Two Hands to Clap

If there was anything about Lin Zizhou that Su Qiao could count on to never fail her, it was his pride. Taking a kick to the balls was already excruciating but having eyewitnesses around when it happened would be more than he could bear.

Most of Su Qiao's earlier irritation dissipated into a grim satisfaction as she watched him turn and leave without another word, so intent on holding the tattered remains of his dignity together that she could barely detect a hobble in his gait.

She looked back at Yun Zhou, who was gazing after Lin Zizhou's back with a slight furrow on his brow. If the plot hadn't deviated too far from the original storyline, this should be the first time these two enemies met.

In that other lifetime, Lin Zizhou had become jealous of Yun Zhou after learning that fans shipped him together with his precious Bai Meixin. As a result, Lin Zizhou had gone out of his way to get Yun Zhou into trouble time and time again. When Su Qiao had 'read' the novel from Bai Meixin's point of view, Yun Zhou had been portrayed as a minor antagonist that had caused misunderstandings between the sweet lead couple. Antagonists had to be eliminated for a happy ending, of course, and Su Qiao had been surprised that at the end of the book, Yun Zhou had managed to escape that tragic fate, becoming a film emperor and leading a separate life from Bai Meixin, whom he'd never seemed to care much for anyway.

Either way, it felt cathartic to deal a blow to Lin Zizhou in front of Yun Zhou. Yun Zhou didn't know it, but they were both the unwitting villain and villainess in Bai Meixin's stupid love story. Su Qiao had to be wary of the effects Bai Meixin's protagonist halo might have on him in the future but for now, she felt a strong sense of camaraderie towards this icy statue of a young man.

An icy statue, who was carrying…a big cake box, which she recognised as coming from a popular posh patisserie downtown that made traditional French pastries with an Asian twist. The baby pink packaging was so incongruous with Yun Zhou's no-frills personality that Su Qiao took a while to reconcile the image she was seeing with the impression she had of him in her brain.

Actually, why was he here in the first place? Director Ma had confirmed him as a member of the cast but Su Qiao had received the amended filming schedule with the scenes she had to retake with him and he wasn't due on set until next week. Was he here to socialise beforehand? But Yun Zhou didn't strike her as the sort of person who would tote cake on set on a day he didn't have work just to make nice with his future colleagues.

At any rate, she was grateful that he'd shown up at this exact moment. She'd been prepared to abandon her stilettos and make a break for it down the corridor. Lin Zizhou's face had been positively dripping with malice by the end of their little conversation.

"Thank you for your assistance, is Mr Yun here to speak to Director Ma?"

Yun Zhou's eyes flickered from her face to the cake he was carrying. His lips pressed into a flat line but his expression remained impassive as he shook his head.

"Ms Su should be more careful from now on," was all he said. It was a bit of a non-sequitur but Su Qiao felt like he was possibly speaking out of concern. Lin Zizhou's identity wasn't a secret, especially amongst entertainment industry insiders. Yun Zhou was warning her that her life would potentially be more difficult from now on.

She smiled despite herself. "Mr Yun's concern is appreciated." She glanced at her watch. "If you're looking for the production team, most of them should still be in the middle of a take at the moment. Would Mr Yun like to wait in the hub?"

It might be a figment of Su Qiao's imagination but she thought she saw Yun Zhou stiffen up, an unnatural look flitting over his face for a second, vanishing as soon as she tried to chase it.

"If it's no trouble…could you direct me there?"

"…" Was that…embarrassment she heard?

Could it be that his coincidental but timely arrival, just in time to make Lin Zizhou beat a hasty retreat, was because he'd gotten…lost? Even with all the signage that had been put up specifically to direct members of the cast?

She had to bite the inside of her mouth to stop herself from laughing. Through Bai Meixin's lenses, the Yun Zhou she'd seen had been harsh, almost to the point of being rude, had a tragic, almost Byronic melodrama to his aura by the time the novel had finally ended.

But this Yun Zhou was just mellow, cool and distant but not callous yet. He was surprisingly cute and Su Qiao didn't know what had happened to him to cause his temperament to change but she didn't want to see it happen again.

"Sure, this way."

She led Yun Zhou to the correct floor. Although he was still a new star to the industry, only slightly better off than Bai Meixin, his handsome face and loud cake box kept heads turning in his direction. A strange thought crossed Su Qiao's brain as she remembered what date it was again. Her eyes trailed from the box to his face but his expression was unreadable as he stared at the lift panel, seemingly lost in thought.

Su Qiao decided not to ask. It wasn't her business and not everyone appreciated having prying questions directed at them. There would be plenty of time for that in the future once Yun Zhou inevitably became famous. She recalled that, like her, he had been a bad press magnet.

Once reaching the hub, Yun Zhou thanked her before disappearing to do who knew what. Peng Lili was on leave today for a medical appointment but she hadn't bothered asking for a replacement assistant because she didn't trust the staff of DFE anymore. Not that that had stopped Lin Zizhou from troubling her himself but still.

She contemplated calling her driver to come around and fetch her. It was rare for her to have the opportunity to call it a day early, might as well enjoy it, right? But when she took out her phone, she noticed a text from…well. She wasn't sure what he counted as at the moment. Maybe her greatest ally? Who just so happened to have the potential to be the biggest headache in existence.

Lesser of Two Evils: Is Ms Su free to grace us with her presence this evening?

Su Qiao: …us?

The instant her reply was sent out, WeChat informed her that Lin Zixun was typing. Once again, she had to marvel at how prompt he was at messaging. Did he have a personal assistant whose sole duty was monitoring his chat apps or something?

Lesser of Two Evils: That depends. If Ms Su is amendable, 'us' could become 'me'. If Ms Su requires more time to consider, 'us' would, unfortunately, be you, me, Mo Chen and a couple of others from the same circles.

After seeing Mo Chen's name, Su Qiao understood the reason for the invite. No doubt, it was for the film emperor's birthday party. But the invite was coming from Lin Zixun, not the birthday boy himself. This meant that Lin Zixun had been the one to organise it and was asking her along…for what intentions? To introduce her to his friends?

She suddenly realised what he'd meant when he'd said he was being serious.

A small smile played on her lips. No matter how things turned out in the future, at least she had to acknowledge that it was nice to work with someone who was committed to their deal.

Before she could reply, another long text came in.

Lesser of Two Evils: There won't be a lot of people attending, just a couple of friends whose names Ms Su should already be familiar with. It's a casual gathering, Ms Su won't have to worry about formalities or anything, just come and enjoy, if you'd like.

Lesser of Two Evils: Although I'd prefer a quiet dinner with just the both of us, ngl

Lesser of Two Evils: :(

The sad emoji tagged on to the end made her snort. She could imagine the cheeky smile on his face as he added it in. But although there was still a mischievous tone to his messages, Lin Zixun must have attended all the finishing school classes his young brother had skipped because he knew exactly how to stay within boundaries. Polite but charming, lighthearted by reassuring, she couldn't deny that in recent times, his messages often left a small warmth blooming in her chest.

Su Qiao: I'll be happy to attend the gathering later.

Lesser of Two Evils was typing again but Su Qiao didn't let him get a text in edgewise this time around. He'd been the one to extend the olive branch but Su Qiao didn't want to be a passive player in whatever game they had going on. She couldn't let him take all the initiative.

Without allowing herself to think, she keyed in something quickly and hit 'send' before she could convince herself that it was a bad idea.

Su Qiao: But I'm free to grace you with my presence tomorrow night too, if you are.