"I'm in Tokyo, and this is some kind of movie star comeback system?!"

"Nakamori-san?"

Akina Nakamori suddenly heard someone calling her, her body trembled violently, and her eyes snapped back to reality.

She hurriedly turned her head and saw Sakamoto Yu standing there.

Her small face, no bigger than a palm, still bore faint tear tracks, and she looked listless and forlorn.

Realizing what had happened, she instinctively raised her hand to wipe her eyes, sat awkwardly, and quickly apologized:

"I'm sorry, I'll get it right away, just give me a little more time."

Seeing her like this, Sakamoto Yu didn't say anything more and just leaned against the wall without leaving.

Akina Nakamori looked at him, and seeing that he had no intention of leaving, she spoke directly:

"Could I be alone for a while?"

After she finished speaking, she stared quietly at Sakamoto Yu, but he remained motionless, only changing his stance and looking out the stairs.

"I'll keep watch for you, hurry up and draw yours."

Akina Nakamori paused for a moment, her mind blank for half a second, before suddenly remembering how Yu Sakamoto had helped her get rid of her manager in the stairwell of the NHK building.

She pursed her lips; he had seen her in this disheveled state before.

Once she understood this, she stopped feeling awkward.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: 20 ...

Akina Nakamori lowered her head, took out a cigarette from the pack, lit it with a "click" and took a deep drag.

She didn't rush to exhale the smoke, letting the nicotine slowly dissipate in her body. Only when she felt satisfied did she slowly open her mouth and exhale a straight column of smoke with her breath.

Sakamoto Yu watched from the side, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "He really is a seasoned smoker."

The reason he didn't leave earlier was to see if she would take the initiative to say something, even just a few words, so he could smoothly break the ice.

But that's obviously unrealistic; the two aren't that close yet.

Sakamoto Yu stood there for a while, but seeing that she was just silently smoking, he could only sigh softly. It seemed that he would have to take the initiative to speak up.

He suppressed his distracting thoughts, calmed his emotions, and prepared to play the role of a gentle and considerate man.

He deliberately lowered his voice, making it slightly hoarse and suppressed:

"I saw all those rumors in yesterday's magazine."

Upon hearing this, Akina Nakamori froze, her smoking motion halting in mid-air.

Sakamoto Yu kept a close eye on her reaction.

Seeing her fingertips tremble slightly, and the cigarette in her hand slowly burn a long way, the ash about to fall, but she was completely unaware, he knew that his words had touched a nerve.

He pressed his advantage, speaking slowly in a deep, magnetic voice:

"If it were me, I would rush back immediately no matter how far away I am."

"It's too cruel to leave you to face all this alone."

Akina Nakamori's eyelashes trembled slightly as she pondered her words, her heart softening instantly.

Even though I had a thousand words in my heart, I couldn't bring myself to say them.

"you...."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sakamoto Yu strode away without the slightest hesitation.

These words need to be allowed to ferment on their own; there's no point in him staying there any longer.

With Sakamoto leaving, she didn't even have a chance to ask any further questions.

Akina Nakamori looked at the empty corridor, her thoughts suddenly becoming jumbled.

Yes, why won't he come back? He hasn't even made a single phone call.

She suddenly remembered something: when was the last time Kondo called her on his own initiative?

She thought about it for a long time, but couldn't remember.

She took out another cigarette, put it in her mouth, and flicked the lighter a few times, but the flame went out again.

......

After leaving the stairwell, Sakamoto Yu immediately spotted Ono Hitomi looking for someone.

"What's wrong?" Sakamoto asked as he stepped forward.

Ono Hitomi saw him and quickly went up to him, "The director is looking for you two. Have you seen Nakamori-san?"

Sakamoto Yu shrugged. "Didn't see it."

"Oh dear, let's go ahead then, don't keep the director in a hurry." Although Hitomi Ono was concerned about her idol, she was Sakamoto Yu's assistant at the moment, so she naturally had to care about her boss's image in the director's eyes.

Sakamoto Yu nodded and walked towards the film set.

When he arrived at the film set, he looked around but didn't see Satomi Kobayashi. Instead, he saw the male lead, Yoichi Miura, with two middle-aged men standing next to him.

