FLME Ch81

“Still not going in?” Xie Heyu walked over from the beach, reached into the hammock, and found Yu Wen’s fluffy head, giving it a rub.

“Did you find any shells?” Yu Wen asked eagerly, poking his head out.

Xie Heyu extended his hand, palm open, revealing three or four scattered shells.

“Mm… not very pretty,” Yu Wen said, fiddling with them, then sighed, “They’re no different from the ones I found…”

“You’re so picky, Teacher Yu,” Xie Heyu teased.

Yu Wen replied, “I wanted to keep a souvenir, something a bit more special… but never mind, we’ll be here for a while, we can pick more tomorrow.”

He was a little disappointed, but quickly smiled and looked up at Xie Heyu, asking, “Are you hungry? I bought noodles today, we can cook them when we get back.”

Xie Heyu raised an eyebrow and extended his other hand.

“Hey, this one’s nice,” Yu Wen exclaimed in surprise.

In his palm was a shell with clear patterns, pure white, reflecting the soft yellow glow of the villa in the distance. It was beautiful and pristine.

Yu Wen leaned forward to grab it, but Xie Heyu suddenly closed his hand. As Yu Wen leaned most of his body over, Xie Heyu bent down and kissed him.

Yu Wen was lying awkwardly in the hammock, accepting the kiss in an unusual position. When Xie Heyu pulled away, Yu Wen licked his lips, puzzled, “Did you eat candy?”

Xie Heyu: “No.”

Yu Wen: “Why does it taste sweet?”

Xie Heyu lowered his gaze at him.

Yu Wen was still savoring the sweetness when Xie Heyu held the back of his head and kissed him again. This time, it was more intense, as if he were hungry, kissing him fiercely.

Yu Wen hadn’t experienced this kind of suffocating kiss in a long time… It reminded him of when they had just gotten together, and Xie Heyu used to kiss him like this.

He tried to prop himself up, searching for leverage until he heard a loud “What the hell!” like thunder, followed by a tearing sound—

“What the hell, you two—” Seeing the two kissing, Xi Su froze for two seconds, quickly trying to turn off the live stream. However, the comments were already out of control, exploding like fireworks. Before he could shut it off, he glanced at the screen, where some viewers were stunned, spamming question marks and exclamation points, while others were “convicting” Xie Heyu.

—”Idiot! Who allowed you to kiss my wife!”

—”Officer, I’ll testify, my baby definitely didn’t consent!”

—”Who is this?! (Furious) Find him! I want to chop off his head!”

—”Death penalty! Death penalty!”

It was over.

He had just gotten his godfather “wanted.”

Meanwhile, on the other side, Yu Wen, startled, bit his tongue, the metallic taste of blood flooding his mouth.

“Mm.”

He pulled away, breathing a little unevenly.

Yu Wen glanced at him in a panic, noticing his lower lip was glistening with his own saliva, and his upper lip was slightly cut, probably from the rough kiss…

“Xi Su—”

Remembering the culprit, Yu Wen suddenly shouted, turning his head just in time to see Xi Su picking up the fallen selfie stick. Realizing something, his expression went from embarrassment to confusion… with a touch of seriousness.

“…You better tell me you were just taking a selfie.”

“No,” Xi Su said honestly, looking at them, “I was live streaming.”

Yu Wen: “I don’t think you recorded anything…”

“I did,” Xi Su said. “Crystal clear. The comments are all about you two kissing.”

Yu Wen: “…I’m considering murder.”

Xi Su: “You can’t kill me.”

Yu Wen: “Why?”

Xi Su: “A tiger doesn’t eat its own cubs.”

Yu Wen: “…”

*

“So you’re saying, on the premiere day of the new drama, on such a joyous occasion, you two came out… in front of hundreds of thousands of viewers?”

Inside the villa, the phone was on speaker, resting on the coffee table. On the other end, Xie Jiamao repeated what they had confessed, unable to believe it.

Yu Wen awkwardly said, “Mm… it’s already trending.”

Before calling, he had glanced at it. The popularity was rising fast, but he didn’t click to check, so he didn’t know what the viewers’ exact reaction was.

“Xiao Xie, what do you think?” Xie Jiamao was silent for a moment before throwing the question to the other person involved.

Xie Heyu tapped the armrest of the sofa, frowning in thought. In moments like this, his first priority was being Yu Wen’s manager, and second, his boyfriend. His main task was to solve this sudden crisis.

“We can’t officially announce it,” Xie Heyu said after a long pause. “There are only two ways to handle this situation—either deny it or admit it. Neither is suitable for Yu Wen. With the premiere of Moon Harbor, announcing it now would only steal the drama’s spotlight and affect the ratings.”

Yu Wen quietly glanced at him.

Xie Heyu comfortingly squeezed the back of Yu Wen’s neck. Yu Wen swayed like a little Weeble, left and right, but the unease in his heart subtly faded away.

Xie Jiamao: “So, what’s your suggestion?”

Xie Heyu: “Cold treatment.”

Xie Jiamao: “It’s feasible, but you can’t play dead. The more you try to play dead, the more it will ferment.”

Xie Heyu: “Have Yu Wen post on Weibo, urging everyone to focus on the work, not personal lives.”

Personal life.

This was a phrase that could be used both offensively and defensively, the perfect delay tactic.

It was a default, yet unacknowledged stance. Since they were abroad, the media couldn’t get more pictures of them together, and the heat would soon die down.

Xie Jiamao: “Alright, I’ll contact PR. But Xiao Xie, be prepared—”

Xie Heyu: “Hm?”

Xie Jiamao: “You’ll soon be stripped bare, and… the chances of getting scolded are high.”

