Medicine is bitter. Peeling off a band-aid hurts. Breaking up with someone is awkward.

These are some of life’s constants.

As for how to handle them, when it comes to unpleasantness, it is best to do things quickly and painlessly. 

All this to say, Mikhail woke up the morning of December 10th and decided it was time to propose to Shen Dan. 

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That evening, while Shen Dan was busy filming, Manager Wei consented to driving the carless Mikhail to the jewelers. Mikhail waited outside Shen Dan’s house for the black van to show up. 

The weather in P— City was getting colder and colder. His every exhale was accompanied with a small white cloud, and the tip of his nose had turned the same color as Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer’s. At this rate, it would probably snow soon. Mikhail pulled the bingo sheet out of his pocket, snickering at freebies like “build a snowman” and “snowball fight.”

Minutes went by. Manager Wei was obviously running late. To pass the time, Mikhail practiced under his breath what he would say at the jewelers.

“H-hello. I would like to buy one w-w-w-w-edding r-r…” 

“Greetings. P-please sell me your finest weeee… wee…”

“I am interested in purchasing for someone nominally special, a wed… a wed…”

With his teeth chattering so hard, it was impossible to speak properly. Mikhail finally dropped to his knees, clutching his hair and screaming, “No! This isn’t right! A monumental purchase like this is supposed to be reserved for one’s true love! I am NOT in love with Shen Dan!!!!!!” 

He was so focused on his suffering that he failed to notice that the black van was creeping up to the curb. The passenger window had been rolled down. 

“Who’s not in love with Shen Dan?” a bright voice asked. 

Mikhail was so startled by this question, spoken by a complete stranger, he accidentally ripped out a small chunk of his hair. 

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Fuck! Don’t tell me I said that stuff out loud! Also, who the hell is this?!

It turned out, the bright voice belonged to a handsome, smiling man lounging in the black van’s passenger seat. 

The man peered down over his sunglasses at Mikhail, who was still kneeling on the sidewalk. His eyes were ice-blue, so unnaturally bright that he had to be wearing colored contact lenses. He had dyed blond, windswept hair pulled back into a small ponytail, dangling ear piercings, and wore flashy clothes that Mikhail immediately recognized as his favorite luxury brand, Olenciavi.

Here was a person with taste! Someone who would have appreciated that cashmere hedgehog Christmas sweater—not chucked it into the trash over and over like that scum Shen Dan! 

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The handsome man eyed Mikhail’s drippy, bright-red nose. He added, “Benny, you didn’t tell me Shen-ge’s new PA was such a cutie.”

From the driver’s seat, there came a shout: “Don’t call me that! I’m still your manager, you have to respect me—”

The handsome man brushed the fuming Manager Wei aside. He opened the van door, then extended a hand out to Mikhail. 

“My name is Holland. I’m a junior actor. I’ll be shadowing Shen-ge for the next few weeks. Hope we can get to know each other better~” 

However, Mikhail didn’t immediately respond. 

Holland kept his hand out, cocking his head curiously. “Is there something wrong?” 

Mikhail: “You… have one, too?”

Holland looked down. Mikhail’s eyes were trained on the man’s extended hand—specifically his exposed wrist. 

Marring his otherwise flawless skin was a teeth-mark scar. 

Before Holland could explain, Mikhail pulled back his jacket sleeve and showed off the scar on his own right wrist. It looked identical in every way: two semicircles of crescent-shaped teeth marks. Mikhail then scratched the back of his head, laughing bashfully, “Wow, so weird. I’ve never met someone with the exact same scar before.” 

Holland’s smile widened. Mikhail took his hand. While helping Mikhail to his feet, Holland gently brushed Mikhail’s scar with the tip of his finger. His blue eyes seemed to sharpen with intrigue as he replied: 

“It must be fate.” 

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Holland was an easy person to talk to. Not only was his beaming smile a pleasant change from Shen Dan’s ice-cold facade, he was liberal with giving out compliments. Very soon, Mikhail’s nervousness about his purchase dissipated, and he found himself exchanging phone numbers with the man. After buying the first simple gold wedding he laid eyes on, Mikhail was quickly returned to Shen Dan’s house. 

Holland rolled the passenger window down and pouted, “You don’t want to invite me inside, Mikki?~” 

Mikhail turned pink. “Uh. I guess you can come in if you want—”

“BEEF!” Manager Wei suddenly blurted, shooting Mikhail a panicked look. “Mr. Li, regarding Shen Dan’s dinner, he probably won’t like BEEF tonight, don’t you think?”

