NOVPUBIn the afternoon.
At a hotel's gym.
"Huff…Huff…" Jin was running on a treadmill. His pace was five minutes per kilometre.
After running for half an hour, his body was covered in sweat, but he still didn't stop. He kept running.
His eyes were focused on the television screen placed on the wall not far from him.
On it, a news channel was showing the latest information they had received regarding the plane hijack.
"The terrorists have been identified to be from the Umi rebels, and they are currently in the middle of making a deal with the government for the safe return of our captured citizens…" The anchor stopped all of a sudden as she was provided some new information from the staff behind the camera.
Her face tensed all of a sudden, and a moment later she took a deep breath, turned to look at the camera and addressed the public, "This is the latest news we are receiving. The Umi rebels have launched a full-fledged attack on the eastern part of their country…"
'So, this was their plan,' Jin thought as he stopped running. After collecting his breath, he walked towards a bench and sat down.
'Normally, if the Umi rebels had started this this attack then Valeyria, being Umi's only neighbouring country with a strong military would have definitely provided military support to the eastern Umi to keep the rebels in check but now that they have captured our hostages, it puts our government in a difficult position,' Jin reached for his bottle and gulped down a few mouthfuls of water.
'So what will our government do? Will they save our 187 hostages and ignore the millions who will soon lose their lives in this conflict, or will they sacrifice their innocent citizens' lives just to take part in another country's war? Jin stood up the next moment and walked out of the gym.
"Well, whatever they choose, I sure am looking forward to it," Jin muttered as he entered the elevator.
In his room after Jin had freshened up, he noticed Dylan's missed call and dialled him back.
"Yes, Dylan, what's the news?" Jin asked while rubbing his head with a towel.
"I've talked with Mr Anderson. He wanted to meet you and said that he'll consider it after that," Dylan said.
"Hmm, is that so? Alright, I'll go and meet him tomorrow. Thank you for your help," Jin said after a thought.
"I did what I could, now it's up to you to convince him," Dylan replied with a sigh.
"No worries, I'll handle it, take care," Jin disconnected the call soon after.
He then entered the mental shooting range and practised his shooting. Since he was already adept at normal shooting, he has started trying out trick shots.
'It looks much simpler on television,' Jin thought as he failed to hit the target. He was attempting to hit the ground in such a manner that the bullet would ricochet and hit the target.
'Good thing I got no dearth of bullets.' With that thought, Jin kept trying.
In the training academy, Jin didn't know how many skilled people he would meet, but he didn't want to be lacking when compared to them.
Like this, the day passed.
The next day.
In Anderson's office.
"Jin, I'm sorry for your loss. Both my wife and I were shocked and deeply saddened when we saw the news," Anderson said in a grim mood and continued, "You also don't need to push yourself too much just because of our contract. Take some off-time. I'll talk with the producers regarding the change of release date, and they'll naturally agree to it."
Hearing Mr Anderson, a grateful smile formed on Jin's face as he said, "Thank you, Mr Anderson, but I truly want to act. It's when I'm working that my mind is fully at peace, so instead of taking a break, I want to work as much as possible.'
"You…" Anderson sighed when he saw Jin's stubborn expression and continued, "Alright, you win. I'll inform all the crew members, and we'll start the shooting from tomorrow onwards. I'll make sure to work you till exhaustion, so you better be ready!"
"Perfect, that's what I want," Jin replied with a cheeky grin, which annoyed Mr Anderson.
"Alright, go away before I change my mind," Anderson snorted.
"See you tomorrow, Mr Anderson," Jin left with a thankful expression, making Anderson sigh in worry, "Just how much pain are you hiding within that smile?"
The next day, Jin greeted everyone in the studio with a bright smile on his face. While the public had mostly forgotten about the news of Fana's death because of the plane hijack but the people in the film industry had not.
They all had seen the Award show and knew how deeply he was in love with Fana, but seeing him smiling brightly like this, a trace of sympathy emerged in all their hearts.
Not wanting to remind Jin of that incident, they too didn't mention anything about it in front of him and carried on with the shooting.
"Alright, Jin, let's start with the shooting," Mr Anderson soon called him.
Most of the crew thought that Jin wouldn't be able to act the way he normally does, but he proved them all wrong and also made many raise their eyes in surprise. His acting skills had become even better than before.
'How can he improve so much…' Mr Anderson thought in shock as he watched him through the camera.
Just like others, Jin too was surprised by his sudden increase in acting skills, 'Is this because my Mental constitution has increased?'
That was the only reason he could think of, since apart from that, nothing much had changed about him in the last few days.
Time passed, and with each take, Jin's acting made everyone more and more breathless.
'So that's what having a talent in acting truly means,' The crew members thought in unison.
The shooting soon came to an end.
At the hotel, Jin spent some time working out in the gym and in his mental shooting range honing his skills before finally calling it a day.
