PTBC chapter 41

Xia Yan didn’t sleep well all night. The next day, when he met Zong Yi on set, both of them were sporting huge dark circles under their eyes, staring at each other blankly.

The makeup artist was nearly on the verge of losing it.

Xia Yan was still somewhat okay since his role as a forest ranger was meant to look haggard.

But Zong Yi, who played a pampered and carefree rich young master in a flashback scene, had to look innocent and untouched by the world.

The makeup artist frantically dabbed concealer all over Zong Yi’s face.

After the makeup was done and there was still some time before filming, Zong Yi and Xia Yan hid in a corner, cautiously sipping iced Americanos while Zong Yi stared at Xia Yan in confusion.

He asked, “It’s understandable I didn’t sleep well. I was stressed because of Zhao Ye. But why are you so sleep-deprived? Were you gaming all night?”

Xia Yan shot a vicious glare at Zong Yi, thinking, You have the nerve to ask.

Frustrated, Xia Yan took a fierce sip of his coffee and muttered, “I wasn’t gaming. Maybe it was too noisy next door, and I couldn’t sleep.”

Zong Yi was even more puzzled. “Isn’t the room next to yours empty?”

“…”

Xia Yan rolled his eyes. “Then maybe it was the floor above me.”

He really didn’t feel like dealing with Zong Yi’s lack of awareness. Yet the guy kept prying, oblivious to the fact that he was the root of his sleepless night.

They lingered in the corner for a while. Zong Yi stared at his phone, looking conflicted as if he wanted to text someone but kept hesitating. His face was full of melancholy.

Xia Yan could guess without a doubt that the other person was Zhao Ye.

After watching him for a bit, Xia Yan thought about the analysis posts he had stayed up reading the previous night. His eyes shifted mischievously.

He suddenly cleared his throat and casually asked, “So, if Zhao Ye likes you, how does he usually act around you?”

Zong Yi, caught off guard by the question, looked confused. “Why do you ask?”

“Curiosity. I’ve never seen this whole ‘gay romance within the team’ dynamic,” Xia Yan replied without missing a beat. “Plus, I just want to know how much he actually likes you—whether it’s just a fleeting crush or something real.”

Zong Yi blinked a few times, unsure why Xia Yan cared about this, but as the famously nice guy he was, he obediently answered.

“Well, I’m not exactly sure how to describe it. Before he confessed, he was always sticking to me, wanting to be with me wherever I went. Even during variety shows, he’d insist on sitting next to me. When we traveled, he had to share a room with me. He’d cook for me in the middle of the night and remember all my preferences. Wherever we went, he’d buy me little gifts and share anything he found interesting with me.”

Zong Yi ticked off each detail on his fingers as he spoke, his voice growing quieter, his face flushing a little. “When I got sick, he was the only one who noticed. He stayed with me the whole time. And he’s always arguing with my haters online, constantly defending me.”

When Zong Yi finished, he seemed lost in thought for a moment. Then, he murmured softly, “I guess I was pretty oblivious. Looking back, it’s amazing I didn’t realize something was off.”

Xia Yan was stunned.

Clutching his half-empty iced coffee, he asked incredulously, “That’s… what liking someone looks like? Couldn’t it just be how close friends take care of each other?”

Seriously, everything Zhao Ye did, Xu Cong had done for him—and more.

Even Xia Yan himself had gone to battle with Xu Cong’s haters back when they debuted. He also knew all of Xu Cong’s preferences by heart.

But Zong Yi just gave him a puzzled look and said, “But Zhao Ye doesn’t treat anyone else that way. If Long Weiwei asked him to cook at night, Zhao Ye would just tell him to get lost. When Alan had a fever, Zhao Ye tossed him some fever reducers and told him to stay away from me.”

Xia Yan was speechless.

If that were the standard, then Xu Cong’s behavior toward him was even more suspicious. Xu Cong’s blatant favoritism was borderline outrageous.

His expression shifted between frustration and irritation, so much so that Zong Yi started looking at him curiously.

Sipping his now-watery iced Americano, Xia Yan was silent for three seconds before he suddenly patted Zong Yi on the shoulder. “No matter what, you have to stay strong. Don’t just give in because Zhao Ye is nice to you. We can’t let ourselves be bought off by small gestures of kindness. Have some dignity, okay?”

Zong Yi, utterly baffled, nodded blankly. He couldn’t quite make sense of Xia Yan’s words.

We?

Who’s “we”? What does this have to do with you?

