Emma pulled off the headphones and looked up at Damien, eyes wide. "That was… just now?"
Damien nodded. "One take."
Emma stayed quiet. She thought back to the first time she met Cassius at the press conference, with all his smooth jokes and easy charm. She had assumed he was polished, maybe a little calculating. But watching the footage, she realized she had been wrong. That was just the surface. Underneath was someone who actually cared about the work.
Only someone like that could pull off a single-take piano performance that felt this alive. No stand-in. No do-overs. Even the piano tuner had looked shaken.
"Emma?" Damien's voice pulled her back.
"You ready? We're rolling your entrance next. Cassius is still at the piano. This is the scene where the music pulls her in."
Emma nodded. "I got it."
She stood and started toward the piano, then stopped. Cassius sat with his back to her, light cutting across his shoulders and stretching his shadow long across the floor. His hands rested on the keys.
"What are you thinking for this scene?" Cassius asked without turning around.
Emma thought for a second. "Mia's walking past the restaurant, hears the piano, and gets pulled inside. She just bombed an audition and feels like shit, but something about the music makes the world feel a little less heavy."
They ran lines and realized they saw the scene the same way. Emma was surprised how easily Cassius understood Mia's side, filling in details the script didn't spell out. It felt like he knew the character better than she did, even though the role had been written for her.
[Emma Stone favorability +10. Current: 75]
They started rolling.
Damien's voice came through the walkie. "All departments ready—action!"
Emma pushed open the door. She stopped cold. Not because of the scene direction, but because the music hit her for real. It wasn't like the playback. It was slower, softer, and it reached straight into her chest.
She took a step forward. The notes felt alive, like they were circling her before sinking in. She recognized the melody—Mia and Sebastian's Theme—but Cassius played it differently. It wasn't just music anymore. It was everything she had felt at fifteen, moving from Arizona to a tiny walk-up in LA, auditioning every day and getting rejected, eating cheap frozen meals alone at night. All those sleepless nights staring at the ceiling and wondering why she was putting herself through this.
Her eyes stung. She wasn't acting anymore. She was Mia, and she was also herself. A tear slipped down her cheek before she could stop it.
The last note hung in the air. Cassius kept his hands on the keys. Emma stayed where she was. The whole restaurant felt frozen.
Then Damien's voice cut through. "Cut!"
Cassius stood and walked toward the monitors. Damien pulled him into a tight hug the second he got close. "That was fucking perfect."
Cassius looked a little dazed as Damien pointed at the screen. "Look at her face. Your playing made her believe you were Sebastian and she was Mia."
Cassius studied the footage—Emma standing in the doorway with tears on her face, staring at him like the rest of the world had disappeared. He glanced back at her. She was still by the piano, talking to her assistant, wiping the last of the tears away while she laughed about something. Then she turned and their eyes met across the room.
[Emma Stone favorability +8. Current: 83]
Soo-yeon stared at the email on her screen for a full ten seconds. She opened it, read the formal lines, and zeroed in on the middle: "We are pleased to inform you that your film, The Last Reel of Film, has been selected as a winner in the Narrative category for the 46th Annual Student Academy Awards."
She read it three times. Then she stood up, paced the editing bay twice, and sat back down. She paced again. Finally she grabbed her phone with shaking hands and called Cassius.
"Hello?" His voice was thick with sleep.
"Cassius oppa! The Last Reel of Film won!"
"Huh?"
"Student Oscars. Narrative gold!"
Cassius woke up fast. He had been so buried in shooting that he forgot the awards timeline was close. The win didn't surprise him. That Industry Trend Prediction skill had been gold for steering the edit and the cut. One small shift in direction and the film had landed exactly where it needed to be.
The next morning at eight forty-five, Cassius pulled up to the AMPAS building. The sun was already strong for June in LA. Students in suits stood along the red carpet, jackets slung over their arms, shirts damp with sweat. A few girls in heels shifted their weight, trying to look graceful while their feet killed them.
Cassius got out wearing a mask and cap. No one recognized him at first. At the door, security stopped him.
"Invitation."
He handed over the printed email. The guard checked it, looked at him, and nodded. "Go ahead."
Inside, the lobby was packed with people in formal wear. Cold air blasted from the vents. Long tables held champagne towers and cold appetizers. Groups clustered around, trading business cards and fake laughs while sneaking glances at the older industry vets sitting in the corners—the ones who showed up at every Oscar season.