Successfully dropping his parents off at Nana Dai's, Gu Wei navigated his way through the city traffic, arriving at the set just in time for his job.
Gu Wei had grown used to the buss and busy energy of the set, moving out of the way in time for loads, and sidestepping hurrying staffs.
Before, he'd tripped on many cases, and felled many a prop, from clothes on hangers to boxed props.
Now he was more confident in his steps, and the staff had also gotten used to him.
Director JJ was sitting, as he always did every morning, in his favourite plastic chair.
Gu Wei didn't understand how one could sit for long on those uncomfortable sitting, but Directer JJ did it as easy as eating ice cream.
Gu Wei's chair was right beside JJ's, placed there to act swiftly when one of the actors were botching a scene with the wrong hand sign.
Director JJ had once left Gu Wei alone on the two chair behind the camera to collect a delivery downstairs, pushing the mic to a clueless Gu Wei's hand, telling him to shout 'cut' for any weird hand signing.
Normally, Gu Wei would've just tapped Director JJ in situations like that, and the man would be the one shouting 'CUT!'.
But with that responsibility pushed onto him now, Gu Wei had just sat there, hands sweating on the mic, terrified beyond anything, throat closed up through the ordeal. T
he actors had been surprised when, instead of the familiar strong 'CUT', came a hesitant, trembling one.
The whole room had bowed in laughter when they realised who it was.
Miss Li and the others too, when Director JJ retold the story, praising Gu Wei for even having the guts to get over his fear and speak.
Gu Wei was praised for his courage with a team dinner and hotpot.
Director JJ had promised not to do such a thing anymore but Gu Wei still had PTSD.
That experience would stay engraved in his mind forever.
Approaching the cause for his traumatised mind now, Gu Wei greeted Director JJ and sat beside him.
They were situated just beyond a green canvas that took up half of the room for the indoor setting.
From where Gu Wei was sitting, he could touch the canvas with just a stretch of his leg, something he'd done a million times already.
"Ah Gu Wei, you're here too. So sorry for the bother, weekends aren't supposed to be in your schedule, but what can we do, we're on little time already."
Director JJ said, blowing on his mug full to the brim of coffee, the bags under his eyes telling Gu Wei the man might not have slept through the night, again.
Gu Wei stretched his leg and toed the green canvas, "It's no problem. I don't do anything on weekends either way."
This was true.
Gu Wei's source of outing or weekend duties was currently filming, and Gu Wei was already where he was supposed to be on weekends: wherever Fu Yuan was.
Nodding at his words, JJ took drank his coffee, saying between sips, "Hmm, okay then. You know where the coffee is if you need one…. Have you had breakfast yet? I was planning on popping to the cafeteria before the crowd arrived."
Agreeing to the breakfast since he didn't stay for one at his Nana's, Gu Wei sat till JJ had finished his whole cup, twirling the thin strand of hair wrapped around his index finger.
He couldn't drink coffee with the drug he was using, unless he wanted to overload his brain with the clash. NeuroPlaxine didn't go well with coffee.
On the way to the cafeteria, they met Miss Li, SB, and the others, and the group of teammates ate together like they used to during the planning phase.
Eating in silence save for SB, who already had breakfast but still eyed their delicacies with interest.
Miss Li prompted her to join, but SB shook her head and lifted her chin, saying something about a weight loss journey.
Miss Li snickered along with everyone at the comment.
Gu Wei was present in the interaction with half a mind, sipping his usual drink—Milk With A Wink!—as he typed on his phone, replying to Zhai Mei's text.
SB, the only person not consumed by food, was the person who first noticed the weird ring on Gu Wei's finger.
She squinted closely at it, gaze flitting in a question at the ring-that-was-not-a-ring and the small bruise on his lips.
"Mr. Gu, what's that on your hand? A ring? Ehh… doesn't look like it., and what's up with..?" SB gestured to her lower lip.
Gu Wei retracted his hand in the next second, placing it on his lap, sliding his injured lip under his upper one simultaneously.
