Lin Yi thought Xu Shuyan had been acting strange lately.
She couldn’t quite put her finger on what was so strange.
After all, the two of them weren’t very close. They had only taken classes at the same company. Even after the Christmas Eve incident where they exchanged contact information, their paths rarely crossed since Xu Shuyan focused on songwriting and rap while Lin Yi focused on sight-singing.
But it wasn’t so bad that Xu Shuyan should turn and walk away the moment she saw her, right?!
As Lin Yi warmed up her voice in front of the mirror, she mulled it over. Today was the weekend, so Xu Shuyan would definitely be at the company. She had to stop her and get a clear answer!
…Could she have found out that I was secretly looking at pictures of beautiful women?
Lin Yi felt a pang of guilt, but then thought it was ridiculous. What was wrong with looking at pictures of beautiful women? Who didn’t love pretty girls? Who didn’t want to get close to them? If she couldn’t get close in person, was she not even allowed to look?
Just as she was thinking this, the classroom door opened and Xu Shuyan’s older cousin walked in, greeting her with casual familiarity. “Xiao Yi, you’re here so early. Are you done with your vocal warm-ups?”
“I’m done.” Lin Yi peered over her shoulder. “Teacher, is Xu Shuyan here yet?”
“Yanyan? She’s here,” her cousin said, glancing behind her with a smile. “She’s in the piano room. She’s gotten really interested in the piano lately. Why? Do you need to see her about something?”
Lin Yi mumbled vaguely, “Yeah, something like that.”
Her cousin was surprised. “What could you possibly need her for?”
Lin Yi blurted out a random excuse. “There’s a math problem I can’t figure out, and there aren’t any tutors at the company, so I thought I’d ask her. Aren’t we in the same grade?”
“A math problem, huh.” Her cousin didn’t suspect a thing. “Our Yanyan is actually pretty good at math. You should go ask her now if you need help.”
Committing to the act, Lin Yi pulled a textbook from her bag, picked a problem she genuinely couldn’t solve, and headed straight for the piano room. The company’s piano room was small, with only a single window. When Lin Yi knocked and entered, Xu Shuyan was by that window, flipping through a music score.
Her voice was cool and distant. “Come in.”
Seeing it was Lin Yi, she paused for a moment. “…Do you need something?”
She was beautiful.
Later, Lin Yi would often think back to that day.
Back when she didn’t like Xu Shuyan, she attributed her beauty that day to the gentle breeze outside, the perfect sunlight casting a bright golden glow on her face. The shadows were beautiful, and she was beautiful in the light.
But when she fell in love with Xu Shuyan, she thought the sunlight that day hadn’t been so special after all. Or perhaps, it was Xu Shuyan’s breathtaking beauty that had outshone the sun.
In any case, at that moment, the not-yet-seventeen Lin Yi was so dazzled by her beauty that she forgot her real reason for coming. She fumbled to hold out her math book and stammered, “There’s a problem I can’t solve.”
Xu Shuyan’s expression relaxed. She placed the music score on the windowsill, and a breeze rustled through the pages, making a crisp sound.
She walked over. “Let me see.”
After looking at it for a moment, she looked up at Lin Yi, who was still standing by the door. “What part don’t you understand?”
Lin Yi answered honestly, “None of it.”
Xu Shuyan was speechless. “…”
She glanced down at the problem on the page, then back at Lin Yi, and patted the spot next to her. “Come over here, then. I’ll explain it to you.”
Xu Shuyan was good at STEM subjects.
She spread the math book open on the piano, twirled a black gel pen between her fingers, and said, “I’ll solve it first, then walk you through it slowly, okay?”
Lin Yi nodded. “Okay.”
…
“You were so gentle back then!” The scene shifted back to the present. Lin Yi had dug out the old math book from somewhere and opened it to the page Xu Shuyan had written on. “Xu Shuyan, you were clearly so gentle to me in the beginning!”
The autumn sun was a brilliant gold, dyeing the leaves of the plane trees below. Xu Shuyan was sitting on the bay window, writing her graduation thesis. She glanced over at Lin Yi, who was on the bed reminiscing about their younger days, and recalled, “Mhm, you were very well-behaved back then, too. After I finished explaining the math problem, you even said, ‘Wow, you’re so amazing, Xu Shuyan.'”
Lin Yi: “…”
She covered her face and ordered Xu Shuyan, “Forget that right now!”
