Second Take On Romance - The A-List Actor Wants Me
Chapter 179 : The Mark Of A True Actor (1)

Chapter 179: Chapter 179 : The Mark Of A True Actor (1)

When Shen Jingwei returned home that evening, darkness had fallen outside. The house was dimly lit, with only a few lights scattered along the walls.

"Yan Renzhong...?" He called out gingerly.

"Over here," came the reply from the pool area.

Shen Jingwei tossed his bag onto the living room couch and stepped out.

Right at the balcony, a small dining table was set for two. It was adorned with a white linen tablecloth and a centerpiece of flickering candles.

Two wine glasses, each filled with a deep red liquid, stood beside two covered plates and silver cutlery.

Yan Renzhong leaned against the balcony railing, a bottle of wine cradled in his hand, his gaze fixed on Shen Jingwei.

"Hello, Jingbao," he tilted his head to the side with a smile. "Care for some romantic dinner? What’s wrong?"

His tone quickly changed when he saw the look on Shen Jingwei’s face.

"Oh..."

Shen Jingwei hurriedly whipped up a broken smile.

"What a surprise, I..."

Yan Renzhong put the bottle of wine aside and took his lover into his arms.

"What happened today? Who hurt you?"

"No one did..."

Shen Jingwei wanted to complete his sentence, but the rest of the words were stuck in his throat. He blinked away the stinging tears in his eyes, but they kept coming. In the end, he couldn’t prevent them from falling.

"Can you just hold me?" Shen Jingwei asked with a little sob. "Just hold me, that’s all."

"..."

Yan Renzhong tightened his arms around Shen Jingwei and sighed against the latter’s forehead.

"Alright, Baby."

Under the canopy of stars, they held each other close. Their silence was filled by the soft rhythm of their breaths and the gentle thrum of their hearts.

Once the flow of tears stopped, Shen Jingwei’s stomach started to rumble.

And then, he was more than ready to have some dinner and talk.

"I joined an audition today," he began while spearing slices of roast potato with his fork. "It was for the role of a villain named Su Jiahong in a new criminal drama series, ’Eyes Of The Hunter’."

Yan Renzhong listened attentively, offering merely a little nod in apprehension.

"The first stage went without a hitch. Prior to the second stage, three participants... Or should I say one participant and his two underlings came to send me home. Apparently, ’the likes of me’ didn’t fit the role.

I talked back, of course, and they went away, huffing and puffing angrily.

But during the second stage, after performing a scene for the judges, one of them criticized my performance, saying it was ’girly’.

The judges began to argue... Some, including Feng Jietang, tried to save my face but the other judge insisted that they should cast someone more macho, and not someone ’like me’."

Shen Jingwei threw his head backward and laughed.

"It’s not the first time a judge openly criticized me for being gay, but for some reason it stings today. Or maybe I am just being too sensitive.

I will get over it soon enough, there is no need to worry about me."

Yan Renzhong reached out and patted Shen Jingwei’s head.

"They bullied you, so you were hurt. It is normal human reaction. You don’t have to force yourself to be strong."

Shen Jingwei rubbed his cheek against Yan Renzhong’s palm.

"The fact that I need to force myself proves that I am too weak. I wish I could let their comments glide off me flawlessly. But that’s not my biggest concern right now."

"What is?"

"How many more times will they hurl the same kind of insult at my face? Will I ever land another role after I finish ’Dance Of The Dragons’?"

Or was his first break truly going to be his last? Shen Jingwei’s heart turned cold at that thought.

"You will," Yan Renzhong said firmly.

"Even if I can’t get rid of the homosexual image?"

"Yes."

"But how?"

Yan Renzhong smiled.

"By holding your head high and doing what you can at your own pace."

Shen Jingwei groaned.

"Isn’t that what I have been doing this entire time?"

"Yes, and you have done exceedingly well."

Yan Renzhong speared a chunk of chicken steak and shoved it into Shen Jingwei’s mouth.

"Don’t give up. Believe in yourself."

And I will handle the rest, Yan Renzhong thought grimly to himself.

"Okay..."

"Come on, sweetheart, cheer up."

Yan Renzhong poured wine into their glasses.

"Tell me about this drama you were auditioning for."

"Oh, the title of the drama is ’Eyes Of The Hunter’..."

Their mood improved once they started talking about the audition itself, and the interesting relationship between Su Jiahong and Cao Huifang.

"Unlike ’Dance Of The Dragons’, this one is an original drama series launched by Yunhuan Entertainment. It tells the story of a detective who deals with mainly homicide cases and a psychopathic serial killer who becomes his nemesis throughout the drama..."

Shen Jingwei stopped to take a sip from his glass.

"Uh-huh."

A soft smile formed on Yan Renzhong’s lips as he listened to Shen Jingwei.

"For the second round of the audition, they made me act out the first confrontation between the detective Cao Huifang and the serial killer Su Jiahong. Oh, Feng Jietang is playing the detective by the way..."

"The main challenge is to put together a believable escape plan for Su Jiahong based on our understanding of both characters..."

"Since Su Jiahong is a twisted sadist who enjoys psychological torment, I incorporated his mentality into the elaborate escape scene."

Shen Jingwei finished his glass and Yan Renzhong poured him another.

"And how did you do that?"

"It is quite simple, actually. Cao Huifang the detective has a dark past that haunts him for years..."

"His mother’s suicide..."

"By putting the gun at his temple, Su Jiahong triggers Cao Huifang’s trauma, thus creating an opportunity for him to escape."

As the drinks flowed, Shen Jingwei’s chatter grew louder and more incoherent until he finally succumbed to the alcohol and collapsed into Yan Renzhong’s arms.