But looking at Xia Yan, pale and weary, with his slender features deliberately accentuated by the makeup artist, and his cracked, purplish lips, Zong Yi swallowed his words.

…..

Over the next few days, Xia Yan’s schedule was packed. As the second male lead, he had a lot of scenes with both the male and female leads, spending almost all day on set.

With how busy he was, he didn’t have much time to think about Xu Cong. He even tried convincing himself that it was probably just overzealous shippers spreading baseless rumors.

To avoid any further overthinking, he deleted all the apps that were flooded with analysis posts about him and Xu Cong. Yet at night, when everything quieted down, those carefully edited clips and the details within them replayed in his mind like a carousel.

On a variety show, when he turned his back to play a game with someone else, Xu Cong’s gaze was visibly tender as he looked at him. But as soon as Xu Cong glanced at the omega partner across from Xia Yan, his eyes turned cold in an instant.

The contrast was startling, seamless, and impossible to ignore.

No matter how much Xia Yan wanted to deny it, he couldn’t find an excuse to dismiss what he’d seen.

Perhaps it was a case of “daytime thoughts manifesting as nighttime dreams,” because one night, Xia Yan even dreamed about Xu Cong.

In his dream, Xu Cong was getting married.

The spouse was an unfamiliar omega—a male.

Although he couldn’t clearly see the face, he could tell the height and long legs. Dressed in a white suit, holding a bouquet of white roses, he looked perfect standing next to Xu Cong.

As a guest, Xia Yan sat in the front row of the observation seats.

He had clearly promised Xu Cong to be his best man, but for some reason, in his dream, the best man was Ye Zhaoyang.

He could only clap along with the other guests below the stage.

He couldn’t quite figure out his emotions—his good friend was getting married, and logically, he should be happy for him.

But when the day actually arrived, he felt a mix of emotions.

It was as though an important part of his life had come to an end.

He thought, perhaps this was due to a hidden sense of possessiveness toward his best friend. It was wrong, and he should control it.

But soon, Xia Yan realized he didn’t need to wrestle with this feeling.

Because Xu Cong had lifted the veil of his partner.

He finally saw the face of Xu Cong’s partner.

It was clearly him.

The tall omega, standing side by side with Xu Cong, had the same face as his, and Xu Cong, smiling, was placing the wedding ring on his hand.

…

Xia Yan couldn’t help but gasp in shock, waking up in an instant.

After waking up, he stared at the hotel ceiling for a long time, still dazed and unable to regain his senses.

He picked up his phone to check the time.

It was 5:00 AM.

The sky was still dark.

The dream was so terrifying, yet every detail was firmly imprinted in his mind. Xia Yan could even recall the wedding chapel and the bridal bouquet.

He opened Xu Cong’s WeChat and saw the familiar gray avatar. It made him furious, and he wanted to scold Xu Cong right away.

But when he actually put his finger on the voice message button, he instantly snapped out of it.

What would he even scold Xu Cong for?

None of this had anything to do with Xu Cong.

It was his own fault for reading those analysis posts from CP fans, his own fault for listening to Zong Yi’s experiences and becoming paranoid. But whether in the past or present, Xu Cong had always been the same.

Xu Cong had never changed.

It was him who had changed.

Xia Yan’s heated mind cooled down. His finger slid off the voice message button.

He placed his phone against his chest.

Although it weighed nothing, it felt like a heavy stone pressing down on his chest.

He sighed quietly and lost all desire to sleep.

He raised his hand to cover his eyes.

The room was dim, with only the soft glow from the nightlight.

For a moment, Xia Yan truly regretted it—why did he have to click on those links sent by Zong Yi?

If he hadn’t seen them…

He wouldn’t have grown suspicious.

He wouldn’t be so uneasy now, as if he were a startled bird.

…

Because of the nightmare, Xia Yan lay in bed until eight o’clock before getting up to wash his face and brush his teeth.

But, as if the heavens were punishing him, as if they were trying to add more chaos to his life, he received a WeChat message from Xu Cong while brushing his teeth.

The message was brief:

“I have the day off the day after tomorrow. I’ll come visit your set.”

A drop of toothpaste foam fell into the sink.

Xia Yan froze for a moment, his pale and slender face reflected in the mirror, water droplets sliding down the side of his face.

Xu Cong said he was coming to visit, but Xia Yan had already been on set for almost a month, and the temporary mark on the back of his neck had already faded.

What was Xu Cong really coming for?

They both knew the answer.