Transmigrated as the Future Movie Queen's Arch-Nemesis - Chapter 21

Su Mi stared at Xin Keke, stunned.

Apart from that initial glance, Xin Keke’s gaze hadn’t lingered on Su Mi for even a split second. But when there was silence for a long time and the phone in her hand wasn’t taken, Xin Keke subconsciously looked back at her.

And there it was: their eyes met perfectly.

Both of them were so embarrassed that they quickly looked away: “…”

It wasn’t right to keep making Xin Keke hold the phone, but Su Mi was still nursing a grudge, and her sense of grievance hadn’t been soothed. She snapped a quick “Thank you” to Xin Keke and snatched the phone away.

Really, we’ve already fought, why did she even chase after me?

Su Mi acted like an ostrich, burying her head back into her arms, using the posture to refuse any further interaction with the outside world. Everyone needs a different amount of recovery time after an argument, and Su Mi couldn’t be expected to smile at Xin Keke like nothing happened every single time. She was in a bad mood and afraid that if she got angry, she might say something she couldn’t take back to hurt Xin Keke. So, she just muffled herself in her arms, pretending she couldn’t hear a thing.

However, no footsteps moved away.

That meant Xin Keke was still standing right beside her.

So now, what does Xin Keke want? Su Mi thought from within her darkness. She had apologized, and she had explained. If Xin Keke was still angry and wouldn’t let her make amends, then she was truly out of options. When it came down to it, all those things that hurt Xin Keke were done by the “original” Su Mi, right? Even if she was Su Mi now, her capacity to handle pain was limited. Her heart was made of flesh and blood, too; it hurt, and she felt sad when she was accused.

If Xin Keke still wanted to be mad at her, then she…

“I’m sorry.”

The girl’s familiar voice rang out above Su Mi’s head.

Su Mi looked up, dazed. The answer, completely different from what she had imagined, reached her ears. She subconsciously suspected she had misheard, but when she looked up, she met Xin Keke’s eyes directly.

The girl was leaning slightly, her hands braced against her thighs. Her expression was a bit stiff, but she was looking Su Mi straight in the eye.

Xin Keke said earnestly: “It was my fault for making you sad just now. I shouldn’t have suspected you of acting on your own to ask the director for extra scenes. Can you forgive me?”

In the moment before Xin Keke spoke, a dozen possibilities had flashed through Su Mi’s mind. But the one thing she never expected was for Xin Keke to actually apologize. And with such sincerity.

The grievances Su Mi had forced down with brute strength suddenly expanded, filling her heart in an instant, turning into a tide, a vast ocean, and spilling over. She felt a soreness in her nose, though she couldn’t find a proper reason to cry. She… Xin Keke actually still cares about my feelings.

Perhaps the past hatred couldn’t be wiped away in an instant, but the sincerity of one person toward another could be felt. Su Mi finally understood why Xin Keke liked to bite her lip; when the emotions inside were too turbulent and she didn’t want them to pour out, that was the most fitting way to hold back.

Although, I somehow look like I’m pouting when I do this expression.

Xin Keke watched her, her gaze softening quite a bit, and whispered: “Let’s go eat, okay?”

Su Mi had always been a sucker for kindness rather than force. As soon as Xin Keke was gentle with her, all her anger vanished. She pursed her lips, then nodded vigorously, as if afraid Xin Keke would change her mind: “Okay.”

Hearing Su Mi’s response, Xin Keke straightened up and held out her hand. Su Mi had been squatting for too long and couldn’t actually get up on her own. Seeing that Xin Keke didn’t seem to care about the “Three-Point Covenant” anymore, Su Mi took her hand and used the leverage to stand.

“Hiss… my legs are asleep!”

The moment she touched Xin Keke’s warm palm, her mood brightened, and the soreness in her nose vanished without a trace. Even after successfully standing, a tingling sensation like needles and pins spread from the soles of her feet throughout her body. Su Mi held Xin Keke’s hand, unwilling to let go, and kicked her legs dramatically: “I squatted too long, hiss, it hurts, it hurts!”

Seeing Su Mi was up, Xin Keke tried to pull her hand away quietly, but the girl with the pink hair held on too tight. Even when she exerted a little strength, she couldn’t pull her hand out of Su Mi’s grip. While she was debating whether pulling too hard would hurt Su Mi again, she heard Su Mi say:

“I’ve decided.”

“Hmm?”

“To punish you for bullying me, you have to hold my hand while we go eat!!”

“???”

Su Mi swung Xin Keke’s hand triumphantly, showing it off: “Let everyone see that the two of us are the best friends in the world!”

Xin Keke looked away again: “…Who’s ‘best friends’ with you?”

“If you aren’t going to be best friends with me, who do you want to be with? Tell me, tell me, who else do you want to be close to?”

“Are you speaking in tongue-twisters? And, I am not close to you.”

“I don’t care, I want to eat that Coconut Chicken Xiao Ai mentioned today!”

Seeing that acting cute was useless, Su Mi switched to her hometown dialect and started playing the rogue.

“Are you even a rich heiress anymore??” Xin Keke couldn’t take her, pulling her toward the restaurant area. “I know, let’s go, it’s so embarrassing.”

Xin Keke walked fast in front, and Su Mi was dragged along behind. Looking at Xin Keke’s back, Su Mi suddenly let go of her fingers and hugged her from behind. Afraid of knocking Xin Keke over, she was very gentle with her strength.

Xin Keke was both ashamed and angry: “Su Mi!”

“Don’t move, just let me hug you for a minute.”

There was no one around, so Su Mi felt free. She leaned against Xin Keke’s back, wrapped her arms around her shoulders, and started acting spoiled: “I wasn’t done talking—holding hands to go eat is only one of the punishments!”

