Transmigrated as the Future Movie Queen's Arch-Nemesis - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Xin Keke walked briskly ahead. Su Mi fell behind her, but she wasn’t in a hurry to call out. Instead, she treated it like a game, stepping exactly into each of Xin Keke’s footprints as she followed.

They made their way from the ribbon-cutting site to the hotel Director He had mentioned, handing over their IDs and receiving their room cards.

Throughout the entire walk, Xin Keke did not take the initiative to say a single word to Su Mi.

Yet, Su Mi knew that Xin Keke definitely had something to say to her.

She wasn’t in any rush, though.

As expected, the moment the hotel room door clicked shut, Xin Keke turned around with an extremely cold expression on her face. She clearly intended to speak, but upon seeing Su Mi’s smiling face, the words seemed to get stuck in her throat.

Su Mi tilted her head. “Hmm?”

Xin Keke’s lips moved, but in the end, she merely lowered her gaze. Her voice no longer sounded quite so ‘thousands of miles away’: “…Earlier, I was only paying back a favor.”

Because she wanted to clear her debt to Su Mi, she had helped her escape from Shi Yaya.

Su Mi kept her hands behind her back, her eyes curving into crescent moons. “I know~”

“But I didn’t expect you to step in at first; I was planning to roast her myself.” Su Mi stood by the door, giving Xin Keke a gentle smile. “Xin Keke, you were caring about me.”

“…” Xin Keke turned her head to the side, instinctively denying it. “I was not.”

“Mmh, you weren’t?”

Xin Keke didn’t seem to want to continue this topic. Facing Su Mi’s smile, she started a new one: “You stay in this room, I’ll go open another one. It will be troublesome if the two of us stay together.”

“But what happened just now will spread very quickly, you know?”

“…” Xin Keke froze.

The smile on Su Mi’s face grew even more brilliant. “With the way Shi Yaya handles things, everyone will soon find out that she wanted to room with me but was rejected. At that point, if people suddenly discover you went and opened another room, what will they think? The Director surely spent a lot of money booking rooms for us, what will he think if he finds out?”

“Besides, even if you wanted to switch rooms now, it’s too late. You can probably tell that Ye Luo and Xiao Ai know each other, right? They’ll likely stay together, so you can’t swap with them. As one of the four leads, you certainly can’t stay with some unknown minor supporting actor, as that would start rumors about the leads not getting along… and if you aren’t with Shi Yaya, your only other option would probably be Director He.”

Su Mi didn’t finish the rest, but Xin Keke understood the implication.

A newcomer actress, demanding to stay with the assistant director right off the bat? Whether the assistant director would even agree was one thing, but regardless of success or failure, what would others say?

Su Mi narrowed her eyes.

“Xin Keke, you don’t have many resources right now, and Director Song is a very good director. Are you sure you want to do this?”

Su Mi’s voice was very light, yet it carried a trace of seduction. Her gaze remained softly fixed on Xin Keke’s face.

Seeing Xin Keke purse her lips in silence, Su Mi took a step toward her, gently pinching Xin Keke’s fingers. “But, regardless of whether it was to return a favor or something else, I was really happy that you stood up for me just now.”

Xin Keke’s fingers didn’t actually have that “soft and boneless” feeling Su Mi had imagined. In fact, the base of her palm had a slight roughness from callouses; Su Mi didn’t know how they had formed.

But she didn’t dislike it.

Xin Keke sighed and pulled her fingers away from Su Mi’s grasp. She had to admit that some of Su Mi’s points were correct. In this period where even landing a small web drama was difficult, she didn’t want to lose this hard-won opportunity, let alone offend the director.

And so, Xin Keke gave up the struggle, accepting the reality of living with Su Mi as if submitting to fate. She turned around and silently began organizing her things, placing them on the bed near the window.

“If you’re so capable, why didn’t you fight back earlier?” While tidying up, remembering what Shi Yaya had said, Xin Keke suddenly asked: “From the sound of it, she thought you were staff?”

Su Mi followed her inside. Seeing that Xin Keke had chosen the window bed, Su Mi naturally sat on the bed against the wall.

The duvet was thick and sturdy. Su Mi spread her arms and fell backward. “Wuaah~ so comfortable~~”

Xin Keke glanced at her. “You haven’t even changed your clothes.”

“It’s fine; I’m lying on top of the covers anyway~” Su Mi flipped over with a giggle, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Xin Keke. “It’s a long story. When you’re not around, I’m really too lazy to bother with them. So whatever goes, goes~”

“Maybe it’s because I was wearing the same ‘staff style’ white T-shirt and jeans yesterday? But to mistake a gorgeous beauty like me for staff, her eyesight must be a bit faulty.” Su Mi said cheerfully, “She bossed me around all day yesterday! I really don’t want to be a ‘good person’ today. I’m exhausted, simply exhausted!”

However, Xin Keke’s expression was not nearly as relaxed as Su Mi’s.

She dragged her suitcase to the bedside and stood up straight, her brow furrowed after hearing Su Mi’s words. “…She bossed you around? You could have easily…”

“But I didn’t want to cause trouble for Director Song or Grandma.”

