Translated by Eve
Edited by Juurensha, Sora, Serefina
Between 5237’s inaction and Huo Ke’s meddling, the day that Sui Yuan would understand Zhao Xihe’s intentions was pushed further into the far future. For the sake of preventing the two from ’making up’, Huo Ke even deepened their relationship, just in case some trouble arose when he wasn’t there and the two people were left alone.
Even so, the sharp Eason quickly saw through his intentions. He looked at him as if he had stolen his wife away, making Huo Ke feel especially good.
After all, the current Sui Yuan did not evoke any desire for revenge in him. So, Huo Ke could only throw his negative emotions onto the two-timing scum gong, Eason. Although his method of revenge was a bit childish and strange, it was enough.
Aside from realizing that the relationship between Eason and Sui Yuan was not at all like what he had imagined, Huo Ke discovered quite a few things that were different from his last life. The most important thing was that Eason, who had been beaten down to the point of giving up his passion and pursuit of music, pulled himself together in this lifetime. He began to rush about in order to ensure Fashion Mix’s survival.
Towards this, Huo Ke felt really complicated. After all, the one who had done everything before had been him. At the same time, he was a bit bewildered. He didn’t know what he should do.
Although he was incomparably disappointed with the two other members of this band and even resented them, Fashion Mix was extremely important to Huo Ke.
Even if he became an actor in his last life and had practically thrown the band aside, he would still dream about the past every night. Fashion Mix still was his life’s biggest regret, making him unable to forget about it.
Huo Ke didn’t know what had changed Eason’s attitude. Even though his impressions of Eason was already at an all-time low, he couldn’t help but feel moved by the other’s actions and unceasing hard work.
Huo Ke wondered if he should help Eason and work hard for the sake of Fashion Mix’s survival or ignore it completely and let Fashion Mix hurtle towards its death as it had in his last life. He was a bit unwilling to do the former, but the latter pained him.
While Huo Ke was wavering, Eason’s hard work came to fruition. The company finally let out a breath and said that they would help them plan and prepare an EP, as a last ditch effort for Fashion Mix to change their fortune. What had persuaded the company’s upper management to make this decision was the video Eason had uploaded to the internet not long ago.
In the video, he wore a white shirt and jeans. The youth, who looked as pure as an angel in heaven, sat on the balcony, sunlight scattered over him. He played the guitar in his hands while singing. The melody was unfamiliar, but it was extremely catchy. Even though it was short, no matter who it was, they couldn’t help but praise the composer’s talent and the singer’s skill.
The first to discover this video was the die hard fans of Fashion Mix who had been left over after the great wave had filtered out all of the rest less devoted fans. With regards to the band’s previous silence and the news that they were on the eve of breaking up, these fans naturally had become disappointed and even discontent. However, they were the last ones standing after all, so even though they were sad, they wished to continue to accompany Fashion Mix to the end of their journey.
However, when they suddenly discovered this video, it undoubtedly gave them an adrenaline shot to the arm. It told them that their idols were not dispirited at all. Rather, they would continue to work hard. Their temporary silence was just waiting period for even greater splendor.
The diehard fans were all in high spirits, excited, impassioned, and continuously forwarded the video on social media. They recommended it to everyone around them, hoping that they could attract more people to help their idols in response. They hoped to encourage their idols to pull themselves together once more.
With the support of their fans and the momentum caused by the backing of their company, this video rapidly became a viral hit. The views and downloads climbed steadily. Although it had aroused a lot of hype and disdain, afterwards, the video proved its own value and strength—that it was worthy of all the hype.
The enthusiastic reaction on the internet made many passerby who were interested in Eason in the video go find the album that Fashion Mix produced under the guidance of some people with hidden motives. Although it wasn’t as breathtaking as that video, many forgiving listeners also found good things about these songs.
As a band that composed and wrote their own songs, they could pull off many more gimmicks than a band that could only sing. This could be considered a talent. Although their earlier songs weren’t quite matured, from time to time, a song would have a breakthrough and make people feel like they saw a glimmer of hope. During the later period, although both the lyrics and composition were more mature, it was just a pity that they sounded dull and ordinary. This inevitably made people sigh with sorrow that ‘they must have used up all their creativity’. However, this new video that had been published brought forth the best parts of the earlier and later periods, welding them together into a polished final product. This astonished everyone .
Listening to Fashion Mix’s albums was like watching a person’s growth. The high spirited but inexperienced rebellion from when they were young; the dispirited decline after hitting a wall again and again in their teenage years; and finally their current sound, in which they had shed away all pretences and became genuinely calm, wise, and mature.
