Bad Contract (4)
It was incredibly late. The movie had run for about two hours. As they slowly walked out of the empty theater, Sion asked,
"Want to grab a cup of coffee before we go?"
"Is it okay to drink coffee this late?"
"I don't get much sleep anyway."
"Then... sure."
With Elena nodding in agreement, Sion drove them to a nearby 24-hour donut shop. The place was packed with people who were either drunk and waiting for the first morning bus or simply had nowhere else to go.
Sion, his face concealed by a hat and sunglasses he always kept in his car, bought two cups of coffee and returned. Elena, who had wondered how he would manage to buy coffee without causing a scene, watched the seamless process with a touch of admiration.
"Oh... impressive. Do people really not recognize you like that?"
"Sometimes they do. I think someone noticed just now, actually. But since it's the middle of the night, they're probably too tired to bother double-checking, so they just let it slide."
"Hmm, must be quite inconvenient. The price of living as a Hollywood superstar."
"What about you? With a face that beautiful, don't people recognize you wherever you go?"
"...Huh?"
"What?"
"Oh..."
Elena's face instantly flushed, and she took a sudden, unnecessary gulp of her coffee. Perhaps it was because they were sitting alone in the car, but she seemed to have lost her composure just a bit. Watching her, Sion let out a soft chuckle and began driving toward the best spot he knew.
For a while, they drove through the streets of Hollywood in silence. What should I say? How should I react? Is my lipstick smudged? Fidgeting with her fingers as she agonized over these thoughts, Elena finally managed to speak.
"W-where... are we going?"
"A good place to drink coffee."
"Where? It's so late..."
"Don't worry. It's a place I'm sure you'll love."
Her mind raced at his words. Where on earth could they be going at this hour? Unbidden, wild thoughts began to fill her head, and she stole a glance at Sion, who was focused on driving. Who else has he had in this car? Did he go to this place with someone else before? A wave of petty—and rather cute—jealousy swirled in the mind of Elena, who was still very much a young girl at heart.
As a result, what came out of her mouth was a slightly petulant remark, quite contrary to her actual feelings. "Wherever it is, you must have been there a lot."
"Very often. Usually with girls in the passenger seat."
Sion countered without missing a beat. Elena's pout deepened into genuine annoyance. A sudden pang hit her chest, but it also woke her up, much like a sip of bitter coffee.
"Not anymore, though," Sion added.
The sweetness of his follow-up words sent a pleasant shiver through her heart.
"Why...?"
"Because I have to work. I used to go there by myself from time to time, but lately, once work is done, I just go home, work out, drink a protein shake, and go straight to sleep. I realized I haven't had the chance to stop by in a while."
"..."
As he spoke, Sion headed toward Griffith Park, located in the northern part of Hollywood. The car wound its way up the hill. After bypassing and slipping past the gates that closed the park at night, Sion finally reached the summit, parked, and stepped out. Elena, who had been slightly overwhelmed by the dark, quiet atmosphere of the park on the way up, clutched her lukewarm coffee and looked around with a hint of trepidation.
"Here."
Sion reached out and naturally took her free hand. As she followed him, a breathtaking view unfolded before them, looking like a vast sea of stars.
"Whoa...!"
The glittering lights reflected in Elena's eyes, drawing out a pure, childlike exclamation of wonder.
"Fantastic, isn't it? The view here is pretty great at night."
From the summit of Griffith Park, the dazzling lights of Hollywood stretched out as far as the eye could see. But rather than the landscape, Sion was looking at Elena, who was smiling with pure, childlike joy, completely captivated by the atmosphere.
"Yes, it is! How did you find a place like... oh."
"I saw it in a dream, so I could bring my Ellie here."
"What are you talking about? You just said you used to bring other girls here."
"Me? When?"
"...I'll let it slide just for today."
Squinting her eyes playfully, Elena spent a long moment taking in the lukewarm aroma of her latte, completely absorbed in the Hollywood nightscape below. Then, she spoke in a soft, dreamy voice.
"I think this is one of the most special experiences of my life."
"In what way?"
"When would I ever get to come to a place like this? I've done nothing but act since I was a kid. Whenever work finished, my agent would take me straight home. Then I went straight to college without a break, and I had to lock myself in my dorm room and study every single day."
"Don't people usually party and have fun in college?"
