In the cramped, shabby rented apartment, Ji Ran lay on his single bed. After enduring a long stretch of silence, he finally came back to his senses.
Then came the fear.
Holy shit. Had he gone insane? How had he dared to do something like that while on the phone with his superior?
Thankfully, he had hung up in time. He should not have made any sound, right?
Ji Ran desperately wanted to pretend he had died on the spot but he still had work to deal with.
Aaaaaah!!! But how had things even ended up like this?!
Ji Ran suffered a brief breakdown for a few seconds before steeling himself and calling back.
When the call connected, he came up with a rather unconvincing excuse. “I’m sorry. I dropped my phone just now and accidentally hung up.”
There was complete silence on the other end for several seconds before Han Shen spoke again. “Are you able to talk now?”
Feeling somewhat guilty, Ji Ran nodded and said, “Yes, I am.”
And so, they continued discussing work.
Ji Ran felt both guilty and embarrassed and he listened with extraordinary concentration throughout the entire conversation. It was only when a cool draft against his stomach made him shiver that he finally remembered that he was still in a rather disheveled state.
Han Shen’s steady voice was in his ear. He was speaking to Ji Ran about work with complete seriousness, while Ji Ran was dressed like this…
Ji Ran’s cheeks flushed slightly. He lowered his head and cleaned himself up with tissues. Whenever Han Shen asked him something, he still had to answer in an utterly serious tone.
“All right, I understand. I’ll send it to you immediately after I finish making the revisions.”
…
Once they finished discussing the work, Ji Ran waited for Han Shen to hang up first but there was no movement from the other end.
The room fell completely silent. The only sounds beside Ji Ran were the low hum of the old air conditioner and the Christmas music drifting in from somewhere outside.
Just as he was preparing to end the call himself, Han Shen’s voice suddenly sounded in his ear.
“Julian,” Han Shen said, “Merry Christmas.”
Ji Ran froze for a moment, his heart inexplicably stinging with a strange, heated sensation. He lowered his head and held his phone in his hand, answering softly, “You too. Merry Christmas.”
The next day, the account @Working_is_bound_to_drive_you_crazy posted a Christmas themed video.
In the video, a young man was wearing a red and white Christmas dress that exposed his waist. A golden bell hung around his neck and a cute headband sat atop his head.
His face was covered by an adorable reindeer mask, while his hands and feet were tied with red ribbons, making him look like a present waiting for someone to unwrap.
Ji Ran took advantage of the holiday trend. As soon as the video was posted, it quickly received a large number of likes and the comment section filled up just as rapidly.
[Ahhhhh!! The bondage play I ordered! I’m so moved I could die!]
[Thank you for the feast. I’m absolutely devouring this!!!]
[Damn, that waist, those legs, I’m getting an erection just looking at them. Come on, grow out already, you useless phantom limb!]
[Is it just me, or has the blogger gotten thinner? Are you too busy with work? His waist is so slender and there’s barely a layer of softness over his stomach.]
[Tsk… I know you’re trying to show concern for him but that kind of stomach is seriously too damn sexy.]
[You get me!! With an abdomen that thin, even the slightest poke would probably make it pop outward, right? Hiss, hiss…]
[Too good, too good! The only problem is that you update way too infrequently. Are there any other cyber male bodhisattvas you can recommend?!]
[That absolutely has to be our Orca Teacher!! The man everyone needs to see when they first fall into this pit!]
[Report! Orca Teacher posted a Christmas video too!!]
[I went to watch it. It was insanely good. If the two of them ever uploaded together, I…]
[Damn, damn, damn. I can’t even imagine how delicious two meals at once would be!]
The video’s view count was extremely high but Ji Ran’s previous videos had always maintained decent engagement as well. He assumed this one had merely received a little more holiday traffic than usual.
What he did not know was that, after he exited the app, the video began spreading at an unprecedented speed, shooting upward exponentially.
Ji Ran remained completely unaware of what was happening. He spent the entire weekend working on his thesis and the next time he opened his social media apps was already Monday noon.
Whenever work was not too busy, Ji Ran would scroll through social media for a while after eating lunch, treating it as a brief break. He was scheduled to accompany his boss to an outside meeting that afternoon and was currently waiting for Han Shen to tell him when they were leaving.
As usual, Ji Ran opened the app. To his surprise, the Christmas video had exploded in popularity. The number of likes had already surpassed one hundred thousand, while the saves and comments were also extraordinarily high.
He had never seen numbers like this before. Delighted, Ji Ran clicked into the comment section.
But his smile disappeared almost immediately.
Because waiting for him there was not praise or admiration but countless taunts and vicious insults.
[Why are you pretending to be dead, blogger? You used to reply to comments so diligently. Then everyone pointed out that you were leeching off someone else and suddenly you went silent?]
[Shameless. Orca Big Shot is low key and doesn’t want to bother with a tiny blogger like you and you just keep clinging to him and leeching off his popularity!]
[I watched every single one of the blogger’s videos. All I can say is, he’s way too slutty. Being that slutty, are you just waiting for some guy to top you?]
[Isn’t this guy just selling his body for attention? A free content whore?]
[Someone like this actually wants to form a CP with Orca? Give me a break. Do you really think Orca liking one of your posts means he’s interested in you?]
[…]
What the hell?
Ji Ran was completely bewildered.
Was he being cyberbullied?
But why?
Very quickly, Ji Ran found the answer buried among the comments.
The culprit was this person called Orca.
Because Orca had also posted a Christmas video, with the theme of unwrapping a present.
The door of a spacious, luxurious apartment opened and Orca walked inside wearing an immaculate three piece suit while carrying a Christmas gift box in his arms. He then began unwrapping the present.
