CH 119

Chapter 119 – After Going Public

TingJue girls nomming on fluff afterwards

Ever since they went public, the discussion about it online continued non-stop. Naturally, there were many voices that didn’t support them, however, both Fang Juexia and Pei Tingsong had already gotten rid of the shackles of public opinion that idols had to bear. More importantly, they relied on themselves rather than their fans in every step they took. Their lives were their own, and completely independent.

There were also many people congratulating them, especially about how their brave voices were encouraging many LGBT groups and also, of course, winning their support.

However, there was also a magical sequel after their coming out— “Escape For Your Life” and “Shang Sirui” had also appeared on the Hot Search list. At first glance, they had nothing to do with each other, but looking at it more closely, they actually did. 

[@123 wood person: This program ‘Escape For Your Life’ is poisonous ba]

[@S small refrigerator: Do you want your CP to come true? Get them on ‘Escape For Your Life’ ba.]

[@Crispy rice spicy peanuts: “Escape” for other guests is: “High Level Blind Dates”, but for SSR, it’s: “Escape From Wanzai Pier”]

[@Whose little eyes didn’t look at me: Hahahahaha Shang Sirui! It’s you again!]

[@Watermelon is missing a piece: Every time there is a real CP in the entertainment industry, Shang Sirui will get on the Hot Search list. This may be fate ba]

In addition to the discussion, Matchmaker Shang Sirui reaction pictures began to circulate online. After several rounds of jokes, the actual person finally appeared and posted.

[@HighFive Shang Sirui: Let me see who is the poor little widowed king? Ha, it’s me. Always me. [Goodbye] I’m kidding, bros, let’s put “well-suited to be matched” on the public screen!]

As soon as this Weibo post was released, it pushed the wave of this joke to its peak. Several different CP fans, Shang Sirui’s own fans, and melon eating netizens hurried over to laugh at him.

[@TingJue is real: Hahahahahaha it’s you again!]

[@I have an SSR: How is our Sansan not well-suited to be matched? Why does sweet love never reach our Sansan?!]

[@Escape will always be renewed: When I watched the second season, I thought there would be something between Zhai Ying Jie and Sansan, but I didn’t expect that Zhai Ying Jie would also do a CP with a beautiful Memei from her own girl group. The pitiful one is still Sansan]

[@Has 01’s side account made a Weibo post yet: Sansan, don’t cry, you still have Yiyi, Numbers sisters making art, this family will never fall apart!]

….

The popularity of the love affair within the top group didn’t subside, and a few days later, Fang Juexia’s interview with the music website was also broadcast as scheduled. The first response from one of the participants of this love affair of course had to immediately land on the Hot Search list, where it quickly exploded.

It wasn’t just the video; his confession was screenshotted and turned into a growth chart, which was then forwarded and praised by countless people. In the eyes of the public, Fang Juexia, who was brimming with talent and had experienced various ups and downs, had always been a taciturn person and seldom expressed what he thought in his heart. Therefore, no one had ever imagined that he would make such a confession. 

[@K is in the safe zone: God, I bet others that PTS would be the first one to respond to all this, but I didn’t expect it to be FJX. He has always been a legendary immortal who loses his language ability after doing self introductions (whispering bby)]

[@Run away with me: He’s so gentle ah, I really want to fall in love with him.]

[@Self esteem shredder: I don’t know why, but when I see his expression where he is thinking deeply and tries hard to express himself, I just want to cry oh. What kind of immortal love for an immortal Gege is this wuwuwuwu]

[@An emotionless hahaha demon: After careful consideration of what he said, I feel that it was very sincere. It was something that only FJX could have said. I feel that he and PTS have changed a lot together. Sure enough, good love will make people better ah.]

For outsiders, they didn’t understand the personal experience of this person or their story in this scene. What they could see was Fang Juexia’s deep and sincere confession, and they were moved by just that. But the TingJue girls knew what every word he said meant.

After the confession event, the TingJue girls had begun to sort out the details of their relationship from the past few years, not just to make a collection of fluffy moments, but to let more people understand that these two boys really loved each other, and so that there wouldn’t be any people who would feel this relationship came out of nowhere. 

A big CP fan made and released a video with the title of “How TingJue fell in love with each other” overnight, which was quickly forwarded out of the circle and also reposted by many parties. Jiang Miao saw this video on Weibo and specially shared it with Fang Juexia on WeChat.

[Water Water Water: Look, the two of you in other people’s eyes.]

The thumbnail image for the video was the candy-wrapper kiss from the first season of their ensemble show livestream. Now, when he looked at it again, he actually got the feeling that he was looking at a different world. After staring at the cover image for a long time, Fang Juexia clicked to play it. 

At the beginning of the video, Fang Juexia’s words from the interview not long ago were cut into a background narrative that played in the dark.

“…because of Pei Tingsong, the curve of my life has become continuous and smooth, and it has also become worth looking forward to.”

The BGM started, and a scene appeared with it. It was the video from when Fang Juexia and Pei Tingsong had been filmed by other fans at an airport, but it wasn’t just the part where Pei TIngsong patted the airplane ticket against his face. It turned out that this video that had once rocketed them beyond the entertainment circle, had a part before this scene that had always been cut out. 

