50: Humming
Both Li Feiling and Xia Ruyun decided to set aside the topic. Their conversation wandered back to what they had done over the course of the day, settling into a gentle silence as the clock passed midnight.
12:10 AM.
Xia Ruyun wandered into the kitchen, pouring two cups of warm water for her and Li Feiling.
12:20 AM.
Silence.
Xia Ruyun stared out of the window into the night, sipping her warm water. She shifted, curling up on the couch, as she did, she leaned her shoulder against Li Feiling.
12:30 AM.
Humming.
... Humming?
Li Feiling froze.
Xia Ruyun didn’t know why. Perhaps her reason, like a towering cliff, had been eroded by waves of fatigue, or perhaps, something about Li Feiling made her feel safe. Xia Ruyun didn’t know, but she decided to start humming under her breath. Faintly. As if not at all.
Her peach-colored lips parted, moistened by the warm water.
“And I believe that one day,
“My wounds from youth will no longer ache.
“I’ll only remember that years ago,
“I told myself, ‘This will pass.’
“And now, facing the person I used to be,
“I can finally say to myself:
“‘It has already passed.’”
Xia Ruyun’s voice trailed off as she finished singing the last few stanzas of the song. Lost in her own world, she stared into her cup of warm water, unaware of Li Feiling’s hand rubbing her back.
Li Feiling let out the breath she had been holding. Afraid of disturbing this rare event, she hadn’t even dared to breathe as Xia Ruyun sank into her emotions. Now, with the mini-performance over, her eyes softened as Xia Ruyun unconsciously leaned into her arms.
Tears glistened at the edges of Xia Ruyun’s eyes, like fragile gems on a half-broken ring.
Xia Ruyun, still stuck in her own world, snapped back to attention as Li Feiling dabbed away the tears at the corners of her eyes with a tissue. She flinched forward.
Where am I?
Li Feiling’s suite...
Yes...
We’re shooting a show...
With her memory lag resolving itself over the course of half-a-second, she leaned back against Li Feiling who still had her arm outstretched. “Sorry, I overreacted a bit.”
“You’re fine, don’t worry,” Li Feiling whispered, dabbing away the last of the tears. “More importantly, are you okay?”
“I’m... fine, I think I just haven’t slept enough,” Xia Ruyun fluttered her eyes once Li Feiling put the tissue away. “I just get emotional, and when I have a lot of strong emotions, I sometimes will unconsciously sing...”
“Well, it was an honor to hear the EsteemedSister Xia Ruyun sing once more,” Li Feiling cracked a joke, letting out a sigh of relief when Xia Ruyun chuckled.
“I suddenly understand why you don’t like being called that,” Xia Ruyun shuddered before she cracked a smile. With her eyes twinkling, she pushed herself off the couch and stood up. “As much as I want to keep talking though, I think I should head back to my room to sleep.”
“Understandable,” Li Feiling followed suit, standing up as well while taking the cup from Xia Ruyun’s hands. “I can wash that, don’t worry.”
“Thank you then,” Xia Ruyun murmured, walking back towards the entrance as Li Feiling dropped the cups off in the sink. Stopping by the door, Xia Ruyun pulled on her shoes and picked up her untouched script. Once Li Feiling walked over, she gave a half-bow. “Thank you for having me as always.”
“Thank you for coming,” Li Feiling smiled. “Want me to walk you back to your room?”
“No, it’s fine, thank you for the offer though,” Xia Ruyun cracked the door open and stepped out. “See you tomorrow, Feiling.”
“See you tomorrow, Ruyun.”
---
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
The next morning had come.
“... Eugh...” Xia Ruyun rolled over in bed. She tried to cover her ears with a pillow. Her alarm, though, had decided pillows did not rank amongst the materials able to block its sound—a mere Qi Gathering stage pillow, nothing like the nascent soul level pillows that Xia Ruyun had at home. Its ringing, as a result, drilled into her already hurting cranium.
A minute of suffering later, she mustered the motivation to sit up in bed and reached over to her phone, turning off the alarm. Before her bed could yank her back into its warm embrace though, she swung her legs out from underneath the covers. The cold, with the force of a thousand acupuncture needles, shocked her system back to life.
