Chapter 1 - Chapter 1: Born to Be Rebellious

Hangovers are the most tormenting experience in the world.

If imbibing alcohol didn't result in such annoying side effects within just a few hours, he would definitely enjoy drinking more; at least, this is what Xia Xiqing tells himself as he wakes up on the carpet with a headache. He leans against the sofa and barely manages to pull himself up. His headache is very intense, so he finds a tablet of Ibuprofen in a drawer of the coffee table, swallows it, then pulls out his phone to look at the time.

13:24

Numbed by the alcohol, his memory finally begins to slowly return to him, and he suddenly remembers: there's a press conference scheduled for the release of Zhou Ziheng's movie tonight at six. He's even managed to get a VIP pass for it, so of course he's got to go.

Zhou Ziheng began as a child star. Even though he's currently only twenty years old, he's been active in the entertainment industry for fourteen years, having first appeared on screen at the age of six. The television series he filmed that year just so happened get top ratings, thus allowing him to become the most popular child star of his age. Just for that, though he'd performed in many other films and television series, he's remained stuck with the label of "child star."

Later on, in order to prepare for the National College Entrance Examinations, he stopped filming for a few years, disappearing from public's notice. He didn't even take the special version of NCEEs for students of the fine arts, and instead took the regular ones like any other normal high school senior. Then, with astonishingly high scores, he was admitted to the physics department of Peking University, one of the best universities in the country. For the entire duration of his mandatory military training, he remained a trending topic in Weibo.

But he seemed to want to remain low profile because, after he started university, he started filming less and less as well. Everyone thought he wanted to quit acting altogether to focus on his studies, but then a series of candid photographs of him at school managed to push him back on the trending list.

In these photos, he's in the middle of a basketball match, participating in a tournament of some kind. The smooth yet solid lines of muscle flowing under his red jersey, the sharp contours of his eyes revealed by his short hair, the droplets of sweat rolling down to his jawline, and his faintly frowning eyebrows as he lines up the shot… Removed from the flash professional photography, these details are rendered clearly by the candid shots, leaving an impression of perfect aggression.

With such a strange coincidence, this former child star was thus given a new moniker of "Walking Hormones," accidentally changing his public persona to that of the ever-popular "alpha male" stereotype. That Zhou Ziheng gained a whole slew of schoolgirls as his fanbase goes unsaid, but there were even women a few years older than him who ended falling into this hormone trap.

After coming of age, he almost stopped taking roles in television altogether, and not once did he ever take on a romance film. Unlike other young actors, the style of films he appears in are fairly consistent—all are realistic, and all are focused on minority groups. Even with this most recent one, though there'll finally be a female lead, she'll be the older sister to Zhou Ziheng's role as a younger brother. As such, the internet tends to complain that he is the male actor whose looks have been the most squandered. Even so, his fans and other netizens can always dig up content to squeal over from the variety shows he sometimes appears on.

Xia Xiqing only became his fan after the persona shift. He was studying abroad at the time, and, when he incidentally saw those infamous basketball photos, he'd thought that Zhou Ziheng's bodily proportions and muscle structures were all very perfect and was thus struck by the desire to draw him. As such, he did a quick watercolor and posted it to Weibo. Little did he know that the art would be discovered by Zhou Ziheng's fans and fanatically shared within the fandom, eventually going viral.

As a matter of course, he also rose to the position of "Big Name Fanartist" within the fan community.

Facing the mirror, Xia Xiqing realizes that his hair really has gotten a bit too long. He was overdue for a haircut. Rummaging, he finds a rubber band around a bunch of paintbrushes. With a clatter, he sets the brushes down on his desk and casually ties up his hair. Then, he finds a collared white shirt from his closet, puts it on, puts on a black mask, and steps out the door.

When he arrives at the conference location, the movie cast has yet to arrive. He posts a photo of it on Weibo and quickly gets some responses from fans.

@MisterHeng: aaah, is summer-taitai[1] also there?!!!

@No1AlphaInTheUniverse: Woah, it's summer-taitai! Wasn't summer-taitai overseas? Aaah I'm so excited!

@IAmMrsZhou: omg I want to meet Summer-taitai in person so bad~

@NoPassingByHeng: Oh I'm also here! Summer-taitai is so close to the stage, are you VIP??

@CoolestHeng: OMG VIP?! Even the owner of the ForeverHeng fansite isn't so close.

To prevent any more speculation, Xia Xiqing picks a random comment and answers it.

@Tsing_Summer: A friend gave me the ticket.

And speak of the devil, he gets a text from the friend who gave him the ticket—Xu Qichen.

> Xiqing, I've already told the event manager but I've got something going on tonight and I can't make it, sorry.

> It's alright, I'm already here.

He sends off the message, then spins his cellphone around in his hand.

Xu Qichen is a young writer; the movie that Zhou Ziheng has most recently starred in is based on his novel. It's actually quite serendipitous, for Xia Xiqing and Xu Qichen had met back in high school and have stayed good friends ever since. The VIP ticket had come from him, but the author himself is now unable to attend.

Feeling bored after half an hour of waiting, Xia Xiqing walks out of the conference hall, through a long corridor, then into a smaller room. Looking at the Goya painting on the wall, he judges the hotel to have decent taste, for the counterfeit is of pretty good quality.

As he admires the painting, he is suddenly plowed into from behind. He almost falls, and his phone does fall from his grasp. Turning around, Xia Xiqing sees a few bodyguards in black uniforms, in the midst of which there's an even taller man in sunglasses. Almost immediately, Xia Xiqing recognizes that this is Zhou Ziheng.

Similarly, Zhou Ziheng also immediately notices the rude actions of his bodyguards. His originally hurried strides stop. Then, he dexterously picks up the phone from the floor and hands it back to its owner through the crowd in a series of fluid movements.

"Sorry." Zhou Ziheng's voice is calm in a way that doesn't seem to fit a twenty-year-old kid like him. It has a strange sort of charisma that straddles the line between youth and masculine maturity. The many fans surrounding them began to squeal, raising their phones to capture the moment. Such a heartwarming scene, if posted to Weibo, would surely be widely shared around, maybe even outside the fandom.

The sudden encounter surprises Xia Xiqing a little, for this is his first time being so close to Zhou Ziheng. But he remains calm, effortlessly forming his features into a warm and polite smile. "No worries. Thank you."

When Xia Xiqing reaches out and receives his phone from Zhou Ziheng's hand, the cold tip of his finger brushes against Zhou Ziheng's in a seemingly unintentional manner.

About half a second.

Zhou Ziheng's facial expression undergoes very little change—no reaction. Xia Xiqing sees this very clearly, but he continues to smile all the way until Zhou Ziheng leaves. Then, he also heads back to the conference hall.

Sure enough, he's utterly and completely straight.

When he next enters the conference hall, Zhou Ziheng's fans are giving out promotional merchandise. A girl in her late teens waves him down. "Hello! Whose fan are you? Do you want support swag?"

As he's wearing a mask, Xia Xiqing smiles with his eyes, curving them into crescents. In a gentle voice, he says, "Sure."

The girl excitedly opens her bag, revealing headbands, badges, bracelets, and glow sticks. "Which one?"

Xia Xiqing chooses a badge and gently thanks her. Then, he pins the badge at his breast and returns to his seat.

The press conference begins mostly on time. After the moderator welcomes the audience and introduces the event, the producers and the cast walk onstage one by one. The movie is based on Xu Qichen's novel, Seagull. The book is about a young man named Gull, who was introduced to a job by an acquaintance and, through that, sold to Thailand. The story details how he became a wageless provider of slave labor on an unlicensed shrimp boat and, later, how he escaped that terrible life.

Zhou Ziheng plays Gull in the movie, and, in order to make himself more physically compatible with the role, he lost over twenty pounds in pursuit of that malnourished, skin-and-bones type of aesthetic. The first time he entered full costume, he wore a ragged tank top and a pair of shorts that was so dirty you couldn't tell its original color. With his face leathery and mottled from past sunburns, his shoulders and back dark and red, he was almost unrecognizable. Even the director couldn't stop nodding, praising that he was Gull come to life.

Half a year has gone by since the film's completion, and Zhou Ziheng's skin tone has lightened quite a bit since then. His physique, too, thanks to an insane fitness routine, has returned to the well-muscled state it'd been in before shooting. Xia Xiqing can't help but sigh in awe; being an actor really isn't something just anyone could do—they have to be balloons, gaining and losing weight as the job requires.

The buzz cut that Zhou Ziheng had gotten for the movie has also grown out, but it's still pretty short, making his features seem keen yet profound. Unlike many celebrities his age with pretty faces and mild attitudes, Zhou Ziheng gives off a masculine, testosterone-filled vibe, and the irrepressible sharpness of his bone structure has a natural sort of aggression to it.

Since the shift in Zhou Ziheng's public persona, Xia Xiqing has praised his costuming team more than once to his friends, and he's not disappointed this time either: Zhou Ziheng is wearing a grayish blue shirt tucked into dark gray dress pants to the conference. The outfit wraps neatly around his solid muscles, and he cuts an excellent silhouette with his wide shoulders and thin waist, his torso making an almost perfect golden ratio. Standing at six feet and four inches, his stature is both steady and distinguished.

