FLME Ch58

Yu Wen and Yi Ming were leaning against the classroom window, chatting about the Best Actor’s messy two-timing gossip.

From their vantage point, they could perfectly see the support fans gathered at the school gates. When the fans saw them looking, they raised their light boards high, and Yu Wen smiled and waved back.

Yi Ming was hesitating over whether to send the photo she just took to the Best Actor’s girlfriend. The girlfriend was an insider in the industry; they had recently announced their relationship officially, and Yi Ming had her contact info.

“The main thing is, I don’t know if they’re a real couple or a PR couple…”

The dating rumors between the Best Actor and that girlfriend had started a month ago. Their new collaborative drama was about to air, and announcing the relationship right now smacked a bit of PR.

Yu Wen’s attention wasn’t on Yi Ming’s words. His gaze was drawn to a figure in the crowd of fans.

“Second Shifu, where’s your photo?” he suddenly asked, as if he had realized something.

Yi Ming brought up the photo. Yu Wen zoomed in again and again, his eyes darting back and forth between the photo and the crowd of fans. Finally, he let out a breath and said, “Look at that fan’s outfit. Doesn’t he look exactly like the person in the photo?”

No wonder he looked familiar; it was the major male fan who had stuffed a small gift into his hands before entering the venue.

Yi Ming stared at it for a full two minutes before her brain caught up. She cursed out loud.

“He’s even sleeping with fans?!”

Yi Ming summarized the whole thing from start to finish and felt this was no longer a simple piece of gossip.

She said to Yu Wen, “I need to get to the bottom of this. Xiao Yu, your Second Shifu isn’t going to be an artist anymore; she’s going to be a detective and rid the people of this evil!”

“…” The topic jumped too fast. Yu Wen could only say, “Xiao Yu will always be with you!”

Yi Ming nodded and solemnly extended a hand toward him.

Yu Wen also extended his hand and bumped fists with her.

Yi Ming: “Yi!”

Yu Wen: “Yu!”

In unison: “Cross!”

While playing along, Yu Wen couldn’t help but think: This is so chuunibyou.

Yi Ming, however, was highly satisfied. Yu Wen’s brain worked fast; no matter what she said, he could instantly catch on. Picking up this disciple was like finding a treasure.

Detective Xiao Ming was extremely efficient. By the time recording ended, Yu Wen received a message from her while in the car.

Yi Ming: [I had my assistant send them milk tea and managed to get that major fan’s Weibo ID. I DM’d him and beat around the bush a bit. He’s actually a really nice guy, very gentle. When I asked him what he thought of the Best Actor’s relationship, he also thought it was just a PR stunt.]

Yi Ming: [I’m going to probe the girlfriend’s side now. This damn Zhuang better not be deceiving both sides, otherwise Detective Xiao Ming will let him know that the maple leaves in the Imperial Garden aren’t red enough this year!]

Yu Wen felt his blood pumping from her words and replied: [Detective Xiao Ming! Forge ahead bravely! Detective Xiao Yu! Always on standby!]

Yi Ming: [Cross!]

On Sunday afternoon, Yu Wen went to the studio to record the dream-fulfillment version of the Evil-Hero ship that fans had strongly demanded.

The production crew didn’t mind granting the copyright authorization, but the ending of the Hero’s squad had to be written based on the final results of Battle Royale. They communicated that they hoped the personal material would avoid the main storyline as much as possible.

The company simply decided not to use holographic projections. They planned to anthropomorphize the Evil Dragon by finding a model, covering his face, and just recording his physique.

But finding a model proved difficult for Xie Jiamao.

The Evil Dragon’s on-screen effect in the variety show was massive and ferocious, giving off an oppressive aura just by looking at it. The model definitely couldn’t be short—he had to be at least 190 cm tall—and he couldn’t be too skinny; he needed to have some muscle…

Chu Han actually really wanted to play it, eager to give it a try. Xie Jiamao took one look at him—his build was about the same as Yu Wen’s. Pass. Xi Su… this troublesome thing had been going crazy every day lately. If the audience recognized him, the Evil Dragon’s image would be destroyed in an instant. Pass.

After pointing around, Xie Jiamao finally pointed and said, “Xiao Xie, you make a guest appearance.”

Xie Heyu was leaning against the sofa, glancing sideways at Yu Wen next to him, spacing out about who-knows-what. When everyone’s gaze gathered on him, he looked up half a beat late and pointed at himself. “Me?”

Xie Jiamao: “That’s right, you. You’ve trained a whole body of lean muscle; it’d be a pity not to show it off.”

