I Alone Get Swept Up in the Role

Ming Nian, a minor actress, unexpectedly gets the chance to star alongside three-time Golden Lotus winner Shi Xue in the two-woman film Fallen Butterfly.

On screen, they flee for their lives together, bound by a love steeped in hatred.

They kiss at the foot of a dilapidated building, with ivy and green patina covering the wall behind them.

Off screen, Shi Xue is a senior star at the very top of the industry.

Ming Nian is courteous and cautious, respectful in every way.

But Shi Xue is simply too kind.

She helps Ming Nian get into character, teaches her how to kiss, and treats her with the utmost care for six months.

Fallen Butterfly wraps filming.

Amid the hubbub, Ming Nian secretly takes her hand. The other woman discreetly slips away and reminds her, "Nian Nian, you should come out of character now."

When Ming Nian looks at Shi Xue again, her dignified, gentle face is politely distant.

Ming Nian finally understands: in this game of love, she was the only one who fell for real.

Two years later, Ming Nian is a top actress. Fallen Butterfly becomes a huge hit and wins awards, and a streaming platform invites the two of them to appear on a variety show.

Ming Nian smoothly plays the role of the innocent puppy she's been for the past two years. But when the cameras stop rolling and the lights go out, she can calmly and deliberately look at the woman holding her in the darkness.

"Teacher Shi, it's time for you to come out of character too."

*May be changed to a reborn or caged songbird story, and so on.

*I want to write an entertainment-industry story that isn't so lighthearted.

*I'll leave it up for now, sob sob.

Theme: Love yourself.