A deafening silence falls over the room.

Everyone looks wide-eyed between Yao Shen and Xin Hulei.

"Yao laoshi, please don\'t be angry," the casting director starts, her tone conciliatory.

The director chuckles awkwardly, and in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood, says, "Young people are so passionate."

Yao Shen feels his skin heating up with embarrassment. Yet again, Xin Hulei is making a fool out of him.

[Host did most of the work himself.]

Yao Shen curses the system. Why is he siding with the Demon King Yao Shen is supposed to capture?

Tan Liansi gives him an amused look from across the table, her arms crossed in front of her slim chest. "I don\'t know if it\'s a good thing that our leads are having disagreements so early on."

Yao Shen scowls and looks down at his lap. The worst part is that she\'s right.

He\'s not really sending the strongest message to the directing team by jumping at Xin Hulei\'s throat the moment they meet.

But he just can\'t stand the guy -- there\'s something about his perfect face and cold voice that makes Yao Shen\'s blood boil.

Maybe it has something to do with being tasked with capturing him -- maybe this is the sort of natural animosity all Exorcists feel for Demons.

Xin Hulei doesn\'t say anything for a long time, merely giving Yao Shen a cool, accessing look from beneath the fan of his long lashes.

Which is why it\'s such a surprise when he slides his chair backwards and gets up to his feet, straightening himself to his full height with a feline shrug of his shoulders.

"Come with me," he tells Yao Shen, nodding towards one of the open doorways across from the room they\'re in.

Yao Shen wavers, his fingers digging painfully into the chair\'s armrests as he looks up at Xin Hulei\'s calm face.

In the end, he doesn\'t have any choice but to follow him.

He\'s overly conscious of all the gazes of the cast and crew on his back as he follows behind Xin Hulei into an empty room.

As soon as Yao Shen walks in, Xin Hulei closes the door behind him and leans his hip against one of the desks in the center of the room.

"Will we be able to work together?" he asks, Yao Shen, rolling up the sleeves of his hoodie.

For a brief moment, Yao Shen has to try and reconcile the image of the smartly dressed man he\'s used to seeing on red carpet events on TV, with the young man in casual sportswear in front of him.

It\'s frustrating that the casualness of his outfit doesn\'t detract anything from his looks, if anything it makes him look even more attractive.

Xin Hulei lets out a quiet sigh and runs his hands through his hair, pushing the longer strands away from his face.

Yao Shen\'s eyes are drawn to the silver ring on his left ear. He had no idea Xin Hulei had pierced ears. Somehow he doesn\'t look like the type -- too straitlaced for something so impulsive and rebellious. Especially considering that he\'ll have to go to the trouble of taking the piercing out while filming.

Yao Shen really doesn\'t know what to make of him.

But he does know how to answer his question.

"Yes," he says, gritting his teeth and plastering on a smile. "I\'m sorry for losing my temper, that was really unprofessional."

Xin Hulei gives him a brisk look of mild amusement. "I hope you are a better actor than you are a liar."

His tone immediately raises Yao Shen\'s hackles. "What\'s that supposed to mean?"

Xin Hulei shrugs. "Just that it\'s obvious you\'re not sorry, but you do regret losing your temper in public."

"What do you want from me?" Yao Shen asks, speaking through gritted teeth.

"I want us to be able to work together," he says, looking at Yao Shen as if trying to take the measure of him. "I want to know that your dislike for me won\'t be a problem."

He says it in such a matter-of-fact way, as if he doesn\'t care that Yao Shen dislikes him, as long as it doesn\'t interfere with work.

Just how arrogant can this guy be?

"Do you even know why I dislike you?" Yao Shen asks, his hands balled into fists at his sides.

Xin Hulei gives him an indifferent look. "Does it matter?"

Yao Shen swears that every word out of this guy\'s mouth is designed to raise his blood pressure.

He\'s going bill Xin Hulei his medical expenses, just before he sends him back to the demon realm from whence he came.

"It matters to me," Yao Shen says, glaring up into Xin Hulei\'s cold eyes.

"It matters that you tore into me when I was in \'Lights, Camara, Actors!\' and my career has never recovered from the blow. It matters that I\'ve been trying to make it as an actor for the past four years, and yet the things you said about my performance still hang around me like a bad stench."

His outburst leaves Yao Shen breathless.

Xin Hulei\'s expression doesn\'t change, he keeps looking at Yao Shen with that same detached gaze. "I don\'t remember you."

Yao Shen\'s heartbeat slows to a crawl.

What does he mean he doesn\'t remember Yao Shen?

That day Yao Shen\'s life was irrevocably changed, how can Xin Hulei not remember it?

He doesn\'t realize something is happening to him until one Xin Hulei\'s perfect eyebrows climbs up his forehead.

Yao Shen feels moisture on his face. He rubs his cheek with the back of his hand and realizes he\'s crying.

He doesn\'t even feel sad, just hollow.

"You ruined my life," Yao Shen says, the words rushing past his lips, even as the tears keep falling.

Xin Hulei remains expressionless, showing no reaction to Yao Shen\'s distress. "So you\'re going to let that keep holding you back?"

Yao Shen doesn\'t know what he\'s meant to say to that, so he only lets out a low, watery chuckle.

"I don\'t remember you, your performance, or what I said to you on that day, which probably means it was unmemorable." He crosses his arms, in an insouciant gesture. "An unmemorable performance is worse than a bad one."

Yao Shen bites his lower lip to prevent himself from telling him to go fuck himself. "What the fuck is your point?"

"My point is that as an actor you should know how to handle criticism."

That\'s easy for him to say, since all of his roles have been met with critical acclaim. Ever since his debut Xin Hulei has been showered in praise everywhere he goes.

How dare he tell Yao Shen that he should be better at handling criticism if there have been nothing but roadblocks on his path?

"All the energy you\'ve spent bemoaning your bad luck, could have been spent improving your skills," Xin Hulei says, straightening himself up from his lean against the table and making his way towards Yao Shen.

Yao Shen looks up at him, his eyebrows drawn in a scowl of consternation and his lips flattened in a tense line.

Xin Hulei looks into Yao Shen\'s red-rimmed eyes, a minute upwards tick of his upper lip disturbing the stillness of his jade-like features.

"You look beautiful when you cry," he says, before running the pad of his thumb under Yao Shen\'s eyes to collect his tears.

Yao Shen watches in stupefaction as Xin Hulei brings his thumb to his lips to taste Yao Shen\'s tears.

"Sweet," he says.

And with that he leaves the room and a stunned Yao Shen behind.

Yao Shen remains rooted in place, unsure of how to process what just happened.

[I think this time he really did make a fool out of Host.]

As uncalled for as the System\'s remark is, Yao Shen has to admit it isn\'t wrong.

He\'s more determined than ever to get back at Xin Hulei now.

Yao Shen is going to deliver such an amazing performance as Yan Shuyi that he\'ll make Xin Hulei swallow all his haughty criticism.

And when all is said and done, he\'ll get rid of Xin Hulei himself.

[Personal revenge should come second to the safety of the human realm.]

Yao Shen ignores the System\'s words and walks out of the cramped room.

When he sits down next to Xin Hulei, everyone gives him expectant looks.

"Did the two laoshi work out their differences?" the casting director asks, some trepidation in her voice.

Yao Shen flashes her a sunny smile. "Yes, I apologize for my behaviour, earlier. I and Xin laoshi had a really good talk, everything is fine now. We\'ll both do our best to deliver great performances as Yan Shuyi and Xie Huan."

He chances a sideways glance towards Xin Hulei, half expecting him to contradict his words, but Xin Hulei merely nods and lets out a noncommittal hum.