Chapter Text
“So, do you have any upcoming projects?” Wen Kexing lights up hearing the question coming out of the interviewer’s mouth.
“Ah well, I might have some, but I can’t say too much just yet. I’m sure you’re going to be seeing a lot about one of them soon,” he smiles, making sure to add a hint of mysteriousness into his expression.
With that, the interview ends and Wen Kexing is free for the rest of the day. He sighs in relief once he walks out of the studio. It wasn’t even that exhausting, only a short interview meant to provide his fans with an overview of his current and future projects. It also marks the end of the promotion of his newest drama Healers and, frankly, he’s quite glad it’s over already. He’s been in the industry for a couple of years now and he loves being an actor — especially if the fact that he is successful were to be considered — but he couldn’t deny that sometimes, with the few days off that he has, he gets tired. Therefore, he cherishes any free time that he is allowed.
“They sent me the full cast list for The Changming Mountain,” Liu Qianqiao, his manager, walks up to him. Wen Kexing turns to her in anticipation. He was excited about this project because the story seemed interesting and he really liked the character he was going to play. Working on it would also give him an opportunity to challenge himself considering that the role was quite complex, so he was over the moon when he received the information that he got the part. Now, about to find out who he was going to act with, he’s thrilled.
“Oh, tell me,” he motions and frowns when he spots an unhappy expression on Qianqiao’s face. He knows the woman is not prone to bad moods too often, so he suspects that there was something about the cast that made her look so morose. “Come on.”
“From the ones you’re going to be working the closest with, we have: Ye Baiyi, Du Pusa, Shen Shen, Gao Xiaolian, and–” his manager hesitates. So far, Wen Kexing isn’t too unhappy about his future co-workers — he could think of a few people he’d rather work with, but, overall, he thinks he’ll be fine — but he suspects it might change in a second.
“Out with it, which one of my enemies will I have to work with?” he inquiries. He means it as a joke, knowing that while there are a few people he’d rather avoid, not many of them can ruin it for him.
“Zhou Xu,” hearing the name, Wen Kexing curses. “He’s gonna be playing your character’s closest friend, so you will have to see him pretty much every day.”
“Why does it have to be him of all people?” he whines, unhappy.
“Do you want me to answer that for you? Because he’s good and they’re getting the best of the best for this project.”
“That was a rhetorical question,” he grumbles and then adds, “And also, arguable.”
It’s common knowledge that Wen Kexing and Zhou Xu don’t get along. The relationship between them was strained at best and no one’s entirely sure what caused it. They met by chance one day and somehow became friends. They used to talk a lot and spend time together, but after a while, it ceased as they changed their attitude towards one another completely. They were lucky their friendship wasn’t much of a public affair, because they can at least get away with avoiding each other whenever they attend the same event. If anyone has noticed their obvious dislike for the other, it hasn’t been blown out of proportion. It’s fine, unless it changes now that they have to work on one project together. If they don’t manage to hide it well enough, not only will the show be put in jeopardy but people will also most likely criticise them for their lack of professionalism.
Wen Kexing hears Qianqiao sigh on his side, “I don’t know what it is, but you better figure it out, the shooting starts in two weeks.”
“Don’t worry, I’m a professional,” he responds with confidence that he doesn’t truly have inside of him. He’s almost positive that he got over what happened in the past and, therefore, can remain indifferent in the company of the other man. There is, however, a small voice, in the back of his head, telling him that he will not manage to remain unaffected. He wishes he could just ignore the whole thing, but he fears the resentment that took a spot in his heart that one fateful day might be too strong.
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Two weeks later, he finds himself attending the first script reading for his new show. He’s in a sour mood, the prospect of seeing Zhou Zishu for the first time since the day they parted ways finally downing on him. Despite his initial hope, he knows he won’t be able to simply ignore the presence of the other man — not after what happened between them. He braces himself and walks into the room where everyone is to gather at 10:00 a.m. sharp. He is immediately met with the sight of the one person he was hoping to avoid for as long as possible, considering they’ll have to work closely together for the next three months. A gloomy feeling rises in his chest, making him realise that he still holds a grudge.
