Through their interactions during this period, Xiao Can had come to realize that while Tan Zhen appeared gentle and calm, he was actually very impulsive, doing things on a whim without much consideration for the consequences.
As for He Xingzhou, he was even more detached from common sense, living entirely in his own world.
Afraid that these two might come up with some absurd conclusions after communicating and then take some disastrous actions, Xiao Can felt worried. After hanging up the phone, he sent three messages to Tan Zhen.
— Don’t be impulsive!
— Remember to think twice before making major decisions!
— He Xingzhou is unreliable. Don’t take his words too seriously!
Tan Zhen replied with an OK gesture.
That night, Xiao Can returned home in a sorry state and once again received a message from Tan Zhen.
It was an emoji, a giant yellow bean with two crescent-shaped eyes, two small hands with index fingers poking together, looking a bit mischievous, completely at odds with Tan Zhen’s innocent appearance.
Xiao Can felt inexplicably guilty and hesitated for a moment, not sure whether to reply.
As he hesitated, another message came. It was short but impactful.
— You guys slept together.
Xiao Can’s face immediately flushed.
Damn He Xingzhou, how could he casually tell others about this kind of thing without his consent? He was too loose-lipped!
…Even though he had secretly told Mu Nianwen.
But as a person, of course, there were double standards.
But since it had already been discovered, and Tan Zhen wasn’t someone who couldn’t be trusted, Xiao Can had to admit it honestly.
He didn’t want to say it directly, so he replied with three ellipses, somewhat awkwardly.
Tan Zhen immediately called him.
After answering, his voice was incredibly shocked, “Is that your way of admitting it? Is it true? Did I guess right?”
Xiao Can was stunned for a moment, suddenly realizing something, “Are you tricking me?”
“Cough,” Tan Zhen cleared his throat, “Just made a reasonable inference based on clues, wanted to confirm.”
“…”
“I’m so shocked,” Tan Zhen’s excitement was evident, “How did this happen so fast? Are you guys together after all? Please don’t hide this from me!”
“It’s not what you think, it’s just… unavoidable,” Xiao Can said, “I had my reasons.”
“Reasons?” Tan Zhen instantly calmed down, “…Can you talk about it?”
It’s not about whether it’s convenient or not, it’s necessary. Otherwise, who knows what kind of misunderstanding might arise.
Xiao Can roughly recounted the course of events, and explained at the end, “It’s a bit difficult to talk about the necessity of marking again… so I didn’t tell you. Now that the problem is resolved, there’s no need to bring it up…”
Tan Zhen took a while to come back to his senses, “I didn’t expect something like this to happen…”
“Yeah, I’ve never heard of it before, or else it wouldn’t have become like this,” Xiao Can said.
“Have you removed the mark now?” Tan Zhen asked.
“Not yet,” Xiao Can sighed, “I’ve been busy these days, probably won’t have time until next month.”
Tan Zhen fell silent for a moment, then sighed, “Does removing the mark hurt the body a lot?”
“You wouldn’t want to persuade me not to go, would you?” Xiao Can said.
“Of course not! It’s just that… you seem too pitiful…” Tan Zhen said, “I originally thought you two were mutually attracted, but now it seems a bit…”
Xiao Can thought to himself, indeed there was mutual attraction, but unfortunately, it was me who ignited the spark unilaterally.
Afraid that Tan Zhen might do something unnecessary, he chose to temporarily hide this little thought.
Tan Zhen continued, “So it seems like he really got the upper hand.”
“You can’t say it like that…” Xiao Can unconsciously defended He Xingzhou, “He didn’t do it intentionally at first, he was actually a victim too. Later on, this time… it was my idea, he just wanted to make up for his mistake…”
“…”
Xiao Can felt guilty, “I mean, from a rational perspective, he didn’t have any subjective faults!”
“No matter how rational, he still benefited greatly from it, right?” Tan Zhen said.
Xiao Can thought to himself, but I like him.