After conquering her second dawn-time tribulation in a row, she grabbed her keys, script, wallet, and purse before forcing herself out of the warm comfort of her room and into the icy hotel hallway.
More like an icy-hotel hallway of death and eternal underworld punishment...
Xia Ruyun pressed her lips together as she checked her messages. Only after seeing the [Liu Fangjie: I’m awake and on my way!] message did she continue walking towards the elevator.
Slow steps.
Like a hiker pushing through the tundra, Xia Ruyun trekked to the breakfast area for a cup of coffee. Once the warmth flowed through her system, she filled a second cup and made her way to the open courtyard where Liu Fangjie awaited.
“Good morning Senior Xia,” Liu Fangjie nodded, standing up to greet her as Xia Ruyun walked over.
Returning the nod, Xia Ruyun motioned for her to sit down. “No need for such formality.”
“Thank you, thank you,” Liu Fangjie grabbed her script. A faint edge creeped into her voice. “I just wanted to practice the board room scene we’ll be shooting later today. I’m struggling a bit to portray the panic I’m supposed to, and was wondering if you could help? I don’t want to embarrass myself in front of Changfeng.”
Oh?
Changfeng?
I didn’t realize she was so close to him.
Xia Ruyun’s previous confusion seemed to clear a bit as she continued looking at Liu Fangjie. Too tired, and without the motivation to speak, she motioned for Liu Fangjie to act it out once first while she massaged her temples.
I don’t know why she’d come to me to practice this scene. It’s a group scene, and there are seniors she’s closer to than me. Plus, even if it’s about women and how gender might lead to differences in acting expectations, I’m still not the closest to her...
But if it stems from Chu Changfeng...
Maybe I should clarify that I’m truly not a rival in love for her ‘Esteemed Senior Chu Changfeng’
After repeating the joke from the night before in her mind, a faint smile danced across her tired features. Having pieced together the clues to her confusion, she relaxed. Her dark circles, untouched by makeup, seemed to soften a bit as she kept looking at Liu Fangjie; like a tired mother watching a child.
“And... that’s it, I only have one line in the scene, so I want to focus more on body language, and you’ve always been cited as someone with strong body expression skills,” Liu Fangjie ended her practice run-through.
Xia Ruyun raised an eyebrow.
Me?
Body language expert?
Faced with Liu Fangjie’s asspull of a reason, Xia Ruyun sighed. She reached over, tapping the back of Liu Fangjie’s hand. “I think it would be prudent if I articulate to you that... I’m not a love rival in your interest towards Chu Changfeng.”
“W-Wha?!” Liu Fangjie leapt backward out of her seat. Clutching her script, a light blush tinged her cheeks. “I don’t like Changfeng!”
“Ah... well, regardless, I just want you to know, there isn’t, and won’t be anything between me and him,” Xia Ruyun shrugged. “Truly. Rest easy.”
“I-... Yes, I understand,” Liu Fangjie stammered out a response. A second later, she wilted and walked back to the table. Leaning inward, she whispered. “... Is it really that obvious?”
Xia Ruyun fought to maintain her poker face, and with a neutral expression, she gave her best sage-like nod.
“I... see,” Liu Fangjie deflated, her previous edge disappearing as she leaned closer, her bubbliness returning. “Okay, then, Sister Ruyun, do you have any advice then? On how to pursue people? Surely you have lots of experience, back when you were a singer, there must have been a reason you were known as our generation’s unreachable first love.”
Xia Ruyun choked on her coffee.
What the-
Coughing, she turned away. Reeling from the double punch.
How did I immediately get upgraded to Sister Ruyun? And what is this question...
After catching her breath, Xia Ruyun turned back to face an expectant Liu Fangjie. Stars seemed to beam off Liu Fangjie. Xia Ruyun, unwilling to admit her... utter lack of all social experience—she barely had friends!—reached over and patted Liu Fangjie on the hand again.
“Let’s... let’s talk about the scene.”
“Oh! Yes! I totally forgot ohmygosh,” Liu Fangjie whirled around, grabbing her script and pen before flipping to a blank space near the scene. “I’m so sorry, yes, Sister Ruyun, please enlighten me.”
Xia Ruyun, faced with a human storm not even thirty minutes after waking up, just closed her eyes for a second before answering.
This is going to be a long morning...
How are young people so energetic?