“Ye Baiyi,” he exclaims, spotting the older man from the corner of his eye and choosing to bother him instead of drowning in his self-pity once more. “So you’re playing the villain of the story, huh? Very fitting if I may say so.”
“Do you ever stop talking, brat?” Ye Baiyi asks, unamused. Wen Kexing smiles widely at him.
“Do you ever smile, old man?” he counters and giggles a bit. The two of them met on several occasions in the past, but it can’t be said that they are close or friendly. They usually bicker a lot and pick fights with one another over some silly matters, but in the end, Ye Baiyi’s company is not the worst Wen Kexing has ever been in and, what is more, he enjoys getting on the man’s nerves as he finds it to be awfully amusing. That’s why, despite the fact that neither of them would ever admit that they get along, they can be found talking to each other whenever they meet somewhere.
“You’re in such a good mood for someone who can’t even stand being in the same room with his co-star,” observes the older man and smirks at him, looking past his shoulder. “Don’t ruin this for the rest of us.”
Soon after, they’re all seated around a long table with scripts in front of them, discussing the most important things concerning the drama they’re going to be working on. The whole ordeal is mostly uneventful. They end the meeting with the presentation of their schedule for the next few weeks which involves consultations with the hair and make-up department, the choreographer of the action scenes, and a couple of rehearsals before they start the proper shooting in two weeks.
Once they’re done, he leaves the building, texting Gu Xiang that he will meet her at their favourite restaurant in an hour. The girl finished shooting her own project just a few days ago and decided that she needed to come and visit him before she went back home to Chengdu and he departed for Dongyang where he would be shooting The Changming Mountain. That is why they agreed to go out for dinner and, then, spend the rest of the day catching up.
Immersed in what is on the screen of his phone, he doesn’t watch where he’s going and, as a result of that, he suddenly bumps into something or, rather, someone. He looks up and sees none other than Zhou Zishu who is glaring at him. He lowers his gaze.
“Sorry,” he says curtly and wants to walk away, but the other man blocks his way.
“Let’s agree on something,” Zhou Zishu begins, his voice distant. “Let’s not get in each other’s way, get this thing done, and never see each other again.”
Wen Kexing stares and has to hold himself back from shuddering upon meeting the other man’s cold gaze. He swallows, thinking how wrong it feels to be at the receiving end of Zhou Zishu’s murderous glare. He’s not sure why he is being subjected to it since, in his mind, he’s the one who was wronged, but he chooses not to comment on it.
“Yes, that will be for the best,” he decides and nods.
He almost runs out of the building, hoping to get away from the awful situation as soon as humanly possible. He exhales heavily once he’s inside the car. He can’t help but think back to the easier times, many months ago, when interacting with Zhou Zishu didn’t feel forced and awkward beyond comprehension.
Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu first met by accident when they were both staying at the same hotel in Suzhou. Wen Kexing was there because he was shooting a drama while Zhou Zishu had an event to attend. The chances of them even crossing paths were slim, but, somehow, they bumped into one another one evening. Wen Kexing was typing on his phone, texting his aunt to relay his schedule to her so that they could plan their next family meeting, when he came into contact with another body. Zhou Zishu, as it turned out, similarly to him, wasn’t watching where he was going as he was texting somebody.
“I’m so sorry,” Wen Kexing apologised immediately before he even had a chance to see who it was he ran into.
“It’s fine, I wasn’t looking either. I’m sorry,” hearing the voice, he looked up at the person in front of him. The sight made him speechless for the man in front of him was possibly the most beautiful person Wen Kexing has ever met. He was wearing a half-unbuttoned shirt, which allowed a glimpse of the smooth skin of the man’s chest, and glasses. He briefly wondered what he did to be blessed with such a view after the day he had.
