Although Kirin did not sleep a wink that night. He was feeling rather refreshed and energized when he got up the next day. When he went downstairs for breakfast, he saw Kincade sitting in the dining table. Kirin’s eyes shined brilliantly. He could no longer contain his excitement! He wanted to call out Jin’s name! However-!

As soon as he opened his mouth, the name got stuck in the middle of his throat. No matter how hard he tried saying Jin’s name, he couldn’t! After a while of soft gasping breaths, Kincade noticed the strangeness.

“Are you alright?” he looked over to Kirin, eyes filled with concern.

Trying to alter his words was an even more difficult job; it was as if his jaws were locked. After moving his mouth around, he finally got words to come out.

“Ah, no. I was just wondering if you were feeling better today,” Kirin smiled.

So that was the security filter. It was truly bothersome. However, since it kicked in, then I must be right. This man right here is the one with Jin’s soul!

Kirin cooked his own breakfast as well as a plate for Kincade and sat down by his side. At this time, it was only the two of them who were awake, and it was already 9 in the morning.

“You seem to be in a good mood today. Did something happen?” Kincade asked.

Am I that obvious? Kirin thought to himself before answering, “No, I’m just wondering to myself that the universe is rather quite small.”

Kincade raised a brow at that statement, looking at the rather adorable university student who had yet to fix his bed hair. Kincade let out a low, hum-like chuckle, making Kirin’s entire body tingle with goosebumps. A satisfying tremble surged through Kirin's body. Kincade ruffled Kirin’s bed hair, “Be sure to wash up properly.”

“Says the person who got drunk yesterday and couldn’t even change their clothes themselves,” Kirin said back.

As soon as those words escaped Kirin’s mouth, he saw Kincade’s face slightly twitch before he regained his calm as if he never heard those words. And Kirin wasn’t going to ask if it he wasn’t going to say anything either. 

Seeing that Kincade was somewhat in a daze as he ate his food, Kirin took over the spoon, sliced a piece of his omelet and held it up to Kincade’s lip. This surely woke Kincade from his daze as he stared blankly at the spoonful.

He then smiled, “What’s this?”

“Consider it special service.”

Kincade’s smile deepened, making his dimples even deeper, as he leaned forward closing the space between him and Kirin. Their faces were still a few inches apart, but Kirin could feel Kincade’s breath on him, arousing his desires.

“Are you flirting with me?” Kincade smiled.

“Oh? Are you only realizing that now?” Kirin seductively tilted his head to the side, giving Kincade a sexy yet languid smirk. “But, if you don’t want that, I can stop. Don’t make me wait too long for an answer,” said Kirin as he stuffed Kincade’s spoonful of food into his own mouth.

Taking the spoon out of his mouth, Kirin licked his lower lip, flashed a charming smile then got up to go wake up his buddy. After Kirin disappeared up the stairs, Kincade finally released the breath he had been holding in. Holding his forehead, he noticed a relatively large tent in his pants. Damn, he was feeling horny at this very moment.

===

After the whole gang was up and breakfast was done, Kirin was the first to leave, taking the bus back to his studio.

“I can take you back,” Kincade offered.

Kirin looked over his shoulder and gave Kincade a smile, said nothing and left.

“What? Did you guys get into an argument?” Christopher asked.

“It’s not that,” Kincade answered. Kirin was giving Kincade space to figure out his own feelings, and he understood that. “It’s complicated.”

Up until the day of the auditions, Kincade and Kirin did not interact with one another, keeping to themselves. Kirin had contacted Dan over the span of those three days to get the script from him to rehearse his lines and get an idea of the storyline.

His character, Li Yun, was quite a pitiful character, from beginning to end.

***

The movie was called Celestial Blessings. It follows the story of a 19-year-old girl named Fuyu who lived in the 21st century. However, there is a background story that centers around her.

