The other people in the car had all seen each other during the previous awards ceremony.
After only a few seconds of hesitation, Song Jianchu quickly regained his composure and took off his sunglasses, saying, “Hello, everyone.”
These four guests had obviously been brought in to record the show without any preparation, as they were all dressed in their casual clothes.
Bai Xingyu, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, smiled at him and said, “Hello, manager.”
Lu Shen, who was sitting in the passenger seat, nodded at him.
Pei Shinian warmly greeted him, saying, “Hello, manager. We’ve been waiting for you. Please get in the car.”
Mu Ye was wearing a white casual down jacket, and his freshly washed hair looked very soft and shiny. His messy bangs were casually scattered around his eyebrows and eyes. He smiled at him and said, “Hello, manager.”
Although the man’s warm and deep voice was saying the same words, this one sound inexplicably made Song Jianchu’s ears burn.
He looked away and sat in the back seat with his eyes down.
The space inside the car was a bit small, so Song Jianchu tried to lean towards the car door.
“I’m sitting in the middle because I’m afraid you’ll feel awkward sitting between us brothers who know each other well,” Pei Shinian, the ambassador of atmosphere regulation, took the initiative to chat with the new member. “We’re closer in age, so you can just call me by my name in private. Of course, if you want to call me brother, that’s okay too.”
After speaking, Pei Shinian looked expectantly at the younger person in the car.
Song Jianchu nodded slightly and said softly, “Okay.”
Pei Shinian: “……”
Well, he didn’t really have high hopes in the first place.
“The guests can depart now,” Director Cui announced an address, “there will be staff waiting at the filming location to receive you…”
Without waiting for the director to finish, Bai Xingyu immediately stepped on the accelerator and the old car zoomed out of the parking lot with the effect of a sports car. The program crew’s car barely kept up behind.
Despite the top celebrities inside, the shabby appearance of the small red car did not attract any attention from passersby on the busy roads.
“This lunatic tricked me into thinking we were going on vacation, it’s all a setup,” Bai Xingyu lowered the outdated sun visor and clicked his tongue, “I don’t know where this junk car was picked up from, it could fall apart if we drive any faster.”
Suddenly grabbed to work, Pei Shinian was still a bit excited, “I think it’s interesting, it seems like we’re going to run a business together, and I really like playing management games.”
Seeing the street scenes flying by outside, Song Jianchu quietly tightened his seat belt.
Noticing the movement of the person next to him, Pei Shinian turned his head and comforted with a smile, “Don’t worry, Brother Xing is an experienced driver, it’ll be smooth.”
Glancing at the driver’s seat, Pei Shinian leaned in and whispered, “Unfortunately, this car is too old, only Brother Xing knows how to drive a manual transmission.”
Unaccustomed to being so close to strangers, Song Jianchu subtly shifted closer to the car door and murmured, “Oh.”
Mu Ye turned his head to look at the calm boy who had just gotten into the car, a shallow smile flickering in his eyes.
As soon as he sat in the car, Song Jianchu felt drowsy. Not long after recording had begun, he unconsciously closed his eyes.
Through the faint sound of clothing rubbing against each other, he could sense the person next to him occasionally looking over at him.
Due to the poor seal of the car windows, the cool breeze flowed in through the gaps. Song Jianchu rested his head against the window, and the cool breeze blew his hair slightly, making his forehead feel cool.
Just as he fell into a daze, he suddenly heard the person next to him ask, “Are you sleepy?”
Upon hearing the first two words after getting on the car, “not there,” Song Jianchu immediately opened his eyes and sat up, looking past the person in the middle.
Pei Shinian still remembered the heavy responsibility given to him by Gu Jiaming, so he watched the footage recorded in the car without any change of expression.
The two people leaned over slightly and spoke to each other.
“If you want to sleep, wear your hat,” Mu Ye said. “The window is open, and you might catch a cold.”
Song Jianchu replied, “It’s okay.”
Pei Shinian sat up straighter, preparing to find an opportunity to interrupt.
Before he could speak, the conversation ended. The topic was so normal that it couldn’t be any more normal, and even if it had become a topic, it was his brother who took the initiative to start the conversation.
Pei Shinian looked at the side suspiciously.
The young man was slouching lazily against the seat, but he had lost his drowsiness this time, and was leaning his head to look out the window.
Was this guy not a fan of his brother?
Were all the online fans just making noise for no reason?
