“You really signed with an unknown company,” Minji said as Zeno arrived for breakfast.
“Right?” Zeno chuckled, shaking his head. He still couldn’t believe it. He managed to decrease his meter by two percent after he signed with them. It was a great start.
[-2 Public Perception. Fanclub members decreased.]
[Notable Meter: 21.5%]
“Zeno’s really weird,” Doha said as he placed their breakfast on the table.
“Coming from you,” Eli muttered. “You’re all weird. I’m the only normal person in our group.”
The other three didn’t deny it.
“Anyway, do you have any projects lined up?” Doha asked. “I want to watch more of your works.”
“Yup,” Zeno answered. “A short series.”
“Are you going to be on TV again?” Minji excitedly asked.
Zeno shook his head. “It’s a series on YouWatch.”
His three friends couldn’t hide their surprise. “Oh, but wouldn’t that be a step back?”
“Yup,” Zeno said, popping the last piece of sausage into his mouth. With that, he stood and washed his plate before nodding at Maxie, who didn’t acknowledge his presence.
“Where are you going now?” Doha asked.
“We’re going for some headshots or something like that. I haven’t held a gun in a while, so it would be fun,” Zeno said, waving goodbye before shutting the door.
As soon as he was gone, the three of them turned to each other with surprise.
“A gun?!”
***
“Rival, you came,” Jace said as Zeno joined them in a suspicious-looking cavern. Zeno looked around and couldn’t help but frown. Leni and Sarang were also there, appearing excited for the day.
Zeno noticed they were wearing such extravagant clothes. Sarang was wearing a sparkly red dress with frills, while Leni wore a matching black one. Jace, on the other hand, was wearing a full white suit with a fedora.
“Did you know?” Jace said, cracking his knuckles. “I actually passed the first audition of this big-shot drama yesterday. You’re going to lose to me in no time.”
“Sure, sure,” Zeno said, still looking around the place.
Just then, Bobby and Moby arrived with a young man who appeared like he was tired of the world.
‘Same, human,’ Zeno thought as he looked at him.
“I don’t know why you called me here,” he grumbled, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He had short hair dyed light brown and had a camera hanging around his neck.
“Do this favor for your father, won’t you?” Bobby said with sparkling eyes.
The teenage boy rolled his eyes before facing the artists of Dreamy Entertainment. Bobby, too, did the same.
“Nice, you are all here,” Bobby smiled. “You’re all prepared, I see,” he said, looking at the four artists. Then, he frowned when he saw Zeno.
“Except for Zeno,” he muttered. “But that’s alright! His face will do all of the work.”
Zeno’s brows furrowed while Bobby continued talking.
“Everyone, this is Amby, my oldest child,” he introduced. “He will be the one taking your headshots for today.”
This time, Zeno couldn’t help but interfere. “Where are the guns?”
They all turned to him with wide eyes. “Guns?” Moby asked. “What do you mean by that?”
“Guns—for the headshots,” Zeno nonchalantly said.
Jace chuckled. “Ah, I see. You are funny, too. However, you cannot win against me in terms of humor. Do not be too ambitious. A face like yours shouldn’t be funny.”
“I’m not joking,” Zeno deadpanned. “I thought we were going shooting.”
They were silent for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.
“Oh, Zeno. You are much more innocent than I thought,” Bobby said, placing his hand on his shoulder. “Headshots as in photos.”
“Our company has been getting some traction after we revealed you as one of our artists,” he started off. “We even passed 1,000 followers!”
“Woo!” Sarang rejoiced with Leni.
Jace pointed up at the sky while nodding. “I know, that’s right,” he proudly said.
Moby, too, appeared elated.
Zeno didn’t know what to say. A thousand followers these days could be earned overnight by a mediocre-looking thirst trapper. They seemed to happy about a small feat.
“Anyway, Moby came up with a great idea to update your profiles, so I asked my precious son, who is a photography student, to take photos of you!”
“Forensic photography, dad,” Amby muttered. “You can’t even get it right.”
“It’s still photography, son,” he said, patting his back.
“Why are we in a cave, though?” Zeno asked.
“It’s Amby’s expertise,” Moby chimed. “He takes photos of people who die while cave diving. Don’t worry, though! This is not a real cave. It’s a man-made one with lights inside. It’s cheap, so we rented it out for the day.”
Amby shook his head while massaging the bridge of his nose. He already wanted to go home.
“I think it’s a good idea!” Jace exclaimed. “Other artists have their photos taken on a plain white background, but we are different!”
Zeno thought of it for a while. “You know what, you’re right,” he said, validating Jace.
A cave photoshoot that would ruin the company’s reputation even more was something he needed.
Jace squared his shoulders out of pride. “Let me go first,” he confidently said, gesturing for the others to join him in the cave.
Amby pursed his lips and turned to his dad. “You promise to pay for Gaby’s piano lessons after this one, right? Oh, and buy her an electronic keyboard, too. She wants to join the recital this year.”
Bobby’s expression softened before he nodded. “I’ll do that, son. But for now, can you do this favor me?”
Amby clicked his tongue. “What kind of company can’t even afford a professional photographer?” he muttered before following the others inside the cave.
“Let’s start,” Amby muttered.
Jace took his position in the middle, placing his hand on both sides of the cave and arching his back like a cat. Amby paused for a moment, looking at his pose with disgust.
“Come on!” Jace exclaimed. “Take a photo. It’s hard sustaining this pose.”
Amby pursed his lips and shook his head. He glanced at the other artists and sighed. No wonder his dad’s company was going bankrupt. Three of them were excessively dressed, while the other one appeared like he didn’t care at all.
He was just wearing a white shirt and grey sweatpants.
Still, it wasn’t like he could make a difference with their career just for taking their photos.
With that, he began snapping away. “Let’s get this over with.”