Forced Cohabitation After a Hit Romance Variety Show with My Rival Actress - Chapter 7

Chi Yu sat on her sofa, packing clothes into her suitcase.

Jin Hongjin stood beside her, arms crossed, watching. “See? You’re going after all! And that’s the right decision. Love’s Heartbeat is a massive hit. You’ll get paid to go there and flirt with beautiful women—oh my god, just thinking about it makes me giddy with happiness!”

Chi Yu glanced at Jin Hongjin, then turned back to her packing. “I’m going to B Country for work… Why are you so excited?”

Jin Hongjin’s eyes sparkled. “How can I not be excited? This is the hottest dating reality show ever! Every season is packed with stunning women, and the air is thick with pink, heart-fluttering bubbles. Just imagine—you glance at me, I look back at you… Oh my god, I’m already so hyped I might faint!”

Chi Yu chuckled. “Then you’re going to be disappointed this season. Ruan Feiyu and I already take up two spots.”

“No worries! This season isn’t just you and Ruan Feiyu. There’s also Li Tianyin, the cool rock chick; Lu Wenrui, the child star turned actress; and Lin Yihan, the CEO of that listed conglomerate—you can tell he’s a total alpha. Okay, the CEO might be a bit cold, but the other two are absolute goddesses in the lesbian community! Oh my god, just imagining you all huddled together for warmth in a foreign land… Oh heavens! My shipper instincts are going wild!”

Chi Yu paused, looking up at her. “Wait a minute… if I’m counting right, that’s only five people.”

“Exactly! That’s what makes Love’s Heartbeat so captivating!” Jin Hongjin plopped down on the plush rug in front of Chi Yu. “The sixth Mysterious Guest won’t be revealed until the very last day—the day before filming starts. The fans are going crazy trying to guess!”

“…”

“Aren’t you scratching your head in anticipation too?”

Chi Yu turned back to her suitcase, focusing on packing toiletries.

“Come on, I follow the updates too! Of course I’m anxious,” Jin Hongjin scooted closer. “Hey, if you hear any behind-the-scenes gossip during filming, spill the beans!”

“First, they confiscate our phones during filming, so I can’t contact you.” Chi Yu tugged her T-shirt out from under Jin Hongjin’s butt.

“Second, Love’s Heartbeat is live. If you wait for the TV broadcast, you’ll be a month behind. By then, the internet will know more than I do.”

“Tsk…” Jin Hongjin nearly toppled over. “What a buzzkill!”

“Anyone who doesn’t know you would be completely misled by your beautiful, innocent appearance.”

“I wonder who’s going to be unlucky enough this time to fall for your innocent act and walk right into the lion’s den.”

“……”

Chi Yu finished packing the last baseball jacket and slammed the suitcase shut with a thud.

“Relax, I don’t eat people.”

Jin Hongjin chuckled. “True, you usually eat others. But what if this time, you, the little heartbreaker, get eaten instead?”

“Me?” Chi Yu shook her head dismissively, laughing as if she’d heard the most absurd joke.

She hoisted her suitcase, leaned against the corner, and brushed imaginary dust off her palms. “Let’s go, free chauffeur. Take me to the station.”

“Today’s the day you’re supposed to reveal the Mysterious Guest, right? I got in by default and get to take photos with the sixth Mysterious Guest.”

“Maybe I’ll even give you a hint so you don’t have to wait until the live broadcast to find out who it is.”

“……”

At that moment, despair washed over Jin Hongjin. I get it now. I’m stuck on Chi Yu’s pirate ship. I’ll be her free chauffeur for life.

As Chi Yu entered the building, she couldn’t shake Jin Hongjin’s words.

Though meant as a joke, the ride here had given her an unsettling feeling, like a lamb walking into a lion’s den.

How absurd.

Could she really be someone else’s lamb?

Chi Yu shook her head, banishing the ridiculous thought.

“Sister Chi Yu, over here!”

A sweet-faced young woman in overalls and a canary-yellow T-shirt waved enthusiastically at Chi Yu.

“Sister Chi Yu, I’m Kuang Baibai, your executive agent. Sister Manman sent me to assist you with your work!”

Ennai wasn’t a major agency, but Lu Man had several artists to manage. For supporting roles like Chi Yu’s, Lu Man wouldn’t personally handle her, so she assigned an executive agent instead.

This young woman looked fresh out of college, with no real-world experience, having been hired straight from campus recruitment.

She was cute, but clearly not ready to handle things independently.

Even her name was a bit odd.

“We just got the script today. They supposedly sent it to the other actors ages ago. I seriously suspect they forgot about us!”

Chi Yu shrugged indifferently.

Her doe-like eyes curved into crescent smiles, radiating sweetness and approachability.

“Not necessarily,” Kuang Baibai said. “My spot was the last one confirmed.”

Kuang Baibai stole a glance at Chi Yu, unsure of her temperament. “I’m so sorry, Sister Chi Yu. I feel like I didn’t communicate properly beforehand. It’s my fault.”

“It’s fine,” Chi Yu replied with a smile. “It’s not a big deal.”

Her smile made Kuang Baibai’s cheeks flush crimson.

Despite her pure, fair complexion and doe-like eyes, Chi Yu’s smile possessed an almost bewitching quality. Kuang Baibai felt her heart skip a beat.

