CHAPTER 196: CHAPTER 195. PRETTY LITTLE SPIES

Andrew swallowed his saliva, hoping it would soothe his dry throat--to no avail. He tapped the steering wheel to stop his fingers from shaking, and if the car didn’t have a self-driving system, it would probably have crashed already because his feet couldn’t keep calm.

He shouldn’t have used a taxi instead, but the party host did not allow that, perhaps to minimize a trace.

"Don’t act so nervous," someone said from the passenger seat, and the idol almost jumped in surprise.

"Y-yes, Senior!" Andrew responded, not at all looking less nervous.

The man in the passenger seat just smiled calmly, as if they were merely driving to a dinner or grabbing a coffee. "Just think of this as an audition."

"Yes?"

"You said you want to try acting, didn’t you? Just think of this like an audition for that," the man crossed his arms. "If you do well, I’ll introduce you to some directors and writers."

Andrew widened his eyes; forgetting about his nervousness for a moment. "Y-yes, Senior! Thank you!"

Andrew bit his lips to contain his excitement, which was still mixed with fear. Carefully--and secretly--he glanced at the person beside him; a man in his late twenties, wearing a casual suit and hiding his eyes behind a pair of sunglasses even though it was dark outside.

When he heard someone would contact him about sneaking into the drug party with a recording device, Andrew never thought it would be Ahn Noah. The guy might not be the best or the most popular, but his level in the entertainment industry was definitely above Andrew’s. He was well known in action drama, and while he rarely played the main lead, his side character often stole the show.

Naturally, Andrew didn’t think someone popular enough for the aunties to recognize him would be willing to do this kind of risky scheme. But Ahn Noah’s B-list status made it easier for the invitation to be approved, and it gave Andrew a little courage.

After all, Noah would have a lot more to lose than him if something were to go wrong in that place.

"But it’s in the middle of the city, huh?" Noah commented when he checked the navigation screen. "I thought things like this would be held in a villa or somewhere quiet."

"It used to be, Senior; my first party is in that kind of place," Andrew explained. "But I heard the police and journalists had been checking that kind of place, so it became risky."

"Make sense," Noah nodded. "That being said, I thought they already paid the police and such? Why do they still have that kind of concern?"

"Well...I guess they can’t pay the whole police department?" Andrew replied with a grimace. Wouldn’t it be scary if all the police in this country were crooks?

Noah snickered, and Andrew couldn’t help but glance at him again. From the first time Noah contacted him--which took Andrew a whole day to process--he had been wondering what Noah’s connection was to Lee Sarah, who, from his observation, was the one who orchestrated this whole thing.

Aside from his lack of educational background, Ahn Noah had no damning scandal so far; no sponsor, no dating news, no bad attitude rumors or bullying allegations, and no record of breaking the law--not even as small as a parking ticket.

Why would someone with such a clean record do something like this? Was he not worried about his career and reputation if something went wrong? In Andrew’s case, this was something that his sponsor asked him to do, so he kind of had no choice. But...

"Umm...Senior Ahn--"

"I told you to call me by my given name, or we won’t look close," Ahn Noah cut him dryly.

"R-right, Senior Noah!" Andrew flinched and almost hiccuped, pausing for a few seconds before continuing cautiously. "Are you not...scared?"

Noah smirked. "Were you scared when you came to this thing before?"

"I--I was only going because I was invited by some idol seniors. Y-you know how it is in that kind of setting, Senior...I won’t be able to fit in if I don’t do what they’re doing..."

"And why do you need to fit in?" Noah tilted his head. "To get jobs?"

"Well..."

"But you already have a sponsor?"

"Ugh..."

Andrew pressed his lips tightly. Yeah, he could get whatever job he wanted if he asked Amber for it, but...there was obviously a difference between getting a job easily and surviving as a part of a showbiz clique...

"Stop being greedy and just go to therapy," Noah rolled his eyes.

"H-huh?" Andrew blinked in confusion. "But I don’t have--"

"Even if you don’t think there’s anything wrong with you, just go. You’ll probably find something is wrong somewhere, you just don’t realize it," Noah said. "Maybe you’ll learn how to ignore that kind of dangerous temptation."

"Oh, y-yes..." Andrew grimaced, didn’t expect his simple question would end up with him being told to go to therapy. "But, still...what if they also record us and our faces get leaked, Senior?"

Noah finally turned his head to look at Andrew, who became nervous under his senior’s sharp look. He couldn’t see Noah’s eyes, but he could feel it.

"What you’re wearing now: those glasses, that shirt, and that belt--you know that it came with built-in cameras, don’t you?"

"Y-yeah..." Andrew replied confusedly.

This morning, he found a package in front of his door without a label on it. The only thing that made him believe it wasn’t a bomb or came from a stalker was Noah’s instruction to open it. The content was branded clothing exactly to his size, but obviously not new. If Noah didn’t tell him, however, he wouldn’t know that there were tiny lenses on the glasses’ frames, one of the shirt’s buttons, and the buckle of the belt. Honestly, it was impressive.

