I Won Over My Best Friend’s Idol - Chapter 7

Xiao Huang changed into Zheng Yi’s clothes, put on his face mask and hat, and grabbed his suitcase. Meanwhile, the superstar himself changed into Xiao Huang’s clothes.

Holding only his phone, a spare mask, and the room card he had just snatched, Zheng Yi instructed, “Be good. Head downstairs, check out, and get in the car with the staff just like I usually do. Get out of here quickly. I’ll hail a cab and meet you at the venue before noon tomorrow.”

Xiao Huang kept darting his eyes toward Kong Yinmeng. His meaning couldn’t have been clearer…he was completely worried about leaving her alone with him.

“Go, hurry! If you dawdle any longer, those people are going to barge in!” Zheng Yi gave Xiao Huang a gentle push to get him moving. Left with no choice, Xiao Huang headed into the elevator, looking back with every step.

Kong Yinmeng stood there completely dazed. She watched helplessly as Zheng Yi swiped her room card and walked right into the room she had booked.

“Wait a minute, what is the meaning of this? You’re a grown man, why are you coming into my room…”

“You’d better close the door,” Zheng Yi interrupted. “I’m worried some of those die-hards might still try to sneak up here. If anyone catches us in the same room, the consequences will be catastrophic.”

No matter how angry Kong Yinmeng was, she knew he wasn’t lying. Swallowing her frustration, she shut the door and marched fiercely over to Zheng Yi, who had already seated himself on the edge of the bed.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he said. “I’m just giving you a chance to prove your innocence, and, well, helping myself out of a tight spot. You’re not the only one who’s exhausted. I’ve been running around all day and really don’t feel like playing hide-and-seek with those people anymore. Being chased by them sucks.”

The sheer exhaustion etched between his brows proved he was telling the truth. The problem was… how was that her problem?

“Fine, I get that you’re tired. But why couldn’t you just open another room? I don’t need to prove my innocence because I am innocent! And as you can see, there’s only one bed here. Where exactly do you plan on sleeping? The floor?”

He was a pampered megastar. You didn’t need a brain to know he wouldn’t sleep on the floor, and since the room had no extra space, what was he going to do…sit up all night?

“Getting a new room is too much trouble. Besides, the moment I step downstairs, I risk getting recognized. That would make Xiao Huang’s disguise completely pointless. The best solution I could think of was to crash here for the night. As for where to sleep… the bed is pretty big. I don’t mind sharing half of it with you.”

Kong Yinmeng clenched her fists tightly. What a complete mess! She opened the room, it was her bed, so who was he to “generously” offer her half of it?

“Since you’re so set on staying, give me the cash for the room and I’ll go book another one. Goodbye!” She really didn’t want to argue with him anymore. It was a waste of time and solved absolutely nothing.

Her coat was tossed right behind him. She reached out to grab it, but Zheng Yi, thinking she was trying to storm out, stood up to block her. Their opposing movements caused them to collide head-on.

Losing her balance, Kong Yinmeng tripped over his foot and tumbled toward the floor. In a panic, Zheng Yi grabbed her to break her fall.

“Ouch… you’ve got a sharp set of teeth.” Zheng Yi instinctively rubbed his neck. The chain of events had happened so fast. Luckily, they had collapsed onto the bed; if they had hit the hard floor, they’d probably be spending the night in the ER.

Though he was bleeding slightly now, to Zheng Yi, it wasn’t a big deal.

Kong Yinmeng hadn’t expected to land right on top of him, let alone plant her teeth into his neck. At a glance, the mark looked incredibly suggestive…like a hickey left behind after a passionate encounter.

Scrambling off him in a panic, she checked her teeth. Thank goodness they weren’t broken. Television dramas really were full of lies; hitting someone’s mouth perfectly for a romantic kiss was apparently not that easy.

She stole a cautious glance at Zheng Yi as he sat back up, feeling a sudden wave of guilt.

“I know what you’re worried about,” he said, noticing her look. “But I swear I won’t do anything inappropriate. I just want a place where I can get a decent night’s sleep. If you don’t believe me, you can look up my reputation online. I’m a man of my word.”

Since he put it that way, Kong Yinmeng found herself speechless. To put it bluntly, he was a public figure adored by millions. If anything actually happened, it was up in the air who would really be the one losing out.

“Fine, you can stay. But I need to score a favor for a friend. She’s a huge fan of yours. I’m going to video call her, and you just need to say a few words to her.”

She really was the ultimate best friend, practically selling herself out to get a perk for her pal. Instead of pointing the camera at Zheng Yi right away, she wanted to surprise Lu Fangcao. Instead, her friend gave her a massive surprise.

“Holy shit! You idiot, I told you to say no! Who told you to answer?! Ah—” Lu Fangcao’s frantic, breathless voice echoed through the room. Kong Yinmeng slammed the hang-up button instantly.

How could she have forgotten that her friend was a total carnivore? It was nearly midnight, so it made perfect sense that she was busy “doing the deed,” but damn it, why did she have to answer a video call during it?!

“Uh… never mind. She can just stick to regular fandom. It builds character anyway. It’s late, let’s just wash up and sleep!”

She had experienced too many embarrassments tonight. If she didn’t sleep now, she was going to have a breakdown.

“Then… do you want to shower first, or should I?” Zheng Yi glanced toward the semi-transparent bathroom, feeling a bit flustered himself. Kong Yinmeng had hung up fast, but he had still heard exactly what was happening on the other end. He had only intended to tease her a bit, but now he had managed to awkward-out himself too.

