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Yan Man stood rooted in place, taking a deep breath through her nose after a long moment.
She folded the agreement and tucked it into her pocket. “Don’t use this anymore—it’s not needed.”
The bedroom had blackout curtains drawn, and he emerged from the shadows at the doorway, stepping into the light of the living room.
Ye Lin reached out, wiping away the tears on her cheeks. “There, now why are you crying?”
Yan Man pursed her lips, her voice tinged with a nasal tone. “You shouldn’t do this because of me…”
She paused mid-sentence, then earnestly tried to dissuade him. “Life is precious, you know?”
He remained silent for a few seconds, then lowered his gaze to meet her eyes.
“What if I have something more precious than life?”
…
She didn’t know if he was referring to love or to her.
But their time together always felt fleeting. Soon, she glanced at the wall clock and quickly composed herself.
“No time left,” Yan Man wiped her face. “I’ll be late for work.”
“…”
After changing clothes, Yan Man began her daily grind as a hardworking actress.
In the past, she would leave directly, occasionally turning back to wave goodbye. But today was different. She stood at the door and turned to ask him, “Are you coming?”
“Hmm?”
Yan Man: “Today, I’m granting you the privilege of sitting in my esteemed passenger seat.”
She saw him lower his eyes and chuckle softly before asking, “Is there really such a good opportunity?”
Though she had jokingly said he could sit in the front, she ended up sitting in the backseat, not driving. To ensure the seating arrangement made sense, Simon ultimately took the coveted front seat.
As soon as Simon fastened his seatbelt, he couldn’t help but frequently glance back.
“So, why are you two together today?”
Yan Man: “Mind your own business when it comes to young couples.”
“…”
Once everyone settled in, she pulled out her phone to review last night’s drunken footage, selecting three clips to show Ye Lin. “I plan to use these as transitions, then move into the drunk state afterward.”
After watching, he nodded. “These are indeed the most suitable ones.”
Yan Man leaned closer, sniffing lightly. “Why do you still smell like peach wine? Did you drink some this morning?”
“No,” he replied. “It must be from your hair; it rubbed off on me.”
Yan Man grabbed a strand of her hair and sniffed it, confirming the faint scent of peach.
Before she could say anything, Simon immediately turned around, unable to contain his curiosity. “Did Teacher Ye drink last night too?”
“He did,” Yan Man confirmed.
Simon’s eyes lit up. “So both of you were drunk? Did anything happen??”
“Mm,” Yan Man answered candidly, “We clinked glasses.”
“…”
Simon: “I don’t want to hear about such elementary school topics.”
It didn’t matter whether he wanted to hear it or not—soon enough, the car arrived at the filming location, and everyone disembarked.
Aside from Simon, who had twisted his neck from constantly turning back, everything else went smoothly.
After arriving on set, Yan Man finished her makeup while waiting for filming to begin. In the meantime, she practiced her drunk scene, asking Ye Lin to hold her phone and record which take looked best.
She rehearsed five or six times, and the crew member responsible for notifying her about the shoot chuckled behind her.
The crew member deliberately glanced at Ye Lin, then at her, signaling for an introduction. “And this gentleman is your…?”
Yan Man thought for a moment. “My phone stand?”
The crew member raised an eyebrow in surprise, only to see the usually aloof and taciturn man on set crack a rare smile.
He handed over the phone with a chuckle, agreeing, “At your service anytime.”
Winter seemed to drag on endlessly. After another stretch of filming, the Lunar New Year approached, and festive decorations began appearing everywhere.
Inspired by the atmosphere, Yan Man bought some small trinkets online and, after some deliberation, filled in Ye Lin’s home address.
That evening, after finishing her bath, she sat at the desk reviewing her script while calculating how many days were left until the New Year.
The two cats played noisily on the floor, chasing each other and banging against the balcony door.
Meanwhile, Ye Lin’s phone buzzed with activity.
Bi Tan, bored and unable to find anyone to play games with, begged Ye Lin to join him for a couple of rounds.
