Compared to his former identity as an “original singer-songwriter,” the labels that now left a deeper impression on the audience regarding Quentin were undoubtedly “mixed-race god-tier face” or “all-around trainee.”
Although the original song “La liberté” that he performed during the initial stage was certainly brilliant, it was a French song after all, making it difficult to achieve widespread popularity. Moreover, compared to his subsequent viral stages, each more outstanding than the last, this original song wasn’t considered particularly prominent in his “life resume.”
Fortunately, Quentin had still displayed many traits related to original music throughout the show.
Whether it was improvising a few lines of rap during rehearsals, repeatedly taking on the heavy responsibility of rearranging songs, or playing guitar and writing songs during his hospital stays in the growth movie, all these had gradually deepened the audience’s understanding of his songwriting talent.
This finals solo was Quentin’s second time performing his own original work since the initial stage. The audience’s understanding of this song was limited to the title revealed in the aired 9th episode: “Fairy Tale Story DLC.”
The ones with the highest expectations for this song were undoubtedly Quentin’s fans. Many career fans even opened threads on the forum speculating about the song’s content.
Most firmly believed Quentin would once again astonish the entire venue with his stage presence. However, some fans silently worried while reading these comments, afraid that Quentin was being held too high. If the performance failed to meet expectations, he might instead become the target of mass ridicule.
“Speaking of which, I’m really looking forward to Quentin’s song this time. The production team never let us hear him sing it. They only leaked a tiny bit of the accompaniment.”
Zhang Fu looked at the two young men gazing at each other on the screen and couldn’t help but say to her teammate beside her, “Did you guys notice the change in the BGM? They’re probably switching to Quentin’s song, right?”
Her teammate teased with a mischievous grin, “Listen to yourself, you’re practically becoming Quentin’s fan. Show some dignity as a senior sister, okay?”
“Does that make me a fan? Fan identity isn’t that casual. Besides, can’t a senior sister care about her junior brother?”
Zhang Fu waved her hand. Just as she was about to say something else, her gaze caught the next interaction of the two protagonists on the screen, and her voice abruptly stopped.
Yan Qiao, crouching at the edge of the stage, smiled and extended a hand toward Quentin, looking as though he intended to pull him onto the stage.
However, Quentin first handed the bamboo hat he had caught to Yan Qiao’s outstretched hand. Then he stepped back, pushed off the ground for momentum, planted both hands on the edge of the stage, and launched himself upward like he was doing a pull-up.
His cloak swept open on both sides with the motion, as though lifted by the wind, forming a pair of wings. And just like that, he lightly stepped onto the stage, which was almost level with his chest.
This movement also caused the hood to naturally slip down, revealing a head of slightly curly, somewhat messy-looking golden hair.
Coincidentally, he ended up in the same one-knee-on-the-ground crouching position as Yan Qiao.
Their positions staggered, their shoulders nearly touching. The former had lowered eyes, the latter raised an eyebrow with a smile. The entire scene was exceptionally harmonious and pleasing to the eye.
The stylist had sprinkled highly reflective glitter on Quentin’s hair. So when he walked out of the shadows beneath the stage and his figure was exposed to the light, he appeared as if covered in a dreamlike filter.
Thin starlight dotted the ends of his hair, and he was dazzling, like a prince from a fairy tale riding a white horse and arriving beneath the stars and moon.
Fans in the live stream couldn’t stop screenshotting, and the barrage descended into a carnival of face-cons.
[Aaaaaaah!!!]
[Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, so dazzling. I’m blinded aaaa!]
[Seriously? Was this necessary? Why make him this handsome???]
[He doesn’t even look like a person from the same dimension anymore… My bias is effortlessly bullying the whole venue with his face alone.]
[The reactions from Sheng Yuanxu and the others next door are killing me. Those guys are completely stunned. Wake up! This is a live broadcast, hey!]
[It should look even more amazing on the venue’s large screen. But I didn’t expect Yan Qiao and Quentin in the same frame to actually hold their own, neither lost.]
[Does anyone else feel this? When they share the stage, there’s this tension of evenly matched forces. It feels like two types of alpha pheromones are frantically intertwining and tearing at each other [blush]]
[+1+1+1. This is the best part of two top Class A bigshots who excel in both singing and dancing working together. No other pairing can compare. Isn’t this exactly the double-strong dynamic we are shipping?!?!]
[CP fans are satisfied.]
Amidst the uproar from all directions, Yan Qiao lowered his head and looked at the bamboo hat in his hand. He shrugged his shoulders helplessly, smiled, raised his hand and casually put the hat back on.
This time, however, he no longer retained the sense of mystery. He wore it with the front brim tilted up, and the spotlight reflected in his eyes, forming a rippling, watery gleam in his gaze.
