Beneath the Gentle Night

[Main story complete] Proud and sharp-tongued x gentle and resilient / 6 p.m.

Everyone in the industry knows that Liang Shu, the hottest actor around, never takes romantic roles. So when news breaks that he's starring in a movie full of intimate scenes, opposite An Wan, a little-known actress, everyone holds their breath.

The first scene is a kiss. The director assumes the two won't get along since they aren't familiar with each other. After a failed take, Liang Shu wipes the lipstick from his lips. "Blushing? Weren't you pretty good at this before?"

An Wan refuses to back down. "I don't feel the same way about you as I used to."

"So you don't feel anything? Fine, I'll help you find that feeling."

When filming resumes, An Wan is kissed until her face glows. The man murmurs in her ear, "Do you feel it now? If not, we can keep going. My greatest strength is that I love helping people."

In another scene, he gently presses a finger to the corner of her moist, reddened eye. His fingertip catches a drop of moisture, and he rubs it between his fingers with a smile. "Someone's about to get kissed to tears."

Before the movie's release, its title is changed to Nightfall. A reporter asks Liang Shu, "Why did you suddenly change the title to Nightfall?"

He looks at An Wan and smiles. "There's something I want to get done under cover of night."

"What is it?" the reporter presses. "Did you manage it? And with so many intimate scenes, aren't you worried your partner might mind?"

Liang Shu turns to An Wan. "Do you mind?"

An Wan blinks and looks back at him in confusion. "I don't mind."

Then everyone sees a broad smile spread across Liang Shu's usually cool, moonlit face. "My partner says she doesn't mind."

He pauses briefly. "So I managed to get that thing done, too."

The room falls silent, then everyone catches on. Camera flashes light up the room like daylight.

Much later, An Wan finds a handwritten first draft of the script at the very back of the bookshelf. The handwriting is Liang Shu's. On the last page, his bold strokes read: "While the night is gentle, I'll kiss you. While the night is gentle, I'll find my way back to you."

Coming soon: The Prey [Scheming, calculating fox of a man x sweet girl who holds grudges and turns on a dime]

Sweet and sour tension / Long-planned courtship / I am your very best prey

*Gu Xiaozhi has had a crush on Shen Ke from high school until after graduating from college, spanning her entire youth.

In high school, they were inseparable. But in college, they gradually drifted apart. When they parted ways, he was slightly drunk, his handsome brows furrowed as he opened his arms. Yet just as she moved toward him, he immediately turned away, as if waking from a dream.

Ambiguity leaves you hurting. After seven years without a single confession, Gu Xiaozhi finally lets go of the hope she had been holding onto.

The words he once said over the phone on a rainy night had kept her going for seven years, but even they could no longer sustain her.

She leaves school with a new look, braves the tide of the times alone, and puts her foolish hopes aside.

*Two years later, Gu Xiaozhi is sabotaged at work, and her company tells her to lie low across the ocean.

She chooses to go to Las Vegas and drink her sorrows away.

In a bar, she is in a drunken haze. An Asian man in a white T-shirt stands beside her, and in her blurred vision, he looks just like Shen Ke.

She realizes that she still misses him so much, but she wants even more to put an end to that longing.

As the man is about to leave, she resolutely grabs him. "Have a drink with your big sister."

She slaps her phone down on the bar with a flourish. The payment code is right there on the screen. "I've got money. I'll treat you!"

The man looks down at the wrist in her grip and smiles. "You said it."

"Don't regret it."

*+ One night of drunken passion.

When she wakes up the next day, her phone is overflowing with congratulatory messages, and two marriage certificates lie beside the bed.

Gu Xiaozhi tremblingly shakes the man beside her awake, eyes wide with shock. "How is it you...?"

After a night of abandon, her voice is hoarse.

Shen Ke opens his eyes at the sound of her voice and stares at her, arms opening to embrace her.

Gu Xiaozhi jerks away as if shocked by electricity.

Shen Ke freezes, his gaze deep and inscrutable. "Xiaozhi, we're finally married. Aren't you happy?"

"We can still get divorced." She forcefully slaps away the hand he reaches toward her again. "Why do you think I'll wait for you just because you came back?"

Shen Ke lowers his eyes to the red mark her slap left on his hand. Suddenly, he smiles until his eyes redden. "But I'm so happy."

Theme: Don't act on impulse. Keeping your emotions under control is the path to success