[I can’t take this—are the fans in this world eating TOO well?]
[Holy crap, I saw some guy reaching out and tugging my bro’s clothes. He was about to pull them right off (vomiting)]
[Seriously? In broad daylight?? These dead gays, can they have some shame? (angry) (angry)]
[That’s a paparazzo, right? Paparazzi are annoying in every world.]
[Honestly, I could write him a hundred handwritten letters for my little husband qaq]
[Little Bad Pear working so hard at his idol duties looks even more hardworking next to those three slacking teammates. Enough said… having my husband as my bias is a blessing…]
[Haha, Bad Pear’s always been super particular about his image. Just now, when he saw so many people outside, he straightened up in an instant.]
[Nothing to say. Bad Pear with that face standing there—this is peak idol material.]
[My husband not only accepts letters but also handmade gifts. I’m so jealous, I’m so jealous, I’m so jealous.]
[Don’t be jealous haha, this is nothing yet. Babe, this is only the first day of debut. There’ll be concerts, fan signings, birthday parties, and fan meetings ahead.]
[Then I support Yu Huaili debuting in the Empire and holding fan meetings across the entire star system.]
[If you support it, I support it too!]
[Then I support it as well!]
[Husband, after this mission ends, dare to let me meet you in person?]
[If you want that, I want it too.]
[FOX: Dream on.]
[???]
[Add My WeChat for the Secret Recipe to Being Bad Pear’s Dog: Not Bad Pear, but I can meet you in person in his place and beat you up for real (grinning) (grinning).]
[???]
[The dog’s been let out.]
[Fox, you just got unmuted and the first thing you do is attack people? How low of you (thumbs up)]
[Add My WeChat for the Secret Recipe to Being Bad Pear’s Dog: Exactly.]
[He wasn’t talking about you! Brother Add-WeChat, you’re something else. No wonder you got muted.]
[I want to meet him too qaq. Is there any chance I can camp out at the Imperial Police Headquarters and catch Bad Pear?]
[If you know Bad Pear works at the Police Headquarters, you shouldn’t be acting like this.]
[Sure, bro, totally possible. Except the next second your mugshot gets posted all over StarNet, and someone WILL actually come find you in real life.]
[Zhi Feng: Jumping off a building would be easier.]
[Completely agreed, my husband Little Pear > <]
[FOX: Can you all stop deluding yourselves? I come into this live stream and can’t find a place to step. Is everyone having delusions or some unspeakable mental illness?]
[Damn, I can’t even IMAGINE? Who are you? What’s it got to do with you?]
[You just got out of the cage and you’re already biting people. @Live Stream Assistant can someone deal with these two? Why hasn’t my report been processed yet?]
[I’m manifesting a permanent ban for Brother Fox and Brother Add-WeChat.]
[Manifesting.]
[How do these two lunatics even exist in my husband’s live stream? Huh? And they’re ADMINS??]
[Are there still people in Bad Pear’s live stream who don’t know about these two? They’re Bad Pear’s two biggest anti-fans and delusional fanboys. They think having a bit of money makes them hot stuff. Bad Pear gave them admin and now they just kick people around in the stream.]
[FOX: Mhm, if you’re rich, you can donate to Bad Pear too.]
[Their exposé posts are everywhere in the community, haha. These two get roasted to death everywhere.]
[Add My WeChat for the Secret Recipe to Being Bad Pear’s Dog: Jealous? Don’t be jealous ^ ^]
[Kicked out and came back. @FOX are you dead? Why did you kick me??]
[Did you call Bad Pear “husband”? These two sickos can’t stand seeing that.]
[Nuts…]
[I can’t take it either. Where did all these demons and monsters come from? Who even gave Duan Qiong a bottle of pear juice?]
[Anyone who can ship Bad Pear’s CP in this world really needs to hire a master exorcist at home.]
[Most support for toxic solo fans. Can you all stop leeching off my bro’s popularity?]
[@User Huaili Senior, I like you. Can I date you?]
[FOX: Idiot.]
[User Huaili: Spot check!]
[User Huaili: Why are there so many people here? It’s so late now. Everyone, take care of your health and go to sleep early.]
The audience instantly forgot their previous argument and became even more lively, all sending “Okay, baby,” “Goodnight,” “Rest early” in unison…
Yu Huaili smiled and shrank the live stream window. When he looked up, he unexpectedly caught Duan Qiong’s eyes.