His long and narrow eyes, under the expression he wore, looked like affectionate peach blossom eyes, and his gaze landed on Quentin’s face without any attempt to hide it.
The camera smoothly panned over as they brushed past each other, and Yan Qiao’s smiling front profile and Quentin’s cold side profile simultaneously froze on the large screen.
The screams that had not yet ceased from the previous second grew even louder the next.
Then, Yan Qiao raised his hand and pressed it on Quentin’s shoulder, using it as leverage to push himself up and stand.
The playful smirk at the corner of Yan Qiao’s mouth and Quentin’s synchronized frown appeared one after another on the big screen. As the string music gradually faded, an air of confrontation surged upward.
“Wow, is this what they call heaven-chosen CP chemistry?! A single micro-expression brought out that arch-rival vibe. Who could tell they’re actually friends in private?!”
Wei Man, sitting in the audience with her roommates, clutched Mi Tong’s arm excitedly, trying hard to control her volume. Her eyes stared at the stage without blinking, and her mouth couldn’t seem to stop.
I still remember how proactive Yan Qiao was the first time he met Quentin. Hey, wouldn’t you call that love at first sight? If you interpret it that way, then this whole bit in the finals could also be seen as Yan Qiao’s one-sided love at first sight and deliberately provoking his crush just to get his attention…”
Wei Man tugged at Mi Tong’s sleeve, shaking it. “Mimi, are you listening? Did you see that just now? Yan Qiao even threw his hat at Quentin! Who designed all these back-and-forth interactions? Did the production team finally get enlightened during the finals and decided to give the audience a huge benefit?
Mi Tong was holding her newly purchased DSLR camera, focused on filming. She answered perfunctorily: “I don’t know. Aren’t you a solo fan? Don’t ship them randomly. You know it’s all just a stage design. It’s all acting. At most, you can praise Quentin for his good acting and strong expressiveness. CPs and stuff aren’t important.”
“Pfft, I was just saying… How’s your filming? Did you capture any legendary shots?”
“Hmph, you must be joking. Any photo of Quentin’s face is a legendary shot!”
Mi Tong: “This is my first time seeing Quentin’s stage live. I bought this camera specifically for it. I waited so long for Quentin to appear. I have to film him seriously. Otherwise, I’d be letting that face of his down.”
As a hardcore face-con fan, Mi Tong had started spending money on Quentin as early as when the official profile photos for “NS” were announced. She had originally been waiting to welcome BKL’s 7th generation boy group. Who would have thought that a fleeting glance would lead to a point of no return? With a new love arriving, all those BKL boys could step aside!
Unfortunately, tickets for the “NS” public performances relied purely on luck. Even money couldn’t buy them.
Fortunately, the recording location for “NS” was in Yanhai City. As college students, they could use their free time to do support activities outside the performance venue, wait for him to go to and from work, join the excitement with fellow fans, and also enjoy the beautiful face of their idol.
The reason all three of them in the dormitory could sit in the front rows of the inner area for these finals was all thanks to having a roommate who was a family member of a contestant!
Even Mo Fan herself hadn’t expected that after Qi Yang withdrew from the competition, she could still receive a family ticket gifted by her older brother.
To this day, Mo Fan still couldn’t understand Qi Yang’s withdrawal. Her brother was the type to report good news but not bad, rarely sharing his career troubles with her. Mo Fan had also been full of confidence in her brother, firmly believing that with a face like his, he would eventually become famous sooner or later.
She was sitting on Wei Man’s other side. By turning her head, she could see the eliminated contestant seats further in front, and Qi Yang’s figure was particularly prominent among them.
Mo Fan held up her phone with both hands, her hands steady. Like Mi Tong, her camera lens was aimed at Quentin at the edge of the stage.
Yet for some inexplicable reason, she pinched her fingers together, zoomed out, shifted the frame slightly, and included her brother, who was sitting in the darker audience seats and gazing intently at the stage, in the shot.
Qi Yang’s side profile had distinct contours. His three-dimensional bone structure appeared even more outstanding under the dim light. The occasionally flickering, death lighting didn’t affect his handsomeness. You could spot him in a crowd at a glance.
As she filmed, Mo Fan couldn’t resist zooming in more, watching her older brother’s familiar face gradually become clearer on her phone screen.
At first, she was only thinking to herself that he truly deserved to be her brother.
That face was ridiculously powerful.
But as the zoom reached its limit, even the young man’s eyelashes became distinct one by one. Gentle lights swayed in the depths of his eyes, still bright even in the dim audience seating.
Mo Fan’s fingertips froze.
The hands holding her phone trembled slightly.
She gulped, moved her phone, and let the lens shift back and forth between Qi Yang and Quentin.
The finals stage was a 360-degree stage with an unobstructed view. From Mo Fan’s angle, she could capture Qi Yang in the front row, Quentin and Yan Qiao on stage, and the audience on the other side of the stage simultaneously.
