“What smells sour?” In the heat of her anger, Lin Yi didn’t catch on at first. She lowered her head and sniffed. “Isn’t the perfume I’m wearing the same as yours? Where is-”
Her words caught in her throat. “…What are you talking about!?”
People were coming and going backstage, and the two of them standing in the hallway were attracting attention. Several staff members even took out their phones to film them. Zhou Shichen pulled her aside, a smile in her voice. “You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?”
“I’m not…” Lin Yi said, eager to argue. Then, as if remembering something, she lowered her voice to a shout. “I’m not jealous!”
Zhou Shichen nodded, playing along. “Okay, you’re not jealous.”
Lin Yi nodded back. “Good, as long as you know!”
“Well, I’m going to find Yanyan now. Do you want to come with me?” Zhou Shichen tucked her long hair back, the pearl clip in her hair swaying gently. “If you don’t want to see her, that’s fine too. You can head back to the set. Isn’t Shen Yujia about to come on?”
“…” Lin Yi’s feet shifted. She wanted to leave but was unwilling. In a small voice, she said, “I already told you, she’s talking to someone. Won’t you be interrupting if you go in?”
“Interrupting what? I can have her introduce me and make a new friend.” Zhou Shichen was completely unconcerned. “I haven’t seen Yanyan in over half a month. I really miss her. I can’t wait until the show is over.”
“You miss her?” Lin Yi’s voice rose.
Zhou Shichen nodded frankly. “I do. Don’t you?”
Lin Yi immediately shot back, “Of course not!”
“Oh,” Zhou Shichen said. “Then you go back first. I’ll come find you after I’ve talked with her for a bit.”
“I-”
“Alright, alright.” Seeing that she wasn’t leaving, Zhou Shichen helped turn her around. “Be good, now. I’m not forcing you to see Yanyan if you don’t want to, but you can’t stop me from seeing her, can you?”
She had a point.
Lin Yi took two steps forward, her high heels clacking on the marble floor. She muttered a defense, “I’m not stopping you from seeing her. It’s just… it’s just…”
She started to say “it’s just” but couldn’t come up with a reason, and Zhou Shichen was already heading toward Xu Shuyan’s dressing room.
Lin Yi: “…”
Her hands by her sides clenched into fists, the rings on her long, well-defined fingers glinting. A complex mix of emotions churned inside her-aggrievedness and anger coexisted, a whirlwind of flavors she tasted all at once.
She thought Xu Shuyan was truly infuriating. She’d been in LA for half a month, attending the same event as them, but hadn’t said a word beforehand. She’d appeared on stage out of nowhere, singing a song that had been a pleasant surprise, and then rushed over as soon as she got off stage, only for Lin Yi to see a scene like that.
Yes, a scene like that was perfectly normal.
It was just Xu Shuyan talking to someone else. There was nothing wrong with smiling, but did she have to smile so radiantly?
She was just annoyed. Annoyed that Xu Shuyan was smiling so happily. Annoyed that her own excited rush to see her had been met with a bucket of cold water. Annoyed that Xu Shuyan, without saying a single word, could so recklessly throw her heart into turmoil.
“Teacher Lin?” A passing staff member stopped and asked with concern, “Is there anything you need help with?”
Lin Yi snapped back to reality and shook her head. “What part of the show are we on?”
The staff member replied, “The contestants are split into Group A and Group B for their performances. Group B has just started.” She smiled. “I know you’re here for Teacher Shen Yujia. If you’re tired, why don’t you go to the dressing room to rest? I can call you before Teacher Shen goes on stage.”
Lin Yi shook her head. “No, that’s okay.”
She lifted the hem of her dress and stepped aside. “I’m going back to the set now.”
“Okay, I’ll take you there,” the staff member said.
Distracted, Lin Yi nodded. In her current dazed state, she really couldn’t find her way back on her own. She followed the staff member for a moment before stopping again.
“Teacher Lin?”
Lin Yi closed her eyes. “I just remembered I have something to discuss with Shichen. I need to go back. You can go on ahead, don’t worry about me.”
After the staff member left, she hesitated for two seconds. She didn’t go to the set, nor did she go looking for Zhou Shichen. Instead, she walked into the dressing room the organizers had arranged for her.
Her mind was a mess right now.
She couldn’t face the cameras, and she couldn’t face Xu Shuyan.
The dressing room was small, and the heating was stronger. The warmth slowly crept over her cold, exposed skin, gradually warming her up. She took off her high heels, placed them by the sofa, and stared blankly out the window at the deep night.