This video made Fashion Mix, who had long been out of the public eye, a hot topic once again. Without a doubt, they were a classic example of a success story thanks to the power of hype.
Taking advantage of the enthusiasm that had yet to fade, the company seized the opportunity to announce a series of short videos. Some videos contained clips of different songs, some were just different parts of a single song. They were simple pictures and melodies without any superfluous rendering. However, they stirred the audience’s appetite. At the same time, the members of Fashion Mix quickly acted for the sake of fighting for their band’s last stand.
This time, it could be said that this was a win or die fight. The audience’s expectation was high, and standards had been naturally raised. If the EP did not reach their expectations, only a wave of dirty water, mockery, and calls for their disbandment awaited them.
Therefore, they couldn’t fail. They absolutely could not fail.
This kind of response gave Huo Ke no time to hesitate. He couldn’t help but be forced by Eason’s machinations to do his best to finish the EP. Otherwise, the one who dragged the band down and caused the band’s disbandment would be him. This image would be extremely difficult to break free from, and would cause his path in showbiz from then on to be even more difficult than his previous life.
After his rebirth, apparently a lot of things and people were not the same. Huo Ke did not know if the cause of the butterfly effect was him. He also did not know whether it was just that he was too narrow minded in his last life towards people and matters, and focused only on the dark side while forgetting crucial points. He even discovered that Eason and Sui Yuan were perhaps not as terrible as they were in his memories after having interacted with them again.
He couldn’t help but admit that the changes that occured after his rebirth made him secretly happy. Once again, the band members assembled and struggled for their band, their new EP, and for their future together. This kind of life made him feel disoriented, as if this wasn’t his life. He felt nostalgic and excited, like he had gone back to his youth during which it seemed as if infinite possibilities lay before him. Even though he had been met with numerous setbacks, everything was still beautiful.
Although the three members were all very earnest, to tell the truth, the training did not progress smoothly at all. Ever since the band had disbanded in his last life, Huo Ke had not played the drums. It had been many years since he last touched them. Although his body still recalled how to play it, it was inevitable that he’d be out of practice. As for Sui Yuan... Haha, he was a newbie who had just started. He was so new to this that he couldn’t possibly be any newer.
With two people holding back the group, as the backbone, Eason naturally had to take on the heavy responsibility of teaching his band mates.
He threw the score to Huo Ke to let him practice in his own way. Eason stood next to Sui Yuan, arms folded, appearing particularly terrifying as he was smiling but not truly smiling.
Sui Yuan shrunk back his neck and obediently hung his head, looking down at the musical score as if a flower had just bloomed atop it.
"You should be able to play, right? Do you need me to personally teach you step by step?" Eason’s tone was a bit peculiar, making Sui Yuan think of a neglected wife full of complaints who was waiting with beautiful eyes like limpid autumn waters for her husband to return, only to discover that by this husband’s side was a pretty young concubine.
——No, his imagination was running wild... He had to quickly put a stop to it!
Sui Yuan concentrated, placing his hands onto the keyboard.
As a fellow actor, although his experience was a lot less than Zhao Xihe, the things that he should be able to do, Sui Yuan naturally could do it all. After all, playing the keyboard was much easier than operating a Mecha. Sui Yuan’s fingers and brain were especially nimble. Aside from the first melody sounding a bit choppy, afterwards he was like a fish in water on the keyboard keys. He effortlessly finished the repertoire.
The beautiful melody drew in Huo Ke, who was not far away. He couldn’t help but turn his head towards him. Soon after, he narrowed his eyes, feeling that the scene before him was particularly blinding.
The gorgeous, pure youth sat by the keyboard. His fair, slim fingers danced atop the keyboard’s black and white keys like butterflies. By the youth’s side was a handsome youth, standing with a smile on his face. His eyes were gentle and held a love so deep it could almost drown a person.
As if he was scalded, Huo Ke quickly withdrew his gaze. When he looked at the score, his brain involuntarily repeatedly replayed that scene just now. There was an unspeakable feeling of admiration, envy and bitterness.
In retrospect, it seems that Eason had never looked at him with that kind of gaze—that gaze that seemed to say that the youth before him was his entire world, precious to the point of not knowing how to handling him.
His mood was chaotic, but he couldn’t help but look at the two people. Huo Ke watched as the youth ended his performance and looked at the older boy with wet puppy dog eyes, as if trying to please the other. He looked like he was waiting for the other to praise him. However, the other boy instantly withdrew his gentle gaze and knitted his brows as if disdaining him. He raised his hand to rap the other’s head, "Where’s the emotion?! The emotion! It isn’t enough to simply play the notes from the score on the keyboard, you have to add in your own emotions!"
