Chapter 41 Fatally Mesmerizing

At 11:00 a.m., a sleek black car rolled into the studio driveway, causing the few staff waiting to become a little restless.

"They're finally here," one of them whispered.

"Telling us to postpone it more than an hour later. Damn it! What do they take us for? We have other things to get done!" another complained. "Why do we have to cater to some teen celebrity."

"Shhh. Quiet you," a man seemingly in his early thirties chastened the others. He was obviously the leader. "He's not just a celebrity. He's also from the Li Clan, and from the direct line at that. That is just how the world works."

"We don't 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 to work with them..." there were still some dissenting voices.

At this, the leader turned to face the rest of them and shook his head. "It seems all of you still don't understand the weight of the situation. The Li Clan controls most of Huaxia's economy. Catering to them and being in their good graces only brings better things for us. So put your pride aside and do your jobs. They don't care about offending us, but it is not worth offending them. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" the others acknowledged and tried to keep their emotions to themselves. They loved their jobs and respected their boss, so it was a given to listen to his orders.

The leader left the crowd and personally walked towards where the car parked. He waited at the side until a woman finally opened the driver's door and stepped out.

In her neat hair bun, fitting black suit, and fiery red heels, she was a classy beauty in all of its sense. Seeing him, the woman pulled down her sunglasses, revealing her sharp eyes enriched with smokey eyeshadow, and asked, "Are you the person in charge for today?"

"I am. Please call me Jia Lin," as it was custom not to lay one's hands on a young woman, the leader put his right hand against his heart and bowed slightly instead. "I hope your journey had no problems."

"None whatsoever. My name is Li Meilin, Li Tian's manager. We apologize for the delay we caused," she apologized out of common courtesy. As a professional, she still understood it was not good to obstruct others and not admit guilt to it.

"It is not an issue," Jia Lin appeased her. It really was not too big of a deal, and mentioning it too often would not be good for their company relationship. "If there is nothing else, shall we head in?"

"Sure," Meilin then knocked on the back window. "Hurry out you two."

𝘛𝘸𝘰? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘓𝘪 𝘛𝘪𝘢𝘯?

The door opened and out came Li Tian fitted in a stylish blazing red coat and golden scarf to match. The fuzzy scarf was without a doubt faux fur, but it looked incredibly soft when nestled against his dark skin. The combination of red and gold was regal, coupled with his tan skin tone and voguish chocolate brown locks, it really was a match made in heaven.

Jia Lin couldn't help but sigh to himself. As a studio manager, what models had he not yet seen before?

But this Li Tian was surely an unquestionable fashion icon.

After the young singer came out, a smaller foot popped out onto the ground, and attached to it was a small boy seemingly too young to even hit puberty yet. The most surprising was the matching outfit with Li Tian he wore, only in the color blue and silver.

Interestingly enough, he knew the brand of these clothes, and that particular shade of blue was not within the options he knew off. That could only mean one thing; the coat was tailor-made, or it was part of the rumored exclusive 'Royal' collection.

Either option was significant.

Jia Lin prided himself in his wide knowledge of people, but he didn't know who this child was at all? He was certainly too pale to be from the Li Clan unless it's from a distant North branch of the family. But would the infamous Li Tian drag a low-ranking branch member around like that?

With his keen eye, he noticed that, unlike the Li heir, the child looked a bit more unsure of himself, as if it was his first time to such a place.

"You must be Li Tian," he smiled, keeping his thoughts entirely to himself. Usually, he would also extend his hand for a handshake with his male clients but the fact that the singer didn't like human contact was no secret. "I am the supervisor of Blue Star Studios and your escort for today. May I know who this young one is? This is to update our guest list for security reasons."

While this was true, it was also the perfect excuse to probe.

Instead of getting annoyed, Li Tian actually took the liberty to answer, "This is my new apprentice, Zhou Leixue. Be sure to take good care of him."

He put a supportive hand on the boy's shoulder.

"P-Pleased to meet you!" Rai bowed nervously.

"No need to be so formal," Li Tian pat his head with a smile.

"O-Okay!"

The interaction was adorable, but to the specific person watching it, it was something unbelievable.

Li Tian touching someone? And with affection?

It might have been normal to anyone else, but not to Jia Lin's eyes.

He'd never heard of the name Zhou Leixue before.

𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦... 𝘡𝘩𝘰𝘶?

"Mr. Jia Lin," Meilin's voice suddenly cut through his thoughts. "We'd appreciate it if you kept his family name under wraps. It's only for the security record."

The request both answered his question and stunned him. Wiping off his unbecoming expression, he quickly acted as if nothing happened.

"I understand. Shall we head in then?"

.....

In a private dressing room.

"This is the first outfit for today. Please call me when you finish changing into it for the follow-up makeup," the stylist said before leaving the room.