B City had officially entered winter. The night was heavy and cold. A thin layer of frost coated the glass, blurring even the nightscape.
Just like her own heart, which she couldn’t figure out.
The forums had eight hundred threads guessing what would happen when she went backstage to find Xu Shuyan. They had already defined the two of them as a little couple who had been in a long-distance relationship for ages. Meeting under such surprising circumstances, if they didn’t kiss until the world turned upside down, it would be a disservice to heaven, to earth, and to the red string of fate the internet matchmakers had tied into a dead knot.
Lin Yi thought of the kiss in the snow from her dream.
Even though it had never happened, the touch of their lips felt so real.
Later, she figured it must have been a residual physical memory from the night of Chen Yuan’s wedding. Xu Shuyan must have kissed her like that, pressing her down on the bed, body against body, lips against lips, tongue against tongue-far more R-rated than the snowy landscape in her dream.
…She had never been properly kissed by Xu Shuyan while fully awake.
At that thought, Lin Yi shook her head violently. The scene she’d witnessed in the other dressing room flashed before her eyes. She thought resentfully, Kiss my ass. Even if Xu Shuyan wanted to kiss her, she wouldn’t let her!
There was a TV in the dressing room, silently broadcasting the show. Lin Yi turned up the volume just in time to hear the host announce, “Let’s welcome our challenger! Shen Yujia!”
Shen Yujia was about to go on?!
Lin Yi kept her eyes on the TV as she reached for her high heels beside the sofa. Just as her fingers brushed against them, she heard a knock on the door. The dull, steady sound cut through the cheers from the show, making her heart skip a beat.
Thump.
Thump-thump.
Lin Yi nervously licked her lips. It must be Zhou Shichen, right? She’s done talking to Xu Shuyan and remembered me? She’s here to get me to go to the set with her? But-
But this is Zhou Shichen’s dressing room too. Would she knock?
The person outside was still knocking.
It was just like the doorbell on the morning Xu Shuyan flew to LA-patiently and intently waiting for her to open the door, as if certain she would come, sooner or later.
Lin Yi considered not answering. She hated the feeling of being seen through. She wanted to regain control. But a small voice in her heart was coaxing her: Go on, open the door. You know who’s knocking. People are coming and going out there, and everyone’s eyes will be on the person at the door, speculating, gossiping. How awkward is that? Just open the door. Besides…
The small voice added, “Don’t you miss her?”
By the time Lin Yi realized what she was doing, she had already called out, “Come in.” There were two seconds of silence from outside, then the doorknob turned. The moment the door opened, she heard Shen Yujia’s self-introduction, her voice exceptionally cool, which sounded abrupt in the lively venue but perfectly mirrored the atmosphere in the dressing room.
It was so quiet it was suffocating. The only sound was the thunderous beating of her heart.
Xu Shuyan was still wearing the outfit from her performance-a white shirt and a plaid skirt. Her makeup was sweet and Japanese-inspired, making her look like an upperclassman walking through a campus in spring to see the cherry blossoms. She turned sideways to close the door, then snapped her fingers in the air. “What are you thinking about?”
Lin Yi blinked but didn’t speak.
“Shichen said you came looking for me.” Xu Shuyan walked over hesitantly, her long, fair legs visible beneath the sharp pleats of her skirt. “So why did you leave without talking to me? Did I sing well? Was it an improvement from the concert?”
Lin Yi still didn’t say anything, but her gaze traveled up the buttons of the white shirt to Xu Shuyan’s face.
She had lost some weight.
Lin Yi thought that she had been too far away and in too much of a hurry earlier to get a good look. Now that she was closer and had more time, she could see that Xu Shuyan was a bit thinner. Her waist was more slender, looking like it could be encircled with one hand. The baby fat on her face had receded slightly, making the lines of her profile more defined. When she smiled at her, she looked radiant.
“Why aren’t you talking?” Xu Shuyan walked over and crouched in front of her, her eyes glancing to the side. “Do you want to put on your shoes?”
Lin Yi opened her mouth. “I-”
She only managed to get out a single syllable before Xu Shuyan’s next action shocked her into swallowing the rest of her words. Xu Shuyan naturally took hold of her foot and carefully guided it into the high heel. When she looked up and smiled, her eyes curved, as if holding starlight. “Now that you’re wearing my glass slipper, can you come home with me?”
Lin Yi’s senses slowly returned. Hearing Xu Shuyan’s words, her face flushed, and she gently pulled her foot back, retorting awkwardly, “It was a prince who put the glass slipper on Cinderella, okay?”
