Chapter One
“Ehhh?” Gargi paused the video for the third time in under ten minutes.
She stared at the frozen frame on her laptop, soft lighting, dramatic music still echoing faintly through her cheap speakers, and on screen, the heroine stood trembling, eyes brimming with tears that looked far too aesthetic to be real. It seemed like her tears were paid too for their work.
“Of course,” Gargi muttered, dragging a hand down her face. “Of course she trips, falls into his arms, and suddenly it’s destiny.”
She hit play again.
On screen, Bai Lianhua, the female lead stumbled, unnecessarily dramatically and right on cue, Gu Cheng, the male lead caught her like gravity itself worked in his favour.
Gargi snorted. “If gravity worked like that, half the population would be in slow-motion romance scenes.”
She reached for her cup of tea, took a sip and immediately grimaced. Cold.
Great. Just like her career.
The video continued. Emotional music swelled. Bai Lianhua looked up at Gu Cheng like he was the only man in existence.
Gargi snorted again. “Nope. Absolutely not.” She leaned forwards, elbows on her desk, eyes narrowing at the screen like she was personally offended.
“Girl, what is wrong with you? He looks like he wouldn’t blink if someone dropped dead in front of him—and you’re already in love?”
She rewound ten seconds, replaying the scene, analyzing it like a lawyer picking apart a weak case. “Uh huh. She definitely got the ‘I can fix him’ disease.” She commented, shaking her head in disappointment. She played the video again. Two lines later, the male lead’s expression softened.
Gargi blinked. “...Ah? That’s it? He’s falling already?” She stared at the screen in disbelief. “Bro, you don’t even look at people unless it benefits you.”
Her hand came down on the desk in frustration. “Who wrote this—” She hissed immediately, clutching her hand, “-shit?”
Phone buzzing interrupted her criticizing fit. Gargi reached for it, eyes still on the screen; she answered the call. “Hello?”
“Kay kartey? (What are you doing?)” The person asked.
“Nothing, trying to distract myself so I won’t fry off my brain.” Gargi replied. The person sighed from the other end. She could hear the noise, dramatic music and people speaking Chinese.
“As your manager, I advised you to take rest by distracting yourself with something less productive. Why are you doing things that are actually going to fry your brain.”
Gargi snorted. “Oh, trust me. This shit isn’t going to fry my brain. Watching this is as less productive as it can get.”
“You have writer’s block. And watching some Chinese short dramas isn’t going to be helpful. It’s going to make it worse!”
“Shhhh… calm down Ms. Pandey. It’s not gonna get worse. The writing of this drama is so shitty and predictable that I can mouth their dialogues too.” Gargi replied, unconsciously sipping her tea again and immediately regretting it.
Ms. Pandey sighed again. It was useless advising her about anything. Gargi loved to do things her way. And nobody can stop from doing so. “Forget it. It’s almost midnight. Have you eaten anything?” Another thing about Gargi was, if gets into something she would forget everything else around her including her meals.
“Hmm. Tea.” Her nonchalant reply almost made Ms. Pandey snapped but she controlled herself.
“It’s midnight! Who drinks tea at this time?”
“Me.” Gargi replied. “Too lazy to cook.”She didn’t even wait for the lecture this time. “And no, I’m not ordering anything. I’m saving up for that keyboard.”
“You-nevemind. I’ll order for you.” Her manager sighed. “Eat it. And don’t stay up all night.” Gargi hummed absently and hung up, already half-focused on the screen again.
Her head tilted slightly.
“There she is,” she murmured. “The extra.” She scanned the actress, pretty and new face. “Never seen her before. Is she any good?”
The extra stepped forward and shoved the female lead aside.
“Eh-eh-eh. There she goes.” Gargi pointed at the screen like she was watching a live match. “Give it three episodes,” Gargi said flatly. “She’ll either disappear… or be killed by the male lead.”
Her gaze lingered on the extra a moment longer.
“Ridiculous,” she muttered. “The only character with a functioning brain, and she’ll lose because she chooses feelings over revenge.”
She clicked her tongue.
“Writers seriously need to stop doing that. It’s the 21st century, not some tragic sacrifice competition.”
“If I wrote this,” she muttered, “I’d flip the whole thing.” She leaned back in her chair, staring at the screen with tired and sharp eyes.
“God,” she exhaled, “this story is a mess.” She commented as extra started humiliating the female lead and eventually getting slapped by the male lead. Gargi snorted, shaking her head. “Typical.”
Suddenly a sharp pain twisted in her stomach. “Ah—?” Her brows furrowed as she glanced down, pressing a hand against it. “I should really eat something…”
She tried to stand. The pain spiked. Her breath hitched. “…Okay, that’s not normal.”
It spread fast, deep, like something clawing its way through her insides. Gargi grabbed the edge of her desk, knuckles whitening as she steadied herself. “Seriously?” she muttered through clenched teeth. “Now?”
Her vision flickered. The light from the screen seemed too bright, too sharp, bleeding at the edges. She blinked hard, but it didn’t help. The room tilted.
“Wait—”
Her grip slipped. She reached out blindly for support, fingers catching the edge of her laptop and dragging it down with her. The screen flashed violently as it fell, the drama still playing, distorted voices echoing in fragments.
For a split second the extra on the screen looked up.
At her.
Gargi’s breath caught. Then everything went black.
