Chapter 184

{Make me a list of male actors in their twenties or thirties who are incredibly talented at acting.}

After walking past the street lined with various stores, Selena arrived at a parking lot and opened a car door. As she got inside, Selena immediately gave orders to her secretary.

{Should I include Dustin Evan in the list?}

The secretary asked seriously as soon as Selena got settled in the car. Not only did she know of Selena and Dustin's relationship, but Dustin Evan was one of the best actors in his twenties in the US.

However, Selena sighed as soon as she heard that name.

{No, don't put that nuisance on the list. He doesn't have the image I'm looking for, and his acting skills aren't up to the standards.}

{Then, I will select the actors and make a list based on your evaluation of Mr. Evan.}

The secretary responded that she would look for actors who would give better performances than Dustin Evan. Selena nodded in agreement.

It wasn't that Dustin was bad at acting. He just couldn't reach Ilya's expectations.

Most importantly, Dustin's healthy and cheerful image didn't match Lloyd, the main character of Confession of White.

Furthermore, Dustin's acting was not outstanding enough to overwrite his cemented image.

Selena told her secretary to exclude Dustin since his compatibility was somewhat questionable to play the main character. Still, in truth, they would only be able to find a handful of actors in their twenties or thirties with better acting skills than Dustin.

She tried to think of some candidates at the top of her mind but quickly shook her head. There was no way Ilya wouldn't have considered those actors already. Nevertheless, to convince her, he advised Selena to find an actor to play Lloyd, signifying that the actors she had thought of were already a miss.

The task of finding an actor, first and foremost, wasn't going to be easy. Selena had a foreboding that it might even be more challenging than getting the rights from Ilya.

{Don't search for just English-speaking actors. Look into the European and Asian industries as well,} Selena said.

She was then about to add that they should look not only for famous actors but also lesser-known people, along with those acting in theaters and musicals. However, Selena closed her mouth without a word. If they went that far, the range of actors they would have to check would be too broad. So, for now, that would remain as their last resort. They had to focus on the main candidates first.

{Is there a specific image you want from the actor?}

On the other hand, the secretary seemed to want to reduce the scope of the investigation even by a little because it was still too vast right now.

{A young man in his twenties or thirties with a beautiful appearance, but with pale skin as white as possible so that he looks sickly but sharp. We want him to look like he could be brutally cruel at one moment, but the next second makes the audience feel sympathetic for him.}

Selena explained her image of Lloyd. It was very difficult for her to define and describe the main character of Confession of White.

He was tough to pin down because of his wide range of emotions. Behind Lloyd's vulnerable look hid a violent beast, so he couldn't be judged by his appearance.

Strangely enough, even though he was a human with the face of an angel making a deal with the devil, the readers couldn't help but feel pity and love for Lloyd.

{Basically, a sickly yet beautiful and tender beast.}

But if Selena had to summarize the character in a single sentence, there was nothing more accurate than this. And even though she hadn't said much, those who had read Confession of White would easily understand the meaning.

{Ah! Could it be Lloyd?}

{Shush!}

Even if the driver and secretary were the only ones who could hear her, Selena planned to make this a highly confidential subject.

{It took a lot of effort and Teacher Ilya's cooperation to get this rare opportunity. You must be as careful as possible,} Selena warned them.

{I understand.}

The secretary did not know that Ilya Turner was actually L. Dmítri. Thus, she understood Selena's statement as Ilya acting as the intermediary between Selena and L.

However, the secretary already had a hard time breathing. They had the burdensome task of finding an appropriate Lloyd while being pressured by the two big shots of the literary world—Ilya Turner and L. Dmítri.

Seeing her secretary sighing in despair, Selena chuckled and pulled out her phone. They still had a long way to go, but it felt like she had overcome a hurdle today.

Now that she had some spare time, Selena was reminded of Dustin and went on his social media for the first time in a few days.

He seemed to be doing fine recently, but she still had to check it out every once in a while to feel truly relieved. According to what she had heard, he didn't attend parties these days and was doing well, but she couldn't know for sure.