And in that previous part, Pei Tingsong was clowning around in front of He Ziyan, but his gaze didn’t focus on the person who was talking to him, rather, from time to time he would keep glancing to the side. He subconsciously looked again and again at Fang Juexia, who was silent as he leaned against the wall.

A caption appeared at the bottom of the video.

[In the five minutes prior to any interaction with him, Pei Tingsong looked in Fang Juexia’s direction 13 times.]

Fang Juexia, despite being one of the parties involved back then, had no idea about this. So, it turned out that before Pei Tingsong had approached him, he had hesitated for so long, hesitated for as long as 13 times.

The scene switched, and it was from a period before they had even started doing the fanservice, of when Pei Tingsong had helped Fang Juexia attack unscrupulous reporters in public, with the words that he had written in his side account. What he disliked wasn’t all the rumors about Fang Juexia, but rather Fang Juexia’s apathy and indifference.

The two of them awkwardly turning their heads away from each other after their eyes met, their cold standoff amidst their other happy bandmates, and the way that they couldn’t hide how they were ignoring each other on stage—all these scenes weren’t tossed out by their CP fans, but instead, edited together.

The screen went black, and a line of hand-written words appeared. 

[Actually, we all knew that they didn’t get along so well at the beginning, and pretty much had the worst start. But that didn’t affect these two sincere people in getting to know and love each other.]

The black screen lit up, and it turned into the highlight reel of the interview where they had shot the two-person cover of “Spring and Winter.” Fang Juexia and Pei Tingsong expressed their own opinions, and their eyes seemed a bit more understanding and moved. Even in the quick Q&A session, they started laughing and kidding around.

[‘Fermat’s Theorem’ and ‘The Roots of Romanticism’ finally intersect.]

Seeing this sentence, Fang Juexia felt his eyes sting. 

Next was their interaction below the stage at the charity gala, where they whispered into each other’s ears, chatted, then Pei Tingsong forced Fang Juexia to put on his glove for him, and teased him with the recording. They shared headphones and listened to the recording together.

The scenes from ‘Escape For Your Life’ also appeared, the screen splitting in two. Fang Juexia and Pei Tingsong, who got their cards, looked up at the same time, worked hard in different rooms, and carefully watched each other every time they voted. 

The video included all kinds of Pei Tingsong’s suggestive actions and words, his expression when he let out a breath after he had finished collecting the clues and gave them all to Fang Juexia, and the moment after his “suicide” when he fell down the elimination hole— Fang Juexia quietly clenched his fist.

Finally, at the end, Fang Juexia, who had opened the final door, was embraced by Pei Tingsong. He said that they had won, but the background narration featured Pei Tingsong’s voice— “It’s not important which camp I choose. As long as our alliance has not been dissolved, I am your knight.”

The hand-written words appeared again.

[He really didn’t lie. He always tried hard to be Gege’s knight.]

This image shifted into a series of quick clips. Fang Juexia being dragged off the stage, and Pei Tingsong risking himself saving him; Fang Juexia so tired in the ensemble show that he fell asleep against the wall, and Pei Tingsong who, under the pretext of having worked hard, sat beside him and let him lean on his shoulder; Fang Juexia’s waist injury acting up again, and Pei Tingsong being the one to support him from behind in the airport, never leaving his side; the bungee jumping in the ensemble show where he jumped with Fang Juexia in his arms; Fang Juexia being attacked by only-fans and stalker fans, with Pei Tingsong counter-attacking them. In the midst of these scenes were some from fan meet-ups, and some of chance encounters, one of which was taken when Fang Juexia had accompanied Pei Tingsong to leave the dormitory after the Fang Ping incident.

[But love is never one way.]

The BGM turned into softer music. The perspective on the screen changed, and scene after scene, it showed Fang Juexia’s eyes when looking at Pei Tingsong. He was so different from his usual indifferent self, his eyes full of gentle light. Next on the screen appeared scenes of him getting photographed when accompanying Pei Tingsong to see a doctor, of him making a midnight snack for him on the ensemble show in the middle of the night and chatting with him all night, of him protecting his arm carefully when he was injured, of him playing the game blindfolded but still caring about his injury, of the eustoma bouquet he had created for him during the autograph event, and of how every time during his solo livestreams he saw something in the barrage about Pei Tingsong, he would laugh. 

[Even Fang Juexia, a silent person, can’t hide his liking for a certain someone.]

Halfway through, the background music suddenly turned into “Night Trip,” with subtitles accompanying it—

[When this song first appeared, we were all surprised at how this eccentric and rebellious boy could write such gentle words. Now it seems that everything was a clue.]

“Dusk is no different affair. The light shining on you and your hair, just becomes different, I swear.”

When these words were sung, the image changed to that of dusk at the amusement park in the ensemble show. Fang Juexia and Ling Yi were talking, while Pei Tingsong stood behind and looked at him with a smile. Even he hadn’t noticed it.

“Do you like fireworks? I hope that’s the case here.”

