"What's the reason?"
"I don't know."
"They didn't say?"
"I just saw something about 'lingerie' and bailed immediately."
Patrick Anchor explains, "Heard from my buddy in SE's business department that the artist was super worked up..."
Sebastian Vanderbilt's brows knit slightly, then he quickly asks, "Was the cash not enough?"
"Well... I... um..."
"Alright, who's the other party, and can you set up a meet?" Sebastian feels he has a hunch and asks.
"Setting up a meet? Sure, no problem."
Patrick says, "It's Pretty Generation's Victoria."
Quickly adding, "Don't let her popular status fool you—she's been in drama series and has a price tag to match."
Yep. Definitely not cheap.
Here's the pecking order for runway show rates. Actresses don't charge the same as popstars. The rumor is that Victoria dreams of acting, so actress rates make sense, right? Patrick totally buys it.
"That jerk is definitely being sneaky on details." After hanging up, Sebastian curses with a chuckle but isn't really mad. Coming from a family of merchants, he's all about fair trade. What you get is what you give, as long as the overall value stays put.
For Sebastian Vanderbilt, the only bad business is probably with Charlotte Winston. Just thinking about it makes him frown slightly.
A member of Pretty Generation, Victoria... Is he about to clash with S Entertainment? Again, in this life? But hey, it's just a fleeting frown. From now on, his heart's set in concrete—business is his game. The rest can take a hike...
Later in the afternoon.
Sebastian strolls into S Entertainment, gets ushered by an agent into a small meeting room to wait.
"Just a sec, I'll call them," the agent says, all apologetic smiles before bouncing off.
Sebastian chills with some coffee. He looks around and has to admit that S Entertainment agents look professional—except for that initial weird look over his age, their manners are almost flawless, and the company seems well-oiled.
Which makes him wonder: How'd that whole fan rebellion incident even happen?
In his past life, Sebastian knows the ins and outs of that mess. A big corp like this, the PR folks have to be sensitive to the outside world chatter. Unless it was on purpose... Ah, screw it. Not my circus, not my monkeys! Mid-thought, Sebastian remembers this trip is all about locking down Victoria...
Sure, the King Game's for crafting his playboy persona, but that doesn't mean he isn't serious about it. On the contrary, he wants to make K&G a hit to the business.
.....
Elsewhere, in the practice room, Victoria is in tears, looking all doe-eyed and pitiful, like a crying flower.
"Why would the company even consider sending an idol for lingerie promos? They wanna trash Victoria's rep?" grips a wheat-skinned beauty with concern.
"Exactly. Her rep's just started to shine, and they want her to do that? Since when does 'sexy' spell good news for a girl? It's bullying, is what it is..." Claire Harrison fumes.
Lying there, high-energy Sunny is dead serious, "How 'bout I talk to the company later?"
"Thanks, Sunny, but don't sweat it." Victoria dabs at her tears, choking back sobs, "I've already told my agent brother. No way I'm doing that show."
She has a crystal-clear grasp of her own branding. Years of hard-training life have her weighing every do and don't. And this? Way over her red line.
For popstars, some outfits are easy to slip off, but a real pain to put back on. With that, Charlotte by the window stirs, silently stands up, and heads for the door.
Just as they are talking, the door to the practice room bursts open, and the agent steps inside.
"I think..." Charlotte starts to say.
"The President of King Game personally came to invite you, Victoria. No matter what decision you make, I personally think you should meet with him face-to-face to get the full picture," the agent earnestly advises.
"Alright, I get it," Victoria nods, clearly not thrilled, but she agrees anyway.
She recognizes this is her agent giving her props. If it was any other company, under the grip of a contract, she wouldn't stand a chance to say no if she got tough.
Getting up, Victoria suddenly realizes something she hadn't thought to ask, "What's the name of the King Game President?"
"Oh, that would be Mr. Sebastian," the agent replies. "Just a heads-up, you might be in for a surprise with his age."
"Is he super old or something?" Victoria immediately wonders.
Charlotte's eyes flicker just a bit.
"Right, Charlotte, you were about to say something?" the agent finally remembers to ask.
"I was wondering if I should go with Victoria?" Charlotte says evenly, "It might be easier to talk things out with two of us there."
"That makes sense, especially with Victoria being a bit on edge right now."
"Both of you come with me," the agent decides.
And off they go.
Yuri sidles up to Claire, whispering, "Hey, did you notice Charlotte's face when they mentioned Sebastian? Looked kind of off, didn't it?"
"What's 'off' about it?"
Claire looks puzzled, "What are you implying?"
"I don't know why, but I get the vibe that Charlotte knows the guy..." Yuri's brow furrows a bit.
"Have you been drilling routines so hard you've gone dopey?" Claire can't help but retort, "If she really knew him, why wouldn't he pick Charlotte instead of Victoria?"
"Well, you've got a point, but I'm usually not wrong about these things!" Yuri isn't convinced.
Behind them, Jessica's gaze shifts subtly.
Sebastian Vanderbilt?
A memory hits her—Charlotte has whispered that name in her sleep recently.
Suddenly, Jessica entertains a bold thought.
Maybe... Charlotte's recent ups and downs have something to do with that name...
Could she be... Heartbroken?
In the meeting room.
Victoria knocks and enters, taken aback for a second—she finally gets what her agent brother meant.
This president is young. Like, unusually young.
"You're Victoria, right?" Sebastian says with a gentle smile, which briefly stiffens when Charlotte walks in right after her.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Sebastian. I'm Victoria from Pretty Generation," she greets, all manners.
"And I'm Charlotte!" Charlotte also bows slightly, yet her gaze never leaves Sebastian's face, intense and curious.
"Take a seat," Sebastian invites.
He doesn't really get why Charlotte is here, but what the heck!
His focus quickly returns to Victoria, his smile warm and business-like, "So, I hear you've got some reservations about doing the King Game runway?"
"Mr. President, you must be aware that the nature of King Game could really mess with my career," Victoria replies, keeping her cool and trying to explain.
"The nature, what do you mean..." Sebastian acts puzzled.
Of course, he is clued in.
But letting it slip from his mouth would twist things, better to make her fall into his conversational trap.
And sure enough, the next moment, he hears the exact words he is waiting for from Victoria.
"Se... Seduction..." Victoria forces out, her scalp tingling with discomfort.
Victoria desperately wants to seek Charlotte's help, but she notices that her team leader sis isn't looking her way. Instead, Charlotte is leaning on the table with one hand and looking at Sebastian Vanderbilt with great interest, her gaze fixed on him as if he were a cuddly plush toy.
"I just knew you must've misunderstood something, Victoria, which is exactly why I came to SE to clear things up," Sebastian beams at her with a brilliant smile.
"What do you mean by that?" Victoria is a bit dazed.
A lingerie show...
Could there really be a misunderstanding?
Then, Sebastian Vanderbilt stands up, goes over to the whiteboard in the meeting room, and briskly writes a word.
Erotic!
After that, he emphatically crosses it out and then writes another word next to it.
Fashion!