Translated by Eve
Edited by Juurensha, Serefina, Sora
Eve: First and foremost, I just want to stress that updates will continue according to the regular schedule. The only thing is that I will be volunteering abroad from June 1-15. That means that I will have limited time and wifi. Again, this won’t affect the schedule as I have scheduled the chapters in advanced. The only thing is that I may be slow in responding to comments and typos or troubleshooting if anything goes wrong here and on discord so I thought I’d just let you guys know. Anyway, enjoy!
Sui Yuan completed his scene—although his performance was so bad that he could only give it a "poor evaluation", he had no way to fix it. For now, he could only bide his time.
As for how Huo Ke used his acting skills to shock everyone in the audition room and gain the favour of the director and Le Sen, Sui Yuan didn’t know. He only felt that when Huo Ke left the audition room, the expression in the other actor’s eye when looking at him was rather odd. It gave Sui Yuan the impression of being caught in an illusion of being trapped right after having broken free.
"So? The audition results?" Although the manager did not have any expectations for Huo Ke, he still asked him this question. Only, his tone was not friendly at all.
"I’ve been chosen," Huo Ke replied with a particularly indifferent voice. He breathed in deeply, meeting the manager’s incredulous gaze.
"You’ve been chosen?!" The manager’s eyes widened. Sui Yuan also immediately put forth a dazed expression, subconsciously squeezing out a congratulatory smile. His perfect, pearly white teeth, however, were tightly biting on his lower lip. The pressure from his teeth left a snow white outline on his lips.
"I’ve been chosen, for the role of Hao Yuan, not for Yue Minghui," Huo Ke swept a look at the slightly deflated Sui Yuan, looking at his rapidly fluctuating expression. He restrained his desire to crush the other’s hopes for now, "Director Zheng thought that my take on Yue Minghui was missing something in the end. On the contrary, Hao Yuan suited me much better, so he let me try out for that role. In the end, I was chosen."
There were eyes everywhere in the entertainment industry. He had to stay calm and resist his impulses until he has established himself. Sooner or later, there will be a day when he can ’return the favour’. Huo Ke admonished himself in this manner and shot Sui Yuan an encouraging smile, "From Director Zheng’s tone, you have the role of Yue Minghui in the bag. Relax."
"Thank you," Sui Yuan exhaled in relief, returning to his previous state of pure sunshine. He gave Huo Ke a grateful smile, "First, let me congratulate Ah Ke Gege for getting the role!"
"Thank you, thank you," Huo Ke nodded elaborately. With Sui Yuan and their manager, the three of them left the audition area. Le Sen also left, not long after they had. When he recalled the appearance of Sui Yuan and Huo Ke during their interaction just now, his shoulders shook in amusement.
——Nobody in the entertainment industry was truly pure and free of dirt. Even if it was between members of a band who have been together for five years, on the surface they also acted as if they got along while trying to deceive each other behind their backs.
He had long since known that it would be like this, so why did he feel a bit disappointed?
Since Huo Ke had gotten a role, and Sui Yuan had more or less gotten one as well, the atmosphere in the van while returning home was much more relaxed. The manager changed his opinion of Huo Ke a bit. At the very least, he took the initiative to make conversation—even though Huo Ke himself hadn’t minded being ignored. He actually enjoyed it quite a bit.
In his last life, Huo Ke had already experienced the manager’s cold-heartedness, ruthlessness, and self-serving tendencies. He did not want to feign civility with him at all. Unfortunately, the manager still had a bit of worth to him right now, so he had no choice but to suppress his displeasure for the time being and act just polite enough for show.
Although has been a seasoned veteran in showbiz for who knows how many years, Huo Ke innately carried a noble,virtuous perseverance and unyielding nature that was incompatible with the entertainment industry. He disapproved of many things and was incapable of making himself compromise and adapt to those sorts of filthy things. So, he ended up in such a wretched state until he met Le Sen, who appreciated his unflinching righteousness. Only then could he truly stand up.