“Not high, it’s guaranteed!” Xi Su suddenly interrupted: “I swear, based on my years of CP-baiting experience, when a rising star suddenly has a scandal, the other party will definitely be surrounded and chased by obsessive fans. In this case, it’s usually a fan battle, but you’re not a celebrity, so you don’t have fans. You’re not a pure civilian either—”

If he were a pure civilian, fans wouldn’t even know who to target.

But Xie Heyu was a manager, and at certain moments, managers became the punching bags for fans.

“Stop exaggerating.” Yu Wen got angry just seeing him, suddenly standing up, grabbing a feather duster from the cupboard, and shouting, “Couldn’t you have given me a heads-up? Going live like this… I think you’ve been too comfortable in the dorm and forgotten you’re a celebrity. It’s driving me crazy…”

He had planned everything so well! But Xi Su’s sudden mess-up had ruined his perfect public outing plan.

Xie Heyu quickly stood up to pull Yu Wen back, while Xi Su bounced around like a monkey, saying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, don’t rush to hit me, the trending topic hasn’t died down yet—”

Chu Han went to the kitchen to pour some water, and when he came out, he saw the living room in chaos and quickly stepped in to mediate.

Xie Jiamao, on the phone, said, “Stop hitting him, stop hitting him… If you’re going to hit him, use a rattan stick, not a feather duster.”

Xi Su had caused a big mess in just a few days.

He deserved to be punished.

After the discussion, even though Yu Wen didn’t want to post on Weibo, he had to face the reality.

Xie Heyu watched him write the new post, carefully editing each word, then said, “Should I do it?”

“No.” Yu Wen firmly refused, “You don’t go online for the next few days. Don’t worry, I won’t let any harmful comments reach you.”

Xie Heyu: “…Actually, it’s fine.”

Yu Wen glared at him.

Xie Heyu: “Okay, Teacher Yu.”

As the culprit, Xi Su was assigned the most brutal task—monitoring public opinion and facing the storm of malicious comments from netizens.

He took a deep breath and said seriously, “I’m ready.”

Although he had been baiting CPs for years, he had never dealt with something semi-public like this. Would this be even worse than the situations he faced before?

Chu Han also looked serious and said, “I’m ready.”

He was responsible for monitoring the comments on Yu Wen’s Weibo post.

Yu Wen gave the order with a wave of his hand, “Go.”

Xi Su clicked on the trending topic.

In the first minute, he furrowed his brows.

In the second minute, he was a little confused.

In the third minute, he began to reflect.

…

In the tenth minute, he said, “Yu Wen, I can’t handle this, your fans are beyond my capabilities.”

Yu Wen: “Huh?”

There were indeed some insults.

—”Stinky man (walking back and forth) (frantic)”

—”That guy—shoot him!”

—”Wuwuwu, baby, you’re still young, you can’t kiss…”

—”Xiao Yu, you better say it’s fake, you’re really playing with us, not with him.”

The trending topic was full of fans crying and wailing, looking like widows whose wives had been stolen. Even though everyone usually joked about CPs, when it came to a moment like this, they still couldn’t accept it.

But it seemed like they could only not accept it for a little while.

Xi Su’s live stream had a replay, and kind-hearted netizens had already cut a few clips and made a short video, even zooming in. In the video, the two’s profiles were extremely clear.

Surrounded by trees, the villa’s lights were far away, but there was a beam of light cutting through the forest and landing around them. Yu Wen’s figure was almost swallowed by the hammock, with only his upper body supported by a hand with distinct knuckles. He was struggling to tilt his head back, as if he was being pulled into a kiss. Even with the unclear quality, the intensity of the kiss, the overwhelming force, was unmistakable.

—”Help, my Xiao Yu seems like he’s about to be eaten…”

—”The Adam’s apple keeps moving… What is he swallowing? Yu Wen’s saliva?”

—”Such a delicious meal (choking), but thinking that this is real, my heart hurts.”

—”My god, this person’s lust is so strong.”

—”Omg… this se-xual tension…”

On the trending topics, besides the fans, there were also a large number of bystanders. As soon as they saw the video, they immediately fell into the ship, and the fan count for the CP topic skyrocketed overnight.

It was just a video without a clear shot of their faces, but the level of shipper intensity was enough to rank in the top five of the year.

In the last part of the video, there was a small detail that netizens didn’t notice at first. As they watched the video repeatedly, they realized that at the very end, Xie Heyu’s other hand, which had been idle, reached out, placed a snow-white seashell into Yu Wen’s hand, and then, with a hint of possessiveness, touched Yu Wen’s waist.

His hand was large, covering nearly half of Yu Wen’s waist, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he was gripping it.

—”I give you a little seashell, you give me a kiss.”

—”My god, how come this feels so sweet yet so pure?”

—”A fan gently passed away… Before I die, I have to take a bite, can’t be a starving ghost.”

—”Zha Zha woke up and found that everyone at home was a traitor.”

As Xi Su watched, the fans in the trending topics who had “accepted” the situation already occupied the majority. After a difficult mental struggle, the topic turned in a very strange direction.

—”Confirmed, that handsome manager, right?”

—”Don’t call him handsome! He doesn’t have eight-pack abs, he’s not worthy of being called handsome!”

—”He showed his abs last time… I think he had eight-pack abs…”

—”Good physique.”

—”What about his family background? A little manager! Our little Yu Wen is a top-tier celebrity—”

—”I found out, he’s a shareholder in Starlight Media.”

–”Financially solid.”

—”Ahhh, but these are all external things, the most important thing is to see if his kidneys are good, and if he’s got 18 cm!”

—”How do we check that?”

—”Look through his photos and estimate.”

—”He doesn’t have many photos, forget it, next time at the airport, we’ll observe with our own eyes.”

Xi Su scrolled through the comments and was greatly shocked.

How did their thought process end up here?

He couldn’t understand.