Chapter 2: Picking Up The Pieces (And A Gorgeous Man)
Ying Yue wakes up after the worst day of her life to 20 missed calls and about 50 messages.
She'd have probably gotten more if she had a habit of giving out her personal cell phone number willy-nilly, but thankfully, she didn't. Most people contacted her through her manager or assistant.
Some of the calls are from Yang Tao Ran, her manager. Well, ex-manager. She'd been the least popular of his three assigned talents and would normally be the last on his priority list, but she knew what the creep wanted from her. He hadn't stopped insinuating that she'd only needed to spread her legs and he would get her more projects since the day she'd been assigned to him. He probably thought she'd be more susceptible to his advances now that she's been fired.
Dream on, you damn pervert.
Most of the messages are from Tang Ning Xi, her former assistant. She was even younger than her at 19 and had skipped university to work for a living instead. She'd been the closest to her than anyone else in the company, mainly because despite Ying Yue being standoffish with everyone, Ning Xi was very sociable and bubbly. Even she couldn't help but be drawn to her engaging personality. And like a typical millennial, Ning Xi hated calling and preferred to chat or text, hence the 30 plus messages now piled up in her WeChat.
One call and two of the texts are from her parents, mostly her mom. Thankfully, they're not the type of people who listen to entertainment news and gossip, so their messages are mostly about how she's doing and when she's coming home to visit.
Definitely soon, mom. Definitely soon.
Two messages were from Wang Mei Lan and Sheng Xi Xi, two actresses she'd worked with before in a youth drama series and became acquainted with. They're not particularly close, but they texted that they'd heard about what happened and asked about how she was doing. Ying Yue decided to message them back first and tell them she's doing fine, so they wouldn't worry.
The last calls and messages were from the last person she wanted to hear from right now: Ning Kuo.
Ying Yue didn't even bother reading any of his messages and proceeded to block him from her phone and every messaging app she had.
If he's still messaging her after everything that happened instead of groveling for his wife's forgiveness, then he doesn't deserve another second of attention. Good riddance, asshole.
She texted her parents next, telling them she'll come home in two days. She wanted to add that she had something important to tell them, to maybe prepare them for the news she was going to give them, but she knew that would only worry her mother needlessly. If she knew her mother, and she did, Mama Jiang wouldn't stop calling her until she actually told her about it right this instant.
Finally, Ying Yue messaged her former assistant on WeChat to tell her she's alright, and as expected, she got an immediate reply. The girl never got off her phone.
"!!!"
"Don't lie to me Ying Yue-jie, how could you be alright after what that jerk did?!"
"If I wouldn't be sued until the ends of the earth, I would smack that little bitch on the face!!"
For the first time since yesterday, Ying Yue laughed. Even in her direst moments, Ning Xi didn't fail to make her laugh--what a little charmer.
"I'm really fine, all cried out. And just ignore him if you see him, he's not worth it," she texted back.
---
"Damn right he's not worth it!! F that guy!!"
"But jie, did they really kick you out? Where are you going next? Are you joining another agency? Lemme come with you!!"
---
Ying Yue's lush lips turned up in a small, fond smile.
"Idiot, you worked so hard to get into Regal, don't resign because of me, OK? Don't worry, I have a plan."
"And I'm not joining another agency."
---
"!!!"
"What?? Don't tell me you're quitting being an actress?? DO NOT!!"
"Don't you dare waste your talents!! If I was even a fraction as gorgeous and talented as you, I'd do nothing else than be an actress or model!!"
---
"I'm going to lay low for a while. Don't worry, I'm not leaving forever."
---
"Jie!! :("
"Jeez, if I didn't need this job to live, I'd really resign...but we can still go out for drinks or something OK?? Don't forget meee"
"And if you ever join another agency and need an assistant, call me ASAP OK? Don't you dare get another assistant other than me!!"
Ying Yue laughed again, this time a little louder. This girl is too cute.
"I promise, I promise. You'll be my only assistant."
"And I promise I'll call you to meet up when I have time off in the future."
Ning Xi finally let her go after she promised a couple more times that she would definitely text her to meet up in the near future.
With that, Ying Yue needed to take stock of her situation and what she was working with right now.
She was only 23 and had her dual degrees, so she could still easily get a job. What that job will be still remains uncertain, but she could work in sales or marketing. She also knew a bit about IT and can speak English and Japanese fluently. If nothing else, she could be an assistant or secretary, though she thinks she would be overqualified for that.
She wasn't strapped for cash yet, since she'd used the money she'd earned wisely and made some investments and bought stocks and bonds. Thankfully, her sacrifice of not splurging on food and clothes over the years seemed to have paid off.