Chi Yu was truly beautiful—so beautiful that even a straight woman like herself felt her heart flutter like a trapped butterfly.

“Sister Chi Yu, I’ve reviewed the outline…” Kuang Baibai scratched the back of her head. “It only provides the broad framework, lacking specific details. I wonder if other artists’ outlines are this vague too.”

She strongly suspected her artist was being treated differently, her indignation barely concealed.

Chi Yu, unfazed, took the outline and casually flipped through it.

The document was indeed vague, essentially outlining the main shooting process in broad strokes. Understanding it required some effort.

Without even lifting her gaze, Chi Yu held up the few thin pages and walked inside.

Kuang Baibai scurried beside her, chattering excitedly, “Sister Chi Yu, we’re heading to the makeup room next! Today’s the day for your official promotional photos. We hit the jackpot—the studio actually gave us a super luxurious makeup room! We’re sharing it with that Mysterious Guest, but since they’re a big star, they’ll arrive late, so you’ll basically have the whole lavish space to yourself! We’re so lucky!”

“……”

As her assistant’s chatter faded into the background, Chi Yu entered the makeup room.

She didn’t look up immediately. Instead, she stared at the glaringly obvious “CP Pairing” section on the schedule, lost in thought.

Who will I be paired with? Although the six guests were divided into three teams, the initial plan was for all participants to live-stream together on the first day. At the end of the day, they would send “heartbeat texts.” Based on the text votes and the live “heartbeat selections” the following morning, the CP pairings would be determined.

In other words, she’d have to start acting as a couple with someone right from the first episode.

The schedule also mentioned group activities later in the season, along with ongoing heartbeat text exchanges and selections. This meant the CP pairings could potentially change throughout the entire recording period, depending on how the relationships evolved.

And in the “CP Pairing” section of her schedule, the space remained blank.

Chi Yu felt like she was just a background prop. The production team hadn’t put much thought into her role, and even the scriptwriter hadn’t given her a romantic storyline.

Originally focused on reading her script, Chi Yu’s steps halted as Kuang Baibai tugged on her arm.

Suddenly, she heard Kuang Baibai gasp loudly beside her.

“Oh my god! Am I seeing things?”

“…It’s… it’s Best Actress Gu Yuan!”

“…!”

Chi Yu gripped the rough script tightly, her brow furrowing involuntarily.

Though it was just a few pages, she held it with both hands as if it were a massive, heavy object.

A strange thought echoed in her mind: Gu Yuan? What’s Gu Yuan doing here?

Her assistant’s voice continued to chirp excitedly beside her: “Ahhh! I’m not mistaken! It’s really Gu Yuan! Sister Chi Yu, look! It’s Best Actress Gu Yuan! Who would have thought the mysterious guest would be Gu Yuan?! I can’t believe we’re actually filming a show with the Best Actress!”

“How amazing is this episode of Love’s Heartbeat going to be?!”

“…!”

After a long silence, Kuang Baibai, her clear, foolishly wide eyes staring intently, slowly turned her face toward Chi Yu, her hands still clenched in front of her face in a beckoning cat pose.

“Sister Chi Yu?”

“The Best Actress is recording a show with you! Can you even imagine that?”

“……”

Chi Yu lifted her gaze and saw that elegant, slender figure.

Even across the distance, she could faintly detect the delicate jasmine scent emanating from that back.

At that moment, Chi Yu felt as if her bl00d was flowing in reverse.

A particularly inappropriate yet perfectly fitting phrase flashed through her mind:

Enemies always meet.

Just as she turned around, Kuang Baibai beside her shouted loudly, “Ah, Sister Chi Yu, where are you going? We’re about to start filming!”

“……”

As Kuang Baibai’s voice faded, Chi Yu’s entire back, which had been half-turned, froze.

“……”

“Sister Chi Yu? Sister Chi Yu?”

Kuang Baibai relentlessly called out to her, forcing Chi Yu to stand there, clench her eyes shut, and then slowly turn around, plastering on her signature innocent-sweet smile.

As expected, Gu Yuan, who had been sitting in front of the vanity mirror flipping through the pages of a book, had already raised her gaze.

Her thick lashes trembled slightly, framing eyes that were long and almond-shaped, with the outer corners tilting upward in a subtle, captivating lift. They were naturally beautiful and expressive eyes.

The shape of her eyes and the upward curve of their corners were perfectly balanced, just enough to lift her eyelids slightly.

Even a glance through the vanity mirror was enough to send a faint tremor through one’s heart.

In the bustling dressing room, Gu Yuan and Chi Yu locked eyes in a silent, intense gaze.

For that moment, it seemed as if everyone else had vanished, leaving only the two of them illuminated by the stage lights.

Time itself seemed to blur into a backdrop of flashing lights, scenes rushing past like a carousel.

But the atmosphere shattered under Kuang Baibai’s wailing cries: “Sister Chi Yu~ Sister Chi Yu~”

Kuang Baibai added a final, cutting remark: “Sister Chi Yu, why are you running away? Your ex-girlfriend’s right here! Hahaha~~”

Gu Yuan watched Chi Yu’s deer-like eyes in the mirror, unable to conceal her surprise. A barely perceptible smile tugged at the corner of Gu Yuan’s lips.