After Rebirth, I Ended Up with My Idol [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 5

To admit, or to deny? That was the question.

An Rong hesitated. After all, this question was a precision strike. If she told the truth, Xu Xiaoye would likely turn against her on the spot. But if she lied, how would things ever progress in the future?

Should she choose a distortion of human nature, or a lapse in moral judgment?

Xu Xiaoye watched An Rong curiously, her expression gradually becoming subtle.

Seeing this, An Rong blurted out: “Same-sex marriage is already legal now. Being gay or straight is the same—everyone is equal.”

She was determined, positive, and firmly politically correct as she promoted these “positive energy” values.

Xu Xiaoye’s expression froze. Clearly, she wasn’t buying it. She asked probingly: “So, are you?”

Avoiding the topic was no longer an option. An Rong chose the “moral lapse” and lied hesitantly: “I don’t think I am? I’m still young and I’ve never been in a relationship, so I’m not really sure.”

Perfect. Even if she had to change her story later, at least she had laid the groundwork.

Xu Xiaoye arched an eyebrow. “You already have someone you like, yet you don’t know your own sexual orientation?”

An Rong was in a cold sweat. Remembering the “crush” she had just invented to the doctors, she licked her lips and could only say: “…No, that was just youthful ignorance and teenage confusion.”

Xu Xiaoye tilted her head back and let out a low, muffled laugh. “You wanted to kiss them so badly, and you call that ‘youthful ignorance’?”

An Rong was left speechless. Regarding Xu Xiaoye, it really wasn’t youthful ignorance—it was a deep, long-standing affection that had been suppressed into madness.

Xu Xiaoye’s smile faded, and she let out a visible sigh of relief. It wasn’t that she had anything against homosexuality; it was purely because she had just been kissed. If the person who kissed her were actually attracted to women, wouldn’t that be explosively awkward? Even if it were an accident, she would feel somewhat taken advantage of.

Once she felt relieved, Xu Xiaoye said: “It’s good that you aren’t. We’re trying out for a girl group. Having a lesbian in a girl group is a very serious matter.”

An Rong’s inner self was weeping. After being reborn, the difficulty level feels so much higher than before…

The Xu Xiaoye of her previous life had never said such things to her. Of course, the An Rong of her previous life hadn’t kissed her, either.

While An Rong’s heart was enduring a storm of sorrow, she maintained a calm exterior and asked: “Is it really that scary?”

Xu Xiaoye frowned and narrowed her eyes, reminding her: “Extremely scary. Think about it. Girl group members live and eat together all the time. Concerts, promotional events, variety shows—we’re always together. We are the closest partners, colleagues, and friends. If people found out one of us was gay, first, it might cause disharmony within the team. Everyone wouldn’t be able to be honest with each other anymore, and every aspect of our work would be affected. Most importantly, even if same-sex marriage is legal now, how much acceptance do you think the public actually has for gay idols?”

An Rong knew all of this, naturally. But hearing Xu Xiaoye say it so bluntly proved one thing: Xu Xiaoye was likely straight, and she absolutely did not want homosexuality within the team…

Bad news… This was definitely the first catastrophic update she had received since her rebirth.

An Rong’s eyes flickered. She gave a hum of acknowledgment, looked straight ahead, and followed Xu Xiaoye’s lead: “True. Thank you.”

She was genuinely thankful that Xu Xiaoye wasn’t holding a grudge. After all, if Xu Xiaoye had insisted on it, she could have very well been kicked out. But despite the turmoil in her heart, she only showed a slight frown.

Xu Xiaoye relaxed much more, reaching out to rest a hand on An Rong’s shoulder. “I guess we have some fate together. I wouldn’t tell most people this kind of stuff.”

An Rong quipped back: “Like the ‘Wantong’ muscle patches—useful for everyone.”

Xu Xiaoye burst out laughing. “Hahaha, you even know that old commercial? You’re seventeen—there must be at least two and a half generation gaps between us.”

An Rong shook her head. “Not quite two and a half. That ad was airing when I was already in middle school.”

To be precise, it was about two and a third generation gaps, not quite two and a half.

Xu Xiaoye blinked, taking a few seconds to process An Rong’s logic. She looked speechless for a moment before saying: “Fine. My math is bad, I prefer rounding up. So, are you still in school, or…?”

At seventeen, she should normally be in high school. Given the month, she might be on summer break.

An Rong hid nothing and confessed: “I just finished the Gaokao (college entrance exam). I had nothing else to do at home, so my older sister signed me up, and I came.”

To be exact, it wasn’t her biological sister, but the daughter of her godmother. She happened to work here and knew early on about the project, so she helped An Rong sign up to give it a try. The training and selection period was three months, and her summer break was a little over two. Since the university she applied to was also in this city, she just came straight over.

Xu Xiaoye sighed with a smile. “It’s good to be young. You look like a ‘good student’ at a glance.”

An Rong felt a bit embarrassed. Strictly speaking, she couldn’t really be called a “good student.” As a music recruit, her academic score requirements weren’t that high. She hadn’t applied to a top-tier national university, so she had been admitted smoothly.

However, in front of her crush, she wanted to save some face. An Rong acted a bit shy and said with typical “quietly arrogant” modesty: “I’m just average.”

The new dormitory was on the far left of the same floor. It seemed to have been a large rehearsal room converted for this event. It was divided by partition boards into ten doorless cubicles. The company provided all daily necessities, including two clothes racks, a desk, and even green plants.

Xu Xiaoye was shocked when she walked in. She whispered to An Rong: “This is way better than the regular trainee dorms.”

An Rong agreed deeply and nodded immediately.

