After confirming the four of them would debut, the company posted four black silhouettes on social media.
Because the company had promoted Solaron-X in advance, there were plenty of online speculations about who would finally make the debut lineup. After the silhouettes were posted, the buzz was quite good.
[AHHH I knew Duan Qiong would debut, his stage presence is just too strong.]
[Both of my picks debuted successfully. How about that?]
[I recognized the second one as Yu Huaili at a glance. Visual-chan~]
[Breathtaking brother… Brother Bad Pear, please show your face often from now on…]
[Which one is Jiang Qing? The third? I can’t match the faces.]
[He’s the third one, he looks like this (image). Jiang Qing is a really tasty malewife brother.]
[Where exactly is the “malewife” in him? I’m scared of you people…]
[AHHH so the Visual is our kid? This is definitely @Morning Star Entertainment’s most discerning moment.]
[Holy crap, I searched for the Visual’s face—too handsome, nothing to criticize.]
[I think if Duan Qiong and Yu Huaili don’t get famous, there’s no justice in this world. C-Entertainment has no one else like them.]
[They all seem like highly popular trainees. In order, it’s Duan Qiong, Yu Huaili, Jiang Qing, right? Then who’s the last person?]
[I compared the images, and this last silhouette doesn’t quite match any of the previous trainees.]
[I think it’s Sheng Fang.]
[It’s not Fangfang. I’m done, why won’t @Morning Star Entertainment let Fangfang debut??]
[Stop joking. With the way Sheng Fang dances like a mess, it’d be strange if he debuted.]
[Can I just say, anyone who watched the last stage knows the other trainees are just filler participants for the center…]
[But the two center guys actually have talent. Don’t be salty. No matter how salty you get, your brother still doesn’t have a debut slot.]
[Fully agreed. The ones who can’t debut should look for the reason within themselves, okay?]
[Yu Huaili just casually wiped the floor with everyone.]
[This last one feels like a true company favorite. No buzz at all, and still debuting.]
[Parachute, right? I dug into the details and nothing matches up.]
[Please @Morning Star Entertainment unconditionally return Sheng Fang’s debut slot.]
…
After the debut date was set, they first moved to a dormitory near the company.
The accommodations were clearly better this time—a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment with a large balcony. But since Xi Xingheng was a true young master with his own house, he didn’t live with them.
In any case, between preparing for the debut stage and filming promotional content to be released later, they were busy running off their feet and had little time to spend at the dorm.
Perhaps noticing that the members were at the point of dozing off mid-meal, their agent finally showed some rare understanding and gave them a half-day off.
But Duan Qiong stayed in the company’s training room and didn’t return to the dorm. Jiang Qing came back for a while before heading out again.
After showering, Yu Huaili propped his chin on his hand and scrolled through social media, checking the reactions to the silhouettes.
The internet had a high level of discussion about Solaron-X.
Aside from them, the continuously rising discussion about Sheng Fang was also something Yu Huaili knew about. Sheng Fang’s ability wasn’t much worse than Duan Qiong’s, and his family background was second only to Xi Xingheng’s.
A genuinely born-to-privilege young master.
The reason the company decided not to let Sheng Fang debut was that he wasn’t of age yet. Otherwise, the final debut slot really might not have gone to Jiang Qing.
But Yu Huaili knew the real reason wasn’t that—it was because in the plot, when he cast a wide net and tried to get flirty with Sheng Fang, Sheng Fang directly reported him to their agent.
Although the news never got out, Sheng Fang and he had a very ugly falling out at the company.
Closing the social media app, Yu Huaili thought for a couple of seconds.
Whether it was his imagination or not, he felt his popularity was almost on par with Duan Qiong and Xi Xingheng, and even subtly threatening to surpass them.
Tsk. Was that reasonable?
Yu Huaili poked the system, which was lying on his shoulder playing a co-op game, and asked: [You didn’t hire paid trolls, did you?]
The system lifted its face, dazed. [Huh? What paid trolls, host? I don’t know? Did someone buy paid trolls for you?]
Yu Huaili: …
Forget it.
He helplessly ruffled the system: […Nothing to do with you. Go play.]
Just as Yu Huaili’s words landed, someone pounded twice on the thick wooden door of the dorm.
“Coming.” Yu Huaili shuffled over in his slippers and opened the door. “Bro, forgot your key—”
Seeing the camera operator at the door, camera aimed at him, Yu Huaili curved his eyes and let the cameraman, along with Duan Qiong and the agent behind him, come in.
“Did you bring them here?” Yu Huaili lightly bumped against Duan Qiong, whispering, “I thought we had the day off.”
As Yu Huaili moved closer, Duan Qiong’s nose filled with the faint, clean scent emanating from him.
But after all this time getting along, Duan Qiong had clearly grown able to accept being this close to Yu Huaili.
He frowned at Yu Huaili’s damp hair and explained, “Sister Chen stopped me in the training room, so we came together.”
Sister Chen was the agent assigned to them by the company. Her connections and ability were among the best in the industry.
“Huh? Are we filming promotional content in the dorm?” Yu Huaili blinked.
“No.” Remembering what Sister Chen had told him just now, Duan Qiong furrowed his brow, his expression oddly hesitant for once. “Sister Chen said she wants to record footage of our interactions.”
Ah, Yu Huaili understood.
The agent wanted them to queerbait naturally.
In the plot, the agent originally wanted to hype up the friendship-CB between him and Duan Qiong. But he sold it far too hard, and regular audiences never liked “candy” that was shoved directly into their mouths. The people who ate up this kind of CP were just memers who’d laugh and move on without looking back. Only their respective fans paid attention.
So right after debut, he was constantly called a “bloodsucker” and “that stubborn sticker that can’t be peeled off” by Duan Qiong’s fans…
Yu Huaili blinked. “Why film this? Because we’re close?”
Duan Qiong’s gaze fell on Yu Huaili’s soaking wet hair again. He hummed: “Mm…”
Although the previous life’s Duan Qiong didn’t care much for hyping CPs with anyone, he had some understanding of these things.
So he naturally understood what Sister Chen was after now. But looking at Yu Huaili, who still didn’t have a clue, he hadn’t figured out how to explain it to him. Sister Chen, having finished surveying the small living room, withdrew her gaze and spoke.
Her expression looked rather unsatisfied. “Where’s Jiang Qing? Didn’t I tell him to wait for me in the dorm?”
“He went out. I didn’t ask where, and I don’t know when he’ll be back.” Yu Huaili blinked. “Sister Chen, are we filming now?”
“Yes. You and Duan Qiong can just go about your usual activities. Xi Xingheng will be here soon.”
Yu Huaili nodded, then turned to look at Duan Qiong. He noticed Duan Qiong’s gaze kept landing on his hair, as if he had a real problem with it.
Sure enough, the next second, Duan Qiong spoke up.
“Your hair isn’t dry yet. Water’s dripping onto the floor.” Duan Qiong furrowed his brow in reminder.
God, this germophobe.
Yu Huaili touched his hair, about to say something, when he saw Sister Chen looking thoughtfully at the two of them. She mused, “Duan Qiong, why don’t you blow-dry Little Li’s hair?”
Yu Huaili: …?
Wait, weren’t they being a little too blunt with the queerbaiting right off the bat?
