Chapter 76 IF / Dating Within the Group extra 2Ā
“I find it miraculous. Such a horrific chain collision, the scene was a total wreck, yet his injuries aren’t actually that severe.”
“Wow, looking at this face up close, he’s much cuter than in the photos. Maybe we can switch up the style for the official profile shots later?”
“Is he really not going to wake up? He’s only seventeen. Itās a shame for him to become a vegetable. I feel like none of the backups are as good-looking as him.”
Tang Yueās head hurt. He hadnāt expected to encounter such a sudden planetary collision. He hadn’t even made it to the evacuation camp before passing out.
Were these people from the rescue team?
Since the planetary impact was so severe, could this be the Interstellar Support Force?
The copper flower he had left on the table must have shattered.
Tang Yue thought unconsciously. It turned out that the “life flashing before one’s eyes” experience humans talked about during near-death moments was, for him, just the image of that copper flower bouquet.
“Are his parents both gone?”
“Captain, youāre here. Come take a look at the didi (little brother) who was supposed to debut with us.”
“Sister Lin, youāre here too. What do we do now?”
There seemed to be several voices around himāone quite brisk, another relatively gentle.
What didi?
My parents have been gone for a long time.
The hospital room was quite large. The medical chart slotted at the head of the bed indicated that the youth lying there was named Tang Yue, age seventeen.
He was originally a selected member of the boy group “Away,” a project planned by Chengkong Media.
He was supposed to start training, but then Tang Yue encountered the largest chain car accident in recent years.
Over a month had passed, and the incident had become a classic case study played on loop in the news.
Tang Yueās file showed that both his parents were deceased, and his guardianship hung with the community committee. In reality, he had come out early to wander the streets alone.
He hadn’t done well in school either.
Staff from Chengkong Media were handling the follow-up liability for Tang Yueās accident. They had also blocked quite a few paparazzi looking to dig up scoops.
Chengkong Media had never produced a male idol group before this. The moment the project was announced, it garnered mass attention.
The currently leaked confirmed member list included Liu Xichao and Yao Lixin.
Both were newcomers from talent shows, but their popularity wasn’t low; they had already formed the embryo of a fanbase.
Jiang Shulu spoke up, “The manager suggests waiting a bit longer.”
He stepped forward, and Liu Xichao stepped aside at the right moment.
Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the youth on the hospital bed. He suspected he was seeing thingsādid the boy’s hand just move?
There were no external injuries, but with severe brain trauma and a diagnosis of a vegetative state, the chances of waking up were infinitesimal.
Even Liu Xichao felt it was a pity. That face was truly likeable; it grabbed you at first glance.
He had seen Tang Yueās ID photoāa mixed-race youth with azure blue eyes. He wondered what they looked like open.
Tang Yue felt his eyelids were heavy. He tried for a long time but couldn’t open them.
He could only listen to the people around him talking.
“What about his family?”
These four words were asked without much emotion, yet to Tang Yue, it was the most pleasant voice of them all.
Not deep, but possessing a clear, moist authority, like a natural-born leader.
“His family situation is a bit complicated. Heās an illegitimate child, his biological mother has passed away, and heās considered an outsider to both sides…”
The manager sighed. “The company is covering the medical expenses for now. Besides, the contracts are signed, and your group debut is imminent. Itās not too late to swap someone in and replace all the promotional materials.”
The gentle voice spoke, “What does the Captain think?”
The clear, moist voice replied, “His conditions are the best. Iāve seen the other candidates; none of them compare to him.”
“But his singing skills are truly terrible. A waste of a good voice.”
The deep voice sighed. “And looking at the situation now, what can we do? Weāve already delayed three months because of the Captainās family matters. If we delay again… Hey, Liu Xichao, why are you pinching me?”
“When did I pinch you?”
“Captain! Hey, Jiang Shulu, control him! Infighting within the team!”
Was Jiang Shulu the one with the voice I thought sounded best?
Tang Yue found it hard to describe his current feelings. The electrocardiogram beside him hadn’t even captured the alien’s fluctuation.
He opened his eyes.
Yao Lixin, who was still bickering with Liu Xichao over there, hadn’t noticed. The manager, who had been chattering away, turned to make a phone call.
Only Jiang Shulu, who was standing by the bed about to mediate the fight, saw it.
He met a pair of crystal-clear eyes.
The Tang Yue in the file was good-looking, yes, but his temperament was a bit wild.
His voice didn’t match his throat at allāit was overly ethereal, completely contradicting his street-rat vibe.
Awayās planning team had chosen Tang Yue specifically for that tone.
They needed a definitive positioning. Something to make this boy group grab people’s ears in an instant.
