Brian Foster stared wide-eyed at the cup in his hand, coughing even harder out of fright. Adam Bennett tried to stifle his laughter as he patted him on the back, but Brian Foster instinctively moved away, awkwardly standing up, spilling the wine from his cup onto himself.

　　Emily Thompson quickly tried to smooth things over: "This kid just can't take compliments, too thin-skinned."

　　President Wright laughed heartily, "Little Carter, go to the restroom and clean up a bit."

　　Brian Foster nodded, covering his mouth as he coughed and walked out.

　　The aftereffects of the baijiu were really strong. As soon as he stood up and reached the doorway, Brian Foster felt his legs trembling a bit, so he had to steady himself against the wall, staggering to the restroom. He then took out the hangover medicine from his pocket, broke off the bottle cap, and poured it into his mouth.

　　Leaning against the restroom wall for a few minutes, the feeling of weightlessness and dizziness from the alcohol subsided quite a bit.

　　The restroom in the private club was also quite luxurious, with towels, cotton swabs, aromatherapy, and candles on the sink. Brian Foster looked at himself in the mirror; there wasn't much wine on his suit, so he decided not to wipe it off and just washed his face instead.

　　The icy water instantly sobered Brian Foster up a lot as soon as it touched his skin.

　　He looked up at the mirror and was startled again.

　　"You—why are you here?"

　　Adam Bennett smiled and handed Brian Foster a towel. "Are you the only one allowed in here?"

　　Seeing Brian Foster standing there in a daze, not taking the towel, Adam Bennett simply tossed it gently, draping it over his face, then went to wash his hands.

　　Since the towel was already on his face, Brian Foster just wiped his face with it. He didn't know why, but whenever he encountered this person, he instinctively felt a bit timid.

　　"Do you want to act with me that badly?"

　　Brian Foster: "Huh?"

　　Adam Bennett shook the water off his hands, tilting his head with a smile as he looked at him. "Otherwise, why are you drinking so hard?"

　　Brian Foster: ...So envious of this person's confidence.

　　Adam Bennett finished drying his hands but didn't leave. Instead, he stared at Brian Foster.

　　Brian Foster: "What is it?"

　　Adam Bennett shook his head. "Aren't you eating candy today?"

　　Brian Foster: "Hm?"

　　Adam Bennett had an innocent, harmless smile.

　　"I can help you open the cap, you know."

　　...

　　Brian Foster smiled sheepishly and waved his hand. "No need, not eating any today. Let's head back."

　　Hearing the words "let's," Adam Bennett felt an inexplicable sense of joy and followed him back to the private room.

　　As soon as they entered, Brian Foster met Mark King's gaze. The other's smile made him a bit uncomfortable. Never able to figure out what girls were thinking, he could only ask 0901 for help.

　　Brian Foster: "Mark King—what's with that smile? Why does it look so weird?"

　　0901: "Mr. Foster, that's an 'auntie smile.'"

　　Brian Foster: "...Auntie smile? Why is she giving me an auntie smile?"

　　0901: "It's probably the heartfelt joy of a CP fan."

　　Brian Foster: ...

　　When they sat down, President Wright and Director Brooks were chatting happily, both middle-aged men flushed from drinking, holding onto the last bit of sobriety.

　　"Director Brooks hasn't released a new film in two years, right? Oh, I've been waiting so long! Go ask my company's people, I talk about it every day—if it's Director Brooks, I'll invest no matter what the film is!" Henry Wright said excitedly, raising his glass.

　　Brian Foster listened calmly, only bringing up the movie after several rounds of drinks.

　　Director Brooks was much more composed, though his face was also flushed from the alcohol. "President Wright trusts me. I wanted to make a few more films myself, while I'm not too old yet."

　　Emily Thompson laughed, "How old are you, Director Brooks, and you're already talking about being old?"

　　Mark King laughed too, "Director Brooks is always like this, always telling me to take care of my health."

　　Director Brooks waved his hand. "I'm not joking, my body just can't take it like before. I want to try a new style while I still have the energy. I immediately took a liking to Little King's new script and want to give it a shot."

　　Alan Brooks spoke lightly, but just the casting alone had taken a month or two, changing actors again and again. The importance placed on the new film was obvious.

　　Mark King also laughed, "It's been three or four years since I last worked with Director Brooks."

　　Emily Thompson glanced at Mark King and chimed in, "I heard that this time, Editor King wrote the script especially for Adam Bennett."

　　Adam Bennett laughed, "The rumors are getting wilder. Everyone's overestimating me."

　　Mark King: "Adam Bennett is being modest. I watched a video of Adam Bennett auditioning for the film academy—he was only eighteen then. I was instantly inspired and wanted to write a youth-themed script. But youth films these days are all so cliché, all about being lost for the sake of being lost. I wanted to focus on something different. It took me over a year to write this script. It just so happened that Director Brooks wanted to try something new too—lucky timing."

　　Henry Wright poured himself another drink. "Great, youth films are really popular right now. I trust Adam Bennett. But the other role has been so hard to cast—delayed again and again. We were supposed to start filming in March, and now it's been over two months and still not settled. Time is money, you know."

　　After all this back and forth, they finally got to the main point.