Yu Wen turned to look, meeting Xie Heyu’s gaze. Suddenly recalling the somewhat ambiguous content in the script, he grew uncomfortable. “Boss, I think…”

Xie Jiamao said, “What? He suffered romantic trauma and can’t work?”

Yu Wen: “…”

Before Yu Wen could speak, Xie Heyu opened his mouth: “Xie Jiamao, if you bring this up again, I am truly severing our uncle-nephew relationship.”

The others didn’t know that the protagonist of this secret crush was Yu Wen. They had teased about it ten thousand times in the group chat, and Xie Jiamao treated the whole thing as a joke, bringing it up in front of Xie Heyu from time to time. The speaker had no particular intent, but the listener read into it. Yu Wen felt extremely awkward every single time.

“My, my, my,” Xie Jiamao said cheekily. “We asked who it was and you wouldn’t say. Everyone gave you so many ideas, and you didn’t even treat your colleagues to a meal.”

Xi Su: “Yeah, yeah, I have a lot of experience with this kind of thing. My previous company specifically opened classes to teach us how to act like we had a secret crush. The sheer number of CPs in my Weibo Super Topic is proof of my success.”

Chu Han smiled bashfully. “I don’t know much about pursuing people, but I know a bit about doing it… If you need it, I can impart some of my humble experience to you.”

The entire room fell silent.

Yu Wen closed his eyes.

Cuiguo! Sew Chu Han’s mouth shut!

The recording locations were split into two parts: the photography studio and the outdoors. The script was written by Gao Kaiyu, and Director Gao was also behind the camera.

The script wasn’t complicated; it basically replicated the storyline from the variety show. It was just that some content was very normal when it was between a dragon and a human, but when swapped to two humans, it became exceptionally ambiguous.

For example, the scene of bathing the dragon.

When Yu Wen read the script, he was still in a decent mood because Director Gao said that although the plot was ambiguous, he would film it to portray an open, magnanimous brotherhood.

It was just that now he was facing Xie Heyu… Yu Wen felt it would be very difficult for him to be open and magnanimous.

The bathing scene was present in both the Princess’s diary and the Evil Dragon’s memories. It was a very important plot point showcasing the daily interactions of the Evil-Hero duo. After watching the variety show, Director Gao insisted this scene had to be included.

Xie Heyu finished his makeup and came out of the dressing room. Because it was a water scene, he didn’t wear a mask, but his face was covered in heavy body paint, making it almost impossible to discern his original features beneath it.

The filming location was a hot spring hotel. The hot spring was a large open-air pool. The company had rented out the whole place, estimating they would film a short video of about a minute.

Xie Heyu was shirtless. From his right shoulder down to his waistline, his skin was completely covered in painted black scales, looking incredibly lifelike. Every time his muscles moved, the scales moved with them.

The sexiest part was his Adam’s apple. The scales extended from his shoulder to the side of his neck. Whenever his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, the scales on the surface of his skin would stretch, the color turning a shade lighter than the surrounding area, as if they were alive.

He stepped directly into the water, soaking his upper body and his hair. As he emerged from the water, he smoothed his hair back, then slowly walked to the edge of the pool.

Yu Wen was squatting by the pool, holding a brush and looking at him.

Gao Kaiyu told Xie Heyu to hug Yu Wen’s waist; he wanted to shoot this shot first to use as the video cover.

Xie Heyu wrapped his arms around Yu Wen’s waist and pressed his face against his abdomen.

This was a very intimate, dependent action.

It wasn’t strange for the Evil Dragon to do something like this. It wasn’t human and lacked a human sense of boundaries; even in dragon form, it liked to coil around the Hero while sleeping. Whether this visual portrayed ambiguity or intimacy depended entirely on Yu Wen’s reaction.

However, holding the brush, Yu Wen froze.

“…Are you spacing out?” Gao Kaiyu reprimanded bluntly. “Can you act or not? If you can’t, I’m leaving.”

Yu Wen’s brain had frozen, but his mouth was still nimble. He retorted, “I’m searching for the feeling. For an actor, how can you call this spacing out?”

Gao Kaiyu: “…Did you find it?!”

Yu Wen: “I’m finding it, stop interrupting me.”

Maybe it was a magnetic field issue. Yu Wen was usually very polite, but whenever Gao Kaiyu lost his temper, he just wanted to talk back.

This was Xie Heyu’s first time seeing them bicker. With his forehead pressed against Yu Wen’s abdomen, he let out two low chuckles.

That vibration spread through the point of contact all over Yu Wen’s body, making his scalp tingle.

Probably knowing he was nervous, Xie Heyu turned his head and chatted with Gao Kaiyu about company matters, making idle conversation to ease the tension.

