TTIG Chapter 65.1

Saturday noon, Fang Yinnian was having lunch with his teammates in the dorm when he placed his phone on the table and Mo Xun’s message suddenly popped up.

 

“Today’s crew lunch box was terrible, but fortunately I was smart and brought the meat sauce you made to eat with rice~ [picture].”

 

Tang Che’s sharp eyes caught this notification and asked: “Yinnian, does Mo Xun message you every day?”

 

Fang Yinnian casually said: “Mm, doesn’t he message you guys?”

 

Tang Che: “No.”

 

Fu Fei said puzzledly: “Doesn’t Brother Mo usually post photos in the group chat?” Then he leaned over to look at Fang Yinnian’s phone: “What did he send you privately? Let me see.”

 

There was nothing secret about their chat content, so Fang Yinnian opened his phone to let Fu Fei take a look.

 

Fu Fei saw the just-sent lunch box photo, then scrolled up to see a long string of video call records—one video chat every night before bed, all from Mo Xun calling Fang Yinnian.

 

Fu Fei was dumbfounded: “Holy crap! Is he checking in daily? You guys video chat every day—what do you talk about?”

 

Fang Yinnian uncomfortably put away his phone, smiling: “Just casually chatting about crew situations. Mo Xun really is very talkative.”

 

Tang Che said: “He’s only talkative with you.”

 

Fang Yinnian’s heart jumped as he looked up at Tang Che.

 

Tang Che maintained his indifferent expression, lightly tapping his chopsticks against his bowl edge: “Junwen, Xiao Fei, has Mo Xun video-called either of you?”

 

Both shook their heads: “No.”

 

Tang Che concluded: “Seems he only privately video-calls Yinnian. The differential treatment is quite obvious.”

 

Fang Yinnian: “…”

 

During this period of constantly video-chatting with Mo Xun, he hadn’t realized this at all. Mo Xun only video-called him, not other teammates. Tang Che’s comment suddenly made him aware.

 

Mo Xun would directly share fun set photos in the FTM group chat, but privately contacted only Fang Yinnian one-on-one.

 

Everyone was friends, yet Mo Xun’s differential treatment was indeed obvious.

 

Fang Yinnian’s heart pounded non-stop, feeling anxious as if some secret had been discovered.

 

Tan Junwen smiled: “Tang Che, do you have an opinion? Brother Mo lives with Yinnian and usually prefers chatting with Yinnian. Otherwise, should he video-call you to hear you respond with ‘boring’?”

 

Tang Che shrugged: “I have no opinion. I’m too lazy to listen to his chatter.”

 

Fu Fei suddenly said: “Brother Nian, your face is so red!”

 

Fang Yinnian: “…”

 

He hurriedly stuffed his phone in his pocket, smiling: “It’s too hot. I’m going to the restroom, you guys chat.”

 

After Fang Yinnian left, Tan Junwen looked at Tang Che and asked quietly: “What did you mean just now?”

 

Tang Che crossed his arms and said seriously: “Haven’t you noticed the atmosphere between them is off? Mo Xun’s behavior is like reporting his itinerary to family during a business trip.”

 

Fu Fei almost spat out his rice with a “pfft,” quickly coughing twice and staring wide-eyed: “Reporting itinerary to family? You mean they’re dating and Brother Mo treats Brother Nian as his boyfriend?! Holy crap! That’s impossible!”

 

Tan Junwen stroked his chin: “Though I ship the MoFang CP and they do have good chemistry, actually being together is absolutely impossible.”

 

Fu Fei nodded vigorously in agreement: “Two straight guys don’t turn gay that easily. They’re just closer friends. Brother Che, you’re overthinking. I only invite Brother Junwen when I play games, not you guys.”

 

Tan Junwen said: “Exactly. Although we’re a team, it doesn’t matter if some people contact each other more privately.”

 

Tang Che looked at them expressionlessly and said flatly: “I hope I’m overthinking.”

 

In the restroom, Fang Yinnian’s heart beat violently as he washed his face with cold water while organizing his emotions—he really had been acting strange lately, constantly thinking of Mo Xun uncontrollably.

 

Maybe because Mo Xun kept telling him about scripts and action scenes these past few days, Fang Yinnian’s dreams were also full of Mo Xun in period costume.

