In her previous life, An Huiru had also taken part in the filming of Unexpected Joy, playing Xie Jianyuan's ex-girlfriend in the drama.
"Sister An, Sister An, I'm terribly sorry." The crew member who had been chatting with Xu Chun hurriedly bowed and apologized on his behalf.
Xu Chun couldn't help frowning slightly. He looked at An Huiru without speaking.
"What are you looking at?! Get lost!"
An Huiru glared at Xu Chun with a hostile expression. Because he was wearing a mask, she had mistaken him for a crew member.
No one around them dared breathe. The atmosphere was deathly quiet. Everyone in the industry knew An Huiru had a terrible temper, yet her public persona was that of a gentle, virtuous wife. People on set had seen her casually berate crew members and minor stars plenty of times.
But today, she had picked the wrong person to mess with.
"Sister An, this is Brother Xu, Xu Chun," the crew member beside Xu Chun hurriedly reminded her.
An Huiru's expression froze for a moment. Frowning, she looked at the masked young man before her and saw his eyes suddenly curve, as if he had smiled at her.
"Why such a bad temper?"
His tone was unhurried, without the slightest sign of anger, yet for some reason she felt a little guilty and looked away.
"What's going on?" Xie Jianyuan had seen the scene from a distance and walked over as well.
He was dressed in a tracksuit, tall and lean, and so handsome it was hard to look away.
Once he came over, he draped a hand over Xu Chun's shoulder. To those paying attention, the gesture looked thoroughly protective.
"Did I just hear someone say 'get lost'?"
Xie Jianyuan smiled at An Huiru, showing a set of white teeth, but there was not a trace of a smile in his dark eyes.
For an instant, An Huiru felt as if some cold-blooded animal were watching her. She was so frightened that her whole body went rigid, unable to move.
"Achoo!"
Xu Chun suddenly sneezed, breaking the frozen atmosphere, and reached out to give Xie Jianyuan a push.
"I've got a cold. Stay away from me, or you might catch it."
A worried look appeared on Xie Jianyuan's face. "Have you taken any medicine? Is it bad?"
Xu Chun waved a hand and sniffed. His cold had stuffed up his nose so badly that he was having some difficulty breathing.
After several weeks of filming with the crew, Xu Chun's cold finally cleared up completely.
"Your cold's better now, right?" The director suddenly poked his head in and asked Xu Chun.
When Xu Chun nodded, the director added, "All right, then. We'll do it today."
Xu Chun was completely baffled.
Only when he received the filming notice for the day's scenes did he finally understand.
No wonder the director had asked whether his cold was better. Today was the day they were shooting the bed scene.
Xu Chun looked over his lines for a while, then put the script down. He didn't have many lines to say in the scene. Of course he didn't—what was there to say in bed? He propped his chin on his hand in frustration, fretting over the scene he would soon have to shoot.
After more than ten minutes, he finally seemed to make up his mind. He slowly took a box of mints out of his pocket and ate one.
Then he walked over to the director with the expression of someone going bravely to his death.
"I'm ready. Let's shoot."
Chapter 28: Men, You Know
Since they were shooting indoors, quite a few crew members had crowded into the room. But given the nature of the scene, usually only the director and cameraman would stay for an intimate scene like this, for fear the actors would feel embarrassed.
"Relax a little."
Director Chu couldn't help frowning at how stiff and nervous Xu Chun looked and reassured him in a businesslike tone.
"If you really feel uncomfortable, just imagine."
As Xie Jianyuan took off his clothes, he asked, "Imagine what?"
"Imagine you're holding the person you like." Director Chu stressed, "Bed scenes are the hardest to act. If you two look like someone's holding a knife to your throats while you're in bed, you might as well not do it."
Xu Chun sat on the edge of the bed, looking a little uncomfortable, but he also knew that at this point he could only grit his teeth and go through with it.
"Practice first." With that, Director Chu looked away from them, bent down and began adjusting the camera.
"Okay."
Xie Jianyuan smiled slightly. The next moment, he slowly pushed Xu Chun down onto the bed, where Xu Chun lay looking up at him.
From such a short distance, he could even see the fine pores on Xie Jianyuan's face and his long lashes.
Looking closely like this, Xie Jianyuan's face really did look a lot like his own. Xu Chun gazed into the dark eyes so close to his, letting his thoughts wander in the hope of relaxing a little.
"Don't be nervous."
Xie Jianyuan looked down at him. Then he suddenly leaned close to his ear and chuckled softly. "Just pretend there's nobody else here."
Xu Chun stared at him, thinking, How could I possibly pretend I can't see them?
"All right." A few minutes later, Director Chu saw that Xu Chun and Xie Jianyuan had more or less gotten familiar with it, so he stepped in to work the clapperboard himself. "Three! Two! One! Action!"
Xie Jianyuan slowly reached out and touched Xu Chun's cheek. Feeling the warm, smooth skin beneath his hand, he couldn't help narrowing his eyes slightly.
Xu Chun swallowed instinctively. Though part of him still resisted, seeing Xie Jianyuan slip into character in an instant made him inwardly berate himself.
Look at you. You're supposed to be the senior here, yet Xie Jianyuan can be professional enough to get into character. What are you still being so awkward about?
With that thought, Xu Chun gradually relaxed and calmed down. But when Xie Jianyuan's hand slowly slid down to his Adam's apple, his body still couldn't help stiffening on instinct.
"...What are you doing?" he recited his line in a trembling voice.
Xie Jianyuan chuckled, revealing a smile that, for some reason, struck Xu Chun as dangerous.
His hand gradually moved upward, finally coming to rest on Xu Chun's slightly trembling lips. He pressed them neither too lightly nor too hard, and when he saw Xu Chun's eyelids fluttering, his lips curved upward.
Watching the two of them pressing close together in the frame, Director Chu made a satisfied gesture, signaling them to continue.
By now, Xu Chun had no attention to spare for what was happening around him. He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling only the scorching breath brushing his cheek. He couldn't help wanting to reach out and block it, but he also knew they were filming and he couldn't move as he pleased.