Although his overall style today is sophisticated and simple, he's worn a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. A fine chain of gold runs behind his ear, glimmering under the light and adding a sense of self-restraint to his natural sharpness.

A carefully made-up woman wearing luxury brands walk up to Xia Xiqing. As she sits down, her hand brushes him—seemingly an accident, but it might not be.

"Sorry."

Xia Xiqing looks at her and nods slightly to show friendliness.

Taking this opportunity, she smiles and extends her hand. "Hello, I'm Jiang Yin, the producer of this movie."

After a glance at the delicately manicured hand, Xia Xiqing politely removes his mask and shakes it. "Hello. Nice to meet you."

The moment he removed the mask, Jiang Yin's gaze brightened. After working in the entertainment industry for so long, she's seen many attractive people, but what she sees now is quite rare. The young man in front of her can almost be described as pretty, with slightly feminine features but a very masculine charisma. His hair is slightly longer than typical, enough for half of it to be tied up, revealing charming eyes with dark irises and a subtly upturned eye shape.

And he has a tiny mole at the tip of his nose—an easy face to remember.

To put it more bluntly, the man has a face that people would forgive no matter what he's done; with absolutely no aggression, it would fully draw out the protective nature of any onlooker. This type of face is the easiest to make popular to an audience. Seeing this face, Jiang Yin cannot help but enter into work mode.

"I don't recognize you; I must not have met you before now." Letting go of his hand, she smiles and asks, "You are not in the industry, are you?"

Xia Xiqing also smiles slightly, saying, "The original author of Seagull is a friend of mine. It's all thanks to him that I can see my idol up close."

"Oh?" Jiang Yin grins and casts a look at the actress of the female lead, who is currently speaking on stage. "She's the type of girl you like, then?"

Xia Xiqing chuckles and shakes his head, looking lazily to Zhou Ziheng standing next to the actress.

"He's the type of boy I like."

Jiang Yin shows no sign of embarrassment. Instead, she makes a face of realization and smiles calmly. "My intuition has always been quite bad."

Just then, the female lead on stage finishes speaking and passes the microphone to Zhou Ziheng.

The moderator asks him a few questions about the movie. "We've just seen the scenes from the early-release trailer, and, Ziheng, you've had such a breakthrough for this film! I didn't even recognize you there at the beginning. I bet we're all pretty curious: do you have any particularly memorable experiences or sentiments?"

Zhou Ziheng grips the mic, thinking for a moment before saying, "In terms of sentiments, I feel it'll probably be half a year before I want to eat any seafood again."

Offstage, his fans all laugh. The dry manner in which he delivers this type of dark comedy is very fitting.

"As for memorable experiences… Actually, the entire experience has been pretty memorable for me. Honestly, it was my first time attempting this topic, and Director Wang is a bit of a perfectionist, so eighty percent of the scenes were done on the actual boat without any green screens. I was pretty seriously seasick at first, and it took me a while to get my act together. The entire crew was always very tired, so I was a little moody too. Every time I thought about how there are actual people who, like Gull, have been deprived of human rights and made into slaves, I felt very…" Zhou Ziheng contemplates his wording before continuing, "devastated. Yeah, that's probably the feeling that encouraged me to push through and finish filming. I think the crew and all my fellow actors must feel similarly."

Xia Xiqing watches him with his head tilted and listens very carefully. To be honest, he's always thought that Zhou Ziheng was a very bad fit for the entertainment industry. He's the product of an antiseptic environment, with a heart that wants to be the savior in any and all dangerous and complicated situations he encounters in the outside world.

In other words, he's a delusional idealist.

Having finally gotten so close to Zhou Ziheng, Xia Xiqing finally understands why fangirls are so eager to see their idols live. These pretty celebrities look even more attractive in person.

He studies Zhou Ziheng onstage, contemplating how he looks so perfect from every angle. He would be such an excellent replacement for all those texture-less plaster sculptures he uses for sketching references. As a side effect of his profession, he subconsciously scans and analyzes every inch of Zhou Ziheng's bodily flesh as if he weren't wearing any clothes. Of all the bodies that Xia Xiqing has seen, Zhou Ziheng's is the finest.

Xia Xiqing sighs internally, thinking about how much he wants to make a statue of Zhou Ziheng.

"Now it's time for us to open the floor to questions from the audience," the moderator says, passing the mic to Zhou Ziheng. "Ziheng, you can go first."

The fans all begin to shriek as if their lives depended on it, and the atmosphere becomes quite excitable. Gazing into the audience, Zhou Ziheng squints a little, and Xia Xiqing finds the face he makes extremely adorable.

One onstage and one offstage, two pairs of eyes meet. Xia Xiqing lifts the corners of his mouth just a little bit, making sure that his slight smile reaches his eyes, habitually trying to make his gaze seem especially meaningful.

"You."

He's pointing in Xia Xiqing's direction.

"The girl in the floral print dress," Zhou Ziheng quickly adds.

It's the girl behind him. Xia Xiqing laughs to himself. Boring straight man.

Whatever meaning he managed to squeeze into his gaze has been utterly blocked by a wall of straightness, but Xia Xiqing isn't discouraged by this small setback. Instead, a fire ignites in his gut. Perhaps it's the same logic as hunting for deer; the more evasive the prey becomes, the better the gun feels in the hunter's hand.

Paying little attention to their exchange of question and answer, he sets all his attention on examining the contour of Zhou Ziheng's muscles, as if he were in a museum of art, admiring a flawlessly sculpted masterpiece, full of yearning, full of imagination.

The conference lasts two hours. Afterwards, Xia Xiqing goes looking for the restroom. The press conference has been held at a high-end hotel, so the floorplan is very convoluted. After several wrong turns, he encounters a hotel employee, so he gives a polite smile and says, "Excuse me, do you know where I can find the restroom?"

The employee is a young woman, and, faced with Xia Xiqing, she seems a little flustered. "Turn right, oh sorry, umm, turn left and at the end of the hallway there is a VIP restroom …"

"Thank you." Xia Xiqing smiles, sticks his hands in his pocket, then begins walking in the direction she pointed to.

His phone rings the instant he walks into the restroom. Seeing the caller ID, Xia Xiqing's good mood completely vanishes.

He's been calling all night—doesn't he finds it exhausting?

"If I remember correctly, we never started at all, no?" Xia Xiqing clamps the phone to his ear with his shoulder and washes his hands. "I didn't think that I had any problems." There's a brief pause. "Really? You want a relationship?"

He chuckles, shakes his hands free of loose drops of water, then takes out a couple pieces of paper towel from the box beside him and begins to carefully wipe his fingers dry. "I remember when we first met, I said that I didn't do relationships. It's only that you've got a face palatable enough that we can go out for drinks whenever I'm bored enough for that kind of thing. I mean, in those places, who doesn't want that? It's just that they refuse to say it out loud, and I'm upfront about it. But then I heard you talk a bit, and I realized that you're…"

His last syllable stretches out as if he's hesitant about the end of the sentence.

He hesitates too long, and his tone cools completely down. Slowly, syllable by syllable, he says, "Utterly useless."

The caller continues to speak—ceaselessly so, and Xia Xiqing tires of it. "You're serious? Come on. I am most afraid of hearing that from people. It's all bullshit. Who do you think you are? The female lead of some tragic romance drama?"

Unbelievable. After blatantly flirting with another guy at the bar yesterday, being so shameless that the two of them almost got down to business right there and then… And the most humiliating part was that people thought at first that Xia Xiqing was being cheated on. And now you're trying to confess your feelings?

"We are all adults. If we deal with this in a civilized manner, maybe next time we see each other we can still have a friendly drink together. With the time you've wasted on me so far, I'm sure you could've found someone else. Besides, didn't you have fun with that other guy yesterday? Wow, are you really so indiscriminate?" He shakes his hand. The volume of the call suddenly increases, the caller yelling loudly enough that it begins to hurts his eardrums. He frowns, then grabs his phone out from between his ear and shoulder.

The tone of his voice changes completely.

"I'm warning you. Stay away."

He balls up the paper towel and throws it into the garbage bin. "If you keep blathering on, I'll immediately go find someone to get rid of that thing you've got between your legs. Either way you'll be the one lying down getting fucked, so it's not like you'll need it."

The voice on the other end of the line becomes silent.

Xia Xiqing laughs. Then, looking at his reflection in the mirror, he adjusts his expression and smiles softly.

"Relax, I'm joking. How could I bear it?" His voice has become soft and warm, and he leans against the wall of the restroom like he's comforting his most intimate lover. "So, how about you behave and disappear from my sight, alright?"

He hangs up the phone and turns towards the stalls. Only, just then, a man walks out.

Grayish blue shirt. Tall. It's the shining star who was onstage just a few minutes ago—Zhou Ziheng.

Fuck. Well, that backfired.

