The Alchemists

After Katia left, Finland felt dizzy. She then asked Jean to enter a cafe and rest. She said the hot sun must have given her a headache.

Of course, Jean who knew Finland well understood that it was only an excuse. He guessed that something had happened between Katia and Finland related to Caspar. However, he did not ask any questions at all.

"What do you want to drink?" he asked when the waiter came to bring the menu.

"Mmm... I want a soft drink," Finland replied. "Uff... it's very hot today..."

Jean just smiled affirmatively, even though he knew the temperature outside today was considered cool for the Singaporean standard. He ordered two soft drinks to the waiter and then took out his phone.

"Can you please take a picture of us?" He asked after the waiter finished taking notes of their order.

"Of course."

Jean embraced Finland's shoulder as they posed for photos. The waiter suddenly recognized Jean's face and he eagerly took more photos.

"I often see your face..." she said while returning Jean's cellphone with a delighted smile. "I don't know your name, but you look very familiar because I often see you in magazines."

"Thank you." Jean smiled a little and nodded. Finland gasped and then patted Jean's shoulder proudly.

"I feel like I am hanging out with a real celebrity..." she said with a laugh. "I can't imagine what will happen if you end up acting in movies and become more famous. Maybe later there will be paparazzi and fans following you everywhere..."

"I hope so. I really want to be as famous as Madonna or Kesha, who are known only by their first name." Jean nodded. He sorted the photos the waiter took and chose the best. "I'll post this one. What do you think?"

Finland looked at the photo in question and nodded in agreement. "Yes, this photo is good. We look natural and the smiles look good."

"Great!" Jean posted the photo on his Instagram account with a caption that said 'Spending my last few days home with my person.' He tagged Universal Studios Singapore as the location.

Jean had 4 million followers on Instagram and his picture immediately got a lot of responses from curious fans because Jean had never posted a photo with a woman before. Usually he only posted his own modelling photos or photos of him in groups.

Finland did not have an Instagram account because she felt that she had nothing special in her life to share. Sometimes, when she was with Jean and she wanted to post a certain photo, she would borrow Jean's account and post a picture there. It happened only a few times a year because Jean and Finland only met when Jean came to Singapore.

Jean's loyal followers could see that every few months random photos would appear on his Instagram account.

Among the hundreds of Jean's artistic photos as a model, there would suddenly be a picture of a plated dish of Finland's cooking, or of squirrels on tree branches they saw while walking in Fort Canning Park, or a picture of a flower bouquet that included one white rose that Jean gave Finland on her birthday.

Usually these random photos attract the attention of Jean's loyal followers because they were very different from the photos usually uploaded by him. Some of his fans said that Jean had an alter ego, or the Hyde to his Jekyll, who uploaded the photos.

"Look... you're very popular..." Jean said while he showed his phone to Finland. Meanwhile, the drinks they ordered arrived, "Many people ask whether you are my alter ego who takes over my Instagram account at random occasions."

Finland was very impressed to see how quickly the notifications appeared and rolled on Jean's phone. Her friend was indeed very famous. They received so many comments and likes for their photo together.

After a while, she noticed that not only were there positive comments, negative messages and comments from the haters also appeared and condemned her for stealing 'their Jean'. Some even went as far as calling her 'slut'.

"Ouch... how could people talk like that..." Finland complained as she read some of the negative comments. "Am I really that bad...?"

"No need to respond..." Jean said calmly. "Such people will always be there. You cannot please everybody, especially on the internet. There are many psychopaths there. Let's just talk about other things."

"Luckily I don't have an Instagram account," commented Finland. "Those psychopaths would definitely find my account and bully me there."

"Yes, there's no need for you to make an Instagram account. I need social media because of my profession. Positive and negative comments, and even haters are very important in the entertainment industry; to use 'negative publicity is publicity'. I don't think it suits you." Jean immediately closed his phone and changed the subject so that Finland would not continue to think about his fans' hate comments. "I will go home next Thursday. Next weekend I have to get ready for various winter shows."

"Oh... that's too soon..." Finland frowned. "If only I could come along, it would be nice to see Paris."

"Why not? You can take time off, right? Come to Paris in January. I will perform at the Men's Paris Fashion Week. After that, I will be free. We can travel around France. If you're lucky you can experience snow in January. You have never seen snow, right?"

Finland counted her savings in her head and decided that Jean's suggestion made sense.

"That's right... my savings should be enough to buy a ticket," she murmured. "Maybe it's time for me to travel and see Europe."

"The thing is, if you come in January, we cannot go to Finland... There's no sun in Finland during the winter. If we go there I'll get winter depression," said Jean, "Later you should come again in the summer. We will go to Finland and see the midnight sun."

"Okay..." Finland replied. She opened her phone and made a note to herself to plan a trip to Paris in January.

"Wow... I can't wait," Jean said excitedly. "Finally, Finland will be able to see my second home. Your birthday is on January 15, right? We must celebrate it in Paris. Think of it as a birthday present to yourself because you have worked very hard all this time."

"You are right." Finland nodded.

Finally, Finland can travel too, with her own money. She was very proud of herself.

Because her mood improved, Finland forgot about the incident with Katia and they continued having fun together at Universal Studios.

After so many years of living in Singapore, this was the first time she entered this amusement park. In the past, the ticket prices were too expensive for a poor student like her.

Now, she had enough money to pay for almost everything she wanted, especially because she did not need to spend any money on lodging and food ever since she started living in Rose Mansion. She was able to save almost all her salary in full!

They had fun in Universal Studios until closing hours and finally they went home with tired but happy hearts.