63 5.9

While Chen Yu was recovering from his hangover, several people were stuck behind their monitor screens, staring at what he'd offhandedly thrown at them.

In Fanxing Entertainment Group's office headquarters, Director Tantai spotted an email from Xiang Kai titled "Proposal," and he was initially quite pleased that he was the first person from the company whom the actor had responded positively to. Although he had created numerous blockbusters and was widely respected by both the critics and the public, he was well aware that he couldn't succeed alone. No matter how talented he was, if a big celebrity like Sun Ri shunned him, he would be irreversibly crippled. Therefore, he'd dispatched an offer to Xiang Kai weeks ago merely for appearance's sake, not expecting much of it.

Surprisingly, however, the actor who had previously turned down everyone using the same blunt "Rejected" subject line had suddenly changed his standard stance for him, giving him quite a bit of face. So the director opened the message in a gracious mood, but where there should have been an agreement to star in his new movie, what he found was a request to review an attached screenplay that Xiang Kai had written.

The aghast man shook his computer in misery. Why did actors always have to 'branch out' and cause all this trouble instead of sticking to what they were good at? Now what was he supposed to do? If he refused to direct it and Xiang Kai was offended, Sun Ri would come crashing down on him. If he accepted it and the movie flopped, his reputation would come crashing down on him. There was no good ending here!

Naturally, he couldn't even conceive of the possibility that the script would be halfway decent. After all, even if carrying off such a feat was feasible for any other fledgling actor, from what he'd heard of Xiang Kai, this boy wouldn't be able to. Supposedly, Xiang Kai was rarely witnessed even speaking any terms besides "En," which was not a ringing endorsement of his vocabulary. Nevertheless, Director Tantai recognized that he couldn't simply ignore the email, so he plucked up his courage and skimmed through the attached document.

An hour later, the man blankly gaped at the screen. Who said that Xiang Kai wasn't skilled with words, he was clearly extraordinarily capable, alright? Bursting with excitement and relief, the director joyfully replied to the proposal.

Whereas Director Tantai was ultimately gratified by what Chen Yu had sent him, Shui Re Dian was twisting around in agony from Xiang Kai's casual question.

His cute junior hadn't caused him trouble, but that bastard Sun Ri certainly had! Ever since that wrap party, his agent had called him with bad news, one after another. His audition had fallen through, his sponsorship contract wouldn't be renewed, his previous scandals had been republished in the gossip magazines. Despite knowing that Sun Ri was behind everything, he didn't have any proof to fight back with. Of course, in reality, even if he did have evidence, he wouldn't be able to do anything with it—the futile efforts of Sun Ri's former, now-buried opponents of the king had long demonstrated that no media outlet would cover negative news about him.

In any case, Shui Re Dian thoroughly understood Sun Ri's point, it was now engraved in his bones that he couldn't approach Xiang Kai without risking his career entirely. Gazing forlornly at the picture he'd kept of his junior from their scene together, Shui Re Dian sighed. All hope of a relationship with him had died, but he should at least assure the poor kid that he hadn't embarrassed himself, shouldn't he? Even that bastard would have to concede that putting Xiang Kai's worries to rest should come first.

Deceiving himself in this way, Shui Re Dian squeezed his brain and carefully tapped out, "Not much happened, don't be anxious. You just fainted, but it's probably better if you avoid drinking again. Also, watch out for the people around you, not all seniors are like me. Some of them have black hearts and might try to swallow you whole." Although on the inside, Shui Re Dian wanted to explicitly caution Xiang Kai against Sun Ri, he didn't dare to go so far, he could only pray that his junior took his warning to heart.

Meanwhile, the 'bastard' Sun Ri was enjoying himself on his bed, running the surveillance feed from Kai's apartment on his huge, high resolution television screen as he reviewed his inbox. Even as he worked on various things, he kept the monitor on, because being able to check on the boy at any time somehow made his emotions settle down, even his anxiety about how to draw closer to his doll lessened.

Admittedly, he had been rather agitated at the sight of Kai undressing completely, but he'd controlled himself well. It had only taken a few minutes for him to regain his senses after glimpsing that stunning view, in which, on top of his doll's customary beauty, the marks he'd left were visible everywhere, imprinted along the insides of those soft thighs, around that delicate neck, next to the swollen, light pink beans on his chest. While the memory of how he'd spent all night creating those brands had definitely distracted him briefly, Sun Ri had swiftly reminded himself of the purpose of those cameras, he'd cleared his throat and simply saved that section of the clip for later. En, he had to keep the video as reference, for the future when he would tell the boy that he shouldn't sleep nude again, it could be harmful to his health.

Moreover, aside from the reassurance of having Kai in front of his eyes, Sun Ri was satisfied with how other issues had resolved themselves.

Shui Re Dian should now have suffered some consequences for eyeing his doll, enough to deter him from reaching out those dirty claws again. And if they proved not to be, Sun Ri smiled, then he would be put through punishment until he surrendered.

