309: [Bonus chapter]Too convincing it breaks my heart

[Bonus chapter]Too convincing it breaks my heart

2"Argh!!" 

Leo grunted through his gritted teeth, sucking the air and huffing it out heavily. His face had turned red from pain while all the veins in his neck protruded angrily. His grip around the edge of the bed tightened, creasing the sheets.

"Hah." In contrast to his reaction, Heaven's face screamed indifference. She gazed at the bullet covered in blood, twisting her hand to observe the bullet. Nothing was said, glancing up at the wounded Leo. 

"Pathetic," she remarked, placing the bullet in a small container before wrapping up his gun wound. "That was quite deep. If it went a little deeper, I don't think you still have the energy to be this foolish."

Leo kept his teeth clenched, his face crumpled in pain. He snapped his eyes when Heaven finished dressing up his wound, sitting beside him on the side of the bed. 

"You're not dying, so you'll be fine," she said with a tinge of nonchalance. "I hope you learned your lesson now and realize this wasn't the bet we bet on."

"Thanks." There was a tinge of sarcasm in his voice as he glanced at her, hand on his wound. "That hurts like hell."

Heaven didn't speak, watching him peek down at his bandaged stomach. She kept her eyes on his side profile, lips tightly shut. 

"Do you like her?" she asked after a prolonged silence.

Her question was enough to make him freeze, but not enough to earn his gaze. 

"Silence… means yes." Heaven let out a dry laugh, rocking his head. "You're really stupid."

"I guess I am, indeed, stupid." Leo kept his eyes down, smiling subtly. His eyes revealed softness and affection, unable to hide it from her keen eyes. 

"I'm not even mad at her," he continued softly. "If anything, I just thought of an acceptable reason why she had to shoot me."

Heaven pressed her lips into a thin line. The natural fierceness on her face was still present, but now, pain mixed into her sharp eyes. 

"Why?" she asked after swallowing down the lump in her throat. "Why do you like her?"

"Why?" he repeated, turning his head to face her.

Leo was supposed to answer insensitively, but alas, he took a deliberate pause. Leo assessed the look on her face before the corner of his lips curled up subtly.

"I don't know," he answered after a moment, eyes softening at the thought of his beloved. "Do I need a reason to like someone?"

The two of them stared at each other. Since their characters had been friends for many years, having this complicated yet strong bond, they somehow could read each other's hearts and souls. One understood the pain the other gained tonight, while the other realized that his heart was now in another person's possession. 

He was in pain because of the gunshot, but her heart bled with his words as sharp as daggers slicing through her heart. 

"You're… making a mistake," she breathed out, only to receive a slightly wider smile from him. 

"Maybe — ugh…" Leo planted his hand on his wound, looking away from her. "But for sure, this mistake is something I will not regret even if it takes my life."

*

*

"CUT!!!"

The room was quiet until the director yelled "cut!" and then everyone applauded as Heaven and Leo broke character and smiled. 

"That's great! Good job you two!" Director Guan happily praised the two but didn't dwell on it as he turned his head to Dominic. "CEO Zhu, what do you say? Aren't they great?"

Dominic was still sitting beside the director. His leg was comfortably resting over the other, arms crossed underneath his chest, eyes on the screen. 

"Mhm." A short hum escaped his tightly shut lips, snapping his eyes ever so tenderly to the people in the middle of the room. "It was convincing — too convincing, it almost broke my heart."

"Hehe." Director Guan grinned from ear to ear, taking that as a compliment. But before he could say anything to reassure Dominic the filming was smooth sailing, Dominic planted his hand on the armrest and pushed himself up.

"Huh?" Director Guan blinked, watching Dominic walk away. "CEO Zhu? Where are you…"

Deep lines appeared between his brows, realizing Dominic was approaching Leo and Heaven. Thinking Dominic wanted to talk to the actors and congratulate them for doing well, Director Guan jumped from his seat to follow him. 

Meanwhile, as soon as the director yelled "cut," Leo's staff and some staff from the production went to Heaven and Leo. 

"Miss Liu, are you okay?" asked one of the staff as she handed a towel to wipe her hand. 

"Haha. Of course, why wouldn't I be?" 

"You look sad — my heart broke while watching you." the staff pouted, making Heaven chuckle. "Goodness. I feel bad for you, even though I shouldn't."

"I'll take that as a compliment, then." Heaven chuckled, glancing to the side, only to see Leo staring at her. 

"That's a great take, Miss Liu," said Leo amicably, wiping his hand just like her. "You're great to work a scene with, as always."

Heaven pressed her lips into a thin line, keeping her slight smile. Since there were some people around the two of them, she didn't want to just ignore him. At least she had to be civil.

"Thanks," she replied quietly. "You, too. You did well. For a moment, I thought it was real. After all, you looked happy and psychotic while speaking about love for another in front of someone who secretly loved you for years."

Leo smiled, purposely ignoring her insinuation. It was true, after all. There was this slight satisfaction in seeing she was hurting instead of him. At least, even for a moment, she loved him while he didn't. 

"Anyway." Leo cast the staff a quick look, asking them to give them a bit of privacy. Since there wasn't much to do, the staff nodded and walked away from them. 

"Heaven," he called while her brows rose, a little wary of him, which she made so obvious. "I'm sorry about today. I overstepped and said something very stupid."

His smile remained, and the sincerity in his eyes glowed. "I will understand if you're still angry, but I just want to apologize for everything that I said. I…"

"CEO Zhu, wait for me!" 

Leo trailed off when he heard Director Guan. When he turned his head, all he saw was Dominic approaching him. He couldn't even react even until Dominic stood in between him and Heaven. The latter instinctively jumped a step back, even though there was already a wide distance between Leo and her. 

Director Guan's eyes opened wide as Dominic approached Leo, which caught everyone's attention. Soon, everyone's attention was on Dominic and Leo, curious about why Dominic approached the latter. 

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