The live stream room’s bullet comments reacted about the same as Yu Huaili.
[How is this queerbaiting? Is this agent using her position to hook the protagonist top up with benefits?? (angry) (angry)]
[Damn, honestly, not even a dog would eat this forcibly fed sugar. I beg you, Sister Chen, please stop with these terrible ideas.]
[I object. Only I can blow-dry Bad Pear’s hair.]
[If the protagonist top has any conscience, he won’t agree (angry)]
[Wait, have you guys forgotten that Bad Pear’s mission is to bring the protagonist top and bottom together and follow the plot?]
[My husband’s mission NOW is to capture Duan Qiong. If Duan Qiong refuses, I’ll take care of him for my husband.]
[Huh? Are you going to guard your husband and your husband’s future boyfriend’s love, is that it?]
[That cuckold-club member upstairs, stop embarrassing yourself.]
[Damn… can you all scram? What the hell is “Bad Pear’s future boyfriend”? Bad Pear is a pure and innocent good man, and you’re spreading rumors like this.]
[Zhi Feng: …Don’t interfere with Bad Pear’s mission.]
[There are literally ZERO people in this live stream who want to interfere with Bad Pear’s mission. What’s wrong with cursing out the protagonist top a bit? Feeling sorry for him, upstairs? How’d you even become an admin?]
[Stop arguing, upstairs. Brother Zhi Feng has been with Bad Pear since the beginning. Even though he quietly lurks and constantly mutes and kicks people, he’s donated a ton to Bad Pear, and he’s way better than those two nutcases.]
[Who are “those two nutcases”…?]
[FOX and Verified Brother. They had a fight a couple days after Bad Pear started streaming, and they both got muted. They still haven’t been unmuted.]
[Did I miss something? What were those two fighting about again?]
[Definitely some boring reason.]
[I saw the whole thing. Because FOX wouldn’t let Verified Brother call Bad Pear “husband”…]
[Knew it. Always such a boring reason.]
[Seeing everyone in the live stream still acting like mortal enemies makes me feel all warm inside.]
Duan Qiong: …
He lowered his gaze, instinctively looking at the nape of Yu Huaili’s neck, where the fabric had been soaked by water dripping from his hair.
After a slight pause, Duan Qiong pinched his brow and said, “That’s unnecessary. It would be too forced.”
“Don’t worry.” Sister Chen said confidently, “It’s just a small shot. The result won’t feel that forced… And besides, you two obviously get along well. This kind of thing is totally normal between guys. It’s dorm-life content, so it’ll look authentic.”
After all, Sister Chen was a top-tier agent. Her connections, ability, and resources were all real. In the early days, the team built for Solaron-X by the company was her one-woman show, and she wielded considerable authority.
With that, Sister Chen raised her eyes to Yu Huaili. “What do you think, Little Li?”
Yu Huaili raised an eyebrow and shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t mind. But Brother Duan Qiong has his germophobia, so I think we should skip it.”
Having been turned down twice in a row, Sister Chen’s brow furrowed slightly, disapproval lurking in her expression. But seeing their uncooperative attitudes, she reluctantly agreed. “Fine.”
Duan Qiong froze for a moment, his gaze falling back on Yu Huaili’s features, his lips parting slightly.
How to put it…
An inexplicable feeling rose in Duan Qiong’s chest.
There were so many people on the Solaron-X team. If it didn’t involve their own interests, even among the four of them—even in the late stages before Solaron-X’s disbandment—few would ever contradict Sister Chen’s words for someone else’s sake.
Let alone Yu Huaili.
It wasn’t that Yu Huaili was bad, but in the previous life, with so many people on the Solaron-X team, Yu Huaili seemed to be the only one who’d gotten close to Sister Chen.
The reason Duan Qiong remembered was that the two had once been photographed by bored paparazzi—Sister Chen going to his house to spend the night—and a bunch of baseless rumors had spread.
When the company was dissolving Solaron-X, Yu Huaili had originally disagreed. But when Sister Chen quit, he followed her out.
And now Yu Huaili was contradicting Sister Chen for him?
Was it because the two of them were… friends now?
