Chapter 25: So He Can Be This Attentive in Taking Care of Someone?

Chapter 25: So, He Could Be This Attentive to Others Too?

Qin Mo sat in his office, the gold-rimmed glasses glinting coldly, his slender fingers lightly tapping on the desk as he spoke in a low voice: "Prepare."

"Yes."

The assistant silently marveled—Mr. Qin really spoiled the young master. Even in a foreign land, even with how busy he was, he still made time to watch the young master's livestream.

*

At eight in the evening, the livestream began right on schedule.

There were five groups performing in total, and aside from the performances, the production team had estimated the livestream would run about an hour and a half.

A massive screen played in front of Qin Mo, syncing the scene from the other side directly to him in real time.

The assistant was about to step forward and turn off the bullet comments, but Qin Mo raised a hand: "No need."

"Yes, Mr. Qin."

"You may leave."

"Yes."

In the quiet space, he watched the camera sweep across each contestant's face. When it reached Su Zhiyu, the comments instantly exploded.

The young man wore a white suit with blue feathers on his chest, and a few sparkling earrings on his ears. He simply stood there, doing nothing, yet the light seemed to fight to land on him.

Qin Yan stood beside him. While the host was speaking on stage, he subtly tilted his head and asked in a low voice: "Nervous?"

Su Zhiyu kept his eyes fixed on the stage, flatly tossing out one word: "No."

"Alright, I'm a bit nervous."

"?"

"This is my first time on such a big livestream stage. What if I forget the moves later?"

If Su Zhiyu had turned to look at Qin Yan, he'd have seen that there was not a trace of nervousness on his face—he actually looked like the most relaxed of the four, even in the mood to joke around.

Unfortunately, he didn't turn around, didn't catch the amusement in the other's eyes, only caught the fake worry in his voice.

After a pause, Su Zhiyu's voice drifted softly to Qin Yan's ears: "It's fine."

That was already his way of comforting someone.

Kind of, right?

How cute was this Omega lead? Qin Yan couldn't help but smile again. Just then, the host finished speaking, and the camera cut back, catching Qin Yan's lingering smile.

Qin Yan snapped to attention.

—"Ahhh our Yan Bao is way too handsome when he smiles! Was he just whispering to Su Zhiyu?"

—"He looks like a student who got caught slacking off by the teacher. Come on, confess—what were you just doing?"

—"I'm just saying, some people need to chill. A nobody keeps leeching off his fame nonstop. What did our Yu Bao ever do to deserve being stuck with a clingy leech?"

—"I feel so bad for our Yu Yu. Baby Yu Yu doesn't even want to look at that nobody with the last name Qin—stay away!"

—"Really curious about their practice room footage. Don't make me cuss you out, production team—hurry up and edit, give us all their practice footage!"

—"Quietly shipping them, too scared to say anything..."

—"So excited for our Yu Bao's stage! I came here specifically for Yu Bao. Baby, my wife, I love you ahhh!"

—"Yan hubby, get it together! Show that Alpha energy—this group is counting on you!"

—"A whole group of Omegas, and the only Alpha is Qin Yan, who's also a nobody. I seriously suspect he didn't pick this group for pure reasons. After that harassment incident, Qin and Su got weirdly linked. Su Zhiyu's just unlucky! My heart hurts..."

The comments were flying by, and Qin Mo caught plenty of them. He also caught the smile Qin Yan hadn't managed to hide in time.

Was A Yan really smiling at Su Zhiyu just then?

Since when did he treat Su Zhiyu so well? Or was he just putting on a show for the camera? And if so, why did he stop smiling the second the camera moved?

Qin Mo tapped his fingers on the chair, his gaze dark and unreadable as he continued watching the livestream.

The four of them went on stage. Qin Yan wasn't partnered with Su Zhiyu, but Qin Mo's gaze was still drawn to the two of them against his will, his eyes flicking back and forth between them.

Something felt... off.

