Deep in the Act: Chapter 11

It was still that office building, one of the ten rooms the crew had rented. Because the walls were painted blue, everyone called it the Blue House. It was Fang Chi’s home. Chen Zhengsen and Zhen Xin were having an intense discussion about the plot. Zhang Zhun sat far away on the sofa, listening to Xie Danyi’s WeChat voice messages over and over. She said, “Hi… no, I should say bye.” She paused. “I’m leaving. I shouldn’t be affecting your work… I really regret you took this film.” She was somewhat choked up. “I’ll wait for you in Guangzhou. I love you.”

Zhang Zhun listened to it again. “I love you.” He gripped his phone tightly, gripping until the web between his thumb and index finger hurt. Chen Zhengsen shouted at him. “Stop playing with your phone. Let’s work!”

He stood up, turned off his phone and tossed it aside. Today he was wearing another suit, off-white, a saffron tie, with a men’s brooch. Zhou Zheng directed him to stand by Fang Chi’s bed. The script supervisor called the slate. “In Character, Scene 212, Shot 1, Take 1!”

He didn’t make any movement. He stood there for a full minute. Then suddenly he undid his belt, took off his pants, and reached his hand into his underwear. The camera followed his face. He stared at Fang Chi’s bed. The covers were half open. The bedsheets were messy, not tidied. His breathing quickened. His two hands moved rapidly at his waist. A sound of unbearable groaning came from deep in his throat.

Zhen Xin entered the frame. He came in from outside the door, looking at this scene in shock. “What are you doing?”

Zhang Zhun turned to look at him, smiling, enjoying himself, without a trace of shame. Zhen Xin’s gaze moved down to his hand. That hand didn’t stop. In reality it was only half gripping, performing. But Zhen Xin’s face flushed red. “You… it doesn’t have to be like this!”

Zhang Zhun turned back, continuing to jerk off toward the bed. Zhen Xin showed a scholarly kind of anger, going up to pull at him. Zhang Zhun fluttered his long eyelashes, looking at him through a drunken haze. “Stop pretending to be a gentleman.”

“Cut!” Director Chen took off his headphones. “Pass!”

Zhen Xin and Zhang Zhun separated. No words. Each turned their back to the other. Like the previous scene, this one also required full nudity. The staff had gone ahead to the bathroom to turn on the shower and test the water temperature, asking them to go in and block out the scene.

The camera positions were already set up. Zhen Xin took this opportunity to talk to Zhang Zhun. “I’m not leaving. What about you?”

Zhang Zhun didn’t even look at him, shaking his head. Zhen Xin immediately felt a sense of defeat. With a dark face, he said to Chen Zhengsen. “Let’s just do it.”

Filming began officially. The two of them stood face to face under the running water, their hair wet and slicked back, steam rising from their skin as the hot water hit it. Zhang Zhun actively sucked on Zhen Xin’s lips. This was the most devastating kiss scene of all. As the script wrote it. Gao Zhun was like a snake in heat, wrapping his whole body around Fang Chi. He moaned nonstop, like a bee pecking at honey, deeply probing Fang Chi’s mouth. He was promiscuous, hungry like a woman without a man, flirtatious and passionate.

Everyone felt his flirtatiousness. His arms climbed up to wrap around Zhen Xin’s neck. His lower body pressed tightly against Zhen Xin, writhing up and down. His thighs hooked horizontally around Zhen Xin’s legs. His buttocks arched in an obscene curve. Zhen Xin felt like he couldn’t hold him anymore. Although this seductive manner was only to please Fang Chi, and had nothing to do with him. He struggled to deliver his line. “Let’s go to the bed…”

Zhang Zhun separated from him, turning his back, both hands braced against the smooth tiles, presenting his slippery buttocks to him. “Take me,” he said emotionally, while swaying his waist. “Right now.”

“Fang Chi” suddenly felt angry. One hand grabbed his hair. “Those men just pull down their pants and get on you, is that it?”

Zhang Zhun laughed, turning back to wrap his arms around his shoulders, lifting his foot, accompanying the sound of pouring water. “They…” The second half was a whisper between him and Zhen Xin. The camera was on their faces. One was doing everything to provoke and tease. The other was foolish like a virgin. Zhen Xin hugged Zhang Zhun hard, kissing him to death. Then he lifted him by the buttocks, carrying him on his body, sucking and licking as he walked toward the bedroom.