Because the protagonist top’s gaze was truly too hard to ignore, Yu Huaili blinked with a puzzled expression, curving his lips into a smile at Duan Qiong. “Brother Duan Qiong, why are you looking at me like that?”
Meeting Yu Huaili’s eyes, Duan Qiong’s eyelid twitched uncontrollably. He looked away. “Nothing.”
After a beat, he added, “Sister Chen, for Yu Huaili—”
But before he could finish, a knock interrupted him.
Sister Chen stood up, letting out a puzzled “Hm? What was that? Wait, let me get the door for Xi Xingheng first.”
After entering, Xi Xingheng took off the sunglasses perched on his nose, his gaze sweeping lazily over everyone in the living room before landing on Yu Huaili.
Yu Huaili gave Xi Xingheng a polite smile.
Xi Xingheng narrowed his eyes. Withdrawing his gaze, he asked Sister Chen beside him, “Now?”
“Right now.” Sister Chen said. “Any later and Little Li’s hair will dry out. Little Li, take Xingheng to the bathroom to blow-dry your hair—no problem with this, right?”
These past few days, Sister Chen had seen Duan Qiong and Yu Huaili inseparable, thinking they truly had a good relationship. She hadn’t expected them to reject such a minor, hardly intimate interaction.
She’d been about to drop the idea, but then she looked at Yu Huaili’s face again and decided the slightly forced idea was still workable.
She thought: if Duan Qiong wouldn’t cooperate, there was always Xi Xingheng.
Of the four in Solaron-X, the other three had all appeared in front of the camera and had some fan base. But the parachuted Xi Xingheng had none, and he was still stuck with the label of having squeezed out Sheng Fang.
Though Sister Chen didn’t understand why a capitalist’s young master would choose the road of the entertainment industry, they were now a community of interests in a sense, so she certainly needed to come up with ideas for Xi Xingheng.
But this young master’s ability was definitely no match for the three Solaron-X members who’d already trained for years.
So if, after debuting, Xi Xingheng’s singing and dancing were subpar and he still carried the burden of “company favorite, parachute, stole someone’s debut slot,” it would have some impact on his path forward…
Sister Chen thought: the only option was to have him pair up with the most popular member of Solaron-X, so that he could integrate into Solaron-X’s fanbase faster after debut.
Duan Qiong and Yu Huaili’s popularity was about the same, so either one would do.
Sister Chen had sent a message to young master Xi Xingheng, asking when he’d arrive and explaining the situation.
Xi Xingheng, already in the apartment elevator, agreed quickly.
Hearing this, Yu Huaili thought briefly and understood that Sister Chen had changed tactics.
She was going to slap this blunt forced interaction onto him and the protagonist bottom.
Tsk. Did they have to?
…Well, whatever. It wasn’t like his character in the plot hadn’t queerbaiited hard with everyone.
Yu Huaili said, “I don’t have a problem with it.”
Xi Xingheng nodded, looking like he wanted to get this over with fast. “Where’s the hairdryer?”
“The bathroom.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
Xi Xingheng lowered his eyes, tested the hairdryer’s temperature with his hand, then looked at Yu Huaili leaning against the sink.
His wet hair had been casually pushed back, revealing a smooth forehead. The top button of his loungewear was undone. He was standing with his arms crossed, quietly watching Xi Xingheng through half-lidded eyes, a faint, ambiguous smile tugging at his lips.
Xi Xingheng met Yu Huaili’s gaze for two seconds.
When he’d first met the Solaron-X members in the meeting room, Xi Xingheng had only thought: one of them had a stinky face and was acting all superior, the other looked like he had kidney deficiency. Disgusted, he’d thought, what the hell did Morning Star Entertainment pick? These people can debut?
Then he saw Yu Huaili.
Wait… this one could actually debut.
Most people had some hidden tendency toward face-appreciation, and Xi Xingheng was more obvious about it than most.
Yu Huaili’s looks really did match his taste. That was also why, when Sister Chen suggested he interact more with Yu Huaili, he hadn’t refused.
After all, interactions with Solaron-X members were unavoidable. But between the poser, the kidney-deficient one, and Yu Huaili, he certainly wasn’t going to torture himself by choosing the other two.
