As I talked with Jun in his apartment, my glasses started ringing and a name appeared on the screen. Talents Of The Old Tomorrow? Another company. Should I answer?

"A call?" Jun wondered as he drank more of his beer.

I nodded and sighed. "Looks like it's another company. I should answer, but it's late and I'm tired of dealing with this—"

"Just answer."

The glasses kept ringing as I sat in silence. Why am I even thinking of avoiding it?

My glasses recognized my command and the call started. "Hello?" I said.

"Good evening, Mr. Miyahara," a woman replied. "I'm very sorry to bother you this late, but we haven't found the time to call you until now." She sounded truly embarrassed.

"Don't worry, I'm used to it," I joked, but I realized it didn't sound as I had expected it to sound; it even sounded cocky. I cleared my throat and asked, "What do you need?"

"Yes. I'm calling on behalf of Talents Of The Old Tomorrow. We are a company with the goal of bringing classical music to the present." She kept making pauses between words and even stuttered a little. "You might not have heard of us because we've worked with very few artists that share our goal but, when we heard there was an idol group, we immediately knew we had to collaborate. Sadly, we just found the time to inquire about it."

She was right, I hadn't heard about that company before, but it wasn't a reason for me to reject them. The reason why they hadn't called before didn't sound too convincing, yet I didn't want to let go of another opportunity.

The woman continued, "We'll understand if you have other plans or don't want to collaborate with us."

The word 'collaborate' was also intriguing to me. It could've been a soft way of saying they wanted to acquire GIMA, but it didn't feel that way. Why not? I can simply say no if I don't want to, although I'm going to hate myself for doing it again.

"It sounds interesting," I replied. "Could you please tell me more about it?"

Her voice suddenly changed into a higher pitch. "Yes! We currently have only one band under our agency and we would love to have them collaborate with Blostars. We have some ideas, but it would be great if you could come to our studio to discuss them in person. Or we can go to yours if you need us to."

It doesn't sound bad.

"Sure," I replied. "We can come over tomorrow if it's not too much trouble."

"That would be fantastic! We also like when work is done quickly," she laughed nervously. "What time can you come?"

"Any time. Just tell us and we'll be there."

"Please, we're the ones bothering you for this; at least let us not waste your time."

I stayed silent for a moment before replying, "Does one o'clock sound good?"

"It sounds perfect. I'll send you a message with the location. We'll be waiting for you."

"Sure. Before we hang up, can I ask what the name of the band is?"

"It's Aeryx."

Aeryx? Sounds familiar….

"Alright. Thank you," I said.

"Thank you for giving us an opportunity. Have a good night."

"You too."

I ended the call just to remember that Jun was sitting in front of me. Did he stare at me this entire time?

"Were you planning a date or what?" he asked.

"Yes."

He chuckled and lifted the can above his face to chug the remaining beer down. A deep breath came out of his mouth, from which some of the beer started to drip out. He used the back of his hand to sweep away the beer. "So, what's the name of the band?"

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Aeryx."

His eyes opened wide and, mixed with a loud and long burp, he asked, "Are you serious?"

The warmth and smell of his breath hit my nose, yet I did my best to endure it. "I am. Why?"

"She's huge right now. I don't like her songs, but I keep hearing about her and she looks badass."

I remained silent as my heart began to pound in my chest. That sounds great, but I shouldn't let that cloud my judgment. I don't even know what they want to do yet.

"Anyway," Jun interrupted my thoughts. "Where's my contract?"

"I'll send it to you tomorrow when you're not drunk."

"Are you kidding? How could I get drunk with one beer?"

"That's worse, then." Showing no emotion, he stared at me. "Yes, I'm kidding. The contract isn't ready yet."

He sighed and stood up. "Another beer?" he asked as he opened the fridge.

"I haven't even finished half of the one you've given me."

Suddenly, he pulled out a bottle of wine and presented it to me. "What about this?"

I stared at it, blinking frantically. The brand of the bottle he was holding was the first alcoholic drink I had ever had and it was still my favorite.

After battling with myself for a long while, I gave up. "Fine, just one glass," I sighed.

It wasn't just one glass. We ended up drinking the whole bottle between the two of us while we chatted about life and other things I wouldn't normally talk about. Although I got drunk, it was nothing compared to Jun, who drank four more cans of beer. I returned to my apartment a little before midnight and fell dead on the bed.

The doorbell woke me up and echoed in my head, hitting the perfect spots to make me nauseous every time it rang. My entire body ached as I stood up and approached the door to open it. It was Aki, who looked far from happy. She stepped in and scolded me for not telling her when I got home and not replying to her messages. After that, she prepared food to alleviate the hangover.

Apart from that, the rest of the morning was relatively normal. Even though it was hard for me to concentrate with the headache, I finished preparing Jun's contract and sent it to him. It wasn't responsible on my part to get drunk the previous night before having a meeting—even worse when it was with an important company—but what was done was done.

The workday began and, somehow, it was obvious to Aya that I had a hangover. Thirty minutes before one o'clock, I called everyone downstairs to tell them we were heading out. Only Miki, Satō, and Tomokazu stayed in HQ. The rest of us walked to the monorail station.

Although many people glanced at us on the way to TOTOT Studios—Talents Of The Old Tomorrow's headquarters—only four of them approached the girls to ask for a picture with them, which they gladly accepted. Still, Butcher remained vigilant as he kept an eye on everyone.

We arrived at the studios in the middle of the city with only six minutes to spare, far tighter than I had estimated. The building was similar in size to GIMA's, although it was probably at least ten times more expensive.

We stood still on the sidewalk in front of the glass door. I knew everyone was waiting for my instructions, but even I was nervous.

"Butcher, you can take a stroll around the city in the meantime," I said. "I'll call you when we're done."

"Understood, young man." He glanced down the street and stared at a popular café before walking toward it. We stared at him in confusion for a moment.

"Alright, let's step in," I continued.

My chest suddenly tightened as soon as we stepped on the brown tile floor. Silver, Gold, and Platinum discs hanging on the walls were the first things I saw, aside from the many awards standing behind glass.

I shook my head to keep looking around the lobby. A Huma stood behind the desk. I gulped before approaching him, but a familiar voice stopped me halfway.

"Mr. Miyahara!" she called me as she walked down the hallway next to the desk. "I'm glad you could all come." She bowed in front of us. "I'm Rumi Yoshida, Co-CEO of Talents Of The Old Tomorrow."

Everyone bowed in response, but I took a little longer to react as I thought, She's the Co-CEO and took the time to call me?

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you all in person," she grinned. "I'd love to give you a tour of our studios, but you might be in a hurry and I'm afraid of bothering you too much."

"A tour would be great," I replied.

"Really? Splendid. Follow me, then."

We followed her down the same hallway she had come from and walked through a square frame.

"This is the cafeteria," Ms. Yoshida said. "It's empty now, but it'll get busy in half an hour. Still, anyone can come at any time if they are hungry."

We walked out and followed her to the glass door in front of the cafeteria.

"This is the meeting room. This is where we'll discuss the plans to collaborate in a moment."

Just like the cafeteria, it was surprisingly small, but it performed its function.

We kept walking down the hallway and passed by the bathrooms, which weren't necessary to see. We reached another glass door and walked through it. Although we had already seen the sign outside, and it became obvious as soon as we entered, Ms. Yoshida still announced where we were.

"This is the recording studio," she said, but she frowned as she kept looking around the room and through the windows.

"Is there a problem?" I asked.

"I was sure she was still here."

She?

The glass door opened behind us and a woman said, "Oh, Blostars are here."

We turned around to see Aeryx.