Dark Fire chapter 6
Someone You Like
Back at the hotel, Ling Zhuo received the shooting schedule for the next day.
He had quite a few scenes, scheduled throughout the morning and afternoon. The crew divided into AB groups for shooting, with his scenes in the morning all in the B group, along with other supporting roles. He would only join the A group in the afternoon for scenes with the male and female leads.
Most of his scenes were actually with Yu Fei, the female lead.
After going through the script for tomorrow’s shoot, taking another shower, Ling Zhuo sat on the bed and checked the time. It was already past nine.
Zhong Yiran sent a message asking if he had gone to bed. Ling Zhuo replied, “Not yet, just finished showering, will sleep soon.”
When Zhong Yiran asked about his relationship with Lu Chixie, Ling Zhuo replied, “It’s okay, similar to other people in the crew,” and he didn’t ask further. Ling Zhuo absentmindedly wondered if Zhong Yiran would mind him getting close to others.
He met Zhong Yiran on his first day at the company. Zhong Yiran was steady and reliable, always the leader and backbone of their group of five. Zhong Yiran treated him well, as he did with everyone else. Sometimes Ling Zhuo felt he was special in Zhong Yiran’s eyes, but sometimes he thought he might be overthinking it.
Wavering back and forth, feeling unsure, but never daring to confront it, fearing that he might have indeed been overthinking it, and ending up with no friends in the end.
Zhong Yiran sent another message: “Feeling tired from shooting?”
Ling Zhuo: “Yes, shooting a scene repeatedly is embarrassing.”
Zhong Yiran: “There’s nothing embarrassing about it. You’re a newcomer, there’s always a learning process. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”
With Zhong Yiran’s comforting words, Ling Zhuo felt much better. “Captain, could you come to visit me on set when you’re free? You can bring the others too.”
Zhong Yiran: “I’ll come when I’m free. Just focus on shooting, don’t worry about other things.”
Ling Zhuo: “Okay.”
Although Zhong Yiran didn’t specify when he would come, Ling Zhuo assumed he had agreed.
After a few more words, Zhong Yiran reminded Ling Zhuo to stop using his phone and sleep early, then bid him good night.
Ling Zhuo still couldn’t sleep. He saw more than a dozen new notifications in his friend circle, so he clicked in to check. They were all recent likes, with Lu Chixie liking every post in his friend circle.
Ling Zhuo: “…”
He had been using this personal account even before his debut, and he only added family, friends, and close classmates. He actually liked posting in his friend circle, sharing anything fun and interesting he came across, of course, unrelated to work.
Sometimes he would post selfies or group photos with others, mostly with his teammates. He was a bit selfish and didn’t like posting solo photos with Zhong Yiran, so he often pulled others in.
Seeing that Lu Chixie was still scrolling through his friend circle, Ling Zhuo furrowed his brows and changed the settings to only show posts from the last three days.
Two minutes later, Lu Chixie sent a message: “Why did you change the settings?”
Ling Zhuo: “It’s basic social etiquette not to randomly browse through someone’s past friend circle posts. Doesn’t Teacher Lu understand?”
Lu Chixie: “Is that so?”
Ling Zhuo didn’t want to respond anymore.
Then another message came: “Ling, want to have supper?”
Ling Zhuo: “No, thanks.”
The doorbell rang outside.
Ling Zhuo thought of pretending not to hear, but the person knocking on the door didn’t leave, and the doorbell kept ringing incessantly, so he had to get up to open the door.
Lu Chixie was holding a bag of takeout in his hand: “Spicy crayfish, want some?”
Before Ling Zhuo could refuse, Lu Chixie smiled and said, “I noticed you often post this in your friend circle. Do you like it? You didn’t eat much during dinner, are you hungry?”
Then he added with a smile, “Ling, it’s just supper together, not breaking any rules.”
Being teased like this by Lu Chixie, Ling Zhuo felt somewhat embarrassed. After hesitating for a moment, he let Lu Chixie in.
He indeed didn’t eat much during dinner, mainly because Lu Chixie, who kept watching him, made him feel uncomfortable.
Plus, the spicy crayfish did smell really good.
As they sat down, he casually remarked, “Teacher Lu, aren’t you afraid I’ll take out my phone and start live streaming?”
Lu Chixie laughed, teasing, “Ling, I’ve noticed you’re not very polite to me.”
Ling Zhuo looked at him, and Lu Chixie didn’t mind at all, saying, “Do as you wish.”
Ling Zhuo closed his mouth and silently lowered his head to eat.
After finishing supper, Lu Chixie showed no intention of leaving. He spotted the script on the coffee table in the living room, walked over, picked it up, and glanced at it, then asked, “How many scenes are you shooting tomorrow?”
Ling Zhuo: “There are two scenes in Group B in the morning, and in the afternoon, there’s a scene with you and Fei jie.”
Lu Chixie carefully flipped through his script, amused, “You even have to mark down what emotions to express and how in the script?”
Ling Zhuo explained embarrassedly, “I’m not a professional actor, I can only use this clumsy method, unlike you, Teacher Lu, whose acting skills are so good.”
