Chapter 43 Bring Out Ones Innocence

𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘪𝘢𝘯...

"What do you think?" Jia Lin grinned by his ear. His professional self was gone and it had become a bit more playful, with Meilin's permission.

Rai became embarrassed by the teasing but he couldn't deny the words being said. How could he not notice the glare Li Tian was pointing in their direction.

"H-He's definitely angry at something," he admitted. What other reason could he be angry at besides the man clinging to his shoulders?

"The shoot is ending soon. Let's see how he reacts. I'll be right back," the supervisor let go of the boy and left to make preparations.

Rai watched as Li Tian's gaze slowly followed Jia Lin's back as he left.

.....

The young singer grumbled inwardly to himself.

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘥?

If it weren't because he felt favorably towards the photographer, he would have yelled at him to finish up quicker. There was also the matter of this not being the final shoot.

Li Tian glanced at his little brother again just in case and was happy to see that the supervisor, Jia Lin, was no longer leeching around. However, he did notice a slight change in Rai's attitude afterward.

Whenever he turned to look at him, the boy would quickly lower down his head to hide his face. It wasn't supposed to be a new thing but it somehow felt different this time, as if the boy was more aware.

The singer dispelled those thoughts for now and 'patiently' waited for this one shoot to finish.

Moments later, Yi Huanxing gave the okay for him to rest for the next session.

Without much thought, he went straight for the boy sitting at the end of the room.

He reached the halfway point pretty quickly and called out, "Leixu-"

"Mr. Li Tian," the voice came out of nowhere.

Li Tian nearly jumped from surprise but instinctively forced himself to maintain his composure. He turned around to see the supervisor smiling at him suspiciously. "Mr..."

"Jia Lin," the man didn't mind reintroducing himself at all. "It's good that you're on a break finally. I have a proposal for you. It involves your apprentice."

"Don't want i-"

"Before you disagree so fast," Jia Lin stopped him with a hand up, "how about you listen to what I have to say first. Leixue doesn't seem to mind it. And it would be good for your teacher apprentice relationship as well."

The star furrowed his brows suspiciously before glancing at Meilin nearby. She should have heard the gist of the proposal before he did. What did she think?

His cousin manager caught his glance and nodded her approval. It seemed like it was worth getting into.

"Fine. What is it?" Li Tian let his guard down.

"Great! How would you like to model with your cute little apprentice?"

"What?" the singer's expression contorted in surprise. He looked from the supervisors smiling face to his little brother's embarrassed one and felt a little lost. "Why?"

"Why not?" Jia Lin teased.

The most aggravating reply one could make.

It didn't help Li Tian feel assured one bit, and honestly, it was annoying that someone else other than Levi was trying to act coy with him. In his displeasure, he commanded with iciness in his tone, "Instead of beating around the bush, just give me the facts straight or this is 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 I end up showing my face in 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 studio."

The sudden burst of temper, with the hint of willingness to still hear the details caught both Meilin and Jia Lin off guard in different ways. He would usually act willfully when he wanted to ditch the place but he was giving the supervisor an option. It was obvious that he was still giving the man face.

Or maybe it was just Rai he was giving face to. Meilin glanced at the flustered boy in between the two men.

"Okay then. Allow me to get straight to the point," Jia Lin smiled. "I believe you two have a special bond. Thus, I would like you to model with your apprentice."

Before Li Tian could say anything, the man lifted his hand to stop him 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 and continued, "Rest assured, we will not publish any of young Leixue's photos, as it is not within the contract, but we would like to capture the moments you two interact with each other. After seeing the two of you today, there is no need to hide it, I personally believe this proposal will be very successful."

The Li heir opened his mouth but then immediately closed it again. Surely such an excuse was not enough to convince your average joe, but Li Tian knew exactly what the man was talking about, and so did Meilin. No wonder she didn't decline him.

He thought for a moment before moving his eyes to land on his little brother instead. "What do you think, Leixue?"

"M-Me?" Rai didn't expect his famous teacher to ask for his opinion. "I... I don't want to trouble you. Mr. Jia Lin said I would bring out your best side but... that's cra-"

"I'll do it." Li Tian cut him off before he could finish.

"H-Huh?"

