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They say life often take turns when you least expected it. No one could possibly knew what the future holds and you shouldn't let it consume you.
All that being said, becoming an idol had been the furthest thing from her mind, even when she was scouted at the age of twelve. Even when she had a famous actress as her mother, and the director of a famous entertainment company as her father.
Talks of nepotism weren't anything new. The Kan family, famous and talented as they were; were never free from public scrutiny. Her grand-uncle had been a famous researcher when an experiment went wrong and he was decidedly made the scapegoat to save the company from further loss. Now, he lived in an abandoned shack somewhere in the red-light district as an apothecary—decidedly and stubbornly even when Maomao herself had come to convince him to live with them.
The other two spawns her parents had created before her were objectively living better. Even with the cheating scandals and wedded-women he kept seeing, Lahan managed to be appointed as the ministry of finance. She decided that he was nothing more and nothing less but a scum in the face of the earth. Junjie had always been better than Lahan, if not for his unfortunate state of always being overlooked, his start-up company might've done better than even Lakan's.
Meanwhile, Maomao was stuck singing and dancing the same twenty-five songs for the rest of their remaining tour, all while an insistent parasite kept sticking himself into her side whenever he deemed possible.
"I'm starting to feel bad for your teammates at this point." Maomao started. Her make-up was just done yet she already felt an uncontrollable itch to wipe it away. She glared at the man from the giant mirror she had in front of her. "Don't you have a tour to prepare for?"
"I'll be fine." The annoyingly sparkly parasite said. "We've mostly learned every thing we needed to, even our coach said to take some time off."
"Of course she did." Maomao rolled her eyes. Gyokuyou was far too soft with the boys.
"Besides, I have my own agenda for coming here."
"Which is?"
"Have you given a thought to what I said the other day?"
Ah.
Maomao had managed to convince herself that the conversation from that night was a result of her drunken mind, only for the flashy bastard to throw all her effort out the window. Maomao studied the man from her mirror, the tips of his ears down to his very neck were crimson red; not even their most pigmented blush could create such effect, while in comparison his knuckles were nearly pearl white—gripping the edge of his chair so tightly he might as well have snapped it in half. His puppy dog eyes were the most annoying of them all, whether or not it was intentional, he always had the look of a lovesick puppy. Perhaps that was why people were so obsessed with him.
Jinshi was a truly dangerous, and far too troublesome of a man.
"I refuse." She replied, taking her eyes off of the man that had all the ability to wreck their nation with a single smile and applied another layer of lipstick, like the aforementioned man wasn't standing gobsmacked behind her—she firmly refused to contemplate the expression he wore on his face. It had nothing to do with her.
"…that easily?"
This was too much, even for him! Maomao resolutely shut her eyes—unable to look at the man, but the tone and look on his eyes all but disappeared from her mind, prominently clinging into her memory like its owner.
"You're an up and coming rising idol." So was she, for that matter. But it wasn't like she cared much for these things. "Getting into a relationship will absolutely ruin you." and the poor girl who's forced to deal with the ire of your psychotic fan girls.
"But still—" He insisted, his tone laced with an edge of desperation. "You can't tell me you don't feel anything towards me. I know you do, even if a little. I'm not blind."
"It's troublesome." She settled on instead, unwilling to even acknowledge the nonsensical speech the man had blurted. "Besides, why me? Surely there are better options for you to choose from. Women and men alike vying for your attention. You can't possibly be that desperate Jinshi."
"We really should talk about this poor image you have toward yourself."
Maomao rolled her eyes, well aware that the man could see her expression from the mirror. Silence enveloped them for a while as she put on her golden hoop earrings. Truthfully, she'd always thought the accessory was too much, unsuitable on her self. She didn't have the jaded elegance that Shisui possessed nor Xiaolan's charming baby-face that made every single piece of their wardrobe stand out on her. She was Maomao, made leader probably due to her father's influence and a decent enough vocalist that thankfully wouldn't burst people's eardrums upon first listen. A decent enough face no-doubt due to her mother's DNA, only slightly interesting due to the speckle of freckles decorating her face. Really, it was a wonder she had any fans at all, let alone for someone like Jinshi to even spare her a glance.
"Maomao!" Shisui's voice boomed over her make-up room. "You ready? We're needed for a final soundcheck."
Standing up, she took her jacket draped over her chair and walked towards the door; but not before pinning Jinshi with one final look.
"I know this is mere amusement to you." Maomao said, conscious of the way her voice had taken on an icy tone. "But I suggest that you stop doing this. You got your answer, so stop bothering me from now on."
"Maomao—"
"Maomao!"
She gave one, final cursory glance toward that impeccably sparkly fae like creature; before opening the door and taking Shisui along with her. It wouldn't do for her to ask questions right now.
All along feeling the burn of a gaze trailing behind her.
When they were done with tonight's concert, Maomao made her way back toward her make-up room. Her clothes, and all other belongings were left behind. The shiny parasite had distracted her from clearing her things out properly.
Never mind the fact that she didn't once spot his overly luscious hair in the tent, towering over the other VIP guests during their concert. Maomao was glad that he understood. She wouldn't have to deal with his incessant chattering anymore.
Opening the door to her make up room, Maomao was unfortunately left in a stupor as she was left reeling on the state of it.
For starters it was much tidier than when she left it with, and second;
There was a giant bouquet of roses left on her table.
When she approached it, she realized a note was left behind. The handwriting was neat and elegant, reflecting the person whom it came from.
I'm sorry I couldn't stay, we had an emergency team meeting in HQ.
I'm sure you'd do wonderful, grace and elegance had always been something you clearly possessed, and it sets my heart ablaze every time I watch you on stage.
I won't tell you to give me a chance, not yet. But that doesn't mean I can't show you how sincere I am. The depths of my feelings for you remain a challenge for me to prove, and I'll let you assess how deep it truly is.
Please don't throw the roses away, it wasn't easy planting and making them bloom out of season.
Yours,
Jinshi
"Idiot." Maomao grumbled. "Who told you to plant roses, anyways."
Maomao assured herself that her rapidly beating heart was from the adrenaline of a finished performance.