LOI Chapter 17 — Rong Ke Crashes the Fashion Show

Birthday bonus chapter

Rong Ke had assumed he needed to wear Yan Zhi’s clothes to SPL’s haute couture show, but it turned out the brand provided attire for guests, requiring only that they visit the store in advance to select their outfits.

Before departing, Rong Ke dressed first. He picked up Yan Zhi’s perfume—even his choice of fragrance was dictated by the prince—and habitually spritzed twice on his wrist. Unexpectedly, this floral scent had an intense top note, and a potent aroma assaulted his nostrils.

“Yan Zhi,” Rong Ke called, rubbing the perfume from his wrist behind his ears as he approached the man adjusting his collar in the mirror.

“Hmm?” Yan Zhi responded monosyllabically.

“I applied too much.” Rong Ke raised his wrist, wiping the excess scent on Yan Zhi’s neck.

Body heat accelerated the evaporation, invisible molecules dispersing through the air.

Yan Zhi glanced down at Rong Ke’s wrist, then looked up and asked, “Do you always apply excess perfume to others?”

Unaware of how intimate his action had been, Rong Ke turned away, saying, “I don’t usually over-apply.”

The SPL boutique wasn’t far from the show venue. Unlike Rong Ke’s expectations, the storefront was remarkably understated, with an inconspicuous logo above the door. The interior was small; seven or eight people would make it feel cramped. Compared to typical high-end luxury stores, it resembled a private atelier for exclusive clientele.

A tailor with a soft measuring tape around his neck greeted Yan Zhi warmly in French. Rong Ke couldn’t understand, but judging by their expressions, the tailor seemed to be chiding Yan Zhi for arriving so late.

“This show has high standards for attire. We need to match SPL’s aesthetic,” Yan Zhi explained to Rong Ke before browsing the clothes on the rack.

Rong Ke knew little about luxury brands, let alone SPL’s signature style.

However, once he donned the outfit Yan Zhi selected, he instantly grasped SPL’s essence—provocative.

The black shirt’s cut was unremarkable, but the fabric was ingenious. From the chest and elbows up, it was smooth silk; below, it was semi-sheer black mesh. His forearms, abs, and lower back dimples were faintly visible.

The black straight-leg trousers appeared to flatter his legs, but echoing the shirt, the area from the knees to the groin was mesh, exposing his entire absolute territory.

Rong Ke examined himself in the mirror, frowning slightly. “Isn’t this too revealing?”

“Do you know why we came so late?” Yan Zhi asked, standing behind Rong Ke with his hands on his waist.

Rong Ke shook his head.

“These brands have very high body standards. Some people are afraid they won’t find suitable clothes, so they choose early,” Yan Zhi explained, tilting his head to look at Rong Ke in the mirror. “In other words, what’s left now are pieces others didn’t dare to wear.”

Rong Ke wanted to suggest that perhaps these were clothes others didn’t like, but glancing at himself again—sexy yet not vulgar—he was inclined to agree with Yan Zhi’s reasoning.

“Remove the shoulder pads,” Yan Zhi instructed the tailor in French. “He doesn’t need them.”

Then, moving to Rong Ke’s side, he wrapped one arm around his waist and adjusted the loose waistband with the other. “Tighten the hip line a bit. He has a perky bottom.”

Rong Ke didn’t understand Yan Zhi’s conversation with the tailor, but seeing the tailor gesture for him to remove the clothes for alterations, he guessed that His Royal Highness was still unsatisfied.

“Can these clothes be altered so freely?” he asked curiously.

“No,” Yan Zhi replied. “The designer wouldn’t be pleased.”

Rong Ke sensed there was more to come.

Sure enough—

“But I can,” Yan Zhi said, tilting his chin slightly. “I was previously a design consultant for SPL.”

Rong Ke suddenly understood why the brand’s style was so provocative.

The altered clothes indeed fit much better, with natural shoulder lines and a more tailored waist.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Rong Ke wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but didn’t he seem even sexier now?

Meanwhile, Yan Zhi had changed into his show attire, featuring similar elements to Rong Ke’s outfit. Though it had less mesh and revealed less skin, he wore a pair of latex gloves that exuded a dominant aura, making him look both austere and alluring.

If he had a whip in hand, Rong Ke would’ve given him a new nickname—”Her Majesty the Queen.”

A snap of fingers interrupted Rong Ke’s wild thoughts. Yan Zhi looked at him curiously, asking, “What are you thinking about so intently?”

Rong Ke purged the lewd thoughts from his mind and replied, “Nothing.”

They donned matching long coats and were immediately ambushed by paparazzi upon leaving the store.

Rong Ke focused on posing for photos and lost track of time until Yan Zhi grabbed his wrist and rushed them towards the venue, barely making it to their seats before the show began.

SPL’s haute couture show was held in a church. Looking up, the exquisite stained glass windows lent an artistic air to the solemn religious atmosphere.

As heavy music began and models strutted out in perfect rhythm, Yan Zhi whispered explanations to Rong Ke.

