Before the filming started, Violet received an email from Sebastian's agency.
Fang Li had called in sick. If you are replacing her, make sure Sebastian turns up on Sunday for contract negotiation, and we expect you to report daily as per the attached.
Violet opened the attachment and saw the detailed report of Sebastian's activity. She had not been writing reports for weeks now. She felt a little nostalgia, but she already knew what to write. While they began filming Sebastian's and Wayne's scenes of discussion before flashing back, Violet stood by a corner with the agency's tablet and started copy pasting the same report daily.
Breakfast
Filming on set
Lunch
Filming on set
Dinner
Sleep
Pei Li, who was curious about Violet being busy, went to peek and giggled.
"What are you doing?" Pei Li asked as she sat by Violet's side.
"Writing report for the agency… Don't you have to?" Violet questioned as Pei Li shook her head.
"No, I don't…" Pei Li replied as Violet stopped typing and turned her attention to Pei Li.
"Has the agency asked you to report anything?" Pei Li shook her head at Violet's question as Pei Li questioned her in return.
"Why? You have to?" Violet nodded.
"It's alright… We are just workers. We shall do whatever is required. Besides, it's just a month or so before all these end." Violet said to herself not to create further suspicion for Pei Li.
"Vivi… I like working with you… When it ends, can I still see you?" Pei Li's question took Violet by surprise as she nodded.
"Of course! We must keep in touch!" Violet cheered and hugged her before they were ambushed by Xing Xing's anxiety breakdown as he came into the staff tent to scream a little.
"Oh, hello! Sorry, I didn't know there was someone in here. I will leave now." Xing Xing apologised as he bowed.
"Xing Xing! Wait!" Violet went up to him with some candy.
"I'm Sebastian's assistant, Violet. This is Wayne's assistant, Pei Li. Here… nervous?" Violet prompted as Xing Xing nodded.
"Here, have some candy. Sour to give you energy, sweet to feel safe. Which one do you want first?" Violet prompted as Xing Xing smiled delightfully, knowing he could have both.
He took the sweet candy first and unwrapped it. "Don't let my manager know." He whispered as the girls nodded and giggled with him as they chatted a little while waiting for him to finish his candies.
"How did you meet Sebastian?" Violet prompted him to keep him distracted from his nervous self.
"In another movie, the kidnapping of children. I was one of the children." Xing Xing explained, and Pei Li instantly knew which one it was. "Oh, "The last soul," that movie?" Pei Li asked as Xing Xing nodded.
"How did you know?" Violet questioned Pei Li.
"I have always paid attention to such plot dramas or movies. The old town sometimes will air them on the old TV in the food stall. I would always stand nearby, hoping the food stall owner wouldn't turn the channel away." Pei Li explained. Violet understood her interest cause Pei Li of anyone else, could probably relate to those traumatic experiences personally better.
"You did act very well. Very brave for a young boy of that character." Pei Li praised as she clapped her hands while Xing Xing blushed. "Thank you." He said shyly while unwrapping another candy.
"What made you want to act?" Violet asked him.
"I love to talk a lot." Xing Xing's honest, candid confession made the girls laugh as Sebastian and Wayne stepped into the tent during a break.
"Sebby!" Xing Xing reached out to him as Sebastian carried him up in his arms.
"Oh… Candy…" Sebastian teased him as Xing Xing put a finger over his lips while they both giggled, knowing it was a secret.
Pei Li quickly went to sort out stuff for Wayne while Violet touched up on Sebastian's makeup a little as Xing Xing kept throwing cheeky glances at Violet as though trying to tease Sebastian.
She tickled him a little before reading updates on the news about him. Unfortunately, her anonymous post still didn't dispel the claims of him treating staff badly on the filming set.
Sebastian knew her worries and that it was the agency's way of getting back at him. They didn't bother with fixing any PR, at least till he signs the renewal contract, but that was not known by Violet, who was sighing nonstop. He didn't want to confront her yet, knowing it would only cause more friction in their unstable, ambiguous relationship.
