Morning sunlight poured through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows of the Nyx apartment, creeping slowly across the marble floor and climbing its way toward the enormous sofa where Mo Fei had collapsed sometime around three in the morning.
One leg was hanging off the couch. One arm dangled toward the floor. An empty glass sat nearby like a loyal companion that had died in battle.
The apartment itself looked like a luxury magazine cover. While Mo Fei looked like someone who had lost a fight with gravity.
Poke.
A finger jabbed his shoulder.
Mo Fei twitched.
Poke.
Another jab.
His face scrunched up.
"For fuck sake..." He pulled the pillow over his head. "Five more minutes..."
The finger jabbed him again.
Harder.
Mo Fei groaned like a dying whale.
"Aria... if this is you, I swear I will haunt you."
A voice answered instead.
"...I'm not Aria."
Mo Fei froze. Slowly... very slowly... he lowered the pillow. Standing over him was a man he had never seen before in his Late twenties, clean suit with a tablet tucked under one arm.
Dark circles under his eyes like a man who had been personally victimized by the entertainment industry. The stranger stared down at him. Mo Fei stared back.
Three seconds passed.
Four.
Five.
Then Mo Fei screamed. "AHHHHH!!!!"
He scrambled backward on the couch, grabbing the nearest object, which turned out to be the empty glass.
The stranger pinched the bridge of his nose.
"...Good morning to you too."
He calmly set his tablet on the coffee table like this was a perfectly normal way to start the day.
"My name is Louis."
Mo Fei blinked.
Louis crossed his arms in irritation. "I'm your new manager."
Mo Fei blinked again and Louis exhaled slowly.
"The agency assigned me after your previous manager quit."
Mo Fei sat up, hair completely destroyed from sleep. He squinted at Louis
Louis' eyelid twitched.
"Get up."
Mo Fei dropped back onto the couch.
"No."
Louis walked over, grabbed the blanket and yanked it away.
Mo Fei rolled dramatically across the sofa.
"owww"
Louis tapped the tablet screen and turned it slightly so Mo fei could see. Articles, A lot of them.
Headlines everywhere.
"MO FEI RETURNS: CONTROVERSIAL MODEL TELLS REPORTER 'SCREW YOU'."
"DISGRACED MODEL SHOWS NO REMORSE."
"IS MO FEI PLANNING A COMEBACK?"
Louis watched Mo fei face carefully.
"Z Entertainment you're signed to hasn't terminated you yet." His voice was matter-of-fact. "But they're deciding."
He crossed his arms.
"You're currently suspended. Temporary on hold and I'm the poor idiot they assigned to manage you after your last manager ran for the hills."
Louis tapped the tablet again turning it off and pointed toward the bathroom.
"Shower."
"No." Mo fei said defiantly
Louis took out his phone. "If you don't move in the next ten seconds I'm calling the company and telling them you're refusing to cooperate."
Mo Fei shot upright. "You're a terrible person."
Louis checked his watch."Eight seconds."
Mo Fei stood up immediately. "You didn't even start counting!"
Louis pointed again. "Bathroom."
Mo Fei shuffled toward it like a condemned prisoner.
He muttered while walking. "My first morning as the most hated celebrity in the country and I'm already being bullied in my own house."
Louis called after him. "Two things."
Mo Fei stopped. "What?"
"First, I'm not patient."
Mo Fei frowned "...rude."
"Second," Louis continued calmly. "You have a board meeting today where they decide whether to fire you."
Mo Fei froze and Louis nodded.
"Exactly."
Mo Fei slowly turned toward the bathroom again.
"...fine."
Ten minutes later
Mo Fei emerged looking handsome. Fresh clothes. Hair styled and a Face that could sell luxury brands even during a global scandal.
Louis looked him up and down muttering
"...You're the reason pretty people get away with things."
Mo Fei smiled. "I try."
Louis grabbed his tablet.
"Car. Now."
Twenty minutes later the car moved through morning traffic.
Louis was driving, Mo Fei sat in the passenger seat staring out the window.
"So..."
Louis didn't respond.
Mo Fei turned toward him.
"So you're my new manager."
Silence.
Louis kept his eyes on the road.
"Yes."
Mo Fei nodded thoughtfully. "If they fire me..."
Louis sighed. "Yes. I get fired too."
Mo Fei turned fully toward him.
"That sucks."
Louis gripped the steering wheel tighter.
"Thank you for your concern."
Mo Fei smiled brightly.