 

Fang Yinnian vigorously scrubbed his face, looking at his wet-haired reflection in the mirror. Slowly calming down, he picked up his phone to message Mo Xun: “Why do you only video-call me and not chat privately with them?”

 

Mo Xun had just finished lunch when he saw the message and was slightly stunned. He nervously gripped his phone, hesitating before carefully typing: “What? Are you getting annoyed with me?”

 

Fang Yinnian quickly typed: “I’m not annoyed, I just think since we’re all teammates, treating people so differently isn’t quite right, is it?”

 

This message made Fang Yinnian’s ears start burning again. Mo Xun’s differential treatment toward him made him panic, yet his heart inexplicably felt a touch of sweetness.

 

Because he realized that he held the most weight in Mo Xun’s heart—he was special—and this made Fang Yinnian uncontrollably happy.

 

Mo Xun explained: “Tan Junwen is too lazy and takes forever to reply to messages. Xiao Fei just plays games when he’s free, so my video calls would interfere with his ranked matches. Tang Che is too cold—I don’t know what to talk to him about. I get along best with you, and besides, the other guys are too lazy to pay attention to me.”

 

Fang Yinnian pressed: “Is it just because we get along that you video call me daily like checking in?”

 

Mo Xun continued sending smiley faces guiltily: “Yeah, when there’s something fresh happening on the crew, I want to tell you about it, otherwise I feel stifled keeping it in.”

 

If that was the only reason, then it wasn’t a big deal. This was Mo Xun’s first time joining a major director’s crew—he felt everything was fresh and exciting, and just urgently wanted to share with friends.

 

Fang Yinnian felt relieved and said: “We don’t need to contact each other so frequently. Aren’t you sharing a room with someone on the crew? Video calling every day might annoy your roommate too.”

 

Mo Xun said: “It’s fine, my roommate is pretty easygoing. I usually chat with you when he’s showering. If we’re filming night scenes recently, I won’t video call you—it would disturb your sleep in the middle of the night.”

 

Fang Yinnian sent two words: “Okay.”

 

Over the next few days, the crew indeed started filming night scenes. Mo Xun often worked until 4 or 5 AM, sometimes even pulling all-nighters until 7 or 8 AM, so he didn’t contact Fang Yinnian.

 

Fang Yinnian felt empty inside but was too embarrassed to disturb Mo Xun’s filming.

 

The two went from daily video calls initially, to chatting every two to three days, and by early November, Mo Xun hadn’t contacted him for a whole week.

 

During this period while Mo Xun joined the crew for filming and Tang Che’s school coursework was very full, FTM didn’t have many scheduled appearances.

 

But FTM was still a hot boy group after all—they couldn’t stay out of the public eye for too long, so Xu Baichuan booked them for a Double Eleven gala.

 

This year’s Double Eleven gala was broadcast on Dongyang TV. Large galas were very helpful for improving FTM’s recognition, and Xu Baichuan’s approach to accepting resources was “better to have none than poor quality”—only accepting useful programs.

 

FTM’s official account posted: “November 11th at 8 PM @Dongyang TV, Double Eleven Celebration Gala, FTM confirmed to attend.”

 

Fans were extremely excited seeing the news.

 

This was FTM’s first group performance since Mo Xun joined the crew in October. Everyone hadn’t seen them for a while and missed them greatly.

 

The “Wind Rises in Chang’an” crew was divided into Groups A and B. Group B was filming large-scale war ensemble scenes that would take several days, while Group A’s main storyline was paused. Actors temporarily leaving the crew wouldn’t affect filming progress.

 

Male lead Qin Luo was also participating in the Double Eleven gala, so Mo Xun requested three days off from the crew along with him.

 

Mo Xun and Qin Luo took the same flight to Dongcheng on November 9th.

 

Having filmed together for this period, the two had become familiar. Qin Luo affectionately called him “Xiao Mo,” while Mo Xun called him “Brother Luo.”

 

The other four FTM members flew from Jiangzhou, and since everyone’s arrival times were close, their manager said in the group chat: “@Mo Xun, wait at the VIP passage when you arrive, we’ll go out together when everyone’s here.”