A sea of people.
A cacophony of voices.
Under the dim stage, as bright as the various colored support lights, were my eyes looking at you…
“Fanfan, what are you muttering about?”
Mo Fan came back to her senses and coughed unnaturally: “…What? Nothing.”
Wei Man’s attention was entirely on the stage. She hadn’t noticed Mo Fan’s shifted camera angle at all. She said excitedly, “Quick, listen. This is the intro to Quentin’s new song, right? It’s completely different from the dance music style Yan Qiao just had. Judging by the timing, it should be time for our Quentin’s solo stage!”
“But why hasn’t Yan Qiao left the stage yet? Could there be more interaction between them?”
Mo Fan also noticed the change in the stage design. The lift platform in the center of the 360-degree stage was rising from the floor. Amidst the drifting dry ice fog, a giant three-meter-tall fairy tale book slowly appeared before the audience’s eyes.
The fairy tale book was placed half-open vertically. The pages on both sides were slightly yellowed. In the open space between the pages stood 3D papercut style castles and forests. The pages serving as the background board were covered with childlike drawings.
Warm yellow light shone from top to bottom, and the warm and dreamy atmosphere contrasted sharply with the howling wind and tense atmosphere of the previous dance track.
Meanwhile, Yan Qiao, who had stood up by pressing on Quentin’s shoulder, looked back at the stage, where the atmosphere had drastically changed.
His expression froze. The smile on his face disappeared, replaced by shock and vigilance. In the eyes of the audience, it gave a strong sense of a Jianghu chivalrous swordsman suddenly realizing he had time-traveled.
And Quentin’s subsequent action further confirmed everyone’s imagination.
Quentin raised his hand and gripped Yan Qiao’s wrist, which was still on his shoulder. He seemed to use some force, holding the latter’s wrist and forcing him to let go. Then, maintaining this hand-holding posture, he stood up.
Only when he was fully standing did Quentin turn his head to look at Yan Qiao, who was narrowing his eyes thoughtfully.
The young man’s expression remained cold, but his brows relaxed considerably. His whole being exuded a youthful confidence and calm assurance.
He let go of Yan Qiao’s wrist, didn’t respond to the latter’s earlier “provocation”, but stepped back with one foot, slightly bent his body, placed his left hand behind his back, rotated his right hand in front of him and placed it over his left chest, naturally performing a prince’s bow.
Quentin tilted his head to look at Yan Qiao. He didn’t say a word, yet every audience member instantly understood his meaning.
He was inviting this uninvited guest before him to stay. Or rather, he was testing whether this guest from another era had the courage to set foot in his territory.
[Turns out he’s not a bard, but the little prince. [starry eyes]]
[Maybe he’s a prince who ran away from home and disguised himself as a wandering bard.]
[So handsome aahh!]
[No one’s praising the accompaniment? It’s so exciting. It feels like it would be great as an OST for a TV drama.]
[This intro really feels like spring. So romantic, so warm, like the male and female lead reuniting after a long separation, welcoming a beautiful continuation.]
[You guys know how to praise. Not like me. I have one sentence: ‘Fuck, it sounds great’. End of story. [laughing crying]]
Quentin’s temperament and posture were excellent. After all, he wasn’t really an 18-year-old amateur high school student. Every movement carried the foundation of the international superstar he had been in his previous life.
He never showed any signs of stage fright or awkwardness, and from head to toe, there was nothing to criticize.
This prince’s bow landed perfectly with the beat of the intro and matched the music flawlessly, clearly having been specially designed.
And Yan Qiao’s subsequent two steps backward also had a theatrical step syncing with the music. Combined with his ancient costume styling, it created a contradictory feeling that was both fitting and out of place.
The young chivalrous hero seemed to also realize this and his expression sharpened. He stared deeply at the blonde, green-eyed young man before him.
He raised his hand, pinched the edge of his bamboo hat, and slightly pressed it down, blocking the young man’s probing gaze. His lips moved, seemingly saying something.
Before Quentin could respond, he turned and walked off the stage. At that moment, only ten seconds of the intro had passed.
The warm yellow halo spreading in all directions from the giant fairy tale book in the center of the stage had already reached Quentin. He straightened up, casually brushed his cloak behind him with his right hand, and adjusted the ribbons on his chest.
Every step he took towards the fairy tale book was on the beat. The floor also lit up with a crystal-like glow following his footsteps.
At the same time, the childlike drawings on the fairy tale book pages gradually disappeared.
A lone crystal slipper.
A poisoned apple with a bite taken out of it.
A dragon hugging a mountain of gold.
Little Red Riding Hood hiding behind a door…
Familiar fairy tale symbols lit up on the pages one after another.
