Edited by: Kuro, Lille, and Nyxx

After the break, the three got back into place. Alec had no trouble grasping his character once more and waited for his signal. Stephan, on the other hand, was having a harder time grasping his character. It was supposed to be a simple princely character and his persona should have helped it. He just felt too inferior to Alec.

"Stephan, why are you still so stiff?" The cameraman thought that the actors for the crown prince and the evil villain would have matched their personalities, but he knew that was wrong. Even Alec had to slightly change himself to fit the character, showing that it wasn't his usual personality. Well, even if he noticed it, there was no point in saying anything. It would probably irritate Stephan more.

Stephan took deep breaths and then closed his eyes. He finally centered himself and got into character. With the help of his usual persona, they were able to finally take the perfect picture.

"Good, good! Stay like that and don't move! Okay, dears look this way and tilt your head this way! Perfecctttt~"

After the successful photo shoot, they were all finally able to leave.

Alec was walking next to Damien when he heard someone running up to him.

"Alec, do you mind if I ask you something!" Kyle came over to them with a bow. It looked as if Alec was bullying the innocently cheerful Kyle, making everyone curious and worried.

"Hmm." He nodded. Alec left Damien's side and walked over to Kyle.

Kyle, with a smile on his face and bright eyes, grabbed Alec's hands. "I have always been a huge fan of yours and want to be friends!"

Friends...??? Alec was utterly confused. Wasn't the friend scene supposed to happen later when they started to act together? Wasn’t it for some sort of movie? System 255, Alec is confusion. Then he remembered that there were quite a few scenes where Alec refused Kyle.

Seeing the confusion in Alec's eyes, Kyle tilted his head. "You don't wanna be friends with me?" He wasn’t trying to guilt-trip Alec, he was just trying to confirm but he looked so innocent. He was a tall man looking like a puppy, but in fact, he was a mama bear.

Even though Alec had an expressionless face, his ears gave him away. They were extremely red showing that he was blushing with embarrassment. How long has it been since he had friends? People actually wanted to be his friend? The Host and the original Alec weren’t used to having friends.

"Are you okay with me being your friend?" He wanted to make sure. He mumbled because he was so embarrassed. He already wanted to crawl into a hole.

Seeing the innocence in his eyes, Kyle was shocked but also very happy. "Of course! Let's be good friends, okay?" He truly wanted to be friends with Alec. There was something about Alec that made him want to be near him and protect him.

"I never had a friend before, what should I do?"

Everyone who was eavesdropping had to double-take at Alec who was truly serious. The young man was like 22 and never had a friend. This poor baby…tsk tsk tsk...

Everyone in the studio saw him in a completely different light. He was emotionless because he didn't really have people to interact with. His reputation made it so that he couldn't have any friends, making him confused about the world around him. It was no wonder he didn't know how to express himself.

"Well, first let's exchange numbers and start talking!"

They exchanged numbers and Kyle felt like he already used up enough happiness to last him 5 years.

"Alec, let's get going." Damien impatiently came over. It was lunchtime for Alec and he wanted to pry Kyle away from Alec.

"Hmm. Then I will see you around, Kyle." Alec said. He wanted to smile but his face was really stiff. The corners of his mouth didn't even move but his eyes said warmth and happiness.

"Ah, sorry to hold you up! I will definitely text you!" Kyle said and happily ran away.

Kyle was too cheerful, but it made Alec happy to see him so energetic. Alec was now more inclined to protect his new friend.

After leaving the studio and getting into the car, Alec leaned back into the black leather seats, exhausted. He was hungry, tired, and wanted to go back home to lay in bed for a few hours.

"Alec, you have a movie to film, so I will buy you lunch on our way to the studio.”

Schedules that were jam-packed and had him eating on the road were normal. As an actor, there were times when he barely slept.

“You can rest for a bit. I will wake you up when I get the food.”

“Okay.”

There was a blanket in the car for him, so he covered himself and got comfortable. Alec trusted Damien with everything, so he didn’t worry and closed his eyes. 

The movie he was going to act in was a romance movie, something he, the original, never acted in, but he wanted to give it a go. The movie was called “Stairway to Love.” The main character of the movie was a woman named Alexis. It was a movie about her love journey and how she got the courage to confess her feelings to the person she loved.