Thousands of years ago when the earth was still dominated and overruled by vicious, man-eating demons, the 12 animal zodiac gods felt pity for the humans and decided to gave each their blessings to one human and have that passed one from one generation to the next. There were 12 chosen humans who were bestowed with these gods' power and blessings. Once this blessing was bestowed, each Guardian would cultivate their own special abilities to fight for the human race, keeping the demons at bay. 

Around the time period where Fuyu was born into, the 21st century, the 99th reincarnations of the Guardians were also reborn into this era. The Guardian reincarnations were reborn with the cultivated powers, blessings and memories of their predecessors. This story then follows how Fuyu is thrown into a world filled with chaos as she and her fellow Guardians discover the secret behind her identity and the sleeping chaos that was ready to be awakened. 

It was revealed that thousands of years ago, at the dawn of time, the Dragon God had been replaced by a fake; a strong fallen god who wished to ascend back to the heavens after a world-shattering battle. However, the fallen god could only ascend once again by absorbing the blessings from each Guardian, and gaining their powers, turning it into his own as well as devouring the other gods. The Guardians who was selected by the Fake Dragon God was also aware of its plans, becoming its puppet, being a fake Guardian as well. 

The 1st Guardian underneath the Rabbit God, Li Yun, cultivated his powers and foresaw the future, one in which the world had fallen, and standing at the top was the Dragon Guardian, having slain his brethren. Li Yun’s foresight has never once been proven wrong. So, he decided to dig and investigate deeper into the matter, only to reveal the truth a commit taboo - killing another Guardian. And the Dragon Guardian wasn’t just any ordinary man, he was a younger emperor of a country from which Li Yun was also from. 

Because of his heavy sin, all of his statements were denied and Li Yun’s status as a Guardian was stripped away, becoming just a regular mortal. It was also at this time, that the Dragon God disappeared mysteriously. However, because the other Gods could feel its presence, they believed it had gone into seclusion. It was from this point on that there was no longer a Dragon Guardian.

However, the truth was, when Li Yun fought off the Dragon Guardian and the Imposter God, after killing the Dragon Guardian, Li Yun used a forbidden spell to extract the true Dragon God from the imposter, separating its soul and blessings. He sent fragments of the Dragon God’s soul into each of the other Gods while the Dragon’s blessing was sent through time to find its Guardian - and that was Fuyu. But the other Gods were not aware and injustice was served.

After being defeated by a Guardian, the fallen god fell into a deep slumber within the depths of hell, being nurtured by the demons in order to bring havoc to the humans who have pushed them to the edge from their homes. When Li Yun was banished and stripped of his powers, his mind and soul was weak, however, his blood constitution was still considered unique and special having been blessed by a god.

The demons took advantage of this and coerced Li Yun to come over to their side, saying they’d never abandon him, that he had a special purpose to the slumbering demon king who had yet to be born. And for the next thousands of years, because he was trapped in the demonic miasma, Li Yun never aged as he nurtured the slumbering demon king with his own blood. 

Years later, the 21st century, when the Demon Supreme was finally born. Having faced the 11 Gods and their Guardians, it was a battle that destroyed many cities as many lives were lost, but it was still not enough to defeat the Demon Supreme who has been nurtured for the past thousands of years. It was also at this time that Li Yun is reunited with the 99th reincarnations of all of the other Guardians, however, it was only a reunion filled with hostility and hate. But it didn’t last long as Li Yun’s soul was sacrificed to the Demon Supreme as he was almost completely obliterated all the gods and Guardians.

Miraculously, Fuyu was able to awaken her blessing, thus repairing the broken soul of the Dragon God. Being reborn, it was stronger and with the force of all 12, the Demon Supreme was defeated and peace was restored. 

The storyline was filled with intertwining fates of the present and the past, very angsty and packed with drama that romance was just a small aspect of the whole production. 

***

When Kirin reviewed the storyline and his character, it made his chest hurt. For some reason, Dan’s perception of who to play Li Yun was really spot on… But since he decided to take on this role, Kirin was going to his best, after all, as a hitman from his prior life, once he had his heart set on a goal, he would see it through till the end. 

