You Want to Slap Me?

She glared at Elena, wondering who she was.

Su Yan turned to her assistant Chen Lu, "Who is that girl?"

"She is playing Hua Luo. The makeup artist we used today was doing her makeup. I didn't like her at first sight. I think her name is Jin Yinghui, she came from Korea."

"Oh, so she's Korean," Su Yan said, raising her eyebrows.

"No, no. She was born here in the Jin Province, but she made her debut in Korea. She is really famous there."

"Ch - who cares if she was famous in Korea. Here, this is my territory." Su Yan was jealous of Elena, who had stolen her spotlight on the first day of filming.

"Let's start filming," the director said after quieting everyone down.

Elena took a deep breath and held Zhang Bing's hand.

"Original Sweet, Scene 25, Take one. Action!"

Zhang Bing took a step forward and Elena followed. This scene was supposed to show Hua Luo's love for Lichen, and Lichen's doubt about whether he should break up with Hua Luo or not.

Zhang Bing did a good job of showing the doubt in his eyes, but as a beginner actress, Elena's eyes didn't really show her love for him.

"Cut, cut, cut. Good job Zhang Bing. Jin Yinghui, you have to show the love in your eyes. Lichen didn't break up with you yet, you are in love. Okay?"

Su Yan smirked and rolled her eyes. Elena nodded and said, "Let's try again."

"Action."

Once again, the director cut the scene before it was finished.

"Well, now you have love in your eyes, but you are shopping. Look around, look at the clothes. Stop staring at Zhang Bing only." Director Xin was getting impatient.

"Sorry, can we go again."

This went on for several takes, before finally, Director Xin was over it, and just passed the seventh take.

"So what if she's pretty. She can't act," a small worker whispered to the person next to her, but Elena heard this comment. She sighed and went to go get changed. This was the only scene she had for today.

Mila saw the dispirit in Elena's eyes, and hurried over to comfort her.

"It's okay. There is a beginning for everyone." Elena gave a half-hearted smile and walked away.

Su Yan purposefully walked over and said in a very loud voice, "Some people can't act, and just come and waste everybody's time."

She then sighed and looked at Elena. Elena glared at her, and Su Yan smirked and walked away.

After changing, Elena and Mila went to say goodbye to the director. The director's attitude changed drastically and just waved them away. Elena said goodbye once again and left.

Once they entered their hotel room, Elena flopped onto their bed.

"Who knew acting was this hard. I should have just kept going with my singing career."

Mila looked at Elena and knew what could cheer her up.

"Stop acting so depressed. Let's go eat out today, I'll treat you to sushi."

Elena sat up but immediately laid back down. "Nah, I should focus on studying the script more tonight and learn from other actors."

"Okay, then let's order delivery."

Elena sat up again and said, "That's a great idea. I want California Roll please."

Mila laughed and began searching for sushi shops online.

"I can't stay like this. Did you see Su Yan's face today? I have to improve in acting."

Mila nodded, not paying attention to what Elena was saying. Elena jumped off the bed and moved to the table. She pulled out her script and buried herself into studying the brain of Hua Luo.

As a singer, Elena had to put feelings into her songs, so why couldn't she figure out how to act properly?

"Wait Elena, the shop doesn't do delivery to hotels. I would have to go and pick it up. I'll be right back."

Elena nodded without looking up as she watched a video talking about how to act by a famous acting teacher.

After about thirty minutes, Mila came back from the shop with two rows of California Roll. Elena had fallen asleep on the table as the video was too boring and she was too tired. Mila picked up her script and found it had twice as many markings as it had this morning.

She woke Elena up and they finished all the sushi.

That night, Elena stayed up till 1 A.M. and finished analyzing each and every scene with her in it.

Elena was sleeping in the taxi as they drove to the filming location. Today, they were filming at a shopping mall.

Mila felt wronged for Elena. She was one of the most famous celebrities in Korea, yet in the Jin Province, she had to stay up till 1 A.M. studying the script so she wouldn't be screamed at by the director again.

Mila knew that as a newcomer, Elena would have to work hard to gain a spot in the entertainment industry. However, she had already gone through this once. Why did she have to go through it again?

During her three years of training, Elena had told Mila how she would wake up earlier than others and how she skipped meals so she could practice more while others were eating.

Mila stared at Elena pitifully and wished that someone would come along to help her and make it a little easier for her. She knew this was wishful thinking as who would want to help a newbie with little experience or fame.

"We are here." The taxi driver didn't dare speak loudly as he looked at the beautiful girl that was sleeping in the back seat.

Elena blinked a few times and opened her eyes.

"Are we here already? Let's go."

She stretched her neck and got out of the car. Mila quickly handed the fee to the driver and followed Elena off.

They entered the shopping mall and spotted the huge crew. They didn't want to get their makeup done here, so Mila and Elena had already done their makeup in the hotel room. If the director says nothing today, they would keep doing their makeup by themselves.

The first scene today was Scene 37, where Hua Luo slaps Lin Xijin after realizing that she was dating Qin Lichen now.

"Everyone, let's start filming," Director Xin announced.

Once again, Su Yan was late to arrive, and the entire film crew had to wait for her. Once she arrived, the director began explaining this scene.

"For this scene, Jin Yinghui, you have to express your anger and the feeling of betrayal. Su Yan, you have to feel wronged as you didn't purposefully steal her boyfriend, okay. Jin Yinghui, we are going to use the angle of the camera, so don't actually slap Su Yan. I hope to see some improvement from yesterday."

Elena nodded and the director sat down.

"Original Sweet, Scene 37, Take 1."

Elena was good at expressing her anger, and you could tell that she did improve a little from yesterday. However, once it got to the part to slap Su Yan, her anger seemed to dissipate as she remembered that she can't actually slap her.

"Cut! Cut! Cut! What happened? You were doing so well, why did it stop?"

"Sorry director, I suddenly remembered that I can't actually slap Miss Su Yan, and I lost the feeling."

Su Yan looked offended as she said, "Do you mean that you actually want to slap me? Who do you think you are?"

Elena smiled and calmly said, "I think you misunderstood, Miss Su Yan. Let's try again."

The director nodded impatiently and said, "Get into a ready position."

Su Yan still looked as if she was provoked, and whispered, "Wasting time."

The scene started again, and once again, when it was time to slap, Elena's eyes lost the anger. This happened for three takes, and after the third attempt, the director slammed his fist on the table.

"Can you act or not? If you can't act, leave! Let's film a different scene. Jin Yinghui, go home and figure it out. I'm going to give you one day. Tomorrow, if you are still like this, we are switching the second female lead."

Elena sighed and looked down, "I'm sorry, director."

With a hint of sadness, Elena looked even more beautiful, so that anyone that looked at her wanted to protect and comfort her.

The director sighed and said, "Go home and think about how you should express the character. Put yourself in her shoes."

Elena nodded and left. Before she could leave, she heard Su Yan say, "We should switch out the second female lead. She is not famous and sucks at acting."

Elena gritted her teeth and left the shopping mall.

In her hotel room, Elena read through and thought about the script over and over. What was she doing wrong?

Elena was confused about one thing about this film. Why was Hua Luo the antagonist when one could clearly tell that Lin Xijin was the white lotus flower in this film and stole Hua Luo's boyfriend?