As they chatted, the topic somehow drifted to Xie Heyu’s recent relationship issues. Gao Kaiyu said, “Xiao Xie, don’t trust Xie Jiamao. That guy is unreliable; he only knows how to watch a show. If you really want to pursue someone, you still have to consult me.”

Xie Heyu had been bombarded by aunts and relatives in turn recently, and his ears were getting calluses. He nudged Yu Wen’s stomach, as if annoyed, acting somewhat spoiled.

He said, “Forget it. You just want to know how my progress is going. To put it bluntly, you want to watch the show too.”

Gao Kaiyu: “Uncle isn’t that kind of person.”

Xie Heyu looked up and accidentally met Yu Wen’s gaze, so he raised an eyebrow.

His eye shape was naturally long and narrow, and the body paint made it look even deeper. The outer corners slanted upward, and he was wearing golden colored contacts. With this raised eyebrow, his cold expression broke, making him look exactly like an ascetic trying to seduce someone.

Xie Heyu: “I’ll handle it myself, stop worrying.”

Gao Kaiyu: “Are you confident?”

Xie Heyu said: “No.”

Gao Kaiyu: “You’re doomed. With this temper of yours, if you can’t pursue them, you might be a bachelor for the rest of your life. From now on, all the men in the Xie family will be bachelors; you might as well rename yourselves to a monk temple.”

Xie Heyu just said, “Mm, if I can’t catch him, I’ll drag Xie Jiamao to shave his head bald.”

Yu Wen: “…”

Director Gao turned his head to adjust the equipment. Seeing that he wasn’t paying attention to them, Yu Wen quietly lowered his body and asked Xie Heyu, “You, you, if I don’t agree, are you really going to shave your head…”

He was a bit nervous, and felt a bit of pressure.

Xie Heyu said, “I won’t shave it. When the time comes, I’ll have Xie Jiamao shave his, and then I’ll secretly slip out the back door of the barbershop.”

Yu Wen: “…How do you know how to lie too?”

Xie Heyu: “Xie Jiamao tricked me like this before. Like uncle, like nephew.”

Yu Wen felt his experiences were truly rich. Seeing his serious face while uttering this nonsense, Yu Wen couldn’t help but laugh.

“Then what if you successfully catch him?” Yu Wen said.

Xie Heyu raised his eyes to look at him.

Yu Wen’s heart skipped a beat, and he said nervously, “I didn’t mean it like that, I just meant hypothetically, hypothetically—”

“If I successfully catch him…” Gao Kaiyu happened to yell for them to get ready. Xie Heyu buried his face back into Yu Wen’s waist, his voice muffled, “I’ll treat Xie Jiamao to the wedding banquet. All past grudges will be written off, and he can sit at the head table when I get married.”

Thank goodness Xie Heyu didn’t look up. As long as he didn’t look him in the eyes, Yu Wen didn’t feel as embarrassed.

Teacher Xie was deliberately saying these amusing things and deliberately lowering his head to ease the atmosphere so he wouldn’t be so awkward. Yu Wen knew this.

He tugged at the stray hairs by Xie Heyu’s ear, fiddling with them. Those wet strands left water trails on his palm, the ends brushing against his skin, causing a damp itch.

“How about… we still trick him into shaving it.” Yu Wen struggled for a long time but ultimately couldn’t resist his wicked humor. His eyes curved into crescents as he smiled, “I really want to see the boss bald.”

Xie Heyu laughed. “Trick him even if I succeed? Sure, when the time comes, we’ll slip out the back door together.”

Yu Wen nodded frantically.

The two of them were laughing for no apparent reason. Gao Kaiyu watched them in utter confusion and couldn’t help but remind them, “Yu Wen, brotherhood. Don’t look like you’re about to kiss him.”

Yu Wen pouted.

Xie Heyu stepped up to defend him, “We didn’t kiss, did we? Stop looking at everyone through a gay lens.”

Gao Kaiyu, having dirty water splashed on him: “?”

Yu Wen started laughing again. Even though Teacher Xie liking him was an awkward matter, hanging out with Teacher Xie was genuinely comfortable. Teacher Xie was always considerate and always stood on his side.

Gao Kaiyu had them press their foreheads together to recreate the iconic scene.

Yu Wen leaned his forehead in and accidentally brushed against the tip of Xie Heyu’s nose. Xie Heyu narrowed his eyes and unconsciously tilted his face up, so Yu Wen rubbed against it two more times.

Teacher Xie’s nose was very straight, and his skin felt great.

Yu Wen revealed a smile he didn’t even notice himself and whispered, “Teacher Xie, although I might not be able to like you as a lover, but, um, but…”

Yu Wen paused, pursing his lips.

“As a friend, I really, really like you,” he whispered.

