TBSDRA 23: Not That Kind of Relationship

Xiao Wang came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl. When he saw the two people in the living room, he stopped in his tracks. There was something off about the atmosphere, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Xu Xishuang noticed the bowl in Xiao Wang’s hands and turned to ask Yan Yushan, “Why don’t you eat before you go?”

“No need,” Yan Yushan replied, turning to head upstairs. “I’ll just pack my things.”

He packed quickly. In no time, he came back down in a fresh set of clothes, dragging a suitcase behind him. The car picking him up was already waiting beyond the lawn. Xu Xishuang watched as Yan Yushan got in and left, then withdrew his gaze.

“He just left without even eating,” Xiao Wang muttered as he carried the bowl back to the kitchen. “That’s not good for his health. If it goes on like this, something’s bound to happen. He’s already so busy, and now he’s rushing to another schedule. He probably won’t even have time to eat later and there’s no one to look after him…”

“Why are you worrying so much?” Xu Xishuang said blandly. “There are plenty of people who care about him. We don’t need to.”

Then something dawned on Xu Xishuang. Last year, Yan Yushan had ended his contract with his former agency and opened his own studio. Now, all the decisions—what events to attend, which scripts to take—were entirely up to him. His manager only filtered the options and there was no such thing as being suddenly called in for a job. Even if something urgent came up, he could turn it down.

So Yan Yushan had just made up an excuse to leave.

Xu Xishuang figured that Yan Yushan had plenty of people who cared for him: his manager, his assistant, his fans. Eventually, his official CP Chi Siyuan would also take good care of him. There was no need for him to worry.

Xiao Wang paused. After spending so many days together, he had started to pick up on Xu Xishuang’s moods. He could tell he wasn’t feeling great right now. Rubbing the back of his head, he quietly responded, “You’re right.”

“I’m going upstairs to rest,” Xu Xishuang told him. “Call me when it’s time for dinner.”

“Okay.”

Xu Xishuang needed to go into Yan Yushan’s room to get his suitcase first. The second time he opened that door, he noticed his emotions were… subtly different.

The room really was sparsely furnished—almost hotel-like. No wonder he had thought no one lived there the first time.

A gray beanbag chair sat facing the window, with sunlight pouring through and lighting up the nearby desk. Next to the desk lamp sat a large hourglass filled with black sand, all settled at the bottom, the flow already finished.

Yan Yushan must’ve left in a hurry. The home clothes he’d changed out of were still lying on the quilt. Xu Xishuang glanced at them for a moment but didn’t put them away.

They weren’t close enough for him to go around opening someone else’s wardrobe.

He pulled up the handle on his suitcase, dragged it across the hall to the room opposite.

As Yan Yushan had said, this room had great natural light and even came with a small balcony. It had already been tidied up and was decorated in a warm ivory-white that lifted the mood.

Xu Xishuang was pleased, so he didn’t make any changes. He unpacked a few essentials and lay on the bed for a bit. Once he rested, he got up, stood in front of the wardrobe mirror, and took photos of his belly.

Without Yan Yushan’s help, it was a bit more awkward. Xu Xishuang lifted the hem of his shirt and held it in his mouth, snapping several mirror selfies. Per Dr. Xu’s instructions, he selected one that showed a close-up of his abdomen and sent it over.

After sending it to Dr. Xu, he sat holding his phone and suddenly remembered that Yan Yushan usually kept a backup copy. So, casually, he selected one of the photos and sent it to Yan Yushan as well.

Elsewhere, Yan Yushan was listening to his manager Kong-jie give updates on his upcoming schedule. When his phone vibrated, he glanced down, saw that it was a message from Xu Xishuang, and knew it was probably the photo for Dr. Xu. He hesitated, then tapped to open it.

A wash of pale white filled the screen. In the photo, Xu Xishuang was holding his phone, taking a picture in the mirror. His gaze was lowered, lips slightly parted as he bit down on the hem of his shirt, entirely focused on getting the angle right. He didn’t notice that he’d pulled his shirt a bit too high—just enough for a hint of pink at his chest to show through.

Yan Yushan’s breath caught.

He subtly shifted his posture, no longer sitting upright but crossing one leg over the other. His finger hovered over the screen. Fighting the urge to zoom in, he saved the photo and backed it up.

“…Are you still listening?” Kong-jie asked. “Why is your neck so red? Is the AC in the car not low enough?”

“I’m fine,” Yan Yushan snapped out of it, locked his phone, and looked at her. “Go on.”

“Didn’t the studio just sign a few new talents?” she continued. “You suggested launching them together in the same drama so the audience could get familiar with them and everyone thought that was a good idea. I’ve found a director considering a genre switch, he wants to do a crime drama but lacks funding. If we invest, he’s willing to cast our entire roster.”

She went on, “The director is actually quite skilled. I checked out his past work and it was pretty solid. The only issue is he’s got a bad temper, strict standards, and the two main roles haven’t been cast yet.”

Yan Yushan nodded. “Okay. We can fill those roles later. Let’s confirm the partnership first and fund the project.”

Kong-jie jotted it down in her memo, then hesitated before asking, “Xiao Yan, we’ve worked together for so many years. You’ve always put your career first but I have to ask—who did you give that travel reality show spot to? Are you in a relationship?”

“No,” Yan Yushan replied. “I’m not in a relationship.”

Seeing the skeptical look in her eyes, he gave a helpless smile. He knew it would be impossible to hide this for long—once Xu Xishuang showed up on that variety show, she would find out. So he decided to give her a heads-up.

“It’s Xu Xishuang.”

That name took her a second to recall.

“…Xu Xishuang, the lead in your current movie?” Kong-jie looked thoughtful. “He is really good-looking. Might be the best-looking in the whole industry. No scandals either. Low-key, serious actor…”

“Kong-jie,” Yan Yushan cut her off, “there’s nothing going on between us.”

Xu Xishuang hated him. He had no intention of getting closer, and Yan Yushan didn’t have the face to keep bothering him. He didn’t want to see Xu Xishuang coughing up blood ever again.

Kong-jie wasn’t buying it. “You were just looking at his message, weren’t you?”

“…Yeah,” Yan Yushan admitted reluctantly. “But don’t overthink it.”

She gave him a long, pointed look. He might not know what kind of expression he had just now, but she did—clear as day. That was the look of someone trying very hard to suppress how much they liked someone.

In all the years she’d managed him, Yan Yushan had never acted this way toward anyone. He used to look down on people who asked for resources—yet now he’d secured a travel variety spot that was clearly designed to boost someone’s visibility, and handed it to Xu Xishuang. What more proof did she need?

Kong-jie filed the matter away in her mind. She decided she would thoroughly investigate Xu Xishuang once they got back to make sure he wouldn’t bring any trouble to Yan Yushan’s career. Only then would she rest easy.

She was just his manager. She couldn’t control who he liked, who he dated, or whether he went public but she could do her job. If things ever blew up, she had to be ready to clean up the mess and protect Yan Yushan’s image.