Translator: HillarybyHillary
Editor: Eric Rasputin
Quality Check: Isalee
First Published on Chaleuria
Between shoots, Zhang Zhun gave Wu Rong a call. Standing there topless with only a pair of sweatpants, Xiao Deng came over and draped a coat over his shoulders then gestured for him to sit down on the folding chair. Zhang Zhun waved his hand and continued to stand by the glass wall. “Senior, since you came back so late last night, I didn’t head over…”
Wu Rong’s voice was laced with a hint of intoxication and sounded rather giddy as he told the other man he was having a costume fitting. The conversation continued with Zhang Zhun asking how he was doing and when he would start filming again, to which Wu Rong casually replied tomorrow. After chatting for a while, Zhang Zhun finally brought up the main point of his call, “Tomorrow… Don’t be too rough.”
“Too rough?” The voice on the other end immediately raised, with a domineering edge, “Are you saying I’m too rough, Zhun-er?”
“Senior…” Zhang Zhun was at a loss as to how to respond. “He’s not like us, just take it easy…”
Wu Rong hung up before he could finish his sentence. Zhang Zhun was just about to call back when Xiao-Deng rushed over. “Ge, your Weibo fans have increased!”
Zhang Zhun uttered a casual ‘oh’ in acknowledgment. Unsatisfied with his reaction, Xiao-Deng pushed the phone in front of his face and pointed excitedly at the screen. “It went up by 150,000 fans in one night!”
Zhang Zhun stared at the number, confused. “That can’t be,” he remarked as he took the phone from the proffered hand. Swiping over to ‘My Weibo,’ he could see thousands of new comments below his posts. Casually clicking into one of them, he frowned and asked, “Are they… fighting about me?”
“Ge, I think you’re famous now.” Xiao-Deng took the phone back and continued to scroll down. “Your fans and Chen Hsin’s fans seem to have started a fight.”
“My fans?” Zhang Zhun was confused and couldn’t seem to figure out the situation. He knew he had a few thousand fans before, but apart from the handful that would occasionally send him messages and like his posts, most of them were actually ‘zombie fans1’. Still perplexed, he asked, “Chen Hsin’s fans?”
“These 150,000 fans are mostly Chen Hsin’s fans. They only followed you so they could post negative comments about you.” Xiao-Deng scratched his head in frustration, then handed the phone back to Zhang Zhun. “It doesn’t matter. The point is, you’re famous now.”
Zhang Zhun scrolled right to the bottom. The first few comments were still the same ones from his actual fans: “Good morning”, “Good Luck!” and the like. But as he scrolled on, starting from around page seven or eight, the comments suddenly took a turn: “The most disgusting social climber! Zhang Zhun and his fans are just too shameless. Chen-ge only tried to pat your leg because he thinks highly of you!” Another comment wrote: “I don’t know who the f*** Zhang Zhun is, but after looking through his posts, he’s really revolting. Rubbish2!”
Zhang Zhun’s hand began to tremble the further he scrolled. Though the comments weren’t one-sided, there were also numerous people speaking up and defending him: “Did no one see the news last night? Zhun-ge only pushed away your3 Chen’s hand because he’s a scheming bastard4, always acting like a bumptious prick!”
“How did this happen?” Zhang Zhun was completely stunned. His phone was soon inundated with notifications, as a string of red dots appeared on the right side of his screen.
“I went to check the online forum. Turns out it was triggered by that interview last time. Do you still remember? You weren’t exactly… in the best condition.” Xiao-Deng touched his nose nervously. “Chen Hsin’s fans said you were being moody the whole time, and putting on airs in front of a top actor. A few disgruntled fans saw that and were annoyed by it, so they took some screenshots from the interview and posted it. Saying that Chen Hsin was being nice to pat your leg, but you…”
At that moment, someone came over; afraid their conversation would be overheard, Xiao-Deng immediately stopped talking. The person that walked over was dressed the same as Zhang Zhun — topless with a pair of faded jeans and a coat hanging over his shoulder — he had a tall and strong build. Nodding his head at the two people, he politely acknowledged the older man, “Zhang-laoshi.”
He was Zhang Zhun’s rival co-star for the day, and was an up-and-coming teen idol. He had big, round eyes, and was quite lively. Zhang Zhun looked at the younger man, then reluctantly revealed a courteous smile before saying, “A-Yuan5.” Zhang Zhun was not in the mood to be courteous so he got straight to the point, “Do you need something?”
The young man named A-Yuan lowered his head and smiled shyly. “I just wanted to ask Zhang-laoshi for some tips on fitness training.” After saying that, he swiftly took off his coat and draped it over a nearby chair, revealing a youthful and slightly undeveloped yet strong figure. “It’s the abs here. No matter how hard I train, they just don’t look defined.”
