Chapter 89: Can You Accept Me?

Chapter 89: Can You Accept Me?

Facing the sudden approach of a shadow, there was no time for reaction. Before his friend could escape, a weight fell upon him, his lower back pressed by a knee, his body's center of gravity forced downward, and his throat constricted with a choking sensation.

He fell at the exit, just a moment before he could have fled this place.

Slowly tightening the strap in his hand, watching as his friend went from struggling to stillness, the person whose knee remained against the back pulled back the strap, casually tucked a stray lock of hair behind their ear, and smiled.

The hallway was illuminated only by the faint light from a reflector board, barely enough to make out facial features, yet it highlighted the pale brows and long lashes that swept down carelessly.

Wrapping the strap around his wrist, removing the hair tie that had been on his wrist and casually placing it in his mouth, he simply gathered his loose hair, revealing a sweat-dampened nape, his movements nonchalant yet smooth.

There was a sense of calm madness about him, making it hard to look away.

Silence reigned around them. The agent stood among the crowd, slightly raising her eyes to catch a glimpse of a good friend's expression. She didn't see her friend but spotted Lin Wanyu instead.

This person, who should have already left, not only stayed but also stood within the inner circle, his eyes lowered, fixed on the person at the center of the lens, unmoving, motionless.

"..."

Something felt off, and the agent gave him an extra glance.

As the unbroken long take ended, the quiet set finally came alive with sound again.

Xu Sinian stood at the outermost edge of the crowd, a distance away from the entrance of the apartment building in the lens, not too close. Because they were too familiar, Chen Moubai couldn't help but laugh whenever he saw him, no matter how deeply he was in character, so he was relegated to the periphery.

Ignoring him during filming, but habitually seeking him out immediately after, the person in the lens, after thanking the actor who had been beaten, scanned the area towards him.

Just before their gazes met, someone from the inner circle stepped forward, calling out, "Teacher Chen."

It was Lin Wanyu, supported by the actor playing the postgraduate student, who stumbled forward, his voice trembling.

The gaze that was about to meet Xu Sinian's withdrew, turning to the person greeting him.

As the gaze shifted, Xu Sinian's hand, hanging at his side, twitched slightly.

After the last scene passed in one take, everyone packed up and returned to the hotel.

In the car back, the agent unusually refrained from live-reporting the latest news about the TV series, switching to her personal account to browse Weibo.

After finishing the scene and exchanging words with Lin Wanyu, then receiving another round of praise from the director, Chen Yibai hadn't had the chance to talk to his good neighbor. He was looking at his phone, sending trash-talk messages to his good neighbor, carefully selecting from his collection of memes.

Several memes were sent, and the agent beside him finally tore her eyes away from her phone, turning to him and saying, "Lin Wanyu follows you on his list."

Judging by the order of his following list, it seemed he had been following for quite some time, well before this collaboration.

"Huh?"

Sending another meme, Chen Yibai lifted his head and asked, "Why would he follow me?"

Some things were mere conjecture, and the agent didn't voice them, maintaining a period of silence as she pondered over the implications.

Not dwelling on trivial matters, Chen Yibai simply found a reason, saying, "Probably a slip of the finger."

Accidentally clicking 'follow' due to a slip of the finger, and then not deleting it to avoid speculation from fans and marketing accounts—it was something Qian Jin had recently done.

His mind didn't wander to other possibilities, and the agent gave him an extra look, then glanced at his phone still on the chat interface, extinguishing the screen in her hand with a chuckle. "I'm fine, but I wonder if your friend can continue to sit still."

Confused as to how the conversation suddenly turned to his good friend, Chen Bai asked, "What does Comrade Old Xu sitting still have to do with anything?"

The agent said it was nothing.

She merely felt that the future looked bumpy and uncertain for someone who was still just a friend.

With debts to be paid off for several more years, and actors coming and going in waves, there was no telling when a seemingly barren tree might suddenly bloom.

Years of hard work, only to find that the person might not end up being brought home in the end. In the coming years, people like Chu Mingyuan and the possibly problematic Lin Wanyu wouldn't be scarce.

There was only one wooden Chen in the car, but the assistant understood the agent's meaning and couldn't help but silently mourn for a moment.

Reality proved that the observant agent's thoughts were indeed correct.

Lin Wanyu could chat normally with others, even having a good relationship with the postgraduate student, but he was inexplicably shy in front of Chen Yibai.

Shy, with few words, yet bold enough to step forward, daring to poach right under the protective gaze of Xu Sinian, the great film emperor, all under the guise of rehearsing lines.