“There’s nothing to apologise for, with your looks, feel free to run me over anytime you wish,” he winked and received an eyeroll in response. He smirked, recognising that, for once, someone was challenging him rather than falling to his feet after one cheesy pick up line. “I don’t think I recall your name?” He thought the man looked familiar as if he had seen him before, but he couldn’t remember where.
“Zhou Xu,” the man answered and Wen Kexing wondered if the only reason he received a response was because the man was recognisable due to his successful career.
“Right!” he exclaimed. “Tian Chuang, you starred in that drama. How could I not recognise you? Might be because you look even better in person than you do on screen,” Wen Kexing chuckled, seeing the unimpressed expression on the other’s face. “How about we exchange numbers?”
“Why would I give you my number when I don’t even know you?” the other asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Wen Kexing couldn’t help but notice how tightly the sleeves of the shirt hug the man’s arms and wondered just how insanely perfect someone could be.
“Of course! I forgot to introduce myself,” he observed and shook his head at himself. “Wen. Wen Kexing. You might know me from The Ghost Valley…” from the look on Zhou Xu’s face, he deduced that the man was not familiar with his work. That, however, did not stop him from chattering along as they both went in the direction of the elevators.
In the end, Wen Kexing managed to get Zhou Xu’s number the next day as they once again ran into each other and he claimed it was fate and one couldn’t argue with fate. He didn’t even falter when the other sighed in resignation while giving him his number.
Those were the simple times, Wen Kexing thinks as he’s brought out from the memory by his driver who announces that they’re nearing the restaurant. Now, we can’t even act civilised, it seems.
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“I don’t even understand why he despises me so much? I should be the one scowling and glaring?” Wen Kexing complains while Gu Xiang listens to him intently.
“I still don’t know what happened between you. You used to hang out and now you hate each other,” the girl pouts and he sighs.
“It’s a long story that I don’t want to talk about, A-Xiang,” he just says. “I’m sorry, that’s not what we met up for.”
She smiles and sends him an encouraging look, “It’s okay, you can complain any time you want.”
“So, tell me, how are you?” he beckons for her to talk.
“Fine, I’ve been texting you everyday, ge, you already know everything,” she explains and Wen Kexing shakes his head.
“There has to be more than ‘the shooting is going well’ and ‘the director praised me for my acting in this one scene’,” he points out and watches as the girl blushes. He smiles wickedly and raises an eyebrow, “Oh, what is it?”
“Nothing,” he squeaks, covering her face with her hands.
“Aw, my little A-Xiang got shy, it must be serious,” he teases her, reaching his hand out to move her arms so that he can look at her properly. “Do you want to tell me what it is that made you act like this?”
Gu Xiang only shakes her head and Wen Kexing lets it go, knowing the girl is smart enough to handle her private matters on her own and reach out for help should she need it. Instead, he reminds her, “I’m always here if there’s something you wish to discuss.” She nods and sends him a grateful smile.
Wen Kexing and Gu Xiang aren’t blood-related in any way, but they are just like siblings in any other aspect — they even think of each other as brother and sister. Starting from the unconditional, familial love they share for one another and ending with the undying support they provide whenever the other needs it, they are a perfect example of a proper sibling bond. A lot of people thought so and, what is more, their fans took to calling them “Nation’s favourite siblings”.
Their respective stories are long and complicated, both of them having traumatic childhood and, miraculously, ending up in Luo Fumeng’s care. They call her their aunt, but it doesn’t change the fact that the woman pretty much saved the both of them from misery and treated them like her own children. She didn’t have her own kids and wasn’t even married because the man she was supposed to marry left her a few days before the wedding was to take place. After that, she decided not to bother with the concept of marriage and lived happily as a single woman. She probably wouldn’t have taken in any children if she hadn’t met Wen Kexing and then, a few years later, if Wen Kexing hadn’t met Gu Xiang. It took the woman one look at each of them to decide that she would give them good lives. As she promised, she succeeded and they couldn’t be more grateful to her for the love she gifted them.
