WMSR – QT Chapter 22

 

WMSR – QT Chapter 22

By

siofra

Chapter 22 (from Raw 52shuku)

Naturally, this paved the way for the Bai-Su faction, the Song-Su faction, and the trio-harmony faction to spring up everywhere. Aside from these, there were also factions supporting Song-Bai, Bai-Song, and a messy love triangle, though those camps enjoyed far fewer backers. As time marched on, the top three factions managed to establish an overwhelming advantage.

Because the friction between these major three factions wasn’t actually that fierce—and many members belonged to the all-inclusive trio-harmony camp—supporters from all sides eventually coalesced to form a clandestine organization.

The sole mission of this secret society was to keep a vigilant eye on the trio of handsome hunks, pool their latest updates together, and snap love-filled photos for the membership to admire while they eagerly wagered on which faction would ultimately emerge victorious.

Naturally, all of this covert surveillance took place under the strict rule that it must never disrupt the trio’s normal lives. Consequently, up until now, Bai Yichen remained completely oblivious to the existence of this shadow organization. Of course, the list of people left in the dark began and ended entirely with Bai Yichen.

Night fell. Su Yuanhang pulled out his phone, expertly logged into a familiar forum, and zeroed in on the latest trending thread.

Tapping it open, Su Yuanhang was met with the freshly uploaded batch of photos. He calmly scrolled through them one by one: there were snapshots of his side profile during military training, shots of “Gege” gazing down at him from the shade, and then… Su Yuanhang froze before a particular image. A gentle flush slowly crept up his cheeks of its own accord, and even his dark eyes unconsciously lit up with a brilliant sparkle.

Chen-gege…

Su Yuanhang stared transfixed at the photograph for a full several minutes before resolutely tapping to download and save it. Before hitting save, however, he used a cropping tool to neatly snip out the glaring eyesore standing right beside them. With that trim, the photo showed nothing but the two of them wrapped in an inseparable, intimate bubble. Gazing at the altered image, Su Yuanhang felt a lingering illusion whisper through his senses—as if the version of him in the frame was deeply, tenderly cherished by the Chen-gege who was wiping his sweat.

Lying on his side, Su Yuanhang faced the bed across the room where Chen-gege was sleeping, a sweet smile lingering on his face as he drifted off into a deeply contented slumber.

While Su Yuanhang was knocked out cold after a grueling day of high-intensity drills, the factional war raging in the comments beneath that forum post continued in full swing. Predictably, the battlefield belonged primarily to the Bai-Su and Song-Su loyalists, while the universal-harmony faction remained happily detached.

Interestingly enough, right in the thick of the crossfire between the Bai-Su and Song-Su camps, a lone Song-Bai burner account kept fighting a stubborn rearguard action. Unfortunately, their presence was far too outmatched, and they were quickly swarmed and trampled into the digital dirt by the combined forces of both major factions, accompanied by various earnest, life-lesson-style rebukes:

“The Song-Bai faction is an absolute cult, buddy. Just give it up.”

“For real. Two gong characters paired together have zero future.”

“You can tell this user is a fresh recruit who hasn’t tasted the true essence yet. Trust us—Bai-Su and Song-Su are the pinnacle pairings.”

Facing the wall with his back turned, Song Junchi used his hand and the blanket to shield the stray glare leaking from his phone screen as he read those replies. His face turned a livid shade of green with sheer rage. The Bai-Su faction is the pinnacle pairing my foot! Why the hell is him being with Yichen considered an evil cult? What is wrong with these people’s vision—are they all legally blind?! Oh, and that Song-Su thing—what even is that ghost ship? I’m about to hurl, seriously.

Author’s Note: Here’s your update~~

Chapter 11: A Younger Brother

Yet no matter how deep Song Junchi’s resentment ran, his solo combat power was no match for two mobilized juggernaut factions. In the end, he was forced to accept the fate of being repeatedly frictioned against the dirt—unless, of course, he dared reveal his true identity. But on a forum whose entire membership consisted of schoolmates who stalked them daily, Song Junchi wouldn’t dare pull that stunt. He knew full well that the moment he exposed who he was on this platform, these people would make it their personal mission to broadcast his innermost feelings straight to Yichen.

And when it came to letting Yichen catch onto his hidden affections, he simply wasn’t ready to take that gamble yet.

In essence, even though he and Su Yuanhang stood as bitter rivals, the two of them were identical cowards whenever they stood in front of Bai Yichen.

And so, coward-in-chief Song Junchi could only grind his teeth in silence while watching the forum continue its unbridled worship of the “Bai-Su Supremacy” and “Song-Su Supreme.”

While mentally cursing the trash forum, Song Junchi’s fingers moved swiftly to download and archive a few key images from the thread. In particular, he saved the shot capturing him and Yichen standing shoulder-to-shoulder—their backs turned to the camera, looking impossibly well-matched. Naturally, Song Junchi made sure to slap a thick digital blur over the cluster of freshman recruits drilling in the foreground, with special emphasis on obliterating Su Yuanhang’s obnoxious face.

No matter how grueling military training felt, it was bound to reach an end. When the month-long ordeal finally wrapped up, despite Su Yuanhang’s obsessive daily precautions and religious sunscreen applications, his once translucent, flawless skin had darkened just a fraction. Of course, that only applied relative to his original baseline; even without comparing him to the baked-to-a-crisp cohort of fresh recruits, Su Yuanhang still looked significantly fairer than the average person on the street.

Even so, Song Junchi still seized every single opening he could find to mercilessly mock him over it. That petty behavior forced Bai Yichen, who happened to witness it, into endless internal sighs. Truly, thank goodness Junxhi shared a lifelong, childhood-friend bond with Xiao Hang—otherwise, pulling off such childish antics would mean kissing his chances of ever catching a partner goodbye.

Then again, wouldn’t these exact antics turn into absolute black history for Junxhi once he and Xiao Hang finally got together down the road?

Bai Yichen felt as though he was breaking his heart over this pair of star-crossed lovers.

During his sophomore year, Bai Yichen received a piece of long-awaited, wonderful news: Qin Yi, his mother in this lifetime, was pregnant once again.

Pushing his parents to have a second child had been a persistent goal of Bai Yichen’s ever since he realized he only had a twenty-year lifespan in this world. After all, he was eventually destined to leave; when that day came, the Bai parents—who would otherwise be left with only an only child—needed a renewed pillar of emotional support. It was a responsibility he had to fulfill. Moreover, the earlier a second child was planned, the lighter the physical toll on the mother’s body.

Yet despite Bai Yichen laying the groundwork long in advance, the couple seemingly felt their eldest son was already peerless perfection incarnate—worth ten other people’s kids combined—and consequently showed zero enthusiasm for expanding the family. Even when Bai Yichen seized every conceivable opportunity to hint at his deep yearning for a younger brother or sister, Bai Jinchuan and his wife simply refused to take him seriously, preferring instead to tease him about it endlessly.