Forced Cohabitation After a Hit Romance Variety Show with My Rival Actress - Chapter 3

After her initial, uncontrollable surprise, Jin Hongjin finally regained her composure.

She leaned closer to Chi Yu, pressing herself against the glass.

“Oh my god, it’s really Gu Yuan! She… she… Is this a one-way mirror? Can she see us? No way…”

Gu Yuan’s eyes were strikingly beautiful, their bright, watery depths shimmering with light. Yet beneath that surface, her gaze remained utterly still, complementing her pale, cool complexion and lending her an air of detached elegance. She was a true ice beauty, possessing flawless, undeniable allure.

Her long lashes lifted, and she gazed steadily for a moment, her eyes calm and unwavering. Finally, her gaze lowered to the makeup artist before her. The slight parting of her lips suggested she was communicating something.

Jin Hongjin repeatedly patted her chest. “Phew, thank goodness! She can’t see us. She really can’t!”

Even though she owned the bar, Jin Hongjin suddenly felt incredibly insecure.

Her insecurity made her seem inexplicably guilty. “I didn’t come here last night either, so she probably doesn’t know…”

Chi Yu’s gaze remained fixed on Gu Yuan. Hearing this, she frowned slightly and looked up.

“What about last night?”

“……”

“!”

Jin Hongjin nearly snapped to attention, stiffly waving her hands. “No, no! Nothing happened last night! You… you must have misheard!”

“……”

Chi Yu felt a strange unease and clearly didn’t want to get entangled with Jin Hongjin any further.

She glanced back downstairs and saw that others had already gathered around Gu Yuan.

A man holding a script and wearing headphones, who looked like a director, was gesturing with a rolled-up paper tube, apparently communicating final blocking instructions.

Chi Yu narrowed her eyes. “Isn’t this your bar? You don’t know who comes and goes?”

Having recovered from her initial surprise and panic, Jin Hongjin’s usual playboy swagger resurfaced.

“It’s just a film crew here to shoot a scene. How would I know who’s inside? If you hadn’t entered the entertainment industry, none of my ancestors for three generations would have had anything to do with this world, let alone pay attention to it.”

His words were actually quite reasonable.

Just then, a brief commotion erupted downstairs.

“Aiya, why won’t you let us in? My artist is here to see her friend.”

Several people crowded at the corridor entrance, blocked by crew members wearing work badges. One voice, particularly shrill, cut through the noise:

“Sister Ruan has an appointment with the bar owner! What’s the meaning of this?”

The commotion subsided as someone recognized the newcomers.

“Ruan Feiyu! It’s Ruan Feiyu!”

“What a coincidence! So many celebrities in this bar today.”

“Did Sister Ruan make plans with Sister Gu? They’re friends, after all.”

The two assistants exchanged glances, the tension easing as everyone’s attention shifted to the newcomers.

“Yuanyuan?”

Ruan Feiyu spoke first, calling out, “Yuanyuan?”

Gu Yuan turned, a subtle shift in her usually composed expression.

In the end, Gu Yuan simply smiled and replied, “Feiyu.”

When Ruan Feiyu saw Gu Yuan turn around, her eyes widened slightly.

“Yuanyuan… it really is you! Are you… are you filming here?”

The sight of the two beauties standing together, speaking in hushed tones, was truly captivating.

“Yes, what a coincidence! What brings you here, Feiyu?”

It was a normal exchange of pleasantries, but Ruan Feiyu couldn’t quite conceal a hint of nervousness.

“Um… I came to meet a friend.”

Gu Yuan’s expression remained unchanged, her eyes and brows carrying a serene smile. Yet, the corner of her lips curled upward slightly, a subtle asymmetry that only a keen observer would notice.

“The owner of this bar is Jin Hongjin. Are you here to see her?”

Jin Hongjin was technically a mutual friend, though she was the same age as Chi Yu. Back when Gu Yuan and Chi Yu were passionately in love, they had all met Jin Hongjin through Chi Yu.

Ruan Feiyu lowered her head slightly, her gaze evasive.

“Yes, I came to see Hongjin.”

“Oh—”

The “oh” carried an inexplicable depth of meaning. Gu Yuan finally nodded. “Then you two get back to it. I have a shoot to get to. See you around.”

Ruan Feiyu breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay! Let’s catch up when we have time.”

Gu Yuan smiled faintly, her eyes deliberately glancing at the floor-to-ceiling glass curtain wall on the second floor.

Of course, she couldn’t see anything beyond the bright, reflective surface.

“Let’s catch up, let’s catch up,” Ruan Feiyu said, forcing her smile to appear natural.

After a few more polite exchanges, Gu Yuan, under Chi Yu’s watchful gaze, was led away by someone who appeared to be part of the production crew.

In the bar’s surreal, neon-lit corridor, Gu Yuan’s tall, slender figure stood out, the play of light and shadow accentuating her delicate, almost fragile frame.

The figure, draped in cascading long hair and stepping in delicate stilettos, moved with a grace that accentuated the slender bones of her ankles and the elegant curve of her legs.

The calves visible beneath her skirt, illuminated by the soft light, revealed a delicate yet powerful bone structure.

Her long hair, draped over her shoulders, swayed gently with each step, like lush seaweed dancing in the current.

Even from behind, the figure struck Chi Yu as breathtakingly beautiful.

Chi Yu couldn’t help but recall the times she had touched those strands of hair, held that ankle…

But in an instant, the figure vanished around the corridor’s corner.

“…”

A complex smile curved Chi Yu’s lips—a mix of mockery, amusement, and cold indifference.

A flicker of complicated emotions crossed her fair, pale cheeks.

