Fang Juexia stood frozen in place.
He stared at Pei Tingsong, his pupils flickering with a faint glow.
His senses and thoughts slowed down in that moment, like a slow-motion replay, causing him to linger on Pei Tingsong’s final words, repeating them over and over, echoing in his mind.
Pei Tingsong came to his senses, and the words that had slipped out of his mouth left him feeling utterly bewildered. How could he have been so utterly befuddled as to say such a thing to Fang Juexia? He must have lost his mind.
He couldn’t find any motive for saying those words.
“What are you two doing?” Cheng Qiang ran over, hands on her hips, panting, and confronted the two of them.
Fang Juexia immediately lowered his head and took a deep breath. Pei Tingsong began to explain, “He twisted his ankle getting off the lift, so I helped him over here.”
“Are you okay?” Cheng Qiang asked urgently, “Is it serious? There’s a doctor backstage; I’ll take you to see them.”
Fang Juexia shook his head, “No need…” “
After saying that, he walked toward the elevator in the underground lobby on his own, leaving Pei Tingsong and Cheng Qiang staring at each other.
“What’s going on?” Cheng Qiang turned around and glared at Pei Tingsong, “Did you bully Juexia again?”
Pei Tingsong felt wronged, but couldn’t explain himself. “How did I bully him? You’re accusing me unfairly. Be careful, or I’ll quit.” With that, he ran off too.
The underground lobby wasn’t very bright, and he was still a bit worried about Fang Juexia, so he pretended to be angry and chased after him.
“Hey, wait, you guys…” Cheng Qiang, left behind, wiped the sweat from his forehead and muttered incessantly, “Man, this job is so tough. I’ve got six gods to appease at once.”
Fang Juexia walked forward step by step. From childhood onward, his stride had been measured, each step taken with precision. Those who carry a ruler in their hearts have few opportunities to make mistakes.
But at this moment, he felt something disturbing his emotions, causing his heart to waver and his steps to become chaotic.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a tall shadow stretching across the ground, getting closer and closer to him.
He pressed the up button on the elevator and stared at the glowing number.
“Hey, are you okay?” His voice was very close.
It wasn’t until he felt Pei Tingsong walk beside him that Fang Juexia spoke. He didn’t turn his head, but looked straight ahead.
“As far as you know, there’s no one else.”
Pei Tingsong was a little dazed. It took him a few seconds to realize what Fang Juexia was saying. Fang Juexia was actually answering his first question, which he had deemed invalid—something Pei Tingsong had never anticipated.
Pei Tingsong’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, and he was still a little skeptical. “What about Ling Yi? And Qiang Ge? Do they know?” Fang Juexia’s gaze swept past his shoulder line to Cheng Qiang, who was about to arrive, his tone calm and resolute.
“Only you.”
Once a person is labeled with the word “only,” the feeling becomes subtle.
Pei Tingsong held a secret in his hands.
Or perhaps he was tightly gripping a beautiful secret in his hand.
Pei Tingsong, who was staring blankly, felt a hand on his shoulder. “Go in. What are you staring at?” The large stage elevator was empty. Cheng Qiang muttered, “Go up and change your clothes and remove your makeup. They should all be ready by now.”
Fang Juexia, who had been looking down, raised his eyes. The elevator’s reflective mirror wall reflected Pei Tingsong’s face, and he was staring at him too. He actually regretted answering his first question on his own initiative, but he had wanted to do so at the time.
Sure enough, under the influence of the tense atmosphere, people tend to act impulsively.
In the reflective mirror, he saw the red birthmark at the corner of his eye and couldn’t help but think of Pei Tingsong’s repeated “last sentence.”
His heartbeat once again exceeded the normal range, and Fang Juexia took a deep breath, trying to correct this physiological deviation.
Everyone has their own set of behavioral rules.
