【Hahahahaha!!! Which normal show asks guests to get their criminal record certificates right before it officially starts? Hahahaha!!!】
【This show is way beyond my expectations, hahaha!】
【Looks like the production team got scared by Lin Qiang.】
【They really should do it! Can’t let one bad apple spoil the whole pot!】
【I don’t even know whether to laugh at Yu Xi and Yi Chen fighting or at the criminal record check!】
【This show has so many ideas! Only twenty minutes in, and I haven’t stopped laughing!】
Almost the moment the host announced that they needed to return to their hometowns for criminal record and credit checks, the hashtag #Where to Go This Weekend Criminal Record Proof shot straight to the top of the hot search trends.
The guests found the requirement unexpected but reasonable—after all, Lin Qiang’s incident had happened right before the show aired. Luckily, he had been caught beforehand; otherwise, if it blew up later and the show got halted or taken down, it would be a loss for everyone involved, including the guests and the entire production team.
Only Song Xuan’s smile froze on his face instantly. “They didn’t mention this step in the process rundown?”
He frantically gestured toward his manager behind the camera. The manager got the hint and hurried over to the director.
“It’s necessary for the show’s safety to do a pre-broadcast review,” the director said.
The manager replied, “Then just check it privately. Why waste public resources by live-streaming the criminal record proof on the show?”
The director said, “Of course, it’s to make sure no one refuses to hand it over voluntarily. Don’t worry, if there’s nothing wrong, it can all be cleared.”
The manager muttered under his breath, “Easy for you to say. Why don’t you check three generations while you’re at it?”
The director naturally overheard. Everyone in the entertainment industry was sharp; how could he not see that something was off with the manager? His eyes sharpened, and his guard went up instantly. “You—Song Xuan, you can’t get it cleared, can you?”
The live stream continued. Though the camera only flashed by briefly, eagle-eyed netizens captured Song Xuan’s expression.
【What’s up with Song Xuan’s face?】
【Does he have something he doesn’t want to get checked?】
【His reaction is so weird. It’s like asking him for the proof is stabbing him in his hometown.】
Behind the camera, the manager frantically signaled Song Xuan with his eyes and mouthed repeatedly: Expression, expression!!!!
Song Xuan forced himself to adjust his expression and gave a warm smile. “I’m just surprised. No variety show has ever done on-the-spot proof checks before, right? It’s pretty interesting!”
“Then everyone, hurry and get ready,” the host continued, cueing the next segment. She turned to the camera. “Our live stream will pause for a bit now. We’ll continue once we’re in the cars. See you soon.”
The live stream feed cut off, and the guests visibly relaxed. Managers and assistants led their artists away.
—Before departure, all guests needed to change into sponsor-provided outfits. To maintain their on-camera image, they had to adjust their clothing and makeup accordingly. The production team had prepared resting makeup rooms, two people per room.
When Yu Xi pushed open the door to the makeup room, he was shocked to see Yi Chen inside. No, not just Yi Chen.
—Fu Le sat beside Yi Chen, chatting with him.
They looked like old acquaintances. Fu Le tilted his head up, calling him “Brother Yi Chen, Brother Yi Chen” with sparkling eyes. Yi Chen responded to him calmly and composedly.
Yu Xi: “Heh.”
“Looks like I’ve interrupted you two?”
When Yu Xi arrived, Fu Le naturally ducked a bit behind Yi Chen, peeking out with half his head, cautiously looking toward Yu Xi.
“Brother Yu Xi is so fierce. If I’m in his makeup room, he’ll get mad,” Fu Le whispered, his tone utterly aggrieved. “Last time, I took a little too long preparing and stayed in the makeup room a bit extra. Brother Yu Xi scolded me badly—said some really awful things.”
He didn’t hesitate at all to badmouth Yu Xi in front of Yi Chen.
Yi Chen and Yu Xi hated each other. Would Yi Chen really bother to check the facts?
Even if he did, it was just Fu Le’s word against nothing. With a few tears, wouldn’t that make him more pitiable than Yu Xi’s loud bluster?
Alphas always went soft for the gentle approach, never the hard one.
As he spoke, Fu Le shrank further behind Yi Chen, clutching tightly to the hem of Yi Chen’s clothes with his fingers. “Brother Yi Chen, I’m scared…”
Yi Chen brushed Fu Le’s hand away. “Yu Xi wouldn’t scold someone for no reason. If he did scold you, it must have been your problem.”
Fu Le: “?”
“You’re not leaving?” Yi Chen narrowed his eyes. “Or do you want me to ask what exactly your problem was?”
Fu Le was shocked and scared. “But I… Brother Yi Chen, I haven’t…”
Seeing Yu Xi about to come in, Fu Le reluctantly shook the phone in his hand. “Fine, Brother Yi Chen, I’m going. We’ll chat on WeChat later—I’ll tell you everything.”
As he left the door, he didn’t forget to flash Yi Chen a carefully crafted smile.
Soon, their assistants brought in makeup artists.
The makeup room was laid out in an L-shape, so when facing the mirrors, they could see each other’s reflections perfectly.