His actions unflustered by the reveal of his true colors, Xia Xiqing gracefully directs a soft smile at Zhou Ziheng.

"Hey, what are the chances?"

Zhou Ziheng frowns faintly at Xia Xiqing, unable to hide the disgust in his expression. No, not unable to—hiding emotions is what actors do best.

He's simply too lazy to hide it.

Zhou Ziheng's gaze drifts down, seeing the silver badge pinned at Xia Xiqing's breast, the one representing his own fans. Xia Xiqing notices the look and also glances down, then raises his hand to touch the badge. He smiles and says, "Mmhmm, that's right; I'm your fan."

Impassively, Zhou Ziheng walks around him and stops at the sinks, turning on a faucet.

Xia Xiqing shrugs, walks into a stall, and hooks the door closed with his foot.

He's antagonized his idol. What a misstep.

Normally, he would never give the game away on a first meeting. He typical façade of friendly warmth is as easy as breathing for him. After all, his angelic persona comes so naturally to him only because everyone else is so eager to give their trust away to someone who looks as kind as he does. This seriously is some terrible luck. Disgusted, Xia Xiqing moves that clingy bastard from earlier into his blacklist.

Forget it. It's not as if he was ever a true fan; to him, Zhou Ziheng is more of a sexual fantasy.

Hmmm, does being disliked by one's idol count as a type of special regard? Xia Xiqing thinks with self-deprecation. He closes the door with a bang and walks to the enormous mirror to look at himself. The kind and gentle person reflected there is nothing like his real self. He exits the restroom, then leaves the venue.

But then, the next day, after having stayed at the bar till 3:30 AM, Xia Xiqing gets a call from Xu Qichen.

"Xiqing, you're trending."

The music at the bar is so loud that Xia Xiqing has a hard time hearing him. He walks outside, frowning, then dizzily squats down at the side of the road, having drunk so much that his tongue has gone all numb. "What did you say?"

"You're trending on Weibo. It seems as if someone posted a video from the press conference, and you were in it."

Xu Qichen speaks calmly, but Xia Xiqing knows that he's just naturally a very calm person. They have a brief conversation, after which Xia Xiqing sits down on the curb of the sidewalk. Feeling the cold breeze of the pre-dawn hours blowing in his face, he finally sobers up a bit. Frowning, he opens Weibo and flips to the trending page.

The topmost trending topic glares imposingly at him.

white shirt man from the seagull release press conference

White shirt? With some effort, he tries to remember last night's outfit.

Seems it was a white shirt… He clicks into the topic. The most shared video is Zhou Ziheng's Q&A session with his fans. The camera pans from Zhou Ziheng onstage to his lucky fan offstage—the girl who'd been sitting behind Xia Xiqing. During the camera's movement, Xia Xiqing's face appears in frame for a few seconds, and these few seconds alone have been enough to make him trend on Weibo.

He suddenly remembers that he never put his mask back on after he'd removed it. How careless.

There are almost ten thousand comments under the video.

@WatermelonNotWintermelon: I need every piece of info about this man within the next 10 minutes.

@VikiViki: mom i think i just saw an angel [tears.jpg]

@LooksAreEverything: OMG with a face like that why didn't he become an actor??? He's too attractive, even his long hair looks so good, like he's some sort of divine spirit.

@33IsMyWife: just passing by, and i'm astonished. his smile is like an angel's. he's better looking even than most male idols.

@ForeverTopHeng: Yeah his appearance is definitely godtier. But if my eyes don't deceive me, isn't it our Heng's fanclub support badge that he's wearing on his chest? [screenshot attachment]

@FirstMadamZhou: it is it is! omg i can't believe he's our heng's fan. i'm so sorry i've brought down the average appearance rating of our fan community [kneeling down]

@MostAlphaZhouZiheng: Oh my, it's as they say: the fans take after the idol. This level of good looks could probably bankrupt so many of the current idols. I've brought shame to our Heng's fan community [bawling]

@GossipyMing: Nowadays, you can't even chase idols without being attractive enough.

Xia Xiqing is still scrolling through the comments when someone appears in front of him, casting him in shadows. He looks up lazily. It's a decently attractive man.

The man lights a cigarette, smiling. "No company?"

Xia Xiqing blinks at him, slowly. It's strange, he currently feels absolutely no interest whatsoever. He raises an eyebrow, then coldly says, "Do I look like someone without company?" With that, he stands up, preparing to leave.

The other man is a little surprised that a man with such delicate features would be so tall, but he still reaches out and tugs at Xia Xiqing, smiling and saying, "Hey, don't be in such a hurry. At this hour, not having any company is nothing to be embarrassed about; let me buy you a drink. I'm also without company right now, so we can have some fun together."

This man has the look of an experienced player. The hand he'd put on Xia Xiqing's arm has already migrated to his wrist, evidently unwilling to give up without at least a taste. Xia Xiqing's eyes shift a little, and he grins, shifting his demeanor to one of flirtation. With a finger resting on that man's shoulder, he says, "Drinking is so boring… You see, handsome, I go for twenty grand an hour. How's this, since you're a new client, I'll give you a discount. What do you say about sixteen grand?"

That man's face quickly shifts, his eyebrows knitting together. "You're sick."

"But I'm healthy." Xia Xiqing's expression is guileless. "I'm completely clean. You want to see a report?"

"Twenty grand? What a price." The man gives him a once-over. "You've got gold-plating in your ass or what?"

Seeing his assessment, Xia Xiqing's gaze immediately cools down. Mildly and with a lower voice, he spits out a sentence that seems pretty contrary to his appearance. "I've got diamonds in my dick." He lights up a cigarette for himself, his previously flirtatious expression instantaneously being replaced by one of delinquency. He glances at the man through a cloud of grayish white smoke, then says, "No money? Why are you talking to me If you've got no money? For someone with your looks, even if you laid down naked on bed and paid me to fuck you, I'd still have to think a while about it."

"You…" The man seems displeased, his gaze scanning Xia Xiqing's face over and over, trying to get a read off him. "What the fuck are you saying? Someone like you…" He doesn't finish before he scoffs; this is obviously a bottom pretending to be a top. "Is it that you think we're not very compatible? Don't worry, my technique is excellent. You'll see."

Xia Xiqing's eyebrows furrow in a display of clear irritation.

"Do you not fucking understand human speech?" He lowers his head to inhale, then puffs out a smoke ring. "I don't go on the bottom. Besides…" he trails off, then gives the man a careful once-over before smiling scornfully. "I don't deal with inferior goods."

The man is rendered temporarily speechless. Xia Xiqing ignores him, straightening out his suit before walking away without a backwards glance.

Arrogant guys like him—without completely destroying their bubble of hollow confidence—they never give up. Xia Xiqing walks down the block before hailing a cab and climbing in.

On his way home, Xia Xiqing continues to browse Weibo. The video did indeed come from the official channel for the movie, and the online discussion did seem to be spontaneous and genuine, but he still feels that, if this remains such a hot topic, there will eventually be investors coming in and trying to hype this up and make money.

His mood sours at that thought. Upon reaching the apartment he's been temporarily renting since his return from overseas, he takes a hot shower and goes to sleep.

Unsurprisingly, when Xia Xiqing wakes up that next afternoon, he finds that his previously muted cellphone has logged over forty missed calls. He scrolls through the notifications—even his parents, who typically don't call him even during the holidays—have phoned him.

He begins to enjoy this moment a bit. Though he's suddenly gone viral, he's also been forced into the awareness of everyone, including the father who ignores him and the stepmother who hates him. To be able to make them so agitated without even seeing them in person, it brings him no small sense of achievement.

After briefly going through his daily ablutions, Xia Xiqing ties his hair up in a careless little ponytail at the top of his head, changes into workwear that's not exactly clean, and sits in front of his canvas. Beside him is a painter's palette, on which red and blue paint have mottled together into a dirty gray-purple. He closes his eyes, and the scornful look on Zhou Ziheng's face from that night comes into view.

Like wisps of clouds, that scene gradually floats from his memories into the forefront of his mind, becoming clearer and clearer. Xia Xiqing captures it in lines, imprisons it on canvas.

His prominent bone structure, his sharp features, and the slight beginnings of a sneer in his quirked lips, all of it is laid down in thick layers of oil paints on the placid surface of the canvas, forever trapped there.

Hand still holding the paintbrush, Xia Xiqing leans against the back of his chair, one bent leg resting on the edge of his worktop, carefully examining this somewhat casual sketch.

He feels a vague sense of dissatisfaction. The subject's real-life charisma surpasses the expression captured in lines of paint by a factor of more than a thousand. Even the extent of his disgust is impossible to replicate.

His phone rings again. Xia Xiqing stretches out, reaching across the worktop to grab it.

It's an unknown number.

"Hello. May I know who I'm speaking to?" Habitually, he injects his tone with false friendliness.

"We've met. Maybe you still remember me?"

The voice is indeed familiar; it only takes a few seconds for him to realize: "Ah, this must be Ms. Jiang."

"Yes, it's me. You have an excellent memory." Jiang Yin laughs. "Have you been flooded with calls? You've gone viral."

