The Theory Of Queerbaiting

You Xin had been feeling bummed for several days since his falling out with Duan Jiashu.

Duan Jiashu never contacted him again and his WeChat stayed silent. Occasionally, You Xin would look over their chat records, sometimes regretting that he hadn’t been able to hold back his words, and sometimes feeling that it was better to just get the pain over with, rather than prolong the agony. 

In short, he was quite at a loss.

However, he didn’t delete his chat record with Duan Jiashu. At times, he would just open it at times then quickly exit right after.

However, dealing with lovesickness wasn’t You Xin’s biggest issue. What made him most nervous was that he still has to film a drama with Duan Jiashu, and “The Wacky Family” still has to film its last episode. There was still some time before filming for “Sword of Heartlessness” starts so You Xin could still prepare himself, but the filming day for their variety show is just around the corner. It was truly ridiculous that when he and Duan Jiashu first met on the variety show, the other ignored him because he didn’t want to sell CP with You Xin, but when they got along well enough, it was Duan Jiashu who took the initiative to sell CP. Now, when they were going to record the last episode of the variety show, he and Duan Jiashu had “broken up” . Oh no, a BE ship.

The journey of one’s affairs in life was truly unpredictable and difficult. 

However, his work is the foundation of his life, and he can’t give that up so easily. His love life was already in a rough state, he couldn’t just give up his career because of it. You Xin’s flustered state cheered himself up in this way, and soon the day of filming had arrived.

You Xin went to the filming location for their show and exchanged greetings with the crew for a while, but he couldn’t find Duan Jiashu. He couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief at this.
He still doesn’t know how he would get along with Duan Jiashu under everyone’s prying eyes, and he feels lost about this. He also doesn’t know if Duan Jiashu was deliberately hiding from him, after all, they didn’t have any contact for several days.

While he was thinking, You Xin finally saw the other at the corner of the living room.

Duan Jiashu was squatting by the cat’s bed and was playing with Xiao Hua. He wasn’t very skilled at holding the kitten, and Xiao Hua was probably uncomfortable as it was held by Duan Jiashu as it scratched and bit. In the past, Duan Jiashu would’ve run away at this. However, unexpectedly, he didn’t give up this time. No matter how much Xiao Hua bullied him, he still remained squatted on the ground and talked to the kitten.

“Poor Duan Xiao Xin, your father and mother have split. You are now the kitten of a single-parent family.”

“Meow.”

“Your mother will also find you a stepfather. I don’t know whether that stepfather likes kittens or not. Will he be good for you? Will he ignore you because you’re not his?”

“Meow.” 

“So, when the filming ends, you must choose to follow your dad. Although dad isn’t very good at taking care of cats, dad will buy you the best-canned food, the most comfortable cat bed and the most expensive cat litter. Even if dad will see other kittens outside, dad still likes you most.”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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You Xin was far away, so he didn’t hear what Duan Jiashu was saying. As soon as he approached and was discovered, Duan Jiashu promptly shut up. 

Duan Jiashu gave You Xin a very sad look, then lowered his head bitterly and continued to touch the kitten tremblingly.

You Xin was stunned at Duan Jiashu’s action.

Duan Jiashu’s face was slumped. What plot was this? Isn’t he the one who is supposed to be lovesick? Why on earth did the other look even more distressed than he did? Could faking a CP really be so painful?

Maybe it was so painful for Duan Jiashu that he couldn’t do it successfully despite his acting and scriptwriting skills. The more You Xin thought about it, the sourer he felt. Because of this, he became determined not to let Duan Jiashu see his abnormal state. 

You Xin doesn’t want Duan Jiashu to know that he fancies him.

After greeting Xiao Hua, he squatted down next to the cat tree to calm down and Xiao Hua’s chin.

“Duan laoshi, how are you these two days?”

Duan Jiashu seemed like he didn’t want to talk, and he only nodded. 

You Xin swallowed a mouthful of saliva and organized his next words. “Sorry, I’ve said too much that day.”

Duan Jiashu glanced at You Xin and nodded again.

You Xin’s heart beat a little bit faster, but he still held on and spoke again, “Although I don’t want to sell our CP with you again, I hope you can still get along with me normally when others are present. I don’t want to give others too much room for assumptions.”

You Xin deliberately said these words to show that he wanted to get rid of his relationship with Duan Jiashu. He felt that with the other’s personality, he would immediately turn his face away and never pay attention to You Xin again. Although this still made him feel heartbroken, it could also stop him from having a roller coaster ride of feelings for the other. 

Unexpectedly, Duan Jiashu only looked at him with a very hurt look when he heard this, then agreed, “Okay, I know.”

The waves in the waters of You Xin’s heart rose again when he was looked at like this. Duan Jiashu almost made him think that the other liked him as well. However, the previous painful experience jumped out from his memories once more, ready to remind himself that he shouldn’t indulge. You Xin had to lower his head and tried to calm his beating heart.

