Secondary CP Chapter 4: Charming Trap
As autumn deepened, the sycamore leaves by the river fell to the ground. Ah Zhe walked over the fallen leaves to the studio, the orange wood pick in his pocket warmed by his body heat, the leaf pattern on its edge leaving a faint mark on his palm. On his phone, Sister Zhang sent a new schedule—two extra episodes for the series, and he and Lin Yu were required to record a two-person interview, tentatively titled "From Role to Reality: Our Brotherhood."
"Has Lin Yu's team agreed?" Azhe frowned into the phone.
"It's not that they gave in, they were forced to." Sister Zhang's voice was filled with helplessness. "The platform said that if we continue to cause division, updates will be suspended. Lin Yu probably agreed to cooperate because he was afraid of being completely forgotten."
Azhe kicked a stone at his feet, and it rolled into the gutter with a crisp sound. He recalled Su Man's second wave of revelations three days ago—a recording in which Lin Yu told Su Man on the phone, "I've managed to keep Meng Yao stable. I'll break up with her after the show airs. You just wait a little longer." As soon as the recording came out, #LinYuTimeManagementMaster# went viral. Meng Yao immediately deleted all of her affectionate Weibo posts and posted a post about her misjudging people, clearing herself of all charges.
He became the sole survivor in this chaotic situation. Netizens dug up the interview clip where he said he was "clear-minded and independent," praising him for his "clear-headedness and independence." Some even started posting the topic "Azhe's unique beauty."
"I've read the interview transcript, it's all official jargon," Sister Zhang added. "Lin Yu has agreed to only discuss the character and not personal matters. So... don't get too confrontational."
Ah Zhe smiled but said nothing. A tit-for-tat confrontation? That would be so boring.
The interview took place on Friday afternoon. When Azhe arrived at the studio, Lin Yu was already sitting in front of the makeup mirror. He had lost a lot of weight, and the dark circles under his eyes were more pronounced than when they last met. When he saw Azhe come in, he simply raised his eyelids and said nothing.
As the makeup artist applied Azhe's makeup, he stared at himself in the mirror. The coldness between his eyebrows and eyes was somewhat masked by the foundation, adding a bit of Gu Yanchen's forbearance. He suddenly remembered that when they were filming the drama, Lin Yu always said, "Your eyes are too fierce. It doesn't look like secret love, but revenge."
At that time, he retorted: "Gu Yanchen's love originally contained hatred."
Thinking about it now, it seems like a prophecy.
The interview started awkwardly. The host's jokes fell on deaf ears, with Lin Yu either saying "hmm" or "yes" or simply sipping his water, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the sides of the glass. Ah Zhe, however, was uncharacteristically cooperative, his eyes gleaming as they discussed the characters. Speaking of Gu Yanchen's obsession with Lu Shi, he even sighed softly, "Sometimes I think Gu Yanchen is just too stupid. He holds on to it even though he knows it's going to end badly."
The camera swept over Lin Yu, and his Adam's apple moved, as if it was burned by these words.
During the intermission, Lin Yu's assistant handed him a cup of hot coffee, but he didn't take it. Instead, he looked at Azhe: "What did you just say...what did you mean?"
"It's not interesting." Ah Zhe peeled an orange he brought from Yun Heng's house. It was so sweet that it was sickening. "Let's talk about the role. Teacher Lin, don't think too much about it."
He handed over a slice of orange, and his fingertips brushed the back of Lin Yu's hand. The other party withdrew his hand as if burned, and the orange fell to the ground and rolled away.
The staff around pretended not to notice, but they all held their breath. Ah Zhe looked at Lin Yu's red ears and suddenly felt that this scene was more interesting than any other scene in the play.
After the interview, Azhe received a WeChat message from Lin Yu: "Thank you for smoothing things over just now."
He smiled at the screen and replied, "It's my duty. After all, I still have to rely on the drama to make a living." Then he opened the album and found the behind-the-scenes footage recorded in the afternoon - from the angles that the camera didn't capture, Lin Yu's eyes always drifted over secretly when he spoke, like a frightened deer.
He sent the highlights to Su Man, with the caption: "Look, it's not that he doesn't care."
Su Man replied immediately: "Hunters know best when their prey will panic."
From that day on, Ah Zhe started to send messages to Lin Yu. Not frequently, but always able to hit the soft spot.
When Lin Yu posted on Weibo about "checking in for fitness", he posted a photo of himself working in Yunheng's vegetable garden, with the caption "Labor is the most glorious" - in the photo, he was wearing a washed-out white shirt with the cuffs rolled up to his elbows, and the exposed forearm lines formed a subtle contrast with the muscular photos of Lin Yu taken in the gym.
