Translated by juurensha
Edited by Noks
Who made you fall in love with the hunt
How did the topic still come back to this?
“We…” At this moment, Fang Juexia hated that he couldn’t just directly run into a wall and die, and even the possibility of biting his tongue to commit suicide appeared in his mind.
Ling Yi started to cooperate with Lu Yuan and pointed the ramune bottle at Pei Tingsong. “Right! Honestly disclose everything!”
Pei Tingsong grabbed the bottle from his hands. “Disclose your head ah.” Then he looked at Lu Yuan. “No ba, you really want to hear it ah?”
Lu Yuan covered his heart with one hand and supported himself against the lamp with the other. His expression was one that displayed fearlessness in the pursuit of justice, but he also swallowed once before saying, “You may as well say it, Gege can withstand it.”
Glancing at He Ziyan and Jiang Miao, only to see them both wearing a smiling expression while remaining mute, with the intention of watching a good show, Pei Tingsong raised his eyebrows and said, “Then I’ll really say it. Do you need a detailed description?”
Lu Yuan slapped his thigh. “Hurry up!”
Glancing at Fang Juexia’s red neck and his expression showing that his soul was seconds away from leaving his body, Pei Tingsong knew that he was embarrassed and didn’t want to say this in front of so many people, so he just laughed and pulled his family’s baby Gege into his arms. “Dream on ba. What kind of messy things go through your mind every single day? Already told you, we didn’t do anything.”
Fang Juexia had thought that he was really about to say it, so when he was pulled over and hugged by his shoulders, he was left stunned.
“No way.” Lu Yuan pointed to Pei Tingsong. “You two couldn’t even confess to watching the same movie just now, you must be bluffing us.”
“Yeah.” Pei Tingsong shrugged. “We didn’t go to the cinema. With such a big garden, isn’t it enough just to walk around and take a look at it ah?”
Ling Yi stammered and asked, “Then-then why didn’t you guys go-go with us to the hot springs?”
“You even have to ask why?” Pei Tingsong tilted his head. “Because I don’t want you guys to see my boyfriend without clothes on.” Then he pulled Fang Juexia’s collar up to his chin. “Not even a little bit.”
Fang Juexia slapped his hand away and glared at him to shut him up.
“Anyway, since everything is out in the open now, let’s make it clear again.” Pei Tingsong pointed at everyone one by one with the soda bottle. “In the future, you all are not allowed to do fanservice for your guys’ and Fang Juexia’s CPs. From now on, all of them have a BE.”
“Ho, how overbearing.” He Ziyan hugged his right knee while shaking his head. “Dreaming of the Boxer Protocols.”
“Why ah?” Ling Yi wasn’t happy, “Before your guys’ TingJue, mine and Juexia’s CP was very popular!” Then he tried to grab Fang Juexia’s hand and started to act crazy drunk again. “Juexia, you don’t go with him, okay? I’ll sing to support you!”
“Get to the side.” Pei Tingsong directly broke Ling Yi’s grasp. “I can support him without even singing.”
“Hey, hey, hey,” Lu Yuan cleared his throat. “Although I ship TingJue, whatever you say, you shouldn’t talk about money. The already poor youth will feel like they’re also being called out.”
He Ziyan raised his noble hand, which was still adorned with bugle chips, like a big boss at the auction. “Plus one.”
Ling Yi let out a belch, and forgetting what he had said before and who had said what, just followed suit. “Plus one.”
Fang Juexia really couldn’t watch any more of this, so he broke free of Pei Tingsong’s arms and whispered, “Don’t fuss anymore.”
“Okay, okay, okay.” Pei Tingsong, of course, indulged him. “That question is done ah.”
Jiang Miao, who hadn’t been involved in this chaos the whole time, now opened his mouth, “It’s done so quickly? Why don’t you tell us how you two fell in love?” He asked with a smile, “Like… Who chased who? When did you two get together?”
Lu Yuan immediately applauded. “The group leader deserves to be the group leader!”
Ling Yi also clapped. “Okay!”
Pei Tingsong turned his head and asked his wife, “Can we tell them that?”
Fang Juexia immediately turned his head away. “What are you asking me for?”
That meant he could talk about it. Pei Tingsong understood it and spoke frankly, “I chased him. When did we get together… That day when I fell off the stage and hurt my hand, and he went to the hospital to take care of me, that’s the day we got together.”
After listening, Jiang Miao stretched out his hand to He Ziyan, who was leaning against the floor with his hand supporting him as he listened to the story. “I won. Give me money.”
The remaining four people were at a loss as they looked at He Ziyan sigh while transferring money to the group leader.
“What?” Pei Tingsong was puzzled. “How many more bets did you guys make?”
It may number even more than the amount of group chats they had created in private.
Jiang Miao, who received the red envelope, was satisfied. “No ah, we both thought you guys were really dating, but we had some differences about exactly when it started. He Ziyan said that it was around Juexia’s birthday. I said it was earlier, and so I won.” Then he looked at Juexia and deliberately laughed. “But I didn’t expect it to have been so early ah. I thought that Juexia would give it some time and think a lot before accepting.”
After listening to what he said, Fang Juexia’s face turned red, and he froze for a while, before burying himself in eating potato chips, munching away like a hamster.
“So when exactly did you find out that you liked Juexia? Didn’t you tell me seriously before that you thought love was very boring? When did you confess?” Lying on the ground, He Ziyan used his feet to step on Pei Tingsong a few times. He was dissatisfied with losing, so he was going to beat the subject to death to get to the bottom of things.
Suddenly He Ziyan thought of something, and it dawned on him. “Ah, I know. This guy, you didn’t take advantage of your injury ba, and then played the sympathy card to make the kind Juexia have no choice but to reluctantly agree, right?”
Pei Tingsong rolled his eyes, and was just about to say ‘What bullshit are you talking about?’ when unexpectedly, someone else intervened first.
“No,” Fang Juexia, who had been off-line this whole time, actually came out to retort at this time, “I wasn’t reluctant. I only agreed because I liked him.”
