A band, or a battleground?

He said, "I'll probably be very busy lately. If you try to contact me in the next two months, I won't be available."

Shen Yihan nodded emphatically: "Don't worry, I know. I just finished filming a movie recently and need to rest for a while. We can talk about it again during winter break or some other time when you're free. Anyway, you should know that there are too many people in the entertainment industry who say 'we'll work together again next time,' but I'm not just being polite when I'm talking to you now."

Qi Yuan: "..."

He told himself that it was just a guest appearance on a few days' filming, not a major commitment, so it was fine. Yes, as long as he was busy, he could always decline.

So, agreeing to this young lady's request won't cost you anything, right?

After all, their attitude was so sincere, and their smile was so lovely...

Qi Yuan extended his right hand.

Shen Yihan hooked her little finger around his little finger, then shook his hand and said, "Pinky promise, for a hundred years, no take-backs!"

"I feel like even someone with only an elementary school education wouldn't be able to do this." Qi Yuan couldn't help but laugh, and tried to pull his hand back.

However, Shen Yihan's expression changed: "Wait a minute, it hasn't been stamped yet!"

Qi Yuan: "...Stamp?"

Shen Yihan then used her own thumb to press down hard, aligning it with his thumb.

Then she let go of his hand and laughed, "It's stamped now, you have to come and act out a scene with me!"

Qi Yuan: "...That really has a sense of ceremony."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

189, that damn business class!

Qi Yuan, Ning Qianyu, and Liu Weiting got off the bus.

Only Assistant Zeng, who was driving, and Shen Yihan, who was staring out the window in a daze, remained in the van.

Assistant Zeng, driving the car, suddenly sighed: "Miss, I don't even know what to say about your behavior just now..."

Shen Yihan snapped out of her daze and asked with a smile, "Did I do badly just now?"

"It's more than just bad! When you're with Qi Yuan, you practically have the word 'fan' written all over your face. You're practically begging him for an autograph!"

"I've always been a fan of Kasuga Kage..."

Assistant Zeng complained, "Ning Qianyu is also a member of Chunriying, so why are you treating her differently? I don't even need to look back, I can tell just by listening to your conversation how you talk to Qi Yuan and how you talk to Ning Qianyu."

Shen Yihan touched the tip of her nose: "Qi Yuan is the lead singer. The lead singer of a band naturally receives more attention than the other members, which is normal... Besides, you're driving, so you need to drive carefully and not get distracted."

Assistant Zeng chuckled: "I won't have any problems driving, but you, Miss, mustn't crash. If you do, that would be a major accident, no, a major earthquake in the entertainment industry!"

Shen Yihan understood her assistant's meaning, but she defended herself confidently: "I know what you're worried about, rumors. But there are too many gossipy people in the entertainment industry, there's nothing we can do about it. Anyway, I know myself that I can't really date any guy at this stage, and that's enough."

Assistant Zeng was a little skeptical: "Is it really impossible? Even for Qi Yuan, it's impossible?"

Shen Yihan nodded vigorously: "Absolutely impossible! I admit I'm a bit of a fan, but being a fan and being a fan of the opposite sex are two completely different things. I just treat him as an interesting friend, nothing special. You think he's special only because I have very few friends in the entertainment industry."

Assistant Zeng remained silent for a while, then sighed and said, "Since you've put it that way, Miss, then alright."

However, neither Shen Yihan nor Assistant Zeng knew that the last person to insist on treating Qi Yuan as a friend was Ning Qianyu. And before that, it was Qiu Mengxue.

Do they still just see Qi Yuan as a friend?

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The plane took off.

Since Qiu Mengxue and Jiang Yi were not present, the person sitting next to Qi Yuan was naturally Ning Qianyu.

In Liu Weiting's opinion, the only ones in the band she needed to keep an eye on were Qiu Mengxue and Jiang Yi, while Ning Qianyu showed absolutely no interest in Qi Yuan. Adding to that, this trip to Shanghai required her to coordinate with the production team and handle a lot of other trivial matters, leaving her quite tired. So, she sat down on the other side of the aisle, tilted her head, and fell asleep.