Even though Ye Lin hadn’t turned on speaker mode, Yan Man could still faintly hear Bi Tan’s loud voice through the earpiece: “Just one game, Dad, please! How can you bear to see me so lonely? My hands itch!”
Ye Lin refused without hesitation: “You’re too bad.”
From the other end came wails of despair: “I can improve! Let’s play against bots first. If you think it’s not working, we’ll stop, okay?”
Yan Man glanced over, noticing that Ye Lin had already stopped replying via voice messages and was typing a single character in the chat box: “No.” She leaned closer.
“You should play with him,” Yan Man suggested. “Besides, I haven’t played in a long time either. I’ll watch you play.”
Moreover, Bi Tan had helped her choose alcohol last time, so this small favor was worth returning.
Ye Lin extended his hand and deleted the “no.”
“Alright,” he said. “What do you want to watch me play?”
“Anything’s fine,” Yan Man replied. “Let me memorize these lines twice more, then I’ll watch you play.”
She had already finished memorizing the lines for the next two days but still needed reinforcement. Occasionally, new ideas would come to her during repetition, which she jotted down in pencil beside the script.
While she was writing, Ye Lin typed a response and sent it to Bi Tan.
[Logging in ten minutes later.]
Bi Tan responded ecstatically: [Agreeing so quickly? Really? Not lying to me? Why ten minutes later? What moved you??]
Ye Lin: [My girlfriend.]
Bi Tan: […]
Haha, boring.
Yan Man delayed for five more minutes, stretching lazily fifteen minutes later just as Bi Tan sent another message urging him, complete with an ellipsis.
But despite the ellipsis, Bi Tan logged in promptly when the time came.
Yan Man held her script, watching them select heroes and enter the bot page.
She didn’t quite understand what was happening and pointed at a certain frame, asking Ye Lin, “Is that Bi Tan? Why did he choose a female hero?”
Ye Lin: “He’s lonely.”
“…”
“Not true!” Bi Tan defended himself. “This female hero recently got a super cool skin, and I haven’t played it yet. Plus, seeing him pick a marksman, I decided to follow suit.”
Yan Man continued, “So, are these two heroes a couple?”
Ye Lin glanced at her. “No, my hero doesn’t have a CP.”
Bi Tan added mysteriously, “You’ll see in a bit.”
When the game started, Ye Lin finally understood what Bi Tan meant.
The marksman Bi Tan chose often needed to stay stationary to cast abilities, and Bi Tan deliberately threw his ultimate ability right under Ye Lin’s feet every time.
Fortunately, Ye Lin’s reflexes were sharp, and he dodged them all.
Yan Man tapped the screen and asked, “What does this circle mean?”
Ye Lin patiently explained while aiming. “It’s Bi Tan’s hero’s ability—a kind of barrier placed under my feet. If I step into its range, I’ll be teleported back to base after a few seconds.”
Bi Tan chimed in from the other side, laughing. “Teacher Yan doesn’t even know this?”
Yan Man shrugged and said, “I don’t play much, only sporadically, and always with fixed heroes when playing with others.”
Unable to contain her curiosity, she asked Ye Lin, “What happens if you step inside? Can you show me?”
“Sure.”
In the next instant, Bi Tan watched as the man who had perfectly dodged every attack for the first five minutes of the game suddenly flashed into the blue circle and was teleported back to base seconds later.
Yan Man had never seen this before and couldn’t help but exclaim, “How magical!”
“Mm, want to see it again?” Ye Lin said. “I’ll have Bi Tan cast it again.”
Bi Tan: “...”
Something felt off. Hadn’t he watched those prank videos where this hero was specifically used to harass Ye Lin? But how had it suddenly turned into a tool for this couple to showcase their affection?!
What had he done to deserve standing here and enduring this torment?
Before Bi Tan could fully process his feelings, Ye Lin’s deep voice came through the earpiece.
“Bi Tan, cast another one.”
...
After casting two more circles, Bi Tan decided to turn the tables, reclaiming his role as the “perpetrator.” He began relentlessly throwing circles under Ye Lin’s feet.