For someone as stubborn as He Xingzhou, unless it’s out of a sense of responsibility, it’s impossible for him to have a relationship with someone he doesn’t like. From the results, perhaps he was the one who benefited more.
“Why did you guess? What did he tell you?” Xiao Can asked.
“He thought you would tell me, so he wanted to ask me about your opinion of him,” Tan Zhen said.
“What do you mean?”
“He thought we had no secrets between us, he thought you must have told me everything about the incident,” Tan Zhen said, “Who knew you hadn’t.”
Xiao Can felt guilty and quickly changed the subject, “I meant… what opinion?”
“The user experience, how it felt,” Tan Zhen said, “I didn’t realize before that he’s actually quite sleazy. He’s always pretended to be a gentleman in front of me.”
Shocked, Xiao Can finally realized why Tan Zhen didn’t react as excitedly as he had expected when he found out about their intimate encounter.
On one hand, he felt sorry for him, and on the other hand, he felt a little disgusted with He Xingzhou.
“What did you say?” he asked.
“He asked more delicately, and I didn’t know the details, so I didn’t understand at the time,” Tan Zhen said, “He realized later and immediately changed the subject.”
Xiao Can felt embarrassed, “That’s awkward.”
“Now that we’re talking about it, can you tell me?” Tan Zhen cleared his throat again, “how was it.”
“Just… just, it was okay,” Xiao Can said.
“…”
“It wasn’t very intense, it was just… that,” Xiao Can stuttered, “Gritting my teeth, closing my eyes, and it was over. It was just for marking, nothing good or bad about it.”
“Why did he have the nerve to ask then?” Tan Zhen was very dissatisfied, “This Alpha isn’t good. I’ve misjudged him.”
“It’s not like that! It’s… um,” Xiao Can’s brain was smoking, “Anyway, it didn’t leave a bad impression!”
“Your reaction sounds… strange,” Tan Zhen seemed to detect something odd.
“Let’s not talk about this,” Xiao Can pleaded, “Didn’t you discuss the matter of going public with him? Is there a conclusion?”
“Oh right, we decided to make a public statement after all, otherwise, if something else is caught on camera later, it won’t be good,” Tan Zhen said, “It’s also good to let everyone know we have conflicts after the show airs, strike while the iron is hot, so we don’t have another wave of trouble later.”
“When specifically?” Xiao Can asked.
“Not decided yet, I need to discuss with my manager.”
“Hope everything goes smoothly,” Xiao Can said.
“At most, I’ll just get criticized again,” Tan Zhen smiled, “Anyway, I’ve got ‘princess syndrome,’ I’m used to it.”
“What about He Xingzhou’s opinion?”
“He said it’s okay anytime, waiting for my message,” Tan Zhen said, “I apologized to him, he said it doesn’t count over the phone, it’s too perfunctory, he needs to hear it in person to show enough respect.”
Xiao Can subconsciously imagined He Xingzhou saying this seriously, and couldn’t help but laugh.
“We barely talked about serious matters, and he insisted on arguing with me about whether the boneless duck feet that day were good or not,” Tan Zhen sighed, “He even boasted, saying with a little study, he could easily make something even tastier.”
Xiao Can laughed even harder, “Maybe it’s true. When I went there that day, he made me a table of dishes, it was really delicious.”
“Did he entertain you so seriously?” Tan Zhen’s tone suddenly became ambiguous.
“He just likes this, it’s the same whoever goes,” Xiao Can hastily explained, “You’ve been together officially for quite a while, haven’t you been to his house?”
“I dare not, it’s too awkward,” Tan Zhen said, “Although we’re in frequent contact, I hardly ever see him.”
Xiao Can nodded and asked again, “Does he mean he wants you to apologize in person?”
“Yes,” Tan Zhen said, “He also said you have to be there.”
Xiao Can was stunned for a moment, suddenly realizing that this seemed to be a request he had made.
