Nocturnal Reveries: A DiYue One Shot Collection

The Peace Sign

It was just a few hours before Shen Yue's performance at the Spring Festival Gala and she was feeling more and more anxious as the minutes pass by. In her heart she knew that she prepared diligently for their presentation but she couldn't help but feel jumpy thinking about how many people would tune in to watch the broadcast.

She took out her phone and deliberated within herself before dialing his number. She's worried he might be busy but she took her chance. She didn't know why, but she wanted to hear his voice.

She excused herself from the crowd and hid in one of the quieter areas of the holding area. Taking a deep breath, she clicked on his number. The first ring didn't even finish when he picked up.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Hey," she answered.

"You alright? Time to perform is coming up!" he sounded excited.

"Yeah, just, a bit tensed, I guess? There's so many people here."

Wang He Di wasn't able to reply immediately due to the noise from where he was at. She thought he might be intruding their celebration so she thought about hanging up.

"Am I interrupting?" she suddenly asked.

"What? Of course not! It's just noisy because there are also many people here now. But I'm taking the call, don't you dare hang up on me and drown in self-doubt."

"But I don't want to interrupt the—"

"You know you were the first person my mom looked for when she arrived here," he interjected. "She thought you were going to be here. She wanted to meet you but when I told her you'll be performing at the gala, she said "Really?" with a huge smile on her face."

She couldn't help but blush. She knew how much his mom meant to him so she thought, that maybe he also told stories of her to his mom that's why she wanted to meet her.

"Well, just tell her I would love to meet her too. Just not today, maybe... someday," she told him.

"Oh you'll meet her, I'm sure of that. I can't wait to introduce you two to each other," he assured her.

They weren't in a relationship and they both knew that; but they also know what they could be, at the right time. For now though, it seemed enough that they could lean onto each other, especially for comfort and anchorage during nerve-wracking times such as today.

"I'm nervous. That's why I called. I'm scared that I'll mess up on national television and just ruin everything. Like what if I forget my lines? Or trip on-stage? Or faint? How am I--"

"Weren't you the one who told me "Stop doubting yourself, Wang He Di. You have always done good and you are doing great now"? What happened to that?"

She sighed from the other line.

"Are you nervous because of the performance or of what the people will say?" he continued to ask.

"A little bit of both I guess. It's just, I'm opening up myself to worldwide criticism with this performance. I'm not sure if I'm ready for the kind of hate that this will possibly stir," she chuckled nervously.

He felt sad for her. He could tell that she was being more and more apprehensive about her projects because of the constant critique from people (especially online). He wished to be seated at the forefront of the audience and personally assure her—even just by clapping and laughing along—that she was doing great, but he couldn't.

"You know I aced that crying scene, when I was nervous and called you? I just stood in front of the camera, brows furrowed, channeling all the rage I could possibly feel, and suddenly tears just started pouring out of nowhere," he told her.

"Yeah? I told you, you should give yourself more credit."

He smiled, his plan worked. "Ey, Shen Yue, did you hear yourself? Now say that again, but tell it to yourself."

She caught her breath by what he did. This man just managed to encourage her using her own words. She was in awe.

"You did not just do that," she said, laughing afterwards.

"Guess what? I just did," he said proudly.

"Stop smirking I can feel it from across the line," she warned him. "But.. thank you. I appreciate this. I appreciate you."

"You know I got you," he replied. "So you alright now? Are we back to the I-don't-care-what-you-think-I'm-just-gonna-do-my-best Shen Yue?"

"I think so. It's a consolation to think that if I actually mess up I can pin it on you and your encouragement. But hey, you called me 'My Little Pig' when you hung up last time. Is that my name on your phone?!" she aggressively asked.

"Correction: used to be your name on my phone. I changed it when we ended that call," he answered.

"Well what did you change it to?"

"The peace sign."

"The peace sign? What, you're suddenly an advocate of peace? Wow, shooting a historical drama is changing you in more ways than one, huh?" she teased.

"No, it's just.. I realized after that call, that you have become the one who calms me. Your words, presence, even just the thought that you exist in my life, it somehow soothes me," he explained.

That's when a huge smile really started to form on her lips. Is there anything more romantic than that?

"Alright, Wang He Di. We're even now. I gotta go, I'm sure they must be looking for me by now. Take care of yourself."

"I promise to cheer you on from wherever I'm at. But didn't you wear that cap I unwillingly gave you in rehearsals? I'm sure you'll do well."

She laughed. How can he be so unbelievably conceited and charming at the same time?

"Idiot. Bye now," she replied before ending the call.

She has never been more excited to perform their live skit. Suddenly, she found a renewed sense of confidence that she always knew she had.

She went back to where everyone was and mingled with the people she'll be performing with to ease the jitters. But when she browsed her Weibo just to pass the time, she saw that he posted a video of him and his cast mates, singing the good luck song—one of her favorites—'Hao Yun Lai'.

He didn't have to tag her in it or send it to her personally to know that he posted it to boost her confidence even more and send good luck along her way.

What wasn't explicitly said in words always had a way of making sense in Wang He Di and Shen Yue's vocabularies.

Ironically, they've always found clarity in the vagueness of their hints, and an unexplainable understanding in the ambiguity of their signs—and yes—symbols.

(End)

A/N:

Happy Valentine's Day! Here's a little something for all of us who may feel disheartened at times but still continue to swim on. We'll be alright!

Also, I had this idea obviously around the CCTV Spring Festival Gala time but I just couldn't weave it together because of so many questions (if you know what I mean). If you have read my one shot 'Thumbs-up', I believe you can call this one a sequel to that. I referenced some of the lines in there and also some real-life DiYue events in the past weeks in this story.

Again, happy 💜💛s day! Spend it well with your loved ones!