Xu Yinian held the audition script in her hands. Her memory had always been sharp, so she immediately recognized the lines—they were pulled directly from the original novel.
It seemed the studio wanted to test if she could naturally portray the character’s signature stutter. The selected excerpts were filled with hesitant, stumbling lines, as well as a glimpse into the novel’s underlying tension: the famous “reverse marking” scene.
“I-If my pheromones cannot make Your Highness go into heat, then… let me mark Your Highness. Let me leave my… Sang Chu’s mark… upon Your Highness’s gland.”
[Under the influence of the erratic pheromones of the heat cycle, the usually silent little stutterer opened her lips. She used the tip of her tongue to meticulously lick the gland on the Alpha’s slender neck. Her softening lips pressed down, sucking a strawberry-red mark into the skin, yet she ultimately lacked the courage to bite down.]
[This obsessive, improper thought was buried beneath Sang Chu’s clumsy movements. Her pure, angelic appearance stood in stark contrast to the seductive flush of a girl drowning in pleasure.]
The stage directions and character descriptions were also annotated below the lines.
As Xu Yinian read through the descriptions, her face turned crimson. If she had known it would be this suggestive, she never would have let Qin Jiashu come inside. How humiliating was it going to be to perform this right next to her?
Of course, she realized the studio was actually being lenient. They could have chosen far more explicit scenes for the audition. Since she was a newcomer, they were likely testing the waters with a lower difficulty level.
However, the role was a “seductive bottom,” and since the novel was an ABO story, such high-tension scenes were unavoidable. The entire book was thick with that kind of atmosphere.
She would have to get used to it sooner or later.
Steeling her heart, Xu Yinian followed Qin Jiashu into the recording booth.
The booth was separated from the monitoring room by a thick glass window. The rooms were soundproof; the only way to communicate was through the microphones and monitoring headphones.
Before entering, Qin Jiashu had told Lin San that she would help Xu Yinian get familiar with the equipment and the workflow first, so there was no rush to start. Lin San had looked like she wanted to say something, but in the end, she simply nodded and told them to signal when they were ready.
The two girls sat down at the table. Xu Yinian stared at the expensive monitoring headphones resting on the condenser mic stand. The cables were coiled together, and she was afraid to even touch them for fear of breaking something.
Yet, the usually attentive Senior Sister Qin seemed oblivious to her predicament. Qin Jiashu leaned her chin on her hand, watching Xu Yinian with an air of leisure, her narrow fox eyes brimming with a playful, cunning light.
Xu Yinian had no grasp of Qin Jiashu’s “push-pull” flirting techniques.
Once a prey grows accustomed to meticulous care, the moment that care is withdrawn, they feel a sense of loss and instinctively reach out to reclaim it. However, unlike her previous cold-hearted withdrawals, Qin Jiashu was just playing with Xu Yinian. If the girl was truly such a “mute gourd” that she refused to ask for help, Qin Jiashu would just end up pampering her anyway.
A little sister was meant to be adored; how could she treat her like some random person she was trying to pick up?
“S-Senior Sister…”
After hesitating for a long time, Xu Yinian finally called out in a small, weak voice. It was soft and sweet, carrying a hint of bashful embarrassment and the slight dejection of being ignored.
She had no idea that the condenser mic in front of her had already been silently switched on, broadcasting her voice directly into the two monitoring rooms.
In the first room, Lin San was nervously staring at her chat with Ji Yan, wondering if the other woman had noticed their uninvited guest, Qin Jiashu.
Lin San cared so much about Ji Yan’s opinion not just because she was Monologue’s most popular “cash cow” voice actress, but because Ji Yan was the secret benefactor behind the entire studio. Those “big spender” behaviors that Qin Jiashu and Xu Yinian had discussed outside were all Ji Yan’s doing.
In fact, this entire industrial park was part of the Ji family’s real estate holdings in the north of the city. A single building was nothing to her. When Lin San first received Ji Yan’s investment, she realized the rich girl was simply a “voice-con”—someone obsessed with beautiful voices—who was willing to throw money around just for fun. Even after Monologue started turning a profit, Ji Yan didn’t seem to care much about the money.
Suddenly hearing a noise in her headphones, Lin San nearly thought the audition had started. The voice sounded exactly like the female lead, Sang Chu—stuttering and aggrieved. Then she realized the line wasn’t in the script; Xu Yinian was talking to her Senior Sister.
