Hell's Actor-Chapter 99: Buzz

Dripping water from her body, a naked girl sat on the floor in front of her bathroom.

Her gaze was stuck outside the nearby window.

It was a gloomy evening. The sun was hidden behind clouds. The sky was overcast, and the birds looked too tired to take flight.

"So, so sorry to have disturbed you..." she sang. "Bound by oaths, they are free, but you are not. So, so sorry to have disturbed you..."

She hummed and looked down at her lower body. One of her legs was missing from the knee down.

With some effort, she hobbled towards her bed. Leaning against it was a prosthetic neither cheap nor expensive.

She dried herself before putting it on fluidly. Years of practice had made it a mundane task.

After watering her plants and saying goodbye to the picture of her late mother, she left her house.

Dressed in a white sundress, she walked down the streets wearing a white mask and a white summer hat.

She needed to buy some clothes, but she did not know much about fashion.

While walking down a narrow street, a magazine displayed in a quaint shop caught her eye.

Usually, she would have continued walking without much thought. But today, she chose to approach the shopkeeper. freēnovelkiss.com

"How much for this?" she asked.

The shopkeeper looked at her and put up five fingers.

She handed him the money, but he continued staring at her.

"Do I know you?" he asked. "I feel like we have met."

The girl shook her head, but she looked happy for some reason. She took the magazine and continued on her way.

’Who is this?’ she wondered, looking at the front cover. ’The Quinn?’

It was the latest issue of Cross Town.

Waving down a taxi, she climbed in the back, prosthetic leg first.

"Shibuya," she said.

The whole way there, she leafed through the magazine.

"He came out of nowhere, didn’t he?" the taxi driver commented, trying to make small talk.

"Hm? Who?"

"Averie Auclair."

The girl looked around in confusion. "Who is that?"

"You don’t know?" His expression was that of a man looking at a weirdo. "The guy from Binsfeld’s Seven Princes of Hell."

The girl still had no clue. She had heard about BSPH, of course. Her co-workers at work often talked about it. But she had been too busy with her current project to take part in the frenzy.

She stared at the chic man on the cover.

’Should I watch it? Work is almost done.’

She reckoned it could serve to inspire her for the latest request that was made of her.

The girl was Clarice Isonokami, commonly known by her stage name Celli.

***

"And you are sure we have permission for it?" Hyerin pestered the employee from Elvin Production. "He won’t get arrested, right?"

She was saddling the poor man with a barrage of questions.

Averie—who was standing by the balcony rails, posing with his arms spread wide—yelled at Hyerin.

"Leave the poor sod alone, Rin! If we get arrested, then we get arrested. What’s the big deal?"

"Stay still," Min-Ha groaned, holding him in place from behind.

He was leaning forward so precariously that she was afraid he would fall if she let go.

"This is just like the movie!" Averie yelled, pretending a gust of wind was pushing him back. "Now, I just need to die at the end!"

Suddenly, Averie’s phone rang, saving him from Min-Ha’s glare.

"What’s up?" he answered.

On the other side was good ol’ Peter Kang.

"You ready?" he asked.

"I was born ready, baby. Are you ready?"

"I am so ready. Just don’t go ruining the plan with your grandstanding."

"That hurts my feelings. When did I ever grandstand?"

"Enough times that I stopped counting. Look, you only need to keep to the plan. If something goes wrong, we will be the laughingstock of the entire country." He lowered his voice. "Damn if I’ll let kids on the internet laugh at me."

"Relax, man." Averie laughed. "This will be fun. This is real showmanship."

"Just don’t go overboard. There won’t be anyone to save us. We will have to abort if it does not go exactly as planned. It’s not like we will have another chance to reshoot."

"Yeah, yeah—" Averie put a hand to his mouth and began making buzzing sounds. "—oh, it looks like the signal’s cutting. Buzz... I will—buzz—later..."

"Brother, that’s clearly you saying buzz—"

Averie cut the call.

"What a persistent bastard," he muttered and turned to Min-Ha. "Don’t be like that, Min-Ha. Classy girls don’t like persistent people."

"What?" She looked at him funny. "Why would I care about girls?"

Averie fitfully laughed. "You think you have any chance with guys?"

’First Dad, now you?’ Min-Ha thought. ’Nothing’s wrong with me. I can get guys if I want to.’

As if he could read her thoughts, Averie waved her away.

"In your dreams."

He didn’t mean any of that. Honestly, he just liked making fun of her.

"Alright, if your makeup is done, please get in place." The employee looked at his watch. "We will start at exactly 5:40."

***

It was 5:30.

At a terrace café overlooking a bustling street in Shibuya, two figures sat facing each other.

One was a man dressed extensively in a suit, and the other was a woman wearing a light top and a red skirt.

The former had his head in the Tokyo Times, which he could not understand a word of as it was written in Japanese.

The latter was observing the street through her thin-rimmed, golden sunglasses while drinking boba tea with a straw.

"The traffic is heavy today," she whispered. "I don’t see any police either. They are here, right?"

"They should be," the man answered.

He glanced at the street.

Office workers returning home, couples going out on dates, teenagers wasting their parents’ money—the street was full of busy people.

"Shibuya is known for its fashion. No wonder they are all dressed stylishly." He could see High school girls walking together. "You should learn from the girls, Rin. If they are audacious enough to wear short skirts, why do you act like you can’t?"

She closed her legs. "I don’t want to."

"No style whatsoever."

"Does this not look good?" she asked nervously.

"No, you look good. Who dresses like a poor office slave every day? Dress like this more."

"It’s called professionalism, and I will think about it," she said while playing with her earring.

"You like that earring, huh?" Averie muttered. "Don’t get too attached. It’s supposed to be mine."

She looked torn. "Come on, I’m just holding it for you."

"Yeah, don’t forget that."

Someone dressed like a barista approached the two.

"Anything else you would like?" he asked.

It was the young café part-timer who had taken their order.

"No, thank you," Hyerin quickly answered.

The barista threw a glance at the man in the corner, whose face was hidden behind the newspaper and a classy hat.

"That’ll be all," Hyerin insisted.

Once the café worker was away, she sighed.

Before she could relax, her phone rang.

"Are you guys in place?" the voice on the other side asked.

"Yes, we are."

"How does it look? Has anyone noticed?"

She looked around cautiously.

"The café owner is staring, and the employees have also started noticing, but no one else knows yet."

"Remember, this is important for the show’s European and North American release."

"There’s nothing like a publicity stunt, eh?" Averie smiled. "Especially something grand and risky like this."

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