“Where are you going now?” Doha asked, already preparing an outdoor dinner when Zeno came out wearing something fancier than usual.
It was slacks he borrowed from Eli and a white polo his mom snuck inside his closet because she pitied his shirt-only variety.
“Oh, to the premiere of ‘Code Black.’ Manshik PD said I needed to be there,” he casually answered.
They all turned to Zeno. “What?” they exclaimed.
“I asked for three extra tickets,” he added, showing them to the three.
Doha, Minji, and Eli were flabbergasted. “Is that why you borrowed my slacks?”
“Yes,” Zeno answered.
Minji bit her lip before shaking her head. “Zeno, you look nice every day. In fact, you even look nicer today, but this is what you’re wearing at a premiere?”
Zeno looked down at his outfit before shrugging. “What’s wrong with it?”
“Nothing at all!” Minji exclaimed. “But your co-stars might be wearing suits.”
“I’m not going to walk the red carpet,” he added. “Manshik PD said I didn’t have to. Well, that was the only way he convinced me. I was an extra in that film. He merely gave me the tickets to watch them with you guys.”
“It’s for free, so I took it,” he concluded. “Oh, and it’s on the second row.”
Doha immediately carried the frozen meat, preparing to put it back in the fridge. “Let’s postpone this dinner. I’m getting dressed.”
Eli, despite having a quiz tomorrow, also ran to his apartment. Minji sheepishly smiled. “Wait for us,” she said, excited to attend the movie premiere of their friend.
Zeno smirked and watched as they scrambled to get to their unit to get dressed. He sat on the outdoor bed and scrolled through his account. He thought the hate would die down by now, but he was receiving more death threats.
A teaser for the teaser was posted on the SK channel account, and again, it was filled with criticism for the casting. Although, it had also boosted ‘The Forsaken Prince’s’ popularity to the top, and it was the talk of the town.
Zeno was hoping that his role in ‘Code Black’ would alleviate the hate a bit. With that, he placed his phone back inside his pocket. A few moments later, his friends finally came out of their units.
They all had much grander outfits than Zeno. Minji was wearing a sparkly silver dress. Doha was wearing a full, neon orange suit with a hot pink fedora, and Eli was wearing an all-white ensemble. They looked like they would be walking down the red carpet, and Zeno debated on bolting away from them.
However, they didn’t find anything wrong with their outfits, and Zeno didn’t want to burst their bubbles. With that, he stood and ran his fingers through his hair.
“Let’s go?” he muttered, unable to look at them for too long because it hurt his eyes with how vibrant they were.
He was about to move, but the grill, which had charcoal, suddenly lit next to Zeno, burning a portion of his white polo. Zeno quickly moved away while his friends screamed.
Doha swiftly doused the fire with water, but it had already burnt a portion of the thin, white polo—specifically at Zeno’s v-line. Minji’s cheeks reddened while Eli quickly inspected the spot.
“What the heck was that?” Doha exclaimed. “It came out of nowhere!”
Zeno, on the other hand, was used to it. The murder attempts this week had been so blatant.
Eli sighed in relief. “You don’t have a burn, but that was close!”
“Do you want to get changed?” Minji asked, still unable to look at him.
Zeno looked down and saw that the damage wasn’t as bad as it seemed. He shrugged while glancing at his watch. “Let’s just go. I don’t want to be late to the premier.”
With that, Zeno led the way, and his friends were unable to argue. He quickly hailed a cab and let them enter first before joining in last.
“Capitano Theater,” Zeno said to the driver. The car started moving, with the others still glancing at Zeno out of concern.
“Here,” Minji said, handing him a mini fan. “Use that to dry your polo.”
“Thanks,” Zeno muttered, taking it from her.
Meanwhile, Doha looked at his fishnet tank top inside his neon orange jacket suit before turning to Zeno. “Do you want to wear mine instead?”
Zeno looked at him with a flat expression.
“No.”
***
The Capitano Theater had seen gods walk its marble steps. Tonight, it welcomed the cast of Code Black. The trailed had exploded with excitement, and fans wrote dissertations before it was even released.
Outside, the crowd had been there since noon. Some were clutching laminated posters, others wielded glowsticks like their lives depended on it. One girl wore a trench coat in 25-degree weather and sobbed into a tissue embroidered with “IAN SEO NATION.” A barricade separated fans from the red carpet, but that didn’t stop one guy from trying to jump over it, yelling, “RISA, I’M YOUR DESTINY,” before being politely sat down by three very large security guards.
The press appeared like hyenas in the wild. Camera flashes made the entrance glow like a battlefield. Boom mics stretched out over velvet ropes. Microphones were jabbed forward at every poor soul who walked the carpet before they arrived at the photo spot.
Various celebrities had arrived by then. Veteran actors, rising rookies, influencers pretending to be as important as the actors and actresses. The already chaotic red carpet became even more chaotic when two notable figures went down a luxurious limousine.
Ian Seo and Risa Park.
An all-black suit hugged Ian’s tall frame. His tie was slightly loose, and his shoes could’ve made mirrors look insecure because of how shiny they were. Next to him walked Risa, radiant in white. It was the kind of pairing that made people whisper things like ‘power couple.’
“IAN! IAN SEO! OVER HERE—”
“RISA! WHO ARE YOU WEARING?!”
“ARE YOU DATING? BLINK IF YES!”
Ian did his best not to blink. They stopped just long enough for the flashes to double in intensity.
“Ian! How does it feel seeing this all come together?”
He leaned slightly into the mic, lips tugging into a small smile. “It feels surreal. I have been waiting for this project to be released for a while. I hope the people like it once it is officially released by tomorrow.”
Just then, screams were heard from the entrance of the red carpet once more.
Risa turned so fast that her earrings nearly flew off, expecting someone. Her smile faltered just for a second, eyes narrowing as she spotted Oska—decked in a white suit and sunglasses. Risa blinked once then turned back around, expression reset like a pro.
She was determined not to give him any attention.
More flashes snapped her back to business.
Another reporter asked, “What should we expect from Code Black?”
Risa smiled. “A lot of emotions. Sadness. Happiness. Rage.”
“Rage?” the reporter echoed.
Ian nodded slowly. “You’ll get it when you watch.”
Someone called out from the back, “Who’s your favorite character?”
There was a pause before Ian smiled widely. “He doesn’t have a name.”
The press collectively leaned in.
“An extra?” a journalist guessed.
“Yes,” Ian said, excited. “An extra.”