Chapter 31 part 1
◎ Little Lin, Are You Serious? ◎
The cold wind was still a bit chilly, but with Han Yuzhe’s help earlier, Berlin was fine. He crouched in front of his plants, fiddling with the leaves, then looked back at Cecil. “Cold?”
Cecil shook his head in answer, his gaze fixed on the leaves Berlin’s fingertips were touching. “I remember you said you planted flowers.”
“Right, haha, but it’s March now, not yet flowering season.” Berlin gestured. “Don’t look at them all wilty and unassuming now; when the dormant period passes, they bloom beautifully.”
Clearly, Cecil didn’t understand flowers. He looked at the sky, then down at the listless leaves. “You’re usually not at the company. How do you take care of them?”
“Free-range, hehe. I looked it up before planting and specifically chose Rain Lilies. This flower has tenacious vitality, just like its name. Once planted, they basically grow well on their own, relying on the heavens. Whether they bloom depends on the environment. In some places, they bloom all four seasons, but winter ends too late in this city; they won’t bloom until April.” Berlin took out his phone to show Cecil a photo he took last time he was back. “Here, it rained the day before I came back last time.”
He turned the screen to Cecil. The flowers in the photo were small, looking as if they had sprung up overnight.
Berlin’s smile was like a cat’s, his round eyes curving, looking very smug. “Pretty, right?”
He didn’t realize he looked like an old grandpa showing off how well-behaved and worry-free his grandchild was. “Other flowers are hard to raise; rain rots their roots and they never recover. Rain Lilies aren’t afraid of rain or drought. Even getting baked on the rooftop doesn’t stop them from doing their thing.”
“They don’t fear cold or heat, they don’t care if the soil is fertile, they don’t care about sun exposure. In fact, after every heavy rainstorm, they bloom.”
Berlin’s eyes shone as he spoke. “Isn’t that amazing?”
He signaled for Cecil to remember how they looked now, so when he came back later, he’d find they had become beautiful.
Cecil’s gaze rested on Berlin, and he gave a low response.
The two stayed on the rooftop for a while. Most of the time, it was Berlin muttering happily, occasionally asking Cecil questions, like why he joined GNK.
Cecil answered this question very crisply, without stalling or thinking, almost like instinct.
“I walked into a self-service ice cream shop. They were playing Skye’s songs. It just happened to play your line. I liked it.”
“I sat in that shop for an hour and listened to every song you participated in.”
“From that day on, I could run into you everywhere I went.”
Berlin blinked blankly. “Run into me?”
Cecil tilted his head to look at him. “Record stores, big screens in plazas, giant billboards on commercial streets, background music in restaurants.”
It was an excuse.
His attention could have been on other things. The record store had classics from all over the world; Skye only occupied one or two of the dozens of screens in the plaza; there were more than two giant billboards within a hundred meters; the restaurant background music changed constantly.
It was just that a voice seemed to ring clearly in his mind, carrying an indescribable throb.
Found him.
Running into everything related to Berlin was the first time he had cared about anything.
Cecil skipped the part he couldn’t explain himself—the owner of the ice cream shop was a Skye fan, and the place was plastered with large posters.
When he made eye contact with Berlin in the poster for the first time, even though he shouldn’t have known him, he unconsciously spoke his name.
The owner was happy and came over to ask if he was a fan.
Cecil found it hard to answer, so he defaulted.
The owner looked him over, revealing a look of awe and appreciation, and enthusiastically encouraged him: “With your looks, why not participate in GNK’s auditions? If you get selected, you might get close contact with Lin, maybe even become close friends!”
GNK auditions were open worldwide, aiming to build an international group and expand overseas influence.
The first preliminary stop included Ouhai City, where Cecil was.
Skipping all the details, Cecil answered dryly and lightly, “Then I signed up for the audition, got the only slot for Ouhai City, and came to GNK as a trainee.”
Berlin understood. He looked with novelty at Cecil, who was barely of high school graduation age in this world. “So you joined GNK because of me?”
Cecil didn’t deny it.
Realizing that Cecil seemed, probably, maybe, perhaps to have become his fan by coincidence, Berlin couldn’t help but marvel at how small the world was. Ouhai City was on the other side of the Earth, yet Cecil still stumbled upon him and traveled thousands of miles to come here.