Sui Yuan covered his head and silently cursed that Eason’s method was too poisonous. His gaze towards the music score was particularly vacant—what pour your emotions into the music? This was really too difficult for him....
"Do you not understand?" Just by seeing Sui Yuan’s appearance, he knew what Sui Yuan was worried about. Eason eased up his scowling expression a bit and raised an eyebrow while he spoke, "Pretend that you’re acting out a role. For example, pretend that you are suffering from a terminal illness. You break up with your lover and leave without a word. After you’re cured, you meet your lover again, but you discover that the other has a new flame... No, you discover that the other is discouraged, dispirited and in despair. No matter what, he won’t forgive you. He’s extremely cold to you. What should you do? What should you say to him?"
"S-sorry...?" Sui Yuan blinked. Why did this melodramatic story sound so familiar?
"...What’s that question mark for?!" Eason gnashed his teeth.
Sui Yuan："..................QAQ"
"What else, besides ’sorry’? What else should you say?" Eason took in a deep breath and warned himself to calm down. He guided the other patiently.
Sui Yuan, who was being watched closely by Eason, felt the hair from all over his body stand. His mind was empty, "W-what else should I say?"
"What should you say? You still have the nerve to ask me this?" Eason’s expression was incredulous, "Without a doubt, I love you. I let you down. In the entire world, the only one I love is you. I beg you to forgive me. Without you, I can’t go on. I will absolutely never leave you again!"
Sui Yuan: "...Ying QAQ"
"Ying, what ying!" Eason bent over, pressing Sui Yuan down. He unleashed his imposing air, seemingly going mad, "Quickly, say it! Say everything!"
"I-I love you...I’m sorry, you–in the entire world, I only love you...I beg you...please forgive me. Without you I can’t go on. From now on, I absolutely w-won’t leave you..." Sui Yuan absentmindedly repeated everything. Thanks to his outstanding memory, aside from his stutter, he didn’t say a single word wrong.
At the beginning, he was just unconsciously repeating the words. At the end, he realized what he was saying. His blush gradually extended from his ears to his cheeks and neck. Sui Yuan’s entire person was now bright red. His limpid eyes gazed timidly at Eason, and he added in a small voice, "Have you forgiven me?"
"How could that be," Eason replied unfeelingly, his wooden face extremely indifferent. His expression, however, could not hide his smile that flowed out, as if he were a dog that could finally nibble on the bone it was admiring, its tail wagging happily.
Sui Yuan：".................."
5237：".................."
0007：".................."
Huo Ke who was still watching secretly: ".................."
Huo Ke covered his face and turned his head away harshly. He couldn’t help but wonder if he had remembered things wrongly or if his eyesight was bad. Or maybe, his method of rebirth was wrong!
This was definitely not the Li Kun he knew, nor was this the Eason that he knew! What planet did they come from?! This childish fight needed to stop! If they wanted to do PDA, they should consider the time and place, these idiots! I’m still here! Please, behave yourselves!
Huo Ke, who had been blinded and disgusted vented all of his feelings into the drums. The effects of his training increased his skill by leaps and bounds. It was because he refused to lose to that cheating couple who were practicing while flirting.
Like this, the EP’s repertoire practice was completed chaotically. When they went to officially record it in the studio, all three of them were highly praised.
Eason was the lead singer. No matter if it was his performance skill or his singing ability, they couldn’t be fussy with either. Sui Yuan’s accompaniment was also full of emotion, and his harmony with Eason’s voice complemented each other well. The result was surprisingly perfect. As for Huo Ke’s drumming, it was also considered rather grand and added lustre to all of the songs.
Everyone had high hopes with regards to this new EP’s prospects. Only Huo Ke took a deep breath, feeling that he could finally live again.
——From now on, he wouldn’t have to see this cheating couple’s PDA ever again. The entire world brightened all around him. It simply made him feel moved to tears!
The author has something to say:
I’m lighting a candle for the protagonist. To encounter such band mates, it’s simply unbearable!
Eve: This chapter...I can’t. ML’s fury was kind of sad but also hilarious. And then poor Huo Ke. I couldn’t stop laughing.
Serefina: the true tsundere appears. Also im so sorry Huo Ke your entire life will become tragic
Sora: *kicks back with popcorn and enjoys the show*
Juurensha: I love Huo Ke just screaming in the background
Read 𝓁at𝙚st chapters at (f)re𝒆we(b)novel.com Only