【????】
【So yandere, so thrilling, so intense!!!】
【Did she just imprison her master? You’ve got skills, little robot! You look so pure and innocent, but you’re actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing! I love it [panting]】
【I still haven’t processed it…】
【What? What? Is that the end? What happens after the imprisonment? Is it pay-per-view? I’m willing to pay! Give me a chance to spend my money!】
【I need to see a ten-thousand-word fanfic of the robot imprisoning her master tonight @all the writers in my fandom】
【I have no words for this Real Couple.】
【Just from the way Xu Shuyan looked at Lin Yi like she was going to eat her alive, if Yan Zhi You Yi haven’t done it, I’ll eat the bed they do it on!】
【I was still so shaken by the Yan Zhi You Yi stage that I didn’t even notice the next performance was Chen Yuan’s. I just sat here and watched the whole thing. Chen Yuan has really improved a lot.】
【Who cares? I’m just asking, who cares?】
【Family! This Yan Zhi You Yi stage was legendary! How can there be a queerbaiting stage that’s so sexy and alluring without being cringey, one that makes you ship them to death QAQ!】
【Pass it on, Yan Zhi You Yi did it on stage.】
【Pass it on, Yan Zhi You Yi did an imprisonment roleplay and did it on stage.】
【Pass it on, Yan Zhi You Yi did it.】
【Pass it on, if you keep spreading rumors like this you’re really going to get arrested!】
Xu Shuyan and Lin Yi’s duet performance set the whole venue on fire. The moment the stage ended, major marketing accounts started posting about it. The trending topic #XuShuyanLinYiNo89757 shot straight into the top ten. Forums were buzzing with heated discussions, and fans seized the opportunity to promote them.
【Ah, it’s that group Chen Yuan is in?】
【A textbook example of a fanservice stage. Everyone else, come and learn!】
【I’m honestly so jealous.】
【Ugh, I don’t see what’s so great about it. Straight girls queerbaiting will be struck by lightning.】
【Girls this pretty definitely like guys. Is there something wrong with you people, trying to determine their sexual orientation?】
【Oh, so now you know if they’re straight or not? Don’t make me laugh, Mr. Know-It-All. Girls this pretty definitely like other girls~ Don’t get so worked up!】
While the internet was abuzz with discussion, the concert continued.
Group stages, solo stages, and trio stages—in just two short hours, they gave their fans a spectacular feast of performances. At the end, Yan Qi once again led them in a bow for the curtain call.
“Thank you all for crossing mountains and rivers to see us.” Yan Qi and the members waved goodbye. “We hope you had a happy two hours. Be safe on your way home, and get to bed early. Our next stop is—”
The entire audience shouted in unison: “See you in Q City!”
At the same time, amidst a shower of confetti, the stage lift slowly descended, and the livestream was cut. The moment they got backstage, staff members swarmed them with bouquets of flowers. “Great work! Thank you for your hard work, everyone!”
Lin Yi clutched her bouquet, still not quite down from the high of the grand, lively show. She just habitually bowed and said her thanks along with the person next to her, finally making her way into the dressing room.
Zhou Shichen, with a complete lack of idol decorum, flopped onto the sofa. “I’m going to sleep until the afternoon tomorrow!”
She asked Yan Qi, “What about you?”
Leaning against the vanity, Yan Qi was counting the flowers. She just shook her head without saying anything.
Lin Yi snapped back to reality and chimed in, “I’m sleeping in! I’m gonna sleep like the dead!” An idea struck her. “If the Captain isn’t sleeping in, she’ll probably wake Shichen up, right? Why don’t you two switch rooms tonight?”
“Hey!” Xu Shuyan objected. “I want to sleep in, too!”
Lin Yi’s lips twitched into a small smile. “Alright, then.”
“Alright,” Yan Qi said, putting down the flowers. “Let’s talk about sleeping in later. We have a celebration dinner soon, so we need to change and head over.”
Change clothes!
Lin Yi’s heart skipped a beat. Straight girls didn’t have these hang-ups about changing in front of others, so when Yan Qi said “change clothes,” she definitely meant right here in this room. Although they’d all seen each other in a rush before, it wasn’t a rush now. Now there was time for her mind to wander and her eyes to stray!