This straight ball left the several young men in the room confused. The confusion was soon followed by another round of excitement though.
“Wow oh!!”
“No way, no way, I can’t hear anymore.”
Lu Yuan stuffed a puffed potato chip into his mouth. “Shit, I was raised on dog food.”
“No….I mean…” In the end, Fang Juexia stopped talking and subconsciously glanced at Pei Tingsong.
Being able to hear Fang Juexia publicly announce that he liked him, Pei Tingsong thought that using the words “treading on air” wasn’t an exaggeration to describe how he was feeling right now. He felt that he had already reached the highlight of his whole life. Once a person started feeling proud, they would become willing to say anything, and would be very pleased with themselves. “Did you guys see that? Blindly guessing will get you slapped in the face.” Then he began to recall, “When did I find out that I liked Juexia? …The day we found out about the leaked song, I got prodded by Liang Ruo and figured it out.”
Ling Yi’s little brain wasn’t enough to process all this. He hugged his head and said painfully, “Liang Ruo?! Why does Liang Ruo have a part in this drama?! Wait, this plot-why does this plot seem so familiar?”
“Because you were the one who gave me Liang Ruo’s number,” Pei Tingsong reminded him.
“Yes!” Ling Yi slapped his forehead, “My God! So I-I-I…”
“Yes, you’re the confession middleman.” Pei Tingsong ignored the little fool who found that he had been the one to almost mastermind the plot, and continued, “Liang Ruo asked Juexia out, to talk privately. I called Liang Ruo when I was looking for Juexia, but he didn’t hang up during their entire conversation, so I heard him confessing to Juexia. At that time, I grew infuriated; I didn’t know what I was angry about, just that I was very angry.”
Jiang Miao could almost imagine what their maknae’s reaction must have been at that time. “So it turns out that someone made an example, while also puncturing the paper in your windows.”
“Anyway, I discovered that, oh, my feelings for this person were probably in another form, besides friendship ah.” Pei Tingsong suddenly turned serious. “So after I picked him up, I confessed to him.”
“Shit, that efficiency.” He Ziyan sincerely applauded him. “Pei Tingsong, you’re too smooth.”
Lu Yuan was surprised. “So Juexia agreed just like that?”
Fang Juexia immediately shook his head. “No, I-I didn’t agree at that time.”
Jiang Miao asked again, “Then, how did you feel about him back then ah? Did you refuse Xiao Pei just like you refused Liang Ruo?”
Of course not, Fang Juexia said in his heart.
“It’s not the same. When I heard Liang Ruo confess to me, I was just a little surprised, because I didn’t feel that way about him at all.” Fang Juexia lowered his eyes and spoke slowly, “Later, when I heard Pei Tingsong talk, I was just… just really confused and startled, but—but there was actually a little bit, so I couldn’t say no.” He frowned, and then gave Jiang Miao a weak smile. “I was too confused and had no way to think at the time. He begged me not to turn him down too quickly, so I didn’t turn him down right there and then.”
Ling Yi rubbed his eyes. “Juexia, it’s too easy to persuade you.”
“It’s not that he’s easy to persuade.” Jiang Miao’s face carried an expression of seeing through everything, and he cleverly grasped the key point. “Juexia, when you were talking about Liang Ruo just now, you directly used the expression ‘didn’t feel that way about him at all.’ But when it came to Xiao Pei’s confession, you began to speak incoherently. Clearly, since you are the most logical person I know; you must have liked Xiao Pei a little at that time, but it was just that you didn’t know it.”
“Really?” Fang Juexia was a little embarrassed at being seen through at a glance. He hugged his knees and said in a low voice, “Maybe ba…”
But he suddenly sat up straight again, turned to look at Pei Tingsong beside him, and said in annoyance, “But why is it that I’m always admitting that I like you ah?”
Pei Tingsong laughed and tapped Fang Juexia’s chin. “You guys see, this guy’s temper only gets scattered on me.”
Critical hit.
He Ziyan covered his ears. “No more, no more, it’s as if I’m torturing myself.”
“I can still go on! Please continue!”
“Why did I tell Pei Tingsong Liang Ruo’s phone number at that time ah?! I-I hate it!”
Their bandmates were undergoing a nervous breakdown, but Pei Tingsong was still concerned with Fang Juexia’s question just now. “Why do you think they discovered our relationship?”
Fang Juexia blinked.
Why….
Pei Tingsong flicked his forehead and said in a low voice, “This matter of me liking you—is there anyone who can’t see it, Fang Juexia?”
He didn’t know why, but Fang Juexia’s heart suddenly, and chaotically, leaped up.
Sure enough, it was hard for him to keep himself steady whenever he was at Pei Tingsong’s side.
Young boys were the worst at hiding matters of the heart, and the most difficult matter of the heart to hide was liking someone.
Knowing that Fang Juexia was thin-skinned and wouldn’t be able to stand being questioned the entire time, Pei Tingsong protected him by changing the topic and forced them to continue playing Truth and Dare. Fortunately, their bad luck had passed. For the next several rounds, they both escaped being picked, but it was Ling Yi who was the most miserable. He got several dares in a row, and in the last one, he directly drew—[Call Qiang Ge to say that he was pregnant with his child]. Everyone was half-drunk while battling him, and they forced Ling Yi to really call him.
Cheng Qiang had already fallen asleep on his side. The phone rang and woke him up, and when he picked up the call, it turned out that it was actually Ling Yi crying and saying that he had a baby.
The other people held Ling Yi down, all the while holding their breaths as they waited for Cheng Qiang’s response. Unexpectedly, after a few seconds of silence, he actually directly hung up.
“Du–du—du–”
After listening to this busy tone, everyone let go of Ling Yi.
“It’s over. Ling Yi is out of favor, no one even cares about him when he’s pregnant with a baby.”
“You’re the one pregnant with a baby!”
Fang Juexia held back a smile. “Qiang Ge probably thinks he is dreaming. He will definitely call back after seeing the call log tomorrow.”
