Lisa was stunned by her reaction, "Has it been too tough?"
"Yes, it's been tough," Jennie replied as she pressed her cheek against Lisa's chest. "But, it's because I couldn't see you. It was only 5 days, so I made use of my time. I lined up classes with the martial arts choreographer and utilized every second I had. However...I still found myself missing you."
After hearing Jennie's words, Lisa suddenly smiled, "I thought it was only me."
"From now on, I won't ever accept another job that makes us separate like this again. This will be the only time."
"OK," Jennie nodded. Although she couldn't predict the future, at this moment, she was satisfied.
"The producers haven't forgotten to continue marketing 'Hidden Expert'. Right now, there are plenty of fans anticipating its release. After your audition at 'Gunshot', the public have become a lot more confident towards your acting. So Wifey, your hard work has paid off. During this year's summer vacation, you will definitely rule the screen."
"Good things come to those that work hard."
"God will definitely watch over my precious treasure."
"Let's work hard towards winning this year's Best Newcomer Award."
After playing the role of an actress and a troublemaker, Jennie had indeed consumed herself in two emotionally complex characters. It was like she had experienced the lives of two very different people. The satisfaction she received was something she never got from modeling.
If she was given a chance to choose again between walking on the runway or acting in the mountains, separated from civilization, she would still prefer the opportunity to immerse herself in a character.
Her dream of becoming a supermodel had already disappeared when she gave up on Fashion Week. Although it was a pity, she was happy with the alternative. If she had never acted, she would have never found out that there was something she enjoyed even more. Above all, she could now leave something behind for the world to remember her by.
Perhaps one day, when her and Lisa grow old, they could sit down and watch her films together; maybe it would make them feel young again.
Lisa had always been the person that understood her the most...
The couple hugged each other for quite some time until the director finally asked Yuna to check when Jennie would be able to start filming. Jennie pulled away from Lisa's embrace and said, "I will be hanging from wires today, do you want to watch? I must warn you though, my makeup is really ugly..."
"Since I'm already here, of course I want to watch you."
"If you need to leave halfway just let Yuna know," Jennie said as she pulled Lisa towards the film set.
The set was still being set up and Jennie still needed to get her makeup done.
Lisa let go of her hand and went to chat with the director. Between the lines, the director's every word was, of cours,e a compliment.
"To be honest, back when you first recommended Jennie, I merely considered her because of Ryujin. Ryujin is usually very picky when it comes to picking his supporting actors, yet he had no complaints about Jennie."
"Also, when I met with you earlier, I said a few harsh words. At that time, I thought even if a model could act, she wouldn't be able to accept looking ugly. I even made preparations to replace her at any time. But, Jennie really exceeded my expectations."
"She's always the first to arrive every day and always the most hardworking. She's practiced her first few scenes of choreography with the martial arts choreographer so many times that she's completely mastered it."
"Most importantly, for the sake of the role, she's willing to sacrifice anything. That's the most impressive point about her."
"President Manoban, I can tell you without any intention to suck up that Jennie will definitely be a hit. She's a great actress and shouldn't be wasted on the runway..."
Lisa listened intently as a rare smile appeared on his face. It was almost like he was the one being praised.
"Someone like Jennie is hard to come by. You don't see people like that any more."
"She is my most precious asset."
A moment later, Jennie walked out with her completed makeup. As usual she was covered in a foul stench, her hair was a mess and her face was dirty.
Even Lisa was surprised when he saw her. This was perhaps the limit of ugliness. His wife sure sacrificed a lot.
With Lisa nearby, Jennie took a deep breath and felt a lot more composed than usual.
"OK Jennie, time to put on your harness."
The props assistant immediately jumped into action. However, no one noticed the wires had been tampered with.
Today's scene was of the Lord flying across the cliff to the abandoned temple with the little troublemaker.
This was the troublemakers first time flying, so she was exceptionally excited.
"Jennie, take some time to get used to the wires first."
Although she had previously experienced being lowered onto the stage when modeling, flying back and forth like this, was her first time.
Jennie looked at Lisa hesitantly. Lisa responded with a wink, gesturing for her not to be nervous.
Jennie took a deep breath. It seemed, as long as Lisa was by her side, there was nothing to be afraid of.
