Capturing My Demon King Costar

MY COSTAR WORRIES ABOUT ME

Yao Shen keeps chancing looks at his mobile just to check the time.

Fifteen minutes have gone by and Jia Hao still isn't back.

Of course it's possible that he's doing as Yao Shen said, and trying to gather as much information as possible.

He told Jia Hao to return right away if he couldn't find the three people he described, so the fact that he's still gone is a good sign -- or so he tries to tell himself as the time for him to return to set approaches.

Yao Shen is sure of what he saw. That was the ghoul spying on him, and by now the Ghost Kings must have come to a decision regarding how to deal with him.

If they follow their previous steps, they'll want to wait until he's alone in his hotel room again.

Maybe if he finds out what they're planning he can stay one step ahead, and maybe prevent another premature death?

He's fairly certain they'd rather not kill him. By their own admission, this is the closest he has gotten to Xin Hulei in several lifetimes.

If only Jia Hao would get back -- that is, assuming he wasn't caught and no one believed his excuse.

He's pacing around the cramped trailer, trying not to panic too badly when someone knocks on the door, this time much more politely.

"Laoshi, is everything okay? Filming is about to start," Bi Jialu says, her tone cheery but with a note of uncertainty behind it.

Yao Shen approaches the door but doesn't open it. "I'm feeling really ill. I think it was something I ate."

"Does laoshi want to go to the hospital?" He hears the sound of Bi Jialu climbing the trailer's metal stairs. "Should I come in?"

"No! No, I mean, it's really embarrassing," Yao Shen says, trying to think of something. "It must be a mild case of indigestion, it'll be fine after some time."

He keeps things vague on purpose, but he hopes the mental image of him puking his guts out grosses out Bi Jialu enough for her to go away.

"That sounds really serious, laoshi," she says, and pulls on the door handle. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?"

Fuck, maybe Yao Shen should have just told her he had a headache.

Maybe it isn't too late to backtrack. "Actually, I have a migraine too, maybe the nausea doesn't have anything to do with anything I ate and it's just a result of the migraine. I barely slept last night, I'll be fine after a short nap."

Ah, much better, and less life threatening.

"If laoshi is sure..." Bi Jialu says, unconvinced, but Yao Shen hears her go down the stairs, her voice growing distant. "I'll tell Director Chen that laoshi isn't feeling well."

"Thank you," he says, through the closed door. "I'll be back on set as soon as I feel better."

He doesn't hear anything else after that, and sighs in relief. Now he only needs Jia Hao to get back.

---

He's tempted to go in after Jia Hao himself and throw caution to the wind when the bathroom door finally opens.

Jia Hao steps out whistling to himself, as if he just went for a leisurely walk.

"Did you get into any trouble?" Yao Shen asks.

"None."

"Then what took you so long?" he asks, extremely aggravated by Jia Hao's casual demeanor.

Jia Hao shrugs, and hoists himself up onto the tabletop, sitting down and kicking his legs back and forth. "I had a look around. The underworld really isn't like I thought it would be. It's much cooler." He smiles as if remembering something.