“Why should I forget?” Xu Shuyan’s fingers flew across the keyboard. A knowing, meaningful smile touched the corners of her eyes as a memory surfaced. “Weren’t you praising me the same way just last night?”
Lin Yi: “!”
Her face flushed. “Don’t you dare think about it!”
Xu Shuyan stopped typing and rested her chin in her hand, looking at her. “It was right where you’re sitting, wasn’t it? You were sitting right here yesterday, legs open, your small, pale feet trembling in the air, hands clutching the sheets as you cried and said, ‘You’re so amazing, Xu Shuyan.'”
Lin Yi: “!!”
“The sheets-” Xu Shuyan let out a soft sound. “We had to change them last night. They were impossible to sleep on. Whose fault was that?”
Lin Yi shot back, “Yours! You weren’t exactly dry yourself!”
Xu Shuyan clicked her tongue. “It was mutual.”
Lin Yi refused to call it mutual. “I just kissed you a little, and you were already… soaking wet, okay? I have some self-control, at least. You have to kiss me for a good long while before I get like that.”
After speaking, she groaned and buried her face in the blankets. “In broad daylight! What on earth are we talking about!”
Xu Shuyan’s face flushed a little, too.
She forced herself to look calm and typed a few more lines, but her thoughts were a mess. She’d start a sentence and couldn’t finish it. After trying to force it for a moment, she couldn’t take it anymore. She tossed her laptop aside, pounced onto the bed, and hugged Lin Yi, whining, “Okay, let’s not talk about that. Besides the math book, you didn’t find anything else?”
“What else is there?” Lin Yi’s voice was muffled against her.
“Hey-” Xu Shuyan drew out the word. “Seriously, Lin Yi? I spent a whole week preparing for that. Don’t tell me you didn’t keep anything? You were crying your eyes out!”
Lin Yi laughed. She gently pushed Xu Shuyan away and pulled a greeting card from a nearby box. “I kept this.”
Xu Shuyan glanced at the card. “…I told you to throw that away.”
Lin Yi shrugged. “You did.”
Xu Shuyan: “And you didn’t.”
Lin Yi: “Uh-huh.”
She looked completely unabashed.
“Hey,” Lin Yi said, seeing Xu Shuyan’s face darken, and quickly tried to soothe her. “It was written so sincerely. It was the first greeting card I’d ever received from someone who wasn’t a classmate. So I treasured it.”
Xu Shuyan’s expression softened a little. “Really?”
Lin Yi nodded furiously. “Mhm!”
Xu Shuyan pressed, “Even when we were rivals, when you couldn’t stand the sight of me, you still treasured it?”
Lin Yi: “…”
She began cautiously, “When we started dating, we promised each other that no matter what, we wouldn’t lie to each other, not even white lies.”
Xu Shuyan smiled. “So?”
Lin Yi: “So, when we were rivals, I wanted to throw this card away fifty times.”
Xu Shuyan: “And the other fifty times?”
Lin Yi: “I took it out to laugh mercilessly at you.”
Xu Shuyan asked, “Then why didn’t you? Did you have a shred of conscience left?”
Lin Yi lowered her gaze to the words written on the card by a seventeen-year-old Xu Shuyan. She shook her head. “No matter what happened between us later, your sincerity back then was more precious than gold.”
…
Xu Shuyan had prepared a seventeenth birthday party for Lin Yi.
Though it was rushed and simple, it was a genuine surprise for Lin Yi, who had never had a proper birthday celebration. The moment the streamers fluttered down, Lin Yi finally understood why Xu Shuyan had been acting so strange.
She was still too young to hide her intentions, afraid she’d spoil the surprise.
Lin Yi looked at the smiling faces in the practice room wishing her well, and her eyes instantly reddened. Heart-shaped balloons were taped to the window, each with a character on it, spelling out: “Lin Yi, Happy Seventeenth Birth-“
She sniffled. “Birth-? Birth what?”
Xu Shuyan then noticed that one of the balloons had fallen off. She hurried over to pick it up. She was about to stick it back on the window but hesitated, then walked over to Lin Yi and handed her the balloon, smiling. “Happy. Happy seventeenth birthday, Lin Yi.”
On that greeting card.
Xu Shuyan had written: “Thank you for that Christmas Eve. May the seventeen-year-old Lin Yi become better and better, with a future as brilliant as a river of stars.”
…
Lin Yi thought.
It was because of Xu Shuyan that her future was as brilliant as a river of stars.
