Her Rose on Camera - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Silly Girl

#BestiesTravelShow# BOOM
#TangTangSuQian# BOOM
#TangxSu—TearsOfTheEra# BOOM

…

The midday winter sun was warmer than any other time of day, its lazy rays streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows and spilling across the milky-white shag carpet. Tang Tang, the trending topic of the day, was scooping up vanilla ice cream with a wooden spoon.

“I’m begging you, ancestor—can you say something already? Are we accepting this variety show offer or not? The director and fans are still waiting!”

The woman sitting across from Tang Tang was named Dong Yu, a rookie manager who acted more like a meticulous middle-aged professional. Her long hair was tightly clipped up into a bun at the back of her head, and even the baby hairs at her nape were plastered flat with hair gel.

A tablet lay on the table between them, the screen displaying three trending hashtags, each marked with a bright red “BOOM.”

“It’s just a variety show. Why all the fuss?”

Tang Tang didn’t feel much about the trending buzz. She was originally just a writer; any opportunity to appear on a variety show was thanks to riding the wave of the golden era of online fiction—and also…

Su Qian popped into Tang Tang’s mind at the worst possible moment, and suddenly the ice cream lost all its flavor.

Unlike Tang Tang—who still had to rely on writing for a living and occasionally did variety shows—Su Qian had skyrocketed to fame after a brief period of popularity, using her stunning looks and rare emotional intelligence to become one of the hottest rising stars. Her combination of luck and talent was something most writers could only envy.

But Tang Tang wasn’t envious or bitter. After all, part of her own fame was thanks to Su Qian.

“Maybe… I shouldn’t go,” Tang Tang muttered.

She scrolled through her feed and paused on a highly shared post by a marketing account. Her eyes were drawn to the live trending comments:

@NoLemonsPlease: This show “Besties” is really gutsy, huh? Inviting both Tang Tang and Su Qian? Might as well rename it “Traveling with Your Enemy.”

@temder: Calling it now—today’s top trend will be: #TangTangQuitsBesties and #TangTangSuQianDenyInvolvementInBesties.

@NoCandyTang: Everybody knows Tang Tang never talks about that person. Meanwhile, Miss Little Lotus here is always reminiscing about the “hard times” on variety shows and name-dropping our Tang Tang.

@OnlyLoveQian: Can Miss Copycat’s fans stop dragging others into this? Without our Su Qian, she’d still be a nobody flopping for scraps.

@1929: Seeing TangSu trending again? Wow. Any OG fans wanna fill me in on how their friendship fell apart?

@MelonMuncher: Weren’t they supposed to never work together again? This whole “kings avoiding each other” thing feels straight out of a drama. I’d die to see these two on screen together.

…

“Hmph. Even if they begged me on their knees, I wouldn’t go.”

The trending page was making Tang Tang’s bl00d boil. She shut down Weibo and opened her long-unused alt account. Since signing with an agency, both her main and alt accounts had been handed over to the team to manage fans and post updates.

This little side account dated back to her pre-fame days and only followed a few close friends or old classmates.

Tang Tang hovered on Su Qian’s profile for a long time, debating whether to unfollow her—but in the end, she didn’t have the heart. It wasn’t like her alt was some high-profile account. Would Su Qian even notice?

Just as the thought crossed her mind, Su Qian’s latest post popped up:

@ItsSuQian: On my way! #Xuzhou#

The post included a backlit photo of her in a fluffy cream-colored dress, a pink wool coat draped over her shoulders, and soft wavy hair flowing down her back. At her side was a sky-blue Cinnamoroll suitcase, silently revealing her destination and purpose.

Seriously…

Tang Tang clenched her teeth and stared at the spoon’s tooth marks before finally muttering—

“Shameless!”

It was like a silent provocation. Su Qian knew Tang Tang would see this—and still posted it, complete with location and outfit, as if daring her: I’m coming. Do you have the guts?

It was childish—but so very Su Qian.

Tang Tang wanted to grind her teeth to dust, but she had no way to retaliate. That woman had fully grasped her slow-burning, non-confrontational personality and repeatedly danced on her last nerve.

“So… are we doing this, Tang Tang?” Dong Yu, about the same age as Tang Tang, had pieced together most of the story through internet sleuthing and company gossip. “Honestly, feuds are best resolved. Plus, I already told the team that Su Qian was your mentor when you were writing webnovels…”

Noticing Tang Tang’s stormy expression, Dong Yu quickly shut up. Her job was to manage schedules and daily life, not offer moral guidance.

