CH 87

Chapter 87 – Love Scandal Mess

This chapter contains Weibo comments, don’t like, don’t read

When Fang Juexia woke up, he felt that even his skeleton had been rattled loose. 

Dazed, he opened his eyes and stared at the white ceiling like he had lost his soul. Only after three minutes did he start to  gradually recover his memory.

Memories…that were especially hard to look back on.

“You’re awake?” Pei Tingsong had woken up earlier than he had and had been hugging Fang Juexia, who was still asleep, as if he was holding a treasure made of jade. When he kissed him, he did so extremely lightly, afraid of waking him up. He wanted to wait for Fang Juexia to wake up naturally after getting enough sleep.

Fang Juexia, who had just recovered his memory, felt his face turn red as soon as it was rubbed against once. He reached out to push against Pei Tingsong’s chest, trying to push him away. “Let go, don’t stick to me.”

“How come you’re like this every time?” Pei Tingsong’s tone even sounded aggrieved. “It can’t be you’ve forgotten everything ah?”

Fang Juexia of course hadn’t forgotten anything, he remembered it all very clearly. But without saying a word, he arched up and rolled all the quilts onto himself. His eyes drifted, landing on Pei Tingsong lying at the side, who was not covered up at all. His ears grew hot, so he pulled out a little corner of the quilt and placed it on Pei Tingsong.

He needed to stay away from the source of danger.

Pei Tingsong tugged at that corner of the quilt and pulled him into his arms. He hugged him from across the quilt and purposefully let out a long sigh in his ear, “Fang Juexia, I’m dirty.”

This enthusiasm to suck up after already having taken advantage! Fang Juexia choked with resentment and wanted to hit someone.

“If you’re dirty, then just take a bath,” Fang Juexia said with red ears as he used his elbow to fight against his grasp, while also kicking out his feet in the quilt, looking just like a little fish that had been caught. Pei Tingsong thought it was cute, so he kissed and cuddled him. “You wash me; I even washed you last night, so you have to return it to me.”

Fang Juexia’s words came out more and more frantically. “What return? Are you a primary school student borrowing an eraser?”

“Whether or not I’m a primary school student, don’t you know best ah.” Pei Tingsong’s hands looped around him tight, and he began to sigh deeply again. “What to do, I’m no longer a pure Xiao Pei. My precious first time has been snatched away by you, and also the second and third time, so you need to take responsibility for me.”

Who was responsible for who ah? Fang Juexia flipped over in anger, ready to knock his head. As soon as he lifted his hand, Pei Tingsong caught him. He raised an eyebrow and added, “Otherwise, I will cling to you for the rest of my life.”

Fang Juexia’s heart was beating violently. I may really be this guy’s for keeps, until death do us part. 

“You were already dead set on clinging to me.” After he said that, he pursed his red lips.

Pei Tingsong kissed the corner of his eye, then hugged him tightly, stuffing his chin into the hollow of Fang Juexia’s shoulder, then rubbing against his neck like a doggy. “I like you too much too.”

He was like this a lot, talking to him as if he were a child. Fang Juexia usually responded to him with actions, because he wasn’t very good with words. However, right now, his hands were trapped in the quilt, and he couldn’t hug Pei Tingsong back. 

So, he hesitated for a moment before whispering in his ear, “Me too.”

If he didn’t like him, how could he compromise so easily?

Pei Tingsong laughed in satisfaction, released his arms, and prepared to lift up the quilt. “Let me see the number of times you’ve been bitten by insects?”

“No, take your hands away.”

“Just taking a look ma, just a look!”

“…… Give me back the quilt.”

“Oh god.”

The sunlight diffused through the white curtain, and covered the lovers’ skin like running water.

Every part of love in summer was warm, like sunlight that never cooled.

Fang Juexia and Pei Tingsong spent the next few days carefully and cherishingly, just like tasting a limited edition ice cream.

Although they couldn’t walk hand-in-hand in a beautiful boulevard like ordinary lovers, or have a candlelight dinner together in restaurants where tables were hard to reserve, they could cook and stew soup while standing side by side. Fang Juexia would prop himself up against Pei Tingsong as he recited poems and narrated novels, while he would teach Pei Tingsong the skills for quick calculation. They watched movies, kissed, read books, and indulged in even longer kisses.

They were trapped in the high-rise apartment for three days, and enjoyed a romance hard to come by for that limited period of time. They were both restrained and free.

