Showbiz Scandal: The Official Announcement of My Ex and Myself-Chapter 144: Once You Agree, You Can’t Go Back on It
She was a bit speechless.
"Can’t you stop twisting the facts? I said we could talk about it after you debut, not that I’d definitely agree after you debut."
Xie Qingci leaned casually against the balcony window, his words persistently clinging to his own understanding: "The way I interpret it is that we’ll reconcile after I debut, otherwise I wouldn’t have let you off so easily that day. Sis, one must keep her word."
What a shameless, coercive strategy this is. She moved the body lotion away and slapped the pillow: "I don’t acknowledge that!"
"You will acknowledge it. Over the next few days, I’ll give you a daily countdown update. You kissed me, you hugged me, so aren’t you supposed to take responsibility?"
Yu Xia: "Get it straight, you kissed me, you hugged me!"
Xie Qingci agreed readily: "Alright, then I’ll take responsibility for you."
"..." Her mind was truly fogged up from anger—she thought and thought but couldn’t come up with a good rebuttal, eventually laughing despite herself.
She was purely laughed into a rage.
"With that ability, why don’t you join the debate team instead of some talent show?"
"How do you know I didn’t join the debate team at school?" Xie Qingci replied calmly.
She was taken aback.
Without having said much, she heard Xie Qingci continue: "So is this the agony of dating a celebrity as a civilian? My life is filled with you, yet your life probably has nearly forgotten my name."
Yu Xia felt inexplicably guilty, but quickly retorted: "We’re broken up, forgetting you isn’t out of the ordinary, is it?"
"So only I am pained by love, how heartless of you."
"...Okay, enough of your antics. I never noticed how much you could act before."
Xie Qingci let out a light chuckle: "So do you agree?"
She vaguely replied: "Agree to what? I haven’t agreed to anything."
Silence fell on the other side, leaving only the sound of breathing. She imagined him, perhaps feeling lost and desolate as he looked out over the night through the window, like a pitiful figure.
Yu Xia’s heart skipped a beat, and without thinking, the words slipped out: "Alright, alright, I agree, I agree!"
Xie Qingci’s voice was joyful: "You agreed, no take-backs, darling."
The earlier silence was deliberate!
She was tricked, and gritting her teeth, she said with deliberate defiance: "If I take back my word, what difference does it make? No one else knows about this, kicking you aside would be just a matter of a foot."
"That might not be the case. When we haven’t established a normal, stable relationship, kicking me aside is indeed easy; I might not even dare to bother you. But once the relationship is confirmed, even if we don’t get in touch or see each other, I’m still your boyfriend. Unless circumstances beyond our control arise, we’ll never break up."
"What if I’m determined to break up?"
He spoke lightly: "Once is enough for such things, looking for a second time? Isn’t it said that younger guys are the most persistent? I’ll wear you down so you can’t utter those words."
Yu Xia felt a lump in her throat, inexplicably flushed, and then, in embarrassment, said crossly: "Alright, hurry up and sleep! I’m so tired!"
"Alright," his laughter carried a hint of youthful charm, his gentle voice passed through like night wind, "I really like you, darling, goodnight."
In that instant, Yu Xia’s toes couldn’t help but curl as she clumsily ended the call.
The room suddenly fell silent with only the darkness flowing through, and in this tranquil setting, she listened to the deafening sound of her heartbeat throbbing inside her chest, every pulse for the name Xie Qingci.
Greater than seeing him shining on stage is this enduring heartache, akin to the amazement she felt upon meeting him that summer evening.
After turning off the lights, lying in bed, her face remained flushed for a long time, unable to calm down, and while tossing and turning, she couldn’t help but curse Xie Qingci twice in her heart.
Really so bothersome!
——
Over the next few days, Xie Qingci indeed updated her on the countdown every day on time.
Unable to make calls in the dormitory, he returned to their previous mode of her talking and him messaging.
When she was busy filming and had no time to reply to him, he didn’t mind and was dead set on constantly reminding her. During late-night rehearsal performances, no matter how tired he was to the point of making typos, he wouldn’t let that small amount of time slip by.
And his words always conveyed happiness, every time Yu Xia saw them, her emotions were oddly complicated.
Sometimes she pondered, considering that for them, dating after debut versus dating once the career had stabilized post-debut seemed no different. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
Because they were already at the stage of hugging and kissing, once he debuted and had more free time, it would only become more audacious.
Even without the "boyfriend-girlfriend" label, when exposed later, wouldn’t others assume they were a couple anyway? Whether or not they were in a relationship didn’t need their official acknowledgment; intimacy like hugging and kissing was enough to evidence it.
So perhaps, seemingly, having an official boyfriend in a few days wasn’t a big deal? They’d be together anyway?
This thought churned for several days, she could act seriously during the day, but at night she couldn’t help but think over and over about what would happen if they were together, and what would happen if she refused to be with him.
By Friday night, she had finally sorted it out.
Dating is dating; she was greedy and wanted to devour Xie Qingci, this younger brother, flirting less satisfying than making him a boyfriend.
Plus, they’d end up together anyway, whether sooner or later made no difference, nor was there a need for hesitation; she should try trusting Xie Qingci to handle things well.
She had long softened for him, instinctively knowing holding out wouldn’t last, so why not just follow his wishes.
And her own wishes too.
When Xie Qingci called that night, she couldn’t bear to say anything to ruin the mood.
Xie Qingci, showing no signs of stress despite tomorrow being the finals, sent out one of her candid photos—a picture of her in a red pencil skirt.
[Xie Qingci: Very pretty]
She remembered wearing that skirt and performing a scene opposite a young actor on set, thankful he hadn’t found out yet.
"Ahem, the skirt is pretty," a simple remark without intent to elaborate, swiftly shifting topics," What’s the feeling about tomorrow’s finals, nervous?"
[Xie Qingci: Nervous]
[Xie Qingci: Need my sis’s comfort]
"...Nervous is nervous, it’s not me who’s debuting anyway." She rolled her eyes at her reflection in the mirror.
[Xie Qingci: What time will you arrive tomorrow?]
She glanced at the schedule and said: "Noon; I have a scene to shoot in the morning."
The actor she was working with recently was new, every shoot was always interrupted by a few NGs before it passed.
Grumbling about that, she said: "Do you feel prepared for the performance? This time, only the week’s real-time votes count, with dried-up data, not considering the accumulated votes from the previous three rounds."
She knew it well, recently his votes had been neck and neck with Song Xi’s. If Song Xi’s fans showed more ardor tomorrow, his center position might slip away, and Changhui didn’t sign him up just for him to debut as a second-ranking ordinary idol.
[Xie Qingci: If I debut as center, is there a reward?]
——
ps: Little brother has many tricks, acting pitiful and showing deep affection is a breeze, he’ll easily conquer whoever’s willing to embrace him
