FIG CHAPTER 49

It was very late at night, and Zhu Lianzhen still hadn’t fallen asleep. He leaned against the headboard, holding his phone, scrolling through old videos of Acemon from years ago, starting from their trainee days.

Since he hadn’t gotten a clear answer from Tan Qing, he could only search for it himself. There was so much footage of them appearing together, but fortunately, many fans had written posts online like “Finding QingZhen’s Sweet Moments Through Subtle Clues.”

The more he read, the more troubled Zhu Lianzhen looked. He genuinely admired the fans’ powers of observation and imagination. Although they had discovered plenty of details, most of them were over-interpretations.

For example, one post claimed that he used to love acting spoiled around Tan Qing. In the break room, when he opened a boxed meal and found broccoli he hated, he asked, “Anyone want this?” After asking around and getting no response, he looked at Tan Qing with pitiful eyes, prompting Tan Qing to pick it out for him.

How was that not a complete injustice to him! He just didn’t want to waste food and thought of offering it to his teammates before eating it himself. It just so happened that no one else liked it either. And how did a 360p video screenshot turn into him looking “pitifully” at Tan Qing? He had only asked Tan Qing last because he was sitting farthest away!

Another post claimed that one winter, after playing in the snow, Zhu Lianzhen had snuck up behind Tan Qing and slipped his cold hand into his collar to touch his chest, and Tan Qing didn’t even try to dodge.

Wasn’t that totally normal between friends in a northern winter? How could that be called “touching his chest”? Tan Qing didn’t dodge simply because his hand wasn’t that cold. And this counted as proof of him acting spoiled?!

Even more ridiculous was someone claiming that when Zhu Lianzhen got nervous, he liked to squeeze things: his phone, water bottle, microphone… and even Tan Qing’s hand.

—Come on, what was wrong with grabbing someone’s hand before bungee jumping because of a fear of heights? It wasn’t like he had any other reliable teammates besides Tan Qing. He should be thankful they didn’t push him off! And when he really was nervous, how could he have shown it that obviously? It was all just for the show!

Zhu Lianzhen couldn’t bear to keep looking at the fans’ wild imaginations. Then again, he thought, given that they were the same gender to begin with, he really hadn’t considered any boundaries in his early interactions with Tan Qing.

Who would overthink things with their bros? He had been just as unrestrained around Ji Yunting and Koty.

But would Tan Qing have overthought it?

Zhu Lianzhen felt a little unsure. He began to wonder if, back then, he had been too careless and had unknowingly done something to lead Tan Qing on.

If that were true, then their relationship hadn’t soured because of CP fanservice, but because he himself… had made Tan Qing misunderstand first?

Zhu Lianzhen hadn’t expected that after knowing each other for so many years and going through so many different stages, he would now be re-examining the beginning of their relationship.

Dawn was approaching, and Zhu Lianzhen was too exhausted to keep thinking. He tossed his phone aside, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

He slept straight through until dinnertime. During the day, the others had been wondering why he stayed in his room without coming out. That evening, the first episode of their group variety show, Ace Park, was set to air, and they had planned to watch it together while live-streaming.

Tan Qing was in the kitchen preparing dinner. He glanced outside and asked, “Not coming in?”

Zhu Lianzhen had been standing outside the door for quite a while. Only now did he slowly walk over. “Is there anything I can help with?”

Tan Qing pointed at the table. “The meat’s already marinated. Just cook it on medium heat.”

Zhu Lianzhen followed his instructions. The kitchen filled with all sorts of noises. After a moment of silence, he asked, “You said before, back in the practice room, that you saw me before I joined the company.”

“Mm.”

“Then… what was your first impression of me?”

Zhu Lianzhen’s cautious tone made his probing all too obvious.

If they were talking about their actual first encounter, they had been complete strangers at the time, so it was hard to recall any details clearly. But the first scene had left such a deep impression that Tan Qing remembered it vividly.

…Watching someone fall off a skateboard down a long flight of stairs was hard to forget.

Zhu Lianzhen looked at Tan Qing, waiting for an answer. He had already braced himself mentally—no matter what Tan Qing said, he wouldn’t show any obvious reaction.

“Kind of dumb,” Tan Qing said.

Zhu Lianzhen: “?”

He grabbed Tan Qing’s arm and exclaimed, “Take it back!”

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Translator’s note:
This chapter was a bit short. Actually, about ten times shorter than the previous one! 😅