Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The afternoon script read-through was held in the hotel conference room.

When I pushed the door open and walked in, Xi Sheng was already seated at the far end of the long table.

This time, he’d changed into a brown stand-collar jacket, zipped all the way up to his chin.

Handsome, but weird.

With his collar pulled that high, wasn’t he hot?

Xi Sheng bent down to pull out a chair for me, and his collar shifted.

From my angle, I caught sight of a suspicious patch of red marks along the side of his neck.

They trailed all the way down to his collarbone.

Against his cool, pale skin, they were especially glaring.

Hickeys?!

And there was more than one, damn it!

The life of a top celebrity really was depraved!

I was so shocked that I didn’t watch my step.

My shin slammed into the chair.

It hurt so much I sucked in a sharp breath.

Hearing me, Xi Sheng looked over and asked nervously, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine!” For some reason, irritation surged in my chest.

He was about to sell BL fanservice with me, and he still went out fooling around?

So queerbaiting was work, and fooling around was life?

The director knocked on the table.

“Everyone, focus. The first scene we’re shooting tomorrow is very important.”

I forced myself to look at the script.

Our drama was called Palm Ballad.

It was about a college student, Fu Chuan, who was sold by human traffickers to the Golden Triangle and rescued by a drug dealer named Zhao Gubei.

In reality, Zhao Gubei was an undercover police officer.

But in order not to expose his identity, he pretended that he’d saved Fu Chuan because he coveted his beauty, then forced Fu Chuan to become his lover.

And Fu Chuan recognized Zhao Gubei at first glance as the senior he had once secretly loved.

He was overjoyed to meet him again, but also heartbroken that the senior who had once seemed as pure and noble as pines under a bright moon had actually become the head of a criminal organization.

Yet in the danger-ridden Golden Triangle,

he could only cling tightly to this one lifeline.

Their first bed scene happened under these complicated circumstances:

Zhao Gubei had to dispel the gang’s suspicions through physical intimacy.

Fu Chuan was both afraid and yearning, wanting to trade his body for protection.

Both of them had their own hidden motives.

Their bodies intertwined as they used desire to test and outmaneuver each other.

In the script, it said

these two were in a dilapidated bamboo stilt house, half-hidden beneath palm leaves.

Tangled together on a military blanket.

Borrowing courage from whiskey.

Clinging to each other as if they would die before letting go.

…

I flipped ahead with a loud rustle.

An eight-thousand-word bed scene!

Every detail, every position was included.

He dared to write it, but I didn’t even dare to read it.

Could this even air?

My fingers trembled, and images surfaced in my mind beyond my control:

Xi Sheng pressing me down onto the military blanket from behind, his breathing rough as he kissed my ear, his breath scorching hot.

His fingers gripped my waist hard, his voice low and hoarse.

“Don’t hide.”

I shook my head. How the hell was I supposed to hide from that?!

Was this my straight-man calamity?

Just as I was thinking that, the director’s voice rang out.

“The emotions in this scene are very complex. Especially for Fu Chuan. You have to convey that shy yet longing, terrified yet sinking-into-it feeling.”

“It has to be the kind of natural reaction where one look at each other makes you tremble from shyness, yet you can’t help but want more.”

On the surface, I nodded in agreement.

Inwardly, I muttered:

What natural reaction? Sure, Xi Sheng was very handsome, but I wasn’t so hopeless that one look at him would make me shy.

After the read-through ended, the director asked Xi Sheng and me to stay behind alone.

“With dual male leads, the most important thing is rapport and chemistry.”

He gave the two of us a meaningful look.

“Especially for the intimate scenes. You two need to communicate more in private.”

I let out two dry laughs, so embarrassed my toes wanted to dig into the floor, and nodded perfunctorily.

“Of course, of course.”

But Xi Sheng suddenly turned his face, his gaze landing squarely on me.

His eyes were far too serious, even carrying a hint of aggression, making my breath catch for an instant.

“Don’t worry.”

The corner of his lips curved slightly, his voice low. “I’ll make sure to properly ‘build chemistry’ with Teacher Ji.”