Ruyun has delicate hands.
Jade-like skin.
Netizens had popularized the phrase, yet it remained a moniker that she had never understood.
Until now.
Until now, Li Feiling had never noticed Xia Ruyun’s hands. Her fingers were thin. ‘Pianist hands’ as most would call it, a title fitting her history as a musician. Her hands were pale. Unsurprising considering her home-bound lifestyle.
Her appreciation, though, came intertwined with disappointment, with an imperceptible sigh that leaked through her lips.
Xia Ruyun covered her smile while laughing.
Her red lips had blossomed into a rosy smile, yet Li Feiling only managed to glimpse it through a cage of fingers.
“You’re.... so funny,” Xia Ruyun caught her breath between laughs, her eyes squinting from joy. In that instant, Li Feiling felt the prickle needling her heart melt away. Soothed by the melodious balm of Xia Ruyun’s laughter. Her eyebrows relaxed as her gaze deepened.
What’s... wrong with me?
Unprepared for the emotional dump truck slamming into her, Li Feiling felt her foot hover a fraction above the ground before she kept moving—a lag.
A brain-side error.
Befuddled, she began soul-searching for a cause.
Nothing came to mind. It was a situation familiar to any high schooler, but one still foreign to the twenty-six-year-old movie star.
“Are you alright?” Xia Ruyun turned, looking up at Li Feiling with a concerned frown. “Are you tired?”
Thump.
Li Feiling felt her heart pound. A couple blinks and a deep breath, though, brought her back to the calm she preferred, like a crackling fire, tamed in a family fireplace. “I’m... I’m fine, yeah, totally fine. I’m just... a little tired, I guess. A little frazzled, I’m not sure why. I was fine earlier. Must be the... altitude? We’re high up in the building.”
“Well, take care of yourself, okay? Altitude or not,” Xia Ruyun reached up, brushing a stray strand of hair back behind Li Feiling’s ear. Turning back forward, she led Li Feiling to walk once more. Together, she and Li Feiling wove through tables on set, past the maze of chairs where other cast members had set up camp, past the staff members running around prepping for the next scene. “Do you mind if I come over tonight? To rehearse a scene?”
“Of course, come over any time, I think I’ll be free after 7:30 this evening,” Li Feiling looked upward as she checked her mental schedule. Blink. Blink. Her eyelashes fluttered as she cleared her eyes after looking at a light. “Yes, I believe I should be totally free for you to come by. Not rehearsing with Han Jingyi?”
“... Oh, indeed, that would be smart,” Xia Ruyun murmured, a sigh escaping her mouth as she picked up her script off a table as they walked by. “What if, hear me out, I invite Han Jingyi to come rehearse together with us. She’ll have a scene afterward with you, anyway. So, you two can rehearse as well. Two birds, one stone. What do you say?”
“That sounds wonderful. It’s a plan then,” Li Feiling laughed, and as she did, for some reason she couldn’t quite place, her heart warmed. Pushing her extraneous thoughts out of the window, she checked the time. “Are you on break right now?”
“I am, are you?” Xia Ruyun sighed, shifting her weight onto one leg as she yawned. “Would you like to get coffee? It’s still quite early and I didn’t sleep enough...”
“I’d love t-“
“Li Feiling!” Feng Wei hurried over while waving his hand. “We’re rescheduling some scenes, you’re up right now. Come on, let’s go film your company’s introductory scene. There’s no time to waste.”
“... I understand, director,” Li Feiling’s shoulders deflated, and her amber eyes dimmed. After taking a few steps following Feng Wei, she turned towards Xia Ruyun mouthing a ‘see you tonight, sorry!’
Xia Ruyun waved back with a gentle smile. As she lowered her hand back to her side, though, she frowned. An uncharacteristic bitterness lingered in her mouth as she swallowed back the words she still hadn’t said.
“Want me to order and bring you one?”
... Maybe I should’ve just said it?
Alone once more, she turned on her heel and walked off, lowering her eyes back to her script as she did so.
Better to not be too forceful. I need to memorize my lines anyway.
