After Failing to Pretend I Didn't Know My Ex [Showbiz]

[This novel will be completed on June 29, then moved behind a paywall. There will be a giveaway for readers who subscribe to 5% of it. Thanks to all my readers!]

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[The next novel, The Empathy Doll I Found Belonged to My Rival, features a cool-looking idol who is sarcastic on the inside x an aloof actor who is sharp-tongued in private. Please add it to your favorites!]

A livestreamed variety show announces its guests, and Jin Yixia, a newly crowned Best Actor who never takes part in variety shows, is among them.

Netizens mock him: ["The 'orphan of the entertainment industry' had to borrow a friend at the last minute?"]

On the show, Jin Yixia and his "best friend," Sheng Wei, exchange polite greetings for the cameras. They are so distant and formal, they might as well have the word "strangers" written on their faces.

But...

When they sing a love song, Sheng Wei keeps his eyes fixed on Jin Yixia.

Ignoring a mistake by the production crew, Jin Yixia seriously asks Sheng Wei a question meant for couples: "Are you afraid of losing me?"

In a corner where the camera only catches a fleeting glimpse, they suddenly jump apart, faces red and clothes disheveled.

Netizens: [What? There's something going on between them.]

Everyone immediately digs into their history, and the "Midsummer CP," once briefly popular before the stars themselves declared it over, returns to the spotlight.

Netizens: [Oh, so they're exes!]

Sheng Wei: ...After my ex and I stopped speaking for good, the whole internet started shipping us. What do I do?

*

Five years ago, Sheng Wei and Jin Yixia's sweet first love ended when Sheng Wei broke up with him abruptly.

Jin Yixia failed to win him back and said with red-rimmed eyes, "I never want to see you again for the rest of my life."

Sheng Wei took him at his word and diligently played the role of a "dead ex."

Five years later, Jin Yixia is a top-tier star and Best Actor at the center of the spotlight, while Sheng Wei is an obscure screenwriter accused of "riding his coattails."

There are so many reasons they can't get close again: their status, the cameras, their breakup...

And yet...he still loves him.

Ambiguous tests of affection hide in plain sight. Neither is willing to make a promise.

They're afraid the other will get serious, afraid they'll repeat the past.

Until Sheng Wei breaks down over what happened before.

This time, Jin Yixia takes his hand with determination. "Sheng Wei, you can rely on me."

Sheng Wei finally understands that Jin Yixia isn't a younger brother who needs protecting.

They are lovers who weather storms together.

"This time, let's stay passionately in love for ten thousand years."

*

The Midsummer CP's breakup was dramatic and public, but no one knows that Sheng Wei and Jin Yixia have gotten back together.

Their CP fans ship them through tears and laughter.

Sheng Wei and Jin Yixia's eyes meet.

CP fans: ["'Missing each other' is our theme."]

Sheng Wei gazes at Jin Yixia as he sleeps.

CP fans: ["Only when you're asleep do I dare look at you openly."]

Jin Yixia says, "I know he's watching me, because I want to look at him that way, too."

CP fans: ["Do they...love each other so much?"]

...Wait a minute.

How can a CP that broke up get sweeter the more we ship them?

-

A rebellious screenwriter (Sheng Wei) x a reserved-on-the-outside, warm-on-the-inside actor (Jin Yixia)

Two stubborn people learn how to say "I love you."

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Reader's guide:

1. Set in the modern world, where same-sex marriage is not legal. A heterosexual couple appears on the variety show.

2. The main text includes some on-screen comments.

3. The protagonists are each other's only romantic and sexual partners.

Theme: Sincerity deserves sincerity