Xia Xiqing lets out a laugh, stretching his spine a little. "It hasn't been that bad. I've slept through everything. You're the first call I've actually picked up."

Jiang Yin is a little taken aback; this young man is truly extremely calm and collected—he hasn't even asked her how she got his contact information.

By the time they meet up at their rendezvous, it's already nearing sunset. There are few people in the coffee shop. The amber sunlight traverses the clear glass of the window wall, melting into the heavy fragrance of coffee and encasing Xia Xiqing within it.

With her coffee spoon, Jiang Yin stirs the foam in her mug around and around, dispersing the design it had come with. Meanwhile, she studies the young man sitting across from her.

His dark hair is tinted with warmth from the setting sun and outlined with a halo of light. His delicate features hold a faint smile, and the small beauty mark at the tip of his nose is both gentle and enchanting. She didn't notice last time, but he has a long, thin scar on his chin, running up almost exactly along his jawline so as to be barely noticeable. Xia Xiqing is dressed more casually than she thought he'd be, in simple coveralls, oversized and worn, mottled all over with paint stains both fresh and old.

Yet she recognizes the brand almost instantly. It's a luxury label, popular with celebrities for airport fashion. The one he's wearing seems also to be co-branded and a limited-edition version—he really is not at all stingy about his clothes.

"Were you painting?"

"Yeah." He looks down and sees a large patch of dim blue paint stuck to the outer edge of his palm. He rubs at it with a finger, but the paint doesn't budge. Without looking back up, he asks, "If I may, what's the purpose of this meeting?"

Seeing how forthright he is, Jiang Yin doesn't waste any time with small talk either, asking directly, "Have you ever thought about making a debut?"

As if in contemplation, Xia Xiqing taps his finger against the side of his coffee mug, his eyes watching the passersby out the window. "Making a debut?"

"You have very good qualifications; the audience loves you, as evidenced by your most recent visit to the trending list." Jiang Yin has subconsciously begun to speak with the confidence of an accomplished agent. "To us, there are different levels of talent. The worst type includes those who, no matter how hard they try, they can never make the headlines. That's most actors in the industry. Slightly better ones are able, with enough time to improve their skills, to eventually encounter an opportunity and achieve their fifteen minutes of fame. The last type, the best, are those people who were simply fated to be renowned. Without a single word, as long as they show up on screen, they achieve more notice than anyone else could ever dream." She leans in slightly. "You are this last type."

Outside, a child walks by with a helium balloon. With a slip of his grip, it flies accidentally into the air. He watches blankly as the balloon flies away before, suddenly, he bursts out crying. Seeing this, Xia Xiqing can't help but laugh.

Feeling ignored, Jiang Yin coughs, and Xia Xiqing lazily turns his head back to her. "Ms. Jiang, I can tell that you are an expert of this industry, but even the highest authority can make mistakes sometimes."

"What do you mean?"

"I am your mistake." Xia Xiqing leans back on the sofa, too lazy to keep up his pretense. "I'm not that last type of person you just described. Let me be straightforward: I'm big trouble." His smiles reach his eyes, and his pupils fill up with the same warm light as the setting sun outside. "If you pull me into the entertainment industry, you'll eventually regret it. I will be a ceaseless source of trouble for you."

Jiang Yin stares at him for the next while. Then, finally, she opens her mouth to say, "I can understand that you don't want to debut as an actor. I still have a plan B."

Xia Xiqing quirked an eyebrow; he was bored anyway, so he might as well hear her out. "I'm all ears."

"There's a reality show coming up. I need a few laymen for it—people unknown in the entertainment industry." Jiang Yin takes out a proposal from her bag and hands it to Xia Xiqing. "I'm part of the management team, and I would like to invite you on the show."

"Invite me?" Xia Xiqing opens the proposal and takes a quick glimpse through it, immediately understanding the situation. "Ah, so all along it was Zhou Ziheng you've been planning this for. This was actually your plan A, no?"

"You really are the smartest person I've ever met." Jiang Yin makes no attempts whatsoever to her true motives. "I guessed that you wouldn't agree to debut, that, if I suggested it, I would be refused, but I still wanted to try. You probably know already, but I'm a shareholder in Zhou Ziheng's agency, and of course I'm also more than just a shareholder, though that's not something I can explain to you right now. Zhou Ziheng is an actor our agency is currently working very hard to promote. He has excellent acting skills and background qualifications, but you must know that actors who debuted as child stars often have this problem—they have very few die-hard fans. Zhou Ziheng has a nation-wide fanbase; almost everyone knows of him, and almost everyone likes him, but that type of fame isn't where money comes from these days. He needs people who will pay attention to his sponsorships and spend money accordingly: die-hard fans and idol-chasers."

"You need commercial influence." Xia Xiqing pokes at the milk foam in his latte with his spoon, ruining it.

"Exactly." She taps the surface of the table, then adds, "With his acting skills and his looks, commercial influence is what will allow him to become an absolute phenomenon. That's what I want for him."

Though Xia Xiqing now understands her goal, he still finds it a bit curious. "And you think he can increase his influence through me?"

"Why else would I be here? Influence comes from trending topics. That's to say, the quickest way towards more influence is to bait a pairing."

"That's true, but I just find it strange—there are already plenty of pairings involving him, all young and successful stars. Why would you want me, someone completely unknown to the industry?"

Though Xia Xiqing asks this, he already has an idea of why: if two celebrities bait a pairing between each other and the resulting profit or attention is distributed unevenly, then it'd only create even bigger problems for their management teams. Someone like Xia Xiqing, without an agency, without a fanbase, would be a much more stable when put into a supporting role in the pairing.

"You're a hot topic right now. Out of the entire audience of non-actors and non-performers, you currently attract the greatest amount of public interest. The Weibo trending page from the past couple days alone speak to how much potential is held in that face of yours." Jiang Yin is an old hand at flattery. "The initial plan for this reality show was to do an escape room, but I vetoed it. It won't create enough interest. There were similar programs before, but they all failed. Sometimes, the audience just wants to see something that's actually interesting."

"Like what?" Xia Xiqing cups his chin in the palm of his hand, expressions unchanged.

"Like a celebrity getting trapped in a room alongside his fan, and them trying to escape together." Leaning her chin in her palm, Jiang Yin smiles at Xia Xiqing. "And if the fan in question is also a handsome young man, I think those fangirls would be more interested."

That explains it.

"So, the trending search of me on Weibo yesterday, you paid for it, didn't you?" Xia Xiqing lets go of his coffee spoon, setting it to prop against the side of his coffee mug with a clink before retracting his hand.

Jiang Yin doesn't seem to mind her scheme getting exposed, calmly explaining, "I was merely adding fuel to an already burning fire. But let me clarify, the video getting posted in the first place was an accident. I did think that you'd get noticed when we first met, but I didn't think it'd be this dramatic."

So you straight up took advantage of it? Xia Xiqing thought at her, What a scary professional habit.

He wonders how the beneficiary to this scheme might feel after learning about this.

But now that his mind has turned to the topic of Zhou Ziheng… That look of abject disgust on his face floats before his mind's eye.

Xia Xiqing straightens up, suddenly extremely interested, and smiles, once again cupping his chin in his palm. "Your suggestion is definitely quite interesting. But you probably don't know: my idol currently hates me, very much."

The last two words are purposefully dragged out. He smiles proudly, his eyes becoming two happy crescents.

Jiang Yin is bemused. "You've met before in private? Why would he dislike you? He's usually very nice to his fans."

"Hmm… I did meet him in private, once, and uh…" It was such an awkward situation that he can't quite find a proper way to explain it, so he gives up. "Well either way it didn't go well. I'll bet that if he knows it's me, he'll definitely refuse to be on the program."

Jiang Yin remains silent for a moment before she asks, "What if I manage to persuade him? Will you come then?"

Xia Xiqing looks up from examining a speck of paint on his fingertip, his gaze filled with pleasure. "Sure." His tone is light, and Jiang Yin finds it a bit suspect; this is too easy.

"Really?" Eyeing him dubiously, she says, "Just like this, you'd agree? I can't help but find it somewhat strange."

Xia Xiqing nods again. "I mean it; I agree."

At the thought of Zhou Ziheng in the same room as him despite disliking him so much, Xia Xiqing feels excited.

Excitement is the source of creation.

"Oh right, for this type of high-intelligence reality shows, are you sure you want to invite me?" He laughs. "What if I can't do anything useful at all? What if all I do is hold him back?"

This concern does have some basis in reality. After all, Xia Xiqing is a fan; he understands Zhou Ziheng's background. When Zhou Ziheng took his National College Entrance Examinations, he'd forgone art school and ended up in Peking University in the physics department, and even Xia Xiqing had been surprised. He hadn't expected for the little child star to actually be such an intelligent STEM nerd. He half expected Zhou Ziheng to quit acting entirely and instead embrace a socialist love for academic research. Only, the kid ended up acting as well.