“Hahahahahahahahaha, yes!”
Jiang Miao suddenly thought of something. “By the way, when are you guys going to tell Qiang Ge ah?”
“Depends on Juexia ba.” Pei Tingsong said, “I listen to him about everything.”
He Ziyan sneered. “You devil incarnate, even you have a day when you listen to other people. It’s true that everything has something that can vanquish it.”
Fang Juexia thought about it. “I was originally planning on confessing it during this period, but I was a little worried. Although Qiang Ge said that it’s fine if we fall in love, he probably didn’t think we’d fall in love within the group ba.”
“It’s also something he facilitated.” Lu Yuan shook his head. “In fact, if you don’t tell him, that’s also okay. How can love within the group be found out ah? If anyone asks, it’s fanservice.”
“We’ll help you guys hold down the closet door!” Ling Yi wore an expression of taking serious responsibilities onto his shoulders.
Pei Tingsong said on purpose, “Just you ah, come on ba, as long as you don’t take a megaphone to publicize it everywhere, I’ll be thanking God every day.”
“I’ll never do that this time!” Ling Yi was very serious. After getting drunk, he became pretty silly, and so he swore in a loud voice, “I can, I can do it!”
“Okay you,” consoled Lu Yuan as he munched on sunflower seeds, “Don’t scare the baby in your womb.”
“Hahahahaha!”
The six people stayed in Lu Yuan’s villa until three or four o’clock in the morning. Ling Yi was the first one to fall asleep. Originally, all six of them were still playing cards, and only when it was his turn to play a card did they find that this guy had already fallen asleep on the floor. Lu Yuan dragged him to bed, covered him with a quilt, and continued chatting and drinking with the rest of the group. Fang Juexia was someone who would get drunk as soon as he took a sip, and the alcohol being passed around this time was pretty strong, so he passed out before they could even give him the opportunity to be in a drunken state. By this time, it wasn’t early anymore, so the rest of them were also ready to go to bed.
Pei Tingsong, who hadn’t drunk much, carried Fang Juexia to another room. He didn’t know why, but by now, Fang Juexia was a bit more sober again. He held his neck, and body entangled with his, kept asking Pei Tingsong whether he liked him or not. Pei Tingsong replied obediently.
“If you like me, you have to tell me a story.”
“Okay ah.” Pei Tingsong held Fang Juexia in his arms, patting him on the back while telling him a story featuring Lily and Little Abacus. He narrated the story until Fang Juexia fell asleep, and then he also fell asleep.
The next day, everyone slept until noon, and then in the afternoon, they went to feed the peacocks. Ling Yi didn’t listen to advice and wore a fancy jacket with metallic fabric, which attracted several male peacocks’ attention, and they chased him while spreading out and displaying their tail feathers. This scene was photographed by Lu Yuan and posted on Weibo. From then on, Ling Yi gained an additional nickname “Peacock on Earth”, bestowed on him by the fans.
After leaving the hot spring resort, Kaleido was once again engaged in the busy work of a boyband. Publicizing their love affair within the group didn’t change things much—Pei Tingsong just forced Ling Yi to switch rooms every day, but Ling Yi absolutely refused to do so and acted as a third wheel every time. As soon as he saw Pei Tingsong slipping into his room, he would slip in with him, squeezing in right next to the little couple.
The end of the year was the busiest time in the entertainment circle, with award ceremonies, film festivals, and many platforms’ year-end parties being held at this point. When group shots were taken on the red carpet, everyone was competing against each other in looks and fashion. In the past, Kaleido had been unknown at these year-end events. Let alone performing on stage, they couldn’t even get a single ticket to attend these functions.
But now it was different. This year, Kaleido’s popularity was almost unmatched, and it was the absolute focus of this year. In addition, their popularity was built on the foundation of their strength and talent; that was something that would usually last for a long time, so everyone was willing to get closer to them to make things more convenient in the future. Even the film festival had invited them to participate. However, Jiang Miao and the film crew walked down the red carpet together, so the remaining five had to enter from elsewhere.
Before they entered the venue, they had specially rehearsed a new opening line. This time, there was no group leader shouting “one, two, three.” Instead, it was Ling Yi who introduced them, and his loud voice gave everyone a feeling that there was an MC on the scene.
“Hello, everyone! We are— the five oil bottles Jiang Miao’s dragging around!”
Even their hand gesture had turned into them stretching out five fingers.
The venue was full of laughter. This line was also released online and forwarded out of the circle. #Kaleido crosstalk boy band# went on the Hot Search List again, and their previous classic jokes also went with them, counting as disguised promotion for the film. Originally, this film was just a niche art film, but because there was a member of a popular boy-band participating in it, the box office on the first day exceeded 100 million. Even the director made a Weibo post thanking the actors and the audience.
The film reviews were gradually released, and perhaps because his role both fit him well and was tragic, the comments online on Jiang Miao’s testing the acting waters for the first time were all pretty good, and praise for his ability was constantly spreading by word-of-mouth. Some people even predicted that Jiang Miao would be nominated for best newcomer or best supporting actor.
As soon as the film festival was over, the rest of the functions were composed of award ceremonies densely packed together. Kaleido had a high degree of attention focused on them, for within one year, they had released two explosively popular albums, which then almost swept all the major music award ceremonies.
“There are so many invitations recently that I can’t even pick through them. Several of them are even at the same time.” Cheng Qiang took advantage of the fact that they had finished shooting the winter album’s main song’s MV to casually discuss about these events on the set. “But one of them is running into the same time as the BMA, so we won’t go to that one. BMA is the most prestigious one, and even if we don’t win any prizes in the end, you guys have to participate.”
As soon as they talked about BMA, Ling Yi became excited. “Begging here, let’s win one ba, let’s be lucky once ba.“
Pei Tingsong said, “No, on the day the official nomination list came out, our anti posts just exploded. I almost started directly cursing people out on Weibo.”
Fang Juexia thought of something and turned to look at him. “Didn’t you already curse them out?”