After this group's performance, Qin Mo couldn't be bothered to watch the rest.

The assistant came in and bowed respectfully: "Mr. Qin, what do you need?"

Qin Mo yanked at his collar in irritation, shrugged off his jacket and tossed it aside: "Keep an eye on what place A Yan gets. Book a flight home for tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Mr. Qin."

"Tell everyone—meeting in fifteen minutes."

"Yes."

#

"Second place? Hahaha, awesome, awesome! I knew we could do it!" Jiang Yizhou jumped for joy, spun around in excitement, and lunged at Qin Yan and wrapped his arms around him. "Brother Qin, all our hard work paid off!"

Some were happy, some were upset.

Some groups were celebrating their safety, others were mourning their elimination. Out of the four who should've been celebrating, only Jiang Yizhou was bouncing with excitement.

Su Zhiyu was cold by nature, always aloof. He wasn't particularly thrilled with the result, but his gaze flickered when he saw Jiang Yizhou pounce on Qin Yan.

Qin Yan looked at Su Zhiyu the moment it happened. Their eyes met briefly, but Su Zhiyu immediately looked away, showing no reaction as he turned his gaze elsewhere.

Qin Yan froze.

Damn.

He immediately smiled and pried Jiang Yizhou off himself, slipping back into that carefree demeanor: "Look who we are. Don't get too cocky—sit down and rest for a bit."

With that, Qin Yan sat down first.

Jiang Yizhou's face was flushed with excitement, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Qin Yan. He obediently hummed in acknowledgment and sat down beside him.

Qin Yan and Su Zhiyu were seated next to each other.

Those words sounded to Su Zhiyu like Qin Yan warmly telling Jiang Yizhou to take care of himself.

So, he could be this attentive to others too?

Su Zhiyu's mind drifted for a moment.

Liu Mian quickly glanced at the three of them, then sat down as well, playfully bumping Su Zhiyu and laughing, "Captain, all thanks to your guidance. Without you, our team wouldn't have achieved this result."

Su Zhiyu gave him a shy smile in return. "It was a team effort."

"Still, you led us great. No one from our group has to be eliminated, and we can partner up again next time."

The two of them kept chatting away, and Qin Yan couldn't even get a word in edgewise. Every time he tried to speak, Su Zhiyu just blew him off.

"..."

Ahem. Fine, whatever.

In the first episode, the last-place team had three members eliminated, and the second-to-last team, which only had three people, had one eliminated.

After the first episode, only fifteen contestants were left.

After the recording ended, the production team suggested everyone go out for a meal together. Since the director was the one suggesting it, nobody dared to say no.

Qin Yan didn't really want to go, but Su Zhiyu was going, so...

Fine. He'd go too, then.

The group arrived at the restaurant in the vans the production team had arranged. The place was fully booked out for them, so it was just their crew—no need to be on guard.

The eliminated contestants came too.

The mood, which had been a little down at first, quickly lifted as glasses clinked and toasts flowed, and soon everyone was drinking until their cheeks were flushed red.

As one of the more popular people on the show, Su Zhiyu had many people coming up to toast him. He ended up having to down several drinks, and a flush spread across his fair skin, even his neck turning pink.

He sat in his seat, blinking, his pretty peach-blossom eyes glistening, all watery and bright. One look was enough to get anyone's heart racing.

Someone handed him another glass: "Zhi Yu, I really like you. Let me toast you."

Su Zhiyu looked up dazedly and raised his own glass. "Alright."

He was about to tilt his head back and drink when a hand snatched the glass away. The newcomer downed the drink in one go.

"Our captain's not much of a drinker. I'll take this one for him."

Su Zhiyu: ! That was his glass!

How could Qin Yan drink straight from his cup?

The other person was briefly taken aback, then smiled. "I was just about to come find you for a drink. Since Brother Qin drank for your captain, you'll have to down three cups yourself."

Qin Yan curled his lips and extended his glass. "Pour."

"Wait."