Did Not Say Anything About My Feelings - Chapter 26. One Of The Last

That night, he failed to reach a consensus with Jiang Lian. Lin Ye was unwilling to use his body to make a deal with Jiang Lian whereas Jiang Lian refused to accept a purely physical friends with benefits relationship with no material benefits.

Lin Ye did not understand at first, but after he separated from the other, he understood the reason behind this. Jiang Lian only wanted to sleep with him, but did not want any emotions getting involved.

Once the two of them had a relationship with material exchange, it would become difficult to talk about feelings. The two of them were on the same boat and benefitted from this relationship, getting what they wanted.

Starting cleanly and ending cleanly. After that, they could wipe this part of their memory and separate, returning to their normal life with no one knowing about it and no one mentioning it. Their future would still be bright and open.

There was nothing bad about that. Instead, for Lin Ye, this sort of relationship could even be said to be perfect.

However, Lin Ye felt that he was getting looked down on by Jiang Lian. Jiang Lian’s words made it obvious that he did not want to have any romantic emotions between them, but how was Jiang Lian so sure that Lin Ye would fall for him?

What Jiang Lian was able to do, Lin Ye would definitely be able to do too. Lin Ye was very sure of that. His feelings for Jiang Lian were only at that of a friend, other than that, there was nothing else.

It was not that he did not have moments where his heart was moved, but those moments were something that other people could cause too. It was not just Jiang Lian.

The fact that his heart was moved did not imply that Lin Ye liked Jiang Lian, and it definitely did not have anything to do with love.

His previous short-term experience with his ex-boyfriend kept reminding him that he had also been moved by his ex-boyfriend before.

It was just that the heart racing moments and the anticipation when they were flirting disappeared. The time they spent together passed by slowly and was boring. He did not like the frequent intimate contact and Lin Ye would often forget that he was in a relationship.

The eighteen, nineteen-year-old Lin Ye had thought at that time that dating someone was not as interesting as he had expected.

Ignoring the matter that had happened that night, Lin Ye finally realized that he could not be too sure of himself. The ambitious words that he had blurted out the night before was slapped harshly by reality the next day in the classroom.

Lin Ye covered his cheek, feeling awkward and sad. Of course, compared to the barely-there awkwardness, what he felt was more of the overwhelming sense of loss and sadness.

The day after he had parted with Jiang Lian unhappily was also two days before the public performance. Shen-PD gathered all the trainees in the classroom with the large stairs and dropped a heavy bomb on everyone, “What I didn’t tell you before was that after this public performance, the prize for the winner, in addition to votes being added to your current votes, also includes a slot for the centers of the winning team to save one teammate.

When everyone heard the news, it immediately caused all the trainees to get worked up. All the trainees looked shocked and excited, only Lin Ye, who had heard the news from Jiang Lian, looked calm.

Instantly, there was someone who stood up from his spot and asked, “Is it the kind of slot we think it is?”

“Yes,” Shen-PD signaled for everyone to be quiet, “It’s exactly what you think it is. The first round of eliminations will cause twenty people to have to leave. If there is someone in the team that is about to leave, the center of the team can use that slot to save their eliminated teammate.”

A trainee said, “If the team that won has no team member that gets eliminated, can the center give the slot to another team?”

“If there’s no one in the team getting eliminated, the slot will be invalidated,” Shen-PD looked solemn, “Likewise, if two or more than two trainees are getting eliminated in the team, then it’s a pity, but the Center can only save one.”

The trainees were in an uproar.

Xia Dongchan looked at Lin Ye, “If we knew that the rules of the competition were like that, it would have been better for you to join my team.”

Lin Ye folded his hands behind his head, lowering his eyelids, “Your opponent is Li Yuan’s team, you probably aren’t completely sure that you’ll win, right?”

Xia Dongchan’s eyes darkened, but his smile was faint and superficial, “You’re right, I’m not a hundred percent sure I’ll win.”

She-PD, who was on stage, had switched on the electronic screen on the wall, “I believe that everyone is very excited now. Just now, after careful consideration, the production team has decided to release the real-time ranking of all the trainees at this moment to inspire and motivate everyone.”

This was the second shocking news. Without a phone to check the Internet and no one willing to reveal the insider news, they had thought that they would only get to know their ranking during the elimination. The trainees started to get worked up.

Xia Dongchan turned his head to ask Lin Ye, “Are you nervous?”

Lin Ye smiled, lowering the hands he had placed behind his head, “A little.”

Although his expression was calm and unhurried, his heart was beating uncontrollably in his chest, vibrating like a dense drum in his eardrums. It felt like if Xia Dongchan moved closer to him, he would be able to hear Lin Ye’s heartbeat.

Lin Ye instinctively curved his back, raising a hand to place it on his chest above his heart, before lowering his head to look at his shoes. After he checked that his shoelaces were tied and he had no other issues, he slowly sat up straight.

