Prologue: Liu Yue

 

It happened just as it seemed things might be turning around for him.

 

Liu Yue had been walking home from the convenience store with a plastic bag full of instant noodles and bottled water when his mobile phone rang.

 

He politely stepped out of the crowd and leaned against the railing of a nearby bus stop as he picked it up.

 

“Hello?”

 

His voice was soft and gentle and the people around him gave him curious and appreciative glances. A few of them thought he looked vaguely familiar. Others thought that he looked like someone who would fit in the entertainment circle.

 

This was something that Liu Yue had heard since he was young. But he hadn’t always been thought beautiful. In fact when he was young, he had a nickname at the orphanage when he grew up- “ghost boy". With his pale skin and long dark eyes, he stood out from the crowd of other boys. It wasn’t just his looks either but also his mannerisms. 

 

He had been adopted once, at the age of 5, before the couple had quickly returned him after two months.

 

“He’s too quiet,” the mother had explained, spreading her hands helplessly as she tried to wash herself of the responsibility. “We can’t bond with him at all. He just smiles and nods at everything! I can’t tell what he’s thinking. The other day he fell over and hit his hand. It was bleeding and I rushed over to help him but he didn’t make a single noise! Just stared at his hand. It was really creepy!”

 

The headmistress had wanted to protest. After all a child wasn’t something you could just return like a box of eggroll from a supermarket but then the father had leaned forward.

 

“Hey is it true that his mother murdered his father and then committed suicide? Isn’t that something you need to disclose? What if he has a mental illness? What are you trying to hide, don’t you know everything can be found online in China now? We could sue you!”

 

Thereafter his history was duly disclosed to all potential parents and sealed his fate. His life at the orphanage was colorless and miserable - he only had one friend, another boy who was adopted when he was ten - until Mrs Dong came into his life.

 

Mrs Dong was a volunteer at the orphanage but she was also a retired drama teacher at a small local acting college. She began to run drama classes in the orphanage mostly to distract the bored children and unexpectedly she found she had a gemstone in her grasp!

 

That boy who was quiet and listless, overly silent and obedient, came alive on the stage. Once he was given a role he seemed to become another person, effortlessly and wholly embodying that role. 

 

As she began to pay especial attention to him she came to know him better. He wasn’t at all emotionless but just extremely shy and somewhat stubborn. It was as though he thought by being very quiet and obedient he would be able to avoid conflict. When he suspected that conflict was unavoidable he would protect himself by shutting himself off. She suspected there was some kind of trauma in his childhood before coming to the orphanage. 

 

But when he was an actor he could shake off these bonds and become another person. To the boy this was eye opening. 

 

Under Mrs Dong’s tutelage he successfully graduated from high school and entered a small acting college. After graduating from that he officially became an adult and changed his name. He only kept the “Tao" in his original name and Mrs Dong suggested the name “Liu Yue". It was a beautiful and elegant name which befitted the equally beautiful and elegant youth the awkward boy had become under her guidance.

 

Thus full of hope, Liu Yue had stepped into his new life in the acting world. But soon his dreams were crushed.

 

Although he was a good actor he had no connections. Mrs Dong had only been a small time actor herself and couldn’t help him much. He was happy to start from the bottom but he wasn’t the type of person who could easily make friends with people. His silent manner combined with his outstanding looks made other people feel as though he was rude and arrogant. This was precisely the reason he hadn’t been able to interview well and make it into a more famous film school like Beijing Film Academy to Mrs Dong’s disappointment.

 

Still things might have been alright since he had the two most important requirements for an actor: looks and ability, if not for Director Song. 

 

Director Song was a famous director and had many large budget movies to his name. He wasn’t a favorite in the award circle as his movies were considered style over substance but he had many box office successes. He was also a famed lover of beauty and infamous abuser of the “unspoken rules", i.e. the casting couch. The industry was rife with these stories but because of his fame no one was able to touch him.

 

He was instantly attracted to the then only 17 year old Liu Yue who came to audition for a small role in his upcoming big budget fantasy movie set in ancient China called: Legend of the Vengeful Flower. 

