It has been a few weeks since Didi started filming the newest adaptation of Hana Yori Dango/Meteor Garden.

It was very hard at first, seeing as this was the first TV series he had to film. There was also a lot of pressure not only on his part but to all the members of the cast, since the first Meteor Garden was a phenomenon not only in its home country but in different parts of the world as well.

During the first few days, this pressure got the better of them. They filmed much less dramatic scenes, but they would usually do 10-15 takes to perfect a single cut. This resulted to a lot of delays and admonition from the directors and the executive producer Angie Chai herself. After the first week, Angie Chai gathered the five of them inside a singular tent to have the ‘talk’. It included a lot of pep talk and the word ‘brilliant’. But in the end, she hugged a crying Didi and Yueyue and told them something that warmed their hearts.

“It’s okay, children. Take as much time as you need. We’re not in a race. If you have to slow down, we will all understand. Do you know the first time I saw you guys together? I fell in love with all of you. I told myself that these kids are destined to be great. And greatness takes time. So don’t worry about time, okay.”

After that, everything felt like hard-won peace.

Currently, they are filming the scenes for the 12^th episode. His character, Daoming Si, had just gone back from London to inform Shancai about Tian Ye’s background. Daoming Si ended up sleeping in Shancai’s house for the night.

“Ugh, it’s so cold!” Yueyue exclaimed, snuggling further into her long coat.

It’s mid-December, and the weather is treating the whole crew harshly. No one anticipated that it’s going to be an extremely cold winter in Shanghai this year. There were times that it was too cold that they had to stop filming altogether.

Didi wasn’t a big fan of the winter himself. Although his body could easily acclimate, Shanghai’s winter is different from Sichuan’s. Back home in Chengdu, their winters would range from 11 to 5 degrees. 11 degrees Celsius would be enough to freeze Didi in his bed all day, and 5 degrees would send his mom to a flurry of checking and re-checking the radiator until she burns herself on it.

But what he did not expect was that Yueyue hated the cold more than he hates it himself. He knew that Yueyue grew up in Shaoyang, a city in Hunan province. Didi himself have been to Hunan every once in a while, and he can attest to the fact that their winters are far worse than Sichuan’s. So it came as a shock that Shen Yue wasn’t so used to the cold.

“Here, take my hot pack.” Didi held out his new hot pack. They were currently inside Shancai’s bedroom, waiting for all the crew to finish setting up.

It has been five weeks, but the whole ensemble of a production still amazes Didi. On the far left corner of the bedroom, a crew is fixing the alignment of cords and wires so people would not trip on it. Directly in front of him, two people are adjusting the panel lights adjacent to the main camera. Behind them, the director of photography is talking with the second cameraperson, gesturing the camera movements that she wants to achieve. And all over the room, people are hustling and bustling everywhere, cleaning up junk, aligning picture frames and checking on the smallest detail that could potentially affect the overall state of the scene.

It was a wonderful chaos in Didi’s eyes. He have been to acting school for a year and joined a reality TV Show for a few months, but nothing beats the reality he’d come to face now. Every day, before filming starts, he would take a few serene moments to just look at all the people working together to ensure the beauty of the show. And this, above everything else, drives him to do well in his one job: play the role of this generation’s Daoming Si.

“No thanks.” Yueyue replied. She’s wrapped in her coat, laying face flat on the bed.

Didi stared at her back for a second, still holding out the hot pack. He was quite unsure of what to do for a moment, then decided a second after to sit on the bed. He smiled, then placed the hot pack on the back of her head.

“Ya!!! Didi!” Yueyue flailed her hands to get the hot pack off her head. She tried to reach for it but failed mainly because of her bulky jacket. “Take it off, Di!” she shouted, suddenly twisting around the bed.

Didi was quick to snatch the hot pack. “Yeah, yeah.”

Yueyue sat upright, then smacked his arm once, inducing a laugh from Didi. “My hair’s gonna be a mess because of you.” she frowned, touching the back of her head.

“Your hair is already a mess because your sleepyhead is hogging the bed!” Didi tapped the bed hard enough that Yueyue bounced slightly on the bed.

“You hair is also a mess because of that hairstyle.” she laughed, sticking her tongue out to him.

Didi was about to retaliate when the director shouted that they were ready to take. He casted one last threatening look at her, punched her arm slightly, then proceeded to where the director had beckoned them.

The both of them received last minute instructions about the scene, then they were asked to take off their jackets to start the filming.

The cold struck Didi all at once. He was wearing a thin white shirt and sweat pants, and the house unfortunately did not have any heating system. Beside him, Yueyue is jumping up and down, trying to warm herself.

“You cold?” he whispered. Her clothes were slightly thicker than his, but he knew that Yueyue was easily cold.

Yueyue looked at him with wide eyes, then nodded gravely.

“Here.” Didi extended his arm, and Yueyue instantly clung to it.