Duan Qiong seemed to not have expected Yu Huaili to suddenly look at him. He narrowed his eyes, his expression unchanged, but instinctively hid the can he was gripping tightly behind his back.
In his hand was a drink with a pear-shaped pattern printed on the label.
It had been shoved at him by a girl with a keychain of him and Yu Huaili hanging from her backpack when he was about to get in the car. She’d said something about it being a special piece of fan support for their Yu-Duan pairing.
Before Duan Qiong could refuse, the girl was swept away by the crowd. So he’d had no choice but to bring the pear juice into the car.
The ice-cold can felt like a hot potato in his hand.
For Duan Qiong, pear juice was just an ordinary drink—no different from orange juice or tangerine juice.
But after seeing that netizen’s comment on the big screen during the interview, holding this thing now stirred a faint sense of awkwardness in his chest.
Did “pear juice” mean what he thought it meant? And “drinking pear juice”—was that what he thought it meant?
This was just too…
Although Duan Qiong had seen this kind of talk plenty of times and was used to it, and didn’t really care—after all, in the previous life, every time he and Xi Xingheng met, people would spread nasty rumors about their private lives.
And he wasn’t gay, so he didn’t care much about such talk. But Yu Huaili liked men. To him… was this kind of talk harassment?
But why did Yu Huaili look so unconcerned?
After a pause, Duan Qiong raised his eyes again to look at Yu Huaili.
Yu Huaili’s glance just now seemed like a casual flick. He had already turned his head to look out the car window, the dim yellow streetlights falling across his face.
In the dim light and shadow, Yu Huaili wore a faint expression, looking tired and distant. This appearance was clearly quite different from his usual self, yet it carried a quality that made one want to… throw oneself into the flame like a moth.
The protagonist top’s gaze had lingered on him for far too long. Yu Huaili couldn’t ignore it even if he tried. He tilted his head, a little puzzled. “Why do you keep looking at me like that tonight?”
Duan Qiong froze for a moment. It was only then that he noticed Xi Xingheng’s gaze had also been falling on Yu Huaili from time to time. He couldn’t help but furrow his brow.
What was wrong with this Xi Xingheng guy?
Xi Xingheng leaned back, his shoulder lightly overlapping with Yu Huaili’s. He spoke gently, “I wanted to ask you—were you upset tonight?”
Yu Huaili raised an eyebrow, his expression even more confused. “…Upset? Why?”
“What else could it be?” Jiang Qing, who’d been gaming the whole time, was full of pent-up frustration. After all, that interview was Solaron-X’s first, and fans and casual viewers alike would be paying attention to it.
But of course, Jiang Qing could feel that he’d been somewhat ignored during the interview. Those two couples next to him really were queerbaiting hard right in front of his face.
Looking at his phone screen, which had gone dark, Jiang Qing gave a light tsk and added: “He was queerbaiting so hard with you just now.”
…This kidney-deficient-looking guy had such a sharp tongue. Did he deserve a beating?
Xi Xingheng narrowed his eyes, glanced at Jiang Qing, and inadvertently exchanged a two-second look with Duan Qiong.
He smiled. “That’s right… Does it make you uncomfortable? The things I said in the interview, I mean.”
“No.” Yu Huaili felt Xi Xingheng was just making conversation. He’d already answered this kind of question before, so he said quietly, “I told you, I don’t mind. And I understand, it was probably Sister Chen’s idea. But what Brother Jiang Qing said is true—next time, our interactions can be a little more natural.”
Not like this time, where every topic was forcibly dragged to him.
Xi Xingheng smiled. “Alright, I promise. As long as you’re not upset.”
“Mm.” Sister Chen’s expression still looked grim. She pinched the bridge of her nose. “You and Duan Qiong’s CP popularity is too high right now. But since Duan Qiong isn’t willing to cooperate, that’s hard to work with. So I think Xingheng would be more—”
Duan Qiong cut her off, speaking word by word: “I never said I wasn’t willing to cooperate.”
Seeing Yu Huaili look up at him in surprise, Duan Qiong also realized his reaction had been too big. He clenched the drink in his hand and explained in a low voice, “It can boost both of our popularity. It’s a win-win. I never said I wasn’t willing.”