The auditions were being held at his current workplace, Lux Entertainment. Finding his way to the auditions, which was held in a big banquet hall, he saw many familiar faces. As soon he made his appearance, people began whispering. Almost everyone in the company knew that he had a special relationship with the CEO who mainly kept to himself. Auditions had yet to start but every person was already engrossed in trying to get in character. 

When 5 pm finally rolled around, everyone who was auditioning was sent to sit in the audience, which was situated on the sides of the performing stage while the judges sat at the front. One by one, Dan and his team called out the names and the person called would go to the center of the stage, introduce themselves and the character they were auditioning for. When that was said and done, they would move onto the script and act out or read the parts Dan and his team wanted.

Not even halfway through the auditions, a person finally made his appearance, taking his seat beside Dan. Those who were auditioning were shocked silly. They never thought the CEO of Lux would personally come to watch the auditions, thus this aroused slight motivations for the auditionees to do their best. Although Kincade looked as though he was engrossed on whoever it was that was auditioning, his eyes would glance over to where Kirin sat every now and then. But no matter how many times he looked over, Kirin was either too engrossed in his script or on whoever was performing. This made Kincade a bit unhappy.

Kirin clearly knew Kincade was shooting him glances from time to time, but he wasn’t going to react, at least not yet. Those who performed after Kincade arrived were much more energetic and lively, getting into their roles. However, many were too excited and acted a bit over the top, but Dan and his team only made note of these. 

“Liam Queens,” Dan finally called out his name.

Kirin stood up and headed to the middle of the stage. Although Kincade was sitting right next to Dan, Kirin just gave him a slight nod. “My name is Liam Queens. I’ll be auditioning for the role of Li Yun.”

The other auditionees were quite surprised because so far, no one has auditioned for this one supporting character.

“Then let’s start. As you’ve read through the script, I’m pretty sure you’ve noticed the change in this character’s personality, right?” Dan asked.

“Yes, I am aware of the changes,” Kirin replied. “And such a change was unavoidable, not after everything he’s been through.”

“But it’s also possible for one not to change, what’s your input on that?” Kincade finally spoke, arousing the interest of all the others. 

Kincade had yet to speak a word from the moment he entered the room but now he was talking - asking a question, to be more exact.

Kirin gave Kincade a smile, “Only time will tell.”

“Alright then. Let’s go to scene 123, line 54,” Dan smoothly interjected and flipped his script to the page.

Kirin flipped open his script and looked at which scene this was. This scene was the uncovering of the past, a flashback to the past before Li Yun was removed.

Kirin then turned around to face the back of the room. Getting into character, Kirin spun around, eyes sparkling with excitement. He raised his hand into the air, waving it like crazy as if he were a child, “Hey! Gu Rongxi Hurry up! You’re gonna miss the parade!” His voice was filled with excitement. He then rushed up to the table, which startled everyone, but one person did not flinch back. Kirin tugged an imaginary person’s arm along.

“Hurry, the selection’s about to start. And don’t worry, I’ve already contacted the three sisters from the Jiang family. Jiang Meiyue will be there. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to leave you two in peace,” Kirin whispered softly, like a mischievous troublemaker.

“I didn’t ask for you to invite to invite them,” Dan read the next line.

“Aw, come one. Don’t pretend to be shy. I know you’ve liked her since we were children. Don’t worry. I’ve kept that secret safe with me,” Kirin leaned over and winked charmingly. “And besides, if something were to happen, I’ll be there to back you up. After all, you are this kingdom’s young emperor that is sneaking off rather than attending to his duties.”

“And whose fault is that?” Dan replied.

“Yours, of course! Who else?” Kirin held onto his stomach and let out a melodious laughter, one filled with unexplainable joy. His acting and laughter were so captivating; it was as if they were there, in the scene which Kirin had brought to life. “Oh! Urie!!” Kirin recognized someone familiar off in the distance

“Alright. That was good,” Dan concluded this scene.

