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"CUTTT! Stop!" The director, Russel Coleman, yelled from across the filming set and he could no longer hide the frustration in his voice as he briefly massaged his forehead. Even the movie producer, Phillip Phillips, shook his head left and right after reviewing the taken shot.
"Mr. Long, like I said, this scene is after Reyna was exposed as Rey and was humiliated in public. Caden then came to stand up for him and thus you should show a different expression than you were showing," the director instructed with a frown. Clearly, his patience was starting to run low but still tried his best to remain calm, maybe also because this is the first time he had made a mistake like this.
Well, who wouldn't get upset? They're already on their 20th take and he's still making the same mistake. But he simply couldn't help it, he couldn't act like Apollo was his savior and then cry in his arms as his character should. He initially thought he could handle it since he's surprisingly good at acting but he just realized he couldn't. He should be that damsel in distress with his knight in shining armor, falling in love with him all over again. But instead, he couldn't help turning awkward-faced with the Alpha and in the end and with a decipherable expression.
"I'm so sorry, Director Coleman. I promise I'd do it right next take," Fyre was only able to say. He truly tried his best but he just can't be at ease despite knowing that there was no way Apollo would do something to him in broad daylight and with so many people watching them.
"*sigh* I sure hope so, we've already filmed most of the scenes and these are the ones left for the indoor shots. If we delay this furthermore, there will be losses," the director said again as he sighed in frustration.
"For now I'll give you a 15-minute break, I hope you'll be in good condition after," Director Coleman added and Fyre just nodded disappointingly at himself. This is the first time he was being scolded and he knew the only reason why Russel Coleman wasn't yelling and cursing at him was because of the fact that Mo Hanlu was sponsoring 80% of the movie production and his personal request was to take care of him. Truly, if he didn't have Mo Hanlu as his backer, he'd be in huge trouble.
"Thank you. Maybe I just need some rest," Fyre replied as he watched Director Coleman turn around and walk towards his tent with the producer to maybe discuss some things. Fyre was also about to do the same but he suddenly felt a hand grab his hand stopping him from walking. When he turned around, he was shocked to know that Apollo was still there as if waiting for him to finish his talk with the director.
"Fyre, are you okay? I can't help but think that you have been avoiding me. Have I done something for you to be upset about," Apollo asked with a saddened expression. Fyre was taken aback because he didn't think he'd be found out immediately even though he was doing it carefully. He looked at the Alpha and he smiled uncomfortably because it's not like he could tell Apollo the reason. That in truth he feels uncomfortable with him knowing that Lucien and he might know each other from the picture he had seen.
"N-No. Nothing wrong at all. I just don't feel right as of the moment," Fyre lied before secretly looking around to see where Tian Zi was and wondering why he still hasn't come when it was him who insisted that he shouldn't be left alone since they didn't know if Apollo was part of the bad guys or not.
"Are you sure? You've been acting cold to me lately. You couldn't even act comfortably around me anymore. Is it because of the photos? My manager truly thought you agreed to do it with me, I'm sorry. If I knew this would happen I would have stopped them from releasing such photos," Apollo tried to explain but of course, Fyre wasn't really concerned about that although it was in fact a bit troublesome, but maybe it's best to just nod for now.
After all, he couldn't just ask Apollo what his relationship with Lucien was or whether he knew the true Lucien or not because even if he did ask the Alpha, it's not like he would tell the truth to him. He would definitely just tell him that he didn't know him and if he did say he knew him, there was no way he wouldn't know what Lucien actually does for a living because he'd probably be working along with him considering his suspicious background. It's like his life only started when he was scouted as a model and eventually an actor. Not even the national database could provide decent information about him as if it was purposely made that way.
"I understand. I just hope this won't happen again, I don't want that person to misunderstand us," Fyre conveyed awkwardly as he wanted to just leave already.
"Fyre, are you really going to settle with that pathetic man? If you're with me—" Apollo began to argue but before he could finish his words, a man suddenly came between him and Fyre started glaring at Apollo.
"I don't know what's happening but I don't think Fyre's comfortable with you man. He clearly doesn't want to talk to you," Duke Davidson said with his signature arrogant approach before he smirked. Because of this, people around started looking at them curiously since it looked like a fight was going to break out between Duke and Apollo.
"Duke! What are you doing here?!" Fyre asked in panic before he pulled the fellow actor a step away from Apollo because he didn't want a fight suddenly erupting between the two. If that happens, it will just further verify that the two truly didn't have a good relationship due to the rumors that Duke actually didn't decline the male lead position on Moonlight, and instead he was kicked out because of Apollo. While that wasn't entirely false, it's already been decided that none of this should go out in public considering that these two actors are already competing for the Male best actor of the year award at the incoming Met gala.
If a fight broke out with him involved, who knows what kind of rumors about the three of them would spread out. He's already dealing enough with his dating scandal where he will need to go on a live interview with Apollo soon in the guise of promoting the movie, he didn't want to add another issue when he's not even thinking of becoming a full pledge actor. It's not even been a year yet and he's already making headlines in negative ways.