Selena didn't feel good about constantly nagging Dustin on his social media every time she opened it either.

However, she couldn't help but meddle when she saw Dustin since he seemed more immature than her younger brother, who was only ten years old. So when she suddenly realized that she was acting like a nagging older sister, she stopped commenting on Dustin's social media and even stopped checking it entirely nowadays.

{Hm?}

Selena tilted her head when she saw the posts uploaded while she hadn't been checking Dustin's social media.

Needless to say, Dustin hadn't been meeting his frivolous friends, nor did he drink alcohol. Instead, he seemed to have become very close with the Asian actor, his co-star in their latest film.

The people Dustin called his friends were people from his school days whom he had stayed in contact with to this day. As the friends of friends started joining them, the group only grew larger and larger. However, Dustin's friendships with each person became shallower as time went by.

Selena also knew a bit about Dustin's friends from school, but they weren't close enough for her to judge them.

All she knew was that they were wealthy enough to attend a prestigious private school and were moderately smart people. It was also true that their friendship with Dustin used to be sincere, and there was no reason to doubt them in the past.

However, as the years went by, Dustin was the only one to have maintained his innocence to this day.

There were obviously some people who were good friends to Dustin. However, many others were hanging around Dustin and ruining his life. Examples of such 'friends' were: a failed businessman who tried to start a business as soon as they graduated from university, an unemployed carefree person, a person with a bankrupt family business, and a person with a messed-up personal life from constant marriages and divorces.

As she watched Dustin's old friends clinging onto him and gnawing away at the innocent young man, Selena got upset and worried for him, which in turn got her angry at herself.

So just as she felt like she needed to keep her distance from Dustin, he started hanging out with someone other than his existing group of friends, a piece of news she welcomed with open arms.

Dustin was popular and well-received by older actors but had no friends among the male actors of his generation as they weren't at ease and were cautious of each other.

So if Dustin got close to an unfamiliar oriental actor, she had no reason to interfere with them as long as this stranger was a decent human being.

Needless to say, that was only the case if this person indeed was a decent human being and was worthy enough to be Dustin's friend.

{What's going on?}

However, when reading Dustin's posts now, Selena felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

The first thing that felt off was a photo of Dustin in a coffee shop with paparazzi in the background. Selena often got sick of paparazzi as well whenever she saw them hanging around Dustin. So nothing felt wrong with Dustin taking a picture leisurely inside the shop with the paparazzi outside.

<Genie says that he has the urge to throw me at them as a sacrifice!>

The caption didn't make much sense at first glance. It was just a joke that this 'Genie' saw the paparazzi as a horde of zombies and wanted to throw Dustin as a sacrifice to run away on his own.

But it left a bad taste in Selena's mouth.

{Who does he think he is to use Dustin as a sacrifice? Besides, isn't he a horrible friend if he's thinking of escaping alone?}

And now, she was imagining the situation in her head. As Selena got more and more irritated, she moved on to the next post with a sigh.

All of Dustin's posts were pictures and stories with this person called Genie.

It was good news that Dustin was enjoying himself every day while filming, but Selena could see his dependence on this Genie increasing in intensity by the day.

<I've been learning Taekkyeon from Genie recently, and I'm getting beat up every day. Behold my proud battle scars.}

Selena ended up cursing when she saw the photo of the dark bruise on Dustin's forearm he had proudly uploaded. The secretary jolted in surprise and turned around to ask if she was okay.

Selena waved her hand at her secretary, telling her not to disturb her. She then glared at her phone screen and violently spat out.

{Why on earth would you beat him up?!}

Selena got even more upset because everyone else seemed happy about it in the comments.

She couldn't believe her eyes when some people said that men had to get into physical fights to create a true bond at times.

Selena was unaware that Dustin's social media was now overflowing with Woo-Jin's fans and that Dustin's original fans enjoyed how he portrayed himself as though living under Woo-Jin's tyranny. So, naturally, she felt upset and vexed on her own.

