Brother, Don’t Delete Me! 71

Chapter 71: Live Stream [Extra]

One weekend before returning home for the New Year, Luo Jing was asked by his company to help promote a new drama.

It was the end of the year, the busiest time for the company. Although he was just a small intern, this busyness hadn’t affected him, but it was fully reflected in his boyfriend.

Huai Dan was going on another business trip this weekend and had disappeared with his luggage on Friday night, so they could only communicate through the cold screen for two days.

Plastic Bag was brought back the day after Luo Jing moved into Huai Dan’s house. It seemed to have gotten used to its nomadic life and had become a very adaptable puppy, happy to live anywhere.

—This was also the reason why Luo Jing hadn’t gone on the business trip with Huai Dan.

That day, as he was packing, Plastic Bag entered their room.

Then it walked over and tilted its head, staring at the suitcase.

Staring and staring, it then looked at Luo Jing.

Recently, Luo Jing often changed his living arrangements without warning, which meant Plastic Bag was often left behind, only to be remembered the next day—but every time it finally saw its owner again, Luo Jing would often disappear the next day.

In short, they were in a strange, long-distance relationship.

Luo Jing, who was putting a scarf into the suitcase, paused.

He remembered that he had been studying abroad for the past few years, barely spending any time with Plastic Bag, and it was already good that Plastic Bag hadn’t blamed him.

Now that he was finally back, he hadn’t spent much time with it either.

Plastic Bag tilted its head and looked at him, a hint of grievance in its eyes, as if asking: Are you leaving again, owner?

Luo Jing: “…”

A wave of belated guilt washed over him.

So he put down the scarf.

Huai Dan: “?”

“Why don’t I,” Luo Jing said hesitantly, holding Plastic Bag, “stay home with Plastic Bag? You’ll be back next week anyway.”

“Someone can take care of Plastic Bag,” Huai Dan said calmly.

Luo Jing looked at Plastic Bag.

Plastic Bag lay obediently in his arms, looking up at him, its short tail wagging slightly, looking both cute and pitiful.

Huai Dan: “…”

“But it’s a bit too late to find someone now… Forget it, I’ll just stay home,” Luo Jing made up his mind. “I haven’t spent much time with it lately.”

He then explained his reasoning and reaffirmed his decision.

Huai Dan was silent for a moment, then lowered his eyes: “But when you were abroad, Plastic Bag could still video call you.”

Luo Jing: “?”

After a moment, realizing he was talking about the time he had deliberately distanced himself, Luo Jing’s expression became a bit awkward: “That’s different…”

“How is it different?”

“You…” Luo Jing found it absurd. “It’s just a puppy, you’re also…”

Huai Dan looked at him calmly, as if he didn’t think there was anything wrong with his behavior.

Luo Jing was speechless for a moment.

“…And we’re together now.” After a pause, Luo Jing said, trying to negotiate, “You won’t have any more business trips after you come back this time… I’ll be with you every day, okay?”

Shortly after returning to China, before he could even avoid him, Huai Dan had him intern at his company, and they were practically inseparable.

It was obvious that Plastic Bag needed more company.

He didn’t know which sentence had struck a nerve with Huai Dan, but after listening, he seemed to think seriously for two seconds, then nodded, as if reluctantly agreeing.

“I’ll be back early,” Huai Dan said, standing at the door. “Wait for me at home.”

Luo Jing replied helplessly, “I know, I’m not going anywhere.”

His understanding of Huai Dan’s clinginess was refreshed again.

This wasn’t quite what he had imagined.

Huai Dan was always busy. After they got together, he had thought he would be the clingy one, wanting to be with Huai Dan every day, and his brother would helplessly take him along.

But the current situation wasn’t just different from what he had imagined, their roles even seemed reversed.

But Luo Jing was quite accepting of this.

He hadn’t meant what he said about not wanting Huai Dan to leave. Plus, they had just gotten together, and even a short separation was unbearable.

Even though they had just had a video call on Saturday night and had been messaging non-stop, acting all lovey-dovey.

Today was Sunday.

Only he and the dog were left in the huge house. Luo Jing had taken Plastic Bag to a nearby park yesterday and visited the pet store at the mall, buying some things. Today, he was idly waiting for his boyfriend to come home.