"That only happens in the movies. To graduate from Stanford, you literally have to sacrifice sleep just to study."
"Oh, that sounds awful."
"Anyway, Sion, you really give me a lot of special experiences."
"Well, on the flip side, all I did was play around."
"And you've used those experiences to become a great actor, haven't you?"
Giggle, Elena finally turned her head to look directly into Sion's eyes. Sion asked mischievously,
"Is this the part where we kiss?"
"What are you talking about? No, it's not. Is that all you think about when you look at me?"
"Hmm, are you saying you don't?"
"...You're always teasing me."
"It's because I'm nervous. Really."
Sion spoke with a tiny sliver of genuine sincerity. Sensing that subtle shift with uncanny accuracy, Elena's face flushed red all the way to her ears.
"S-since when?"
"Who knows."
"Then from when...?"
"Maybe since yesterday?"
"...What is that supposed to mean? You didn't feel that way before?"
"Maybe I just wasn't conscious of it. Or maybe I didn't have the mental space for it."
"..."
A brief silence fell between them.
"Then... are you conscious of it now?"
Sion answered honestly to the question Elena had summoned the courage to ask.
"A little bit."
How did things turn out this way? Elena Asimov was undoubtedly a special person in his life. In the future, she was destined to become an actress with a presence more powerful than anyone else. Since they had a connection at the time of his regression, he had initially thought he could use it to draw attention and climb higher in the industry.
That was how their relationship had been forged anew. But somewhere along the line, without him even realizing it, she had slipped deep into his life. Deep into a place he hadn't even been aware of himself.
Before Elena came over to his place to have dinner together, he had never really given much thought to the fact that he always ate alone.
"Sitting down and having dinner with you made me realize something," Sion said softly. "I was... a bit tired."
What most people focused on was Sion Lee the actor. The glamorous, handsome, eloquent, talented, and business-savvy perfect man. Because of that, there were parts of him that everyone else overlooked or failed to notice—parts that only Elena understood.
"That's just how it is for actors. When you're completely immersed in acting, it becomes hard to recognize your true self. Sometimes, because of the special treatment, you start thinking you're someone special when you're really not, and you end up making mistakes... like the old me."
"Hehe, you really were something else back during Deadly Summer Camp."
"Since we don't get to experience a normal life, it's hard to be aware of who we are when we're not acting."
"True. But I also think it's inevitable. We're actors, after all... with the same goal."
"What is your goal as an actor?"
"I want to deliver performances that satisfy me. Maybe it's because I entered this world at such a young age and was influenced by so much. I want to create wonderful works through my acting, just like the actors I loved and admired. What about you, Sion? What do you want to achieve as an actor?"
"I want people to feel like they can't live without me."
"I think they already do."
"Much more than now. I want to become an eternal presence, so to speak. I guess I'm basically an attention seeker, while you, Ellie, have a very defined world of your own. We're similar, yet so completely different."
"Hehe, so that's the difference. I always felt like you and I were very similar."
Elena slowly reached her hand out into the empty air.
"In the sense that we both take this work seriously. That's why, when I saw that indie movie you suddenly did, I hated you even more than during Deadly. I thought I was working harder and doing better, but you overtook me. And you deserved it, too. Do you remember when you saw the camera director filming you on set and wanted to smash the camera?"
She slowly reached out and took Sion's hand, her fingers tracing up his palm.
"Then you said you hated yourself. We filmed Fragments of You. After that, I watched more and more of your movies... and we did fun things together. And just like that, step by step, we grew closer."
"Now, I feel like we're this close." Saying so, Elena gently leaned into Sion's embrace. They could feel each other's heartbeats.
And because of that, they could faintly sense the pain each other carried. They were similar yet different, and through that, they recognized and understood each other's existence. That was why, from time to time... they couldn't help but spark a massive flame between them.
"Ah..."
Sion pressed his lips lightly to hers and pulled back. Elena looked up at him with moist, glistening eyes. Seeing her like that, no man could have simply laughed it off with a joke. Feeling the depth of her sincerity, Sion spoke.
"You know, I could probably keep teasing and flirting with you mischievously like this forever."
"...S-suddenly?"
"Maybe it's a habit from my childhood. It's always been hard for me to seriously say I want something I truly desire. But... if I summon a bit of courage to be honest, I think it's really going to happen."
