Chapter 16
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Chapter 16
[Ahhhhhhhh, Yue, what are you doing? Why did you refuse? If you don’t want to, move aside and let me take your place! Honey, wait for me—I’m coming right over to sleep with you!]
[I’m furious! Yue, aren’t you supposed to be a wife-protecting—no, strike that—a childhood-friend fanatic? How could you bear to reject your wife’s request to sleep together and make him sleep alone in that haunted room? Tell me, have you fallen out of love?]
[Heh, you’ve finally let the mask slip, haven’t you? You acted so convincingly before, but now you can’t keep it up anymore! I knew it—these two aren’t genuinely close childhood friends at all.]
Although quite a few viewers were still questioning whether they were merely pretending to be childhood friends, everyone was baffled when Qi Yue, who had previously doted on Gu Yunshuang, suddenly refused Gu Yunshuang’s invitation to share a bed. Even if it was all an act, they had been keeping it up for so long. Why expose themselves now?
Gu Yunshuang’s disbelief and Qi Yue’s guilty, silent expression were captured in screenshots by their ship fans. The pictures were later turned into reaction memes, with cat ears edited onto Gu Yunshuang and the caption: “How dare you refuse me? Tell me, have you found another cat outside?”
The meme soon spread beyond the fandom. The moment ordinary internet users saw Gu Yunshuang transformed into such a wounded fairy cat, they were instantly charmed and wished they could reach through the screen, pin Qi Yue down, and force him to agree.
But that was all a story for later.
At present, Qi Yue’s refusal was barely holding together beneath Gu Yunshuang’s wounded gaze.
In the end, Gu Yunshuang was the first to surrender.
He instantly concealed every emotion, once again becoming cold and detached, as though he had put on the shell of ice he used to protect himself from the outside world.
“If you don’t want to, then forget it.” In the end, he had been asking for too much, pushing his luck too far. He should have understood. Seven unfamiliar years now lay between them, and they had both grown up. They could never return to the way things had been.
Qi Yue was no longer the good big brother next door who indulged him in everything. For all he knew, Qi Yue might already have someone more important than him. To keep that person from misunderstanding, Qi Yue should indeed maintain some distance from him.
Jiang Mingshuang tried to smooth things over. “Brother Gu, draw lots with the rest of us! I’m so nervous. What if I’m unlucky enough to draw the master bedroom? Please, no!” As he spoke, he put on a cute expression and deliberately acted tense and uneasy.
Sun Zhanyuan was the first to object. “No. Gu Yunshuang chose the master bedroom, so he can’t go back on it.”
Sun Jiayuan, watching the livestream, desperately wanted to rush in and kick her idiotic brother into the distance.
Xie Yuhua chimed in. “We all saw it happen. No one forced him to choose. A person should keep his word, don’t you agree, Master Xue?”
Qiao Yuanzhong nodded enthusiastically without thinking.
Xue Tinghe cast Gu Yunshuang a cold glance and said mockingly, “Once a move has been made, there are no regrets. Since you chose it, you must bear the consequences yourself.”
Gu Yunshuang’s expression turned cold as well. “I never said I wanted to take it back. There’s nothing to take back.”
Instead, he calmly and naturally comforted Qi Yue. “Don’t worry. Just as you said, we’ve both grown up and changed from how we were before. I’m not afraid of these things anymore. I was only fooling you just now, deliberately pretending to be frightened. I never thought you would actually believe me without the slightest suspicion. I’m not as timid as I used to be, easily scared by everything. It’s only one fake haunted room. How could I possibly be afraid?”
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Listening to his polite yet distant explanation, Qi Yue felt as though every word had turned into a sword, slowly driving itself straight into his heart.
With a helpless sigh, Qi Yue could only resign himself to fate. He took Gu Yunshuang’s right hand in his palm and gently coaxed his clenched fist open.
“Relax your hand. If you keep squeezing it, your nails are going to dig into your flesh. Look at you—you were so frightened that you couldn’t even feel the pain, yet you still have the nerve to boast that you’ve grown braver and that staying in a haunted room is no big deal.”
Because the atmosphere between them was simply too intimate, the cameraman, acting on professional instinct, turned the lens toward Gu Yunshuang’s palm. Sure enough, four blood-red crescent-shaped marks had been pressed into it. They were deep enough that no one doubted his nails would have broken the skin if he had applied any more force.
The strength Gu Yunshuang had struggled to maintain was punctured by Qi Yue with a single gentle remark. He felt more aggrieved than ever before. He had spent years fighting his way through the entertainment industry and had endured every kind of suppression and slander, yet he had never felt the slightest grievance over any of it—not even enough to twitch an eyebrow.
Qi Yue, however, could shatter his defenses with effortless ease. The number of times he had felt wronged today already exceeded the total for the past seven years. Yet his grievance seemed to have no justification at all.
The more he told himself that he had no right to feel wronged or blame Qi Yue, the more resentment rose within him. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. His sense of grievance only deepened. He did not want the others watching him in such a weak and miserable state, so he merely lowered his head and remained silent.
How could Qi Yue not know what he was thinking?
With a helpless smile, he said, “After a few years apart, you’ve become so formal with me. Given the bond we’ve shared since childhood, it doesn’t matter whether it’s been a few years or several decades—even when we’re both white-haired old men, you can still act as shamelessly as you like in front of me. No matter how much time passes, your place in my heart will never change. No one could ever replace you.”
