"Action! Run!"
At the director’s shout, the actor began to sprint at full speed like a sprinter. In the midst of the shoot, the people on set held their breath, following the actors' movents. Among them, the one who stood out and caught everyone’s attention was undoubtedly the man running in the lead. The cara missed his insane sprint twice, and with the director’s irritated shout, he returned to his starting position, walking with a disappointed gait.
Ha, ha.
The actor, now on his third take of the sa scene, breathed heavily, clearly showing signs of fatigue. Yet, even his pale cheeks and slightly heaving shoulders were enough to capture everyone's gaze.
The scene they were filming now was a solo shot of Chase, where he lures the police following him into a corner and takes them out. Just as Chase prepared for the next take, he swept his tangled hair back. The soft strands that curled around his long fingers made everyone sigh in admiration. Josh, too, montarily froze, cigarette still hanging in his hand as he watched Chase.
He had a black eye patch, the identity of his character, and colored contact lenses in his revealed eye. His hair was dyed black, and at tis, Josh felt like he was looking at soone entirely different, not Chase Miller. When it was only his hair color that had changed, it was bearable. But now that even his special purple eyes were covered, sothing felt off. He knew intellectually it was Chase, but emotionally, it didn’t sit right.
I’m not cheating.
Josh hastily snapped back to reality and took a quick drag from his cigarette. He felt ridiculous guilt, like he was losing himself in soone who wasn’t Chase. After all, only recently, Chase had accused Josh of sothing, scolding him harshly.
No, I’m really not cheating.
Suddenly feeling wronged, the director shouted again.
"Action!"
At the signal, Chase started running again. His suit jacket flew open, and his long tie fluttered behind him as he dashed. The man in the distance quickly appeared in front of Josh, then zood past him.
Soon, Chase stopped at the designated spot, and the n chasing him surrounded him. As planned, the n charged at Chase. Josh, who had reflexively twitched to move, hesitated. He reminded himself that this was all just acting, then crossed his arms again. If he didn’t, he might just rush forward without thinking.
Sure enough, as he saw a man throw a punch at Chase, Josh nearly bolted, but he paused and watched the next move. Chase spun around and struck the man in the face.
As Josh continued to watch the scene unfold, soone suddenly spoke to him.
"Josh, are you alright? You look tired."
At the low voice, Josh glanced over and saw Seth standing there. Josh turned his eyes back to Chase before answering.
"I didn’t get much sleep."
Josh closed his mouth after saying just that, but Seth’s gaze stayed fixed on him. There was sothing else that seed odd—Josh had been looking especially tired lately. He used to pull all-nighters when working, but now, he sotis dozed off and appeared sowhat dazed.
Could it be because of the pheromones?
Even though he had heard there were markings on his ear, Seth guessed that the overwhelming pheromones of an Extre Alpha might be too much to handle. Seth had never directly experienced an Extre Alpha himself; only Chase had, so he could only speculate. Otherwise, there was no reason Josh should be this exhausted.
Or maybe the person he’s seeing isn’t ordinary.
When Seth thought this, he was shocked in a different way. To wear out soone like Josh, who had such great stamina, what kind of person were they?
Regardless of the bet, Seth beca curious about Josh’s partner. If they broke up, Seth even entertained the thought of eting them for one night. Josh’s taste was likely for soone incredibly attractive, and he saw no reason to decline.
Looking for an opportunity to probe further, the scene ended and the director shouted, "That’s enough!" A brief break was given before the next scene. During this ti, Chase would fix his costu and makeup, and review the scenes he had shot. While watching people scatter, Seth took the chance to speak up.
"Josh, I didn’t see you around yesterday. Was sothing going on?"
"No, not really."
Josh answered indifferently. For a mont, Seth wondered if his guess had been wrong. But he quickly dismissed the thought. He was sure that wasn’t the case, and Josh’s evasive, sly behavior confird it. It was nothing new for Josh to dismiss things like this.
