Possessiveness on the first stage
In the rehearsal room for the group assessment, the smell of disinfectant mixed with the sweat of the teenagers swirled in the air-conditioned wind.
Yunheng practiced raising her hand repeatedly in front of the mirror, but her wrist seemed to be rusted and she couldn't raise it naturally.
"Number 76, right? Open your shoulders a little more." The dance teacher's voice came through the mirror, a little impatient. "Ballad songs should be soft. You're as hard as a piece of iron. How can you impress the audience?"
Yunheng's ears turned red and her fingertips turned white from clenching.
The self in the mirror was wearing a wrinkled training suit, standing among a group of professional trainees. I looked like a wheat plant that had accidentally entered the garden, clumsy and out of place.
"Don't be nervous." Yu Xiao's voice suddenly sounded from behind him, with a casual smile.
He leaned against the barre, his long legs crossed, twirling the silver pen between his fingers. "Anyway, all you have to do is open your mouth and sing, dance... just to make up the numbers."
Yun Heng turned around, her brows knitted into a knot: "I don't need you to teach me."
These days, Yu Xiao is like a shadow that can't be shaken off - he "happens" to sit opposite him during meals, always chooses a seat diagonally behind him during rehearsals, and can even be seen in the tea room.
That vague gaze was like a feather, sweeping across the back of his neck from time to time, making him feel uneasy.
"I didn't teach you." Yu Xiao raised his eyebrows, walked up to him with his long legs, and suddenly reached out to pinch his wrist, "It's too stiff here." His fingertips were a little cold, and he gently lifted it up, "Follow your feeling, like this..."
Warm breath brushed past his ears, and Yun Heng suddenly pulled his hand back as if burned, taking a half step back: "Stay away from me."
Yu Xiao looked at his red ears, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes. He didn't approach him anymore, but turned and walked towards the rest area: "Whatever you want."
On the day of the assessment, the backstage makeup mirror was packed. Yun Heng huddled in the far corner, pursing his lips in the mirror—he wasn't wearing heavy makeup; the makeup artist had only forced on a touch of lipstick, supposedly to "enhance his complexion." The boy in the mirror had clean eyebrows and eyes, his eyelashes casting a faint shadow under his eyes, like a layer of mist.
"Number 76, it's your group's turn." The staff's voice cut through the noise.
Yun Heng took a deep breath, grabbed the microphone, and followed his teammates out. As they passed by Yu Xiao, he suddenly reached out and gently pushed him on the back with his fingertips: "Don't be a coward."
The moment the stage lights suddenly came on, Yun Heng's pupils shrank. In the shadows of the instructors' seats below, the red dots of the cameras flickered like the eyes of wild animals.
The moment the accompaniment sounded, he suddenly forgot the first movement and froze in place.
"Move!" The teammate's voice passed by my ear, a little anxious.
Yunheng's cheeks were burning, and she raised her hands stiffly, but her hands and feet stepped in the wrong rhythm.
There was a low laugh from the audience, and his gaze swept across the audience in panic, suddenly meeting a pair of familiar eyes.
Yu Xiao stood half a step behind him, facing him.
The spotlight cast bright and dark shadows on his face. His eyes, which always contained mockery, were now like tempered steel, direct and hot.
When singing the chorus "The moonlight kissed my rose", Yu Xiao suddenly turned his head and his eyes were fixed on Yun Heng's face.
His voice was a little deeper and hoarse than the accompaniment, and the ending tone was drawn out, as if he was saying a love word that only the two of them could understand.
"My rose..."
That look was so intense, it seemed to burn through her. Yun Heng's heart skipped a beat, and she forgot both the movements and the lyrics. Only her cheeks burned under the spotlight.
It was not until he heard his teammates' chorus in his earphones that he suddenly came back to his senses. He hurriedly continued with the next sentence, but his voice was trembling.
The applause at the end of the assessment was sparse.
When the mentor commented, he praised Yu Xiao's improvisation highly, but when he mentioned Yun Heng, he just frowned and said, "His voice is good, but his stage presence is too poor and needs to be improved."
Yun Heng bowed with her head down, and heard Yu Xiao's chuckle coming from behind her, which was like a needle piercing her heart.
In the corridor backstage, teammates gathered around Yu Xiao to ask for advice on techniques. No one noticed him leaning against the wall alone with his fingertips cold.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. It was a text message from my grandma: "Ah Heng, the medical expenses have been collected. Don't worry."
Yun Heng stared at the line of words and suddenly remembered the envelope that Assistant Yu Xiao had stuffed into his hand yesterday - it contained 30,000 yuan in cash, which he said was an "advance payment of promotion bonus."
He returned it intact at the time, but now he feels a little regretful.
"Have you checked the surveillance footage?" Yu Xiao's voice interrupted his thoughts.
Yun Heng looked in the direction of the voice and saw Yu Xiao standing at the door of the monitoring room, talking to the staff inside.
The glass door was not closed tightly, and one could see the screen replaying the stage scene just now, frozen at the moment when he forgot to move.