Mikhail: ???

Before Holland could exit the van, Manager Wei slammed his foot into the gas pedal and peeled off, whisking Holland away. Even when the black van was just a speck in the distance, Mikhail could still hear the word “beef” echoing over and over from afar. 

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Back in Shen Dan’s house, Mikhail placed the box with the wedding ring inside it onto the kitchen counter, then spread himself out on the couch and pretended to take a nap.

The trap had been loaded!

His plan went a little something like this:

INT. SHEN DAN’S LIVING ROOM - EVENING

SHEN DAN comes home. He pokes his nose into the box on the countertop and sees the gold wedding ring.

          SHEN DAN

          What’s this?

MIKHAIL, on the couch, stirs awake and yawns cutely. 

          MIKHAIL

          It’s a ring. I want to propose to my beloved, but I’m too nervous.

          SHEN DAN 

          If it’s just proposing, that’s easy. I’m an experienced actor with numerous Academy Awards up my sleeve. Let me show you how it’s done.

Demonstrating to MIKHAIL, SHEN DAN gets down on one knee.

          SHEN DAN

          Will you marry me?

          SYSTEM

          【Ding! Ding! Target goal 4/5 complete - Thank you for your participation!】

Mikhail could not refrain from snickering aloud at his genius. 

Despite it being the weekend, Shen Dan’s filming schedule was packed. Mikhail was too lazy to check the schedule to see when the man was going to get off work. Unwilling to deviate from his plan, he lay curled up on the couch with his head stuffed under a cushion and waited patiently for Shen Dan to return. 

It turned out the only thing easier than pretending to nap was actually napping. By the time two hours rolled around, a genuine snore ebbed and flowed from his nose like the moonlit tide.

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He dreamed vividly. 

In his dream, Shen Dan was dressed in the green and red Olenciavi Christmas sweater. He was cradling an elephant the size of a baby hedgehog in his hands. Cooing to the elephant, Shen Dan said in a gentle voice, “Little Mikhail Jr. what do you think? Do you want to be friends with me?~”

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When Mikhail finally woke up gasping for air, it was past midnight. Groggily, he slid out from under the couch cushion. Only a lone dim light in the kitchen was still on. 

Staring out the window with his back facing Mikhail was Shen Dan.

How the hell long has he been standing there… 

Mikhail’s eyes immediately darted to the countertop. The box containing the ring was nowhere to be found. This was unexpected. He opened his dry mouth and croaked, “Erm… did you by chance see a thing I left…”

Shen Dan turned around. His eyes didn’t hold any particular emotion. He only cocked his head soundlessly and continued to stare at Mikhail.

At last, after an epoch seemed to pass, civilizations coming and going, species originating and dying off, Shen Dan averted his gaze. He said coldly, “You left something lying around? I did some cleaning up. Maybe it got thrown away.”

Mikhail: “…”

What kind of person throws away something that obviously expensive!!! 

Fuck it! I don’t need a ring! A proposal comes from the heart! Do it now, now, now!

The singular fluorescent light enveloped Shen Dan in a soft glow. Tracing his collarbone with his eyes, Mikhail found he could not look away. His heart felt like an upside-down pot being whacked by a toddler, and his teeth began to chatter. Climbing to his feet, he stuttered, “Shen Dan, will you… will you… ma… maaa…”

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CUT TO: 

Mikhail sat on the couch in the empty living room, blowing steam off a mug full of hot cocoa. His mood was sour. His words to Shen Dan from a few minutes ago rattled around in his brainpan, playing as if on repeat: 

“Shen Dan, will you… maaa—ke me hot cocoa?”

Recalling the way Shen Dan had carefully thrown it together—microwaving the milk for two minutes, emptying the packet, slowly stirring with a spoon—Mikhail furiously sipped said hot cocoa. 

It tasted fine. 

As if he didn’t already know the consequences of chickening out at such a critical moment, the System in his head blared: 

【TARGET GOAL (make hot cocoa) HAS ALREADY BEEN CONFIRMED AND CANNOT BE RE-CONFIRMED - TO REVIEW THE RULES OF PLUGIN (Christmas Miracle 2.0.1) EVENT (Bingo!!), PRESS 9】

Fuck me, Mikhail thought, I’m definitely going to be deleted…