On camera, the most enthusiastic Su Yayi had already cleared everything from the table except for a pen borrowed from Jiang Yu, which she placed in the center.
“All set!” she announced, spreading her hands. “Each person gets one spin. Whoever the pen points to is in trouble!”
Ji Chen shifted uncomfortably. “What’s the truth-or-dare question?”
Su Yayi flipped her phone toward him. “This app has every kind of prompt. Spin for a random one.”
Ji Chen glanced around and shrugged. “Alright, if nobody minds.” Once everyone sat down, Wei Yuanju spun the pen first it landed on Ji Chen. Ji Chen glanced at the pen tip, then at Wei Yuanju. “You did that on purpose, huh?”
Su Yayi waved him to hurry. “Cut the crap. Truth or dare?”
“Dare,” he said. Wei Yuanju smiled and picked a task: “Send ‘I love you’ to the first person in your chat list.”
Ji Chen sighed in relief. “Thank goodness it’s my mom.” He sent the text, shook the pen, and turned it again unfortunately, it landed on him again.
“….”
Everyone burst out laughing.
One by one, the game warmed up. When Wu Luo got the pen, he stood it on the table and gently spun it. The pen circled past Yu Shiqing and landed directly on Jiang Yu.
Without a doubt, the audience had been waiting for this moment.
The room fell silent. Su Yayi was the first to react, raising her arms. “Yay! It’s Jiang Ge’s turnXiao Luo, ask him!”
Wu Luo didn’t know what question to ask. He gripped his phone, bit his lip nervously, and glanced at Jiang Yu before quickly looking away.
“Will you pick truth… or dare? Or just go with a random prompt?”
Jiang Yu replied, “Random.”
Everyone at the table gasped. Until now, everyone had chosen “dare” they wanted to avoid revealing personal truths. As celebrities, their privacy was too sensitive to share live. But Jiang Yu, the heaviest name present, didn’t care about other people’s concerns surprising, but fitting his character.
The audience in the live comments erupted with feverish excitement, calling out various questions they wanted him to answer. Though Wu Luo wasn’t aware of the chaos, the pressure of asking Jiang Yu felt intense.
He tapped the phone. “Got it.”
Su Yayi looked forward. “What is it?”
“It’s truth,” Wu Luo said carefully, voice trembling with anticipation. “Question: Do you have someone you like?”
“Wow!” Su Yayi clapped. “Going straight for a spicy question!”
Wei Yuanju sat up, eyeing the camera. The director behind the monitor tensed any scandal involving Jiang Yu’s love life could be dangerous, even in a game.
Wu Luo was about to help Wu Luo prep a script when Jiang Yu spoke, coolly: “Yes, I do.”
Wei Yuanju leaned forward, startled. Everyone cheered, banging on the table; the mood peaked instantly.
Wu Luo sat down, sullen, passed the phone. Su Yayi stood, spun the pen again still on Jiang Yu.
“Ha!” Su Yayi winked. “Random again, Jiang Ge?”
“Sure,” Jiang Yu replied. Su Yayi tapped the phone: “Another truth.”
Wei Yuanju stiffened. “The question is…” even Su Yayi hesitated. “Do you have a romantic partner?”
Jiang Yu didn’t look at Yu Shiqing; he just smiled and said, “Yes.” Simple. Nonchalant. One small word that would shake the world.
Ji Chen’s eyes widened. Wei Yuanju stared in shock. Su Yayi’s mouth fell open in silent gasp.
The comment stream exploded. The video lagged for seconds before cutting out. The crew scrambled to reconnect. When live returned after splitting the stream into five channels to prevent another crash the comments exploded again:
“Holy shit, Jiang Yu is dating really???”
“My brain is fried! Jiang Yu??? Dating?? What??”
“Truth-or-dare lives forever!!!”
Soon, skeptics appeared:
“Probably he just lost it because fans were too much so he admitted it to quiet them down.”
“Now this movie star can’t market f/f romance anymore, huh?”
“All the PR about his ‘close relationship’ with Yu Shiqing, faceplant! Haha.”
None of this slowed down Zhu Yulan. She spun the pen again; it landed on Yu Shiqing.
Su Yayi jumped up, cheering: “Yuli Ge!” Zhu Yulan blushed and asked, “Dreaming of truth or dare?”
Amid hopeful glances, Yu Shiqing replied: “Dare.”
Jiang Yu looked at him, only seeing his profile. He poured a glass of water and moved closer to hand it over. “Thirsty?”
Yu met his gaze. The careless confidence was gone; now he remembered the implications on live TV.
Jiang handed him the glass again: “Thanks for working hard tonight.”
Yu took a sip quietly. “Not hard.”
Jiang’s lips twitched. Then he turned back to Zhu Yulan. “What’s your dare?”
Everyone knew these two often shared private moments publicly; now their answers were part of the show.
Zhu Yulan looked at her phone:
“Kiss the nearest same-sex person with a tissue in between for ten seconds.”
And only one person was closest to Yu Shiqing, Jiang Yu.
Wei Yuanju shifted uncomfortably, ready to step in. The rumored romance had spread widely; who knew if Jiang would object to this dare. But before anyone could stop them, Jiang reached for a tissue and handed it to Yu Shiqing. He seemed eager.
Wei Yuanju fell silent.
Maybe their relationship had truly grown that close enough for Jiang to ignore the swirling rumors.
Su Yayi, the opposite, burst out: “I’ll time it!”
Ji Chen jumped in: “Why didn’t it land on me? I could have kissed Yu Shiqing for ten seconds. Haha…”
He stopped at Jiang’s glare.
The camera focused on Yu Shiqing as he stood. He folded the tissue, and when Jiang prompted, though Wei Yuanju was about to suggest he take more tissues, Jiang said:
“Maestro Yu, quick and neat.”
Wei Yuanju shut up again.
Yu didn’t look at anyone. He pressed the tissue to Jiang’s lips, cupped his chin, leaned in. Their breaths mingled; their eyes locked. Then, in front of thousands, they kissed lightly through the tissue.
Jiang’s hand trembled slightly beneath the table subtle, unnoticed.
Su Yayi stared.
The live stream paused for two seconds, then returned. Comments surged:
“Oh. My. God. This is the dream scene!!! HuYu is real!!!”
“Tears—Twins kissed! They kissed!!! I’m declaring Jiang Yu’s partner is Yu Shiqing!!”
“Haha, that blind supporter who said they were just friends please donate your eyes they’re dating!!!”
Just ten seconds passed. Ji Chen poked Su Yayi. “How many seconds now?”
“Uh—sorry, I forgot to time it…” she whispered, cheeks red.
Yu pulled back gently. Jiang picked up his water and just before drinking, stopped. Wei Yuanju thought he didn’t want the same cup, reached for a paper one, then heard Jiang’s voice:
“Do you want it?”
Wei Yuanju thought: he still doesn’t learn!
