four

it was another day of the play practices for dejun.

it was boring, in all honesty. no one was good enough for dejun's standards and the second lead.

the second lead was an antagonist whose goal was to downgrade dejun's character; repeatedly having to put the other's life on a pedestal and saying insults to bring dejun down.

it was a play that tackled social issues, especially in a world full of people who have nothing else to do but downgrade those who try.

"it's so funny! y-you... y-you actually.. you actually t-think you're good?" xiao dejun, a boy who rarely gets annoyed, gave a fake smile before yelling to stop the rehearsal.

"you did well but then you stutter too much.." dejun pouted at the boy in front of him who just nodded along. "perhaps you want me to help with your lines?" "yes please."

and so here he was, sitting down on the edge of the stage and reading over the antagonist's lines. "xiao dejun!" the director called, gesturing at the boy to come over.

"get liu yangyang right now. i don't want this shit to go in shambles." she said regretfully, facepalming as she proceeded to get rid of yangyang's understudy.

dejun then smiled, giggling to himself before running off in search of his co-actor. "yangyang~!" he yelled the moment he saw the boy by the lockers.

"what?" yangyang replied when dejun made it in front of him and yet he still couldn't look him in the eyes. the fact that yangyang's head was bowed down made dejun's smile disappear.

"the flaw you had with acting was so minimal, liu yangyang! just look me in the eyes, please." dejun whined, swinging the boy's hand repeatedly. "well what if i don't want to?! she dropped me out and now you're telling me she wants me back?"

"you can look at others but not at me? liu yangyang, did i even do something to you?"