Time slipped away in the blink of an eye, bringing them to the day of the formal competition. The elimination system proved just as ruthless as anticipated.
“This time, the teams under our respective mentor groups will go head to head in pairs, competing across six matches. The losing team will face total elimination, with only one member granted a revival by their mentor. Therefore, once this round concludes, the forty-eight contestants currently on stage will be whittled down to thirty.”
“Everyone, do your absolute best. We eagerly anticipate the brilliant performances you are about to deliver.”
For the sake of ratings, the production team had long since scheduled Mo Yunyu’s team as the grand finale of the evening.
Consequently, after enduring what felt like a visual fatigue from watching tearful eliminations unfold live on stage, Mo Yunyu finally made his entrance.
“Ahhhhh, the baby is finally up!” “Heaven knows how badly I’ve been waiting for them to share the stage. Oh my god, the day has finally come!” “I’ve rewatched the recorded edits N times. I seriously want to carry the civil affairs bureau straight to them!” “That teacher is practically a deity. Every single frame is so gorgeous it makes my heart race, plus that ambiguous tension has me like sishah sishah.”
Unaware that the live commentary was overflowing with romantic pairing content centering on him, Mo Yunyu adjusted his outfit and earpiece before stepping onto the stage.
This time, their styling leaned into a daring aesthetic: leather jackets, black trousers, and smoky eye makeup. Every single member possessed a statuesque posture with slender waists and long legs, exuding an almost suffocatingly wild, feral charm at first glance.
Yet time waits for no one, least of all bullet comments dropping virtual drool. The stage lights dimmed, and the murmurs and cheers of the audience subsided slightly.
The first drumbeat struck. The lights at the back of the stage flashed on instantly, their brilliant glare making it difficult to discern individual faces, casting striking silhouettes in various poses instead and heightening the palpable suspense.
Several more drumbeats followed in succession. Lights from different positions flickered in rotation, cutting through the haze like the morning star. As the final drumbeat fell, the illumination finally converged upon them, and beneath a canopy of starlight, they began to move.
Right at the very center, Zhou Xingyu delivered the opening vocal line.
In this round, they displayed a level of synchronized synergy that easily surpassed their practice room rehearsals.
As the performance drew to a close, an absolute hush fell over the air. It wasn’t until the stage lighting shifted that thunderous cheers erupted, threatening to blow off the roof of the entire auditorium, refusing to die down for a long time.
“Oh my god, the baby’s waist, those legs… Zhou Xingyu, you lucky bastard (jealousy is turning me inside out).” “I thought it was a cat-type sub and a dog-type dom, but after today’s performance, I’m seriously questioning if I got my dynamics backward!” “Is it normal for a talent show to be this gay?” “Can my baby just stay fiercely independent, please? Can Zhou-whatever stay away?” “I’m an omnivore anyway, I love shipping them, go ahead and choke on it, you toxic solo stans, bleh.”
The audience voting results proved overwhelmingly lopsided, securing a completely effortless victory.
To celebrate the live broadcast’s record-breaking ratings, which had practically monopolized every major trending search topic, the production team hosted another modest banquet.
Zhou Xingyu had originally preferred not to attend; an inexplicable sense of impending foreboding lingered in his chest, especially since his right eyelid had been twitching incessantly for a good while.
However, having deprived himself of sweets for an entire week to maintain his stage physique, Mo Yunyu saw today as the golden opportunity to indulge in endless small cakes.
Observing the bright, sparkling anticipation in the eyes of the person beside him, Zhou Xingyu ultimately suppressed his inner anxiety and accompanied him into the grand hall. As long as I stay glued to his side every second, nothing can possibly go wrong.
Yet plans invariably fall short of reality. Barely had Zhou Xingyu looked away for a split second when Mo Yunyu vanished from his line of sight.
Panic gripped Zhou Xingyu instantly. After scouring the banquet hall in circles and searching for him frantically for a long time, his anxiety eased somewhat upon receiving a text message on his phone from Mo Yunyu stating that he was heading back home.
He just went home, nothing bad should happen.
Meanwhile, watching Shi Jingchi hand his phone back across the table, Mo Yunyu wore a look of mild puzzlement.
Just a short while ago, the other had pulled him upstairs under the pretext that his phone battery had died and he needed to borrow Mo Yunyu’s device.
Given that Mo Yunyu was virtually the only contestant permitted to carry a phone capable of contacting the outside world, he pushed down his lingering doubts and asked, “Then, Teacher Shi, I’ll head back now?”
With a completely composed expression, Shi Jingchi wore a warm and charming smile. “I happened to have an urgent matter, thank you so much for the help. I noticed you seem quite fond of desserts; I happen to have some Verona cakes in my room. Would you like to stop by and try some as a token of my gratitude?”