However, there would always be an end to their two-person vacation. Xiao Wen came to pick them up on the first day they were supposed to report back to the company. He had heard that Pei Tingsong had the flu, so Xiao Wen stupidly brought a lot of medicine. Pei Tingsong and Fang Juexia glanced at each other and almost couldn’t hide their smiles. Fang Juexia took hold of the medicine for him, and they then got in the car. Pei Tingsong, who hadn’t gone online for a long time reflexively started cursing as soon as he refreshed Weibo.

“What’s the matter?” Fang Juexia drew closer to see.

“Fire Ge is on the Hot Search list, they say he’s dating someone. What the hell is this?”

Xiao Wen was so startled that he couldn’t fasten his seat belt. “What?!”

“I’ll click on it and have a look first.” Pei Tingsong clicked on the [He Ziyan’s Love] entry on the Hot Search list. He Ziyan was not like TingJue where the CP fans dominated. His boyfriend power counted as being the highest in the whole group, and many of his fans were girlfriend fans. After seeing this entry on the Hot Search list, they were sure to explode.

The first line in the Hot Search entry was a Weibo post by an influencer account. It had been posted a few minutes ago: [He Ziyan, a member of Kaleido, a popular boy-band, is suspected to have been photographed while on a date with his girlfriend. The two staged a sweet “cradling the head and going in for the kill of the heart” at the entrance of a KTV.]

There were also four pictures, which had been taken at night, and they were all very fuzzy.

“Is this him?” Fang Juexia opened the picture for Pei Tingsong. There was a girl with long black hair, wearing a small blue French-style dress and a mask. He Ziyan was very easy to recognize. Although his head was turned to the side and he was wearing a hat, someone who interacted with him every day would be able to recognize him. The first two pictures showed him reaching for the girl’s head, while the second two showed them standing side by side.

There were a lot of fans in the comment area, but there were also a lot of netizens talking about it in the real-time search as well. Many people had already emotionally criticized He Ziyan for dating someone while on the rise in his career and then having been photographed doing it.

Idols dating had always been a controversial issue. Kaleido was a group that had only recently become heavily discussed, with the popularity of almost every member seeing a significant rise, and nowadays, there were also variety shows being aired that featured them. Once this kind of love news was released, it triggered a great rise in public opinion on online platforms. Almost everyone believed that this was real proof, but their attitudes were different. Many fans in the entertainment circle felt that this was very serious behavior, but there were also many people who said that Kaleido wasn’t a group that had relied on its fans to rise; they had become popular in the circle several times solely on the basis of their own abilities. Fans of sheer ability thought that he shouldn’t be criticized in this manner. 

For a time, many different opinions were being bandied about, and the ‘collapsed house’ news spread quickly, with great influence.

Pei Tingsong didn’t quite believe it and sent a message to He Ziyan. “No way ba, Fire Ge definitely wouldn’t go so far as to secretly date someone ah.”

“I’m going to call Qiang Ge.” Xiao Wen didn’t start the car.

The more Fang Juexia looked at the image, the more he felt it was off. “Why does this dress look so familiar?” He thought about it carefully, and finally recalled something. “Wait a minute, this is the present I sent Miao Ge’s little sister for her birthday last year.”

“Ah?” Pei Tingsong took a closer look. “It seems that’s really Jiang Yao.” He looked at Fang Juexia and inquired, “Fire Ge can’t date Xiao Yao ba, didn’t she just become an adult?”

Fang Juexia’s gut feeling told him that that was just impossible.

Their cellphones soon vibrated, and it was the Kaleido group chat.

[Sexy Teacher Yuan Doing the Flower Hand Dance: What’s the matter ah? I saw a group of hip-hop dance instructors eating melons and excitedly rushed over to take a look, only to see that the house that collapsed was actually my own?? [picture] [picture]]

[Your Fire Ge: Someone is trying to screw me over ba? This was the celebration on the day that Xiao Yao’s college entrance examination finished ah. Three Water and Yiyi are also there, so how did she become my secret girlfriend?]

[The Original M-Dash: Yeah, clearly, I’m here, too ah! Do I not pair well?!!]

[Sexy Teacher Yuan Doing the Flower Hand Dance: Clearly, even though it was a four person scandal, you can never even get named.]

[Water Water Water: These rumor mongers are too much, not even high school students are off limits.]

“Miao Ge must be very angry,” Fang Juexia sighed. “His own little sister getting dragged out to smear his bandmate.”

Pei Tingsong let out a curse, “If it was me, I’d explode and open up my mic.”