Even without going to acting school, his acting skills remain top tier. When God decides to open a door for someone, chances are that even the windows will also be opened. Otherwise, everything remains closed, as dark as a room for solitary confinement.

This is simply the cruelty of reality.

"Originally, I thought that Zhou Ziheng would be smart enough on his own, that it was better for you to serve as a foil to him." She smiles, incredibly honest about her original plot. "But I still looked you up bit—professional habit, you know. And you amazed me. A graduate of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze[2]? Oh, and I accidentally came across your record in High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling too."

Accidentally?

This woman is scary. Though Xia Xiqing doesn't show it on his face, he's secretly in awe of this woman's investigation skills. The HiMCM had happened so long ago, and she still somehow managed to find it. This is no small feat, especially considering his family background.

"I think someone like you most definitely will not be the weakest link." Jiang Yin's smile doesn't reach her eyes.

Xia Xiqing replies with the same superficial smile. "I'll do my best."

After saying goodbye to Jiang Yin, Xia Xiqing decides to go visit Xu Qichen. On his way there, he discovers a newly opened bakery, so he pops in and picks out some of their newly released flavors with a speed that surpasses even his speed when browsing the dating market.

"So you're really going to be on TV?" Xu Qichen asks, his mouth still full of cake, making his question come out both muffled and slightly surprised.

Xia Xiqing is sitting on the floor, and he nods, extending his legs and crossing his ankles. He can't help but roast Xu Qichen, "On TV? No, grandpa, I'm going on a reality show."

"Same thing." Xu Qichen ate his cake too quickly, and it's now a little stuck in his throat, so he jumps off the sofa and rushes to the fridge to find something with which to wash it down.

Watching from behind him, Xia Xiqing clicks his tongue. "You're not wearing socks. If Xia Zhixu finds out he'll scold you again." He catches sight of the milk packaging, and he can't resist asking, "Do you have anything alcoholic?"

"You shouldn't drink so much. It is either cigarettes or alcohol with you Xias, isn't it? Bad habits must run in the family." Xu Qichen pushes a single-serve milk box into his hand.

Xia Xiqing is slightly reluctant, but he takes it anyway, flashing a wicked grin at Xu Qichen. "You're one to talk. That kid's biggest unhealthy habit is you."

"No, you," Xu Qichen retorts out of habit. "Don't laugh. It'll be you next, sooner or later."

Xia Xiqing shrugs. "Then we'll see what unfortunate bastard ends up with a bad habit of me."

Xu Qichen suddenly remembers the reality show. "Why did that producer invite you? This type of reality show is pretty rare, and it must be difficult to get guests for it."

"That woman somehow found my records of that contest I did with Xia Zhixu way back when, and then there's also the Weibo trending incident." Feeling a headache coming on, Xia Xiqing squeezes the milk box. "This is why I say I hate the internet."

"But then again…" Xu Qichen leans on a sofa cushion, wearing a smirk that clearly hopes for the dramatic spectacle he's watching to escalate. "If you go on the show, you'll get to be in physical proximity to your idol."

"Not idol, he's my sexual fantasy." Xia Xiqing is more enthusiastic about this topic. "But see, that's the thing. If she'd asked me before all of this, I probably would've refused. Having my every move recorded? How disgusting! But now, now that Zhou Ziheng seems to dislike me so much, this idea has suddenly become more interesting"

Xu Qichen is a bit bemused at this. He doesn't know what the VIP pass he gave to Xia Xiqing has brought about, nor does he understand Xia Xiqing's thought process.

Being hated by someone you like—how can this be something to be excited about?

"Aren't you a sadist? Why is it starting to seem more like you're a masochist?"

Xia Xiqing laughs, reaching out to lightly pinch at Xu Qichen's cheeks. "Chen-Chen[3], you're so naïve. Watching someone who hates you work together with you under camera, forcibly repressing his unkind sentiments towards you, don't you think it would be very… fun?"

He'd hesitated on the wording near the end; he'd originally wanted to say "sexy." In his mind, Zhou Ziheng trying to be nice and friendly to him while burying down his true feelings—that situation is truly very sexy.

It makes him want to do everything he can to provoke Zhou Ziheng and discover his hidden bottom line.

It's late by the time Xia Xiqing gets home. Yet another unknown number calls him. It's well-timed, so Xia Xiqing picks up—only to be confronted with his stepmother.

Calling him at this hour, Xia Xiqing can't think of a single reasonable excuse for it.

"Xia Xiqing, why didn't you let us know you were back from abroad?"

That disingenuous tone of hers hasn't changed. Xia Xiqing puts her on speaker and sets his phone aside.

"If we'd known you were coming back from Florence, your father and I would have sent someone to pick you up. And now the only way we can find out that you're back is from television? Such a hassle!" Her voice is as slick as an eel, and it smells just as fishy. "You're a member of the Xia family, after all. It's not good for the family's image for you to always be abroad, and now you're on TV? Your father…"

Xia Xiqing scoffs, then walks off to the kitchen to fetch an iced bottle of water from the fridge. Unscrewing the cap, he takes a few gulps, feeling the cold water trickle into his heart. His insides are all frozen.

"Are you done? Missus Xia the second?"

She paused, obviously taken aback. When she speaks again, her voice has lost some of its previous strength: "Why must you be so hostile? I'm just trying to be considerate of your best interests…"

"Hostile?" He closes the fridge door with a thud. "You've tried so hard, pretending at kindness. Let me think, what could possibly be your motives? Hmm, is it that you want me to move some of my mom's assets? Or is it that Xia Yunkai is sorting out his affairs?"

"You!"

Sounds like he was right.

Laughing, Xia Xiqing continues, "You don't have to try so hard with me. You'd be better off begging your husband, asking him to take on fewer mistresses out there, to have fewer bastards to compete against your son when it comes to inheritance. How's that? Is that the type of advice you're looking for?"

"You…" Having been seen through so completely, her shame shifts to anger, the false kindness from earlier disappearing completely. "You shameless little slut, you're just like your father! You—all either of you know is how to screw around!"

"If he didn't screw around, how could you have ever joined the Xia family?" Xia Xiqing's voice becomes gentler as he says, "You should be grateful."

She begins cursing him out again, the same phrases repeating over and over: you and your father are the same, you shameless perverts; both of you will get what's coming to you. Xia Xiqing has heard all of this before, since he was little, even, so he's already used to it.

Waiting for her to finish bitching, Xia Xiqing puts his water bottle back on the table, then turns around, leaning against the countertop. Finally, he speaks again:

"No."

The voice on the other end of the line pauses, a bit confused, then asks, "What did you say?"

Annoyingly enough, Xia Xiqing finds it a little difficult to breathe.

With one hand, Xia Xiqing unbuttons the top button of his shirt, the restates, "I said, I am not the same as Xia Yunkai."

Now it feels better.

"He screws women. I screw men."

Habitually, Xia Xiqing checks his Weibo before going to bed. The account had originally been created so he could share his art, but it ended up becoming a fan account.

How did he get so many notifications? Xia Xiqing is spooked; though he's one of the most well-known artists in the fandom, and he would typically get fellow fans seeking him out from time to time, it's never been this bad. He's gotten so many notifications that his Weibo is starting to lag.

He has to restart the app for it to fix itself.

@BunnyBunny: Tsing-da[4]! You're the one in the white shirt, right?

@HengMeFaceOn: Wow, really? It's Summer-da?? It can't be, can it?

He was found out? Still slightly dubious, Xia Xiqing scrolls through his notifications. As expected, the comments are all from Zhou Ziheng fangirls, and there are countless private messages too. All of them are about the press conference.

So he did get found out. It seems that it really is impossible to be completely invisible on the internet.

He should just come clean and save all the fangirls the trouble of guessing.

With the attitude of it-can't-get-worse, Xia Xiqing switches to the camera and takes a selfie. The shot is taken a bit too closely, his damp hair still messy from his shower, and he's also taken the photo from below, creating a weird angle. He dithers for a moment, but then decides that it looks enough like himself, and so he uploads it to Weibo in a slapdash way.

@Tsing_Summer:

[image attachment]

From the moment he posts, his phone starts to vibrate ceaselessly, notifications coming in like waves. He can almost feel the excitement of the fans coming out of the screen.

@No1AInTheUniverse: Aaaaaah! It really is you!! So hot! Our fandom's average appearance rating must be unreal!

@WatermelonNotWintermelon: OMG too cute! The mole on your nose is everything!

@BunnyBunny: Skin, check. Nose, check. Eyelashes, check. How have you managed to pull off such a terrible angle? Evidently a godtier fan [kneeling]

@FirstMadamZhou: I've always thought that Summer-dada's are was godtier, but now I understand that you are yourself a deity, thank you for visiting us mere mortals [crying]

@HengsOnlyMomFan: Oh wow, why rely on your talent when you have this face?

…

Quickly, Xia Xiqing's Weibo ID enters the top trending list, and he becomes a new social media celebrity. He gets a bunch of business inquiries in his private messages, including even some sponsorship offers.

In this new era of extreme shallowness, a pretty face is the most direct and the most tasteless shortcut towards success.

