“And then?”

“And then, indeed, I could do whatever I wanted. They gave me special treatment… You know all about it—they paired me with a Peach O, who never used blockers properly and acted coquettishly the whole time.” Edward Hayes still felt annoyed just thinking about it. “It’s been a year, and I’m still allergic to peaches.”

William Clark thought of Andrew Bennett.

Acting coquettish was simply out of the question.

Edward Hayes didn’t know what he was thinking, and assumed he was having second thoughts, so he said, “It’s not all bad. The show is definitely a trap, but the filming and post-production are top-notch—industry-leading, really. After I finished the show, my appearance fee doubled.”

William Clark couldn’t care less about that.

Edward Hayes understood his real purpose: “Just go on the show casually. By the way, who’s your partner?”

William Clark: “A newcomer.”

Edward Hayes said, “Let me guess, must be an Omega. Sarah Cooper is pretty reliable. Once you finish this show, you’ll be completely free of it. Even if the haters keep hating, there’s nothing they can do. With the show’s footage, you can throw evidence in their faces any time your little asteroids get accused.”

William Clark neither agreed nor disagreed, wiping his sweat with a towel.

Whenever they got together, it was to play tennis. Afterward, they’d both be drenched in sweat, their pheromones mixing in the room, and they’d complain about each other.

Edward Hayes: “By the way, which newcomer is it? What’s their name? I’ll look them up.”

Edward Hayes was already traumatized by that last Peach O, and worried that with William Clark’s temper, a similar situation would backfire.

“No need,” William Clark said. “He’s not that kind of person.”

He was sure he hadn’t misjudged Andrew Bennett on this point.

“Oh, so confident.” Edward Hayes raised an eyebrow. “You two have already met?”

William Clark ignored him, stood up, and started packing his things. “You’re too nosy.”

The less William Clark said, the more interested Edward Hayes became. “Come on, tell me—who is it? I have experience with Omegas, want me to give you some tips?”

“You don’t know him.” William Clark gave him the finger without looking back. “I’m out.”

Chapter 9

Announcement: [Highlight Notice] I think there’s a pacing issue—the first half of this chapter and the second half of the previous chapter have swapped content. It’s not a duplicate! (In other words, the second half of the last chapter is new, so don’t miss it, darlings.) There are some minor plot changes—bowing to everyone!

After the official announcement of the show, everything settled down, and Henry Foster urgently arranged for Andrew Bennett to attend classes.

“Each artist has their own office, but everyone’s so busy they rarely come by—it’s just for show. Trainees don’t have offices; they go to different classrooms every day for lessons. You’re different from them. They’re debuting as a boy group, while you’re being developed as an actor by the company. But for the next few days, your PR and image management classes will be with them.”

Henry Foster took him to see the classrooms, introduced him to the teachers, and also met a few other young artists signed under Henry Foster.

“What’s over there?” Andrew Bennett pointed to a corridor not far away.

Compared to the bustle elsewhere, it was much quieter there. There was no nameplate on the door, and it was unclear what it was for.

“That’s William Clark’s personal space,” Henry Foster explained. “He doesn’t come often, but it’s fully equipped with instruments and gear. There’s even a dedicated recording studio in case he wants to use it when he’s here. I think he only uses it once or twice a year.”

Andrew Bennett was amazed.

He’d known William Clark wasn’t the type to clock in and out regularly, but for the company to give him such a high-end setup when he barely comes once or twice a year really showed how much they valued him.

“No need to be envious—it’s not something you can envy anyway.” Henry Foster laughed. “Stellar Realm basically created the music department just for him. He only has a management contract with the company; all his works are handled by his own studio team. He usually writes songs over there, or often at home. It takes Sister Ya and his assistant to drag him out.”

Andrew Bennett breathed a sigh of relief. He probably wouldn’t run into William Clark at the company today.

Henry Foster asked, “Want to take a look? The door’s not locked.”

Andrew Bennett: “Is that okay?”

Henry Foster said, “Sure, it’s fine to just take a look. If you don’t tell, I won’t tell, and he won’t know.”

Curious, Andrew Bennett turned the handle and peeked inside.

He saw a huge space, cluttered with instruments and cables all over the place, some still unopened. It was nothing like the luxurious setup he’d imagined. There were piles of signed posters on the desk, as if the person signing them had just tossed the pen aside before finishing.

The sofa, with its back to the door, was draped with a tall stack of clothes—not the usual kind, but all sorts of styles and colors.

On the floor were several flashy skateboards and tennis rackets, showing the owner’s many hobbies.

Andrew Bennett: “……”

Was this really not a storage room?

Henry Foster said, “William Clark is about to hold a concert. All this stuff is what he’ll need. He’ll only have time to clean up after the show is done. He’s been rehearsing at the studio lately, super busy, so he hasn’t had time to deal with this place.”

Tickets to William Clark’s concerts were nearly impossible to get. Andrew Bennett had seen news of scalpers fighting tooth and nail for them. He himself had once wanted to go with classmates, but every time he tried, he failed to get tickets.