The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

WHEN Astrid walked out of his room, his steps faltered. Because he quickly noticed that the atmosphere between Lauren and Reas seemed to be much better compared to before he answered Wulfric's call. 

Lauren had a soft smile on his face while the rigidity surrounding Reas since the start of dinner completely dispersed. For the first time since the two met, they looked comfortable around each other. It seemed that his decision leaving the two alone for a moment was correct.

Although Astrid wanted to ask what happened for the situation to turn like this, he held back. Because there's a chance that the awkward atmosphere between the two might return if he did. How could he destroy this newly built development?

So, he just walked to his seat and sat down.

"Who called?" Reas asked.

"It's the new friend I made today."

At Astrid's response, Reas frowned. Because this 'friend' could only be the general. He didn't say anything back. Because the general probably called his brother to update him of the situation about the kidnapping case. No matter how unreasonable the general appeared to be, surely, he wouldn't call Astrid for no reason other than to see his face or something.

But then again, this was the general he was talking about. Calling Astrid for no reason was exactly something the other might do.

Lauren, on the other hand, didn't think much of the conversation of the two. He just assumed that the 'friend' Astrid mentioned was a student he met during the day.

"By the way, Astrid. I've seen some post on [Cyberspace] about you being seen at the space port. One even said that the spacecraft you boarded was a flight to FS08," he said. "Did you go there to film something?"

"Yes. It's a guess appearance for the 100th episode of [Blind Justice]," Astrid answered.

"Oh, I know that show! I sometimes watched a rerun of it whenever I have time. Did you say the 100th episode? Then, it should be a very special production," Lauren commented.

There wasn't that many shows or dramas that could reach that number of episodes. Because of the exorbitant number of TV dramas and web dramas being released each year, it's hard to keep the attention of an audience for that long. People simply had too many options to choose from. They might like this drama today, and then tomorrow, they might switch their preference to another drama. 

That's why it's quite a feat for a drama to last this long. It only meant that it had a solid fanbase and a loyal audience. Having watched the show a couple of times, Lauren understood how that could be possible.

He was pleasantly surprised that Ellis Payne managed to score such a good gig for Astrid. It seemed that what his agent said about her was not unfounded at all. She truly was very capable. He was happy that Astrid had a competent agent by his side. With his talent and looks, a capable and trustworthy agent was a must.

"When will it air?" he asked. 

"Next week," Astrid said. "It will be a two-hour special since it's the 100th episode."

Lauren nodded. If his evaluation of Ellis Payne was correct, then Astrid's appearance in this show would not be just an extra. The spaceport photos on [Cyberspace] showed that Ellis wanted everyone to know that Astrid would be filming something at FS08.

Now that Astrid's photos at the spaceport were making a small buzz, the next step would probably to announce that he would be appearing as a guess at [Blind Justice]'s 100th episode. That way, it would create more hype. Doing it that way meant that Astrid's role in this special episode was not just an ordinary extra. 

For a newcomer like Astrid who had been gaining a lot of attention lately, appearing in a popular show like [Blind Justice] would certainly be a big help to boost his popularity even more. But if there were pros, there would certainly be cons. 

Because of the show's high popularity, its loyal audience might not be too accepting of the fact that a newcomer would be the special guess for the 100th episode instead of an already established actor or actress. If Astrid couldn't show a satisfactory performance, then instead of being a good opportunity, it would turn into a bad one.

Lauren should probably not worry if that was the case. After all, Astrid's talent in acting was undeniable. His performance in that drama would definitely be more than satisfactory. Even if a lot of people showed their disapproval once the other's guesting was announced, they only needed to watch Astrid's performance to be proven wrong. That would probably have a more lasting impact.

"I'll definitely watch it," he said. "Should I ask my followers on [Cyberspace] to also watch it?"

"Please, don't." – Astrid.

"You shouldn't." – Reas.

The twins said almost at the same time.

Lauren chuckled at how in-synced the two were. "I'm just joking. I'm not so brainless as to do that." Then, he saw Andreas looking at him with an expression as if asking 'really?'. He threw a small pillow at the other. "Hey, don't look at me like that. I thought we already decided not to bicker?"

Reas shrugged. "I didn't say anything though?"

Astrid smiled in amusement at the interaction of the two. He could see that both were now very comfortable around each other. A huge leap from how they were when dinner started. He wondered just what kind of conversation the two had for their relationship to transition into this. It must have been one-heck of a conversation.

After making face at Andreas, Lauren turned to Astrid. "Do you have another job lined up after that guesting?"

"Yeah, I have an audition this weekend for the fourth male lead role of a TV drama."

Lauren's ears perked up when he heard that. "What's the title?"

"[The Great War]," Astrid answered with a grin.