You Were Never Just Acting
Chapter 21: You Were Never Just Acting
The hallway outside the set was cold and silent, but Lin Zhaoxi's palms were sweating.
Shen Muyan had cornered her again.
His gaze pinned her to the wall—not with anger, but with something far more dangerous.
Hurt.
"You disappeared again last night," he said quietly. "No message. No excuse."
P
"I was tired." Her voice came out too flat, too r
He stepped closer.
"You're always tired. You're always running."
Zhaoxi flinched. "I'm not—"
"Stop lying," he said, voice cracking. "If you don't care about me, just say it. If all of this is fake—if you are fake—just tell me now, and I'll stop chasing shadows."
Her throat tightened.
System Warning: Emotional breach detected. Male lead synchronization at 93%.
Activate Emergency Reset Protocol
She closed her eyes.
Even now, when her heart was pounding for him, the System still wanted her to lie.
To say it was all fake. Just an act.
Just a script.
But she couldn't.
Not anymore.
"I don't want to lie to you anymore," she said, barely a whisper. "But if I tell you the truth, you'll think I'm crazy."
He gave a broken laugh. "Try me."
She looked at him then—really looked. The boy she once mocked, now the man she was falling for, against every law written into this world.
System Alert: WARNING. Unauthorized confession sequence detected.
Begin Host Emotion Suppression Protocol.
And then the pain hit her.
A searing, splitting pain in her temples—like her brain was being crushed.
She gasped and stumbled, grabbing the wall.
"Zhaoxi?!"
Shen Muyan caught her before she could fall, wrapping his arms around her trembling body.
Her head throbbed, vision blurred.
The System was punishing her.
Punishing her for loving him.
He didn't ask questions.
He didn't speak.
He just held her.
His grip was firm. Protective. Scared.
When she finally stopped shaking, she realized her face was wet. She had cried silently into his chest.
She tried to pull away, ashamed.
But he didn't let go.
"Whatever's hurting you," he said hoarsely, "I want to fight it. With you. Even if I don't understand it yet."
Her heart shattered.
She wanted to scream—You can't. It's not from this world. You can't fight a system.
But instead, she whispered: "Then stay. Even when I push you away. Stay."
He didn't even hesitate.
"I'm not leaving again."
System Notice: Synchronization exceeded safe threshold.
System integrity dropping.
Host is no longer compliant. Prepare for intervention.
Far away, in a code-black screen the host couldn't see, the system blinked red.
And a voice echoed in the darkness:
"If the villainess refuses her role… we'll make another play it better."