Although he didn’t understand how there could be another “Cecil” in the real world, Berlin didn’t plan to make things hard for himself by overthinking it. For now, it seemed they were different in many ways, more like two distinct individuals.
Or perhaps, growing up in different environments, the same person would develop different personalities?
People change. Berlin didn’t want to dwell on overly complex dialectical thoughts about the soul.
He just looked around, then beckoned Cecil to come closer.
When Cecil leaned in, Berlin indicated he could grant Cecil a special fan benefit, whispering mysteriously, “I kept two photocards from the last album for myself because I really liked them. If you want, I can give you one… Do you need it signed?”
Cecil: “…”
He could vaguely sense—no, he was certain—that Berlin seemed to treat him as a fan.
And a fanatical one who buried his head and ran to the same company to be a trainee just to chase a star.
He looked down into Berlin’s eyes and pressed his lips together slightly.
Cecil’s reactions were always a beat slow, so Berlin didn’t think much of it.
After a long while, Cecil nodded. “Photocard and autograph. I need both.”
Berlin grinned happily. “No problem! I’ll bring it to you when I come to the company tomorrow.”
He thought for a moment and then whispered cautiously, “The company said the second album merchandise isn’t being restocked. Technically it should be out of print. If anyone sees it, just say you pulled it yourself when you bought the album back then.”
Berlin scratched his head, smiling sheepishly. “Fans should be treated equally. I’m afraid other fans will be sad if they find out.”
Cecil: “…”
He paused for a moment, then nodded cooperatively. “Okay.”
Berlin took out his phone and exchanged contact info with Cecil. His teammates were still waiting for him, so after cleaning up the spilled coffee, he waved his phone at Cecil. “If you need anything, feel free to contact me.”
He paused after speaking, remembering Cecil didn’t have the memories from the dream. His attitude might seem a bit strange, so he scratched his head and added, “Since you’re my fan, hehe.”
Seeing Cecil nod, Berlin checked the time and jogged back to the seventh floor. After changing into his tracksuit in the lounge, he headed straight for the practice room.
His teammates were already warming up.
They had already finished recording the ten songs for the third official album before shooting the hawthorn drink commercial. The preparation period had been long and drawn out.
Berlin kept his word and really didn’t forget to drag Han Yuzhe along for extra practice every day.
He earnestly did a full set of stretches. While bending over with fingertips touching the floor, he saw Han Yuzhe doing stretches half-heartedly through the full-length mirror. From his upside-down perspective, he said, “Ah Zhe, if you slack off on stretching, be prepared to stay here with me all night for extra practice.”
Han Yuzhe, who was lazily doing chest expansions, froze: “…”
With Berlin supervising, Han Yuzhe couldn’t escape and had to follow along seriously.
Berlin watched with a mix of amusement and exasperation as Han Yuzhe’s movements became standardized, once again feeling like a junior high homeroom teacher: It was exactly the same feeling as seeing a student in power-saving mode during recess exercises.
Leader Jiang Shuiran clapped his hands and connected the Bluetooth speaker. “Let’s warm up with ‘sup future first. One run-through.”
Last year, counting music shows and various variety promotions, they had danced the title track ‘sup future nearly a hundred times on camera alone, not counting rehearsals or practice room training. Adding it all up, the number was uncountable. It was perfect for warming up, waking up every inch of the body through muscle memory and quickly restoring their state.
While Skye started practicing, Cecil returned to his practice room. All the Class A trainees turned their gazes on him in unison, scratching their hearts with curiosity, dying to know what Berlin wanted with him.
Even with Cecil’s iron-clad dullness, he could feel the scorching gazes of the trainees. So he looked up crisply and spoke concisely: “Personal matter. Unrelated to the company.”
After speaking, Cecil didn’t care about his peers’ reactions—first relief, then eyes wide with earth-shattering gossip. He moved a bit, then signaled everyone to start over. “Let’s practice.”
A1 always stood in the center position. The trainees in the back row whispered discussions.
Hearing Cecil say it wasn’t a company arrangement, everyone relaxed, and their mindset lightened. Without immediate competitive pressure, they were in the mood to gossip.
“Why would Senior Berlin come looking for A1? They feel worlds apart.”
“Could they be relatives? Distant ones?”
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