He did manage to poach him a few times, diligently rehearsing lines.

By the time Lin Wanyu changed his address to Chen Moubai from "Teacher Chen" to "Yibai Teacher," they were nearing the end of filming, with only a few scenes left. Yet, Yibai Teacher still faced the fight scene with his good neighbor, which he had been unsure how to approach.

Their fight scene wasn't a joke; the entire crew gathered to watch how these friends would handle it.

And the onlookers finally witnessed the spectacle of two experts rapidly consuming NGs in one take.

The perpetrator leaped from upstairs, attempting to strangle the victim, whose first reaction was to reach out and catch the perpetrator, allowing him to remain steadily pressed against his back without falling.

A perfect victim, in a certain sense, closely aligning with the perpetrator's intentions.

The arms around him were steady, and the perpetrator, taking advantage of the fact that he wouldn't fall, laughed while leaning backward, wildly patting the person's shoulder.

The camera didn't pause, turning the main footage into a blooper reel on the spot.

When laughter broke out here, others couldn't hold back their amusement either. The director, sitting on his small stool, laughed until his bald head shook, and the script in his hand, not held firmly, dropped to the ground.

This difficult take finally passed, after Chen Moubai seemed to have laughed out all the laughter in his lifetime. Laughter-filled but efficient, today's final take was completed much earlier than expected. The producer, glancing at the still bright sky and the early hour, suggested, "How about we try another take?"

Filming wasn't sequential; the final scene had already been shot previously. Now, only the beginning remained, reserved for the segment where the protagonist first meets the low-quality couple at the apartment building.

Remembering the plot, yet feeling something was amiss, Chen Yibai nodded uncertainly. After the producer left, he flipped through the script.

Recalling which script segment was on which page, he could flip to it in an instant. Seeing how swiftly he flipped through the pages, the agent beside him leaned over for a glance, raising his eyebrows.

In their first encounter, the protagonist mistook the couple's room for the landlord's. When he knocked, the couple was passionately kissing, only to be interrupted halfway. In the low-quality couple, represented by Chen Moubai, one of them started cursing directly. There was no need for actual biting; the opening scene depicted them after they had finished kissing and were at the door.

The agent also realized the issue at hand, pausing his movement as he said, "Have you... ever kissed someone?"

Chen Yibai replied that he hadn't.

It was an unsurprising answer. The agent thought it made sense, unable to resist wiping his face.

It was quite challenging to have a wooden actor perform such scenes.

Closing the script, the wooden actor exhaled, "Let's give it a try anyway."

A makeup artist took the opportunity to touch up his makeup, artificially creating a blush and reddened eye corners, making it seem quite realistic.

The setting was ready-made, and the camera positions were easy to set up. They could start immediately once preparations were complete. Before officially beginning, the director's assistant handed over a lit prop cigarette to Chen Bai, who accepted it.

Not having the habit of smoking, he had practiced a few times in private with Uncle Zhao's cigarettes. His posture while holding the cigarette was relatively skilled, not overly awkward.

Everything was in place. On the second floor corridor, silence fell before Chen Yibai and his thug brother partner entered the room with the door closing behind them. Light disappeared, leaving the entrance hall in darkness, illuminated only by faint light from the living room window behind them. The red glow of the lit cigarette stood out more prominently in the dim environment.

Through the thin layer of the door, two knocks sounded in the quiet outside.

Exhaling, Chen Bai held the cigarette between his fingers, closing and then opening his eyes, irritation evident in his gaze as he bent down to open the door.

"Creak—"

The sound of the door hinge turning echoed as the old iron door opened. Those gathered around the corridor saw first a slender arm adorned with a black hair tie, followed by a face filled with annoyance.

Pushing aside the thug brother standing behind him, the man holding the cigarette sized up the person at the door, leaning against the door frame amidst the smoke. He lifted his eyes and asked, "Who are you?"

The atmosphere was perfect until the camera zoomed in, meeting the raised eyes of the person. The director and producer unconsciously rubbed their chins together, sensing something amiss. Others noticed the discrepancy as well.

"…"

The agent in the crowd couldn't help but wipe his face.

Indeed, some things couldn't be forced.

The actions and lines were spot-on, but a single glance easily ruined the mood.

Those eyes were too clean. Without a hint of ambiguity or haziness, clear and transparent, they turned the specially prepared redness at the corner of the eyes by the makeup artist into something else entirely.

Assistant Little Meng pondered carefully before quietly saying, "It doesn't look like being interrupted during a passionate moment with a boyfriend."