Xu Xiaoye teased: “You’ve never seen a trainee dorm, why are you nodding?”

An Rong froze. She panicked for a split second before pursing her lips and saying: “I mean… you’re right, I believe you.”

She was only flustered for a second before regaining her composure. Something like rebirth wouldn’t be believed even if she said it. For now, she was just an “unprincipled simp.”

Xu Xiaoye didn’t expect her to be so deadpan while saying such things. But An Rong seemed too sincere to be a sweet-talker, which made her oddly believable.

There were two boxes left on the table by the door with name tags on them. Everyone had arrived earlier and taken theirs; only theirs remained. Xu Xiaoye casually picked up An Rong’s and handed it to her.

Courteous and polite.

An Rong thanked her and asked where she was sleeping.

Xu Xiaoye tilted her chin toward the interior. “We’re the last to arrive. Do you think there’s any choice left?”

It made sense. There were likely only two empty beds left. No point in choosing; whatever was left was theirs.

The luggage they brought had been placed by the door. An Rong pulled her suitcase, carried her instrument case, and held the issued clothes in one arm. Every cubicle had a glass door, making them visible as they walked past. It wasn’t until they reached the very back that she found an empty bunk.

An Rong felt a secret joy. She felt it must be destiny—she and Xu Xiaoye were still sharing a bunk. She tried her best to hide her small internal delight.

Xu Xiaoye looked around and set her suitcase down. “Alright, no need to choose, this is it. Even though there’s no window and no ventilation, the corner is quiet. Do you want the top or bottom bunk?”

An Rong placed her instrument case by the desk and said: “I’ll take the top.”

Xu Xiaoye nodded and sat on the bed. “Good. These old arms, legs, and back of mine would have a hard time climbing up.”

An Rong knew her lower back wasn’t in great shape. Having danced all day, she must be exhausted. An Rong pushed her suitcase aside, hesitated, and tested the waters: “Should I give you a massage?”

Xu Xiaoye was stunned for a moment. She waved her hand and said politely: “No need. You didn’t sleep much last night either. Get some rest. We have to prepare for the next round of evaluations soon. You have no foundation, so you’ll definitely learn slower.”

An Rong felt a bit dejected.

Xu Xiaoye’s words seemed to be considering her well-being, but they were actually because she didn’t view An Rong as one of her “own” yet. She was being polite and didn’t want too much physical contact.

An Rong sat on the chair nearby to unbox the clothes. Inside was a set of the daily uniform: leisure-style short sleeves and long pants, simple and elegant in a white and blue color scheme, with their own names printed on them.

An Rong unfolded the clothes, gestured with them toward Xu Xiaoye, and smiled: “Look, our names are printed on the clothes. We won’t have to worry about forgetting people’s names anymore.”

Xu Xiaoye looked up briefly before falling back onto the bed. She said lazily: “If someone blocks the tag, you won’t see it anyway. It’s fine, I’ll remember twenty people in two or three days.”

With that memory of hers, she’d be lucky to remember half in two or three days. An Rong knew her “goldfish memory” all too well. However, they had half a month to prepare. Once this evaluation ended, groups would be reshuffled; she had to find a way to stay on Xu Xiaoye’s team.

An Rong slowly folded the clothes and began organizing her suitcase to see if there was anything useful inside. After all, four years had passed; she couldn’t remember what she had packed.

Xu Xiaoye, seemingly struck by a thought, suddenly giggled. She leaned her head to the side to look at An Rong and whispered: “Do you know why there were no empty beds in the other rooms?”

An Rong stopped what she was doing and looked up at her with a frown. Did this mean the remaining bed wasn’t a matter of “destiny”? She thought for two seconds and suddenly understood.

The others were probably terrified by her series of actions this morning. They were afraid they would meet the same “unfortunate fate”…

The “destiny” she had imagined turned out to have such a reason—it was quite heartbreaking. But An Rong breathed a sigh of relief. Though the reason was a bit cruel, it carried a grounded sense of reality.

Where in this world is there destiny without a reason…?

An Rong looked up at her and said with a bit of embarrassment: “That really was an accident. I’m sorry.”

Xu Xiaoye let out a cackling laugh, propped herself up, and looked at An Rong. “It’s okay, I’ve already forgiven you. It’s just a kiss, no big deal. I’m not blaming you, I’m just giving you an example so you know how big of an impact that behavior had. Luckily you aren’t ‘that,’ otherwise you’d be finished.”

Her voice was very low. Even though the words had no deeper meaning and there was no one around, she was still very cautious. In contrast to her caution was her relaxed body and her gorgeous, elegant face. Leaning against the quilt, she was like a beautiful, soft red rose that had its thorns removed.

An Rong was dazed for a moment before snapping back to reality. She lowered her head and eyes, saying: “I understand.”

In her previous life, only Xiao Yu knew her secret. In everyone else’s eyes, An Rong was a mature-for-her-age, “super A” straight girl, so she had never faced this problem so directly.

An Rong also realized that Xu Xiaoye was subtly warning her.

An Rong’s reaction made Xu Xiaoye frown slightly. Her gaze drifted over An Rong’s face before she muttered, half her voice caught in her throat: “So young… what do you even know?”

An Rong looked up at her.

Xu Xiaoye arched an eyebrow. “What are you looking at? There are two… almost three generation gaps between us. Is there a problem with me saying you’re young?”

An Rong wilted. She shook her head obediently, her mouth flattening into a line. She frowned slightly and said: “No problem.”

In front of the heart’s desire, one must know when to back down.

Author’s Note:

An Rong: Nothing happened. It’s not important. I’m not nervous.