Shield
The atmosphere in the room grew increasingly heavy as Shen Yi'an's gaze darted away, as if the air itself were about to freeze.
Shen Yi'an felt a surge of anger and unease towards Yun Jin, who never shared anything with him.
"Shen Yi'an!" she emphasized, "I'm getting angry!"
Under Yun Jin's imposing presence, Shen Yi'an finally succumbed, sighing dejectedly and giving up the fight.
"All right……"
He handed the phone he was holding to Yun Jin.
Yun Jin immediately took it and, with her heart pounding wildly, opened the familiar social media app.
The first trending topic that catches the eye is the hashtag 【Shen Yi'an acts like a diva and refuses to perform】, followed by a prominent "hot" tag, and a video is linked below the hashtag.
"Wait a minute, Yun Jin, don't look..." Shen Yi'an's voice carried a hint of helpless dissuasion. He subconsciously wanted to reach out and stop her, but Yun Jin's hand obviously clicked into the video faster.
The shaky phone camera footage showed Shen Yi'an suddenly shoving the camera, which was almost pressed against his face, his face contorted with unprecedented rage. He was speaking fiercely into the lens, but the noisy background noise drowned out his voice.
Yan Fei and a staff member wearing black-rimmed glasses were trying to dissuade him, but he pushed them away. Yan Fei almost stumbled and fell. Now there was chaos.
Yun Jin gasped. Shen Yi'an sat weakly on the edge of the bed, his right hand gripping his left arm tightly. After a long while, he finally spoke.
"At that time, I was thinking about how to explain after I went out when a staff member patted me on the shoulder and said it was okay. I looked at the other staff members, and they looked calm as if they knew what was going to happen."
Shen Yi'an clenched his fist tightly.
“I understood immediately. How could they not know the details of Azov? They knew what kind of impact these canned foods would have on the animals, yet they just stood by and watched.”
"I was furious at the time, and I rushed up to them and questioned them about their bottom line. That's how we started arguing."
At this point, Shen Yi'an shook his head self-deprecatingly.
"The funny thing is, they just filmed my reaction as material. They even deliberately provoked me and tried to get me to say some inappropriate things, but I held back."
"Then, they carefully edited it, cutting out everything that was unfavorable to them and blurring out all my words. The final result was what appeared in the video: I was an unreasonable madman."
“Shen Yi’an…” Yun Jin didn’t know what to say for a moment.
Her finger continued scrolling, the comments below the entry filled with insults and attacks.
What kind of manners are these? Does being a celebrity give you the right to physically assault someone?
They're all trashy people spoiled by brainless fans.
[Why isn't this kind of disgraced celebrity banned yet? It's so unlucky they're still able to operate in the entertainment industry!]
[He was originally rejected, but he shamelessly came to record this, and now he's pulling this stunt. Can't he just get out of the entertainment industry?!]
...
Yun Jin's hands began to tremble uncontrollably. She exited the page, her breathing becoming heavier.
The sheer volume of comments was almost suffocating for Yun Jin, yet Shen Yi'an acted as if nothing was wrong, continuing to take care of her.
Yun Jin's fingers stiffly slid down, revealing a series of trending search terms all containing various "dirt" on Shen Yi'an.
I scrolled all the way to the bottom before I found an entry related to Yun Jin: "[Yun Miaomiao died of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy]". The content was that Yun Jin died suddenly in the middle of filming a program, which was insignificant compared to the huge uproar caused by Shen Yi'an.
"Don't get too excited, Yun Jin. Your body hasn't fully recovered yet." Shen Yi'an held Yun Jin's hand, and Yun Jin suddenly realized that his hand was very cold.
"Wait, what about the production team and Azov? Why are all the blame being placed on you, and they've just disappeared like that?" Yun Jin's voice trembled with anger.
Shen Yi'an's whole body stiffened for a moment, and he responded to Yun Jin with an almost inaudible "hmm".
"This isn't fair!" Yun Jin said, panting heavily. "They pushed you out to take the fall, and then washed their hands of it all!"
"Is it because of me that you have no choice but to accept this arrangement?" Yun Jin's throat was a little dry. She looked down at Shen Yi'an's arm, which was covered in blood from scratching. "Shen Yi'an... is it because I've dragged you down?"
"No! No! It's definitely not your fault," Shen Yi'an hurriedly denied, cupping Yun Jin's face in his hands and forcing her to look into his determined eyes.
“Even without you, they would still blame me. With my controversial and controversial image, I’m used to taking on all the dirty work and dirty tricks in the industry.”
He gently wiped away her tears with his fingertips and said in a softer tone, "Although the online criticism is fierce, actually, for me, being criticized is also a way to make money. This is my job. I... I'm just afraid that if you see these things, you'll overthink things."
"Really? You're not lying to me," Yun Jin tried hard to hold back her tears, her voice thick with a nasal tone, "You're not lying to me."
“Of course it’s true,” Shen Yi’an said, seeing that Yun Jin’s emotions had calmed down. He opened his contacts and pretended to dial a number. “If you don’t believe me, I can call Yan Fei right now and have him tell you. How about that?”
“…No need.” Yun Jin grabbed his wrist and shook her head.
Yun Jin smiled at Shen Yi'an. She knew that she couldn't help him now and would only add to his burden.
“Oh, right, there’s one more thing… about you ‘dying’ online,” Shen Yi paused, carefully choosing his words, “Yun Chen and I discussed it and decided to… go with the flow, Yun Chen will hold a funeral for ‘Yun Miaomiao’ in a few days, and that will be the end of it, so she took your phone.”
