Chapter 39: Invitation
Su Min could faintly guess what the discs sent by the cinema would contain.
He checked the time. Father Su was still on his way back from work and he guessed that there was still some time until dinner. It wouldn’t hurt checking the discs.
Earlier, Su Min was reading through the movie reviews when Mother Su knocked on the door and he felt a little guilty. It was probably like a junior high school student who has been secretly dating being caught by his parents.
So this time he ensured that he locked the door.
There was only a notebook in the room and there wasn’t anything written on the discs. Su Min casually picked one up and put it in.
After waiting a while, the video player started.
Su Min’s eyes widened. The name of the movie was still “New Murder Island” but the length of it was five hours.
He had seen the movie already and it was just a little more than two hours long.
What’s with these extra three hours?
Su Min’s eyelids twitched. He selected the fast-forward b.u.t.ton and he soon understood why it was so much longer.
Because it included scenes that were not included in the movie.
Su Min subconsciously thought back to the posts he read earlier and quickly skipped over to the relevant scene.
Sure enough.
But because of the advancement in technology, the scene was either covered up or mosaiced, and it didn’t expose him.
Su Min looked at himself covered in mosaic listening to the scream.
It feels a little strange.........
What made him feel even more complicated was that the scenes following that only revealed his upper half and wasn’t considered as exposing him, so the mosaic was also gone.
It’s like he is watching himself showering.
This was especially the case when the other ghost later appeared in the bathroom..........
Although Su Min believed that Chen Su wouldn’t peek at him while he’s showering, the time was just too coincidental.
So coincidental that he felt that he must have been completely exposed.
Su Min breathed out and furrowed his brows. After falling in thought for a moment, he continued playing.
Fortunately, there weren’t any more bathroom scenes after that. The five-hour long movie however included many scenes that weren’t included in the two-hour long movie.
Because he is not the protagonist, some of his scenes were not broadcasted.
And in this disc, it included the scene at the end when Su Min and Chen Su ran into the headless ghost.
Even the scene where he was lying on top of Chen Su was shown.
Although Su Min couldn’t make out Chen Su’s appearance and just thought that the scene in the movie was too ridiculous, he couldn’t help but feel gooseb.u.mps forming when he recalled what happened.
He moved to pause the movie.
The movie was stopped at the scene with Su Min’s surprised expression. He could clearly distinguish the emotions in his eyes.
With Chen Su’s arrival, Su Min felt safe.
Since young, Su Min had not been taught things like this and he had also not met anyone like that so the experience itself was very stimulating.
It was like a stone being thrown into a calm pool of water.
But this stone didn’t feel unfamiliar. Su Min didn’t feel any aversion towards him and even went along with him.
He himself also didn’t know why.
Su Min doesn’t remember anyone called Chen Su in his memories and there doesn’t seem to be a cla.s.smate called Chen Su, let alone a friend called Chen Su.
As he was thinking about this, a knock suddenly came from his door.
Su Min was startled. He then realised that he had locked the door himself and quickly closed the notebook.
It was Mother Su: “Come have dinner.”
Su Min answered: “Okay, coming.”
He packed things up and then walked out the room. From outside, the pleasant aroma of food filled the air. He could instantly tell that they were all his favourite foods.
Mother Su and Father Su were already sitting at the dining table.
The dishes on the table were abundant and flavourful. Just looking at it stimulated Su Min’s appet.i.te.
In the movie all he ate was clear soup and murky water. There was even that case of an eyeball in the fish soup. Although it was something that wouldn’t happen in reality, it affected his ability to enjoy a meal properly for the last few days.
Mother Su said: “There are some dishes that I haven’t made yet. It would be a waste if I cook too much so I’ll make it tomorrow. Will you be home tomorrow?”
Su Min nodded: “Tomorrow I’ll have lunch and then I’ll need to go back to school in the afternoon. There are still two more cla.s.ses.”
This time it was chicken stew. Chopped green onion and mushrooms floated on the surface and there were bright yellow oil spots mixed with it. It appeared very appetising.
As Su Min filled his bowl with soup, he asked hesitantly: “Mum, did I have a cla.s.smate called Chen Su?”
The crisp sound of a spoon hitting the bottom of the bowl was heard.
Mother Su stopped her movement of picking up vegetables and asked: “Why are you asking? Do you not remember your own cla.s.smates name?”
This question was something Su Min couldn’t answer.
He found an excuse: “I ran into a cla.s.smate called Chen recently and thought that it was a good surname.”
Mother Su laughed and ask: “A girl?”
Su Min casually answered: “Yeah.”
His answer was nonchalant, so Mother Su guessed that there probably wasn’t anything going on and she didn’t probe any further.
Father Su interjected: “When are you going to bring a girlfriend back?”
Su Min said helplessly: “Dad, stop worrying about me and my relationships.”
Father Su glared at him: “Look at you. Since you were young and until now, you haven’t been in a relationship. Why shouldn’t I be worried?”
The words Su Min originally wanted to say was blocked.
He ate a mouthful of vegetables and said: “Even if I’m dating, I might not necessarily bring a girlfriend back.”
The movements at the dining table stopped.
Su Min looked up at his parents and could sense that he had spoke too soon: “I was just saying it casually. Don’t worry about it.”
Mother Su spoke hesitantly: “Did something happen?”