 

Mo Xun: “Received.”

 

At 10 PM, the four FTM members arrived at the airport. Fang Yinnian immediately spotted Mo Xun sitting in the waiting area.

 

He wore a black loose casual outfit today, with a baseball cap and mask plus sunglasses.

 

Seeing his teammates, Mo Xun removed his sunglasses and walked over with a smile: “Brothers, long time no see.”

 

He extended his arms and naturally hugged Tan Junwen.

 

Tan Junwen smiled and patted his shoulder: “Brother Mo seems much more mature. Playing a swordsman master, even your aura has gotten stronger.”

 

Mo Xun laughed: “Actually, I just got tanned.”

 

Then he hugged Fu Fei: “Xiao Fei, did you miss your brother?”

 

Fu Fei smiled brilliantly: “Every single day! Wondering if you were being bullied on the crew and whether we needed to team up to help you get revenge hahaha.”

 

Joking with Xiao Fei and Junwen came naturally to him.

 

Tang Che disliked intimate contact with people, and Mo Xun wouldn’t proactively hug this ice-cold cool guy either. He nodded at him: “Has school been busy lately?”

 

Tang Che: “Mm, I’m a junior now—quite a few courses.”

 

The diplomatic Mo Xun greeted his teammates in turn, his gaze finally settling on Fang Yinnian’s face.

 

The moment their eyes met, Fang Yinnian’s heart began beating violently. After not seeing each other for a month, Mo Xun seemed more mature and even more handsome than before. Fang Yinnian showed Mo Xun a smile.

 

Mo Xun also smiled slightly, stepped forward to pull Fang Yinnian into his arms, and asked quietly: “Did you miss me?”

 

Fang Yinnian lightly nodded: “Mm.”

 

The same question—Fu Fei could joke about it openly—but when Fang Yinnian said “mm,” his heart felt very uncomfortable.

 

What was happening to him?

 

During this period he had indeed thought about Mo Xun every day. Now finally seeing him, that excited, elated yet nervous feeling made Fang Yinnian’s heart pound non-stop.

 

When Mo Xun pulled him into his arms, he couldn’t even breathe properly.

 

Fortunately, Mo Xun quickly released him and casually ruffled Fang Yinnian’s hair: “Your hair’s gotten long—time for a trim.”

 

Fang Yinnian smiled: “I’ll trim it tomorrow when they do styling.”

 

Xu Baichuan walked over from a distance: “Alright, let’s go out together. There are particularly many fans here to pick us up today.”

 

The five walked out of the airport together.

 

Deafening cheers and screams erupted ahead.

 

FTM’s offline popularity was already comparable to A-list celebrities. Today’s airport pickup fans formed two long lines in grand fashion.

 

“Ahhhhh so handsome!”

 

“FTM fighting~”

 

“Mo Xun returning to the team feels so good ahhh!”

 

“Yinnian, Yinnian, look at me!”

 

Fan site photographers’ telephoto lenses madly clicked photos of them as Fang Yinnian smiled and greeted the fans.

 

Mo Xun’s return made not only fans extremely happy, but the other members’ moods visibly improved too—FTM with all five members was the complete form.

 

After arriving at the hotel, Xu Baichuan collected their IDs to check in. Usually when traveling for scheduled events, Mo Xun and Fang Yinnian, Tan Junwen and Fu Fei, Tang Che and Xu Baichuan would share rooms—booking three double rooms.

 

Rooms were quickly arranged, and everyone took their luggage to rest.

 

The moment Mo Xun closed the door behind him, Fang Yinnian suddenly felt nervous inside.

 

Only the two of them remained in the room.

 

Every time traveling elsewhere they’d room together, but after being separated for a while and meeting again, something in his heart seemed different.

 

After entering the room, Mo Xun removed his baseball cap, revealing short hair with hair gel traces around it from wearing period costume headpieces.

 

Looking at his messy hedgehog-like hair, Fang Yinnian couldn’t help laughing: “Your hair looks like a wild man’s.”

 

Mo Xun casually scratched his disheveled hair and smiled: “I was still filming this morning. After leaving the crew and removing the headpiece, I rushed to the airport—didn’t even clean the hair gel properly.”

 

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 (advanced chapters available on kofi)