Chapter 1: Socially Anxious Star 01
“Aaaaah, Jiang Kong is so ridiculously handsome!”
“He’s my latest idol crush, so of course he’s gorgeous! Especially his new hairstyle with those haze-blue highlights—it literally looks like he ripped through the 2D dimension. It hit me straight in the heart.”
“Sobbing, I’m so in love with his face! I really want to join his fandom, but he seems like…”
“Ms. Jiang Yi? Are you listening?”
Inside the coffee shop, the real estate agent in a suit sitting across from her suddenly spoke up, his voice pulling Jiang Yi’s drifting thoughts back to reality.
She snapped back to her senses and glanced at the smiling agent, her ears instantly burning red beneath her smooth, soft hair.
“I’m sorry, I zoned out for a moment.”
Jiang Yi pinched her fingertips, feeling a momentary wave of panic and fluster before quickly masking it.
“It’s fine, let me continue walking you through this…”
The real estate agent showed not a hint of annoyance, keeping his tone gentle and his posture polished.
Jiang Yi listened attentively to his explanation, and after confirming there were no issues with the contract, she swiftly signed the thick stack of authorization agreements.
Once the signature was complete, the agent packed up the documents, his smile widening into an even warmer demeanor.
“Ms. Jiang Yi, it’s been a pleasure doing business with you.”
“If you have any other properties you’d like to list for rent, please feel free to reach out to me.”
As he spoke, he handed over a business card.
Jiang Yi pocketed the card and bade him farewell. When she turned around, the two young women who had been chatting behind them to the side had already left.
A faint sense of disappointment settled over Jiang Yi.
That girl said “but”—but what?
Has something happened to Jiang Kong recently?
As she pondered this, she put on her face mask and hat. Noticing the casual glances darting toward her from the surrounding patrons, her grip on her phone unconsciously tightened.
I’d better go home first and call my younger brother or search online—
Before her thought could finish, gasps of alarm suddenly erupted around her. Immediately after, a sharp numbness hit the top of her head, her vision went black, and an excruciating surge of pain instantly shot from her head through her entire body.
“A section of the ceiling fell down and hit someone!…”
“Quick, call emergency services!…”
“Where’s the coffee shop manager?…”
Noise swirled wildly around Jiang Yi’s ears. She felt a cold, sticky fluid creeping down her neck—uncomfortably thick and wet—and within seconds, the surrounding chatter drifted far away into complete silence.
When she opened her eyes again, double vision blurred everything in front of her. A mere subtle twitch sent a wave of dizziness and intense nausea cascading through her body.
“Doctor? Where’s the doctor? My sister is awake!”
A familiar voice echoed by her ear. Jiang Yi closed her eyes once more, her consciousness murky and groggy.
She had no idea how much time had passed before that weightless, floating sensation slowly dissipated, grounding her whole body once again.
By the time Jiang Yi opened her eyes a second time, it was already the middle of the night.
Her surroundings were dead quiet, save for the faint, soft glow emitted by the nightlight in the hallway.
She rolled her eyes slightly, catching sight of a jet-black back of a head pressed against the side of the bed. Nestled within the dark strands of hair, she could faintly distinguish a streak of haze-blue.
Jiang Yi opened her mouth, taking a couple of seconds before managing a weak single syllable: “J…”
Her voice was barely a whisper, yet Jiang Kong, who was slouched over the bed, snapped his head up instantly.
“Sis!”
He shot up from his stool with a swift whoosh.
“You’re awake? Do you want some water?”
“The doctor said you have a mild concussion right now and need to stay in the hospital for a few more days for observation.”
Jiang Kong switched on the small desk lamp he had bought that afternoon, its gentle radiance immediately illuminating their small corner of the room.
As he spoke, he gently cranked up the head of the bed, then turned around to pour water for Jiang Yi and test its temperature. Throughout the entire process, he had only stolen a quick glance at Jiang Yi right at the start.
Jiang Yi remained silent, her eyes following Jiang Kong’s movements. When he finally turned back toward her, she saw, just as expected, his red-rimmed eyes.
“I’m fine.”
After sipping a few mouthfuls of warm water, she felt considerably better.
Looking at him, Jiang Yi added, “It was just an accident. Don’t worry.”
The moment her words fell, a teardrop suddenly rolled down the eye of the lean young man standing by the bed—a slender frame dictated by camera requirements.