“Bro.” Xi Xingheng listened as Yu Huaili, bold as you please, called him with a drawled tone laced with hidden laughter: “If you wait any longer, my hair’s really going to dry.”
Xi Xingheng hummed in acknowledgment, turning the hairdryer down to a lower setting.
Sister Chen watched the two’s interaction through the camera operator’s lens with satisfaction. Turning to Duan Qiong standing beside her, a thought struck her, and she asked, “Hey? What were you about to say?”
Duan Qiong watched Xi Xingheng tousle Yu Huaili’s hair, his fingers threading through the strands. Amid the noise of the hairdryer, he asked, “Are the two of them going to keep doing this?”
“What?” Sister Chen blinked. “Isn’t this just blow-drying? It’ll be done in a moment.”
No, that’s not…
Watching Xi Xingheng cup Yu Huaili’s face a few times during the blow-drying, Duan Qiong narrowed his eyes and said nothing more.
Before Solaron-X formed in the previous life, Sister Chen had definitely made them cross-interact. But how Yu Huaili and Xi Xingheng had interacted, Duan Qiong had already forgotten.
And the end result hadn’t been good.
Since the result was bad, the two probably didn’t interact much after that. After all, they hadn’t been close in the previous life.
Actually, Yu Huaili and Xi Xingheng were getting along just fine right now.
Feeling the light pressure of Xi Xingheng’s hand, Yu Huaili raised an eyebrow and met Xi Xingheng’s gaze in the mirror for two seconds.
“I thought you were the type that was… hard to approach.” Yu Huaili said.
Xi Xingheng smiled. “Why would you think that? I’m very easy to get along with.”
Yu Huaili made a vague “Mm” sound.
On the surface, sure.
Because Xi Xingheng was very good at pretending. Only his destined one could see the arrogance, sensitivity, and inner turmoil underneath.
For example, Xi Xingheng was definitely dying of disgust right now, yet a faint smile still hung at the corner of his lips.
Yu Huaili gently pressed against the hand Xi Xingheng was using to hold up half his face, curving his eyes. “Mm, now I think you’re a good person too, Bro… You’re very considerate, turning the hairdryer down.”
Xi Xingheng’s movements paused briefly, then he resumed blow-drying.
For some reason, he now had the feeling of blow-drying his own dog after a bath. That dog also loved to act cute. Every time after a bath, it acted like it had been through some terrible ordeal, rubbing its head against his palm in grievance as he dried its fur.
“Let’s add each other.” Xi Xingheng set down the hairdryer and gave Yu Huaili’s soft hair one last pat. “This kind of thing won’t be a one-off.”
Yu Huaili let out an “Ah.” He obviously caught Xi Xingheng’s subtext, but he had no reason to refuse.
If he didn’t interact with Xi Xingheng, then the one interacting with Xi Xingheng would be his mission target.
Could that happen?
No, it could not.
“Sure.” Yu Huaili exchanged contact info with Xi Xingheng, typing in his notes as he asked, “You know my name, right?”
“Yu Huaili.” Xi Xingheng said. “I remember.”
They filmed a few more simple dorm videos. Sister Chen checked the time, and before leaving, she reminded them, “Alright, the footage looks good. The choreography teacher will come to the company tomorrow. Practice hard. One month from now is Solaron-X’s official debut. Whether you make it or not will all come down to Debut Night.”
Xi Xingheng left together with Sister Chen and the others.
After they were gone, Yu Huaili collapsed into the sofa, letting out a long breath. He looked utterly lazy.
Yu Huaili looked up at Duan Qiong and said casually, “Bro, pour me some water. Filming in the dorm is more tiring than at the company.”
Hearing this, Duan Qiong turned and poured a glass of warm water, setting it on the coffee table. He sat down in the single armchair on the other side, watching Yu Huaili pick up the glass, and furrowed his brow. “Xi Xingheng… what kind of person is he?”
Startled, Yu Huaili nearly choked on his water. “Cough, cough, cough…”
Huh? Had the protagonist top and bottom taken a shine to each other this quickly?
