TSBDRA 44: Jealous for No Reason

…

Filming was progressing smoothly.

No one knew what exactly Yan Yushan had said to Cheng Tianwen, but Director Cheng gave the entire crew a day off yesterday. Taking advantage of this break, Xu Xishuang went with Yan Yushan to visit Dr. Xu for a checkup.

After a full round of tests, Dr. Xu confirmed that Xu Xishuang and the baby were both doing fine. He prescribed some new calcium and vitamin supplements, then told them to come back for a follow-up in two weeks.

Xu Xishuang had gradually grown used to Yan Yushan’s presence. Every night, he would leave the door open for him and fall asleep to the sound of Yan Yushan telling stories.

But yesterday’s checkup had been long and the trip tiring, so Xu Xishuang was exhausted by nightfall and fell asleep after only hearing the beginning of the story.

As a result, he had no idea whether the little gecko that had lost its tail in the story had ever managed to find it again.

He had been thinking about this ever since he woke up, absent-mindedly arriving on set. He found a quiet spot to sit, pulled out his phone, and tried to search for the story Yan Yushan had told, hoping to find how it ended.

Only after learning that the gecko had grown a new tail and the old one had a happy ending too, did he feel satisfied enough to put away his phone and review the scene he needed to film today.

The scene was one he had practiced with Yan Yushan during a previous script reading. It was the moment Yan Zheng first met Chen Muzhou, on a cold, damp, rainy night—the night Xiao He and her father died.

Just as Xu Xishuang finished reviewing his lines, he saw Yan Yushan approaching.

Yan Yushan casually pulled over a chair and sat down beside him, their knees touching. He leaned in slightly. “The censorship for Bitter Summer passed. I arranged a test screening to see how it plays.”

Xu Xishuang nodded.

“The official Bitter Summer account will be doing some promo. They might release some behind-the-scenes clips of you and Chi Siyuan interacting,” Yan Yushan continued, watching Xu Xishuang’s expression. “It might stir up a wave of CP shippers for you two.”

Thanks to Yan Yao, Xu Xishuang had developed a strong immunity to the term “CP fans.” He didn’t even twitch an eyebrow and simply nodded as usual—completely unbothered.

Yan Yushan couldn’t quite read Xu Xishuang’s reaction, but he didn’t push the issue. Over on the other side, Cheng Tianwen was already calling his name to come shoot.

Neither of them had expected the CP fans to become such a force.

The official Bitter Summer Weibo posted a new behind-the-scenes clip at noon. By evening, the CP fan super-topic for Xu Xishuang and Chi Siyuan had already gained over 100,000 followers, even sneaking onto the trending chart purely on organic hype.

Xu Xishuang had no idea this had happened until Yan Yao came over, eyes red, phone in hand, and gave him a look like he had seduced the emperor and destroyed a kingdom. That’s how Xu Xishuang found out.

Yan Yao mumbled, “I used to kinda ship you and Chi Siyuan… but now, I’m 100% Team YanXu. Only YanXu. No switching, no breaking. No one can beat your chemistry!”

Xu Xishuang: …

He pulled out his phone and opened the behind-the-scenes clip from the Bitter Summer crew.

Whoever edited the video must’ve worked on dating reality shows before. They compiled all his and Chi Siyuan’s interactions, layered on syrupy music, and used a pink filter.

The final shot in the video was from an intimate classroom scene between him and Chi Siyuan—a fake-angle kiss filmed before a parting. Xu Xishuang hadn’t expected them to include that. He closed the video and scrolled through the comments. Sure enough, the replies were full of “I’m dead from shipping this!” and similar reactions.

Yan Yao, using an alt account, was frantically arguing with CP shippers in the comments, nearly seeing red. She huffed, “That was clearly just a trick angle. No way it was a real kiss! CP fans can’t just make stuff up!”

Her rejection was intense, her frustration overflowing, as if she had completely forgotten all the times she had edited fan videos with fake kisses without caring about realism at all.

Xu Xishuang checked the trending chart and saw the situation was still manageable. It was standard promo buzz, so he put his phone away and got up to shoot his scene for the day.

Yan Yushan had changed into another costume—the police uniform his character Yan Zheng wore during his first appearance at the precinct. The navy-blue outfit was crisp and formal. When he walked over, he gave Xu Xishuang a teasing smile.

Xu Xishuang paused slightly in his steps.

