MAFIA BOY and MASK MAN: Live to Love

CHAPTER #4

While his twin was being a bodyguard, Lu He was gaining a reputation as Mask Man himself. The reason both he and his twin had originally started wearing mouth masks all the time, was due to getting braces when they first started junior secondary school. Neither of them wanted to smile or show their teeth when talking. It was the easiest solution and then just became habit, once the braces came off. Lu He didn't mind being called Mask Man, because that was better than Mafia Boy. It also set them apart. He had hoped that his father would've been able to make Qihe stop fighting, but that wasn't the case.  Even with him being a bodyguard or working security, his twin remained distant and continued using his fists to solve arguments. Lu He preferred talking his way out of situations. Qihe use to tease him as being a pacifist, but they rarely talked these days. To get his mind off his twin, Lu He began acting more often. Being known on social media as Mask Man, is how he landed his current role. They were filming scenes out of sequence, because of the need to do a flash back memory moment. To show the time jump from past to present, he had to die his hair blonde. So first came all the memory scenes. He was being driven by his manager from Seven Cranes Entertainment, to the filming location.

"When we arrive, go to wardrobe and then make-up. From there you can walk the scene and rehearse the script."

"Got it. Thanks for rescheduling this for after school, instead of before."

"If the actress wasn't so flexible, it wouldn't have changed."

"Good to know, I'll have to thank her."

Not long after that conversation completed, they arrived. The security at the temporary gate, checked their ID and then waved them onward. The car parked and Lu He's manager brought him to the wardrobe tent. They parted and he said hello to the staff. Even though he was earlier than necessary, they still rushed to get him into the clothes for the first scene. Then off to the makeup area he was sent. Normally he would listen to music while waiting for the girls to finish prepping his face.

"Can you remove the mask, we don't want to get it dirty while applying your foundation."

He did as asked and went back to scrolling through his social media. That's when he found out about Qihe working as a bodyguard for Zhao Xiu and protecting her from a stalker. It saddened him, that his twin hadn't said anything about it himself. He still didn't understand what he'd done to make his brother stop confiding in him.

"You've got really good skin, do you use moisturizers and full faced cleansing masks at home?"

Lu He smiled, "I use cleansing and a stimulation product, but I'm always interested in learning about new ones. I'm a little sensitive to some of them though and haven't found one that actually protects my skin, especially for outdoor scenes."

She blushed, after making eye contact with him. "I have a few samples from new products we just got. Try some on a little area and if you don't have a reaction after twelve hours, then it's safe to use. I'll also give you a gentle exfoliating product, that has active vitamin A to stimulate regeneration."

"I appreciate it. You have soft skin, it's nice." He caressed her hand as he accepted the product samples.

Unable to hide the effect it had on her, she stuttered, "t-t-th-thanks!" It practically came out as a squeak.

After finishing her part of his makeup, she retreated and left the rest to the head makeup artist. That meant his eyelids had to remain closed until told otherwise. Before that started, Lu He put the mask back on. It was a nicer material than the one he wore at school. The mascara, eyeshadow and eye liner didn't take long to get applied.

"Okay you're all done. Try not to touch your face or rub your eyes until after the scene is filmed."

"No problem, thanks for your hard work." He left the chair and went to go over his script with the actress.