She'd already paid her debt to the agency for her training, so she didn't owe anyone money at least.
She didn't have an apartment or a car anymore since they were all borrowed from the company; she'd also refused to splurge on buying them when she could borrow them for free. She was regretting that a little now, but she could always stay with her parents or rent a low-cost place near whichever company she'd work in in the future. Thankfully, her phone and laptop were hers.
As for her career in the entertainment industry...honestly, there were a few things she could do to salvage her reputation. She still had the thousands of messages Ning Kuo sent her and the call logs, she could probably release all of these to prove she had not seduced him. Though people may call her a liar, there would be people who would believe it her, that would be enough to keep the ball rolling until she gets jobs and builds her reputation back up.
But right now, could she handle the possible retaliation from Ning Kuo and Regal Entertainment? No, she wouldn't. It would be easy for them to drag her through the mud once more with life-ruining rumors. They could release nude photos that, even if they were fake, people would still buy. They could find her parents and make life difficult for them.
Basically, Ying Yue had many weakness, but no power or back up to defend herself.
The best thing to do now was probably what she was already doing, keeping quiet, not responding to the rumors and laying low until everything blows over. People forget...or maybe not forget since it would be easy to dredge up the scandal because of the internet, but people's disdain and anger would lessen with time, like all emotions.
She's not going to give up, despite having absolutely no motivation to return to the entertainment industry right now. She was just...taking a break.
So yes, that was the plan. Lay low, find a job, find a place and think of a way to make her comeback later. Maybe she could change her look a bit too so people wouldn't keep associating her with her movies and TV shows. She hadn't had a starring role yet, but she has played supporting roles in some movies and dramas that have become popular.
With her tentative plan in place, Ying Yue headed to the bathroom to take a long bath and rid herself of yesterday's grime. She'd fallen asleep crying yesterday, still wearing the clothes she went out in, and she could feel her eyes were swollen in a way that she wouldn't usually allow.
Passing by a mirror, she confirmed that her eyes were indeed red and a bit swollen. She was still objectively pleasing to look at, with her fair skin, heart-shaped face, big light brown eyes and long, wavy black hair. She's been complimented as gorgeous and beautiful too many times than she'd cared to count, but she never thought it was important. Many of the best actresses she knew and looked up to weren't the most gorgeous beauties. An actress' main job was to convey emotion effectively and suck in viewers into the world displayed on the screen, not to look beautiful on camera. Still, she knew she'd sometimes gotten jobs over other actresses not necessarily because she was more skilled, but because she was more beautiful.
Right now though, it seems yesterday's events had aged her a bit, making her eyes look tired and defeated. She hated it. She'd never felt uglier.
In the end, she spent almost an hour inside the bathtub, trying not to think of how stupid she'd been because of a man and drown herself in mortification.
Ying Yue wore a simple black longsleeved blouse, blue skinny jeans and black ankle boots, along with a face mask, before heading down the hotel to grab a few things for breakfast. She didn't want to stay here too long, so she just got a piece of toast and a cup of orange juice before heading out to the nearest salon.
She'd found a small one that didn't look like it was frequented by celebrities. Without taking off her mask, she'd asked the hairdresser to cut off her long locks up to her shoulders. She'd been meaning to do that anyway, since her wavy hair looked much better short than overly long.
Losing her hair had been more cathartic than she'd expected. She hadn't thought much of it beyond wanting to change her look so she wouldn't be easily recognized. But now that she's chopped most of it all off, she felt like some of the weight on her shoulders had been lifted a bit.
Well, that's a start at least.
+
Ying Yue spent most of the next two days inside her hotel room. Her scandal with Ning Kuo had been replaced by another hot piece of gossip, but the actor's not-inconsiderable fanbase is still talking about it, fanning the flames on Weibo. There were no divorce rumors or news yet, so maybe that bastard was finally groveling on his knees.
She didn't count on it.
She knew it would take only one fan taking a photo of her and uploading it online for the scandal to take center stage again, so Ying Yue thought it would be better to just stay indoors for now.
She didn't stay idle though. She managed to look up companies in the city that were hiring, create a good resume for an entry-level marketing, sales or finance job, write a cover letter, give her hair brown highlights, sell off and buy some stocks, arrange a date with Tang Ning Xi and prepare what she's going to say to her parents.
All in all a very productive two days.
And if she cried herself to sleep again last night and deliberately avoided turning on the TV or looking up anything related to entertainment on her phone, then no one would know except for her.
Yes, it hurt like hell, but she would be damned if she let herself shed more tears over Ning Kuo and her former agency.
