The two adjacent meeting rooms separated by a wall from the reading room have been transformed into a styling room and a photo studio.
Initially planning to oversee the fitting photos on site, Song Chuannuan was taken home to rest by Song Ling and Fu Qiao. The beloved Song Chuannuan is pregnant, just four months along, a fact unknown to the crew beforehand.
The first makeup and styling order is Zhong Shao and Yu Cheng. The training uniform and armour are the two most frequently mentioned outfits in the script, followed by several sets of casual wear. The armour is custom-made according to the actors' body shapes, made from new materials albeit still carrying some weight. The decision was made by the crew to save it for the final shots.
The two of them sat quietly with their eyes closed in front of the makeup mirror as the makeup team worked their magic.
Following the confirmed makeup design drafts, Zhong Shao's hair needed to be cut into short, choppy layers, while Yu Cheng's was to be styled after a side parting. To showcase the distinct personalities and elite, decisive qualities between the two executives, emphasis was placed on their eyebrows, with Yu Yue's being more straight and Ji Chen's more sharp.
The two stylists responsible for their makeup and styling had worked with Zhong Shao and Yu Cheng a few times before and chatted a bit more during their makeup session. An intern knocked on the door until she heard "come in," holding a pile of clothes almost up to her nose.
Due to a slight deviation in the arrangement of the mobile clothing rack by the costume team, she had to carefully carry the freshly ironed clothes over. The weight of the stacked clothes made her movements seem somewhat clumsy and awkward. Zhong Shao gestured for the stylist to pause, got up, took the clothes from the intern, and Yu Cheng followed suit, smoothly hanging the clothes on the mobile rack.
Upon entering the room, Zhong Shao noticed the young girl's eyes were red as if she had been mistreated. Turning around, he inquired, "What's wrong?"
Without even a sip of water, Zhong Shao's voice sounded slightly hoarse, carrying a hint of criticism. Recognising the issue, he swiftly shifted to a more comforting tone, concealing any hint of disapproval. "Why are you crying?"
His tone softened considerably, displaying patience and concern.
"Are you feeling upset on set?" The intern hesitated before responding, hastily wiping her eyes. "It's not that, the people on set are all very kind, it's just that my close friend is going through something, and I don't know how to help."
Apologising for bringing personal emotions to work, she bowed to Zhong Shao and Yucheng, sniffled, and promised to be more mindful. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't let my emotions interfere with my work. I will be more careful."
"I'm not blaming you," Zhong Shao reassured as he stood up, handing her some tissues.
"What's your name?"
"My name is Chen Xiaolin," she replied, wiping away her tears. "I am a student from the Fashion Institute, currently interning with the costume department."
Before more could be said, a member of the filming crew knocked on the door to check on their progress.
"Just change the clothes," Zhong Shao advised, stifling a cough.
"Okay, I won't disturb you any longer," the crew member said, departing without giving much attention to the intern in the room.
Yu Cheng handed a bottle of mineral water over. Zhong Shao took a sip, feeling his throat moistened as if by gentle waves, his voice softened, "Would you mind waiting until the filming is over to talk to us?"
He was not a saint, just a somewhat absurd feeling, telling him that he might be able to help the little girl with what she was going through.
Chen Xiaolin wasn't a fan chaser and had been on several sets, witnessing various levels of professionalism among popular celebrities and demanding performances from seasoned actors. However, it was the first time on set that the lead actors paid attention to her, a seemingly insignificant intern. This included the movie emperor Zhong Shao and the currently popular Yu Cheng. She felt a mix of emotions and bowed deeply, biting her lower lip, "Thank you."
Inexplicably, Chen Xiaolin trusted these two people a lot.
Zhong Shao was widely known for his high work efficiency in the industry, but it was surprising to find that Yu Cheng's work efficiency matched his own.
The couple's shoot followed the high-energy scenes from the original work for the couple shots, while the individual shots depicted each character's classic actions from the original work — long-distance rapid shooting with one hand, using a folder as a target.
Amber, the award-winning Chinese-American independent photographer who has been repeatedly recognised internationally in recent years, was the photographer for this shoot. She put down the camera, walked over to the computer, and then signalled a temporary pause to the on-set crew.
Zhong Shao and Yu Cheng approached, with Amber in between them, clicking the mouse.
Having never worked with the duo before, Amber was impressed by their professionalism evident from their recent work status and asked in English, "I feel something is off, what do you think?"
Both Zhong Shao and Yu Cheng had polished the original work and the characters themselves, but looking at the just-shot original images, a conflicting feeling arose.
"It's the eyebrows."
"The issue lies with the eyebrows."
Yu Cheng and Zhong Shao simultaneously pointed out the problem.
Amber looked at the two in surprise, marvelling at their synergy and familiarity with the original work.
Ironically, Amber was a fan of Song Chunuan's books and had also read Same or Not(ABO), but... apart from sensing something was amiss professionally, Amber couldn't quite pinpoint the strange conflicting feeling.
The head of the makeup department rushed over.
It turned out that besides the actors needing to thoroughly understand the script, every department in the crew needed to take a look at the script as well.
Following Zhong Shao's request, Amber opened three double photos in Photoshop side by side. In the three images, the makeup was different, each part looked almost perfect individually, but when combined, there was an unintentional sense of contradiction.
"This one is of Yu Yue and Ji Chen in the late stage of the training camp," Yu Cheng pointed to the first image, his slender index finger moving to the position of the second image, and continued, "This is when they were dispatched to Darwin Planet, just after learning about the mission."
"And this one," Zhong Shao took over from Yu Cheng, and continued, "is ten years later, when their relationship had progressed further, and the mission was in the middle to late stage. Therefore, at different stages, even their eyebrow shapes changed accordingly."
"But..." the head of the makeup department hesitated, "the makeup was confirmed with the screenwriter."
Before the head could finish, Song Chunuan's video call came through. After double-checking, Song Chunuan bit her finger, looking apologetic, "I'm sorry, I made a mistake with the makeup design."
She was very sleepy during that time, and when the makeup design arrived in her inbox at noon, she was awake but her mind wasn't fully alert, leading her to confirm the makeup design in a confused state. The next day, she received two strikes for the mistake.
The sudden screen shaking was followed by a white flash, a few indistinct whispers, and the sound of a closing door, until Fu Qiao appeared in front of the camera. The casual leisure suit weakened the fierce decisiveness seen in the shopping mall, also dropping a few bombs on the film crew.
"Chunuan took on work outside of the screenwriting department for the first time, and her negligence at work has caused trouble for everyone."
"Also, she is pregnant, just four months along, her mind not functioning properly."
"Considering various factors, her brother and I have decided that from now on, she will only be responsible for screenwriting. Any other work that needs her confirmation will be directly handled by me."
...
The video call ended forcefully under Zhong Shao's threat. After having the phone snatched away by Fu Qiao and being comforted, Song Chu Nuan, pitifully touched her slightly bulging belly, picked up her iPad for self-reflection.
@-Nuan-: Pre-action, Day 19.
Today was the costume and makeup trial. Due to my personal error in approving the makeup design, unnecessary workload was added for all departments and the main cast. I apologise to the entire crew for my professional mistake, I'm sorry.
Song Ling and Fu Qiao almost simultaneously reposted Song Chunuan's Weibo post, with one commenting "Take good care of the baby" and the other saying "Don't worry, I've got your back."
Song Chu Nuan did not expect that beneath her sincerely reflective Weibo post, all the comments would congratulate her on her pregnancy and ask who the other two actors were expecting babies.