CHAPTER 85: A DATE WITH NINE

"First, we’ll start with a joint photoshoot, then move on to individual shots. Good luck, both of you."

Anna’s gentle voice carried across the room, while William sat back in his chair, chin resting on one hand, his narrowed eyes fixed on Joshua and Will.

"Posing, huh..." Joshua muttered under his breath. He honestly had no experience in this sort of thing. Aside from controlling his facial expressions, he had no idea what to do with his hands or how to stand—his only references were a few poses he’d seen online.

Will clearly didn’t have much experience either; his body was stiff.

Joshua glanced at him and said, "Let’s just hold the flowers and stand straight."

Since it was a joint photo, and neither knew what they were doing, flashing a thumbs-up or a peace sign was definitely out of the question. The safest choice was to go with something simple.

Will nodded. In the end, the two of them stood straight, shoulders about five centimetres apart. Will held a bouquet of roses, while Joshua had a bunch of Tweedia. Will let his arm hang loosely at his side, and Joshua held his bouquet before him.

Will pressed his lips together, then suddenly turned slightly toward Joshua. At that exact moment, the lights flashed, and the photographer called out, "Okay! Next shot!"

Will stepped aside. "You go first."

Joshua didn’t object. He recalled a few poses he’d seen before, but considering the theme was flowers, he figured a calmer, more distinctive style would be fitting. That was just how he interpreted it.

His posture might look stiff in the photos, but at least he could control his facial expression — that alone was an advantage.

Joshua held a Tweedia flower between his lips, a few petals scattered in his hair. He lifted his chin slightly, his gaze lowered, both hands tucked casually in his pockets, standing in a simple, grounded pose.

Although his lower body didn’t do much for the composition, the shots would capture both upper and lower halves, so hopefully, his expression would make up for the rest.

"Nice work! Next person!"

The photographer called out loudly.

At that moment, William spoke up from his chair. "Both of you stand like a pair of skeletons — there’s not a single ounce of spirit in you!"

His voice rang out, laced with open disdain.

"This shot’s not bad," he continued. "Standing straight does make it easier on the eyes, but you two are giving off divorced couple energy. Are you fighting or something?"

William’s words made Will’s expression falter mid-pose.

"Focus, please!" the photographer barked. "We’ve only got limited time for the shoot, my friend!"

Joshua already knew — William didn’t actually need anyone to respond to him. He just liked yelling for the sake of it.

"Seriously," William went on, voice dripping with irritation, "a bunch of untrained trainees — this show’s getting too full of itself. Why not wait until the debut before pulling stunts like this?"

In truth, a September magazine cover wasn’t anything groundbreaking. But this was just how William was. Joshua had heard of him before — the man’s reputation and countless stories about his complex personality were all over the internet.

But William was highly influential in the industry. Everyone understood that he wasn’t just the chief editor of a magazine cover — there was much more to his position. That was the reason he still held such sway. And it couldn’t be denied that William had an incredible artistic eye; Joshua had seen many of his covers before.

He had once thought that the man’s flamboyant online image was exaggerated, but seeing him in person... Joshua realized it wasn’t an act at all.

In fact, he looked—well, stylish, in a very peculiar way.

As William lifted his head, he noticed Joshua still staring at him. Their eyes met. Joshua gave a small, polite smile, nodded apologetically, and looked away. William frowned, his hand quietly tightening into a fist.

He was convinced Joshua was mocking him.

Anna, standing nearby, couldn’t figure out why her boss had suddenly gone silent. She kept her professional smile, but inside, she was a bundle of nerves.

When Will finally finished his shoot, the two of them went to take a look at the photos. Joshua thought they looked decent — a bit stiff, but not bad for their first photoshoot.

Will, however, stared at the joint photo of him and Joshua. Remembering William’s words, his brows furrowed slightly before he asked, "Can I have copies of my photos?"

The photographer shook his head. "Don’t worry, the show will upload them to the official site later. You can download them from there."

Will blinked, then nodded without another word.

Before leaving, Joshua and Will both bowed politely to William and Anna.

William watched their backs until the door closed, then let out a loud, disdainful snort. "Utterly hopeless! Look at those expressions — it’s a photoshoot, not a funeral!"

Anna: "..." She hadn’t heard him shout this much while they were here, boss.

But well, the boss was always right. There was no arguing with that.

"Joshua, about the other day — I’m sorry."

Will’s voice came from behind him. Joshua looked at him briefly and replied softly, "You didn’t do anything to me, so there’s no need to apologize. If anything, you should be apologizing to Justin."

Will pressed his lips together, suddenly saying, "Joshua, do you want to join me? I’m planning to start a band. Don’t worry about funding — I’m rich! Be my right-hand man!"

His tone was so serious it almost sounded comical. If Nine were here, he’d probably be roaring something like, ’Right-hand man, my ass?!’

Joshua pressed his lips together, trying not to laugh, and shook his head. "No need. I’ll debut."

"Oh, Joshua, that was quick. How did it go?"

As soon as Joshua appeared, the group immediately swarmed around him. He shook his head. "It seems Mr. William’s evaluation was rather low."

Leonard snorted coldly. "He’s like that with everyone. Don’t bother paying attention to that mouth of his."

One by one, the others were called in for their turn. Joshua, meanwhile, was scrolling through his phone. Suddenly, Nine came to mind—he wanted to check on him briefly.

Sure enough, when Joshua unlocked his screen, he saw over 99+ new messages. Nine really had too much time on his hands to spam like that.

[Is that all you’ve got to say? Call me properly and talk like a human being!]

[Do you have any idea how terrible you are?]

[Damn it!]

[I’m yelling at myself, not at you, so pick up the phone!]

[If you don’t answer, I’ll come to the studio to talk face to face!]

[If you don’t come out to meet me, I’ll walk in myself and make a scene!]

Then, after a short pause, another message came in.

[This isn’t a threat, okay? It’s just because you won’t pick up!]

[I’m really mad, Joshua. Furious, actually. You’ve used up nearly all my patience in this lifetime, Joshua. I’m furious!]

After that, Nine didn’t send anything else.

Joshua narrowed his eyes slightly, his finger brushing across the string of messages before he slowly typed back:

"I’m at a photoshoot. Please wait for me at the square outside the company, there’s a stone bench. Don’t wander off—I’ll just hack if I can’t find you. I won’t wait."

Joshua couldn’t help wondering what Nine would look like this time. The last time he had manifested, it didn’t seem like he had a fixed body; he might have created a new one for himself.

He’d said before that as long as he had enough money, he could make that happen.

Well, either way, Joshua would find out soon enough.

The trainees who had finished their photoshoots didn’t have to wait around any longer. Joshua stood up, glanced at Justin, and said, "I’m going out for a bit. You guys can keep practising or head back to the dorm first."

Justin stood up as well. "You’re having lunch outside?"

Joshua thought for a moment, then nodded. "Probably."

Justin wanted to ask who he was meeting but didn’t dare. And Joshua was already gone by the time he thought of what to say.