In the story, it was a rainy night. The crew had prepared water trucks to simulate rain.

Because of Xu Xishuang’s condition, Cheng Tianwen had adjusted the scene so that Chen Muzhou arrived at the station by police car, getting only a little wet. He would be drenched only after leaving the station without an umbrella in a rush. The goal was to shorten the amount of time Xu Xishuang had to be in the rain.

The makeup artist used a small spray bottle filled with purified water to mist Xu Xishuang’s hair until droplets began to fall from the tips. Xu Xishuang shook his head slightly and resumed shooting.

During the table read, he hadn’t felt much, but now, sitting in the dim interrogation room, the closed space and Yan Yushan’s intense gaze—which had fully entered character—made the pressure real. Xu Xishuang exhaled lightly, once again admiring Chen Muzhou’s psychological strength, and quickly adjusted his mindset to get into the scene.

The scene wasn’t long. As soon as Xu Xishuang stepped out of the police station, the water truck kicked in. He and Yan Yushan passed each other shoulder to shoulder. Without a backward glance, Xu Xishuang walked into the rain, droplets hitting his body as he smiled like Chen Muzhou, reaching up to push his glasses.

With Cheng Tianwen’s shout of “Cut,” the water truck immediately stopped. Xiao Wang rushed over, wrapping Xu Xishuang in a warm blanket, handing him a cup of hot water, and leading him to a portable heater.

With temperatures around ten degrees Celsius in November—and now nighttime—shooting a rain scene was absolute torment.

Cheng Tianwen checked the footage a few times and gave Xu Xishuang a thumbs-up. Xu Xishuang and Xiao Wang then headed toward the trailer.

Xiao Wang waited outside while Xu Xishuang changed into dry clothes and dried his hair. He then returned to the heater with the others to warm up again.

Just as he was starting to feel warm, someone plopped down next to him like a bundle. He turned and saw a puffed-up Yan Yao, staring at him with a look even more aggrieved than earlier.

Xu Xishuang: …

Yan Yao was a lot like his younger cousin—quiet and seemingly sweet on the outside, but not at all what she appeared to be. If he hadn’t accidentally seen her tablet left open, he never would’ve known that his cousin loved reading NSFW monster-boy BL stories.

Xu Xishuang, the only male in the younger generation of his family, had grown up surrounded by girls and thus had a soft spot for them. He sighed and asked, “What now?”

“Check the trending chart,” Yan Yao said in a ghostly tone. “It says you visited Chi Siyuan late at night and even went back to the hotel with him. Your relationship is confirmed.”

Xu Xishuang: ?

He pulled out his phone in shock and started browsing Weibo. Apparently, due to a lack of juicy gossip lately, the rumors about him and Chi Siyuan had climbed all the way to number five on the trending list.

Clicking the original post, Xu Xishuang stared at the leaker’s username and fell silent.

…Wasn’t this the same paparazzi who exposed rumors about him and Yan Yushan last time? Were they just chasing KPIs now?

There were two pictures attached. The first showed Chi Siyuan and a man from behind. Chi Siyuan was glancing at the other man, who wore a black trench coat and had medium-length hair. The second photo showed them with their arms around each other, entering a hotel.

From behind, the man really did look like Xu Xishuang because even the hairstyle matched how he looked before his recent haircut. If he weren’t sitting here on set having just wrapped filming, even Yan Yao might’ve believed it was him in the photo.

CP fans for Xu Xishuang and Chi Siyuan were losing their minds. No one expected them to actually be a couple.

Yan Yao, still fuming, was furiously typing replies to argue with people online while ranting to Xu Xishuang, “Your makeup artist and I have been trying to explain that you’ve been filming on another set and have no time or reason to visit Chi Siyuan but they won’t believe us! They keep accusing us of lying and twisting the truth. I’m going insane!”

“…You and my makeup artist?”

“Yeah,” Yan Yao nodded, casually throwing her under the bus. “She’s a YanXu CP fan too. She started shipping you two during Bitter Summer, even earlier than I did.”

His phone rang, and Yan Yao instantly shut up. Xu Xishuang answered, “Zhao-jie.”

His manager Zhao-jie had never imagined that her most well-behaved client—one who had basically no scandals—would hit the trending list twice in a few months over romance rumors. Her voice sounded drained, “Xishuang, what happened this time?”

“That person’s not me. I’m still on set filming,” Xu Xishuang replied helplessly.