Because he never showed his face, the camera was positioned so that the frame stopped right around his chest. He was dressed very conservatively but his physique was so exceptionally good that it was almost impossible not to imagine how broad and solid his chest must be beneath the suit.
His hands were also remarkably attractive. The joints were tinged with pink, faint veins stood out across the backs of his hands and his fingers were long and nimble as he untied the ribbons.
The sight was enough to send countless netizens into a frenzy.
Ji Ran and Orca originally had nothing to do with each other but because they had both posted videos centered around Christmas gifts, some netizens edited the two videos together and began shipping them as a CP.
The atmosphere of the edited video was incredibly strong and with the added boost of Christmas related traffic, it quickly broke out of their usual circles and went viral.
At first, everyone was simply enjoying the CP. The fans were keeping their shipping within their own little corner of the internet and it had nothing much to do with either blogger.
That was until one of Orca’s biggest fans came across the video and took screenshots to publicly call out Ji Ran.
@Little Penguin: Little bro, we’re all Orca fans here. Isn’t it going a little too far for you to ride his popularity like this?
Little Penguin was a rich second generation internet celebrity and a die hard Orca fan. He had repeatedly checked in at places where Orca had previously appeared, openly and subtly expressing his affection for Orca on numerous occasions. Unfortunately, he had never received any response in return.
That did not stop some netizens from shipping the two of them together, however.
After all, Little Penguin himself was quite good looking and the places he frequented were all overseas haute couture shows and major luxury brand boutiques. He also regularly held giveaways on his profile, gradually building up a considerable following. Quite a few people had even crowned him Orca’s “first wife,” and he himself seemed rather pleased with the title.
Orca’s account had quite a number of people who fantasized about being with him. Orca simply posted his videos and never paid any attention to the resulting gossip or fan drama, so his followers frequently tore each other apart in spectacular fashion.
Little Penguin was one of the most aggressive among them. Through his own efforts alone, he had forcefully taken down countless fans who fantasized about Orca.
And @Working_is_bound_to_drive_you_crazy. had unfortunately become his next target.
Originally, this was simply a matter of one group of fans attacking another but once Little Penguin pinned Ji Ran’s account on his own profile, he had effectively labeled Ji Ran as well, another person desperately trying to throw himself at Orca.
How could Penguin’s fans possibly allow their precious baby to suffer such an injustice?
Little Penguin was so handsome, accomplished and wealthy. Obviously, only someone as outstanding as him was worthy of Orca! How could they possibly let some lowly office worker steal Orca away?
The fans gathered together and descended directly upon Ji Ran’s comment section.
They began digging through Ji Ran’s account, accusing him of riding Orca’s popularity and leeching off Orca’s fame. One by one, they produced what they considered undeniable evidence.
【Following the trend】
Orca had made a Christmas gift unboxing video.
He was unwrapping a present.
@Working_is_bound_to_drive_you_crazy had followed the trend and made a Christmas gift unboxing video.
Except he had made himself the gift, waiting for someone to unwrap him.
【Copying the concept】
Orca had posted videos showcasing professional workplace outfits.
@Working_is_bound_to_drive_you_crazy had copied him and started posting workplace outfit videos.
【Stealing the persona】
Orca was a famous cyber Daddy across the entire internet.
@Working_is_bound_to_drive_you_crazy had taken the route of the poor, delicate little white flower type, while also allowing his fans to edit their videos together and ship the two of them.
Wasn’t it obvious that he wanted to become Orca’s Sugar Daddy’s little boy?
There were also fans who tried to speak up for Ji Ran and explain the situation but the opposing side had too many people. Ji Ran’s fans were quickly cursed and attacked until they could barely raise their heads and the public opinion continued to snowball.
By this point, the story had evolved into the claim that Ji Ran had created his entire account solely to seduce Orca.
It was supposedly an elaborate scheme designed to lure Orca in.
Otherwise, how could his very first video have attracted an interaction from Orca?
Orca never liked other people’s videos. So why had he liked only Ji Ran’s?
Wasn’t that obviously a calculated attempt at seduction?
@Working_is_bound_to_drive_you_crazy: Huh? But I already blocked him a long time ago.
Hater: ? What?? You blocked Orca??? [lets out a piercing shriek]
@Working_is_bound_to_drive_you_crazy: Blocked him ages ago. [Screenshot]
Hater: But why???
@Working_is_bound_to_drive_you_crazy: Because I hate it when people show off their wealth in front of me.
Hater: ………………
✦ ✧ ✦
Cressilia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
The Realm has many treasures. Coffee is currently its favourite.
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · A cold-hearted bossChapter 2 · “Your skirt?”Chapter 3 · Ji Ran was caught off guardChapter 4 · Relax, you bit your lip until it bledChapter 5 · Don’t want toChapter 6 · Women’s clothing and DaddyChapter 7 · Ji Ran hunched over and began to sob softly.Chapter 8 · Rebellion, offense, and self-rewardChapter 9 · I hate it when people flaunt their wealth in front of meChapter 10 · CompensateChapter 11 · Why are you following me?Chapter 12 · Damn, he forgot to take off his leg chainChapter 13 · Ji Ran was indeed still afraid of him.Chapter 14 · A message came from OrcaChapter 15 · Self-blame, anger, and tears.Chapter 16 · You have to pay more!Chapter 17 · Did you come here just to yell at me?Chapter 18 · Just bear with it a little longerChapter 19 · Women’s clothing live streamChapter 20 · Could you come and pick me up?Chapter 21 Part 1 · It’s all an actChapter 21 Part 2 · It’s all an actChapter 22 · The actions could be even more brutalChapter 23 · A slapChapter 24 · He wanted to surrender a part of himself