FLME Ch89

Xie Heyu: “…”

Xi Su was a beat slow to react. Though he didn’t understand why the two suddenly hugged, his instincts drove him to raise the GoPro and aim it at them.

Xie Heyu turned his head, saw the camera, and felt a headache coming on.

…Not a single one of them was worry-free.

Yu Wen wriggled around in his arms, trying hard to negotiate. “I’ve got my mask and hat on properly. No one recognized me earlier. Let me ride the bus…”

“Fine,” Xie Heyu relented with a sigh, though still helpless. “But if you’re recognized, we leave immediately. No lingering.”

Yu Wen’s eyes sparkled like stars. “Does that mean if I’m not recognized, I can keep playing?”

Xie Heyu: “…”

Xi Su discreetly gave him a thumbs-up.
Outstanding comprehension skills.

Although he agreed, Xie Heyu still wasn’t at ease. While waiting for the bus, he racked his brain and came up with two or three contingency plans.

“If someone recognizes us, Xi Su will draw their attention and create a distraction. We can’t stand too close to each other. We can’t let people figure out we’re together…”

Before he finished, Xi Su interrupted in disbelief, “Wait, wait, wait. How am I supposed to create a distraction?”

Xie Heyu: “Do I really need to teach you?”

Xi Su: “…What else am I supposed to do? Think of it myself? Oh. Really? Are you sure?”

Xie Heyu glanced at his innocent yet foolish face and changed his approach. “You’re right, I wasn’t considerate enough. You could take off your hat, reveal your blue hair, and shout, ‘Yu Wen, wait for me!’ while running. That’ll grab everyone’s attention, and we can slip away in the chaos.”

Yu Wen imagined the scene, pressed his lips together to suppress a laugh, and gave the “armed guard” some face.

Xi Su thought about it and realized it might actually work. Xie Heyu was surprisingly clever.

He agreed to the plan, but just before boarding the bus, a sudden thought struck him.

“But if you two run off… how do I escape?”

Xie Heyu met his gaze, paused for two seconds, and said, “Is it possible… you’re not that famous?”

Xi Su: “Wow.”

“Teacher Xie,” Yu Wen couldn’t help but say, “sometimes, you’re really mean.”

The bus was crowded, with fans there to see the support displays and regular commuters. Yu Wen and Xi Su sneaked on through the back door, while Xie Heyu boarded at the front to swipe his card.

The area had a sports university nearby, so the bus was filled with young men. Blending in, the three of them didn’t stand out.

Yu Wen whispered, “There are colorful stickers everywhere… so pretty.”

Apparently sponsored by fans, not only was the exterior adorned with a half-body image of Yu Wen, but the interior also looked newly renovated. Yu Wen-themed elements were everywhere—his support colors, small stickers, and a rainbow floor. The well-coordinated, high-saturation colors made the bus stand out, radiating sunshine and vibrant energy.

Two girls in the front row were quietly chatting and taking selfies with their phones. Yu Wen, sharp-eyed, noticed he’d accidentally been caught in the frame. He immediately sat up straight like an elementary schooler, chest out and shoulders back, wearing a smile—though with the mask on, no one could actually tell he was smiling.

After the girls finished their sneaky selfies, Yu Wen turned to Xie Heyu to discuss. “Let’s get off at the next stop. I think there’s a themed café for me nearby…”

Before he could finish, one of the girls in the front turned around, looked at him, then at her phone.

Yu Wen had unintentionally stolen the spotlight in the photo. When the girl noticed him while editing, she couldn’t help but take another look. The more she looked, the more familiar he seemed.

Hesitating, she said, “You…”

Yu Wen decided to strike first.

“People say my eyes look like a certain celebrity’s,” Yu Wen said with a smile.

The girl stared at the tear mole at the corner of his eye, silent.

Yu Wen: “Do you think so too?”

The girl studied him meaningfully for two seconds before turning back around.

Yu Wen breathed a sigh of relief.

Xie Heyu, however, wasn’t as optimistic. In a low voice, he said, “I don’t think you can go to the themed café at the next stop…”

Yu Wen’s face was filled with shock. “What—”

Before he could argue, the girl in the front suddenly called out, “Yu Wen!”

Yu Wen: “Huh?”

“…” Half the bus turned their eyes toward him. Xie Heyu raised an eyebrow and stated in a low voice, “You’ve been recognized because of yourself.”

The girl slowly turned her head and gave him a sly, triumphant smile.

Yu Wen: “…”

He and his fans were truly connected, playing mind games with each other.

Even after getting off the bus, Yu Wen was still signing autographs and taking photos with fans until his hand ached.

He answered their trivial questions with a constant smile on his face. One particularly excited fan chattered nonstop and even invited him to check out a nearby fan support display.

Yu Wen was immediately tempted. “I—”

Xie Heyu: “No.”

Yu Wen looked back at him with a pitiful expression.

Xie Heyu raised an eyebrow. “We had an agreement.”

Xi Su, though an outsider in this game of chase, was still a celebrity. The fans gave him some attention as well, asking for a few autographs and selfies.

While he stood to the side, holding his action camera and feeling bored, Yu Wen subtly moved away from Xie Heyu.

The group of fans surrounded them, chatting enthusiastically. Only Xi Su noticed Yu Wen’s small movements.

“?”

Xi Su didn’t understand, but he knew the show would lose half its entertainment value without this troublemaker. Without hesitation, he followed Yu Wen’s lead.

When Yu Wen had signed enough autographs and put enough distance between himself and Xie Heyu…

He suddenly turned his head and bolted!

The movement was smooth and seamless, clearly rehearsed countless times in his mind.