The tear traced a path across his already splotchy makeup before dripping into his collar. Seeing him like this made Jiang Yi’s own nose sting with warmth.
“Come here,” Jiang Yi called out. Watching Jiang Kong walk over and squat beside her bed, she raised her hand and gently stroked his hair.
“The haze-blue looks just as good in person as it does in photos.”
“Go sleep over there for a bit. I’ll need you to take care of me tomorrow.”
Jiang Kong stayed quiet for a few seconds before letting out a muffled “Mhm.” He turned off the lamp and lay down on the other hospital bed without changing out of his clothes.
Jiang Yi stared at his back for a moment before slowly retracting her gaze to stare at the ceiling.
After being knocked unconscious, she had experienced a very long dream.
She had dreamed that she was inside a novel. As for who the main protagonist was or what the overarching plot entailed, her memory was fuzzy and unclear at the moment.
She only remembered that her younger brother—Jiang Kong—appeared in the story.
Jiang Kong, twenty-two years old, had debuted as the landslide first-place winner of a survival talent show. A mere three months after his debut, a low-budget web drama he starred in unexpectedly exploded across the entire internet. As the lead actor, his popularity skyrocketed, gaining over ten million followers in a single week. Marketing accounts and fans alike elevated him straight to top-tier celebrity status.
However, after becoming a top-tier celebrity, misfortune began to haunt him relentlessly.
When he joined a variety show as a guest appearance, he was accused of disrespecting senior artists and having poor character. When he was absent from an event without public explanation, he was harshly slammed for putting on airs and behaving arrogantly. Following that, his low-budget web drama was accused of plagiarism, and when he became a regular cast member on a variety show, he was ignored and isolated by the other guests… Even the hotel he stayed at while auditioning was stalked and secretly photographed by sasaeng fans. In the end, with his reputation completely ruined, Jiang Kong faced a total internet boycott. He developed severe depression, refused treatment, and ultimately died.
And that whole trajectory took place in less than a single year.
Jiang Yi took several deep breaths in a row before calming her heavily turbulent emotions.
She and Jiang Kong had grown up leaning on each other for support; she knew better than anyone what kind of person he was.
The novel actually claimed that Jiang Kong would resort to unscrupulous means for money and frequently visit illicit entertainment establishments! Even if she hadn’t woken up after getting hit on the head in the novel, her current assets alone were enough for Jiang Kong to spend lavishly for a lifetime.
This plot was simply beyond absurd!
The nonsensical storyline made Jiang Yi’s head throb with a dull pain again. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
A moment later, she opened them again, reached for her phone on the nightstand, and ordered a set of makeup remover supplies for Jiang Kong.
Jiang Yi had fallen back to sleep after daybreak, waking up just in time for the doctor’s 8:00 AM morning rounds.
At some point, Jiang Kong had already removed his makeup and cleaned himself up, even changing out of his flashy outfit. Wearing a face mask, he now stood beside the hospital bed listening to the doctor’s instructions, his hair tied up into a small topknot. The haze-blue highlights were tucked away inside it, swaying softly with his movements.
Jiang Yi stared at it, resisting the urge to reach out and tug it.
The doctor didn’t stay in the room for long. After completing the examination and offering a few more instructions to Jiang Kong, he turned and left.
Jiang Kong closed the door, pulled down his mask, and leaned closer to Jiang Yi. His delicate face was beamed with a full smile, his handsome phoenix eyes crinkling into narrow arcs.
“Thanks, Sis.”
Jiang Yi knew he was talking about the makeup remover. She reached out and gently tugged the small topknot on his head, asking about his work for the very first time.
“My work is fine, nothing major. Everything’s been going pretty well for me lately.”
“Sis, don’t doubt me! My Weibo fan count is almost at sixty million. If I save up a bit more, I’m gonna catch up to Mom.”
As Jiang Kong spoke, he pulled out his phone to show Jiang Yi his follower count, looking just as proud and cocky as he always was.
“As long as your younger brother—me—”
Jiang Kong patted his own chest and continued, “—acts in a few more TV dramas and movies, an Oscar is practically in the bag!”
Jiang Yi couldn’t help but be amused by him. “Alright, then we’ll put it right next to Mom’s.”
Jiang Kong laughed along with her, his face completely devoid of gloom.
In the past, Jiang Yi would have believed him unconditionally, but now she couldn’t help feeling half-skeptical, though she refrained from pressing further.