Ning Qianyu sat by the window, glancing at Qi Yuan out of the corner of her eye from time to time, and that's when she noticed...

"Sister Liu is asleep," she said softly.

Qi Yuan: "Well, you can't use your phone on a plane, so it's good to rest. Why don't you take a nap?"

Ning Qianyu shook her head: "I don't want to sleep, I'm a little excited."

Qi Yuan casually asked, "What are you so excited about?"

A simple question stumped the girl.

Yeah, what's there to be excited about? I can't exactly say that I realized how I feel about you today, so I'm a little excited now, can I?

Ning Qianyu came up with a plausible excuse: "I'm excited because I'm going on the show. Just think, when the show airs, countless viewers will get to witness the style of a famous detective... Uh, this time it seems I'm not really a detective, but the real culprit. But I think I performed pretty well."

"You did a really good job. This show claims to be real, right? It says that if the guests find the real culprit through clues within ten minutes, then the process ends in ten minutes, so the length of each episode is different. But the two episodes you participated in were shorter than the last one."

After Qi Yuan finished speaking, he yawned.

Ning Qianyu asked, "Are you sleepy?"

Qi Yuan: "I'm not just participating in the show, I also have to sing and perform, it's exhausting."

Ning Qianyu laughed and said, "Then why don't you recline your chair a little and take a nap? Anyway, the back seats are empty."

"That was my original plan."

Qi Yuan adjusted the angle of the chair back, then closed his eyes in a semi-reclining position.

Ning Qianyu turned her head to look out the window.

It was completely dark by then. Through the cabin window, all you could see was darkness; you could see almost nothing else.

She turned back to look at Qi Yuan. He seemed to have fallen asleep.

The girl gradually began to have some different ideas.

The first reaction is that this guy's sleeping face is so peaceful. He's not displaying any talent, nor does he have any expression. He's just gently closing his eyes, like an ordinary boy... well, the kind that's rather good-looking.

Ning Qianyu still remembers that when they first met two or three months ago, she thought this guy's looks were nothing special, but now, why does he seem to be getting better and better?

Her second thought was, if it were Yi Yi or Meng Xue here, with no one watching them and Qi Yuan asleep beside them... what would they do?

If it were them, they would definitely take this opportunity to do some shameless little tricks, right?

So now if it were me, doing something wouldn't be considered despicable.

Thinking this, Ning Qianyu slowly stretched out a hand towards Qi Yuan's thigh... but only halfway there, she quietly withdrew it.

Even though she hadn't done anything yet, she felt her cheeks burning and her heart pounding at an alarming rate. She estimated it was definitely faster than the drumbeats of the song "I Want to Fly".

Ning Qianyu felt that putting her hand on a boy's thigh, even without doing anything, was still too much and too bold.

But with such a great opportunity right in front of us, should we just do nothing?

If Heaven gives you something and you don't take it, you'll suffer the consequences!

After some internal struggle, she decided she still had to do something, but she had to consider the possibility that Qi Yuan might suddenly wake up. She needed to make sure that even if he found out, she could come up with a plausible excuse.

Then she actually came up with a plan, which was to pretend to be asleep and lean on Qi Yuan's shoulder!

Ning Qianyu reclined her chair back slightly, just enough to raise it a little higher than Qi Yuan's. Then, she leaned back, closed her eyes, and pretended to be about to sleep…

Even though I wasn't sleepy at all, my heart was still pounding.

Ning Qianyu shifted her head slightly, moving closer and closer to Qi Yuan...

No, why haven't I touched his shoulder yet?

Ning Qianyu secretly complained, "Damn business class, is it really necessary to arrange the seats so wide?"

After tilting her entire upper body to the side, the girl's head finally dropped a few centimeters and landed on Qi Yuan's shoulder.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The fall of 190 meters

Qi Yuan woke up the moment the head landed on his shoulder.

If you just gently lean in, you might not be able to wake him from his light sleep. But when you fall directly on him, the feeling is definitely different.

Qi Yuan subconsciously opened his eyes and saw Ning Qianyu leaning on his shoulder, completely bewildered.

Was she asleep too?