"Come, let's practice. Props, come here and double check if the wires are fine."
Jennie's hips and legs sat inside the harness and wires were hooked up to the harness as Jennie was slowly lifted up...
"Jennie, do you feel OK?"
"Director, we can start."
"OK, we will commence filming as soon as Ryujin is ready."
As usual, Ryujin was dressed in a white robe; his plain clothing made him look free from desires. As Lisa was also on set, Yuna couldn't help but compare the two men.
Indeed, she still got the same feeling as before.
If Lisa was a noble king then Ryujin was a hidden expert. One was respectable, whilst the other was aloof from the world.
One was suited to a position of power, whilst the other was suited to a life in solitary.
"Come, let's get into position and try a shot."
In front of the green screen, the props assistant cleared the set. Afterwards, Ryujin also put on his harness. In this scene, he was required to hold onto Jennie.
"In a moment, try not to look down...I will be holding onto you, so don't worry."
Jennie lifted her head and nodded. However, she suddenly had the same thought as Yuna. She didn't realize it when Lisa wasn't around, but now that he was here, Jennie suddenly felt the two men were quite similar.
"Action!"
"Hey, smelly Taoist, how do you fly across the cliff?" Jennke got into character as she accurately displayed the attitude of the troublemaker. As she walked forward with her splayed legs, she acted out the character perfectly.
"No one is smellier than you," the man scoffed as he approached the edge of the cliff.
"Hey, let me tell you..." Just as she was about to rebutt, the man tugged her by the shirt and took her flying across the cliff.
The troublemaker's eyes grew wide in surprise. Although Ryujin had warned her not to look down, as an actress acting as a troublemaker who experienced their first time flying, it was hard not to look down and compare the height.
But, at this time, the wires on Jennie's body suddenly snapped...
Everything happened too sudden. Ryujin subconsciously grabbed onto Jennie's shirt as they both fell onto the floor.
Everyone's expression turned pale in shock...
Before anyone could give a response, a dark figure had already rushed to Jennie's side.
"Oh my God..."
"What happened?"
Luckily, they weren't too high up and Ryujin was protecting Jennie. So, as the two fell to the ground, Jennie ended up lying on top of Ryujin's chest. But even so, Jennie ended up fainting from the shock. As for Ryujin's arm, it had been squashed so hard that his injury wasn't minor.
Lisa immediately helped the two sit up and said to everyone, "Take them to the hospital straight away!"
Everyone was in so much shock, they had completely forgotten about the existence of a hospital.
Lisa carefully lifted Jennie into his car and ordered the director, "Find out why this incident happened. Investigate it properly!"
The director was terrified. Especially after seeing Lisa's angry expression, he was in such a panic that he frantically nodded his head, "OK, OK, understood."
As soon as the props assistant saw this, she immediately stood up and grabbed onto the director's arm, "Director, this has nothing to do with me. Before the wires were hooked up, we did a thorough check."
"You saw what happened though," the director pointed to Lisa's car as it drove away. "President Manoban was here when the incident happened and the one that was injured was his wife as well as the national treasure actor. Hurry and investigate what happened."
"The person in charge of checking the wires was Xiao Xia, where is she now?" The props assistant immediately ran around the set to look for Xiao Xia. But she was nowhere to be seen, "What exactly happened?"
...
"According to sources, while filming 'Hidden Expert', Jennie fell down during an action scene and is currently in a life threatening situation."
"An insider has revealed that Jennie and a fellow actor fell from extreme heights. In order to protect Jennie, this actor was seriously injured and died on the scene!"
"'Hidden Expert's' deadly incident: Jennie ignored warnings and acted recklessly, causing an actor to be seriously injured and left with his life hanging by a thread."
...
Inside the hospital corridors, Lisa had just sent the two into the emergency room when Jisoo ran over urgently with his phone, "President, news has already been leaked. In fact, it oddly feels like this was all preplanned. It's only been half an hour and the rumors are already defaming the madam."
"Stop the news from spreading and temporarily keep quiet about the incident," Lisa ordered as he stood outside the emergency room. "Immediately find professional investigators to investigate the truth."
"Yes," Jisoo replied. A moment later, he received a phone call from Rosé asking him about Jennie's condition.