A movie he had just found was playing on TV. The plot was captivating, and Luo Jing watched intently, sitting cross-legged, while Plastic Bag was running around the living room, full of energy.

His phone vibrated, and he instinctively glanced at it.

It wasn’t his boyfriend, but Xiao Zhao from the company’s publicity department.

Publicity Xiao Zhao: [Young Master Luo, are you free today?]

Publicity Xiao Zhao: [Mr. Luo asked me to tell you, to promote the new drama.]

Luo Jing thought for a moment and replied: [Sure, can I start now?]

Publicity Xiao Zhao: [Great! The drama just aired yesterday, perfect timing to boost the ratings!]

The drama was a modern romantic comedy, lighthearted and sweet, with a handsome male lead and a beautiful female lead, and great chemistry. Both were very popular.

After switching from the movie to the first episode of their new drama and making some preparations, Luo Jing placed his tablet in front of him and started the live stream.

The buzz from his appearance at the concert hadn’t completely died down yet, and although Luo Jing hadn’t updated his Weibo much recently, his follower count had been increasing rapidly. So, despite the lack of promotion, a large number of fans flooded the live stream room as soon as it started.

[So sudden, I thought it was another fake trending topic on Weibo.]

[Caught off guard!]

[Ahhh, Luo Luo! You haven’t been online for eight hundred years, Mom missed you so much.]

[Luo Luo is so cute, Luo Luo is so cute, Luo Luo is so cute.]

[Have you eaten lunch yet, baby?]

[Streamer, I thought you forgot you had a Weibo account.]

[So sudden today, but I’ve already guessed your motive.]

[Is this your new house?]

Having not done a live stream in a long time, Luo Jing was a bit rusty. He carefully read the comments and was silent for a while.

After a moment, he reacted and started answering their questions one by one.

“I remember,” Luo Jing said. “I’ve been busy with my internship recently, so I haven’t been posting much on Weibo.”

“I’ve had lunch. What did I eat?… I ordered takeout, pasta, it was quite good.”

“…It’s kind of my new house.” Seeing this comment, Luo Jing’s expression changed slightly, but he quickly recovered.

But this subtle change was still captured by the sharp-eyed netizens in the live stream room.

[Baby, your expression tells me there’s a story here. Tell us whose house this is (ears)]

“Guessed my motive? Then you’re very smart.” Luo Jing pretended he didn’t see that comment and quickly turned the camera towards the TV, then said, “That’s right, I’m here to promote the new drama again.”

[Haha, so honest.]

[I knew it was this one. It just aired yesterday, and its fans are already fighting with the fans of that other drama that aired a few days ago.]

[Is this one good, sisters?]

[Just a passerby, I watched both, and I prefer this one. Urban sweet dramas make me happy, the other one is too heavy.]

[I think both are good, let’s not compare them.]

[Since we’re all in Luo Luo’s live stream room, we have to support his company’s drama.]

[It’s good, I really like it. Luo Luo, can you ask them to release a few more episodes?]

“This one is especially good. I actually watched it once last night.” With the camera not on him, Luo Jing relaxed considerably. “I can’t decide about releasing more episodes. You can follow the drama’s official account and ask them in the comment section.”

[Are you here to promote Xie You?]

This comment silently scrolled past, but many people must have seen it, as several similar comments appeared afterwards.

Although Luo Jing had followed the Luminary members and given the flower to a fan that day, it wasn’t enough to extinguish the passion of the ever-growing CP fans.

After all, in this era where everything could be shipped, as long as two people were good-looking, they could be paired together even if they had never met, let alone with such suggestive differences in status.

They had a dramatic encounter many years ago, and then this happened at the concert. Countless fan-made works appeared, and numerous CP fans filled in the gaps of their “love story” over the years. The quality was so high that it even attracted many people outside the fandom.

The CP fans stubbornly believed that Luo Jing was just trying to be fair by following all the members, and that he had genuinely liked Xie You when he only followed him at first.

Luo Jing, however, didn’t know about this and was a bit confused seeing the comments “Are you here for Xie You?” and “Are you promoting Luminary?”.