Kong Yinmeng looked back at the bathroom, suddenly feeling a metaphorical heart attack coming on. This trip was turning out to be way too thrilling.

“You go first. But let’s agree: no peeking. I’ll just sit right here and wait until you’re done.” She sat on the edge of the bed, facing away from the bathroom and staring at her phone like a meditating monk.

Zheng Yi wasn’t lying about being exhausted. Since things had progressed to this point, he just had to bite the bullet and shower. Showering while knowing a member of the opposite sex is waiting just outside is a true test of nerves. He took the shortest shower of his life, stepping out in less than ten minutes.

“Your turn. My used toiletries are on the right side, you can use the left.”

Kong Yinmeng really hadn’t expected him to walk out wearing nothing but a bath towel slung around his waist. It only covered his midsection, leaving his sculpted, powerful chest and long, toned legs completely exposed.

Suddenly feeling an intense wave of thirst, she rushed to the desk, uncapped a bottle of water, and took a massive gulp. Naturally, she choked.

“Cough, cough… hack…” The dignity she had spent twenty-five years building had been completely obliterated today. She finally understood why Lu Fangcao was such a hardcore fan of this guy.

The woman was a visual carnivore; if Lu Fangcao were the one in this room right now, she probably would have pounced on him by now.

“Are you okay?” Zheng Yi asked, stepping closer and reaching out to pat her back. Terrified, she instantly took two steps back to maintain a safe, socially distanced gap between them.

“I’m fine, I’m fine, totally good! You… you do your thing, don’t worry about me!” She bolted over to her suitcase, grabbed her pajamas and her own towel, and darted into the bathroom.

She didn’t start showering right away. Instead, she stared straight into the mirror. The girl looking back at her had cheeks as pink as cherry blossoms…the universal look of a smitten teenager.

Slapping her own cheeks, she scolded herself internally, ‘Keep it together! Do not let yourself get seduced by male beauty!’

While she was giving herself a pep talk, Zheng Yi had already ditched the towel, slid under the covers, and propped his upper body against the headboard.

He kept his eyes strictly forward. Since he promised not to peek, he intended to keep his word. Opening WeChat, he found over a dozen unread messages from Xiao Huang.

Every single text was at least twenty words long. Xiao Huang really missed his calling as an online review writer.

First, he asked where Zheng Yi was sleeping, how Kong Yinmeng was doing, if Zheng Yi was being harassed, and pinned the location where he and the staff had relocated.

Seeing that none of the messages contained any actual vital information, Zheng Yi… simply ignored them.

Logging into Weibo, the news of him being cornered by sasaeng fans (obsessive stalker fans) was trending in bright red, exactly as expected. He was entirely desensitized to it by now.

He scrolled absentmindedly for a bit before switching to his burner account to check Kong Yinmeng’s Weibo page. He noticed she had recently posted an ad, and her comment section looked quite lively.

Due to his packed schedule, he hadn’t noticed the post before. Looking at it now, her follower count had grown quite a bit, matching that of a mid-tier influencer, and her audience engagement was impressively high.

The bathroom door clicked open. Kong Yinmeng tentatively shuffled out. Stripped of her makeup, her face didn’t lose its charm; in fact, she looked a bit younger and fresher.

To be fair, her pajamas weren’t much more conservative than Zheng Yi’s bare torso. Women love looking nice, so even when traveling alone, she had packed her usual style…a silver, silk camisole nightdress. The straps were thin, and the hem barely covered her thighs, failing to even reach her knees.

Zheng Yi was sitting on the absolute edge of his side, leaving plenty of space on the massive bed. If neither of them tossed and turned tonight, they would easily manage to stay out of each other’s way.

Before getting into bed, a thought struck her. She walked over to her suitcase and pulled out a bottle of iodine antiseptic and some cotton swabs.

“Tilt your head up. You celebrities are fragile. If this gets infected and you make me pay for the damages, I’m ruined.” She had already soaked the swab with iodine, waiting for him to comply.

Zheng Yi was speechless. It was a tiny scrape that had already stopped bleeding after his shower, and she wanted to put iodine on it?

“No need, it’s just a scratch. You certainly pack heavy though, traveling with iodine.” He tried to change the subject, but it didn’t work.

Ignoring his refusal, Kong Yinmeng set the bottle on the nightstand. Her free hand reached out, firmly gripping his chin to force his head back.

Feeling a cool sting on his neck, Zheng Yi gave up the futile resistance, a helpless, amused smile breaking across his face.

“When you’re out and about, bumps and bruises are bound to happen. It doesn’t hurt to bring emergency supplies. See? It came in handy.” She dabbed it two or three times before finally letting go.

The liquid threatened to drip down his neck, so she quickly grabbed a tissue to dab away the excess, warning him not to touch it for a few minutes until it dried.

With the task done, she felt the atmosphere had stabilized. She walked around to her side of the bed, lifted the corner of the duvet, and slid inside.

Turning her back completely to Zheng Yi, she closed her eyes. After a few agonizing minutes, sleep felt impossible. “Um… should we turn off the lights?”

Zheng Yi murmured an agreement. He threw back the covers and stood up to walk over to the light switch by the door.

Kong Yinmeng internally cursed her own stupidity. She knew he was only wearing underwear under those covers! Why on earth did she make him get up to turn off the lights?!

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