“Not all brands’ custom clothing can be called haute couture. Strictly speaking, only about a dozen certified brands have haute couture lines, SPL being one of them.” Yan Zhi mentioned other well-known luxury brands.

“The fashion shows we see during spring/summer or fall/winter fashion weeks are ready-to-wear. Most brands hold two annually, but haute couture shows aren’t yearly events. SPL is presenting haute couture after a five-year hiatus, which is why this show is generating so much buzz.”

Though Rong Ke’s aesthetic sense was somewhat dull, watching the parade of looks on the runway, he felt the connection between fashion and art.

“This show’s theme is Dante’s Divine Comedy, using spatial narrative. It’s quite creative…”

As he listened, Rong Ke unconsciously shifted his gaze to Yan Zhi.

Though the church lights were focused on the runway, looking at Yan Zhi as he spoke, Rong Ke inexplicably felt he was glowing too.

Yan Zhi quickly noticed Rong Ke’s stare and asked, “Why are you looking at me?”

“I just think you’re very professional,” Rong Ke said.

“Of course,” Yan Zhi raised an eyebrow. “Are you starting to admire me a bit?”

“… Not really.”

After the press conference, Rong Ke accompanied Yan Zhi to a small evening banquet.

The banquet was held in a private villa, with few invited guests who all seemed to be prominent figures in the fashion industry. Yan Zhi introduced Rong Ke to many people – directors, chairpersons, and the like – but amidst the clinking of glasses, Rong Ke couldn’t remember a single one, feeling somewhat face-blind.

By the time they returned to the hotel, it was late at night. Both were exhausted, and the first thing they did upon entering the suite was collapse onto the sofa in unison.

At the banquet, Rong Ke had tried to minimize his presence, focusing only on eating, and now his stomach felt slightly overstuffed. As he sat on the sofa, letting his mind wander while digesting, he heard Yan Zhi suddenly say, “I really should have stayed with you last night.”

“Hm?” Rong Ke glanced sideways, noticing Yan Zhi browsing Weibo with a displeased expression.

He also took out his phone and opened Weibo, immediately furrowing his brow –

#Rong Ke Crashing The Show#

Trending at number six on the main list.

Clicking into the topic page, he saw that someone had captured footage of Rong Ke being stopped by CVV security yesterday, claiming he had forcibly tried to enter the CVV show, and that his willingness to pose for media photos was just attention-seeking.

[Main post: Celebrities these days will do anything for fame, even embarrassing themselves abroad. I asked around, and he didn’t even receive an invitation from CVV. He tried to crash the show and was stopped by security. Then he wandered the streets, forcing himself into photos whenever he saw cameras.]

The comments below were filled with mockery towards Rong Ke.

[That outfit he’s wearing is CVV’s classic Futuristic Warrior from Spring/Summer ’97, long out of production. It must be a knockoff. How embarrassing.]

[Seriously? How many is this now? Why do these D-list celebs from the domestic entertainment industry always try to crash shows abroad?]

[Isn’t he the one who was on MQ’s New Year cover recently? I quite liked him, but this is so tacky.]

[Damn, I just became his fan. How did it fall apart so quickly?]

[Some people get invited to walk the runway at CVV’s fashion week, while others try to force their way in without an invitation. Hilarious.]

[So this is the so-called high-quality heartthrob from our entertainment industry? No wonder some people settle for less.]

[…]

Rong Ke’s own Weibo page had also been overrun by so-called passersby, all insulting him for being shameless.

He randomly clicked on the avatar of a top comment, only to find they were following Liu Qing’s super topic.

Clicking on another, the entire page was devoted to Liu Qing.

Understanding the origin of this trending topic, Rong Ke couldn’t help but chuckle softly. “Interesting.”

Yan Zhi frowned, his tone displeased, “You’re still laughing?”

“I didn’t realize someone was paying so much attention to me,” Rong Ke said.

Hearing this, Yan Zhi also understood, narrowing his eyes as he asked, “Your ex-boyfriend?”

“His lover,” Rong Ke said, then added, “Though I’m not sure if it’s his doing.”

Yan Zhi’s tone remained displeased, “The comments are all insulting you.”

This was Rong Ke’s first experience with a negative trending topic, and he lacked experience in handling it. After some thought, he said, “I’ll post on Weibo to clarify things.”

Yan Zhi didn’t respond, his face grim as he continued operating his phone.

Rong Ke leaned in curiously. “What are you doing?”

He saw Yan Zhi select a group photo from the evening’s banquet and post it on Weibo with the caption: My Chinese isn’t very good. Can someone tell me what ‘crashing a show’ means?

The image showed Rong Ke, Yan Zhi, and several foreigners. Rong Ke had already forgotten their identities and asked, “Who are they again?”

Yan Zhi, still seemingly upset, wrote in the comments: As everyone knows, I don’t need invitations to bring people to shows.

“Hm?” After posting the comment, he finally looked up at Rong Ke and said, “The CEOs of SPL and CVV, and a director from the fashion conglomerate.”

“… Oh.” That heavyweight?

Rong Ke didn’t check the comments yet, instead observing Yan Zhi’s frowning profile, thinking that this friend of his seemed more assertive than he had imagined.