After Transmigrated as the Movie Star's Omega - Chapter 8

By the time they finally finished filling out the questionnaires, night had fallen. Both of them were utterly spent, collapsing onto the sofa like boneless piles of exhaustion.

“Good work.” Meng Lu lowered her head to review their answers, nodding after a moment. “Alright, this will do.”

She handed the papers back and instructed: “Push yourselves for these next two days. Memorize all these answers before the live stream.”

“Ugh!” Xia Ran looked at what Shen Baibi had written, his face twisted in disgust. He scoffed, “Tch, you really know how to brag about yourself.”

“Right back at you.” Shen Baibi turned his paper toward Xia Ran, showing him that his content was just as shameless.

Xia Ran took one look and looked away, his head throbbing. Although he was the one who wrote it, there was just so much—dense rows of tiny characters that gave him a headache. In contrast, while Shen Baibi’s writing was a bit nauseating, it wasn’t much. It looked easy to memorize.

Suddenly, Xia Ran flashed a malicious grin. “Oh my, you have so much to memorize! Looks like you’ll be up all night? How tragic for you!”

Seeing his smug little face, Shen Baibi sneered back. “It’s all thanks to your chatterbox nature.”

“Hmph, I’m a chatterbox and I like it! Blehh!” Xia Ran even stuck his tongue out at him triumphantly.

Shen Baibi’s gaze darkened as he made a grim threat: “Sooner or later, I’m going to pull that tongue out.”

Xia Ran continued to provoke him fearlessly: “Try it!”

Meng Lu massaged her temples. She knew Xia Ran was childish, but she hadn’t expected the usually steady Shen Baibi to become just as infantile the moment he encountered him.

Jiang Shen, however, found it amusing. The way these two interacted was fascinating; they either ignored each other completely or fought like toddlers in a sandbox. Both methods were equally immature.

Meng Lu had seen enough. If she stayed any longer, she feared she’d be assimilated by their “intelligence-lowering aura.” She spoke up: “Let’s end it here for today. I’m leaving.”

“I’m off too,” Jiang Shen added.

Hearing both managers were leaving, the two bickering rivals stopped instantly. Xia Ran looked at Jiang Shen piteously. “Ge, you’re leaving already?”

“Hmm? What is it?” Jiang Shen asked with a smile, seemingly unaware of any issue.

“If you leave, then I…” Xia Ran glanced uncomfortably at Shen Baibi. Wouldn’t that mean he’d be left alone with him?

He didn’t finish his sentence, but Jiang Shen gave an understanding smile. “Oh, do you want me to stay and keep you company tonight?”

Hearing such an empathetic suggestion, Xia Ran was about to nod, but the disdainful look coming from Shen Baibi made him shake his head violently. “No!”

He wasn’t afraid of being alone with Shen Baibi. What was there to fear? He, Xia Ran, wasn’t some pushover; whether it was a shouting match or a physical fight, he would never lose to Shen Baibi!

“Then what is it?” Jiang Shen asked, stifling a laugh.

Xia Ran thought for a moment, had a flash of inspiration, and answered: “I want soup dumplings for breakfast tomorrow!”

“From the Yang family shop?” Jiang Shen asked.

“Yes!” Hearing the mention of his favorite Yang Family Soup Dumplings, Xia Ran instantly forgot everything else. Lunch and dinner had been mediocre takeout; he missed those soft, delicious soup dumplings!

Gazing at his glowing face, Jiang Shen reached out and ruffled his hair, his tone doting. “As you wish!”

“Yay! Jiang Shen-ge, you’re the best!”

While those two were having a harmonious moment, Meng Lu thought for a bit and asked her artist, “What do you want for breakfast? I’ll bring it.”

Shen Baibi said disinterestedly, “Whatever.”

“I’ll just decide then,” Meng Lu said.

“Mm.”

“That’s that, then. We’re off. Get along, don’t argue, and absolutely no fighting,” Meng Lu instructed them.

“Okay.”

The two answered obediently like kindergarteners.

Meng Lu and Jiang Shen left.

Xia Ran watched the closed door, his heart sinking bit by bit. As expected, he was left alone with Shen Baibi.

He knew the managers had left specifically to force them to spend time together. After all, the days ahead were long; they had to learn to coexist sooner or later. It was better to get used to it early.

Even though he understood the logic, he still wasn’t comfortable sharing a space with Shen Baibi. What if… that thing happened again?

Shen Baibi suddenly leaned toward him. Xia Ran instantly bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. “What-what-what are you doing? Stay back!”

No way, is he going to attack me the second they’re gone?

Xia Ran stared warily at Shen Baibi, but the other man didn’t continue leaning in. Halfway through the motion, he simply reached out and picked up a pen cap left on the coffee table.

He capped the pen, placed it back on the table, and then looked at Xia Ran, raising an eyebrow. “What are you afraid of?”

There was obvious playfulness in his eyes—clearly a mockery of Xia Ran’s overreaction.

Xia Ran ground his teeth in anger. “You did that on purpose!”

“Did what on purpose?” Shen Baibi looked at him with feigned innocence.

Xia Ran was speechless. What could he say? You purposely scared me? If he said that, wouldn’t he be admitting he was scared?

Thinking of his reaction just now, Xia Ran would rather die than admit it.

