting to share, so Fang Juexia eventually clicked on the first post.

[@IGotItForReal: Kaleido’s livestream was insane! Everyone has to watch the video—sure, lots of boy groups have played the candy transfer game, but this one had me blushing, heart racing—I almost ascended! The way Pei Tingsong passed it to Fang Juexia was insane. I even added a slow-mo replay at the end—the more you watch, the crazier it gets. Kaleido is such a treasure of a boy group. Go watch the full screen recording on Bilibili, it’s all peak moments!]

That Weibo clip only showed a few minutes of them passing the candy wrapper—specifically the slow-mo replay of the moment Pei Tingsong handed it to him, complete with effects and background music. The post had gone up at 10pm last night and had already been shared over 60,000 times.

[@NeonMama: Damn! Who wouldn’t want to kiss that pretty baby? // @SoManyBiases: I can’t get over Fang Juexia’s face. He’s the blueprint for all beautiful bottoms. Even his birthmark is perfect—looks like a painted flower! // @TrashCakeIsMe: My inner wolf is howling! // @IAmLuckyAF: That moment Pei Tingsong took off his glasses… I’m dead… // @WhoDoesn’tLoveHotGuys: PTS is the youngest in the group??? // @FujoshiHQ: Screw the candy wrapper—this was a straight-up forced kiss! Pei Tingsong is way too alpha!]

These kinds of comments were completely foreign to Fang Juexia. He had grown used to hearing things like “a pretty face with backdoor connections,” “the fallen center,” “discarded consort,” and worse. Seeing all this praise suddenly left him blank. He didn’t know how to react, so he simply messaged Xiao Wen back:

[@LittleJuexia: Wow, so many people.]

Xiao Wen couldn’t help laughing at the half-hearted reply.

[@XiaoWen: Juexia, you really have no concept of what going viral means.]

Pei Tingsong, having just completed the second round of moving, also got a message from Xiao Wen. But even before that, the internet-addicted boy had already opened Weibo while on the way back to the company. The buzz was still at full throttle—this was the first time all six members of Kaleido had made it onto the trending list at once.

[@KaleidoIsExploding: I was watching the livestream last night and screamed so loud my neighbor called the cops! Summary of all the sweet moments: Xiao Pei was wearing Juexia’s hoodie, and while sitting together, he even rested his hand on Juexia’s waist. The candy kiss? Already legendary. But the biggest deal? They lost and got locked in a wardrobe together for five whole minutes! I’m losing it!]

[@WeiboLevel1: I didn’t expect it to be that intense. The moment the candy fell and they still managed to kiss—I literally gasped. Who could’ve seen that coming?!]

[@DontLoveMeTheresNoPoint: This isn’t me shipping a CP anymore—it’s the CP shipping me! Just let me ship in peace!]

[@SanSanIsMyBaby: This was a real kiss, okay? The candy wrapper didn’t even matter. I need to tag my own CP so they can learn from their juniors!]

Pei Tingsong glanced at the user’s profile pic. Huh—what a coincidence. A fan of their senior group.

[@DidPTSPerformToday: Oh my god, Pei Tingsong, you’re only nineteen—how are you this smooth?! When he pinned gege down and kissed him, my wolf blood was boiling!]

Pei Tingsong tried to recall exactly how he moved at that moment…

Was that really a pin-down kiss?

[@ImJustASuckerForLooks: Kaleido’s visual is so quiet! KK looked like such an ice prince on stage, all cold and distant—but in this game he was so docile and dazed, it was hilarious.]

He really is like a different person offstage—barely says a word once he steps down.

[@DidYouReadToday: Not a fan, but I saw another post about how they answered fan questions about their fandom name. Honestly felt really genuine, not like those groups that just brush off their fans.]

[@TeacherFangIsGorgeous replying to @DidYouReadToday: Kaleido may be low-profile, but they’ve never shortchanged their fans. Every member is amazing—skilled and super sweet.]

[@SweetPepperCutie: Damn. I remember other groups playing this game too—like Qiao’s group. A lot of them have done it, but the spiciest it got was an accidental kiss when the paper dropped. Didn’t expect this kind of second-chance kiss—PTS just went for it and grabbed his gege’s neck like some Alpha. What the hell!]

[@LifeIsBitter: This group is actually really good-looking—first time I’ve really gotten them. But their visual and maknae? Total YJJCs. I saw someone say the maknae is an Alpha, but honestly, the visual also gives off Alpha energy—like one of those Betas who pretend to be aloof but are actually dominant. He’s super A on stage, the kind that looks like he doesn’t care about anything. Cold, untouchable ace performer on stage, then offstage he gets surprise-kissed by the group’s overbearing maknae. This is literal fanfic gold!]

[@WatermelonBoy replying to @LifeIsBitter: I think Fang Juexia is an O pretending to be cool! Looks like a cold ice-beauty, but he’s actually a sweet, gentle, gorgeous baby!]

[@EmptyNestGirl replying to @WatermelonBoy: I can’t believe you guys are seriously debating ABO genders hahaha. If we’re doing this, then I vote AB! Fang Juexia gives off total Beta vibes—like even his pheromones are super faint.]

Pheromones?
Omega isn’t a smartwatch brand??

The discussion was quickly spiraling into Pei Tingsong’s zone of ignorance.

