Chapter 66 - My Costar Comes When Called

Yao Shen looks up at the young man in shock.

"How did you get in here?" he asks, his voice going high and creaky. 

The man jumps down from the counter and walks towards Yao Shen, his hands on his waist. "I came in through the wall."

Right. 

Yao Shen gives the young man a long once-over, scrutinizing his appearance. 

His hair is incongruously curly, some of it falling into his eyes, shorter on the sides and longer on top. He's attractive in a slightly old fashioned way. His eyebrows aren't shaped and his skin is a little sunburned, golden like a wheat field under the warm morning sun. 

He's wearing an absolutely blinding pink and cyan windbreaker. 

With matching pants.

"Are you a ghost?" Yao Shen asks, fairly certain that he can't be anything else, looking as he is like the cast of some nostalgic 90's show.

The guy rolls his eyes. "No, I was born being able to do this." He exemplifies what 'this' means by disappearing through the floor he was just standing on, to resurface moments later.

Naturally, Yao Shen screams.

He's not frightened that he's a ghost, but the shock of seeing someone disappear through the floor, and then of half a head protruding through the sticky linoleum of his trailer is probably going to stay with him for a long time.

The ghost glares at him. "What are you acting so shocked for? I know you can see us, you saw that woman in the restaurant."

His words bring Yao Shen out of his stupor. "Wait, you were there? How come I didn't see you?"

"I was hiding."

"Right," Yao Shen says, nodding dumbly. His day just keeps getting worse, doesn't it? "What's your name, and what do you want from me?"

"My name is Jia Hao, and since you're not good enough for Gao Wu, you're going to buy me a mobile chip."

Yao Shen nods again, on autopilot this time. "How are those two things related?"

Jia Hao glares at him as if he's incredibly stupid. "How am I, a ghost, supposed to register a phone chip? I have no identification documents, seeing as I'm dead, more importantly, no one except you can see me."

"Fine, I'll get you a mobile chip," Yao Shen says, a little freaked out by Jia Hao's intensity. He guesses people were just different in the nineties. "Wait don't you want a phone too?"

Jia Hao rolls his eyes at him. "I've long since stolen one. I just need someone to register a phone chip for me."

"So you can get in touch with Gao Wu?" Yao Shen asks, slightly confused by what Jia Hao intends to do once he was a working cellphone.

"Yes, but first you're going to introduce me as your cute friend." Jia Hao glares at him, his thick eyebrows disappearing into the boyish curls Yao Shen is now realizing are probably the result of a period appropriate perm. "Use some guy's photo, and say I'm his fan or something."

There is an obvious flaw to Jia Hao's plan, but Yao Shen refrains from pointing it out -- out of respect for the dead.

"Sure, I can do that."

Jiao Hao seems surprised that his plan worked out so smoothly, but he still points a finger in Yao Shen's face before saying, "You'll have until tomorrow to get me the chip, or else I'll haunt you everyday and make your life unbearable."

He disappears into thin air afterwards.

Yao Shen is annoyed at having to deal with a ghost's romantic problems on top of everything else he's dealing with.

Just then, his phone vibrates on the table.

[Xin Hulei: I'm being strongly advised to stay away from you]

Even though Yao Shen can imagine Xin Hulei's faint amusement as he composed that text, the words still make his stomach twist unpleasantly.

It's aggravating to have other people tell them what they can or cannot do.

[Little Ghost: Good thing you can just teleport yourself into my trailer without anyone being the wiser]

Seconds later, slender fingers pull the phone out of Yao Shen's hand. "You're right, it's a good thing," Xin Hulei says, wrapping one hand around his waist and lifting him up onto the counter.

Yao Shen wraps his arms around Xin Hulei's neck, a little thrilled that Xin Hulei came the moment he told him to.

"Aren't you obedient?" he asks, running his hands under the back of Xin Hulei's wig, the only place he can touch without ruining his makeup.

Xin Hulei shakes his head. "Not at all," Xin Hulei says, bringing his face closer to Yao Shen's. "Your trailer was just on my way."

Yao Shen sighs and lets go of Xin Hulei's neck, stretching out his arms behind his back. "You're incredibly aggravating."