"You… go ahead and help Pei Li practice instead." He instructed as Violet put down the makeup brush she didn't realise she was holding while browsing news on Fang Li's work tablet, which she was handling at the moment. Not in time to retaliate as more of the other crew members entered, Violet could only oblige as Pei Li, who was discreetly dismissed by Wayne to accommodate the circumstances, joined Violet outside.
"You didn't have to be so harsh, especially with your news around…" Wayne reminded Sebastian as Sebastian's shoulders slumped.
"It's best if she knows less." He said while continuing to play with Xing Xing, who was equally upset.
"Yes, you didn't have to ask pretty sister to leave… They both gave me candy…" Xing Xing pouted.
"Alright, I will make it up to you after this project ends…" Sebastian tried to coax Xing Xing.
"Anything? Really?" Xing Xing asked as Sebastian nodded.
"I want to hang out together with you and your pretty sister who did the makeup for you." Xing Xing tilted his head in a cute manner that Sebastian cannot reject. He felt scammed and wondered what Violet did to win this little boy's heart, too, as he agreed while Xing Xing clapped in excitement.
Wayne could only play along as he, too, knew the agency was hard to deal with once you're on their bad side, as he joined Xing Xing teasing Sebastian about Violet being his crush.
Pei Li, while walking next to Violet, noticed her upset look as she clung to Violet's arms. "Who upset my princess Vivi?"
Violet smiled a little. "Nothing…"
"Vivi, you will be there with me next Monday, right?" Pei Li asked, wanting to distract her, but it sounded as though she was skeptical cause she knew about Violet's weekend plans with Sebastian.
"Of course! That, don't you worry. I will be in town too, you know that, for all of those events. Besides, it's their promotion and press conference week. Everyone has to be in town. " Violet reminded her as Pei Li nodded.
"Now, let's hear you out again…" Violet urged as Pei Li prepared to sing and practice with Violet, though Violet was more distracted by Sebastian's matter than concentrating on Pei Li singing, which was flawless to her.
The next day, Violet noticed the filming was another fighting scene. Violet sighed again. She caught herself always worrying about Sebastian when she shouldn't. Yawning from lack of sleep, studying for her tourist guide license the whole night, she read the summary of the script to prepare for the costumes.
Since his character was about to be exposed as an undercover working in the culprit's company, his character would need to reveal the moment of truth of the death of the culprit's sister-in-law. At the same time, his character had identified a new target victim, similarly being exploited and abused.
She saw the velvet jacket listed in the costume list and wondered, is there no other way to spice up the fashion sense to make it unique for his character, since after all, he was the King of the Mysteries genre? She noticed that since the culprit was bringing the new victim to a club with the intention to drug her before he came in to save the day with the police, she decided a loose tie to his collar formal wear would add to some cool vibes. She also picked out a pair of cufflinks.
When she returned to the set, she overheard Wayne warning Pei Li not to watch this filming. Violet quickly went up to the couple. "Don't worry, somebody needs to practice her singing more."
That comment left Wayne at ease, and when Sebastian stepped out for filming, looking exactly as Violet expected, she couldn't take her eyes off him, despite him leaving the tent with Wayne for filming and being praised or gossiped for his dashing charisma look.
Pei Li nudged her.
"You did some changes, didn't you?" Pei Li checked as Violet winked before heading back to the staff's tent.
"Why do you look so tired?" Pei Li questioned as Violet shrugged.
"You have been studying didn't you? You still need to sleep, too, you know…" Pei Li pestered as Violet nodded, reminding herself of some ideas she had for Pei Li after so many practices with her.
"Now, have you thought of making some changes to this part of the chorus? On the surface, the director heard you singing once. Second time, I feel you should add a different tone or more flowery melody or maybe one note higher? Want to try it out now?" Violet suggested as Pei Li gave it a thought and played around with the melody and pitch for a bit herself.
While Pei Li got distracted, Volet's mind wandered back to Sebastian's matters again. She wondered if he was doing a little greeting or short clips of him telling his fans good morning or goodnight, while addressing the rumours, would work to appease his raging fans.