The clouds of Yunzhou drifted to Changzhou, gathering on the hazy horizon, obscuring the moonlight. Thunder and lightning intertwined, and the drizzling rain quickly turned into a downpour.
The indoor temperature was comfortable, unaffected by the heavy rain outside.
Song Yushi, wrapped only in a bath towel, sat on the coffee table, sipping from a cup of water held in both hands. Steam rose from the hot water. Droplets clung to her slender, beautiful collarbones, slowly falling onto the carpet at her feet.
Qi Ke, on the other hand, was wearing pajamas. She sat on the carpet, holding Song Yushi’s ankle and examining it closely.
Her palm grew warm as she held the ankle, a tingling numbness spreading through it.
Song Yushi’s ankle trembled almost imperceptibly. She leaned back slightly and asked, “…What are you looking at?”
“Seeing if your foot has healed.” This was Qi Ke’s original intention, something she could tell at a glance. But because she wanted to play with her captain’s ankle, she harbored a selfish motive and was unwilling to let go. “I have to look carefully.”
Song Yushi: “…Did you study medicine?”
Qi Ke hummed in confusion, “No.”
Song Yushi saw through her little scheme. Though she couldn’t rescue her ankle, she wouldn’t let Qi Ke off the hook verbally. “If you didn’t study medicine, you could stare at it for twenty-four hours and still not be able to tell if it’s healed.”
Qi Ke tilted her head, looking completely innocent. “Then what should I do?”
Song Yushi hesitated. “Should I walk a couple of steps?”
Qi Ke was taken aback, then suddenly burst out laughing. She licked her lips and gently kissed Song Yushi’s ankle. Song Yushi flinched and gave her a soft glare. “Hurry up and find me something to wear.”
“Alrighty.” Qi Ke let go of Song Yushi and stood up. “Wait a moment.”
A moment later, she returned from the bedroom, carrying a silk slip dress in her left hand. It was a lotus root pink color that would complement fair, delicate skin, and it swayed from her fingertips. “I’ve only worn it once.”
“Underwear, brand new.”
Tiny cherries, with a light blue lace trim.
Song Yushi reached out her hand. “They’re both quite nice.”
But Qi Ke didn’t give them to her. Leaning against the bedroom doorframe, she tilted her head towards the room. “Come in and change. It’s so cold in the living room. You can go straight to sleep after you change.”
Song Yushi thought that made sense. She put down her cup, stood up, and walked towards Qi Ke.
Who would have thought Qi Ke would be mischievous? With a light flick of her long finger, Song Yushi felt a chill as the loosely tied bath towel fell to the floor with a soft thud.
Song Yushi: “…”
Her face was expressionless.
Qi Ke’s gaze was fixed on Song Yushi. She blinked, inexplicably recalling that time on 《30 Days of Cohabitation Life》 when Meng Ying said the Captain was the fairest in the whole group, so fair she seemed to glow.
And at this moment, under her fervent gaze, that snow-white skin gradually blushed crimson.
Song Yushi appeared calm, but her heart was pounding like a trapped rabbit. She took the slip dress from Qi Ke’s hand and put it on.
Lotus root pink, the fabric light and thin, almost ethereal.
Even more alluring.
Song Yushi’s face grew hot from being stared at. She suddenly reached out and covered Qi Ke’s eyes, muttering softly, “It’s not like you haven’t seen it before. Staring so intently, aren’t you embarrassed?”
Qi Ke didn’t dodge. Her long eyelashes brushed against Song Yushi’s palm, and she watched her with a smile through the slivers of light between her fingers. “I can never get enough of looking at you.”
Song Yushi’s face flushed slightly. She slowly moved her hand away, but Qi Ke caught her by the wrist.
Qi Ke guided her hand, placing her palm on her own face.
Qi Ke looked at her, turned her head, and kissed her palm. Her eyes burned brightly with love and desire. “When you look at me, can you ever get enough?”
Song Yushi froze for a moment, then slowly shook her head.
It was so strange. She had known Qi Ke for so many years, watched her for so many years, and liked her for so many years. Yet she had never had enough of looking at her, never had enough of loving her. That feeling of affection, which should have been light, had only grown more intense with the passage of time.
