Zhao Yaojin lowered the brim of his hat and put on his sunglasses.
Even in a simple T-shirt, he naturally carried an aura of effortless elegance.
In the past, Zhao Yaojin could throw on a literal garbage bag, and everyone would still gasp at his incredible physique.
Combined with his bewitching, otherworldly face, he charmed people of all ages and genders, boasting a level of nationwide popularity that was quite literally off the charts.
As he stepped out of the elevator, someone called out from right outside the door: “Over here, over here, get on the bus quickly!”
A white coach was parked directly in front of the company entrance, timing its departure just to catch this last laggard of a young master.
The assistant hurriedly took the suitcase from Zhao Yaojin’s hands, pushed open the storage compartment at the bottom of the coach, and stowed it away for him.
Zhao Yaojin glanced around. Everyone was wearing baseball caps, which was evidently the standard uniform for trainees striving to maintain a sense of mystery before debut.
The bus slowly pulled away. The others nodded and smiled at him, and Zhao Yaojin greeted each of them in turn.
Because he had boarded late, only a few empty seats remained in the very back.
As soon as he sat down, the driver hit the brakes a couple of times rather abruptly.
“Driver, please be a bit more careful!”
Someone already began complaining.
Zhao Yaojin also felt a wave of motion sickness washing over him, a strong sense of discomfort roiling in his chest, so nauseating he felt like throwing up.
Who knows where they had scrounged up this bus on such short notice, but the suspension was truly abysmal!
Zhao Yaojin put on a face mask, shutting out the pervasive, inescapable mixture of engine oil and fresh leather odors drifting through the cabin.
“Hey, do you think our rehearsal performance stage will come together well? I am honestly so nervous now that it is almost time to go on stage.”
“What is there to fear? Our practice time is relatively long. Zhao Yaojin, although you are a newcomer, your skills must be pretty solid, right?”
The silent atmosphere was broken as the group chatted back and forth. Hearing the topic shift to him, Zhao Yaojin raised his head and flashed an utterly harmless, sweet smile:
“How could I compare to you older brothers? My skills are just barely passable, nothing special.”
Perhaps because he had also gotten on late, Jiang Shiyue was sitting alone in a window seat near the very back. He still maintained that icy, taciturn expression, avoiding unnecessary chatter, which formed a sharp contrast with the excitement, nervousness, and restlessness of the others nearby.
His out-of-place demeanor naturally bred a bit of resentment among the group. However, rumors had it that Jiang Shiyue was a major shareholder of Starlight Entertainment; the guy was truly born with a golden spoon in his mouth, so perhaps he was just dabbling in the industry for fun, making him entirely different from common folks like them.
After all, the man actually had a massive family empire waiting for him to inherit.
Consequently, everyone even intentionally or unintentionally bypassed him in conversation. He resembled a block of ice dropped deep into a forest, his chilling aura freezing everything around him so thoroughly that no small creature dared to approach.
Yet Zhao Yaojin knew full well that despite the man’s stranger-stay-away demeanor, he was actually just suffering from motion sickness.
With even a glance of careful observation, anyone could tell that Jiang Shiyue, dressed entirely in black with his cap pulled down low, was simply trying to keep others from noticing his pale complexion. His quietness was merely a facade to mask his physical distress.
Understanding the situation completely, Zhao Yaojin rummaged through his backpack for a moment and finally found what he was looking for.
His elbow was given a gentle nudge. Jiang Shiyue blinked his eyes open, and something hard was pressed into his palm.
Taking a closer look, it was a piece of hard candy.
A look of surprise flickered across Jiang Shiyue’s expression.
Zhao Yaojin tilted his head slightly and opened his palm: “Do you not like this flavor? I have other ones right here.”
His demeanor was so entirely natural that it actually made Jiang Shiyue feel slightly ill at ease.
Are we really that close?
“Thank you.” After expressing his gratitude, Jiang Shiyue unwrapped the candy wrapper and pressed the hard sweet against the tip of his tongue.
A refreshing mint flavor bloomed across his lips and teeth, trickling down his throat and tongue.
It truly made him feel a lot more comfortable.
Zhao Yaojin leaned back against the seat comfortably.
Jiang Shiyue used to carry preserved plums or hard candy around with him too. Sometimes, he would even share one with him.
Now, he had also become the one capable of proactively taking care of someone else.
Zhao Yaojin felt a bit dazed.
He shifted his position, turning his entire body toward the window. Outside, towering skyscrapers stood tall, and crowds surged like a river.
This dream felt far too vivid.
It was as if he had genuinely traveled back in time to those youthful, unpolished days.
A wild past where he would be showered with fresh flowers, candies, and plush toys, but also pelted with shattered glass bottles, water cups, and even malicious prank toys.
Those venomous attacks seemed to echo in his ears accompanied by the relentless clicking of computer keyboards.
Yet his memories were dominated far more by cheers, thunderous applause, and an endless, lingering current of deep affection. It was all-encompassing and overwhelming, as if the fans’ passion would never fade away for all eternity.
