Male and Female Lead in Flesh (1)

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"I don't even know what to say at this point," Julie Walker commented in frustration after having the couple in front of her watch the video that had just come out in public and had been causing such huge ruckus across the country—and Moonlight fans abroad—in just an hour to the point that this morning's number of reporters had been multiplied.

This by far had been the most frustrating year in her life ever since she decided to pursue a different career instead of a full-time lawyer. Yes, she had a fair share of hardship when she was handling Duke, especially at his early years, but at least she could scold the young man and punish him until he straightened up. This wasn't her case now.

Truly, if she could just turn back time, she would have given up recruiting Fyre and Mo Tian Zi into the entertainment industry and just focus on Duke. But she didn't! She just had to be greedy and took in someone she couldn't handle. If time travel was possible, she would have traveled back in time and slapped her past self until she wakes up.

"Well, that wasn't our fault so..." Tian Zi replied with a bored expression before he crossed his arms, making Julie feeling even more frustrated.

"First and for most, you could have handled the situation without injuring both actors. With what you did, filming will be delayed once again for Moonlight and Duke's schedules have been hindered as well. Now people are talking about the rumored competition between Apollo and Duke and now you got involved," Julie said in frustration. It's bad enough that people think got fired as the male lead for Moonlight and then he got involved in a love triangle between Apollo and Fyre and now, the name Zian McCarthy had been popping out in search engines. People are trying to find out about him, some may be out of curiosity but a lot was because of resentment.

"Tch. Do you think those two would just stop if you talk to them? Be happy that I stopped them with just a bump on their forehead, if I didn't they would have gotten a lot more than that from their brawl." Tian Zi said in annoyance before he felt Fyre's hand pull the side of his clothes making him halt his talk.

"Stop it, Zi... It's already out in public whether you could have handled it differently or not, them fighting was already bad enough and now your fake identity got involved. There's not much we can do," Fyre expressed. He honestly didn't know what to feel about this. Additionally, Apollo and Duke's fandom had already been on bad terms even before Moonlight started casting so this didn't make the situation worse because it's already bad to begin with. If anything, this just gave people the confirmation that both actors in fact did not like each other in person.

"*sigh* You're right. At this point, we won't be able to do anything except keep silent and wait until this passes because even if we hire someone to suppress the news, people are still going to talk about it and we'll only make things complicated if we try to interfere and deny. The best thing to do is let the people talk and think what they think and just let it be," Julie said in defeat before she leaned back on the sofa. Fyre and Tian Zi listened and were in fact in agreement with her statement. Even if they did secretly delete the post or suppress websites that published the earlier incident, people are still going to think and talk about it no matter what they say to mitigate the rumor.

In the end, most people would still be in denial so it's better just to let people talk about what they want and just let the issue pass until eventually it's forgotten.

"You two just stay out of this like usual since Fyre isn't really an actor so people would understand if he stayed silent and private. As for Duke, I'll just have him accept an interview. I'll instruct him on what to say and not to say so he doesn't make things worse. And as for Apollo, I don't know what his management would do but whether they remain silent or not, we just need to prepare for anything. I'll also find another thing to divert people's attention so this would pass quickly," Julie instructed and just like earlier, both Fyre and Tian Zi agreed with the arrangement. Well, Tian Zi was actually going to suggest announcing his engagement to the public but Julie's plan can work too so he'd have to give up the thought.

"Now, the only problem we have is the delay on the filming," Julie said in frustration. Moonlight had already been stalled for years so they couldn't afford to delay it any further especially since they already booked the location for tomorrow's outdoor scenes and if they were to reschedule it, it would cost more money and more time for another preparation. Even if they have sponsors, it's not ideal to spend more on the production because the bigger the cost the higher they would need the movie to earn or else it wouldn't be profitable.

Julie was still deep in her thoughts when there was a sudden knock on the door before Russel Coleman came in. His eyes scanned the room for a quick second before his eyes landed on Tian Zi-currently known as Zian-with a hopeful glint.

"Mr. McCarthy, I'd like to discuss the suggestion you brought up earlier," Russel Coleman said, making both Fyre and Julie confused.

"Mr. Coleman, what is this about?" Julie was quick to ask, ushering him to take a seat. Meanwhile, Fyre looked at Tian Zi with a questioning gaze which the Alpha only responded with an enigmatic smile.

"Oh Ms. Walker, good timing. This is about the filming. Fortunately, Mr. White is fine however he wouldn't be able to film for today. Then I remembered earlier Mr. McCarthy here offered a solution that I think might work. We'll have to take a few shots separately and hire a CGI specialist but it's a lot better than delaying the filming for a week waiting for Mr. White's injury to heal."

