Since the successful Manila funmeet, his fans had been getting bolder and more demanding in making requests of him, either in person or on social media.
"Didi, when are you going to tell us you love us?"
"Didi, why didn't you post anything about the Manila fun meet on Instagram?" This was after he posted himself on his Instagram lying on the bed with Bigroll box with caption to his fans in Thailand "see you soon!"
"Didi, sing Love Confession." For the umpteen times. He had avoided singing that because he was still embarrassed about his singing. Everyone was still teasing him about it till today! Plus, he did not want his fans to see him blushing, because that song reminded him of her.
Honestly, he did not know what to do and how to handle this kind of attention or demands tactfully. His fan base was growing and his management had been nagging him about updating his Weibo and Instagram constantly. He used to post a lot during MG days. It was easy for him to share anything that time. But after the whole deal about staying low key with co-stars after MG was over, he lost the desire to fully express himself on social media. He had been asked many times to take down posts which were "harmful" to his career. And of course, any kind of posts that were directly related to her were categorized as such.
Since then, he found himself always filtering before uploading a post. It felt fake. And being a fake was something he despised. When can he REALLY be a breath of fresh air on Weibo?
Besides many people were already posting stuff about him, without him making the effort. Isn't that enough? Apparently, he was told that one of his (unspoken) job description is to keep his fans engaged....at all times. He thought he was doing good but good was not enough.
He glanced at his watch. She should be off work by now. He pressed the video call option.
Her face came up after a few seconds.
"Shen Yue Lao Shi!"
"Eh, what do you want?" she peered at his face, suspiciously. "Too bored reading your historical scripts?" She smirked.
He groaned. "Please don't remind me!"
She laughed. He felt much better already.
"Ok, what do you want, Wang He Di?"
He smiled sheepishly. "Hmm..I need your advice. How do you communicate with your Mooncakes? You always seem to have good rapport with them. And they adore you."
"Oh easy. Just be myself."
"Just that? Should we really be that transparent? At least tell me what to post on Weibo daily."
"I am surprised you are asking me. Your fans are crazy about you. Regardless of how silly your updates are! FendiDi, huh?" she giggled.
"Aiyo..stop teasing me, Teacher Shen. Please teach me what to do."
"What is my reward?"
"A kiss."
"Pfft....how cheapskate, Mr Wang He Di."
"Eh, my kiss is not easy to come by, you know! How dare you?" He pretended to be angry. She chuckled at his "WiFi" showing up on his forehead.
"Easy, boy. You are asking me for favor right? So I get to pick my reward."
This woman will be the death of him.
"Okay, what do you want?"
"I want FendiDi."
"Hey, he's mine."
"You don't even like soft toys!"
"You really like him that much?"
"Nope, I just want him because his name is Didi."
Her eyes twinkled. Looking at her, Dylan's heartbeat quickened. He had never felt this way with another girl.
"Okay, you can have him. But with one condition."
Yue raised her eyebrow.
"You must sleep with Didi every night."
"You mean FendiDi." She corrected him.
"I call him Didi for short" he eyed Yue cheekily.
She laughed "You creep! You just want me to pretend he were you!"
"Isn't that why you wanted him in the first place?"
Yue blushed. This was not a battle she wanted to win. She had been missing Dylan.
"Okay, Teacher Shen. Pls teach me the tricks now. How do I connect with my Xiongdis?"
The next few minutes Yue spoke about how she always gave information about herself, updates on what she does, but with the help of her studio on what to release. She always relayed back to her projects and kept her content fresh and funny. Her fans like funny.
"Live chats help. The reason why your fans are so crazy to dig information from you is because you didn't feed them enough. The only way they could see you is through social media. Of course, except those fangirls who escort you at the airport. They just love to tease you." She chuckled.
He groaned, making an eye roll.
"I wished sometimes they would give me more space, literally. They were practically over my shoulder the last few times, checking out what I was watching on my phone. Which was why I could only watch your drama in the plane instead," he pouted.
"Didi, just be grateful for them. You need their support".
"I am. That is why I did not stop them," he sighed.
"I don't even know why you keep wearing that mask since they know you regardless of what you wear."
"Yue, I need that. Erm...sometimes I have a puff before getting to the airport." he looked at her, sheepishly, touching the nape of his neck.
"What the hell, Wang He Di? You promised me you will quit!"
"I did but.... I'm sorry. Sometimes I really need one to calm my nerves. Besides, I'm sensitive to certain fragrances those girls were wearing," he whined.
She giggled. "Just spray more cologne on yourself so you don't smell theirs."
They laughed.
"I missed you, Yue."
Yue nodded. "Let's video call as much as possible."
"You are thinking about my proposal, right?"
"Hmmmm....."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means hmmm.... oh look at the time now! I gotta go!" She quipped.
"Yue!!"
She laughed again. "I really have to go."
"Okay..."
"Oh, Didi one more thing..."
"What?"
"If it helps, you can check what I post normally and you can copy the idea. Make sure you create your own caption."
"Good idea! Can you ping me when you update your Weibo or instagram?"
"I want extra reward for that."
"FendiDi is good enough for you."
"Stingy poker!" Yue stuck out her tongue at him.
Then, suddenly her face turned serious. Dylan knew she was about to say something profound.
"Sometimes, when I post, I thought of you. I wanted you to know what I was doing. That makes it easy." She said quietly.
Didi smiled. Thinking of the recent posts - her mustached face, her live chat wearing the LV sweater he gifted her, and some updates on her "Another Me" drama. He saw all of them. After he came back from Manila, he gathered his courage to promote Yue's drama on his Weibo. That was a major breakthrough for him. He expected a call from his management or backslash from his haters but nothing at all. Small but sweet victory for them.
"Thanks, Teacher Shen. Did I tell you that you look gorgeous in that latest Nike outfit?"
"Old pic, buddy!"
"Old but hot."
"Jerry is old but hot." She smiled.
"Hey, that was out of the line!" he complained.
"Are you jealous?"
"Like hell I am."
"Really? Really?" She teased.
Dylan sighed. "I won't stop feeling jealous of you and your male co-stars. I signed up for YOU so I gotta take the whole package - old, hot and all."
She laughed, which made him laughed too. It had always been this easy for them to share a light moment together. Dylan felt at peace.
"Didi, enough cheesiness for today. Talk to you soon, ya!"
Dylan gave Yue his signature wink and Yue gave him thumbs-up.
"Jia you, Wang He Di! Remember your fans love you the way you are."
"And so do you, Shen Yue."
—————-
Author's thoughts:
"With great power, comes great responsibility." ~ Spiderman.
Yet we forget that super heroes or in this case, celebrities are mere human beings with super abilities. They crave understanding, respect and privacy. As fans, let us give them time and space to grow so in due time, they will flourish and expand as an inspiration to many.
Love,
Hsien