“I’m sorry, Tang Tang-jie…”

Dong Yu bowed her head awkwardly, wishing she could sink into the carpet and disappear.

“I’ll go. Get PR and the production team ready. And one more thing—I want top billing for this variety show!”

Tang Tang ground her teeth as she spoke, each word spat like a personal vendetta.

Su Qian was the one in the wrong. Why did she have to act like the scared little mouse?

Tang Tang was angry—but helpless.

“So… should I reach out to Su Qian-jie’s team? Maybe we can coordinate promotions for a win-win?”

Dong Yu glanced at her phone and saw that Su Qian’s manager had posted an airport video in their friend circle.

“Fine.”

Tang Tang had always been firm about not tolerating anything related to Su Qian. But now, watching her boldly monetize a show that invited Tang Tang, the idea of “TangSu” didn’t seem so unbearable.

It was just work. Who’s holier than who?

“Tang Tang-jie, look! Su Qian just posted on Weibo again.”

Dong Yu was just about to call Su Qian’s manager when their studio chat exploded with one shared message.

“She posted? What could she possibly say? Another over-edited selfie pretending to have fun?”

Now that she’d agreed to the show, Tang Tang finally felt the pressure lift. She lazily scooped up more melted ice cream and mumbled her dissatisfaction.

“She… she reposted a marketing post confirming she’ll be on the show.”

Dong Yu pushed the tablet in front of Tang Tang, head bowed like a criminal awaiting judgment. Her boss didn’t look happy—and when Tang Tang got mad, it was intense.

“What the hell?! Does she have no shame?!”

Tang Tang shot up from the sofa. The trending topic #SuQianConfirmedForBesties was climbing fast, and she felt a rage surge straight to her head.

Baileys: Su Qian confirmed? Yikes, now the pressure’s all on Tang Tang.

StarDimmed: It’s going down! Tang Tang, confirm already!

LambyLamb: I can smell the drama in the air…

Tang Tang’s face was stormy. She couldn’t believe Su Qian had played the “first move” card just to toy with her.

“Tang Tang-jie, um, should we still reach out to her team? Or… should I ask the show to immediately announce your participation?”

“No need!”

Tang Tang slammed the tablet shut, grabbed her phone, and dialed a number.

The line rang. Then a lazy, teasing voice came through.

“Hellooo, little one. Finally decided to call me?”

Su Qian’s tone was light and composed—and that’s exactly what infuriated Tang Tang. It felt so disrespectful.

“I told you not to call me that! And what the hell, Su Qian?! Are you messing with me on purpose?! Trying to mess with my head just for a variety show?!”

“Yup. On purpose.”

Su Qian chuckled lightly, then said with an infuriating softness, “If you’re mad… come bite me.”

“You’re insane!”

Tang Tang could barely speak from rage. She stared at her phone, wishing she could jump through the signal and tear that smug woman apart.

Just when Tang Tang was about to explode like a bunny pushed too far, Su Qian casually wrapped things up.

“Alright, I’m boarding now. See you in Xuzhou, little one~”

Monster!
An absolutely ridiculous, galactic-grade monster!

Tang Tang slammed her phone onto the carpet. The metal case made a dull thud, but thankfully it survived the rage-throw—just a few scratches.

Still usable… just lost a bit of polish.

Just like her and Su Qian.
Still able to meet—but the broken mirror would never be whole again.

Tang Tang fumed, chest heaving.

“Tang Tang, fans are flooding the studio inbox asking about your plans. Should we—”

“Weibo. Now.”

“Huh?” Dong Yu blinked and instinctively hugged the tablet tighter.

She’d worked so hard to land this manager gig—she couldn’t afford a screw-up this early.

“I said, give me my Weibo.”

Tang Tang yanked the tablet from Dong Yu, logged into her main account, followed the Besties official page, and fired off a post:

@TangTangTang: Some pampered, fake princess better not end up bawling and begging to go home!

Once the post was sent, Tang Tang felt a huge weight lift from her chest. She took a satisfying bite of her melted ice cream and was just about to put on a movie to relax—when her phone buzzed.

Su Qian, who was supposed to be boarding, had just liked and retweeted her post.

@SuQian: We’ll see then, silly girl.

…

Author’s note:
“My teacher Chen died five years ago…”
“I’ve liked you for a very, very long time…”
Cool, aloof tarot reader x dark, sweet little goth girl
Check out more in the same universe: “The Tsundere Girl Refuses to Fake a CP with Her Ex”—please bookmark!