Song Yushi had a meeting at the studio in the morning, went to an audition in the afternoon, and rushed to find Qi Ke in the evening. She had just spent nearly an hour fooling around with Qi Ke in the bathroom, and after a hot shower, she was already sleepy, almost ready to pass out the moment she lay on the bed.
But Qi Ke wasn’t sleepy at all.
She stretched out a long arm, pulled Song Yushi into her embrace, and began to pester her intermittently.
“Captain.”
“Hmm?” The Captain was so sleepy she couldn’t open her eyes.
“Will you come home with me?”
“…Haven’t I been back several times already?”
“It’s different!”
Song Yushi forced her eyes open.
The lights were already off. By the light of the streetlamps visible through the window amidst the thunder and lightning, Song Yushi stared blankly at Qi Ke’s chin. She couldn’t resist planting a kiss on it before remembering to ask, “…How is it different?”
Qi Ke played with Song Yushi’s long hair, chattering away. “You see, the first time you went as a good friend. The second time, you were pretending to be my girlfriend. The third time… was just you. None of those count as properly meeting the parents.”
Song Yushi couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ve met them twice, and not a single time counts.”
Qi Ke: “Mhm!”
Song Yushi: “…”
Qi Ke added, “Neither time did they give you a red envelope.”
Song Yushi: “…They did.”
Qi Ke was caught off guard. “Huh?”
“The second time.” Song Yushi yawned. The rainy night felt a bit chilly, so she snuggled deeper into Qi Ke’s embrace. “Your mother gave it to me.”
“Behind my back?”
“Mmm…” Song Yushi’s voice was low, muffled against Qi Ke’s chest. “That time we were looking at the roses. She said a lot to me.”
“Was she badmouthing me?”
Song Yushi smiled and shook her head. “She said our Keke was pampered since she was little, never suffered any hardships. She never expected her to achieve anything great, just wanted her to be happy. But now that she’s so amazing, the whole family is very proud.”
Qi Ke’s face grew warm as she listened, and she muttered under her breath, “…Why would she say all that?”
“She also said their Keke has never been in a relationship, so if she does anything wrong, I should be patient with her.”
“…I thought she’d say to just break up if I did something wrong.”
“She said that later, too.”
“Hey—” Qi Ke protested, but couldn’t help her curiosity. “So how did you answer?”
Song Yushi was silent for a moment before saying slowly, “I said, from now on, she’s our Keke.”
A simple sentence, a clear and tender declaration of sovereignty. Qi Ke’s nose tingled, and she hugged Song Yushi tightly.
The night grew quiet.
Just when Song Yushi thought she could finally sleep until dawn, Qi Ke spoke again.
“Zhou Er is still chasing Meng Ying.”
“…”
“She brought it on herself. Who knows what year she’ll finally win her over.”
“…”
“Look how good we have it. Who else is as mutually in love as we are?”
“…”
Song Yushi was dead tired and couldn’t be bothered to respond.
Who would have thought Qi Ke would suddenly kiss her, her fingertips tracing a fiery path downwards. The kiss grew more and more passionate, their panting audible.
Qi Ke’s voice was muffled. “Do you have anything tomorrow?”
A soft moan was swallowed. Song Yushi shook her head. As Qi Ke’s movements grew bolder, she flipped over, pinning Qi Ke beneath her.
Qi Ke blinked.
Her eyes, now adjusted to the darkness, saw as if through a black veil. Hazy and indistinct, they reflected Qi Ke’s flushed face and glistening lips.
Song Yushi felt dizzy from being teased, her body’s reaction obvious. Annoyed, she went to bite Qi Ke’s lips, but fearing she would hurt her, she turned it into a gentle lick instead.
Slowly, she closed her eyes.
And fell asleep on top of Qi Ke.
Qi Ke didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Not daring to move, she placed a hand on the back of Song Yushi’s head, gently stroking it, and whispered, “Goodnight, baby.”
The midsummer rain came on fiercely, sweeping across the sky.
【Report from the front lines! Keke and the Little Captain are at the talent show! It wasn’t on their schedules, and neither of their fansites had any news. They were so quiet! Speechless! It’s delaying my CP shipping!】
【Don’t believe fake rumors. Keke should be in Changzhou right now, and the Little Captain is in Yunzhou, but there’s no official schedule.】
【It’s fine to want them to appear together, but I’m not eating fake melons.】
【They really are here for the recording!!! My older cousin is a contestant manager on the show! Hold on, I’ll post a picture.】
Soon, the picture was posted.