"We've established you have terrible taste in men," Xin Hulei says, nonchalant.

"Yeah well, what does your agency want to do about the new wave of rumors?" Yao Shen asks, leaning back away from Xin Hulei, admiring how striking he looks in Xie Huan's bold costume.

"Accuse the gossip media accounts of fabricating narratives to drive up traffic, but not outright deny it," he shrugs. "Lean into the ambiguity, but stay away from you for a while."

It's all so cold and opportunistic, and absolutely what Yao Shen expected. His own agency probably agreed to the same contingency plan.

"They also want to drive up sympathy for you," Xin Hulei adds, surprising Yao Shen.

"Why would your agency care about me?"

"Because you're too unpopular and it's damaging my image."

Yao Shen knows those aren't Xin Hulei's actual words, and that he's likely paraphrasing, but it still makes him flinch and look away.

"Sorry."

"I don't care."

Yao Shen still won't look up at him.

"Neither should you," Xin Hulei says, wrapping one hand around Yao Shen's hip, hooking his thumb over his hipbone. "You're an actor, not a clown, people aren't supposed to clap when you do a trick."

His words combined with his deadpan tone draw a chuckle out of Yao Shen. "You have a way with words, has anyone ever told you that?"

Xin Hulei shakes his head. "No."

Yao Shen chuckles again. Xin Hulei can be funny, especially because he doesn't try to.

"What are your agency's plans, to make people like me more?" he asks, fiddling with the jade ornaments on Xin Hulei's belt.

"I don't know, they're in talks with your agency to iron out the details."

Yao Shen hums, his fingers running over the mutton fat jade dangling from Xin Hulei's waist. "A ghost wants my help setting him up with Gao Wu."

"Good, you should help it."

Yao Shen gives Xin Hulei a sustained look from under his eyelashes. "Why? Are you jealous of him?"

Xin Hulei leans towards Yao Shen, his warm breath ghosting over his lips. "Why should I? It's not like we're together."

Before Yao Shen can call his bluff, someone knocks on the trailer's door.

"Laoshi, you're wanted on set in five minutes," Bi Jialu says, her voice muffled by the door.

Xin Hulei is gone in the next blink, a flash of flames enveloping him like a fiery blizzard.

Yao Shen is feeling a little regretful he didn't even get to steal a kiss.

A voice, laden with disapproval needles him from the back of his mind.

[Host should remember that his goal is to capture the Demon King. The stability of the human realm is at stake!]

Rolling his eyes, Yao Shen ignores the System's dire warnings and opens the door to let Bi Jialu in.

---

The scenes he's filming with Xin Hulei in the afternoon all go by smoothly. 

Xie Huan finally confronts Yan Shuyi about his secretive behaviour after catching a glimpse of his bloodied back. 

Of course, Yan Shuyi ends up growing faint and ends up falling into his strong disciple's arms.

While he's pretending to faint against Xin Hulei's chest, Yao Shen wonders if any of this really happened. 

He tries to look graceful and wan, his eyelids fluttering feverishly. When he finally opens his eyes, after Xie Huan has taken his pulse and cursed under his breath, he lets out an anguished gasp. 

Yao Shen struggles not to laugh as he reaches towards Xin Hulei's face. His expression tortured by the pain of his unjust wounds.

Director Chen yells cut and Yao Shen finally lets out the laughter he was holding in.

Xin Hulei tickles his waist, his fingers hidden from view by his wide sleeves. "Is my Shizun's pain amusing to you?"

Yao Shen squirms away from his fingers, trying not to make it too obvious what's happening, and how close he is to a laughing fit.

They wait in place while the production crew re-sets the scene and Director Chen asks for some lighting adjustments.

Yao Shen is so distracted by Xin Hulei's closeness that he doesn't even notice when someone else joins them on set.

"Hello Director, I'm sorry for the delay, I came here as soon as I landed in Hengdian," Tan Liansi says, greeting Director Chen with a breezy smile.

Her eyes drift over towards the scene in front of the cameras and light up as soon as they land on Xin Hulei.

"Ge, you've been very busy lately."