The Top Star's Former CP

[Ongoing story: Reuniting with the Actor Rumored to Have Stepped on Me to Get Ahead. Click the author's profile in the upper right to find it]:

The highly acclaimed actor Zhu Tangyuan had an unsavory rumor attached to his name. People said he had risen to fame by profiting from someone else's suffering. His breakout debut was said to be based on Xugui Xu, a top-tier star of the music scene. There were even rumors that the two had competed for the role, with the evidence being that the script had been far too close to the top-tier star's teenage years. Several people also confirmed that both had attended a certain notoriously strict reform school and had been close during that time.

The rumors were a mix of truth and fiction. Years passed, and they became one of the entertainment industry's unsolved mysteries.

Until the eighth year.

Eight years into his career, Zhu Tangyuan took on a film with a gay romance for the first time. His costar was virtually unknown, but Zhu Tangyuan's projects were always reliably high quality, so audiences thought it was worth looking forward to.

Then, not long afterward, word spread online that his costar had been replaced by Xugui Xu. Audiences figured Zhu Tangyuan would turn down the film. After all, he had a scandal with this man in the past, and what could possibly become of the film with a self-indulgent amateur singer like him joining the cast?

Wait, who showed up at the opening ceremony right on schedule to walk straight into a trap? That's right, Zhu Tangyuan. Never mind what we said.

--

Watching Xugui Xu work diligently on set, eager to learn and conscientious, netizens felt as if they were seeing a coworker who'd always slacked off suddenly start working twelve-hour days, six days a week. It was surreal.

Only Xugui Xu knew that while the director was explaining things to the others, he too was staring intently at his densely packed little notebook, brows furrowed as he nodded along. He wasn't listening. He was reading notes titled How to Teach a Man to Kiss You Senseless, reliving and savoring the night before, improving his technique through practice, and reviewing what he'd learned.

And only Zhu Tangyuan knew that the previous night, Xugui Xu had knocked on his door with the little notebook in his arms and a bright look in his eyes, saying he wanted to rehearse the next day's kissing scene. As he was leaving, he passed the bed and added, "Maybe we should rehearse the bed scene too."

Assistant Xiao Zhao, who had been kicked out of the room several times, finally couldn't help quietly telling Zhu Tangyuan, "Bro, if he's sexually harassing you, just say so. We aren't afraid of him."

His bro said nothing.

His bro not only said nothing, he also gazed after Xugui Xu with longing, apparently suffering from an overdose of meals lovingly prepared by someone else. Xiao Zhao was frustrated by how hopeless he was and reported the situation to their manager.

The manager shrugged. "Ever since he insisted on taking this film, I stopped trying to manage him. There are only two possible endings this time: either he walks down the aisle, or he retreats into a Buddhist monastery. If it's the latter, you'll be out of a job, so let's hope for the best."

Xiao Zhao trotted off to join the rumor-spreading army.

--

Suddenly, the whole city was abuzz with the story, and neither of them could claim to be uninvolved.

But given their level of fame, netizens couldn't really accuse either of them of clinging to the other or riding on his coattails. After thinking it over, some decided Xugui Xu was settling an old score after all these years, deliberately trying to make Zhu Tangyuan, who had supposedly stepped on him to get ahead, uncomfortable. Zhu Tangyuan was in the wrong, so all he could do was accept it. Others said:

Thanks, I'm shipping them. Please give us more of this kind of "making him uncomfortable."

--

Eight years ago, Xugui Xu and Zhu Tangyuan were an optimistic young master who fell from the upper echelons to become an ordinary person overnight, and a poor top student who dropped out of school after his family suffered a sudden upheaval.

Eight years later, Xugui Xu and Zhu Tangyuan were a top-tier star whose actions depended on his mood but whom fate kept showering with opportunities, and an actor of award-winning caliber whose work almost never missed and who had few negative stories about him.

The actor's rare negative stories all had something to do with the top-tier star.

--

Whenever the light sticks of thousands upon thousands of fans lit up, Xugui Xu couldn't help thinking of that concert on the rooftop of an abandoned building, where the only light stick was a single lit cigarette.

"I am an important part of his life's journey, impossible to bypass. To go into the future, he must meet me." Credit: the song The Friend Who Made It Big

Xugui Xu (bottom) x Zhu Tangyuan (top). Happy ending. One-on-one.

Not a true reunion after a breakup, but a true reunion after a long separation.

He didn't really profit from someone else's suffering. That's just what people say.

Mutual pining. The author has to help them finally open their mouths after eight years of keeping their feelings bottled up. A friend loves me so much, I need a megaphone to say it.

The story uses flashbacks. Chapters are marked as eight years ago or eight years later. The two timelines are roughly split 40/60.

Updated daily.

-- The story blurb below --

Top-tier star contestant who was eliminated and returned to the competition, bottom: Keep yourself safe, stay away from him x Top-tier star who can make the stage his bed and is an expert at serving up fanservice, top

Also titled One Hundred Ways the Top-Tier Star Turns His Former CP into Reality

Six years after their favorite celebrities' relationship ended in heartbreak, a major Qixu shipper posted: If you just keep believing, one day the CP you ship will give you fanservice. Even the most heartbreaking ship will get its happy ending. The song The Truth Is True is coming!

That the mentor was a top-tier star wasn't big news. That the mentor was his former CP was.

Younger top. One-on-one. Very sweet. A pretend reunion after a breakup: they were never together before, just trainees at the same company. The top had a one-sided crush on the bottom for many years, and later the feelings became mutual.

*

Over a meal, a famous director casually talked with Wu Qi about the few actors who had auditioned that morning.

The director asked, "Which of these do you think is best?"

Wu Qi pointed to Lin Yixu's photo. "This one."

"What's good about him?"

"He looks good."

The director smacked the photo against his head. "I mean, from an acting perspective."

"He and I go together in every way, whether we're acting or..."

Updated daily. The competition is modeled on Produce 101. The entertainment industry is semi-fictional.

Completed previous story: male table tennis player x actress

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