Lin Yu was filming a night scene on set. He sent a message at three in the morning: "Just rewatched the third episode, the scene where you called Gu Yanchen a 'madman'. The pronunciation of the line was too harsh. Try to be softer next time?" - followed by a winking cat emoji.
Lin Yu posted a photo of the sunset on his Moments, and commented: "It looks exactly like the sunset on the day Gu Yanchen saw Lu Shi off, except it wasn't as red that day."
Lin Yu didn't reply at first, but later he would reply "hmm", and later, he would take the initiative to ask: "What did you do today?"
Ah Zhe's replies were always a bit nonchalant: "I was helping Yun Heng pick oranges. His grandmother said she wanted to send some to you. I said you were busy, so I took it for you."
"Yunheng plays the guitar really well. When I heard him play 'Moonlight Rose' yesterday, it suddenly reminded me of the days at training camp."
"The leaves of the sycamore trees by the river have fallen. Do you remember the scene where Gu Yanchen was waiting for Lu under the tree? At that time, you said, 'The wind was too strong and I couldn't speak the lines clearly.'"
He is like a patient hunter, and the bait he casts carries the fragrance of memories, gentle but deadly.
Sister Zhang advised him: "Know when to stop and don't really provoke others."
Ah Zhe just smiled and said, "I'm helping him remember his role so he doesn't forget it too quickly."
The real breakthrough happened on a rainy night. Lin Yu sent a message saying "I have a fever and feel dizzy." Azhe did not reply to the text message, but directly made a voice call.
"Hello?" Lin Yu's voice was very hoarse and had a strong nasal tone.
"Have you taken your medicine?" Ah Zhe's voice was very soft. There was a guitar playing in the background. It was a melody he had just written. "I'll play a song for you. You can fall asleep by listening to it."
He plucked the strings without waiting for Lin Yu's reply. The simple melody, like raindrops falling on the eaves, rustled and carried a soothing feeling. Halfway through, he heard the sound of even breathing from the other end of the line—Lin Yu had fallen asleep.
He didn't hang up the phone, and continued playing for half an hour until his fingers were numb. Before hanging up, he whispered, "Gu Yanchen said that when you're sick, you shouldn't bear it alone."
The next morning, Lin Yu sent a message: "Thank you." followed by a red heart emoticon, but then withdrew it and replaced it with "Thank you for your concern."
Azhe stared at the withdrawn love and laughed for a long time.
The crew reshot their final scene together by the river, where they'd filmed their breakup scene. The script had Lu Shi holding Gu Yanchen's hand and saying "I'm sorry" before he died. After the director yelled "start," Lin Yu's fingers suddenly began to tremble violently. As soon as his hand touched Azhe's wrist, it was gripped tightly.
It was held by Azhe.
He raised his head, his eyes filled with a complex mixture of emotions, like a cloud of fog: hatred, pain, and a vague obsession. He didn't follow the script and say, "I don't blame you," but instead whispered, "Lu Shi, you finally touched me."
Lin Yu's pupils suddenly contracted and his breathing became disordered.
When the director called "Cut," neither of them let go. The river breeze blew up the hem of Ah Zhe's shirt, sticking to Lin Yu's arm like a thin but tough net.
"Teacher Lin is in good condition today." Ah Zhe loosened his hand first, and his fingertips brushed against Lin Yu's palm, causing a shudder. "It seems that the illness has been cured."
Lin Yu didn't say anything, turned around and walked towards the lounge, his ears so red that they seemed to be bleeding.
Ah Zhe looked at his back and took out his phone to send a message to Yun Heng: "We're almost out of oranges. Can you bring some more next time you go?"
Yun Heng replied quickly: "Grandma said she'd wait for you to pick them, they're fresh. By the way, your new song is good, but it's a little too... clingy."
Ah Zhe smiled. Is it annoying? Perhaps. After all, the prey has already stepped into the trap, and he can't let the cooked duck fly away.
That night, Lin Yu sent a message with only a photo—the script on his bedside table. The page he opened was exactly where Gu Yanchen said to Lu Shi, "You finally agreed to touch me." Written in red pen next to it was: "What the hell is he thinking?"
Ah Zhe slowly typed a line of words on the screen: "Perhaps, he is waiting for an answer."
The moment the message was successfully sent, he could almost see Lin Yu staring blankly at the words. The moonlight outside the window fell on the guitar, like a layer of silver, overlapping with that night in the training camp.
But this time, he was no longer the boy who changed songs for others. He was a hunter, a planner, Gu Yanchen, and himself.
This hunting game called "like" has just begun. And he has plenty of patience, waiting for Lin Yu to tell him the answer himself.
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