"Rumors are spreading like wildfire, saying that Jennie fell and was injured. What exactly happened?"
"Yes, it's true that she fell and was injured, but it's not as bad as the rumors say it is. Don't believe a word," Jisoo reassured.
"What about Ryujin? The rumors say he died from protecting Jennie..."
"He's fine," Jisoo's voice turned cold. "Just remain at home and stay out of the mess. If you want to help, use your contacts to find out who leaked this information and who started the rumors."
"OK, I will. But, if anything happens to Jennie, immediately give me a call," Rosé was still a little worried.
The internet was already in an uproar and Jennie had only been on set not too long.
"Did you guys hear? Jennie was injured in a fight scene and has been permanently disfigured."
"That's not right, I heard she broke her arm and won't be able to appear on the runway or films ever again."
"I also heard she's been disfigured. Oh, such a beautiful face! If she's really been disfigured, her life is over!"
"Jennie, hurry out and refute the rumors..."
"Rumor has it that even President Manoban has rushed over. It seems the incident is real."
"Oh my God, no! This can't happen!"
The internet was in an uproar and amongst the discussions were a few people that called Jennie bad luck and a jinx. The previous news about Jennie being a poison was immediately dug up and recirculated.
At this time, a fortune teller couldn't help but add to the rumors by claiming that Jennie's face was the perfect example of someone with a short life filled with misfortune. Above all, the lines on her palms showed that she would implicate her family and bring disaster to everyone around her.
Although the fortune teller's words were annoying, Jennie had indeed been through multiple struggles since her debut. As for the companies and people she worked with, many of them had suffered unfortunate fates to some degree.
Worst of all, the films she acted in, had experienced all forms of struggles.
Those that weren't superstitious, naturally didn't believe in the fortune teller's nonsense, but in this society and under these circumstances, even though they didn't believe it they still enjoyed the novelty of it. So, the more people circulated this information, the weirder it got...
Jennie was quickly labeled a jinx!
This label was an obstacle in Jennie's acting path.
Within the industry, this label was something investors avoided at all costs.
Although they said they didn't believe in superstition, when it truly came to working together, their expressions subconsciously changed.
It was clear to see the motive and vicious nature of whoever instigated the entire incident. They had definitely gone too far.
...
Along the peaceful corridor, people endlessly walked back and forth. Meanwhile, Lisa sat outside the emergency room, more anxious than he had ever been before.
Especially when he thought back on the moment that he saw Jennie fall, Lisa felt like his entire world had fallen into darkness. Even his breathing and heartbeat felt like it had stopped.
Who did it...
Who the hell did it!
If he was to find out the culprit, he definitely wouldn't let them go.
A moment later, the doctor came out of the emergency room. As soon as he saw Lisa, he walked up to him, "The male patient suffered a slight fracture on his left arm, but it isn't too serious. As for the female patient, she has a few slight scratches on her body and a mild concussion. She will need to stay overnight for monitoring. We could consider this as good luck in the scheme of things. Tell her relatives not to worry."
"I noticed the patient is an actress. A small hospital like ours doesn't have the facilities for confidentiality. If you want the patient to get some peace, I would suggest you change hospitals."
"The male patient has already awoken. You can go in and look at him, but don't disturb him for too long."
"Thank you, doctor."
"You're welcome." After the doctor finished his briefing, he turned and left. Meanwhile, Lisa immediately pushed open the door to see Jennie. As soon as he saw her sleeping peacefully on the bed, his heart felt like it had been pricked by a thousand needles.
He wanted so badly to wrap her in his embrace and feel her warmth. He also wished that he was the one that had fallen instead of her.
"She's fine," Ryujin said from next door. The two beds were separated by a curtain.
Lisa was still worried. Only when he held onto Jennie's hands did he begin to calm down. He then pulled open the curtain and looked at Ryujin.
"Thank you for today..." Lisa said to Ryujin as he looked at Jennie.
"If you want to thank me then send Jennie's assistant to take care of me," Ryujin said as he held onto his arm.
"I'll send her over tonight," Lisa sold her off without blinking an eye.
"Someone planned this. Have you already sent someone to investigate?" Ryujin asked coldly. It was bad enough that they hurt him, how dare they also hurt his cousin-in-law!