Self-Indulgence

10. Serious This Time

Luka's POV

"We weren't on a date. I was out late at night and so was Sena. She got caught by some fans and I helped her. We just hung out for a while afterwards because we had gotten close during the show yesterday. There was no such kiss." I explained.

I was currently at Sena's company and we were on a zoom call with my company. There was only me, Sena, her manager and one of her PR staff present. Her CEO was caught in a meeting but apparently he would be coming later as well.

"So we deny the rumours and explain what happened." Sena's manager said.

"Or we could confirm them." The staff from my company said suddenly. He was Korean which was probably the only reason he was the one taking charge of this meeting. I had never seen him before.

"What are you talking about?" I asked feeling annoyed. The company was clearly planning on pulling some sort of media play again.

"You need a new beard now anyway. I'm surprised Kimberly even lasted that long. Usually you convince them to end it within a month." The unnamed staff explained.

"Are you kidding? That's so selfish. Sena is going to get so much hate from Koreans for dating me when she isn't even." I was determined to not bring another person's career down with me.

"Actually, the response from the Korean public isn't that bad." Sena's PR staff suddenly interrupted the argument that was due to ensue between me and the staff who I had decided I really didn't like. "Everyone's just amazed that one of their own celebrities has managed to pull a big celebrity like Luka. This is could bring good publicity for the group."

"Well that isn't offensive at all." Sena muttered.

"So are you saying you agree that we should confirm it?" I asked the PR staff.

He shrugged in response. "It's the CEO's decision. We don't really have much of a say."

"When is your CEO coming?" The annoying staff from my company asked, perking up. I had no doubt he had been promised a promotion if he could get me to agree to this.

"He should be here in about—" Sena's manager was interrupted by the door opening. I turned to greet the person who I assumed was the CEO but was shocked to find out that I recognised him.

"Jason?" I asked, my eyes widened.

"Stanislav!" Jason exclaimed when he saw me. "You're the one who got caught up in a dating scandal with one of my artists? Don't you swing the other way?" He asked, laughing.

"You would know." I grinned.

Jason and I had a long history. He was the one I had acted alongside eleven years ago in the gay film. We had also secretly dated for quite a while after. When we broke up, it had been on friendly terms. However, after I signed with my new company, they stopped me from contacting him again. His friendship was one I had cherished greatly and they had ruined it for me. I had known he hadn't continued acting because I never heard about his name in the entertainment industry again. Now I knew that he hadn't completely left the industry. I guess he had found out that he preferred to do something that gave him more control in the industry.

"So, where's the meeting at." Jason turned serious.

"They aren't actually dating. Luka's company wants to confirm the rumours because he needs a new beard. We don't mind because it would be good publicity for the group, but it's your decision." Sena's PR staff summed up.

"What do you guys think?" Jason directed his question at Sena and I.

"I don't want to feel like I'm using Sena." I told him.

"Technically, we'll be using you as well." Sena pointed out.

"So you wouldn't mind doing it?" Jason asked Sena.

"Only if Luka is okay with it. I don't want to be his beard if he doesn't want to hide."

"Oh trust me I really don't want to, but those assholes make me." I said pointing towards the screen where the zoom call was broadcast. The staff on the screen just rolled their eyes at me. "If I'm going to do this again, maybe doing it with someone I actually like would make it more tolerable."

"So it's settled. We will write up an article tonight. Your side should write one up as well. We will cross check them with each other afterwards to make sure the stories match." Jason established. "End of meeting." He ended the call on the people from my company without letting them say anything else. I snickered.

Sena and her manager excused themselves because they had a schedule to get to. The PR staff bowed and left to return to his work.

"If you're going to do this, you need to do it properly this time." Jason said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I know how your fans get whenever you 'date' someone." He quoted the word date with his fingers. "I'm not going to let your fans hate on one of my artists."

"You think I can do something about it?" I asked.

"Actually, yes. The reason all your fans hate on your girlfriends is because they know they aren't real. You never confirm or deny if you're dating them, never mention them in interviews, never take any photos with them, never post about them on social media and somehow the paparazzi is always conveniently present when you go on dates. You're like the shittiest boyfriend ever." He explained.

"That last line sounded personal." I joked. "I thought I was a pretty good boyfriend when we were together."

Jason rolled his eyes at me. "I'm married now Stanislav. Our relationship is like ancient history."

"You're married?! Why wasn't I invited?!"

"Because I don't think my husband would have appreciated my ex boyfriend at our wedding? Or maybe because your company wouldn't have let you go anyway? It had been years since they made you stop contacting me. Or maybe because you would have attracted too much attention and Western media would have discovered I'm living in Korea and started pestering me again? So many reasons." Jason listed out.

"Oh, true."

"Anyway, back on topic. After the statements are released to confirm the news, you need to post a photo with Sena. Caption it with something romantic, but don't go overboard. The two of you also need to hang out often. Once every four month dates that you did with your previous girlfriends is not dating. It probably won't have to be too much because the both of you are high profile celebrities with busy schedules. Although, I suspect you'll be in Korea quite often visiting Yin anyway." Jason winked at me.

"Ugh, of course you know." Of course Jason knew I was dating Yin. He was the only person who knew how to read me. I could confidently say he was the only person who knew me better than I knew myself, even after all our years apart. I was grateful for that. After all, his ability to read me had been what allowed our relationship to end on such good terms.

***

Author's Note:

So I did decide to continue doing Luka's POV every five chapters, but instead of doing like a recap sort of thing from his POV, I decided to continue the plot with scenes like this which I can't do from Yin's POV. It's probably going to be hard to line the story up so that relevant scenes fall to Luka every five chapters but I'm gonna try. Fingers crossed it works out.