The camera followed. Zhen Xin threw the person onto the bed, then pounced on top. Chen Zhengsen called “cut” again. They needed to rig the camera position. A small wide angle, shot from above. This scene was filmed in fragments, so fragmented that both of them felt like they had undergone a great torture. Zhen Xin and Zhang Zhun were breathing heavily, breathing at the same frequency, as if they were truly experiencing an affair. Zhang Zhun quickly adjusted his breathing, disrupting this rhythm that shouldn’t be there.

“In Character, Scene 212, Shot 3, Take 1!”

The two of them lay on the bed, Zhen Xin on top, Zhang Zhun below. His two legs were spread wide, directly facing the camera hung high above. Zhen Xin held those two legs apart. Unlike last time, this time his gaze at the cleft of Zhang Zhun’s buttocks was blatant. Zhang Zhun felt it. But he couldn’t close his legs. He could only subconsciously tighten his sphincter. Zhen Xin watched that mysterious place twist into folds, the anus contracting to just that tiny bit. He thought he must be going crazy. He didn’t find it disgusting at all. Instead his mouth was dry and parched.

He pressed his whole body’s weight up against him. His erect groin fit right into that warm, slippery triangular area. Zhang Zhun groaned. Zhen Xin didn’t know if it was acting or real. He began thrusting his hips with all his might. He felt every nerve beneath his skin boiling. The pleasure made the focus of his eyes blur and distort. Chen Zhengsen still wasn’t satisfied, knocking on the monitor and shouting. “Teacher Zhen, harder!”

Zhen Xin cursed “damn it” in his heart. He shifted the pivot point of his thigh, thrusting his waist into second gear. Zhang Zhun became restless as if a switch had been flipped. His waist, suspended in midair, rose and fell like waves. Along with it, the fine strands of muscle on his chest rippled, glowing with gorgeous light. Zhen Xin’s hand roamed over that area, inch by inch, lightly brushing and slowly gathering. His technique was very crude.

Zhang Zhun’s moans stretched out, sticky and sliding across everyone’s eardrums. Chen Zhengsen had no choice but to take off his headphones, letting those cries release into empty space. Zhou Zheng stared at the monitor. Because it was a wide angle, the focal point of the lens undoubtedly fell on Zhang Zhun’s two wide open legs. They stretched out obscenely from over Zhen Xin’s shoulder, raised high toward the ceiling, trembling helplessly with the violent movements.

Zhou Zheng’s face was red and his heart was racing. After much thought, he still said to Chen Zhengsen. “Director, this will all be cut out anyway. Just a suggestion is enough. Zhang Zhun… he’s taking too much of a hit.”

“Taking a hit?” Chen Zhengsen’s face hardened. “Zhen Xin pressing against him like a pervert isn’t taking a hit? Those actresses who film bed scenes aren’t taking a hit? You’re overthinking it!”

Zhang Zhun was being thrust by Zhen Xin until he got hard. This position made him feel like he had truly become a woman. Even his breathing sounded abnormal. He grabbed Zhen Xin’s hand that was pinching his nipple like a lifeline, crying out his line. “Touch me… touch me!”

Zhen Xin was supposed to just go through the motions. But he reached his hand down, roaming around Zhang Zhun’s groin for a moment, and really grabbed him in one go. A sharp moan came through the headphones hanging on Chen Zhengsen’s arm. Zhang Zhun’s voice simply couldn’t stop. Following that hand, he hummed and ahhed, high and low. His voice was already rich and mellow to begin with. The tail end of each note trembled, like something lightly scratching at the heart. It made every man in the room go weak in the bones.

“Cut!” Chen Zhengsen couldn’t listen anymore either. He lit a cigarette and patted Zhou Zheng’s shoulder. “Move the camera over here. I think the dining table looks good. Metal base…”

He walked out, standing in the living room. The living room wasn’t big, but it was very cozy. The sofa was a bright orange, forming a striking complementary color pair with the blue walls. After finishing one cigarette, the equipment still hadn’t been wheeled out. He got angry. He charged back into the bedroom and cursed in Mandarin. “What the hell are you all doing! I told you to…”

Zhen Xin and Zhang Zhun were still on the bed. The sounds of lovemaking in the director’s headphones were still going. The camera was hanging overhead. The sound boom was propped up. No one dared to go collect them. Chen Zhengsen was the director after all. Just as he was about to lecture them, Zhen Xin turned his head and shouted at them. “Get out! All of you get out!”