Su Mi interrupted Xin Keke.

There was a gap between the two sets of curtains in the room, and the brilliant sunlight could only peek through that slit, shining directly on Xin Keke. Tiny dust motes in the air were revealed by this beam of light, floating and drifting endlessly.

Su Mi turned onto her side, propping her head up with one hand while picking at the duvet with the other. “Actually, the role Shi Yaya has was originally supposed to be mine. Director Song sent the script to Grandma, asking me to play the female lead.”

“But I’m completely hopeless at it…” She laughed helplessly. “I know exactly how much talent I lack. So I turned down the role and switched to just following the crew.”

“But Director Song is still very kind; he gave me a chance to train and let me pick a role to practice with. I really didn’t expect that Bo Xiaoling, the one I picked at random, would happen to be Yuan Yuan’s childhood friend.”

The topic took a turn and landed back on Xin Keke.

Su Mi curled her lips into a smile for Xin Keke. “This is fate arranged by the heavens~ classmate Xin Keke~”

Just as she finished speaking, a bundle of soft clothing was thrown at her face.

As if interrupting her delusions, Xin Keke said crossly, “Don’t lie on the bed wearing your outside clothes.”

“Fine, fine.” When facing Xin Keke, Su Mi felt like her good temper was inexhaustible. Moreover, seeing her so serious always made Su Mi want to tease her a bit.

Su Mi sat up and began taking off her clothes right there by the bed. Just as the T-shirt covered her eyes, she heard Xin Keke snap angrily, “Su Mi!!!”

“What now?”

Su Mi carelessly pulled the shirt off, leaving her upper body in only a black bra. Xin Keke wanted to glare at her but felt it was inappropriate, so she twisted her head away. “Can’t you go to the bathroom to change? You… you’re doing this…”

“It’s not like you haven’t seen it before.”

Su Mi grumbled, grabbing her clothes and slipping into the bathroom before Xin Keke could explode. That specific incident was Xin Keke’s “landmine,” and she didn’t want to get caught and scolded for it. Seeing her bristle while refusing to meet her eyes was just too cute.

To her surprise, when she came out, Xin Keke was standing in front of her bed with her arms crossed, looking like she was ready to start an interrogation.

Su Mi’s heart skipped a beat.

What? Is she still hung up on that small comment I just muttered? No way, no way—she couldn’t be that vengeful.

Thinking this, Su Mi decided to strike first. Taking small, quick steps, she hurried to Xin Keke’s side, attempting to cover her mistake with coyness. “Aya, I was wrong! From now on, I’ll be good and change in the bathroom, okay?”

She knew Xin Keke couldn’t quite handle this routine. At the very least, one doesn’t strike a smiling face.

Suddenly, Xin Keke extended three fingers and pressed them against Su Mi’s forehead. Her fingers were forceful, making it impossible for Su Mi to move closer.

This time, she showed no mercy at all.

“In order for us to coexist peacefully from now on, I want to establish a ‘Three-Point Covenant.’ If you don’t agree, I will move out right now and negotiate with Director Song myself.”

Xin Keke looked solemn.

Seeing Xin Keke’s face, which practically screamed “I’m leaving the next second if you disagree,” Su Mi had no choice but to be patient. “Sigh, alright. What rules do you want to set?”

Only then did Xin Keke withdraw her hand.

“First, you must keep your distance from me. Unless it’s for filming or other necessary moments, do not have any physical contact with me.” Xin Keke looked completely serious and added: “You are not allowed to touch me when I’m not paying attention.”

Just hearing the first rule made Su Mi’s mouth pout. She tried to bargain: “But, we have at least had skin-to-skin intimacy—”

“Do not speak of that matter again!” Xin Keke interrupted her.

“This is also the second point I want to tell you, Su Mi. I have never forgiven you for that incident, nor do I believe you didn’t record it. However, if I don’t speak of it, please do not mention it ever again. We shall keep our privacy and not cross the line.”

This was a very clear boundary she was drawing for Su Mi.

But there was no way around it; Su Mi had read the original novel and understood Xin Keke’s temper better than anyone. Perhaps on ordinary days, Xin Keke could let her play around, but when Xin Keke got serious, she was truly serious.

Su Mi didn’t want to be truly hated by Xin Keke. Like a puppy, she could only listen obediently, staring at Xin Keke with misty eyes before nodding. “I understand.”

After a thought, she added: “…I won’t cause you so much trouble in the future.”

This expression fell into Xin Keke’s eyes, and for a moment, neither of them spoke. Su Mi looked just like the most obedient student in the world, fingers interlaced in front of her, occasionally blinking to show she was paying attention.

“The third point…”

But Xin Keke suddenly stalled. What was the third point?

She suddenly couldn’t seem to remember. Her brain had stopped functioning the moment she saw Su Mi’s eyes. Xin Keke thought for a long time, but her mind remained blank, so she could only say to Su Mi: “…I haven’t thought of it yet. I’ll tell you once I have.”

Su Mi opened her mouth, clearly looking as if she wanted to say something. But in the end, the words that came out were: “I understand.”