However, he did not expect to see his name as soon as he raised his head, along with the two-digit numbers that were hanging above his head.

Shen-PD did not give them time to get mentally prepared.

Lin Ye instantly froze, his gaze landing on his name as if he could only see that number and nothing else.

Although he was not distracted for very long, he was not distracted for a very short time either. When he returned to his senses and blinked his eyes again, the page was showing a new page of rankings.

He slowly breathed out and did not say anything for a long time.

The rankings for the trainees were shown from the lowest to the highest. His name was in the first picture. Eliminating twenty people out of a hundred trainees, with Lin Ye’s ranking as number ninety, he was undoubtedly going to be leaving.

Xia Dongchan also saw Lin Ye’s name. He had a regretful look in his eyes, but he was not surprised. It was like he had already expected such a situation. Xia Dongchan said to him, “There’s still time for you to talk to Jiang Lian. The group with him in this team competition will definitely not lose.”

Lin Ye lifted his gaze to look at Xia Dongchan, “You want me to look for Jiang Lian and convince him to leave that slot for me?”

Xia Dongchan was straightforward, “If you don’t go, others will find him. So, if you don’t go, you’ll be giving up this opportunity for nothing.”

Lin Ye said, “What do you think I can use to convince him? In terms of singing and dancing ability, the others’ abilities are not bad.”

“The process if not important, what’s important is the result,” Xia Dongchan curved his lips, “Everyone can rely on their own ability, isn’t it so?”

Lin Ye pursed his lips and said nothing. However, he was nor surprised by Xia Dongchan’s reply. In his opinion, Xia Dongchan was that kind of person. If one day, the other party talked about dignity and having a backbone, Lin Ye would feel suspicious.

While the two of them were talking, the ranking page had already moved to the last page. As expected, Jiang Lian and Ming Rang dominated the top and second place of the ranking. Xia Dongchan was also in the top twenty.

Shen-PD switched off the electronic screen and said to them before leaving, “The first episode of the program has been broadcasted. If you want to watch it, you can go to the screening room next to the gym yourself.”

After the trainees separated, the two roommates from the same company as them asked Lin Ye and Xia Dongchan to go to the screening room to watch the episode. However, Lin Ye and Xia Dongchan planned to go to the supermarket first. The two roommates decided to just go to the supermarket with them.

When they came out of the training building and paused by the side door of the filming area, the two of them saw a row of female fans standing outside the door.

When the four of them walked closer to the female fans, there were even two to three owners of fan sites that stood up, holding their cameras. They crowded behind the iron gate, and shouted at them.

The four of them suddenly felt that this was a novel experience. They stopped and listened for a while before they realized that the fans were calling Xia Dongchan’s name. Lin Ye and his other two roommates slowed down, leaving Xia Dongchan to take two steps forward, smiling a beautiful smile at the fans from a distance.

The fans were so excited that the cameras in their hands shook wildly. They shouted through the iron gate, instructing Xia Dongchan to eat well and sleep well.

Lin Ye and the other two, who were behind, wanted to turn around and go first, but from behind the iron gate, there were two passionate voices, calling the names of Lin Ye’s two roommates.

It was the first time the two roommates had witnessed such a situation. They were also a little excited. Thus, they could not help walking forward and smiling as they made heart signs with their hands towards the fans that were shouting.

Lin Ye was the only one who was left. When he looked at the three people that were in a line in front of him, he felt that the person who was out of place was him. He lowered his head and stood at his original spot, waiting for the three of them. He covered half of his face under the hood of his jacket. He pretended to not care but after a moment, he could not help looking up and sweeping his gaze towards the iron gate.

Besides for Xia Dongchan’s fans and the fans of his two other roommates, the remaining young girls sat cross-legged on the floor, eating melon seeds. From the start to the end, they did not once raise their head to look in his direction. It was as if they were indifferent about who he was.

Lin Ye looked away and casually lifted the tip of his feet and kicked the ground. Among these people, Xia Dongchan had quite a lot of fans. Even his two roommates whose ranking was in the lower half had fans, the only person that did not have any fans was him.

However, considering his terrible ranking, him not having fans was expected. There were a total of one hundred trainees, and the young girls sitting outside the metal gate probably could not remember his name or face right now.

He found it a little funny. He raised his hand and pulled on his hood that protected him against the wind as he turned around and walked to the supermarket alone.

The cement road below his feet was flat and wide, there were no private cars on the road, or bicycles that were ringing their bells. The wind in the late winter and early spring was still cold, when he breathed out, he could see a small and cute white fog.

The voice of the fans gradually faded away in her ears, and Lin Ye’s steps became slower and more hesitant.

Finally, he stopped walking and looked back.

The road behind him was clearly empty, but Jiang Lian’s low and pleasant voice echoed in his mind like a curse.

“Without screentime, without live fans, do you think that you’ll be able to stay past the first elimination?”

“Lin Ye,” He seemed to hear Jiang Lian calling him, “I can help you.”