"Nothing. I bit myself, it's nothing." His words were muffled by captured lip between his, sounding more like "Ummph ummph."
Then the boy returned to his phone, the whole interaction ending before it began.
Feeling like she'd gone crazy, SB looked around at her food-immersed teammates, wondering if she was the only seeing what she she was seeing.
However, SB really had seen it alone, the other people were eating their breakfast peacefully.
SB convinced herself to mind her own business.
The elevator pinged open in the empty cafeteria, signalling Fu Yuan's arrival as she waltzed over to them.
"Hello everyone! Good morning, good morning! Why the sad faces?? Not happy to see me? Li Fan, drop that eye roll, I know you secretly like me. Don't worry i won't tell anyone."
Fu Yuan's energetic voice early in the morning had them all sighing wearily.
"Good morning to you too. How do you always find us? Stalking much?" Miss Li said.
"Aiyaaa, don't you know what CCTV is? I don't need to stalk i basically own the whole building."
With that said, Fu Yuan flicked her hair over shoulder and dropped down next to Gu Wei as usual, sneeking a quick peek at the preoccupied fan as he hummed at her presence.
Fu Yuan smirked at Miss Li's exasperated sigh at her show-off.
She immediately noticed Gu Wei's unusual attention on his phone as his usual shyness whenever she appeared didn't surface.
He was applying it to the mechanical device tucked in his hand instead.
She cast a questioning glance to the only person not preoccupied with food.
SB only shook her head and shrugged at the actresses share, turning her longing gaze back the the pile of food on the table.
"So how's the whole team doing today?"
Fu Yuan sniffed at the assortment of dumplings Miss Li was devouring, innocently picking up Gu Wei's unused fork and strectching out her hand for one.
SB didn't have the time to warn her before Fu Yuan's hand was smacked away to the side and the plate full of dumplings was shifted out of her way.
Fu Yuan rubbed at her hand, "Li Fan! It's me, your beloved. Your favourite person in this world! How can you be so cruel? Come on, only one dumpling eh? Ony one…"
Fu Yuan once again stretched out her arm, switching the fork to the other one this time.
Miss Li's scowled as she batted Fu Yuan's limb away and rounded an arm over her precious food.
"Didn't you have breakfast? Don't even dream of having one bite out of this,"
Miss Li gestured to the food on the table. Fu Yuan huffed and rolled her eyes, SB laughing at the pair as Miss Li grumbled under her breath about spoiled children always wanting treats.
Fu Yuan lounged back into her seat in a fake form of "i give up", watching as Miss Li relaxed and retracted her protective arm over her food.
In the next second, a hand shot out and poked the dumpling in an impressive skill of theft.
The dumpling disappeared into Fu Yuan's mouth before Miss Li could even think of reacting.
This actress had learned many good helpful things in her 20 years of acting, but of course there was plenty others questioning skills among them.
Just like the fast hand grabbing move she'd showcased just now.
"Fu Yuan! You thief!"
Miss Li's angry voice hissed as she protectively cuddled her dumplings and glared at the actress, who just shrugged and motioned to her mouth in a move that meant she couldn't talk with her mouth full of dumplings.
The person who had fully witnessed Fu Yuan's complete act gaped at the empty space in Miss Li's plate.
SB felt betrayed as she watched Fu Yuan's full mouth chew contentedly at the food she was depriving herself of.
The actresses swallow was loud, prompting another glare from Miss Li.
Ever the unfazed being, Fu Yuan grinned at Miss Li, finally leaning back in her chair and draping her arm as usual behind Gu Wei's phone-engrossed form.
"I never said i wasn't spoiled Li Fan-ah. You should've seen your face when i ate the dumpling ha ha ha. All scrunched like that, ha ha ha ha ha ha."
Fu Yuan's evil laugh traveled over the bunch of people and Director JJ, having learned from the demise of Miss Li's dumplings, packed his food more tighter around his space.