“Yi? Is that right?” Pei Tingsong blinked, as if he was searching through his memory. “Aiya, I’ve cursed too many people out, I don’t remember anymore.”
Cheng Qiang sighed. “All of you can’t be so discouraged ah. If you can really win an award at BMA, you guys will have become really big.”
According to Star Chart’s plan, <Xmas & U>, a mini winter album, would be released on Christmas Day, on December 25, which was also the anniversary of Kaleido’s debut. Coincidentally, the BMA award ceremony this year was also arranged to be held on Christmas Day. For their debut performance on the BMA stage, and to also give fans a special performance for their anniversary, Kaleido remixed “Break Through” and “Last Summer”, and also prepared for the first performance of the main song of the winter album.
Ever since the official announcement that Kaleido would attend BMA, their fans had been leaving messages on the official Weibo every day. Because the cries were too loud and Kaleido’s performances had always been brilliant, BMA specially extended their performance time. So they, in turn, specially arranged an intro with members going out to perform in pairs. He Ziyan acted as a DJ and cooperated with Ling Yi to perform the non-main song “Ice War”, Jiang Miao and Lu Yuan danced together, while Pei Tingsong and Fang Juexia went on-stage together to perform and sing “Hunt.”
The award ceremony was broadcast live from the moment many singers and groups started walking on the red carpet. The opening performance was done by the Seven Luminaries without the retired Liang Ruo. Fang Juexia, who was listening backstage, couldn’t help sighing.
“Are you cold?” Pei Tingsong took off his coat and put it on Fang Juexia. Fang Juexia’s performance outfit was very thin; it was some kind of a European medieval style white shirt, covered with a black cloak.
Fang Juexia shook his head and whispered, “I’m a little nervous.”
Today, the makeup he was sporting was very special. In order to match the style of ‘Hunt’, a bloodstain had been drawn specially on his lips, and his eyeliner had also been hooked up in an alluring fashion. Saying such adorable words with such a face, he gave off a strange, but cute feeling.
Pei Tingsong stretched out his hand, which was encased in a glove. “You can bite it, and once you bite it, you won’t be nervous anymore.”
“You’re the vampire today, okay?” Fang Juexia was talking about Pei Tingsong’s make-up and hair, but he was also used to wanting to take off the glove as soon as he saw it; he didn’t know what kind of Pavlovian reaction this was. However, he simply pulled at it before he was stopped by Pei Tingsong. “Don’t fuss, we’re going to be on stage soon.”
Okay ba, Fang Juexia let him off in his heart.
Time always flew by backstage, and all of a sudden, it was their turn. When the lights dimmed, and the stage had gone completely dark, the six of them entered the stage through the lift. He Ziyan and Ling Yi were on the far left of the stage, Jiang Miao and Lu Yuan were on the far right, and Pei Tingsong and Fang Juexia were in the middle.
The music started, and the spotlight on the left lit up first. As soon as Ling Yi’s voice appeared, the fans below the stage started screaming.
Fang Juexia was shrouded by darkness the whole time as he listened to his bandmates’ performance. Pei Tingsong held his wrist, and only when he heard the staff preparing to cut over to them did he let go and step away.
The middle spotlight lit up. However, before they even started, there were shrieks already coming towards them like waves. Pei Tingsong walked out holding the mic. This time, instead of his usual machine-gun rap, he started out with a slower rhythm, which was accompanied by music that gave off a complete ceremonial feel, with even a sick and delicate feeling mixed into it.
“The heat that from my fingertips flows is in exile from the mountains on your back down low.“
His hand pulled open his collar, and he chanted, “Your trembling pores are biting me tightly and not letting me go, whose nerve endings have gone crazy with vertigo. Your blood vessels are boiling hot aglow, magma’s sweet fragrance overflows. You say you want me, you want me to let go.“
His words sped up with the beat, and he raised his eyebrows. “Let out whose blood to cover my desire to lie low. With one look, you can dig out my heart solo.”
Holding out his index finger and moving it in a circle, the corners of Pei Tingsong’s mouth rose. “Keep you high, round and round. Grinding out a curve isn’t abstract enough, how can animal instinct lie off the cuff, no matter how pure it is, it’ll all get defiled and I’ll call your bluff.”
As the music changed, another spotlight in the middle lit up, and Fang Juexia, who was wearing a black cloak, appeared, and began the hook part.
“You’re going to burn away your blood for me.”
Fang Juexia was linked to the idea of abstinence in many people’s hearts. Even his singing was ethereal, one that never fell to earth. He seldom used this kind of psychedelic singing with controlled breathing, so his every last note hooked people in, making him a skilled enchanter of souls.
“Obliterate away with a kiss for me.”
“Exhaust yourself for me.”
“Destroy yourself in my body.”
He lifted his hand to his shoulder and pushed down the hood of his black cloak to show his full face.
“Who made you fall in love with the hunt, you devotee.”
The music changed again. The remix followed after He Ziyan and Ling Yi’s ‘Ice War’ at the beginning, and Pei Tingsong began to chant the English intro in his magnetic voice, which were also the intro lyrics for the beginning of “Ice War”, but had been adapted to fit a medieval style by them.
“I’ll be your wicked resistor.”
[我会成为你棘手的反抗者。]
Fang Juexia used a coloratura singing technique to chant and harmonize with Pei Tingsong. It was like a Biblical chant, floating across like a banished immortal. It was completely different from his previous seductive singing style.
“your unbroken martyr.”
[你坚不可摧的殉道者。]
“your faithful warrior.”
[你忠诚的战士。]
Pei Tingsong was originally walking forward step by step, but suddenly he stopped, turned around, and looked at Fang Juexia, who was walking towards him. “No.”
“Ain’t your innocent younger lover.”
[不，我才不要做你天真无邪的年轻爱人 ]
Under the lens of the camera, Pei Tingsong, having just finished a hunt, met Fang Juexia on a dirty path. He then grasped Gege’s chin.
“I’m your fucking dirty master.”
