The entire audience burst into applause, cheers, and whistles while Rio and Shawn bowed.

As the two of them recovered their breath while looking around, Valentina could feel a plethora of gazes burning into all sides of her head. Pretending not to see it, she stood up and applauded with everyone else while resolving to act like an invisible person since her portion was done.

Their thoughts were their own.

It had nothing to do with her.

As for the one back home, who would be upset?

Let’s leave that for later. Maybe she could get him just not to watch it.

Thankfully, the rest of the show went without a hitch as Rio and Shawn continued talking about their album and the inspiration for their songs. As the show wrapped up, Valentina stood and smiled along with everyone, waving when the camera panned over to her.

The moment the cameras turned off and the audience was ushered out, she immediately wanted to leave. Unfortunately, she had to say goodbye to the hosts and give back the mic attached to her dress.

As she walked back onto the stage, she could see Jimmy make a beeline for her with an enthusiastic expression on his face.

Although she wanted to frown and avoid him, she held it in and smiled politely. Seeing him reaching in for a hug, she nimbly sidestepped it and held her hand out for a handshake instead. As he quickly transitioned to shaking her hand and almost brought it to his lips, she laughed uncomfortably and pulled it away.

Yuck.

“Ahh, my dear Valentina, I see you’re a bit shy now that the cameras are off. What a true actress you are.”

“Ahaha, I guess so.” Without being too rude, she surreptitiously increased the distance between them.

“Well, I just wanted to say that you did great for today, being your first time here, and you looked beautiful doing it. Fantastic job! I don’t think anyone could have been as lovely and charming as you were on their first time. And you smell fantastic.”

At the excessive praise, Valentina could feel her eyes begin to twitch, especially as Jimmy stepped close to her once more and took a huge sniff of the air.

Taking a polite step back, she smiled awkwardly once more.

“Thank you very much for the compliment, but you’re overstating it. I think Yuri did a fantastic job and helped bring her team the win, not to talk of the Fallen Angels themselves, who gave me this opportunity. Additionally, if it weren’t for the amazing hosting skills and atmosphere created by you and Vanessa, I wouldn’t have made it. I was only able to scrape by thanks to the both of you.”

“Rather than scrape by, I want to say you killed it. You’re quite naturally charming, you know, and so immensely beautiful. Speaking of which, and I know it’s a bit sudden but would you like to get a meal together? I'm also an industry expert and can definitely give you some advice as well. Why don’t we get together, and you can offload your worries on me? Since I am an actor, I can definitely help you navigate things better than Rio or Shawn can.”

“Pardon me?” her brows arched in surprise.

Was she mishearing something?

“Didn’t you say you wanted to be on the show again? I can easily make that happen on weekly idol as well as other things that I produce. All you need to do is have dinner and drinks with me. As friends. I’m sure a pretty girl like you knows what I’m talking about.”

I beg you pardon?

Valentina truly couldn’t believe her ears.

What was this man openly saying to her in broad daylight with people around?

As she looked around, trying to catch the attention of Vanessa or a staff member, she saw that while she had been speaking, the room had cleared out, and the remaining people were avoiding her gaze.

Yuri was quickly ushered away by her manager, while Vanessa wasn’t even there at all.

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Was she the sacrificial lamb left behind?

Seeing Jimmy’s confident smile, she guessed that she was. He had clearly done something like this before, and the staff and even Vannessa were used to it and let it slide.

Although she had expected something like this to happen to her eventually, she didn’t think it would happen to her so soon.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I really have to go. I have a previous appointment that I reall, really have to get to. And I’m not able to reschedule, unfortunately. You know how it is.” She quickly and neatly rejected him, but clearly, persistence was in his blood.

“What appointment? Perhaps I can give you a ride? I just bought this new Mercedes, and I can assure you the leather is butter-soft and fits all your needs.”

As she was about to reject him again, Jimmy began whispering softly.

“I know you weren’t about to reject me again, right Valentina? You know, I’m a little bit famous in the industry; you wouldn’t want a rumor to spread about you, would you? And we just filmed a show. It would be unfortunate if you got a bad edit, right? Something like Valentina hogs the spotlight and doesn’t get along with her female costars while openly flirting with both of her male costars. I think it would be a shame because you’re so pretty.”

As she stared at him in open-mouthed shock, Jimmy grabbed her hand and stroked it with his other one as his voice softened and began to coax her.

“So, let’s do dinner? Say 6 pm? At a steakhouse?”

As she scrambled to formulate a polite rejection that wouldn’t upset the man and weighing the odds of what would happen if she just played dead, she felt an unfamiliar hand grab her waist and yank her backward before quickly releasing her. As she stabilized herself, she heard Rio’s quietly angry voice as he stood behind her in a supportive manner.

“Sorry to interrupt, but what Valentina is actually trying to say is that we’re in a rush to get back to Platinum Entertainment as Valentina has an important meeting on her schedule. For the entire day. Right, Valentina?”

Even though he was asking her, Rio was viciously staring down Jimmy as if daring him to say something.

Jimmy stared between the two of them before smiling gently as if his previous smarmy expression was a lie.

“Ah, a fully booked schedule for our dear up-and-coming artist. That makes sense, Valentina, you should told me that. I didn’t mean to hold you up. It was joking amoung friends right?”