Zhao-jie made a sound of acknowledgment, seemed to take another call, then returned to him. “Xishuang, Chi Siyuan’s side wants to clarify. His team’s planning to call you to work it out.”

“Alright.”

Right after hanging up with Zhao-jie, Chi Siyuan’s call came in. Xu Xishuang picked up and heard his apologetic voice.

Chi Siyuan hasn’t had his phone lately. Because of the trending mess tonight, the director finally let his assistant hand it over.

Chi Siyuan got in touch right away. “Sorry, Senior Xu. The man in the picture is our screenwriter. I was just asking him something about my character and accidentally got photographed. I dragged you into this—I’m really sorry.”

Xu Xishuang: “It’s fine. How do you want to clarify?”

“Our official Weibo agreed to post a statement. Song Yao—the screenwriter—he’s okay with posting a photo too, to prove it was him.”

Chi Siyuan hesitantly asked, “You’re not mad, are you?”

“No, don’t worry,” Xu Xishuang replied. “I’ll help clarify too.”

“Thank you, senior. Sorry for the trouble!”

“I’m hanging up now,” Xu Xishuang said.

Yan Yao sat nearby, quietly listening to his calm tone and expressionless face, secretly overjoyed. She was now certain that there really was nothing going on between Xu Xishuang and Chi Siyuan.

Xu Xishuang looked down and messaged Cheng Tianwen, asking if he could take a photo on set.

Director Cheng had seen the trending news too and readily agreed. He hadn’t planned to keep the cast lineup secret anyway—just hadn’t made an official announcement yet.

Yan Yao had just opened her mouth to say something when the filming in front of them wrapped. Yan Yushan was striding toward them.

She immediately got up, giving him her seat and moving to sit behind them.

He must be freaking out, Yan Yao thought gleefully. He’s jealous! He’s jealous! He came to confront Xu Xishuang!

But the reality didn’t quite match her fantasy. Yan Yushan was jealous—but not of Chi Siyuan. He was jealous of her.

As usual, he handed Xu Xishuang a cup of hot water, then casually glanced at Yan Yao behind them. Feigning nonchalance, he said, “You seem to be spending a lot of time with Yan Yao lately.”

Xu Xishuang blinked slowly.

He had also assumed Yan Yushan had rushed over to confront him about the trending romance with Chi Siyuan. But what was this supposed to mean? Shouldn’t Yan Yushan be worried about that trending hashtag first? That was his canon ship’s shou trending with someone else!

When Xu Xishuang didn’t answer, Yan Yushan frowned slightly and asked uneasily, “Are you… interested in her?”

Wait—could Xu Xishuang really be straight? He’d never actually clarified his orientation before…

Yan Yushan held his breath, anxiously waiting for an answer. But before the tension could build too long, he heard Xu Xishuang reply in an exasperated tone: “…I’m gay. I always have been.”

The bluntness caught Yan Yushan completely off guard.

“I need to post a photo to prove I’m on set,” Xu Xishuang added, pulling out his phone. “Can you take—no, forget it. I’ll do it myself.”

Yan Yushan had a very distinctive photography style. Xu Xishuang was worried that fans with eagle eyes would pick up on it and cause another rumor. It’s better to handle it personally.

The problem was, Xu Xishuang didn’t know how to take selfies. He looked good even from terrible angles, but he still deleted the first shadowy, backlit photo in silence.

After a few seconds of thought, he turned to Yan Yushan and said, “Can you just hold the phone for me?”

Yan Yushan had already wanted to take over multiple times during the selfie attempt, so of course he agreed. “Sure.”

He took the phone and, following Xu Xishuang’s instructions, turned on the front camera and held it at chest level so that Xu Xishuang could see himself on screen.

Xu Xishuang treated him like a tripod, using the timer function and walking to a well-lit spot to pose, waiting for the automatic shutter.

Yan Yushan dutifully stood there like a human stand, then handed the photo over.

In the image, Xu Xishuang wore Chen Muzhou’s signature hoodie from his younger days. His soft black hair fell gently around his face. Already young in appearance, he looked even more like a teenager but his eyes were cold, and even his smile dripped with scorn.

Chi Siyuan’s team had already begun their clarification. Xu Xishuang applied a quick filter to the image, then uploaded it to Weibo with their statement.

【@XuXishuang: On set. (Image)】