"The day before too, sotis you just disappear without saying anything, so I wondered if sothing had happened."
Seth didn’t sidestep and asked directly. This was a better way to get an honest answer from Josh. With no room to avoid the question, Josh hesitated for a mont before speaking.
"It’s not like that, just so personal things I had to take care of. Since it’s a day off anyway."
Seeing Josh try to put off his words in a way that implied "It’s none of your business," Seth grew more confident in his belief. But at the sa ti, it made him think that Josh wasn’t just casually dating. The fact that he was trying to hide it ant he either took the person seriously, or couldn’t reveal them. If it was the latter, he wouldn’t answer no matter how Seth asked.
Who is it?
Seth was genuinely curious. The outco of the bet didn’t matter to him anymore.
"Hey."
Just as Seth was about to ask more, Laura, Chase’s assistant, suddenly interrupted.
"Seth, hello. Josh, could we talk for a mont?"
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
Due to the impeccable timing of Laura pulling Josh away, Seth was unable to ask anything further. Watching them leave, Seth scratched his chin seriously. There was no one else among the remaining mbers who could handle a good interrogation.
No one.
Seth grimaced.
"…So that’s how it is. How..."
Josh barely listened to Laura’s words as his attention was elsewhere. Without even turning around, he knew exactly who was staring at him. Chase was probably glaring at him and Laura, his eyes burning with suspicion. He often shot that kind of gaze at Josh, not allowing his watch to slip.
It just ans he likes
more.
Josh sighed inwardly, forcing himself to pay attention to Laura’s words. She carefully looked at Josh’s face and asked quietly.
"Are you alright? Feeling unwell?"
"Oh, no. I’m fine. Is that the update?"
Snapping back to attention, Josh asked, and Laura tilted her head before answering.
"Yes, that’s right. Mr. Miller specifically instructed that Josh be placed on close security. I’ve spoken to Mark, but Josh’s schedule will be heavier than the other team mbers’..."
"I see. I’ll pay extra attention then."
Josh casually brushed it off, but inwardly, he was impressed with his own quick thinking. In fact, he almost made an expression of disbelief.
This is dangerous.
Josh thought seriously. He couldn’t just ignore Seth’s words. For a while, he had managed to keep their secret dates with Chase hidden from the others, but there were limits to concealing their actions in a confined space. Soon, everything might co to light. Josh debated whether he should tell Chase not to et him outside of filming until it was over.
The problem was that he was the only one worrying about it.
Chase was openly glaring at them.
Just as Josh absent-mindedly looked toward Chase, Laura grabbed his arm again.
"Wait, I need to ask sothing..."
Laura, likely not thinking much of it, grabbed his arm. But the eyes watching them were the issue. Josh subtly placed his hand over hers to gently move it off, trying not to hurt her feelings. It was just a few seconds, but it was enough for soone to misinterpret it. And that’s when the incident happened.
"Ugh!"
"Mr. Miller!"
"Oh no, soone help!"
At the sudden screams, Josh turned his head in shock. Then he opened his eyes wide.
"Chase?"
It wasn’t just Josh who was shocked. Chase himself blinked in surprise, staring down at his arms, covered in blood from a wound he had inflicted on himself. His hands were so covered in red that Josh could see them from a distance. Without ti to think, Josh ran forward, and in his line of sight, he saw Chase quietly looking down at his bloodied hands.
But that wasn’t all. With a cough, blood spurted from his mouth, and his white shirt was drenched in red. His soaked hands gripped his neck and chest.
Ha, ha.
Every ti he gasped, blood spilled from his mouth. Josh noticed that Chase’s usual pale face had turned completely blue, and just as Josh thought that, he saw Chase collapse to the floor.
"Chase!"
Josh barely caught him before he hit the ground. But by then, Chase had already lost consciousness. Josh quickly checked his condition and froze, staring at Chase’s pale, blood-soaked face.
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