Entering the mansion, Jun was immediately hooked.
It was way better than how he had left it before, transformed from a cold filming space into something breathtakingly alive.
The air inside was cool, faintly scented with polished wood and fresh lilies arranged in glass vases along the corridor.
The light that filtered in through the tall windows was clean and golden, catching the edges of furniture and metal frames, making everything appear brighter, warmer, more expensive.
Chairs had been rearranged neatly, the carpets rolled out to perfect alignment, every little detail of the set touched and perfected by careful, unseen hands.
The dining table gleamed beneath a crystal chandelier. Every object seemed to hold its place like it belonged there.
Then movement from the stairway caught his attention.
Yushan appeared, descending from the upper floor, from the master bedroom, Jun realized, and for a second, everything else around him faded.
He was dressed in all black, the kind of black that looked powerful, the fabric smooth and rich against his frame.
The robe he wore hung open slightly at the chest, revealing a glimpse of skin and muscles that only deepened the aura of confidence surrounding him.
Everything about him at that moment looked cinematic, already framed in the mind's eye as a slow-motion scene.
He wasn't acting yet, but he didn't need to. The way he carried himself was the character... power made flesh, dominance shaped into movement. Even from that distance, Jun could feel the pull of it, like invisible gravity drawing the room into stillness.
The lighting hit Yushan in a way that seemed almost staged.. catching the edge of his jawline, burning faintly against his golden-tinted eyes.
They'd clearly added contact lenses for the role, but under the lights they glowed unnaturally bright, animal-like, capturing the essence of the Alpha he was meant to portray.
There was something in the way he moved that made people unconsciously follow him with their eyes. He didn't even have to try, the presence came naturally, and everyone around him felt it.
The chatter that had been humming through the room slowly died out. One by one, heads turned, conversations paused, hands stopped adjusting props.
The directors themselves looked up, momentarily forgetting their instructions as Yushan reached the midpoint of the staircase.
Jun felt something stir sharply inside him, a strange rush that tangled heat and awe in one wave.
His palms grew damp against the edges of his costume, and suddenly the fitted shirt under his servant's outfit felt too tight.
For a moment, he thought about peeling off a layer, anything to let him breathe.
But then reality struck.. he wasn't just a spectator here; he was part of this scene, part of this world. He was supposed to be calm, composed, professional.
He forced himself to look away before Yushan reached the final step, but the image had already burned into his mind.. that poised, untouchable figure in black, descending like something out of a dream he wasn't meant to have.
"Alright!" Nana's sharp voice broke the tension. Her tone pulled everyone back into motion. "Should we have everyone in their position?"
Jun's stomach flipped at those words. That single call for readiness pulled him back into the awareness of what this meant.. this was it, his first real project, his first appearance in a full-scale production that would be streamed and replayed across the world.
His heartbeat seemed to echo against the walls of his chest. For a fleeting second, all thoughts of Yushan disappeared, replaced by a deep, biting anxiety about himself.
He was about to film his first real series. Not just any series.. a BL series that fans everywhere were already anticipating.
His name would be tied to it, compared, scrutinized, judged.
He could almost feel the invisible eyes of millions waiting for this performance, measuring him against Xin.. There was no question that comparisons would come.
Mengyao walked past him, her long dress flowing behind her. When she reached Yushan, she gave him a professional smile, and together, they turned toward the staircase.
Watching them climb those stairs side by side, Jun felt unsettled about how Yushan left again without his gaze even flickering in his direction.
Standing there in the servant's plain attire, Jun felt every inch of his character reflected in reality.
He was the omega, the overlooked one, the shadow that existed to make others shine brighter. The costume itself... simple, neutral,.. only made that feeling worse.
When Yushan and Mengyao disappeared with Director Feng up the staircase to prepare for their scene, Nana took charge of the rest.
The maids, together with Jun, they headed to the kitchen, while the others stayed in the living room with Director Sicheng, keeping the place busy with servants.
"Okay, I hope everything is ready," she said, scanning the set with sharp eyes. "The scene is starting exactly where Jun.. you walk in to take the Alpha's food from the kitchen, but you find the maids gossiping about the Alpha's new-found mate."
Jun nodded, clutching the script more tightly even though he knew his lines by heart.
"You know the emotions you're supposed to let out here, don't you?" Nana continued, walking closer to him as she spoke. "You and the Alpha have had tension between you from the moment you worked as his personal servant. You thought you were the only one feeling this.. until that one time when you were in his room, and he seemed to lose control. He got close. He touched you. He kissed you. Even if it wasn't for long, it meant something. But after that, he's been acting distant. You still hoped the two of you would talk it out, make things straight. Hearing that he has someone he's seeing will obviously shock you at first. Let's see that, the shock, the disbelief, the pain all blending into one thing."
Though she was only repeating what they had already discussed, her tone worked the way she intended it to, drawing Jun back into the core of that character, making the emotions tangible again.
His breathing shifted slightly, and his face already began to hold that pained expression without effort.
When everyone took their positions, the cameras were ready. The kitchen was ready too.
The moment "action" was called, everything clicked into motion.
Jun moved instinctively, his every gesture measured, his face carrying the restrained emotion the script demanded.
The scene flowed naturally, the maids chattering, the air full of subtle tension. The first take ended with a smooth call of "cut," and the satisfaction that came with it settled briefly in his chest.
The first part of the scene had gone well , better than he had expected.
He started feeling a little bit more Confident about his acting.
Now came the next sequence, the moment that mattered most. The scene where Jun's character ascended the stairs, walking into the Alpha's room, into the space where the man he secretly loved stood with his new mate.