Joohyuk continued following Zeno even after he dejectedly went out of the bookshop.
“Wait,” Bea said as she watched the two of them leave. However, the two of them kept walking. She sighed in disappointment. She lost her opportunity to ask for his number again!
“Moonrise never begs,” Joohyuk said, following after Zeno. “However, we’re doing it for you. Do you know how grand of an opportunity that is? Besides, aren’t you short of money? You asked for an advanced payment during the contract signing for ‘Code Black,’ I’m sure you need it again. We can offer you a big signing fee.”
He continued ranting, draining Zeno’s energy.
“Moonrise will ensure you can become the best you can be—not just in acting, but in brand deals, reputation, and the like. You can even win ‘Best New Actor’ if you work hard enough. The moment you sign with us, you will become a superstar.”
Zeno stopped in his tracks, causing Joohyuk to halt, too.
A superstar? That was a nightmare!
“Mr. Jang,” Zeno said, surprising Joohyuk with how formal he sounded. “I have rejected your offer cleanly, both in person and through email. I hope you respect my decision.”
“But can you tell me your reason?” Joohyuk asked, not wanting to give this up.
Zeno sighed and faced him, looking him straight in the eyes. “I’m only going to say this once.”
“Moonrise is too good,” he answered.
Joohyuk felt like his heart had stopped. That was the first time he had heard of such an excuse.
“So, please. Leave me alone. I don’t like repeating myself. You will find a better actor than I am. Besides, I don’t listen well. I do what I think is right. I’m sure you don’t want someone like me in your company,” he continued.
With that, he bowed, leaving the stunned Joohyuk all alone on the street, reflecting on everything he had said.
“We’re… too good?” the older man said in disbelief.
Fortunately, Joohyuk didn’t follow after him anymore, making Zeno sigh in relief. And so, he began his journey to Dr. Do-gi’s vet clinic.
Meanwhile, the people who had been following Zeno since the morning sighed in disappointment after seeing Joohyuk speak with him.
“Why are we still following him, sir?”
“I don’t know,” the taller man muttered. “I guess I just had some hope that we could sign with him. It’s been a while since I felt such a natural star quality from a person. But, now that Joohyuk had personally tried to scout him, it’s over, right?”
“Zeno Han,” he muttered, closing his eyes dramatically and clutching his chest. “You are my greatest ‘what if.'”
The shorter man pursed his lips and placed his hand on the other’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “It’s alright, sir. We’ll find another artist.”
With that, the two of them stopped hiding behind the wall, about to walk away.
However, before they could take another step forward, the taller man was pinned against the wall, startling the two of them.
They were silent for a moment before they realized who the man in front of them was.
“Z—Zeno Han?” he exclaimed.
Zeno narrowed his eyes at the pair. He had a hunch that he was being followed since he arrived at the farm this morning.
However, from afar, they looked pretty stupid, so he didn’t pay them any attention. Yet, at that moment, Zeno was annoyed because of the book he wasn’t able to purchase. He couldn’t help but project his annoyance to the two of them.
He grabbed the older man’s collar and lifted him up high. “You think you can get away with following me?”
“Wait, wait!” the shorter man exclaimed. “We weren’t following you!”
Zeno raised one eyebrow, looking directly at him. The short man gasped as he looked into Zeno’s eyes. What an intimidating pair he had! It captured his emotions very well.
“Then, what were you doing?” Zeno asked.
The short man didn’t answer for a few seconds. However, Zeno’s gaze was too much to take. In the end, he sighed and hunched his shoulders.
“Alright,” he muttered. “We were following you.”
“But!” he quickly added. “We aren’t bad people.”
“Introduce yourselves,” Zeno said with narrowed eyes.
“Can you please let down my boss first?” he meekly asked.
Zeno glanced at the taller man and found him on the verge of becoming blue. He clicked his tongue and placed him down.
The tall man breathed in heavily with his hand over his throat. “That was close,” he gasped. “I almost met the Creator.”
Zeno sighed and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Who are you?”
The taller man stood straight and smiled like he wasn’t just strangled. “Good day! My name is Bobby, CEO of Dreamy Entertainment. Nice to meet you.”
He offered his hand, but Zeno did not take it. The shorter man cleared his throat and introduced himself, too.
“And my name is Moby, the assistant of Sir Bobby.”
Zeno arched an eyebrow. “So… Bobby and Moby.”
“Yes,” Bobby chuckled. “He was named after Moby Dick.”
Moby nodded with a wide smile. Zeno pursed his lips. They seemed more idiotic than he initially thought.
“Well, as I said, we are from an entertainment company, one that had been established 20 years ago.”
“We are very interested in working with you—”
“So you decided to follow me?” Zeno asked.
Bobby pursed his lips. “You could say that, but it’s not with bad intentions.”
“My boss just really likes your acting style,” Moby chimed.
“Anyway, since we saw that you were already being talked up by Joohyuk Jang, that damn competent bastard, we assume you’re signed with Moonrise.”
“I’m not signed with them.”
“So, we were just on our way back—”
Bobby halted when he finally processed what Zeno had said.
“Wait,” he said, stepping forward, “you’re not signed with them?”
Zeno shook his head.
“But, you’re planning to?” Moby added.
“No,” he answered.
“Ah, so you chose Evergreen then?” Bobby asked.
“No.”
Bobby and Moby turned to each other with wide eyes. “Don’t tell me—”
“Did you sign with those ConDom guys?”
“ConDom?” Zeno asked.
“Continuous Dominance,” Moby clarified. “It might seem like a good deal, but they’re very predatory. You won’t be able to work freely because they’ll cage you in their contract.”
“No, I didn’t,” Zeno said, making them even more confused.
Zeno then cleared his throat. “What company do you represent again?”
“Dreamy Entertainment,” Bobby answered.
Zeno tried searching his mind for such a name, but nothing came up.
“Never heard of it,” he muttered.
Bobby and Moby were rejected by his conclusion.
“That’s perfect!” Zeno suddenly chimed.
“What?”