He was going to play the second male lead, a rich CEO who dominated the clothing industry. With top-quality clothes designers, their brand was for the rich.

This rich CEO, Raymond Torres, fell in love with a clothing designer who worked in his company. He fell in love with her, not because of her looks, but her hardworking nature. She was someone who worked long hours of the day designing new clothing. She wasn’t a manager or the head of her department, but she was the leader of her team. He’d seen her every day as he passed by, designing, helping people, training others, and even meeting clients. He thought that she was beautiful when she was focused and passionate about her work.

But she, Alexis Rivera, was in love with someone else. The actress was played by a woman named Emma Flores.

The person Alexis was in love with was a childhood friend who was almost done with medical school. Her childhood friend was named Dylan Walker, played by Aaron Baker. When they weren’t at school or work, they were attached by the hip, but they were both too shy to confess. It was so typical for a love story that it made Alec want to vomit over the cliché story plot.

Famous actors were starring in the movie, so many people paid attention to it. A lot of people also wanted to see how the cold-faced Alec would express his almost puppy-like love. Some people said that Alec would scare the other actors, others say he would look very awkward, and the majority think the directors would change Alec out for someone else.

Many people would be shocked to hear that Alec was the one who accepted the movie, not his manager Damien.

“Alec, wake up, here’s your food,”  Damien called out to him like he did this morning. “Why did you suddenly want to star in a romance movie?” He was curious as usual, Alec stayed away from these roles even when he was asked by famous directors.

“More experience.” He also wanted other people to see Alec playing roles outside of villains.

“I’m glad you want to try to explore different genres, but please don’t push yourself if things get too tough.”

“Thank you, I won’t.”

Alec had already looked into the script and felt that he could do the role of Raymond. Raymond was a very passionate man. He wasn’t someone to date people he didn’t like, and when he liked or loved someone, he loved too hard. He was similar to the Host when it came to falling in love.

When he arrived at the studio, many avoided Alec like the plague, hoping to not get on his bad side. He didn’t have any actors as friends, except for Kyle who he recently became acquainted with. It was no wonder people didn’t want to talk with him…

“Let’s meet up with the director, then go to the dressing room.” Damien motioned to follow him inside the building.

Alec followed Damien as per usual and met up with the overly excited Director. Director Eleanor was very famous not for her romance movies, but for her murder mystery movies and shows. Romance movies were like little hobbies for her.

“Alec, to think that you would finally accept my request to star in one of my romance movies!” Director Eleanor jumped up in excitement when she saw Alec. The two knew each other quite well as Alec starred in the majority of her works.

“I felt it would be rude to keep rejecting you,” Alec replied with less enthusiasm. He felt exhausted looking at how much energy Director Eleanor had.

“You are damn right it would. Your ice-block self would be perfect! Imagine, someone who is usually cold and detached, falling in love, and chasing after someone. An ice block that is only expressive to one person. The world isn’t ready for the LGBTQIA+ movies I have planned, but for now, this will do!”

Isn’t ready for it? To the host who was once married to another man, this world needs to hurry up and get ready for it.

“Ah, I just remembered, you need to get ready. We already filmed the first couple of scenes with the introduction of the main character, Alexis, and the male lead, Dylan. You will be filming the scene where you pass by Alexis in the company quite a few times. You will fall for her work ethic and her love for clothing.”

“Alright, sounds good.” Alec thanked and left Director Eleanor before she could tire him out.

In Alec’s dressing room, they fixed his hair, and makeup, and gave him the suit CEO Raymond would be wearing in that scene. There were 10 different suits in the dressing room as Raymond was a character that would be wearing suits in all of his scenes.

After he finished getting ready, Alec walked out of the room in character. He was the cold but loving CEO Raymond; a rich man who owned a famous clothing brand. It wasn’t difficult to get into character.

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The scene was set up to look like an office building. There were a “few floors” that were created because they were going to be used throughout the movie. 

The first office floor was where the main character was working. There were clothes and fabrics in almost every corner. The desks had drawings of people’s ideas, laptops, and some had sewing machines on them. 

It looked less like an office and more like a tailor’s shop. 