Lu Chixie glanced at him, “You think I have good acting skills?”
“Well, they are quite good,” Ling Zhuo nodded honestly, “Did you learn acting since you were young?”
Lu Chixie casually said, “I often followed my mom to the set when she was filming when I was a kid, I watched a lot and imitated on my own, I didn’t have any formal training before college.”
Ling Zhuo understood. He had watched every movie of Lu Chixie’s mom, and their house was filled with posters of her when he was young. The person he envied the most back then, perhaps, was Lu Chixie, who was only two years older than him and often appeared in the news alongside An Xin.
Lu Chixie: “What’s the use of you writing all these things? It’s better if I accompany you and we rehearse it together.”
Ling Zhuo hesitated, “That’s a bit troublesome…”
Lu Chixie interrupted him, “Not troublesome, let’s start.”
Ling Zhuo was about to refuse but changed his mind, “Well, thank you then.”
The two scenes in the morning were one where Lin Lanyu and the sect elders discussed sect affairs, and the other where he prepared a birthday gift for Zhuge You, with Lu Chixie playing the role of his opponent, reminding him of emotional expression and body language.
“Ling, have you really never been in love? How come there’s no sense of anticipation and joy in your eyes when preparing a birthday gift for someone you love?” Lu Chixie leaned back on the sofa, pointing with his fingers, interrupting him.
Ling Zhuo pursed his lips, “Let me try again.”
If he imagined Zhuge You as Zhen Yiran, he seemed to know how to act.
Lu Chixie watched him as if suddenly coming alive, the smile on his lips gradually fading, his eyes squinting slightly.
After Ling Zhuo finished acting, he didn’t hear Lu Chixie’s voice, so he turned to look at him, “Teacher Lu, was my performance just now okay?”
Lu Chixie: “Who were you thinking about when you were acting?”
Ling Zhuo: “…Nobody.”
Lu Chixie chuckled, “Ling, you’re not being honest again.”
Under Lu Chixie’s gaze, Ling Zhuo uncomfortably averted his eyes and dryly said, “I’ve never been in love.”
After a moment of deadlock, Lu Chixie picked up his script again, “Let’s do the next scene.”
In the afternoon, Ling Zhuo also had two scenes. One was Zhuge You asking Lin Lanyu for life-saving medicine, and the other was Lin Lanyu following Zhuge You to see the person she brought back, coincidentally, Xuan Jiang woke up, and a subtle undercurrent surged between them.
Lin Lanyu’s feelings for Zhuge You could be summarized as involuntary love, indulgence, and cherishing. Ling Zhuo had been struggling to portray the emotional scenes well, but tonight, he was awakened by a word from Lu Chixie.
Although imagining someone else might not be a good acting method, for him, it was the most appropriate method for now.
Lu Chixie’s expression gradually darkened, unnoticed by Ling Zhuo.
They began to rehearse the last scene.
“Who are you?” Lin Lanyu, alert and instinctively defensive, looked at the unfamiliar man who woke up in Zhuge You’s room.
Xuan Jiang looked up, his dark eyes devoid of any emotion, not even a ripple, calmly sweeping over Lin Lanyu and landing on Zhuge You.
This was how it was in the script, but Lu Chixie stared at Ling Zhuo, his expression inexplicable, never moving his eyes away.
Ling Zhuo: “…Teacher Lu?”
Suddenly, Lu Chixie reached out, catching Ling Zhuo off guard as he pulled his wrist forcefully, stumbling two steps forward, falling onto Lu Chixie’s body. The next moment, Lu Chixie pressed him down, flipping him over onto the sofa.
Ling Zhuo instinctively struggled, but Lu Chixie held him down firmly, pressing him closer.
With a fierce bite, Ling Zhuo clenched Lu Chixie’s thumb. Lu Chixie didn’t let go, not even furrowing his brow, staring down at Ling Zhuo, allowing him to bite.
Tasting blood, Ling Zhuo reluctantly released Lu Chixie’s thumb, his eyes reddening with anger.
Lu Chixie looked at his bleeding thumb indifferently, bringing it to his lips, still staring at Ling Zhuo beneath him, slowly licking away the blood.
“What are you trying to do?” Ling Zhuo, feeling the weight of Lu Chixie’s gaze, became increasingly agitated, “I can’t afford to offend you, can you let me go?”
Lu Chixie leaned down, whispering in his ear, “I won’t let you go.”
Ling Zhuo tried to kick him, but Lu Chixie suppressed him, “But I’m not interested in you. Can’t you understand human language?”
Lu Chixie: “Who are you interested in?”
Ling Zhuo: “I told you, it’s none of your business!”
Glaring angrily at Ling Zhuo, Lu Chixie clicked his tongue, finally letting go of his hand, tapping lightly at the corner of his reddened eyes, “Just kidding with you, don’t look like you’re about to cry.”
He let go of Ling Zhuo and stood up, “Let’s call it a day. From now on, I’ll come every night to help you with the scenes for the next day. This is a task assigned by Director He, you can only accept it.”