On the screen, there were now photographs from when fans had bumped into them, of Kaleido after they had finished watching the fireworks by the river. Pei Tingsong had Fang Juexia in his arms, and he was wearing Fang Juexia’s clothes.

“I’m starting to like the night, will darkness make you try to rely on me?”

When this sentence appeared, the clips sped up, and they were of the countless times Fang Juexia was being led by Pei Tingsong in the dark, Pei Tingsong’s habitual action of turning on the light in the group ensemble show, the many times he led him backstage, grabbing his wrist tightly in dark venues, supporting his waist when getting down from the stage, and Fang Juexia getting used to him being behind him and reaching out a hand to grab the corner of his clothes on his own. 

These images alternated with the images of Fang Juexia groping alone in the dark in the past when Pei Tingsong hadn’t been there, displaying a most tearful contrast.

The scenes of them holding hands again and again were edited together, and if they were unable to hold hands. Pei Tingsong would grip Fang Juexia’s wrist tightly. No matter where they were, he would immediately find that pale arm, pull it up, and take him away.

The lyrics playing in the background were also very appropriate.

“When we hold hands, my chest is hot, and I’m holding pure white light.”

The image suddenly turned into the noisy livestream from when Kaleido had won the awards. When they were asked about WeChat nicknames, he frankly said ‘Moonlight,’ while Fang Juexia then said ‘One Constant Truth.’

The background lyrics were perfectly synced to sing—

“If asked who you are going on a date with tonight, answer with a smile, it’s the moon lit bright.“

When asked why he nicknamed him ‘Moonlight’ during the livestream, Pei Tingsong only said one sentence—

“Because Moonlight is the highest level of praise.”

A subtitle appeared—

[Moonlight and One Constant Truth, white eustoma and black knight camillas, winter snow and spring sunlight, night blindness and leading, these are all Fang Juexia and Pei Tingsong.]

At the end of the video, there were countless moments of when they had called out each other’s names. There were times when they were smiling, joking, tired, anxiously shouting out, their mentions of each other when they won awards:  “Gege”, “Juexia Ge”, “Juexia”, as well as “Xiao Pei”, “Pei Tingsong”, and “Tingsong”. These intertwined voices encompassed the years they had gone through together.

The final image of the video was of them exchanging rings under the rainbow and kissing in full view of the public.

The BGM ended, and the last words were from Pei Tingsong’s freestyle at the coffee salon before— 

“You are the secret in my dreams, you know, that I have publicly announced millions of times long ago.“

By the end of the video, Fang Juexia’s eyes had turned red.

Just then, Pei Tingsong came back from exercising. Hearing noise, Fang Juexia raised his head, saw him, stretched out his arms, and hugged him while seated on the sofa. Pei Tingsong rubbed his hair, then crouched down and kissed the tip of his nose. “What’s the matter? Your eyes are as red as a little bunny’s.”

“I watched a video, and it was a little touching.” Fang Juexia took a deep breath before opening the comment section to see everyone’s crosstalk and jokes, so as to ease his flooding emotions.

“What video? Something the fans made?”

Fang Juexia didn’t look up, but leaned against him out of habit. “You are so smart.” Looking at the comments, Fang Juexia saw that the screen was full of crying emoticons.

He came here expecting these little girls to make him laugh, but didn’t expect them to have cried more than him.

Finally, from the most popular comments, he dug up a long one. 

[@Always love TingJue: This is all the TingJue we have seen, and maybe it’s just a tiny bit of their love, the tip of the iceberg, while also being a part of a whole. We used to secretly dream about plots where the fake became real, but that was more to convince ourselves that you guys were just doing fanservice, and were just bandmates fighting side by side. In our narrow expectations, being real was too difficult, and friendship was more likely to last forever. But you guys are too brave, far braver than us.

Thank you guys for being a dream come true.]

—

The author has something to say:

When they came out, they had all become very senior members of the industry, and their personal careers had developed very well. They hadn’t been just a rising boyband in a long time, and it was also after same sex marriage became legal. Moreover, the number of CP fans of the two people was huge, so everyone doesn’t have to insert this situation into real life. What’s more, I always avoid writing bad comments in my writing. I also wrote “there were a lot of voices that didn’t support them”, but I didn’t make it clear. It’s a good day, so why should I write those spiteful comments that will ruin the fun? Anyway, TingJue is real. 

I’ve also opened up an extras pit, take a look at my column [Extra Collection]. Don’t be sad la, after this is done, maybe I’ll still write in the extras pit every once in a while. This TingJue girl will never graduate!

—

Juurensha: It was a nice video! And guys, if you see an extra in the collection she mentions that you want translated, let me know! (I have a hard time navigating Weibo, so someone will have to help me with that, sorry guys)

Noks: I can understand why those fangirls had tears in their eyes… It is a very moving video, especially for those who have followed this entire journey…

If you can, please support the author by buying the raws (and gain access to translated smut! ). Here is a guide on how to buy them, and it’s not super difficult! Also there’s the traditional physical novel open for pre-orders here! You will probably have to use a forwarding service to purchase them, I’m also struggling along there with CssBuy and now a Taiwan shipping service because CssBuy isn’t working.