Forced Cohabitation After a Hit Romance Variety Show with My Rival Actress - Chapter 2

Chi Yu spat out the three words through gritted teeth.

Jin Hongjin, feeling awkward, chuckled nervously. “Hey, don’t get worked up. I didn’t finish my sentence. I just called her, but she didn’t actually come. I was the one who carried you back, so don’t overthink it.”

“…”

After a long pause, Chi Yu stiffly asked, “She didn’t come?”

“No! No!”

Chi Yu clearly didn’t believe her. “Then why did you say… my friend brought me back?”

“Ah, I just misspoke! She really didn’t come, I swear!” Jin Hongjin insisted, as if taking an oath. “I promise you, your ex-girlfriend wasn’t here.”

“…”

Sunlight streamed through the fluttering sheer curtains, casting a warm, grid-like pattern on the pristine white bed.

Chi Yu ran a hand through her long hair and muttered, “Fine, but you don’t need to keep mentioning my ex-girlfriend.”

Jin Hongjin rattled off several “Okay, okay, okay”s before grinning. “Want to come hang out at Obsession later?”

Chi Yu, annoyed, clicked her tongue. “No.”

Jin Hongjin chuckled again. “Don’t be a buzzkill! You’ll regret it if you don’t come.”

“…”

Before Chi Yu could reply, Jin Hongjin burst into laughter. “Relax, your ex-girlfriend won’t be there, and it’s not about setting you up with that guy from last night. There’s something good I want to talk to you about. Come on, you won’t lose anything.”

“…”

Chi Yu: “Then take me to see my manager first. I urgently need a free driver.”

Jin Hongjin: “……”

Chi Yu sat in her manager’s office, her face radiating a sweet and innocent smile. Her doe-like eyes appeared pure and guileless, making her look like a student who had just finished class.

It was hard to believe she was the same person who had been drinking heavily at a bar the night before.

“Sister Manman, you wanted to see me?”

Chi Yu’s agency, Ennai Media, was a mid-tier player in the industry, trailing behind the top companies. While they had a few leading actors and actresses, none were particularly renowned.

Having just entered the industry, Chi Yu was fortunate enough to be managed by Lu Man, the agency’s most successful talent manager.

Lu Man flipped through the documents in her hand before looking up at Chi Yu. Her gaze traveled from Chi Yu’s luminous, doe-like eyes to her refined, high-bridged nose, and she sighed in genuine admiration. “No wonder your role as the first love in your last drama went viral. With looks like yours, it was utterly convincing.”

“Right now, there’s a promising opportunity.”

Ennai Media wasn’t a major company and lacked its own production team. The scripts they received varied wildly in quality, often forcing them to settle for the best of a bad lot.

But this time, Lu Man was particularly confident.

She flipped her tablet around and pushed it toward Chi Yu.

“Xiao Chi, since we haven’t found a suitable script, why not consider another arrangement the company has in mind?”

“……”

Emerging from the Ennai Media building and settling into Jin Hongjin’s ostentatious sports car, Chi Yu continued to scroll through her phone.

The screen prominently displayed a name at the top of her recent calls:

Call: 00:16

Last night, her phone had dialed that number for sixteen seconds.

She still hasn’t changed her number?

Sixteen seconds was barely enough to exchange an address.

But it was pointless anyway; Gu Yuan would never come.

Chi Yu’s slender, pale fingers hovered over the name before she finally looked up and exited the call log.

Catching this out of the corner of her eye, Jin Hongjin cleared her throat with a few coughs.

“Ahem! What are you staring at? You’re not going to find any answers there. If you want to contact her, just call.”

Chi Yu locked her phone, the dark screen reflecting her indifferent face.

Her doe-like eyes might appear innocent and pure, but their depths held only cold detachment—a familiar expression she knew well.

“Call? What would I say? Who knows who made that call last night? It might even have been you.”