“What, you like that type?” Yu Xi boldly handed his face over to the makeup artist without reservation.
“What type?” Yi Chen asked.
“Delicate, obedient, cute, spoiled, Omega.” Yu Xi ticked off Fu Le’s self-assigned traits on his fingers. “Oh, and green tea.”
Yi Chen: “Our little fish has spot-on taste in people, as always.”
Yu Xi: “…Don’t disgust me.”
Xiao Chen listened to their exchange with trepidation. Before Yu Xi could start arguing, he whispered softly, “Brother Yu Xi, Guan Ge asked me to remind you—hold it in, don’t fight.”
Yu Xi had no intention of avoiding Yi Chen and spoke loudly. “As long as someone doesn’t open their mouth or talk to me, how could I start a fight?”
That someone heard it.
Yi Chen: “Xiao Chen, help me pass on a message to that someone—who are they talking about? Oh no, it couldn’t be me, right?”
Xiao Chen: “…”
Yu Xi: “Xiao Liu, hey, you’re Xiao Liu, right? Help me tell him—with all that time to talk, he might as well flirt more with the Omega.”
Xiao Liu: “…”
Yi Chen: “Xiao Chen, trouble you to pass on another message—spreading rumors comes with legal liability.”
“How is it a rumor?” Yu Xi dropped the act, signaled the makeup artist to pause, and turned directly to Yi Chen. “Wasn’t it you flirting with the Omega right here?”
“Adding a work WeChat is flirting? Then breathing the same air under the same roof as me—isn’t it time for us to get a marriage certificate?”
“Work WeChat?” Yu Xi sneered. “Why add him and not me?”
“Didn’t we just scan the code?” Yi Chen looked at Yu Xi.
Yu Xi laughed out of anger. “But you didn’t approve it!”
Yi Chen: “I did.”
“Where?” Yu Xi opened his friends list and shoved his phone in Yi Chen’s face, scrolling wildly. So many friends, none of them him.
Me—Settings—Privacy—Friends Permissions—Contacts Blocklist.
Yu Xi: “…”
Xiao Chen, Xiao Liu: “…”
The two makeup artists: “…”
Yi Chen calmly made a “go ahead” gesture.
Yu Xi gritted his teeth and tapped in.
Sure enough, that infuriating profile picture emoji lay quietly in the blocklist.
Yu Xi shut up and silently sat back down.
Once their hair and makeup were mostly done, Xiao Chen spoke up. “Brother Yu, just wait here. I’ll go get the clothes.”
“No need.” Yu Xi really didn’t want to stay in the same space as Yi Chen anymore. “I’ll change myself.”
The public changing room wasn’t far from Yu Xi’s makeup room—just a turn down the corridor.
Guests preferred changing in private spaces, so the changing room was empty. As Yu Xi changed, footsteps approached from behind the partition curtain.
Someone else entered the booth.
He could tell from the footsteps it was Yi Chen, but Yu Xi ignored him and kept changing.
Amid the rustling sounds, Yi Chen’s voice came first. “Excuse me, Teacher Yu Xi, have you taken me off your blocklist yet?”
“No,” Yu Xi said. “Even if I did, we’d have nothing to talk about.”
“That’s not true.”
“…” Yu Xi said coldly, “A proper ex should stay quietly in the blocklist.”
Silence.
The next second, Yu Xi’s phone blew up with notifications.
From a friend added two years ago—one Yu Xi had forgotten how he’d even added. They’d never exchanged a single message; the chat only had the auto system prompt: “You’re now friends.”
And this stranger he’d never spoken to suddenly sent dozens of emoji stickers.
Yi Chen pulled open the curtain and leaned against the frame, showing off. “No problem. I have an alt account.”
Yu Xi: “…???”
Yu Xi: “Are you childish or what?”
As he said it, Yu Xi went to block him again.
Yi Chen reached out to stop him. Yu Xi dodged sideways, still tapping away. Yi Chen stepped forward. Yu Xi tried to evade, his fingers scrambling on the screen, but Yi Chen pressed closer. In the midst of blocking and dodging, the phone slipped from his hand, slid through the gap under the partition door, and straight into the next changing booth.
Yu Xi reached his limit and grabbed Yi Chen’s collar. “Are you sick?!”
Just as he bent to pick it up, the changing room door was kicked open with a bang.
The newcomer was on the phone, his mood foul, every word laced with fury. “Who came up with this segment?”
“Criminal record proof? Where am I supposed to get that??? If it weren’t for you back then, would I have gotten busted just for gambling? It was all to clean up your mess! And now this crap show demands a criminal record proof? Live stream!!!!”
It was Song Xuan.
“I’m done for! You just cry cry cry—all you do is cry. What good does crying do? Does it solve anything?!”
There was a thick dark curtain between the entrance and the changing booths. Guests rarely used the public changing room, so Song Xuan had no idea anyone was inside. He slammed the door shut and grew even more unrestrained.
“And this show—you’re the one who made me join it, right? Good money? Ha? For this pittance? Now I can’t survive in the industry anymore! You happy now?”