Shen Yi'an observed Yun Jin's expression. She showed no emotional fluctuations, but remained silent for a while before saying, "This is the only way. How should I put it? It's a very strange experience."
Yun Jin slowly swiped her phone screen, looking at the constantly refreshing comments.
In the comments section, most of the messages were sincere nostalgia and reluctance to part. Yun Jin saw many familiar ID names, all of whom were long-time fans who had been with her for a long time.
Watching their heartfelt farewells, Yun Jin felt a complex pang of heartache.
Although she had long expected there would be a farewell, she never imagined it would be in such a sorrowful way.
But that's alright.
And that was the end, clean and efficient.
For her, this was a relief.
For fans, this may be a bittersweet kind of fulfillment, at least allowing the beautiful memories to be frozen in the purest past, rather than becoming unrecognizable someday in the future.
This well-intentioned deception, which should never have happened, has come to an end.
Yun Jin returned the phone to Shen Yi'an and breathed a sigh of relief.
As the sunlight outside the window gradually brightened and warmly crept into the room, Shen Yi'an looked down at Yun Jin and asked, "Do you want to go to the courtyard to bask in the sun? I feel like you've been cooped up in the room the whole time, you're practically growing mushrooms."
"Okay." Yun Jin had just agreed when she felt a tickle in her throat and couldn't help but cough a few times.
Hearing her cough, Shen Yi'an immediately changed his mind and tightened his grip on Yun Jin's shoulder: "Never mind, it's windy in the courtyard, it wouldn't be good if you caught a cold... Let's go sit in the living room then."
"Okay, sure." Yun Jin raised her hand to wrap her arms around Shen Yi'an's neck.
However, just as she raised her hand halfway, the all-too-real dream from last night suddenly flooded her mind, causing her to freeze, her arm to fall silently to her sides, and a blush to creep onto her face.
"What's wrong?" Shen Yi'an asked, puzzled.
"Uh... no, it's nothing. You're just... going to carry me over like this?" Yun Jin's eyes darted around as she awkwardly tried to find the right words. She patted her face with her hand. "I'm a little embarrassed, hehe."
Seeing Yun Jin's head practically spinning, Shen Yi'an chuckled softly, then steadily lifted her up in a princess carry, saying as they walked towards the living room, "What's wrong with that? Does a hug make you feel embarrassed?"
However, Shen Yi'an's words also make a lot of sense. When they arrived at the larger living room, they saw sunlight streaming in through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows and heard Shen Yi'an's steady heartbeat.
Yun Jin's mood, like the living room itself, suddenly brightened and she felt much more relaxed.
“Yun Jin, your cat ears have popped out on their own,” Shen Yi’an said in surprise, pointing to the cat ears on Yun Jin’s head. “However, they’re drooping. Are you… unhappy right now?”
"Really! I didn't even feel it." Yun Jin was taken aback by what she heard. She looked up in surprise, then closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and stretched the muscles around her cat ears.
The cat's ears, which had been listless, twitched slightly and then suddenly stood up with a "pop".
"Look, it's standing up now." Yun Jin shook her head with a little pride.
Shen Yi'an watched as Yun Jin's incredibly bouncy cat ears swayed in the air, so close to his face. His Adam's apple bobbed, as if he had made up his mind, and he asked the question that had been lingering in his heart for a long time: "Yun Jin... can I... touch your cat ears?"
"Ah... this?" The blush that had just faded from Yun Jin's face returned with a "whoosh".
Cat ears are a very sensitive part of a cat demon's body. She looked at Shen Yi'an with starry eyes that seemed to want to touch them, and she was torn between her own desires and her words of refusal. But she was pushed back by Shen Yi'an's expectant gaze.
After hesitating for a while, Yun Jin whispered, "Okay, just touch it for a little while, but be gentle."
“No problem, I promise to touch it gently!” Shen Yi’an’s eyes lit up, and he immediately reached out to touch the furry ears.
"Ugh..." Almost simultaneously, Yun Jin couldn't help but shrink her neck and muttered softly, "It's so itchy."
Even though Shen Yi'an's touch was very light, the subtle touch of his fingers still sent a shiver through Yun Jin's body, as if she were being electrocuted—a very strange sensation.
Seeing that the hairs on Yun Jin's ears had stood up, Shen Yi'an stopped what he was doing: "Did I accidentally hurt you?"
"No, it's just very itchy." Yun Jin looked away, not daring to look at him, and instead focused her gaze on the courtyard outside the French windows.
Outside the window, unnamed wildflowers are in full bloom, scattered among the green plants. Several white butterflies are fluttering about. The big tree next to it is lush and green, and sunlight shines on its leaves, casting dappled shadows.
“Actually, I have another question, Yun Jin,” Shen Yi’an couldn’t help but touch it again, and immediately received a sharp look from Yun Jin that said, “Try touching it again.”
He sheepishly withdrew his restless hand and said, "Why do you have both cat ears and human ears? Isn't that strange?"
"Is it strange?" Yun Jin herself didn't think there was anything wrong with it. She reached out and touched the human ears on both sides, then shook the cat ears on her head. "I think it's quite normal."
Then, she earnestly explained to Shen Yi'an: "In this form, my cat ears are responsible for the main hearing and are very sensitive. As for the human ears on both sides... they are just decorations and have no practical use."
Shen Yi'an fell into deep thought.
Yun Jin tilted her head and looked at Shen Yi'an: "Under normal circumstances, if I want to hear a more distant or subtle sound, I rely on these cat ears. Human ears are not so good; they can only hear the general sounds."
"If you find it strange, I can also make people's ears disappear."
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