Sister Chen let out a confused “Hm?” Wasn’t Duan Qiong not even willing to blow-dry Yu Huaili’s hair before? Did this really count as a cooperative attitude?
But since Duan Qiong had said so, Sister Chen thought for two seconds and said, “Still, when a CP’s popularity gets too high, it can backfire… As long as you don’t object, that’s fine. I thought you wouldn’t cooperate. In that case, if you’re willing, I can arrange for you to hype a CP with Jiang Qing.”
Duan Qiong: …?
What?
Duan Qiong said flatly, “I’m not close with Jiang Qing.”
“That’s fine, you don’t need to be that close for this.” As she said it, Sister Chen glanced at Duan Qiong through the rearview mirror, then caught sight of the pear juice in his hand. She knitted her brows and hesitated for two seconds. “Duan Qiong, you—whatever, just do whatever you want about the interactions among yourselves. Just be mindful of your boundaries.”
Duan Qiong didn’t speak.
In the newly quiet car, Xi Xingheng couldn’t hold back a laugh.
The car soon stopped in front of the dormitory building.
Jiang Qing had been gaming the whole ride and his phone was almost dead. He also seemed to have plenty of complaints about his teammates, so he walked off quickly on his own.
In the quiet night, the occasional chirp of insects broke the silence. Duan Qiong turned to look at Yu Huaili walking beside him and said, “You don’t need to take the things people say on the internet too seriously.”
Yu Huaili hummed. “What?”
“Just the ones asking me what I—” The words rolled around in his mouth twice but wouldn’t come out. Duan Qiong cleared his throat. “Like the comments asking what kind of drink I like.”
“I don’t care.” Yu Huaili said openly. “Including that comment that got cut off by the director. I don’t care. When netizens ship a CP, they say all kinds of things. Brother Duan Qiong, don’t take it to heart either.”
The comforted Duan Qiong: …
For some reason, Duan Qiong felt an inexplicable discomfort in his chest.
But this discomfort was different from what he’d felt before.
He was silent for two seconds. “Mm. I never took it to heart.”
“Good.” Yu Huaili patted Duan Qiong’s shoulder. “Though I’m not sure why it’s our CP that ended up getting popular.”
Duan Qiong’s gaze landed back on his good friend. “…Isn’t that a good thing? I never said I wasn’t willing to cooperate.”
“I didn’t say it was bad. Hype is hype.” Yu Huaili answered casually, then thought for a moment. “But I saw netizens saying we look like a married couple? I don’t get it.”
Duan Qiong knew those comments too.
The reason netizens said they looked like a married couple was because… because they kissed a lot.
Duan Qiong looked down at Yu Huaili’s sharply defined profile, then his gaze slowly drifted to Yu Huaili’s lips. He said quietly, “Mm. You’re better-looking than me.”
“Is that what you think, Bro?” Yu Huaili looked delighted at the compliment, his eyes brightening, his brows and eyes carrying a touch of unrestrained joy.
He naturally slung an arm around Duan Qiong’s shoulder, curving his eyes. “Bro, I think you’re pretty handsome too.”
Duan Qiong glanced at the hand on his shoulder, then turned to look at Yu Huaili, a smile curving at his own lips.
Back at the dorm, Yu Huaili went straight to shower. Duan Qiong looked at the towel Yu Huaili had casually tossed over the sofa. Just as he was about to bring it to him, the phone on the table buzzed twice.
It was a message from Sister Chen.
[Ms. Chen: Asleep?]
They had a work group chat. Sister Chen generally didn’t private message them unless there was something important.
Duan Qiong frowned slightly. Picking up Yu Huaili’s towel with one hand, he typed back with the other.
[Duan Qiong: Not yet.]
[Ms. Chen: Duan Qiong, do you know what the one thing an idol absolutely cannot do is?]
[Duan Qiong: Sister Chen, what do you want to say to me?]
[Ms. Chen: Idols can’t date. You know that, right?]
[Ms. Chen: Intra-group dating is even more impossible. It’s strictly forbidden.]
[Duan Qiong: I won’t date anyone.]
[Duan Qiong: And Sister Chen, everyone in Solaron-X is a man.]
How could men date?
Pausing, Duan Qiong unconsciously looked down at the towel in his hand.
Wait… Men could date too, couldn’t they?
