Meng Ying’s mind was buzzing, her whole world was falling apart.
Although she said she needed an explanation, her thoughts uncontrollably drifted far away. Various details from the past intertwined in her mind, finally morphing into four words—Qi Yu is… real?
It’s actually real???
“Uh…” Qi Ke knelt, leaning over the sofa to observe Meng Ying. After watching for a while and seeing that her eyes still hadn’t focused, Qi Ke turned back to Song Yushi and whispered, “We’re doomed. Her tolerance is much weaker than Zhong Yi’s.”
Just think about Zhong Yi. She also knew nothing and walked in on them kissing, but she only broke down for a tiny moment before worrying she’d be silenced, then angrily endured their public display of affection, digesting the fact of an intra-group romance quite well.
What great mental fortitude!
In contrast, Meng Ying.
She looked as if she would never love again.
It wasn’t entirely Meng Ying’s fault for reacting so strongly.
After all, the fact that Zhou Er was pursuing her was already shocking enough. She was at a loss about her strange charm to women and was too afraid her teammates would find her weird to even mention it. And now? The cruel truth came crashing down on her, and the closet door to a new world was violently kicked open—the Captain and the main vocal were actually in a relationship?!
Meng Ying: “…”
She wanted to cry. Right now, she just wanted to cry.
Song Yushi shot Qi Ke a look.
Qi Ke received the look and blew a kiss back. “You knew she was in the room, and you didn’t avoid my kiss.”
Not only did she not avoid it, she even responded.
Song Yushi: “…”
Alright, she was also responsible.
“Meng Ying?” Song Yushi also knelt up, leaning on the back of the sofa next to Qi Ke, shoulder to shoulder. Her hand… her hand dangled below, swayed a bit, and still ended up with its pinky being held.
Song Yushi gave Qi Ke a light glare, telling her not to go too far and not to provoke Meng Ying any further. Then she turned back to being the caring captain. “Meng Ying?”
Meng Ying held out a hand. “Wait!”
Song Yushi: “?”
Qi Ke: “?”
“An illusion, it must be an illusion,” Meng Ying murmured. “I must be too tired from running the firepot restaurant. I must be asleep in my office right now. I didn’t come to see the mentor stage, I didn’t see… sob, sob, sob, this is a nightmare!”
Song Yushi: “…”
Qi Ke: “…”
Face reality!
Clearly, the brainwashing was unsuccessful. Meng Ying’s gaze gradually focused, landing on Qi Ke and Song Yushi. She looked back and forth for several minutes, then took a deep breath. “…Are you two… in… a… relationship?”
The last three words were squeezed out from between her teeth, heavily stressed and landing with clarity.
Qi Ke: “…Does it not look obvious?”
Meng Ying froze slightly.
It was obvious.
She had browsed Song Yushi and Qi Ke’s CP Super Topic. The fans were so good at shipping, and the video titles were so rich and colorful—《Qi Yu | 50 Pieces of Evidence of Their Love》, 《Qi Ke x Song Yushi | How Could I Have Survived Obscurity Without Her》, 《Qi Yu | Traveling the World is Boring, But At Least I Can Be With You》.
She had watched the videos one by one, finding the shipping fun while also thinking the fans had wild imaginations and a naive view of love, treating the intimacy between good friends as romantic love.
The gazes, the touches, the hugs, the ambiguous conversations—all became evidence of their love.
Looking at it now—she was the naive one!!!
Meng Ying wanted to cry but had no tears.
Song Yushi straightened up. “Meng Ying…”
“Wait!” Meng Ying stopped her and pulled her phone out of her pocket, typing furiously.
A moment later, both Song Yushi’s and Qi Ke’s phones lit up.
It was a message in the Sweet Day group chat.
Meng Ying: !!!
Zhong Yi was on vacation recently, but the break was too short, only enough for her to lounge at home. She replied almost instantly: ?
Meng Ying: Zhong Yi!!
Zhong Yi: What’s wrong?
Meng Ying: 【Found my family, awoooo.jpg】【Fairy weeping.jpg】【Tasted all of life’s bitterness.jpg】【I’m living so sadly, playing Chopin in the rain.jpg】
Zhong Yi: …What is this?
Meng Ying: Our captain! Song Yushi! I just saw! I was just chatting with her in the break room! And Qi Ke rushed in! And pushed the Captain onto the sofa and kissed her! Quick, tell me!
Meng Ying was so agitated while typing that she sent the message before finishing. Just as she was about to correct it, she saw Zhong Yi’s reply: It’s not an illusion.
Meng Ying: ?
Zhong Yi: Those two are in a relationship.
Meng Ying: ??
Zhong Yi: Tsk tsk tsk, this time they knew not to kiss randomly in an open area. But can’t you check if there’s anyone else in the room? You scared our Meng Ying, you’ll have to compensate her @Qi Ke
Meng Ying: ???
Meng Ying: You knew?
Zhong Yi: …Yeah.
Zhong Yi quickly tried to salvage the situation: I didn’t know much earlier than you!
Meng Ying: …
That’s not comforting at all, thanks!
Cheng Zhi: 【Yawn】I only knew about four years earlier than you.
Meng Ying: !!!!!!!
Zhong Yi: @Cheng Zhi, one should be kind while living.
Meng Ying: Cheng Zhi knew too? 【How nice, how nice, fuck|your mother.jpg】
Cheng Zhi: 【Perhaps this is society.jpg】 I only found out this year! And by then, the Captain and Keke had already broken up. Of course, they’re back together now.
Meng Ying: Wait.
Meng Ying: Broke up? Got back together? So when on earth did they start dating!!! Why don’t I know anything!!!
