27 You're My Only Star
Zhe Chouhen remembered that this part is basically the inciting incident. Ashton Florice is getting cast as the lead of an action film in 2018...
And it won't end well for him.
"I'm so happy for you, Ashton. You deserve to be the star." He still smiled as 'Henry', who was unaware of this.
"Oh god, I'm so excited and nervous! My first film ever.... In a real set.... With people seeing me on the big screens!" Ashton tackled him in a hug! "I still can't believe it's real! Henry, pinch me!"
(He's so touchy.....) Zhe Chouhen blushed. (Aren't you supposed to be straight as a ruler before the whole manipulating thing and you only see me as a friend?)
A buzz came on his phone and he checked it.
[No one acts gayer than a straight roommate.]
(Agreed.) Zhe Chouhen chuckled.
Ashton looked confused. "Why are you laughing? Did I do something funny?"
"Nothing, I'm just really happy for you." 'Henry' put down his phone and smiled at him. "You don't have to be so surprised. This has been a long time coming after all your efforts."
"Thanks!" Ashton flashed his toothpaste-commercial-worthy pearly white teeth at him. "I think I still need that pinch though, I feel like I'm going to float up on cloud nine any moment!"
'Henry' pinched his cheek lightly. "There, is that enough?"
"That's too gentle, man!" Ashton chuckled. "But I'm not kidding, I'm just so happy and thrilled that I feel like I can do anything! I even feel like I can walk on the red carpet right this moment!"
He went back to sit and pick the controller. "What do you want to eat for dinner tonight to celebrate? It's my treat!"
"You." Zhe Chouhen muttered on reflex.
"Huh?"
His phone dinged with another Daoist Panda notification. He knew that meant the Scum Meter went up again.
He immediately picked up the phone to reason with the panda. (Fuck, that wasn't a part of the hypnotic suggestion! It just came out without me thinking!)
The panda just gives him a face. [That's because you're a pervert.]
(Am not!)
[You definitely are.]
(I'm a good, respectful pervert! Even if I get intrusive thoughts, I won't act on it like these scum gongs!)
Ashton peered on his phone. "We're you texting someone? Are we still playing the game?"
Zhe Chouhen hide it before he could read his chat with Daoist Panda. "Yes, yes! We're still playing!"
Suddenly, Daoist Panda's avatar suddenly wore....
A green hat*.
When Zhe Chouhen saw it, he smirked condescendingly. (Oy, who cheated on you?)
Daoist Panda seems to have not noticed it himself, and took off the hat. [Ehh????]
(Haha, this app's avatar settings and expressions are really good! I'm able to tell everything you feel quickly, even when you get jealous!)
[I'm not jealous! It's just that both you and this app keeping me locked up are stupid!]
Zhe Chouhen chuckled, but as he continued to play video games with Ashton while also messing around with Daoist Panda on the phone from time to time when this MCs not looking.....
He slowly feel like he really was turning into a two-timer.
And he really doesn't know whether to laugh or cry about that. He's not a manipulative scum, but he's close to being a playboy scum.
(I can't help it. No matter how much I interact with one, I can't love him no matter what, and no matter how much I hate the other, I still find him so cute! This is like picking red rose or white rose*, but both are just equally thorny! Ugh!) He lamented in frustration.
Daoist Panda: [....]
Daoist Panda: [What the hell are you thinking about, focus on your game of Ashton's gonna beat you up!]
(Shouldn't I just let him win anyways since I'm a simp?) He internally cursed that one of his roses can hear his thoughts.
[You're a 'white lotus*' gong, not a loser! He'll notice you're sus if you just let him win every freaking time!] The panda went fully red. [Also, I'm not a 'rose'! Just what's going on with that head of yours, huh? You're gonna get a total K.O streak if you don't focus! ]
(Daoist Panda, leave my headspace, will you!?) Zhe Chouhen was flustered. (I can't have you just hearing my thoughts anymore, I'd die of embarrassment!)
------------------------
Thankfully, the Panda accepted his request, and showed no signs of listening to his increasingly troublesome thoughts.
Though he should focus on finding a strategy to win the bet, and lessen Scum Meter without acting OOC.....his mind still strayed on how Ashton is increasingly becoming more and more lovable and how Daoist Panda is also becoming more and more adorable!
Ah! What a curse to be a virgin who has never fallen in love! Now his heart gets struck by Cupid so quickly!
Maybe it's as Old Xu said. "All my life I did not get lovesickness, once I catch it, I'm lovesick tremendously.*"
But no matter the lovesickness, homesickness still defeats everything and he can't wait to put this all behind him and bury himself in the covers of the bed in his homophobic parent's house, reading web novels as a single, satisfied man with no care for the word 'love' itself. Who needs it anyway? Definitely not him!
(..... Amitabha*, I might turn into a monk after all this just like Daoist Panda said.)
After these meanderings, he went over to check on Ashton, who was sleeping soundly like a cat. This was a scene copied from the original Painted Lies book, where Henry would watch him and sometimes whisper hypnotic suggestions to him while he's deep in slumber.
