254 Irina's Changes

I was surprised that I bumped into Irina immediately I doubted the chances. It has to be a coincidence that right after I say that two people must be tied by fate in order to just find each other in a crowd of people I bump into Irina. Right... that must be it. It's a coincidence.

When Irina raised her head and looked at me, on her face was a look of surprise. She appeared to be shocked to see me as the look on her face was characterized by doubt and disbelief. It was as if she didn't expect to see me here at all.

"Alevian?" Irina exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hands from surprise.

"H-hey..." I awkwardly muttered as I took a small step back. When I peered over my shoulders in search of Muria and Alvelyn, I saw that a crowd had gathered around us. Many people had their phones out, taking pictures of this celebrity dressed in a maid outfit.

"Ah," Irina quietly gasped when she looked past me and saw my two companions. "Muria, Alvelyn!"

"Can we..." Muria muttered as she tried to resist the crowd crowding up against us. "Can we go somewhere...less crowded?"

"Right," Irina nodded and smiled awkwardly as she glanced around at the crowd that had formed.

***

Irina led us to a rather quiet and secluded, open resting area that was away from the crowd. This seemed to be a secret area that is mostly known by the staff. Here in the silence and quiet of this resting area were a few other employees of the event that were on their rest break. Another reason why is I believe this area is intended to be off limits to the public as there were plenty of security guards patrolling the outskirts of this region, watching with focused eyes at the crowd as they neared and imposed a forbidding aura to the small road in the plaza that led to this location.

"You guys should've told me you're coming!" Irina said with a large, joyful smile. "That way I could've arranged things better for you all."

"We didn't think that far," Alvelyn answered her. "By the way..." Alvelyn then surveyed Irina's outfit. "Why are you dressed like that?"

"It's um...to promote the movie," Irina answered. "It catches the eye and...it's related to the role I have in the film."

"So what movie is it?" I asked.

"It's called Daddy Please Don't Stop," Irina nonchalantly answered.

"Daddy Please Don't Stop," I nodded my head, taking in the name of the film. It must've been how calm and the fact that she said the name with such a straight face that made the name slip by me, but when I repeated the name to myself, I sensed something was wrong with the name of the movie. "Wait... What?"

I looked at Irina with a bewildered look, mouth slightly open in surprise.

"This sounds...kinda like the title of a porno," I muttered. "You're...you're not filming porn are you?"

"Now how would you know what the titles sound like?" Muria chuckled and said. "And, may I also consider that an act of sexual harassment?"

"I'm not offended," Irina smiled. "Alevian, do you think I would film porn?" She gazed into my eyes with her large, azure eyes, and on her face, there was a look of expectation.

"No," I responded without much hesitation.

Upon hearing my response, a large smile broke out on her face, as if she was extremely happy about something. "It's a film set in the same universe as Grandpa Try Harder. Have you ever heard of that?"

"Like hell I have," I muttered. "What kind of names are these?"

"The director likes to use these weird names," Irina twirled her fingers together before her chest in a somewhat embarrassed manner. "Says that it makes the movie more memorable."

"I've never heard of it," I responded.

"Another film is also being planned as a sequel. It's called Uncle Please Touch Me."

"They still sound like titles for pornos..." I muttered.

"So what's your character in the film?" Muria asked Irina, ignoring my mutters of disbelief.

"I'm a maid in the main character's family," Irina responded. "And by the way, I am the main heroine."

"That's good," Muria smiled in a proud manner.

"Is the main character Daddy?" I commented.

"No," Irina shook her head. "The main character is the eldest son of the family, and he is played by Henvle."

Irina's words reminded me of the young, blonde star that I have interacted with once in the past while filming that live show with Irina in the other timeline. I do not know if that event occurred in this timeline, but back then, my first impression of Henvle was that he was a rather kind person. He didn't discriminate against me because of our status difference, but who knows. He may just be acting it out while he secretly detested me deep down. But that is simply a speculation.

"He should be doing a Q and A right now on stage," Irina continued. "Alevian, you've met him before."

"R-right," I nodded, taken by surprise by the sudden confirmation of the past that I was suspicious of ever occurring in this timeline.

"The time you were on live TV," Muria muttered to herself.

"You...you were watching?" I looked at her in surprise.

"Of course," Muria nodded as she looked at me with a straight face.

If Muria's seen it, then that must mean plenty of other people watched it as well. Just the thought of that made me feel rather embarrassed, causing a bitter countenance to appear on my face. It's...kinda cringe that it would end up like that. I didn't expect to have to participate in it at all...

"Have you rested enough?" Irina then asked us. "If yes, let me show you three around."

"Would that interfere with you?" Alvelyn asked. "You still have a job to do, right?"

"Yes and no," Irina smiled. "My job at the moment is simply to walk around and interact with fans while waiting for my next appearance on the main stage, which won't be in an hour so we have time."

The three of us followed Irina as she led us out of the resting area. As I walked behind her, I couldn't help but notice that she definitely seemed more outgoing than usual. Maybe it is because we are interacting with the celebrity persona of Irina and not the usual Irina that we are accustomed to. Come to think of it, whenever I see Irina on any talk shows or game shows and such, she's like the person she is now, beautiful, outgoing, and smiling a lot. However, for some reason, I just feel like her current smile seemed more genuine than any of her smiles in the past while on television. It's like she's only releasing her emotions right now...

As we walked, a couple security guards saw us and seemed to mistaken Muria, Alvelyn, and I were stalking Irina, maybe thinking us as crazy fans that wouldn't leave our idol alone. Out of concern for Irina's safety, they quickly made their way over with a cautious smile on their face. However, their suspicions were erased when Irina notified them that we were her guests and were allowed to continue on our way.

When we reemerged from the guarded pathway leading to the resting area, crowds of people immediately recognized Irina. She's rather hard to miss with her out of line maid outfit. The crowd of people began to crowd around us, and it took many security guards to maintain the line and kept them away.

As I looked around, taking in the many flashes of cameras, the many phones pointed in our directions, and the feverish attempts to break the protective line of security guards to get closer to their idol, I felt...extremely uncomfortable. The crowd's large noises as they tried to attract Irina's attention and their outstretch arms as they reached for their idol, it reminded me plenty of monsters. It was... frightening.

The crowd seemed to have a similar effect on Alvelyn and Muria as well. Alvelyn, I expect it to as the crowd had that effect on me, so it is only reasonable to assume it has that effect on her as well. As for Muria, I am not surprised by it as well. Although she's often calm and collected, I don't suppose she has the experience of dealing with so many people trying to rush in her direction.

The calmest person in our group was definitely Irina, which explained why the three of us seemed to cower behind her. She was walking tall with her back straight and head high, a posture of great confidence. On her face there was a sweet and professional smile that betrayed no other emotion aside from an aura of positivity that public figures like her exhibit. Even this celebrity persona of her's felt different from that of when I first met her. She was more...isolated back then. As if that smile she had was the forced result of a long torture session. However, that distraught look has disappeared from her face and replaced with one of optimism and confidence.