The group chat fell silent once again.
After a good while, Meng Ying sent a “laughing so hard I could die” sticker: Who would have dared to ship themselves with the Captain when we were in the group? @Chengzhi, would you dare?
Chengzhi: I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare.
Meng Ying: I remember one time the Captain and I sang a love song together, and a lot of non-fans were shipping it to death. They even started a CP Super Topic for us, but it got taken down in less than twelve hours. Couldn’t they even let me ride the wave of popularity for a bit!
Meng Ying: speechless, right now I’m just speechless.jpg
Chengzhi: …
The two of them were having a blast chatting in the group, reminiscing about the past with a mix of tears and snot, while the two main characters of the story sat on the sofa in their hotel suite in mutual silence, with only rice balls, eggs, and soy milk for company.
The background noise masked the sound of their breathing.
Qi Ke, while peeling an egg and reading the chat history, said casually, “I’m the one who got that Super Topic shut down.”
Song Yushi was stunned for a moment. “What?”
“Your CP Super Topic with Meng Ying.”
“You?”
“Yes, me.”
“…”
The phone screen on the coffee table went dark automatically. Qi Ke took a bite of her egg, looked up, and said without a hint of guilt, “The Captain is beautiful on her own.”
Song Yushi: “…”
A toxic solo fan, she must be a toxic solo fan!
Song Yushi couldn’t be bothered with her and ate her breakfast quietly, but in her mind, she was calculating how many times in the past half-month she had woken up to the sight of Qi Ke. It was so strange. After barely seeing each other for two years, to suddenly have this person in front of her every day, she felt no sense of unfamiliarity at all.
Was it because Qi Ke naturally had no sense of personal space with people?
As Song Yushi’s thoughts wandered, someone suddenly snapped their fingers by her ear. She slowly came back to her senses and saw Qi Ke looking at her eagerly.
Song Yushi: “…” No sense of personal space = thick-skinned?
Song Yushi: “What is it now?”
Qi Ke wiped her mouth and said naturally, “I asked you in the group just now, you still haven’t answered me.”
—Are you jealous?
Was she jealous?
Song Yushi’s mind wandered for a moment, then she said lightly, “Is there any point in discussing this now?”
Qi Ke: “I…”
“Zhong Yi should be awake. I’m going to find her.” Song Yushi stood up and walked towards the door.
Qi Ke said helplessly, “You haven’t changed your clothes.”
Song Yushi: “…”
Who made a rule that you can’t visit a former teammate in your pajamas?!
No one made a rule that you can’t visit a former teammate in your pajamas, so when Zhong Yi opened the door, what she saw was a glamorous Qi Ke and her former captain, casually wearing hotel slippers with an equally casual hairstyle.
Zhong Yi: “!”
The shock woke her right up.
Song Yushi tugged at the hem of her pajamas, feeling a little awkward. Seeing Zhong Yi still standing there dumbfounded, she pursed her lips. “Move.”
Zhong Yi stiffly made way.
Song Yushi walked in.
Qi Ke followed behind her, also wanting to go in, but was pulled back by Zhong Yi. Zhong Yi had an androgynous style, and her short hair had a cowlick sticking up from sleep, which was now bouncing up and down with her excited tone, making Qi Ke want to find a pair of scissors and snip it off.
By the time she actually registered what Zhong Yi was saying, Zhong Yi was already anxiously speculating whether her captain had been possessed by another soul.
Qi Ke frowned. “What are you talking about?”
Zhong Yi scratched her head sheepishly. “Haha, I’ve been reading a lot of transmigration novels recently…”
“What do you mean, ‘your captain’?” Qi Ke interrupted her.
“It’s my superstition… huh???”
Zhong Yi’s eyes widened.
Qi Ke said seriously, “Watch your wording.”
Zhong Yi: “…”
You really know how to pick out the important details!!!