“What era are we in?” Xu Shuyan’s lips twitched. “Isn’t it a princess’s turn to put the slipper on Cinderella?”
“When did I say it wasn’t? I’m talking about the original story-” At this point, Lin Yi realized what was happening and glared at Xu Shuyan. “So you’re the princess and I’m Cinderella, is that it?!”
“You can be the princess and I can be Cinderella, too.” Xu Shuyan sat down next to her, propping her chin in her hand and actually giving it serious thought. “You be Sleeping Beauty. To save you, I endure humiliation at the hands of my stepmother, and I finally get a chance to attend the ball and sneak into the palace. Halfway through the ball, I slip away.”
“…Are you writing a novel over here?” Lin Yi said irritably.
“Let me finish my story.” Xu Shuyan lightly patted the back of her hand, making her heart pound wildly again, before continuing. “Oh, because I had to come find you, I defended the glass slipper with my life, so that cannon-fodder prince doesn’t need to look for me. And so, I secretly came to your bedside.”
Xu Shuyan paused, not saying any more.
Lin Yi was just getting into it and gave her a push. “And then what?”
Xu Shuyan took the opportunity to grab her hand and asked with a smile, “What do you think happens next?”
Lin Yi’s face was still red. She tried to pull her hand away, but Xu Shuyan held on tight. Unable to break free, she said angrily, “How should I know what happens next? I don’t go around changing other people’s stories! If I were the author, I’d sue you for copyright infringement!”
“The copyright has already expired,” Xu Shuyan said, then added helplessly, “Is that the point?”
Lin Yi dodged the question. “Why isn’t it?! It shows I have an awareness of copyright and respect for the original work. If you change things randomly like this, you’ll be criticized for being OOC!”
“And then I kissed you,” Xu Shuyan said.
“…”
On the TV, which was still broadcasting live, Shen Yujia’s song was reaching its end. The final notes were punctuated by the sound of dripping rain, which mixed with the sound of Lin Yi’s heartbeat, growing faster and more frantic.
Xu Shuyan was so serious.
She was just staring at her, her bright eyes like a vast, boundless universe containing only her, focused and full of affection. Lin Yi felt like she couldn’t hold on much longer. The hand held in Xu Shuyan’s palm moved unconsciously, like the brush of a feather, which seemed to give Xu Shuyan a signal. Xu Shuyan tentatively leaned closer.
Closer and closer, her breath growing hotter.
Just one more centimeter. If either of them moved forward just one more centimeter, their lips would touch.
Like on the bed that chaotic night, like in the snow of her dream, they would share a long, tender kiss, or one tinged with desire. It would also fit all the outcomes the forums had predicted for their reunion.
Just one more centimeter.
“Welcome! Welcome, Shen Yujia!”
The host’s voice rang out abruptly, shattering the silence and jolting Lin Yi back to her senses. She quickly leaned back, trying to escape the ambiguous moment, but then her heart softened when she saw the flicker of hurt in Xu Shuyan’s eyes.
She looks so pitiful.
This version of Xu Shuyan, laying all her vulnerability and softness bare for her to see, handing over her weaknesses and emotions. Lin Yi couldn’t bear it. After a moment’s hesitation, she raised her other hand and placed it in front of Xu Shuyan’s lips.
Xu Shuyan lowered her eyes, her thick lashes betraying her emotions. She was nervous; she wasn’t nearly as calm as she appeared.
Lin Yi suppressed her racing heart and tried to keep her voice steady, but a slight tremor was still audible. “I… Xu-Xu Shuyan, I haven’t figured things out yet.”
“I…” She bit her lip, then said with more resolve, “Can you give me a little more time? My head is a mess. I want to think things through more clearly.”
Xu Shuyan slowly raised her eyes.
Her clear eyes glistened with moisture as she looked at Lin Yi pitifully. After a moment, she suddenly smiled, and a tear fell. “My Sleeping Beauty isn’t ready to wake up yet. That’s okay.”
Lin Yi panicked. “You-don’t cry!”
Xu Shuyan sniffled. “Am I crying?” She wiped away the tear. “I’m not crying.”
“Are you lying with your eyes wide open?” Lin Yi couldn’t stand Xu Shuyan’s stubbornness. She touched the corner of her eye, looking for evidence. “See? If this isn’t a tear, what is it? Don’t cry. I told you to give me some time so I can think it over. I don’t want to just stumble into this. I-”
Xu Shuyan grabbed her wrist, slid her hand up until their palms met, and pressed it against her own cheek.
Lin Yi: “!!!”