"That's great!" the supervisor smiled and gestured a few assistants forward. "These two will get you ready for the next shoot. Leixue you follow them. As for Mr. Li Tian, I've already informed your stylists, you can head to them directly. We can start immediately when the two of you are done."

He clapped his hands and the assistants pulled the dumbfounded little boy away. It was obvious he wasn't receiving a no for an answer to already have everything in place. Finally, it was just the three of them; Jia Lin, Li Tian, and Meilin.

With Rai now gone, Jia Lin gave the teen star a reassuring smile. "Mr. Li Tian, I can tell you are having certain troubles with your apprentice. With your position, I am sure it is difficult for you to properly convey yourself to him as well. I will not probe into it. However, if you are willing to cooperate, please trust that I will do my best to help you. It will be a win-win for the both of us."

The words felt sincere and it surprised Li Tian how much the man caught on so quickly.

"I think it's a good idea," Meilin chipped in. "You should go with it properly."

After a moment of silence, the Li heir sighed and nodded. "Fine. What do you have in mind?"

.....

Rai thought he would be made to wear a suit or something but was surprised that the attire he was given appeared almost normal.

It was just a plain light-colored T-shirt and jeans. They were considerably more comfortable against the skin but as someone who wasn't knowledgeable about fashion, he wouldn't be able to tell the difference with any other cheap brand.

Out of curiosity, he decided to ask the stylist fixing his hair, "How much are these clothes?"

"The ones you're wearing?" the young woman asked, receiving a nod in return. "It isn't one of the most expensive in the brand we're currently featuring but each piece should be a few hundred dollars at least."

"A-A few hundred??"

The stylist chuckled at his reaction and went to pick out a jacket from the rack nearby. "This piece here is the center. You can put it on now."

"O-Okay," he wasn't given enough time to digest the previous information at all. But seeing the jacket handed to him, they disappeared from his thoughts.

It was a dark blue jacket stitched with beautiful and illustrious silver thread around the hems in delicate patterns. But what pulled one's gaze the most was the embroidery on the back of it.

Using the same silver thread was an embroidery of a majestic phoenix with a fiery tail sown in light blue thread, almost circling the entire creature. The play on colors was amazing as the blue fire further alleviated the phoenix's ranking within its echelon. The embroidery felt regal and perfectly personified the mythical creature rising from the ashes.

It took Rai's breath away.

"This one costs 7,000 Huaxian dollars."

"WHAT!?" the boy felt too scared to even keep his hands on it. What if he got it dirty!?

"Don't worry about it and put it on," the stylist persuaded him. "It's your job now."

Within seconds, a flurry of emotions was expressed on his face. Without saying anything more, he put his arms through the jacket sleeves and fixed it on himself comfortably.

"It looks good," the stylist complimented him. "You should show your forehead more often. I'm really surprised how you've been hiding your face all this time."

Rai looked at himself in the mirror and became stunned. He looked like a completely different person. With his hair slicked back stylishly, his face was displayed for everyone to see.

There was no place to hide this time.

Earlier Big Brother Tian had already given him a wardrobe turnover but his core image wasn't really forced to change. He was still allowed to keep his bangs and slightly gloomy demeanor. Although the gloominess only came from him trying to hide himself.

"Is this me?" Rai mumbled quietly.

"Yep. And the only makeup you have on is to conceal your eye bags, which were pretty bad. When you're on set, just be sure to act the part in front of the camera, and then you've become a model!" the stylist advised him just in case.

Rai stared a bit longer at himself and thought, 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵? 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭... 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦...

Knock. Knock.

"We done in there?" someone asked from outside the door.

"Yes. We'll be out now!" the female stylist answered then looked at him. "Time to go."

Rai nodded and said, "Okay."

.....

A set change was not unusual but it still didn't happen often. After the supervisor informed them of the new concept, the staff began moving in hyperdrive, trying to get everything done as soon as possible. They heard a bit about what was happening and felt a bit skeptical but they were too busy to think too much about it anyway.

After enough preparation, they saw Li Tian come out from his dressing room and onto the set waiting chair. He was wearing their main piece for the day and of course looked absolutely amazing.

They had slicked his hair back for this one, and with the red jacket he was wearing, it gave him a crazy yet sexy bad boy look.