“Don’t push your luck…”

“Accompany me to practice our scenes tonight.” She whispered into Xin Keke’s ear.

“…?” Hearing Su Mi mention the scene practice, Xin Keke gradually stopped struggling and turned her head to listen to Su Mi continue.

“I don’t have much experience, and I feel like everything I do is just… off. It feels so fake and performative.”

Holding her, Su Mi suddenly felt that Xin Keke smelled lovely—not like some designer perfume, but a subtle, natural fragrance radiating from her skin. She couldn’t help but take a deep breath against Xin Keke, suddenly feeling like a bit of a creep. “You’re more talented than I am. Could you teach me how to do the scene we’re filming tomorrow?”

The person in her arms stayed silent. Su Mi was curious—did Xin Keke not want to teach her? No way. In the original book, after she became a major senior actress, she was always quite happy to help newcomers. Is she just annoyed by me?

Su Mi leaned over to rub against Xin Keke’s hair, only to see the tips of her ears, hidden beneath her hair, had turned completely red. It was so cute it made her want to take a bite. Of course, Su Mi only thought about it; she wouldn’t do something so weird to Xin Keke.

“…I know.” The response came quickly, as if it were trying to slip away from her lips.

“Yay~!”

Su Mi jumped up happily, letting go of Xin Keke. The heat source on her back vanished, as if the touch were just a dream. But Su Mi didn’t give up on bothering Xin Keke; soon, she grabbed the girl’s hand again, and the earlier gloom disappeared completely: “Let’s go eat that Coconut Chicken now~!”

Even Xin Keke didn’t notice that as she watched Su Mi jumping around, the corners of her mouth were already curving upward. She let Su Mi pull her along, nodding slightly: “Okay.”

Perhaps it had to do with her mood—when Su Mi took Xin Keke to eat Coconut Chicken, she ended up wolfing down two whole bowls of rice, her belly round as a ball. During the meal, Xin Keke kept telling her to watch how much she ate, but Su Mi was happy: “We’re already out to eat! If I have to worry about my figure and not eat this or that, that’s just too miserable!”

By the end, even Xin Keke was swayed, letting go of her inhibitions and polishing off a bowl of rice herself.

On the way home, Xin Keke was constantly blaming herself for not keeping her figure and betraying her identity as an actress. Su Mi was nearly brainwashed by her theory, and before Xin Keke could say the next sentence, she yelled: “But eating is so happy!”

“Eating until I’m full makes me so happy!”

Her voice was so loud that many people on the pedestrian street were staring at her.

“Su Mi!!”

True to form, Xin Keke stopped complaining about herself and tugged at Su Mi’s hem. Su Mi didn’t think there was anything wrong with it and smiled at her: “Hmm?”

“Stop talking… it’s so embarrassing…”

Compared to Su Mi’s joy, Xin Keke was already looking for a crack in the floor to crawl into. Just as she tried to scurry away, she was caught by the wrist by Su Mi: “It’s fine, what’s embarrassing about this? Is eating not happy for you? Let’s just stroll slowly—consider it a post-dinner walk.”

“…”

Only now did Xin Keke realize the difference in strength between them; as long as Su Mi held her slightly tight, she couldn’t break free at all. She started to wonder if that “Three-Point Covenant” had any use at all.

“Let’s hurry back,” Xin Keke whispered, her attitude softening unusually as she faced Su Mi, who was humming a tune about ‘eating is so happy’ while walking. “…We still have to practice.”

As soon as practicing was mentioned, Su Mi’s head cleared a bit. “Oh, right, the practicing.”

This topic made her head ache. Su Mi scratched her head: “Then let’s hurry back.”

Naturally, the movement of holding her wrist turned into holding hands. Xin Keke was pulled forward a few steps; she looked at Su Mi’s profile, then looked at their clasped hands.

Holding hands with someone—perhaps a long, long time ago, this was something Xin Keke wouldn’t have dared to imagine. Whether as a friend or a lover. Especially since that person was Su Mi.

Xin Keke suddenly said, out of the blue: “You really have changed a lot.”

The words seemed to flow from her lips unintentionally. After saying it, Xin Keke realized her slip-up and quickly covered her mouth with her free hand. If that ‘young miss’ heard that, she’d definitely…

But Su Mi, upon hearing it, not only didn’t get angry, but her face was filled with a small, proud smile.

“Really? I feel like I’ve changed a lot too.” She nodded her head rhythmically. “But, I’m changing in a good direction.”

She stopped walking and winked mischievously at Xin Keke: “Don’t you like it? Teehee.”

“…”

It was the same orange street light. Just like the day Su Mi held out her hand to Xin Keke, this moment, the girl’s smile was etched into Xin Keke’s heart as well. At the same time, the warmth from Su Mi’s palm was being transmitted to her.

Xin Keke bit her lip, let go of Su Mi’s hand, and walked quickly toward the hotel: “Let’s go back.”

“Hey?? You didn’t answer at all! So cold!”

In the blink of an eye, Xin Keke was already several meters ahead. Su Mi blinked, and by the time she reacted, she was far behind. She hurried to catch up: “Xin Keke, wait for me! So you actually like it, right? You’re shy, right? Teehee, I knew you were liking me more and more!”

“I don’t! Who would like you?!”

“Of course it’s Xin Keke who likes me! Report: Xin Keke’s ears are red again!”

“No, they aren’t!! Su Mi, don’t be so narcissistic!!”

“Oh-oh-oh, why is your face red too? My, my, I knew it—my charm is simply unstoppable!”

“Get lost! I will never like you in this lifetime!!”

“You shouldn’t say things like that—you know flags exist in this world.”

Under the night sky, their laughter drifted far into the distance.