Idol Chapter 140 Part 3

-3-

Los Angeles, a seaside villa.

The butler and maids were unusually busy, going in and out to furnish the new home with furniture and decorations.

Their boss seemed to finally have the intention of settling down, actually bringing someone home—a young golden bachelor like him was rare, and not being in a relationship seemed like the real issue.

But the person Pei Ruye brought back, though handsome, was pale as if he was always sick.

Initially, he was brought back with a high fever, reportedly having vomited several times on the plane.

Later, thanks to medication, the fever subsided, but he was like a blind person, not looking at anyone, silent for a month since arriving home.

The young man became like ice, sinking into a corner of the room, wrapped in blankets, and sleeping through the days.

Unwilling to interact with anyone, his daily food intake was so minimal that he had to rely on nutritional injections to maintain his condition.

Anyone who saw him felt pity, even without knowing who he was.

The youth had a profound face, clearly a sharp and bright child.

How did he fall so ill, and how long would it take for him to recover?

Top-tier psychologists frequently came for consultations, along with other medical personnel.

The diagnosis was cardiac neurosis, stress disorder syndrome, moderate anxiety, and severe depression.

The heartache was an external manifestation of internal emotions, not an organ pathology.

But it could still flare up from time to time.

Pei Ruye initially noticed him curling up in pain during sleep, his face turning pale with agony.

Later, he gradually began to sleep beside him, using body heat and embrace to continuously provide a sense of security.

The treatment is still ongoing.

As spring and summer passed and early autumn approached.

The fame and strife of the times turned into distant horn sounds, dispersed by the sunshine and sea breeze here to nearly nonexistence.

SPF, Caibi, OSC, the entertainment industry, all became abstract symbols with the distance.

Pei Ruye, while signing documents, glanced down for a long time, unconsciously defending Huo Ren a few times.

“No matter what… Ren Ren will get better.”

“The patient spent several years in a highly stressful environment during childhood and witnessed his mother’s domestic abuse,” the physician patiently explained. “Based on your descriptions and his current state, the death of a close friend and the loss of belonging are triggering all his negative emotions and painful memories from childhood, expanding his sense of attack and insecurity to the utmost.”

“This condition is essentially a form of self-defense and self-protection. Please be sure to give him more tolerance and companionship.”

He had to take four different medications daily.

He initially had difficulty eating, but after the man coaxed and persuaded him, he gradually began to eat.

Pei Ruye, caught up in official duties, spent most of his time working beside the young man, who was like dead wood, whispering to him for a long time every day or taking him out to the beach in a wheelchair for a stroll.

The young man did not respond to his questions, cold as a stone.

This is a classic symptom of PTSD.

He had fallen deep and it was difficult for him to come out.

Whether it was the numerous past abuses during childhood, the complete disappearance of Crown and Chi Ji, everything was completely overturning his self-recognition.

Contact with reality became even more painful.

“Huo Ren, you chose Corona, the product of a decade’s effort by Uncle Jiang and the entire SPF.”

“Not any bandwagon group, not any casual free idols.”

“You and the other five members of Corona will bear the sacrifices shared with this group.”

“Once this decision is made, there will be no turning back.”

The phantom from his memories sat right in front of him, like a lamplighter at a crossroads.

“All contracts cannot define everything.”

“Everything will be sacrificed for endless fame and fortune.”

The man interlaced his fingers against his lips, his gaze both penetrating and compassionate.

“Huo Ren, you now possess the last right to leave.”

He hesitated before extending his hand, wanting to see once more what was written in black and white on that contract.

But when he picked it up again, it was Chi Ji’s smile, as tender as ever.

Teacher.

I listened to your words, didn’t I? Sacrificed everything, didn’t I?

Eating, sleeping, **.

Love, emotions, words.

Health, space, **.

But why must even the soul become an offering?

They were the youngest group to ever snatch the Crown, achieving the highest honor and recognition just as their sixth year debuted.

The cost was—

His family, his home, his everything.

When Pei Ruye entered again, Huo Ren was sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, wrapped in a blanket, with a crimson leaf fallen on his lap.

The latter kept his eyelashes down, silent, before finally turning to glance at the door.

FALSE has a chance to be nominated this year, after a crazy acquisition of resources and a meteoric rise, with marketing stunts each month becoming hits, a surge in popularity in the headless dragon’s mainland as if another round of deity-making was beginning.

Today, the team leader has already declared his intention to lead the team to take the Crown.

His Huo Ren is still ill, and cannot be rushed.

Even returning to the country, he needed to gradually restore his body to its original condition, arranging everything step by step.

Even without Huo Ren taking action, Pei Ruye has no plans to leave any way out for the Han family.

He knew Huo Ren was momentarily driven to a mental breakdown, unable to recover quickly.

But the Han family must be uprooted and crushed into blood mud.

He can’t let go, and Huo Ren even less so.

“Today you drank two glasses of water, a significant improvement.” Pei Ruye sat beside him, placing the computer in front of them, not touching the red leaf on his lap.

“Do you want to watch some videos?”

Huo Ren looked at the screen indifferently, giving no response.

Pei Ruye wrapped the blanket around him properly and leaned in to open a file.

The screen flashed to an interview video of Mei Heng, the quality blurred and discolored to a yellowish hue, reminiscent of the last century.

Huo Ren’s breath paused for a few seconds, feeling a surreal dream-like sensation.

Mei Heng was selling fish on the street at fifteen, spotted by a scout by chance, and made his debut with an album the following year, instantly becoming a sensation across the south and north.

He was handsome in his youth and has maintained himself well, talking about the past with a serene smile.

He rose to fame early, holding a solo concert at the Shi Du Stadium at eighteen, a night so full that it was a spectacle.

That was followed by various controversies and rumors.

Car accident scandal, explicit photo scandal, plagiarism scandal, in his more than twenty years in the industry, standing at the pinnacle of fame and controversy, he still maintained a calm demeanor, with a gentle smile.

He sat beside the host, slowly narrating his story.

How he was unexpectedly appreciated, how he stayed up all night writing songs and composing music.

Just when he was at the peak of his popularity, he encountered a car accident, followed closely by the quick death of a close friend from a serious illness.

One blow after another, as if plummeting into the vortex of fate.

“What would you like to say to the new generation in the same field?”

The man pondered for a moment before looking back at the camera.

Huo Ren subconsciously moved back a bit, feeling as if he was making direct eye contact in an illusion.

Mei Heng had reviewed many ups and downs of his life in the first forty minutes, and his expression now was nostalgic and relieved.

He paused for several seconds before speaking, his voice carrying strength.

“You have to keep moving forward over weariness and pain.”

“You have to face criticism and slander to make your choices.”

“You have to become the only light.”

Huo Ren watched Mei Heng tremble slightly, taking deep breaths to try to control himself.

He was suddenly pulled away from the endless dissolution, and the real and sharp air began to expand in his lungs.

Past, present, future.

Suffering and glory had once thrown him so far he couldn’t find his own heartbeat.

Each word sounded as if it were from yesterday, letting him see the lonely and stubborn self from before they became a group.

He had almost forgotten about the past related to this video.

Everything about Corona was too profound, as if he was born and grew up in the same family with the other five, never to be separated in this lifetime.

All memories before officially joining Corona had faded to the point of seeming never to have existed.

Pei Ruye used the back of his hand to wipe his cheek, then opened another video.

A slim and handsome youth sat in front of the camera, smiling and blinking at them with the confidence and cheerfulness of someone around fifteen or sixteen years old.

“Hello, I am Huo Ren.”