Now that he had gotten into a film, this was Henry Basildon's mindset:
No matter what, the film must not be successful.
No matter what, Ash must not be taken from me.
But this wasn't Zhe Chouhen's mindset, and so it's going to be a problem in the effectiveness of the hypnotism. If even the hypnotist is not convinced of his own words, how else could he bend his subject's will?
And he wasn't going for this scum's route anyway, what he needs is a balance between saying something that aligns with his character, and something that will redeem him.
Though redeeming villains is something he'd rather leave behind to the professional writers, he still knows a thing or two from reading so many novels for 15 years.
He walked over to the side of the bed, bending one knee and gently caressing the MC's face.
"Ashton..." He began a bit unsure, his rimless glasses glinting from the sunlight outside. "Everywhere you seem to captivate your own beauty. You seem to be nested in Beauty itself."
This is true, not an exaggeration. Ashton's bedroom seems always sunnier than anywhere else in the house. Maybe it's part of the main character's quirk. It's decorated with movie posters, celebrity merchandise, and a bulletin board with newspaper clippings and posters for job ads. Everything relating to his passion for acting.
But that's not all. Like the original Dorian Gray, Ashton has a penchant for pretty things, and new things that alleviate his senses. Even when he is poor, you can tell he still collects as much beautiful things as he can afford.
So it's not the 'pretty house vibes' one would think. His style of 'indulging the senses' is different from the original.
For the sight, he had bought crystals from a hippie shop both for good luck and for eye-candy, 10 dollar street paintings, dream catchers, and free collectibles and knickknacks from various he haven't even visited yet.
For hearing, he had bought vinyl records, though some of them belonged to his grandfather, who was an aficionado for old-style jazz blues. He also has some techno-pop CDs and demos from unpopular artist friends who he promised to promote someday when he gets famous.
For smell, he has scented candles and cheap air fresheners. He also has real flowers outside that he water every day, sometimes pretending the pots were the audience and reading the script to them.
(So adorable!!!) Zhe Chouhen would internally squeal when watching him do that, fighting the urge to just wrap him into a blanket burrito and cuddle him.
For the touch, his clothes always vary in texture, though like Ms. Daisy, most of them were bought from flea stores or supermarket sales.
And finally, for the taste..... He always had a cupboard with his favorite gummy bear and candy treats. He especially likes the orange ones, and keeps them in a separate jar when he's feeling cranky or down because of losing another gig.
To an outsider, all these details are boring and add nothing to Ashton. This is what Zhe Chouhen initially thought so too when reading that certain chapter in the Picture of Dorian Gray where Dorian just keeps on describing the aesthetic things in his house. But now that his character is infatuated to this person and he, therefore, must observe every detail of him...
He found himself deeply appreciating all of them. These things that Ashton liked and found beautiful, he came to like too. Came to appreciate, because all of them are like puzzle pieces for his identity, who he really was.
Zhe Chouhen now knows what to say.
"What I'm saying, Ashton, is that even when the world turns its back on you.... Even when your dreams became far out of your reach.... You are still my greatest star."
"Whether your movie becomes a success or not..... I will always be your biggest fan."
Ashton just breathed gently in his sleep, but a faint smile soon grew on his lips.
Henry's phone received three successive dings!
[Love Meter: 43%]
[Satisfaction Meter: 31%]
[Scum Meter: 9%]
Doaist Panda was shocked, his face looking like this: O_o
[Are you a miracle worker or something, bro!? How did you do that!?]
Zhe Chouhen shrugged and typed on the chatbox. (Power of love, I guess. As Henry, of course.)
[As Henry, good. As Zhe Chouhen, bad. Remember that golden rule.]
(Yes.) He took off the annoying glasses, rubbing the lenses with his clothes.
Something about this scene and Daoist Panda's 'golden rule' changed him, like it turned on a switch.
(I now understand.) Zhe Chouhen put on the glasses back. (Ashton's not the only star here. From now on, I only regard him as a co-star, and the rule in show business is to never fall in love with your co-star.)
He smiled assuredly... But not the kind of smile he usually has.
(I'm just an actor trying to satisfy an apathetic and black-hearted audience, in a show directed by a cruel man. No matter what my true feelings are, it's separate from what I should present to achieve my goals.)
(To get what I want, I must say what is need to be said, do what is needed to be done, feel what needed to be felt..... Without being sincere about it. Correct?)
Somehow, this gave Daoist Panda chills and a lump on his throat. [Yes.... But.... Are you okay, bro? Why are you speaking in monologues all of a sudden like some D-grade villain?]
Zhe Chouhen chuckled. (Haha, just testing out getting into character. Ever heard of method acting? I got you, didn't I?)
[Hehe..... Yeah.....]
(I better prepare breakfast for me and Ash, he's waking soon and it's his first day of filming. ) Zhe Chouhen typed. (Be right back.)
The BL writer was left still feeling unsettled.
His mind wandered off to Zhe Chouhen's smile earlier, bringing back memories he had wanted to forget for a long time.
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