Yet once he emerged from that dark, claustrophobic little room, all of that love seemed to have utterly vanished.
Everyone began to detest him as a coward who had bolted right before the battle.
This time around, could he win all of that love back once again?
The noisy chatter beside him grew louder, snapping Zhao Yaojin awake from his thoughts.
“We are here, we are here, Superstar Studio!” The scenery flashing past his eyes gradually grew familiar.
A massive company signboard, the Superstar logo, followed by the gleaming characters of Idol Workshop. Bright strip lights decorated the venue until it looked resplendent and magnificent.
“Time to get off the bus!” Pushing open the bus doors and breathing in the fresh outdoor air, some of the trainees cheered with excitement.
Zhao Yaojin straightened up.
The starting point of his life, a period of nearly complete seclusion lasting three months, had all taken place right here.
Here, he had shed tears and shared laughter. All his memories of youth, burning passion, and fiery drive were contained within this seemingly crude yet endlessly promising television studio.
“Let us go, I will take you all to tour the new dormitories. Pay attention to your walking posture and your words and actions, everyone; we are going to start recording backup footage now!” The assistant clapped her hands, signaling them to follow her inside.
“So fast!” Yu Xu was the first to leap off the bus, and Zhao Yaojin bent down to retrieve his own luggage.
Now he felt much more grounded, and his footsteps no longer felt as though he were walking on cotton. Still, the moment he stood straight, a wave of darkness swept over his vision, and his body swayed.
“Be careful.”
An arm caught and steadied him. He stood frozen in place for a moment to let the dark spots fade as the black halo receded.
The man’s lips pressed together slightly as he awkwardly pulled his hand back.
Jiang Shiyue.
Zhao Yaojin broke into a smile and steadied his footing: “Thanks.”
He had always been someone who looked ice-cold on the outside, yet possessed immense warmth deep down inside.
Having experienced everything he had, Zhao Yaojin felt that in this lifetime, he could never again let down such a wonderful friend.
So this time, let me be the one to draw close to you.
Manager Li Xiaohong stood to the side, clapping her hands to give instructions: “I will only accompany you this far. From the moment you step through that front door, your future will depend entirely on how you hustle for it.”
“Line up and go in through there. One hundred of you in total, put on a good performance to fight for screen time.”
Zhao Yaojin obediently nodded, holding his suitcase as he fell in step right behind Jiang Shiyue.
Such an intimate posture prompted everyone around them to cast involuntary glances his way.
Sister Hong shifted her gaze toward Zhao Yaojin next, looking exasperated and disappointed in his lack of ambition: “Especially you, pay close attention to the cameras and do not just focus blindly on practicing. Your appearance is easily top-tier, so do not waste it. Flirt a little when appropriate, subtly show off your figure here and there, and you are guaranteed to break into the top ten.”
Zhao Yaojin nodded his head like a bobblehead, looking thoroughly well-behaved and easy to manage.
Sister Hong looked away: “As for the rest of you…”
The manager paused, deliberately skipping over Jiang Shiyue and turning her attention to Yu Xu and the others: “It all depends on your own luck. Anyway, accumulating some fanbase is never a bad thing.”
Everyone nodded in agreement: “Got it, Sister Hong.”
Perhaps sensing Li Xiaohong’s preferential treatment, Yu Xu openly displayed his dissatisfaction on the spot, shooting a covert sideways glare at Zhao Yaojin before huffing and walking away.
Fu Yichen gripped the handle of his suitcase and, taking advantage of the manager’s inattention, rolled his eyes as well.
He sized Zhao Yaojin up from head to toe, mentally calculating his utility value or potential threat, right until a pair of beaten-up, white canvas shoes on Zhao Yaojin’s feet entered his field of vision.
Clean, but utterly worn out.
A poor beggar.
Fu Yichen took a deep breath, feeling inexplicably reassured and a little more pleased with himself.
The group marched forward full of high fighting spirit, only to be informed that after temporarily storing their luggage, they had to rush straight to the initial grading stage.
“So soon?” Hearing that recording was about to commence, Tang Tang, the youngest among them, visibly wilted.
He muttered in dismay: “I thought they would let us practice for a while first to get used to the environment!”
“As if!” Yu Xu curled his lip, biting down on a stray leaf as he drawled with a rebellious, swaggering attitude: “Time is money, and capitalists are not philanthropists. Superstar wants to rush the broadcast out to make money; do you think they care whether we live or die? They will just watch us fight tooth and nail until only nine are left standing!”
“That makes sense.” Fu Yichen adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and chimed in with a smile.
The group of five went to collect their contestant number tags and prepared themselves for their very first public appearance.
In the dressing room.
“Your skin is genuinely incredible!” The young woman applying makeup for Zhao Yaojin squeezed a pump of liquid foundation onto the back of her hand, but hovered her fingertips uncertainly over his face, unsure where to begin.
