“Laika, I just got word that Mr. Desnes, who’s supposed to be filming with you today, is running late. I’m sorry, but it looks like you’ll have to wait a bit…”
“Tch… I figured he was pushing it lately. Has this bastard finally lost his mind?”
Slamming the sidescript onto the table, Laika leaned back on the sofa with both arms thrown over the backrest, head tilted all the way back.
His face was full of barely concealed irritation.
If Laika was the rising star of the moment, Desnes was the established actor with solid fame.
The two were co-leads in the movie, and their pairing had made waves even before filming began.
The staff were understanding, knowing how busy Desnes was, but Laika wasn’t so forgiving.
Desnes was late only on days he had to film with Laika and always managed to get on his nerves.
The rest of the staff hadn’t caught on, but Laika had.
He knew Desnes was deliberately trying to provoke and suppress him — a common power struggle in the industry.
‘So that bastard… I’ve been watching to see how far he’d go, but my patience is running thin…’
Laika had buttered up almost all the staff with his mental skills and calculated charm, except Desnes.
And in contrast, he acted just annoying enough for only Desnes to notice.
Furious, Desnes began pushing boundaries to provoke Laika, and in the process, became a nuisance to everyone.
This was already his third time being late.
Laika’s rough words clearly startled the staff member, who started sweating.
“Huh? What did you just say…?”
“Ah, it’s fine. Gives me more time to rehearse.”
“Ah… thank you for understanding. He’s been very busy lately, so I guess his last schedule ran long. We’ll start filming as soon as he arrives.”
For this kind of conversation, Laika didn’t need to use any skills.
The staff were likely annoyed with Desnes too, even if they couldn’t say so out loud.
Once the door closed, Laika ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.
“Ugh… So annoying.”
Iris rustled a dessert bag at the end of the long table, watching the clearly irritated Laika.
Since he arrived, no one had dared to assign her any chores — she was his road manager, after all.
‘Ugh, suffocating. Should I just sneak out? But no, I’m doing this job to get closer to Laika. I can’t run from the prey just because the atmosphere’s intense. Let’s see, is there a way…?’
She glanced sideways at Laika.
He was lounging lazily with one arm on the backrest, eyes scanning the sidescript.
The veins in his forehead were visible — clearly not a good time to even speak to him.
Laika, scowling, tossed the script down irritably.
“Nothing to memorize anyway. Pissing me off.”
“Gah!”
The flying script startled Iris into yelping.
Laika cracked his neck and spoke again.
“Ugh… hey, you. Go grab the main script from over there.”
“Huh? Oh, yes!”
“Stop saying ‘huh’ all the time.”
Laika pointed to the vanity table stacked with scripts.
Iris quickly fetched one and handed it to him, hoping to avoid his wrath.
Then she muttered internally:
‘That’s the second time today. What, I say “huh” like a thousand times or something?’
Laika’s long fingers flipped through the script.
He stopped at one spot and looked up at Iris with just his eyes.
“Let’s do a reading.”
“A reading? Oh, then I’ll call someone to—”
“Sigh. Is there anyone else here besides you? Do you want me to walk across the set? I’ll grow old waiting.”
Laika’s rudeness made Iris’s lips twitch in frustration.
If only her level were higher, she’d have smacked him right then.
She forced a smile and nodded, finally understanding that he wanted her to read with him.
Before taking this job, Iris had googled what a road manager does.
Turns out newbies handle chores and read scripts when needed.
It wasn’t part of her main duties, so she’d forgotten — and being scolded for it now really pissed her off.
“What page?”
“Page 220.”
Luckily, she had theater experience from school, so she wasn’t totally helpless.
She flipped to the page Laika mentioned.
But then—
Her eyes widened behind her glasses.
‘Wait—this is a kissing scene with the lead actress?! That sneaky bastard. Pretending he’s innocent but planning something?’
Iris tried to glare at Laika like he was garbage, but for some reason, her heart started pounding.
He was just too damn handsome.
Even his attitude somehow seemed… attractive.
She had always thought she wasn’t into guys.
But apparently, drop-dead handsome ones were the exception.
Especially ones like Laika.
For a second, the gloomy face of the most handsome person she knew — Johannes — came to mind.
She shook her head furiously to get rid of the image.
He was in a whole other category.
Though he stood up straight and made eye contact in front of the chauffeur, he only acted refined when it benefited him.
It was off-putting.
Honestly, Johannes might seem like a decent, quiet guy to others, but Iris had known him for 14 years.
To her, he was just a high-level loser.
‘Nope. Not a hot nerd, just a cringy loser. Ugh, even imagining dating him is stomach-turning. Don’t even think about it.’
Shaking off the thought, she turned back to the script.
The dialogue was steamy, and the scene ended in a kiss.
Could she pull this off with Laika without trembling?
‘Is it just because he’s… well, very handsome? My heart won’t calm down.’
Her heart pounded, maybe out of nerves.
But then something happened that made it drop instantly.
Clank.
A chill ran between her legs — she didn’t need to look down to know.
Her chastity belt had popped open. Again.
‘Are you kidding me?! What the hell—it opens now?!’
Iris cursed inwardly while flinching.
But the damn thing showed no sign of locking back.
Every time she shifted, she felt the chain brush against her — and wanted to die.
Laika, seated above on the sofa, watched her strange behavior and raised an eyebrow.
“What… are you doing?”
“N-no! It’s just… the scene is kind of intense.”
“Hah, you think I’m gonna try something? Don’t flatter yourself.”
“Ah! N-no, of course not. Just reading a bit more…”
“Tch, ridiculous…”
Laika scoffed and looked back at the script.
He licked his upper lip unconsciously.
He’d mocked Iris plenty, but inside, he was actually feeling guilty.
They didn’t even need to go over this scene today. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, driven by curiosity.
‘What the hell am I doing? This kind of creeping isn’t like me.’
Still… that girl with the glasses was kind of cute.
She’d caught his eye on the first day, and she looked even cuter now.
Her honey-brown eyes were easy to spot even through those thick lenses.
Her round nose, cherry-like lips — there was something rare about her.
There were plenty of pretty actresses in the industry, but none with her baby-faced charm and sass.
Maybe that’s why he kept looking at her.
As she buried her face in the script, Laika couldn’t help but have a dirty thought:
‘I wonder what kind of body’s hiding under those baggy clothes.’