Sun Min shook his head in denial: “No, don’t worry about it. I don’t have a boyfriend or a girlfriend.”
The atmosphere at the dinner table was quiet. Hearing him say something like that, Father Su’s smiling expression turned solemn, but he didn’t ask any further questions.
After a while, Su Min finally felt the atmosphere returning to normal.
After eating for half an hour, he helped clean up the dishes and coaxed Mother Su to rest while he washed the dishes.
The water that fell onto his hand brought along a slight cool sensation.
After washing up, Su Min returned to his room.
He once again took out the things in the gift box and placed the second disc into the notebook.
Just as he thought, this one was a copy of “New University Thriller”.
This movie was still rather normal. Su Min watched the entire movie and felt that although the movie itself wasn’t that great, the experience was pretty good.
After watching it, he became a lot calmer.
After this movie was released, it was also uploaded online and only members could watch it. The money obtained from this would be divided and a part of it is given to him.
Although the funds that he received from this cannot be compared to his share that he received from the ticket sales, it could be considered a steady stream of income and a stable investment.
Although Su Min didn’t know how the movie side of things worked, the share the actors receive is rather low and usually it’s just a payment for their work.
The viewership for “New Murder Island” is more than “New University Thriller” so he naturally would also receive more from that.
Su Min logged into the movie website, purchased a membership and then selected the movie.
Because it was already almost a month since then, the number of view that it had gathered was plenty. Naturally, it couldn’t compare with those popular TV dramas.
“I heard through word of mouth so I have to see how good it is.”
“Watching it the second time. Please note that this movie is very compacted and will immediately reach high tension!”
“Good quality, good actors. Although I don’t recognise them, they are very good looking. Anyone know their Weibo?”
“Oh ho. Today I have also become a member of the alliance. I announce you two to be together! Get married today!”
“Congrats, congrats, congrats.”
“.............”
Su Min continued to fast-forward through it and saw that every time he appeared in the movie, the entire screen would be covered in comments. Even his face couldn’t be seen.
Although some were complaints, most were fine.
After watching it for a while, he closed the video and once again placed it back into the gift box. At this moment, Su Min noticed that there was another movie ticket under it.
It was from New Century Cinema. The movie name was “Love Examination”. Just by looking at the name Su Min could tell that it is set in a hospital and is probably a fluffy film.
He guessed that it probably had nothing to do with horror movies. After all, there are no horror movies that is about to be released and the closest one will be at the end of October.
The time written on the ticket was five o’clock tomorrow evening.
Su Min has had experience with holographic viewing so he could tell in one glance that it was a ticket to a holographic movie. He had never experienced a romance movie like this before.
He looked back inside the gift box and found a piece of paper.
A script was written on it. The character was a doctor. It was a similar cannon-fodder role like his last ones.
The script mentioned that the doctor was very popular and is treating several patients who were recently hospitalised. Their hospital stay was long term and they would only be discharged when they get better.
There won’t be any deaths in a romance movie.
Li Wenxin and the others have talked about their romance movie viewing experience to him before. In fact, most people don’t even end up sharing the same screen as the male and female protagonist, let alone a small cannon-fodder.
The script in Su Min’s hand didn’t even mention the male and female protagonists.
There’s a movie ticket and a script.......Was the cinema thinking that he’s having it too hard and wanting him to relax?
Since he has it, he might as well give it a try.
.........
The next day, when cla.s.s ended it was already almost 4 o’clock.
The cinema isn’t too far from school, so Su Min went straight over. On the way he even ran into Li Wenxin and his junior sister.
“Love Examination” is acted out by good-looking casts. Adding to that the theme, the audience that the movie caters for is rather widespread and, not only fans, even pa.s.sers-by will come and watch.
Su Min had previously seen the movie introduction online. It was a story about two rival families. He didn’t even pay too much attention to the specific plot.
There wasn’t a need to sign an agreement this time.
Although it is a holographic movie, unlike a horror movie, the theatre was almost full. Su Min’s seat was the best one.
Everything was the same as before.
There was a couple next to Su Min watching the movie through the couple viewing experience. They were even discussing how they need to meet each other as soon as possible and try to counterattack the main couple.
He silently put on his helmet and decided to experience it himself.
The introduction for “Love Examination” began to play. Unlike those of a horror movie, the music and scenes were bright and cheery.
The staff checked to ensure that everyone was wearing their helmet before darkening the room and leaving the theatre. After a moment of silence, all the audience entered the movie.
After a long 100 minutes, the movie ended.
Su Min took off his helmet revealing an angry red face. It even raised concern from the other viewers.
A viewer asked: “Are you okay? Do you want me to call for the staff?
Most viewers would be able to experience a romance movie until the very end. Apart from those who left earlier, there were still about 80% of the original viewers in the theatre.
The viewer wondered if he was too excited dating a big star.
Su Min quickly waved his hand: “I’m fine, thanks.”
Seeing that he had recovered, the viewer felt relieved and turned to leave with the others.
Su Min stood in place and turned to look at the big screen that was still playing the ending credits. Inside, he was a little angry.
He had originally come to experience a romance movie and had even thought about how he would just watch from the sidelines.
But in the end, while others where flirting around and enjoying the movie, he was in the hospital and the romance movie had turned into a horror movie instead?