“Then I declare-” Zhou Shichen leaned forward, looked around the room, and said tentatively, “the first family meeting of The Notes… officially open?”
Yan Qi hummed in agreement. “Officially open.”
She opened her notebook, clicked her ballpoint pen, and said, “Let’s start with self-introductions.”
Zhou Shichen said, “You first.”
Yan Qi nodded slightly. “My name is Yan Qi. I’m twenty years old and currently a student in the acting department at the film academy. I was a trainee at Denghui Entertainment for two and a half years, focusing on dance. I’ve also tried my hand at choreography, so I hope I can be of help to everyone.”
After a pause, she said, “In order of age, Zhou Shichen is next.”
Zhou Shichen made a surprised sound. “You already memorized my age?”
“Not just yours.” Yan Qi was honest. She glanced around at the others. Chen Yuan was listening intently, chin in hand, while Lin Yi and Xu Shuyan were slumped over the table, looking half-asleep. “I’ve memorized everyone’s.”
Lin Yi let out a “wow.”
She closed her eyes, her long lashes casting soft shadows, making her look docile and sweet. Her voice was languid. “Then Captain must also know that Xu Shuyan and I just finished our college entrance exams, right?”
“I know,” Yan Qi said.
Xu Shuyan and Lin Yi were in the same grade. They weren’t originally part of the plan for the group, but the company hadn’t recruited enough trainees before the new year, so when the final roster was being put together, the two of them were added to fill the spots.
Fortunately, both of them had good academic scores; during their first mock exams, they were already more than a hundred points above the cutoff for arts colleges. Before they went into seclusion to study, they were constantly running between school and the company. The moment their exams were over, they were dragged back to the company without a single day of rest to prepare for their impending debut.
Lin Yi was miserable!
What even was a girl group?
She’d never had any concept of it before, and after being hastily pulled in, she’d had no time to learn. There was only endless, round-the-clock training and rushing about. And as if not getting any rest after her exams wasn’t bad enough, she was also told she had to be in a ship with Xu Shuyan.
True, her relationship with Xu Shuyan had been decent before, and the company’s list of advantages for their pairing made sense. Xu Shuyan was indeed the most suitable shipping partner for her.
But ever since they both took a liking to Chen Yuan during their first meeting as a group, their relationship had deteriorated rapidly. After several clashes, they were now like fire and water.
Forcing her to gaze lovingly at Xu Shuyan? She’d rather jump off a building!
Xu Shuyan clearly felt the same way. When Yan Qi brought up the topic of shipping, the words went in one ear and out the other. She left her seat the moment the meeting ended, not even thinking to wait for Lin Yi. It was Yan Qi who stopped her. “Xu Shuyan.”
Xu Shuyan stopped and turned her head, annoyed. “What is it, Captain?”
“You should get into the habit of waiting for your shipping partner,” Yan Qi said.
Her tone was formal and left no room for refusal.
Xu Shuyan: “…”
She clicked her tongue, leaned against the nearby wall, and asked Lin Yi, “Are you leaving or not?”
Lin Yi was busy studying the notes Yan Qi had made about Chen Yuan. Without looking up, she shot back, “None of your business!”
Xu Shuyan suppressed her anger. “I don’t want to mind your business, but the captain said you’re my shipping partner and I have to wait for you. I can’t leave until you do. Hurry up and stop looking.”
Lin Yi paused, then looked up and blinked. “So you’re saying you can’t leave until I do?”
Xu Shuyan nodded. “So let’s go.”
But Lin Yi suddenly broke into a smile.
“…” Xu Shuyan had a bad feeling.
Sure enough, the next second, Lin Yi lowered her head again. “Then don’t leave. You can stay here with me.”
Xu Shuyan: “…”
She said angrily, “I want a new shipping partner!”
This sentence came up countless times during Xu Shuyan and Lin Yi’s arguments, but their protests were never successful. Whether for their careers or their wallets, the girl group had to go on, the dances had to be danced, the songs had to be sung, the group spirit had to be faked, and the ship had to sail.
And for that, Lin Yi and Xu Shuyan really did try.
“Look at your expression. How is that in any way affectionate?” That night, Lin Yi pointed to a high-definition photo from an event on her tablet, questioning Xu Shuyan, who was in the middle of a face mask treatment. “You look like you want to kill me with that glare!”
Xu Shuyan grunted. “What do the comments say?”
Lin Yi didn’t even have to think. “They’re definitely saying we’ve broken up, gotten a divorce, that our relationship is terrible! All the CP fans are going to abandon ship!”
