Scumbag Actor Screwup System

Chapter 46 - The final encounter

The message that Shen Yuan had to assist the writers came in through System, meaning he couldn't possibly refuse.

It was clear Xu Tengfei would be there.

He debated with himself and thought of excuses, tortured his brain in search of ways out but in the end, he knew he had to do his job. A bit of not so negative tension was pooling at his belly, part of his traitorous self wanted to be with Xu Tengfei, even if it came with pain attached. And yet he would rather flee. He was learning, slowly, that emotions aren't these neat things where you feel angry or happy and understand every reason to it. They were muddy things, mixed and confusing. He never knew anxiety could come from something he didn't even have in mind, that his lack of sleep could be caused by something he wasn't even thinking about. He never knew he could want and not want the same thing.

The next few days he slept little, even if he was too busy to constantly remember that he'd be seeing Xu Tengfei.

"Cucumber-bro, you'd better not be late. Just a heads up, there'll be a few people from the writing team present, just don't mind them. And you'll have parts of your costume and props at your disposal if you want them."

Airplane never really fretted so much about something, he must be a bit tense.

Shen Yuan re-read the prompt he'd gotten ahead of time, his eyes leaving the words to wander randomly to the windows, to the region of the landscape where he knew Xu Tengfei's house was.

"Luo Binghe's sorrow has mixed with Xinmo's energy and is in danger of destroying the world due to it. It is your task to save him from himself."

Save him from himself- could such a thing be achieved? Could someone save you from your own thoughts?

—---

They'd chosen one of the studios, a much fancier place than usual for this rehearsal. The first thing Shen Yuan could see upon arrival were a bunch of foam blocks on a gym mattress, as if forming a small mountain landscape. The second thing his eyes zoomed into was Xu Tengfei, with his Luo Binghe outer robe over jeans a black t-shirt. He looked a bit gaunt, as if he had gone through the abyss again. A mini abyss anyway. Shen Yuan chose to stop and hide by the foam boulders instead of going any further into the room.

"No, no, you need to let loose a bit more," one of the writers scolded him, and Xu Tengfei only sighed. Then Qinghua bit his lip, paused and reached down into his backpack. He took out a big bottle of watermelon vodka. Shen Yuan wanted to be surprised but honestly, he wasn't.

"Drink up," said the author, and while someone else poured, his eyes scanning the room even as he was supposed to be managing Xu Tengfei. Suddenly they seemed to glue themselves to Shen Yuan.

Shit, he'd been spotted for sure.

"Is this allowed during working hours?* asked Xu Tengfei, but didn't pause for an answer. He just gulped down the offered styrofoam cup filled with artificial flavored rubbing alcohol dangerously fast. He grimaced a bit.

Qinghua left him with the others, to give another attempt at improvising while he approached Shen Yuan.

"Dude, put on your robe and go to work, it's not a good look to arrive late. Just do your thing and it'll be over."

Shen Yuan sighed and nodded.

"Why are there so many people this time, though? Did you really have to?"

"I had to make it seem official because someone decided to refuse the informal summons."

Shen Yuan waved his hand and walked on ahead, ignoring everyone and took one of his old green outer robes, putting them on. Xu Tengfei was already flushing due to the alcohol and gave no greeting.