Though Mo Yunyu privately felt he wasn’t particularly close with the mentors, his shameful sweet tooth betrayed him. Heaven knew how long it had been since he last tasted a Verona cake.
“Then… let me send a quick text to Zhou Xingyu, he’s still waiting for me.” Hesitating for a moment, Mo Yunyu yielded to his appetite, but just as he reached for his phone, Shi Jingchi draped an arm over his shoulder and steered him toward the elevator.
“It will only take a moment, you don’t need to text him.” Shi Jingchi’s actions maintained a polite, restrained boundary; the mere touch of his arm vanished the next second, as if he were simply guiding their direction without crossing any lines.
With no other choice, Mo Yunyu tucked his phone back into his pocket.
The mentors were all housed in independent rooms within this specific building. Given Shi Jingchi’s towering star status, he occupied the very top floor, practically treated like royalty by the production crew. His quarters were situated quite a distance away from the other two mentors, making it an ideal setting for other endeavors altogether.
Right up until he stepped into the room and took his first bite of cake, Mo Yunyu harbored zero sense of crisis. It never crossed his mind that he had walked squarely into a hunter’s trap.
“Care for a drink? Red wine I’ve had stored for ages,” Shi Jingchi asked, already unsealing the cork and pouring the liquid into a decanter.
Mo Yunyu hesitated slightly, but the sheer bliss of consuming sugar slowed his cognitive processes considerably. “I get drunk very easily.”
“This is red wine, it won’t make you drunk easily. Even if you do, you can sleep in the guest room here, there’s a smaller bedroom attached.” Shi Jingchi placed the glass on the table in front of Mo Yunyu.
“Alright then.” Resuming his assault on the cake, Mo Yunyu squinted his eyes in pure contentment.
Subconsciously, Shi Jingchi reached out to stroke those curly locks. It wasn’t until his hand made contact that he realized what he had done, rubbing his nose in mild embarrassment.
Fortunately, Mo Yunyu paid it no mind.
“Actually…” Watching Mo Yunyu finish the last of the cake, Shi Jingchi sat down nearby and finally voiced the thoughts he had harbored for so long. “Actually, I have feelings for you.”
Hearing those words, Mo Yunyu’s eyes widened in sudden, instinctive wariness. “You… like me?”
Faced with Mo Yunyu’s immediate defensive stance, as if he were ready to bolt out the door at any second, Shi Jingchi didn’t understand the sudden spike in guardedness, but he proceeded to lay out his true feelings anyway.
“From the very first moment I saw you, I’ve liked you. Perhaps it was love at first sight? I originally intended to wait until the show wrapped up before confessing, but lately, I’ve noticed you and Zhou Xingyu acting rather excessively close…”
“So, are the two of you together?”
At the mention of Zhou Xingyu’s name, Mo Yunyu’s gaze drifted evasively, a flicker of guilt surfacing.
Naturally, he couldn’t very well admit that he had sugar-daddy-zoned the guy.
“I’m not together with him.”
Shi Jingchi could easily tell when Mo Yunyu was lying. He had already pieced together enough to suspect that the two roommates might have crossed the boundary of mere friendship. Even so, he didn’t care. As long as they weren’t officially together, he still had a chance.
“My feelings for you are genuine,” Shi Jingchi said, looking straight into Mo Yunyu’s eyes. “That is why I hope you will give me the status of a suitor.”
“I only came on this show to mess around, I have no intention of getting tangled up in messy entanglements. You aren’t going to get whatever you’re looking for out of me,” Mo Yunyu replied with absolute sincerity, his tone carrying a heavy warning intended to turn the other away.
Shi Jingchi’s tension eased fractionally. “I know, you don’t need to worry about that. Have you forgotten my family name?”
Shi?
Mo Yunyu’s thoughts instantly drifted to that formidable family, operating in a different sphere from his own yet possessing equally terrifying influence.
“You like me?” Confusion settled over Mo Yunyu completely.
“Yes, I like you. It isn’t some passing whim, I genuinely want to spend forever with you.” Shi Jingchi’s words carried earnest conviction, as though he wished to rip his heart out for Mo Yunyu to inspect.
Blinking sluggishly, Mo Yunyu questioned, “But why? You already have everything you could possibly want.”
“My sister told me that anyone who claims to like me does so with an ulterior motive to extract something from me. So what is it that you want?”
Only then did Shi Jingchi realize the youth seemingly lacked any conceptual understanding of what romantic affection actually meant. Suppressing his surprise, he began breaking down his feelings piece by piece to explain it to Mo Yunyu.