It seemed more like sulking after a breakup with an ex, finding a fake boyfriend, and pretending to be intimate when the ex showed up, deliberately displaying impatience to upset the ex.

Her summary was concise and accurate. The agent turned around, "Are you a genius?"

Little Meng gave a modest smile, reminiscent of Chen Moubai's.

The director promptly called cut, beckoning Chen Moubai over for a chat.

Putting out the cigarette in his hand, Chen Yibai went over, squatting next to the director.

Waving away the people around them, the director tapped the script in his hand, cautiously asking in a low voice, "May I ask if Yibai has never been in a relationship?"

Caught off guard, Chen Yibai could only nod honestly.

Alright, that complicates things. With a confirmed answer, the director rubbed his chin repeatedly, stopping just before it became polished. He glanced at Lin Wanyu nearby and then at a certain major actor, who looked like a guardian deity, just as he happened to look this way. Their gazes met, and with thoughts swirling in his head, an inexplicable sense of guilt washed over him.

The director immediately shifted his gaze, patting his chest, turning to avoid the side glance, and leaned closer, whispering like a thief,

"Do you have any thoughts on kiss scenes?"

Chen Yibai lifted his eyes.

"…"

It was destined that they couldn't continue shooting today. The crew wrapped up early, with actors boarding their respective vehicles.

Back in the car, unlike usual, the chatterbox was unusually quiet, not sending trash talk and emojis to his good friend as he normally would. His phone was tucked in his coat pocket, and he glanced sideways at his own eyes reflected in the car window.

The agent looked at him, asking, "What's wrong?"

Leaning back against the seat, Chen Yibai turned his head again, smiling, "Nothing, just thinking about something. We'll talk about it tomorrow."

Arriving at the hotel, he hopped out of the car as usual, returning to his room to quickly shower and change into his puppy pajamas.

"Splash—"

The sound of water in the bathroom ceased. With a towel atop his head, Chen Bai put down his phone after replying to his good neighbor's message. He sat on the sofa, picking up the tablet given by his agent for work, opening the video software and searching for keywords. He began watching from the first recommended video.

Damp strands of hair hung over his forehead as he lowered his eyes to watch the screen, slowly drying his hair.

Videos played automatically, one after another. His pupils moved with the video frames, his hair half-dry. He lazily stopped drying it, draping the towel over his head instead. His phone, placed aside, flashed twice before dimming again, but he didn't notice.

As the video automatically switched to the next one, knocking sounds came from the door.

Two not-too-heavy knocks, the sound familiar. He paused the video and got up to open the door.

Sure enough, it was his good neighbor, dressed casually, looking at him from the doorway. Looking up, Chen Bai waved and greeted him with a good evening.

The good neighbor acknowledged it, lowering his head as he said, "Did anything happen to you today?"

Though phrased as a question, it was stated in a declarative tone.

Chen Yibai's eyes snapped open. "How did you know?"

The Good Neighbor said, "You didn't send your favorite meme today."

Caught out by the absence of a single meme, Chen Yibai gave the man an extra glance and asked earnestly, "Comrade Old Xu, were you really a cop before?"

The suspected ex-cop, Comrade Old Xu, asked if he could come into the room. Chen Yibai nodded and stepped aside to let him in.

Only the living room light was on. The tablet on the coffee table was still lit up, paused on a scene where the two main characters were kissing.

Without commenting on the image on the tablet, Xu Sinian glanced at the towel atop Chen Yibai's head. He went to the bathroom to fetch a hairdryer, asking as he returned, "What happened today?"

Chen Yibai sat back down on the sofa, but the words "nothing" that had reached his throat remained unspoken. He glanced at the scene on the tablet and finally said, "The director asked me today if I was willing to film a kissing scene."

His gaze fixed on the tablet, he didn't notice the pause in the person behind him. Leaning against the sofa, he continued speaking.

He couldn't act out the feeling of having just kissed someone, but the scene where he knocked on the door was a crucial foreshadowing element that couldn't be omitted. It was essential, and since he couldn't fake it, he had to do it for real.

The director told him to think about it tonight and try again tomorrow. If it didn't work out, they would have to revise the script. Giving him time to try was already a generous treatment.

So he rushed back tonight to study and attempt to understand what the director meant by a certain look. The results could only be described as inconspicuous or nearly nonexistent.

Lowering his head to turn on the hairdryer, Xu Sinian now knew what the director and producer had called about after returning to the hotel that day.

His expression unchanged, his fingers running through Chen Yibai's fine, soft hair, he asked, "Did Lin Wanyu agree?"

