Chapter 411 - Only One

The Black Stars and Jin Chonglin’s army of fans immediately swarmed and took over the internet once the names of their Boss Iris and Prince Lin Lin were mentioned. They watched the trailer in droves to confirm whether it was their boss and prince’s voices who were really singing the theme song together. Their collective action resulted in the trailer becoming the most viewed video within a 24-hour period.

As diehard fans, they instantly recognized Iris Long and Jin Chonglin’s voices. Even if the two changed their faces, their loyal fans would always recognize them by their singing voices.

However, it was much easier to recognize Jin Chonglin’s singing voice than Iris’ because people had already heard him trying to sing in different music styles throughout the years that he had been in showbiz.

On the other hand, Iris Long was still astounding everyone with her almost unbelievable musical range and versatility. People were still not sure what her limits were when it came to music. They felt like she hadn’t shown everything she was capable of yet.

Although there still wasn’t any official confirmation that Iris Long and Jin Chonglin were really the ones singing the theme song for the upcoming romance TV drama, "Our Love, Our Destiny", their fans were already certain that it was the two of them. Almost everyone was freaking out in great anticipation and excitement.

Of course, the ones who were the most overjoyed were the LinRis shippers. They considered this surprise music collaboration as proof of their boss and prince’s romantic relationship. They still believed that their Prince Lin Lin was the real fiancé of their Boss Iris.

People demanded an official confirmation from both Jin Chonglin and Iris Long, Bright Summit, their record labels, and even the cast and production staff of "Our Love, Our Destiny". However, they didn’t say anything.

Their silence only heightened the excitement, boosting the attention and interest the upcoming TV drama was getting from the media and the public.

After more than an entire day of waiting, the long-awaited official confirmation arrived when JJ’s record label made an announcement. It said:

"We are excited to announce that multi-award-winning musician Iris Long will be collaborating with superstar Jin Chonglin to sing the theme song of the upcoming TV drama ’Our Love, Our Destiny’ premiering soon next season. The love song is a duet titled ’Shining Eyes’, composed and written by Iris Long and produced by our very own Mr. JJ. More details will be released in a few days. Please look forward to the release of this dream collaboration and support both Iris Long and Jin Chonglin’s new song. Also don’t forget to watch the upcoming TV drama ’Our Love, Our Destiny’. Thank you very much!"

The public’s reaction was quite predictable. The Black Stars, Jin Chonglin’s army of fans, and most especially the LinRis shippers all celebrated after this official confirmation by JJ’s record label.

"Kyaaaaaah!!! I’m so freaking excited!!! I just know that this will be the biggest love song of the year!!!"

"It says that Iris Long is the songwriter. From her track record so far after her comeback, she’s known for her dark, depressing and sometimes even twisted music. However, ’Shining Eyes’ sounds like a sweet and romantic love song based on what we’ve heard so far from the teaser included in the trailer. I wonder if her songwriting skills will be as effective in this kind of sweet and romantic song as her usual dark and twisted songs that we’re so used to hearing from her."

"Boss Iris is a brilliant songwriter who has already won multiple awards for her music! So of course, this sweet and romantic love song as you call it will also have the same high quality like her previous songs! I bet my precious cup noodles on it!"

"I agree! I bet that this love song is actually Boss Iris’ love letter to her beloved fiancé who I’m super sure is actually Prince Lin Lin! It’s so romantic that the engaged couple is singing a love song together to profess their love to one another through music! #WeLoveLinRis #LinRisForever"

Shortly after, Bright Summit and the TV drama’s production both confirmed the music collaboration as well. The TV drama revved up its promotion, using the popularity of both Iris Long and Jin Chonglin in its publicity.

Then things went even crazier when Jin Chonglin himself confirmed the music collaboration by means of a simple post on his blog.

He posted a photo of himself taking a selfie with an unaware Iris in the background. She was playing the keyboard in a music studio with a big grey cat curled on her lap. It looked like she didn’t know that someone was taking a picture of her at that very moment.

As for Jin Chonglin, he looked mischievous as he pressed a finger to his lips (a "please keep quiet" gesture) while secretly taking a picture of Iris without her knowledge. A striped orange cat was balanced on his shoulder, rubbing itself against the side of his head. It was super adorable.

The photo was captioned "A typical working day with Junior Iris: she plays the music while I play with the cats. This is the life, I’m telling you."

Just a second after he posted this on his blog, it was immediately flooded with thousands of comments. The LinRis shippers were at the very forefront. They all fangirled, fanboyed, and fangayed over their dream couple.

Of course, the Black Stars immediately recognized their Boss Iris’ cats. They even knew their names as Ice Cream and Popcorn. The fact that one of them, Popcorn, looked so close and comfortable with Jin Chonglin was making them think that perhaps he was really their boss’ real fiancé.

They were confused because Jin Chonglin’s body build was completely different from the man in the photo shown during Iris’ interview with Feng Jiu. Although both of their bodies looked hot and fit, Jin Chonglin was much slimmer while the other man was bigger and a bit more ripped.

There were also a few people who dug up old photos of Lu Zihao. They couldn’t find any recent photos of him. As the photos were from many years ago, nobody could tell for sure whether he was actually Iris’ fiancé just based on body build alone. The general public didn’t know much about him, but the members of high society believed that he was Iris’ fiancé.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Despite all of these conflicting guesses, the LinRis shippers remained steadfast in their belief that their Prince Lin Lin was their Boss Iris’ real fiancé. They speculated that their boss was just using another man to pretend to be her fiancé to deflect the attention from their prince.

However, their belief was shaken when Iris Long made her own post as an indirect response to Jin Chonglin’s earlier blog post.

She posted a photo featuring her two cats as well. This time, however, the two cats were lovingly curled all over the familiar body of the mysterious man she was claiming to be her real fiancé. Once again, the man’s face wasn’t shown, only his body.

The simple caption read: "My kids only have one daddy."

The LinRis shippers were in complete denial. They refused to believe that she was engaged to another man other than their Prince Lin Lin.

"Boss Iris! Why do you put us in this torture?! If you’re really not engaged to Prince Lin Lin, please prove it to us by introducing your real fiancé!!!"

They cried to her with this plea. Unexpectedly, she replied.

IrisLong: "Soon."

A few seconds of shock. Then another uproar.