บท 462: Extreme recoil
Looking into those eyes, calm yet tumultuous, Seth found this contradictory state vividly before him. He knew Renly had poured countless efforts into this movie, this role, while he himself had remained a bystander, as if he had made no attempts at all. This made him slightly uneasy. But on a deeper level, those eyes reminded him of Will, particularly of Will when he was seriously ill. Seth realized that Will needed help, yet he was powerless, able only to crack jokes and laugh, a façade that caused his heart to ache.
And now, it was the same.
Memories of the past flooded his mind, accompanied by not just helplessness but also a sense of sadness and bitterness. His mouth felt dry, his thoughts scattered. Seth cleared his throat twice, masking his emotions.
"Tonight, we're relying on you for this scene. I'll be there to crack jokes on the side, not doing much. Haha." However, the humor that usually came naturally seemed a bit forced now, causing Seth to rub his nose and say somewhat sheepishly, "Alright then, when you're ready, we can start shooting."
The entire crew was poised for action, waiting for Renly for the past forty-five minutes. Now that Renly had nodded, the crew instantly went through their warm-up motions, and the crisp voice of the script supervisor echoed through the set. With the sound of the clapperboard, the scene was finally underway.
Kyle grumbled and muttered, expressing his desire to numb himself with alcohol at a bar, to help Adam relax. Yet, Adam only wanted to drive. This left Kyle feeling irritated. However, Adam paid no heed to his complaints and calmly said, "Can I have the keys?"
Kyle looked up and glanced at Adam. Those calm eyes seemed like an unfathomable lake, a pool of impenetrable darkness. All that was left was an enigmatic blackness, like a black hole absorbing all emotions. This left Kyle bewildered, struggling to grasp the situation.
Before him stood Adam, emotions of sorrow, anger, confusion, suppression, silence – none of them overt. They settled quietly between his brows, as if the world's colors were fading away, transforming into black and white. The eruption was instant but silent, causing Kyle to freeze in place.
In that moment of bewilderment, Adam swiftly snatched the car keys from his hand.
Seth Logan quickly regained his composure, awkwardly rubbing his neck to cover his recent embarrassment. He muttered, "Ok, be careful." Then, bypassing the front of the car, he headed toward the passenger seat. But, inattentively, he stumbled over himself, taking two staggering steps before lunging forward.
This was an accident, not a scripted sequence.
Seth felt a bit flustered and disheveled. Fortunately, he wasn't a rookie actor anymore. He didn't interrupt the shooting process. With a theatrical touch, he let out a loud cry that startled a flock of birds in the silent night, then couldn't help but loudly shout at Adam, "Just drive carefully, or you'll end up in a ditch like me."
Unfazed, Adam opened the car door and directly sat in the driver's seat. His actions showed no hesitation, and it seemed as though he had no intention of waiting for Kyle. He looked like he was about to drive away without any delay. His unwavering actions made Kyle panic. Discarding any concern for his image, Kyle grabbed the car hood with both hands, controlled his balance, then raced around the car, his steps taking him to the passenger seat in a flash.
This stark contrast between calm and motion created an unexpectedly humorous effect, causing the crew members behind the monitors to chuckle involuntarily.
Opening the passenger door, Kyle finally caught his breath and started chattering, "Don't change my seat adjustment, okay? It's all in places I like." He settled into the passenger seat, closed the door, but didn't immediately fasten his seatbelt. Instead, he adjusted his breath, allowing his racing heart to calm down.
But within that brief second, Adam directly started the engine, revving the gas pedal. This startled Kyle, who simultaneously pulled his seatbelt and reached for the handbrake. Muttering, "Okay. Okay. Now the first thing..." he was about to give Adam a driving lesson, starting from the basics of starting the engine, and then...
There was no "then."
Just as the handbrake was released, Adam switched to reverse gear. With a press on the gas pedal, the entire car swiftly began to move backward, tracing a huge circle. The world around his line of sight started spinning rapidly, a full 360 degrees, rendering the surroundings blurry and mosaic-like. Kyle's voice transformed as he exclaimed, "The first thing... Ahhh!"
Accompanied by the sound of acceleration and brakes, the car's rear directly collided with the railing of the adjacent parking spot. An emergency brake and the car stalled.
Seth was completely caught off guard. He gripped the handle above the window with both hands, his body shaking violently due to the sudden brake. "What the f*ck!"
However, before Seth could finish his sentence, Adam unexpectedly started the engine again, stepped on the gas pedal, and shifted gears. The syllable "f*ck" was still colliding between his lips and teeth, echoing inside the car. In the next second, the car whooshed forward, and Seth widened his eyes, his hands on the handle growing even tighter.