So he opened the Luminary group chat with his questions.

AAA.Professional Mover Xiao Luo: [Are you guys also acting?]

It was Sunday, and although the members didn’t have any scheduled activities, they were practicing a new song, so they were all together.

It happened to be their break time, and Xu Xing was the first to reply: [You don’t care about us at all, we sang the OST for this drama!]

Luo Jing suddenly understood: [So that’s why, no wonder everyone’s talking about you.]

Xu Xing: [Didn’t you say you watched the drama during the live stream? So it was all fake, such a deep scheme, such a cold and calculated promotion.]

AAA.Professional Mover Xiao Luo replied innocently: [I did watch it, but I’m a VIP.]

Xu Xing: [?]

AAA.Professional Mover Xiao Luo: [I skipped the opening credits.]

Xu Xing: [.]

Luo Jing was so engrossed in chatting with them on his phone that he forgot he was live streaming, and the room became quiet, only the sound of the drama playing.

The viewers interpreted his silence as guilt, and the comments intensified, teasing him even more.

By the time Luo Jing was reminded and came back to his senses, the situation was already out of control.

But seeing the screen full of comments, he didn’t know how to explain.

Specifically saying he wasn’t there to promote Luminary would be too deliberate.

After thinking for a moment, he decided to be impartial: “The songs Luminary sings are also very good. If you like them, you can listen to them and help boost their rankings. Thank you for supporting our artists.”

[Luo Luo, your topic change is too obvious.]

[Okay, okay, we know you’re embarrassed.]

[This “us” is a bit redundant, there’s actually only one person, right? (giggles)]

[What’s going on, what’s going on with the comments? What are you talking about? I don’t understand.]

[To the sister above, search for Luo Luo and Xie You’s names, you’ll open a new world.]

Luo Jing, looking at the rapidly scrolling comments, just wanted to end the live stream.

Wasn’t he here to promote the new drama? Why were things going in an unexpected direction?

What was happening in the corners of the internet that he didn’t know about…

…Hopefully.

Huai Dan wouldn’t be watching his live stream, right?

Thinking about how Huai Dan had been subtly jealous of that flower before they got together, and then what happened after the look-alike incident… Luo Jing didn’t dare to think further.

The price of appeasing him was a bit too high, and he didn’t want to experience it again so soon.

Thinking this, Luo Jing quickly spoke, trying to steer the conversation back on track, but whatever he said seemed strange, so he thought for a moment and turned the camera towards Plastic Bag, which was lying beside him, resting after playing.

It was very effective, and people immediately noticed the puppy.

[Is that Plastic Bag! Long time no see, give us a kiss!]

[Such a cute puppy!]

[Plastic Bag?]

[To the sister above, that’s the puppy’s name, hahaha.]

Then some older fans started explaining Plastic Bag’s name to the new fans, and the comments shifted again.

Luo Jing seized the opportunity and sent a message to Huai Dan, feeling both guilty and tentative.

AAA.Professional Mover Xiao Luo: [Brother, what are you doing?]

Brother: [At your door.]

Luo Jing: ???

Before he could react, the electronic lock beeped, and the next moment, the man entered.

The weather was getting colder, and Huai Dan was wearing a fitted turtleneck sweater and a long trench coat, a long gray cashmere scarf around his neck, looking both handsome and aloof.

The person he hadn’t seen for more than a day suddenly appeared before him, and Luo Jing froze for a few seconds, forgetting how to react.

It was Plastic Bag’s bark at Huai Dan that brought him back to his senses.

The camera was facing Plastic Bag, directly at the door, so Huai Dan was also captured in the shot.

Reacting, he flusteredly turned the camera back to himself, looked at Huai Dan, and instinctively said, “Brother.”

The comments paused for a second, then exploded.

[OMG, OMG, OMG, who is this? Is this Luo Luo’s brother? He’s so handsome!]

[No way, he doesn’t have a brother, only a sister.]

[Could it be a relative or something? Such good genes… Why isn’t their whole family in the entertainment industry, when they’re the ones running the entertainment company!]

[OMG, I’m dying, he’s so handsome… who is this? Does anyone know?]