“……”

Jin Hongjin choked, shaking her bobbed hair.

“Alright, let’s not talk about that anymore.”

“So, what did your manager want?”

Chi Yu clearly didn’t want to discuss it either, but remembering the information Lu Man had sent her earlier, she pulled out her phone and started reading.

“She wants me to do a dating reality show. I just got back to China, so I don’t know—are dating shows popular now? It’s called Love’s Heartbeat.”

“Love’s Heartbeat?!”

Jin Hongjin slammed on the brakes so hard that Chi Yu’s phone nearly flew out of her hand.

She howled, “It’s super popular, okay?! The girls at the bar were rewatching the last season yesterday! It’s all beautiful women—who doesn’t love watching beautiful women fall in love?!”

Chi Yu jumped in surprise. “Is it really that big a deal?”

“Of course it is! With your face on a dating show, you’d absolutely dominate!”

Jin Hongjin bounced excitedly in her seat, nearly leaping out of the sunroof if not for the seatbelt.

“Oh my god! You might even get married on the show!”

The red sports car parked neatly within the parking lines.

It was four or five in the afternoon, the sky a rare, clear blue—an unusually pleasant day in Jing City.

Lost in the heart of an arts district, the area was lined with creative cafes and bars of all sizes.

“Obsession” had an artistic facade: a solid black stone wall with the bar’s name written vertically in small, white, regular script.

Clean and minimalist, the only embellishment was the soft glow behind the lettering, giving it a distinctive style.

Standing at the bar’s entrance, the street was nearly deserted.

It was still too early for the nightlife to begin, leaving the bar street unusually quiet.

Chi Yu clutched her phone, her thumb gently stroking the darkened screen as if she had been wanting to touch that spot all along, her finger instinctively gliding across the surface.

“Just tell me why you called me here today,” she said, her tone suggesting she’d turn and leave if there was no good reason.

Jin Hongjin grinned and tugged Chi Yu closer. “Aiya, stop staring at that broken phone! You’ve been glued to it all day—is there a fairy living inside?”

“Of course I have good news for you today.”

Reluctantly, Chi Yu allowed her friend to drag her into “Obsession.”

Beyond the black stone wall, the interior lighting amplified the bar’s theme of intoxication, living up to its name with bizarre and mesmerizing patterns.

The bar was empty, save for a blonde, blue-eyed bartender polishing glasses.

She wore her uniform, complete with a small black bow tie, and paused her work as the two women approached. “Good morning, Boss. Good morning, Sister Chi.”

Chi Yu was only twenty-one, but after entering the entertainment industry, she had long grown accustomed to being called “Sister.”

After exchanging greetings, she and Jin Hongjin headed upstairs to the owner’s office.

The office’s floor-to-ceiling glass wall was designed with one-way transparency, allowing clear views from inside while appearing mirrored from the outside.

Through the glass, they could see the daytime desolation of the bar.

Chi Yu sat on the sofa by the glass wall, propping her cheek with one hand. “You’ve been keeping me in suspense for so long. Shouldn’t you finally reveal the mystery?”

Jin Hongjin pulled up a chair and sat opposite Chi Yu. Her naturally cheerful face lit up with a radiant smile, like a blooming flower.

“Actually, it’s quite a coincidence. Remember Gu Yuan’s friend, Ruan Feiyu? She’s also your senior in the industry. Well… she heard you were back and has been wanting to meet you. She’s mentioned it to me several times. If you hadn’t been filming, she would have come sooner.”

“Come?” Chi Yu raised an eyebrow, sensing she had grasped something significant.

Jin Hongjin chuckled awkwardly, scratching her head. “Well… she’s on her way. You know how the traffic is in Jing City—gridlock all year round. She’s stuck on the overpass right now, practically in tears.”

“…”

Chi Yu knew Jin Hongjin’s visit couldn’t mean anything good. She immediately raised a hand to massage her temples, regretting not turning around and walking away when she first stood at the door.