The camera was far away and the shot was rushed, so the picture was very blurry. You could only vaguely make out Song Yushi and Qi Ke walking side by side; any more detail was impossible to see.
【Uh… this picture… next commenter, take it away.】
【Personal suggestion: pixelate the whole picture, slap an “XX Entertainment” watermark on it, and submit it to an unscrupulous marketing account to break the news that a certain famous, popular CP in the industry has been exposed. Just a random suggestion, don’t attack me.】
【Hahahahaha, and then draw two boxes on the picture to label who is who, and add their high-definition ID photos so passersby can recognize them.】
【Not bad, that’s the spirit. Whether Qi Yu can publicly come out all depends on this! [doge]】
At the talent show training base, outside a certain practice room.
Xiao Nan watched the topic in the Super Topic stray further and further off-topic. She silently put her phone away and peered inside through the glass window on the practice room door.
The trainees not only had to practice, but also had to record game segments and do post-interviews. They went in batches, which left one practice room empty.
It had been requisitioned by the two mentors.
“We used to dance so in sync.” Qi Ke sat cross-legged on the floor, looking up at the TV mounted on the wall. “Look, even Meng Ying didn’t miss a single beat.”
On the TV, on the stage, all the members of Sweet Day were dancing to 《Cherry》.
Beautiful, sparkling girls.
A sweet, girly song, a textbook girl group dance performance, worthy of being worshipped and admired by their juniors, who could never quite capture its essence no matter how they tried to learn it.
“We rehearsed day and night. We did the dress rehearsal alone more than twenty times,” Song Yushi said faintly. “My hands and feet would be ice-cold before going on stage, always feeling like I wasn’t ready. The most confident one in the whole group—”
“Was Meng Ying.” Qi Ke, holding the remote, laughed so hard her shoulders shook. “She was pushed by the Captain to practice in the room until she was exhausted, so she was fearless when she went on stage.”
Song Yushi pursed her lips into a smile and retorted, “I wasn’t that demonic.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she poked Qi Ke in the waist. “Stop sitting around. You have to dance in the opening. Don’t forget the moves and embarrass yourself on stage. Dance it once for me.”
Qi Ke knelt up, narrowing her eyes to see through her captain. “Are you afraid I’ll forget the moves, or do you just want to watch me dance right now?”
Her Ladyship the Captain’s expression didn’t change. “I’m afraid, and I also want to watch.”
“Alrighty!” Qi Ke stood up, tied her long hair back with a hair tie, her light purple hair flying in the air. She straightened her clothes and kicked off her shoes. “I’ll dance just for my captain.”
Qi Ke got into her starting position.
A light drumbeat echoed in the practice room.
Outside the practice room.
The first batch of trainees returned. They stacked up like a human pyramid at the door, one, two, three, four little heads peeking in. They all shook their heads, clucking their tongues. “Teacher Qi and Teacher Song are so sweet.”
“Teacher Qi dances so well! Has she really not danced in three or four years? She must have been practicing secretly!”
“Is this the quality of a top-tier idol? I’m taking notes in my little notebook to learn.”
“The way Teacher Song looks at Teacher Qi is so gentle. Aww, so sweet. Isn’t this the legendary ‘But I only want to look into her eyes, I don’t care what the millions are cheering for’.”
“This is the group spirit Teacher Song was telling us about!”
The other trainees: “…”
No! You’ve misunderstood!
This is fucking love!
That evening, the video of Song Yushi and Qi Ke reliving 《Cherry》 was uploaded to Weibo by the talent show’s official account. The recording was clear, providing solid proof that Song Yushi and Qi Ke were at the talent show.