"Edit all the shots of number 76." Yu Xiao's voice drifted through the crack in the door, carrying an unquestionable command. "Cut in more close-ups of the singing part, especially..." He paused, his eyes scanning the screen where he turned his head. "Cut in all the shots I saw of him just now."
The staff nodded quickly: "Okay, Mr. Yu, I guarantee it will be a natural cut."
Yun Heng's heart skipped a beat, and he turned and headed for the stairwell. It turned out that the man had not only been deliberately staring at him from the stage, but had also edited his awkward appearance into the main film, like he was showing off some interesting toy.
"Why are you running?" Yu Xiao's voice suddenly sounded behind him.
Yunheng's footsteps paused, as if he had been caught.
He turned around and saw Yu Xiao leaning against the wall, a cigarette between his fingertips, the smoke blurring his profile.
"Are you afraid that I will show you in public with a blushing face?" Yu Xiao raised his eyebrows and a playful smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
"What on earth do you want to do?" Yun Heng's voice tightened and his fingertips were clenched white.
"I want more people to see you." Yu Xiao flicked the ash from his cigarette, and a spark of light flashed in the dim corridor. "After all... it's a shame to keep such an interesting reaction hidden."
He took two steps forward and suddenly reached out to pinch Yun Heng's chin, forcing him to look up. "Tell me, if the audience saw you get so flustered when I looked at you, wouldn't it be interesting?"
Yun Heng felt his heartbeat pound as warm breath swished against his nose. He pushed Yu Xiao away with such force that he stumbled. "You're sick!"
Yu Xiao was pushed back half a step, and the amusement in his eyes suddenly sank, like muddied water.
He stared at Yunheng's red eyes, his Adam's apple rolled, and he said nothing more.
Yun Heng turned and rushed into the stairwell. The cold cement steps hurt his feet. He ran down, holding the handrail until he heard hurried footsteps behind him. Frightened, he quickened his pace.
"Yun Heng!" Yu Xiao's voice echoed in the stairwell, with a hint of panic he had never heard before, "Don't run!"
Yunheng didn't look back, rushed to the first floor lobby in one breath, broke open the glass door and rushed into the rain.
The late summer showers came suddenly and fiercely. The cold rain instantly wet his hair and clothes, but it could not extinguish the restlessness in his heart.
He walked aimlessly along the sidewalk until he saw a familiar figure sitting on a bench at the bus stop ahead.
Yu Xiao didn't hold an umbrella, letting the rain drip down his hair. His expensive training suit clung to his body, outlining his smooth shoulder line.
Yun Heng paused and turned to walk away, but was stopped by the other party: "Stop."
He turned around resignedly. The rain blurred his vision and he could only see Yu Xiao standing up and walking towards him step by step.
"Just now... I'm sorry." Yu Xiao's voice pierced through the rain, a little unnaturally stiff, "I shouldn't have..."
"You're right." Yun Heng interrupted him, her voice as cold as rain. "It's my own fault. I can't even do a single move properly. I deserve to be laughed at by you."
Yu Xiao frowned, and suddenly reached out to take off his coat and put it on Yun Heng's shoulders.
The cloth with body temperature blocked the cold raindrops and still had a faint scent of cedar.
"I'm not laughing at you." His voice deepened. "I just..."
He didn't say anything. The boy in the rain lowered his head, his shoulders shrugged slightly, like a little animal that had been wronged. He suddenly felt like a jerk.
"I'll have them delete those scenes before the show airs." Yu Xiao looked at the whorl on top of his hair and softened his tone. "Don't be angry, okay?"
Yunheng didn't say anything, just stuffed the coat into his arms, turned around and rushed into the rain.
This time Yu Xiao didn't chase after him. He just stood there, watching the thin figure gradually disappear in the rain, his fingertips clenched until they turned white.
Yunheng was soaking wet when he returned to the dorm. He dug out some clean clothes and was about to change when his phone vibrated—a text message from an unfamiliar number with only a single photo: On the hospital bill, the amount behind his grandmother's name was circled in red.
The sender followed up with another message: "I'll pay for the medical expenses first, consider it a loan to you."
Yun Heng stared at the screen, suddenly remembering Yu Xiao's wet shoulder. His heart felt like it had been struck by something, aching and bitter. He clicked on the reply box, typed and deleted, and finally sent only two words: "Thank you."
The rain was still falling outside the window, hitting the glass and making crackling sounds.
Yun Heng was lying on the bed, listening to the trainees across from her discussing the assessment. They said, "Young Master Yu's eyes are so charming when he looks at Yun Heng," and suddenly she covered her burning ears.
He didn't know that at this moment, in the monitoring room, Yu Xiao was watching the close-up of Yun Heng singing on the screen and said to his assistant, "Just edit it as you said just now, no need to delete it."
The assistant was stunned for a moment: "But you just..."
"Just cut it if I tell you to." Yu Xiao interrupted him, his gaze falling on the clear eyes of the young man on the screen, a hint of complex emotions flashing in his eyes.
This game seems to be getting more and more interesting, he thought. And that stubborn wheat plant will eventually grow into a submissive posture under his watchful eye.
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