Seeing her silence, Jin Hongjin forced a smile. “Hey, hey, don’t just get up and leave! Ruan Feiyu’s family has connections, you know. This bar is on their property. It’s not as grand as Gu Yuan’s family’s empire, but it’s still pretty good. Don’t dwell on the past—the spring weather’s perfect for having fun!”

The mention of Gu Yuan’s name stirred a delicate, intricate ripple of emotions in the softest part of Chi Yu’s heart.

But Chi Yu lowered her hand and smiled.

“So that’s all this is about? You should have said so sooner. Sister Feiyu is a great beauty—there’s nothing wrong with us catching up.”

Chi Yu leaned back against the sofa, propped her elbow on the armrest, and rested her chin in her hand, a faint, amused smile playing on her lips.

Her smile lacked warmth, yet her doe-like eyes were deceptively sweet and charming.

“Ah, that’s more like it,” Jin Hongjin said, rubbing her hands together. She was about to speak when a sudden commotion below caught her attention.

“Over here! Put the equipment over here!”

“And this too. Remember to test the wiring after setting it up.”

“What time are our resident singers and actors arriving? Hurry and check on them. We can’t fall behind schedule.”

The clamor below grew louder, even Chi Yu turned to look down.

Through the glass wall of the second-floor manager’s office, they could clearly see the sudden flurry of activity below.

“What’s going on?” Chi Yu asked.

Jin Hongjin seemed to take a moment to process the scene. She glanced at her phone, then slapped her forehead in realization.

“Right, right, I remember now! A film crew rented our bar for a shoot today. They’ll be gone before the evening shift starts.”

“Landing a film shoot on our second day of business, General Jin? Remember to look out for this nobody in the future.” Chi Yu said, resting her cheek in her hand as she watched the bustling figures below. A faint smile played on her lips, her voice languid and bored.

As she smiled, the corners of her mouth suddenly froze. Her gaze lowered, her long lashes trembling slightly.

At the center of the bustling crowd stood a slender, graceful figure, like a delicate jasmine branch blooming serenely in the dim, muted surroundings.

Amidst the throng, she appeared strikingly thin and pale-skinned. From above, her long lashes cast shadows over eyes with a calm, detached gaze, mirroring her overall aura of cool aloofness.

Like a rare alpine flower blooming on a mountain peak, she seemed meant only for distant admiration, untouchable and unapproachable.

As the makeup artist’s brush swept across her porcelain cheeks, Gu Yuan remained still and quiet amidst the chaotic crowd, her long lashes lowered.

“Never seen a film crew shooting before? What are you staring at so intently?” Jin Hongjin flipped her phone face down on the table, tucked her hands into her pockets, and sauntered over.

She had been curious, but the words caught in her throat before she could finish.

“Gu… Gu-Gu…”

“Gu Yuan?!”

Even though she knew the one-way glass prevented anyone from seeing the second floor, at that very moment, at the center of the crowd…

Gu Yuan slowly lifted her head and looked over.

Caught off guard.

Even though Chi Yu knew it was a one-way mirror, her heart still clenched fiercely under the gaze of those beautiful eyes.

It was Gu Yuan. It really was Gu Yuan.

Four years had passed, yet she remained as aloof and proud as ever.

Her fair cheeks showed no trace of emotion, and a faint shimmer of moisture lingered in her bright eyes.

The elegant curve of her high, straight nose and the gentle press of her crimson lips completed the picture.

The slight tilt of her head elongated her delicate swan-like neck, the thin skin revealing the graceful lines of her collarbones beneath.

In that instant, time seemed to collapse, the four years vanishing like a bullet striking the heart of someone gazing from afar.

It was as if Gu Yuan could see through the glass, or perhaps she already knew who was there.

Gu Yuan stood behind the one-way glass wall.

Separated by the distance between floors.

The two women locked eyes in silent acknowledgment.