One of them was the executive producer on set, and he didn't really remember the other one.

Jiro Ikuno, the executive producer, Yoichi Miura, and the unfamiliar middle-aged man were huddled together, whispering something.

Sakamoto noticed that someone was glancing at him discreetly while they were talking.

He frowned, a bad feeling inexplicably rising in his heart.

He thought back carefully and realized that he hadn't had any conflicts with anyone since joining the crew.

I pondered for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out.

He quietly pulled Ono Hitomi aside and asked in a low voice, "Have there been any strange rumors circulating on set lately?"

"No?" Hitomi Ono looked bewildered.

"Am I overthinking this?" Sakamoto Yu muttered to himself, then instructed Ono Hitomi to leave the set first, so as to avoid having to clear the set and kick people out later.

Hitomi Ono obediently agreed, took her thermos, and left first.

Sakamoto Yu glanced at the four people in the distance again, shook his head, and suppressed the jumbled thoughts in his mind.

Not long after, Akina Nakamori returned to the film set.

Her hair was neatly tied back up, her makeup was exquisite, and there was no sign of anything unusual on her face; her expression was bright and natural.

Once the female lead was back in position and everyone was present, the assistant director immediately arranged for the crew to prepare for filming.

Just as I stood in my seat, a thank you suddenly drifted into my ear.

"Thank you."

He caught a familiar smell of smoke, turned his head, and saw that Nakamori Akina's expression was natural, as if it wasn't her speaking.

"Everyone, get ready!"

The assistant director's shout brought Sakamoto Yu's attention back to the film set.

He composed himself and subconsciously glanced toward the director, then paused in surprise.

The film set was preparing to start shooting, and all irrelevant personnel had already left, but Ikuno Jiro showed no intention of asking them to leave.

The script supervisor picked up the clapperboard, ready to start filming at any moment.

Without a second thought, Sakamoto Yu immediately adjusted his mindset and entered shooting mode.

"3, 2, 1, Action!"

This time, Akina Nakamori is back to her old self.

Being scolded, feeling wronged, and returning to her workstation—every emotion and every action was handled perfectly.

Soon it was Sakamoto Yu's turn to take the stage.

He walked over naturally, leaned close to Akina Nakamori, picked up the folder on the table, pretended to look through it, leaned down next to her, and lowered his voice to read his lines:

"You got scolded again, didn't you?"

Akina Nakamori puffed out her cheeks, looking aggrieved but not daring to lash out, and whispered to her "boyfriend":

"What did I do to offend her?"

Sakamoto Yu flipped through the documents with focused concentration, his hands moving deftly, as if he were genuinely working diligently.

"There's nothing she can do about it, so she can only take it out on this." He deliberately used his previous voice to reinforce his memory.

Akina Nakamori looked up at him, her eyes filled with a desire to confide in him:

"I finally moved out of the dorm, and now I'm being watched again. It's so annoying."

He smiled gently, his eyes filled with indulgence and doting affection.

The studio lights fell on his profile, highlighting his sharp features and clearly defined jawline.

Looking at that face up close, Akina Nakamori felt a slight tremor in her heart; he looked exactly like a considerate and warm-hearted boyfriend.

Outside the monitor, Jiro Ikuno, the executive producer, Yoichi Miura, and Miura's manager were all staring intently at the screen.

The camera then gave a close-up of Sakamoto Yu, whose face was full of deep emotion.

In Ikuno Jiro's eyes, this person truly brought the character to life, just as the casting director had said.

But Yoichi Miura and his manager felt uneasy watching.

"Producer, look at him! If this airs, will the audience even notice Miura? He'll steal all the spotlight!"

"I think this role is poorly cast. I demand a change of actor, a more suitable one!" Miura's manager was adamant and refused to budge.

Upon hearing this, executive producer Kazuo Ikuno frowned immediately. The actors had all signed formal contracts; they couldn't just be replaced like that.

The agent was aware of this, and seeing that the two were unwilling to budge, he laid it all out on the table:

"Okay, we don't have to change the actor, but we must cut this character's scenes and shots."

"It's clearly stated in the contract that Yoichi Miura is the only male lead in this film. His billing and key scenes should naturally favor us. How can we let a supporting actor steal the spotlight from the protagonist?"