 

Although Liu Yue was still only a teenager and hadn’t fully formed his looks yet, he was already incredibly striking with pure, jade skin and long,  luminous dark eyes. He was reasonably tall, around 180cm, and had a slender and graceful figure with beautiful long legs. Director Song immediately smacked his lips with desire!

 

After the teenager finished the audition Director Song pursued him to the corridor where he gave him his business card.

 

“This kind of small role doesn’t suit your face. I want to offer you a bigger role, what do you think about playing the Crown Prince?”

 

Liu Yue opened his eyes wide. He couldn’t believe it! The teenage Crown Prince didn’t have too many scenes in the movie in actual fact but he had a crucial significance in the story.

 

He had thanked the Director with uncharacteristic enthusiasm and immediately phoned the now very elderly Mrs Dong who was ecstatic. She didn’t question it because the industry was somewhat more innocent during her time and also because she never doubted Liu Yue’s talent.

 

Thus it came as a big shock to Liu Yue when after the first day of filming, Director Song came barging into his room with a bottle of wine. Afterwards when he realized what the man wanted he fought back violently. After all he couldn’t have survived so many years at an orphanage without learning to fight back. Although he was quiet Liu Yue was not weak. When Director Song realized the teenager was not about to give in he gave up angrily. After all there was no reason for him to belittle himself to rape someone when there was plenty of willing men and women. Instead he only angrily threw wine over the boy and told him his career was over.

 

Since the contract with Liu Yue had already been signed, he couldn’t cancel it directly but he cut out almost every scene with the Crown Prince and if it couldn’t be cut he arranged for it to be taken from the back or at an angle or behind a curtain so Liu Yue’s face couldn’t be seen. 

 

Afterwards he blacklisted Liu Yue’s name in the industry in China. Initially Liu Yue’s agency still believed in him and fought to get him roles. But since no one wanted to offend Director Song for a small time actor with no fame. Eventually after they realized Liu Yue’s name had been blacklisted, his agency gave up on him. 

 

Thereafter he had only been able to do small independent productions which hadn’t gone anywhere. He could only afford to live in a tiny underground apartment and eat mostly vegetables and instant noodles. 

 

Then last year Mrs. Dong had passed away. So as to avoid troubling her, Liu Yue had never told her the truth about his struggles and kept lying to her that he was doing well. Since Mrs. Dong lived far away in a small city and was very old and half blind she believed him and kept reassuring him that his big break was just around the corner. Thus she died peacefully which was the only thing Liu Yue had to comfort himself in this miserable time.

 

In order to pay for her funeral costs, Liu Yue had even had to accept a role in a small erotic film which although it was not porn, humiliated him so much he wanted to die. 

 

But remembering Mrs. Dong’s strong belief in him, even on her death bed, Liu Yue couldn’t give up so easily. Thus he had existed in this awful state until he was 25.

 

The Liu Yue who picked up the phone that afternoon was now 182cm tall. He was very skinny and his clothes were very shabby but he still had a presence which made the people around him look at him. His beautiful phoenix eyes framed with long eyelashes and his soft, elegant voice left an impression on them.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Liu Yue is that you? It’s been a long time!”

 

Indeed it had. Liu Yue had gotten a shock when he saw the number come up on his phone. It was his first agent, the proper one he had gotten when he graduated from acting school. This agent hadn’t called him in almost five years.

 

“Is there something I can help you with, Mr. Xue?" 

 

“Liu Yue you are not going to believe this but we have just been contacted about a role for you. This producer specifically asked for you by your name! And the most unbelievable part is do you know who the producer is? It’s the incredibly famous-"

 

But Liu Yue was not to find out who this famous producer was because the next thing he heard was gasps and screams.

 

There wasn't any time for him to react as the bus driver lost control of the bus and it barrelled straight into him..

 

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Hi this is my first published BL story. Actually all of Arc 1 has already been finished. I will try to update a chapter each day. If you enjoy please follow this story and like it.

Actually I am new to Scribble Hub and not too sure exactly how it works haha. So if I make mistakes forgive me!

~ Spiderlily