I did. Repeatedly! And you ignored me!

Seeing how easily he switched faces, she wanted to yell at him. But thinking of her future career, she gave him a brilliant smile while sincerely imagining herself placing a paper bag over his head and whacking him with a bat. Repeatedly.

“Right. A Joke. Thank you so much for today. It was… an experience being here.”

“A good one, I hope. Ah, I can see Rio getting impatient with me, so I guess you really have to go. If that schedule ever clears up, give me a call, and we can have that drink. Here’s my card. Call me anytime. And look forward to the episode release. It will be dropped in a couple of days. I’ll make sure you have a good edit.” Jimmy winked at her while forcing a business card into her hands.

“Thanks. Goodbye.”

Bowing her head slightly, she said a polite goodbye before quickly turning and walking away, followed by both Rio and Shawn.

Once they were a far distance away, she sighed in relief before glancing at Rio.

"Thanks for the rescue.”

“Don’t be alone with him or people like him again.” He immediately began to lecture her, “You need to cut those kinds of people off immediately. Why are you being indecisive when you cut me off whenever you feel like it? If you can be rude to me, why can't you be rude to him? Could it be that you like an old man with too much makeup on like that? Tsk, such bad taste. And give me that card. You don’t need it.” Rio glared at her in irritation as he walked beside her.

“You think I didn’t want to beat him up? He threatened to give me a bad edit and spread rumors about me! You might be at the top of your game, but I’m up and coming, okay?! I have to be polite.” Valentina hissed at him.

“Polite my ass! What the hell is Black Rock doing? You need to have a manager to stop things like this! Why are you handling all this by yourself, huh? Just hurry up and come to Platinum.”

“I. Am. Trying.”

“Try harder. And stay away from him. I mean it. I can’t believe you were laughing at his corny jokes.”

Seeing the two look as if they were about to start fighting, Shawn chuckled before backing away slightly.

These two were like a cat and dog every time they were together. Even though Rio tried to hide it, he could tell that his good friend and bandmate had some feelings for the girl in front of him, although she didn’t seem to be able to tell.

Clearly, he kept going above and beyond what the agency had asked them to do, like openly offending Jimmy Klein. It wouldn’t have too much impact on them, but it wasn’t a good look.

Valentina: “……”

Hearing the disparaging comments coming like a barrage from Rio’s mouth, Valentina immediately wanted to fight him.

Instead, she just rolled her eyes and patted his shoulder.

“Just take my thanks and quit lecturing me. It wouldn’t kill you to speak less or even a bit nicer. Look at Shawn. He is always nice and always polite. You should learn from him.”

As she leaned back and winked at him, Shawn burst out laughing, “Don’t drag me into your fight, Valentina, but I appreciate the compliment. Rio is right, even if his delivery is terrible. You should definitely avoid guys like Jimmy.”

As Rio smirked at Valentina, Shawn gleefully rained on his parade. “But, as I said, his delivery is terrible. If you ever want to beat Rio down for talking to you crazy, let me know. I’ll pin him down for you with these muscles of mine. Here, come feel.”

As Shawn shamelessly flexed, she walked over and tried to squish his arm.

“Very firm. Just like mine.” Valentina flexed her own arms and looking at the pitiful bump there, Shawn couldn’t help but laugh.

“Anyway, don’t worry, I will. Next time Rio pisses me off, you’ll be the first one I’ll call.”

“I look forward to it. Team Crush Rio forever!”

“Yuuuup.”

The two of them high-fived before they continued walking out after taking Valentina to grab her phone from the lockers.

“Having fun? Are the two of you done?” Rio asked the two of them in irritation.

“Not even a little bit.”

“Maybe? Lighten up a little. Besides, I have beef with you.”

“Oh really? About what?” Rio arched his brow at her as she began taking her hair down.

Ahh relief.

Her scalp had been tingling all day.

She flipped her head over and massaged it thoroughly before flipping her hair back and staring at the two men staring at her curiously.

“About spreading my business today about my possible agency change. But I’ll let it go for now since you did me a solid. Thanks for today. Bye.”

“Bye? Where do you think you’re going?”

“Uh, you might not be busy, but I am. I have plans, so let’s catch up later.”

“Plans to come to the Platinum building to discuss, right? Our president told our manager to pick you up along with us and bring you over promptly when filming was over since we were at the same spot. Don’t tell me you didn't check your email?”

Rio confidently said as he began walking beside her and opening the door while she glanced at him skeptically.

She thought he was lying when he had spoken to Jimmy.

Kaiser hadn’t told her anything, and Roman hadn’t contacted her either apart from sending her flight info, so where was this supposed order coming from??

“Also, weren’t you the one begging to talk? Since you have so much to complain about, let’s head to the company first. Then we can chat.” Rio rolled his eyes at her like she was stupid.

“I wasn’t begging. Besides, I'm busy. Can I do it later?”

“Which one of us is more busy, me or you? And aren’t you traveling for a role soon? Since you're coming along anyway, let’s talk after, or just forget about it for the time being. What you want to talk about must not be as important as I thought?”

“It is.”

“So, you’re coming.” Rio gave her a smug smile.

Glancing at him from the corner of her eyes, Valentina sighed before nodding.

“Fine. Let’s go.”

Sigh.