Were they really going to put a child in with him? Wouldn't that ruin the image he was trying to portray?

Most of them had seen the kid Li Tian had dragged along but none of them thought of him much, as the boy wasn't exactly an attention grabber.

They weren't a big studio, so they hoped to use the Li heir as much as possible to increase their name. Wouldn't this somehow derail their original plan? However, this was their supervisor they would be criticizing, and the staff trusted him very much.

It was Jia Lin who had gotten them this far.

Soon, light footsteps came from the hallway leading to one of the extra dressing rooms, catching everyone's attention.

Rai had come out with matching slicked-back hair, black boots, and a blue fiery jacket similar to Li Tian's red one. But it was his face that left everyone stunned.

The same thought was playing through everyone's mind, Was this really what he looked like??

For a ten-year-old boy, his face was already so beautiful. Mixed with his young innocence, he looked like a tiny fairy.

Put next to a clearly bad boy like Li Tian, however, made him look like a fairy being tainted.

It was an amazing image to behold.

What was more incredible was the clear change in expression Li Tian made the moment he saw the boy walk out.

It was absolute joy.

The Li heir looked so happy that you could feel his warm aura spreading to the entire staff watching them. Usually, it would be intimidation, but joy?

The staff changed the direction of their gaze from the Li heir to the boy who shyly walked up to him.

Instead of saying a bad boy was tainting a fairy, wouldn't it be more suitable to say the fairy was bringing out the bad boy's innocence?

They grew excited at the thought. Who didn't like a bad boy gone good?

The staff continued their preparations but this time with substantially more vigor. It was always right to trust the supervisor's vision.

They anticipated the results already.

.....

Originally, Rai couldn't help but feel a little awkward.

He was in an expensive outfit and his face was bared in front of everyone. If it weren't for him feeling a sense of obligation for his position as an apprentice, and his little bit of curiosity towards the young man who took him in, he probably wouldn't have agreed.

There was also his father's instructions that he chose not to think about...

Rai shook his head and kept his eyes focused. Regardless of everyone's intentions, here and now he was on a job. That is what mattered most.

"Leixue, they're ready for us. Let's go," Li Tian had put a hand on his shoulder to usher him forward.

The boy felt a little absentminded for a second, remembering the expression this new teacher of his made at his appearance. The smile was really blinding.

"Y-Yeah..." he hurriedly replied and went onto the area set up for them.

The background was a green screen with a few props in place for them to use. In the center of everything was a giant superbike in the color black and gold.

It looked very expensive.

Rai gulped his saliva and tried to calm down his nerves.

"Accustom yourselves to the props and figure out what suits you guys best," the photographer, Yi Huanxing, suggested from behind the camera. "I'll take a few preparation shots in the meantime."

"Hmmm..." Li Tian was left deep in thought as he circled the superbike while touching the material. Not too long after, he put his leg around the seat and grabbed the handles. "Doesn't feel too bad."

Rai who was watching the entire thing closely felt astounded at the scene. Li Tian's movements, expressions, and entire aura embodied the image perfectly. If he didn't know they were still in preparation, he would have thought the photoshoot had already started.

Click. Click. Click.

The camera in the background didn't help his thoughts from assuming either.

He guessed he was probably too far from the shoot to notice it earlier, but Li Tian was definitely a natural.

The moment the Li heir sat on the bike, there was another thing he noticed. The singer's jacket design was different from his. He thought it was only the color that differed from his own but no, even the embroidery was.

Sown on the red jacket was a majestic flaming dragon, mixed with gold and dark orange.

Li Tian wearing such an imposing piece of clothing while also sitting on a grandiose bike was really establishing a certain image.

Suddenly, the young man looked back at the boy staring, and let out a toothy grin, "What are you waiting for, Leixue? Come here!"

If there was any doubt before, it had melted away now.

The smile and the words Li Tian had said to him immediately broke away all the defenses Rai had set up prior to their meeting today. How could that expression be made to deceive him? What was the point of it!

His father's words may have hit him where it hurt, but deep down, he wanted to be able to trust the nice man in front of him. The rumors may have painted him an overbearing bad guy, and the attire he wore also extended that image. But the smile he gave him was too bright and honest.

𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦? 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘪𝘢𝘯...

.....