Qi Yuan didn't think much of it, only that he probably slept for a long time, so Ning Qianyu was also feeling sleepy out of boredom. But as his gaze swept downwards, his thoughts drifted a little.

Because Ning Qianyu is wearing shorts today.

Shanghai in September is still very hot and humid, so wearing shorts for convenience and comfort is perfectly normal. Moreover, her shorts are the kind that boys wear; they're not particularly short, just revealing a small section above the knee. She paired them with short socks and sneakers, which fits her usual tomboyish image perfectly.

However, the plane has air conditioning, and Qi Yuan knows that body temperature drops when a person falls asleep, making it easier to catch a cold.

Qi Yuan gently touched her knee and murmured to himself, "It is indeed a bit cold..."

Of course, if he had touched Ning Qianyu's little face instead of his knee, he would have known that it was not only not cold, but surprisingly hot.

The girl suddenly moved.

Qi Yuan thought she was about to wake up, but he soon realized that the girl showed no signs of waking up at all. She just moved her head, seemingly using his shoulder as a pillow.

However, as a pillow, the shoulder section is rather thin.

Ning Qianyu moved slightly and slid off his shoulder. Fortunately, she didn't fall any further, but instead pressed her cheek against his chest, using it as a pillow again.

A flight attendant walked by.

Qi Yuan waved: "Hello, could you please get me a blanket?"

"A blanket, is it? Okay, no problem."

The flight attendant smiled politely, turned and walked away. Less than half a minute later, she returned with a gray blanket.

Qi Yuan took the blanket, stared at the flight attendant's retreating figure as she turned and left again, and pondered for two seconds.

He had been thinking about how to make an excuse if the flight attendant recognized him, but to his surprise, she didn't react at all. Judging from her eyes, she probably didn't recognize him at all.

This shows that the band Haruhi Kage hasn't broken into the mainstream enough yet, and they still need to work harder...

As Qi Yuan thought about it, he covered the girl next to him with the blanket, especially her legs which were exposed to the cold air.

This isn't a strategy guide; it's just about preventing teammates from catching a cold.

After finishing this simple task, Qi Yuan began to silently recall his playlist from his previous life.

The girl beside him, who appeared as still as a puppet, was actually experiencing a turbulent inner world.

When Qi Yuan touched her knee, Ning Qianyu's mind went blank. Then, Qi Yuan asked the flight attendant for a blanket and covered himself with it... That blankness transformed into the warmth of the winter sun.

Ning Qianyu was extremely grateful that she had remembered to adjust her posture to make sure her face was down. Otherwise, if he had seen her expression, she would have definitely been exposed.

The girl quietly enjoyed this warmth she had never felt before.

The plane was still shaking slightly, and the cabin echoed with the background noise of the engine and wind, occasionally punctuated by footsteps. But these sounds were completely out of Ning Qianyu's mind. Her entire attention was focused on the sound of her heartbeat in one ear and the sound of her breathing in the other.

Qi Yuan's heartbeat and breathing were steady, and becoming increasingly slow.

What should this be in BPM?

This strange thought popped into her head, but she immediately dismissed it. What's the point of guessing? Enjoying the moment is the most important thing!

Sleeping against his chest muscles, listening to his heartbeat... Would Yi Yi and Meng Xue even dare to dream of such an opportunity? They never dared to even imagine it, yet they actually accomplished it!

However, it was still under the name of 'teammate'.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Good evening, passengers. This flight will arrive at its destination in thirty minutes..."

The announcement in the cabin woke Qi Yuan.

He opened his eyes and found that the little head that had been pressed against his chest was gone. Turning his head again, he saw Ning Qianyu staring out the window, only showing him the back of her head.

Qi Yuan yawned and asked, "Are you awake?"

Ning Qianyu didn't turn around, and her voice was somewhat cold: "Yeah, I only realized I was leaning on you when I woke up. I'm sorry."

Qi Yuan smiled and said, "It's okay. You're so light anyway, I don't feel much when you're pressing down on me."

Ning Qianyu was silent for a few seconds, then asked, "You don't feel anything?"

Qi Yuan: "It doesn't hurt or itch."

Ning Qianyu: "..."