IDEI Ch14

“Who are you…?” Mo Jinghai asked hesitantly.

Qi Yanning clicked his tongue.

The styling team’s meeting had just concluded. He had lingered behind for a bit to gather his thoughts before getting ready to head back to his quarters.

Following the styling showdown with Li Qing and Lin He, Qi Yanning’s capability had won the recognition of the styling team. Consequently, regardless of what they privately thought, the stylists all displayed an attitude of goodwill and deference toward him on the surface.

Their attitude undeniably made Qi Yanning’s work much easier to carry out.

The directing team granted Qi Yanning immense autonomy over hair and makeup. Thus, after the trainees finished song selection in the morning, Qi Yanning led the styling team in a meeting that very afternoon, dissecting and exploring the concepts for the second public performance based on the tracks and choreography.

Following the first elimination round, only sixty trainees remained, divided across ten stages. This was a substantial workload for the styling crew, so their meeting ran late into the night.

When the meeting ended, Qi Yanning walked past the practice building, only to notice that the lights in one practice room were still on.

“Qi-ge, there’s still a practice room with its lights on over there,” Li Jinshi remarked in mild surprise.

Tiredness hung over Qi Yanning’s features as he looked over at the sound of her voice.

Faint light still spilled from a practice room on the second floor.

It was already late at night. The grounds were shrouded in deep darkness and absolute silence, making the light from that room particularly conspicuous. Yet for a long time, neither of them heard any sound from within.

“Did a trainee forget to turn off the lights when leaving?” Li Jinshi frowned. “I’ll go check.”

Qi Yanning stopped her. “Go back and rest. Late at night, a young girl going into a pitch-black building alone, aren’t you scared?”

“I’ll go.”

After sending the hesitant Li Jinshi back to rest, Qi Yanning stepped into the practice building alone. Turning on the hallway lights on the second floor, he walked toward the practice room, faintly catching the sound of muffled sobs.

Following the weeping, he arrived before the door of this practice room.

Seeing that Mo Jinghai didn’t answer, Qi Yanning clicked his tongue impatiently and turned to leave.

“Sorry…” Mo Jinghai apologized instinctively, his voice terribly hoarse.

He suddenly realized the purpose of this relaxed man’s visit.

“I’ll head back right now. I’ll turn off the lights and clean the floor. Sorry for causing you trouble.” Climbing up from the floor, he gave a slight bow, his voice laden with exhaustion and defeat.

Qi Yanning paused in his tracks, frowning as he turned back.

Lifting a hand, he slapped the wall switch, and the practice room flared with bright light.

The sudden harsh glare forced Mo Jinghai to squint.

Qi Yanning scrutinized the trainee before him.

Flushed cheeks, a face streaked with tears, eyes swollen like walnuts, even his lips were bright red.

His hair was a tangled mess atop his head, his tall frame slightly hunched, looking entirely despondent like a large dog soaked in the rain.

“Do you…” Qi Yanning paused for a moment before speaking up, “…want a haircut?”

“Wh-what?” Mo Jinghai froze. He had expected the visitor to either ask what was wrong or offer comfort, but… what kind of question was this?

Seeing Mo Jinghai’s dazed expression, Qi Yanning felt a stir of impatience. It was already well past his usual bedtime, and exhaustion left him with very little patience.

“Come find me in the styling room tomorrow morning.”

Leaving those words behind without waiting for Mo Jinghai’s response, he turned and walked away.

The next morning, when Qi Yanning arrived at the styling room, he saw Mo Jinghai sitting in the makeup chair.

Fidgeting on edge, despite being a hulking guy, he perched only on the very corner of the chair with most of his body hovering in midair, looking ready to leap up at a moment’s notice.

Seeing Qi Yanning enter, Mo Jinghai scrambled to his feet to greet him, only to freeze, intimidated by Qi Yanning’s sullen expression.

“Qi… Teacher Qi, you told me to find you this morning…” Mo Jinghai scratched his head, sounding nervous.

He had just learned Qi Yanning’s identity from the styling assistants.

“Mm.” Qi Yanning strode inside, while the towering Mo Jinghai hurried after him with small, hurried steps.

Having suffered from severe sleep deprivation the night before, Qi Yanning was in a foul mood and had no desire to waste words.

“Sit.” Qi Yanning glanced at Mo Jinghai. “Chu Sixiu, give him a buzz cut.”

“Right away!” Chu Sixiu, the cheerful young assistant who had been among the first three to warm up to Qi Yanning, stepped forward with a smile.

“Wait, hold on!” Mo Jinghai’s eyes widened in sheer panic.

He felt this matter could still be negotiated!

“Hmm?” Exhaustion shadowed Qi Yanning’s brow as he frowned, fixing his gaze on him.

“Qi… Teacher Qi, why?” Mo Jinghai still couldn’t wrap his head around it.

“If you trust me, be quiet and shut up. If you don’t, leave,” Qi Yanning said in a cool voice.

Yet those words only made Mo Jinghai feel more apprehensive.

Of course he wanted to trust Qi Yanning! Who among the trainees didn’t know about this miraculous stylist by now?

Still, a buzz cut… he had never worn one in his life!

He felt conflicted, but meeting Qi Yanning’s calm, intensely commanding stare, a shiver ran down his spine.

Gritting his teeth, he said, “I trust you! Of course I trust you!”

With that, he squeezed his eyes shut and plopped back down into the hair-styling chair.

The clippers buzzed to life, and before long, he felt a brisk chill sweeping across the top of his head.

It really is a buzz cut, he thought in quiet despair.