“I do have an objective, but my sole objective is simply to make you return my feelings. Nothing more.”
“What I mean is, I want to become your partner. Do you understand?”
Mo Yunyu still couldn’t quite grasp it, but staring into those eyes brimming with an ocean of profound affection, the words of refusal stalled entirely on his tongue.
Meanwhile, his heart kicked up an erratic, frantic tempo inside his ribcage, thumping wildly as if trying to break free.
Feeling flustered, Mo Yunyu picked up the glass of wine in front of him and downed a gulp to mask the emotions he didn’t know how to handle.
Yet he severely overestimated his capacity for alcohol. A single sip proved more than enough to knock him out cold.
Barely five minutes passed in silence before Mo Yunyu slumped forward onto the table, completely intoxicated.
Taking in the flushed, rosy complexion of the youth whose lips had clearly absorbed the alcohol’s warmth, Shi Jingchi smiled.
His assumption hadn’t been wrong after all. Mo Yunyu went down the moment he touched alcohol. Naturally, this constituted the most critical component of his entire plan.
Approaching Mo Yunyu slowly, Shi Jingchi murmured, “You’re drunk. Let me help you to the bed.”
“I’m not drunk.” Although Mo Yunyu’s consciousness felt somewhat intact, his limbs had turned completely limp and useless, refusing to obey commands as though severed from his nervous system entirely.
Shi Jingchi chuckled softly. When Mo Yunyu lifted his head slightly, that dazzling, heart-stopping smile caught him unawares, prompting an answering grin.
How could someone possibly look this breathtaking…
The bedsheets spread out as white as snow, and Mo Yunyu sank slightly into the mattress as he was laid down.
Within moments, the alcohol muddled his awareness completely. Lying sprawled across the pristine linens with a hazy, intoxicated expression in his eyes, he captured Shi Jingchi’s entire soul with a single glance.
Shi Jingchi knew this action crossed ethical lines, but he had prepared thoroughly. His self-control dissolved into soap bubbles in Mo Yunyu’s presence, rendering it utterly meaningless.
Lowering his head, he summoned every ounce of willpower to keep his voice from trembling. “So will you allow me to pursue you?”
Mo Yunyu processed none of it. Recognizing only a face that aligned perfectly with his aesthetic preferences hovering right in front of him, he reached out instinctively and hauled the other down to his eye level.
Shi Jingchi’s original blueprint involved getting the youth intoxicated and sweet-talking him into granting permission as a suitor, and he had even left his phone audio recorder running since the moment Yunyu stepped through the door.
He had zero intention of letting his hard-won catch slip away.
Yet the unfolding reality vastly exceeded his projections, because right now, he found himself actively kissing those soft, rosy lips he had yearned for endlessly.
Burning heat scorched Shi Jingchi’s cheeks and earlobes. He tried to pull back, only for Mo Yunyu to press closer and deepen the angle.
No one on earth could maintain restraint under such circumstances, least of all when the object of their desire was right in their arms. With that thought, Shi Jingchi abandoned all hesitation, deepening the kiss ruthlessly to devour every trace of sweetness.
Sweet, rich, carrying the mellow fragrance of red wine, the sensation grew intoxicatingly addictive.
Deprived of oxygen by the ferocious intensity of the kiss, Mo Yunyu struggled and shoved against his chest, but the other remained immovable as a mountain. Overwhelmed by the acute discomfort, soft, helpless whimpers escaped his nose, trembling with obvious pleas for mercy.
Instead of eliciting pity, the sounds drove Shi Jingchi to devour him more fiercely, turning the kiss harsher as though attempting to swallow Mo Yunyu’s tongue whole.
It wasn’t until Mo Yunyu thrashed violently that Shi Jingchi finally relinquished those agonizingly sweet lips.
Already fuzzy-headed to begin with, Mo Yunyu grew utterly disoriented from the onslaught. His entire face flushed pink, his lips swollen to an eye-catching crimson and parting pathetically. Worse still, his tear-filmed eyes glimmered with moisture, the corners red from the thorough violation of the kiss.
With tender affection, Shi Jingchi brushed away the damp strands clinging to the youth’s forehead. Emotional turbulence raged within his chest, though he retained enough sense to know he couldn’t push his advantage any further tonight.
Rising to his feet, he took care to strip away the restrictive garments, gently wiped down the youth’s limbs, and coaxed the sleepy occupant into slumber.
Gazing down at the exceptionally docile expression resting upon that face in dreamland, Shi Jingchi pressed a feather-light kiss to Mo Yunyu’s forehead.
Goodnight. Sweet dreams.