Li Tian took off his coat and laid it onto the sofa. The room was warm and cozy while being filled with a more tropical esthetic. It felt like he had returned South for a moment. The effort in making them feel welcomed did not go unnoticed.

He picked up the prepared outfit and stared at it for a moment.

"Another summer design, huh."

"That's a given," Meilin said with her head staring down at the tablet in her hands. "The spring collection's already out, so next is getting the summer preparations ready. Besides, this is a good opportunity. People say you embody the heat and summer. You are number one on every company's wish list right now."

"Uhuh... but that should be a given anyway..." the singer responded absentmindedly. He took the outfit behind the changing screen and proceeded to change into it.

Rai was unsure of what to do in the meantime, so he sat silently on the sofa.

"What do you want to do, Leixue?" Li Tian suddenly asked from behind the screen.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You can follow me out and watch me work, or you can stay here if you feel uncomfortable."

"I can choose?" the boy was surprised as he watched Big Brother Tian's shadow moving on the screen.

"Why not?" the voice sounded a little frustrated, probably from putting on something troublesome. There were a few pauses in his answer from time to time because of it. "I'm not going to- oof, force you- if you don't want to go. Ack!"

He went quiet for a while before taking a deep breath and continuing, "I bring a lot of attention and it might be a burden to you."

"Oh..." Rai thought about it for a while. In fact, he was touched again that the other party was so considerate.

His father's words had hurt him, making him feel like Li Tian had also hurt him, but his meeting with the gentle Big Brother Lang the night before had cleared his mind a bit.

He was going to work hard for Big Brother Lang and learn all that he can.

So no matter what his father, Li Xinya, or Li Tian did to him, he would persevere.

However, when he thought about it, Big Brother Tian had been treating him well so far. There may be some hidden incentives behind it, but that didn't deny that he was still being nice. Maybe he really was sincere in teaching him things.

"I think... I'll go out," Rai decided.

"You sure?"

"I... I can't be called your apprentice otherwise," he reaffirmed himself. Even if it would be troublesome, he was not stupid. This was a good opportunity for him to appear in the world. It would be a step closer to becoming Clan Head, and a step closer to helping out Big Brother Lang in the future.

Besides, if he didn't follow Li Tian around, how would he follow his father's instructions.

"Great!" the singer walked out from behind the screen in a floral shirt with straps wrapped all around him.

"W-What are you wearing?" Rai couldn't help but utter.

"Must be some water sports outfit. If it were winter, some make me wear elaborate winter sports gear too," Li Tian shook his head in desperation.

"And you're okay with it?"

"That's what a job is about. Doing things whether you enjoy some of it or not," this time it was Meilin that answered him. "Besides, don't look at this guy with such sympathetic eyes. He actually loves the attention."

"W-Wha- Meilin!"

"If you praise him even a little bit, he'll be so happy he'd start spouting fire," she continued unfazed.

"Really?" Rai's eyes widened.

"No! Ignore her, Leixue!" Li Tian stammered with a red face. He quickly sat in the makeup seat and pressed a button on the table.

A few seconds later, a few women came in to do his hair and makeup.

Rai giggled to himself after seeing Big Brother Tian so embarrassed. It looked like even famous people enjoyed being complimented.

He watched as the singer's hair was styled and makeup being applied and thought to himself, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭.

Li Tian had his eyes closed as though he were sleeping, as he allowed the three women to style him however they pleased.

At first, Rai thought it was because he didn't care, but then he noticed that the women surrounded him had fawning looks on their faces. They may have reigned it in somewhat, but the look of eagerness was unconcealable.

𝘐𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮?

Rai felt curious but he wasn't going to talk about it if the women were still here. So instead, he walked up closer to see how much Li Tian had changed from the makeup.

He looked mostly the same, but some of his features were enhanced slightly for better pictures. The most noticeable was his sharpened eyebrows, and the eyeliner they added to his eyes.

If there was a way to make him more handsome, they definitely achieved it.

His hair was a bit more difficult, but they did manage to make it go in one direction.

Noticing the child coming closer, one of the women thought to try speaking to him, after all, young ones were easier to befriend. With a coy smile, she asked him, "What do you think? Is it something you'd like to try?"

Rai looked at her for half a second but ultimately decided to say nothing. Big Brother Tian declined to interact more than necessary with them, so as his apprentice, shouldn't he be doing the same?

His silence made the woman feel a little awkward as she looked at the other stylists, but the others could only shrug back. "Ehm," she cleared her throat. "We should be about done. Our superior, Mr. Jia Lin, will be waiting outside to bring everyone to the photo shoot."

At those words, Li Tian opened his eyes, startling the women around him. He looked at them with his intense eyes, enhanced even more by the eye makeup they applied, and caused them to fidget embarrassedly. With a lackadaisical attitude, he turned to his little brother, Rai. "You ready to go, Leixue?"

"Yes!" the boy answered unwaveringly.

The singer then stood up, ignoring the people surrounding him, and walked towards the door as Rai followed closely.

