The office of Starlight Media was a glass-and-chrome hive of activity. Six months ago, the shouting and the frantic pace would have made Sayna want to hide in the supply closet. Now, she navigated the maze of desks with a coffee in one hand and a tablet in the other, her stride steady.
Beijing had toughened her. The biting winter had turned into a dusty, energetic spring, and Sayna Wahid was no longer just "the girl from India." She was the junior artist people actually fought over for editorial shoots.
"Sayna! Kuai dier! (Hurry up!)" Yueyue called out from a cluster of monitors. "The mood boards for the summer campaign are due in ten minutes!"
Sayna didn't panic. She didn't even break her pace. "Already uploaded to the cloud, Yueyue-jie," she replied, her Chinese tones smooth but flavored with her own accent. "Wo yi jian fa gei ni le. (I already sent it to you.)"
Yueyue blinked, checking her screen. "Oh. Good. Hen hao."
.
.
.
Sayna sat at her desk, pulling up a schedule. She still felt a pang of pride when she saw her name next to "Lead Assistant." She wasn't just a "touch-up" anymore.
"Did you hear?" a stylist whispered at the next desk, leaning over a pile of silk fabrics. "The 'Golden Boy' is coming back to the building today for the contract signing of the new historical drama."
The air in Sayna's lungs suddenly felt thin. She didn't have to ask who they meant. In six months, she had seen Tian's face on every LED screen in the city, but she hadn't seen him. She had successfully scrubbed him from her life, even if the industry wouldn't let her forget him.
"I heard he's been difficult on his last set in Hengdian," another voice chimed in. "Two makeup artists quit in a month. They say he's... 'particular' about his image now."
Sayna's fingers hovered over her keyboard. Particular. That was a polite way of saying he was still a nightmare.
"Sayna," Yueyue shouted again, popping her head over the cubicle wall. "The Director wants a representative from the makeup department in Meeting Room B. There's a dispute about the lead actor's look for the new project. Since you handled Fan Cheng's skin prep so well, go and take notes."
"Who is the lead actor?" Sayna asked, her voice steady despite the thudding of her heart.
Yueyue gave a distracted wave of her hand. "The contract is being signed right now. Just go. And bring your portfolio—they might want to see your 'villain' concepts from last month."
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Sayna stood in front of the frosted glass doors of Meeting Room B. She caught her reflection—her hair was pulled back in a sleek, professional bun, and her eyes, once wide with idol-worship, were now sharp and observant.
She pushed the door open.
The room was silent. A group of executives sat on one side, and on the other, a man in a black silk shirt was leaning back, staring at a script like it was an enemy. He looked older than he had six months ago. The exhaustion was etched deeper into his jawline.
Tian looked up as the door clicked shut. For a split second, the mask of the "Golden Boy" slipped, replaced by a flash of genuine, startled recognition.
Sayna didn't flinch. She didn't drop her gaze. She walked to the empty chair at the end of the table, opened her tablet, and looked him dead in the eye.
"Nǐ hǎo," she said, her voice cool and perfectly level. "Let's talk about your new look. I have some ideas on how to make you look... a bit more human."
Tian stared at the tablet in Sayna's hands, but he wasn't really seeing the sketches. His mind was a chaotic blur of that night in the green room—the sound of his own shouting, the way she had looked at him with such raw disappointment, and the hollow silence that had followed her departure.
He cleared his throat, the sound sharp in the quiet meeting room. He wanted to say something—maybe a "long time no see" or even a curt "hello"—but his pride felt like a heavy stone in his throat. In his world, idols didn't apologize to staff. Idols were always right.
But the way she had said "make you look more human"... it stung. It was a direct hit to the "Golden Boy" persona he was so tired of wearing.
"The Director mentioned your work with Fan Cheng," Tian finally said, his voice lower than usual. He didn't look her in the eye; instead, he focused on adjusting the silver ring on his index finger. "He said you were... efficient."
Sayna didn't smile. She didn't offer the polite, bubbly response he was used to getting from girls. "I'm professional, Mr. Tian. Efficiency is just part of the job."
The silence in the room stretched thin, heavy with the things Tian couldn't bring himself to say. He stood there, the "Golden Boy" of the industry, looking suddenly very young and very lost. He opened his mouth as if to try one more time—to bridge the six-month gap—but the heavy door swung open before a single word could escape.
"Is the meeting over? Did I miss the drama?"
Fan Cheng strolled in, his energy instantly cutting through the suffocating tension like a gust of fresh air. He was dressed casually in a denim jacket, a stark contrast to Tian's stiff, expensive silk.
Sayna's entire posture changed the second she saw him. The icy, professional wall she'd built around herself didn't disappear, but it softened into something genuine.
"Cheng-ge!" she said, a small, bright smile tugging at her lips. She didn't use the formal "Mr." or the distant professional titles she'd just used with Tian.
Tian's jaw tightened.
"There she is!" Fan Cheng grinned, walking straight past Tian to give Sayna a friendly pat on the shoulder. "I heard you were in here schooling the executives. Our Sayna is becoming quite the boss, isn't she, Tian?"
Tian didn't answer immediately. He watched the way Fan Cheng leaned against the table, completely relaxed in Sayna's presence. He watched the way Sayna didn't flinch or look away when Fan Cheng spoke to her.
"She's... capable," Tian finally managed to mutter, his voice stiff. He felt a hot, prickly sensation in his chest—jealousy, though he'd never admit it.
"Capable? She's a genius!" Fan Cheng laughed, oblivious to the storm brewing in Tian's eyes. He turned back to Sayna. "Are you finished here? I'm heading to the cafe downstairs for a script reading. Join me? I need your opinion on the 'modern' look for the second lead."
Sayna glanced at her tablet, then at Tian, who was staring at his shoes as if they were the most interesting thing in the room. He looked so small in that moment, despite his fame.
"I have five minutes," Sayna said to Fan Cheng, her tone light and easy. "Let's go, Cheng-ge. I have some references for the matte finish we discussed."
As they turned to leave, Fan Cheng tossed a casual wave over his shoulder. "Catch you later, Tian! Don't work too hard on that scowl, it'll give you wrinkles."
The door clicked shut, leaving Tian alone in the boardroom. The silence returned, but this time, it was louder than before.