She raised her hand, examining her slender, white fingers, and thought of that ankle. With a self-deprecating laugh, she murmured, “Just a game. It’s all in the past now.”

When Ruan Feiyu arrived at the manager’s office on the second floor, her expression hadn’t fully calmed.

A trace of panic lingered in her eyes, along with an unspoken, peculiar feeling.

After all, everyone knew that Chi Yu and Gu Yuan had been a couple. Meeting Chi Yu today and unexpectedly running into Gu Yuan felt as if someone had orchestrated the encounter, making her feel a little guilty about potentially poaching someone else’s partner.

But logically speaking, a breakup was a breakup. There was nothing wrong with her actions.

Forcing herself to remain calm, Ruan Feiyu knocked on the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

The three knocks had barely faded when the door swung open.

Ruan Feiyu’s smile froze as she saw Jin Hongjin standing behind the door, her face beaming brightly.

“Oh, Feiyu’s here!”

Ruan Feiyu took a deep breath, then let it out with a sigh. She smiled at Jin Hongjin. “Hongjin…”

She hesitated before asking, “Is she here?”

The unspoken question hung in the air.

“Yes, yes, she’s here,” Jin Hongjin said, stepping aside to reveal Chi Yu sitting on the sofa.

Ruan Feiyu’s eyes lit up involuntarily.

Chi Yu wore a short, tight-fitting top paired with a loose but equally cropped biker jacket, accentuating her slender, porcelain-white waist.

She sat with a slight tilt, elongating the delicate curve of her waist. The thin layer of skin draped over her milk-white flesh, revealing a waist so slender and graceful it seemed sculpted from bone and silk.

A silver chain looped loosely around her waist, its end dangling casually over her diamond-studded navel piercing.

Below her slender waistline, a short leather biker skirt paired with black combat boots emphasized the delicate, pale skin of her crossed legs.

As Jin Hongjin stepped aside, Chi Yu happened to glance up from the sofa.

“Haven’t I been waiting for you all along?” she said, her voice smooth as silk, her tone casual.

A perfunctory smile flickered across Chi Yu’s pale, palm-sized face.

To Ruan Feiyu, the scene was breathtakingly beautiful.

Even without doing anything, Chi Yu’s mere presence was enough to make one’s heart race.

No wonder so many girls outside said they would “willingly be played by Chi Yu.” With such rare beauty, she was a true gem even in the entertainment industry.

Most importantly, Chi Yu, this dazzling beauty, was actually smiling at her.

Ruan Feiyu, a female celebrity accustomed to being the center of attention, even forgot her own fame. Her voice sounded hesitant as she replied, “Okay… okay…”

Seeing Chi Yu, her eyes momentarily reddened. When she approached, she didn’t immediately sit down but instead gazed at Chi Yu with tear-filled eyes.

“Okay… it’s been over four years since we last saw each other, hasn’t it?”

Chi Yu felt a subtle discomfort hearing Ruan Feiyu call her by her childhood nickname.

Gu Yuan had used that nickname so frequently in the past that hearing it from someone else now felt somewhat awkward.

“Really? Has it been that long?” Chi Yu asked, resting her cheek in her hand. She watched Ruan Feiyu nervously clutch the straps of her handbag, her knuckles turning white. A faint, almost imperceptible smile flickered across Chi Yu’s lips before she looked away.

“If you hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t have realized.”

This polite exchange felt hollow and insincere, much like Chi Yu herself.

Ruan Feiyu pressed her lips together before finally settling onto the sofa beside Chi Yu.

Even seated, her posture remained stiff and reserved.

“Um… well, back then, you suddenly left the country without a word, and I couldn’t reach you no matter what I tried. You stopped using your old social media accounts, right? I asked around, but no one could get in touch with you. Did you change your number when you went abroad?”

“Yeah, I did.”

The sofa beside her sank slightly as Ruan Feiyu sat down, but Chi Yu maintained her composed posture.

Her slender, pale legs were crossed, her ankles encased in ankle-high combat boots, the tips of her toes tapping lightly against the floor.

Having admitted to changing her number, she clearly had no intention of revealing it to anyone.

Nor did she mention that she had reactivated her old number upon returning to China.

Ruan Feiyu took a deep breath. “Just now, downstairs, I saw…”

Before she could finish, Jin Hongjin interrupted her with a violent coughing fit.

“Feiyu, you haven’t seen Chi Yu in ages! Why don’t you catch up on each other’s lives?”

“Yes, yes,” Ruan Feiyu said, lowering her head and nervously tucking stray strands of hair behind her ear. “I heard Hao Hao joined the entertainment industry too. Why didn’t you tell me? And why go to a small company like Ennai?”

Chi Yu simply rested her cheek in her hand, her long lashes lowered, lost in thought.

“Are you doing well? Are you doing well?”

“Hmm?”

Chi Yu paused for a beat before looking up. “Yes, I’m doing quite well.”

“……”

The silence hung awkwardly in the air.

Ruan Feiyu gripped the handles of her luxury brand bag so tightly, the poor leather nearly snapped under the strain.

“What do you mean by ‘quite well’?” Jin Hongjin was so embarrassed she nearly wanted to jump out the window. She tilted her head and scratched her forehead repeatedly.

“Um, Feiyu’s asking why you went to a small company like Ennai.”

Jin Hongjin had already rehearsed her defense, planning to explain that Chi Yu’s family disapproved of her entering the entertainment industry, allowing her to express her feelings of frustration and unfulfilled ambition.

But Chi Yu’s casual remark completely disarmed her.

“Because—”

“There are many beautiful women there.”

“……”