"Furthermore, there's also that fact that Mr. Long seemed to be having problems acting together with Mr. White as of the moment but Mr. McCarthy assured me this would work," Mr. Coleman explained but instead of their questions being answered, more questions came into their minds.

"Wait, so what's this solution we are talking about? And why is Fyre having trouble working together with Apollo?" Julie asked in curiosity, wondering what the director was talking about. She could understand the fact about Apollo but because she's never really around Fyre during tapings—that was Tian Zi's job as Fyre's assistant—she didn't know how Fyre's performance was earlier.

"Well, Mr. Long just got out of his heat and since Mr. White is an Alpha, he wasn't feeling comfortable around him. Mr. McCarthy on the other hand is willing to take on the role of the male lead, I'll just salvage some of the scenes taken earlier with Mr. White for this last indoor scene so we wouldn't have to cancel tomorrow's schedule. Also, any close contact with Mr. Long with the male lead during outdoor scenes will be performed by Mr. McCarthy as Mr. White's double aside from the front view," Russel Coleman explained. Actually, he too knew who Zian McCarthy actually was and so he also knew this could work.

"What?!" Fyre was the first to react as he just couldn't believe Tian Zi actually volunteered to act. Well, of course, his face wouldn't be shown but still.

"What? I saw you struggle working with your male lead so I only offered a solution. Besides, you said Mr. Coleman was interested in me acting," Tian Zi replied as if it wasn't such a big deal. Meanwhile, Julie hearing all of this went through stages of grief and denial until she gave up and smiled.

"Great! Zian is only a tad bit larger than Apollo so if it's side-ways and back views, it could work. I'll quickly call in the stylist and make-up artist to prepare him," Julie said which the director quickly agreed upon. There's only that one scene that they needed to do and it's frustrating that they had to reschedule it so this solution was much better. Besides, even though it's a climax scene, no one would focus on the slight differences as long as they don't make it too obvious.

"Zi, are you absolutely sure you're going to do this because you don't have to?" Fyre asked worriedly because he doubt Tian Zi could act. He has great looks but that does not mean he can act even if it's only side-ways and back views. Additionally, Tian Zi had already done so many things for him already. He didn't want the Alpha to think that he needed to do things like this for him all the time.

"Yeah, how hard could it be?" Tian Zi assured leisurely so Fyre couldn't help but get even more worried. This is a real work where people depend on it for a living. The two of them might be doing this just for fun and experience but if they do something impulsively, it will affect so many people's livelihoods.

"Hey, relax. I got this. I just want all this to finish quickly, it's dangerous for you to be out here where our enemies can infiltrate any time," Tian Zi whispered, holding Fyre's cheeks before kissing them gently. Meanwhile, Fyre looked at his lover, and in the end, he nodded. At this point, he had no choice but to trust the Alpha and it is true that he too wanted all this to end as well.

"Okay," Fyre replied, pressing his face against his lover. At the same time, seeing the couple's affectionate display, both Julie and Russel Coleman just looked at each other before silently nodding. And an hour later, the camera was rolling again. Because of this sudden decision, no one could pass on this chance to look out in curiosity and so for the first time on the set, everyone was looking. Surprisingly, despite having only a couple of minutes to read his lines, Tian Zi, a.k.a Zian delivered his lines perfectly. No one could remove their eyes from him and especially since the earlier bad performance Fyre was showing was no longer there.

"I don't see your point here. I don't care if she's Reyna or she's Rey! In my eyes, she's the same person that I loved." Tian Zi who was acting as the male lead, Caded, declared as he glared among the crowd who came to expose Reyna, a female Beta, to actually be Rey, a Male Omega. His voice dominantly reverberated in the whole set that it literally shook everyone's legs in fear.

"Do you think just because of this I would leave her? And what? Choose you?! You must be dreaming," Tian Zi added and this time his voice was obviously mocking the other character who was supposed to be the antagonist. "Even if you spread your legs in front of me, I'd never look your way," Tian Zi ended. He sounded so threatening that the other female actor slumped down in fear. The scene was nearing its end and the only thing Tian Zi had to do what to pull Fyre, who is currently Reyna, in his arms who was all this time been holding his tears back from all the bullying he had been through so as soon as Tian Zi's arms wrapped around his, his tears just started falling until the only thing was heard in the silent stage was his painful bawling until the loud "CUT" from the director emanated across the whole room.

Even when the "CUT" was already shouted, everyone didn't move and just looked at the two in awe as if they were truly witnessing the real thing. It's almost as if they were the real Rey and Caden in flesh.

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To be Continued...