【666, Sister Ming told you to hide your schedule, but it got released anyway, didn’t it? Stop trying to break up my CP!!!】
【Is this… a Renaissance?】
【Crying my eyes out. I was just rewatching Sweet Day’s 《Cherry》 stage fancams, each one has tens of millions of views. I can fucking savor this for another five hundred years. @Mangosteen Entertainment, give me a sixth-anniversary reunion tour immediately!】
【It’s not an exaggeration to say Sweet Day is the ceiling for domestic entertainment girl groups, right?】
【They’re the fucking stratosphere!!!】
【Uh, let me just say, Meng Ying is in there too, so you don’t have to hype them up that much, right?】
【Excuse me, do you really think Meng Ying has no fans? Our Meng Ying was a beautiful belle from her debut. She was a pretty vase, but she didn’t drag the group down. Go search for her highlight moments on a certain site yourself. A little beauty descending to the mortal world to face a trial, with perfect variety show appeal, what more could you ask for? She’s already retired from the industry, so stepping on her now is just disgusting.】
【Speaking of Meng Ying, I have to advertise. “Spicy Be It” Hot Pot Restaurant, authentic Chongqing hot pot, is now grandly open. For the first month, dine-in is 50% off! Get a membership card for even more discounts! Address: No. XX, XX Street, XX District, Yunzhou City.】
After replying to the malicious comment with her side account, Meng Ying clapped her hands and continued tapping on her calculator, click-clacking away as she calculated the day’s revenue. Once she calculated that she had broken even, she put down the calculator with satisfaction.
“Finished calculating?”
Across the desk, a sofa was placed against the wall, its luxuriousness clashing with the surroundings. Zhou Er was sitting on it. Seeing Meng Ying stop, she immediately put down her phone.
Meng Ying rested her chin on her hand, as if just remembering Zhou Er was there. She let out an “ah” and said, “Why haven’t you left yet?”
Zhou Er: “…”
How was she supposed to tell Meng Ying that she was busy fighting with people online?
After a moment of silence, she chose to avoid the topic. “I was watching your group’s old performance videos. Are you done calculating? Want to watch together?”
Meng Ying frowned slightly and muttered, “I don’t want to watch. I was the worst dancer, always off-beat.”
Zhou Er opened a video from the public feed. It was another song, a sweet school-themed one. The five girls were wearing Japanese-style school uniforms with twin pigtails.
The scent of lime, the feeling of an eighteen-year-old’s summer, rushed forward.
Zhou Er said, “I think you danced the best.”
Meng Ying retorted, “Are you blind?”
Zhou Er smoothly replied, “If I were blind, I wouldn’t have fallen for you.”
Meng Ying: “…”
She suddenly remembered there was still a score she hadn’t settled.
So brazen in her evasion. Zhou Er helplessly turned off the video. In the light and shadow of the floor lamp, she rested her chin on her hand and continued to watch Meng Ying quietly.
Patient and focused.
A week later, at the live recording of the talent show’s mentor collaboration stage.
Qi Ke: Where are you?
Song Yushi: Post-interview.
Qi Ke: This trashy procedure is deliberately separating us. When I’m doing makeup, you’re changing clothes. When I’m changing, you’re doing makeup. When I’m in my interview, you’re watching the trainees. When you’re in your interview, I’m watching the trainees.
Song Yushi: We were supposed to avoid each other anyway. See you on stage. I’ll be waiting for your opening dance.
Qi Ke: …Post on Weibo and praise me.
Song Yushi: Okay.
The talent show mentor collaboration stage officially began at 7 PM at the Yunzhou City Gymnasium. Guest mentor Qi Ke led the trainees in the opening dance, recreating Sweet Day’s 《Cherry》 stage.
They only danced half the song. The ending pose was explosively sweet. Qi Ke made a heart sign at the camera and gently winked her left eye.
Wink.
At the same time, Song Yushi, who was at the mentors’ table, quietly slipped away. She swiped two stage photos from Qi Ke’s assistant and posted them on Weibo.
@Song Yushi: Like.
It had been almost three months since Song Yushi last mentioned Qi Ke on Weibo. The moment this post went up, it immediately shattered the rumors that Qi Yu had broken up. The CP fans and shippers collectively went wild.
Only after posting did Song Yushi remember Sister Ming. She sent her a message.
Song Yushi: 【If you don’t know what to say, just act cute first.gif】
Sister Ming: 【Vomiting blood.jpg】 Acting cute is useless! What are you doing! Is this an official announcement! Is it too late for me to give you back to Sister Fei?
Song Yushi: 【Qi Ke, fierce.gif】
Sister Ming: …Talk properly. Stop showing off your love by sending your girlfriend’s sticker memes.