For when they both eventually achieved their dreams.
"I think I'm going to want you by my side forever."
"..."
Hearing those words, Elena's face turned so red it looked ready to explode. She squirmed like a broken doll, trying to break free from his embrace. But when Sion, having spoken his truth, surprisingly let go of her hand without a fight, she instinctively realized that she shouldn't run away just because it was her first time feeling this way and she was embarrassed. Summoning her courage once more, she threw herself back into his arms.
"I... I might be a bit prickly sometimes, okay? That's just my personality."
"That's exactly why I like you."
"Seriously, you're a total weirdo."
Looking at Sion's sly grin, Elena slowly closed her eyes. As their lips met once more, she made a promise to herself. She would stay by his side so he could show his true self—not as an actor, but as a human being. And, just as he had said, forever.
The photo, captured with painstaking effort by a paparazzi photographer—the parasites of Hollywood—clearly showed Elena stepping out of the car and Sion seeing her off. They were holding hands, and the affection in their eyes as they looked at each other was unmistakable.
Many bought the newspaper just to keep a copy of the photo, and the general consensus was, "Of course they are." Sion Lee and Elena Asimov were already a highly watched couple in Hollywood. Even if they didn't make a big show of it, people assumed they were managing their relationship well in their spare time despite their busy schedules.
The scandal didn't blow up into a massive controversy and quickly blew over. The reason was simple.
"The box office numbers for Bad Contract are insane."
Even Charlie Kang looked a bit tense. The statement "Sion Lee's opening week box office performance is insane" was practically a given, like saying "Frederic Patterson is a bell pepper." Sion Lee had made every single project he starred in a massive success. So, if even Charlie was this tense... it meant something truly monstrous was coming.
Sion, who already wanted to hurry up and marry(?) Elena since they had signed their own "bad contract," asked seriously,
"Just how big is it?"
"It's huge, both domestically and internationally. Especially the Korean market. It's going crazy."
"Korea...?"
Sion's eyes widened at the sudden mention of his father's homeland, the country from which half of his blood originated. He had fully expected to walk in and hear Charlie tease him with things like, "Are things going well with Elena? You rascal, be happy!" Instead, the sudden talk of box office performance caught him off guard.
"Yeah, it hasn't even opened there yet, but the buzz is incredible. Warner Bros. did some market research over there, and they're projecting massive potential revenue when our movie releases. I think it's because you're practically treated like a native son in Korea right now."
"I'm fully American, though."
"But your roots are Korean. If one of your parents is Korean, they tend to embrace you as one of their own, especially in Korea. Anyway, because of that, Warner Bros. made a proposal."
A "Korea Tour."
"The whole trip will take about a week. Two days for travel, and the rest will be spent doing interviews, attending premieres, and traveling around. It'll be a perfect opportunity to cement your presence in the minds of the Korean public before the movie officially opens."
"..."
Sion fell into deep thought. Korea, a country on the other side of the globe. To Sion, it was indeed his roots, as Charlie said, but he had never given it much conscious thought. His Korean father had passed away when he was very young, leaving him no chance to learn the culture. Born and raised in America, his identity was entirely American. In fact, he barely even thought about his Korean heritage if not for his relationship with Charlie Kang.
However, wanting to maximize the profits of this film as much as possible, a devilish idea suddenly flashed through Sion's mind.
"...What if we stop by Japan while we're at it?"
"What? Japan? ...Hmm."
Temporarily putting aside his identity as a Korean, Charlie spoke, carefully choosing his words from a purely business perspective.
"Japan is a massive market in Asia, so it's not a bad idea. But given the historical relationship between the two countries, I wonder if scheduling them together like that is a good move."
"Actually, that's exactly why it'll work."
"...What are you planning?"
"We go to Korea and say, 'I love Korea.' Then we go to Japan and say, 'I love Japan.' After that, we drop a light joke saying we'll love whichever country records the higher box office numbers more. Wouldn't that light a fire under both of them right from the start?"
Charlie's jaw dropped as he stared at Sion, who had laid out the plan so casually.
"...We'll have to polish the wording a bit, but that might actually work."
It was a form of "patriotism" marketing that would seem utterly absurd in this era. Yet, it was a stunt that only Sion Lee—a Hollywood superstar with Asian heritage—could pull off.