Ji Xing never imagined that catching a glimpse of a single fanart image would lead directly to He Mingchen catching him in the act. Now, the man would likely assume he spent all his free time scrolling through their couple edits.
“I only looked at this one picture,” Ji Xing attempted to explain.
“Are there many more?” He Mingchen asked.
“I… I do not know, my assistant sent it to me.”
“Oh.” Without offering further comment, He Mingchen handed the phone back to Ji Xing.
Stowing his phone away and preparing to let out a quiet sigh of relief, Ji Xing was startled when Pei Yun piped up with his usual teasing tone: “It is fine, completely normal. I look at your couple super-topic all the time too, hehe.”
The remark successfully steered the topic into an even more excruciatingly awkward territory.
Barely daring to meet He Mingchen’s gaze, Ji Xing kept his head down and tried to make his escape, only for Pei Yun to throw an arm around his shoulders.
“Where are you rushing off to?” Pei Yun asked.
“I am going to… eat,” Ji Xing replied.
Having starved himself for the better part of the day, he figured he would pass out from hunger if he didn’t eat soon.
“We have the afternoon off, and your Teacher He arranged a spot. I am treating, so both of our groups are getting together for a gathering.” Before Ji Xing could refuse, Pei Yun added, “You performed so brilliantly today, this dinner is primarily to celebrate you.”
With the invitation phrased like that, Ji Xing had no other choice besides complying.
The gathering took place at a private tavern. While the venue wasn’t particularly large, its relaxed and natural aesthetic made it ideal for casual get-togethers among friends. With over a dozen people present across both groups, everyone filled a long table comfortably, with the sole exception of Qin Yi.
“The owner of this tavern is a friend of Teacher He, and they closed early today exclusively for us so we wouldn’t be disturbed by other customers. Feel free to eat and drink your fill tonight, the food and drinks are on the house,” Pei Yun announced.
“Thank you, Teacher Pei, thank you, Teacher He.” The trainees promptly raised their glasses in a toast to both men.
Having learned his lesson from the previous incident, Ji Xing steered clear of alcohol and poured himself a glass of orange juice instead. Besides, he was far too preoccupied with his meal to socialize, burying his head to focus entirely on eating.
Because the recording ran continuously for hours without breaks and live broadcasts prohibited snacking, Ji Xing was genuinely starving.
“Great job today, Ji Xing, congratulations,” Chen Feng from the same group said, walking over to share a drink with him.
Swallowing his food, Ji Xing picked up his juice cup to clink glasses with him, but Chen Feng stopped him just as he was about to take a sip.
“Why are you drinking orange juice? Have some real alcohol.” Chen Feng reached for a bottle to pour him a drink.
“I do not drink alcohol,” Ji Xing hastily refused.
“Come on, you drank plenty on our first day joining the crew, who are you kidding?” Wearing a broad smile, Chen Feng kept moving his hands until Ji Xing’s cup was filled to the brim.
Ji Xing looked deeply troubled. “My alcohol tolerance is truly terrible, I get wild when I drink too much.”
“Are you refusing to give me face here? At least take a sip!” Chen Feng persisted.
Knowing full well that social drinking never stopped at a single sip, Ji Xing realized that once he conceded to Chen Feng, he wouldn’t be able to turn down anyone else who approached him.
Yet refusing people remained entirely outside his skill set.
Standing over him with a glass in hand, Chen Feng showed no signs of backing down.
“I…” Overwhelmed by the mounting pressure, Ji Xing reached for his glass, but someone else swept in and took it away.
He Mingchen took the seat directly across from Ji Xing, looking up at Chen Feng. “So fond of drinking? I will keep you company.”
“Teacher He…” Chen Feng faltered immediately.
“You performed well today, keep up the hard work.” He Mingchen clinked glasses with him before taking a small sip of alcohol.
Seeing this, Chen Feng quickly chugged his entire glass in one go, then retreated obediently to the side without daring to push any further. The remaining trainees, seemingly intimidated by He Mingchen’s presence, kept their distance and refrained from approaching.
Only Ji Xing remained seated across from He Mingchen, daring neither to move nor to utter a sound.