Then he didn’t need to worry too much.
Pei Shinian’s tense nerves relaxed, and he was about to take a nap on the way.
Out of the corner of his eye, the young man suddenly moved.
The person beside him raised his hand, grabbed the oversized hood on his coat, and pulled it up over his head with a swoosh.
Pei Shinian: “…”
He still needed to be more alert.
The photo studio for the promotional shoot was not far away, near the TV station, and they arrived quickly.
The reason Director Cui is known as a variety show maniac is because of his obsession with the variety show industry. Once he has a good program plan, he never leaves himself a way out. He had already planned out all the processes in advance when he finalized the guest list for this episode, even the costumes for the promotional photoshoot were prepared in advance.
Song Jianchu went to the dressing room with the clothes provided by the staff, completely unprepared to suddenly be pulled in for filming, feeling a bit confused.
After changing into the white shirt prepared by the production team, Song Jianchu came out of the dressing room and his dedicated staff took him to the makeup room.
The other members had also changed into their clothes, all wearing uniform style white shirts, but achieved different effects. Several makeup artists were quickly doing photo shoot styling for the four male idols.
Song Jianchu was led to sit in front of a mirror and saw the people around him through the reflection.
The man lazily crossed his legs, unbuttoning two buttons on the collar of his white shirt. One could see his straight and beautiful clavicle from the side. The mole near his neck, close to the collarbone, was faintly visible, making his white shirt appear more alluring.
He noticed the person in the mirror was also casually staring at him, so Song Jianchu quickly averted his gaze.
His face felt a bit warm.
Actually, the mole was not very obvious, but maybe because he had paid attention to it that night, he noticed it at a glance.
Pei Shinian looked at Song Jianchu in the mirror and exclaimed, “Being 18 years old is really young, wearing a shirt feels different from us.”
Bai Xingyu asked casually, “Did you just turn 18? I didn’t notice earlier, how tall are you?”
All the guest idols present were over 187 cm tall except for this 18-year-old.
Feeling the people around him continuously looking at him through the mirror, Song Jianchu was silent for a moment and calmly replied, “180 cm.”
Bai Xingyu said, “That’s good, you’re only 18, you can still grow taller.”
Pei Shinian suddenly remembered something and said, “When I was in the third year of middle school, I was 178 cm tall. When someone asked me how tall I was, I would boast and say 180 cm to save face.”
The makeup artist was applying foundation on the demon king’s little brother and was admiring how good his skin was without needing any coverage. Suddenly, he noticed that the young man’s complexion had darkened slightly.
Pei Shinian teased his newly arrived brother and said with a laugh, “You’re not like me back then, are you?”
Song Jianchu looked at himself in the mirror with a blank expression and silently made a mental note about this employee.
Just as he was about to say, “Since you’re so interested in our health, why don’t we go for a medical check-up together,” someone suddenly said, “That’s not possible.”
Song Jianchu was stunned, and his gaze shifted slightly on the mirror.
Pei Shinian also paused and said, “Huh?”
Mu Ye calmly said, “When you repeated the third year of middle school, others had already gone to university. It’s unlikely that you were the same back then.”
Pei Shinian said nothing.
Bai Xingyu laughed out loud and said, “Damn, that hit home.”
Lu Shen also chuckled.
Song Jianchu’s being featured on the hot search when he was sixteen and getting into a world-famous school was a big deal back then, and almost everyone knew about it.
Pei Shinian, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. Almost everyone knew that this idol hated studying, and he barely passed the art exam after hiring more than ten tutors. He spent most of his time playing games and watching anime, but his fans still found it cute.
The makeup artists couldn’t help but smile and suppress their laughter.
Song Jianchu regained his composure and let the makeup artist do as she pleased, thinking it was best to let it go.
Pei Shinian, burdened with his idol image, blushed at the girls’ laughter and couldn’t believe what he just heard. He widened his eyes and said, “Brother! Why are you exposing my dark past? We agreed that you wouldn’t mention this again after I treat you to a good meal!”
Mu Ye smiled and said, “But you haven’t done that yet.”
“Well, that’s true,” Pei Shinian deflated and said unwillingly, “Just wait and see, I’ll practice my drinking skills and make you guys drink until you’re satisfied. Then you’ll have to keep this to yourselves.”
As they were short on time, the five guests were already handsome enough without makeup, and soon everyone’s promotional photos were completed.