It seemed they had passed the awkward phase. After telling Teacher Xie his true feelings, Yu Wen realized he could finally interact with Xie Heyu naturally again, just like before.

This was simply a grand occasion worth celebrating.

During the break, he went to the first-floor restaurant to grab some fruit and drinks. Xie Heyu had been soaking in the hot spring the whole time; on such a hot day, soaking for so long definitely made him thirsty.

This hot spring hotel was very famous, and the restaurant was open all day. This wasn’t mealtime, so there were very few people in the restaurant.

Yu Wen asked a waiter for a fruit platter and asked them to deliver it to the hot springs. Just as he finished paying, a familiar figure walked past him.

…Damn Zhuang!

Yu Wen’s alarm bells blared wildly. His instincts belonging to Detective Xiao Yu awakened instantly. Watching Best Actor Zhuang slowly walk away, he immediately called Yi Ming.

“What?!” Yi Ming on the other end of the phone was extremely excited. Hearing ‘hotel’, she immediately associated it with other things. “He actually dared to book a room?!”

Yu Wen said cautiously, “I’m not sure if he booked a room, I saw him in the restaurant… He probably isn’t eating alone, with who? Ah, I see it… His girlfriend!”

There was no media in the restaurant, and not many people. Best Actor Zhuang walked straight toward a private room. Yu Wen hid behind a pillar and watched as his officially announced girlfriend came out to greet him with a beaming smile. Their behavior was intimate; they were definitely not a fake PR couple.

Yu Wen immediately shared the new intel with Yi Ming.

Yi Ming said, “Ha! Then I’m going to carry out justice for the heavens! Detective Xiao Yu, find a seat and keep an eye on their movements for me! Big Sis is going to make her move.”

Yu Wen said solemnly, “Yes!”

The privacy of the restaurant’s private rooms was very high. Yu Wen could only find a booth where he could see the door of the private room. He ate half a plate of snacks. About ten minutes later, he could hear faint sounds of arguing coming from inside.

Yu Wen was munching on his snacks. The next second, the two walked out of the private room.

Best Actor Zhuang’s brows were tightly knit. He seemed to want to say something and reached out to grab the woman’s hand, only to receive a backhanded slap.

“Smack!”

Extremely crisp and loud.

In the sparsely populated restaurant, this slap attracted everyone’s attention. Yu Wen even caught a glimpse of someone pulling out their phone with a bewildered face, not understanding what had happened but deciding to film first just in case.

…Very capable.

The woman couldn’t hide her anger. She glared at Best Actor Zhuang coldly and cursed, “Animal.”

Then, she stomped away on her sky-high stilettos, clack, clack, clack.

The seat Yu Wen chose was extremely conspicuous because he needed to see the door to the Best Actor’s private room. The other party could see him with a single glance. At this moment, Best Actor Zhuang was standing at the door of the private room, and in the very next second, his gaze was going to sweep over. Yu Wen wouldn’t even have time to run—

Master! When you made your move, you didn’t care if I lived or died!

Great, now I’m the ‘at-the-scene’ monster again…

Just as Yu Wen was lamenting, a pair of sunglasses was suddenly hooked onto his eyes. The familiar scent drifted to the tip of his nose. Xie Heyu’s face appeared before his eyes, his tall and broad shoulders and back blocking him almost entirely.

Yu Wen didn’t even have time to be pleasantly surprised; his first reaction was profound relief.

Xie Heyu pulled his hood up for him, glanced backward, and silently asked Yu Wen: What’s the situation?

Yu Wen shook his head bitterly, indicating it couldn’t be explained in one or two sentences.

Xie Heyu had arrived just in time, but Best Actor Zhuang seemed to have still caught a glimpse of Yu Wen. After all, they had worked together, and Yu Wen’s face and figure were highly recognizable.

From over Xie Heyu’s shoulder, Yu Wen saw the other man slowly walked over. With nowhere to hide, he had no choice but to nervously bury his face into Xie Heyu’s chest.

Xie Heyu stiffened for a second, then comfortingly patted the back of his head.

“Hello, were you taking pictures just now? Could you delete them?” As soon as Best Actor Zhuang spoke, it carried a hint of interrogation.

Xie Heyu said coldly, “Didn’t take any. Don’t know you.”

“…” Best Actor Zhuang felt the person in his arms looked a bit familiar. “May I ask, am I acquainted with your lover…”

Xie Heyu then turned his head, the contours of his profile looking exceptionally sharp under the natural light. He didn’t speak, merely cast a sidelong glance at Best Actor Zhuang. That gaze was chilling to the bone.

“…Never mind.”

Best Actor Zhuang swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue, gave an awkward smile, and walked away sheepishly.