She grew flustered. “What are you doing!”
Xu Shuyan pouted. “If you do this, I won’t cry.”
Lin Yi: “…”
Ugh, Xu Shuyan is so annoying!
She glanced at the TV again. Shen Yujia was already seated with the other contestants, and here she was, flirting with Xu Shuyan… No, no, no! What flirting! There was no flirting! She meant, here she was, bickering with Xu Shuyan over nothing and missing Shen Yujia’s performance!
The thought angered her. Lin Yi pulled her hand back, wondering if it was too late to sneak back to the set, when she heard Xu Shuyan ask, “Why didn’t you come in when you were looking for me earlier?”
If Xu Shuyan hadn’t brought it up, it would have been fine, but the reminder made Lin Yi angry all over again. She ground her teeth. “Because I didn’t want to disturb you.”
Xu Shuyan paused. “Disturb what?”
Still pretending, Lin Yi thought, her tone growing increasingly sarcastic. “Disturb you from bonding with your international friend, of course. Wow! I’ve really seen it all now. Our The Notes’ aloof rapper, smiling like a flower. If word got out, it would ruin your image, you know!”
“What international friend? What smiling like a flower?” Xu Shuyan was completely baffled, then she let out a belated “ah.” “You mean Sarah?”
Sarah?
“Don’t know her, not familiar with her, don’t care,” Lin Yi said.
“She’s the director of my music video this time,” Xu Shuyan explained. “She’s always wanted to visit the country, and her schedule happened to line up, so she came back with me.”
She tugged on Lin Yi’s arm. “There’s nothing between us!”
“Get your hands off me!” Lin Yi shook her off, speaking with righteous indignation. “What’s between you two has nothing to do with me! I’m not your anything, so why are you explaining this to me? People will get the wrong idea!”
But Xu Shuyan just smiled, relentlessly tugging at Lin Yi again. “Well, I’m explaining it to whoever’s jealous.”
“Y-y-you, don’t talk nonsense!” Lin Yi stammered, glaring at her with a bravado she didn’t feel. “I could sue you for slander and defamation! I have my own personal studio now, you know. I can send you a lawyer’s letter!”
Xu Shuyan nodded slowly. “That works. The first lawyer’s letter my studio sends out will be to me. I’d be deeply honored.”
Lin Yi: “…Get lost!”
She huffed. “Wouldn’t that kill our CP?”
Xu Shuyan was puzzled. “They’d ship that?”
Lin Yi looked at her as if she were an amateur. “It’s trendy to ship BEs now. The more tragic the ending, the more real it feels, the more obsessed people get. If we tore each other apart like that, it would be even better to ship.”
“How would that be better?” Xu Shuyan asked, eager to learn.
“If things got that ugly, they must have been in love, right?” Lin Yi said.
“Mhm, we were,” Xu Shuyan replied.
“…” Lin Yi shot her an annoyed look. “Were?”
Xu Shuyan corrected herself seriously. “Are.”
Lin Yi: “…”
Xu Shuyan frowned, a new problem occurring to her. “But if we uncouple and stop doing fan service, won’t they just keep shipping us?”
Lin Yi tapped her on the forehead. “Are you dense? It’s a different group of people.”
Xu Shuyan let out a slow “ah,” touching the spot on her forehead Lin Yi had tapped. “So, can we go to dinner together tonight?”
“…I don’t think so,” Lin Yi said. “I already made plans with Shen Yujia.”
Xu Shuyan muttered something under her breath about Shen Yujia again. Lin Yi didn’t quite hear it. “What?”
She put on a bright smile. “Nothing. I’ll go eat with Shichen then.”
“Aren’t you going to the celebration party?” Lin Yi asked.
After the finale, the organizers were hosting a celebration party. Even if the guests didn’t want to attend, they were expected to make an appearance. But someone with a free-spirited personality like Shen Yujia would naturally refuse an event she didn’t want to deal with and invited Lin Yi instead. Lin Yi was only at the finale to show her support anyway, so she had also declined the party.
Xu Shuyan shook her head. “I just came to sing a song. I’m not interested in the show.”
–Just to sing a song.
To sing a song for her, right?
Lin Yi’s face turned red. She mumbled an “mhm.” “Let’s go to the set.” After a pause, she added, “I’ll go first. You come a few minutes later.”
Xu Shuyan: “…Okay.”
Why does this feel like we’re having an affair?
[What on earth did Lin Yi and Xu Shuyan go off to do? Why aren’t they back yet? The finale is almost over! They couldn’t be passionately doing it in the dressing room, could they… Is that appropriate! Please respect the competition! I mean, one round is fine, just don’t take too long!]
