“OKAY, cut!”

When Astrid heard the director’s call, he quickly got up from the arms of the actor he was acting with.  He looked at the man opposite him and saw that some of the fake blood on him had splattered on the other. 

“I hope we finally got it right this time or else you have to change shirt again,” he joked.

Jordan Preston – the actor he just played that scene with – chuckled.  “You always got it right.  It was me who keeps on messing up.”

Astrid shook his head.  “How could that be?  If you’re saying you’re at fault, then, I’m also as much to blame.”

Jordan no longer insisted and just smiled.  He was actually not just being humble.  Since he took up the main role in [Blind Justice], he had never gotten an NG more than five times.  Well, except maybe was during the filming of the first few episodes.  But that was because he was still groping with the role he was playing.

However, now, after almost a hundred episodes, he had already perfectly grasped the character of the role he’s playing.  Acting as the leader of Themis was already akin to waking up to him.

But this emotional scene that they shot just now truly had him struggling.  It’s not because he didn’t know how to act the scene but mainly because the one he’s acting with was overpowering him. 

When he first heard that the one who would play the special role in the 100th episode was actually a newcomer, he was a bit skeptical.  After all, he had already read the script for that episode and knew that the special role needed someone with good acting skills to pull it off.  A barely passable acting would not do.  So, how could a newcomer who hadn’t made a name yet for himself be able to do it?   

That skepticism only increased when he met Astrid this morning.  He honestly thought that their director only looked at the other’s face that’s why he gave him the role regardless of the person’s talent.

But during their first scene together, he was surprised and also very happy to find out that his assumptions were wrong.  Astrid not only subvert his expectations, he even surpassed it.

Of course, there’s nothing bad playing against a good actor.  But if one couldn’t match their excellence, then that would transmit on the screen and the scene wouldn’t be good to watch.  As an actor, he understood that perfectly.

Jordan was still fine during the first few scenes.  But when it came to shooting the climax of his relationship with the role Astrid was playing, that’s when the problem occurred.

The scene was a very emotional one.  Both of them should show a myriad of emotions – sadness, anger, hate.  It was very hard to portray.  But he did his best to do so.  It’s just that, the level of his acting simply couldn’t match with Astrid’s.  Obviously, his best wasn’t good enough.

It’s like he was already giving his 100% but the other was going overboard that.  Because of that the intensity they gave in their performance did not match.  It’s no wonder that the director kept calling NG. 

He was the one mostly being scolded.  The few times Astrid was scolded was only because he didn’t find the right camera angle.  While him, on the other hand, was because of his acting.  One could clearly see that the one who needed to step up his game was him.

Jordan realized quickly that if he wanted to make the scene work, he had to match Astrid’s ability.  Just because he was the older one and his senior in the industry, it didn’t mean that he would ask the teenager to match his acting so they could pass this scene.  That would be too shameful. 

In order to get a much better scene, of course, the one who was lacking should be the one to match the other that was better than him.  Many might think that this could hurt their pride.  But Jordan didn’t care much about that.  If it’s for the betterment of this special episode, then, he would do it.

[Blind Justice] had a special meaning to him.  It’s the show that launched his career and put him to where he was now.  Without it, he wouldn’t have the current popularity and status he had now. 

And besides… he secretly glanced at their director, who was reviewing the scene they shot just now, and his eyes became unknowingly softer.  He really didn’t want to disappoint Jean. 

Astrid, who caught this look, raised one of his brows.  The other might not know, but that look he had just now was full of unconcealed emotion.  Astrid glanced at the director and back to Jordan.  Was there something going on between these two?

He shrugged.  Not that that was any of his problems.  He was just glad that, just like Ellis said, this male lead was pretty good.  He had a good attitude and wasn’t the type to put on airs.  Even when the other was obviously being pressed by his acting, he didn’t get annoyed and threw a tantrum.  Instead, he worked even harder to match his pace.

It’s always a joy to meet such a wonderful co-star.  How Astrid wished that that would always be the case.  But he knew that he probably just got lucky this time. 

“Let’s retake it one more time,” the director called.  “Jordan, you’re almost there.  Just a bit more push and everything will be perfect.  And Astrid, try to be more aware of the camera angles, okay?”

Astrid and Jordan looked at each other, both have a helpless smile on their face.  Then, the two answered together;

“Yes!”

———-

Meanwhile, at the Imperial Military Academy…

It was already evening, the aspiring freshmen in the Mecha Department were all nervous because tomorrow, only those who passed the week-long training would be allowed to remain here.  Their future would be decided on that, how could they not be nervous?

But two teenagers eating at the cafeteria didn’t show this kind of nervousness at all..  One was Ash and the other was Reas.

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