"Let's work hard together then."
Louis stared straight ahead. "...I already am."
Ahead of them the massive glass tower of the agency came into view.
Mo Fei leaned back in his seat and stretched "Well, First day as the internet's favorite villain."
Louis muttered under his breath. "...I need a raise."
The car pulled into the company parking entrance.
The glass doors of Z Entertainment slid open with a soft mechanical whisper.
As Mo Fei stepped inside Immediately the temperature of the place seemed to change.
The lobby was huge, polished marble floors reflecting the tall ceilings and golden company logo mounted proudly behind the reception desk.
Everyone stopped moving. A few stylists froze mid-conversation. Two trainee models near the coffee station stared like they had just seen a ghost. A makeup artist slowly lowered the brush in her hand.
Whispers began to spread like wildfire.
"Is that... Mo Fei?"
"I thought he was still in the hospital."
"That's the guy from the scandal."
"The homewrecker one?"
"I heard he jumped from his apartment..."
"Why is he here?"
Phones subtly appeared. People pretended to check messages while their cameras angled in Mo Fei's direction. Mo Fei felt the attention hit him like a truck. His shoulders slowly hunched and his ears turned red.
He leaned slightly closer to Louis and whispered urgently.
"...Why are they all looking at me?"
Louis kept walking without slowing down. "Because you're famous."
Mo Fei whispered louder. "No, this is different."
He glanced around nervously as another group of actors openly stared.
"This feels like the entire zoo just found out I'm the only panda."
Louis didn't look at him. "That's a terrible comparison."
Another whisper floated past them.
"Is the company really keeping him?"
"They should drop him."
"He's bad for the brand."
Mo Fei's face burned even more.He tugged lightly at Louis' sleeve. "...Louis."
Louis sighed."What."
Mo Fei leaned closer and whispered like he was confessing a crime. "The attention is too much. Is it because am too pretty?"
Louis finally turned his head and stared at him, His expression slowly flattened.
Inside his head a single thought formed.
Not only is this man stupid...
How is he also shameless at the same time?
Five minutes ago he was screaming about strangers in his apartment.
Now he was blushing like a shy schoolboy.
Louis turned forward again and continued walking.
"Keep moving."
Mo Fei shuffled along beside him. "But they're staring."
"Stare back!"
"They're whispering."
"Do the same!"
"They're judging me."
Louis pressed the elevator button. "who wouldn't?"
The elevator doors slid open. Louis stepped inside and Mo Fei quickly followed like a nervous duckling.
Mo Fei let out a long breath of relief and leaned against the wall. "Oh thank God."
Louis glanced at him. "You're going to hate the next room even more."
Mo Fei blinked. "...Why?"
The elevator began rising. Louis answered him calmly. "Because the executives stare harder than the trainees."
Mo Fei groaned dramatically as the elevator gave a soft ding as it reached the twenty-second floor. The doors slid open.
Mo Fei stepped out first, only to be immediately stopped when Louis grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him slightly backward.
"Hold it."
Mo Fei blinked.
Louis turned to face him, looking like a teacher about to give instructions to a particularly troublesome student.
"This," Louis said slowly, pointing toward the large glass doors at the end of the hallway, "is the boardroom."
Mo Fei nodded. "Yes."
"Inside that room," Louis continued, "are the executives who are deciding whether your career lives or dies today."
Mo Fei nodded again. "Yes."
Louis narrowed his eyes. "So listen carefully."
Mo Fei straightened obediently.
Louis pointed a finger at him. "You will walk in."
Mo Fei nodded more and Louis continued
"You will sit down."
Mo Fei nodded faster.
"You will not say anything stupid."
Mo Fei nodded so aggressively he looked like a chicken pecking grains off the ground.
"Yes yes yes."
Louis squinted. "...Are you even listening?"
Mo Fei gave him a thumbs-up. "Absolutely."
Louis rubbed his temple. "Just... let me talk."
Mo Fei head was hurting from all the nodding now. "Yes."
Louis took a breath. "Good."
There was a brief pause. Then Mo Fei suddenly leaned closer."You know..."
Louis immediately regretted not running away when he had the chance.
Mo Fei smiled brightly. "If you weren't a man I might have fallen for you."
Louis, "...."
Mo Fei continued cheerfully. "Seriously, who else would care this much about me?"
Louis stared at him, His brain had completely stopped processing for a second. This man was either incredibly stupid... Or dangerously sincere. He still hadn't decided which was worse.