Hell's Actor-Chapter 69: Drunk on Atmosphere

Beautiful music was playing in the orchestra pit of the hotel lounge.

Drunk on the atmosphere, Averie danced with Ellie.

Plastered on his face was a genuine smile.

Notification alerts went off here and there across the venue. But Averie did not stop even as Ellie wondered what was going on.

He kept moving intuitively to the rhythm.

Word spread. Ladies talked. Men nodded. Whispers turned into stares.

And in the middle of it—the attention of all—were Averie, Ellie, and the two disgraceful actors whose video was spreading rapidly like bird flu.

But still, Averie’s passionate dance could not be halted.

He was enjoying himself in the midst of all the chaos. This was his platform, his stage. He loved every second of it.

"Hey, hey!"

A young voice boomed through the room.

Jiwon Kim, the larger of the two actors, came stomping towards Averie.

But without a care in the world, Averie continued his dance.

Like a top, he spun Ellie to the exciting rhythm.

"You fucking—"

Before Jiwon could do anything, his manager—who had sneaked in through the back door—grabbed him.

He dragged him and Min-Ho Kim away from the venue and drove away with their teams.

A quarter of the crowd suspected Averie as the one responsible for ruining the two actors’ careers, and some of them weren’t happy.

Although they did not openly excuse their ugly behavior, they did not like him airing out the dirty laundry of a fellow actor.

Such an act was seen as a taboo in the industry. It was the kind of behavior that could put talented artists out of work.

"What does he think he is doing?"

"Has he gotten a big head already?"

"Who would want to work with someone like that?"

"What were Su-Jin and In-Su doing? Did they not teach him anything?"

"I was planning a role for him. But now, there is no place for him on my set."

Hearing those remarks, Averie sneered.

Eras had changed, and cultures differed, but the sickness of this industry was the same as in his previous world.

They were all tribalistic. Loyalty to the group was more important than justice or anything else. They were not so different than police or football fans.

It was never the instigator who was blamed; it was the one who retaliated that always received the ire of the collective.

The industry acted almost like a mafia.

’They fear their secrets might come out with someone like me around, and so they keep the bold and the noncompliant down.’

But they did not understand what sort of existence they were dealing with. Averie was not about to comply or stay down. He was the kind of madman who would leave abruptly on a quest to flatten mountain peaks just because their sight annoyed him.

Plausibility was an afterthought to him.

Nothing in this world could keep him away from acting, and he was not above resorting to violence.

Once the music came to an end, Averie too stopped dancing. He bid everyone an early goodbye and took off alongside Ellie.

A step out of the venue, and he was stopped by Patricia Kim, the woman from earlier.

She smirked.

"You are forgetting something."

Averie shook his head.

"I don’t believe so."

He was bobbing his head to the song from earlier, which was still ringing in his ears.

"Then, let me remind you."

She glanced at Ellie, who was struggling to support Averie’s weight as he leaned against her.

She took out a slip of paper from her handbag and waved it at Averie.

"I became the highest contributor. The charity is grateful for my donation."

Averie whistled, his eyes glazed.

"What a saint you are, lady."

"Yes, that I am." She fanned herself with the slip. "Come, we can share a glass of wine at my place."

"I don’t drink."

"You look drunk."

"I am, but I don’t drink."

She looked annoyed.

"I don’t have time to play games, boy. Come quickly."

"I have no reason to."

"You promised to—"

"Sleep with you?" Averie laughed. "No, I only said I am costly."

She sent him a deathly glare.

"You agreed to work hard tonight if I became the highest contributor."

"And I did. I put on such a show." He flashed his teeth. "That dance was for the ages. Your grandchildren will talk about it. My bastard kids will boast about it. Do you not appreciate fine arts?"

"I do not appreciate false promises."

"I made none. Your desires led you to interpret my words in the most convenient way possible."

"I will make your life miserable," she whispered.

"All this for a night in bed with a man half your age?" Averie burst into laughter. "I am flattered, lady. But make no mistake; I can drag you down from your shiny palace in the clouds whenever I feel like it."

He waved at her drunkenly.

"I would allow a deep kiss as an apology for leading you on, but it would be scandalous. I choose my actions very carefully."

Lying came naturally to him.

"Beautiful ladies are waiting for me. They wouldn’t be happy if I locked lips with someone so much older."

He passed her and left.

"Bye-bye."

Hyerin and Min-Ha were waiting for him near the exit with the car prepared.

"Thank you, Ellie," Hyerin said as Averie was transferred over to her care. "Is he drunk?"

"He didn’t drink, but he is behaving like he did."

Hyerin pointed towards the hotel entrance.

"Who was that woman? Did something happen?"

Ellie explained everything to Hyerin and Min-Ha.

The constant leering, the abuse from the pair of actors, and the coercion effort by Patricia Kim were concerning issues for the ladies.

Once she was done recalling the whole affair, Min-Ha and Hyerin looked solemn.

"I wondered who else would livestream something like that."

"So, it was him."

"I want to get mad, but..."

Hyerin glanced at her friend sitting in the back seat.

"Thank you for bringing him back safely."

Saying it was not a big deal, Ellie took her leave.

Soon, the three were seen speeding away on the highway.

Hyerin was the one who broke the silence.

"One bad experience after another... It must have been unsettling. You can talk to us, okay?"

"We will put in a police complaint if we have to."

They tried their hardest to empathize, but Averie had long fallen asleep without a care in the world.

He was dreaming about blood, flesh, and tortured souls in Hell.

***

Walter Dean, Head of the Management Team 1 of Loret Entertainment, was about to leave his office when he received a call.

Seeing the Caller ID, his eyes widened in surprise.

He cleared his throat and quickly picked up the call.

"Yes, mam?"

His brows furrowed.

"Who? Oh, him? Yes, I know about him."

He licked his lips nervously.

"Yes, I heard about Jiwon and Min-Ho. They are exciting talents. I have always kept an eye on them, but this was unexpected. So, he was involved again?"

He sat back down and turned on the desk lamp.

"No, I was not planning on leaving him be. I have already prepared for it. I was waiting for the right time."

The clock struck twelve.

"Yes, I understand."

The call ended.

’He pissed off the Weaving Spider, Patricia Kim herself. What kind of idiot does that?’

Walter knew how many young actors she had coaxed and coerced.

It was a large number. It was almost like an initiation ceremony at this point.

She treated them like trading cards. The shinier they were, the more she wanted them.

’She will break him, but she won’t let him escape.’

In his eyes, Averie Quinn Auclair deserved that.

"What bastard betrays the industry like this?"

He looked at the clock.

’The industry is a giant monster. It will ruin you if you overlook the rules.’

He opened a draft mail on his phone and sent it to multiple addresses.

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