Fang Juexia’s rules were a two-way chain: following a specific paradigm to avoid potential mistakes as much as possible, taking one step at a time toward a predetermined goal; whenever any mistake occurred along this path, he would trace back to the nodes that led to the error. It was like solving a math problem and finding the result to be wrong, then working backward step by step until he discovered the critical step where the problem arose. This was his self-reflection mechanism.
The elevator stopped. Fang Juexia looked up and saw another person in the mirror.
Since the business opened, every time he deduced the critical step, it was Pei Tingsong.
He acted on a whim, full of uncertainty, and every move he made was a trigger for mistakes.
“Let’s go and tidy up.”
The next day, they were going to attend an event in Shanghai, and the charity gala was also in Shanghai. After the concert, they would fly there with their senior group and stay at a hotel in Shanghai. In the past, when staying at hotels, the rooms were assigned randomly, with the only rule being to separate Pei Tingsong and Fang Juexia.
But this time, Cheng Qiang had already assigned the room cards in the hotel elevator.
“Everyone is on the same floor, and your senior brothers are there too. Here, these are for Zi Yan and Ling Yi.” He handed the room keys to He Ziyan, then turned and gave one to Jiang Miao, “Miao Miao and Lu Yuan share a room.”
The last room key was naturally handed to Fang Juexia.
“Take it, this is for you and Xiao Pei.”
Fang Juexia took the key card, his expression unchanged, but his heart was a little uneasy. After all, they had never shared a room in the past two years. Plus, after the incident at the concert exit, he hadn’t even spoken a word to Pei Tingsong on the plane.
But now they were going to spend the night together in the same room.
The other teammates had already started joking around. Lu Yuan nudged Pei Tingsong, who was still listening to music and oblivious to the situation, with his shoulder. “Hey, what a happy day this is!”
Ling Yi waved his hand, “No, I want to sleep with Jue Xia!”
“What?!” Pei Tingsong looked shocked, staring at Cheng Qiang with an expression that said, “Are you kidding me?”
Cheng Qiang glanced at him, “What’s wrong? You’re not happy? Jue Xia is the most honest and quiet one of you guys when it comes to sleeping. You’re getting a good deal. Listen to me, I’m in charge.”
The elevator doors opened, and everyone pushed and shoved their way out, accidentally pushing Pei Tingsong and Fang Juexia together. Pei Tingsong instinctively held onto him, but the two quickly separated.
“I’m exhausted! I need to take a shower first!”
“No one’s going to抢 it from you.”
“Qiang Ge, once the company makes money, can I stay in the presidential suite once?”
Everyone went into their own rooms one by one, leaving only Pei Tingsong and Fang Juexia. Their room was the one at the far end of the corridor.
The atmosphere in the corridor suddenly grew quiet. The still air seemed to compress, pushing the two of them closer together, their breaths accidentally colliding, so they both moved cautiously.
Fang Juexia swiped his room key card to open the door. The room was neither too large nor too small, with floor-to-ceiling windows and two large beds—it was no different from the many hotel rooms he had stayed in before.
“Either side is fine.” Pei Tingsong glanced at the bathroom’s location, then pushed his luggage toward the bed by the window. “I’ll take this side.”
The spot he left was where Fang Juexia usually slept. Fang Juexia quietly said, “Alright,” and placed his luggage.
“Should you shower first…” / “Do you want to shower first?”
The two spoke simultaneously in unison, then fell silent at the same time.
Pei Tingsong had never encountered such an awkward moment. He wasn’t the type of person who should be constrained by such things; he should be able to say and do whatever he wanted. But now, it felt like he was being held hostage by something.
It was strange, because the reality was the opposite.
He scratched his head. “You go first. I’ll find my clothes.” After saying that, Pei Tingsong sat cross-legged on the carpet and turned his back to open his suitcase. Fang Juexia accepted his suggestion and went in on his own, but when he started showering, he slowly realized that the bathroom was semi-transparent, with frosted glass on all sides, allowing faint outlines of people to be seen.
