Scumbag Actor Screwup System

Chapter 24 - How to woo a clueless man

"Master Zakharov, sir, I think you should be careful with that pink haired assistant, I've heard her talking about getting you to take her to a love hotel just to test if you're into women- and really, I think she's seriously into you," Shang Qinghua was prattling merrily.

They were on a break, already in the last week of filming this season.

The following day would be the award ceremony and tensions were running high. Of course he was going, but as Shen Yuan's plus one and people were speculating on the nature of their relationship. Even the suspicious fanfic account had written indecencies about it. After all, Xu Xiaosi's plus one was no one other than his beautiful (and rich!) girlfriend. It was natural to take your partner to these things.

Maybe he should out himself as the writer, but he really didn't want to, it would be way too stressful and annoying, not that the current situation wasn't. But, well, he liked to keep his secrets. So, in order to keep his mind off the whole thing, as budget therapy, he simply talked at Zakharov Jianjun. It was a wonderful distraction.

"I know her!" Xu Tengfei chimed from behind the two, appearing out of the blue, "I couldn't tell she liked him, how can you tell?"

The boy came over and sat down with them, inviting himself to the private conversation. Well, whatever, not like Qinghua minded very much, he was a nice clueless kid, totally in love with his pal. No competition there.

"Mh," Zakharov nodded at the question, and amazingly today he actually spoke, "how do you know these things, Qinghua?"

What. He knew his name. He spoke his name. Oh goodness, the unholy star of the golden dick, conqueror of bottoms, the most gorgeous asshole destroyer Zakharov Jianjun had spoken his name. And he had to answer.

After gaping for a moment he sat a bit straighter and scrambled to find an answer.

"Well- actually- you see- people who like you try to be with you often. And maybe they tease you or have a cute name for you, for example she made up that god awful nickname I will not deign to repeat. But that's not all, they look at you often, kind of stolen glances, you might not notice those so never mind... oh but they will look for you during social events too! Like she was pestering you before trying to get you to talk to her but you didn't even glance at her. Either way, the looking for attention definitely qualifies," He rambled, growing more and more confident. He made sure to only mention things he did himself as to drop a little hint.

Zakharov nodded, eyes a bit unfocused. That mind was probably processing... or maybe not. Hard to tell. Whatever reaction Xu Tengfei had, Qinghua wasn't watching. He was trying to figure out what was going on inside Zhakarovs mind, so he was caught off guard when his hero spoke once more.

"So what's the best way to show someone you like them back?"

If Zakharov had asked, the answer would be to fuck them. To fuck Qinghua, hard, wherever, even in public was fine. But since it was Xu Tengfei he had to give a better answer.

"Give them food probably. And be direct when the person seems receptive, but first don't push them much. Kind of like hunting an animal, lurk in the shadows until the time is right and then you pounce!" He nodded sagely as he spoke. The two men were nodding along, both completely lost in their own machinations.

A few steps away sounded the familiar voice of Shen Yuan.

"What are you doing here Liu-Shidi, were you talking with the boys? That's so rare of you!"

Qinghua turned to notice that indeed Zheng Fa had been there, standing by the wall close enough to join the conversation. Xu Tengfei who hadn't seen him either jumped at the sound, while Zakharov seemed unfazed.