The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

ASTRID stared at Wulfric's expression. The other was still frowning. To test his guess that Wulfric was truly jealous of his stan persona, he said in a very dramatic way;

"But Mr. White seemed to be such a sweet and caring man. I don't think he would ever harm me."

Wulfric's expression immediately changed – his brows furrowed even further and the corner of his lips turned down. He almost looked like someone who had just eaten something extremely sour.

Astrid laughed inside. Just by that expression, he could confirm that his guess was truly correct. How fun. When he thought that the other couldn't be any more adorable, here he was, proving Astrid wrong.

Really, where would you find someone being jealous of themselves? If he didn't know beforehand who 'White Wolf' was in reality, the way the other was acting now would prevent him from thinking that Wulfric and the other were one and the same. Astrid suddenly had an urge to open up Wulfric's brain just to see what the heck was going on in there.

Wulfric snorted. "How can you think that he's  sweet and caring when you have never met him?"

"I don't know. I just feel like we have a connection," Astrid said in a dreamy tone, teasing the other further. "I really wanted to meet him."

Hearing Aster said that with that kind of expression and tone, Wulfric felt that sour feeling once again. It's currently filling his chest and he had a huge urge to just topple over the desk in front of him.

He knew that he was being so damn weird for even feeling this way when Aster was technically talking about him. But the fact that Aster didn't know that it was him was the reason why it irked him so much like this. Because in the other's mind right now, he was thinking of some other guy and not him. How could Wulfric just smile and nod at that?

He took a deep breath to calm himself down. Being angry like this would only make him look bad in front of Aster. Despite that, Wulfric still couldn't stop himself from feeling aggrieved.

He was the one who gathered all those evidence and yet it felt like some other person was reaping all the benefits. But the most annoying thing was, he couldn't even vent this grievance. How could he exactly when the one causing him to feel like this was Aster?

"Just- just be careful--!" he could only say at the end.

Astrid's dark obsidian eyes were filled with mirth seeing as how Wulfric was trying his best to sound like nothing was wrong even though he looked exactly the opposite. Like an aggrieved wife not wanting her husband to see that she felt aggrieved and jealous.

He decided to stop teasing Wulfric before the other noticed that he might have already known about his secret stan account. "Don't worry, I'm always careful."

After that, the two started talking about their day which lasted until evening. They probably wouldn't even end the call if it's not already time for dinner.

The two of them probably didn't even notice it themselves, just how much they enjoyed each other's company.

----------

The next day, Astrid was able to get a quick leave of absence for some of his afternoon classes. He didn't really have to do something complicated just to get one since the school considered any type of work in the entertainment industry as an extracurricular activity.

Of course, that didn't include anything 'questionable'. Like something that could affect the reputation of Redwood. But since it's rare for a freshman to take this much approved leave, the teachers in charged were already having a headache on how they would properly grade Astrid.

After all, if he took this much leave of absence, it might effect his study. The teachers just hoped that during the first practical and written exam, Astrid could take a high enough score for them to not worry about what grade they should give him.

After leaving the school premises, Astrid didn't have to wait long before Ellis appeared via her flying car and they went straight to EMMA's main headquarters.

"Sister Ellis, have they told you how they would incorporate the three concept that I did during the screen test into one perfume  line?" Astrid thought of asking.

"They haven't yet told me anything. But if I have to guess, then this perfume line would probably have three variations."

Astrid nodded, that's actually what he also thought of. "If that's the case, then a lot of shooting must be required."

After all, he didn't only have to do pictorials, he also had to shoot an ad. If he had to do it for three different versions, then it would definitely not be finished in just one day.

Unless, of course, the people in charged planned to take the easy way out and just do everything in one shot. No matter how good Astrid was, even he couldn't say with confidence that he could give the perfect picture in just one try. But since this was EMMA they were talking about, they would probably be as meticulous as they could.

"If there are really three variations, then the shooting would probably last for three days at the very least," Ellis said, agreeing to him. "If they had already everything ready, the shooting might start on Friday or on weekends."

Astrid also thought the same. He could only hope that they would shoot during the weekends. He would try to finish everything in two days. That way, he didn't have to skip classes again.

Soon, they arrived at EMMA. Ellis quickly parked the car and the both of them got out. Compared to where they went the last time they were here, today the two were walking towards the main building.

Entering the building, they were greeted by an AI staff. It seemed that every guest who entered the place would automatically have their own AI robot to lead them. When Ellis told the AI their names, the AI quickly led the way for them.