He finally understood why Pei Tingsong had turned his back to the bathroom before even entering it. He tried not to think about it, but his mind seemed determined to defy him.
Though he claimed to be packing clothes, Pei Tingsong hadn’t brought many items. He stood with his back to the bathroom, but the glass of the floor-to-ceiling window reflected the image of the small glass bathroom, bathed in the bustling night scenery of Shanghai, like Pandora’s box.
The door suddenly opened with a loud thud, and Pei Tingsong shouted, “Who is it?”
“Little Pei, open the door quickly!”
Upon hearing Ling Yi’s voice, Pei Tingsong got up and hurried to the door, where he inevitably saw a tall, thin figure blurred by the fogged glass and misty steam.
“What’s up?” Pei Tingsong asked through the door.
He heard Lu Yuan’s voice again, “There’s something important. Open the door quickly.”
How many people were there? Pei Tingsong opened the door, and several people rushed out like puppies after being fed dog food. He immediately leaned against the doorframe and blocked them with his arm, “What’s going on?” “ After saying that, he saw Ling holding a phone in one hand, pointing it at him, ”Big Brother, what’s wrong?”
“I’m live streaming.” After saying that, Ling switched to selfie mode, turned around, and put them all in the frame, “Little Pei, say hi to everyone!”
“Uh, it seems to be lagging a bit.”
“The internet here isn’t good, it’s lagging.”
Live stream???
Fang Juexia was still taking a shower inside. If they let them in and filmed the bathroom, that would be a disaster.
Pei Tingsong was about to close the door without saying a word, but He Ziyan and Lu Yuan grabbed his arm, “What are you up to, sneaking around like that?”
“Who’s being sneaky?” He deliberately spoke loudly, hoping Fang Juexia inside could hear him, “It’s the middle of the night. You guys aren’t sleeping, but I need to sleep.”
“There must be a ghost.” Lu Yuan and He Ziyan were ready to break down the door, rushing forward, but Pei Tingsong still held his ground. Suddenly, a cold voice came from behind.
“What are you doing?”
Pei Tingsong turned around abruptly.
He actually came out?!
“Cough.” Pei Tingsong cleared his throat nervously, releasing the arm that had been guarding him tightly, “Nothing, they’re going live.”
“It’s still lagging.” Ling Yi couldn’t stand the slow internet speed and shut down the live stream, “Hey, now they’re letting us in again. Strange, Pei Xiao Liu.”
Fang Juexia still had a towel on his head. He had changed into a comfortable, loose-fitting pajama set, and his body was still emitting warm steam, his skin flushed.
San San was their senior brother Shang Sui Rui, who was also the most popular artist on Xing Tu before. After appearing on the show Escape from Heaven, his popularity soared even more. When Fang Juexia was still a trainee, Shang Sui Rui often helped him; he was a particularly lively and optimistic person.
“Hmm.” Fang Juexia nodded with a smile, wiped his hair, put the towel back in the bathroom, and followed everyone to Shang Siru’s room.
Shang Siru’s door was ajar; he lived alone. As soon as he heard footsteps, he ran out, peered out the door, and upon seeing his younger brothers, immediately opened the door. “You’re finally here.” He deliberately pulled Fang Juexia’s arm, “I thought you weren’t coming. So you were taking a shower. Did you finish so quickly?”
Perhaps because Fang Juexia’s smile was so charming, Pei Tingsong, who was following behind, felt uneasy.
He had done so much for him—keeping his secrets, flattering him, and even taking care of this bunch of troublemakers—yet here he was, smiling happily at someone else.
Behind Shang Siru’s bed, there was a pile of food on the carpet. “I’ll tell you, I ordered all of this secretly. Don’t tell Qiang Ge, or he’ll say I’m corrupting you guys.”
Ling Yi screamed, “Ah, there’s maocai! I love maocai!”
“There’s even pot-roasted pork!” Lu Yuan was also excited. “Let’s eat!”