The buzz of the clippers droned on for quite a while before stopping, replaced by a fine blade gently shaping his eyebrows, followed by soft brushes sweeping across his face.

“All done, you can open your eyes now,” Chu Sixiu’s voice chimed.

Mo Jinghai opened his eyes with hesitation, meeting his own reflection in the mirror.

In the glass was a clean, sharp, handsome face.

The buzz cut accentuated his flawless bone structure: a high, straight nose bridge, deep-set contours, and a commanding, rugged handsomeness.

It was completely different from before.

Qi Yanning looked over as well, nodding slightly.

Chu Sixiu’s hair-cutting skills were quite solid.

With just a brief glance the previous night, he had spotted how discordant Mo Jinghai was with his previous styling.

His original hair was standard idol fare: meticulously styled short hair, with bangs half-covering his forehead, while his eyebrows were shaped to be entirely devoid of edge.

It failed completely to showcase Mo Jinghai’s natural strengths.

Mo Jinghai had a tall build, broad shoulders, and a narrow waist, framed by powerful, well-proportioned bone structure. Moreover, he worked out frequently; his musculature was fuller and more pronounced than that of other trainees, exuding a raw, solid physicality.

It was a physique brimming with tension.

And his face complemented his physique: a slightly squared jaw, deep contours, thick brows, and dense hair, a face overflowing with masculine definition.

Yet his eyes were slightly droopy puppy eyes. When looking at people, his gaze was gentle and soft, filled with moist, earnest sincerity.

Contradictory, yet all the more compelling.

For someone like him, excessive embellishment was unnecessary. The simplest look yielded the most wild and sensual charm.

“Just like this.” Qi Yanning rested both hands on either side of Mo Jinghai’s head from behind, forcing him to look straight into the mirror. “Look at yourself closely. Can you recognize where your charm lies now?”

“I… I…” Mo Jinghai’s face flushed slightly, his gaze shifting as he stammered, “More manly?”

“It’s sexy,” Qi Yanning arched an eyebrow, voicing the word Mo Jinghai felt too shy to utter.

“Think on it carefully,” Qi Yanning said, turning to leave with his assistants.

As they stepped out the door, Mo Jinghai could faintly hear the young assistants chattering.

“Your face is so red.”

“Come on, a muscle-bound sweetheart, a 190 cm human-sized puppy dog, who could resist that…”

……

He stared blankly at his reflection in the mirror, finally letting out a relieved smile.

Wrapping up the morning’s surreal encounter, Mo Jinghai walked into the practice room, causing his group members to freeze in unison.

Meeting everyone’s stunned stares, he scratched his head. “I changed my hairstyle… Does it look bad?”

The others finally snapped out of it.

“Whoa! Mo-ge, this looks crazy good!”

“Bro, you’re so handsome!”

“My god, your previous hairstylist deserves to be executed on sight!”

Feng Qingyi walked up as well, smiling with genuine surprise. “A-Hai, this cut suits you so well!”

Emotion filled Feng Qingyi’s eyes. Like magic, this single haircut had transformed the previously unremarkable Mo Jinghai into someone impossible to overlook.

The grin on Mo Jinghai’s face broadened. Once rehearsal commenced, he experienced an even greater surprise.

Originally, he couldn’t grasp the vibe of this sensual song at all, which had been the spark for his emotional breakdown the night before.

Now, however…

With his new cut, his inherent aura aligned with the track to perfection.

Without heavy bangs, his downward-slanted puppy eyes were fully exposed. He was still clumsy at facial expression management, but the earnest sincerity and resolve in his eyes were captivating enough on their own.

What was more, while his choreography was spot-on, his lingering awkwardness with a sexy concept added a touch of bashful charm to his movements.

“Aaaaaah! Bro, don’t look at me while dancing! I still want to date pretty girls after I retire!” one trainee shouted theatrically.

On Qi Yanning’s end, after settling Mo Jinghai’s styling, he received an unexpected invitation.

When Ling Cangzhou’s message arrived, he was explaining his conceptual direction and detail work for the second stage to Li Jinshi and the other assistants.

Finishing the breakdown of one stage, the three assistants lowered their heads in thought. Qi Yanning took a sip from his water cup, catching sight of the new notification popping up on his phone.

[Red-Ears]: A-Ning, Morning Star Entertainment’s Gala is tomorrow, and we’re short one stylist for the junior artists. Could you come save the day?

A-Ning?

Qi Yanning’s brow twitched. This CEO was quite adept at pushing his luck.

Several cute sticker memes popped up across the screen. Remembering Ling Cangzhou’s tall, imposing frame, Qi Yanning arched an eyebrow with keen amusement.

[Red-Ears]: Here’s the thing. Every year for Morning Star’s gala, several junior artists need styling from our in-house team. But this year we just took in a new batch of trainees, so…

Qi Yanning understood.

[yanN]: What time?

[Red-Ears]: Wonderful! Do you have time today to come over early for makeup trials?

[Red-Ears]: I’ll request leave from the director for you! It won’t take too long; he should agree.

Qi Yanning let out a soft laugh. Why did this CEO of Morning Star Entertainment text with such a style online?

[Red-Ears]:: By the way, does A-Ning want to bring your own styling assistants?

[yanN]: I can bring them?

Having finalized the schedule with Ling Cangzhou, Qi Yanning stared at the sticker memes in the chat window for several seconds, his lips curving into a smile.

Opening Ling Cangzhou’s contact remarks, he added one more word right after “Red Ears.”

Right at that moment, another message from Ling Cangzhou popped up.

[Red-Eared Puppy]: The driver will arrive in half an hour!