Chapter 9
Logically, Zong Mo should have been calling out to the female lead for help.
But at that moment, he was in a complete panic. He saw a random person and took them for his savior.
“Save… save me…”
So pitiful.
And so lewd.
The man’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He suppressed the strange, scorching heat rising from the bottom of his heart. Ignoring the crowd of staff members standing around, he instantly got into character, shouting in a stern voice with no trace of acting, “All of you, get lost.”
It wasn’t the female lead’s threat of “I’ve already called the police.” It was an imposing presence that commanded respect without anger, relying entirely on sheer aura to intimidate.
The stunt actors shivered in unison. Although the wrong person had arrived and the lines were wrong, it gave them a way out, allowing them to continue acting according to the script. So, they scrambled and stumbled out of the alley.
Having been held down and muffled for so long, Zong Mo, now free, hadn’t even caught his breath. With tear stains at the corners of his eyes, he sat on the ground, looking pitifully up at the tall man. “Th-thank you…”
The thugs who had fled the alley didn’t give up. They tossed back a final threat, “Damn it, Yu Chi, you just wait! We’ll get you next time!!”
The man was taken aback. A moment ago, in his haste, he had forgotten he was acting and revealed his true self. Now, this name brought him back to the script.
He was here entirely as a favor to a friend. Whether he filmed those few scenes or not was entirely up to his mood. As for who the original male lead was, or who the replacement was, he didn’t really care.
So this was “Yu Chi.”
The look of astonishment vanished in an instant, naturally and seamlessly. His gaze gradually softened, like a pool of melting snow, bringing with it the warmth of spring.
He said, “Little Chi, don’t be afraid. I’m your big brother.”
Zong Mo: ?
“Cut, cut, cut!”
Zong Mo didn’t hear the “cut” from the director. Instead, he was dazedly sizing up the man in front of him.
Tall, handsome. In the sub-zero weather, he had his long trench coat unseasonably open, the warm air he exhaled forming clouds of white mist. The line of his jaw was as if carved, the shape of his brows and eyes sharp, yet his gaze was gentle, perhaps because of the mist.
Simply put, it was the kind of face that screamed “main character.” In a BL novel, he could only be the gong.
Zong Mo shivered and his eyes widened.
He came back to his senses and tried to get up, but a warm hand had already been pulled from a trench coat pocket and was reaching out to help him.
It supported his arm, a perfectly polite gesture, and Zong Mo couldn’t very well refuse.
He had just stood up when a warm trench coat was draped over his back.
He froze completely, preferring to be cold.
He gave a subtle shiver, and the coat slipped off.
The man caught his own coat. Perhaps suspecting his trembling was due to the cold, he was about to use both hands to help him put it back on.
But Zong Mo sidestepped with a serpentine move, once again avoiding the overly intimate care. He retreated a step, and then felt something heavier and softer on his back.
He grabbed it and saw it was his own down jacket.
His considerate and quick-thinking manager wiped away a cold sweat and received a grateful look from Zong Mo.
The two of them sighed in relief together. Even though Ruan Chi wasn’t here, they still felt guilty.
Zong Mo took another polite but distant step back, lowered his head, and said, “Thank you… but it’s not necessary.”
The man didn’t seem offended at all and naturally put the trench coat back on himself.
Director Yang walked over, greeting him with a cheerful smile. “Little Lu, why did you come early? You didn’t even tell me.”
A director in his thirties calling a man in his twenties “Little Lu” sounded just like an elder.
And in BL novels, nine out of ten characters with the surname Lu were gongs, and eight of them were the main gong.
This was the fucking main gong, Lu Bo!!
The main gong was worthy of his title. Although he was about the same height as Zong Mo, his presence was several times stronger.
Zong Mo bit his fist in his mind. And it was clear he hadn’t completely escaped the main shou‘s script. He could be topped even when acting in a random drama!
Even if it was acting, it was still being topped!
He now understood why a romance drama would have a scene where the male lead was topped. This was definitely tailor-made for the main shou.
The main shou in the novel, Zong Mo, had never shot for an adult magazine, let alone filmed this drama. Now it seemed that no matter where he ran, he couldn’t escape the fate of a main shou who was called “wife” by everyone.
Zong Mo wiped away a tear in his mind.
Director Yang, holding onto Lu Bo, proudly introduced this universally known man to everyone. “Everyone, this is Lu Bo, the film emperor. He’s here to make a cameo in our drama. Lu Bo is busy with work, and we weren’t sure if he could make it, so we didn’t tell everyone in advance.”
This surprise was truly too big. Everyone except Zong Mo and his manager was cheering.
The newly introduced Lu Bo was immediately surrounded, signing autographs and taking photos. The atmosphere was as festive as the New Year.
Zong Mo took the opportunity to find An Lan and asked her in a low voice, “…You didn’t know Lu Bo was going to make a cameo, did you?”
The manager An Lan, who had a minor role in the novel, was she also a wingman for the main couple?
But you’re eating from the Ruan family’s rice bowl now. Is this appropriate? Is it?!
An Lan had a bitter expression on her face and said helplessly, “How would I know? I didn’t even know Director Yang and Lu Bo knew each other. I thought he would at most pull in a second or third-tier actor.”
Zong Mo reluctantly believed her and remembered the missed call from CEO Ruan earlier.
“Should I call him back?”
He was afraid for some reason.
An Lan lowered her voice and said, “I sent him a WeChat message telling him you were filming. He didn’t say anything, just that he would contact you tonight.”
Zong Mo: …
It’s fine. Isn’t it just working overtime at night? He was used to it.
Besides, Ruan Chi wasn’t here. What could he do to him over the phone?
But now a bigger problem had emerged: the main gong, Lu Bo.
He looked towards Lu Bo in the crowd and happened to meet Lu Bo’s deep, assessing gaze.
Lu Bo’s lips seemed to be smiling. It was too far to be sure. Maybe he was just smiling at the fans who came for his autograph. Very sweet. A film emperor with tens of millions of fans, indeed.
But, it wasn’t that Zong Mo was narcissistic, but his current character setting was the main shou.
He was the main shou, the kind where even if he burped after eating too much, the main gong would find it cute.
He quickly averted his gaze.
It was his first day on the job; he just had to film the fight scene. In the afternoon, they reshot the scene where the female lead comes to save him, and then everyone wrapped up for the day.
Director Yang wanted to have a few drinks with Lu Bo to catch up. He didn’t invite the other staff and actors, only the female lead, Yin Qiao. Yin Qiao declined on the grounds that she was a pregnant, married woman.
Zong Mo was the male lead, but he wasn’t very close to everyone yet and didn’t know about this. But Lu Bo specifically came to find him and ask if he wanted to go.
Zong Mo politely declined, grabbed An Lan, and ran away without looking back.
They went straight back to the hotel and had dinner at the restaurant downstairs.
The food hadn’t even arrived when he received a call from an unknown number. The voice was low, seductive, and tinged with a smile. “…Why did you run?”