"You are evil. Incarnated to torture me. Personally."
Miss Li's biting remark had them all laughing at the bizzare seriousness in her tone, SB even going as far as to point at Fu Yuan's choice of outfit for the day, which was a full black dress designed in the form of an overcoat.
One with an off-shoulder cut and velvet arms fitted to her skin with a half finger glove at the end.
Red streaks of fabrics could be seen at the seams of the dress, fully depicting a devilish role Miss Li had accused her of.
Fu Yuan's unclothed fingers were currently stroking their fair share of hair on the back of Gu Wei's head.
The boy didn't even so much as pull away, already used to the habit, and SB narrowed her eyes at the movement but didn't say anything.
The group fell into silence afterwards, SB still making small glances at her teammates meal, Fu Yuan stroking Gu Wei's hair in thought, the boy himself smiling down on his phone like it was candy.
Fu Yuan watched as Gu Wei typed on his device, wondering who exactly he was talking to for so long.
She didn't want to to be rude so she resisted the urge to take a peek, her curiosity growing bigger as Gu Wei laughed quietly at something.
The boy who always had his attention on her every single time was overcome with something else.
He never said much when she was around, ducking his head in that shy way of his and blushing when she strayed to close into his personal space.
Gu Wei always had this shine in his eyes whenever she caught him staring at her, like he was amazed by what he was seeing, and the expression had increased in depth ever since they started filming.
These past few weeks however, the shine seemed to be living his his gaze permanently, and Fu Yuan hadn't been sue if it was her doing or not.
But now, seeing him with that same expression directed at his phone, Fu Yuan knew it had nothing to do with her, and the realisation left her feeling slightly betrayed.
She knew her fan had a life outside the four walls that was HHE, but it hadn't mattered so much until now.
Which fuelled Fu Yuan's curiosity to find out what exactly had him grinning so much in full banshee mode.
Last time Fu Yuan checked Gu Wei didn't have a girlfriend.
Something the actress secretly cherished if she wanted to move forward with her flirting behaviours on him.
Fu Yuan twirled he fan's hair in thought as she debated committing an invasion of privacy or not.
In the end, she wasn't able to stop herself, the curiosity winning over her limbs.
Fu Yuan embodied a giraffe pose and peeped at her fan's screen, after successfully checking her teammates preoccupied gazes.
But, before she could make sense of what she was seeing, Gu Wei shifted in his seat to take a sip of his drink, unintentionally blocking Fu Yuan from seeing more than the glimpse of a name.
Now feeling like a real thief this time, Fu Yuan cleared her throat and addressed SB in the hopes of clearing her undescent charges.
"So, what glorious scenes are we filming today SB Jie??"
A tired SB stretched with a yawn, "I don't know. Ask JJ."
One look at the heavily dark circled eyes of JJ had Fu Yuan stopping midway in her sentence.
The director in front of her wasn't going to answer any form of question in the state he was, and Fu Yuan turned back to SB.
"So… How's life…?"
Confused at the aimless conversation Fu Yuan was trying to force, SB raised an eyebrow and repeated the actresses words in a dry tone. "How's life?"
The sense of being caught while you stole desert from the fridge swept over Fu Yuan.
She casually shrugged at SB's questioning brow.
"It's just a question."
Not knowing what to say, SB gave up and shook her head at Fu Yuan, offering an incredulous "fine" to the woman's question.
Fu Yuan nodded several times at the answer, as if it was the most significant thing, then sighed in relief as SB's questioning stare moved away from her.
Throughout the whole awkward interaction, Gu Wei was still typing away on his phone, sipping on his drink fro time to time.
Fu Yuan debated disturbing him and getting his attention away from his device for at least a minute, but then her eyes snagged on the wound on his lip, going further to widen at the weird ring on his finger.
This spiked Fu Yuan's curiosity to a new extent as she wondered how he'd got the injury on his lip, leading to the question she'd been pondering after the failed peek on his phone.
Who was Zhai Mei?