Time flew by, and by the time the annual Silver Star Awards online voting concluded, it was already spring of the following year. This time, Zhuo Yue was nominated for Best Actor in a TV Drama for his outstanding performance in ‘So I Love You’.

       On the day of the awards ceremony, Lin Hui was driving on the way to the studio. He looked out the window at Zhuo Yue and sighed, “The last time I came here, I was so afraid of those cameras; I just wanted to run away. Winning awards, performing, becoming famous, making money—I didn’t want any of it. Now, looking back, it all feels like a dream.”

       “You’re not afraid anymore?” asked the man next to him.

       “With you by my side, I’m not afraid of anything.” He rested his head on Fang Mingyan’s shoulder.

       The man smiled silently and covered his hand with a warm palm. Zhuo Yue turned his palm over and intertwined his fingers. The two wrists hidden in the sleeves of the suit wear identical silver bracelets, with each other’s initials engraved on the inner rings that were invisible to others.

       This was a pair of bracelets designed and customized by Xia Ran for them.

       He couldn’t say how expensive they were, but they were the only pair in the world.

       This time, Zhuo Yue walked on the red carpet with Lu Chenyang. The two people’s dresses were black and white, forming a strong contrast.

       “Why did you choose black this time?” Lu Chenyang asked as he walked.

       “It looks calmer this way,” he replied.

       “Calm?”

       “Well, if I really have a chance to win this award, I want to do something very special. So, at least, I have to look calm. After all, this is a serious matter…” He stopped and graciously stopped to smile for the cameras.

       Over the past year, he participated in stage plays, shot commercials, engaged in charity work, appeared on reality shows, and acted in TV dramas and movies. Through continuous experience and accumulation, his presence in front of the camera became even more remarkable. It seemed that he didn’t need to look at the camera intentionally, but he could know the direction and angle of the camera precisely. From grand gestures to subtle glances, everything he did was filled with confidence and an exceptional demeanour, commanding people’s attention effortlessly.

       The spotlight flashed in front of his eyes, and the screams sounded in his ears. Everything was the same as a year ago.

       The time and space seemed to overlap.

       Zhuo Yue still clearly remembered how he had clumsily walked down that long red carpet back then. He remembered the ‘talisman’ the man had given him, the words the man had silently spoken behind him, and the tears that welled up in his eyes when he heard the words ‘for me’.

       He wrote his name neatly on the signature board and then walked into the awards hall.

       Fang Mingyan was standing in the corner inside the door, waiting for him. He was wearing a black suit with exquisite workmanship and just the right cut. One hand was stuck casually in his pocket, and the other was fiddling with his cell phone boredly. As if feeling his gaze, the man raised his head and slightly raised the corners of his lips towards him, with a bit of warmth in his eyes.

       “It seems like it’s time for me to retire.” Lu Chenyang smiled and left first.

       Zhuo Yue walked up to him and asked, “Are you waiting for me, Sir?”

       Fang Mingyan asked, “Have you thought about your acceptance speech?”

       “I did.” He looked at the other person with his dark eyes, “Do you think I have a good chance of winning?”

       “If I were a judge, I would choose you.”

       “Purely from a professional point of view?”

       “Of course, you are a good actor.”

       “If I win the prize, can you grant me a wish?”

       There was a smile in the man’s eyes, “Where did you learn this trick of raising prices on the ground?”

       Zhuo Yue raised his eyebrows and said, “Don’t you dare?”

       Such a clumsy provocation made Fang Mingyan couldn’t help laughing, and said leisurely, “Okay, I promise you.”

       Before the awards ceremony officially started, the two entered the venue one after another and took their seats. When the award presenter announced the shortlist for Best Actor in a TV Series, Zhuo Yue greeted the camera with a smile, and the light melted into a crystal-like hue under his eyes.

       Then the guest of honour read out a name.

       The applause was thunderous.

       Zhuo Yue, who was wearing a formal black suit, stood up, thanked the colleagues around him who congratulated him, and then walked steadily toward the stage with his head held high.

       Fang Mingyan looked at his figure and curled his lips silently.

       When they first met, Zhuo Yue was like a desperate little animal, stubborn and obstinate, but he had to put down his pride to please himself in order to make a living. After that, he gradually began to bloom in his hands, and the sudden accident almost completely destroyed him. He became a puppet relying on drugs to survive, with only endless fear and emptiness in his eyes. At last year’s awards ceremony, he ran to himself like a frightened deer through a hail of bullets. And in the end, he became such a dazzling being.

       Gentle, confident, elegant and humble.

       So beautiful.

       When did he start falling in love?

       That kind of emotion, slowly fermenting over time, had now become difficult to delineate clearly. However, replacing it was a more intense and passionate feeling within his chest—one of wanting to accompany, share, and become each other’s closest person.

       This should be love.