[我要做你下流至极的拥有者. ]
Translated by juurensha
Edited by Noks
Who made you fall in love with the hunt
How did the topic still come back to this?
“We…” At this moment, Fang Juexia hated that he couldn’t just directly run into a wall and die, and even the possibility of biting his tongue to commit suicide appeared in his mind.
Ling Yi started to cooperate with Lu Yuan and pointed the ramune bottle at Pei Tingsong. “Right! Honestly disclose everything!”
Pei Tingsong grabbed the bottle from his hands. “Disclose your head ah.” Then he looked at Lu Yuan. “No ba, you really want to hear it ah?”
Lu Yuan covered his heart with one hand and supported himself against the lamp with the other. His expression was one that displayed fearlessness in the pursuit of justice, but he also swallowed once before saying, “You may as well say it, Gege can withstand it.”
Glancing at He Ziyan and Jiang Miao, only to see them both wearing a smiling expression while remaining mute, with the intention of watching a good show, Pei Tingsong raised his eyebrows and said, “Then I’ll really say it. Do you need a detailed description?”
Lu Yuan slapped his thigh. “Hurry up!”
Glancing at Fang Juexia’s red neck and his expression showing that his soul was seconds away from leaving his body, Pei Tingsong knew that he was embarrassed and didn’t want to say this in front of so many people, so he just laughed and pulled his family’s baby Gege into his arms. “Dream on ba. What kind of messy things go through your mind every single day? Already told you, we didn’t do anything.”
Fang Juexia had thought that he was really about to say it, so when he was pulled over and hugged by his shoulders, he was left stunned.
“No way.” Lu Yuan pointed to Pei Tingsong. “You two couldn’t even confess to watching the same movie just now, you must be bluffing us.”
“Yeah.” Pei Tingsong shrugged. “We didn’t go to the cinema. With such a big garden, isn’t it enough just to walk around and take a look at it ah?”
Ling Yi stammered and asked, “Then-then why didn’t you guys go-go with us to the hot springs?”
“You even have to ask why?” Pei Tingsong tilted his head. “Because I don’t want you guys to see my boyfriend without clothes on.” Then he pulled Fang Juexia’s collar up to his chin. “Not even a little bit.”
Fang Juexia slapped his hand away and glared at him to shut him up.
“Anyway, since everything is out in the open now, let’s make it clear again.” Pei Tingsong pointed at everyone one by one with the soda bottle. “In the future, you all are not allowed to do fanservice for your guys’ and Fang Juexia’s CPs. From now on, all of them have a BE.”
“Ho, how overbearing.” He Ziyan hugged his right knee while shaking his head. “Dreaming of the Boxer Protocols.”
“Why ah?” Ling Yi wasn’t happy, “Before your guys’ TingJue, mine and Juexia’s CP was very popular!” Then he tried to grab Fang Juexia’s hand and started to act crazy drunk again. “Juexia, you don’t go with him, okay? I’ll sing to support you!”
“Get to the side.” Pei Tingsong directly broke Ling Yi’s grasp. “I can support him without even singing.”
“Hey, hey, hey,” Lu Yuan cleared his throat. “Although I ship TingJue, whatever you say, you shouldn’t talk about money. The already poor youth will feel like they’re also being called out.”
He Ziyan raised his noble hand, which was still adorned with bugle chips, like a big boss at the auction. “Plus one.”
Ling Yi let out a belch, and forgetting what he had said before and who had said what, just followed suit. “Plus one.”
Fang Juexia really couldn’t watch any more of this, so he broke free of Pei Tingsong’s arms and whispered, “Don’t fuss anymore.”
“Okay, okay, okay.” Pei Tingsong, of course, indulged him. “That question is done ah.”
Jiang Miao, who hadn’t been involved in this chaos the whole time, now opened his mouth, “It’s done so quickly? Why don’t you tell us how you two fell in love?” He asked with a smile, “Like… Who chased who? When did you two get together?”
Lu Yuan immediately applauded. “The group leader deserves to be the group leader!”
Ling Yi also clapped. “Okay!”
Pei Tingsong turned his head and asked his wife, “Can we tell them that?”
Fang Juexia immediately turned his head away. “What are you asking me for?”
That meant he could talk about it. Pei Tingsong understood it and spoke frankly, “I chased him. When did we get together… That day when I fell off the stage and hurt my hand, and he went to the hospital to take care of me, that’s the day we got together.”
After listening, Jiang Miao stretched out his hand to He Ziyan, who was leaning against the floor with his hand supporting him as he listened to the story. “I won. Give me money.”
The remaining four people were at a loss as they looked at He Ziyan sigh while transferring money to the group leader.
“What?” Pei Tingsong was puzzled. “How many more bets did you guys make?”
It may number even more than the amount of group chats they had created in private.
Jiang Miao, who received the red envelope, was satisfied. “No ah, we both thought you guys were really dating, but we had some differences about exactly when it started. He Ziyan said that it was around Juexia’s birthday. I said it was earlier, and so I won.” Then he looked at Juexia and deliberately laughed. “But I didn’t expect it to have been so early ah. I thought that Juexia would give it some time and think a lot before accepting.”
After listening to what he said, Fang Juexia’s face turned red, and he froze for a while, before burying himself in eating potato chips, munching away like a hamster.
“So when exactly did you find out that you liked Juexia? Didn’t you tell me seriously before that you thought love was very boring? When did you confess?” Lying on the ground, He Ziyan used his feet to step on Pei Tingsong a few times. He was dissatisfied with losing, so he was going to beat the subject to death to get to the bottom of things.
Suddenly He Ziyan thought of something, and it dawned on him. “Ah, I know. This guy, you didn’t take advantage of your injury ba, and then played the sympathy card to make the kind Juexia have no choice but to reluctantly agree, right?”
Pei Tingsong rolled his eyes, and was just about to say ‘What bullshit are you talking about?’ when unexpectedly, someone else intervened first.
“No,” Fang Juexia, who had been off-line this whole time, actually came out to retort at this time, “I wasn’t reluctant. I only agreed because I liked him.”