She had never paid much attention to industry matters, her only channels for entertainment news being Weibo trending topics and Jiang Kong’s word of mouth.
As for Weibo trending topics, Jiang Kong didn’t make the list every single day.
And as for Jiang Kong’s own words, they seemed a bit exaggerated now.
As Jiang Yi pondered silently, a knock sounded at the door.
Jiang Kong put his mask back on, opened the door, and led a middle-aged woman inside.
“This is the caregiver. If there’s anything inconvenient for you, just let her help. The doctor said it’s best if you don’t get out of bed to walk around right now.”
Jiang Kong introduced the two briefly. He stayed in the room to accompany Jiang Yi through her morning routine, then left with the caregiver to buy breakfast for Jiang Yi.
Jiang Yi wasn’t accustomed to being around strangers, so her movements during washing up had been stiff and rigid throughout. Only after the caregiver left with Jiang Kong did she finally exhale a sigh of relief. Leaning back slowly against the bed, she picked up her phone, opened Weibo, and typed Jiang Kong’s name into the search bar. A long string of trending topics instantly popped up:
#JiangKong CenterPositionDebut#
#JiangKong DivineVisuals#
#JiangKong YanWushu#
…
After scrolling past a few top-ranked positive topics, it wasn’t long before Jiang Yi saw the first negative one:
#JiangKong NewLifeHoggingScreenTime#
Right after came the second and third:
#JiangKong AbsentFromRedCarpetGalasWithoutCause#
#JiangKong NoShowAtEvent StaffImplyBigShotAttitude#
Jiang Yi paused for a moment. After clicking into each topic and reading through them carefully, her heart couldn’t help but tighten slightly.
She had known nothing about these incidents before, but now that she was examining the details, she realized reality was aligning with uncanny accuracy to the events in her dream.
A precognitive vision?
Jiang Yi knitted her brows, looking up just in time to see Jiang Kong walking in briskly carrying breakfast.
“Sis, I bought you steamed soup dumplings and porridge. See if you like it!”
Jiang Yi nodded, watching Jiang Kong set up the breakfast for her. She suddenly asked, “What is your next work arrangement?”
In her dream, Jiang Kong’s next work arrangement was participating in a lifestyle variety show—The Strikingly Different Us.
Jiang Kong paused slightly before answering, “It should be joining a lifestyle variety show as a regular cast member.”
“What show?” Jiang Yi pressed further.
“The Strikingly Different Us. I need to bring a guest along, so the company will probably have me bring a junior labelmate from our agency.”
After explaining, Jiang Kong asked in turn, “What’s wrong?”
Normally, his older sister wouldn’t ask so many questions.
The Strikingly Different Us.
Hearing those four familiar words, Jiang Yi’s heart sank like a stone into a frozen lake. Her hands beneath the blanket clenched tight in an instant, a wave of panic overwhelming her entire being.
The dream was real?
But—
Jiang Yi refused to believe the smear reports from the dream, yet for a moment, she couldn’t figure out why things would unfold into such an outcome.
Noticing the shift in Jiang Yi’s expression, Jiang Kong panicked instantly as well.
“What is it? Are you feeling unwell?”
Jiang Yi shook her head, asking quickly, “Do you have to bring someone from your agency as your guest?”
“I… I want to go with you.”
“Sure!”
Jiang Kong’s eyes lit up, his agreement blurting out without a second thought.
Yet a moment later, a hint of regret washed over him. He had been tangled in quite a few controversies in the industry lately, and things were far from smooth; he worried it might negatively affect his sister’s mood.
Still, yesterday’s incident had genuinely terrified him—especially when he rushed to the hospital and saw his sister lying helpless on the hospital bed. Even now, reflecting on it caused a dull ache in his chest.
It would definitely give him more peace of mind to keep his sister right by his side.
“Then I’ll go speak with my manager,” Jiang Kong thought aloud, picking up his phone and heading into the bathroom to place a call.
The bathroom door swung shut, muffling his voice into faint, indistinct murmurs.
Sitting on the hospital bed, Jiang Yi froze in a daze for a couple of seconds before realizing what proposal she had just put forward.
Participating in a show… camera lenses… interacting with total strangers…
A subtle, stifling wave of claustrophobia and anxiety instantly surged from the depths of her chest, spreading across her whole body.
Help! Good thing I already said it out loud, or else I might not even be sure if I’d back out right now.
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