Song Yushi: Translation: If you give me back to Sister Fei, Qi Ke will get angry. She’s scary when she’s fierce.
Sister Ming: You’ve seen it?
Song Yushi: No.
Sister Ming: Then how do you know?
Song Yushi: Imagination.
Sister Ming: …
You have to let your imagination take flight for this too?!
Sister Ming: 【Whatever, I’m just an ordinary corporate slave.jpg】
Song Yushi: 【There is no difficult work! Only brave doggos!.jpg】
Sister Ming: …Spend less time surfing the internet, and stop saving sticker memes from the Sweet Day group chat.
Song Yushi: ?
Sister Ming: Your public persona has completely collapsed!
Meanwhile, in Song Yushi and Qi Ke’s couple Super Topic, a CP fan had already coined a famous saying: “If she doesn’t specify what she likes, we’ll assume she likes the person!”
As it spread, by the time it reached the outside world, it had become: Song Yushi said she likes Qi Ke!
The Sweet Day group chat was buzzing with activity.
Zhong Yi: Watching the little live video Meng Ying sent, I’m really starting to miss the days when we were in the group.
Chengzhi: Yeah, back then, no matter how big the problem, it was always the five of us together. After disbanding, you have to do everything alone. It’s actually quite lonely.
Meng Ying: On a stage with five people, slacking off isn’t even noticeable.
Zhong Yi: ?
Chengzhi: ??
Meng Ying: The Captain is on stage. The all-rounder ACE is our captain, after all. The stage is super explosive! I think four people from her team can debut, all from the upper ranks. Aww, outstanding people are just drawn to each other, just like me and the Captain.
Zhong Yi: I advise you to retract that message quickly. Qi Ke is still in the group. Don’t let @Qi Ke see it.
Chengzhi: Right, retract it quickly, don’t let @Qi Ke see it.
Meng Ying didn’t reply for a long time. By the time she saw the messages, Qi Ke’s mentor collaboration stage had also ended. She got up to leave and head to the dressing room to find Song Yushi while opening the group messages.
Seeing this, she replied: So what if Qi Ke sees it? Qi Ke’s stage just now was super explosive too! Her eye makeup was so, so pretty, so bling-bling!
Chengzhi & Zhong Yi: …
Our beautiful idiot, just how did she manage to make her hot pot restaurant so successful all by herself?
On the other side.
After the performance, Qi Ke and the trainees were kept on stage by the host for a brief interaction with the live audience.
Qi Ke, panting, took the microphone. She first offered a few words of encouragement to the trainees, then greeted the fans in the audience, before leaving the stage to the trainees. After the trainees had each said their piece, the host cued the next step: “Alright, Teacher Qi and the trainees, please head backstage for a short break.”
Qi Ke breathed a sigh of relief. After leaving the stage, she saw her assistant waiting and hurriedly asked, “Where’s my phone?”
The assistant handed her the phone.
Refreshed Weibo.
@Song Yushi: Like.
Three minutes later, the door to Song Yushi’s private dressing room was pushed open.
The hem of a skirt flew up, and the scent of Sicilian citrus and orange rushed in. Before Song Yushi could see who it was, she was pushed down onto the sofa. Soft lips pressed against hers.
A rushed and passionate kiss.
Song Yushi had just drunk some coffee, and the bitter taste on her lips and tongue was dissolved by the kiss. Her senses were filled with Qi Ke’s scent. She was stunned for a moment, then, still in the position she’d been pushed into, she wrapped her arms around Qi Ke’s neck, actively parting her lips to let Qi Ke in.
The sound of kissing, a wet, stirring noise, was clear in the quiet dressing room.
After a long while, Qi Ke released Song Yushi.
Their noses touched, rubbing gently. Her voice, hoarse from just having sung, held a hint of a smile. “Like what?”
Song Yushi smiled too, her dimples appearing faintly. She replied obediently, “Like you.”
“Say it again.”
“Like you.”
“Like who?”
“Qi Ke.”
“Um…”
A trembling voice came from the window, interrupting their sweet moment.
Qi Ke’s head shot up.
Only then did she realize there was another person in the dressing room—Meng Ying, holding a cup of coffee, stood dumbfounded by the window, a look of shock and disbelief on her face. She slowly raised her hand. “…I think I need an explanation.”
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