“Still asking me for money? Money money money! All you think about is money! It’s gone! I lost it all gambling!!!!”
As he ranted, he yanked off the clothes he was supposed to change into, looking like he was about to pull open the curtain.
The most awkward moment in the world was when the werewolf revealed itself and realized someone had overheard.
Song Xuan was already on the verge of exploding. If he discovered someone had heard, who knew what desperate measures he’d take.
Yu Xi and Yi Chen exchanged a glance and, without a word, grabbed their clothes and bolted to the innermost booth.
—The end of the changing booths had a small storage room for props.
“The door won’t close!!” Yu Xi mouthed.
He fiddled with it a few times but couldn’t budge it—the door was jammed tight.
Without a word, Yi Chen shoved Yu Xi behind the door, then squeezed in himself.
The space was cramped. Yu Xi was practically pressed against Yi Chen’s body. They both had Pheromone Blocker Patches on, but at such close range, the faint traces that shouldn’t have been detectable now spread like wildfire at their noses.
Yu Xi was all too familiar with Yi Chen’s pheromones.
He used to love peeling off Yi Chen’s blocker patch in private, nestling at his neck, doing nothing but letting that scent envelop him, soaking into every inch of his body.
But that was then.
“Get away from me.”
Yu Xi glared fiercely at Yi Chen.
“Can’t.”
Yi Chen shifted his shoulders, indicating he was already flush against the door panel—any more movement would make noise.
At the same moment, Song Xuan stormed into a booth, the poor curtain becoming his outlet for rage as he yanked it back and forth with “clack clack” sounds.
“Your brother doesn’t work at the police station? Get him to help… No way? No way? Nothing works?! Now you’re blaming me? You set up the gambling den, you found the Omega—I only got a record because I got dragged into your mess! If not for you, would this have happened? And now you tell me there’s no way out?”
It was way too cramped; the air felt stifling.
Yu Xi’s head spun, and a fine, dense prickling pain suddenly rose at the back of his neck. He could endure it, but it was uncomfortable.
“Move. I need to get out,” Yu Xi said through gritted teeth, whispering to Yi Chen. “He’s the one with the problem. What’s there to hide from?”
Yi Chen stayed calm. “If you go out now, you’ll force a confrontation. He’s emotionally collapsing—he’ll do anything to shut you up. Who knows what he’d do to you?”
Yu Xi: “You think I’m scared of him?”
“I’m working on it!!!!”
The person on the phone said something unknown, and Song Xuan roared out in a meltdown-like outburst.
“I’m thinking about it! I don’t want to be cyberbullied, and I don’t want to be banned either!! Who doesn’t want to make money? Variety show money is so easy to earn!!”
Gone was the playful, joking Song Xuan from the variety show. At that moment, he was like a wild beast driven mad. He roared into the phone while wildly kicking the items placed in the changing room.
“It’s all over!! No one gets to live well! No one!! So what if I have a criminal record? Does having a criminal record mean I can’t make money?!!”
There were no cameras in the changing room, so no one knew or could see his behavior. Song Xuan kicked without restraint and roared without holding back.
The increasingly oppressive air made Yu Xi’s head even dizzier. The discomfort in his gland appeared so suddenly—or rather, it wasn’t entirely sudden. It had happened a few times before, but Yu Xi hadn’t paid much attention. His schedule was too packed, and he hadn’t had time to see a doctor.
The stinging pain at the nape of his neck grew sharper. Yu Xi couldn’t even tell if it was a sudden issue with his own body, the instinctive rejection in his heart from being too close to Yi Chen, or the natural pheromone repulsion between two Alphas. In any case, the discomfort from the gland made Yu Xi extremely irritated right now.
“Change? Apologize? Make promises? Why should I change? Why should I apologize? As long as I’m not found out, I’m still a good citizen!!! Shut up! All of you shut up!!!”
Just as Yu Xi’s irritation reached its peak, Song Xuan’s footsteps and his roar of extreme fury sounded at the same time. They grew closer and closer, until finally, with a loud “bang,” he kicked the door heavily.
Fuck!
Yi Chen cursed inwardly.
His back was already pressed flat against the door, even his heels stuck tight. When Song Xuan kicked the door, he used nearly all his strength. The massive force transmitted directly through the door. The door, which had been stuck fast, actually shifted from the impact. There was no chance to dodge. Yi Chen felt as if he’d taken the kick directly. His heel slammed against the door, his body instantly lost balance, and he pitched forward. But the excessively cramped space prevented him from falling forward. The two opposing forces clashed, and instead, Yi Chen slid downward without support.
To maintain balance, his body reacted faster than his brain. By the time Yi Chen realized what was happening, he had already reached out and tightly hugged Yu Xi. Using Yu Xi as his anchor, their foreheads pressed together, noses touching, arms wrapped around the waist—in an extremely intimate posture, he barely held their precarious balance on the verge of falling.
Their breaths intertwined, lips mere millimeters apart.
Yu Xi: “！！！！！”
Fuck!!!!!!