On her last night at the hotel before she planned to go back to her parents, she decided to give in and drink alcohol for the first time in over three years. She'd been religious about drinking alcohol and smoking, and except for that brief phase during university, she'd never consumed them again. Aside from the bad effects on her skin and health, she also didn't want to risk anyone getting the chance to take a photo of her drunk or with a cigarette in her hand.
But if there was ever a night that she really needed to indulge in a drink and forget, it was definitely this night.
She felt it was utterly pathetic to drink in her room alone though, so she ventured down to the hotel bar for the first time. She wasn't in the mood to dress up too much, so she wore a white silk button-down blouse, black skinny jeans and four-inch nude pumps. She probably looked more like she was applying for a job than going to a bar, but hey, with her figure she could pull it off. She'd forgone the heavier makeup she wore as an actress and only wore a little gloss and blush. With her new hairstyle, hopefully, no one would look too closely and associate her with her actress self.
She didn't know what she was even worried about. She wasn't a popular enough actress for the undoubtedly rich and influential people who hung out in the bars of swanky hotels like this one to take notice of.
The hotel bar was pretty large, but it had more people than she expected. Most tables, especially the more secluded ones were full, and those that were empty were in between the ones full of the rowdier people.
She checked the bar counter, and that's when she saw...him.
He had a broad back and wide shoulders that filled out his black suit. His hair was short and neat from the back, and if Ying Yue had to guess, he would probably look just as good from the front.
What actually caught her attention though was the seemingly impenetrable space surrounding him. Every seat and table around him was empty, which wasn't surprising since his aura, even from the back, was practically screaming 'I fucking dare you to sit next to me and breathe the same air as me, you worthless peasants.'
Lovely.
A normal person with self-preservation instincts would, of course, stay the hell away and mind their own business.
Naturally, Ying Yue sat in the empty seat next to him.
She ordered lemon drop martini to start with. Yes, her taste in alcohol hasn't progressed much from her 19-year-old self, sue her. She'll probably end the night chugging down a bottle of wine anyway so she'll start with her favorite sweet, girly drinks while she can still appreciate what she's drinking.
She never once glanced to her right, choosing to ignore the aura of doom and destruction that seem to grow by the minute. You don't survive as an actress in a cutthroat industry by breaking down the second someone tries to intimidate you.
She enjoyed her drink silently, only slightly listening to the low jazz music and the murmured conversations around her. As expected, no one had even tried to come up and talk to her.
What a nice shield she had found.
Ying Yue ordered a screwdriver next, then a vodka with orange juice. These weren't enough to get her drunk, but she was already feeling looser.
"You've got some guts."
She ignores the words at first until she realized that the man beside her had spoken and that she was probably the person he was referring to.
She turned to him, smiling widely in amusement and biting her lip to stop the giggles threatening to spill from her mouth. "Apologies for using you as a shield, you can order a drink as payment, it's on me."
She was right, he looked as good at the front as he does from the back. His jet-black hair was cut in a comma-style that made his fringe curl slightly, and he had sharp, dark eyes, an aquiline nose, high cheekbones and a strong jaw that could probably cut her if she touched it.
She kind of wanted to touch it--she was a sucker for strong, prominent jaws.
She's seen dozens of attractive men up close though and even kissed some of them for movies, so she wasn't all that fazed.
Ying Yue ignored him again and turned to the bartender to order another drink. She got a bottle of wine this time, since she was planning to go back to her room in a bit. Drinking in the bar was better than drinking alone, but she still felt lonely in a crowd of strangers.
"And if I don't want a drink as repayment?"
She turned to the man next to her again and almost reared back in shock when she found that he was much closer to her this time. His arm was on the counter, the hand of his opposite arm resting on the back of her seat. He wasn't quite trapping her in her seat and preventing her from leaving, but it felt like he was.
Ying Yue just smiled lazily and a little dangerously at him. "What would prefer then?" she replied to his earlier question.
His sharp eyes were dark and smoldering. He didn't look like he was undressing her with his eyes, but who knew what was behind that unfathomable gaze.
"You."
Well, this was unexpected.
But honestly...not entirely unwelcome.
Oh, what the hell, she was already known as a slutty homewrecker and never once enjoyed the actual benefits of that moniker.
She could enjoy this incredibly handsome and sexy man for the night and need not feel guilty in the morning.
Still...
"Oh I don't know, seems a little too high a price for just a few minutes of acting as my buffer," she teased as she took the bottle of wine from the bartender and handed him her card. "How about we share this first in my room and see if this is enough as repayment for your top-notch services?"
