The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

"OH, you're making stew!" Yujin said, his eyes immediately brightened seeing the huge pot of stew. "Are you making this for me? How did you know that I'm hungry? Can you also make me hangover soup?"

The women playing the nuns showed a bewildered look and almost all of them turned to Astrid. Showing that they weren't sure what they should do in this situation. Astrid stopped chopping vegetables and turned to the intruder.

"Sir, I think you entered the wrong room," he said with a gentle smile. "If you're hungry, we can give you bread and a bowl of stew. But please, I hope you can eat it outside. As you can see, we're quite busy here. I hope you understand."

Anyone would probably feel offended when hearing that. But if it was Astrid- no, Luan saying it accompanied by such a smile, it's hard to feel any sort of negative emotion. 

Yujin was slightly surprised. To say that line without it sounding like you're nagging or scolding someone really showed Astrid's acting ability. Especially with the way he said it. It's like a gentle reprimand that could make others think, 'ah, yes, he's right'.

Good thing that Yujin's reaction only lasted for a fraction of a second. If not, his acting would definitely be affected. Seeing how good Astrid was in delivering his lines, he had to at least match it. 

---

Carmine watched Yujin exchanged lines with Astrid. She hated to admit it but that kid, Astrid, really had talent for acting. And she could see that this talent was tremendous. It's not all like the acting of a newcomer. 

Yujin was, of course, good as well. But just seeing this scene, anyone could tell that the one with more momentum was Astrid. She tsked. A kid with good looks and acting talent to back it up, to top it off, he also had very good social skills. Wasn't that a bit of an overkill?

"What do you think? My artist is quite good, right?" someone asked from beside her.

Hearing that voice, her brows subconsciously furrowed. She glanced sideways at Ellis. The other had that annoying grin on her face making Carmine frown even more. She truly wanted to not give any response to the other. But because of her temper, she couldn't resist saying;

"He's fine, I guess."

Of course, she couldn't directly admit that she also thought that Astrid was good. Especially not in front of this woman.

Ellis only smiled knowingly, her eyes filled with amusement. As if she knew that she was only saying nonsense. 

"If you say so," she said.

That only irked Carmine even more.

-----

After shooting that scene, Astrid and Ellis went back to the hotel to have lunch. Then, after they finished eating, Astrid told the other that he would be staying at his hotel room for the rest of the day. Ellis didn't think much and just thought that he wanted to rest.

Finally alone in his hotel room, Astrid quickly sent Wulfric a request for a video call. It didn't take long for his call to be accepted and Wulfric's handsome face appeared on the screen.

"Have you had lunch?" Wulfric asked.

Astrid smiled. "Yes, how about you?"

"Well, I drank some nutrient solution."

"Are you so busy that you don't have time to eat lunch?" Astrid asked, his brows furrowing a bit.

"A bit."

Astrid noticed the other glancing sideways, obviously not telling the truth. "It's not because you didn't like the food, right?"

He already knew about the other being a picky eater. So, it's not hard to imagine that the reason he drank nutrient solution instead of eating real food was because he was being picky.

Wulfric scratched his cheek like a schoolboy caught by his teacher for doing mischief. "Our army has a new chef. I don't really like his cooking."

Wulfric was actually thinking of firing the guy and hiring another one once they reached their destination. But since Beowulf was still floating in space right now, he couldn't do it right away. He could actually fire the chef right away if he wanted to. But Leland would definitely stop him and then nag him right after. So, it's better to just not do anything and endure drinking nutrient solution for a few more days. 

If Astrid didn't know that nutrient solutions didn't have any side-effects and was more nutritious than normal food, he would probably be worried for the other. But since he knew, he could only say to lighten the mood;

"Then, I should probably be thankful that you didn't nitpick the food that I cooked when you ate at my apartment."

"How could I do that? Your food was probably the most delicious I've eaten in my life," Wulfric quickly said.

Astrid couldn't help the smile that crossed his lips when he heard that. "Then, once I'm no longer acting, maybe I could apply as your army's chef."

When he heard that, Wulfric's imagination went to overdrive once again. Images of Aster in Beowulf, cooking food, and eating with him just flashed in his mind. "You're definitely most welcome."

Hearing Wulfric said that with so much enthusiasm, Astrid couldn't help but chuckle. Still, they probably should talk now about the important matter. 

"By the way, what happened to Lance Reid?" he asked.

"Ah, him. Well. It seemed that he really had no idea that he had an ability. Because of that, he has to undergo training as well as attend lectures so he can better understand his ability. But that meant that he might miss the shooting of your movie."

Although Astrid was already expecting that the problem would be something similar, he was still a bit surprised. Especially knowing that Lance actually didn't know that he had an ability. But the more pressing matter was the fact that the other might have to resign from the movie.

"Is there a chance to temporary hold-off the training and lecture?" he asked.

Wulfric showed a complicated expression. Astrid already knew the answer seeing that.