Scumbag Actor Screwup System

Chapter 44 - Avoidance

The next time Shen Yuan saw Xu Tengfei was the last scene they'd get together in a while.

And there he was again, with that man.

They were talking, Shen Yuan could only see Xu Tengfei's back but that was more than enough. Tianlang Jun leaned in, was that a kiss? It must be. It looked like it. Shit.

He turned around and fled before being seen and took a long, very long detour to go to his trailer. He knew he was being a bit silly, he knew no grown man would sneak around like that. But he was old and tired and didn't want to have his heart shatter over and over and over again. He'd just avoid Xu Tengfei from now on. Keep his time with him as a nice memory, cherish it and maybe become his fan. Being a fan, that he could do. It was his lifestyle after all.

He showed up two minutes too late for their scene, stayed in character while filming and fled as soon as he humanly could. Done. Had Xu Tengfei even tried to approach him? Surely not, he'd stretched his hand just for a moment, but it was just to grab a bottle of water. Anything else was just Shen Yuan's fantasy.

He had another scene lined up anyway, one that required some extra makeup so he went to get it done after taking a few bites of lunch, not even sitting down to chew.

He took his place at the make up station, his heart beating stupidly quick with no reason at all. Xu Tengfei hadn't followed. One of the makeup artists came to him, but there were more people than usual. Soon enough he saw why, he wasn't the only one having his face drawn all over again.

Zhuzi Lang was wearing a black, gray, white and purple wristband when he arrived. Shen Yuan knew it was part of the alphabet mafia, but didn't remember which part. He'd seen the boy at rehearsals, being shy and quiet and he really felt for him. Being introverted among so many actors was a stressful thing.

"Good luck with your makeup," Shen Yuan said in his best attempt at friendliness.

The kid nodded and looked away immediately. He allowed the ladies to take the bracelet as well as his robe to start airbrushing faint greenish scales onto him.

Shen Yuan was to look extra pale today, the scene required them to look like they were in the darkness of a cave. It didn't sound so bad, he'd pretended to be in the dark before while the lights shone full blast. It was pretty cool to see the fake night on screen later.

Today was one of those days where the PR people selected a few lucky fans by some method or another and allowed them on set. He did his duty and he stopped to sign some stuff while he watched around, to see if no other actors were still there. None, it seemed, other than a few extras. Xu Tengfei had surely left.

"You're so hot, please, have my number!" a girl was getting way too close to snakeboy, and Shen Yuan would have rolled his eyes if he wasn't pretending to be friendly. Some fans could be quite pushy with their attempts, it got tiring very quickly.

Zhuzi Lang gave a small nod and took the bit of paper, trying to step away as the girls approached. Shen Yuan had his own little gaggle surrounding him, but he still could feel the tension. The poor guy looked like a tiny corn snake cornered by a mowing machine. Thank goodness he was taller than everyone present, he pushed a bit apologizing and went to the boy.

"I need to repeat the lines with my colleague here a few times, if you don't mind. We're supposed to be working," he said in a haughty Shen Yuan voice that elicited a few squeals in spite of the bitchy attitude. Fans were weird, but then again it takes one to know one.

Zhuzi Lang followed him to a more secluded area without complaints, head down in silence. When they stopped just behind a concrete pillar, Shen Yuan handed him the script.

"I was just saving you, you looked like you needed it. "