[Zhou Shichen: Where are my group members? Where did my two very large group members go?]
[Tonight I’m going to passionately write a Yan Zhi You Yi dressing room play hehehe drools]
[A Lin Yi fan at the venue says Lin Yi is back! Hair isn’t messy, lipstick isn’t smudged! She and Xu Shuyan are innocent! They didn’t do it! They didn’t kiss!]
[She touched up her makeup.]
[What good does it do you to piss off the solo fans?]
[Xu Shuyan is back too! What a scheming little couple! They even came back separately! You think I don’t know you two were getting busy in the dressing room!]
[Hehe, I saw through this little couple’s tricks long ago…]
[Go back and do it to your heart’s content after the show is over, okay!]
The CP fans eagerly awaited updates from the front lines, hoping to hear that Lin Yi and Xu Shuyan went to dinner together or to the celebration party after the competition ended. But they waited and waited, only to get the news: “Ran into Zhou Shichen and Xu Shuyan at a barbecue restaurant.”
CP Fans: ??? Did you miss someone!
The person who ran into them: It was just the two of them.
CP Fans: I don’t believe it! Investigate further! Report back!
Twenty minutes later, someone else posted on Weibo: “Oh my god! I just ran into Lin Yi at a hot pot restaurant! Is that Shen Yujia next to her, the one who successfully challenged today?!”
CP Fans: …Is this the tragic, profound love story of ‘you love hot pot, I love barbecue, so we must be apart’? Sob, sob, sob, Xu Shuyan! You used to love Lin Yi so much, you even went with her to eat nine-grid hot pot! And now? Now you have Zhou Shichen, and she has Shen Yujia. You’ve both found better people, is that it?
Lin Yi was having a great time talking with Shen Yujia, completely unaware that the CP fans had already gone through a round of depression. When she finally remembered to check her phone, she saw that Xu Shuyan had sent her a message half an hour ago.
AAA Xu Shuyan: The production team didn’t arrange a place for me to stay, and this hotel is fully booked. What should I do?
Ten minutes later.
AAA Xu Shuyan: I’m in Shichen’s room now. She said she can take me in.
And then the most recent message.
AAA Xu Shuyan: But I want to share a room with you.
Lin Yi replied: My room only has one bed.
AAA Xu Shuyan: Mhm.
AAA Xu Shuyan: Shichen’s room also only has one bed.
Lin Yi: “…”
Xu Shuyan was making her choose: either watch as Xu Shuyan slept in the same bed as Zhou Shichen, or let down her final defenses and make room for Xu Shuyan in her bed.
…How devious.
How had she never noticed how sly Xu Shuyan was before?
Lin Yi cupped her face, which was flushed from the heating, and agonized for a long while. It was only when she typed out “Come to my room” that she realized her struggle was pointless. Her heart had already made its decision.
She now liked… Xu Shuyan, just a tiny little bit. How could she possibly let Xu Shuyan sleep with someone else?
Alarm bells went off in Lin Yi’s head. She didn’t even like Xu Shuyan that much yet, but she already couldn’t stand the thought of this. What would happen when she liked Xu Shuyan a lot, a whole lot?
No, she couldn’t like Xu Shuyan too much.
Having made up her mind, Lin Yi nodded solemnly. Looking back at the chat, a new message had arrived from Xu Shuyan: “So when are you coming back?”
Lin Yi lacked confidence. “I’ll be back as soon as I’m done!”
AAA Xu Shuyan: And when will that be?
Lin Yi: …Soon.
AAA Xu Shuyan: Waiting for you.
In the past, during their years as dorm mates, if Xu Shuyan had messaged her saying she was waiting in the dorm, it definitely meant she had a score to settle. Lin Yi would have dragged it out for as long as possible, preferably until Xu Shuyan had fallen asleep before she went back.
But now-
Lin Yi paused for two seconds, put her phone away, and asked Shen Yujia, “Should we head back to the hotel now?”
Shen Yujia let out a questioning hum. “You don’t want to walk around a bit more?”
Lin Yi shook her head. “I have something urgent to take care of.”
Shen Yujia stood up as well and asked casually, “What’s so urgent?”
Lin Yi mumbled, “It’s just… um, a little something urgent.”
It was urgent, but not that urgent. After all, she didn’t like Xu Shuyan that much.
But, Lin Yi mused, her future wife was waiting for her in bed right now. She should be allowed to be just a tiny little bit anxious, right?
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