Nothing was more enduring than music.
But now, the youth lying on the hospital bed had a pale face. That street-wandering toughness seemed to have been shattered by the car crash, leaving his eyes filled with an innocent confusion and surprise.
The contrast between his jet-black hair and snow-white skin was startling. Just a blink of his eyes generated a sense of pity out of thin air.
Jiang Shulu was just about to press the call bell when a thin, bony hand grabbed his cuff. It held the precariousness of a long illness.
The pale, weak youth asked, word by word, “Who are you?”
Tang Yueās voice was as weak as a nursing kitten. Aside from Jiang Shulu, the two shoving each other didn’t notice at all, let alone the manager who had gone to make a call.
Perhaps it was because the hand tugging at his cuff was just too thin.
Jiang Shulu recalled that when he first received the news of the new member’s car accident, he had just had a falling out with his family.
He refused to let himself be a variable, but in the end, the variable became this main vocalist he and the other two had picked out.
Tang Yue had lost his memory.
Liu Xichao had a fresh haircut and looked as gentle as jade. Standing on the periphery watching the youth being examined, he sighed.
Yao Lixin, with his hair tied back, poked his head in to take a few looks. “Is he really an adult? Why does he look so small?”
Tang Yue was a pure amateur dug up by a scout. It was said that when he was first spotted, he was working as a dishwasher at a street food stall.
The second time was doing volunteer work at an orphanage.
Usually, he had that weathered look of someone who had roamed the world, but looking at him now, he was excessively tender, and his eyes were full of panic.
Liu Xichao said, “It’s good enough that he woke up. If the results are good, does that mean we don’t have to replace him?”
He glanced at Jiang Shulu, who was sitting to the side.
Jiang Shulu sat on a single sofa.
A boy group was fundamentally about being pleasing to the eye. Liu Xichao had been confident in his looks since childhood. Although he didn’t have much affection for Jiang Shulu, he admitted the guy was exceptionally good-looking.
Jiang Shulu was handsome, but he carried the noble air cultivated by a prominent family.
Yao Lixin, the one with long hair, was as straight as a telephone pole.
But because of his beautiful hair and the flexibility from dancing, many people still thought he was bent into a paperclip. The DMs he showed Liu Xichao were often photos that one wouldn’t dare look at twice.
As a straight man, Yao Lixin spent his days cursing men for being disgusting, asking how they had the nerve to flirt with him.
Compared to the other two, Jiang Shulu was simply too oppressive.
His social etiquette was flawless, and he didn’t have a stone face, yet standing next to him brought a strange sense of security mixed with the panic of being led by the nose.
He was too good at controlling the room. Several times, Liu Xichao couldn’t help but remind Yao Lixin to stop chatting with Jiang Shulu, lest he accidentally reveal the color of his underwear.
Of course, Jiang Shulu wouldn’t be curious about such things.
Before Jiang Shulu could speak, Yao Lixin, bored enough to braid his own hair, said, “Doesn’t he remember nothing?”
Tang Yueās gaze just now had left a deep impression on Jiang Shulu.
Jiang Shulu: “Even if he doesn’t remember, he should still be able to sing.”
He thought of the previous performance data. “We planned to teach him from a blank slate anyway.”
Yao Lixin went “Oh.” “Is he easier to teach this way?”
Liu Xichao didn’t speak. He narrowed his eyes, feeling that Jiang Shulu seemed quite satisfied with Tang Yue.
He hadn’t felt this before; previously, it was all calculation without a hint of personal bias.
Tang Yueās examination results came out quickly. It was memory loss caused by the concussion from the car accident, along with single-sided hearing impairment and long-term malnutrition.
Jiang Shulu frowned as he read it. When Tang Yue returned to the ward, Jiang Shulu looked him up and down several times.
Tang Yue felt a bit shy and turned his face away, unaware that his skin was so pale that even a hint of a blush looked like a fever. It made Jiang Shulu feel it was novel.
And it made his heart itch.
This feeling was rare; Jiang Shulu almost wanted to laugh.
Tang Yue almost felt heated from the stare. While dealing with the nurse’s check-up, he couldn’t help but glance at the door. The other two members who had introduced themselves earlier had already left.
In this high-end ward that didn’t look like a ward, only the young man who claimed to be his future Captain remained.
Tang Yue hadn’t expected that a planetary collision would actually cause him to transmigrate.
This planet was called Earth, belonging to the Solar System. He couldn’t even find out how many light-years away it was from the galaxy where Planet 9787 was located.
Probably because the technology at this stage couldn’t detect the universe beyond the solar system at all.
How did this happen?