Only if your status was high enough and your background strong enough could you rise out of the mud unsullied. This was because without this kind of support, then the cleaner something is, the more it’s rejected and will be destroyed. The cleaner it is, the more people long to trample it into the mud until it is as dark as the people around it.
After having experienced these kind of struggles in his past life, Huo Ke had come to a profound understanding of these things. So this time, before he succeeded, he had to try his best to blend in with the people around him, ’fit in’ even if he disapproved of the actions of the people around him. He must not become hostile to any of them.
After the manager left, Huo Ke and Sui Yuan made small talk as they returned to their apartment. As soon as they opened the door, they heard the strumming melody of a guitar. There was also a deep, gentle male voice quietly humming.
Based on the impression engraved upon his body and mind, Sui Yuan immediately made a judgement. This was Fashion Mix’s final album’s lead single and Eason’s favourite work. It was just a pity that the response to this song upon release was just mediocre. It was just like a rock that noiselessly fell into a lake. This had completely destroyed Eason’s self-confidence, who had believed himself to be extremely talented.
Sui Yuan had no sort of musical talent, but he instinctively felt that it was pretty good. Only, in order to avoid giving himself away, he did not recklessly make any comments. He only turned his head to look at Huo Ke, who was at his side.
Huo Ke’s expression was one of astonishment. He had clearly been subdued by the other’s gentle humming. He was immersed in it, but the expression in his eyes held a rather complicated emotion. There was a bit of resentment and indignation, a bit of helplessness and fury, and a bit of nostalgia.
Taking advantage of the time in which no one was watching him, Sui Yuan turned his face away, corners of his lips rising. He always felt that he could not keep up with Huo Ke’s delicate yet rich emotional thoughts. Therefore, whenever he stood next to him, he felt rather out of character.
Indeed, he wasn’t human. Even if he understood emotions and had also probably experienced this so-called love, he completely had no way to make his own emotions appear more complex and profound. Thus, he just went for superficiality.
Sui Yuan knew what love was, but didn’t understand what it felt like for love and hate to be intertwined. Even if it was Zhao Xihe, he clearly divided everything—the things he owed Zhao Xihe, the things Zhao Xihe owed him—each line was written clearly in a constrained manner.
When Sui Yuan came into being, it was decided that he could not possess intense emotions. Even if he experienced the sorrow of being separated from a loved one, or even if someone someone he loved disappeared out of their resentment and disappointment in him, Sui Yuan would only feel a sense of loss and melancholy.
The feelings between Sui Yuan and Zhao Xihe were not equal from the very start. It wasn’t as if one felt deeply, while the other one’s feelings were superficial. It was more the case in which one person had a million dollars, so he gave all of his one million to the other. On the other hand, the other only had a single dollar and could just give this one dollar to him.
Their innate characters were different. They could not be compared.
While one entered his character, the other came out of character as they quietly listened to the whole song.
Eason kept holding onto his guitar, raised his head, and looked at the two people by the entrance.
With the light to his back, he looked like a Western fallen angel. His green eyes were so deep that they could suck in a person’s every thought. Sui Yuan felt that when Eason looked at him, he was also looking at the person next to him. He couldn’t help but turn his head to glance at Huo Ke.
Huo Ke’s eyes seemed to hold a thousand words as he silently gazed at Eason. Sui Yuan, feeling conflicted, expressed that he completely couldn’t bear this kind of atmosphere anymore and couldn’t help but lightly laugh, breaking the quiet tacit understanding between the other two people, "Eason Ge’s singing has improved! I’m enchanted after hearing it!"
Eason’s eyes exposed a bit of helplessness, as if he completely saw through Sui Yuan’s lie. Soon after, he put his guitar down and stood up to ask, "How did the audition go?"
"Ah Ke Ge got a role, and I’m still waiting for news," Sui Yuan saw that Huo Ke did not plan on responding, so he took the lead to speak.