Lin San quickly looked through the glass to see what they were doing.
Meanwhile, in Monitoring Room 2.
Ji Yan was reclining on the sofa with her eyes closed. Her tall frame was sunk into the cushions, her long, straight legs looking as though they had nowhere comfortable to rest. A pair of Bluetooth earbuds was nestled in her nearly translucent, elegant ears.
Suddenly, a soft, clean, familiar voice traveled through the air, forcing her eyes open.
The voice was muffled with a sense of grievance, stumbling over the word “Senior Sister” before trailing off, as if the request for help was too embarrassing to voice. It was a sound that invited one’s imagination to run wild.
Senior Sister?
Who else could be Xu Yinian’s “Senior Sister”?
Ji Yan knew perfectly well that this was the direct feed from the recording booth. Before she could stand up to check the live monitor, a voice that she utterly loathed rang out.
“Don’t move. My service time is very expensive.”
Qin Jiashu’s flirtatious, mature voice sounded anything but professional. Taking advantage of Xu Yinian’s lack of experience, she was shamelessly teasing her. She loved seeing Xu Yinian nod with that obedient, dazed expression. Her initial guilt had long since morphed into a wicked desire to bully her.
Her fingertips tenderly brushed a lock of hair away from Xu Yinian’s face, tucking it behind a small ear. This was the first time she had seen Xu Yinian’s ear clearly, as it was usually hidden by her hair. It was delicate and beautiful, a pale pinkish-white, to the point where she could see the fine, soft fuzz on the earlobe.
Qin Jiashu’s fingers, which were hooking the headphone cable, paused. She twirled the wire around her rounded fingertips a few times.
Something this cute shouldn’t be hidden under headphones, she thought. It should be in my mouth.
A pity. It’s still too early for that.
With that thought, she finally lifted the headphones and placed them over Xu Yinian’s head.
“Did I pinch your ear?” she asked, her fingertips probing the gap between the foam padding and the girl’s ear.
Before Xu Yinian could respond, she felt the familiar, searing heat of Qin Jiashu’s fingers touch the tip of her ear—the place most prone to turning red. She hadn’t even realized that through Qin Jiashu’s repeated “desensitization” touches, she had already lost her reflexive panic.
The woman’s thumb and index finger lightly kneaded the outer cartilage of her ear, as if massaging away the stiffness from the headphones. When she reached the bottom, however, she playfully gave the earlobe a few firm squeezes.
Xu Yinian had never known her earlobes were a sensitive spot.
An unbearable, teasing itch caused Xu Yinian’s neck to jerk violently. A strange sound escaped her throat before she could stop it.
It was soft and airy, more tender than usual—a sound of struggle mixed with a hint of bashful, reluctant desire.
Realizing she had made such a bizarre sound, Xu Yinian froze. Her mind went blank, and she instinctively looked away, unable to meet Qin Jiashu’s eyes. However, the instant crimson flush that stained her ears and the heat rising in her cheeks left her embarrassment completely exposed.
For a girl who had spent eighteen years following every rule, this sensation was entirely foreign. She blushed easily, but she was so innocent that she had never experienced anything related to physical pleasure.
In Qin Jiashu’s words, her entire body was just waiting to be “explored.”
Qin Jiashu had only meant to be a little playful, but she hadn’t expected such a reaction. She stunned for a moment. Then, a flash of predatory desire crossed her eyes. She leaned close to Xu Yinian’s headphones and whispered in a low, wicked voice that only the girl could hear:
“I caught you. Your secret.”
The Senior Sister found out…!
Will she think I’m weird? Or… a pervert?
How could I… just because of a squeeze on the earlobe…
Xu Yinian bit her lip in shame, her eyes growing moist with humiliation.
However, thanks to the powerful sensitivity of the expensive condenser mic, that tiny, unusual sound had reached more than just Qin Jiashu’s ears.
The moment she heard it, Ji Yan’s long eyelashes trembled.
A frighteningly deep gaze pierced through the monitor, locking onto Xu Yinian’s small, rounded earlobe, which was now flushed red from being kneaded.
Though the mark left by Qin Jiashu was an eyesore, at this very moment…
Ji Yan and Qin Jiashu shared the exact same “thirst.”
