Chapter 24: “Falling for Each Other on Set”

Chapter 24: "Falling for Each Other On Set"

Su Zhiyu was confused: "What?"

Qin Yan averted his gaze, acting like nothing was wrong as he sat down: "I just used your phone to make a group chat, and now they've got the wrong idea. I can explain it later..."

"No need."

"Huh?"

Su Zhiyu lowered his eyes: "No need, let them misunderstand. Explaining would mean explaining our relationship, and that's too much of a hassle."

He didn't want anyone to know about his connection to Qin Yan—not one bit.

Qin Yan didn't pry into his thoughts and instead teased: "Our relationship? What kind of relationship is that?"

That question really had Su Zhiyu stumped.

Friends?

Not really.

Old acquaintances?

That sounded weird too.

Sponsor and lover?

But between them, things were completely above board.

Teammates? Colleagues?

Not to the point where you could just grab each other's phone.

Landlord and tenant?

But he was only staying at the other's place because he had to—no rent, no contract, and not even there by choice.

He searched through every possibility but couldn't find a single accurate word to describe their relationship.

Su Zhiyu went quiet.

"Cohabiting partners." Qin Yan teased, dropping a few words that made Su Zhiyu's expression completely change.

"We're not..."

"We're cohabiting partners." Qin Yan spread his arms across the chair back, grinning at Su Zhiyu, "The bed you sleep in is mine, and it's not like we haven't shared a bed before."

"You..."

Su Zhiyu was at a loss for words, unable to find anything to say back. Qin Yan then changed the subject: "Okay, I'm just messing with you. We're roommates, and friends works too."

Friends?

Knock, knock, knock.

A knock at the door interrupted Su Zhiyu's thoughts. He almost reflexively wanted to hide Qin Yan, but Qin Yan went straight to the door without any hesitation.

It was Liu Mian. Seeing Qin Yan in Su Zhiyu's room, he was briefly stunned before quickly recovering and smiling: "You're here to see the captain too? Since you're here, it's about time. Let's head down together."

"Sure."

Su Zhiyu also walked out smiling and exchanged greetings with Liu Mian.

Jiang Yizhou had gone to knock on the next door and, hearing Qin Yan was here, hurried over: "Brother Qin, why are you in the captain's room?"

At that, Su Zhiyu's hand paused subtly as he locked the door, a flicker of unease passing through his eyes, but he said nothing.

Qin Yan stepped forward: "I came to ask the captain some performance questions. I'm new, so I don't know much."

Jiang Yizhou didn't think much of it and quickly caught up, speaking enthusiastically: "Brother Qin, you could ask me! I've studied some acting. We're partners, so we can bounce off each other better."

"That works too."

"By the way, Brother Qin, want to rehearse together this afternoon? I think we're both doing pretty well."

Jiang Yizhou seemed much warmer toward Qin Yan than toward others, and he was talking a lot more. The two chatted as they walked, pulling ahead of the two behind them.

Su Zhiyu followed silently behind.

Liu Mian hadn't missed the subtle reaction when Su Zhiyu locked the door. He quietly glanced at the person beside him, then at Qin Yan's back ahead, and gave a subtle smile.

The four practiced until 8 PM, grabbed a quick bite for dinner, and continued practicing.

At some point, Yang Yichen came by. Qin Yan was resting, Jiang Yizhou had stepped out to make a call, and Su Zhiyu and Liu Mian were practicing their choreography. Both had strong dance skills—even without costumes, they were mesmerizing.

Yang Yichen was also stunned, nudging Qin Yan quietly: "Brother Yan, that guy in your group, what's his name?"

"Who? Liu Mian?"

"His name is Liu Mian? I think I've heard that name. Didn't he score pretty high in the preliminaries?"

Qin Yan shrugged: "Don't know, haven't paid attention."

Yang Yichen's gaze followed the graceful figure, smiling: "Hey, your group has three Omegas and only you as an Alpha. Feeling the pressure?"

Qin Yan leaned against the wall, smirking: "Not really, no pressure."

"That confident?"

"Of course. Our group's full of strong players. By the way, how's your group doing?"

Yang Yichen had chosen the singing-acting group, which had an advantage in terms of format.

"Our group is strong too."

"Brother Yan, didn't you come here for Su Zhiyu? Why aren't you two paired up? Look at them—he and Liu Mian work so well together. Watching from the sidelines, aren't you jealous?"

Qin Yan looked at Yang Yichen like he was an idiot.

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

Qin Yan was speechless: "They're both Omegas. What the hell would I be jealous about?"

"Haha." Yang Yichen laughed, "What's wrong with OO love? Are you discriminating against it? The way I see it, they're quite compatible. Plenty of people in the industry fall in love on set."

That counts as one kind too.

As the two chatted, Su Zhiyu and Liu Mian both finished practicing. The music in the practice room stopped, and the phrase "falling in love on set" reached everyone's ears, not too loud, not too soft.

The music faded to just a few lingering notes, and the four of them all just stared blankly at each other.

Su Zhiyu stood there, his mind suddenly flashing back to the afternoon when Jiang Yizhou had been all over Qin Yan. They were in the performance group, playing a pair of lovers dripping with sexual tension, which definitely fit the whole "falling for your co-star" scenario.

One was an Alpha, the other an Omega—they were a good match.

If they got together—if Qin Yan found someone new—would he finally let him go?

"Captain Su, you don't mind if I crash here for a bit, do you?" Yang Yichen greeted him.

Su Zhiyu gave a faint smile. "Not at all."

With that, he turned and plopped down on a small stool in the corner, twisting open his water bottle and taking a drink.

Liu Mian, on the other hand, politely sat down near the other two, and Yang Yichen was the first to strike up a conversation: "Hi, I'm Yang Yichen."

Liu Mian: "Hi, I'm Liu Mian. I know you."

Yang Yichen was a bit surprised. "You know me?"

"Yeah, I've seen your work. During the New Year last year, it was playing at home, and I watched it with my mom."

His specificity made Yang Yichen feel a bit embarrassed. It was an idol drama—his debut—and he didn't think he'd done much acting in it.

Qin Yan couldn't care less about their conversation; his gaze drifted over to Su Zhiyu, who was sitting alone, zoned out.

For someone so young, he always carried this heavy, unshakeable melancholy around with him.

He'd barely said a word during rehearsal either.

What was up with him?

They didn't get back to their place until around 11 p.m., and even then, they barely said a word to each other before each heading to their own room.

Su Zhiyu lay in bed, unable to fall asleep no matter what. In the darkness, his phone lit up, slicing through the dark and lighting up his cold, sharp features.

He grabbed his phone and unlocked it—a message from Qin Yan.

His heart gave an inexplicable little lurch again. He hesitated, then opened it, deciding that if it wasn't important, he'd pretend he hadn't seen it and deal with it tomorrow.

"Qin Yan": Come eat with me after tomorrow's livestream. I'm hungry.

"?"

That's random.

Su Zhiyu didn't reply. He just turned off his phone and lay back down.

Meanwhile, Qin Yan hesitated over and over, a message asking if he was in a bad mood today still sitting there, unsent.

Forget it.

Not his place. Don't ask what you shouldn't ask.

Might as well just go to sleep.

...

Somewhere overseas.

"Mr. Qin, the young master and Su Zhiyu have a livestream tomorrow, starting at 8 p.m. on the XX platform."