At 10:40 am, Director Cui’s latest variety show “Wanna Get Off Work” was promoted on the official Weibo account and became the top trending topic within five minutes.
With the unprecedented luxurious lineup of guests in the history of variety shows announced, the entire internet was screaming with excitement.
[The king of music, two-time movie emperor, and top fresh meat in the industry! This guest lineup is way too luxurious!!]
[Ah, ah, ah, the spirit of variety shows is amazing! Awesome!!!]
[No, it’s too exciting, I’m going to get a mental illness.]
[The series of the lifetime, all members are dreamy male gods!!!]
[Wait, isn’t this the famous drinking buddy group in the entertainment industry?]
[Hahaha, drinking buddy group building! 66666]
Fans of Mu Ye were already crying with excitement.
The national demon’s debut in variety shows is enough to cause a sensation with just this one topic.
After the netizens’ excitement had cooled down a bit, they found out that there was a “mysterious guest” listed after the shiny guest list.
Netizens began to speculate enthusiastically about who this person could be, who could be the mysterious guest to four top male gods?
More than ten minutes later, while the topic was still hot, the program group’s official Weibo account posted a new update. It was a network promotion trailer urgently produced by the editing team, which was approved by the five guests and then released.
The trailer lasts for thirty minutes, starting from when the four male superstars were tricked by the program group and taken directly to the TV station for recording, until the promotion photoshoot.
[Hahaha, just signed the contract and they already took me away. It’s no wonder I’m a variety show lunatic.]
[Hahaha, did Bai Ye just come out of the gym? That look in his eyes is like he wants to punch the director.]
[Wuwuwu, protect Pei Shinian on the internet! He looks so cute with a confused expression on his face.]
[No wonder he’s like a mobile ice maker. Even if he’s a variety show lunatic, he can’t let the leading actor ruin his image.]
[Quickly give me back my phone and let my devilish colleague make a call!]
All four handsome male employees are on board and ready. Finally, the mysterious guest who will lead the celebrity employees to work appears, the mysterious store manager.
To maintain the mystery, the store manager appears in the meeting room with a mosaic on his face and his voice has been processed.
[Wait…pink hair??]
[Could it be who I think it is…?]
[Hahaha, don’t joke around. Many idols have dyed their hair pink. The person you mentioned said on a live stream a few days ago that he’ll never go on a variety show in his lifetime.]
The mysterious store manager asks in a disguised voice, “Do you still need sponsorship for your program?”
The mysterious guest named a number and was beeped.
I don’t know what they talked about in the middle, but the editor-in-chief and the lead director present instantly became fawning.
[?????]
[…………….]
[Maybe they just want to bring in a new person from the funding team.]
[…Is there anyone in the entertainment industry with this kind of image?]
[How much did this person give???]
The pink-haired, mosaic-faced figure with the title “gold sponsor dad” walks out of the meeting room and is treated equally by the variety show lunatic who confiscates phones and wallets and takes them away in the car. They exchange a few words on the way with Mu Ye.
[Damn, this is hilarious. Even the program sponsor can’t escape the torment of the variety show’s mental illness.]
[Hahaha, the way the sponsor dad was caught is kind of cute.]
[The sponsor dad is so aloof. Brother Pei tries to start a conversation with him, but he responds with just one word.]
[Wuwu, Brother Mu is really warm-hearted. He’s afraid the child will get cold.]
[Hahaha, it’s definitely not him. If it were that guy, he wouldn’t be so calm. He would be jumping out of the car window with joy.]
[Ah, I’m so curious! Who is this person with the pink hair? I’m a good little brother!”
The teaser video is limited in length, with the last five minutes featuring the guests getting ready for the promotional photoshoot in the studio.
In the video, four celebrity employees dressed in white checkered patterns are standing side by side in front of the shooting background.
[Ah, long live uniforms!!!]
[Ah, I will forever love uniforms!!!]
[Okay, I get the highlight of this variety show now.]
[This Demon King’s little brother looks so sexy in a white shirt, I want to lick him, wuwuwu.]
Pei Shinian looks up in the direction of the camera and shouts, “Manager, come here.”
Someone behind the camera responds with an “Oh.”
This time there’s no voice modulation.
Upon hearing the sound, the barrage of comments on the screen stops for a moment.
Immediately afterward, a clear silhouette walks into the frame, and this time there’s no pixelation.
