I Went Viral After Being Forced to Play a Couple With My Ex

A beautiful, outwardly cold and heartless recipient who's actually emotionally dense x a possessive, sharp-tongued but honest, jealous young master who says one thing and does another as the pursuer

(Jiang Ruan) x (Xie Shiyu)

Jiang Ruan has spent years in the entertainment industry without ever becoming popular. After offending a producer, he thinks he'll soon be blacklisted, but unexpectedly receives an offer to play the second male lead in a gay drama.

Only after arriving on set does he discover that the popular award-winning actor playing opposite him is Xie Shiyu, his longtime nemesis and ex-boyfriend, whom he's been at odds with ever since he debuted.

Xie Shiyu personally requested him for the role.

When Jiang Ruan opens the script, he realizes he's playing a scumbag who uses people for both their hearts and their bodies.

Xie Shiyu says carelessly, "Doesn't the role suit you? You're just playing yourself."

Jiang Ruan sneers. "Likewise."

On set, the two act lovey-dovey together. They kiss without a hint of embarrassment, and their intimate scenes need no rehearsal. The director praises them as the most dedicated actors he's ever seen.

In private, they trade cutting remarks and fight whenever they meet.

After finishing the drama, Jiang Ruan decides to quit the entertainment industry and leave acting behind.

But he never expected his ship with Xie Shiyu to go viral overnight.

"Waaah, Shiyuan is real! Every couple I ship is real!"

Then someone digs up old dirt to prove they'd been together in high school, and they become the internet's most heart-wrenching, tragic-love couple.

Jiang Ruan: The truth is, we never dated (...)

#What do I do when the whole world thinks I'm dating my nemesis?#

◎Bonus scene:

Jiang Ruan decides to find Xie Shiyu and clarify that he never meant to play along for publicity. But when he gets to the set, his nemesis corners him, his voice trembling.

"I knew you still loved me." Xie Shiyu pulls up screenshots of the couple fans' microscopic analysis of their every interaction.

Jiang Ruan: "Let's just call it a dream. Why am I still so moved long after waking up?"

[Reading guide]

1. Rekindled love and mutual pining.

2. Neither the pursuer nor the recipient dated anyone else during their years apart.

3. Set in a fictional entertainment industry, with no real-life inspirations. Please don't compare it to reality.

4. Thanks for reading, but please don't give me writing advice. I post what I currently think is fine, so I'll listen to opinions, but probably won't take most of them. I'll fix typos. Thanks, and feel free to stay or go.

5. Blurb written on 2020/10/01 and screenshotted for Weibo.

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The Black Moonlight of the Disabled Villainous Tycoon

A fake-green-tea, drama-loving beauty recipient x a brooding, jealous villainous tycoon pursuer

(Rong Qiu) x (Lu Hecheng)

1.

Rong Qiu accidentally transmigrates into an entertainment-industry wish-fulfillment novel, becoming the vicious male supporting character who shares his name.

In the original story, he uses underhanded tricks to pursue the protagonist pursuer, bullies the protagonist recipient in their struggling idol group, pretends to save the villain, then frames and taunts him, pushing him to the brink of death.

Cruel and vicious, he becomes the original story's greatest villain's black moonlight.

In the end, he meets a tragic fate. The protagonist couple humiliates him, the entire internet blacklists him, and then the villain captures him, breaks his arms and legs, and grinds his bones to dust.

When Rong Qiu transmigrates, the original owner is dissatisfied with his family's arranged marriage to the villainous tycoon Lu Hecheng. He's preparing to run away from the wedding and continue stalking the protagonist pursuer, completely offending the villain in the process.

The entertainment reporters are all eager to watch him make a fool of himself and get thrown out of the Lu family.

Rong Qiu: I'm crying. It's an act. :)

On their wedding day,

Lu Hecheng wears a suit, looking cold and elegant, with a handsome face and dark eyes. He glances at Rong Qiu.

Without a moment's hesitation, Rong Qiu looks utterly devoted, takes the other's cold mechanical fingers, and slips a ring onto them.

The reporters, ready to watch a show: Weren't you supposed to be a spoiled brat???

The villain, waiting for him to call off the wedding: "..."

2.

Lu Hecheng became disabled when he was young, losing an arm. His empty sleeve became a favorite target for mockery.

He was gloomy and solitary, proud to a fault, and didn't care what those people thought.

As an adult, he gets a metal prosthetic and builds a business empire from scratch, becoming a rising star in the business world. No one dares mock him anymore, but no one dares approach him either.

Until that young man appears.

He isn't afraid of Lu Hecheng's disability. He holds his hand to warm it, and curiously, carefully studies his metal fingers.

Those warm, gentle eyes look at him as he asks softly, "Does it still hurt? Want me to rub it for you?"

3.

Lu Hecheng died once.

After being reborn and finally recovering his memories, he is overcome by an uncontrollable, repressed violence. Looking at the oblivious young man beside him, all he wants is to drive everyone else away and hide him in his arms.

To make him sink into depravity alongside him.

"You were the moon I saw when I looked up from the abyss, but I want to become the mud and stain you once more."

Theme: Read The Art of Language and The Importance of Communication regularly to effectively avoid breakups.