Chapter 7.2 (1/2)
Deep in the Act
Translator: Kotoni
Editor: DPalmz
Quality Check: Isalee
First Published on Chaleuria
Chapter 7.2
It was Zhang Zhun. He dashed into the room, still wearing his headphones. Weighed down by the phone his pocket, his shorts hung low and loose below his waist, revealing the tantalizing strip of hip underneath. Lean muscles rose and fell irregularly as sweat trailed down the ridges of his topless, sculpted torso. Standing by the doorway with dampened hair and tightened buds on his chest, he apologized to Zhou Zheng between erratic breaths. ”Sorry, I'm late. I was working out at the gym.”
Chen Hsin heard himself swallow audibly and even felt himself harden a little. Fl.u.s.tered, he pulled roughly at his hair and looked away. Despite his state of confusion, he caught Qin Xun-er's voice as she turned to speak to her a.s.sistant. ”Who's that?” she asked.
”That's the second lead, Zhang Zhun,” the young girl replied, a note of disdain in her voice. ”Just some B-list action actor.”
”He's a pretty hot piece of meat…” Qin Xun-er's voice trailed off as she whispered something to her a.s.sistant and broke into a giggle. ”Aren't we evil for thinking that?” At this, Chen Hsin snapped around to glare balefully at the two of them. With her head tilted towards her a.s.sistant, Qin Xun-er was spared from the rage in his eyes. But the younger woman was less fortunate. Under the terror of Chen Hsin's vengeful glower, she fell into a petrified silence.
Chen Hsin began walking towards Zhang Zhun instead. Even at this distance, separated by the milling crowd, he immediately saw the trail of bite marks he had left on that sweat-slicked neck. At the sight of those spots of red - irrefutable traces of the kisses he had once planted on that expanse of flesh - his head began to buzz and his chest began to ache a little from the pounding of his heart.
On the other side of the crowd, Zhang Zhun saw him too. How could he not? Chen Hsin's presence was so dazzling that he was always the irrefutable center of attention wherever he went. Despite the thick layer of powder on his left eye socket, traces of the livid bruise still showed through. Under the perplexed looks of those who did not know the story behind the injury, Zhang Zhun gazed back at Chen Hsin strangely and almost sadly, with eyes filled with an inexplicable emotion close to tender attachment.
Chen Hsin finally came up to him. ”You went to the gym?” he asked clumsily, stating the obvious.
”Ah, I was at the airport this morning.” Zhang Zhun peered at Chen Hsin with his large pretty eyes, the corner of his delicate lips flickering somewhat evasively, but also somewhat smilingly. ”I'd just found some time to work out for a bit when the a.s.sistant director called and told me to come over. You…”
Before he could complete his sentence, however, the director barked out orders for everyone to get into position and be on standby. With great reluctance, Chen Hsin returned to the bed. Following the a.s.sistant director's brief outline of the scene, the script supervisor announced, ”Deep in the Act, scene 3, shot 1, take 1!”
Just as Chen Cheng-Sen was about the give the cue to get the camera rolling, Chen Hsin cut him off. Without thinking too much about what he was doing, he went into the bathroom, picked up his coat, and instructed a runner to pa.s.s it to Zhang Zhun. This unthinking gesture, however, created a stir amongst the film crew: ”They seem really close, don't they? That was so sweet… perfect boyfriend material there!”
As Zhang Zhun received the piece of clothing with a furious blush, Chen Hsin could not help but swear at himself mentally: Now you've made things awkward for him! Dammit!
The filming began. Chen Hsin got into bed with Qin Xun-er, still deeply agitated. After hugging and kissing for several moments, they began shrugging off their robes. Despite the number of people in the room, there was absolute silence except for the noises coming from the bed. Engrossed in the performance, Qin Xun-er moaned as she reached down and groped Chen Hsin between the legs. Then, wrapping her arms around him, she squeezed her large b.r.e.a.s.t.s against Chen Hsin's chest and breathed against his ear, ”You're really in the mood, aren't you? You've gotten so hard already, Chen-laos.h.i.+…”
Like it has anything to do with you! - Chen Hsin snapped inwardly with a roll of his eyes as he pried her away and called out to Chen Cheng-Sen, ”I'm not feeling it, Director. Another take please!”