“I know Juexia can’t handle spicy food.” Shang Sirui moved aside the other meal boxes. “Look, I ordered lots of pastries, Japanese food that Miao Miao likes, and grilled food that Zi Yan loves. There’s something for everyone.”
Fang Juexia smiled at him again, “Thank you.”
Pei Tingsong’s eyes were fixated on Fang Juexia, so he didn’t notice Jiang Miao handing him chopsticks until Shang Sirui handed him a meal box, “Little Pei? I ordered pizza for you, you should like it!”
“Ah, thank you, senior.” He took the pizza with a complicated expression, feeling a bit guilty about his earlier thoughts.
“You guys have worked hard, practicing for our concert for so long.” Shang Sirui distributed the food to everyone, then ran to lock the door. “The other members were supposed to come too, but they were having too much fun playing games, so they told us to eat first. They’ve been busy with the concert lately, so they finally got a chance to play a few rounds.”
Fang Juexia picked up a shrimp dumpling and put it in his mouth. When he looked up, he saw a bit of sauce from the pizza on Pei Tingsong’s lips.
Every time he stared at Pei Tingsong, the other person would immediately look at him. Fang Juexia pointed to his own lips, but Pei Tingsong didn’t notice. “What’s wrong with your mouth?”
He sighed and pulled out a tissue, “You have sauce on your lips.”
“Oh, just wipe it off for your little brother.” Shang Sui, who had locked the door, sat back down next to Fang Juexia, grabbed his arm, and pulled his hand to Pei Tingsong’s lips to wipe off the sauce.
“That’s right. Members must love and care for each other, you know?” Shang Siru put on an air of an older brother, reaching under the bed to pull out a bottle of alcohol, “This is a bottle of Japanese sake. Let’s each take a sip.”
He Ziyan laughed, “No wonder they call you the ‘alcoholic San San.’ I knew something was missing.”
“Don’t drink too much,” Jiang Miao said, “We have plans tomorrow.”
Lu Yuan said, “It’s okay, everyone can hold their liquor, this much is no problem. Besides, Pei Tingsong is an adult now.”
“I’ve been an adult for a long time,” Pei Tingsong hurriedly clarified, “I just had another birthday, I’m twenty now.”
“Twenty years old, that’s amazing,” Shang Sirui clapped his hands after pouring the wine, “No longer starting with a 1.”
Fang Juexia couldn’t help but laugh, and absentmindedly took the wine Shang Sirui handed him and drank it in one gulp.
He rarely drank alcohol. In the past, when he went out to dine with others, there were often underage trainees present, so he would avoid drinking. As a result, he wasn’t sure of his alcohol tolerance. Taking that sip caused him to cough violently.
Jiang Miao handed him a tissue. “Take it easy. Are you okay? Eat something to settle your stomach.”
Lu Yuan grabbed his shoulder, “Juexia, you’re something else, chugging it down like that. No wonder you’re half a Shandong man.”
Fang Juexia stuffed a milk bun into his mouth to try to suppress the spicy taste of the alcohol. Just as he had his cheeks stuffed full, he looked up and saw Pei Tingsong holding back a smile. He finally understood why Pei Tingsong always joked with him. If his mouth hadn’t been full, he would have said something too.
Chewing the milk custard bun with effort, Fang Juexia listened quietly to everyone’s casual conversation. Shang Sirui had a high tolerance for alcohol and drank half a bottle by himself without any problems.
Ling Yi thought of something, “Hey, San San, are you going to record a show? When will the second season of Escape be released?”
Shang Sui waved his hand, “Don’t mention it. They said they were going to record it earlier, but remember that girl from last season? She got married recently and is now on her honeymoon abroad, so she can’t record it.”
Jiang Miao nodded, “Ah, it’s not good to be short one person.”
