Silver Linings

Chapter Fourteen - When It Gets More Real After The Live

Author's Notes:

And so we have finally arrived to the famous "611 story". Though we know so little about what actually happened on this day, we can only speculate at the type of 'comfort' that ZZH gave GJ when they somehow bonded/talked after GJ's livestream. I have chosen this moment as a milestone for the shift of their relationship. I really hope you like this chapter.

Text and voice messages will start appearing in the story starting from this chapter.
Text messages: ≪Gong Jun: I didn't do it on purpose.≫
Voice messages: ≪Zang Zhe Han: "Next time I want to feel it hard."≫
Emojis: [eggplant]

⊂(▀▿▀)つ❤

[11 June 2020]

⁂ GONG JUN ⁂

Gong Jun was not happy. In fact, he was swaying towards the opposite, which wasn't really common for him. He was a bit sad, frustrated, embarrassed and likely a whole lot of other feelings as well. But he didn't want to acknowledge all of them. He didn't really want to acknowledge any of them. Not right now anyway. Even though he was putting up his smiling autopilot, everyone in the car was silent. They could all see that he wasn't his usual cheerful, smiling self and they didn't want to add to his already long and challenging day.

He was currently in his designated gray mini-SUV and they had just navigated through the bustling streets of Shanghai and made it on to route G60—the motorway that would take them almost all the way back to Hengdian. They had about another three and a half hours to drive in front of them, well four if they stopped for bathroom breaks, and he could feel a slight headache growing stronger by the minute. He knew that he should probably eat, he just wasn't in the mood for anything. Not right now anyway. They could always stop later to get something if he changed his mind. For now, he was going to ignore what had just happened, all these feelings and focus on the script he was holding in his left hand. He could reboot, or at least distract his brain by learning more of Wen Ke Xing's lines from the upcoming scenes.

The phone vibrated in his pocket and he sighed. He had actively been ignoring his phone ever since Xie Wenrui had handed it back to him. He knew that Givenchy had posted two photos of him during the live and he should post or repost as well. They had taken plenty of photos for him to choose from but he just wasn't in the mood. He might procrastinate until later, maybe even until tomorrow. It would be perfectly acceptable by the brand if he waited until tomorrow.

The phone vibrated again and he gave up, taking the phone out of his pocket—it was running low on battery. But there was also a notification from the WeChat group that he shared with Zhang Zhe Han, Zhou Ye and Sun Xi Lun. He had sent a message in the group earlier in the day when he had left Hengdian around noon and asked if anyone wanted him to bring anything back from Shanghai. Not one had responded to him. Until now. The message was from Zhang Zhe Han and had arrived almost an hour ago.

He took out the charger from his messenger bag, plugged it into the phone and clicked on the message.

≪Zhang Zhe Han: Gong Laoshi! Sorry, I have been out golfing all afternoon and only just looked at my phone. Thanks for the offer [smile] I don't need anything this time around. Next time, I'll give you a list of things because I'll have cravings by then. [smile][man swinging golfclub][bubble tea]≫

Gong Jun just stared at the message and felt the remainder of the energy drain from him. He was tired. And he was more than a little bit grateful that the message hadn't included a request for a delivery of some food, because he would have had the car turn around to go back and get it. That was the type of person that he was. But he really didn't have it in him tonight. So he was grateful, and a little bit ashamed over being grateful. He was the one that had offered after all. Though, that was before the live stream.