“Go on, look,” Xu Shuyan said.
“You don’t believe me, do you?” Lin Yi scoffed. “Fine, I’ll look! I want to see just how they’re scolding you for being so unprofessional, how-“
“Why’d you stop talking?” Xu Shuyan asked.
Lin Yi scrolled rapidly through the comments under the post, her eyes growing wider and wider. She didn’t look up until Xu Shuyan asked again impatiently, her face a mask of disbelief. “They’re saying you were jealous!”
Xu Shuyan paused. “Jealous of what?”
“Hold on, I’ll read it to you.” Lin Yi found the most detailed analysis and read it aloud. “Our Yanyan is so fierce! She must really be jealous, right? Her expression soured the moment Lin Yi went to talk to Chen Yuan! Lin Yi, if you say two more words to Chen Yuan, you won’t be getting out of… bed tomorrow!”
She threw the tablet onto the bed, flustered and annoyed. “What are they talking about! Is the internet some kind of lawless zone?”
With the face mask on, Xu Shuyan’s expression was hidden, but it couldn’t have been good. She casually picked up the tablet Lin Yi had tossed aside and scrolled through the comments.
[Definitely jealous. My god, I can smell the sour grapes through the screen!]
[I’m telling you, jealousy is the best ship fuel. Who agrees and who disagrees?]
[I agree! My god, you have to care that much to get so jealous, right? Xu Shuyan, you’re a giant vat of vinegar! Lin Yi! Stop talking! Your wife is watching you!]
…What was all this nonsense?
Xu Shuyan peeled off her face mask. Noticing Lin Yi still staring at her out of the corner of her eye, she thought for a moment and said, “Actually, they’re not wrong. I really was jealous.”
Lin Yi was horrified. “No way, Xu Shuyan. You’ve fallen for me?”
“Fallen for you my ass!” Xu Shuyan shot her a look. “I was jealous of you, okay? Why were you standing so close to Yuanyuan? Couldn’t you have talked to her after the event? Their analysis was right. That look was me wanting to eat you alive.”
Lin Yi: “…”
The CP fans’ analysis: She wanted to devour her in bed. The person herself: She literally wanted to devour her.
She said resentfully, “You should learn some facial expression management!”
Xu Shuyan tossed the used mask into the trash and massaged the remaining serum into her face. “As long as they’re shipping it, who cares?” she said lazily. “I can’t control my anger when you talk to Yuanyuan. Could you control yours if I talked to her?”
Lin Yi clenched her fists. “You dare?!”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Xu Shuyan retorted.
That one sentence infuriated Lin Yi. At the event the next day, she completely shut down and ignored Xu Shuyan. Yan Qi noticed their poor dynamic and pulled them aside during a break to remind them, “Get back into character, quickly. This is your job.”
Lin Yi was stubborn. “Can’t I just quit?”
Yan Qi replied, “A proper resignation requires following procedure and handing off your duties to your replacement. If you want to quit, you have to go back and file a report. Once it’s approved, you can quit next time.”
Lin Yi: “…”
Unable to back down gracefully, she dug in her heels. “Anyway, I’m not doing it today. We can talk about it next time!”
Yan Qi said helplessly, “Lin Yi.”
Just as they reached a stalemate, they suddenly heard Zhou Shichen call out, “Captain! You’re misunderstanding Yanyan and Xiao Yi!”
Yan Qi hummed in confusion. “What?”
“I was just scrolling through their Super Topic, and the fans are going wild!” Zhou Shichen stood up from the makeup mirror, waving her phone. “The fans figured out they’re fighting.”
Yan Qi was even more confused. “They’re fighting, and the fans are going wild?”
Xu Shuyan’s lips twitched. “They can ship this? They must have strong teeth.”
Zhou Shichen wagged her index finger. “This is what you guys don’t understand. Fights make for even better shipping material! It proves their relationship is anything but ordinary-they’re comfortable enough to get angry with each other. Plus, Yanyan keeps trying to make peace, which doubles the appeal!”
Xu Shuyan felt wronged. “Who was trying to make peace! I was just asking her with my eyes if she was going to play along or not. If not, I was going to find someone else!”
“Fan interpretation,” Zhou Shichen said. “Purely fan interpretation.”
But Lin Yi got to the heart of the matter. “So does that mean I don’t have to do it today?”
Yan Qi frowned.
