Joshua tugged the brim of his baseball cap down a little. Today, the person accompanying him was his personal assistant, a slightly short young man with a round belly and a kind, honest-looking face.
The mont he noticed Joshua move, he imdiately asked after him.
Joshua shook his head and said softly, "I’m fine. I’m just a little nervous, that’s all."
The assistant nodded. By now, the waiting room was already packed with people, a mix of unfamiliar and familiar faces.
Joshua didn’t like browsing the internet, but Nine loved it. Every ti he found sothing interesting, it was as if he couldn’t wait to shove his phone right in front of Joshua’s face, chattering nonstop. Because of that, Joshua had at least a basic understanding of so people in the industry.
However, most of the people here were very young. So of them even looked like they didn’t belong in the entertainnt industry at all.
Joshua glanced at his number. There were only two nas left before it was his turn. Everyone around him looked just as anxious. So people seed on the verge of throwing up, and especially when soone ca out of the room crying or looking dejected, the atmosphere grew even more tense.
Joshua’s phone kept vibrating. It was probably Nine or the others constantly ssaging to check on him. Even though Joshua had told them more than ten tis that he was fine, they still seed uneasy—more worried than the person actually auditioning.
Joshua didn’t look at his phone. Instead, his thoughts drifted to the stack of scripts at ho. He wondered which one he would draw. His mind floated all the way to the tenth script before, finally, soone lightly patted his back.
Joshua snapped back to his senses and looked at the assistant, who imdiately said, "Your number’s been called."
Joshua nodded, took a deep breath, and then walked straight into the audition room. His steps were steady and decisive, making it hard to tell just how nervous he actually was inside.
He was already here. He already had the skills. He hoped he could have a good ending.
The mont Joshua stepped into the room, a single sweep of his gaze took in the entire audition space.
It was an empty room, brightly lit from all directions, lights designed to capture the clearest expressions. Joshua could barely even see his own shadow.
Facing him were two caras and a single long table. Seated behind the table were four people—three n and one woman.
Among them, one person was likely from the screenwriting team. The man with thinning hair was most likely an investor. And sitting in the middle was none other than Lance himself.
Today, he was dressed extrely formally. The three-piece suit accentuated his perfect build, and his hair was neatly styled as well—so different from his usual appearance that it left everyone else stunned.
One had to know that in previous auditions, Lance had always looked utterly haggard, as if he had locked himself in a room for five days straight to write scripts, with no concern for his image at all.
And seated beside him now was, unexpectedly, a familiar face—Luis.
All of these assessnts happened in the blink of an eye. Joshua rely seed to give everything a casual glance. He withdrew his gaze, took off his cap and mask, then bowed slightly in greeting. "Hello, I’m Joshua..."
From the mont Joshua walked in, Lance had already snapped fully awake. Hearing Joshua speak, he could not help wanting to smile, his dreamy eyes softening—but he did not show any obvious favoritism toward Joshua.
Luis, on the other hand, seed a little surprised. He clearly had not expected Joshua to appear here. A faint smile curved at the corner of his lips as he nodded at Joshua.
Seeing this, Joshua instinctively smiled back.
That single smile instantly made everything around seem to brighten. This face truly lived up to Joshua’s current popularity. Naturally, it also fit the character description in the script perfectly. Even to the naked eye, the satisfaction on the faces of the script team and the main investor was obvious.
Especially the investor—he practically wanted to stuff Joshua into the film crew at all costs. With a face like that, as long as he could read his lines, it would be fine!
But unfortunately, this was Lance’s film. Even though Joshua’s looks suited the role perfectly, that was only half of the requirent. Acting still mattered.
And when Lance saw Joshua and Luis exchange smiles, he nearly crushed the water cup in his hand. The smile on his lips twisted slightly.
What the hell was this? Luis was here to help choose actors, not to act like a peacock showing off! Why didn’t the entertainnt industry produce a few more capable people like Luis? Lance wanted to change the male lead!
Seeing the distorted expression on Lance’s face, the investor could not help growing worried.
Could it be that Lance was still not satisfied with Joshua? Clearly, just that face alone already t the standard.
He chuckled and said, "Lance, shall we get started right away?"
Lance imdiately nodded, his expression turning serious. "Alright."
At the sa ti, soone stepped forward and held out a drawing box toward Joshua.
"Act out whichever script you draw. It’s very simple," Lance said, then paused and added, "I believe you can do it." Even if you can’t, you have to—this role has to be played by Joshua, Lance thought.
The others could not help but look at Lance in surprise. Even Luis glanced at him.
This was rare. Lance was famously harsh on set. Forget praise—getting scolded by him was the norm. Yet today, he had actually spoken words of encouragent...
Luis recalled the year-end banquet, when the dia had reported extensively on how Lance had been stirred by ShineOn’s performance. He could not help but frown slightly in thought. Lance wouldn’t pull any coercive tricks, right?
No matter what, Luis would protect Joshua.
Everyone in the room had their own thoughts, none of them the sa.
anwhile, Joshua had already finished drawing a script.
When he opened it, he could not help but pause for a mont.
At this ti, Lance spoke again. "You have five minutes to prepare."
Joshua fell silent.
First, let’s talk about the film [Dream]. It was a new movie directed by Lance, thed around horror, so its storyline was naturally far from simple.
The male lead had been orphaned from a young age. Then one day, he received an invitation saying that his younger brother back in his hotown was getting married, requesting that he, as the elder, return to attend the wedding.
But the problem lay right there. The male lead had grown up in an orphanage since childhood. Naturally, he had no younger brother at all.
The male lead did not think much of it and casually threw the invitation away. Yet strangely, the invitation kept appearing beside him in unimaginable ways.
A vase would suddenly fall from above, bringing the invitation with it. Or he would suddenly slip on the stairs, nearly falling to his death, only to find the invitation at his feet once he steadied himself.
Or traffic lights would suddenly turn a strange blackish-green. Near-death experiences accompanied by that eerie invitation made the male lead realize that he could no longer face things this way. After a difficult period, as the wedding date drew closer, the dangerous incidents beca ever more sudden and irrational.
In the end, the male lead had no choice but to shoulder his backpack and leave...
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