When Lance walked past him in order to exit the stage, Xian returned to his senses and got up as well, doing it slowly so he could have more time to compose himself.
He then headed back to the center stage to face the casting panel again. Sniffing a bit, he awkwardly said, “Well… that’s it from me—or rather, us.”
When that didn’t get an immediate response, Xian began to notice a hush hanging over the air. Only then did he start to pay closer attention to his surroundings.
It was within his expectations to see Laurel weeping freely as she looked at him with pride. He even suspected that even if he’d delivered a terrible performance, she still would have teared up while looking at him that way.
But the others…
For some reason, Samuel was looking at him with a mercenary glint in his e
