Valentina smiled gently at him before clarifying and redirecting his attention, “Mr. Starling, I haven't seen you since my audition. It’s so good to see you again. I don’t know if you’ve met the female lead Aaliyah? I think she looks beautiful in that gown, don’t you?”

“Oh, Aaliyah you’re here too. I didn't notice. Nice dress. I like the color.” Jonathan Starling complimented her in a dry voice causing Aaliyah to smile knowingly. She knew he was usually shy and grumpy on red carpets.

“Thank you, Johnathan. I like your suit too. It matches your eyes.” She smiled sweetly before grabbing his arm and posing for the cameras as if they were a couple.

Valentina thoughtfully pulled herself back and wanted to walk away when Johnathan carefully extricated himself from Aaliyah's grip and grabbed Valentina’s arm.

“Mr. Starling?” she turned to look back at him in confusion as she pulled back her arm, but he refused to let her go.

"Excuse me, did you want something?" she asked him again.

“Let’s take a photo together. Also, why are you being so formal by calling me Mr. Starling? You weren’t like this before.” Jonathan narrowed his eyes at her.

“I didn’t know your identity before.” Valentina honestly told him. Although she tried to keep up with the popular celebrities, she honestly hadn’t recognized him at the audition due to his glasses and the change in his style and voice. But recognizing him from the sent-out cast list and seeing him now, how could she not know?

“Oh, is that why you rolled your eyes at me and were ordering me around willy-nilly? ‘Remember my order?’, ‘Light it up for me?’ Shall I do that for you today as well? Serve you drinks and snacks while lighting one up for you?” Johnathan lightly teased with a smirk.

Hearing him tease her, Valentina almost blushed before she rolled her eyes and smacked him on the arm.

“Stop your nonsense. You know that was completely part of the audition!”

“Was it? As I remember, the director didn’t even ask for that scene yet you added it. I felt like a proper servant being ordered around by a rich young lady.” Jonathan smiled at her, his eyes twinkling.

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“Hmph, I’ve never seen such a rude servant like you, grabbing my arm willy-nilly. Take your photo by yourself, I'm leaving.” Valentina turned her face away and turned to leave.

“Okay, okay. I'm kidding. Come on, let’s take a photo together before we have to go inside.” Jonathan gently coaxed her. Although enjoyed teasing her and seeing her multitudes of expressions, he felt an odd sense of protectiveness over her and didn't want to make her upset.

Seeing the foxlike green eyes glare at him, Jonathan held up his arms as if he was giving up. “Scouts honor, I won't tease you anymore. Promise, Valentina.”

“...Fine! Let’s take a cast photo together. If you misbehave, I’ll directly hit you again and leave immediately!” Valentina threatened him while shaking her fingers.

“Ma'am yes, ma'am. Anything you command ma'am.” Johnathan gave her a mock salute before standing beside her grinning widely.

The reporters could only watch in shock as for the first time in their career they saw a well-behaved Johnathan Starling. Despite his appearance as a bright cultured young man, Johnathan was known for being a menace on the carpet. Half the time he wouldn’t bother speaking with reporters, and when he did he was usually annoyed and gave short answers. Getting good photos of him was a chore as he would usually not pose, frown constantly, and just leave when he got bored. Yet here he was not only asking for a photo but properly behaving himself and joking around with a smile on his face. The most surprising part was that the one he was doing it for wasn’t his female lead, but the secondary lead who wasn’t even his love interest.

They could only stare in amazement as he properly posed as Valentina arranged for him to face the cameras. They quickly snapped a couple of photos, wanting to save this moment forever!

Meanwhile, Valentina felt like she was suffering. She didn’t know why Jonathan was acting so clingy to her and avoiding Aaliyah. She couldn’t even say that it was because he liked her because despite joking around, his eyes were calm and disinterested as he posed with her, yet he kept trying to get closer to her.

As Jonathan’s arm reached to grab her waist again, Valentina reached over with all her strength and yanked Aaliyah over, forcing her to be in the middle.

After a couple more photos, she felt mentally and physically exhausted. She could feel Aaliyah pinching her sides hard where it wasn’t visible to the camera and all she wanted to do was throw both her and Jonathan far, far away. Instead, she smiled and grinned until she felt that enough photos had been taken.

“Okay, I'm going to head inside now. You two can continue taking photos.” She quickly detached herself and moved away from the two.

“Wait for me.” Jonathan immediately released Aaliyah's arm and followed right behind her. He quickly walked in front of Valentina, subtly clearing the way for her.

“Yes let’s go in.” Aaliyah agreed with a bright smile. She purposefully walked close to Valentina, putting herself in between her and Johnathan, which caused him to increase the distance between them. As Valentina walked, Aaliyah's ballgown kept snagging on her heels and she tried to distance herself from the girl.

Trip.

She once again stumbled on the train of the dress and glanced at Aaliyah.

"Sorry sister, it was an accident," Aaliyah told her insincerely.

"...it's fine. I'll just keep my distance." Valentina replied before trying to back away.

"No!" Aaliyah reached to grab her arm and Valentina did her best to dodge.

All of a sudden, her shoes snagged on the dress again and she felt a hard kick to her ankle. Her legs immediately buckled, and she began to fall backward.

As she screamed softly and tried to catch herself, a familiar arm wrapped around her waist and held her up before quickly releasing her.