Both of them were speechless for a moment.

Duan Jiashu was silent for a while. He looked at You Xin forlornly, and he couldn’t help but want to speak. But just as he opened his mouth, someone came in. 

Filming was about to start, and it would be inconvenient for Duan Jiashu and You Xin to speak unless in private.

Although both of them tried to get along freely in front of everyone, it was inevitable for them to be embarrassed when they end up locking their eyes. So many people in the crew felt this, and there was nothing for them to hide after filming.

The main reason was that the director talked about Xiao Hua.

“After we finish filming our show, this house will be returned to the owner. What should we do with this lovely kitten?” 

You Xin and Duan Jiashu were the ones who brought Xiao Hua over, and they took care of them the most (while Duan laoshi was scratched the most). So as soon as the director asked this, everyone turned to look at You Xin and Duan Jiashu.

You Xin liked kittens very much. Besides, he saved Xiao Hua. From a weak and without support kitten to a lively one that parkours every day, his feelings with Xiao Hua are very good, so he should take Xiao Hua. “I’ll raise it.”

“I’ll raise it.” As soon he spoke, he heard Duan Jiashu say the same words as him.

You Xin glanced at Duan Jiashu strangely. Seeing the other’s firm appearance, he felt even more confused. He knows that Duan Jiashu likes cats, but the other’s ability to take care of them reaches almost zero. Even Duan Jiashu himself was a big animal that needed to be taken care of. He didn’t know what the other was thinking. What would he want to do when raising Xiao Hua? 

You Xin took a wary look at Duan Jiashu and said, “I’d better raise it. It’s already hard for you to shovel Xiao Hua’s poop, how can you take good care of it?”

Duan Jiashu frowned at this and retorted with a serious expression “While I can’t properly take care of the kitten yet, I can still learn it. Xiao Hua’s name is Duan Xiao Xin after all, it’s my last name. You mustn’t raise it for me!”

You Xin: ???

Everyone: [stunned] [stunned] [stunned] 

This was like a drama of divorced couples arguing over seizing custody of their children. The scene was so beautiful that nobody dared to not watch it. But after a while, everyone made their excuses and slipped away, leaving only You Xin and Duan Jiashu, and Xiao Hua who didn’t know what to meow.

“Well, let’s let Xiao Hua choose. We call Xiao Hua at the same time to see who Xiao Hua chooses to go to.” Duan Jiashu took a spontaneous step back when he saw that You Xin no longer looked well.

“Alright.” You Xin immediately agreed. On the weekdays during their filming, because Duan Jiashu was afraid of being scratched, he fed the cat himself, shovelled poop, and combed Xiao Hua’s hair. He doesn’t believe Xiao Hua would even choose Duan Jiashu instead of himself at this moment.

After discussing, the two squatted on both sides and called Xiao Hua together. 

Xiao Hua was quite bored and lay in its own bed. When it heard someone shouting, it moved its ears. It looked at both sides, hesitated a little, and ran in You Xin’s direction. However, without even running for more than two steps, Xiao Hua stopped again and looked in Duan Jiashu’s direction.

Seeing that Duan Jiashu didn’t know how he’d take out a piece of chicken breast, he rubbed the plastic package instead, which immediately caught Xiao Hua’s attention. You Xin’s eyes widened with anger, so he meowed harder and called Xiao Hua.

Xiao Hua was at a loss and hesitated. Then, it heard Duan Jiashu tear open the package of the chicken breast. Xiao Hua’s nose moved and immediately ran to Duan Jiashu. Holding Duan Jiashu’s trembling arm, Xiao Hua ate the chicken breast with satisfaction.

Seeing this, You Xin jumped up and exclaimed, “Duan Jiashu, you cheated!” 

“I’m not cheating.” Duan Jiashu looked at you Xin solemnly. “We haven’t agreed earlier that we couldn’t tempt Xiao Hua with food. If you fail, you have to admit defeat. Don’t find a reason.”

“Yes, you can!” You Xin turned around angrily and left. He was really a fool. Just now he saw Duan Jiashu being forlorn and his heart was almost moved. <emHow can this guy be sad? He's just a heartless bastard!

With a cold look on his face, You Xin angrily finished the meal prepared for the show and angrily returned home, determined not to give Duan Jiashu any good face in the future, and would resolutely ignore him even after filming together.

He was so angry that he couldn’t sleep. He didn’t even sleep until midnight, but he also didn’t expect to be woken up by the phone in the morning. 

You Xin narrowed his eyes to answer the phone and saw that it was Duan Jiashu calling. He was already pissed when he got up so early in the morning. In addition, his feelings of hatred made him about to hang up immediately, but the Duan Jiasu’s tone on the phone sounded very anxious.

“You Xin, come to my house and search with me. He’s gone!”