Yu Youqing was listening carefully—her expression was lighthearted and relaxed.
She knew that Jing Yu would never actually get mad over something like this.
Though he always looked serious and acted all proper most of the time, he was also the kind of guy who'd secretly play childish games like Hero vs. Dragon in the script office. But personality-wise? He was genuinely kind. In all the months they'd filmed together, she had never once seen him lose his temper.
"I was wrong, Teacher Jing Yu~" Yu Youqing said with a playful blink and a smile.
"Sigh, forget it. Let's head to the set first," Jing Yu said as he cleaned up his breakfast trash and stood up.
Yu Youqing stood up quickly as well—but as she did, her head spun and her body wobbled. Instinctively, she reached out to grab Jing Yu's arm for support and leaned into him, her head momentarily resting against his shoulder.
"So—sorry." She came back to her senses, her heartbeat quickening slightly. After a brief two-second pause, she stood up straight.
"I just stood up too fast… got a little dizzy."
Jing Yu looked at her hand still resting on his arm, and at her face—so close and so beautiful.
He didn't think much of it. They'd done more intimate scenes than this on set.
"You need to start exercising more. Just five minutes squatting and you're dizzy?" Jing Yu sighed.
You're in your twenties. Can you even run 800 meters? How did you graduate from college with this level of physical fitness?
Yu Youqing, who had been secretly hoping for a little concern or maybe even a comforting word, froze in place.
Yup… That was the real Jing Yu.
Jing Yu straddled his beloved motorcycle and turned to see Yu Youqing still standing dumbly by the road.
"What are you doing? Enjoying the morning sun? I don't recommend it—Lan City's UV rays are pretty harsh. If you get tanned, it'll mess with Setsuna's character image."
Yu Youqing's expression darkened a little.
"I… I took a taxi here. Got out to buy breakfast, and the driver just drove off."
She looked a bit embarrassed.
The bike roared to life, tearing through the early-morning streets of Lan City. The engine's growl startled birds along the way. On the back seat, Yu Youqing held onto Jing Yu's waist, her hair and skirt fluttering in the wind.
"Teacher Jing Yu!"
The engine was loud, so Yu Youqing had to raise her voice.
"What?" Jing Yu shouted back.
"Didn't you go on a blind date recently? How did that go?"
"Nothing came of it."
"You really don't plan to move on from your last relationship? There are so many cute and beautiful girls around you. Why keep torturing yourself with these blind dates—or using games to numb yourself?"
At that moment, the bike took a sharp turn and pulled into the set.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Jing Yu braked hard, turning to face her.
At the studio gate, a dozen people turned to look at the two of them arriving together on a motorcycle—both leads of the drama, arriving together before 8 AM. You could imagine the expressions.
"I…"
Yu Youqing glanced around at the many eyes on them.
Why did we get here so fast?!
"I meant to say… gaming too much is bad for your health. Teacher Jing Yu, you should really take care of yourself."
"In our calls outside work, you're always gaming. There are way more interesting things to do than games."
"Like what?" Jing Yu asked, genuinely puzzled.
...And that was the end of the conversation.
Yu Youqing stared at him, desperate.
How can you write characters so sensitive and emotionally complex in your scripts—but be so completely oblivious in real life, Jing Yu?
Filming for the White Album 2 college arc was well underway—and with it, the entire tone of the show had shifted.
The earlier episodes had started lighthearted, even cheerful. But beginning with Episode 5, the series took a sharp turn into gut-wrenching emotional territory.
Granted, the college arc had no appearance of Kazusa at all, so the painful atmosphere came primarily from the complicated emotional healing and breakdowns between Setsuna and the male lead.
They'd go through heartbreak, reconciliation, more heartbreak, and more reconciliation—until finally, they were able to let go of the past, accept the betrayal that had occurred in high school, and move on. They got back together, started dating again, stepped into adult life, and even prepared for marriage.
Then… Kazusa came back.
Even just reading that simple line in the script made Gao Wencang shiver.
He could already imagine the emotional carnage among Yu Youqing's fans once this scene aired.
No one doubted that Haruki had genuine feelings for Setsuna—but also, no one doubted that Kazusa was always his number one.
The complete script hadn't even been written yet, but the part Jing Yu had shared with Gao Wencang was already emotionally overwhelming.
"Jing Yu's seriously ruthless," Gao muttered. "If I had a guy like Haruki around me in real life, I'd beat the crap out of him."
