The day after last filming, the group was finally heading back to their city. Jin and Wu Chen—the youngest one in the group/maknae—shared a car up front, which Liang Ze could only imagine was filled with Jin's constant scolding. Wu Chen had done something stupid again, and Jin looked poised to lecture him the entire three-hour ride.
Liang Ze sat in the back seat of their van with Xiao Tian, the main vocal, while Huang Rui, the visual of the group, had claimed the front passenger seat next to the company driver, looking as composed and flawless as ever.
Xiao Tian, exhausted from staying up to read Jin's book, leaned back in his seat. As promised the night before, he passed the leather-bound book to Liang Ze, who now held it carefully in his lap. Xiao Tian let out a quiet sigh and almost immediately surrendered to sleep, his head resting against the window, lips slightly parted.
Liang Ze eyed the book curiously. The cover was midnight blue, embossed with gold filigree, a dragon coiling in the center, and the gilded title glimmering:
"赤月五王子" – Five Princes Under the Red Moonlight.
He opened it carefully, and within minutes, was pulled in. The writing was crisp, the pacing sharp, and though short, the story had depth. Liang Ze's analytical mind immediately began mapping the five princes to his own group members, finding endless amusement.
Jin as the composed, strategic prince? Obvious.
Xiao Tian as the gentle, soft-spoken prince? Check.
Rui as the dramatic, eye-catching prince? Naturally.
Me… probably the sarcastic, slightly dorky prince trying to survive everyone else.
Wu Chen… definitely the first to die in palace intrigue.
He chuckled quietly, imagining all of them in ancient robes, bickering in a royal court. The thought of Jin scolding everyone in formal Mandarin made him snort softly.
Unfortunately, his quiet chuckle was not quiet enough. Huang Rui, napping in the front, stirred and squinted back at him.
"What's so funny?" Rui asked, voice still thick with sleep.
Liang Ze turned the book toward him, trying to suppress his grin. "It's the book Xiao Tian showed me last night—Five Princes Under the Red Moonlight. Honestly… it's really good. And it's kind of funny imagining us as the princes. Not to mention, the prince royal title are the same as our names"
Rui blinked, leaning forward to see the cover. Even half-asleep, his gaze softened, captivated by the intricate gold design and the majestic dragon. "The cover… the title… it's… beautiful."
Liang Ze chuckled again. "Just wait till you start reading the first chapter. You're going to love it."
Liang Ze flipped the pages with care, the words pulling him deeper into the story. Every prince's personality jumped off the page, and he couldn't stop mapping them to their own group members. The mental image of Jin giving orders as the composed, strategic prince made him stifle a laugh; imagining Wu Chen panicking and dying first in palace intrigues nearly made him snort.
Huang Rui, now fully awake, leaned forward, curiosity winning over his desire for sleep. "Seriously… why are you laughing so much?" he asked, eyes still half-closed.
Liang Ze held the book out toward him. "See for yourself. The story, the princes… it's uncanny. Five princes under a red moonlight. Makes me think of us."
Rui's fingers traced the gold dragon on the cover. "It's beautiful… the design, the title… even the way the pages feel. Feels… almost alive." He looked at Liang Ze, smirk tugging at his lips. "So… you're saying we're… like them?"
Liang Ze chuckled, shaking his head. "Sort of. But imagine this: Jin as the tactical, almost intimidating leader, Xiao Tian as the soft-spoken heart, Rui… dramatic eye candy of the court… me, the sarcastic survivalist, and Wu Chen… well, you can guess who dies first."
Rui laughed quietly, still enchanted by the book. "This… this is amazing. I can see why Xiao Tian stayed up all night."
Meanwhile, Xiao Tian remained blissfully asleep, lost in his dreams, oblivious to the conversation behind him. Liang Ze glanced at him and smirked. "He's too far gone."
The van hummed steadily along the highway, streetlights flickering past, casting long shadows across the back seat. Liang Ze's mind was half in the story, half on his team—an endless loop of amusement and fascination. The princes' antics mirrored his own group so perfectly that he had to pause a few times just to suppress his laughter.
Rui, now fully attentive, leaned closer, peering at the pages. "You really think it's us? The story… it's like it's written with us in mind."
Liang Ze shook his head, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Not literally, of course. But… the way the personalities match, the five of them, the dynamics—it's… unsettlingly accurate. Especially Wu Chen's part." He chuckled quietly again, imagining Wu Chen in a palace disaster.
The two of them shared a quiet smile, heads bent over the book. Xiao Tian shifted slightly in his sleep, Liang Ze turning a page unconsciously, completely lost to the story. Rui stole another glance at Xiao Tian —so peaceful, so absorbed, yet completely unaware of the quiet excitement building around the book.
For the next hour, the back seat fell into a comfortable rhythm: Liang Ze reading aloud occasionally under his breath, Rui leaning closer when a passage caught his interest. Each of them, in their own way, had already begun to fall under the spell of the story, unaware that this simple fascination was slowly drawing them together in ways none of them had anticipated.