Chapter 12: The Either-Or Lie

At that, Fang Lin turned around from the passenger seat. “The one from before?”

Yuan Xiangdi looked appalled. “If it’s a sasaeng, that’s even creepier.”

“No wonder,” Qin Yun said, remembering what had happened. He’d watched that man grip Yu Chu’s hand and refuse to let go. “Most fans wouldn’t do something like that.”

Yu Chu had told Fang Lin as soon as he received the first message. Fang Lin had told him to block the number and let him know if the sender did anything more extreme.

Yu Chu had blocked it, but messages kept coming from other numbers at irregular intervals, all about everyday things.

Of all the sasaengs Yu Chu had encountered, this one was practically polite.

Polite online, then cutting in line at a fansign in person.

For a moment, Yu Chu had suspected the messages and the man at the fansign came from two different people. But he quickly realized his logic was flawed. If the person on the other end was a sasaeng, how polite could he really be? A genuinely polite person wouldn’t be a sasaeng.

Jian Yuyang asked, “How did you recognize him?”

“I didn’t, not exactly,” Yu Chu said. “I don’t have proof. It’s just a gut feeling.”

“Doesn’t the platform blacklist people like that?” Hughes asked.

“He’ll be blacklisted for cutting the line, and won’t be able to attend any more fansigns through that platform.” Fang Lin thought for a moment. “Let’s keep an eye on things. If you need to go out for a while, take someone with you. Call me right away if anything happens. Don’t worry too much.”

Yu Chu nodded.

Once the conversation about the sasaeng died down, the others in the car moved on to a new topic.

Yuan Xiangdi leaned over the back of Yu Chu’s seat and said in a conspiratorial whisper, “We’ve got a surprise for you.”

Yu Chu didn’t wonder who “we” meant or why they’d prepared a surprise. He simply followed Yuan Xiangdi’s lead and asked, “What surprise?”

Before Yuan Xiangdi could answer, Qin Yun pointed out the window and told Yu Chu to look.

Confused, Yu Chu turned to the window.

A brightly decorated bus rolled past them, with the words “Spring 0204 Happy Birthday” painted across its side.

Yu Chu caught sight of his own face on the bus just as he looked out the window. Seeing himself suddenly look back at him was a little surreal. He froze for a couple of seconds, then realized it must be a birthday project from his fans.

His birthday was only a few days away, and plenty of fans had arranged celebrations for him. The bus that had just passed was one of them.

Yu Chu leaned closer to the window to watch it go. “It drove off before I even had a chance to take a picture.”

“Even if you didn’t get a picture,” Yuan Xiangdi said, pulling the conversation back where he’d left it, “we’ve still got a surprise for you!”

Yu Chu looked at him. “A surprise?”

Yuan Xiangdi had dropped so many hints, and Yu Chu still hadn’t caught on.

After thinking for a couple of seconds, he gave up and said it outright. “Your birthday falls on the second day of the Lunar New Year this year, so we talked it over and decided to celebrate with you today. We’ll head straight there.”

Yu Chu repeated, “Celebrate my birthday?”

“All right, that’s enough. No need to say anything else. Once we get back, we’ll go straight there. Brother Fang’s coming too.”

Only then did Yu Chu realize he was the only one who hadn’t known they’d be celebrating his birthday that day.

After they returned to Capital City, they headed straight for the restaurant where a table had already been booked.

The place was surprisingly inventive: part KTV, part hotpot restaurant. They could sing while they ate.

At the door, Fang Lin said he was going to pick up the cake. He’d ordered Yu Chu a birthday cake ahead of time, specifically for today.

The five of them ordered their food, then picked out songs while they waited for the server to bring the hotpot broth.

When Fang Lin came back carrying the cake, Yu Chu was singing. He stood in front of the screen playing the music video, hitting a high note with effortless ease.

The equipment was nothing special, but Yu Chu made the whole thing sound like a concert.

Fang Lin was so absorbed in listening that he didn’t snap out of it until Qin Yun called his name. He finally shut the door and set the cake down on the table.

Yuan Xiangdi and the others sat on the sofa, clapping like seals and telling Yu Chu over and over how good he sounded.

Yu Chu didn’t hog the microphone. After nailing the song’s highest note, he turned and shoved the mic into Hughes’s hand.

Hughes looked like a lucky fan who’d just been handed a microphone at a concert. He picked it up, unsure what to do, then promptly cracked his voice.

His voice was low to begin with, and the song was pitched high. A voice crack was only to be expected.

Jian Yuyang had been eating honeydew from the fruit platter. Hughes’s voice cracked, and Jian Yuyang laughed so hard he choked and coughed several times.

Yu Chu laughed too, then took the microphone back from Hughes.

Jian Yuyang held the toothpick he’d been using to eat his honeydew and looked up at Yu Chu, momentarily lost in thought.

He and Yu Chu had joined the company as trainees at the same time. He’d been there for every evaluation Yu Chu had taken.

No one knew what Yu Chu had been through before joining the company. Jian Yuyang only knew that he’d started from scratch.

At his first monthly evaluation, Yu Chu had sung Lost Stars.

The Yu Chu of that day had been nowhere near the Yu Chu of today. He’d only recently joined the company, and his skills had been average at best. But his voice was beautiful, like clear spring water falling drop by drop onto a still surface.

Even when he sang, it felt as though he were telling you a story.

With their skills at a similar level, Yu Chu’s natural advantage in tone had made him stand out.

