I was woken up by the sound of my phone ringing. I checked just to see Dylan's name appearing. It was barely 7am.
I groaned and answered the phone.
"Wakey wakey strong Yue!" He didn't even give me time to say hello.
"Dylan for god's sake, what is wrong with you?! It's only 7am!" I sat up on the bed annoyed.
"Yeah. But we have to rehearse remember?" He reminded me.
"Oh right, I almost forgot about it. You could've just told my manager. You didn't have to call me." I said.
"Where's the fun in that? I wanted to be the one to wake you up, just to annoy the hell out of you." He teased.
"Well I'm going to punch the hell out of you Dylan. You're impossible!" I retorted. He laughed. The idiot just laughed.
"Come down for breakfast. We'll rehearse outside the set afterwards." He ordered me.
"I'll be there in a few minutes." I told him.
"Bye Yue Yue." He said. He was having the time of his life.
I ended the call without saying goodbye, still pissed off.
After showering and changing into much warmer clothes, I was getting my script when I noticed his hoodie. I had the great idea of leaving it as my revenge. I probably won't be returning it anytime soon. Not because I like it, it's only to piss Dylan off. But it seemed that I was convincing myself with that kind of reasoning.
I sighed. Wakey wakey Yue Yue. I told myself. Buddies, you're buddies. Forget about the FEEELINGS.
I was down at the lobby in a span of 30 minutes since Dylan's wake up call. And in that 30 minutes he spammed my phone with his messages. He's really getting on my nerves today.
YUE HURRY UP!
Yue where the hell are you?
The food's getting cold.
My stomach's grumbling can you hear that?
Yue Yue you there? Hurry up.
I finally reached the dining hall of the hotel. I zeroed in on Dylan, he was sitting alone on the table near one of the windows. I walked quietly behind him, then hit him on the back of his head.
"Ow! What the fa?!" He turned to me and his eyes widened when he saw me.
"Yue! Why do you have to hit so hard?" He complained and stood up.
"Serves you right. Why do you keep on bothering me? You could've eaten by yourself." I told him.
He pulled me and sat me down on the seat beside him.
"Because I already got you your food. I didn't want it to get cold. I even asked them to prepare an orange juice and a hot water for you." He said as he sat beside me. I looked at him unbelief marked my features.
"Why did you order my food? I can order it myself." I told him.
"Gosh a simple thank you would be nice. I just wanted to make sure you eat right. You also need a source of vitamin C. We gotta boost your stamina like me." He held up his arm and showed his nonexistent bicep.
"Besides you being healthy means I get to be healthy. Wouldn't want to catch a cold from you again. Jeez. So much for being concern." He added.
"Well thank you. Congratulations! Now you're also my nutritionist." I'm really happy that he cares about me, but I'm also very suspicious of his actions. He likes to prank us especially Kuan. I wouldn't get it past him to prank me too.
"You're welcome! Now eat Yue. You're so thin, you need to eat." He handed me the spoon and fork. I looked at him suspiciously.
"What?" He asked eyebrows raised.
"You put something on my food and drink, didn't you?" I accused him.
"Waah. Yue, you really think I would do that?" He said with disbelief.
"Well you pranked Kuan a couple of times." I reminded.
"True. But can't I prepare food for my buddy's wellbeing?"
"You know you're being really weird today. Snap out of it Dy." Still not buying his reason.
He huffed. "Fine. If you don't eat that, I will force feed it to you." He threatened then grabbed the spoon and fork from my hands.
"Alright sorry. I'll eat it." He was looking at me still offended by my accusation.
"Thank you for the food Dylan. I will gladly eat it. Happy now?" I said. He finally smiled and nodded.
I was just about to eat my third spoonful when I felt him placed his hand on my forehead. My hand froze midway, there were butterflies in my stomach while my heart lurched on his actions. I then turned to look at him wondering what he was doing. He was concentrating hard, comparing my temperature with his.
"What's this about now?" I asked him still astounded.
"Just checking for fever." He answered.
"And?"
"You're clear!" He said, grinning happily. I laughed at him even though I was feeling weird. Sometimes he can be annoying, but he has this moments where he can be really sweet and caring. And if you're not careful, you'll surely fall for him. But I'm one of his friends. And I'm not falling for my buddy.
"Wow Dy. Are you trying out for different professions? Not happy with being an actor?" I teased him instead.
He smiled. "Nope, just looking out for my buddy." I grabbed a bread and placed it in his mouth.
"Just eat Dylan. You're probably just hungry." I dismissed whatever he just said. Because right now, I'm on the borderline of buddy lane, and I desperately needed to stay in that lane.
He took a large bite and chewed while wiggling his eyebrows at me.
"That I am." He said.
I hit his arm. "You're always hungry. Yet you're so thin even though you eat a lot."
"Ay! I'm not thin. I'm sexy!" He gestured to his body proudly.
I hit the side of his head with my knuckles.
"You're full of shit Dylan." I said, trying to knock some sense into him.
"What the fa? Language Yue." He said.
"Well you bring out the best in me." I smiled sarcastically. He chuckled.
We continued eating our breakfast. When we're almost done, he turned to face me.
"Oh I almost forgot, where's my hoodie?"
"I forgot it in my room. Sorry Dy." I pretended just as planned.
"No worries, just give it back to me later. Let's go, we still have to rehearse our lines." He said. Well he will be getting it back. Not just so soon.
Some of the filming scenes went on smoothly that afternoon. But when we get to the part where Ah Si and Shancai were reunited after the prison scare, well you can say it was a rough time afterwards.
"Dylan, Yue, you're lovers not brothers. Stop wrestling with each other!" She said through the megaphone. We both nodded.
But one take after another, we still couldn't get the scene right. Ms. Angie pulled us into a secluded area to talk to us.
"Okay, you both can do this. You were doing great but you have to forget that you're close friends right now okay? You're lovers, you're just reunited after going through the pain of break up and separation." We nodded as she helped us internalize the emotions of our characters.
"Ah Si, you just got her back after almost losing her. You fought so hard just to convince her that you can't live without her. Think about that, the desperation you are feeling, the passion that you got her back despite everything." She told Dylan.
"Shancai, think about your decision of choosing your love over your fear of the future. Think about her longing because you fought hard against your feelings. And right now you finally accepted it and is willing to give him a chance." She then helped me afterwards.
"I'll leave you two. Let's take a break for a few minutes. Internalize that okay? You can do it." She encouraged us.
"Alright people. We'll take a 10 minute break. Move it!" She ordered the production staff.
Dylan went to the area near the police department entrance. He leaned on the railings.
I on the other hand leaned on the wall. I kept thinking how I could express the feelings of Shancai. I looked at Dylan imagining him as Daoming si, yet I end up thinking of him just as Dylan.
I decided to let it go and just imagine myself fighting against my feelings for him. I was reminded of the times we held hands to warm each other, the way he cared for me on the rooftop and on the dining hall this morning. I imagine loving him but not being able to tell him, but instead ignoring him.
I felt a slight tug of pain on my chest. I stopped for a moment not liking where it is going.