Adopt

34. Face My Nightmare

"She put you up to this?" Kai turned to face YuXin with a look of disbelief.

YuXin nodded her head and pleaded, "It seems like she really wants to meet you."

Yun Ying had told YuXin the whole story of what happened between her and Kai. Ever since the last visit in the studio with Kai, Yun Ying had tried multiple times to talk to him but to no avail and she decided to rope in YuXin as the last resort.

Ruffling his hair in frustration, Kai heaved a loud sigh and replied, "I'm sorry, just tell her I'm not free."

"But.." YuXin stammered as Kai walked away to prepare for the next shoot.

Turning his attention to the coordinator of the shoot, Kai started checking in with her on the preparation.

"What's taking so long? Where's our model?"

"Umm.. Her agent just called and said she sprained her foot.. I've already called for other models but none of them are available." the coordinator replied worriedly.

Kai checked on his schedule and held his folder in front of his face with a resounding sigh. There isn't any time for them to delay any longer.

"Where am I supposed to find another female model right now..." He looked around the studio and lingered his eyes on YuXin for a moment.

She has the physique for it, relatively tall with long legs, slim built.. She could work.

Kai walked towards YuXin and asked, "Executive Liu, do you know how to swim?"

Stunned by his question, YuXin nodded with her eyes opened wide innocently.

"You see, our model isn't able to make it.. Can you replace her for the shoot today?"

"M-me?" YuXin pointed her index finger to herself, thinking if she heard him right.

"Yeah, you have the physique for it."

Hesitating for a moment, YuXin finally agreed to his request. "I'll do it, if you promise me to meet Ms Yun."

It was Kai's turn to be stunned and he froze for a while before nodding his head reluctantly, giving in to her request for the sake of the shoot.

"Okay! Let's get ready for the shoot!" He instructed and the coordinator quickly led YuXin over to the changing room.

YuXin had no idea what she signed up for until she saw the outfit that she was wearing for the shoot.

Her limbs immediately turned cold and she felt a shiver down her spine, thinking how she was supposed to explain to her easily jealous boyfriend and boss after this.

Gulping nervously, she turned to the coordinator. "Am I.. Supposed to be wearing this?" She pointed at the two-piece bikini and white long sleeve button up shirt.

The coordinator nodded her head eagerly, "Mmn. Let's get you changed."

Stepping out of the changing room, YuXin started tugging on the hem of the white button up shirt, trying to cover her bare legs as much as possible. Unfortunately for her, the shirt could barely cover beyond her butt, leaving the rest of her legs in plain view.

I'm so going to die. YuXin closed her eyes and muttered a prayer while the other make up crew started putting on her make up and a long wavy wig on her.

Once ready, Kai started briefing her on the shoot without wasting any time.

As YuXin plunged into the pool for the shoot and ready herself, Kai gave her an encouraging nod as he stood beside the videographer.

With the signal given, YuXin dived deep into the pool and started swimming and turning her body as she swam gracefully in the water.

It took a few times before YuXin managed to settle her nerves and get the momentum and action right for the shoot.

Finally, after a few hours of filming, Kai called an end to the shoot and the coordinators ran towards YuXin and wrapped her up in thick towels after helping her out of the pool.

"Thank you for helping out." Kai patted her shoulder thankfully. "I'll keep to my promise."

"Hurry up and help executive Liu to change out of her clothes." Kai instructed the coordinator who led YuXin to the changing room.

.

Kun noticed how quiet YuXin was throughout the car ride and took a quick glance at her before asking, "Did something happen?"

Flustered, YuXin shook her head and stammered. "Huh? N-no.. What could happen.."

"Are you sure there's nothing? You're awfully quiet today." Kun asked with a worried look on his face.

"N-nothing happen. I'm just hungry." YuXin replied quickly and looked down on her lap guiltily.

Reaching his hand out, Kun smoothed YuXin's hair gently and smiled. "Alright, I'll make sure your tummy is properly filled with dinner."

YuXin heaved a sigh of relief softly, thinking to herself. Let's just try to survive a day at a time.

.

A few weeks after the shoot, Kai sent the edited clip to YuXin for vetting.

11.20am [finalclip.mov]
11.20am [This is the final clip, I've made sure there's no full shot of your face.]

YuXin pressed play on her phone and watched the clip while feeling on edge the whole time. She started to bite on her nails nervously as the video played.

True enough, there was no full frontal shot of her face. There were some angles where her chin and side of her face was seen and one could hardly tell it was her if they did not observe in detail. Still, she knows the likelihood of Kun recognising her was more than 99%.

11.30am - [Got it. It looks good.]
11.30am  [If everything is okay, I will include this shot to the rest of the film.]
11.31am - [Sure.. Go ahead.]
11.32am [Alright. I'll keep up to my side of the bargain. I've agreed to meet Yun Ying next week.]

Clutching her phone to her chest, YuXin sighed softly. Now it's time for me to face my nightmare.