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Idol, You’re Acting OOC – Intimacy is Prohibited in the Group (20)
Why is he here! Lu Shijin awkwardly slanted his face away to avoid meeting Xu Yifan’s gaze.
Seeing Xu Yifan, the agent’s gaze brightened, like he just found his saviour, and quickly motioned for Xu Yifan to come over.
“Fan, help me convince Jinjin. I don’t know what happened, but he suddenly said he wants to quit the group.” The agent seemed to have thought of something and stared suspiciously at Lu Shijin and Xu Yifan. “There weren’t any problems within the group, right?”
Lu Shijin hurriedly waved his hand. “No, no, we’re all good, no problems.”
The agent was still suspicious. “Why would you want to quit if there aren’t any problems? Don’t say something like ‘I’m not suited’. I’ve been in this industry for a long time, I can tell when you’re lying or not. Don’t even think to use these excuses to fool me! If you don’t tell me a reason that makes sense, I won’t agree!”
“You want to quit?” Xu Yifan turned to Lu Shijin, asking expressionlessly, “Why?”
Lu Shijin calmly replied, “No reason, I just don’t want to be in the entertainment industry anymore.”
“You said before that the stage is your dream, what made you decide to abandon it?”
Lu Shijin felt speechless, Xu Yifan of all people should know!
There can’t be feelings within the group, that’s what he said.
Now that Xu Yifan liked him, and he also liked Xu Yifan, it didn’t even matter that it was against the company’s rules. The most important thing was that Lu Shijin didn’t want to betray Payne and be with Xu Yifan.
This made the whole matter very awkward for the two of them. The best thing would him leaving. Out of sight, out of mind.
“People change. The stage used to be my dream, but I no longer think it suits me, isn’t it very normal to change my mind?” Lu Shijin explained eloquently. “I won’t trouble other members or the company. I’ll explain it clearly to the fans that it’s because of a personal reason.”
“I don’t agree.”
Lu Shijin: . . . Please! Why don’t you agree!
The agent realized he had someone supporting him and immediately added, “I don’t agree either! Xiao Lu, you’re still young and immature. Do you realize how much money the termination fee is? How about this, you should call your family over and we can discuss it together. If they support your decision, then the company can’t do anything!”
Lu Shijin had no choice but to leave and think of another way.
After practicing and returning to the dorms, Lu Shijin got ready to sleep after washing up and looking at his phone for a while. Suddenly someone knocked on his door.
Lu Shijin opened it to see Xu Yifan.
“Fan-ge? Is there a problem this late?” When Lu Shijin saw who it was, he held the door tightly, and only opened it a crack, not letting Xu Yifan enter.
“Yes.” Xu Yifan looked past Lu Shijin and asked lightly, “Are you sure you want to talk out here?”
“If it’s not urgent.” Lu Shijin held fast at the door, “Why don’t we talk tomorrow?”
Lu Shijin was really afraid to be alone with Xu Yifan right now. His heart would beat wildly whenever they were even slightly close to him, let alone if they were in the same room in the middle of the night.
He wasn’t afraid that Xu Yifan would do something to him, but rather that he would reveal his real feelings.
“We have to talk about it today.” Xu Yifan seemed to have anticipated that Lu Shijin would close the door on him, so he placed his hand in the gap and didn’t give Lu Shijin any chance to escape.
Lu Shijin could only open the door and let him in.
Thankfully, Xu Yifan didn’t do anything after he came in. He just stood in the entryway.
“Why do you want to quit?” Xu Yifan asked bluntly.
Lu Shijin sat on his bed and hugged his pillow. “I told you the reason already.”
Xu Yifan obviously didn’t believe him.
He stood in the dim corner, his expression indistinguishable as he asked quietly, “Is it because of me?”
“No.” Lu Shijin denied, “It’s not because of you. Don’t overthink.”
Xu Yifan murmured, “You suddenly brought up quitting after yesterday, how can I not overthink?”
“It’s not because of last night . . .” Lu Shijin tried to find another excuse, but Xu Yifan didn’t have the patience to hear his excuses and cut him off, “I’ll admit that I like you, but what happened yesterday was more because of curiosity.”
Lu Shijin was stunned, “Curiosity?”
“Mhm.” Xu Yifan paused, then continued, “You’re the first person to get close to me, and you would always make unpredictable actions, which is why I became curious about you.”
Lu Shijin was a bit shocked. “Then when you kissed me yesterday, was it also out of curiosity?”
Xu Yifan coughed unnaturally. “Yes, it’s like you said. I’ve never dated before, so upon hearing all those things you were saying, it’s natural to be a bit curious. That made me impulsively kiss you. Afterwards, I felt ashamed and didn’t apologize. I’m sorry.”
“N-no problem, you don’t need to apologize.” Lu Shijin suddenly felt a bit lost and pretended to laugh unconcernedly, “I didn’t read much into it either.”
Lu Shijin had dated twice already; he had experience it. How could he not tell that Xu Yifan was trying to give them both a step down?
So he pretended to believe his explanation.
“Also, I was just joking when I told you to break up with your boyfriends.”
Boyfriend’s’ . . . Lu Shijin was a bit regretful of how rash he was, having to deal with being thought of as a two timer now.
“I know, actually . . . I was just joking about that, I’m not with two people at the same time
”
“You don’t have to explain this to me.” Xu Yifan interrupted, “You can be with whoever you want, however many people you want. It’s your choice, I have no right to interfere, so I won’t.”
Lu Shijin felt very complicated and didn’t know how to respond. He replied with a “thank you,” and instantly regretted that.
Fuck, why would I say thank you?
Am I thanking him for not poking his nose into my business?
Xu Yifan continued, “So you don’t need to feel bothered because of me, nor do you need to abandon your dream because of me.”
Xu Yifan’s voice was a bit unhappy. Lu Shijin felt somewhat bad when he heard it, feeling like he was bitten by a bug— a kind of pain that intensified with time.
“Okay, I got it.” Lu Shijin squeezed his pillow tight and chose to ignore how he felt as he spoke in a hoarse voice, “Then, Fan-ge, we’ll still be good teammates in the future, okay?”
“Yes, good teammates.” Xu Yifan moved and opened the door, “Rest well, I’m leaving now.”
Xu Yifan left and closed the door. The room instantly became silent.