HWMTOTBM Chapter 5

They were heading to Yunhe Lake, where Xu Yu’s home was—a two-story duplex.

It wasn’t Yun Jie’s first time there. When they used to talk about work in Lin City, they were either at the company or at Xu Yu’s house, but mostly at the company. Now, without the company, they naturally went to his home.

Yun Jie was five years older than Xu Yu. She joined the company right after graduating and became an assistant after two years.

Yun Jie had primarily assisted Xu Yu in managing things over the last three years. They grew together; Yun Jie helped Xu Yu a lot, and Xu Yu learned a lot from her.

To outsiders, Xu Yu appeared young and naive, but his demeanor was mature for his age.

Whether on stage or at an event, Xu Yu always appeared composed and rarely misspoke. Some people even described him as very Zen.

But to Yun Jie, Xu Yu was still a kid. He was just quiet around strangers. Those who knew him well understood that he was not always like that in private.

He could be lively, make jokes, and get anxious or excited.

Xu Yu struggled to blend into crowds, but he was considerate in his interactions with others. These characteristics did not conflict with him in any way.

Everyone who worked with Xu Yu or appeared on a show with him had high regard for him.

Xu Yu was often the youngest and was frequently looked after by others.

Xu Yu simply loved music. Yun Jie handled his job for years, only consulting with him on music-related issues. The rest she only mentioned in passing.

Xu Yu trusted her, which made Yun Jie even more determined to help him succeed.

Yun Jie completely understood why Xu Yu wanted to terminate his contract.

The company rarely provided Xu Yu with any music-related services. He could only write and sing songs at home in his spare time, unable to do much more.

He was essentially powerless.

“We should rent a place; meeting at home all the time is inconvenient,” Xu Yu said, taking a drink from the fridge for Yun Jie. “If there’s nothing urgent, how about setting up a studio?”

Yun Jie nodded. “I was thinking the same.”

They understood each other well after three years of working together.

Yun Jie said, “We have some free time now. Let’s plan this out properly. Take it slow, you can do this.”

Xu Yu paused with the drink close to his lips. He put it down and smiled. “Why are you suddenly comforting me like this? There is no need.”

Yun Jie laughed and said nothing more.

She opened her drink and looked at the bottle before taking a sip.

Xu Yu stated, “Only peach flavor, no other choices.”

Yun Jie chuckled. “I don’t mind.”

Xu Yu loved peach-flavored drinks and preferred peach-flavored tea.

Yun Jie could not help but remember an interview with a group of boys. They must have talked about something in private because, during the interview, they brought up the topic of tough guys and suddenly all cued Xu Yu.

Xu Yu, who was sitting in a corner, naturally became the focus as the camera panned to him.

The person next to Xu Yu laughed, wrapped an arm around his shoulder, and patted his arm, saying to the camera, “Let me introduce you to this tough guy who enjoys strawberries and peach-flavored drinks.”

Xu Yu immediately slapped the hand away. “Can’t a tough guy eat strawberries?”

Everyone chorused, “Yes, he can~”

Xu Yu chose not to speak further.

Yun Jie laughed for a long time after watching the interview video and even asked Xu Yu why he did not continue by asking if a tough guy could not drink peach-flavored beverages.

Xu Yu couldn’t be bothered to respond.

The next few minutes were spent discussing serious matters.

Although Xu Yu’s contract with the company had been terminated, Yun Jie still had some resources. They went through them one by one for nearly two hours, then discussed this year’s work plans, and finally talked about the future studio.

“In terms of location, this area is convenient,” Yun Jie said, circling a spot on the map. “But you don’t need to worry about this. I’ll find someone to handle it.”

Xu Yu nodded. “Okay.”

Yun Jie said, “I’ve signed you up for that show next month. Prepare your songs.”

Xu Yu nodded. “Alright.”

Yun Jie picked up her phone, mumbling, “That’s about it.” She looked up. “Take a good rest for the next few days. You seem quite tired recently.”

She sighed. “Youth is great. Despite not resting well, your skin looks so good.”

Yun Jie picked up her phone and looked at her dark circles, suddenly feeling despair.

Xu Yu reassured her. “It’s not that bad.” He glanced at Yun Jie’s empty drink bottle. “Want another one?”

Yun Jie shook her head. “No, thanks.”

She put down her phone. “By the way, think about a name for the studio in the next few days.”

Xu Yu nodded. “Okay.”

Yun Jie continued, “But it’s okay if you don’t come up with a name. Even if you do, people might not remember it. Just call it Xu Yu Studio, simple and clear.” She suddenly laughed. “Or call it XYY. Haha, XYY, JSS. What a match.”

At that moment, Xu Yu seemed to understand something.

He frowned at Yun Jie, smiling. “What are you thinking?”

Yun Jie laughed. “Just kidding. But isn’t XYY on your guitar?”

Xu Yu explained, “That is XY with a mistake in the middle that was crossed out.”