[Is he a celebrity? It’s impossible not to know someone who looks like this.]

[Definitely not a celebrity, I would remember this face. Maybe he hasn’t debuted yet.]

[Luo Luo called him brother, so he can’t be a celebrity, right? And that aura, oh my god, he looks like a cold and aloof CEO from a novel.]

[Urgent, who is he?]

[Ask Luo Luo, Luo Luo, stop spacing out, introduce him, ahhhhh!]

Huai Dan put down his suitcase, closed the door behind him, changed into slippers, and walked in.

Luo Jing stared blankly as he walked towards him.

Huai Dan’s expression was unreadable. He stopped in front of Luo Jing, looked down at the dazed boy, paused, ruffled his hair, and replied, “Mm, I’m back.”

[Oh my god, those hands, handsome, show us your face, ahhhhh!]

[OMG, his voice is also so nice… I’m doomed, I’m switching ships.]

[Sisters, I found him, I found him! He’s the one who trended on the financial news before, his name is Huai Dan, but he doesn’t have any social media, and there’s not much information about him online… But he’s a real CEO, super rich.]

[I think I remember him. They actually know each other, wow.]

[That “I’m back” line, does anyone understand? Like a husband coming home from work and reporting to his wife…]

[Don’t ship everything, both their families run companies, they’re probably family friends or something.]

[Even better, such a perfect match, they look so good together.]

[Don’t do this, you guys, they’re both there, Luo Luo will be uncomfortable if they’re really just brothers.]

Huai Dan looked at the comments on his phone.

Luo Jing, seeing what was on his phone screen, felt his heart stop.

He saw his own dumbfounded expression reflected on Huai Dan’s phone screen.

After a pause, Huai Dan put away his phone.

Then he looked at Luo Jing.

Luo Jing closed his eyes.

Huai Dan looked at him and chuckled: “Why are you so nervous?”

Then he leaned down—seeing the still-running live stream, his gaze swept over the screen, and he covered the camera with his hand.

[???]

[What’s going on? What is he doing?]

[Is there something we can’t see? Please, let me see, ahhh!]

[OMG, OMG, what are they doing? Why are they covering the camera?!]

[Let me see, let me see, let me see, let me see.]

[I hate this so much, why am I not Plastic Bag… Let me see what you’re doing, even if it’s as a dog.]

Behind the camera, Huai Dan held the tablet with one hand, covering the camera, and held the back of Luo Jing’s head with the other, kissing him.

Luo Jing froze, then tilted his head back obediently and started to respond nervously.

The familiar scent filled the air, soothing his longing after being apart for more than a day, and his slightly restless heart gradually calmed down.

After who knows how long, Huai Dan finally let go of him.

Huai Dan looked down at him for two seconds, then chuckled softly, removed his hand from the camera, and patted his head: “Continue your live stream.”

Luo Jing instinctively looked at the tablet.

On the screen, his eyes were slightly watery, his lips red, and his hair a bit messy—as if someone had deliberately messed it up.

His expression was also a bit dazed.

As if he had been kissed silly.

Luo Jing: “…”

After a pause, he wiped his face.

[Don’t hide it anymore, baby, your relationship is obvious.]

[Did you enjoy the kiss?]

[I remember now, this guy was there before, during the Jiang… what was his name, Jiang something, incident. The one who took Luo Luo away was him.]

[!]

[OMG… I’ve already imagined a whole novel. Can someone please write it? I want to read it so badly! (going crazy)]

[I can’t believe it, my CP is really BE, I need a moment to process this.]

[Don’t be sad, sister above, maybe they didn’t do anything after covering the camera, just said hello…]

[Do you believe that?]

[I don’t.]

[…]

Luo Jing glared at the culprit.

Huai Dan, receiving his gaze, raised an eyebrow slightly.

Luo Jing: “…”

Instantly losing interest in him, Luo Jing looked back at the screen, and the first comment he saw was:

[Are you really not going to introduce this person?]

Luo Jing lowered his eyes, sat up straight on the sofa, cleared his throat, and said, “He’s my boyfriend.”

He looked a bit nervous and shy as he said this.

In short, this live stream had completely deviated from its original purpose.