“What are you two doing?” Song Yushi’s voice came from the living room. “What secrets are you whispering that I can’t hear?”
“Coming!” Zhong Yi glared at Qi Ke and asked in a low voice, “What’s the situation with you two? Did you get back together?”
Qi Ke gave a profound “mm-hm.”
Zhong Yi: “!”
Qi Ke: “Not yet.”
Zhong Yi: “…Can you please not talk with such dramatic pauses!”
Qi Ke gave her a reproachful look. “What are you so anxious about?”
The two were almost at the living room, keeping their voices as low as possible. Zhong Yi was baffled and hissed, “Who the fuck is anxious!!!”
Qi Ke was silent for two seconds, then said, “I am.”
Zhong Yi: “…”
What’s it like to have a teammate who can make you mad enough to die with just a single sentence? She could answer that question!
—Thanks for the question, I’m already dead.
Back when Qi Ke and Song Yushi were dating, they avoided suspicion so well that the whole world thought they weren’t close. Only one person discovered their secret.
And that was Zhong Yi.
Zhong Yi once thought, with a past she couldn’t bear to look back on, that if only she were as carefree as her public persona. But fate plays tricks on people. She, the most handsome in the group, was also the most sensitive, with a young girl’s heart that had a natural radar for the sour stench of love.
At first, it was just some strange signs.
For example, one day when they were going to the company for training, the Captain, who was always punctual and enthusiastic about practice, never late or leaving early, had actually woken up late.
Chengzhi was shocked. “No way? The Captain isn’t up yet?”
Meng Ying, shock x2: “Oh my god, oh my god! The Captain was the last person in the world who, despite being cranky in the morning, was always on time! Not anymore!”
Zhong Yi: “Qi Ke? You share a room with the Captain, is she sick?”
“Yeah,” Qi Ke bit open a milk pouch and took a sip, murmuring, “I asked her to teach me some dance moves last night. There was one move I kept getting wrong. She must be tired. Didn’t want to get out of bed.”
Chengzhi went “ah” and said, “Qi Ke, that’s not right of you.”
Meng Ying chimed in, “Yeah!”
Chengzhi: “The Captain is already so tired. Couldn’t you have waited until today to ask?”
Meng Ying: “Exactly!”
Qi Ke: “…”
She looked at Zhong Yi: Say something, quick!
Zhong Yi: “…”
She held up one index finger. “One question.”
Qi Ke was disappointed. “What?”
Zhong Yi hesitated. “The Captain’s stamina has always been second best in our group. Did you practice Krumping with her? It’s so physically demanding.”
Qi Ke: “Well…”
She changed the subject. “Hey, you guys shouldn’t be too harsh. The Captain is so tired every day, what’s wrong with letting her rest a bit? What’s wrong with her wanting to lie in?” She tapped Chengzhi’s bowl with her chopsticks. “Last time you overslept and missed the training roll call, who covered for you?”
Chengzhi, swayed by her, followed her lead. “It was the Captain.”
Qi Ke turned to Meng Ying again. “When netizens dissed you, saying a chicken would dance better than you if you threw rice on the stage, who spoke up for you?”
Meng Ying said, ashamed, “It was the Captain.”
Qi Ke: “So why do you all have so many questions? Are you going to let the Captain rest or not?”
Chengzhi & Meng Ying: “Let the Captain rest!”
The perceptive Zhong Yi: “…”
This change of topic is too much! Isn’t the point that Qi Ke tired the Captain out so much she couldn’t get out of bed!
Huh? Wait?
Why does that sound weird?
Once the seed of suspicion was planted in her heart, the more Zhong Yi looked at Qi Ke and Song Yushi, the more obvious the pink bubbles between them became.
For example, during a tour, the sound of bottles and jars falling would suddenly come from the Captain’s private dressing room. A little later, Qi Ke would be seen rushing out of the dressing room, her lips the same shade as the Captain’s lipstick.
