Upon arriving at the filming set, Joyno took a moment to compose herself before going to meet the director.
A junior stagehand received her. Inside, it was deathly quiet, but in the lounge next door, the actors were sitting there poring over their scripts.
"You're here so early?"
Joyno hesitated for a moment. She walked up to the director and greeted him. The director looked at Joyno with a beaming smile, then motioned for the stagehand to bring over a stool and signaled for Joyno to sit down.
The way the director looked at her left Joyno utterly perplexed. She dared not say a word, for this was Director Li, renowned as the "Godfather of Idol Dramas," and sitting beside him was the "Prince of Idol Dramas," Luo Yize.
The director pointed at Luo Yize beside him and said to Joyno, "I'm afraid I have to ask a little favor of you. You two will have to share a script."
"Why?"
This left Joyno even more puzzled. Logically, the lead male and female characters should each have their own scripts. Why was this situation so different this time?
"I'm very sorry. We don't have any extra scripts," the director said with a slight smile, his words seemingly carrying a hidden meaning. "Didn't you check the news this morning? There's a piece of news about you that's already trending."
What? Joyno was trending?
She took out her phone and opened Weibo, only to find a striking headline at the top of the trending list.
Luo Yize Announces His Relationship.
When she opened it, the front page carried the title of Luo Yize announcing his relationship. The text below roughly stated that Luo Yize had publicly declared this morning that Joyno was his official girlfriend. As for the posts below, they were all kinds of replies from netizens.
Sure enough, Joyno remembered what Luo Yize had said last night: "I'll give you time to think, because I can't wait any longer."
Sometimes, things just happen so suddenly. But it was the first time she'd encountered someone publicly announcing their relationship without even asking for her consent. She'd thought Luo Yize was a gentle guy, but it turned out that when he was being domineering, he was even more so than the domineering CEOs in novels.
Since things had come to this, she might as well just accept it.
Joyno put down her phone and moved her chair next to Luo Yize to sit down.
Hearing the movement, Luo Yize put down the script he was reading and turned to look at Joyno. "You came over so actively?"
Joyno pouted. "If I'm not active, how can I read the script with you?"
"Do you still need to read the script? The lines were all written by you. You can just blurt them out..."
After the joke, Luo Yize picked up the script and pointed out to Joyno all the parts she'd written.
Generally speaking, the scripts for TV series not only have more lines than those for movies but also focus more on being colloquial and easy to understand. Moreover, TV series are easier to film than movies. Movies require concise language, no long-winded nonsense, and the lines must closely follow the development of the plot.
In fact, whether writing for TV series or movies, it's taboo to be long-winded. In any script written by Joyno, the lines are very brief, yet they carry a deep and moving sentiment.
As the two of them were sitting there reading the script, which was actually a joint creation, compared with the other screenwriters who were a doctor and a journalist, Joyno outshone them slightly.
"Yino, we'll finish work early tonight. Considering that Luo Yize has other things to do..." the director began to instruct from the side. "But you have to accompany him personally for all these things."
Joyno stared wide-eyed at Luo Yize sitting beside her, then at Director Li. Could it be that these two had colluded? Moreover, the director must be thinking of creating better opportunities for the two of them to develop their relationship.
"What do you have to do tonight?" Joyno asked curiously.
"Actually... it's nothing much."
"Nothing much? What does that mean?"
"It's just... nothing..."
As he said this, he started to put his arm around Joyno's.
"Hey, watch your manners," Joyno quickly pulled away.
"What are you afraid of? Now everyone already knows that you're my legitimate girlfriend."
Fortunately, he was her idol. If it had been some other man, the word "shameless" that Joyno had swallowed back might have just blurted out.
The two of them began to nervously rehearse their lines. Only then did the stagehand remember that Joyno hadn't changed into the doctor's costume yet, so he quickly urged her to go to the dressing room to change.
Where were they earlier? It was almost time to start filming, and only then did they remember about the clothes.
Joyno glanced at Director Li and saw that he looked displeased. He was angry at the muddle-headed stagehand.
The stagehand is responsible for everything related to the entire film, including the actors. Especially when filming workplace dramas, period dramas, or costume dramas, the actors are required to change into appropriate outfits.
The time was so tight. By the time Joyno came out, everyone was waiting for her.
Joyno could see that many of the actors were already impatient. The time it took to change clothes had just delayed the scheduled filming time.
"Okay, all departments, pay attention. Start filming officially!"
After everyone took their positions, the moment the clapperboard hit, everyone immediately got into the filming state. Since this was probably Joyno's first time playing an official role and she hadn't memorized her lines well yet, she had to rely on improvisation.
Joyno knew very well what it was like to play the lead female role. Anyone who took on such a role would be under tremendous pressure.
They filmed like this for the whole day. Finally, after dozens of takes for two scenes, it was over.
It was already evening. Joyno took off her white coat and put on her own clothes again.
Outside the filming location, Luo Yize and the driver were quietly waiting for Joyno to slowly walk out. At this moment, a group of paparazzi swarmed up and blocked the way completely.
As Joyno was walking, she noticed these boring paparazzi. She quickened her pace and quickly got into the car. The car slowly broke through their encirclement at this time.
Through the rearview mirror, the driver could still see the paparazzi chasing after them relentlessly.
"So close. We almost got caught by them," Joyno began to take a deep breath.
Joyno was very clear about the reason for their tracking. It was all because of Luo Yize. While announcing the start of filming a new drama, he had also made public their relationship.
Now their target was not only Luo Yize but also Joyno.
"Now you understand, right? The power of the news is so strong that you can't stop it," the driver who was driving said to Joyno with a smile.
Joyno stared intently at Luo Yize in the front seat who was playing with his phone through the rearview mirror. "You're so ruthless."
"How am I ruthless?" Luo Yize put down his phone and turned around to talk to Joyno.
"Anyway, it's going to happen sooner or later. Isn't it the same thing that we still have to face it?"