Xiao Wen immediately stopped him. “Don’t, don’t, don’t, little ancestor, let’s go back to the company first. These kinds of baseless accusations showing up one by one, it shows that you guys are really popular. My K is real popular!”

Fortunately, on the evening of the party, the members present had taken several group photos as a memento. At the time, they had thought that they couldn’t post them online, but now these very pictures had turned into evidence. Star Chart’s reaction speed was as fast as ever, and after drafting a clarification statement, they immediately made a Weibo post to clarify the identity of the girl in the photo.

He Ziyan also immediately made a Weibo post.

[@Kaleido He Ziyan: Four people get-together to celebrate Miao Ge’s own little sister finishing up her college entrance examinations. You guys aren’t satisfied with making up my life experiences, and now also want to help arrange a girlfriend for me, right? Then I’m going to go by your guys’ will and get married online ah.]

His Weibo post was accompanied by several group photos featuring all the four people from that evening, and Meimei Jiang Yao’s face was always covered with a sticker. Pretty much immediately, Jiang Miao also forwarded this post.

[@Kaleido Jiang Miao: Sorry for taking up public resources, but the girl in the group photo and the popular secret dating photo is my biological little sister. All the friends who are familiar with me should know that I have a little sister who is a few years younger than me. Because she is still a student, I always pay attention to protecting my little sister’s privacy, and I also hope that the media can give her some space. The child was very happy after the test, and we celebrated a bit, not expecting to cause such a big storm out of it, very sorry for that.]

Jiang Miao’s words were neither humble nor overbearing, and he also posted a group photo taken with his little sister at school during the day, from when she had finished her exam, and their clothing was exactly the same as the night photos. No one who had been an old fan for many years didn’t know the existence of this little sister. Jiang Miao even had nicknames and labels like “Little sister con” and “his Meimei is his only weakness.” After learning that the so-called “girlfriend” was the little sister of the group leader, the fans started to fight back.

Only now did the netizens realize that what they had eaten was a fake melon, so most of them scattered like birds and animals in a forest. There were also many people who came up with the conspiracy theory that there was a rival company making trouble for them. They cursed out the paparazzi, and also cursed out the trend of generating fake news seen so often in the entertainment industry. 

However, there weren’t many netizens, those who had opened up and cursed people out because of this ‘love discussion’, who apologized for their own behavior. Their faces had been slapped, but they pretended that nothing had happened. Some people even argued that it wasn’t impossible to fall in love with a bandmate’s little sister, and then added on the label of self-speculation and fanservice.

These gossip elements didn’t need to be clarified or given explanations for, they were only keen on watching the collapse of high-rise buildings and the collapse of big edifices. On the contrary, if they didn’t collapse, they would boo and hiss. 

But even so, false news still needed to be clarified. Ling Yi, one of the people involved in the event, forwarded He Ziyan’s Weibo post immediately.

[@Kaleido Ling Yi: I was the one who booked the KTV, so why am I not worthy of gossip and scandal?]

The group of fans below the post began to laugh at the neglected Ling Yi.

[@Obscure K’s Always Shou Ling Yi: Reflect on why you’re not suited for a girlfriend ba hhh]

Lu Yuan also forwarded Ling Yi’s Weibo post.

[@Kaleido Lu Yuan: I was with the program group, just got off the plane, thank you…. Wait, why didn’t you invite me? I could have just not gone to film the program! //@Kaleido Ling Yi: I was the one who booked the KTV, so why am I not worthy of gossip and scandal?]

As a cross-talking boyband, Kaleido’s team spirit was hard to explain. Usually, they always argued back and forth and quarreled with each other without trying to be polite in public. However, whenever something happened, they would all start to protect each other on their own. 

As soon as Fang Juexia entered the company, he went to the piano room to practice playing the piano and composing songs. He also received a WeChat message from Cheng Qiang and heard that the company had paid to remove this news item from the Hot Search list, so he took out his cellphone to check the latest situation. Plainly he hadn’t made any Weibo posts in a long time, but as soon as he got to He Ziyan’s Weibo, he immediately left a message below it.

[@Kaleido Fang Juexia: If there was a party, why didn’t you bring me along? Meimei’s dress is even from me.]

His serious comment was soon pushed to the top by fans.

[@Did Kaleido win a prize today: Grandma, the advertisement blogger you followed has commented!!!]

[@6A Grade Fancy Jeweled Xeriscape: AHHHHHH JUEXIA GEGE! How are you so cute ah, so seriously saying that people didn’t take you along]

[@Did Fang Juexia make a post today: Shit, this dress is actually from FJX, I’m jealous.]

