Everybody held their breaths as they waited for the kiss to finish. It felt like they were intruding on something private. However, a lot of them wanted to join in, too (ay-yo).
Sora, midway through the kiss, dropped her water bottle, the contents spilling on the floor and next to her shoes. However, she didn’t care. She wanted to be in Misha’s place!
Billy had said a weird comment a few seconds ago, but Sora brushed it off, thinking he had misspoken; however, she heard him speak again.
“He didn’t use tongue but… wow wow wow.”
Sora’s eyes widened and her cheeks reddened, glancing at Billy. What does that even mean?
Meanwhile, Misha’s heart pounded so hard in her chest she swore the mic picked it up. Her lips were still tingling when—
STAB.
Desperate #25 plunged the knife into her stomach, right as the kiss broke.
A small gasp escaped her lips, one from genuine surprise.
She slumped forward, and he caught her effortlessly.
Misha, being the professional she was, snapped back to character to say her next lines.
“It’s alright,” she whispered. “It’s alright.”
Her breath hitched. “I just wanted… to live for me, for once. But you have so much more to live for.”
Desperate #25’s eyes darkened. His grip around her tightened, then slowly, he let her slide to the floor, her limp and bloody body a heavy contrast against the white floors. It seemed the gamemakers were insulting them even more, making her death appear even more gruesome with how pristine the room looked.
On the ceiling, glowing letters appeared.
“DESPERATE #25 SURVIVES”
He looked up.
Everyone held their breath. The camera zoomed in slowly, capturing every twitch, every flinch, every tremor of his jaw.
There were no tears in his eyes. However, Zeno captured the emotions of disappointment, heartbreak, and guilt really well.
Despite the lack of screaming, he stood there like the world had collapsed and he was still expected to be standing.
“CUT!”
The lights came back, but even then, no one cheered.
Sora covered her mouth in shock. “What the hell?”
Billy’s mouth hung open. He couldn’t understand why he felt on the verge of tears when he wanted Misha’s character to die. That was what she got for being treated like that by Zeno—he means, Zeno’s character.
Jace can’t hide his admiration, too. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he sought comfort from Apple, who quickly pushed him away.
Meanwhile, the petite woman shook her head slowly.
“Zeno scares me,” she muttered.
[Mission Accomplished. Romance Upgraded. Current Grade: A-]
“Wow,” Devon muttered, eyes wide and hands flying to his head like he was witnessing the birth of cinema. “Wow, that was… amazing. What was that emotion you just gave us? Anger? No. No, it’s more than that—”
“Rage?” offered someone from behind the monitor.
“Yes! Yes, exactly that!” Devon spun around. “It’s not just rage. There’s also numbness. It’s the perfect mix of kindness to it all. It felt like you wanted to destroy her but keep her to yourself.”
Well, Devon PD just mentioned some of his strongest acting aspects. Zeno shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal.
“I don’t even—what is happening?” Devon laughed, overly happy. “You improved again, Zeno. That was Oska-worthy. Who taught you that? What underground acting sect did you join between the past scenes and now?”
Zeno gave a half smile. He nodded in thanks and murmured a polite, “Thanks.”
Meanwhile, across the room, Misha sat quietly on the edge of a platform, hugging her knees to her chest. Nobody noticed her. Which was fine. She needed to be invisible for a second.
It wasn’t her first kiss. Please. She’d had a single dating scandal, which turned out to be true, but her company denied it; two dramas with love triangles; and even one international romcom with a Thai actor!
She touched her lips absentmindedly.
This felt like a first kiss.
She was in shambles. Meanwhile, Zeno just walked away like nothing happened, like he didn’t just drop the most vulnerable performance in K-drama history! What the heck were those skills?
How much experience did he have?
She peeked over at him.
He was only walking.
But why was he walking like that?
The wind machine was being tested for the next scene, and of course, it decided to blow perfectly as he passed.
His hair fluttered in slow motion.
“Sha-la-la-la-la…” her brain sang tragically. “Don’t be scared, you got the moves—”
He picked up a water bottle and chugged it like a normal person, except a droplet trickled down the side of his mouth.
She stared at it, moving down his chin to his neck.
“Sha-la-la-la-la…”
Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop—
Then someone said, “Zeno, that scene—seriously, my wife loves you too much, and after this scene, she’ll love you even more.”
He laughed a little. Just a little! He didn’t even show his teeth. It appeared more like a scoff than a smile. However, that one small movement of his lips hit Misha like a blinding spotlight.
“Sha-la-la-la-la…”
The set might as well have gone full daybreak.
Was this man always this… glowy?
Why was he suddenly glowing like a filtered Instagram story?
“Oh no,” Misha whispered, gripping the edge of the platform. “Oh no. Oh no.”
She looked down at her knees, then back at Zeno, who was now nodding at another staff member and graciously accepting praise like a robot.
She was going to die.
Not her character. Not Desperate #1.
Her.
Actual her.
This couldn’t be happening.
For the first time in her life, she was happy her character had died.
No more kiss scenes with him. No more being that close. No more, whatever the hell just happened in that scene.
“Crap,” she muttered, rubbing her face. “Crap crap crap!”
Zeno looked over at her.
She yelped and looked away.
He raised an eyebrow.
“I think you should check on Misha,” Zeno said to one of the members of the medic team. “She appears to be unwell.”