CHAPTER 110: JUST A MISUNDERSTANDING...

Joshua was deep in thought—thinking and thinking—while Luther and Leonard wouldn’t stop chattering beside him.

Suddenly, Joshua raised both hands, using each one to cover his mouth. The next moment, he jumped in shock, quickly pulling his hands back and smacking Luther on the shoulder. "Why did you lick my hand?! Don’t you know that’s disgusting?!"

Luther, utterly shameless, just grinned and shrugged. "Didn’t hurt at all. Felt like a tickle. Do it again."

"You seriously have no shame whatsoever," Joshua said, at a loss for words. Leonard nodded vigorously beside him. "Exactly. What kind of best friends lick each other’s hands?"

Leonard was silently hoping Joshua would finally see Luther’s true nature.

Luther immediately roared, "What’s that supposed to mean?! Leonard, I know you’ve always wanted my spot, but could you be any more obvious about it? Joshua already said I’m number one."

He lifted his chin proudly, looking unbearably smug.

Joshua pushed his face aside, then suddenly buried his own in his hands, mumbling, "I really, really can’t think of anything!"

He was useless—completely useless. Fine then, he was just someone who couldn’t come up with names.

Justin, standing nearby, quickly tried to comfort him. "It’s okay, Joshua. What do you think of ’Lumin’?"

He offered up the name he’d come up with to cheer Joshua up.

Joshua nodded. "At least you managed to come up with something."

Justin immediately said, "If you like it, then let’s say it was your idea!"

Luther couldn’t help but scoff, while Leonard frowned, then suddenly jumped up. "Don’t act like you’re the only one capable of coming up with names!"

Joshua sighed. "Leonard, could you be any more childish?"

Leonard grinned at him, looking like a sly fox—but really, he was just hopelessly dumb.

Throwing his hand up dramatically, he declared, "I’ve decided! From today on, our fans will be called LifeOn! ’Life,’ because they’re our life; and ’On,’ from our group’s name! Joshua, what do you think? Awesome, right?"

Joshua blinked at him, then nodded. He had to admit, "Life" did sound kind of impressive.

Luther grabbed Joshua by the shoulders and shook him. "You seriously think that’s a good name? Please wake up! You’re bad at naming things, but now you can’t even choose one properly?!"

Joshua’s eyes widened at that. He frowned at Luther. "But ’Life’ really sounds nice!"

Leonard immediately slung an arm around Joshua’s shoulders, flipped his bangs with one hand, and looked at the others with a smug expression. "See that? That’s how you come up with a name. Ha ha ha!"

Justin turned to Joshua with a look that was pitifully innocent. "Joshua, do you really think ’LifeOn’ sounds better than ’Lumin’?"

He didn’t say another word, but his eyes drooped slightly, carrying a mix of quiet resignation and subtle sadness—pitiful, almost heartbreakingly so.

Joshua froze for a second. He didn’t know what to say—he honestly just thought "Life" sounded nice.

Leonard looked from Joshua’s conflicted face to Justin’s pitiful act and couldn’t help but click his tongue inwardly, eyes rolling hard. Justin is such a green tea bitch! Pretending to be all sad just to mess with Joshua’s feelings—unforgivable!

He pinched Joshua’s cheeks, forcing him to look at him. "Listen, we’re supposed to be on the same side, you idiot! Can’t you have a little backbone?"

Joshua frowned immediately. "I do have a backbone! And besides, I just like ’Life,’ not ’LifeOn.’"

Leonard: "..."

It felt like an arrow had just pierced straight through his heart—not an arrow of love, but one that left a gaping hole for the cold autumn wind to blow through, drying his poor heart to a crisp.

"You’re really too much, Joshua!" Leonard shouted, cupping Joshua’s cheeks in both hands. Staring at Joshua’s pouty, pink, glossy lips, he suddenly had the urge to just bite them.

Joshua pulled his hands away and smiled lightly. "Sorry." Then he added, "At least now we’ve got two names. If we come up with one more, that makes three."

Luther muttered under his breath, "Feels like none of them are gonna get picked anyway."

Joshua was still thinking that Lumin might actually work.

Just then, Henry suddenly spoke up. "Polaris."

Joshua looked up to see Henry staring straight at him as he repeated slowly, "Joshua, Polaris."

Joshua shot to his feet, clapping his hands together. "That name is amazing! Seriously, it’s perfect—this one’s definitely the winner!"

Henry looked at him, lips pressed together, then stood up and said softly, "We’ve got our three names now. Let’s get some sleep."

Joshua nodded right away and hurried after him, following close behind like a little tail.