Qi Ke: 【Politely interrupting.gif】 Actually, you could put down your phone and ask me.
Zhong Yi: Heh, she’s happy to show off their affection.
Meng Ying put down her phone, feeling dazed. After the daze passed, she started to get angry. She paced back and forth, her small leather shoes tapping incessantly on the floor, looking both anxious and furious.
Song Yushi sensed this wasn’t good. She stood up and said nonchalantly, “I just remembered I need to go chat with the trainees.”
Qi Ke gave her a mournful look.
Song Yushi returned a smile.
Qi Ke: “…”
She swore she could read a sentence in her captain’s eyes—a couple is like two birds in the same forest; they fly their separate ways when disaster strikes. After a thought, she figured it was fine to fly away, since they were a couple anyway.
“Come back soon.” Qi Ke squeezed Song Yushi’s palm, reluctant to let go. “If anything should happen to me, remember that I love you.”
Song Yushi, with her superb acting skills, immediately looked teary-eyed.
Meng Ying: “…”
Was she some kind of evil mother-in-law trying to break up a loving couple? Didn’t she just want to question why she was the only one in the group who didn’t know? Wasn’t she allowed to question it?
Thinking this, Meng Ying strode over in a few steps, stopping Song Yushi from leaving, and accused, “Why didn’t you tell me! I’m the only one who didn’t know!”
Qi Ke couldn’t bear it. “Think about it, what good would it have done to know earlier? Zhong Yi was the first to know, and I showed off our affection to her every day. Do you think she was happy?”
Song Yushi: “?”
Meng Ying: “?”
That made so much damn sense!
With Qi Ke’s words, the stuffy anger in her stomach dissipated. Meng Ying thought about it carefully and made peace with the world. She didn’t show it on her face, though. She sat down on the sofa with a pout, wedging herself between the little couple, hugged a cushion, and leaned forward to tap on the coffee table. “You two, give me an explanation! With my intelligence, I can guess that Qi Ke must have been the one to hit on the Captain first. So, Qi Ke, you explain first!”
Qi Ke: “…”
As if you’d dare to make the Captain explain first.
Having been teammates for so many years, Qi Ke knew Meng Ying all too well. She could tell at a glance that Meng Ying wasn’t angry anymore, but she didn’t want to let them off the hook so quickly. It was all just an act.
Qi Ke leaned back and confessed honestly, “The Captain was the one who seduced me first.”
Meng Ying whipped her head around.
Song Yushi gave Qi Ke a speechless look, then spread her hands and admitted, “It was me.”
“Details!” Meng Ying hugged her little cushion tightly. “I want to hear the details.”
Song Yushi sighed and nonchalantly recalled the scene of her “seducing” Qi Ke. “It was at the celebration party for our first tour. I had a little to drink, and Qi Ke came over to talk to me, so I kissed her.”
Meng Ying: “…”
“At that time, Zhong Yi was playing rock-paper-scissors with Cheng Zhi and Sister Ming, and you were singing. You were singing 《Pink Memories》.” Even though she was tipsy that day, the captain with the excellent memory still remembered all the details. She added, “And you were off-key.”
Meng Ying: “…” There’s no need to mention that detail!
“And then what?”
“The night just passed.”
“…” It felt like some exciting plot points were being glossed over! Shouldn’t this part be elaborated on?
Perhaps sensing Meng Ying’s resentful gaze, Qi Ke patted her shoulder comfortingly and said profoundly, “Stop thinking about it. If I say those things out loud, this chapter will get locked.”
Meng Ying: “…Continue with the explanation.”
Even though it happened several years ago, the story was concise, and Qi Ke finished her explanation in no time. Meng Ying turned her gaze to Song Yushi, remained silent for a moment, then suddenly buried her face in the cushion and screamed, “Ahhh, I’m shipping this to death!!!”
Song Yushi: “?”
Qi Ke: “…?”
Why don’t you keep making the Captain explain!!!
After venting, Meng Ying lifted her head, calmed herself down, and smiled. “Haha, I’m so silly. I can’t believe I thought you two had a best friends’ bond. What bullshit best friends’ bond, it’s love!”
Song Yushi and Qi Ke were both silent.
What could they say? Their group’s little beauty was so silly it made one’s heart ache for her.
As expected of someone from Sweet Day, Meng Ying accepted this fact in less than half an hour and thoroughly became a CP fan. Her big eyes darted around, looking like she might ask her CP to kiss for her at any moment.
Song Yushi: “…I really do need to go say a few words to the trainees.”
Qi Ke: “…Take me with you.”
Meng Ying: “Tsk tsk tsk, the little couple is inseparable wherever they go.”
Song Yushi & Qi Ke: “?”
“Wait!” Meng Ying remembered something else. She shrank into a small corner of the sofa, hugging the cushion, and raised her little hand. “Back when we were in the group, we went to a haunted house, and I was the most scared. Sister Ming told me to play up the CP with Keke, so I kept hiding in Keke’s arms. Captain, you… were you…”
“Yes, I was jealous,” Song Yushi smiled.
A chill ran down Meng Ying’s back. “So that’s why you were so cruel to me during training!? Abusing your power for personal revenge!”
Song Yushi said, “Oh.” Then, “That wasn’t it. It was purely because you were learning too slowly and needed extra training.”
Meng Ying: “…”
It would have been better if it was because of jealousy!!!
“Ying ah—” Qi Ke tugged on Meng Ying’s little cushion, a friendly smile on her face. “Do you know how many opportunities I lost to go on dates with the Captain because she was giving you private lessons?”
Meng Ying: “…”
Her little life was in danger.
But this possessiveness… made it even better to ship!!!
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