Yun Jingjing quietly halved the amount of foundation she intended to use.
With this kind of skin texture, a whisper-thin layer was more than enough. Any more would make it look heavy and greasy.
Hearing the compliment, Zhao Yaojin pulled his gaze away from his phone, lightly curving his lips into a polite smile while the corners of his eyes crinkled into an adorable little crescent curve.
“Thank you.” This was his signature smile, sweet like cotton candy without being cloying, making people just want to curl up softly upon it.
Yun Jingjing tapped back and forth across his bouncy, elastic cheeks with her fingertips to blend out the foundation. The exact second she was struck by that smile, she felt her heart skip a beat entirely.
She could not help pressing a hand over her chest for reassurance.
Goodness gracious, are you still beating?
Confirming she was still very much alive, Yun Jingjing felt as though she were walking on air in a dream.
Look, she always said she chose the right career! But getting up close and personal with so many stunning young men was truly a hazardous job for the heart…
Was she going to die young? Perish from a lethal dosage of pure visual aesthetics?
Once the foundation was applied, his already flawless face looked even more supple, radiant, and tender.
Yun Jingjing opened up her eyeshadow palette, feeling a bit conflicted.
Would warm brown earth tones look better, or peach pink? Peach pink had so much youthful vitality and would definitely match his skin tone perfectly!
Before Yun Jingjing could make up her mind, Zhao Yaojin spoke up directly: “Could you help me do a fresher, more natural makeup look?”
“Natural?”
The current entertainment market definitely did not buy into that style!
“Cameras eat makeup, you know! Everyone requests heavier, more dramatic makeup effects!”
Yun Jingjing looked rather surprised and advised him: “A more prominent makeup look during your performance will make you stand out way more! Plus, with your kind of looks…”
Yun Jingjing had been itching with professional eagerness to craft a breathtaking peach-blossom makeup look for him that would stun everyone present!
In his past life, that stage makeup had indeed been remarkably striking and had earned him a massive wave of fans, but accusations labeling him as gender-ambiguous or comparing him to a temptress had also run rampant starting from that exact moment. The makeup artist responsible back then had grieved and felt distressed for a long time, even coming over to apologize to him.
Zhao Yaojin cast a soft glance at Yun Jingjing, who was still struggling to mask her excitement and enthusiasm, not wanting her to feel troubled over this unintentional mishap of his.
Yun Jingjing sighed helplessly. Why was such an adorable little brother so reluctant to fully unleash his personal charm?
“Do you want to wear colored contact lenses?”
She had all kinds of styles right here! How about picking one from the Archangel series? The pinkish-purple one!
Yun Jingjing tried her best to showcase her options.
“No need.” Zhao Yaojin smiled gently and pushed them away, “Let us keep it simple, just matching with everyone else is fine!”
His eyes tended to get rather dry, and wearing colored contacts made them prone to bloodshot veins and tearing up. He had even made trending search lists in the past over that exact issue, with critics claiming he used those watery, about-to-cry expressions to play the innocent white rabbit and manipulate his fandom.
Zhao Yaojin held his head up and closed his eyes, leaving himself entirely in her hands. He figured that this second chance at life was the heavens compensating him; it certainly was not meant for him to walk through his past life’s path step for exact step, but rather to amend his regrets.
Therefore, just following his own heart was enough.
“Alright, open your eyes.” Yun Jingjing was exceedingly pleased with her handiwork.
She still felt a lingering pang of regret over not being able to use large swaths of eyeshadow. Well, but who asked her little cutie to prefer it this way? What else could she do? She just had to spoil him, of course!
She intensified Zhao Yaojin’s eyeliner instead, adding a dusting of peach-pink glitter eyeshadow at the corners of his eyes, which effortlessly endowed his makeup with a subtle trace of captivating allure.
Cameras eat makeup, and this styling would capture through the lens in a way that maximized the strengths of his eyes. With full, vibrant lips and a pure black performance outfit, it would guarantee absolute visual impact.
Who said bewitching styles had to follow a rigid formula? As long as your face card was strong enough, any makeup style was fair game! Applying excessively dazzling and heavy-handed makeup would only look forced instead!
As expected, idols themselves always understood their own advantages best!
Yun Jingjing sighed inwardly.
Zhao Yaojin also felt quite satisfied with the result.
“Thank you, Big Sister.” Sporting this peerlessly innocent makeup style, Zhao Yaojin offered a starry-eyed expression of gratitude that exuded a bizarre, contrasting cuteness.
Soft and plush, just like a thoroughly satisfied cat!
“You are welcome!”
He was still so pure and adorable! Yun Jingjing felt her heart melting into a puddle.
After blow-drying Zhao Yaojin’s hair into a stylish comma fringe, he was hurried off to change into his performance costume.
Zhao Yaojin picked out the black faux-fur jacket assigned to him and pushed open the fitting room door, only to be greeted by the sight of a slender, well-toned waist.
Did I not knock first?