Chapitre 15: My Costar is fine with fanservice

Xin Hulei doesn't stay much longer in Yao Shen's trailer after those cryptic words.

Yao Shen is glad to see the back of him. Xin Hulei has the uncanny ability to disconcert him with everything he says.

Eventually, Yao Shen needs to get back on set and finish the rest of his day.

His mood is terrible and his acting suffers for it, he has to go over each scene multiple times since the director isn't happy with his performance.

Yao Shen can't blame him, he knows his head isn't fully in the performance, but he can't stop thinking he'll wake up tomorrow and be dismissed from the production.

Finally, his uneven first day of filming comes to a close and while Yao Shen fervently hopes it won't be the last, he doesn't want to set himself up for disappointment.

He's silent during the car ride with Bi Jialu to the hotel. The rain doesn't let up for even a minute, falling in thick sheets over the windows, a perfect backdrop for Yao Shen's miserable mood.

Once he gets to his room he takes a shower and crawls into bed, preparing himself for a restless night.

---

He must fall asleep at some point during the early hours of the morning, because he wakes up with a start to the sound of someone knocking angrily against his door.

He stumbles out of bed, still sleepy, and only has the presence of mind to wrap a robe around himself before opening the door.

Through the haze of sleep obscuring his hazy eyes he manages to make out Bi Jialu's pinched expression. Her hand lifted to strike the door again, phone clutched in her fist.

"I've been calling for ages, laoshi, why didn't you answer?"

Yao Shen chances one look behind his shoulder at the low coffee table where he threw his phone yesterday, the battery completely drained by now.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to charge my phone," he says, rubbing sleep out of his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Please get dressed, laoshi, we have an urgent meeting with the director," Bi Jialu says, wringing her hands.

Yao Shen goes very still.

He knew this was coming, but it still throws him for a loop.

He puts on a plain tracksuit, and pins his wig on top of his head. He considers hiding his under eye circles with sunglasses but decides against it -- he's on the way out anyway, why the extra effort?

Bi Jialu leads him to one of the hotel's smaller conference rooms in the lower floor.

When they arrive, Director Chen is already there, as well as that woman from HuaHua who was suddenly interested in Yao Shen when he was cast as Yan Shuyi.

Oddly, Xin Hulei is also there, his legs open in an insouciant sprawl, one arm reaching backwards to reach his chair's backrest.

His dark eyes follow Yao Shen as he walks into the room, tracking his movement, gaze as inscrutable as ever.

Yao Shen raises one eyebrow at him and takes the only free seat at his side.

"Thanks for joining us, Yao laoshi," the impeccably dressed woman says, running an anxious hand through her short bob. "I'm sure you're aware of the footage that leaked online yesterday."

Yao Shen nods, crossing his arms in front of his chest protectively and sinking further into his chair.

This is it, this is the final blow. He tries to mentally prepare himself to be dismissed from the role of Yan Shuyi.

He only wishes that Xin Hulei wasn't also present at the moment of yet another of his most humiliating moments.

The woman nods, and clicks her long nails against the smooth tabletop. "There's no other way to say this, Yao laoshi, but we need to rehabilitate your image." She waves at the space between him and Xin Hulei. "Both of your images."

Xin Hulei doesn't seem surprised by this, but her words make Yao Shen sit up straighter.

That means they're not giving up on him yet.

Director Chen clears his throat. "It would be fine if this wasn't also a romantic drama," he smiles apologetically. "but we really can't afford for the public to have the impression that the relationship between the two of you isn't good."

He sighs. "I'm afraid we'll have to trouble the two laoshi."

Trouble? How so?

Xin Hulei nods soberly. "I understand, I'm fully committed to ensuring the drama's success," and then with an odd intensity adds, "I hope we can do justice to the original author's work."

Is he fan of the novel's writer or something?

Yao Shen doesn't have time to ponder Xin Hulei's idiosyncrasies -- he needs to figure out what they want from them first.

"Uhm, what do we need to do, exactly?" he asks, looking from the HuaHua representative to Director Chen.

Director Chen coughs into his closed fist, clearly flustered.

The woman fixes him with a steady look. "Over the next weeks we're going to orchestrate a series of photo ops of the two of you acting friendly, as well as release behind the scenes footage through unofficial channels to increase its authenticity in the eyes of the public."

She said a lot of words, but it all boils down to one thing -- fanservice.

Yao Shen didn't expect he would have to do fanservice while actually filming the drama instead of during its promotional run, but it's still better than the alternative of being removed from the production.

The woman waves her arms around excitedly. "Of course we also have to remember the illegal photographers roaming around the perimeter of the set, trying to catch a glimpse. For their benefit, and of whatever they might catch, the two laoshi should still act close while shooting."

Yao Shen grits his teeth and nods. It's not like he has an alternative.

"How close should we be exactly?" Xin Hulei asks, the fingers of his right hand resting distractedly above the ankle of his folded left leg.

"Nothing too over the top, just the usual camaraderie one would expect from coworkers who are getting to know each other and growing closer," she smiles jovially, but Yao Shen doesn't miss the way she puts stress on the word 'closer'.

He might be mistaken, but he thinks that what she's hinting at is that he and Xin Hulei should keep things lowkey for now only -- in the future it might be advantageous to ramp it up.

Without another word Xin Hulei gets up to his feet, unfolding his long legs and stretching his arms above his head, making his tshirt ride up and reveal a sliver of toned abdomen.

"We'll do our best," his eyes fly towards Yao Shen. "Won't we?"

Yao Shen gets up to his feet with a smile of his own. "Of course."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries everyone files out of the room. Xin Hulei stays behind and follows after Yao Shen, holding on to his waist to keep him behind while the others make their way to the elevators.

"We should have lunch together from now on," Xin Hulei says, his warm breath tickling Yao Shen's sensitive nape. "You need to stop being so tense around me."

How can Yao Shen not tense up with Xin Hulei's hand almost spanning his entire waist with such propriety? How can someone so cold and introspective like Xin Hulei be so casual about touching other people?

Or is Yao Shen special?

Does he do it because he knows it makes Yao Shen uncomfortable?

"Fine, now let go of me," Yao Shen says, trying to dislodge Xin Hulei's hand.

The fingers on his waist tighten for a minute before letting go. "You're too skinny, you need to eat more," Xin Hulei says as he walks past Yao Shen and out of the room. "I'll take you out to dinner tonight, I know a place."

Yao Shen is left in stumped silence watching Xin Hulei's retreating back, his brain trying to process the man's sheer audacity.