This straight ball left the several young men in the room confused. The confusion was soon followed by another round of excitement though.
“Wow oh!!”
“No way, no way, I can’t hear anymore.”
Lu Yuan stuffed a puffed potato chip into his mouth. “Shit, I was raised on dog food.”
“No….I mean…” In the end, Fang Juexia stopped talking and subconsciously glanced at Pei Tingsong.
Being able to hear Fang Juexia publicly announce that he liked him, Pei Tingsong thought that using the words “treading on air” wasn’t an exaggeration to describe how he was feeling right now. He felt that he had already reached the highlight of his whole life. Once a person started feeling proud, they would become willing to say anything, and would be very pleased with themselves. “Did you guys see that? Blindly guessing will get you slapped in the face.” Then he began to recall, “When did I find out that I liked Juexia? …The day we found out about the leaked song, I got prodded by Liang Ruo and figured it out.”
Ling Yi’s little brain wasn’t enough to process all this. He hugged his head and said painfully, “Liang Ruo?! Why does Liang Ruo have a part in this drama?! Wait, this plot-why does this plot seem so familiar?”
“Because you were the one who gave me Liang Ruo’s number,” Pei Tingsong reminded him.
“Yes!” Ling Yi slapped his forehead, “My God! So I-I-I…”
“Yes, you’re the confession middleman.” Pei Tingsong ignored the little fool who found that he had been the one to almost mastermind the plot, and continued, “Liang Ruo asked Juexia out, to talk privately. I called Liang Ruo when I was looking for Juexia, but he didn’t hang up during their entire conversation, so I heard him confessing to Juexia. At that time, I grew infuriated; I didn’t know what I was angry about, just that I was very angry.”
Jiang Miao could almost imagine what their maknae’s reaction must have been at that time. “So it turns out that someone made an example, while also puncturing the paper in your windows.”
“Anyway, I discovered that, oh, my feelings for this person were probably in another form, besides friendship ah.” Pei Tingsong suddenly turned serious. “So after I picked him up, I confessed to him.”
“Shit, that efficiency.” He Ziyan sincerely applauded him. “Pei Tingsong, you’re too smooth.”
Lu Yuan was surprised. “So Juexia agreed just like that?”
Fang Juexia immediately shook his head. “No, I-I didn’t agree at that time.”
Jiang Miao asked again, “Then, how did you feel about him back then ah? Did you refuse Xiao Pei just like you refused Liang Ruo?”
Of course not, Fang Juexia said in his heart.
“It’s not the same. When I heard Liang Ruo confess to me, I was just a little surprised, because I didn’t feel that way about him at all.” Fang Juexia lowered his eyes and spoke slowly, “Later, when I heard Pei Tingsong talk, I was just… just really confused and startled, but—but there was actually a little bit, so I couldn’t say no.” He frowned, and then gave Jiang Miao a weak smile. “I was too confused and had no way to think at the time. He begged me not to turn him down too quickly, so I didn’t turn him down right there and then.”
Ling Yi rubbed his eyes. “Juexia, it’s too easy to persuade you.”
“It’s not that he’s easy to persuade.” Jiang Miao’s face carried an expression of seeing through everything, and he cleverly grasped the key point. “Juexia, when you were talking about Liang Ruo just now, you directly used the expression ‘didn’t feel that way about him at all.’ But when it came to Xiao Pei’s confession, you began to speak incoherently. Clearly, since you are the most logical person I know; you must have liked Xiao Pei a little at that time, but it was just that you didn’t know it.”
“Really?” Fang Juexia was a little embarrassed at being seen through at a glance. He hugged his knees and said in a low voice, “Maybe ba…”
But he suddenly sat up straight again, turned to look at Pei Tingsong beside him, and said in annoyance, “But why is it that I’m always admitting that I like you ah?”
Pei Tingsong laughed and tapped Fang Juexia’s chin. “You guys see, this guy’s temper only gets scattered on me.”
Critical hit.
He Ziyan covered his ears. “No more, no more, it’s as if I’m torturing myself.”
“I can still go on! Please continue!”
“Why did I tell Pei Tingsong Liang Ruo’s phone number at that time ah?! I-I hate it!”
Their bandmates were undergoing a nervous breakdown, but Pei Tingsong was still concerned with Fang Juexia’s question just now. “Why do you think they discovered our relationship?”
Fang Juexia blinked.
Why….
Pei Tingsong flicked his forehead and said in a low voice, “This matter of me liking you—is there anyone who can’t see it, Fang Juexia?”
He didn’t know why, but Fang Juexia’s heart suddenly, and chaotically, leaped up.
Sure enough, it was hard for him to keep himself steady whenever he was at Pei Tingsong’s side.
Young boys were the worst at hiding matters of the heart, and the most difficult matter of the heart to hide was liking someone.
Knowing that Fang Juexia was thin-skinned and wouldn’t be able to stand being questioned the entire time, Pei Tingsong protected him by changing the topic and forced them to continue playing Truth and Dare. Fortunately, their bad luck had passed. For the next several rounds, they both escaped being picked, but it was Ling Yi who was the most miserable. He got several dares in a row, and in the last one, he directly drew—[Call Qiang Ge to say that he was pregnant with his child]. Everyone was half-drunk while battling him, and they forced Ling Yi to really call him.
Cheng Qiang had already fallen asleep on his side. The phone rang and woke him up, and when he picked up the call, it turned out that it was actually Ling Yi crying and saying that he had a baby.
The other people held Ling Yi down, all the while holding their breaths as they waited for Cheng Qiang’s response. Unexpectedly, after a few seconds of silence, he actually directly hung up.
“Du–du—du–”
After listening to this busy tone, everyone let go of Ling Yi.
“It’s over. Ling Yi is out of favor, no one even cares about him when he’s pregnant with a baby.”
“You’re the one pregnant with a baby!”
Fang Juexia held back a smile. “Qiang Ge probably thinks he is dreaming. He will definitely call back after seeing the call log tomorrow.”
