Just Some Skills

My eyes subconsciously narrowed, casting a cold glare at my manager. My lips moved without my intention, damn it, Mei had taken over! 

"Ooh, you've been thinking about my guy? Yes, continue, what happened to get you so deep in thoughts? In addition, he had never told me about him being here."

The voice that came out of my lips was icy cold. Annie flinched, clearly only realizing her mistake now. But it was too late for redemption. She needed to give a proper answer now or Mei was bound to show her what a living hell was like. 

It was funny, given how she pretended to not care about Marcos. Tsuntsun. 

"Well, umm, I know my words were misleading and seem wrong but I really…"

She was fidgeting a lot, while occasionally chewing her lower lips. I think Mei had scared her too much. Something must have happened aside from seeing Marcos here, but what? 

Mei surprisingly stayed silent, only waiting for Annie with those dangerous eyes piercing her figure. 

Under the peer pressure of it, Annie spilled the tea. 

"I just saw Sir Marcos there, on the corner. He was with Ms. Everize… So uh, I wanted to invite him here, but he apparently had other plans. I was just curious about what's happening. Their umm, posture was a bit..."

What the… 

"Excuse Me?"

I snapped sharply without meaning it, she didn't seem to be lying. Then why was my boyfriend here, in a questionable pose with some random actress?

Albeit wanting to know, I found so many gazed at me. So, I reluctantly shrugged my shoulders, thankfully Mei retreated as well, or we would be in trouble. 

I got into the car while thinking about how I'll need to act as Akino frequently in the future, trying to distract myself from the thought of Marcos being here without my knowledge. 

But I only felt worse. Why did I feel like I may be like her, that my act won't be an act anymore, but true reality? 

Heheheheh. Are you finally getting worried? 

Mei. Please, don't irritate me like this. 

That cheeky laughter was anything but comforting. The signs of today turning to a disaster seemed to only get worse. 

Not that I admitted it. 

Annie started the engine and the car took off. A few minutes later, she received the notice that the role was mine. 

She cheered a bit, but I was too absentminded to play along. At that moment, Mei asked me. 

So, are we going to see Marcos now? 

Mei whispered into my head, and I nodded. We should do that, it was a tiring day and we both needed some outlet. Marcos will surely help in that. 

No matter what Annie saw, it must be nothing but a misunderstanding. 

"Annie, what's the schedule today again?"

"You have the live performance on Tissok. Nothing else, though. It is your only work for today."

She looked at the phone to check again and nodded at me. That was nice, I have free time for as long as I wish then. 

"Alright, we can chill for the rest of the day then."

Picking up my phone and opening it, I was swarmed by countless messages and notifications. Oh, that was right, I forgot to turn my phone on after the earlier audition. 

"Hmm."

I opened my message app and quickly searched for a name. Fortunately, my boyfriend had messaged me earlier, easing some of my worries. Just as I was about to read, the car took a sharp turn, shoving me to the side against the window. 

"Ugh- Annie!! What are you doing?!"

My Manager gripped the steering wheel and glanced at the mirror, she hesitatingly answered, "I felt someone was following us umm… I kind of just wanted to check, and that's true… They're still following us."

Ah. Another one of these? I felt strange about how Annie was still unable to cope with them. This was not the first and most likely would not be the last. Obsessive fans are everywhere. 

I left my phone next to me and jumped to the front seat, swiftly replacing Annie, who gave me her place with no much complication. 

Let me take care of it by myself. 

Mei whispered and took over our body. From the mirror, we could see a black car keeping a good distance between us yet following every curve and turn we take. 

Annie was right, we were being followed. 

Guess some people need a good lesson~

She chirped and pushed the accelerator, ignoring how Annie started to scream and panic. That was not the time for her, those fans need to be put in their place.

Even if just indirectly. 

The other car increased its speed as well and when we needed to take a turn, the burning scent of the tires against the asphalt filled the place alongside a loud screech. 

Some may call it luck, but in reality, Mei's experience in this game was the only reason for our survival. We easily went back to the right path, meanwhile, the other car wasn't as lucky. 

It hit the lamp on the side road with a loud bang, smoke started to come out of it. 

Mei waved with a smirk, "Gotta go now~ don't die!"

After the car was stable, Mei went back again. And I gave the seat to Annie again. Only then I realized how our heart was racing, gosh to go back to those days. 

"Gosh… Alice, you are so cool in that…~"

"It's nothing much, just something I've tried at high school before. You need some skills to brag around."

Especially as someone who everyone thought of as some sort of beautiful Doll only there for appearance. 

They needed to be taught a lesson. 

Which we did, Mei. Calm your tits babe. 

...

I had to stop myself from laughing out loud as that would look weird. But I truly enjoyed that short satisfaction of winning over Mei, making her speechless. 

I patted my chest and checked my messages again, opening the chat room from Marcos. 

'Take care honey, I will be waiting for you in our apartment tomorrow's morning. Don't come back today, there are some workers who're preparing an amazing present for you.'

That brought a lovely smile to my lips. He was so considerate, our cute Marcos. It seems everything was okay. Probably a misunderstanding.

Again, only you think like that. 

You already showed how protective and possessive of him to Annie a few moments ago, you dare to play hard to get now? 

You just know nothing about me. 

You are me. I know that much. If I loved Marcos, so did you. You could not escape that reality. 

Silence. 

Weird, no matter how much I try to reason with Mei on normal days, she never listened. But why was she silent now? Maybe something was different, no, not maybe, it had to be different. 

But why was that? Did I perhaps hit the nail? Whatever, it didn't seem to be of much importance. As long as she was obediently silent whenever I'm with Marcos, I would be happy. 

Imagining the amount of mess she could have done had I let her out always made me have an incredible headache. Leaving all of that aside, I opened the car's window, wanting the breeze to soothe my nerves that had been slightly agitated. 

Acting was never that easy. It's like I needed to split my personality even more. 

The heartbreak Akino felt in the script was now itched to my soul. Deep within me, it had started to pile up and build slowly. This was nothing bad, of course. Rather, I preferred it that way. 

It was always easier like that. I never had to 'act' in any scene before, only because I'm the true person in them. They were never mere scripts, they were what represented 'my' life for others. 

Short, messy, and chaotic. 

My heart did not like it though. 

And so do I. You are playing with fire. 

I laughed at Mei's words, playing with fire? Perhaps that was the case. But was that something wrong? 

Never. That was how I wish to live my life. 

No matter how bad or painful it was. It was my my own life, as long as I'm spending it as I wish, I'd be satisfied even if I died. 

Eventually, the car pulled over next to my Apartment. I paused and soon facepalmed, I forgot to tell Annie that I would like to be in a hotel today because of how much I spent talking with Mei. 

"Alice? We're here, aren't you going inside?" 

"Ah, yes. Now."

It would be rude to just say that now, there was nothing wrong in being a bit early too. I need to apologize to Marcos later for spoiling the surprise present, though. 

Leaving the car and opening my apartment's door took barely two minutes, I entered, and then froze. 

There were no workers there. 

However, someone was there. Their voices… So familiar, their moans… Gasps… 

I didn't want to go ahead. 

But Mei took over, she rushed towards the room and opened it. 

Revealing the scene that scarred me for the rest of my life.