24 Frames Per Second

Zheng Guanyu first met budding young actor Ming Zheng in Nongdao, Yunnan, when he was making a cameo appearance in a film.

It may be said that it was love at first sight.

Over the course of the filming, Zheng Guanyu learnt a lot about him—he was well-skilled in martial arts; he was of mixed-blood and belonged to an ethnic minority group; he lived in the mountains near the set in Nongdao; he chewed on bitter olives with a straight face…

Zheng Guanyu fell hard for the clueless man one year his junior, who thought the entire time that his senior was just a kind and talented actor who was willing to practise his lines with him.

But before he knew it, it was already time for him to leave the island.

“Teacher Zheng, thank you for your guidance throughout the entire filming. I am very grateful to you, and I’m so glad to have a friend like you. When you come back here to Nongdao in future, please come and look for me. I will take you out to play again.”

Zheng Guanyu was amused by the way Ming Zheng spoke. “Why do you like taking me out to ‘play’ so much?”

Ming Zheng smiled innocently. “Because I treat you as my good friend.”

Good friend… Who wants to be your good friend?

Zheng Guanyu put down the bowl and sighed again in melancholy. He spoke up in a calm and careful voice. “Do you want to star in a martial arts film by Liu Yongzhou? If I talk to him, it is 80% certain that you will get the role.”

Ming Zheng opened his eyes in shock—Liu Yongzhou was one of the most well-acclaimed movie directors of their time. Before he could say anything in response, Zheng Guanyu said an unbelievable sentence in a serious tone.

“I want to support you,” Zheng Guanyu said. “I want to pull the strings behind you.”

Finding something off in Zheng Guanyu’s words, Ming Zheng took a step back, frowning. “Pull strings? Why?”

“Why…” Zheng Guanyu smiled. “Maybe it’s because I have some of my own intentions towards you.”

The wind blew through the canopy, and the forest around him was silent. Ming Zheng looked at Zheng Guanyu’s eyes, and a realization dawned within him.

“Teacher Zheng, you…” Ming Zheng was at a loss for words. “I see you as a good friend.”

“I don’t want to be your good friend, Ming Zheng,” Zheng Guanyu sighed. “I quite like you. Haven’t you felt it at all?”

— 🎥 🎥 🎥 —

Film director Jean-Luc Godard once said, “The cinema is a truth at 24 frames per second.“

But in his eyes, to love is to be trapped.

Till this day, the sunshower from times past still entraps him whole.

“The cinema is a lie at 24 frames per second.“

Young movie star Zheng Guanyu (shou) x slightly younger budding actor Ming Zheng (gong). 1v1. HE.

When straightforward and openly gay older shou meets shy and straight but secretly passionate younger gong, it's the former who does the chasing first.

But who does the falling?