Pretending Not to Love You [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The warmth of your hand remains on my palm, Yet you say tomorrow we shouldn’t meet again. I watch your retreating figure, my vision blurred. They say if I lose you, I still have the whole forest, But who knows I only want to cling to your one tree.

The colors of the sky are too ethereal, I stand on my tiptoes but still cannot reach. If only the carousel could spin backward once, If only love hadn’t been so fleeting, If you could turn and look at me one last time, If you could love me just a little longer, Would we still be “us,” Not “you” and “I.”

In the instrumental break of the MV, there was a brief self-introduction from Zuo Qiu and Xiao Bojun.

Zuo Qiu: I am Zuo Qiu. Xiao Bojun: I am Xiao Bojun. Zuo Qiu: We are classmates, roommates, and now— Together: Z.X

Although this song, Us, was a sad love song, the melody wasn’t overly mournful. Coupled with the exquisite MV production and the handsome appearance of the two male leads, the Z.X duo instantly gained a large following of visual fans. The duo’s Weibo follower count continued to rise.

Zhao Zhixian watched the steadily climbing fan numbers, excitedly pacing back and forth in his office. Currently, by relying on reposts from influential celebrities and bloggers, Z.X was able to trend on the hot search list, and their ranking was still climbing over time… The first step had finally been taken, and the results were quite good. The subsequent resources needed to follow up immediately.

Thinking this, Zhao Zhixian immediately called the reality show production team he had contacted earlier. Now that the two had garnered popularity, couldn’t their participation in the show be moved up?

Zuo Qiu and Xiao Bojun were also following the online developments in the apartment. Zuo Qiu was overwhelmed with excitement seeing they had gained so many fans in one afternoon.

Xiao Bojun’s face, however, was dark. He had been scrolling through the comments, but what kind of people were these? Every single person was calling Zuo Qiu and him their husband. The most infuriating was the hottest comment:

“Today I’ve been making a difficult decision: Should I have Zuo Qiu as my husband, or Xiao Bojun as my husband? After two hours of agonizing, I’ve decided! I hereby solemnly declare: Z.X’s Qiuqiu and Junjun are BOTH my husbands. Don’t try to steal them from me.”

What is this nonsense? Clearly, you’re the ones stealing from me! Seeing so many people liking Zuo Qiu, Xiao Bojun felt complicated. Did I just find myself too many love rivals?

Just then, Zhao Zhixian called Xiao Bojun.

“Second Young Master, Second Young Master, let me tell you, your followers have surpassed 200,000! Congratulations! Also, I just secured a few jobs for you…”

Before Zhao Zhixian finished, Xiao Bojun interrupted him. “I’m too lazy to listen to the work details. Just tell Zuo Qiu directly. I’ll join him then.”

As soon as Xiao Bojun finished speaking, he tossed the phone to Zuo Qiu and continued to scroll through Weibo.

Zuo Qiu took the phone and greeted Zhao Zhixian as “Brother Zhao.”

Zhao Zhixian was not at all unhappy that Xiao Bojun had passed the phone to Zuo Qiu. To be honest, he preferred talking to the understanding Zuo Qiu over Xiao Bojun.

“Zuo Qiu, I have two things to tell you. First, the reality show I found for you earlier, the production team has agreed to let you film earlier. The shooting date is the day after tomorrow. Also, a film crew called today, hoping you two could cameo as a pair of twins. This film is directed by a famous director and is a major production. I’ve accepted it for you. You’ll probably join the crew next Monday. If things go smoothly, your scenes can be wrapped up in two days.”

Zuo Qiu took out his schedule and compared the dates. Brother Zhao meant that the reality show originally scheduled for next week was moved to the day after tomorrow, and a movie cameo was slotted in before his starring role in the TV drama. Zuo Qiu marked the times and said, “No problem.”

Zuo Qiu was always easy to deal with, but Xiao Bojun was another matter. Zhao Zhixian hesitated: “The Second Young Master… should be fine, right?”

“Hold on, Brother Zhao, let me ask.” Zuo Qiu held the phone slightly away and asked Xiao Bojun, who was focused on the computer, “Brother Zhao says we have work the day after tomorrow. Xiao Er, is that okay with you?”

