When Had It Begun?

With Zhou Ye as a new investor, things on set quickly went back on track. In high school, Wen Rui had made sure to keep up with financial news because he'd assumed he was going to take over his father's company and had to get up to scratch. Now that he had a different career altogether, he'd let some of those old habits die in place of new ones, such as revising parts of his script or practising a dance routine to ensure that he didn't get rusty again.

But even though he was so distant from the business world now, he still felt the aftershock of Zhou Ye's decision to sponsor this drama. To him, it had felt like an innocuous move; a rich young man with money to spare threw it into film production to see if it would get him any returns.

The rest of the country seemed to see it differently though. Overnight, speculation that the Zhou Group was finally intending to extend its reach into the entertainment industry broke out and even over breakfast, the incessant calls blowing up Zhou Ye's phone hardly stopped.

"For the last time, Grandfather, I signed the sponsorship contract in a personal capacity, not as a representative of Zhou Group. How the media chooses to interpret that is the business of Zhou Group's PR team, not mine." Across the dining table, Zhou Ye ran a hand through his hair, which still hadn't been styled. He was still in sleepwear this morning, with a rare bleariness to his expression that implied he'd pulled an all-nighter. "This news should have subsided weeks ago, if PR hasn't caught on that someone is deliberately dragging it into the spotlight, then they need to be replaced for incompetency."

Wen Rui watched Zhou Ye quietly, sensing his poor mood. But when their eyes met by coincidence, Zhou Ye gave him a small, reassuring smile that had no business making Wen Rui's stomach flip as early as 8 am. The day had barely begun!

This was another frustrating thing that had been occurring more and more often these days and Wen Rui had no idea what to think. He couldn't deny the evidence when it was slapping him so blatantly in the face; for all intents and purposes, it felt like he had developed a teeny-tiny, sort-of maybe-but-not-quite crush on Zhou Ye. At least, that was what it felt like. He hadn't even considered the possibility that his heart would ever do anything as traitorous as beat for a boy when he thought it beat for girls, so he'd been blindsided when he realised all the signs and symptoms correlated to what he used to feel for Su Jiali.

Even stronger, in fact. Su Jiali had made him brighter and bolder, brave like a gallant knight in his pursuit of her. In the sweet seasons of youth, he'd chased after her back, happy whenever she returned his wave, jealous whenever she'd smiled at Zhou Ye instead.

But she'd never made his stomach quiver the way Zhou Ye could, never made the breath catch in his throat so violently that he felt he needed the inhaler in the bottom of his drawer, the one he'd left untouched for such a long time it was probably expired.

Wen Rui knew what this meant. He just wasn't sure why it had happened. How much of his feelings were the result of his gratitude and reliance towards Zhou Ye now and how much was born out of actual attraction?

He'd never expected to like men. Was it even men? Or just Zhou Ye? Girls and Zhou Ye? Or really. Just. Zhou Ye?

It was hard to come to terms with, so Wen Rui decided to give himself some time to dwell on it. What he was certain of, though, was that he didn't want whatever he had at the moment to come to an end. He knew these couple of months were precious to him and not just because Zhou Ye had been a great help.

In the four whole years of his life that he could no longer remember, he must have been lonely. Although he couldn't rationalise why in exact words, he could sense a new, abject fear of being left alone, of one day no longer having a place to call home or a person to return to. This fear was foreign to Wen Rui and could only be the product of whatever had happened to himself before his amnesia.

Whatever it was, until he knew what he truly felt for Zhou Ye, he wasn't ready to act on it. Just admitting that he might have moved on from Su Jiali to…the person who had stolen Su Jiali's affections from him was a hard pill to swallow.

Besides, he didn't even know whether Zhou Ye was…inclined that way. Although, the list of ambiguous things Zhou Ye had done for him seemed to be getting longer and longer. Their contract marriage aside, the expensive watch, state of the art bedside manner when Wen Rui was ill, and even the amount of concern and support shown in all aspects of Wen Rui's life told a very convincing story.

[Especially the way he praises you,] a cunning little voice in the back of his head liked to remind Wen Rui. [Good boy. Do you like it as much as he does?]