He had even become someone also named Tang Yue. Tang Yue had no doubt that he and the other party had swapped bodies.
He didn’t realize he was zoning out again, which made him look even more pitiful in Jiang Shulu’s eyes.
Tang Yue drank nutrient solutions year-round on Planet 9787.
Although it didn’t stop him from growing up, his constitution was set. Gaining weight was difficult, but staying thin was effortless.
Not to mention the sudden trans-galactic crossing and the long coma; he had the fragility of someone long ill.
Jiang Shulu asked, “Are you feeling unwell?”
Liu Xichao and Yao Lixin had said they didn’t want to eat hospital food and were going to drive personally to buy some good food for their awakened didi.
Jiang Shulu was speechless, feeling that Liu Xichao just wanted to show off the limited-edition sports car his family gave him for coming of age.
Tang Yue took a few seconds to let out an “Ah,” then shook his head in a panic as if frightened.
“N-no.”
The unfamiliar environment still terrified Tang Yue. Medical facilities on Planet 9787 didn’t look like this.
Tang Yue glanced at his physical examination report on the bedside table. He had read it earlier; it didn’t detect his body’s abnormality.
Males on Planet 9787 could bear children.
But Tang Yue didn’t understand the specifics himself; he had spent his puberty physiology classes with headphones on, listening to music.
He had prepared himself to never find love, let alone desire it.
But this world was different.
Seeing Tang Yueās lips trembling, Jiang Shulu began to doubt if he looked scary. Why did the boy look like he was about to cry after just one sentence?
He walked to the bedside, coaxing someone for the first time in years. “If you’re uncomfortable, don’t hide it. Are you hungry or does your head hurt?”
He was twenty-one this year, having crossed from adolescence to young adulthood. Since he came to visit a patient, he was dressed somewhat formally.
In Tang Yue’s eyes, Jiang Shulu was more mature and much better looking than the other two.
Perhaps because Jiang Shulu was the first person he saw, he felt a bit more closeness to him.
Tang Yueās hand hanging by his side trembled slightly. Jiang Shulu suddenly felt the other looked like a fledgling bird lost in a storm.
Tang Yue: “No.”
Jiang Shulu leaned over to look Tang Yue in the eye. The boy had taken a shower after waking up; his hair carried the scent of lily-of-the-valley body wash, fluffy and exceptionally soft.
Jiang Shulu: “Then what’s wrong?”
Tang Yue: “I…”
He looked up at Jiang Shulu and bit his lip. “Can I say it?”
Jiang Shulu gave a hum of affirmation. The boy had lost his memory thoroughly, remembering only his name.
The manager didn’t know how to handle it and had gone back to the company for a meeting.
Jiang Shulu had handled his relations with the Jiang family. In the coming days, he would live in the dorms, starting a stolen period of rebellious life.
The other two had places to go and might occasionally be away from the dorm.
But Tang Yue had no family. Perhaps Tang Yue would be Jiang Shulu’s most constant companion from now on.
Tang Yue: “I’m scared.”
Jiang Shulu expressed understanding. “After all, you’ve forgotten everything.”
He sat on the edge of the bed, unaware that his voice was gentle enough to be a completely different person from before.
Jiang Shulu: “It’s normal to be scared. If you…”
Tang Yue: “Can you hug me?”
The youthās voice was like the sound of natureānot soft and sticky, nor cold. It was hard to describe, but once heard, it was unforgettable.
Tang Yue regretted it as soon as he said it.
He wasn’t like this before.
Just as he was about to apologize, he heard Jiang Shulu say “Okay.”
Then, Tang Yue received a hug that made him feel incredibly secure. Maybe it was the imprinting effect of a fledgling, maybe it was love at first sight.
At the very least, this hug was very longāso long that when Liu Xichao and Yao Lixin pushed the door open carrying a feast, they were so shocked they shouted profanities.
Tang Yue felt like he had been caught in an affair. He was about to pull away, but someone gently patted his back.
Jiang Shulu: “It’s okay.”
Liu Xichao: “What’s the situation?”
Yao Lixin: “Captain, you thief of hearts. It’s only been a few hours, and you’ve already maxed out Didi Tang Yue’s favorability meter?”
Tang Yue closed his eyes and leaned on Jiang Shuluās shoulder, whispering a thank you so quiet only Jiang Shulu could hear.
Jiang Shulu couldn’t resist stroking the youth’s hair. “If you’re afraid in the future, you can find me anytime.”
[Reading Note] This IF story belongs to a cognitive “non-book-transmigration” / meaning Tang Yue hasn’t read the original novel. It is purely a transmigration premise / there will be some butterfly effects.
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