Lin Yi was confident in her own self-control—she could avoid looking at Chen Yuan. But she wasn’t so confident about Xu Shuyan.
Clearly, Xu Shuyan was thinking the same thing.
Their eyes met, and Xu Shuyan spoke first. “I need to use the restroom.”
Lin Yi said, “Me too.”
Yan Qi was having Chen Yuan help her with her zipper. Without turning around, she said, “We’ll lock the door behind you, then.”
Xu Shuyan and Lin Yi dawdled in the restroom for ages. It wasn’t until the others got tired of waiting and sent a message saying they were in the car and to hurry up that the two finally returned to the dressing room and changed at top speed.
“What were you two doing in the restroom?” As soon as they got in the car, Zhou Shichen scrutinized them with gleaming eyes. “Spill it. This is very important to me!”
With no cameras following them, everyone was much more relaxed. Lin Yi took the opportunity to lean against Yan Qi’s shoulder. “Using the restroom, what else?”
Zhou Shichen clicked her tongue twice.
“Oh, right,” she said, sitting up straight again. “So that was the final version of your stage. What was the story? Did the robot really imprison her master?”
Xu Shuyan hummed in affirmation.
Zhou Shichen’s pretty eyes went wide. “But the first law of robotics is that a robot may not injure a human being. How could she imprison her master?”
Lin Yi deadpanned, “You’ve certainly done your homework.”
Xu Shuyan explained, “You just have to make the robot believe that if it doesn’t imprison the master, the master will come to harm. Then the first law no longer applies to the robot.”
Zhou Shichen wiped at a non-existent nosebleed. “So… so thrilling!”
Lin Yi lightly punched Xu Shuyan. “You pervert!”
Xu Shuyan gave her a look. “That was the robot, not me.”
The stadium was still some distance from the hotel for the celebration dinner. The idle chatter helped everyone’s tense nerves relax, and the voices gradually quieted down as they drowsily fell asleep. They were shaken awake just as the car came to a stop.
Lin Yi rubbed her eyes and looked out the window. “Are we here?”
Xu Shuyan shook her head. “No.”
Her tone sounded grave. “Something’s not right. The driver is gone.”
Yan Qi was the first to wake up—or rather, she hadn’t been asleep at all. Across from her, Zhou Shichen’s eyes were red from sleep. Her voice was muffled. “What’s going on?”
Chen Yuan was sitting closest to the door. She asked, “Should I open it?”
Yan Qi nodded. “Go ahead.”
Lin Yi’s heart was pounding. She let out a dry laugh. “No way, right? Are they giving us a big surprise right after the concert? Should I contact Sister Fang?”
Xu Shuyan said, “You should stop talking.”
“Hey, I’m gonna talk!” Lin Yi’s rebellious streak flared up, and she forgot to be scared. “Are you the discipline monitor? What gives you the right to tell me what to do! Xu Shuyan, let me tell you, I—”
Chen Yuan pressed the button, and the automatic door slowly slid open.
A large group of people was standing outside the van. The five of them stared blankly at the people outside for a moment before someone announced, “Welcome to the recording of the new season of The Notes’ group variety show!”
All the members of the Gu Group: “???”
No, wait. Four members of the Gu Group reacted at the same time, their heads whipping in unison to look at their captain. She had planned the first season, so how could she not know what was going to happen? Was she just putting on a confused face to blend in with the group?!
Yan Qi spread her hands. “I told you we’d talk about sleeping in tomorrow later.”
The other four: “?”
Will there even be a ‘later’ to talk about it!?
The director outside the van urged them, “There are blindfolds in front of your seats. Hurry up, put them on, and get out. We’re on a tight schedule over here.”
The Gu Group: “???”
They were on a tight schedule too, waiting to go to their celebration dinner!
Yan Qi coolly added from the side, “Hurry up and put them on.”
Under a certain captain’s oppressive aura, everyone put on their blindfolds and got out of the van in order. A staff member from the production team came to lead each of them away. Xu Shuyan suddenly remembered something. “I remember the first season’s return to the deserted island was supposed to be a vacation, right?! Right?”
The director answered without hesitation, “It is a vacation.”
Lin Yi: “You have to promise—Chinese people don’t lie to other Chinese people!”
Director: “…”
Xu Shuyan: “He didn’t say it!!!”
