XIV
Black Soda Drink“God, I can’t get this.”
“You can, and you will!” I said as I poked him with the crumpled papers. I was holding the very first draft in my hands and I had already carried them around with me so much that they looked at least a decade old.
Gura received a copy a couple of days ago (or was it just yesterday?) and Kris and I had been going through scenes nonstop. It was his only day off this week and he needed to work on his acting.
At the moment, he was still very uncomfortable to watch.
“Don’t pretend to be this character,” I told him. “You are this character. You are the angel that came to save this woman and her son. I want to see the stupid Kris that was fooling around with the ice cream scene the other day.”
He narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean ‘stupid’?”
I crossed my arms and sat back in the couch, raising my eyebrows. “You were mocking my awkward scenes, so I’m sorry but I have to take offense. I’ve taken that scene out, but I want you to act the way you would in a situation like that.”
“That’s what I’ve been doing!”
I groaned. “No, you’ve been doing it the way you think it would look good on a big screen. I want you to show me how a regular guy on the streets would act if he had to say these cheesy words. The angel’s trying to be a regular guy and he may be acting a bit weird and out of place, but at least he won’t sound like he’s reading off a script.”
Kris glared at the papers in his hand like a child glaring at his homework. At that point, I knew it was useless.
I softened my voice. “I know you can do it, Kris. Just keep trying. Let’s take a break for now.”
He looked a bit dejected but relieved. I knew he wasn’t sure about himself, but I was. I knew he could be angry, happy, sad, excited. He just needed to stop keeping those emotions sealed away behind those brooding eyes of his.
“I called my mom this morning,” he said midway through his slice of pizza. We’d been eating pizza all day today but one could never have too much pizza.
I smiled and swallowed my bite. “That’s good. How is she?” I’d never met the woman but judging from her son, she must be very kind.
“She’s still worried about me. She asked about Yixing. I told her I was taking care of his little sister.”
My eyes went down to my pizza and I nodded as calmly as I could. Picking at the crumbs on the table, I tried not to focus on the way he made me sound like a three-year-old child he was babysitting.
“I also told her about the possible movie.”
“And what did she say?” I asked in the brightest voice I could muster.
“She supports me as long as I watch out for my health.”
I agreed. “If you do get cast, it could mean really long hours on set. Sometimes, you sit for six hours straight while other people film their own scenes.”
He fixed a smile on his mouth, picking up a piece of pepperoni that threatened to fall out. “Isn’t that what I do all day anyway?”
I rolled my eyes. “True.”
When Kris was finished his portion, he told me I was a slow eater. I told him to go watch TV and let me eat in peace.
He left me in the kitchen by myself and then I saw that I had a missed call from Gura. I suddenly got really nervous. Was she finished reading the script already? I hoped she liked it and wouldn’t tell me to do any major revisions.
“Gura, did you call?”
“Yuan!” She sounded breathless. “Okay. Okay, Xiao Yuan, this is going to sound really weird but I have some really good news for you.”
I put down my pizza and swallowed, just in case I wanted to scream and jump in joy or something that would risk my slice of pizza. “What is it?”
“So I sent that clip we took of your friend to Hansoo. Do you remember her? She was in my Women & Film class, and I brought her along with us to smoothies once. She has her hair curled all the time and right now she’s a redhead but I think you only saw her as a brunette. No glasses, but she just got her braces off a few months ago, right when she dyed her hair red.”
“Okay, I think I remember her.” I didn’t. “What about her?”
“She’s an agent now and she wants to take Kris under her wings, or whatever you call it, and train him as an actor or model. She told me he had great potential and since he was still young, he could still have a long career if he started now.”
My jaw nearly dropped. This was perfect for him. “You told her yes, right? Because I’m almost 100% positive that he would take her up on that offer.”
“I didn’t tell her anything yet but she wanted me to ask you something.” Her voice suddenly lowered.
“What?”
“She wanted to know your relationship to him. Like, how you met him and stuff. She saw you in the clip, too, and was just wondering.”
Kris came into the kitchen at that moment and gave me a mock glare when he saw that I still hadn’t finished my pizza. “Why would it matter?” I asked Gura. “I’m just a friend.”
“It looked like you were boyfriend and girlfriend, honestly…”
When Kris left and I heard the bathroom door close, I answered Gura in a whisper. “I’m his roommate, but we’re not together.”
“Wait, you two live together?” she nearly screamed into the phone. “I thought you lived with your brother! How could you live with a real life angel and not tell me?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. It never came up.”
“It didn’t need to come up. All you needed to say was, ‘Hey, girl. Guess what? I moved out of my brother’s place and now I’m living with the Eighth Wonder of the World.’ Simple!”
I huffed out a sigh. “Why does Hansoo care?”
“It’s stupid, actually,” Gura said. I knew she was hesitant to tell me, which made it even worse.
“What is it?”
Finally, she explained. “Hansoo says that a person like Kris could make a lot of money, but only if they’re single. Then girls from everywhere would flock to him and nobody would think it’s wrong if he did some…uh, y scenes.”
An inappropriate image of Kris just popped into my head but I beat it down. “He is single, though.”
“Yeah, I know that and you know that, but Hansoo obviously suspects you two are together. And who can blame her? You’re living together. How long before you get to see his you-know-what?”
“Gura!”
“Sorry,” she said sheepishly but I doubt she meant it. “Seriously though, have you seen it yet?”
“No, I haven’t!” I groaned and plastered my hand over my face. “What am I supposed to do then?”
“Hmph, you could ask him. He doesn’t look like the shy type—more mysterious and quiet—so he shouldn’t be too self-conscious. Judging from the video, he looked pretty well-endowed. You know what they say about tall guys, right?”
I hit my forehead against the table and bit back a cry from how hard I actually hit myself. “I meant about Hansoo.”
“Oh…” She thought for a second. “You could pretend to be girlfriend and boyfriend. It shouldn’t damage his image too much but I think Hansoo would be less likely to back him up. Or he could start looking for another agent but Hansoo’s part of a pretty big company so…”
“I should move out, shouldn’t I?” I mumbled into the phone.
“You don’t have another place?”
“I...sort of do.” I’d been looking around since I moved in but I started looking less and less the more I got comfortable here.
“You could move in with me if you really needed to.”
I laughed softly. “You live with your parents, grandparents, aunts, and two cousins. I don’t think I should intrude.”
“The offer’s still open.”
“Thanks.”
I pursed my lips and set my phone down after we said goodbye. Kris had just come out of the bathroom (that was what he got for eating so fast) and now he was eying my pizza.
I slid the half-eaten slice across the cardboard box. “Take it.”
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Sorry if the editing job is sloppy in this chapter (but let's be real lol how much editing do I really do) but I just wanted to get this chapter out in time before I get too busy over the weekend. My dance team made it to the semi finals thanks to everybody's votes so I will finally see them again ;u; Have a great week(end) everybody! zzzzzzzzzzzzz
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