Did Noah mean the cameras were so discreet that they would never get caught? But that wasn’t what Andrew was worried about, though...

What if the host of the party retaliated by showing the recording of them entering the hall?

As if knowing the idol’s concern, however, Noah added while tapping his sunglasses. "These glasses also functioned as an identity blocker, so even if they record us, our faces will only look blurred out, as if there’s an error in the system."

Andrew widened his eyes. "Really? That’s awesome!"

"Yeah...awesome, right?" Noah smiled nicely. "It means the people who make this stuff can also undo the error and show your face to the whole world, and many such awesome things."

"...eh?"

"Don’t be scared of mere gangsters," Noah patted the idol’s shoulder. "Be scared of the one giving you this job, dear junior."

Andrew gulped, recalling Lee Sarah’s deep, unfeeling smile and her bodyguard’s cold grey eyes. "W-what are you talking about, Senior?" he laughed awkwardly. "What do you mean by job? I don’t know anything about a job, much less someone giving it to me. Aren’t we only going to a party?"

The eyes behind the sunglasses curled. "You’re right, Andrew. Maybe I got too tired and talked nonsense."

Both of them let out a corporate laugh; one dry and one full of fear. In the end, they were just there to do what they were told and nothing more. Andrew decided to trust Sarah’s claim that he wouldn’t get harmed in the process, and that his Amber noona would throw hell if he got into trouble.

Thanks to that, he was calm enough when they arrived at the venue: a simple hotel-cum-conference hall. Disguising it as some rich influencer’s birthday party, the front was made bright and loud, deliberately annoying so people wouldn’t have the willingness to get curious. It was easy to see that the attendees at the hall were paid actors and didn’t actually know each other, while the real guests strolled through the hall and passed through a door behind a curtain to go to the real party.

"Oh, aren’t you Andrew? I heard you’re bringing someone new?" one of the guards in the holding area recognized Andrew when he approached, immediately acting friendly while looking at the man walking behind the idol. "Is this the--whoa...the real Ahn Noah."

Lifting his sunglasses and putting them on his forehead, Noah arched his brow while looking at the plain holding area with a dubious look. "This is the place?"

"Y-yes, Senior!" Andrew replied in a stutter, before whispering to the guard. "Hey, we can come inside now, right?"

"I’m sorry, but protocol is still protocol," the guard smirked and took a small metal case from a vault-like drawer. "Please put your phone here."

Noah narrowed his eyes, looking annoyed. In panic, Andrew immediately calmed him down. "D-don’t worry, Senior. There are a lot of fun things inside so you won’t even have time to miss your phone."

"That’s right, that’s right--it’s just a standard security measure, Mister. I’m going to search you for a bit, okay?" the other guard said in a lighthearted tone, although he was already touching Noah before the man said yes.

Fortunately, Noah only clicked his tongue this time. "What a hassle."

The staff rolled his eyes while checking the actor’s legs and shoes, muttering under his breath. "Newbies."

"What did you say?"

"It’s a nice night to have you here, actor-nim. Please go inside," the guard smiled as if nothing had happened and gestured toward the door after giving Noah the key to his phone’s safe.

Clicking his tongue, Noah snatched the key and pointed at the door with his chin, signaling to Andrew to lead the way. Behind them, the staff was grumbling and snickering while watching them disappear behind the door.

"Acting so arrogantly for someone who has bad luck," the guard who searched Noah scoffed. "He just has to come tonight instead of any other night."

"Seems like we’ll get quite a harvest today," the other guard chuckled, glancing at the camera hidden behind the curtain.

Oblivious to the guards’ conversation, Andrew and Noah were transported to a completely different realm from the fake party outside. There was no bright light of delicious food; the only thing similar was the loud music. The only refreshments were alcohol and suspicious substances inside containers, and the only light was dim neon lamps enough to light the way and for the guests not to put wrong stuff in their mouths and noses.

Noah looked around the venue, which felt bigger because he couldn’t see far. "We should--"

"Andrew! It’s nice seeing you here," someone who looked like a staff member came and patted the jumpy idol’s back. "And welcome, Ahn Noah-ssi."

"Hmm."

The man snapped his fingers and another one wearing a waiter’s outfit came. "Jeff, can you take Mr. Ahn around and introduce him to some of our entertainment?"

With a bow, the waiter led Noah away from Andrew, who ended up alone with the staff, who was the manager of the party--or rather, the host. He couldn’t help but gulp out of nervousness, and despite the loud music, the man was able to hear it.

"What’s wrong, Andrew?" he wrapped his arm around the idol’s shoulder, asking in a low tone while squeezing the young man’s upper arm. "Why do you look so nervous?"