It was a declarative tone, but the subtle difference in tone was drowned out by the sound of the hairdryer, making it indiscernible.

Chen Yibai confirmed that he had.

Lin Wanyu, the unluckiest person in the room, was likely to have to kiss a man because of this issue.

The sound of the hairdryer stopped.

Noticing the silence, assuming something was wrong, Chen Yibai looked up, meeting the Good Neighbor's dark eyes.

The Good Neighbor asked him, "You don't want to try with him?"

Chen Yibai nodded, subconsciously poking the puppy head on his chest, finding it strange from any perspective.

"And others," Xu Sinian said, "are there other people you'd be okay with?"

Chen Bai thought for a moment, forcing himself to consider it, and recoiled, almost bristling. He quickly shook his head. "No, it's all weird."

He rubbed his arms, trying to generate heat through friction to make the goosebumps disappear. In the quiet space, he heard the Good Neighbor's voice again:

"What if it was me?"

"Pardon?"

Thinking he must have misheard, he jerked his head up, urging the Good Neighbor to repeat himself.

Meeting the gaze directed at him, Xu Sinian didn't look away this time, asking softly, "Would you be okay with me?"

Indeed, he hadn't misheard.

An unexpected question. Never having considered this, Chen Yibai's eyes widened, momentarily unsure where to begin. His mind raced.

Perhaps the friction had worked, for the goosebumps covering his body had subsided somewhat. His mind, flooded with sudden, explosive thoughts, began to simplify them automatically. Ultimately, it boiled down to the basic question of whether he could accept it or not.

After a moment of contemplation, he answered honestly, "Yes, I can."

Being with a good friend was undoubtedly more acceptable than facing someone unfamiliar.

"But you're not an actor who flows..."

After pondering, he lifted his head, meeting the Good Neighbor's gaze straight on.

Inky black, bottomless. The Good Neighbor bent down, closing the distance so that he could clearly see the eyelid creases he often praised.

They had been this close before, but this time seemed different.

One side of Chen Bai's neck was near the hand the Good Neighbor had propped on the back of the sofa. Looking over, he could see the prominent blue veins on the back of the hand and the once gray watch that had rested on it for some time.

His nose filled with a familiar, pleasant scent.

When he raised his eyes to meet the person's gaze again, he saw far too many emotions in those familiar pupils that he had never seen before and couldn't decipher.

Intense and overwhelming, impossible to hide.

He could already feel the warmth of the breath on his cheek, causing a slight tickle. They were too close, close enough for even someone as dense as Chen Yibai to know what was happening.

The hand resting on the sofa moved involuntarily, but he didn't retreat. He sat there, stunned, his brain still processing the situation.

Though inexperienced in such matters, he knew that friends could hold hands and hug, but no friends should kiss on the mouth.

"..."

As the distance slowly closed, Xu Sinian paused just before their lips met.

The person sitting on the sofa didn't move. Though shocked, his pupils were clear, indicating consciousness. He neither retreated nor pushed Xu Sinian away.

One hand buried in his still-damp, fine hair, Xu Sinian lowered his head to touch the pale lips.

Instantly, the pale gray pupils dilated sharply.

Breath gradually stolen, pupils scattered, tears moistening his lashes, Chen Moubai's hand, which had been supporting him on the sofa, weakened. Unable to hold on, it slid down involuntarily, halfway down when a large hand steadied it.

The hand on his lower back was hot and strong. Normally capable of easily dealing with his sneak attacks and lifting grocery bags regardless of weight, he knew better than anyone how powerful that hand was.

Indeed, his condition didn't worsen. In the fleeting moment before his consciousness scattered, air finally returned to his nostrils, and tears of relief moistened his eyelashes. He gasped for breath, lifting his limp hand with great effort to grasp at Old Xu's clothing as he rasped, "I can't... I can't catch my breath... Old Xu."

He was so out of breath that even calling out "Comrade Old Xu" in full was a struggle. His gaze fell on the reddened corners of his eyes, not from artificial means but from sheer exertion. Comrade Old Xu slowly patted his back, guiding him through deep breaths.

His voice was soft and low, much like the tone he used over the phone to coax Chen Bai into stopping his sobbing. But this time, there was no cold barrier of a phone between them; Chen Bai could even feel the vibrations of his words, resonating right by his ear.

As he caught his breath, he lost it again.

Xu Sinian slightly lowered his eyes, reaching out to take the hand that was barely holding onto his clothes, guiding it to rest on his waist. The person beneath him struggled for breath, and the hand on his waist unconsciously tightened, gripping the fabric of his shirt at the back.