Just as Jian Yuyang had thought back then, once Yu Chu had gone through proper, systematic training, he would become a competitor no one could afford to overlook.

It had taken Yu Chu three years to go from a complete beginner to the All-A trainee everyone talked about.

Going from no experience to being good enough to debut wasn’t unusual, but reaching Yu Chu’s level took real talent and relentless hard work. Jian Yuyang couldn’t decide whether Yu Chu’s talent was more infuriating or his work ethic more terrifying.

He finally lifted the toothpick he’d been holding for so long and ate the honeydew. It tasted like nothing.

Even while singing, Yu Chu kept thinking of the others. He passed the microphone to everyone in the room, even Fang Lin.

A new song’s intro began: Hikaru Utada’s First Love.

Yu Chu listened to it often, but he hadn’t picked this one. Hughes had, even though he didn’t usually listen to this kind of music.

The song had come out in 1999, eleven years before Hughes was born. Thinking that, Yu Chu smiled and sat down beside him. “Whoever picked it has to sing it.”

“I picked it for you,” Hughes said.

Yu Chu sang a couple of lines, then put down the microphone and took a sip of soda water.

Jian Yuyang seized the chance to ask, “Have you ever had a first love?”

Yu Chu’s smile turned almost flirtatious. “No.”

He wasn’t lying. As for Xie Zhixing… What he genuinely loved about Xie Zhixing was his money. Actually falling for Xie Zhixing would be idiotic.

When Yu Chu wasn’t smiling, his beauty had a distant quality to it. But when he smiled, he was irresistible, his eyes curving like a feather brushing across someone’s heart.

Hughes and Jian Yuyang stared, momentarily dazed. Yuan Xiangdi’s voice finally brought them back. “Come on, the hotpot’s ready!”

Yu Chu took off his coat and left it on the sofa. He unfastened his shirt cuffs, rolled up his sleeves twice, and exposed his pale, slender forearms.

They’d ordered a split hotpot with spicy and clear broth. Yu Chu didn’t eat much spicy food, so he stuck to the clear side and barely touched his dipping sauce.

Halfway through the meal, Yuan Xiangdi stood up and, with great ceremony, stuck candles into the cake. Then he turned off the lights and invited Yu Chu to make a wish.

Yu Chu played along, got up to make his wish, then cut the cake and handed a piece to everyone.

Hughes quietly asked what he’d wished for.

Yu Chu said it was a secret.

After they’d eaten hotpot and cake and sung a few songs, Fang Lin went to pay the bill.

They didn’t linger at the restaurant. Before long, they were on their way back to the dorm.

The driver pulled into the underground parking garage and stopped. Everyone climbed out of the car one by one.

Yu Chu couldn’t be bothered opening his own door, so he got out through the open door on Hughes’s side.

Hughes had opened doors for Yu Chu plenty of times before. As soon as Yu Chu had both feet on the ground, Hughes shut the door with practiced ease. When he turned around, Yu Chu smiled at him.

Yu Chu had only gone a short way toward the elevator when he suddenly stopped. He spoke as if to no one in particular. “I want to buy some mints.”

Hughes was the first to answer. “I’ll go with you.”

Yuan Xiangdi looked at them. “Should we head back without you?”

Yu Chu nodded. “Yeah. Go ahead.”

Whenever he had a spare moment, Yu Chu liked to pop a mint into his mouth. It was a habit he’d picked up back when he was a trainee.

He’d just remembered that they were out of mints at the dorm, so he figured he’d stop by the convenience store nearby and buy some.

The two of them rode the elevator up to the ground floor with the others, then left the apartment building through the main entrance.

It was snowing outside, and there weren’t many people on the street.

Before their debut, the two of them had often gone out together like this, eating and browsing shops near the company.

By Yu Chu’s count, it was the ninth year they’d known each other. They’d met when Yu Chu was in his third year at the company.

Yu Chu was only twenty-four this year.

He was twenty-four already. Yu Chu’s thoughts drifted. He’d joined the company at thirteen. He’d never thought eleven years would go by so fast.

Hughes’s voice came from beside him. “When you’re not at the dorm, who are you usually with?”

It wasn’t the first time Hughes had asked.

Yu Chu had only started going out more often in the past few months. At first, Hughes had suspected Yu Chu was secretly dating someone and going out to see his girlfriend.

But Yu Chu had denied it, saying he didn’t have a girlfriend.

Yu Chu found Hughes’s serious expression amusing. Softly, he said, “My boyfriend.”

He’d said boyfriend, not girlfriend.

They were just passing a utility pole when Yu Chu said it. Hughes’s brain blue-screened for a few seconds, and he nearly walked straight into the pole.

Seeing him almost hit it made Yu Chu want to laugh even more. “I’m kidding.”

Hughes stopped and let out a breath of relief. But he couldn’t understand why Yu Chu would joke about something like that.

He had other questions, but before he could ask, Yu Chu went on. “Only one of those two things I just said was true.”

That was a strange thing to say. If the second statement were true, there would be no reason to say it.

But Hughes didn’t think twice. He naturally assumed the second statement was the truth.

Every now and then, Yu Chu felt the urge to be honest with him. But judging by Hughes’s reaction, this wasn’t the moment to come clean.

He let out a slow breath and watched the white cloud drift in front of him. For a second, he felt as if he were blowing out smoke.

The convenience store was just up ahead. He turned to Hughes. “Come on. It’s freezing out. Let’s buy the mints and head back.”

Hughes gave a quiet “Mm,” then changed the subject. “I got you a birthday present. I’ll give it to you when we get back.”