Renly's gaze fell upon Rami's butt. In fact, their military uniforms had long been soaked with mud, making it hard to distinguish whether it was his waist or his butt. But as Renly looked at Rami's embarrassed posture, a ludicrous and comical thought emerged.
"Rami?" Renly's gaze remained fixed on the small twig. He knelt down on both knees and leaned in close to Rami's ear. He whispered, "Did something prick your butt? Or is it that thing in the middle..."
Before Renly could finish speaking, Rami urgently interrupted, "Yes, yes." The impatient manner made Renly burst out with suppressed laughter. He quickly clamped his lips, preventing himself from bursting into fits of laughter.
Renly patted Rami's shoulder. "Sensitive area. We need a professional to handle this." His mournful expression met Rami's eyes. Rami clenched his teeth tightly in response, unsure how to retort. He chose to lay down again, burying his head in his hands.
"What's going on?" James furrowed his brow, his gaze filled with anxiety.
Renly didn't answer immediately. He lifted his head and addressed the onlookers. "It's fine, it's fine. Rami's just a bit injured, that's all. He's having trouble moving."
Originally, Renly meant that Rami was having trouble standing up and walking, possibly due to an ankle injury or internal trauma. He used this explanation to shield Rami. Unexpectedly, the onlookers displayed knowing expressions. Their profound looks turned into sympathetic expressions directed at Rami. Renly was puzzled. Did his words have a double meaning?
James leaned closer to Renly's ear and whispered, "Is it an injury to his manhood? Is it serious?"
Renly mentally spun the cause and effect relationships, widening his eyes. He truly had to admire the creative imaginations of everyone present. Moreover, their thought processes seemed to be in alignment. Glancing at the embarrassed Rami on the ground, Renly felt that he might have unintentionally made things worse. However, upon reflection, he decided not to clarify this beautiful misunderstanding.
Renly leaned close to James' ear and whispered, briefly explaining Rami's situation. This left James flabbergasted. He looked incredulously at Renly, receiving a confirming nod. James then pinched his thigh hard to stifle a laugh.
"So, about the bet earlier, I guess I've won," Renly said earnestly, not forgetting their wager even in this situation.
Initially, James didn't want to admit defeat, since Renly had bet on hitting the head, but the location had shifted so much. However, watching the medical personnel carry Rami on a stretcher as if he were a corpse, his legs straight and taut, it looked excessively absurd. So, James nodded seriously, "You win."
"Renly? Renly?" Rami whispered softly, looking around, then left and right. "No one else knows, right? Ah?" But Rami received no response. He managed to prop himself up slightly, searching for Renly's figure around him. However, the pain from his butt restricted his movement, forcing him to lay back down again. "Renly?"
Not far away, Renly and James leaned against each other, stepping aside to share the bet, each with a cigarette in hand.
Due to his injury, Rami was temporarily absent from shooting this scene, but it didn't have a significant impact. The true protagonist of this scene was Robert Leckie, portrayed by James, while others were just supporting roles. So, the crew quickly resumed shooting. As expected, the scene couldn't be completed within a day. With night falling, they had to continue tomorrow.
Rami lay on the bed, closing his eyes as exhaustion swept over him. He drifted into a half-asleep, half-awake state. Then, he heard the raucous noise, as piercing as a crow's caw. "This is definitely the crew's most spectacular behind-the-scenes moment! The journalists during the promotional period will surely love this kind of humor. It might even be popular on talk shows. I think some fans might want to see the wound... or perhaps watch the 'big eyes' reenact the situation. Wait, did you really see the situation back then? Did that stick just "plunge" right in?"
This vivid and shameful description finally prevented Rami from pretending to be asleep any longer. He opened his eyes, waiting fiercely for Renly and James, who were sitting on adjacent hospital beds. "You two!" Rami nearly ground his teeth in anger. However, he strained too much and his muscles went into spasms, including those in his butt, causing his momentum to deflate.
Seeing this scene, Renly and James burst into laughter, almost collapsing onto their beds and lacking the strength to stand up. Rami, in pain, wanted to protest, wanted to argue, but he had no strength.
"Man, I have to admit, getting injured in such an indescribable place isn't easy," Renly's eyes brimmed with sincerity. "So, what exactly happened back then? Did you dive forward and then raise your butt?"