He didn't smile, but Ying Yue still got the feeling that he was amused.
"My services aren't that cheap. Or bad."
Ying Yue laughed out loud this time. "Hey! Don't knock it til you've tried it!"
Yes, she won't regret this in the morning at all.
+
They don't end up drinking the wine.
They barely even make it through her door before her lips are captured in a wild kiss and an arm snakes around her waist.
His lips are hot and demanding on hers, prying her mouth open so his tongue can massage her own. She moans into the kiss despite herself...god she didn't know kisses alone could make her tingly and wet. She crosses her wrists behind his neck and leans into his hard body that completely engulfs her own petite build.
She's pressed against the door, standing on her tip toes and not wanting to break the kiss. But she ends up wrenching her mouth away from his when her lungs' demands become too much. The man's mouth doesn't leave her skin though, only pressing hot, hard kisses along her jaw and down to her neck.
She clutched at his hair with one hand as she tried to catch her breath. "God, I don't even know your name--ah!" she gasped as he bit a particularly delicious spot on her neck.
"Jun," he said, his voice deep, sexy rumble. How could one word manage to convey so much lust she had no idea, but fuck was it driving her crazy.
"Ying Yue," she replied, before directing his mouth to hers once more.
They don't stop kissing even as Jun grabs each of her thighs with a hand and bring them to wrap around his waist. In this position, she could feel his long, thick hardness pressing against her. He carries her easily to the bed, and their lips can't seem to bear separating for long even as he lays her down.
She loses her shoes the same time he sheds his own shoes, tie jacket. Before he could start unbuttoning her blouse though, he stops and gazes into her eyes with a piercing look.
"You ever do this before?"
Ying Yue bit her lip, hesitant to respond, but eventually decided to be honest. "Not really."
He stilled, brows twitching in surprise.
"First time for everything, eh?" she joked, suddenly nervous he was going to stop now out of some misguided sense of honor. She caressed his (incredibly well-muscled) arms, smiling up at him. "Not backing out on me now just because it's my first, are you?"
Jun smirks, absolutely filthy and dripping with lust. "It would be my honor, sweetheart."
Her clothes didn't stay on her body for much longer after that.
Jun seemed to know exactly which spots on her body to put his mouth, and every place his mouth leaves seem to be on fire. When he put his mouth down...there, tongue touching one of the most sensitive parts of her body, her body arched off the bed on its own, her mouth dropping open in a silent gasp.
"Jun! Oh god yes!" She moaned as he licked and sucked with utmost concentration, strong arms holding her thighs apart and making sure she doesn't move one inch away from his talented mouth. She doesn't know why but she finds that so hot, maybe even more than the fact that he's plundering her core.
She shakes and gasps when she suddenly reaches her peak, her mind nothing but a blank white haze of pleasure and more pleasure. When she glances down at Jun, he catches her gaze with heated eyes and gives her an absolutely filthy and smug smirk.
Ying Yue was going to praise him, but he probably knew he was good. The attractive asshole.
He trails hot, messy kisses up her hips, toned stomach, then lavishes attention on her ample chest.
She was still high on her orgasm and let him do whatever he wanted, caressing his hair and neck with her hands as he worshipped her breasts. She would have mistaken him to be not all that eager, except she can definitely feel how eager he is from where he's pressed up against her.
She smirked down lazily at him. "You getting on with the main event anytime soon, big boy?"
She almost giggled when she saw his face twitch in annoyance. But that would destroy the mood, so she refrained.
Jun suddenly got a glint in his eye as he looked at her, like he was a predator surveying his prey and thinking whether he should eat it now or later. It was hot, but also slightly terrifying.
"There's, uh, there are condoms in the drawer," she said, inclining her head towards the nightstand on the right side of the bed.
Jun raised a brow at her.
"What? They were there when I got here!" she replied to his unasked question. She'd found them yesterday and thought they might be a hotel freebie. And she wouldn't have invited a man up here if she wasn't sure she had supplies.
Ying Yue was getting really annoyed by that amused smirk on his face. "If you don't get on with it in the next two minutes, I am going to push you down and do it myself, don't think I won't!"
"Hm, bossy," was his only reply, but the way he said it didn't make it sound like it was a bad thing.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
CaptainKim19
CaptainKim19 Sorry for ending it at this moment, but Yuan Jun's POV will be up next so I divided this chapter into two.
Also, sorry for the shitty smut written by an inexperienced 18-year-old, it's for plot development, I swear!
(Should I censor the swear words? I don't like censoring in fiction so I didn't, but I'm not sure what the rules are here about cursing since I'm new.)
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