A cart filled with clean plates rattled by Xia Ruyun as the worker pushing it came to a stop beside the nearest table. After arriving ten minutes too early, she chose to stand off to the side. Somehow, arriving early to cast socials had become a habit for her. Fashionably late? Not in her dictionary. Unfashionably early. That’s what she was.
After a worker pushed another cart past her, Xia Ruyun couldn’t help but feel her hands begin to sweat. Scampering further off into the corner, she stood as far from the workers as she could.
Stay out of their way...
Her choice though, set a trend. As other cast and crew members came in after her, they scanned the room. Once their gaze landed on her, they walked over to the empty corner and pulled out their phones as well. Over the course of a couple minutes, more than a dozen people had gathered to form an impromptu mob.
Looking up from her phone as the agreed-upon time ticked closer and closer, Xia Ruyun felt suffocated. Too many, too close. With a wall of people suffocating her in the corner, she looked upward.
...
Lights...
They existed on ceilings.
The ceiling for this venue couldn’t compare to the last cast social she had gone to. She and Wu Linjie had stared at the soaring ceiling while they had chatted, that one stretched upward three stories high.
The lights she now studied sat at a normal height. Whatever could be considered normal? All she could say was that it was a normal room.
It’s just too crowded in this corner! Do you all have to huddle around me? Come on...
Her wish though, in a matter of moments, came true. Just in the worst way possible. Chu Changfeng, after throwing open the double doors with a BANG, had strode over to the group. As people rushed up to talk to him, he dispersed them with a couple waves before coming to a stop in front of her. Having chosen to stand in the corner to stay out of the way, Xia Ruyun frowned as Chu Changfeng blocked her in.
With the thought to just ignore him jumping around her mind, she went back to her phone. Now self-conscious though, she pulled the script up on her phone. Scrolling to her part, she began mouthing lines to herself as a burning gaze drilled into her scalp.
“Ahem,” Chu Changfeng cleared his throat.
Xia Ruyun, faced with ego’s mortal avatar in front of her, tried her best to lower herself to Chu Changfeng’s intelligence level—by pretending to both be blind, deaf, and unable to comprehend the concept of language on top of it all. Her mouth continued to move as she started another scene.
There are so many more lines in this drama...
Oh man.
I really don’t feel like talking so much.
“Ahem,” Chu Changfeng cleared his throat once more. He stepped forward, closing the distance even more. Now, even as Xia Ruyun looked down at her phone, she couldn’t help but notice Chu Changfeng’s legs in her field of vision.
... Wow, his cologne is strong.
Has he never heard of just a couple spritzes on each pulse point?
Well, considering the fact I’m getting gassed, I’d assume not. Maybe this smell is something for his character. Something to enhance his ‘dragon’ aura.
With his cologne nearly gagging her though, Xia Ruyun couldn’t help but furrow her eyebrows. As much as she tried to feign indifference, her hands still began clamming up from nervousness. Afraid to raise her eyes, she couldn’t help but wonder: was no one else seeing this?
Other people in the hall, unbeknownst to her, had seen it. Some, a little more in the know with regards to Chu Changfeng’s reputation, looked over in worry. Given his status as a premier investor though, all they mustered were gossipy whispers before returning to their food.
“Seems like Xia Ruyun is his newest target. Seems like he’s not content with the two girls he was chatting with in the group chat.”
“I’m surprised it’s not Teacher Li, considering the fact that she’s always been his primary target. What changed?”
“Who knows? Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to.”
“True.”
Others, though, had more varied reactions. Ma Xiaotian, sitting with a group of other actors, nodded along as they watched the interaction. One of the other actors, even, shook Ma Xiaotian’s shoulder while motioning towards Chu Changfeng and laughing. “Bro’s based! Look at him go! He’s sliding up to Xia Ruyun to make a move! That’s the confidence of a movie king. That’s charisma right there! Dude, you’re so lucky that you’re the second male lead, you’re practically his apprentice!”
Rolling his eyes, Ma Xiaotian just shook his head and waved the actor off. As he did though, a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
Nearby, at another table filled with a couple actresses, a woman gritted her teeth while staring at the scene playing out. Shaking the actress’s shoulder next to her, she leaned in and began whispering. “Han Jingyi, can you believe it? After talking to you, then me, in the group chat, he turns around and starts doing this? What’s so good about Xia Ruyun anyway? She’s already twenty-six years old!”
Keeping the increasingly fake smile on her face, Han Jingyi mustered a nod as she also watched the scene transpire. A faint burst of sourness spread through her chest. “I mean... we should just talk to him later when we get the chance. He’d be a super useful connection in the industry. No need to overreact, Liu Fangjie...”
“Bah, if you marry him, he’s more than just a connection, did you see the hints he was dropping?” Liu Fangjie threw her hair back. Her hold on Han Jingyi’s shoulder, though, only tightened. “Look at him! He just stuck his arm out and took another step closer! She is not that pretty.”
As her words left her mouth though, the doors swung open as Li Feiling rushed in. Ready to apologize for being late, she froze for a moment as she noticed the distinct lack of any cohesiveness. Sweeping her eyes across the room, her eyes trembled once she saw the two figures in the corner. Unable to discern the situation, she ignored the greetings being thrown her way and instead began walking over with long strides.
Xia Ruyun, meanwhile, stiffened as a third “ahem” burst down the door named ‘her ears.’ An arm, now, had been planted on the wall beside her, enclosing her even further into the space. Unable to exist anymore in her own world, she looked up to meet Chu Changfeng’s smiling gaze. Chu Changfeng, seeing her slide away her phone, raised his eyebrows. “Finally decided to acknowledge me?”
“... Sure,” Xia Ruyun mustered a polite smile. “What do you have to say? And could you give me some proper room to breathe?”
“Of course, of course, my mistake,” Chu Changfeng took a step back. “I just wanted to ask if you’d like to accompany me to a private dinner inst-”
Before he could finish his sentence though, Xia Ruyun slipped to the right. Back in open space, she turned back to Chu Changfeng and gave a half-bow. “I’m fine without it, but thank you for offering.”
The moment she turned to walk away though, she noticed a dark-faced Li Feiling barging her way over. Subconsciously, she broke out into a wide smile. Whether she was eager to get away from Chu Changfeng or happy to see Li Feiling—she didn’t know—but she darted over and closed the distance. Sighing in relief, her smile took on an awkward tinge as she opened her arms for a hug. “Long time no see...”