“Hahahahahahahahaha, yes!”
Jiang Miao suddenly thought of something. “By the way, when are you guys going to tell Qiang Ge ah?”
“Depends on Juexia ba.” Pei Tingsong said, “I listen to him about everything.”
He Ziyan sneered. “You devil incarnate, even you have a day when you listen to other people. It’s true that everything has something that can vanquish it.”
Fang Juexia thought about it. “I was originally planning on confessing it during this period, but I was a little worried. Although Qiang Ge said that it’s fine if we fall in love, he probably didn’t think we’d fall in love within the group ba.”
“It’s also something he facilitated.” Lu Yuan shook his head. “In fact, if you don’t tell him, that’s also okay. How can love within the group be found out ah? If anyone asks, it’s fanservice.”
“We’ll help you guys hold down the closet door!” Ling Yi wore an expression of taking serious responsibilities onto his shoulders.
Pei Tingsong said on purpose, “Just you ah, come on ba, as long as you don’t take a megaphone to publicize it everywhere, I’ll be thanking God every day.”
“I’ll never do that this time!” Ling Yi was very serious. After getting drunk, he became pretty silly, and so he swore in a loud voice, “I can, I can do it!”
“Okay you,” consoled Lu Yuan as he munched on sunflower seeds, “Don’t scare the baby in your womb.”
“Hahahahaha!”
The six people stayed in Lu Yuan’s villa until three or four o’clock in the morning. Ling Yi was the first one to fall asleep. Originally, all six of them were still playing cards, and only when it was his turn to play a card did they find that this guy had already fallen asleep on the floor. Lu Yuan dragged him to bed, covered him with a quilt, and continued chatting and drinking with the rest of the group. Fang Juexia was someone who would get drunk as soon as he took a sip, and the alcohol being passed around this time was pretty strong, so he passed out before they could even give him the opportunity to be in a drunken state. By this time, it wasn’t early anymore, so the rest of them were also ready to go to bed.
Pei Tingsong, who hadn’t drunk much, carried Fang Juexia to another room. He didn’t know why, but by now, Fang Juexia was a bit more sober again. He held his neck, and body entangled with his, kept asking Pei Tingsong whether he liked him or not. Pei Tingsong replied obediently.
“If you like me, you have to tell me a story.”
“Okay ah.” Pei Tingsong held Fang Juexia in his arms, patting him on the back while telling him a story featuring Lily and Little Abacus. He narrated the story until Fang Juexia fell asleep, and then he also fell asleep.
The next day, everyone slept until noon, and then in the afternoon, they went to feed the peacocks. Ling Yi didn’t listen to advice and wore a fancy jacket with metallic fabric, which attracted several male peacocks’ attention, and they chased him while spreading out and displaying their tail feathers. This scene was photographed by Lu Yuan and posted on Weibo. From then on, Ling Yi gained an additional nickname “Peacock on Earth”, bestowed on him by the fans.
After leaving the hot spring resort, Kaleido was once again engaged in the busy work of a boyband. Publicizing their love affair within the group didn’t change things much—Pei Tingsong just forced Ling Yi to switch rooms every day, but Ling Yi absolutely refused to do so and acted as a third wheel every time. As soon as he saw Pei Tingsong slipping into his room, he would slip in with him, squeezing in right next to the little couple.
The end of the year was the busiest time in the entertainment circle, with award ceremonies, film festivals, and many platforms’ year-end parties being held at this point. When group shots were taken on the red carpet, everyone was competing against each other in looks and fashion. In the past, Kaleido had been unknown at these year-end events. Let alone performing on stage, they couldn’t even get a single ticket to attend these functions.
But now it was different. This year, Kaleido’s popularity was almost unmatched, and it was the absolute focus of this year. In addition, their popularity was built on the foundation of their strength and talent; that was something that would usually last for a long time, so everyone was willing to get closer to them to make things more convenient in the future. Even the film festival had invited them to participate. However, Jiang Miao and the film crew walked down the red carpet together, so the remaining five had to enter from elsewhere.
Before they entered the venue, they had specially rehearsed a new opening line. This time, there was no group leader shouting “one, two, three.” Instead, it was Ling Yi who introduced them, and his loud voice gave everyone a feeling that there was an MC on the scene.
“Hello, everyone! We are— the five oil bottles Jiang Miao’s dragging around!”
Even their hand gesture had turned into them stretching out five fingers.
The venue was full of laughter. This line was also released online and forwarded out of the circle. #Kaleido crosstalk boy band# went on the Hot Search List again, and their previous classic jokes also went with them, counting as disguised promotion for the film. Originally, this film was just a niche art film, but because there was a member of a popular boy-band participating in it, the box office on the first day exceeded 100 million. Even the director made a Weibo post thanking the actors and the audience.
The film reviews were gradually released, and perhaps because his role both fit him well and was tragic, the comments online on Jiang Miao’s testing the acting waters for the first time were all pretty good, and praise for his ability was constantly spreading by word-of-mouth. Some people even predicted that Jiang Miao would be nominated for best newcomer or best supporting actor.
As soon as the film festival was over, the rest of the functions were composed of award ceremonies densely packed together. Kaleido had a high degree of attention focused on them, for within one year, they had released two explosively popular albums, which then almost swept all the major music award ceremonies.
“There are so many invitations recently that I can’t even pick through them. Several of them are even at the same time.” Cheng Qiang took advantage of the fact that they had finished shooting the winter album’s main song’s MV to casually discuss about these events on the set. “But one of them is running into the same time as the BMA, so we won’t go to that one. BMA is the most prestigious one, and even if we don’t win any prizes in the end, you guys have to participate.”
As soon as they talked about BMA, Ling Yi became excited. “Begging here, let’s win one ba, let’s be lucky once ba.“
Pei Tingsong said, “No, on the day the official nomination list came out, our anti posts just exploded. I almost started directly cursing people out on Weibo.”
Fang Juexia thought of something and turned to look at him. “Didn’t you already curse them out?”
