599: Acting lessons

Acting lessons

"Contact him. He'll help you."1

Axel gazed at the calling card in his hand, recalling Heaven's words after he came to her that night. He then slowly gazed up at the establishment in front of him. Deep lines appeared between his brows as he gazed at the building. 

"Isn't this the Zyon Networks?" he mumbled, a bit surprised that the person he called told him to come to this place. 

The Zyon Network was one of the biggest subsidiaries of the Lyon Group. Axel had been in this place many times in the past, especially during his younger years. After all, he could hit on so many female celebrities in here. 

"Second Young Master!" 

Axel snapped his eyes as his brows rose, shifting his gaze to the man coming out of the entrance. He tilted his head to the side, assessing the man and tilting his head to the side. 

"You are?" Axel trailed off as he glanced at the calling card in his hand. "Director Guan?"

"Yes!" Director Guan grinned from ear to ear, offering his hand to the second young master of the Zhu family. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Second Young Master Zhu."

"Uh…" Axel blinked, taking the man's hand with a little confusion. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Director Guan."

"Hehe. Heaven, your sister-in-law called me the other day and told me about what the second young master needed." Director Guan grinned from ear to ear until his eyes were squinting. "Leo Wu is already inside. He will help you with everything you need. Come, follow me, second young master."

"Uh… alright?"

With that being said, Axel followed Director Guan inside the Zyon Networks. Myriads of questions hovered over his mind, gazing at Director Guan's back as the man ushered him inside the building.

On their way, Director Guan wouldn't stop talking about his relationship with Heaven and Dominic. That was how Axel found out that Director Guan was not only a good friend of Heaven, but he was also the director of the last film Heaven took part in. 

From what Axel heard, that film became the top-grossing movie of the year. Although Axel hadn't seen it because Heaven made him promise not to watch it without her. 

"Here we are!" Both men stopped in front of the glass door, with Director Guan holding the knob. He looked back at Axel, still grinning. "Leo is already inside. He'll be with you for now since I have a prior commitment today. But don't worry, Leo is a great actor. I'm sure he will mentor you well."

"..."  Axel was speechless, staring at Director Guan with complete bafflement. 

Leo Wu would mentor him? For? To be honest, Axel didn't even know why he was in this place. He just followed Heaven's instructions, telling him that he should contact Director Guan and the man would help him. What kind of help? Axel had no idea. All he knew was that Heaven needed him to take some lessons. Therefore, Axel expected this lesson would be some sort of physical training, so he could fight just as skillfully as her. 

Who knew that the training she was talking about was acting lessons?

That day, Axel had to spend the entire day with Leo Wu, an artist of the Zyon Networks and Heaven's good friend. Leo taught Axel about the basics of acting, how to internalize, and how to deliver his lines effectively. Only then did Axel also realize acting wasn't as simple as that.

From then on, Axel had taken classes with Leo. Sometimes, Director Guan would stay with them and give his acting a rating. Although Director Guan wouldn't scold him out of fear of Dominic and the Zhu family, his face during his first week of acting lessons was enough to demotivate him. But alas, Axel's willingness to help his family overpowered the shame he felt every time Director Guan looked at him in dismay. 

Moreover, Axel trusted Heaven. He might not know why he had to go through acting lessons, but he believed in his sister. Heaven wouldn't ask him to go through these lessons if he didn't need them. This had been the reason Axel had been busy throughout everything and had been missing in action all this time. 

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"Congrats!" 

Axel gazed down at the pot on the table before looking up at the person who placed it there. He blinked, revealing his innocence and confusion at Heaven's remarks. He just arrived home, and it was quite late, as he had to squeeze everything he needed to do within twenty-four hours. But Heaven, who was normally asleep at this hour, was waiting for him in the residence's lobby. 

"Director Guan told me if you auditioned for a role for him, he would accept you without a second hesitation," she said as she sat on the host seat, cupping her face, while grinning from ear to ear. "That's a praise."

"And?"

"Axel, it's rare for Director Guan to praise his artists, you know? He mostly nitpicks on us." 

Axel frowned, pouting. "Sis, don't tell me you're planning to make me a celebrity? Are you aspiring to become my manager?"

"Haha. Well, that isn't a bad idea."

"Sis." His frown deepened, exhausted and confused at his emotions at the moment. "How will these acting lessons help you? I mean, you didn't tell me anything else, but just go to these lessons. I believe you, but at the same time, I can't help but wonder what are these for?"

The corner of her mouth curled up into a smile, still cupping her jaw, eyes on Axel. "Because your main problem is your eyes, Axel."

"Huh?"

"As we mentioned, you cannot lie, Axel. Even if you run your mouth and spew a bunch of lies, your eyes always give away the truth." Heaven smacked her lips as she dropped her hand from her jaw and rested her arm on the edge of the table. "Acting will help you lie."

"Lie? What am I going to lie about?"

"The truth."

"Huh?"

"You shouldn't know the truth, Axel." Heaven shook her head mildly. "People know you and read you like an open book. I'm not saying you should close the book, but rather keep it open. But… the content should be different. You let them read you the way you want them to."

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