This Genie guy didn't seem like a bad person, but for some reason, she worried that Dustin was getting too dependent on him. She couldn't trust Dustin as he was a poor judge of character.

{Wait, no. He isn't a poor judge of character since he likes me. The problem is that he's only ever been a good judge of character once in his life.}

Selena indirectly complimented herself and pondered deeply. She then remembered that Dustin trusted people far too easily and pressed her temples with both hands as though in distress.

If she were to think of any issues in her smooth-sailing life, they would be her father and Dustin. She had given up on her father long ago, but she could never abandon Dustin.

Selena still hadn't forgotten the promise she had made with the cute little boy with the golden aura.

That promise made her the person she was today and gave her the strength to endure every hardship.

{He really is a handful.}

Selena clicked her tongue and called Dustin. She had plenty of things to tell him as it was their first time talking in a long while, but she only had one goal this time. Dustin's new friend needed to be investigated.

***

Woo-Jin scratched his ear as it got itchy for some reason. In fact, he felt slightly chilly even though it was warm inside the film set.

He then draped the cardigan he had left on the chair over his shoulders. He had to look after himself and not get sick because there was a big difference in temperature during the day and the evening.

{Genie~!}

{Over here!}

Woo-Jin loudly replied to Dustin's call and sighed.

How had things developed in such a way that he worried this grown man would fall over while running up to him? Dustin was very skilled at making someone care far too much about him.

{Genie, big news!}

{Is it Selena?}

{How did you know?!}

{What else could make you so excited and happy other than her?}

Dustin smiled shyly at Woo-Jin's response before bringing over a chair and sitting down. He was excited like a high school boy getting dating advice from an experienced friend.

{Did she finally leave a comment on one of your posts?} Woo-Jin asked.

{Way better than that! She finally called me for the first time in a month.}

{Oh, in a month...?}

For some reason, the more he listened to Dustin's story, the more Woo-Jin felt like his friend's unrequited love was hopeless.

{Yeah, yeah! She asked to meet up the day after tomorrow.}

{You made plans to meet up?}

Woo-Jin rejoiced and waited for Dustin's following words as there still seemed to be a bit of hope remaining.

{That's right! My father's company is hosting a party this Friday. We decided to see each other there. Goodness, I wasn't planning on attending, but I have to go now.}

Woo-Jin had been listening seriously but now sat up straight and turned his head away. He wondered why Dustin was so excited about meeting at a company party as though it were a romantic date.

It appeared that Dustin had very low standards and no fantasies about romantic relationships. Woo-Jin patted the man-child on the shoulder, pitying him.

{You don't have anything scheduled on Friday evening either, do you?} Dustin asked.

{Why me?}

{You need to come too.}

{Thanks for the invitation, but I'd rather not.}

{No, Selena wants to see you and told me to bring you along no matter what. Will you come with me?}

{Why me?}

As he asked Dustin, Woo-Jin quickly realized what was going through Selena's mind and nodded to the request. The reaction he was expecting from her was what had caused this demand. If Selena truly cared for Dustin and worried about him, she would want to know what kind of person Woo-Jin was.

Moreover, since she knew Dustin's personality better than anyone else, her concerns would pile up like a mountain as she saw him constantly clinging to Woo-Jin on his social media.

Thus, this proved that she cared about Dustin in some way, at the very least.

However, the most important task was to figure out what kind of 'care' this was. If she considered Dustin like a younger brother that she had to look after, just like Woo-Jin felt, then Dustin would be bedridden with a broken heart in the future.

{So, Friday, was it?}

Therefore, Woo-Jin was also very curious about Selena. He wanted to know what kind of person she was and what she thought of Dustin.

As he answered Woo-Jin's question, Dustin was already like a prince making his merry way to the party.

His appearance made him look like a live-action Disney prince, but his behavior made him look like a low-class servant in some Korean historical drama.

Though, it didn't matter whether he was a prince or a servant as long as the story ended in a happy ending.