[@Deaf fan dispersing: I want to buy the same dress, then rounding it up, the beautiful baby will have given me the dress!]

[@TingJue girl’s head is brushing the sky: AHHHHHH IT’S A HOT AND FRESH JXGG! The tone is too cute ba.]

Fang Juexia refreshed the page, and unexpectedly, saw Pei Tingsong’s comment. In such a short period of time, it had already been pushed to the position right under his comment. 

[@Kaleido Pei Tingsong: Why didn’t you bring me to the party? Meimei also isn’t wearing the shoes I gave her.]

Fang Juexia laughed when he saw it.

This person was really strange. He had to imitate him even when he was commenting. Was he a copy-cat?

There was no need to wait for Fang Juexia to say this, for his fans spoke out first. 

[@You and me under the Pinot Tree Supreme: Are you a copytree? How is it that you’re copying everything from your Ge?]

[@Eustoma blooming on a cactus: Shit, one of you gave a dress while the other gave some shoes, I’m going to die of jealousy! This girl has really reincarnated as a king, her biological Gege is Jiang Miao, and there’s five handsome Ge as her friendly Gege. They give gifts and have parties, the first gossip boyfriend in her life is He Ziyan, what kind of Mary Sue heroine in a romantic drama is this….]

[@TingJue is real: I just don’t understand, during the college examinations, Teacher Yuan was elsewhere filming a program, and it’s normal that he wouldn’t have gone. PTS and FJX should have both been in Beijing though ah, so why didn’t the two of them go….]

[@I dare not say that TingJue is real replying to @TingJue is real: Sister, careful, he’s going to curse you wwww]

[@ Putuo Temple Site’s Fine Jeweled Xeriscape replying to  @TingJue is real: Don’t ask, if you ask, K won’t be peaceful]

Right, what did the two of them do the night of the college entrance examination?

Fang Juexia exited the app to check the date, then immediately closed Weibo with red ears.

They didn’t do anything, nothing at all.

In the evening, the company specially held a meeting to discuss this. Recently, there had been a lot of intangible on-goings, and although this trouble was normal for a boyband in the rising popularity stage, Cheng Qiang still reminded them one by one.

“Someone must have posted this slander this time deliberately, and there are a lot of such things in the circle. Some time ago, there was also a small flower who was explosively revealed to have secretly married, and it was also news that people in the circle deliberately released.”

Ling Yi clicked his tongue a few times. “Really odious.”

“That’s what being popular is, can’t do anything about it. Our Star Chart is also a music company, and in fact, the atmosphere here is especially relaxed. Besides Shang Sirui, all your senior brothers have basically dated people before. The company has no ban on dating, but you need to be aware of one thing.” Cheng Qiang knocked on the table in the conference room. “You need to let me know. At the very, very latest, you need to let me know once the feelings have stabilized, and only then can I be ready.”

“Understood—”

Lu Yuan asked, “Does the company pair people up? I can’t even meet a woman right now.”

Ling Yi shook his hand. “Me too, I’ve only met Xiao Yao recently. If this goes on, I’m going to fall in love within the group ah!”

Fang Juexia’s whole body froze as soon as he heard this. Pei Tingsong was as thick-skinned as ever though; even though this had pricked him right there, he acted like someone who had nothing to do with the matter and snarked at Ling Yi, “You want to fall in love within the group, but who wants you ah?”

“Of course it’s Juexia,” Ling Yi lay across Fang Juexia’s body. “After all, I’m an appearance con.”

Fang Juexia guiltily cooperated with him with a smile, but his eyes unconsciously glanced at Pei Tingsong, who was sitting diagonally opposite him. The two of them looked at each other, and the corners of Pei Tingsong’s mouth curled up in a smile. 

Quickly retrieving his gaze, he realised that Ling Yi was still chattering-on next to his ear. He didn’t know why, but Fang Juexia discovered that in the midst of his embarrassment, he also felt a little happy, as if this secret love brought him not only sweetness, but also excitement.

Every day he was with Pei Tingsong, he was breaking the rules.

Secretly enjoying themselves, having a clandestine love affair, eating the forbidden fruit.

These were not clean phrases, and they had all fallen upon him now, but Fang Juexia had actually begun to enjoy this uncleanness. 

Cheng Qiang explained something about the summer album and arranged their music selection and recording. Fang Juexia was in a daze the whole time. At the end of the meeting, only when his name was called out by Cheng Qiang did he return to his senses. 

“En?” Fang Juexia looked at him.