When the door finally closed, Luther clicked his tongue and muttered to himself, wondering why Joshua always listened to Henry so obediently.

"I should’ve nominated myself when we were picking the leader," he grumbled.

Leonard said mercilessly, "No one would vote for you anyway."

Justin ignored the two bickering idiots and went back to his own room.

The next day, the heated fan vote began. Leonard’s LifeOn was removed immediately and replaced with a completely different name for fans to choose from.

Leonard clung to Joshua and complained nonstop all morning.

999999999: [I saw the list of names for the vote— which one did you come up with?]

MyJ: [I didn’t come up with any.]

MyJ: [T.T]

MyJ was the nickname Nine had saved Joshua’s contact under.

He quickly replied—

[Then which one do you like the most?]

MyJ: [...]

MyJ: [Polaris.]

[Who came up with that one?]

Nine had already decided that Polaris would become the fandom name, but he still couldn’t help asking.

MyJ: [Henry. Why are you asking?]

Nine snorted coldly. Fine—Henry was acceptable. Even if the guy was a bit of a weirdo, Nine could admit that maybe his body was just... overly sensitive.

Anyway, Henry usually looked like a block of wood—the kind of person who would never have feelings for anyone.

Good. That was reassuring.

[I’ll make sure Polaris becomes the fandom name. Just wait and see!]

MyJ: [Don’t waste money. Save it and buy yourself a castle.]

Nine didn’t reply, but inside, he was over the moon.

Oh my god, was Joshua scolding him now? Of course, he was—after all, Nine’s money would eventually be their money!

They were meant to be together. Everything that belonged to one of them should belong to both.

Right after Joshua turned off his phone, he suddenly heard the sound of multiple transfer notifications.

The sender? None other than Nine himself.

Joshua was speechless. He had no idea what kind of frenzy Nine had worked himself into this time. Whatever—Nine was always deducting his fame points anyway. If he wanted to spend money, so be it. Joshua wasn’t about to turn down free money. He’d just make sure to buy a castle before Nine did.

Meanwhile, Nine was waging war online.

[The Wolf Doesn’t Eat Meat]: Everyone, focus up! Focus up! Vote for Polaris! Why? Because it means stability, hope, the guiding light that will lead ShineOn through the darkness! That’s us! We are the Polaris!

For the first time ever, Nine temporarily set aside his "Joshua-only" attitude. After all, this was a name for the entire fandom—so he had to rally as many fans as possible to his side!

[Leonard is FFFD]: Oh my god, that speech was absolutely heart-melting!

[Notp Get Lost]: Wolf, you’ve really got talent. Ever thought about switching sides and joining the Polaris fandom? Stop being only Joshua!

[Simp Joshua]: Get loooost! Don’t you dare try to steal our Wolf!!!!

Nine glanced at the comments, the corners of his lips curling upward as he tilted his chin so high it looked like he was gazing down at the world through his nose.

God, Joshua had to see this—had to know just how adored his man was out there! Then he’d definitely learn to cherish him more than ever!

Nine was practically trembling with excitement at the thought.

The numbers on the poll page kept shifting rapidly. The voting would end at midnight tonight, and the results would be announced right after.

Meanwhile, in the dance studio—

The sky outside was already fading into evening, but they still had another hour of practice to go.

Luther wiped the sweat from his face, then absentmindedly touched his lips. Joshua, noticing, immediately asked with concern, "Are you okay, Luther?"

Luther glanced at him and said casually, "Just a bit dry. By the way, where’s your lip balm?"

As he spoke, he reached out and pinched Joshua’s cheeks, making his lips pucker. "For these soft pink lips of yours."

"If you keep that up, I’ll kiss you," Joshua muttered.

If it had been before, Luther would’ve tossed Joshua aside without hesitation—but now, after a moment’s thought, he nodded thoughtfully. "Might not be a bad idea."

Joshua stared at him wide-eyed and yanked his hand down. "You’ve changed, Luther."

"What are you talking about? I’m just making you my exception!" Luther roared.

"I don’t need to be your exception," Joshua said as he rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a lip balm. His bright eyes were fixed on Luther seriously. "Alright, Luther, open your mouth."

Luther raised an eyebrow, watching Joshua’s eager expression as he held up the lip balm. Tsk, so Joshua liked this kind of thing—like painting nails, now he wanted to apply lip balm to others too.

In the end, Luther gave in and lowered his head, lips slightly puckered.

Just then, Leonard came back from the restroom—and immediately jumped in outrage. "Hey! You closeted gay, what the hell are you doing to Joshua?!"

Joshua: "?"

Luther: "!"

Closeted gay? What kind of new concept was that supposed to be?