Everyone looked at Chen Zhengsen. He stared with wide eyes, holding it in again and again. He waved his hand for them to go out. He himself turned around in place twice, very much losing face. “Buddy, what’s the rush. There’s more coming up!”

Sure enough, when Zhen Xin and Zhang Zhun came out wrapped in bath towels, what awaited them was a simply reinforced dining table and a camera staring them down. Chen Zhengsen pointed at the cleaned off tabletop. “Zhang Zhun, lie down on it.”

Zhen Xin’s last bit of patience was worn away. “Chen, have you no shame!”

No one dared talk to the director like this. Chen Zhengsen was about to explode with anger. Zhang Zhun quickly pulled at Zhen Xin, ripped off his bath towel, and obediently lay down on it, calm to the point of numbness. Chen Zhengsen sat behind the monitor, mocking coldly. “Go hard, Teacher Zhen!”

Zhen Xin rubbed his hair, standing dejectedly between Zhang Zhun’s legs. Honestly, filming this kind of scene had him about ready to vomit. Zhang Zhun must be feeling even worse. He naturally spread his legs, welcoming Zhen Xin’s still erect groin. Once he pressed in, he shamelessly clamped down on him, wrapping around his waist.

The machine’s red light came on. Another long stretch of mechanical movement. The metal table groaned desperately beneath the two of them. Clank clank, like an insatiable fool. Zhen Xin was already familiar with Zhang Zhun’s reactions. The slightly furrowed brows. The reddened collarbones. The suppressed low moans. All indicated he was enjoying it. But this time was different. The tightly knitted brow seemed to hold pain. The bitten lip corner seemed to be enduring. Zhen Xin looked down at where he was vigorously rubbing. It was all red. He had rubbed the tender flesh of his private area raw.

“Damn it!” He stopped, glaring at the camera with a truly angry face. “I’m not doing this anymore!”

The atmosphere went blank for a moment. Zhou Zheng was the first to step forward, wanting to play peacemaker. But Chen Zhengsen sneered, not at Zhen Xin, but at Zhang Zhun on the table. “Can you still film or not!”

Zhen Xin’s veins were bulging on his forehead he was so angry. “Chen Zhengsen, don’t bully people!”

Chen Zhengsen completely ignored him. “Zhang Zhun, can you film or not. If you can, get on the sofa. If you can’t, get out!”

Not a single person made a sound. They all looked at Zhang Zhun. They watched him slide down from the table, covering his lower body, silently sitting on the orange sofa nearby. The bright blue walls made his face look exceptionally vivid, with a lonely kind of beauty.

Chen Zhengsen was very satisfied. “All departments, prepare.”

Zhen Xin stood there without moving, seeming to resent Zhang Zhun’s passive acceptance. “I’m hungry. I have no energy. Whoever can do it, go ahead.”

He turned to leave. A voice called out to him. Light, low, not calling him “Teacher Zhen,” but calling his name. “Zhen Xin.”

Zhen Xin closed his eyes. He hadn’t heard Zhang Zhun call him by his name in a long time. He turned around and walked back, not forgetting to glare at Chen Zhengsen. “Make it quick. Don’t delay my meal.”

When he sat down beside Zhang Zhun, he couldn’t even hold back a smile. The corner of his mouth was pursed awkwardly, like a fool. He hugged Zhang Zhun face to face, lifting him onto his lap considerately, leaving an inch of distance. Chen Zhengsen saw it in the monitor. “Teacher Zhen, hold him tighter. The position isn’t right.”

Zhen Xin asked in Zhang Zhun’s ear. “Can you do it?”