Wen Rui quashed it firmly. His point was, if either of them had been a girl, Wen Rui would have no qualms in calling Zhou Ye out for his interest.

But just because he wasn't, just because there was this added layer of uncertainty due to their shared gender, he found himself hesitating.

Ah, this was so frustrating.

A low whistle caught his attention and he looked up at Li Xue, who gave him a knowing eyebrow waggle. They were waiting on the sidelines as Director Fu discussed changes with the lighting technicians. Now that the budget was more extravagant, he was sparing no expense in the cinematography, his mood so hugely improved despite the setback that came from changing his lead actress, that everyone in the team felt a huge relief.

Except maybe Wen Rui, who just realised that Li Xue had caught him daydreaming about Zhou Ye for the umpteenth time. He hadn't stopped thinking about Zhou Ye ever since he noticed how exhausted he'd looked at breakfast earlier and whether there was anything he could do to alleviate some of that tiredness.

Li Xue snapped her fingers in front of his eyes, causing Wen Rui to blink and jerk backwards.

"Girl trouble?" she said with a grin.

…it was pointless to deny it when his burning ears chose that moment to betray him spectacularly by turning a flaming red.

She laughed and sat down on the bench next to him with a sigh. "Poor Siqing is going to be disappointed."

Yu Siqing was the new actress that Director Fu had roped in to replace Jiang Xin. She'd been scouted straight from acting school and was talented enough that Director Fu hadn't minded that she still had lessons and a final set of exams to complete. This meant that her schedule was slightly off-sync with the rest of theirs but compared to the as-and-when disappearances that Jiang Xin had constantly pulled, Yu Siqing's timetable was nothing. More importantly, she was hardworking, polite, and determined. Wen Rui had only worked for a month with her and was already thanking Zhou Ye from the bottom of his heart for choosing to interfere. Not only was Wen Rui's working environment so much more pleasant now, but Yu Siqing also had an onset chemistry with him that Jiang Xin had never deigned to cultivate and he was certain that the drama would do better as a result of it.

But that being said…what did Wen Rui's 'girl' trouble have to do with Yu Siqing?

His expression probably asked as much because Li Xue's amusement faded, replaced with an unimpressed look. "You haven't realised?"

"Realised what?"

Li Xue shook her head. "You're so caught up with whoever you spend all your free time texting that you haven't even noticed her crush on you huh."

"Crush?!" As far as Wen Rui could tell, Yu Siqing was amicable with everyone on set, from the most minor of logistic assistants to the most senior members of the production team. She was very kind to him too but he'd assumed that this was just her personality.

"…you're probably the last person to know."

Wen Rui wasn't sure what to say in response. He was flattered and perhaps if this had happened just slightly earlier, he might have contemplated starting afresh and trying out a serious relationship with her. She was a good choice and someone that he knew he could genuinely grow to like as a friend at the very least.

But with Zhou Ye in the picture now and Wen Rui learning that he might want to get rid of the word 'fake' in front of the word 'husband'…

"You must really like her?"

"I beg your pardon?" He stammered out. Like who? Yu Siqing?

"Whoever you're thinking about again," Li Xue replied. "You're never looking in a mirror when it happens but every time your thoughts drift off to whoever they are, everyone with a pair of eyes can tell, you know?"

Wen Rui didn't know. He didn't dare to ask either, wasn't sure he could take the embarrassment of hearing her describe what he looked like whenever he thought about Zhou Ye.

But Li Xue wasn't going to let him off the hook.

"You turn dreamy, like you're somewhere far away, watching or listening to them. Your cold prince facade doesn't crumble, not entirely, but your eyes do this thing where they soften at the corners, stars shining in them whenever your phone buzzes in your pocket. Sometimes they extinguish if it's not that person on the other end and sometimes they become so blindingly beautiful it's a wonder the entire set hasn't fallen in love with you."

She concluded her gentle teasing and turned to look at him, before nearly falling over as she howled in laughter at the ripened tomato his face had become.

But Wen Rui didn't even have the presence of mind to pay her any heed.

He was this far gone?