More importantly, he finally had a way to legitimately stick to Kai. His doll was apparently talented in everything, he had written a screenplay and sent it to Director Tantai. As was proper, the old man had volunteered to assist with the movie and had directly relayed the information to him, the one silly detail was that he had then followed with a hesitant query on whether Sun Ri wished to perform in it or not.

The answer was absurdly self-evident, but Sun Ri forgave the director his absurd question on account of how astute the rest of his actions were. Thus, without another comment, Sun Ri immediately snatched up the position of one of the male leads, since he believed that Kai would star as the other. According to the plot, the two main characters eventually became a gay couple, there was no way he would allow his doll to partner with someone else for such scenes. In addition, he promptly promised to invest as much money as the movie required.

While Sun Ri would have reacted so lavishly based solely on the fact that this project was one that his doll wanted to carry out, he actually had other logical reasons for supporting it as well.

Not only was the story entertaining, but also, it portrayed a more appealing image of homosexuality than most forms of media did. Something about it simply rang true for him, so that merely reading the words on paper had hooked him, as if he could see it playing out in front of him. This was critical, because even a decade after he had come out in front of the press, an underlying prejudice against his sexual orientation remained for many members of society. Normally, Sun Ri didn't care, seeing as he wasn't dependent on popular opinion for his livelihood anyway. Now, however, he had to prepare for the moment when he would announce that he was a couple with his doll, who was far more sensitive than he appeared, so he had to soften public perception first.

He was also driven partly by the idea that had popped up the instant he realized that the script's theme was a gay romance: at least this indicated that Kai was ready to accept another man as his partner, even if the person he was probably envisioning was that brat Guo Ziyue. Perhaps if he constantly interacted with him as his lover instead, his doll would become this Sun Ri's fan instead. Imagining how cute the youth would look acting shy around him, Sun Ri bit his lip, then moved his attention wholly to a rerun of the video he'd saved.

---

Once Chen Yu was lucid enough that he felt ready to crawl out of bed again, he noticed right away that someone had trespassed on his apartment during his absence and left behind some concealed cameras.

Despite that, he didn't tense up in the slightest. No doubt it was his good lover again, he probably wouldn't be able to survive without peeping anymore. Leaving the pervert to his hobbies, Chen Yu helpfully threw on comfortable shorts and a loose tank top; since he didn't know when they would meet again, he figured he would at least provide some material for him.

Having accomplished his virtuous deed for the day, Chen Yu sat down with his laptop. When he was about to answer after browsing through Director Tantai's enthusiastic email, a second message arrived, stating that Sun Ri was very interested in working with him. In a fit of generosity, the king was offering unlimited funding as long as he was cast as Zhao Cui.

Chen Yu hummed in thought. By this point, he'd certainly grasped that the thigh wasn't willing to function correctly as a thigh for the protagonist, so he might as well seize it for himself. As for why Sun Ri had shifted his focus from Guo Ziyue to Xiang Kai, he sneered, hadn't it been from the day he'd performed that bed scene with Shui Re Dian that the 'king' hadn't disdained him? Not having been completely locked down by the protagonist yet, the man had likely been seduced by Xiang Kai's looks, which Chen Yu couldn't help but admire in the mirror himself.

Regardless, money was money, influence was influence, Chen Yu's current priority was to cast as wide a net as he could for his lover, which would be easier to do with Sun Ri involved, so he wouldn't hold pointless grudges. Thus, he agreed, adding an extra word to express his happiness, "En. Confirmed."

With his production process on its way, he then checked his account in the chatting program. Shui Re Dian had responded to his question with a rather vague answer, but he gathered that not much had happened. It seemed he'd never discover what the protagonist had thought Xiang Kai would do to disgrace himself when he got drunk. Well, Chen Yu shrugged, it wasn't something worth pursuing.

Instead, he probed, "Senior, you took me to the room?"

Reading the new post from Xiang Kai, Shui Re Dian jumped straight up into the air. His junior was too reckless, that phrasing was easy to misunderstand! Frightened out of his mind, the actor frantically sent, "Npnpnp."

Chen Yu was taken aback. So Shui Re Dian had been the person he'd spent the night with? He hadn't genuinely expected this to be his lover. Still, he was about to thank him when Shui Re Dian, having realized what he'd written, retyped, "Nonono."

What followed was a barrage of "Not me, no room, never alone, nothing together," every message vehemently refuting any hint that they had, were, or would become intimate. The negations shot out in such rapid succession that Chen Yu was stuck just dumbfoundedly waiting for the end. He'd plainly been ridiculous to even consider that Shui Re Dian could be his man. At least this conversation had eliminated another prospect.

Thus, when Shui Re Dian's denials petered off, Xiang Kai didn't waste any effort, he cut off the chat with a spare, "En."

On the other end, glaring at the storm of texts he'd issued and the cold finale from his junior, Shui Re Dian's glass heart broke into pieces. With its last breath, it cried, that damn bastard Sun Ri...