Episode 20
1108 Words
As expected, Ethan's bold move to hold Emma's hand ignited an explosion of excitement in the live comments.
[FINALLY THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS!!]
[Leaving my mark to document Kevin and Emma's first hand-holding moment outside their roles!]
[Did anyone notice he called her "Em"? He's always said "Emma" before, but now it's "Em"!]
After the dedicated fans posted these moments on Twitter, hashtags about the Kevin-Emma pairing quickly climbed the trending list.
#KevinHoldsEmmasHand
#KevinEmmaCoupleSoSweet
#RealCouplesAreTheBestToShip
Kevin and Emma's fans frantically posted updates to gain momentum, but embarrassingly, the Sophia-Ethan hashtags remained firmly in the top three.
The Kevin-Emma tags barely managed to reach the fifth position.
Refusing to be outdone, Kevin-Emma fans compiled footage from today's date into fan videos:
"[Kevin×Emma] Pure Sweetness | Longing Gazes | Restrained Passion Is True Love"
"[KevinEmma] 'Em, may I hold your hand?'"
"Dating Show Highlights | KevinEmma Is The Ultimate Pairing"
These videos quickly gained traction with the collective support of their fanbase.
However, the viral Sophia-Ethan video had already surpassed 500,000 shares—an insurmountable height.
Some extreme fans cracked under pressure and launched direct attacks:
[RadiantSmile]: Can the Sophia-Ethan bots just stop? Their hashtag is only ranking third, never seen so many "fans" before, but suddenly they're everywhere. Do they think we're idiots?
[MintBlue]: She tried to latch onto Kevin before, and now that he's not interested, she's using the same tactics with Ethan. Can't Sophia just behave? Will she die if she's not constantly marketing herself?
[KevinSnowflake]: You people are desperate, shipping absolutely anything.
This wave of attacks quickly dominated the Sophia-Ethan tag.
But the counter-attack came just as swiftly and fiercely.
[LittleBrat]: Interesting, I don't recall Sophia or Ethan ever mentioning those other two names. What exactly are certain fans so triggered about?
[WhatAJoke]: Are casual viewers not allowed to enjoy a pairing? I saw their videos, followed the hashtag to find more content, and now I'm a "bot"? Are you paying my salary?
[DiGa]: Thanks for the reminder, I'm going to follow the Sophia-Ethan tag right now.
[NotYourBarber]: Hilarious. You copy their fan videos, then have a meltdown when yours aren't as popular.
[SassyComments]: I was watching a KevinEmma video on the subway when the person behind me reached over and scrolled it away.
...
Not only did the Kevin-Emma fans fail to outshine Sophia-Ethan, they actually drove casual viewers to follow the Sophia-Ethan tag.
The Sophia-Ethan following instantly surpassed the Jason-Mark pairing to claim second place, closing in on the top-ranked Kevin-Emma tag.
Meanwhile, the official "Human Relationship Observatory" page was flooded with new content. Many fans in Los Angeles had spotted cast members and uploaded candid photos.
That's when disaster struck.
Sophia and Ethan arrived at their next date location in the show's vehicle. As soon as Sophia stepped out, she spotted an egg flying toward her.
With lightning reflexes, she ducked down, pretending to tie her shoelace.
SPLAT!
The egg—a rotten one—hit the unsuspecting assistant director square in the face.
The stench was so overwhelming that the assistant director's eyes rolled back before he vomited uncontrollably.
"Sophia, you slut, get out of the show!"
"Gold-digging trash!"
"b***h! Stay away from our Ethan!"
Their car was surrounded by a mob of hateful anti-fans.
All wore black masks and carried arsenal of rotten eggs and decaying cabbage—clearly they had planned this ambush in advance.
"Well, well!"
Far from being alarmed, Sophia casually joked with Ethan, "I had no idea you had so many fans."
Ethan responded with a cryptic half-smile. "I doubt they're my fans."
Sophia raised her eyebrows at him as he looked back at her.
They were clearly thinking the same thing.
"Security! Where's security?! Stop them!" the assistant director shouted furiously.
Before security could intervene, the mob suddenly rushed forward and seized the filming equipment, smashing it to pieces.
Equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars was destroyed beyond repair. The group fled immediately, but not before someone left a threat:
"Either Sophia goes, or your show doesn't continue!"
The assistant director froze for several seconds before bursting into tears. "Goddamnit! This is a nightmare! Waaaaah!"
He'd told them he didn't want to work with this group, but John had insisted! Damn that John!
Through his tears, he noticed a packet of tissues appearing before him.
Sophia was offering them.
"Why the tears? Tears of joy?"
Assistant Director: "?"
What nonsense was she talking?
The equipment was destroyed, his clothes were filthy, everything was ruined, and the show couldn't go on!
"Clean yourself up—we're about to level up," Sophia said, tossing the tissues into his lap before turning to get back in the car.
The assistant director was still confused when Ethan approached him.
"What Sophia means is..."
Ethan placed a hand on his shoulder, lips curving into a subtle yet eerie smile, "You're about to witness record-breaking ratings."
...
#SophiaEthanBreakup
#EthanFansAttackSophia
#SophiaEthanBroadcastInterrupted
As the livestream suddenly cut off, news of Sophia being attacked by anti-fans quickly dominated the trending topics, pushing all the previous romance-related hashtags down the list.
[TiredOfEverything]: Ethan's fans have gone completely insane, smashing equipment and stopping the show from filming. This is beyond unacceptable.
[HarmlessWatcher]: I was watching the livestream and was absolutely terrified. At first I thought it was staged, but it became increasingly obvious it was real.
[NotMyFault]: If Ethan's fans hate Sophia this much, how can anyone still ship them? I certainly can't anymore.
[CantArgueWithThat]: Stop discussing it—both fandoms are already at each other's throats. It's getting ugly. This couple is done.
[HateDumbDogs]: So is the show continuing or not? If they don't resume broadcasting soon, I'm switching to the Kevin-Emma stream.
[BigMouth]: Everyone! They're back online! Hurry!
Viewers rushed back to the livestream, only to find the video quality had taken a massive hit.
The audio was full of static, clearly indicating they weren't using professional equipment anymore.
[Is this being filmed on a landline?]
[Respectable dedication—camera gets smashed so they use phones instead. Professional but the quality is terrible.]
[Sigh, I was already losing interest, and now with this poor quality, I'm tempted to watch the other couple instead.]
"Patience," Sophia suddenly addressed the camera.
She lounged casually in her seat, while Ethan sat beside her with a composed, satisfied smile.
The smartphone recording made the image slightly blurry, and without proper lighting, the scene was dark.
Yet somehow, this raw footage gave them both a dangerous, villainous aura.
"Had enough of the sweet romantic comedy?" Sophia asked, resting her chin on one hand, her eyes curving into crescent moons as she smiled.
"How about a revenge thriller instead?"
- Writer
