Talked

"Of course, is that even a question? Japanese was the first foreign language I had picked after English. I just fell in love with their anime industry and then decided to learn it to watch and read what was not normally accessible to me. This country has a special place in my heart," she replied to Mo Yifan, still giddy inside. She could not believe she was here, that too in such a luxurious traditional inn.

"You are welcome then," Mo Yifan smiled at her silly expression, then sat down under the warm table as well. It seemed that Wang Zibo was going to take his sweet time. Was he unpacking inside?

"Oh, yeah. I did not thank you both for bringing me here. I also apologize for my childish tantrum. I will admit I was mad," she looked up and replied. Mo Yifan's eyes widened with surprise. Why was this girl being so honest suddenly? She even admitted that she was mad!

"Haha, I know, I must look pathetic to you right now. But it took me quite some time to build that much self-love. I assume a celebrity might not know what it's like for ordinary people like us?" she continued as kept staring at the simple ceiling with no decoration. For some reason, admitting this brought immense peace to her.

Why was she blabbering so much though? Was it because they had grown comfortable with each other's presence and silence enveloping them? Or she had grown to think of him as a same age friend?

"Why?" Mo Yifan asked. He was looking straight at her. She brought her head to his level and looked at him in confusion.

"Why do you think I would not know? The first rule of being a celebrity is self-love. Otherwise, all those nasty comments online are enough to kill you a thousand times." Mo Yifan's mind had drifted somewhere in the past.

When he had started as a singer, he did not have any feelings left for anyone apart from his music. Or was it his medium to let out all those dead emotions?

Whatever it was, he only received praises till he had not shown his face to the world. As soon as he debuted as an idol, that's when trouble started. Unnecessary competition, stress of work and the hatred of the few who were envious of his talents.

But he did not struggle for he did not feel anything. After that, as his family in WhirlWind entertainment started growing, his emotions started growing too. With Auntie Zhou and Wang Zibo, he started feeling the joys and pains of being a human being once again. The useless emotions he had long left behind were invoked once again.

He still could manage to not be affected by those comments, but he had seen a lot of artists succumb to the negativity, precisely because they did not love themselves enough.

"You know what? Celebrities who are able to play this game for long time, are almost all narcissistic in nature. That is one of the coping mechanisms. Otherwise, it's very hard to survive. If you are to debut in this industry in the future, whether it be with me or not, if you have already reached that stage, I would say you are good," Mo Yifan finally looked at her once again.

This was the first time he had spoken so much. Chen Waan was just staring at him in amazement, but she did take his advice to heart. After all, he was a veteran in the industry. And although she was thrown here against her wishes, this was going to be her means of living soon.

And she was one of those who never ran away from their means if they had to get a particular result. For her, solving the mystery of her birth was the end, and if she had to toil to become an idol for that, that be it. Her mom belonged here too, so this was the place which was going to give her answers.

"I see. I must thank my senior for valuable advice," she replied and started playing with her phone. Now that she was here, she needed to see what all she could visit. If she had to go on her own, she would. But she did need to know the guy's schedule first.

"Oh yeah, do you have any idea about your schedule? I would like to visit a few places," Chen Waan started normally but when she arrived at the question, her face started feeling hot and her voice went one tone down.

Suddenly she felt like she had asked a ridiculous thing. She was not the important one here! And she was not on a trip here! It was Mo Yifan's work trip! But she was already planning like it was her fun trip.

Mo Yifan glanced at her. "Pfft," a small chuckle escaped his mouth despite being himself. "We have a week, so don't worry. I will also be doing a few lives for my own channel, then we can go at visit a few places," he responded. He really wanted to pat this girl, who was almost wagging her tail like a cute puppy. If he had known earlier that she was this excited, he would have postponed his work and extended his vacation here.

"A week?" Say what! She had not prepared for a week at all! She had just packed two pairs of clothes thinking it was a two day assignment. No one told her it was a week long thing? She glanced at her small suitcase pitifully. An understanding dawned on Mo Yifan, he immediately texted Wang Zibo.

"And also, we will be doing a concept photoshoot for you too," Wang Zibo appeared from the small room. "Oh, also, did I tell you Waan'er? There are hot springs here," he winked.

Chen Waan's face immediately lit up. Hot springs? Yukata? Two hot guys? Was she really not dreaming right now? Had she transmigrated into some other world? She pinched her arm herself, the pain shot up and she yelped with pain. But she was not dreaming after all.

The two guys felt a sudden chill in their spines. Had the heater stopped working?

"What kind of photoshoot are we doing?" She needed to divert her imagination, otherwise her creepy behavior would come out. Thus, she asked the question to keep the conversation flowing.

"Oh, just you know, some traditional clothing…"

"You… you mean, I will get to wear kimono?" Chen Waan asked excitedly. Oh my lord, why suddenly shower her with so much happiness? She almost stood up and danced. No, she was the cold and aloof character, she needed to maintain it. Like Auntie Zhou had said about Mo Yifan. She had to channel her inner grumpy and cool self.

"Yeah. Would you be interested in some cosplay too?" Wang Zibo chortled by her amusing reactions. More than that, he was enamored with her trying hard to maintain her poker face when she was so painfully obvious as he was spilling news.

"Jeez, don't tease me like that," Chen Waan stated leveling her gaze and voice. The other two were constantly smiling. They had not realized it till now but this girl was pretty entertaining.