Xu Shuyan also frowned. “Why shouldn’t you have to? Look at what the CP fans are shipping-they’re shipping my unrequited love for you, my one-sided crush, my gay-loves-straight tragedy. On what grounds do you get to not play along?”
“You don’t have to,” Yan Qi said.
“Captain!” Xu Shuyan protested.
“Since the fans can ship this anyway, let’s just go with what Xiao Yi wants,” Yan Qi said.
Lin Yi grinned. “Hehe, thanks, Captain.”
Xu Shuyan: “…”
Zhou Shichen giggled. “Hehe, so what did you two fight about? Tell me so I can ship… I mean, so I can help you mediate?”
Xu Shuyan: “…”
She turned to Chen Yuan, the only one who hadn’t spoken, and complained pitifully, “Yuanyuan! They’re all bullying me!”
Lin Yi was furious. “Stop tattling! Who bullied you? Be specific!” She then turned to Chen Yuan. “Yuanyuan, don’t listen to her nonsense. I’m great to her. Last night she kicked off her blanket, and I even covered her back up! That’s right! She’s a terrible sleeper! Kicks off the covers and talks in her sleep!”
“Lin Yi, you-!” Xu Shuyan sputtered.
Chen Yuan looked from Lin Yi to Xu Shuyan and smiled gently. “All right, you two shouldn’t fight while you’re working. You have such a good relationship, you just need to communicate and talk things through.”
Lin Yi: “!” Xu Shuyan: “!”
Sob. Now that was gentleness, that was consideration, that was a soft voice, that was what made a heart flutter!
“Okay,” Lin Yi said, taking a step forward and putting on an obedient, sensible expression. “Yuanyuan, I forgive her.”
Xu Shuyan: “?”
She turned to look at Lin Yi. “You forgive who?”
Lin Yi winked at her. “You.”
Xu Shuyan: “…”
She snapped, “I didn’t do anything wrong. Who asked for your forgiveness?!”
Lin Yi couldn’t be bothered to argue. “Whatever, I forgive you! We can get back to business! My dear shipping partner~”
Xu Shuyan gritted her teeth in frustration and said deliberately, “Okay, baby.”
Lin Yi’s eyes widened. “What are you doing?”
Xu Shuyan smiled. “What do you mean? I’m being in love with you, baby.”
Lin Yi felt sick. “Stop it. Say it again and I’ll throw up.”
Xu Shuyan looked innocent. “Why can’t I say it? Baby? Wife? Sweetheart? Swee- retch!”
Zhou Shichen: “I’m dying, I’m dying! This ship is killing me!”
Yan Qi: “…”
What was so strange about it?
In any case, during the event that day, the tone of the Yan Zhi You Yi Super Topic went from this-
“Bulletin! Yan Zhi You Yi has entered the venue! They aren’t saying a word to each other, like total strangers! The rumors that ‘Yan Zhi You Yi are just ordinary colleagues’ might actually be true! But according to my analysis, the little couple might have had a fight!”
“Further investigation! More to report!”
“Help! Yanyan just offered an unwrapped piece of candy to Xiao Yi, and Xiao Yi didn’t even glance at her! She just kept smiling at the front and shook her head! Looks like this isn’t a mutual fight, but Xiao Yi giving her the cold shoulder! Yanyan is trying to make peace, but Xiao Yi is ignoring her completely! She looks really mad!”
“Could it be that Xu Shuyan played too rough in bed last night and pissed her off? [nosebleed]”
And finally evolved into this-
“Latest report from the front lines! After the break, Xu Shuyan and Lin Yi came back holding hands, talking and laughing! Holy crap! I don’t know what they were talking about, but they were all smiles! So much for fighting and giving each other the cold shoulder!”
“I’ve never seen anyone make up so fast in my life. You’ve got skills, Xu Shuyan. You coaxed her into a good mood in just a few minutes? How did you do it? Please publish a textbook on how to appease your wife!”
“Xu Shuyan: It’s all thanks to my good looks and charm. I just have to smile, and my wife forgives me.”
“Shibal! I really think Lin Yi is into Xu Shuyan’s face and body. The way she looks at her is always so suspicious! So you’re the only one with a beautiful wife, huh, Lin Yi! Who are you trying to make jealous? You’re making me jealous!”
“Help! Yan Zhi You Yi are whispering to each other!”
“Xu Shuyan has her arm around Lin Yi’s waist!”
“Yan Zhi You Yi are married!”
“Yan Zhi You Yi are going to go for three hundred rounds tonight!”