“Yi? Is that right?” Pei Tingsong blinked, as if he was searching through his memory. “Aiya, I’ve cursed too many people out, I don’t remember anymore.”
Cheng Qiang sighed. “All of you can’t be so discouraged ah. If you can really win an award at BMA, you guys will have become really big.”
According to Star Chart’s plan, <Xmas & U>, a mini winter album, would be released on Christmas Day, on December 25, which was also the anniversary of Kaleido’s debut. Coincidentally, the BMA award ceremony this year was also arranged to be held on Christmas Day. For their debut performance on the BMA stage, and to also give fans a special performance for their anniversary, Kaleido remixed “Break Through” and “Last Summer”, and also prepared for the first performance of the main song of the winter album.
Ever since the official announcement that Kaleido would attend BMA, their fans had been leaving messages on the official Weibo every day. Because the cries were too loud and Kaleido’s performances had always been brilliant, BMA specially extended their performance time. So they, in turn, specially arranged an intro with members going out to perform in pairs. He Ziyan acted as a DJ and cooperated with Ling Yi to perform the non-main song “Ice War”, Jiang Miao and Lu Yuan danced together, while Pei Tingsong and Fang Juexia went on-stage together to perform and sing “Hunt.”
The award ceremony was broadcast live from the moment many singers and groups started walking on the red carpet. The opening performance was done by the Seven Luminaries without the retired Liang Ruo. Fang Juexia, who was listening backstage, couldn’t help sighing.
“Are you cold?” Pei Tingsong took off his coat and put it on Fang Juexia. Fang Juexia’s performance outfit was very thin; it was some kind of a European medieval style white shirt, covered with a black cloak.
Fang Juexia shook his head and whispered, “I’m a little nervous.”
Today, the makeup he was sporting was very special. In order to match the style of ‘Hunt’, a bloodstain had been drawn specially on his lips, and his eyeliner had also been hooked up in an alluring fashion. Saying such adorable words with such a face, he gave off a strange, but cute feeling.
Pei Tingsong stretched out his hand, which was encased in a glove. “You can bite it, and once you bite it, you won’t be nervous anymore.”
“You’re the vampire today, okay?” Fang Juexia was talking about Pei Tingsong’s make-up and hair, but he was also used to wanting to take off the glove as soon as he saw it; he didn’t know what kind of Pavlovian reaction this was. However, he simply pulled at it before he was stopped by Pei Tingsong. “Don’t fuss, we’re going to be on stage soon.”
Okay ba, Fang Juexia let him off in his heart.
Time always flew by backstage, and all of a sudden, it was their turn. When the lights dimmed, and the stage had gone completely dark, the six of them entered the stage through the lift. He Ziyan and Ling Yi were on the far left of the stage, Jiang Miao and Lu Yuan were on the far right, and Pei Tingsong and Fang Juexia were in the middle.
The music started, and the spotlight on the left lit up first. As soon as Ling Yi’s voice appeared, the fans below the stage started screaming.
Fang Juexia was shrouded by darkness the whole time as he listened to his bandmates’ performance. Pei Tingsong held his wrist, and only when he heard the staff preparing to cut over to them did he let go and step away.
The middle spotlight lit up. However, before they even started, there were shrieks already coming towards them like waves. Pei Tingsong walked out holding the mic. This time, instead of his usual machine-gun rap, he started out with a slower rhythm, which was accompanied by music that gave off a complete ceremonial feel, with even a sick and delicate feeling mixed into it.
“The heat that from my fingertips flows is in exile from the mountains on your back down low.“
His hand pulled open his collar, and he chanted, “Your trembling pores are biting me tightly and not letting me go, whose nerve endings have gone crazy with vertigo. Your blood vessels are boiling hot aglow, magma’s sweet fragrance overflows. You say you want me, you want me to let go.“
His words sped up with the beat, and he raised his eyebrows. “Let out whose blood to cover my desire to lie low. With one look, you can dig out my heart solo.”
Holding out his index finger and moving it in a circle, the corners of Pei Tingsong’s mouth rose. “Keep you high, round and round. Grinding out a curve isn’t abstract enough, how can animal instinct lie off the cuff, no matter how pure it is, it’ll all get defiled and I’ll call your bluff.”
As the music changed, another spotlight in the middle lit up, and Fang Juexia, who was wearing a black cloak, appeared, and began the hook part.
“You’re going to burn away your blood for me.”
Fang Juexia was linked to the idea of abstinence in many people’s hearts. Even his singing was ethereal, one that never fell to earth. He seldom used this kind of psychedelic singing with controlled breathing, so his every last note hooked people in, making him a skilled enchanter of souls.
“Obliterate away with a kiss for me.”
“Exhaust yourself for me.”
“Destroy yourself in my body.”
He lifted his hand to his shoulder and pushed down the hood of his black cloak to show his full face.
“Who made you fall in love with the hunt, you devotee.”
The music changed again. The remix followed after He Ziyan and Ling Yi’s ‘Ice War’ at the beginning, and Pei Tingsong began to chant the English intro in his magnetic voice, which were also the intro lyrics for the beginning of “Ice War”, but had been adapted to fit a medieval style by them.
“I’ll be your wicked resistor.”
[我会成为你棘手的反抗者。]
Fang Juexia used a coloratura singing technique to chant and harmonize with Pei Tingsong. It was like a Biblical chant, floating across like a banished immortal. It was completely different from his previous seductive singing style.
“your unbroken martyr.”
[你坚不可摧的殉道者。]
“your faithful warrior.”
[你忠诚的战士。]
Pei Tingsong was originally walking forward step by step, but suddenly he stopped, turned around, and looked at Fang Juexia, who was walking towards him. “No.”
“Ain’t your innocent younger lover.”
[不，我才不要做你天真无邪的年轻爱人 ]
Under the lens of the camera, Pei Tingsong, having just finished a hunt, met Fang Juexia on a dirty path. He then grasped Gege’s chin.
“I’m your fucking dirty master.”
[我要做你下流至极的拥有者. ]