That said, he was somewhat reassured when he heard that fans weren't actually dropping the show despite its increasingly painful tone.
Which meant—fine. If that's what the audience could handle, then go all in. Gao Wencang's mind was already spinning with ideas on how to film the most gut-wrenching scenes possible and bring out the full impact of Jing Yu's script.
The college arc of White Album 2 was steadily being filmed, while the final episode of the high school arc—Episode 6—was scheduled to air on the first weekend of August.
After a week of heated fan debates, the show's popularity had spiked.
Not because people thought it was suddenly a masterpiece, but because the fan wars had flooded social media. Even casual viewers across the provinces had caught wind of the drama—many curious to see what could cause such chaos in the fandom.
Yu Youqing had more fans overall, but Xia Yining's support was growing steadily.
Unlike before, where public opinion heavily favored one side, the fandom was now more evenly split—and much more argumentative.
So far, Setsuna's "calculating" side hadn't yet been revealed. To her fans, she was still a pure-hearted white lotus—wronged by Haruki, betrayed while innocent and unaware.
So the online discourse was still focused on whether Haruki was just a scumbag, and whether Setsuna or Kazusa was the more compelling love interest.
But Jing Yu knew—
Once tonight's Episode 6 aired, the full-blown Kazusa vs. Setsuna war would officially ignite across Da Zhou.
If Attack on Titan's author Hajime Isayama wrote his manga to hurt readers emotionally...
Then White Album 2's creator, Fumiaki Maruto, was every bit as cruel.
He spent so much time building up both heroines, only to challenge or even break their character images in just a few scenes—not to destroy them, but to elevate them.
The result?
Fans would naturally be forced to pick a side.
1 or 2 — who will you choose?
As 8 PM approached, Jinhui TV's viewership numbers began to climb—fast.
Faster than last week by a significant margin.
Even viewers who didn't care about the show had seen enough fan arguments online to be curious. Just how intense was this drama? What kind of characters could cause this level of fandom meltdown?
"I really hope Setsuna breaks up with Haruki tonight."
"Can't stand him anymore—he gets rejected by Kazusa and runs to Setsuna? What the hell? Is she just his backup?"
"Whether I keep watching this show all depends on how tonight's episode is handled. Last week's kiss scene with Kazusa just broke me. Poor Setsuna…"
"Kazusa's a victim too, though! She was ready to walk away from both of them, but Haruki forced her into this. What a scumbag."
"Honestly? I'm rooting for Kazusa. That flashback about how she fell in love with Haruki still has me emotional. Just let him break up with Setsuna and be with Kazusa—he clearly loves her more anyway."
"You Kazusa fans are too much. Even if Setsuna breaks up with him, how dare you want a plotline where Haruki gets to end up with Kazusa? So Setsuna just gets hurt, and they live happily ever after?"
"Happily ever after? You call that happy? She was kissing her best friend's boyfriend! That's disgusting."
"You guys talk like Setsuna's perfect. What's so great about her?"
"Find one single flaw with Setsuna. Go on—I dare you. She's kind, sweet, took the initiative to confess, and even when she knew Kazusa liked Haruki, she still wanted the three of them to stay close. She didn't worry about anything inappropriate happening between her boyfriend and her friend. That's trust. That's real friendship. But those two? They betrayed her trust. If you can name one bad thing about Setsuna, I'll eat sh*t upside down."
"Don't speak too soon. The show's not over. Setsuna may not be as perfect as you think."
"Doesn't matter. Still better than Kazusa, who's been eyeing her best friend's man since the beginning."
"Hey, wasn't the kiss Haruki's idea? Why blame Kazusa?"
"Oh, come on. Someone tries to kiss you, and you just… let them? Don't wanna get kissed? MOVE. If she didn't want it, she could've pushed him away. Instead, she just stood there, half accepting it. Some friend she is. If I were Setsuna, I'd be crushed. That's betrayal. That's trash behavior."
"Don't get cocky, you Setsuna stans."
"Why? Go ahead, find something wrong with Setsuna. I'm waiting."
"It's fans like you who cause all the fake friendships in real life."
"Getting a little salty there. Got your man stolen by a 'bestie'?"
The fan war exploded minutes before Episode 6 began.
At 8:00 PM sharp, White Album 2 Episode 6 aired.
Opening viewership rating: 2.54%.