Alexis was conscientious at work. In the first part of the scene, she could be seen going from place to place as she helped others and designed clothing. 

Their office had a bit more leisure rules on their business casual dress code so everyone dressed as stylish as they wished. The atmosphere was also a lot livelier than regular offices. 

CEO Raymond came up with an excuse to walk through that floor in the mornings and afternoons. He had a good friend who worked on that floor so he came to visit that good friend every day. His good friend from university was the head of the fashion design department. The good friend’s name was Benjamin Windell. He was often called Benny or Ben as his nicknames. 

Benny was a supporting character for the second male lead as he was someone who gave him love advice and cheered him up when things didn’t go well. 

After the cameramen focused for about a minute or two on watching Alexis in the office, Raymond walked by. He glanced at Alexis for a moment too long before his secretary turned around. She had accidentally passed by Raymond because he stopped moving. She couldn’t see what Raymond was looking at as there was a pillar conveniently standing in her way every time they stopped on this floor. 

She gave Raymond a moment before speaking up, “Boss, after meeting up with Department Head Ben, you have another meeting with a client.” 

Raymond looked back at his secretary and only gave a nod. He didn’t say anything and walked past her to get to Benny’s office. 

He wasn’t a person to speak more than he needed to, but his eyes couldn’t help but be drawn over to Alexis who stole his heart unknowingly some time ago. She didn’t know it, but her hardworking and serious nature made it hard not to appreciate her. When he saw her, eyes filled with enthusiasm when it came to designing, it was hard not to look at her. She seemed to shine in comparison to everyone else, like designing clothes that were made for her. 

His secretary waited outside the office while Ben and Raymond talked about the usual thing.

“Did you only stare at her again today?” Ben asked, amused that his cold-as-ice friend fell in love for the first time in his life. It was awkward to watch, like a baby dear taking its first steps out of the womb and immediately falling to the ground. 

Raymond looked confused. “What else am I supposed to do?” 

“What else?! Aren’t you the CEO? Use your money to woo her in. Ask her out. Tell her you want to get to know her!” 

“What happens if she rejects me?” 

“If she rejects you then it’s not meant to be! Also, who in their right mind would deny a handsome CEO? If I were her, I would’ve crawled into your bed!” 

This wasn’t in the script, but for some reason, Raymond asked, “Why would you crawl into someone else’s bed?” He even tilted his head oh so innocently. Alec was so in character that he didn’t realize that he improvised the script.

Was Raymond so innocent? Of course, he was. This was the man’s first time he had ever fallen in love, never dated, and there were no scandals of people trying to climb into his bed. How would he know what that meant? 

“Raymond, crawling into a person’s bed means someone wants to have sex with the said person. Anyone would have sex with you just by looking at your face, that body, and your money!” Though only people who thought like Benny would say this. He was shameless but he knew what he wanted in a person.

“I don’t want her to love me for my body or money… I want her to love me for me.” 

It was so innocent that Ben felt like he was blinded.

“I suddenly have this urge to protect you from all the bad in the world…” Ben suddenly awakened his parental instincts. 

“AHHH, okay okay. Don’t try to woo her with money. Why don’t you try to make some scenes where you ‘accidentally’ bump into her a few times…” 

Ben whispered into Raymond’s ear like a little devil on Raymond’s shoulder. They weren’t bad ideas, but they could go weirdly if they weren’t implemented properly. 

The scene zoomed away from them before turning into the office where Alexis was. She had no idea that people were talking about her, focusing on her job and hoping to meet Dylan, the male lead, soon.

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“And cut,” The Director shouted to cut the scene. “I didn’t think you two were going to improvise that scene. It was so good that it made the scene perfect!”

Alec was about to apologize but after hearing Director Eleanor, felt relieved that the scene went well.

“Alright, that’s really good Alec. I’m really glad you accepted my request. An icy CEO, who is as innocent as a maiden, whose heart melts. It’s fantastic! Truly, I have great vision.” Again, these romance movies were hobbies of hers...

She patted Alec’s shoulders, wrinkling his suit a little with how rough she was. She was quite strong despite her size.

“Alright, let’s film a few more scenes!” She had everyone position themselves like changing the set and shooing people to their dressing rooms.