His phone vibrates again: a message from Xia Yunkai.

> Why didn't you come to the office to find me when you came back from abroad. Come home this weekend, I have something to tell you. —Dad

The darkness of his bedroom is like a cold, wet blanket, wrapping around him, suffocating him.

> I don't have time to go to your place. If you have anything to say, say it over the phone.

After sending the text, Xia Xiqing walks onto the balcony and lights a cigarette. Greyish white smoke blends with the soft yet cold light of the moon, creeping into his head, filling up the cracks within, and blurring away his consciousness.

Like most citizens of the internet, Zhou Ziheng, who is in the middle of getting his makeup done in preparation for a magazine cover shoot, is also browsing through Weibo.

That day that Xia Xiqing had first gone viral, Zhou Ziheng had been almost certain that he'd only pretended to be his fan to make himself stand out more, maybe bought a few fan accounts to get himself trending, then waited for everyone else to follow the trend, thereby making himself go viral. After all, he really does have a nice face, nice enough that he could easily become famous off of it. But then Zhou Ziheng learned from Jiang Yin that he'd refused to sign with her and debut as an actor. So Zhou Ziheng began to doubt himself; could he really be a fan?

So, here he is, shirking the responsibilities of his busy schedule by logging on to his personal Weibo account. He clicks into the trending list and easily finds Xia Xiqing's fandom Weibo.

Turns out he really is a fan. And an artist at that.

Only, it seems that Xia Xiqing almost never posts on Weibo, nor does he seem to share any of Zhou Ziheng's live performance feeds like his other fans. Xia Xiqing seems to just quietly post his art. His art style is very unique. With a few simple lines, he can depict a human body's entire structure in a way that, even through the screen, unleashes a flood of hormones.

Scrolling down the Weibo blog, Zhou Ziheng also skims through the comments, which, outside of praising the divinity of Xia Xiqing's art, are all along the lines of "Zhou Ziheng is so alpha! He's so alpha I can't close my legs!! I'm begging you please fuck me!"

Uh… Why are teenage girls nowadays all so…

Unconsciously, he scrolls faster and faster down the blog until, suddenly, an image flashes past his eyes. He pauses, then scrolls back up.

This image had trended once. It's a side portrait of him doing a layup. The shadows interspersed with sunlight that fell on his body, the long fingers tightly grasping the basketball, the red jersey soaked in sweat, and, from top to bottom, the solid lines of his muscles.

He closes Weibo, opens his personal photo gallery, and finds this painting in an album called "fan-art." He'd never noticed it before, but there's a handwritten signature in the lower right corner—Tsing.

It seems that he's previously seen Xia Xiqing's art. He even downloaded it to show off to his friends.

After logging off, Zhou Ziheng hesitates the entire night, but, eventually, he decides against deleting the image from his phone.

But something still feels off.

Perhaps to take advantage of Xia Xiqing's recent fame, the reality show Jiang Yin brought up hurriedly wraps up the planning stage they had previously been stalling on. The guest list is finalized, and the shooting is set to start on Saturday. On Friday, by request of the production team, Xia Xiqing obediently moves into the hotel room that they've prepared for him. That night, Jiang Yin even finds the time to come to the hotel to check on him.

"Are you so afraid that I'll run off?" Xia Xiqing sits cross-legged on the bed, wearing only his cotton pajama pants, drying off his dripping hair.

She looks him over. His abs are distinct, clearly the product of long-term exercise. His muscles aren't exactly robust, but they're certainly lean. It seems somewhat at odds with that beautiful face of his, and she's a little surprised by it. She put a thin stack of documents on his table. "Of course. This is some information about our show. You can take a look in your spare time."

"Have you got a script?" Xia Xiqing stretches his neck a bit, then puts on a loose T-shirt, looking like a high school student. "First thing's first: I won't be following any script, so give up any hopes you might have about that."

Jiang Yin's expression is a little helpless, seeming to have already realized the futility of such an endeavor. "I knew you'd be like this. In truth, we do have a script, but it doesn't concern you. The production team hired someone to write a plot for the escape room itself." Upon saying that, she makes a quick segue: "Though you don't need to worry about a script, we did assign you a persona, and I'll need you to conform to it. Besides, aren't you pretty good at dissembling?"

Once again, Jiang Yin has spoken a bit more directly than politeness would typically demand, but Xia Xiqing is starting to get used to it. "If that's the case…" He straightens his legs, throws away the towel onto a chair, then leans against the wall with his hands folded behind his head. He speaks with an unconcerned tone: "Tell me, what will be my character design?"

Sitting by the table, Jiang Yin calmly replies, "Well, think about it. Ever since Zhou Ziheng's persona shift, his popularity has increase exponentially, so our agency of course wants him to continue with a more aggressive character design. And since we want to encourage shipping fans, what type of person do you think we should pair him with, in order to make it truly popular?"

Still reclined on the bed, Xia Xiqing watches her, slowly blinking in a way that makes his eyes seem as if they were the zoomed-in focus of a slow-motion camera. A pristine and harmless smile begins to appear on his face, tinged with a sense of innocence by the tiny mole at the tip of his nose.

"An angelic persona. Someone loveable and pure."

Jiang Yin shrugs. "Clever."

He scoffs, completely abandoning his earlier façade of gentleness.

"Seems like you've all already decided on the sexual dynamics of our hypothetical relationship." Xia Xiqing retracts one of his legs, propping his chin in his palm and his elbow against his knee. He watches Jiang Yin with an unreadable expression.

"No, it's just that… I mean, Zhou Ziheng's persona is… But of course, in the end it'll still be determined by the audience and what they say online." Jiang Yin was puzzled at first, and she hadn't expected that kind of comment, but after speaking, she suddenly realizes that, despite how pretty he looks, Xia Xiqing gives off a fairly domineering vibe.

For all that Xia Xiqing isn't concealing his personality around Jiang Yin anymore, she still has no idea about his spirited history of past conquests, nor does she know that he's always been the top, so she rationalizes his comment about sexual dynamics by attributing it to a masculine obsession with dominance.

"Oh, so that's how it is. Don't worry about it, then." The corners of Xia Xiqing's lips curl up, and his eyes regain their previous warmth. "I'm quite an easygoing guy."

Seeing how, within just a few minutes, Xia Xiqing's expression has shifted again and again, Jiang Yin finds herself impressed, though she also mentally laments that his natural talent for acting has been squandered for so long. Though she's held witness to how skilled he is at pretense, she still doesn't understand why he's accepted her invitation. "You've agreed to participate, but you haven't even asked me how much we'll pay you."

"Doesn't matter." Xia Xiqing leans back again, falling supine on the bed. "Don't worry, though I can't guarantee you much else, I can definitely ensure that people will have plenty to talk about." Then, seeming to have suddenly remembered something, he flips over to his side, facing Jiang Yin. "But this persona you've given me, Zhou Ziheng probably won't believe it."

"That's alright; I'll talk to him. I'm sure that, after so many years of being an actor, he'll know how to play his part."

Xia Xiqing merely raises his eyebrows, feeling that things might not be as simple as Jiang Yin seems to think.

The next day, Xia Xiqing arrives early to the set. He's taken to the makeup room for a simple clean-up. The makeup artist is a young woman, who, despite already being accustomed to pretty celebrities, is still a little stunned by Xia Xiqing. As she does his makeup, she keeps asking him about his skincare secrets. Then, a young assistant called xiao-Jie[5] walks into the makeup room, and Xia Xiqing smiles at the reflection of the young man in the mirror, making xiao-Jie feel a little shy. "Mr.—Mr. Xia, Jiang Yin-jie[6] has assigned me to be your assistant. Please let me know if you need anything during shooting."

"I feel like 'Mister' is something that's only used for older men." Xia Xiqing dons his expert expression of gentleness. "I thought I still looked fairly young."

"Ah? No, no…"

"No?" Xia Xiqing widens his eyes, deliberately teasing the poor kid.

"Ah, I meant… sorry. You look like a college student. I—I'm new and I'm just a little nervous…" Xiao-Jie waves his hands frantically. "And…"

"Just call me Xiqing." The makeup artist only does the basics, evening out Xia Xiqing's skin tone and doing his eyebrows, so it's over sooner than expected. Xia Xiqing stands, turning towards xiao-Jie and extending his hand. "I'm twenty-five, so I should be slightly older than you, but I'll be in your care for the next couple days."

"Then I'll call you Xiqing-ge[7]." Xiao-Jie shakes Xia Xiqing's slender hand. "I've still got a lot to learn, so please bear with me if I make any mistakes."

The kid's so honest! Xia Xiqing is internally surprised, but also thankful; he'd expected Jiang Yin to assign someone more resourceful to keep him in check, but it seems he'd been a bit paranoid. The shooting is scheduled for the evening, so xiao-Jie leads Xia Xiqing to a studio for the morning, where he'll be doing a promotional photo shoot. Inside, Xia Xiqing sees two of the other guests, both here for the show. Though Xia Xiqing has been abroad until quite recently, he's still fairly familiar with the mainland entertainment industry, and he recognizes them both. One of them is Cen Cen, a female singer. She's a solo artist whose popularity has recently skyrocketed. The other one is Shang Sirui, a member of HighFive, a male idol group that's also been quite popular of late.