While Renly explained, James reenacted the situation by raising his own butt high in the air. "Then what? Did it just "bang" all of a sudden?" Renly cooperated by slapping James' rear. James let out an exaggerated howl and fell back on the bed, his comical expression reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin.
Rami opened his mouth, his thoughts swirling in his mind. However, he couldn't find a chance to refute, so he simply hung his head and said in resignation, "Yes, that's how it was."
"Ha-ha!" Renly and James burst into laughter, even giving each other a high-five in celebration. This infectious laughter finally broke Rami's resolve. He joined in with laughter, unable to resist any longer. Then, once they had calmed down from their laughter, Renly asked with concern, "Your expression looks so painful. Didn't the doctor give you painkillers? Or something for the pain?"
Rami adjusted his position slightly; he had laughed too hard and his abdominal muscles ached. Unfortunately, his adjustment pulled on the wound, causing him to grimace in pain. "No," Rami gritted his teeth. "Because the injury isn't that severe. Resting for a night will be fine, so the doctor didn't give me painkillers."
"Then it's better if the injury were more serious," James joked from the side.
Rami was about to retort to James, but Renly shot James a disdainful glance, "No consideration at all." Rami sighed in relief, but before he could be happy about it, Renly continued, "If the injury were too severe, people would misunderstand."
Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?
Rami turned his head and looked at Renly and James, who were spouting nonsense with serious expressions. He was so excited that he tried to sit up by supporting himself, but when the wound was pulled, that indescribable pain engulfed him. Renly stepped forward and pressed Rami's shoulder. "You need to rest properly. Are you really planning to make your condition worse?"
Rami felt that his wound was okay, but the internal injury was quite serious. If Renly continued speaking, he might actually cough up blood.
Seeing Rami's conflicted and gloomy expression, James couldn't hold back any longer and broke character, bursting into laughter. "Rookie, I finally understand why Richard and the others dare not mess with you anymore."
Renly innocently spread his hands, "I haven't done anything. I've always maintained a friendly relationship. After all, I'm just a newcomer with no experience or credentials. I need to get along well with everyone, right?"
After the torturous training camp, Richard and the others had calmed down for a while. However, upon arriving in Australia, they had resumed their antics and joined forces to isolate Renly. But later, there were rumors in the crew that Richard had targeted Renly because he had confessed his feelings to him, only to be rejected. Out of love and hate, the situation became interesting.
Richard was completely enraged. In his eyes, this news was definitely fabricated by Renly. So, he confronted him. Unexpectedly, Renly responded with respect, "I respect everyone's right to love, regardless of gender or age. Unfortunately, I can't accept it. However, I would advise that we're no longer high school students. We can handle emotions more maturely."
Faced with Renly's tactful response, Richard was entirely at a disadvantage. He was eager to explain, accusing Renly of fabricating facts and even resorting to profanity. Comparatively, Renly hadn't done anything and hadn't responded. He accommodated everything with magnanimity, which in the eyes of others, made Richard seem driven by love and irrationality.
Richard had missed his chance due to impulsiveness, and afterward, he was at a complete loss. He was the typical male chauvinist, a supporter of white supremacy. He was not only racially discriminatory but also gender-biased. Being regarded with strange looks by others was even more uncomfortable for him than if he were dead.
"Renly, how long did you rest when you were injured last time?" Rami curiously asked.
"Um, less than forty-eight hours," Renly recalled, realizing that his memory had become somewhat fuzzy. Actually, that had happened just a few weeks ago, but after spending so much time on the set, he had gradually merged with Eugene, gradually integrated into the harsh battlefield. Those detailed memories were starting to blur.
Tim had told Renly from the start: When you get injured, you'll initially feel fortunate, then feel bored, and finally start feeling guilty.
Now Renly finally understood the meaning. After being immersed in the harsh environment of war, a strong sense of crisis became commonplace, even instinctual, and couldn't be eliminated. What was worse, his comrades were still fighting on the battlefield, their lives hanging by a thread, while he lay on a sickbed, living a feeble existence.
"Don't worry. You can return to shooting the day after tomorrow, before this open field scene ends," Renly gathered his thoughts and patted Rami's shoulder. "When you come back, you'll perform even better."