---
Unbeknownst to her, or to Li Feiling, their entire interaction had been observed by the so-called ‘human-punching-bag’ Chu Changfeng. A smirk pranced across his lips as he watched the two women split up. One to descend to a lower floor, the other, back to the scriptwriters to ask questions about her lines.
Should I walk over?
..... hmm...
His tongue dotted against different parts of his lips, left to right, like a loading bar.
Let’s not for now.
His steps turned, and like a shark through water, he wove through the cast towards Liu Fangjie instead. “Fangjie, nice scene earlier. I can tell you’ve been practicing.”
“Oh my gosh, thank you so much!” Liu Fangjie’s face brightened, coming alive like a flower under the sun. “I really interpreted my character as a bit of a more happy-go-lucky intern. Given her youth, I chose to also portray her with more of a genuine innocence rather than a thinly-veiled gossip type. Especially because TV show audiences are younger these days, I think that’s a more resonant chord with the viewers. Then...”
---
In the future...
When the first episode aired, however, the viewers had little to say about Liu Fangjie’s character. The netizens, low IQ with their lesser brain functions, had focused more on Jiang Jinlong and the developing Du Ruolin plot.
[The Chang In Changfeng Stands For The Long In Long D*ck: OMG HE’S SO COOL!! LOOK AT HIS HAIR! IT’S SLICKED BACK IT LOOKS SO GOOD!! THE STYLIST COOKED MWAH MUUWAAAHH I’M GOING TO MAKE AN EDIT LATER!! UAGH THE SUITTTT]
[A Spring Rain: Holy simp above me, Chu Changfeng is styled well though, can’t go wrong with a suit]
[Please Blow My Back Out Feiling: I know right, simps these days are out of control! The moral degeneration of our society. I think you can really attribute it to the political extremization that’s been occurring.]
[I’m Mindless: Ain’t no way someone called ‘Please Blow My Back Out Feiling’ is talking bad about simps and politics in a TV SHOW PREMIERE?! Have you heard of grass? Do you know it’s green?]
[Blond Men Supremacy: Oml imagine if it was Wu Linjie playing Jiang Jinlong... it’d be so much more fitting since Linjie has blond hair... especially since Jin means gold...]
[Feiling I’ll Blow Your Back Out: If you face-cons stop focusing so much on the actors, look at the profit margins, they’re crazy... unrealistic? I don’t know... fellow netizens, does anyone have an economics degree?]
[I Dropped Out Of Econ: As someone with an economics degree, I can tell you that these are absolutely spotless as numbers. Not a single mistake! Bravo Chu Changfeng and your production crew!]
[Feiling I’ll Blow Your Back Out: Somehow, I don’t believe the netizen above me... HELP NEEDED!]
---
[I’m Deaf: So excited to support Xia Ruyun again. Her character is so well done! The subtle acting! Deserves to clean out Jiang Jinlong’s office! Especially after that comment!]
[Equal Rights Equal Fights: Honestly, so true. That line Jiang Jinlong made about cleaning the office while she was there was one that feels so misogynistic. Who are the writers?]
[I Rate Outfits: Xia Ruyun in a pencil skirt and stockings? I thought the day would never come... 10/10 would bark]
[I Snort Caffeine: Honestly, not bad plot]
[Needles Or Beatles: I’M PANTING AT MY KEYBOARD! I LOVE THIS SETUP. Tbh I DIEEEEEE for hidden plotlines, so seeing this corporate espionage is such good service I’m ON MY KNEES when is the next ep PLEASE I NEED IT I NEED IT]
[Warriors Of The Future Use Keyboards: I honestly think that Xia Ruyun shouldn’t demean herself with acting. The plot isn’t even that good. Acting is a job for low-skilled workers. Those who live off their looks and their body. Someone with a voice as good as Xia Ruyun’s should be in the recording studio. You’re just taking the easy way out of making money by acting]
[Where The Wind Blows Clouds: Obligatory touch grass comment]
[+1]
[+1]
[I’m Clownphobic: She’s also like... really good at acting? Man you don’t even need to touch grass. Just look in the mirror and come to terms with the type of person you are]