“What is your alcohol limit?” He Mingchen asked out of the blue.
“I am not sure, maybe around two liang?” Ji Xing answered cautiously.
“How much did you drink at the welcome banquet on our first day?”
Though He Mingchen posed the question casually, it sent a jolt of panic through Ji Xing.
The welcome banquet on their first day was the exact night he transmigrated. And it was during that very evening that, under the influence of alcohol, he had somehow ended up sharing a bed with He Mingchen.
What was He Mingchen implying by bringing this up now?
Was he planning to confront him?
“I…”
Overwhelmed by sudden tension, Ji Xing broke into a sudden fit of coughing, his fair face flushing crimson as tears pricked the corners of his eyes.
A soft look crossed He Mingchen’s eyes as he slid a tissue across the table. “What are you panicking about? I simply wanted to compare drinking tolerances with you.”
“Really?” Ji Xing stared at him with lingering suspicion.
“What else?” He Mingchen used a pair of serving chopsticks to pile food onto Ji Xing’s plate.
The rich aroma of food instantly melted away the majority of Ji Xing’s nervous tension.
Watching the young man focus intently on his meal, He Mingchen couldn’t help marveling at how much he resembled a small animal. His guard was intensely high, pulling back his antennae at the slightest touch, yet dangling a bit of food instantly caused him to throw caution to the wind.
While the tavern specialized in wine, the food proved exceptionally delicious. Ji Xing spent half an hour burying his head in his plate, his mouth moving nonstop until everyone else shifted into idle conversation, at which point he finally set down his chopsticks with a satisfied sigh.
“Are you full?” He Mingchen asked.
“Mm.” Ji Xing nodded, suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious. Realizing he had been too absorbed in eating to notice, had He Mingchen been staring at him the entire time?
“Come, come, let us take a group photo, I need to post it on Weibo,” Pei Yun announced.
The group immediately clustered around the long table. Deliberately sliding over to He Mingchen’s side, Pei Yun leaned his head right against the other man’s shoulder, likely aiming to poke fun at the day’s trending search. Since netizens claimed He Mingchen loathed his presence, he was determined to lean into the joke with playful mischief.
Consequently, another piece of media joined the trending topics that evening.
[Hahaha, Teacher He’s deadpan face score plus one.]
[Pei Yun, just accept your fate, you are destined to play the foil for life.]
[Is this a joint dinner for both groups? Looks so lively.]
[Ji Xing and Emperor He sitting opposite each other, oh my.]
[Shipping partners definitely need to sit together.]
Unfazed, the fans gathered in Pei Yun’s comments section to debate animatedly. Soon enough, however, someone spotted an anomaly: while members from both He Mingchen’s and Pei Yun’s teams appeared in the photo, Qin Yi was conspicuously absent.
Initially, some guessed that Qin Yi might have skipped the dinner because he was eliminated. Sharp-eyed fans pointed out, however, that eliminated members from He Mingchen’s team were present at the venue.
Since it had nothing to do with the eliminations, another reason must be at play.
This prompted many fans to connect the dots back to the previous night’s live stream.
During the broadcast, viewers had already suspected a conflict between Ji Xing and Qin Yi. With the camera blocked, nobody could see what happened, leaving room only for speculation. Then He Mingchen’s timely intervention had quickly shifted the focus away.
Qin Yi’s absence tonight added a fresh layer of subtle intrigue to the situation. Some of Qin Yi’s vocal fans even scurried over to Pei Yun’s comments section to drop snide remarks accusing the entire group of ostracizing Qin Yi.
Always quick to play the victim, Qin Yi capitalized on the narrative by posting a photo of himself eating a solitary bowl of noodles. Though he wrote no accompanying caption, the post heavily implied a sideways confirmation of his alleged isolation.
Those who watched the live stream knew the truth, but outsiders unfamiliar with the events easily fell prey to sympathy for Qin Yi. For a brief window, public discourse threatened to skew off course, with commenters questioning whether Pei Yun was leading an exclusionary clique.
Too busy enjoying his drinks, Pei Yun remained completely oblivious to social media developments.