This wasn't acting; this was real.
Seth felt like his eyeballs were about to pop out. He couldn't distinguish between reality and acting. He felt as if he had been kidnapped and placed on the speeding bus from "Speed." But this sensation of imminent danger was far from enjoyable. Every muscle in his body was taut, and he stared straight ahead. Regret was futile now; all he could do was clasp his fingers together and pray.
"Make a left, Make a left." Seth caught sight of the one-way sign from the corner of his eye. They could only turn left here. He reminded them aloud. However, he watched as Adam went straight, not turning left or right, but straight ahead. The surroundings became a blur, and Seth felt like the car was careening out of control, headed straight for the trees on the other side of the road.
"It's a one-way street!" Seth's voice became distorted, to the point where he couldn't even recognize it as his own. It sounded like a choking rooster, sharp and piercing, his right side then filled with a blinding light. Seth knew it was the high beam. Moreover, it was the high beam that was almost upon them. This meant that a car was coming from the opposite direction, and in the next second, they were going to collide.
"What the f*ck!" Seth clutched his head, covered his eyes, screaming and yelling, just like a terrified girl in a horror movie. He didn't know if Renly could drive, and he didn't know if the professional driver on the other side had anticipated this kind of accident. He had no capacity to think about these questions. His only thought was: he didn't want to die.
He was an actor, but he hadn't prepared to sacrifice himself for a role. "Jesus Christ!" He cursed profusely, genuinely cursing.
But in the next second, he felt the whole car make a sharp turn, tossing him out heavily. His right shoulder slammed against the window, and he didn't even have time to cry out in pain. When he opened his eyes, he saw that the oncoming car had swerved around, and Adam had turned the steering wheel right at the last moment. The car maneuvered like a snake, wobbling and twisting onto the road before straightening out.
Yet Seth hadn't even had a chance to catch his breath before he screamed again, "There is a car, car!" His desperate shout was filled with the desire to survive. "Wrong way, wrong way!" He didn't even know what he was saying anymore. Then he saw the approaching car honking wildly as it whooshed past them. Even without opening his eyes, he could imagine a scene of profanity from the other driver.
"Christ, dude. What the hell?" Seth knew he couldn't just sit and wait for death. He hadn't prepared to die here. "Stop!" Seth turned his head and looked at the person in the driver's seat. His eyes were calm as water, yet they surged with pain. Like moonlight rippling on the surface of a lake, there were layers of quiet ripples, disturbing the entire world. Seth's brain short-circuited in an instant. "Adam," the shout escaped his lips. "Stop! Stop, man!"
This wasn't Renly, and it wasn't Will. It was Adam.
But Adam had no intention of stopping. He even pressed harder on the gas pedal, accelerating continuously. The roar of the engine grew louder, causing heart-pounding anxiety, like the resounding clang of the Grim Reaper's scythe.
Finally, Seth couldn't bear it any longer and yanked up the handbrake, forcefully bringing the car to a stop.
With an urgent braking sound, Seth lunged forward, but he had mentally prepared for this. He lifted his hands in time, propping himself against the storage compartment for cushioning, absorbing the impact. Yet even so, his heart continued to race wildly, and the rush of post-survival joy was immediately overtaken by fear and anger.
"What the f*ck are you doing, man?" Seth roared angrily at Adam in the driver's seat. His emotions were in chaos, making it impossible to organize his thoughts. His words stumbled and stuttered, lacking a clear train of thought. He could only express himself incoherently. "You're being an idiot right now."
"Get out." Adam ignored Seth's furious shouts, speaking coldly and dispassionately.
Seth couldn't help but freeze. The anger inside him intensified. "Get out?"
He looked at Adam incredulously. The distinct contours of Adam's profile held an unwavering determination, as if he had drawn a line in the sand, establishing a world that separated everyone else. The unfamiliarity and coldness melted into the darkness, carrying a touch of sadness.
Yet the emotions surfacing deep within Seth weren't pity or sympathy; they were anger, growing even stronger. He had been avoiding the fact that Adam had cancer, striving to maintain a semblance of normalcy, rejecting the sympathy that added pressure. Therefore, in this moment, he roared without restraint, "This is my car!"
"Get out of the car!" Adam's hands clutched the steering wheel tightly, as if compressing it to its limits. It was either release or collapse. The perilous danger transmitted through the veins on the back of his hands and the bloodshot eyes.
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