The Two Top-Tier Stars of Chinese Entertainment

Lu Biezhou came up through a talent competition. The moment he debuted, his outstanding skills and unbelievably good looks made him famous across the country, establishing him as an undisputed top-tier star. But at twenty-one, he turned down every high-profile variety show offer and, for some inexplicable reason, joined a reality show about casting actors. Soon, everyone knew that Lu Biezhou, who never showed more than his profile in music videos, was going to act. At first, his fans tuned in just to watch their idol. They weren't worried that the mentors would give Lu Biezhou a hard time. After all, everyone in the industry knew how influential he was. Who could have expected Lu Biezhou to get torn to shreds in the very first episode? "What is this supposed to be?" "You don't have any lines, not no emotions." "If you can't squeeze out tears, don't force it." "..." The mentor who kept tearing into him was Liu Yi, an acclaimed actor who had won Best Actor two years in a row and completed a grand slam the previous year. Lu Biezhou's fans would have dared to go after anyone else. But Liu Yi was also a top-tier star known for his talent, and his fans were among the fiercest of the fierce. Unable to win that fight, Lu Biezhou's fans urged him to leave the show rather than put up with the abuse. But to everyone's surprise, when it came time to choose a mentor in the second episode, Lu Biezhou picked Liu Yi, the very man who had spent two episodes criticizing him. Perhaps some people are born to be stars. At first, fans worried the show would damage Lu Biezhou's reputation and ruin his image. The opposite happened. Over the course of the twelve-episode show, viewers and fans watched Lu Biezhou grow, and even Liu Yi gradually had less and less to criticize. Anyone paying attention could tell that the relationship between the two was becoming more and more complicated on camera. After the show ended, they would occasionally run into each other at galas and parties. But at some point, they suddenly stopped crossing paths. Only their shippers continued hunting for crumbs. * The day twenty-eight-year-old Lu Biezhou won Best Actor, Liu Yi personally presented him with the award. In front of the cameras, they were cordial colleagues, one a senior to the other. They smiled and nodded, then shook hands warmly. Behind the scenes, Liu Yi didn't even attend the celebratory banquet. He left the ceremony in a hurry. Fans and viewers knew only that the two had met on a variety show, then briefly crossed paths before going their separate ways. They were simply mentor and student. Once the hype around their ship died down, almost no one remembered the tenderness and intimacy they had shared in private. And no one knew that five years earlier, Lu Biezhou and Liu Yi had come this close to making their relationship public. * * Younger top, with a nine-year age gap * An intensely possessive, volatile top-tier star with a wolfdog personality, and a rational, gentle Best Actor devoted to his career * The bottom has had an ex; the top has an extreme personality and loves his husband in an especially awful way * Not suitable for readers with strong preferences about tops or bottoms Theme: I love freedom.