Filming

When Gu Ze placed his hands over Ye Qing's, only one thought remained in his mind: I've overstepped.

Perhaps because of their difference in height, his hands completely covered Ye Qing's.

For some reason, Ye Qing's hands felt much softer than his, and the sensation threw him off balance.

He had only just steadied himself when something Ye Qing said made his hands falter.

By then, one side of the cup was taller than the other. The difference was small, but visible at a glance.

Gu Ze wasn't completely naive. He might never have dated anyone, but he knew people who were married.

He had always known Ye Qing could be bold, but he hadn't expected him to go this far.

Then again, it would have been nothing if he hadn't heard it. But he had.

At the thought of the "play" Ye Qing had mentioned, a faint blush spread across Gu Ze's face.

Gu Ze was fair-skinned, so his blush was impossible to miss.

Ye Qing was thrown by the sudden change too. "Brother Gu, did I do something wrong?"

Looking at Gu Ze only confused Ye Qing further. Why was his face so red over making a cup?

[Is the cup I made really that awful to look at?]

But Ye Qing quickly ruled that out. Gu Ze had practically made the cup himself; Ye Qing had only helped.

Was it too hot?

Ye Qing glanced out the window. Probably not. It was almost evening.

They had moved closer to make talking easier. Gu Ze could see Ye Qing's lips whenever he lowered his head. Remembering what Ye Qing had said, he could barely look at him now.

He brushed it off with a hasty excuse. "It's nothing. I just got distracted for a moment."

Ye Qing watched Gu Ze's face grow redder and knew he wasn't telling the truth. But everyone had their secrets, and Ye Qing didn't like prying.

Instead, he turned to the uneven rim of the cup. "Can we still fix this?"

Gu Ze took a look and tried to repair it. After what Ye Qing had said, he moved to the other side of the cup. Ye Qing wasn't needed for the repair, so he watched from beside him.

The repair wasn't perfect. The rim was still a little uneven, but it looked much better than before.

Gu Ze wanted to start over, but Ye Qing thought the cup was just right.

"Nothing in life goes perfectly smoothly. I think this is just right as it is."

Next came decorating the cup. That part was simple: they could make whatever they wanted and attach it.

Ye Qing knew he was clumsy, so he didn't attempt anything complicated. He made a simple cat head.

For once, he found himself enjoying it. The cup was for his own use, so it only had to look good enough to him.

Gu Ze didn't choose anything difficult either, just a dog head. Even so, it was clearly in a different league from Ye Qing's cat. The gap was obvious.

Ye Qing quietly moved his cup away. "Forget it. We should each keep ours on our own side."

By now, enough time had passed that Gu Ze was no longer shocked by what he'd heard. He had thought it through.

It was only Ye Qing's inner voice, and Gu Ze only heard it occasionally. If he couldn't hear it, he would have no idea what Ye Qing was thinking.

They were private thoughts, after all. Ye Qing could think whatever he liked.

Still, Gu Ze couldn't help wishing Ye Qing would think about those things a little less.

Seeing Ye Qing move his cup aside, Gu Ze reassured him. "It's fine. For your first time, you did really well."

It was getting late, and the bisque firing couldn't be finished right away. They left the cups at the pottery shop and planned to pick them up when they had time after the firing was done.

As filming drew near, Ye Qing paced back and forth. Tong Ru teased him from the side. "How come you're never nervous when you do scenes with us, but you're so nervous today?"

After spending the past few days together, they had grown familiar with each other. Ye Qing rubbed his hands. "I can't help it."

Today, he was about to act opposite Gu Ze, and for some reason, he really was nervous.

Gu Ze found it a little amusing himself. "It's okay. Believe in yourself."

Mo Hua was the name of Ye Qing's character in the drama.

With no classes to attend, Mo Hua stared blankly at his phone. He only came back to himself when his roommate gave him a slap. "What are you spacing out for?"

"Nothing. What did you just say?"

"The class is getting everyone together to go sing tonight. Are you coming?"

"Sure."

"Okay. Remember to sign up in the group chat."

College classes were like that. They organized activities now and then, sometimes for fun and sometimes so people could find someone to date.

Mo Hua just wanted to relax. He hadn't heard from his older brother in a long time and didn't know if he was carrying out some dangerous mission. He was worried.

Students didn't have much money, so everyone paid their own share, and the place wasn't far from campus.

After hanging out inside for a while, Mo Hua came out to use the restroom. With something weighing on his mind, he didn't go straight back. Instead, he took out his phone to check it.

"Wow, where did this little beauty come from?" a voice sounded beside him.

Mo Hua looked up. It was a handsome man with sharp features, a high nose, and fair skin. He wore a shirt and black trousers, an outfit that should have made him look gentle. On him, though, it gave off an air of rakish charm.

Mo Hua noticed that several buttons of the shirt were undone, exposing the man's collarbones. His sleeves were rolled up to reveal the clean lines of his muscles, and his hair was a mess. He looked every bit the rogue.

There seemed to be affection in the way the man looked at him, but Mo Hua felt nothing. He had met plenty of people like this when he went out.

He usually ignored them, and this time he meant to head straight back.

To his surprise, the man blocked his way. "What's the rush, little beauty? Leaving so soon?"

Mo Hua had been holding back. He had met all kinds of people, but never anyone as blind as this man.

"Is there something wrong with your eyes?" Mo Hua couldn't help asking.

The man's tone lifted slightly. "Oh? What makes you say that, little beauty?"

"Open your eyes and take a good look. I'm a man."

The man struggled not to laugh. "To me, beauty has no gender."

"Lunatic." Mo Hua muttered the insult and started to leave.

"Hold on. I haven't said you can go yet."

Mo Hua narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?"

"What are you thinking? We live in a law-abiding society. I wouldn't dare try anything."

The man lightly touched Mo Hua's face, then pulled away before Mo Hua could lash out. He lowered his head and leaned close to Mo Hua's ear. "I do love making friends with people like you."

A business card slipped into Mo Hua's pocket, and then the man strode away.

"Lu Yan," Mo Hua murmured, looking at the card.

"Cut. That's a wrap."

Ye Qing relaxed. At least he hadn't made any mistakes in his first scene.

He gazed at Gu Ze off to the side, momentarily lost in thought. He had never seen Gu Ze like that before, rakish and roguish.

Ye Qing didn't want to admit it, but he had panicked when Gu Ze leaned close to his ear.

Still, he had to admit that this version of Gu Ze seemed even more attractive.

[He makes me want to...]