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I’ll Give You a Hug (2)
It seemed like he was the only person Xi-laoshi cared about. If there was a tangible measure of Xi-laoshi’s gaze, he would likely had trapped Bai Qi with a rope.
Xi-laoshi’s fingers were slightly cold as they gently brushed across Bai Qi’s skin.
A little itchy.
The sensation brought Bai Qi back to the present. He promptly took control of his wandering thoughts. His breathing was shallow while he tried to get back into character.
Xi Chengyun continued acting. He gently tied a knot at Bai Qi’s waist and continued to layer him with clothing.
By doing so, he stripped this character of his past and identity, turning him into a teenager who was ready to be re-taught about the world by him alone.
Bai Qi froze and remained still.
A light blush appeared on his face and his eyes started to water after holding back for so long.
The layers of clothing were weighing him down.
“All done,” Xi Chengyun said.
He stared at Bai Qi with amazement; he looked as if he were looking at his most precious treasure. His deep and dark eyes were burning with desire.
He checked Bai Qi out, just like Ban Yuren from the script.
His calm scrutiny made Bai Qi shiver; he felt as if he was about to be eaten.
After some time, Xi Chengyun clapped once and laughingly said, “So beautiful.”
‘Xi-laoshi is scary,’ Bai Qi thought.
The assistant director, who was seated behind the monitor, held his breath.
Beauty was one of the most important things Zheng Ming looked out for when directing a movie.
When Xi Chengyun and Bai Qi stood together, the two joined forces to present a brilliant type of beauty; a beauty that had no flaws.
Shang Guang came back just in time to hear, “Cut.”
The assistant director praised them enthusiastically, “Mr. Bai, is this really your first acting gig? Although you don’t have any lines in this scene, your eyes spoke for themselves, your body language was very good too. It was a beautiful take.”
‘Huh, that was fast. They’ve finished taking off his clothes?’ Shang Guang thought.
He cautiously turned to look at them and thankfully, Bai Qi’s upper-half wasn’t naked.
Shang Guang let out a sigh of relief.
‘Thank goodness I didn’t see anything, if not, Xi-ge would kill me…’ Shang Guang thought and paused. He realized that he’d slowly and quietly accepted the fact that Xi-ge had feelings for Bai Qi.
Shang Guang didn’t dwell on the thought for too long. He saw an assistant approach Xi Chengyun and Bai Qi to pass them water.
Each with a cup of water in hand, they made their way towards the chairs at the side.
“Did I scare you?” Xi Chengyun asked in a low voice.
“A little,” Bai Qi replied. Nevertheless, he swiftly smiled at Xi Chengyun and said, “But, this is one of the charms of the character after all.”
Xi Chengyun thought that there was something wrong with himself. He hoped that Bai Qi would like the character he was playing. That way, indirectly, Bai Qi would be liking him through the similarities that he and his character shared.
He didn’t want Bai Qi to dislike his character. Even if it were only fiction, he couldn’t control the wave of disappointment that rushed through himself.
“Do you think this character is similar to me?” Xi Chengyun asked in a low voice.
Bai Qi held the cup between his hands and brought it near his lips. He looked up and said, “Yes.” He was like a small animal. His eyes were gleaming and watery.
Bai Qi paused for a moment before he added, “But there’s something different…”
“Huh?”
‘Was he referring to the difference between being an antagonist and a protagonist?’
Ban Yuren was a criminal and the main antagonist of the story, whereas he wasn’t. Bai Qi bit his lower lip and softly asked, “Being the real Xi-laoshi, what would you do after you’ve helped me put my clothes on?”
Just then, Xi Chengyun saw Shang Guang walking towards them from the corner of his eye.
Xi Chengyun immediately glared at him.
His glare was a little unfriendly and Shang Guang stopped moving. Shang Guang wasn’t dumb. He could obviously tell that Xi-ge didn’t want him over there.
Xi Chengyun narrowed his eyes and thought. “I’ll take you into my arms.” ‘I might even kiss you.’
But he couldn’t say the latter half out loud.
“Ah,” Bai Qi softly exclaimed. “Why?”
Xi Chengyun placed his cup on the small coffee table next to him. He moved closer to Bai Qi and his lips almost touched Bai Qi’s ear when he said, “Because Qi Qi was trembling.”
Bai Qi froze. He forcefully pinched his own fingertips while his ears uncontrollably reddened.
‘Was I?’
He couldn’t recall if he’d been too into character, or if he’d been stunned by Xi-laoshi’s spectacular acting.
Bai Qi looked up, and Xi Chengyun promptly sat up straight and moved away from him.
Bai Qi licked his lips and said, “…Mn.”
And they fell into an awkward silence.
Shang Guang, who was watching from afar, was confused.
‘What happened? Did they have a fight? It couldn’t be because of Director Zheng, could it?’
Shang Guang grinded his teeth and walked towards them.
‘What am I doing?’
‘Back then, I even reminded Xi-ge to not fall in love, and told Bai Qi to not take things seriously. Now, why is it up to me to clear the misunderstanding between the couple?’
“Xi-ge, you know Director Zheng. He was likely just kidding. Please don’t take things to heart, I’m sure this has nothing to do with Bai Qi…”
Shang Guang stopped. He realized that despite his good intentions; he sounded like a troublemaker who was purposefully ruining their relationship.
Xi Chengyun frowned at him. “What?”
Dung. Shang Guang’s heart dropped.
‘Wait, don’t tell me that Xi-ge doesn’t know yet? Oh, wow!’
Xi Chengyun reacted very quickly. He took out his phone without waiting for Shang Guang’s explanation. He was better off searching on the internet instead of relying on the news from others.
Soon, Xi Chengyun saw the title of the trending news article.
“…”
Bai Qi noticed his saddened expression. He touched his burning ears and asked, “What happened? Did Director Zheng say something? Did he talk bad about me?”
“Nothing much,” Xi Chengyun calmly said.
“I’m no different from Ban Yuren.”
Bai Qi didn’t understand what he meant by that.
“I’m going to kill Zheng Ming,” Xi Chengyun continued.