Ye Zhou reflexively closed his eyes, but in less than a second, Jiang Yingxue let out a dissatisfied nasal “Hmm?” forcing him to open them again.
Their eyes met—one side as gentle as water, the other filled with extreme embarrassment.
Soon, Jiang Yingxue bit down until she was only five centimeters away from Ye Zhou’s lips, their sweet and hot breaths intermingling.
Ye Zhou felt a sudden wave of dizziness, followed by a warm sensation flowing from his nose.
By the time Jiang Yingxue stood up and returned with several tissues, Ye Zhou took them and gently wiped his nose, only to realize that the rush of blood had caused him to have a nosebleed.
“No, no, you’re too fast. You didn’t even meet my minimum requirement.”
“Even though I knew this Desensitization Training would stimulate you enough to cause a nosebleed, I didn’t think you’d only last a few seconds.”
Jiang Yingxue lightly bit her nail before turning around to take out another Pocky.
“It looks like we’ll have to keep at it and use our time wisely. We need to finish at least this one box…”
Ye Zhou took a sip of water, gradually recovering his composure.
He knew a box of Pocky usually contained 20 sticks. Counting the one they just used, there were 19 left, which meant he had to go through this 19 more times.
If they continued like this, he was afraid he would be completely burnt out.
“Let’s not, President. I think I’m already completely desensitized.”
“Ye Zhou, do you think I’m joking with you? As the President of the Drama and Film Club, I have the right to be responsible for everyone’s plays in this club.”
“Besides, you don’t want to make a fool of yourself during tonight’s performance, do you? My off-stage guidance for you and Su Zhihan is only to ensure that everything goes perfectly on stage.”
“Of course, if you don’t care about making a fool of yourself—since it’s the Drama and Film Club’s reputation on the line anyway—then all I can say is that I’m very disappointed in you. Truly.”
Ye Zhou was stunned. This was the first time he had seen Jiang Yingxue act so seriously.
He took a deep breath and stopped messing around, intending to give it his all.
“But Club Leader Jiang, I still have one small request. Can you try to go a bit slower? Otherwise, I won’t be able to handle it.”
Jiang Yingxue braced one hand to the right of Ye Zhou’s head and placed the other on the soft flesh of his waist, ready to give it a 180-degree twist at any moment.
Her red lips curled up slightly:
“Stop talking nonsense. If you dare to finish faster than the first time, you’re welcome to try and see what happens…”
***
Ye Zhou didn’t know when he had passed out, but it definitely wasn’t in the middle of it. At the very least, he had finished that box of Pocky; he was just completely burnt out.
He felt as if his entire body was exhausted, barely able to lift his heavy eyelids.
He saw Jiang Yingxue on the stage, covering her mouth with a smile, seemingly chatting with a girl in front of her.
The girl had long, slightly wavy hair, large eyes paired with a beauty mark, and a cute, dazed look.
She was wearing a loose striped sweatshirt paired with straight-leg jeans, the cuffs rolled up to reveal slender, fair ankles. She wore classic white shoes and carried a canvas bag slung across her shoulder. Her overall look was simple and comfortable.
She was Su Zhihan, who had joined the Drama and Film Club at the same time as Ye Zhou.
During a break in her conversation with Jiang Yingxue, Su Zhihan caught a glimpse of the newly awakened Ye Zhou out of the corner of her eye. She immediately whispered a reminder to Jiang Yingxue before walking down the stage to Ye Zhou. She extended her right hand and gave a polite smile:
“Hello, Ye Zhou. I’m Su Zhihan, the Female Lead performing alongside you in tonight’s play, Platonic Love.”
“Oh, right. Hello, Su Zhihan. This is our second formal meeting.”
Ye Zhou gave an awkward smile and tried to stand up to shake her hand, but his legs wouldn’t stop trembling, and he sat right back down.
Su Zhihan tilted her head and blinked her large eyes, looking like a child who didn’t understand why medicine had to be bitter.
“Ye Zhou, did your legs fall asleep?”
“Uh, yeah…” Ye Zhou gave another awkward smile.
“Then why is your face so pale? It looks like there’s no blood in it at all,” Su Zhihan asked again.
“Because I’m a bit anemic…”
Ye Zhou instinctively looked at Jiang Yingxue as she slowly walked down from the stage behind Su Zhihan.
