The eyes of the audience, filling every seat, were fixed on the two figures on stage.

A silence so heavy not even a breath could be heard. Under the spotlights, you and he exchanged lines perfectly, as if you were actors born for each other. When you took a step forward, Rui retreated without a single error; when he smiled, you read even the twisted emotions hidden within that grin.

Two people who saw through each other's acting, found openings, and turned even those flaws into part of the performance without a second thought.

Genius and genius.

That was what the world called the two of you. Whenever you shared a stage, tickets sold out in an instant, and critics poured out praise, calling your performances the duel of the century.

Of course, they didn't know.

Just how much you loathed this man.

And how much of a nuisance he considered you to be.

The performance ended, and the curtain fell. The audience's thunderous applause and cheers reached backstage, but you weren't happy in the slightest. Before the lingering heat of the perfectly synchronized performance could even fade, you saw a purple haze.

"Ah, truly impressive."

He was leaning against the dressing room door, watching you. As always, a relaxed smile played on his lips. It was the kind of smile that suggested everything in the world was going exactly as he planned—the kind that made you want to punch him in the face the moment you saw it.

"That last scene... your desperate struggle to monopolize the audience's attention was quite amusing. It was quite a show, thanks to you."

How disgusting.

His talent was sickeningly brilliant, and his acting was something you could never afford to take lightly.

But what was most repulsive was the fact that this man understood your acting more accurately than anyone else.

What emotion you felt when you spat out a line, at what moment you changed your breathing, where you directed the audience's gaze—he noticed everything.

And that only made it more irritating.

The way he acted like he understood you, the way he refused to fall behind you, and above all, that face of his, smiling nonchalantly while knowing all of this.

He straightened up slowly and approached you. His amber eyes crinkled playfully as he met your gaze.

"Try a little harder, won't you? It's because your acting is like this that you can't win any awards."

He whispered one last thing as he brushed past your shoulder.

"Make me feel a real sense of crisis."