Bi Tan was having a blast in the bot match, thinking that even with his eyes closed, they’d still win. By the end, he was still casually tossing circles around. However, when it came time to ban heroes in the ranked match, Ye Lin immediately banned the hero Bi Tan had just played.
Bi Tan: “Why?! I’ll play seriously this time—I’ve watched tutorials; I’ll definitely slay!”
Ye Lin calmly replied, “If you can’t play, don’t play.”
“...”
Reluctantly, Bi Tan picked a warrior hero and, while wildly swinging his axe, asked, “Should Teacher Yan join us? We can open a room later and play together, just the few of us.”
“She’ll join later,” Ye Lin said. “She’s looking at the hero skills right now.”
They won this round easily. Afterward, Bi Tan opened a room and pulled Simon in for a 2v2 match.
Previously, they had been on the same team, but this time, they were opponents.
Bi Tan thought to himself, though Ye Lin was formidable, Yan Man was a novice. With his and Simon’s decent rankings, they might stand a chance—
At least, that’s what he initially believed.
But then, as Simon stayed back to heal at base and Bi Tan was mercilessly killed in the river bushes, Yan Man casually used the same female hero from earlier and leisurely placed a circle near Ye Lin’s feet.
The circle shimmered with leaping koi fish and trailing ink.
Yan Man: “Looks good?”
Ye Lin: “It does.”
And there, the exposed corpse of Manager Bi witnessed the two of them stepping into the circle together, standing side by side, and… returning to base hand in hand :)
Bi Tan: “...”
Dammit, I’m done playing.
That night, Yan Man only played one game. However, the next day at the filming location, she saw other actors playing it again.
With the festive atmosphere of the Lunar New Year approaching, after finishing her work that evening, she suggested to Ye Lin, “How about some light exercise before bed?”
Upon hearing this, the man glanced at the couch beneath him, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly. “What kind of... exercise?”
“Playing games,” she said. “Log in.”
“...”
He pressed his lips together and didn’t say anything further, silently turning his phone to landscape mode and opening the game.
Yan Man deliberately tilted her head to look at his expression.
“You seem a bit disappointed. Were you expecting something?”
Ye Lin: “...”
Yan Man had initially selected yesterday’s hero, but just as the countdown screen appeared, Ye Lin suddenly asked, “Which hero did you use to play most often?”
She thought for a moment. Previously, she had played a few times with Zhou Xuan, who loved playing the jungler role and always let her pick a hero with a shield to hang back with.
Yan Man pointed to the left side of the screen. “This one.”
But as soon as she clicked, the countdown ended, and she didn’t have time to switch heroes. The system automatically locked her into this choice.
It didn’t matter, though. This was an all-random mode anyway, and Ye Lin seemed to be playing as a jungler too, so she figured this would suffice.
Later, Yan Man’s hero was killed once and automatically teleported back to the fountain to wait for revival.
While waiting, she urged Ye Lin, “Come pick me up.”
She added, “Others always come to pick me up.”
Previously, whenever they played casual modes, Zhou Xuan, being nearby, would always come to the fountain to pick her up after respawn, sparing her the walk. That morning, she had seen a young couple at the set doing the same.
“Coming,” Ye Lin said, calculating her respawn timer. He had already planned to finish killing this jungle monster before heading over to pick her up. But upon hearing her next sentence, he instinctively paused.
Others? Which others?
Though he knew she was friendly, beautiful, and naturally flirtatious when around him, it was obvious she must have had ex-boyfriends.
It was normal, and he thought he had mentally prepared himself. But at this moment, the sudden mention of it caused his heart to… feel momentarily squeezed.
She had mentioned playing only occasionally, usually sticking to fixed heroes.
So, had she always played this hero, riding atop someone else’s shoulders? And did that person come to pick her up after respawning?
A flicker of jealousy surfaced, and he dared not continue that train of thought.
Yan Man noticed he had been standing at the fountain for a long time and turned to ask, “What’s wrong?”
“...Nothing.”
He said nothing, but throughout the entire match, she could sense his mood wasn’t quite right. Yet whenever she asked, he wouldn’t elaborate.
After the match ended, Yan Man yawned, feeling a bit sleepy.
