TO SHOU WITH LOVE

9 - DECISION

Since his debut at the age of nineteen, Sailub had experienced ups and downs in the music industry for nearly a decade, encountering countless paparazzi along the way.

He was well aware that, in general, paparazzi were mostly motivated by money.

Considering Thanapon's previous attempt to extort money from the production team, it could be inferred that Thanapon was probably after money this time as well.

For extortionists, the photos they took were their trump cards, and they wouldn't easily expose them until their demands were met.

But Sailub couldn't quite figure out Thanapon.

Thanapon was in a band and seemed to be a resident singer at a bar, not someone who specialized in paparazzi work.

Faced with such an unpredictable variable, Sailub had to consider the worst-case scenario-once Thanapon's demands were not met, the photos might actually be made public.

For Sailub, who had already retreated from the limelight, although he didn't want his love affair to be exposed to the public, he could bear the various consequences that might arise if the photo were indeed released.

However, for Way, if this photo were to be made public, the explosive news of a same-sex underground romance might cause significant repercussions for him, especially since he was currently in the midst of a rising career.

Encountering ordinary paparazzi, Sailub often dealt with them himself, but this time was different.

He felt it was necessary to discuss the handling of this matter with Way.

Sailub dialed Way's phone number, but the line was greeted by a mechanical female voice prompt-"The number you have dialed is powered off."

He hung up and tried calling Pop, but the same voice prompt sounded again.

Both of them were powered off.

That night, Sailub didn't sleep well. The relentless onslaught of reporters, media, incessant flashes of cameras, and endless reports in his dreams made him feel suffocated.

The next morning, Way took the initiative to call, and as soon as Sailub answered, Way explained on the other end, "Sai, how did you sleep? I was filming night scenes too late last night and didn't notice that my phone ran out of battery and automatically shut down. I also thought you had a recording session for the show today, so I didn't call you in the middle of the night..."

At this moment, Sailub was not in the mood to listen to his explanation.

He raised his hand to rub his temples and interrupted him, "Way, we were secretly photographed."

"Secretly photographed?" Way was stunned. "By which paparazzi? What did they capture?"

"They captured the scene of us kissing in the car that night. It wasn't a paparazzi who took the photos, it was..." Sailub paused. "It was one of the musicians in my band, the one who kindly gave me a ride back last time. I'm sorry, Babe, I was too careless and completely underestimated the possibility of being secretly photographed by a musician."

"A musician from your band?" Way's tone was somewhat incredulous. "What does he want? Money?"

"I assume he also wants money, but for now, he hasn't mentioned anything about money. He just insists that I must choose him for today's competition."

"If it's about money, that's easier to handle." After a pause, Way asked again, "What do you plan to do?"

Because he hadn't slept well, Sailub had a headache. "I'll talk to the boy, face to face in a while."