“Not just one,” Shang Sirui added. “The show has been revamped this time, so the number of participants might increase. Inviting guests is no easy task, and you all know how challenging this show is.” He cleared his throat and whispered, “Don’t tell anyone else, but there was a particularly popular influencer whose team contacted the show. The show obviously didn’t refuse, but they made a request.”
Pei Tingsong guessed the rest, “He wanted to lower the difficulty, right?”
“Exactly,” Shang Siru nodded repeatedly. “And he also demanded a script and a killer role. The screenwriter refused outright, saying that if that were the case, he wouldn’t write the script. The production team naturally wouldn’t risk their reputation for one guest, so the matter was dropped.”
Fang Juexia found it amusing. She had been forced to participate in an unsuitable reality show, becoming a wallflower, and had to endure threats from the assistant director. But this person had voluntarily gone on an unsuitable show and used his popularity as a bargaining chip.
Everyone was doing things that weren’t suitable for them. The world was like a misaligned gear, and when it was forced to run to a certain point, it would inevitably malfunction.
“Which influencer?” Lu Yuan wore the typical expression of a bystander, “Do we know each other?”
Shang Sui was feeling bold after drinking and didn’t hold back, especially since they were close. “We know each other. Not only do we know each other, but we also have some history.” After saying that, he looked at Fang Juexia.
Fang Juexia immediately caught on, and so did the other teammates.
Pei Tingsong wasn’t very familiar with Fang Juexia, but by observing the changes in everyone’s expressions, he could guess the general situation. The person with whom Fang Juexia had a grudge was likely someone from Astar Company, probably a member of the group Seven Stars that hadn’t debuted at the time.
The most popular member of Qiyao… Pei Tingsong thought for a moment—was it the official account that always stood in the center?
By the time he snapped back to reality, the others had already changed the topic. Fang Juexia remained composed, seemingly unaffected by the so-called “grudge” from earlier. They started playing drinking games, but they avoided Fang Juexia’s specialty, the “seven-pass” rule, so he kept losing and drinking until there was no more alcohol left. His words grew fewer and fewer.
Pei Tingsong’s eyes never left him. Watching him drink cup after cup, he seemed fine, his face not red and his breathing steady, but something felt off.
Fang Juexia bit into a sand cake, then turned his head and suddenly smiled at Pei Tingsong.
It wasn’t just a smile; it was a silly, sweet smile.
Something was definitely wrong.
Shang Suiwei’s phone suddenly vibrated. He picked it up and saw, “Holy shit, Yang Ge is coming to find me.”
Yang Ge was his agent. The few people from Caledo immediately stood up, “Then, then we’ll go back first.”
“I’m going. I’m most afraid of Yang Ge.”
“Grab your clothes quickly!”
And so, their friendly and harmonious late-night gathering came to an abrupt end. Pei Tingsong watched as Fang Juexia supported himself on the bedside and managed to stand up properly.
But as soon as he started walking, his true condition was revealed—he was limping.
Everyone panicked and fled, paying no attention to Fang Juexia’s odd behavior. As his temporary roommate, Pei Tingsong had no choice but to take on this arduous task, supporting his arm and leading him away.
After finally escaping back to his own room, the alarm was temporarily lifted. Pei Tingsong sighed in relief, closed the door, and inserted his room card. Before he could turn on the light, he heard a thud.
“It hurts…”
When he turned on the light, Fang Juexia was crouched at his feet, facing the wall, whimpering in pain.
Pei Tingsong wanted to pull him up, but this guy was like a little ostrich, not only burying his head but also hugging his knees with both arms, burying them under his head, almost forming a closed ball.
“Your tolerance for alcohol is really terrible. Can’t you control yourself? You drink whatever is handed to you.” Pei Tingsong complained, trying to pry open the little ball and pull him up by his arms, but Fang Juexia was drunk and still had a lot of strength, so he couldn’t get him out.
It was too ridiculous. Pei Tingsong felt like the clumsy rabbit in a children’s song.
He had encountered a stubborn and delicate white radish that he couldn’t pull out no matter how hard he tried.
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