Could it be that He Xingzhou was asking for it to be done in person just because of this? That would be too much.
But then he thought, perhaps this was a good opportunity to see He Xingzhou.
“After all, I’m also one of the parties involved,” he said to Tan Zhen.
“Ah,” Tan Zhen sighed heavily, “I hope everything will be over soon.”
After hanging up the phone, it didn’t take long for Xiao Can to receive a message from He Xingzhou.
—Talked to Tan Zhen today.
Xiao Can replied.
—Did you tell him something you shouldn’t have?
There was no response from the other end.
Xiao Can followed up.
—Avoidance is meaningless, it will only make people feel unreliable.
Finally, He Xingzhou replied.
—Sorry. What did he tell you?
Xiao Can hesitated for a long time, deciding to make him feel uncomfortable for a bit.
—I won’t tell you.
After that, no matter what He Xingzhou said, he didn’t reply anymore.
Over the next week, Xiao Can only rested for half a day, spending the rest of the time either attending events or shooting advertisements, with the remainder devoted to traveling.
Occasionally, He Xingzhou would send him messages, sharing Charlie’s photos or videos.
Despite his busy schedule, Xiao Can always made sure to reply promptly.
He didn’t dare to mention it to anyone, but deep down, he knew he was starting to miss He Xingzhou.
The “pseudo-like” theory proposed by Mu Nianwen wasn’t very reliable.
After realizing his true feelings, Xiao Can became increasingly concerned. Emotions accumulated in his chest, fermenting and thickening day by day.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t find an excuse to meet up temporarily, let alone spare the time.
However, he did manage to meet up with Tan Zhen during the only half-day break they both had, sharing a meal together.
As one of the singers of the promotional song, Bai Tao also invited Tan Zhen to participate in the promotional activities. After they finished work, they were too lazy to go out again and just ordered takeout at the hotel.
“We’ve already discussed it. We’ll release it at a less busy time for more visibility,” Tan Zhen showed Xiao Can the scheduled Weibo post on his phone, “We’ve set it for Monday morning at 9:30.”
Thinking about the impending public breakup of the two, Xiao Can couldn’t help but feel a bit excited.
“Have you communicated with He Xingzhou as well?” Xiao Can asked.
“Yeah,” Tan Zhen said, scrolling through his phone and switching to his chat window with He Xingzhou to show him.
The interface displayed their conversation.
Tan Zhen: Remember what we agreed on last time?
He Xingzhou: Of course!
Tan Zhen: How about tomorrow morning at 9:30, are you okay with that?
He Xingzhou: That specific?
Tan Zhen: Is it inconvenient?
He Xingzhou: Very easy~ Just send it directly to you?
Tan Zhen: Send it to me for what? Post it on Weibo!
He Xingzhou: Okay.
Watching this exchange, Xiao Can inexplicably felt a strong sense of unease.
“Are you sure there’s no problem with your communication?” he asked.
Tan Zhen was puzzled, “Where would there be a problem?”
Xiao Can couldn’t explain it either. After hesitating for a while, he smiled and said, “Maybe it’s because I just don’t trust him enough, so I’m being paranoid.”
Tan Zhen stretched his arms, “It’s just a small thing, you don’t need to worry too much about him.”
Xiao Can nodded, “Right.”
That night, the two parted ways.
On Monday morning, Xiao Can deliberately got up early, refreshing his homepage at exactly 9:30. He immediately saw Tan Zhen’s new Weibo post.
“Thanks for the companionship, I wish you all the best in the future. @He Xingzhou”
Xiao Can’s heart pounded as he refreshed the page again, and as expected, He Xingzhou’s new Weibo post appeared on his homepage.
“Boneless duck feet done this way are soft, smooth, crispy, and endlessly delicious!”
Xiao Can was dumbfounded.
He returned to Tan Zhen’s profile, clicked on the comment section of the latest post, and saw He Xingzhou’s reply at the top.
He Xingzhou: Huh???