Meilin shook her head at the scene and got off the sofa as well. She turned to the young women with varying looks on their faces and stated, "Thank you for your time," before leaving along with the others.

.....

Snap. Snap. Snap.

The camera sounded non-stop as the person modeling changed his pose every few seconds.

"Alright that should be good," the cameraman announced before turning to Jia Lin next to him.

The supervisor nodded his head and gave the staff on standby new instructions, "You three, bring out the next few props and rearrange the set. Stylists, get the next outfit on him. We have five minutes."

"In the meantime, Mr. Li Tian, I would like your thoughts on a few issues regarding the picture editing," the cameraman asked the young man walking off the set.

Li Tian, glanced at Meilin standing with Rai at the back of the set next to the food table and went up to the cameraman. "Alright. Make it quick."

"No problem," the man then brought the camera in his hands closer and swiped through the pictures taken. "This picture and the next are the ones I think will make the cut for the higher-ups' perusal. However, I did notice that the fan blew the clothing a bit too much in these areas," he pointed to the singer's abdomen. "I am aware you don't allow this area's exposure. I am asking for your opinion on it."

"Hmmm..." Li Tian thought for a while before deciding. "Either delete the pictures or make sure they edit them."

"Understood," the cameraman was decisive and immediately deleted the pictures without a second thought.

Such a decisive action without consent from his higher-ups' caused the young heir to be slightly impressed, so he immediately took note of the cameraman's name.

𝘠𝘪 𝘏𝘶𝘢𝘯𝘹𝘪𝘯𝘨... 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

He knew that even if he said to edit them, there was no telling what the people in charge of a studio would actually do. Being a high profile celebrity meant no secret he had wasn't worth gambling on. This Yi Huanxing was in fact doing him a favor.

"I'll delete any others that pop out that way later as well," the cameraman said and left to talk to the supervisor.

"Hmmm..." the way the interaction concluded lifted up Li Tian's mood. There was no bullshit talk and everything was straight to the point. Working with people like that made things a lot easier.

Next he wanted to make his way to Meilin and Rai, but was suddenly surrounded by a few male stylists whom dragged him to a small temporary changing room close to the set instead. His face showed complete despair as he noticed the two gnawing on some scones as they watched him being taken away.

He... He wanted something sweet too!

Rai nibbled on the sweet bun and lightly chuckled at the sight he was seeing. Big Brother Tian was making a funny expression.

"He's probably going crazy right now," Meilin smirked while wiping her lips with a napkin. "He loves sugar."

"Sugar?" he asked her a little confused.

"Anything sweet basically. He uses a lot of energy and hardly gains weight. He needs a lot of sugar to get him through the day," she explained to the boy. "Having such a sweet tooth with no consequences must be nice to be him."

"Oh," it made him think. Although he was an apprentice now, wasn't it originally to be an attendant? "Should I go bring him one?"

"You want to bring him one?" Meilin was surprised but smiled soon after. "Sure. He'll definitely be very happy if you do."

"Okay! I'll bring one to him now!" Rai said and scampered off in Li Tian's direction.

Meilin watched with interest as the boy waited in front of the temporary changing room door with a sugary cinnamon roll and a nervous expression on his face.

Seconds later, the door opened with a surprised Li Tian to see his little brother waiting outside for him. Meilin couldn't hear what they were saying but she could see her little cousin's happy expression.

He laughed out loud, catching the attention of the people around them off guard but it was as though there was no one else in the room but the two of them. Li Tian's focus was only on the boy in front of him. He ruffled the kid's head with both hands, then pointed to his own mouth.

Meilin was unsure what he was getting at, but Rai's actions later explained it to her. The boy shoved the cinnamon roll into Li Tian's mouth carefully, who then lifted his head back to eat the whole thing.

She could see her cousin mouth the words, 'Thanks Leixue!' before rubbing the kid's head again and leaving to get onto the set again.

Rai scurried back to her side with a cheeky smile and cheeks tinted with redness. He seemed to be happy with his decision.

But Rai wasn't the only one feeling a little bit giddy with the reaction.

Everyone else in the studio that saw the interaction was feeling a little awe and strange fuzziness in their hearts. Everywhere Meilin looked, she noticed the red faces of people embarrassed like they had seen something they shouldn't have.

They couldn't help themselves. It was their first time seeing the man known as Li Tian, notoriously known for being overbearing and haughty, laugh and smile like that so heartwarmingly.

If he was attractive because of his more uncaring supercilious side, then he became fatally mesmerizing as a sweet big brother.

If anyone had caught the interaction on camera and made it public, it could double or triple the young singer's popularity overnight.

Of course this would be putting the boy with him in the spotlight as well.

Not too far away, a man was left in deep thought after seeing such a stirring scene. He looked between the singer with an obvious leap in temperament and the boy sitting shyly with a bun in his mouth.

Soon, an idea formed in his mind.

.....