It didn’t take long for the two of them to become inseparable. Gu Xiang was thankful to Wen Kexing for saving her, stayed close to him at all times, and promised to always be by his side and repay the favour while Wen Kexing, seeing how similar they were, vowed not to let the girl suffer ever again. That is to say, their relationship was very deep and profound and it didn’t escape the public’s attention. They didn’t mind though, glad to be able to show people that not only blood makes a family.
“Will you be fine? Shooting this drama?” Gu Xiang asks suddenly. He looks at her dumbfounded.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” he asks.
“You have to act alongside Zhou Xu,” she points out. “You hate him, you cursed his name about a thousand times.”
“It’ll be fine; I'll just play my part and continue ignoring his existence otherwise,” he smiles, hoping to reassure her, but he himself isn’t sure whether or not he’ll be fine. The old hurt that he managed to suppress in his heart is already resurfacing and they exchanged two sentences. Who knows what will happen when they have to spend entire days in each other’s company…
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Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu succeed in not getting in each other’s way for the next two weeks, barely. It’s mostly fine until they have to do rehearsals and act out a couple of scenes. They’re stiff and awkward and it’s a miracle that the director doesn’t murder them there and then.
“You are aware that we’re actually shooting in a few days, aren’t you?” the man asks the two of them after another failed scene, his voice dripping of sarcasm. “You’d better fix it. I don’t care how, but you’re supposed to be good friends in case you forgot.”
He sighs, wishing it were as easy as the director makes it seem. The issue, however, is much bigger than just the two of them not getting along as most people who work with them think. Nonetheless, they make a promise to work on their chemistry, which is mostly so that the man would let them off the hook for now because there’s no way that they’re going to move on and forget about their past — or at least Wen Kexing can’t since he still doesn’t know why Zhou Zishu is mad at him.
Needless to say, they don’t improve their relationship in the following days. If anything, it gets worse. Wen Kexing can literally feel the unbearable tension between them. It makes him feel trapped, knowing there is no way of escaping it.
It’s the second day of shooting scenes for the drama and the first day when they shoot together without other people present. Wen Kexing is on edge, afraid he will ruin everything simply because he can’t handle being in the presence of one Zhou Zishu. His fear becomes intensified when they are informed that some people found out about their filming location and are hanging around nearby, probably hoping to spy on them a bit. The cast was announced a couple of days before and, from what Liu Qianqiao passed on to him, people were ecstatic at the prospect of the two of them working together. So no doubt, they were, now, trying to catch a glimpse of them at work.
“Alright, let’s do this. Places,” orders the director and they move to take their spots. He sighs and straightens up, fixing his hair. “The idea is that you two are about to go on a life-threatening mission. Now, your characters are in a mindset in which they either go together and risk it all or neither of them does so make sure you show the depth here.”
The director calls “action” and they start. As could be expected, it goes terribly. They seem more like two mortal enemies rather than close friends which they’re supposed to be in the drama. Even their lines don’t resonate, sounding as if they read them from a piece of paper.
“I need to take care of this myself,” he says his line and, where it should be filled with passion and conviction, coming from Wen Kexing’s mouth, it sounds as if he were reading the morning newspaper without much interest.
“Look me in the eyes and say it again; are you really going to risk your life for this?” it’s visible on Zhou Zishu’s face that he’s stopping himself from sighing as he says these words.
“I don’t care,” he answers, forcing himself to sound at least slightly sure of what he’s saying and avoiding looking at Zhou Zishu despite the fact that the script tells them to gaze into each other’s eyes.
“I am not letting you do this–” Zhou Zishu starts saying his next line and Wen Kexing has to stop himself from internally cringing at how dry it sounds.
“That’s a cut,” the director says, resigned. It’s their third take and it’s only getting worse.