This has been a silent agreement between the two of them that formed over the first few weeks of filming. It was always biting cold especially in the evenings, and there were times that they couldn’t focus on their lines because of the cold bothering them. Yueyue would often moan about it, but Didi didn’t take it seriously until he observed the things she did when it was too cold. She would always forget her lines while rehearsing, and she would ask for a break every few minutes to shake her body. So he started accompanying her to her frequent exercises. They would run around if there was enough space, but often times they would play random games until one of them gets seriously ticked off.

Yueyue clung onto his bent arm, and Didi started to shake her off of her grip jokingly.

“Di…” Yueyue grunted, using both her arms to try and straighten his arm. “Gosh, you’re freakishly strong.” she lifted her head to face him, a bright smile plastered on her face.

Didi smiled back. “No, you are.” he said mockingly.

“No, you are.” she repeated, shaking his arm. Didi gently hurled her forward.

“No, you are.” he said which made them both laugh.

“You both are.” the director interrupted. “Hurry and get on the bed, you two.”

The both of them went to separate beds. Yueyue went under the sheets of the bigger bed, while Didi laid on the much smaller bed beside hers.

They both laid on their beds quietly, waiting for the camerapersons to finish framing the scenes.

“Di.” Yueyue called quite tentatively.

Didi quickly turned to face her. She was looking straight ahead, her hands placed neatly on top of her chest. Her eyes had a kind of glaze in them, the one he usually sees when she’s busy daydreaming.

“What is it?” Didi questioned.

“What do you think of me?”

Didi’s heart shot up to his throat. He looked at Yueyue like she’d grown another head, but she didn’t notice his bizarre stare and just stared straight at the ceiling. What was she thinking asking this all of a sudden? Was the cold driving her mad?

But she just continued to space out peacefully. Her breaths were steady as her chest rhythmically went up and down. Didi focused on this instead, trying to calm his own breaths by looking at the hypnotic movement of her chest.

“Didi, did you hear me? I said, what do you think of me?” Yueyue repeated, this time looking at his face with eyes curved in a smile.

Didi stared at her face, inspecting the corners of her eyes down to the tip of her nose and the curve of her lips. The truth was that, Didi found her excruciatingly intriguing. At first, he thought it was natural since she is his first onscreen partner. It was only right he would grow curious about her somehow. But as time flies, he realized it was not the case.

He curiously observed Shen Yue because she is simply intriguing. He couldn’t quite understand the wonder that shrouds this woman. She was simultaneously rowdy and reserved. She always finds curious things to talk about. She sees things in a different light. And the charming look on her face when she smiles makes Didi uncomfortable on his feet.

After almost two months of knowing her, he only found her more and more unsettling by the day.

Didi wanted to tell her this. That she makes him feel uneasy in a good way. But in the last minute, his tongue failed him and his mind settled on the safest bet he could throw.

“What do you mean ‘what I think of you’?” he murmured. His throat had gone scratchy that he had to cough a few times after.

She offered a teasing smile. “Dum-dum. I mean, what do you think of me? Am I a good actor?” she punched his arm.

Oh.

Didi smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. He gulped, then gathered his thoughts to answer her question. “Uhm, I think you’re good.”

“That’s it?” Yueyue demanded, frowning at him.

Didi was at a loss for words. She was clearly disappointed with his answer, so he racked his brain for more.

“Uhm. No, of course. You’re good. You can cry on cue.” he ventured, knowing he was starting to ramble. “And your expressions are also great. Your eyes are very expressive and quite charming. And your smile is beautiful too.”

It was too late before Didi realized what he just said. Yueyue’s knowing smile faded, and in its stead are two wide eyes and cheeks rapidly growing red. He saw her gulp, before clearing and averting her gaze. She took a deep breath and fixed her eyes on the ceiling again.

“What the heck, Di. You really know how to pull my leg.” she rolled her eyes. Her cheeks were still red, but her voice was steady.

“But it’s true.” Didi’s right eyebrow shot up. He raised his body to look at her properly, propping himself up with his arm.

Yueyue just shook her head and pulled a silly face.

“It’s true.” he said, blowing a breath on her face, which made her fringe all messed up. He chuckled slightly then proceeded to blow another breath on her face.

“Didi…” she reprimanded. She would look away when he blows a breath on her face, but tries to look at him again when he’s not.

“What?” Didi smiled, then blew another breath.

“Stooooop.” She held out her palm to shove his face.

He caught her hand just in time. His fingers tentatively grazed her palm before clenching his hand to hold hers properly.

Yueyue did not protest.

He went back to his pillow and stared at the ceiling. All around the room, the crew were busy doing the final touches for the scene. People were shouting outside, panel lights blinked and poles were held upright. But under the thick sheets in this cold winter night, Yueyue and Didi’s hands grew more familiar with each other. Didi let out a sigh.