The male student’s pink short hair is slightly messy, and he wears a crisp and clean white shirt. He walks into the studio with a casual demeanor and stands in the C-position that the celebrity employees have vacated.
With one hand in his pocket, the boy turns around with a slightly carefree expression.
As soon as the boy turned around, all the words on the barrage disappeared completely.
For three minutes, the screen was filled with various symbols such as question marks, commas, periods, ellipses, exclamation marks, and so on.
Although the director had not explained in detail what they were going to do next, Song Jianchu probably guessed that his program setting should be related to leadership.
He quickly accepted this setting and tried to exude a leader’s aura during filming as required.
In the studio, the cameraman set up the camera and said, “There are no requirements, everyone is free to do as they please.”
Having come to record the program without getting much sleep the previous night, Song Jianchu struggled to keep his eyes open.
Seconds before filming began, he raised his hand to cover a yawn, but the person on his right suddenly moved closer to him. Then, his left shoulder felt a weight, and the warmth of a man’s hand transmitted through the fabric of his shirt. A faint and pleasant fragrance wafted into his nose with the movement.
Song Jianchu froze in the middle of his yawn and then forced himself to stop.
At the moment the first group promotional photo was taken, the boy in the center put down his hand and stood upright with a serious expression as the person next to him placed their hand on his shoulder.
Unlike leaders and employees, they looked like comrades-in-arms in a photo taken before boarding a train, wearing red flowers on their chests.
With a series of clicks, the first group photo was successfully taken.
They continued to take the second group photo, and the several guests in the studio adjusted their expressions and postures. As experienced subjects in photography, the guests hardly needed the photographer’s help in adjusting their expressions and movements.
The hand on his shoulder had not yet been removed, and Song Jianchu felt as if he had been struck at an acupoint, and half of his body went numb.
He was about to change his posture and cross his arms.
When the boy turned around, all the text on the bullet screen disappeared completely.
For three minutes, only various symbols such as question marks, commas, periods, ellipses, exclamation marks, etc. floated densely across the screen.
Although the director had not explained in detail what they were going to do next, Song Jianchu guessed that his program setting was probably a leader or similar.
He quickly accepted this setting and tried to show the demeanor of a leader as much as possible when filming.
In the studio, the cameraman set up the camera and said, “No specific requirements, everyone can freely express themselves.”
Song Jianchu hadn’t slept much the night before and was feeling a bit tired.
A few seconds before shooting, he raised his hand to cover a yawn. Suddenly, the person on his right leaned closer to him. Then, his left shoulder sank as the warmth of a man’s hand came through his shirt, and a pleasant fragrance drifted into his nostrils with the movement.
Song Jianchu was halfway through his yawn but froze in place and managed to hold it back.
As the first set of promotional photos was taken, the male student in the center put down his hand and was supported by the person next to him, standing straight and serious.
Unlike the leaders and employees, they looked more like comrades taking a photo before joining the army and wearing red flowers on their chests.
A series of clicking sounds, and the first set of photos were successfully taken.
Moving on to the second set, the guests in the studio adjusted their expressions and postures. The guests were all experienced in filming, so the photographer hardly needed to help adjust their expressions or movements.
The hand on his shoulder had not been removed yet, and Song Jianchu felt like he had been struck by a point, making half of his body numb.
He was about to change his posture and cross his arms when the person next to him took advantage of the opportunity to speak in a voice that only they could hear, “You’ve been on duty for half a day already, and I’m afraid you’ll waste money waiting until the end of work. How about holding hands now?”
Song Jianchu: “?”
Before he could even figure out what the “waste” the person next to him had said meant, the warm fingers on his shoulder suddenly fell, and a warm finger naturally and ambiguously hooked his little finger, leaving a burning heat on his skin.
In other people’s eyes, they were just seriously taking pictures.
Only Song Jianchu knew that his kept man was actively having an affair with him.
It was a momentary touch, as if by chance.
No one noticed the 50 million won hand-holding.
In the last few minutes of the preview video, the shooting of the promotional photos was about to end.
Finally, some text appeared among the garbled symbols on the bullet screen.
Perhaps they were too shocked, and for a while, netizens didn’t know what to say.
The content of the bullet screen’s attention was a bit biased.
[Why is this guy’s ears so red?]
[…Really?]
[…Maybe it’s because he took a photo with the male god.]
[Or maybe his hair dye is fading.]