“I asked if the demo you gave us to listen to last time, you could put it in the summer album this time,” Cheng Qiang said.

So it turned out to be this. 

Fang Juexia nodded. “I’ll speed up the production, but I might not be able to do it very well. It’s also my first attempt at composing music.”

“Alright, anyway, the company’s principle is to prioritize using your original song.”

At the end of the meeting, the six people found an empty vocal-training room to discuss the summer album, and returned to the dormitory at 11 p.m. On the way back, Jiang Miao was concerned about Pei Tingsong’s cold. Pei Tingsong happened to get a call, and after a careless glance, he picked it up. Fang Juexia felt as if something was going on with him; when he answered the phone, he looked serious and didn’t speak. He just uttered a lot of “en’s” before finally saying, “Send it to me and I’ll have a look.”

What had happened this time? Fang Juexia was a little suspicious.

Failing at cueing Xiao Pei into a discussion, the topic turned to He Ziyan, who had experienced great ups and downs within a single day. 

“It’s actually pretty interesting to think about it now.” He Ziyan said, “I also count as having tested out the waters of love in advance, but I didn’t expect that netizens would respond with such a huge reaction that even my former two girlfriends picked it out.”

“Yes ah,” Lu Yuan teased him, “Didn’t you say that you didn’t even have your first girlfriend’s WeChat? Netizens are really scary.”

Listening to their discussion, Fang Juexia felt faintly uneasy inside.

Even though he liked this kind of secret love, he knew that with Pei Tingsong’s personality, he must want to be open about it someday, and be just like the other lovers in the entertainment industry.

But he didn’t want his relationship to affect the group. No matter how he looked at it, there was no good time to expose it in the short-term. 

Maybe in another three to five years, when their respective careers were all mature….

As he thought of this, Fang Juexia also couldn’t help thinking if—

Would they still be together then?

Forever.

This word was like a trap for everyone in love in the world. Fang Juexia thought that he was calm enough and brave enough, but even he couldn’t avoid human nature.

He was expecting [forever], an event with such small probability, to happen to him.

After having enough fun in the living room, everyone went back to their rooms. Fang Juexia entered his and opened the glass door of the balcony, and the jasmine-flavored wind blew in on the summer night. His cellphone vibrated, and it was Pei Tingsong.

[One Constant Truth: Are you scared?]

Scared? 

Scared of what? 

Ling Yi tidied up the new Minion figure he had just bought and hummed, “I will always remember the wind in summer…”

Fang Juexia typed out a line of words. Before sending it, he deleted the second half of the paragraph and edited it.

[Moonlight: I’m not afraid of being exposed, but if one day, everyone finds out, I hope it’s because we made it public on our own.]

Staring at this line of words, he thought of the original sentence that had existed in the chat-box for just three seconds.

[I’m not afraid of being exposed, I’m just afraid the shelf life of this relationship will be shorter than I think.]

Before the time was ripe, and if the tasting period of this candy had already ended, it would then become meaningless to peel off the candy wrapper and show it to the world.

When it came to the nature of worrying about losing favor, Pei Tingsong had really inherited it from him.

After a while, Fang Juexia’s cellphone vibrated again.

[One Constant Truth: That’s for sure, with what we’re playing at, we should be able to stab ourselves. I hate that I can’t let everyone know that you belong to me now, and that no one can take you away from me. How can I let others take the lead? That would be slapping the face of me, Pei Tingsong, and I won’t do it.]

Really?

The corners of Fang Juexia’s lips quirked up into a smile, and he suddenly thought of a certain person’s black history.

[Moonlight: Little friend, it seems that your face has been slapped this entire time.]

[Moonlight: “Why would anyone want to top you ah? I can’t imagine the way you look in bed at all.”]

[Moonlight: “Do these people have a thing for ice or wood?”]

[Moonlight: “Don’t worry, I don’t desire your body.”]

[Moonlight: “I’m not gay.”]

[Moonlight: Does it hurt?]

Pei Tingsong just watched as these messages jumped out one by one, just like little goldfish jumping out of a fish tank.

Fang Juexia, a person who seldom sent so many messages, could still overwhelm Pei Tingsong a bit with this barrage. Pei Tingsong could only stare at the screen and say to himself, “No…. Why are all these old accounts being dug up?”

He Ziyan happened to hear him just then. “Old accounts? What old accounts? Oh, right! You brat, you still owe me money for charging up your game that time!”

“What ah….you’re plundering a house on fire!”

“What ‘plundering a house on fire’? I am Fire.”