So, he stiffened his neck and barked: “Purposely used that ugly face of yours to scare me!”

Shen Baibi’s handsome face darkened. “Who are you calling ugly!”

“You-you-you! Exactly you!”

“Are you blind?”

“The blind ones are your fans who actually think you’re handsome and voted you as a ‘God.’ Their taste is truly concerning.” Mentioning this still made Xia Ran feel indignant, so he took the chance to attack.

Shen Baibi laughed. “This sounds like a classic case of ‘sour grapes’ because you can’t reach them.”

“Who’s sour?” Xia Ran pointed at himself. “I’m this good-looking; do I need to be sour over you?”

“Can’t see it.” Shen Baibi looked away.

“That’s because you aren’t looking! Look at me!” Xia Ran chased his gaze.

“No.”

“Look at me!”

“No.”

“LOOK AT ME!”

The two got locked in a battle of wills. Seeing that Shen Baibi kept glancing everywhere but at him, Xia Ran simply closed the distance, cupped Shen Baibi’s face with both hands, and forced him to make eye contact.

In an instant, they were very, very close—close enough that their breaths intertwined.

Their eyes met, and both of them froze.

The sound of the door opening rang out, followed by Jiang Shen’s voice: “Oops, sorry, I forgot something—wait, what are you two doing?”

The two whipped their heads around to see Jiang Shen watching them with a half-smile.

“Nothing!” Xia Ran snapped his hands back and scrambled to the other side of the sofa.

Shen Baibi said nothing, turning his head in the opposite direction.

“Is that so?” Jiang Shen chuckled but didn’t press further. He walked over, grabbed the car keys from the coffee table, and said, “I’m off then. You two get along—absolutely no fighting! See you tomorrow!”

No one answered him.

After Jiang Shen left, the room fell silent again, and the atmosphere became incredibly weird.

Xia Ran sat for a moment but couldn’t stay still. He jumped up and said, “I’m tired, going to my room to rest.”

“Mm.” Shen Baibi nodded. “I’m going to my room too.”

So, both of them picked up their respective questionnaires to leave, but after two steps, they stopped.

“Why are you following me!” Xia Ran said crossly. Is this guy trying to mess with me?!

Shen Baibi frowned. “I’m going back to…”

He couldn’t finish the sentence. Their room was the same room.

Another awkward silence.

“The room is mine!” Xia Ran tossed out the sentence and bolted toward the bedroom.

Usually, Shen Baibi would have mocked his childishness and let him go, but for some reason, he felt a competitive urge today. He immediately gave chase. “Don’t even think about it!”

They reached the bedroom door almost simultaneously, getting jammed in the doorway, unable to move.

“Move!”

“You move!”

“The master bedroom is mine! Go sleep in the guest room!”

“No, I want the master bedroom.”

They bickered incessantly over the ownership of the master bedroom. However, as they argued, Shen Baibi caught a glimpse of the room and changed his tune: “Fine, since you like it so much, you can have it.”

“At least you’re sensible…” Xia Ran’s words died in his throat as he looked inside as well.

The room was exactly as they had left it—a complete mess. Especially the King-size bed; it was in such disarray it clearly indicated something “indescribable” had occurred there. If he slept on that…

Xia Ran went silent. He would have psychological trauma.

Shen Baibi must have given up the room for the exact same reason.

Suppressing his goosebumps, Xia Ran gave a radiant smile. “No, no, no, how could I take what you love? You clearly like it more; it’s all yours.” Let the trauma belong to Shen Baibi.

“No, no, I insist. It’s yours.”

“No need! I respect my elders. You’re older, so the master bedroom is yours. I’ll just take the guest room.”

“I am only one year older than you.”

“That’s still older than me.”

Shen Baibi narrowed his eyes, his tone laced with a threat: “Then shouldn’t I ‘protect’ a youngster like you and sleep with you?”

Xia Ran stopped pretending to be polite. He turned away and crossed his arms, stating his stance: “Anyway, I am not sleeping in this room.”

“Me neither.”

They finally agreed on something, but what they needed now was a tie-breaker.

Xia Ran gritted his teeth. “Since we can’t decide, let’s settle it with our hands!”

“Oh?” Shen Baibi raised an eyebrow.

“Rock-paper-scissors!” Xia Ran thought to himself: the managers begged them not to argue or fight. Not arguing was impossible, but not fighting was doable. They would settle this peacefully.

Shen Baibi rolled his eyes but cooperatively held out his right hand.

“Alright, rock-paper-scissors—”

On the count of three, they both made their move.

Xia Ran chose paper; Shen Baibi chose rock.

“Yes!” Xia Ran grinned as he wrapped his palm over Shen Baibi’s fist. “It seems the Goddess of Luck is on my side~”

Shen Baibi just looked at him.

After gloating, Xia Ran let go of his hand and skipped toward the guest room. “Then it’s settled! Master bedroom is yours, guest room is mine. Goodnight~”

Shen Baibi watched Xia Ran walk into the next room and close the door. Then he turned to face his own disaster of a master bedroom and sighed softly.

He walked into the room. The air still seemed to carry a scent that invited illicit thoughts.

He raised his right hand and lowered his head to sniff it. A faint, milky fragrance.