Xi Su froze for a second, then slung his equipment over his shoulder and gave chase.

The two quickly rounded a corner and disappeared, leaving Xie Heyu and the fans staring at each other in confusion.

…That was sudden.

The fans all turned to look at Xie Heyu. His expression remained calm, not showing any anger, but they could sense a faint trace of amused exasperation on his face.

“Don’t worry, Manager!” One fan suddenly stepped forward, stretching her joints and eager to help. “I’ll catch Yu Wen for you. He won’t escape your grasp!”

Xie Heyu: “That’s not necessary—”

“Don’t worry!” The fan patted her chest confidently. “I’ll bring him back for sure. Trust me, I run track.”

The next second, she struck a starting pose and shot off like an arrow from a bow.

Xie Heyu: “…”

Today was Yu Wen’s birthday.

It was also the day Mr. Gua made entertainment history.

Within just half an hour, Yu Wen’s peculiar bus adventure had spread across the internet like wildfire. According to witnesses, Yu Wen’s boyfriend had been heartbroken, devastated, and left speechless as he watched his lover abandon him.

Though no one understood the misunderstanding between them, netizens collectively decided to help this poor man.

In less than thirty minutes, the internet launched an intense manhunt for Yu Wen.

—”I just spotted him on the third floor of the men’s restroom at Joy City!”

—”@XieHeyu, hurry up! Grab him and take him home!”

Everyone was reporting sightings. Previously, when Xie Heyu located Yu Wen, he relied on some mysterious couple’s intuition, which took about an hour.

But now, with the internet’s help, it would take him no more than thirty minutes to catch Yu Wen.

Passersby kindly provided live photos. In the pictures, Yu Wen looked like a helpless little chick, dejectedly caught by the scruff of his neck by Xie Heyu. He couldn’t escape, and his posture was utterly humiliating. Occasionally, in a fit of frustration, he would bare his teeth and claws at Xie Heyu, swatting his arm or kicking his leg.

—”So cute.”

—”This rebellious kitten just needs a good stir-fry to settle down.”

—”@XieHeyu, did you hear that? Sister is calling you out!”

Running away on his birthday and going viral for it—Yu Wen truly made history in the entertainment world.

When Melon King wasn’t observing drama, he was the drama himself, constantly creating new laughs wherever he went.

Xi Su, ever perceptive, noticed the buzz surrounding them and edited a video of their escape on the spot, uploading it to Weibo. After being dubbed the “Love Security Guard,” netizens gave him a new title:

The War Correspondent.

—”The entertainment industry can’t do without our Blue-Haired Teacher!”
—”Keep reporting, keep chasing!”
—”Next time you go live, I’ll send you a carnival gift… just stick with them!”

Hearing about the carnival gift, Xi Su immediately perked up.

After being chased down all day, Yu Wen had developed a bit of a temper. Though he no longer cared about checking in at fan spots, he still didn’t want Xie Heyu constantly watching him. Whenever he saw an opportunity, he’d try to escape.

It wasn’t surprising that Yu Wen could run off—after all, Xie Heyu wasn’t truly trying to restrain him. What was amazing, though, was that no matter how random or illogical Yu Wen’s escape routes were, Xi Su always managed to keep up.

Yu Wen found it hard to describe how it felt to turn around after running a few hundred meters, only to see Xi Su right behind him, holding the action camera.

Human potential truly is limitless.

The related trending topic stayed online all day. Yu Wen had grown numb to being caught; instead, he started to find the hide-and-seek game amusing.

Heh, this is fun.

With the whole internet looking for him, and him still managing to hide for half an hour, Yu Wen thought he was a genius!

When Xi Su’s video was released, netizens immediately understood that Yu Wen was just playing around. But they found the fun in it too, continuing to enthusiastically report his location to Xie Heyu.

The manager, for his part, was impressively good-natured, willing to humor this ridiculous game.

Before the evening birthday party began, War Correspondent Xi Su posted what he called the video of his life.

The video was shot outside the birthday venue, where two fans were having a minor disagreement over their spots. Both had brought handmade support items, but there was only so much space to display them, leading to an intense argument over who should go first.

In the video, Yu Wen could be seen mingling with the fans, observing the situation intently.

When the video was posted, netizens burst out laughing.

—”Seriously, Melon King, you…”
—”How are you even eating your own drama now?”
—”You can tell he’s really trying to figure it out.”

In the end, Yu Wen couldn’t make sense of who was right or wrong. Just then, Xie Heyu appeared, cutting through the crowd with precision and grabbing Yu Wen by the hood of his sweatshirt.

Yu Wen pleaded, “Wait, wait, Teacher Xie, hold on… Everyone, let me say a few words first. Let’s calm down and analyze this rationally. Give me, Yu Wen, a little face—”

Before being dragged off to hair and makeup, he was still shouting, “Slowly, slowly! Give me, Yu Wen, a little face. If anyone gets hurt, I’ll be heartbroken, OK—”

—”‘Give me, Yu Wen, a little face.’”
—”A timeless classic…”

Once inside the makeup room, Yu Wen was still concerned about the situation outside. Xie Jiamao walked in, holding the event schedule, and gave him a light knock on the head with it. “Worry about yourself, will you? You’ve been playing with netizens all day and completely forgotten about your birthday schedule. If it weren’t for Xiao Xie fetching you, who knows where you’d be right now?”

The moment his boss appeared, Yu Wen became much more obedient. He might mess around with Xie Heyu, but he didn’t dare slack off in front of his boss—lest it seem like he was shirking his duties.

The makeup artist quickly arrived to start his look. Finally, the main event of the day was about to begin.