Zhang Zhun climbed onto his shoulder, lifting his waist and shifting a bit. Moving to that so-called “right” position. Skin rubbing against skin created a tingling itch. Zhen Xin began breathing heavily, gazing at him obsessively, bouncing him upward again and again. Zhang Zhun hummed softly, their gazes intertwined. This scene was added on the spot. There was no script, no direction. Actually Zhang Zhun didn’t need to do anything. But he actually somewhat dazedly kissed Zhen Xin. It was that kind of simple, clean kiss, like a girl with her lover.

Actually, after a whole day of filming intimate scenes, everyone was a bit fed up. No one could have imagined Zhang Zhun would end it with such a simple kiss. It made lust become clear and bright, and made love become burning hot. Even Chen Zhengsen’s old face turned red.

After wrapping, everyone went about their own business. When Zhang Zhun was buttoning up his shirt about to put on his suit pants, Zhen Xin handed him his own pants. “Mine are more comfortable. Switch.”

Zhang Zhun hesitated. “Too long.”

Zhen Xin forced him to put them on, squatting down to help him roll up the cuffs. Then he squeezed himself hard into Zhang Zhun’s custom-made suit pants. The staff members all saw it. No one said a word. On the way back, Zhang Zhun was in the same car as Director Chen and Zhou Zheng. Back at the hotel, everyone was discussing going out for dinner. Zhang Zhun declined because his legs hurt. When he got into the elevator, he heard Chen Zhengsen shouting. “Where’s Zhen Xin? Who saw Zhen Xin? Didn’t he say he was hungry!”

It was truly an awful day, Zhang Zhun thought, lying red-eyed on his bed in his room. If he were a few years younger, he would definitely be cursing. At that moment the doorbell rang. He climbed down from bed with difficulty. The area between his legs was burning with pain. It was Zhen Xin. Still wearing those short, tight suit pants. Ugly and strange. Carrying a small plastic bag. Inside was a tube of anti-inflammatory ointment. “That… let me help you put some on?”

A day’s worth of grievance and anger accumulated to this moment. Zhang Zhun said coldly. “Stab me with a knife, then put medicine on me?”

Zhen Xin thought he heard wrong. “What did you say?”

Zhang Zhun lost control and shouted. “You know exactly what I mean!”

Zhen Xin instead calmed down. “I don’t understand.”

“Get out.” Zhang Zhun seemed to have many things to say, but couldn’t get them out. He was just wrestling with himself. At that moment the doorbell rang again. Zhen Xin opened the door in anger. A young man about his height, wearing casual clothes and carrying a sports bag. Seeing him, his eyes lit up. “Teacher Zhen!” This guy had a mouthful of white teeth. He bowed respectfully. “I’m Zhun Ge’s agent and assistant. Call me Xiao Deng.”

“Xiao Deng?” Zhang Zhun limped over. “Why are you here?”

Xiao Deng came in and closed the door, casually tossing his bag onto the sofa. “Sister Danyi called me, told me to come right away.” He spotted the ointment in Zhen Xin’s hand at a glance. “Bro, you got hurt again?” He very naturally snatched the plastic bag over. “You’re something else, getting hurt filming this kind of scene! Come, let me put the medicine on. Where’s the injury?”

Zhang Zhun glanced at Zhen Xin. That face was ashen, like someone had punched him in the head. In a daze, Xiao Deng said again. “Bro, wait a bit. Let me take a shower first. It’s been so hot this whole trip.”

Saying this, the person went into the bathroom. Zhen Xin stared at Zhang Zhun in disbelief. “You won’t let me put medicine on you, but that kid can?”

Zhang Zhun wanted to explain to him, but didn’t know what to explain. At this critical moment, Zhen Xin’s phone rang. It wasn’t the “Trout Quintet.” It was A Fine Frenzy’s “Almost Lover.” Fang Chi’s phone ringtone.

“Hello?” He answered. “Yunting.”

It was his girlfriend. Zhang Zhun didn’t know where a surge of sourness came from. Not caring that Zhen Xin was on the phone, he provoked him. “He’s my assistant. What are you to me?”

Zhen Xin was stunned, speechless. The coquettish complaints from his girlfriend on the phone didn’t register at all. He simply hung up to argue with Zhang Zhun. At that moment, Xiao Deng came out dripping wet, with only a bath towel around his waist. He grabbed the ointment and sat on Zhang Zhun’s bed. “Bro, come on.”