Xia Xiqing turns to xiao-Jie. "Am I the only layman here?"

Xiao-Jie nods, then shakes his head. "No, there's another one, a girl. She's apparently a member of Mensa."

Xia Xiqing nods. Soon after, it's time for him to be photographed. Unlike typical non-performers, Xia Xiqing is not afraid of the camera. The photographer tries out a few shots, then flips through the preview to find that they're not bad. Pleasantly surprised, he asks, "You have modeling experience?"

"Sort of." Xia Xiqing remembers back to his time at the Accademia when he'd helped out a friend who was majoring in fashion design by modelling some outfits in a short fashion video. It had been a strange experience. "But it wasn't at all professional."

"Still pretty good. Your limbs are slender, good for the camera." The photographer tries another few shots before finally beginning to do the promotional photos. During the last set, Xia Xiqing catches sight of a tall man walking into the studio.

"Ziheng is here."

Xia Xiqing detects him instantly. He needs no time at all to distinguish Zhou Ziheng from the crowd; it's rare for anyone to be as tall as him, let alone have as nice of a face.

Long time no see. Xia Xiqing looks back at the camera, revealing a smile.

Zhou Ziheng seems to have come from another event, rushing in with a grey-green windbreaker. Upon entering, he greets the workers around him:

"Sorry I'm late."

The wide hood of his jacket covers half his face, leaving exposed only the deep contours of his eyes.

"Oh, it's Ziheng!"

He's quite popular. Having often been on shows for this television station before, the regular employees here all seem to like him. Zhou Ziheng is a mere twenty years old, so most folks in the business treat him like a little brother. It's just that his typically commanding demeanor and general aura of aggressiveness often make people forget about his age.

The makeup artist pulls him aside to have his hair and makeup done. Having stayed up late for the magazine cover shoot last night, and having attended a promotional event for the movie all morning, Zhou Ziheng is quite sleep-deprived, and, as the hair stylist blows his hair into shape, he closes his eyes in hopes of catching a bit of shut-eye.

"The outfit xiao-Heng is wearing today looks very good!" The makeup artist smiles.

His sleep-deprived brain reacting half a beat slower than usual, Zhou Ziheng opens his eyes and replies truthfully, "I've been sponsored by the outfit's label."

"Pfft," laughs the makeup artist. She sprays him with setting spray, saying, "I see you're as honest as ever."

Seeing Zhou Ziheng's state of exhaustion, xiao-Luo—his personal assistant—had quickly gone out to buy him an iced coffee, returning just as Zhou Ziheng's hair and makeup wraps up. Zhou Ziheng takes the coffee with a thanks, then walks out of the makeup room.

Walking around the studio section, he heads into the semi-open-concept space that serves as the lounge area. He takes a couple sips of coffee, then sets it aside as he sits down on the sofa. He glances around, looking at his surroundings—that is, taking in everything except for Xia Xiqing, who was at the center of the spotlight.

"Okay, Xiqing's all done!"

Xia Xiqing thanks the photographer before his gaze drifts to Zhou Ziheng, who's sunken into the sofa. The collar of his jacket is upright, covering half of his face and revealing only his attractive eyes and tightly knit eyebrows. The word "unhappy" seems to be written all over him.

How is he so cute? It's as if he's been physically dragged here. Xia Xiqing walks over and finds the line between Zhou Ziheng's eyebrows deepening the moment he approaches.

Don't want me to sit here? Xia Xiqing quirks an eyebrow, then plops down right next to Zhou Ziheng. Turning, he smiles at him, then greets him with the same words as last time:

"Hey, what are the chances?" Xia Xiqing smiles, making sure it reaches his eyes. Though the man before him is well aware of his true colors, he still wants to present a façade of harmless innocence. "You're on the show too?"

Zhou Ziheng looks skywards wordlessly, then scooches a bit to the side, thinking, Why must you continue this charade?

Though Zhou Ziheng understands what's going on, he remains silent, turning his head coolly to the side as if Xia Xiqing wasn't even there.

Though Xia Xiqing's friendliness has been met with such a cold shoulder, he doesn't feel embarrassed at all, instead finding this version of Zhou Ziheng to be even more fun. He smiles, leaning into the sofa and stretching out his legs, which were wrapped in slacks.

Not only does Zhou Ziheng not want to see Xia Xiqing, he doesn't want to hear him either. So, he pulls out his phone and a pair of earbuds, and starts to put the latter into his ears. But then he hears what Xia Xiqing saying:

"So this is how you treat your fans. Maybe I'll expose how I've been treated and resign from your fanclub."

The hand Zhou Ziheng was using to put in his earbuds freezes as Xia Xiqing's sentence comes to an end. He seems to hesitate for a moment, but then he turns towards him.

Seeing how useful the word "fan" seems to be when it comes to Zhou Ziheng, Xia Xiqing snickers internally.

After an awkward moment of silently staring at each other, Zhou Ziheng finally starts to speak. Probably to be polite, he even zips down the collar of his jacket, soberly saying, "I don't have anything against you personally. It's just that I tend not to like people who aren't serious about relationships."

Xia Xiqing is momentarily dazed by the response.

This… Where did this little angel come from? With such a scummy alpha sort of face, how is he so honorable?

Xia Xiqing smiles, lips curling up like a sly cat. "How do you know I'm not serious about relationships?"

Zhou Ziheng's frown deepens, remembering back to the scene in the restroom when he first met Xia Xiqing; how this person—who looks totally non-aggressive—had spouted such vicious words.

Watching the complex emotions playing across Zhou Ziheng's face, Xia Xiqing sobers, eyes glowing with integrity. He defends himself earnestly, "Really, I'm not who you seem to think I am. It's all just a misunderstanding. It's a long story, but that guy wasn't my boyfriend. He kept harassing me, and it also turned out that he'd been seeing other people at the same time. I really couldn't stand it anymore, so that's why I said all of that—it was to scare him away. It's just that I look like such a pushover; if I don't talk mean, people will take advantage of me." He purses his lips, donning a gloomy sort of you've-wronged-me expression. "I've really been feeling awful since that day. Evidently it was me who was being harassed, but now my idol thinks I'm some sort of scumbag."

The word "idol" is effective, and Zhou Ziheng's expression visibly softens quite a bit. Xia Xiqing sighs, eyes innocent and forlorn. "I swear: I'm not that type of person you described."

Just the type of person who wants to flee the moment he feels like the other person might have caught actual feelings.

Just someone who likes the feeling of the chase, who likes a good challenge just a little too much to be healthy. The moment of success is like cold water poured over the fire of his passion, leaving him immaculately extinguished.

With a mask of honesty so good that even a professional actor would have difficulty seeing through it, he meets Zhou Ziheng's eyes, unafraid of any scrutiny at all. "I really, truly like you a lot. I did a lot of art of you."

Seeing the suspicion in Zhou Ziheng's eyes resolve a little, Xia Xiqing extends his hand. "I'm so sorry that we met in such awkward circumstances, and that such a misunderstanding happened. Let's start again with a clean slate."

Zhou Ziheng's arms cross in front of his chest, not completely willing to shake Xia Xiqing's hand. His eyes roam over Xia Xiqing, hesitating awhile, but he eventually gives in.

He remembers back to that painting of Xia Xiqing's.

The temperatures of their two hands meet and merge, resulting in a remarkable sensation.

"My name is Xia Xiqing."

Zhou Ziheng nods, his perfect jawline leading the movement of the muscles at the sides of his neck. For all that the fan in front of him surely knows his name, out of politeness alone, he still gives his full name: "Zhou Ziheng." Upon saying that, he begins to pull back his hand, but then he feels Xia Xiqing holding on to it, so he looks uncertainly at him

Xia Xiqing smiles. "Hey, don't you want to know the characters used in my name?"

Such a strange person.

Zhou Ziheng lifts his chin a little, a thread of irritation showing in his eyes. This expression somehow adds to his innate charisma. Fighting his impatience, he asks, "What characters?"

"'Xi,' is the same character as the one in 'study[8].' As for 'qing'…"

Before the sentence ends, the slim, pale hand holding onto Zhou Ziheng's suddenly exerts force, pulling him toward Xia Xiqing. The carefully guarded distance between them shrinks rapidly. Zhou Ziheng's dark pupils dilate minutely as he almost crashes into that seemingly innocent face, the space between the tips of their nose becoming so small that it's nearly invisible.

The smell of Xia Xiqing's cologne becomes the most cunning assailant, invading, suffusing, taking advantage.

The brief moment of intimacy seems as if slowed down by a factor of infinity, playing out frame by single frame. Too close. Their proximity has warmed even the air of their exhaled breaths. The sharp spiciness of peppercorns, the rich fragrance of tobacco, and the mellow scent of musk have all entwined together, and, under their assault, Zhou Ziheng frowns. But, just as he reaches the limits of his acceptance, he senses a thread of profound sweetness as it pierces unerringly into his breath, seeping into his core.