[@HappyCouchPotato: That candy kiss must’ve been some kind of curse. I can’t escape…]

[@SixManComedyBoyBand: Kaleido actually has both the visuals and the skills. Most of their songwriting, composing, arrangement, and choreography is all done by the members themselves. Y’all should check them out~ Xiao Pei’s rapping is on par with underground rappers—he easily beats most idol rappers today. And even though Juexia’s the main dancer, his vocals are amazing. His tone is straight-up criminal. Every member has their own charm—you won’t get face blindness here! Come stan Kaleido, it’s a solid investment with guaranteed returns!]

Pei Tingsong had always insisted that he didn’t see being an idol as a career—he’d leave Kaleido one day and be a proper hip-hop artist.

But every time he saw fans introducing them so earnestly to others, something in him softened.

Just as he stepped out of the elevator in the company building, his phone buzzed. It was a chat record from Xiao Wen—between her and Fang Juexia.

[@XiaoWen: I’m here to supervise your “CP marketing”! Juexia is being way too passive. President Pei, you gotta step up!]

[@LittleOverlord: Nope.]

After putting on a cool front with Xiao Wen, Pei Tingsong couldn’t help but reopen the chat log she’d sent.

“What kind of tone is that…” he muttered to himself, mimicking Fang Juexia’s voice. “‘Wow, so many people’… What kind of half-assed reply is that? Is being paired with me really that unbearable?”

Pei Tingsong was the type who’d go west just because someone told him to go east. And Fang Juexia? He was like a thorn. Looked harmless and indifferent, but somehow always got under his skin and made him uncomfortable.

As he walked toward the practice room, he opened their chat and typed a message.

[Kaleido Pei Tingsong: Company says we gotta post something together on Weibo.]

Fang Juexia replied unusually fast, which made Pei Tingsong feel a bit better.

Until he tapped open the message:

[@NothingButPretty: Oh? I haven’t received any notice.]

Notice???
Mood: Crashing, instantly.

Is this conversation helpful so far?

 

Pei Tingsong gripped his phone with both hands, head down, not even looking where he was going as he angrily typed out a reply.

Originally, he’d planned to send:
“What, does the company need to write you a script and have you act it out step by step too?”
But something felt off. So he deleted it, one word at a time.

I am the notice.
Pei Tingsong nodded to himself. Yeah. That’s more like it.
Cool and direct—that’s his style.

He typed it quickly and, distracted, walked straight into someone. Reflexively, he mumbled, “Sorry.” Then looked up—
Of all people, it just had to be that heartless Fang Juexia.

He was wearing a thin white shirt, jacket in hand, his cheeks flushed—must’ve just come out of the practice room again.

Startled by the collision and the sight, Pei Tingsong accidentally tapped send without realizing it.
At the same time, Fang Juexia’s phone buzzed.

Fang Juexia looked at him, wary and slightly confused. “It’s fine,” he said, glancing down to unlock his phone.

Pei Tingsong stepped aside, ready to leave, but a voice from down the hallway called out to them—it was Cheng Qiang.

“Hey, perfect timing, you’re both here. I need to talk to you.”

Pei Tingsong tugged at his jacket zipper with a frown. “Now what?”

Cheng Qiang shrugged. “Remember last time when Juexia got bumped from that magazine feature? Well, now they want to do a dual cover shoot with both of you. They said it’s an upgrade and also a way to make up for missing the original collab.”

Pei Tingsong rolled his eyes. Sure, he didn’t get along with Fang Juexia, but this kind of opportunistic behavior made his skin crawl.
“They sure know how to talk. Didn’t seem this ‘nice’ when they replaced Juexia last time. I’m not doing it.”

Cheng Qiang sighed. “Come on, they’re offering you the main cover now. And get this—the team that stole the original feature is mad that you two got invited to headline. They’re threatening to back out of the inside pages. And the magazine agreed! If you walk now, they’re basically gone. Can you believe it? This industry’s brutal—whoever’s trending gets the final say.”

Pei Tingsong scoffed, turning his head to glance at Fang Juexia—who’d barely reacted the entire time, even though it all directly involved him.
The emperor’s not in a rush, but the eunuchs sure are.

Fang Juexia pocketed his phone with a strange look on his face. Then, unexpectedly, he looked straight at Pei Tingsong.

“What are you looking at?” Pei Tingsong snapped, trying to act tough.

Fang Juexia hesitated. His expression was conflicted. “What you said… was it true?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Pei Tingsong frowned. “I don’t bother lying.”

Fang Juexia blinked twice, slowly. “Oh. That’s… good then.”
Then Cheng Qiang called him over—the composer had arrived.

Pei Tingsong made his way to his solo practice room where he usually wrote his rap lyrics. He tossed off his jacket and reached for his phone to open the voice memo app.

But the moment he sat down, his mind drifted back to Fang Juexia’s reaction—that expression, that look in his eyes… The more he replayed it, the weirder it felt. But he couldn’t quite put his finger on why.

Eventually, after half an hour, Pei Tingsong reopened their WeChat chat.

There it was, crystal clear, staring back at him—the five bold characters he’d sent:

“我就是通知。”
I am the notice.

[我就是同志。]
I am gay.

作者有話要說：
Yes, you are ❤️