Another example, one time Chengzhi suggested they all go see a newly released movie by a senior artist as a group bonding activity. Qi Ke immediately said, “I’ve already seen it.”
Chengzhi was disappointed. “Then you’ll have to watch another movie all by yourself.”
Beside them, Song Yushi cleared her throat and said, “I’ve seen it too.”
The rest of Sweet Day: “?”
And another example—
Oh, this time it wasn’t pink bubbles. Zhong Yi walked right in on the crime scene.
It was after the company’s annual party.
An entertainment company’s annual party is open to the media, a grand and boisterous affair. All the big and small names in the company were there, and it generated a dozen trending topics in a single day. With the media present, the artists were all restrained. It was only after the media left that they moved to another venue to really party.
Zhong Yi was competing with some trainees from the same company in a skewer-eating contest. A dozen young girls were gathered around a boiling pot, their faces flushed, their mouths so red from the spice they looked like they were bleeding, eating with utter abandon.
In the end, she lost.
Zhong Yi was indignant. “You just wait! I’m going to find Qi Ke! She’s the best at handling spicy food in our group!”
But Zhong Yi searched the entire venue and couldn’t find Qi Ke. Following directions from a few people who had seen her, she went all the way down to the first floor, to the venue’s back garden.
A long, pebble-paved path, the quiet moonlight reflecting on the snow, pure and gentle.
Behind the rockery, Qi Ke and Song Yushi were kissing.
To be precise, Qi Ke was pressing their cool and beautiful Captain against the rockery and kissing her, while the Captain was panting, arms wrapped around Qi Ke’s neck, her head tilted back, a faint pink blush on her fair skin, letting Qi Ke have her way with her lips.
Qi Ke kissed her very seriously.
From fierce to gentle.
At the end, she rested her forehead against Song Yushi’s, pecking her lips lightly again and again, making those two thin lips as hot as her own, before taking them in her mouth and biting gently.
Song Yushi gave Qi Ke a lazy glare.
Qi Ke, having gotten what she wanted, acted innocent, pinching the Captain’s earlobe until it was burning hot, and whispered something in her ear, causing the tip of the Captain’s ear to slowly turn red.
Zhong Yi, who had witnessed the whole process, went from: “!!!”
To: “??????”
And finally: “………………Fuck!”
Son—of—a—bitch!
The scene before her was so impactful that Zhong Yi couldn’t brainwash herself into thinking “Qi Ke is just practicing a scene with the Captain, they’re not actually kissing.”
But just then, Qi Ke turned her head and saw her.
Zhong Yi stood frozen in the snow, her mind already composing a forum post—
Help! Here’s what happened, today I accidentally saw my teammates kissing and found out they’re dating. This has already traumatized my young heart, but before I could pretend I didn’t see anything, they spotted me. Given that their combined combat power is 200%, and I’m a total weakling who’d die in a second, please tell me how long I have left to live?
A long second passed.
Zhong Yi put on a friendly smile. “Hahaha! The moonlight is so beautiful tonight! You two carry on, I’ll be heading back now.”
She turned to run.
“Stop!”
The Captain had spoken. Zhong Yi’s escape attempt failed.
She turned back dejectedly. “You guys…”
Qi Ke held Song Yushi’s hand. “Yes, we’re dating.”
“You guys…”
“Yes, we were kissing.”
“You guys…”
“Yes, we…”
“Enough! Stop showing off your love!” Zhong Yi couldn’t take it anymore. How thick-skinned could they be to be so blatant! She glared at Qi Ke and Song Yushi. “I’m going to expose you!”
Hmph! I can’t be the only one fed this dog food!
Qi Ke nodded and calmly threatened, “If you dare say anything, I’ll tell Chengzhi that you memorize all your lame jokes from the internet.”
Zhong Yi: “…”
Dammit, so cruel!
Song Yushi paused, surprised. “…Chengzhi doesn’t know?”
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