Kirin recollected himself.

“Next scene, scene 167, line 32,” said Dan.

This was the scene after Li Yun had discovered the truth, fought and killed the Gu Rongxi, sent the fallen god to hell, dispersed the Dragon’s soul and sent its blessings off to find its next successor. This was his trial scene for the committing taboo.

Kirin fell to his knees, face filled with despair; he was looking at the ground as the air around him became gloomy and cold. With his shoulders slouched and head down, his platinum locks fell in front of his eyes. There was a long moment of silence; no one moved and no one said a word. Lifting his head up as an excruciating slow pace, Dan and his team were shocked by the loss they saw in Kirin’s eyes. Tears were formed in eyes, on the verge of falling.

“... Urie… even you don’t believe me?” Kirin’s voice trembled softly as the tears finally gave in and fell from his eyes, glistening as they ran down his cheeks to his chin. “After everything we’ve been through… You don’t believe me?”

Everyone was speechless. It was as if it was Li Yun who was in the room. The look in his eyes were filled with sadness, betrayal and above all, disappointment. These were the people he grew up alongside with, the people in which he developed and strengthened bonds with. But now, no one was willing to listen to him. He was alone. Slowly, the tears ran down his porcelain cheek down to his chin before falling onto the ground. A chill ran down Dan’s spine. This was Li Yun. Kincade was even more shocked. He was only brought back from his shock when Dan called everyone back.

A broken smile formed on Kirin's face. "Of course, you wouldn't believe me..."

“That was amazing!” Dan stood up in his chair, eyes shining brightly. “I look forward to working with you!” Dan could no longer contain his excitement that he rushed over to Kirin, who had already wiped away his crocodile tears and was standing, fiercely shaking their hands.

“Me too,” smiled Kirin.

The other auditionees were amazed and shocked. They didn’t expect for someone to get a role right away. Usually the results would be posted a day or two after discussion, but to get the role right off the bat, this guy’s acting skills was quite amazing.

===

After all of the auditions were done, it was already 9 pm. 

“I was right to give him that role,” Dan said proudly to himself.

“Mr. Khang,” Dan heard a soft voice call for him over his shoulder.

Turning around, he was given a sudden scare with Kincade standing right behind him with his tall stature. 

“Oh? Mr. Orrs. Did you say something?” Dan noticed the somewhat stiff expression on Kincade’s face as his brows were slightly furrowed in the center.

“... Let me audition as well.”

Dan’s eyes widened. Did he hear that right?

“W-what was that?”

“Let me audition as well.”

Eh?! What?! Was he having hearing problems?! This was a man who has not been acting for the past 5 years and now he wants to make a comeback?! Why the sudden change?

“Um, if you don’t mind me asking, why the sudden interest?” Dan asked curiously. Although it was just a curious question, for some reason he felt like he already knew the reason why.

“I suddenly got the inspiration I needed,” Kincade said smoothly.

Dan’s ears perked as a smile ran across his face. “Alright. Which role were you thinking about auditioning for?”

“Arthur Fame,” Kincade answered.

In the script, Urie Losse was a foreigner from a country from the far West who was visiting the Country of Xun as one of the ministers of foreign affairs. Li Yun was actually the Prime Minister’s eldest son within the country of Xun, the country in which the emperor, Gu Rongxi was ruling over. The three were close friends before and after they were selected and chosen to inherit these zodiac god’s blessings. 

However, everything fell apart after Li Yun killed Gu Rongxi and was banished. Arthur Fame is the 99th reincarnation of Urie Losse in the 21st century; his role wasn’t a dramatically big one, but was significant enough and had ties with Li Yun. If he got the role of Arthur Fame, he'd also play the role of Urie Losse.

This only piqued Dan’s interest in Kirin even more.

“Alright. I’ll let you try out for the role. There are no guarantees that you’ll get the role though.”

“That’s fine with me. A chance is all I need.”