“Come on, act like you’re ready to die for me,” Wen Kexing snaps in the direction of the other man.
Zhou Zishu huffs, rolling his eyes, “Who would want to die for you?”
He takes a breath, throwing his head back and trying to prepare himself for the next shot, seeing that there is no hope for a civilised relationship with Zhou Zishu. “Can we just do it?”
They return to their spots and face each other. The expression on the man’s face throws him off completely, “Stop murdering me with your stare. In case you don’t remember, we’re supposed to like each other…”
Zhou Zishu says nothing, making him even more frustrated. He thinks that perhaps the man is enjoying this — him suffering through hours and hours of working together. He truly tries to remain professional and act out the scenes well, but it doesn’t work out the way he wishes it did. They do a couple more takes and by the fifth take, which is only a little bit better than the rest of them, the director reaches his limit.
“Okay, I trust you just need a moment to get acquainted with one another better, because I’m pretty sure I chose some of the best actors for this,” the man says deliberately. “If you can’t do this, think about some girlfriend, family member, your crush, best friend, whoever, I don’t care. I want this done right, now.”
They do about three more takes and the director finally decides that he’s had enough and it probably won’t get any better after which he sends them off, warning them to better start getting along. They have no intentions of doing so, but they leave before the man can change his mind.
Later on, when Wen Kexing is in his hotel room, he feels like screaming. He’s had this urge ever since he found out about the casting, but now, his frustration has reached the highest levels. Zhou Zishu is the person he used to think of as a friend, he’s the person Wen Kexing thought would be his closest companion for many years. But everything has changed and now, there’s only despair and animosity. He lets out a groan, covering his face with a pillow and hopes the next day will be a bit better.
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The next day, Wen Kexing wakes up to a phone call from his manager which already tells him it’s not going to be a good day. Liu Qianqiao only calls when it’s urgent and she never calls at 7 a.m. unless the world’s on fire, metaphorically. He picks up, rubbing his eyes.
“Where’s the war?” he asks, his voice still hoarse considering he’s just woken up.
“Internet,” states the woman curtly. “We’ll explain everything later. We’re having an emergency meeting with the director in an hour so you better get your ass here.”
With that she hangs up and he doesn’t even get the chance to make sure whether or not he still has the job. He gets out of bed in a swift motion and goes to get dressed.
“A video from yesterday’s shooting was leaked and people are angry because you seem like you two hate each other,” relays Qianqiao once everyone’s arrived. As it turns out, he’s not the only one called in for an emergency meeting, Zhou Zishu and his manager are also here.
“Frankly, we don’t care if you do,” states the director who is sitting at the table with a sour expression, drinking his coffee. “You are, however, going to fix that.”
“And how do you propose we do that? Clearly, we can’t even act like we like each other,” he says bitterly.
“Right, that’s why we’ve spent a significant amount of time on developing a plan that will convince the public that you don’t, in fact, hate each other, but simply had a bad day,” speaks Han Ying, Zhou Zishu’s manager. Wen Kexing did not miss the guy. “Starting today, you are going to be best friends. You’re going to be seen going out to eat and we’re going to make sure people know you’re absolutely thrilled to be working together.”
“So which part of ‘we can’t even act like we like each other’ is unclear?” Wen Kexing asks, gaping at the people in front of them with an open mouth, hoping he’s heard wrong. In all fairness, hanging out with Zhou Zishu is the last thing he wants to do.
“What if we don’t agree?” inquires Zhou Zishu from his side.
“You don’t have a choice,” exclaims the director, throwing up his hands. “You either start at least pretending to not hate each other or you’re fired.”
“Fine,” they both mutter quietly.
“So, now let me introduce the plan properly,” begins Liu Qianqiao and proceeds to explain her points clearly.
It seems as though Wen Kexing is now forced to act like Zhou Zishu is his best friend not only on-screen but off-screen as well.