From within the complexities of this fragrance comes a similarly enigmatic voice, creeping from the corners of his smiling lips.

"It's the same as the one in 'unclear[9].'"

Xia Xiqing lets go of his hand, the left corner of his lips curling higher, looking the image of mischief.

One moment he's trying to defend his good name, and now he's wickedly exposing his true colors.

He really must never, ever trust this face again.

Xia Xiqing originally thought this supposed escape room reality show would be just a bunch of video jockeys following guests around in a semi open studio as everyone follows the script and acts out an "escape."

The real thing turns out to be completely different from his expectations. Without being told of even the escape room's theme, he gets blindfolded and led away. Before he leaves, the director even emphasizes to everyone, "Please don't speak before the game starts."

After a long walk guided by two workers, he's pressed into a chair. What's more, he gets tied up quite snugly with a long length of rope. Immobile, he hears the clink of metal, then a coldness settles around his wrists.

He's been handcuffed, arms bent awkwardly at his front.

If he weren't sure that he's here to film a show, he'd really be wondering if he's been kidnapped.

At least he now understands why the director kept saying, "This show is trying to be as realistic as possible. As members of the crew, we won't be intervening at all, so even we can't be sure how things will go."

Zhou Ziheng hears the vague sound of footsteps, more than one set of them. His hands, lain over his knees, have been tied with rope. His ankles, too, are tightly bound. Just as he was beginning to doubt, his blindfold is removed by a member of the crew.

He squints slightly, unused to the sudden clarity of vision he's been allowed. He's in a sealed room, the atmosphere of which differs from most horror-themed escape rooms in that the lighting in here is quite decent, with dim yellow light emitting from overhead. Only, other than the two rows of bookshelves against the wall, there's also some furniture all covered in white cloth, so everything looks a little odd.

But that's not what surprises him.

Because what's in front of him is far more surprising than the escape room itself:

Xia Xiqing, who'd been messing with him just two hours ago, is currently tied to another chair. The two of them are just over a foot apart.

Perhaps in accordance to the viral video, the production team has put Xia Xiqing in a collared white button-up and black dress pants. A length of black cloth wraps around his eyes, and a lock of hair at his temple has escaped from his ponytail, hanging down the side of his face to brush against his sharply delicate jawline.

Bright eyes hidden behind the blindfold, the small beauty mark at the tip of his nose seems to stand out all the more, making him seem both helpless and docile.

Even though Zhou Ziheng knows without a doubt that he is neither of those words.

The handcuffs at his wrists glint coldly under the dim light. The bones of his wrists protrude slightly, looking so sharp that it feels like they would clink against the metal that surrounds them. The rope winds around his torso like a thin snake, so tight that the contours of his muscles are almost visible through the fabric.

The black fabric of the blindfold veils that pair of flirtatious eyes from Zhou Ziheng's sight, and this seems to be his first chance to unabashedly examine this man, this man who he's certain is so duplicitous and sly.

Viscerally, Zhou Ziheng realizes how pitiful Xia Xiqing looks right now—or, in other words, he realizes that he has developed a deviant urge to make this man even more pitiful.

For some reason, Zhou Ziheng has gained a sudden understanding of the psychology of those people with perverse desires.

"The game has now officially begun," says a voice, digitally distorted and tinny, from above Zhou Ziheng's head, and it interrupts him from the inappropriate thoughts that are rampantly growing like weed in his mind.

"Welcome, everyone, to Survive and Escape. Now, please forget about who you previously were. In this game, you are all players trapped in an escape room. Please note: there is more than one room in this escape room, and they're all connected to each other. Which means, when you open the room you're currently in, you will enter another one, where there might be another person who is also trapped there. The person who leaves all of the locked rooms and escapes from this house in the shortest amount of time will be the winner, obtaining the highest score. Everyone else's scores will be calculated based on the time of their escape; one point will be deducted for every ten minutes after that initial escape."

This game sure seems to take itself seriously, Xia Xiqing thinks as he smiles to himself, but then the voice continues:

"Another rule, since Survive and Escape is most unique in that it is not simply an escape room reality show. Among all you players, there is a Killer. Unlike normal players, the Killer must hide their identity, and they will have the ability to "kill" a player. The player who is "killed" will receive zero points a given round. A Killer can "kill" only one player in each round. Of course, all the normal players can also try to deduce who the Killer is, and, when everyone gathers up, players can vote to "kill" the potential Killer. If the Killer becomes the winner of a given round, every normal player of the round will be rendered dead, and they will receive zero points while the Killer's points will be doubled.

"Throughout the game, players will need to think carefully and use to the fullest extent whatever cleverness and deductive reasoning they are capable of. If there's truly a problem you cannot solve, you can use your game time to buy hints, and your final score will decrease accordingly. The winner of this season will be the player with the highest total score combined from each round, and they will also receive an ultimate mystery prize.

"None of you are currently carrying any special equipment that might help you solve hints—except for a modified cellphone. This phone has only four features: One, an interface that will display messages from the production team. Two, an interface where you can buy hints. Three, a timer that will begin after the first player gets out. Four, an interface to anonymously vote for the Killer. Please note that players can't send messages to each other using this cellphone. If you want to speak to each other, you can only do it face-to-face. This concludes the introduction of the rules."

The voice paused as the sound of a ticking countdown came three times.

Three.

Two.

One.

"Now, the game begins."

At this, Xia Xiqing lets out a sigh, slouching into his chair and tilting his head back. Zhou Ziheng watches his movements, secure in the knowledge that he is unknown to Xia Xiqing and thus blatantly playing the voyeur.

Even though this type of peeking is not something to be encouraged in terms of Zhou Ziheng's personal moral standpoint, Xia Xiqing has made himself an exception. He's never met anyone like him, with such treacherous guile, such boundless lack of shame. So, facing him, Zhou Ziheng's normally upright behavior always seems to slip helplessly into malfunction.

Xia Xiqing tries to reach for his blindfold, but he can barely lift his arms because they've been almost entirely wrapped up. He strains to lift them several times before finally giving up. He sighs in exasperation, muttering quietly to himself, "I can't even see. What am I supposed to do, wait around the entire game?"

Zhou Ziheng wants to laugh. For some reason, watching Xia Xiqing seems to have lessened the urgency of escaping this room.

Unable to see and unable to move, Xia Xiqing just taps his heels, head tilted back and body slouched lazily against the chair. He doesn't speak, and the room remains eerily silent. Zhou Ziheng also keeps deliberately silent despite understanding that, being similarly trapped himself, their best tactic should be to help each other. Moreover, they're filming; it's not as if they could continue silently suffering through it all. It's just that, right now, all Zhou Ziheng wants to do is have a good laugh at Xia Xiqing.

Perhaps it's because he really is a terrible person, so, to Zhou Ziheng, this type of person deserves a little grief.

It's the illusion of being an agent of karma.

But then, quite unexpectedly, the man who just moments ago seemed to have completely given up all fight suddenly sits upright, facing Zhou Ziheng with perfect posture, as if that pair of hidden eyes could see through the black cloth of the blindfold, looking unerringly at him.

Yes, he's "looking" at him.

Zhou Ziheng frowns, certain that he hasn't made a single sound.

Suddenly, Xia Xiqing tilts his head, his lips forming a gentle curve.

"How about you help me take off the blindfold?"

Impossible. He obviously can't see.

[1] On the internet, "taitai" is an honorific title or suffix given to artists and writers who operate primarily online. Literally, it means "grand-grand."

[2] Also known as the Florence Academy of Fine Arts.

[3] In Chinese, this method of reduplicating characters is often affectionately used to make diminutive nicknames.

[4] On the internet, "dada" is an honorific title or suffix given to artists and writers who operate primarily online. Literally, it means "big-big." As a suffix, it can be abbreviated (as it has been in this case) to "-da."

[5] "Xiao-" is a prefix used for making diminutive nicknames, often used affectionately for children or for someone who's younger than whoever is speaking. Literally, it means "little" or "young."

[6] "Jie(jie)" is an honorific title or suffix that is used any girl or woman of the same nominal generation as the speaker, occasionally even for those who are slightly younger than the speaker, especially if they have some other form of seniority over the speaker. Literally, it means "older sister," but it is used regardless of familial relation and also sometimes regardless of relative age.

[7] "Ge(ge)" is an honorific title or suffix that is used any boy or man of the same nominal generation as the speaker, occasionally even for those who are slightly younger than the speaker, especially if they have some other form of seniority over the speaker. Literally, it means "older brother," but it is used regardless of familial relation and also sometimes regardless of relative age.

[8] The most common word for "study" is xuexi, which shares the xi character with Xia Xiqing's name.

[9] The term originally used was buqingbubai, which literally means "neither clear nor white." While this term most commonly means "unclear" or "ambiguous," it can also carry a derogative implication and mean instead "unclean" or "impure." Individually, the qing character in it that is shared by Xia Xiqing's name means "clear."