….

  27 Days Later.

  Juh, 2010.

  .

  Regal walked out of a ercial building.

  Behind him, Keanu trailed with a scowl etched on his face. He kicked his leg off in the air as he stepped onto the sidewalk.

  "Those bastards… to think they reject us without even a proper reason?" He growled in deep annoyance.

  Regal tio walk ahead, seemingly unbothered, but his bent back gave away his slight disappoi.

  "Want a Coke?" He stopped reag a parkiion and spotted a free bend a vending mae in a er.

  Keanu also stopped in his tracks. "....sure." - then sighed and moved towards the bench.

  Responsively, Regal ied a handful of s into the mae, retrieved two s of drinks, aled himself beside Keanu, passing oo him.

  Both men didn't speak any words and unplugged the drink and gulped down a couple of sips.

  After a minute of silence, Keanu probed. "Seriously Regal. It surprises me how you act as if it was no big deal."

  Regal responded. "This is my movie, man. I poured everything into it. Trust me, I am ly chill about this either."

  It was nearly their third week of distribution hunting, which had started the very day after seven straight days of pleting the editing work.

  Iwenty days, this marked their ninth reje from a pany.

  Four panies hadn't even biving them time to speak, let aloch the film. One skimmed it, and two walked away halfway through the meeting and said the idea was trash, dismissing them away.

  And this st one?

  They stayed the whole meeting and even seemed a little ied looking at the script and a few clips, and that's exactly why Keanu was even more disappointed and couldn't uand why they rejected it with suonce.

  It seemed more than a reje - it in ignoraowards them, which he started only uandily.

  No-name filmmakers like Regal weren't supposed to e knog with a finished product, expeg distribution.

  Aspiring directors were expected to slog through the ranks - work as assistants, gain experience, write scripts, take notes, and jump through hoops.

  Skipping those steps?

  It was an unspoken insult to the gatekeepers of the industry.

  Keanu sighed, crag open his .

  He g Regal, who stood finishing his drink and staring in the dire of the pany they had just left, his face oddly bnk.

  "Hey, e on, boy." He reached out and gave Regal's hair a quick ruffle, like f a sulking kid. "If it's not Pixy Studios, it will be someone else. Don't let this get to you."

  Regal blinked and pulled back, smirking faintly. "Right, because you were the ohrowing a tantrum a minute ago."

  Keanu shrugged, taking a sip. "It's called emotional versatility."

  Regal snorted, finally crag a small smile. "Emotional versatility, my ass. Drink your Coke."

  Keanu chuckled, doing the same as he lifted his to sip the drink, he caught something in Regal's eyes, causing him to roll his eyes in amusement.

  For all his failed attempts, Regal was ued.

  Whatever was brewing inside him wasn't sadness or disappoi - it was something sharper.

  Something resolute.

  BuZZ-!

  Just then Keanu and Regal both felt their phones buzz simultaneously, their respective ringtones breaking the brief silence.

  In unison, they reached into their pockets to check the caller IDs.

  Keanu's face darkehe moment he saw the name on the s, tension creasing his features, and simirly Regal revealed a subtle but noticeable shift, a faint lift in his expression.

  However, Keanu was far too preoccupied with his iurmoil to pick up al's rea.

  The name fshing on Keanu's phone was his girlfriend's.

  Just yesterday, he had been boasting to her about this meeting, throwing around phrases like 'it's practically a done deal' and 'all that's left is the signature'.

  Now, with the meeting nowhere near what he had hoped, he could already imagihe fallout if he fessed the truth.

  The thought alo a chill down his spine.

  Determio avoid both embarrassment in front of his future brother-in-w and the iable wrath of his girlfriend, Keanu hastily muttered.

  "You just take the call. Good luck." He stepped aside, putting some distaween himself and Regal.

  Regal gave a slight nod, aowledging the excuse without much thought, and turned his attention to his own phone.

  Still seated on the bench, he let his gaze drift across the road to the bold, unmistakable sign of the distribution pany he had just walked out of.

  The memory of the meeting lingered briefly, tinged with unresolved thoughts, but the vibrating phone in his hand demanded his attention.

  -tut!

  "What's up..." Regal said, his tone casual as he answered the call.

  ["I should be the one asking that."] Came the quick reply, a hint of amusement g Gwendolyn's voice.

  Regal paused briefly before replying. "Things didn't work out."

  As if on cue, she chimed in, smoothly finishing his sentence. ["...for them, I suppose."]

  "Yep, definitely for them." Regal echoed with a chuckle, appreciating her effortless way of lightening his mood.

  The words werely Gwendolyn's style, they felt more like something Regal himself would say or think.

  Their versation tinued for a few exges, the mood lightening with each word. By the time the call ended, Regal had regained some of his posure.

  "Yeah... see you." He said, ending the call and slipping the phone bato his pocket.

  Meanwhile, Keanu remained on his own call, his voice low and sharp as he tried to mahe versation with a hissing emergency - he went as far as to cup the phoh both hands for added discretion.

  Regal g him briefly and shook his head, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he leaned ba the bench.

  In truth, he was sometimistic about his entire 'distribution' cept, despite all the emphasis he made on the job's difficulty.

  It wasn't just blind hope, it was rooted in the itle he had retly acquired.

  Not in the game teams or his system's new feature.

  No, his title as an author.

  …and not just any author, but a successful one.

  Yet, as days went on, he began to wonder if he had been deluding himself.

  All his itle was only worth sparing ara sed g him before dismissing it.

  Sure, it helped open a few doors, sometimes making initial meetings marginally easier.

  But more often than not, versations iably veered toward his book, discussions of sales, popurity, or even requests fhts rather than his distribution ideas.

  It grated on his nerves.

  Lost in thought, Regal ulled back to the present by Keanu's return. He approached with the weariness of a soldier who had barely survived a long and grueling battle.

  "Someone is getting chewed out, it seems..." Regal remarked smirkingly.

  Keanu shot him a withering look, his frustration clear. He wasn't getting any sympathy here either.

  "Anyway, I am hungry." Regal said abruptly, springing to his feet with a sudden burst of energy that startled Keanu.

  The shift was jarring, but Keanu was happy.

  "Okay, let's eat something. My treat." Keanu offered.

  "Now that's what I am talking about." Regal chuckled, already walking off ahead.

  Keanu stood there for a moment, watg the younger man's back as he strode ahead. A humbliion stirred within him.

  Regal was youhan him, yet his posure aermination were something else.

  He wasn't just patient - he was methodical, willing to take the long route if it meant achieving his goals.

  It stirred something in Keanu.

  He wasn't just frustrated anymore - he was impressed.

  More than that, he felt a growing urge to protect the quiet resolve Regal carried, to do whatever he could to help him succeed.

  ….

  Pixy Studio.

  Inside an offi the sed floor of the building.

  An aged man leaned ba his swivel chair, rog it with zy precision.

  A small desk e in front of him read: Brad Carter - Script Review Coordinator.

  His position wasn't a top-tier one, but ohat definitely gave him the authority to reject projects on behalf of the pany.

  Brad's expression was one of deep ption and smugness as he stared at the y seats.

  "That movie is going to work." Brad's voice broke towards his assistant, John.

  ?!!.. John, standing behind him, froze, blinking in fusion.

  He stared up at his higher employer, uo mask his bewilderment. If the movie was going to work, why reject it?

  "Sir…?"

  .

  ….

  [To be tinued…]

  ★─────??★??─────★

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