Yun Jie raised an eyebrow. “What a coincidence, JSS’s logo also has two horizontal lines in the middle of the S.”

Xu Yu said, “…”

Xu Yu said, “Enough, Yun Jie.”

Yun Jie laughed to herself. “Okay, okay.”

With nothing else to discuss, Yun Jie said goodbye to Xu Yu.

It was still early. Xu Yu went to the gym on the second floor and took a shower.

Back in his bedroom, he lay down on his bed and opened Weibo on his phone.

He had just terminated his contract at noon, and by the evening, some people had already written about it. As he had predicted, there wasn’t much buzz. Some comments praised him, while others inquired as to why he terminated the contract, but the majority of the discussions focused on the company rather than Xu Yu himself.

Xu Yu was about to close Weibo when he remembered Yun Jie’s comment about Su Yuanjiu.

She mentioned that Su Yuanjiu had fans in the entertainment industry, and the majority of them were shippers.

Out of curiosity, Xu Yu entered Su Yuanjiu’s name into the search bar.

Related searches quickly appeared, most of which linked Su Yuanjiu to various celebrities. Xu Yu skimmed through and noticed that nine out of ten celebrities were men.

He clicked on Su Yuanjiu’s name first but found that Su Yuanjiu didn’t have a Weibo account. He then returned to the list and chose a link titled “Su Yuanjiu viral video.”

The top result was a post from a well-known blogger from last year, featuring a ten-minute video with tens of thousands of shares and comments.

Xu Yu clicked it and skimmed through it. It seemed to be a cooking video of Su Yuanjiu, which didn’t interest him much, so he exited after a few seconds.

He then checked the comments.

The comments were full of people expressing their admiration and calling Su Yuanjiu “husband.” Xu Yu, puzzled, went back to the video.

This time, he watched for a few more seconds and saw that it wasn’t just cooking—Su Yuanjiu was also making coffee.

Xu Yu exited before Su Yuanjiu started grinding the coffee beans.

Su Yuanjiu was indeed handsome and had a strong presence; otherwise, Yun Jie would not have praised him so highly today.

But perhaps Su Yuanjiu wasn’t exactly Xu Yu’s type. Xu Yu couldn’t quite relate to the enthusiastic fans in the comments.

He scrolled down and found a video post titled “Challenge: Stare at Su Yuanjiu for Ten Seconds,” with tens of thousands of comments and hundreds of thousands of shares.

Xu Yu was curious and clicked on it.

The 18-second video began with a black screen, and then white text appeared after a second.

“Are you ready?”

“3”

“2”

“1”

The screen gradually brightened, revealing Su Yuanjiu staring at the camera.

Staring at Xu Yu.

Xu Yu initially watched the seconds tick by on the progress bar, but eventually lost track of time, locking eyes with Su Yuanjiu on the screen.

The ten seconds passed quickly. In the last half-second, Su Yuanjiu suddenly smiled.

The screen went black before he could finish smiling, leaving a lingering feeling.

“Time’s up”

“Did”

“you feel moved?”

Xu Yu unconsciously swallowed.

He quickly exited the video and went to the comments.

The top comment read: “Ahhh, so gentle! It’s more than just moving, I’m done for, I’m done for, I’m done for!”

Xu Yu blinked and noticed his thumb was dangerously close to the like button, almost lighting it up.

He didn’t intend to like it, especially since he was logged into his main account.

Of course, he would not like it even on his alternate account.

It was alright.

It was indeed gentle.

But not that exaggerated.

Xu Yu exited the comments, intending to leave the search, but for some reason, he returned to the ten-second challenge.

Perhaps it was the soft filter or the appropriate color tone that made it so gentle.

After watching it again, Xu Yu scrolled through a few pages of comments, learning that the ten-second challenge was a cut from the cooking video. It was an unintentional two-second glance at the camera that stretched into ten seconds.

No wonder the smile was cut off; he must have looked away.

He also learned that the cooking vlog was filmed by Su Yuanjiu’s cousin.

His cousin was a more well-known influencer than Xu Yu, with videos appearing on multiple platforms other than Weibo.

After learning all this, Xu Yu did something inexplicable again.

He downloaded the ten-second challenge video and saved it on his phone.

Whether it was because he had seen too much of Su Yuanjiu or because his last thought before sleeping was of Su Yuanjiu, Xu Yu dreamed about Su Yuanjiu that night.

An illogical dream in which Su Yuanjiu was his university classmate.

One moment they were in class, and the next they were stargazing outdoors.

The scene from the video appeared, and they stared at each other in his dream.

The morning came, with a blue sky, white clouds, and green grass. Everything seemed so soft.

Su Yuanjiu’s final smile continued in the dream.

They stared at each other for only two seconds before Su Yuanjiu leaned in and kissed Xu Yu.

In a deep voice, he told Xu Yu, “Close your eyes.”

When Xu Yu woke up the next day, his temples were throbbing.

His heart was also pounding.

What was that?