A laid-back guy paired with a dominant partner who pampers him

Chapter 5

I groggily opened my eyes, still confused.

I turned to look at Zhai Chen, whom I was holding tightly, and immediately jumped out of bed.

I then glanced at Zhang Xiao and the cameraman, who were standing frozen.

...

At this moment, the silence was deafening.

When I moved away from him, Zhai Chen also woke up. His dark blue pajamas were loosely fastened, with two buttons left undone, revealing a well-defined collarbone and a hint of his chest muscles, sending the livestream comments into a frenzy with messages like, "Ahhh, I'm dying!"

After quickly getting ourselves together, we went to the girls' room. To respect their privacy, we knocked on the door and played the song "Good Luck" loudly.

After a while, a soft voice from inside responded, "Coming!"

The door opened, and Su Yunyi appeared in a silk nightgown, looking shyly at the camera. "Oh no, I just woke up and haven't put on any makeup yet. How embarrassing."

I don't know if the viewers could tell, but to us, it was obvious she had already been up for quite some time, as her face was impeccably made up.

On the other hand, Jiang Wanwan, standing behind her, was much more natural. Dressed in a bear-print pajama set, she stretched and yawned, her dark circles clearly visible. "I'm so tired. Miss Su woke up at 5 a.m. and made so much noise that I couldn’t sleep."

I couldn't help but snicker from the side. Su Yunyi shot Jiang Wanwan a glare, but Jiang just rolled her eyes and went to wash up.

After breakfast, the director announced today’s task.

He gave our group leader, Zhang Xiao, the list of foods and materials we needed to find.

This variety show is pretty straightforward—a typical daily life challenge where you search the island for food and supplies hidden by the crew, then bring them back to the villa. Using those materials, we have to prepare the dishes on our task list. Each day we complete a task, we earn a mark.

The show lasts for a month, and we need to collect 30 marks. If we complete the task every day, the show will reward us with a grand seafood feast on the final day as a farewell treat.

In the first few days, the tasks were pretty simple, just searching for ingredients, and everything went smoothly.

Each group of two ventured into the dense forest to search. Even though the crew had already relocated any dangerous animals, the island was still largely undeveloped, so caution was needed.

Each group was equipped with a walkie-talkie to avoid any accidents.

In the evenings, we’d cook, chat while enjoying the sea breeze, and life was quite relaxing.

Except for one person who constantly annoyed me.

8

During mealtime, Su Yunyi offered Zhai Chen a skewer of meat she had grilled herself. "Brother Zhai Chen, I grilled this for you. Please try it."

Zhai Chen glanced at her coldly, then picked up a skewer I had just finished grilling and took a bite. "No need. I'll just eat what Xingli grilled."

Ignoring Su Yunyi’s shocked expression, I grinned internally. Zhai Chen eating my skewers was a clear sign he wasn’t hostile toward me, which was great news!

"Hehe, I'll grill more for you."

Seeing the way Zhai Chen and I naturally interacted, Su Yunyi was so furious that she nearly ground her teeth to dust. She thrust the skewer in front of me. "Xingli, if Zhai Chen won’t eat it, you should. I grilled it myself."

Without even looking at her, I replied, "Zhai Chen doesn’t eat trash. Why should I?"

Zhai Chen overheard me and even chuckled softly, though I caught it.

As soon as I said that, Su Yunyi immediately started crying, retreating to a corner with her skewer in hand, sobbing. The entire scene was captured by the cameras.

【Does Xingli have issues? Throwing a tantrum just because he can’t get attention?】
【My goddess Su Yunyi looks so delicate and pitiful when she cries, I feel so bad for her.】
【Didn’t anyone notice the small interactions between Xingli and Zhai Chen? I’m kind of shipping them!】
【Are you serious? Su Yunyi is supposed to be Zhai Chen’s official pairing!】

The livestream comments were flooded with different opinions.

Despite the drama, the following days were relatively peaceful, except for Su Yunyi's frequent tantrums. Once, she nearly cost us the day's mark by dragging her feet.

Although she never took the tasks seriously, she always had some excuse, like being too delicate or weak. During dinner, she even claimed that she had been malnourished as a child, which left her with a chronic illness.

While she managed to win over some fans with her sob story, none of us paid her much attention.

Life went on peacefully enough, though there were still some annoyances.

9

After spending half a month together, I noticed something strange.

Zhai Chen didn’t seem interested in the female lead at all; instead, he was particularly attentive toward me.

For instance, when we ventured into the woods to find ingredients, he would walk ahead of me, clearing branches, saying he didn’t want me to sprain my ankle like I did when I first arrived.

And when we worked on tasks by the beach, he kept a close eye on my every move. I pretended not to notice, but it was obvious. His gaze was far too intense to ignore.

Even when I acted sarcastic around Su Yunyi, Zhai Chen didn’t get angry. He just laughed quietly to himself.

Most of all, whenever I glanced his way during tasks, I’d always find him staring back at me with a smoldering intensity.

My face flushed, and my heart pounded.

Something was definitely off. Very off.

I shouldn’t be getting flustered from a man’s stare. Besides, Zhai Chen is straight! In the original plot, he ends up with Su Yunyi.

But the storyline already changed when the room assignments were shuffled. Could more things change down the line?

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