The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

IT was almost four o'clock in the afternoon when the twins got back to the apartment.  After lunch, Astrid was able to sign a contract for his participation in the music video.  The pay was also pretty generous – 25,000 star coins.  For a newcomer who would only appear in a three minute or something music video, that amount was already good.  Astrid was very satisfied with that amount.

He sat down on the couch and checked his bank account on his Terminal.  The 25,000 star coins were already there.  Well, they're certainly fast.

It probably had something to do with Miria's agent wanting to recruit him to Kaleido.  Remembering that, he couldn't help but wince a bit.  When they finished eating and was about to leave, the agent took that opportunity to convince him how good it would be if he joined Kaleido.

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"Astrid, although I'm not sure which company you referred to earlier, I think it will really be good to you if you joined Kaleido," the agent said, quickly pouncing on him as soon as Shir Atkins left.

Astrid scratched his nose and looked sideways.  He saw that Miria was just silently watching, she obviously had no plans to interfere with her agent.  Reas, on the other hand, looked like he was ready to pull him away at any second if he just told him to. 

He could only inwardly sigh.  Of course, he couldn't let his brother to do that.  Even though he had no plans on joining Kaleido, it's still best to not offend one of their agents. 

He actually thought that what he said earlier about wanting to be part of a certain entertainment company since he was a kid would be enough deterrent for her.  Especially since he didn't say that the entertainment company he was talking about was Kaleido.  He thought that she would take a hint from that.  Who would have thought that it didn't have any effect at all?

Maybe she just truly wanted to scout him.  She probably thought that he was too outstanding to be left alone. 

But joining Kaleido had never crossed his mind.  In fact, he'd rather be in Polaris.  Which was his current number one pick.  He was just looking for the right time to do a thorough research on the said company.  Although Polaris had a pretty clean reputation, it wouldn't hurt to make sure that it was true and not just some hype.  Since he was already friends with two of their artists, it probably wouldn't be hard to visit the company some day later.

For now, it's much more important to deal with this agent without her being offended in some way. 

Astrid started to appear troubled.  "Miss Smith, I- I'm really sorry.  I- I don't want to seem ungrateful or that I look down on Kaleido.  I will never.  I know how great Kaleido is.  But- but I- I really wanted to go to the entertainment company of my dreams."  Then he appeared scared and sad, as if he would cry at any second.  "I- I hope Miss Smith can understand."

As he planned, the agent's face was suddenly filled with guilt.  "Oh, no, no, I'm not trying to force you to join Kaleido.  I will never blame you if you refuse."

"Really?" Astrid let out a sigh of relief.  "That's good.  I'm actually really afraid to refuse.  But I just have to do it or it would be like I'm going against my own belief.  Thank you for your understanding, Miss Smith."

When he said that with a relieved smile, the agent appeared like she had just eaten a very sour candy.  Even when she smiled back, it almost looked like she was cringing.  Not that Astrid cared.  He was just glad that he managed to 'convince' her somehow.  And that's all that mattered.

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Now that he thought about it, Miria was giving him weird looks while he was acting that way to get her agent off his back.  Could it be that she suspected that he was only acting?  Nah.  His acting was so good that he would bring any white lotus to shame.  Miria just probably thought that he looked weird acting like that. 

But to make sure, he turned to Reas and decided to ask him.  "Reas, when I was refusing Miria's agent earlier, do I look convincing?"   

Reas, who just poured himself a glass of water, stopped his movement and turned to him.  "Yeah.  It's so convincing, it gave me goosebumps."

Just remembering that pitiful act his brother pulled earlier, Reas literally had chills.  If he didn't know that he was just acting, he would truly believe that, at that moment, that's exactly what he was feeling. 

He was suddenly thankful that Astrid had never used his talent growing up or else, he would probably be in a lot more trouble than he did.  After all, it would be so easy for his brother to put the blame on him if he wanted, so he could avoid being scolded.  But he didn't.  In fact, whenever they get in trouble together, Astrid often took the blame.  Showing his love for him as a brother.

Reas looked at Astrid.  "Aster, I suddenly realized one thing.  I actually love being your brother."

Astrid looked at his twin as if the other had just eaten something weird.  He decided to change the subject before Reas started to say any more bizarre things.  "The shooting for the music video is next week.  Will you accompany me?"

"Of course, I will," Reas didn't hesitate to answer.  "What else would I do here?"

He still had time before he should be at the military academy. Because a week before school started, he needed to report and stay at the academy's dorm.  That would be about two weeks from now.  So, he could still act as his brother's assistant/bodyguard.

Astrid nodded.  He already expected that answer.  Maybe after the shooting of the music video he could pay a visit at Polaris.