During the two and a half hour performance, Yi Xing didn't see Ju Jingyi the entire time, as she wasn't constantly on stage, but compared to other members, she appeared the most.
Her popularity within the group was considered “top-tier,” otherwise the company wouldn't let her participate in outside variety shows; for anyone else, it would be unthinkable.
As the music for dismissal began, the performance reached its final stage, which was the aforementioned segment where one could high-five their favorite idol. He quietly walked at the end of the line.
Recalling Ju Jingyi's performance on stage, he gained a completely new understanding of her professional skill level. She truly was professionally trained, not on the same level as an amateur like him.
The line slowly moved forward, and soon it was his turn to high-five the first girl. He looked at her face, even though he had heard her self-introduction.
He still couldn't match the face to the name. It wasn't that he was bad with faces, but rather that these girls' self-introductions were too complicated. They had to shout a bunch of slogans first, and he didn't understand what any of them meant.
"Welcome back next time, bye-bye!"
"Bye-bye," Yi Xing responded mechanically, smiling with pursed lips, and continued to follow the line. After high-fiving several girls in a row, he finally stood in front of someone he recognized.
The moment Ju Jingyi saw him, the sweet smile on her face froze. She reached out and rubbed her eyes, thinking she had seen wrong.
No one would have expected their dinner partner from the evening to suddenly appear before her, and moreover, this was at her workplace.
After rubbing her eyes, she realized the person in front of her was indeed Yi Xing, not a figment of her imagination. Her eyes filled with surprise, and she subconsciously asked, "Why are you here?"
The teammate standing in front of her turned her head and looked over, curiously sizing up the two people in her line of sight, wanting to know what their relationship was. However, she held back; at this moment, quietly observing was the best choice.
"You worked hard, bye-bye!" Yi Xing noticed someone staring at him and didn't directly answer Ju Jingyi's question. Unlike his conversations with the previous people, he added "you worked hard" to the "bye-bye."
"Mm, bye-bye!" Ju Jingyi also knew that the current environment wasn't suitable for asking personal questions. She suppressed her doubts, intending to get to the bottom of it when they met later. There was plenty of time in the evening, so there was no rush.
Yi Xing quickly high-fived the remaining girls and left the performance venue. He wandered around the theater, looking at the photos hung on the walls.
Those were the current members of each team, with each person's name below their photo. Now he could finally match faces to names. He then went to other areas.
He had been too rushed when checking his ticket and hadn't had a chance to properly look around. He came to an area filled with various merchandise. The products here were a bit too abundant, like badges, postcards, posters, and so on.
All types of merchandise available on the market could be found here. Unfortunately, he wasn't a fan of anyone, so naturally, he felt no desire to buy anything.
He continued to browse inside for a while, and seeing that the sky outside was getting darker, he realized it was getting late and decided to leave the theater.
He found a Starbucks nearby, ordered a coffee with cash, and sat down, waiting for a certain someone to message him.
He sat in the corner, holding his coffee, taking a sip, and watching the pedestrians coming and going and the endless stream of vehicles outside the window. His thoughts drifted, he didn't know where, until the sound of a message pulled him back.
【Ju Jingyi: I'm done. Where are you now?】
Yi Xing quickly stood up and first went to the counter to order another coffee to go.
Since he didn't know what Ju Jingyi liked to drink, he ordered a latte, the same as his. After placing the order and sitting down, he unlocked his phone to reply to the message.
【Yi Xing: I'm at the Starbucks near the theater, by the window. You'll see me as soon as you come in.】
The coffee was made as quickly as Ju Jingyi arrived. As he stood at the counter holding his to-go coffee, someone wearing a hat and mask pushed open the door and walked in.
If you didn't observe carefully, you wouldn't believe that this person had been shining brightly on stage just three hours ago.
Ju Jingyi, who had just entered the store, looked around but didn't see Yi Xing. She took out her phone and typed a message, asking.
【Ju Jingyi: I'm here, but I don't see you!】
【Yi Xing: I'm at the counter getting coffee.】
She received his reply, looked up immediately towards the counter, and indeed saw Yi Xing holding a bag, looking around, and walking towards her.
From his appearance, he seemed not to have noticed her presence. A thought flashed through her mind, and she blocked his path.
Yi Xing, whose path was blocked, didn't think much of it and tried to walk around her to return to his seat. Such similar experiences were too common when walking on the street.
When he wanted to go left, the other person also went left; when he wanted to go right, the other person also went right. He treated the person standing in front of him as a stranger with a bit of unspoken understanding. After repeating this several times, he realized something was wrong; she seemed to be doing it on purpose.
"Are you deliberately blocking me for something?" he said, his tone unfriendly.
"Guess who I am?" Ju Jingyi said as she took off her mask, revealing her delicate small face.
"Why are you dressed like this? You made it so I couldn't recognize you."
"I didn't want to, but I have many acquaintances on this street. If I don't disguise myself a bit, I'd easily be recognized, and I don't want anyone to disturb us."
"Oh, I see. This is the coffee I bought for you. I didn't know what you liked to drink, so I took the liberty of ordering a latte for you."
"And I wasn't sure if you could drink iced coffee, so the temperature is slightly warm. I hope it suits your taste."
Yi Xing took out the slightly warm coffee from the bag, ready to hand it to her.
"How much is it? I'll transfer the money to you."
"Why talk about money? You're going to treat me to dinner, so what's wrong with me buying you a coffee?"
"Alright, then I won't be polite," Ju Jingyi said with a smile, taking the coffee. She took a small sip, nodded, and continued, "It's the flavor I like to drink."
"As long as you like it!"
The two walked side by side towards the door. The sky was almost completely dark, and the streetlights on both sides of the road had already lit up, emitting a soft glow that stretched their shadows long.
"You still haven't told me why you were at the theater this afternoon."
"I was bored, and you happened to mention you had a performance this afternoon, so I wanted to see what a performance was like."
"So, what did you think?"
"Maybe it's because I'm not familiar with the people on stage, so it didn't really stir my emotions."
"Who asked you about that? I meant, what did you think of my performance on stage?" Ju Jingyi pouted. This was completely different from the answer she wanted to hear. She clarified and asked again.
"To put it in three words, it was amazing. To describe it in four words, it was impeccable. I feel like you were born for the stage. You're completely different from the you I interact with privately; you sparkle!"
Yi Xing said his true feelings with a smile. He felt that she was radiant on stage.
"Oh, I know I'm not as good as you say, but thank you for your affirmation and praise. Let's go, I'll take you to my favorite restaurant."
"Okay, I'll follow your arrangements."
...