Before knowing Xiao Bojun was the Second Young Master of the Xiao family, Zuo Qiu always called him “Xiao Bojun.” After knowing his identity, he started calling him “Xiao Er.” Although the name sounded a bit silly, it was better than stiffly using his full name. Xiao Bojun accepted it without any objection.

Xiao Bojun didn’t turn his head: “No problem.”

Zuo Qiu repeated into the phone: “Brother Zhao, he says no problem. Just send me the finalized itinerary when you have it.”

Zhao Zhixian breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid the Second Young Master would find the workload too intensive. Fortunately, Zuo Qiu was there. He had finally found the correct way to communicate with Xiao Bojun.

Zuo Qiu hung up the phone and walked over to Xiao Bojun with his phone. “The day after tomorrow, we’re leaving for City H to film Come With Me. The filming time is two days and two nights. We’ll wait for Brother Zhao to notify us about the exact departure time.”

“Mhm.” Xiao Bojun replied casually. He didn’t care where they went or what they did.

Zuo Qiu was surprised to see Xiao Bojun’s eyes glued to the screen. “What are you watching so intently?” Zuo Qiu leaned closer to the screen. The page displayed was their Weibo homepage, which only had one post. Was he reading comments?

“Is someone trolling us?” Zuo Qiu asked, seeing Xiao Bojun’s tense, ready-for-battle expression.

Xiao Bojun didn’t actually want to keep staring at Weibo, but he couldn’t help it. Every time he refreshed, many new comments appeared, and he couldn’t stop.

“No.”

Xiao Bojun closed the laptop. “I’m done looking. Let’s go do face masks.”

Since Xiao Bojun discovered that applying face masks was the quickest way to get into Zuo Qiu’s bed, applying masks had become his favorite recent activity.

Zuo Qiu watched Xiao Bojun naturally lie down on his bed, waiting for Zuo Qiu to put the mask on him, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Applying a mask is very easy. I can teach you…”

Xiao Bojun interrupted him with his eyes closed: “I’m very tired.”

Zuo Qiu heard him and kept silent, because he was also very tired.

Although they hadn’t reported to the company today, the stylist came directly to the apartment to prepare their looks. In one day, the two had undergone a major transformation. Most notably, their hair was changed. Zuo Qiu’s hair had bangs and was dyed a light chestnut forest color, while Xiao Bojun had his hair permed into small curls and dyed gold. After the hair was done, the stylist matched over a dozen outfits for them, instructing them to wear the matching sets when going out. As a result, they changed clothes back and forth over a dozen times. It would be strange if they weren’t tired!

Zuo Qiu took the face masks out of the refrigerator and applied one to Xiao Bojun first. Throughout the process, Xiao Bojun kept his eyes closed and remained silent, as if he had fallen asleep. Zuo Qiu didn’t mind. After lying down, he applied one to himself.

Once both masks were on, Zuo Qiu closed his eyes, waiting for his skin to absorb the serum. But perhaps because he was too tired, when Zuo Qiu woke up again, the mask had dried onto his face, and Xiao Bojun, sleeping beside him, wasn’t in much better shape.

Zuo Qiu remembered his mother telling him that leaving a mask on for too long would absorb moisture from the face. He didn’t dare to delay. After wiping his and Xiao Bojun’s faces with a wet towel, he applied a layer of moisturizer.

When the work on their faces was finally done, Zuo Qiu faced a dilemma: Should I wake Xiao Bojun and tell him to go back to his room?

After struggling for a minute, Zuo Qiu decided to follow the voice deep within his heart: He would let Xiao Bojun stay in his bed.

It’s perfectly natural for two roommates to sleep in the same bed, Zuo Qiu reassured himself.

The next morning, Xiao Bojun woke up to a terrifying discovery: his right hand was resting on Zuo Qiu’s chest, and his right foot was stacked directly on Zuo Qiu’s calf. Even worse, his front was pressed against Zuo Qiu’s back. And even more terrifying: his little brother was being disobedient, standing at attention and pressing right against Zuo Qiu’s lower back!

Xiao Bojun: Thank goodness, Zuo Qiu hasn’t woken up!