"Congratulations," Eason said calmly, and with a faint smile.
"Ah~Ah, I waited all day and only carelessly ate a little at lunch, so I’m starving right now!" Sui Yuan laughed happily as he walked to the kitchen. He also did not forget to ask his two ’good friends’, "Eason Ge, Ah Ke Ge, do you guys want to eat anything?"
"No need," the two people said in tandem. Their eyes met and they spoke in unison once more, "Do you have some time? I have something to talk to you about."
Sui Yuan held a sandwich in his mouth that he had gotten from the fridge. He watched the two people who shared a tacit understanding and suddenly felt that his setting as "the white lotus third party who squeezed his way in between them" was really not just in name, but also in reality. The light of being a light bulb almost blinded him!
"Then...the two of you should take your time and chat? I’ll return to my room first," Although he was a white lotus and according to his settings, he should wrap himself around Eason and guard him against Huo Ke lest their "old flame reignites," Sui Yuan, whose heart was already full to the brim with Zhao Xihe, did not want to be a part of anyone else’s emotional quarrels. Therefore, he very tactfully and smoothly took a hike.
"Don’t just eat sandwiches. Take yesterday’s leftover milk from lunch as well," Eason urged. When he saw that Sui Yuan obediently listened to him, he retracted his gaze and looked at Huo Ke again, hinting at him.
Huo Ke’s eyebrows furrowed a bit. For a moment, he wasn’t sure of what exactly was happening, so he simply followed Eason in silence, walking into the training room that had the best soundproofing.
"...I feel like I’ve been rejected. What do you think they’re going to talk about?" Sui Yuan asked 5237, tone indicating that this matter was of no concern to himself. There was a bit of a curiosity for gossip infused in his voice.
"Seeing that ambiguous mood and vague attitude, there’s an 80-90% chance that it has to do with feelings," 5237 replied, very reasonably, "Seeing the current situation between the two people, the probability of them breaking up is pretty high. Or, it’s another topic that is related to breaking up."
"...Although this also appears in the plot," Sui Yuan felt a bit at a loss, "the timing isn’t quite right."
5237 was just about to speak when it was interrupted by a cellphone’s ringtone. Sui Yuan picked up the call and discovered that it was the manager who had just left. He couldn’t help but feel startled, "Wang Ge? What’s wrong? What’s the matter?"
"Good news!" The manager’s voice was particularly happy, "I just got a call from the cast and crew. You were chosen for the role! You’re Yue Minghui, congratulations!"
"Ah! Really? That’s wonderful!" The tone of Sui Yuan, who was screaming "I’m done for" in the depths of his heart, was especially full of unrestrained joy, "Thank you, Wang Ge!"
"What are you thanking me for? It was all because of your own hard work. Work hard and don’t squander this precious opportunity. Also, tell Huo Ke to also be careful," the manager warned him, ill at ease.
"Ok, I know," Sui Yuan obediently replied. He had just hung up when he let out a bitter expression.
"Right now, not only is the time when they’re supposed to break up different, you also got into the cast. You even squeezed out Huo Ke, who was supposed to get that role," 5237 hmphed, tone sounding more relieved, as if it "had long since expected this" than angry.
Sui Yuan turned his head to look at 5237, feeling that whether it was himself or his system, they had both become used to this kind of runaway plot.
—–A plot that hasn’t gone awry isn’t a good plot. If the plot progressed as it should, then that’d be strange!
The author has something to say:
Everyone knows who Zhao Xihe is, right? Wwwwww It’s especially clear, right? Although he’s annoyed, he’s working hard to preserve his integrity. Enough!
Eve: This silly translator had no idea who ZXH was when translating this chapter. (Of course I know now but where’s the fun in telling you guys? Hehe.)
Juurensha: Like it’s either Eason or Le Sen, right?
Serefina: anyone think that the names are really similar?? Also im 75% for Eason.
Sora: Heheheh, I’ll be contrary then. Team Le Sen!
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