Black Soda Drink [exo]

XIV

“God, I can’t get this.”

“You can, and you will!” I said as I poked him with the crumpled papers. I was holding the very first draft in my hands and I had already carried them around with me so much that they looked at least a decade old.

Gura received a copy a couple of days ago (or was it just yesterday?) and Kris and I had been going through scenes nonstop. It was his only day off this week and he needed to work on his acting.

At the moment, he was still very uncomfortable to watch.

“Don’t pretend to be this character,” I told him. “You are this character. You are the angel that came to save this woman and her son. I want to see the stupid Kris that was fooling around with the ice cream scene the other day.”

He narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean ‘stupid’?”

I crossed my arms and sat back in the couch, raising my eyebrows. “You were mocking my awkward scenes, so I’m sorry but I have to take offense. I’ve taken that scene out, but I want you to act the way you would in a situation like that.”

“That’s what I’ve been doing!”

I groaned. “No, you’ve been doing it the way you think it would look good on a big screen. I want you to show me how a regular guy on the streets would act if he had to say these cheesy words. The angel’s trying to be a regular guy and he may be acting a bit weird and out of place, but at least he won’t sound like he’s reading off a script.”

Kris glared at the papers in his hand like a child glaring at his homework. At that point, I knew it was useless.

I softened my voice. “I know you can do it, Kris. Just keep trying. Let’s take a break for now.”

He looked a bit dejected but relieved. I knew he wasn’t sure about himself, but I was. I knew he could be angry, happy, sad, excited. He just needed to stop keeping those emotions sealed away behind those brooding eyes of his.

“I called my mom this morning,” he said midway through his slice of pizza. We’d been eating pizza all day today but one could never have too much pizza.

I smiled and swallowed my bite. “That’s good. How is she?” I’d never met the woman but judging from her son, she must be very kind.

“She’s still worried about me. She asked about Yixing. I told her I was taking care of his little sister.”

My eyes went down to my pizza and I nodded as calmly as I could. Picking at the crumbs on the table, I tried not to focus on the way he made me sound like a three-year-old child he was babysitting.

“I also told her about the possible movie.”

“And what did she say?” I asked in the brightest voice I could muster.

“She supports me as long as I watch out for my health.”

I agreed. “If you do get cast, it could mean really long hours on set. Sometimes, you sit for six hours straight while other people film their own scenes.”

He fixed a smile on his mouth, picking up a piece of pepperoni that threatened to fall out. “Isn’t that what I do all day anyway?”

I rolled my eyes. “True.”

When Kris was finished his portion, he told me I was a slow eater. I told him to go watch TV and let me eat in peace.

He left me in the kitchen by myself and then I saw that I had a missed call from Gura. I suddenly got really nervous. Was she finished reading the script already? I hoped she liked it and wouldn’t tell me to do any major revisions.