Pointing at his own abdomen, the younger man held a serious expression as he asked away. Xiao-Deng knew Zhang Zhun’s personality too well. No matter what he had going on, he would never refuse someone. Indeed, Zhang Zhun put aside his previously chaotic emotions and leaned closer to take a look at the other man’s abs. “Maybe the problem is with the muscle type…”
Xiao-Deng rolled his eyes and inwardly said to himself, ‘Why don’t you just ask your fitness coach about little matters like this?’ Maybe it was because there was a topless teen idol showing off his abs, but a crowd started to gather amongst the staff, especially the women. Muffled giggles and curious conversations could be heard as the atmosphere quickly picked up.
“You should focus on your abdominal obliques again.” Zhang Zhun lightly pinched and prodded at the other man’s abdominal muscles. “It feels great to the touch already. I don’t think it’s necessary to just focus on how it looks.”
“But muscles that don’t look good…” He Mingyuan seemed a little perplexed by the statement.
“Just like my muscles,” Zhang Zhun said as he shook off his own coat. Although he was not very tall and built, he had great muscle definition. “I never take protein shakes and might not look as built as others, but I have explosive power.” As he finished his sentence, Zhang Zhun casually and swiftly bent back into the upward-bow pose. The way in which his body easily maneuvered itself into that position was nothing short of breathtaking. The beautiful and elegant lines held a hint of strength within its delicacy. “These muscles are the result of hard work and effort.”
Without the help of an external force, Zhang Zhun easily twisted his waist and straightened his back again. The hair on his forehead was a mess, having fallen over his eyes during the brief backbend. “Some of the guys I see that only train at gyms have overly exaggerated muscles. They can barely even walk up a flight of stairs without swaying from side to side.” A gentle smile curved his lips, before transforming into a subtle yet cheeky grin as he continued, “If I really put my strength into it, I might knock you out with one punch.”
He Mingyuan looked on with an envious expression. “Zhang-laoshi,” he said, staring shyly at Zhang Zhun’s toned and defined abs. “Can I touch it?”
Laughter broke out amongst the gathered crowd at the direct and shameless request. There was nothing abnormal with that request, since it was quite common to ask that at gyms. Zhang Zhun tensed slightly to enhance the muscle definition on his abs as He Mingyuan stretched out his hand. At that moment, the crowd suddenly dispersed, as if to avoid something. From a distance, Zhang Zhun saw a man standing there with widened eyes and a look of surprise, staring directly at him.
It was Chen Hsin.
One of the girls from the crowd was dragging her feet, still enraptured by the exchange, as her boyfriend tried to pull her away in a hurry. Zhang Zhun heard the boyfriend whisper in a hushed tone, “You haven’t checked Weibo lately, but apparently they have a horrible relationship. If we don’t leave now, you’ll have to choose a side!”
It wasn’t until a moment later that realization finally dawned on Zhang Zhun. They were talking about him and Chen Hsin. As Chen Hsin stood there frozen on the spot, Zhang Zhun stupidly waved his hand at the other man and asked, “Why did you come here?”
After a long moment, Chen Hsin still didn’t reply. In the end, without a word, he turned his head away and made his way toward Chen Cheng-Sen. At the awkward exchange between the two co-stars, muffled whispers could be heard from the people loitering around them, “Their relationship must be really bad…”
Footnotes:
- Zombie Fans – (僵尸粉)
It is a term used to describe fake fans/accounts that are only there to boost followers and social media popularity. The term “zombie” account refers to a somewhat sophisticated form of fakery, as the account generally features a person’s photo and can actively like items and even post comments. On Weibo, the term is used in contrast with more obvious fake accounts called “corpses,” which are generally inactive and just exist to boost follower numbers rather than engagement.
(Reference: https://jingdaily.com/tencent-fights-back-against-wechats-zombie-invasion/) - Rubbish/Spicy chicken – (辣鸡)
The actual text is written as ‘spicy chicken’, a homophone used commonly in Chinese internet slang. The pronunciation for ‘rubbish’ (垃圾 – lā jī) and ‘spicy chicken’ (辣鸡 – là jī) are very similar. - Your – (你的)
It is common for East Asian internet fans to refer to their idols as ‘theirs’, as there is a common belief that celebrities are public figures that essentially belong to their fans. This is especially common in the K-pop industry as well as others. - Scheming bastard – (心机甄臭)
The phrase used here is actually a clever play-on-words using Chen Hsin’s name ‘甄心’. The first two characters are ‘心机’ which can mean ‘scheming’. The last two ‘甄臭’ actually sounds the same as ‘真臭 -zhēn chòu’ which literally means ‘really smelly’; but in this context, it can mean ‘a repulsive person’ or ‘bastard’. - A-Yuan – (阿远)
The name Zhang Zhun used to call the other actor is an informal and more casual way to address someone younger than him. By using just the last character in someone’s name and adding ‘阿/A’ in front of it, this gives off a more casual and familiar feeling. The actor’s full name is actually He Mingyuan.