Wearing her fluffy white pajamas, she extended both hands, hinting, “I don’t feel like walking anymore.”
Ye Lin leaned over and lifted her up, feeling her legs naturally wrap around him and her chin rest against the crook of his neck. He couldn’t help but wonder—had that person also carried her to bed like this?
No, he couldn’t think about it anymore. A wave of intense jealousy nearly consumed him.
Yan Man was gently laid down on the bed. She slipped off her fleece pajama pants and crawled under the covers.
Before sleeping, she decided to scroll through Weibo as usual.
The twentieth trending topic caught her eye—a question. Unconsciously, she read it aloud: “How is your first love doing now?”
It seemed full of narrative depth. As an actress dedicated to her craft, she clicked to read more.
After scrolling through a few comments, something repressed within her quietly ignited. She heard the man beside her ask:
“How is your first love doing now?”
At first, she thought he was reading aloud too. But after a few seconds, Yan Man pointed at herself, surprised. “You’re asking me?”
He lowered his gaze, concealing the emotions in his eyes.
“Mm.”
Yan Man found this difficult to answer. Did her previous relationship with him count as a first love? They hadn’t officially been together.
Did her current relationship count? It didn’t seem entirely so either.
After pondering for a while, she asked, “What’s your definition of a first love?”
Ye Lin: “The first person you liked counts.”
“Even if you weren’t officially together, does it still count?”
“Yes,” he replied. “You two weren’t together?”
She thought for a moment. “Maybe we were… sort of.”
“…”
Just as she was about to lower her head and continue reading, a few seconds later, she heard his voice, tinged with suppressed emotion.
“Your first love.”
Yan Man: “Hmm?”
He asked, “What kind of person was he?”
Yan Man studied his expression for a moment, then answered honestly, “Pretty handsome.”
“…”
As though provoked in some way, Ye Lin spoke again, probing further: “How handsome?”
But this time, his voice carried almost no emotion.
Yan Man sniffed lightly.
“Well, just… really handsome,” she said. “You know my standards are high. Ordinary good-looking guys don’t catch my eye. The first time I saw him…”
As she spoke, her gaze drifted, as if lost in memories. Ye Lin furrowed his brow slightly and interrupted, “Don’t say anymore.”
Her words came to an abrupt halt. At first, she found it strange, but after cupping her face and observing him for a while, she realized—
Could he possibly be jealous of her?
An idea formed in her mind, and Yan Man blinked innocently. “Really? But I’m starting to miss him a little.”
“…”
He frowned slightly, seemingly incredulous. “You’re in my bed, thinking about him?”
Yet she deliberately looked at him with wide, innocent eyes, softly asking, “Is that not allowed?”
Seeing her like this, he couldn’t bear to make her hold back.
After a moment, Ye Lin forced himself to remain expressionless and said, “There’s nothing wrong with it.”
“I’m fine,” he added. “You don’t need to worry about me.”
“Oh…”
She pretended to have an epiphany and nodded, continuing, “Do you want to see a picture of him?”
At this point, she had already planned to resolve the mystery, but unexpectedly, the man seemed quite resilient. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he turned his head, saying, “No.”
Yan Man: “Won’t you regret it later?”
“What do I have to regret?” Ye Lin said. “The one with you now is me.”
It was as if he had been convincing himself of this all along; he spoke particularly fluently.
Yan Man stifled a laugh and nodded approvingly. “You’re quite bold.”
A little while later, she picked up her phone. “Should I give him a call?”
Ye Lin: “Do you miss him that much?”
She said, “Let you two meet.”
“What’s there to meet? I have nothing to talk to him about.” After a pause, Ye Lin added, “Put it on speaker.”
Yan Man was startled. “Didn’t you just say you had nothing to talk to him about?”
“…”
She tapped the screen a few times and then said, “No need for speaker.”
His hands rested on his knees. He didn’t actually want her to make the call, but it seemed he couldn’t stop her—and then—
Suddenly, her train of thought was interrupted.
She turned her phone toward him with a smile, showing that the call had already been made.
Buzz, buzz—two rings sounded, and the phone beside him began to vibrate.
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