“Man, this sucks,” Jordie exclaimed as he sat on the leather couch of the VIP karaoke bar named ‘Saliva.’
“Jordie!” Rex exclaimed as soon as he saw him. “Long time no see.”
They were in a luxurious bar that had three floors. The first floor was a restaurant in the morning that became a chill bar in the evening. The second floor was meant for the more intense ‘partying.’ It was only open from Fridays through Sundays, and getting the reservation was as difficult as getting tickets for the representative idol group of South Korea, DAWN.
On the third floor was the VIP area, otherwise known as ‘the core.’ There was a common area in the middle, which was usually filled with successors of conglomerates or the conglomerates themselves. Around the common area were private rooms where the unimaginable happened.
“What happened?” Rex asked, downing a shot of expensive whiskey. “Is the filming going well?”
Jordie slumped on the couch. “I wish. I always get scolded by that fucking writer. He tells me I’m not natural enough. But, he always compliments that new actor—Zeno Han.”
Rex perked up with the mention of Zeno’s name.
“Zeno, huh? Right, you’re filming with him,” Rex muttered.
“Why? Do you know something about him?” Jordie asked.
“I do,” a new voice chimed, capturing their attention. Jordie turned to an older-looking man.
Rex cleared his throat. “This is Minseok. He acted with Zeno before. He’s also a main character in the series we’re filming.”
“Oh,” Jordie muttered.
Minseok’s eyes were narrowed and bloodshot. At that moment, Jordie knew why the room smelled earthy and musky.
“Is he still a pain in the ass?” Minseok asked, his speech slurring a bit. “I swear—that guy thinks he’s better than everybody else! I don’t even see anything special about him.”
Jordie crossed his arms in front of his chest. “That’s right,” he muttered. “He isn’t even that handsome or talented. It’s just that we’re relatively bad at acting, so he’s being praised.”
Rex chuckled and shook his head. “I knew it. I had a bad feeling about that guy the moment he stabbed that sound guy’s neck.”
“Isn’t he the reason why you reached two million followers, though?” Jordie asked.
Rex clicked his tongue. “Obviously not. It’s because of my own hard work.”
“Don’t worry!” Minseok exclaimed, smirking at the two of them. “My boss agrees with us.”
“J-Slick?” Jordie asked.
Minseok nodded. “We’re gathering some evidence against him. It’s almost done. Then, one day—boom! His career is going to explode in no time.”
A small frown graced Jordie’s forehead. Well, he did believe that Zeno was annoying. He was… handsome the more you looked at him. He was also pretty talented despite his lack of lines. He wasn’t too cocky. He was just a bit too truthful.
“Whatever,” Jordie muttered. Careers come and go. Having him eradicated from the industry wouldn’t change it at all. It was a normal cycle. It happened to influencers, too, so he didn’t want to feel too bad about it.
“You should have gone to our production instead,” Rex said, nudging his shoulder.
“I didn’t get an offer,” Jordie said, also downing a shot.
“Too bad,” Minseok smirked.
Jordie turned to the two of them. “Why? Is it going well?”
“It’s going really well,” Rex boasted. “Kim’s followers are waiting for it to air. Mine, too. I think we can break a million views in 24 hours.”
Jordie pursed his lips, feeling envious. “Aww, man. What good does this production bring me then?”
Rex patted his back. “Well, you’re still getting paid. So, that’s alright.”
Jordie nodded and watched as the two started passing a joint between them.
“Is—Is that alright?” he stammered. “It’s illegal, you know that?”
Rex chuckled, throwing his head back. “What are you? A baby? It’s not illegal if we’re not caught.”
“Come on. Try it.”
Jordie bit his lip. He had just turned 18 a few months back and only started his Tick account a year ago. His mom would be disappointed if she saw him here. With that, he shook his head.
“Next time,” he muttered.
Minseok appeared to want to push him further, so Jordie quickly changed the topic.
“How did you even book a room in this place? It’s impossible. My friends can’t even get in on the second floor.”
Minseok and Rex smirked at each other. “We were invited, of course. Do you think we can get into this place by ourselves?”
Just then, the doors opened, revealing CEO Jean with Ollie, the senior writer of Story Lab.
Jordie’s eyes widened as the two esteemed men entered with two young women by their sides.
“There they are,” Jean exclaimed. “Play with them.”
The women immediately went to Rex and Minseok, caressing their skin and handing them drinks.
“This is the life,” Minseok said, staring up at the ceiling.
Ollie smirked. “Youngsters these days always enjoy these things.”
Then his gaze caught Jordie, who appeared like a sheep among a pack of wolves.
“And who is this?” he asked.
“This is Jordie, sir,” Rex enthusiastically said. “He’s part of the other production this month.”
Ollie’s eyebrows raised. “I see. How is the production doing, kid?”
“Not to my liking,” Jordie answered.
Ollie and Jean laughed out loud. “Ah,” Jean sighed, wiping the tears of amusement from his eyes. “This is definitely going to be the last time I’m going to be giving those interns a chance. Still, I want to make Young the front face of that lesson.”
“Anyway, enjoy your time here, boys. We only bring those we trust in this place,” Jean smirked.
“Ladies, give them a good time.”
With that, the two old men went out of the room, their laughs sounding like it cost a million dollars.
Minseok nudged Jordie. “What are you doing standing there? Let’s enjoy this night! Take photos and videos.”
“I’m going to remember this night for the rest of my life!”
***
“Man, this sucks,” Zeno muttered as he sat on the dinner table. Minji was the only one there because Doha was still cooking, and Eli was still showering after getting back home.
She turned to him with furrowed brows, confused.
“Is everything alright?” she asked.
Zeno sighed. “It’s just that—filming isn’t going too well.”
“Hmm?” Minji muttered. “You can talk to me about it.”
Zeno turned to Minji, his eyes more sparkly than usual.
“I keep getting complimented!”