He saw her holding a Pocky, taking a light bite with her red lips and licking the corner of her mouth. She wore a meaningful smile as if she were doing it specifically for Ye Zhou to see.
When Ye Zhou saw that, his face turned a few shades paler, and his legs trembled even more. If he wanted to walk, he would have to lean against the wall.
Unaware of the situation, Su Zhihan didn’t think much of it. she just lightly patted her rising and falling chest and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Phew! Honestly, this is my first time on stage, and I’m so glad my first acting partner is you, Ye Zhou.”
Ye Zhou was stunned for a moment.
“Is there a particular reason for that?”
Su Zhihan shook her head.
“I don’t know why, but I just feel especially at ease being around you.”
“Like right now, I’m not nervous at all. Even if some unexpected accident happens during the play tonight, I feel like we’ll be able to solve it easily.”
“Is that so? I’m happy I can give you that sense of security.”
Ye Zhou nodded with a smile, but internally he was anything but calm: But why am I, the person in question, so nervous?
At that moment, Jiang Yingxue clapped her hands and smiled:
“Alright, ladies and gentlemen, small talk time is over. You can practice together now. After all, it’s not long until the performance tonight.”
***
Since Jiang Yingxue had provided one-on-one guidance to both Su Zhihan and Ye Zhou beforehand, even though their relationship prior to this was barely that of ordinary club members, the process of working together was relatively easy.
The entire play, Platonic Love, was divided into two parts.
The first part had no physical contact, so the two of them only needed to focus on the emotional delivery of the lines, changes in facial expressions, and how to use the props in their hands and around them.
During this, Ye Zhou couldn’t help but marvel at Su Zhihan’s acting skills: Was she really a newcomer? She wasn’t some hidden pro who came to the Drama and Film Club just to show everyone up, was she?
She was two completely different people on and off stage. In short, once she was in character, Ye Zhou found it very difficult to keep up with her.
Fortunately, Jiang Yingxue stepped in to take over Ye Zhou’s role as the male lead, allowing Ye Zhou to watch and learn on the spot. Only after Ye Zhou took the position back did he manage to struggle his way to a passing standard.
Finally, there was the second part, which was the most difficult stage. It involved physical contact, though not in the true sense, as it was just a matter of camera angles and positioning.
Thanks to Jiang Yingxue using the Pocky to temporarily desensitize him, Ye Zhou at least didn’t have any embarrassing physiological reactions while facing Su Zhihan during this segment.
But even so, Jiang Yingxue, who was below the stage, kept shouting “Cut!” Unsurprisingly, it was always Ye Zhou’s fault.
Ye Zhou felt helpless in his heart. Having been single since birth, the only female who had ever loved him was his mother.
On the other hand, Jiang Yingxue, despite being a girl, showed no shyness at all and acted her part perfectly.
This was the so-called difference between good and bad acting.
If you can’t tell someone is acting, that’s good acting.
If you can tell at a glance they are acting, that’s bad acting.
Consequently, a frustrated Jiang Yingxue had no choice but to temporarily modify this part of the script.
The original scene, where the male lead brings cold medicine and fruit to visit the female lead who has a fever in bed and they make up, was swapped.
The kiss scene was also changed. Now, the male lead has a fever and says he is cold. The female lead gets onto the bed and lies on top of him to keep him warm. At that moment, the male lead suddenly wakes up, and the two lock eyes. The rest is told through their gaze—the tension builds, the emotions flow, and they begin to kiss.
With Jiang Yingxue making such a simple change:
The proactive Su Zhihan could fully utilize her excellent acting skills.
The passive Ye Zhou would have a legitimate excuse to hide the fact that his acting was poor.
It should have been a win-win situation.
But because of this, Ye Zhou felt an increasing sense of dread.
The original script had the man on top of the woman, but now it was temporarily changed to the woman on top of the man?
Especially at this time, the Today’s Intel in his mind repeated itself as if afraid he would forget:
[Today’s Intel: Fellow freshman member Su Zhihan will make the fake act real during the kiss scene with her male club member while performing the play.]
What’s going on?
Honestly, if this were happening in private, Ye Zhou would have nothing to fear.
But it was happening during a play, in front of 150 audience members and 300 eyes!
He was already deep in it, with no way out…
When the spotlight hits my face…
How on earth am I supposed to handle this?