The final thread holding Gu Yunshuang together finally snapped. His eyes turned red. “You knew I was scared, and you still refused me?”
Qi Yue rubbed his head. “I won’t do it again, I won’t. I’ll share the room with you. With how timid and easy to bully you are, what if that unscrupulous production team, always looking for trouble, scares you senseless? In the end, I’d still be the one suffering for it.”
The unscrupulous production team, always looking for trouble: …………
At last, the clouds parted and the moon shone through. Gu Yunshuang revealed a relieved smile.
This time, both of them understood clearly. Although they had been separated for several years and had changed greatly, there were also many things that had never changed.
Gu Yunshuang was still the timid, fragile, easily bullied pretty little bun whom Qi Yue had always kept in his heart. And Qi Yue was still the older brother whom Gu Yunshuang trusted and relied on most—the one who would steadfastly protect him.
Their gazes lingered on each other, and all their past misunderstandings melted away.
[Waaaaah, I’m so moved! It’s so sweet! It feels as though I can hear spring flowers blooming. The way they’re looking at each other, the atmosphere between them—it’s absolutely beautiful. Frantically taking screenshots.jpg]
[“Given the bond we’ve shared since childhood, it doesn’t matter whether it’s been a few years or several decades—even when we’re both white-haired old men, you can still act as shamelessly as you like in front of me.” That was such a beautiful thing to say. It made me think of my childhood best friend, whom I haven’t contacted in years. Although we went our separate ways long ago and now have families of our own, I know the bond we once shared will not disappear with time. I believe now that they really are genuine childhood friends.]
[This pairing is unbelievably good. After shipping them for so many years, I’ve finally gotten the real thing today.]
[I’m so sick of you people seeing romance everywhere. Not every pairing is something to ship. They clearly have nothing more than pure brotherly affection.]
[Exactly, exactly. So what if they once slept in the same bed and are a little clingy after reuniting years later? Straight male childhood friends are all like this. Nothing to make a fuss about. Dog.jpg]
In the end, Gu Yunshuang and Qi Yue confirmed that they would stay in the master bedroom.
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Jiang Mingshuang and Sun Zhanyuan both wanted to share a room with Xue Tinghe, and they nearly started arguing over it.
Xue Tinghe found it difficult to refuse either of them, so he took the initiative and chose another haunted room on the second floor—one of the children’s rooms. The bed inside was too small for two adults, which made it perfect for him to sleep alone.
Sun Zhanyuan was deeply disappointed. Jiang Mingshuang secretly seethed with resentment. If Gu Yunshuang had not snatched the master bedroom first, and if she had chosen it herself, Brother Xue certainly would not have felt comfortable agreeing to share a room with her. It was all Gu Yunshuang’s fault!
Unexpectedly, Xie Yuhua boldly refused to share a room with either Qiao Yuanzhong or Hu Lijing as well. But the remaining rooms were difficult to divide up, so everyone else decided to draw lots.
Jiang Mingshuang was lucky enough to draw the other children’s room, right next to Xue Tinghe’s. Since both rooms were children’s rooms, the two beds were placed against the adjoining wall, and a window had been opened in that wall. With the windows open while they slept, it was practically no different from sleeping in the same bed. Their ship fans were delighted for a long time afterward.
Sun Zhanyuan, Hu Lijing, and Xie Yuhua drew rooms on the second floor. Only Qiao Yuanzhong drew a haunted room on the first floor—the old people’s room. He was even grateful that Xie Yuhua’s room was not far from Master Xue’s, since that made him feel somewhat safer.
The viewers wholeheartedly agreed and felt that he was devoted and responsible, a remarkably dependable boyfriend.
The next stretch of time was set aside for everyone to freshen up, so they each carried their luggage back to their rooms.
Every room in the villa had numerous cameras installed, and the livestream was divided into multiple screens. Everyone knew perfectly well that this was a supernatural variety show, and the best time for mischief was the dead of night. There would certainly be more excitement that evening.
Carrying their luggage, Qi Yue entered the master bedroom with Gu Yunshuang. He carefully surveyed the room and found no sign of anything unclean. The entire master bedroom had been tidied quite thoroughly, apart from the pool of blackish-red liquid on the floor that had presumably been used by the production team to fake a bloodstain.
Disgust appeared on Qi Yue’s face. He was especially disdainful when he noticed that Gu Yunshuang was avoiding the floor with his eyes.
“There’s no need to be afraid. It’s fake, not real blood. Although this villa is old and has stood empty for a long time, there has definitely never been a murder here.”
As expected, Gu Yunshuang’s expression relaxed. He gave Qi Yue a trusting smile, making anyone who saw it want to reach out and ruffle his hair.
Qi Yue’s fingers curled slightly. He held himself back, but in the end, he could not resist. He quickly rubbed the top of Gu Yunshuang’s head before withdrawing his hand, so swiftly that it looked as though he had merely plucked something from his hair.
A look of bewilderment appeared on Gu Yunshuang’s face. He glanced at Qi Yue’s hand, trying to see what had supposedly been removed from his head.
Qi Yue cleared his throat and looked away, casually changing the subject. “You must be exhausted after sitting in the car all day. Go take a shower, and let’s turn in early tonight. Who knows what that troublemaking director will put us through tomorrow?”
Gu Yunshuang’s attention was successfully diverted. He obediently opened his suitcase, took out some clothes, and went to shower.
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