My throat burned with the words I wanted to spit—‘Did you come here because you have a death wish?’—but this was my workplace, so I kept my mouth shut.
Meanwhile, Joshua rose from his seat and walked over.
“Hey, how’ve you been?”
Great—because you weren’t around.
And why the hell are you here, you bastard? Now I’m about to not be great.
‘…Wow. Today really is dog day, huh. First a puppy shows up, now a son of a bitch.’
I almost splashed water on my face to cool off, then remembered I’d already put on sunscreen for work and lowered my hands.
I forced my best smile.
“…I’ve been fine. You?”
Squeezing out sociability, I answered. Joshua grinned back.
“I became an actor. Thought my life was over after I quit sports, but somehow I landed a job.”
So what. Why the fuck are you telling me this… Save your updates for the obituary page and get lost.
“Oh, yeah?”
I cursed inwardly but kept a pleasant smile. Joshua giggled and held out a business card.
“This is our agency. Nice card, right?”
“Mm.”
Then he tugged my arm, saying we should talk somewhere quiet. I led him to the staff lounge—there’s CCTV there to deter theft.
‘I don’t know what he’s after, so we’re talking where the cameras can see. And while I’m at it, I’ll send Noah off.’
Before the conversation, I spoke to Noah, who’d been trailing us. If Joshua started anything, it could get risky.
“You go help the others. I’ll handle this.”
“Okay, Captain. See you at lunch!”
At that moment, Joshua’s shoulders twitched at the word “Captain,” like he’d just heard something he didn’t want to.
‘Well, well—look at that.’
So he hasn’t scrubbed all those crappy memories with me… good.
‘Then why come find me? Got sentimental because I got famous and you want to tidy up our bad blood?’
…No, that’d be stupid.
I glanced down at the card in my hand.
‘More likely, he’s got a way to leverage my recent publicity.’
I looked him straight in the eyes. Joshua averted his gaze, embarrassed. That told me enough.
“So, what brings you here?”
I smiled like we were friends. He looked relieved.
He started fumbling through his pitch.
“The CEO saw you online.”
“Mm. And?”
“We happen to need an Asian actor. He thought it’d be great if you joined our company.”
“That’s an agency. Why me?”
“He wants to give you a small part. That’s why I came.”
I nodded with an “aha.”
‘So they’ll run headlines about me working with them to milk the buzz, then toss me after a single bit part.’
And the guy who “cast” me gets a finder’s fee. That’s why he took time to come meet me.
Knowing his angle took the bitter taste out of my mouth.
‘Right, right. There’s no way you came for a good reason…’
Honestly, that was refreshing. If he was here to use me, I could toy with him guilt-free.
Thinking of that puppyish Caesar, I said:
“Me? Come on, I’m not exactly leading-man material. You just want a publicity bump, right?”
For the record, that was faux humility with a sting. If you say it like that, the casting side has no choice but to lay on the flattery.
As expected, Joshua’s expression shifted, then he continued with a sour look.
“No, seriously. The CEO said your face is distinctive…”
“Hey, don’t.”
“No—really, I came to cast you.”
“An Asian like me? Maybe if I were white. With Asians, the available parts are limited. You could fill those with anyone, not just me.”
By then he seemed to realize he was getting dragged along. His brow pinched in reflexive irritation, then he smoothed his face and kept going.
“There’s a role that’s perfect for you.”
Unless it’s playing a K-pop idol, that’s unlikely. And even then, I’m too stiff to pull off idol choreography.
I kept a mild smile on the surface.
“Yeah? What kind of role?”
The question was light—and it sealed his mouth shut.
‘Of course, fuck. There is no such part.’
They just want to borrow my publicity for a couple of headlines. Odds are he doesn’t even know why the suits want me.
“Hmm, you can’t talk about it yet? NDA?”
“Y-yeah. That’s it.”
NDA my ass.
I laughed loudly like I was joking and waved him off.
“Spare me. I’m too scared to hear it.”
“Is that so? Ahaha.”
“Yeah, I’m too faint of heart for this.”
“…Huh?”
“I’m saying I’m not cut out to be an actor.”
Joshua’s the kind of guy who, once you make an enemy of him, will buzz in your ear like a mosquito for life.
So I kept my tone easy and started coaxing him away.
“Think about it. We’re not that young anymore. A typical American our age would be married with two or three kids. I’m not going to ditch a stable job to gamble on a new path.”
“But still—”
“Maybe a bold risk-taker like you could, but not me. I like a quiet life. The entertainment world? Too flashy for me.”
His face drained in an instant.
I drove the stake in.
“Sure, acting might pay well. But I like things as they are. Fame’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”
He sighed through his teeth.
“But think—if you ride the wave while you’re this famous, it’s hard to fail.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I’m really not that great. And I’m not confident about acting.”
“No, you can do it. The you I know has… uh, persistence…”
Trying to gild the face of an old enemy must’ve made him gag. He looked like he’d swallowed a bug.
“…Acting gets better with study. You could do it.”
“Sure, if someone teaches me, I could improve. But to become any good, I’d need to invest, what, five or six years starting now? And until then, I’d only land bit parts. You know what happens—my fleeting buzz would be gone.”
That shut him up completely. He knew he couldn’t refute it.
‘Exactly. Why start a fight you can’t win?’
I put on another friendly smile.
“So I’m not confident.”
Joshua still couldn’t answer—just rolled his eyes around, desperate for an exit.
Watching him, I laughed inside.
‘Ah, that’s satisfying.’
See, you bastard? Who told you to make enemies? If you hadn’t bullied people back in school, would I be having this much fun at your expense?
Finally, like I was consoling an old acquaintance, I patted his shoulder twice.
He flinched and brushed it off like I’d smeared dirt on him.
“Ah…”
He realized the slip a second too late. I pretended not to notice. I’d already won the argument—why twist the knife and earn another grudge?
“I think that answers it. I’m heading back to work.”
“H-Han! At least come in for a camera test!”
“Nope. Unless you’re funding my retirement, I’m not entering showbiz.”
He grabbed for me as he stood, but I gently pushed his hand away and refused again.
“Since you’re here, grab dessert at the food court on B1. There’s a spot that sells gelato.”
“Han, please just think it over once.”
“Personally I like the vanilla. It’s about as good as brand G’s chocolate.”
For the record, I wasn’t recommending it for him. I said it because I wanted some.
I’ll buy a cup at lunch.
“I had fun today. Take care.”
With that, I slipped out of the lounge like an eel.
Joshua just stood there, face flushed from repeated rejection, staring after me as if nailed to the floor.
Once I’d put enough distance between us, I let out a sigh.
‘My head’s already a mess because of Caesar—what the hell is he even on about.’
Right then, a passing customer stopped me.
I thanked the people who said they’d come to see me, one after another, and thought:
‘I should reach out to Caesar after work.’
If I’m going to use someone—and he already did plenty for me—I need to do something in return, or this knot in my chest will never loosen.
…At the very least, I should pretend to go along with whatever he wants within reason.
‘…He won’t ask for anything sexual, right? He did drop a provocative line when we first met, but he’s behaved himself since.’
Yeah. Think positive. Positive…
‘He won’t ask for anything dangerous.’
I repeated it like a mantra while I took pictures with the “tourists.”