"What? Am I not allowed to visit my junior actor? It's been two weeks since you had your break, at least miss me a little bit," Duke scolded before pointing at Fyre's forehead and lightly pressing but that made sense, despite how they met, Duke was actually a nice guy in the least. He kept complaining about how Fyre took away his opportunity but at the same time as his senior actor and fellow artist under Julie Walker, he still took care of him and even offered to help him with his acting lessons.
"Yeah? But that does not mean you can just go here and fight. Anyway, who would miss you? It sure is not me."
"What!? You!!.... Tch. Who said I'm fighting! Are you trying to make me look bad in front of Julie? Fyre, fighting is a no-no in our industry. Your face could be hit. Although I don't really mind if that man over there ever tries to," Duke said with a frown, and Fyre was really just confused. He said fighting is bad but then he's provoking Apollo with his words. If his guess was right about Apollo being part of Lucien's group then shouldn't he be good at fighting as well? Fyre wasn't sure if Duke could handle that with him being only an actor.
"Duke, Fyre's right. Someone like you who isn't part of this movie should not be here. Are you that desperate for attention?" Apollo finally commented and gone were his gentle and pitiful expressions earlier and instead, there was an obvious arrogance and confidence in his voice clearly aiming to provoke Duke back. And it was truly effective because Duke looked like he was on the verge of punching the fellow actor. Fyre sighed at this and finally had enough before he walked in between them and lightly pushed Duke back.
"Stop it you two! People are watching us. Do you want another issue coming out of this because I don't! But if you really want to punch each other then help yourselves, I'm leaving." Fyre gritted with a frown. He's a little upset himself because the two are being so childish.
'Urg. Where are you, Zi?' Fyre thought in frustration before he stepped away. However, before he could take another step both his arms were held back by both Apollo and Duke. Fyre looked at the two of them confused while Apollo and Duke glared at each other.
"Let go!" Duke ordered as he gritted his teeth.
"You let go! You don't belong here, X male lead," Apollo countered, making everything even more frustrating for Fyre who's already having a headache from all of this. Unfortunately for him, just like he had previously thought, another entertainment news story will soon come out about this incident and instead of just his dating issue with Apollo, it would be a much more complicated scenario involving him with one more actor.
"I have enough of your sorry ass of a face!" Duke said angrily and as if the world glitched, Apollo and Duke were already exchanging punches. Fyre immediately panicked and so did everyone in the room as they rushed to the scene in shock. Two men tried to stop both actors from further damaging their faces but surprisingly, they were both too strong and always managed to remove themselves from being restrained.
"Stop it you two!" Fyre yelled in panic. He said he wouldn't care if the two of them fight but that was just a lie to stop them from arguing, he didn't think the two actually would. Fyre approached the two and helped to try to stop them but because of the commotion, he was thrown away by one of Duke's arms. Fyre was about to hit the ground but thankfully that didn't happen because finally, Tian Zi came to catch him.
"What in the hell happened?" Tian Zi asked in displeasure. He went off to talk to Russel Coleman for five minutes to explain Fyre's condition and the reason why he's unable to perform properly and he offered some solutions. However, he was just able to make the director agree when a crew member rushed to them and told them about the situation. He rushed back to see the situation with the director and producer and indeed Apollo and Duke were there fighting and Fyre—along with others—were trying to stop the two until the Omega was pushed back. That was when Tian Zi came to catch his lover.
"Zi, please stop them," When Fyre saw Tian Zi, he felt relieved and soon begged with his teary eyes. And seeing this, how can Tian Zi decline such requests from his lover? Alas, he sighed and nodded in defeat. It would not have mattered to him if the two fought until their limbs break or even until one died but if Fyre's involved and hurt, then it had to be stopped.
"Okay. Stay here," Tian Zi said dotingly before he looked at the two actors with a frown. He walked to them and without a second thought grabbed both their heads and smashed them against each other. Everyone was flabbergasted and stood there watching all of it happen as Duke immediately fainted from the impact and Apollo staggered back and touched his forehead, also about to faint from the strong impact.
"Zi! What in the hell!" Fyre yelled from the corner, also unable to process the situation. While both actors finally stopped punching each other, he didn't mean for his lover to stop them that way.
"What? You said to stop them and I did. They wouldn't have stopped if they were just pulled away from each other. This was the best option," Tian Zi argued, finally urging the bystanders to take the two to the clinic and have them patched up.
"S-still, you didn't have to smash their head to each other that hard," Fyre whispered. At the same time, for Tian Zi, this is just something he needed to do for daring to hurt Fyre. Also, he could already imagine what had happened to the two for a fight to happen and he did not like it at all.
'As I've thought. I really shouldn't leave Fyre's side. I've only been gone for like 5 minutes and this happened,' Tian Zi thought.
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To be Continued...