Fortunately, another trainee caught wind of Qin Yi’s post and promptly uploaded a cropped screenshot of their group chat to Weibo. The chat logs showed Pei Yun extending an open invitation to the dinner, to which Qin Yi had replied that he lacked an appetite and would sit it out, followed by classmates advising him to get some rest.
The receipts instantly shattered the isolation claims, prompting Qin Yi to offer a clumsy, delayed explanation in his own comment section. The awkward timing only underscored his guilt, causing the sympathetic bystanders who had briefly favored him to turn their backs entirely.
While Qin Yi’s clumsy scheme backfired, Ji Xing was busy dozing off like a baby bird pecking grain. Having missed out on proper rest the previous night, his sleep-deprivation caught up with him once he grew full, causing his head to bob up and down rhythmically as he fought sleep at the table.
Fearing he might bang his chin, He Mingchen reached out to cup his palm underneath it. Finding his chin resting comfortably on a solid surface, Ji Xing tilted his head lazily, pressing half his face straight into He Mingchen’s open palm.
Luckily, his sleep remained light enough that he snapped awake shortly afterward, saving He Mingchen from a rather tricky dilemma.
“Let us head back, I am tired as well,” He Mingchen said.
“Leaving early, will that look bad?” Ji Xing asked, rubbing his eyes.
“Rest assured, my absence will only make them feel more relaxed.”
He Mingchen possessed solid self-awareness, and as expected, the trainees did loosen up significantly once he departed.
Shortly after leaving the tavern, Ji Xing fell soundly asleep in the backseat of the car.
He remained completely oblivious to the fact that while he slept, he and He Mingchen were climbing the trending charts once again.
The uproar began when a trainee uploaded a group photo from a later round of board games after the mentors left. Observant fans noticed the absence of both He Mingchen and Ji Xing, prompting a quick inquiry in the comments.
With no malicious intent, the trainee replied honestly that the two had headed back to the hotel early.
Marketing accounts quickly screenshotted the reply and stoked the flames, rocketing the topic [He Mingchen and Ji Xing returning to the hotel together] to the top of the trending lists.
Perhaps the phrasing hit a bit too close to home, as even the fandom panicked slightly, refraining from wild shipping in the tag while frantically trying to offer innocent explanations:
[The entire crew stays at the exact same hotel.]
[Teacher He stayed up late helping Ji Xing rehearse last night, they definitely went back to catch up on sleep.]
[Two introverts leaving a party early, nothing to see here.]
[They just shared a ride back, that is all.]
In reality, the fans weren’t the only ones realizing the optics were getting dicey; He Mingchen caught onto the artificial swell immediately.
He had merely planned to check Pei Yun’s Weibo post and save their group photo from tonight, only to be greeted by the trending tag upon opening the app. The top posts consisted of identical press releases pushed by promotional accounts, bearing all the hallmarks of heavy-handed manipulation.
At that exact moment, He Mingchen’s phone vibrated with a call from his manager, Hu-ge.
“Hello?” He Mingchen answered, keeping his voice deliberately low.
“Did you see the trending searches? Things are getting lively tonight,” Hu-ge said from the other end.
“Mm.”
“I checked with a few marketing contacts who handle these pushes. Guess who’s behind this operation?”
“Who?”
“You probably won’t recognize the corporate name, but you know their artists well. The one making waves in today’s showcase: Ji Xing,” Hu-ge reported. “If I recall correctly, you just helped him clean up a mess last night.”
Frowning slightly, He Mingchen remained silent.
“His agency is getting a bit too impatient. Your precious trainee might not be as innocent as he looks.”
“It has nothing to do with him,” He Mingchen stated flatly.
“How can you be so certain?” Hu-ge questioned.
He Mingchen glanced toward the passenger seat where Ji Xing lay deeply asleep. The car had been idling outside the hotel entrance for twenty minutes, yet the young man showed zero signs of waking. Having slept uninterrupted ever since they left the tavern, the possibility of him orchestrating a PR stunt with his agency was entirely zero.
“He is right here beside me, fast asleep.”
He Mingchen kept his tone subdued, as if afraid of disturbing his slumber.
Hu-ge: ……
Wait, the rumors were actually true?
“The two of you… you actually slept together?”