       Zhuo Yue took the trophy, thanked the guest of honour and looked around the audience. “Thank you, everyone. Receiving this award today is a recognition from the audience and the judges, and I feel very proud. I want to thank everyone in the ‘So I Love You’ crew—without all of your collective efforts, I wouldn’t have achieved today’s success. And to my fans, I know you’ve been voting for me, cheering me on, and I am very grateful to all of you.” He paused and said, “Actually, apart from my acceptance speech, I have also prepared a statement on my temporary break from the acting profession.”

       Such sudden and explosive news caused a commotion in the audience. Everyone was whispering to each other. The reporters focused all their cameras on this artist who was at the top of his game. Fang Mingyan frowned slightly and sat in his original position without moving.

       “I love acting very much. During this year, I tried many different roles and performance methods, did a lot of things I wanted to do, and gained a lot. Today, I won another award that I had dreamed of. This made me very satisfied, and in the following time, I decided to leave my acting career temporarily to spend time with the people I love deeply.”

       “Who is it?” A shout came from the audience. Such explosive news that came one after another made all the reporters as excited as chicken blood.

       Zhuo Yue smiled slightly, his black eyes full of brilliance. He raised his face and said calmly, “The person I love is not a woman.”

       The audience was stunned. When everyone came to their senses, they all asked each other, “What did he mean just now? Is he coming out?”

       “Did I hear that right?”

       “Oh my God! He’s gay!”

       A few veteran actors glared, exclaiming, “This is outrageous!” “Does he have no shame?”

       Chaos erupted as journalists crowded around the stage past the security guards.

       “So you love a man?”

       “Who is that man?”

       “Is it true that you’re in a relationship with Huasheng’s boss?”

       “Is this your declaration of coming out?”

       At this moment, a figure walked straight to the centre of the stage, grabbed Zhuo Yue’s hand, and quickly pulled him out.

       “It’s Fang Mingyan from Huasheng!” Someone shouted. Reporters swarmed in and blocked the way, countless cameras were shaking, and the continuous flashes made it difficult for Zhuo Yue to keep his eyes open.

       However, he didn’t have a trace of fear because someone was holding his hand.

       Fang Mingyan wrapped him in his coat, blocked the approaching cameras with his hands, held his waist tightly, and led him through all the hustle and bustle. A large number of reporters had not dispersed until the security personnel escorted them into the car and left. The news of ‘Zhuo Yue coming out as gay’ even overshadowed all other award-winning news and steadily appeared at the top of the hot search list.

       The silence in the carriage was a little depressing.

       Fang Mingyan was silent, Zhuo Yue didn’t dare to speak, and Lin Hui didn’t even dare to speak out, focusing on pretending to be an unattended driver.

       “Don’t you think I should be informed of this kind of thing in advance?” After a moment of silence, the man spoke.

       “I originally thought…I didn’t expect you to come up…” Zhuo Yue fiddled with the trophy in his hand awkwardly and muttered in a low voice, “You promised before that if I win the prize, you will grant me a wish.”

       “What do you want?”

       “I hope you won’t be angry.” His eyes were bright in the night.

       Fang Mingyan looked at him with a half-smile. “Your little plan is quite flawless.” He now understood why Zhuo Yue had worked so hard this past year. The kid had planned everything from the start, doing everything he wanted to do and then dropping a bombshell before coming back to live with him. Keeping it a secret and causing such a stir, this slave’s courage had grown immensely.

       Seeing him looking at him so indifferently, Zhuo Yue was so nervous that his throat went dry, and he said aggrievedly, “You promised me…”

       “I will fulfil your wish. I won’t be angry or punish you for this. Are you satisfied?” There was a dark light in the man’s eyes.

       Zhuo Yue laughed happily.

       However, soon, he regretted today’s act of acting first and thinking later.

       Fang Mingyan did not punish him for this matter. Instead, he found an excuse to tie him to the execution frame and whip him and then tossed him over and over again for a long time in the next bed. He cried so much that he almost fainted. He was forced to moan and admit his mistake and said a lot of words begging for mercy. The next day, he didn’t even have the strength to get out of bed, so he lay softly on the pillow while the man rubbed his sore lower back.

       After Zhuo Yue came out publicly, public opinion showed two extreme trends. Some people expressed their disgust towards homosexuality, while others openly expressed their support. What surprised Zhuo Yue was that the number of his fans on social networks did not decrease but actually increased. Fang Mingyan’s rarely-used account suddenly gained tens of thousands of followers.

       Some people hurled insults at his state, and many fans left tearful messages asking him to come back to acting quickly.

       After asking for the man’s consent, he retrieved the account that was originally kept by the company and would often post something he was eating or something fun. Occasionally, he would secretly take pictures of Fang Mingyan, but he didn’t dare to take pictures of the front, only blurry figures from behind. Once, he was caught by the man and his cell phone was taken away.

       Zhuo Yue thought he would delete it. Unexpectedly, Fang Mingyan sat down next to him, turned on the selfie mode, then took his head with one hand, kissed him on the cheek, took the picture neatly, and sent it to the phone. He then threw it to him and said, “If we’re going to show affection, we might as well make it grandiose.”

       Zhuo Yue sat dumbfounded on the sofa, blushing after a long moment.

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