170 Sofia 1

Three years later...

In a wide, clean yet empty room within a tall apartment building at Western Alina City, two girls, both pretty, young, and full of vitality, were unpacking boxes after boxes of items, pieces of furniture, and clothes.

One of them, the girl with long slightly curly blonde hair and baby blue eyes, stood up and with her hands on her waist, stretched her body, bending her back a bit while letting out some groans of frustrations.

After pouting her luscious pinkish lips, she glared at the other pretty woman in the place who was busy pushing a cabinet to the nearby bedroom.

A feminine voice filled with misgivings and tiredness sharply resounded all over the place.

"Sofia, tell me the truth, why am I the one you have called here instead of your parents or brother? It's so tiring having to carry your stuff here back and forth! But then, I still have to help you unpack and arrange them? Tell me, do you have any recent grudge against me?"

The girl called Sofia was a 21 years old woman with long flowing black hair with some streaks of brown from the crown to the ends of her hair, a pair of black eyes shining like jewels in a luminous night, high nose, and matte red lips.

Unlike the foreign beauty of her friend, hers was quite the traditional one, black hair and eyes and very fair skin.

But despite this, she could still easily squeeze into the top 10, if not the top 3, of their company in terms of appearance.

And this was not really a negligible feat considering the fact that the two of them belonged to one of the biggest entertainment companies within the country, Starlight.

When she heard her friend complained about being called over to help out, she chuckled, gracing the place with a sweet soft voice which could put anyone hearing them into a jubilant mood.

Alright, not anyone. At least, her friend who had been acquainted with her for three years didn't like her cutesy response.

The blonde girl was scowling as she sat down again, brusquely grabbing the scissors she left on the ground earlier before carrying another sizable box onto her lap.

Sounds of packing tapes and hard cartons being rashly torn by a sharp object echoed within the place, piquing the attention of the black-haired lady.

Through the open door of the bedroom, Sofia gave her friend an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Maila. My parents are still kind of against me entering this industry. Brother is not taking this as an issue and is even a bit proud of me. But he has his own work to worry. His boss just sent him overseas for a business meeting. So I really have no one to call over aside from you, my beautiful friend."

"...I'm not your only friend. Why didn't you also ask Kate and Anita to help us here?"

"They are busy. They are still in the program. Remember what team leader Baek promised us? If they don't do well, our little girl group won't have a chance to debut."

"Tch. So what if we can't form a group? All of us are already known artists in our own right. You, as a former super newbie, now both a great rising actress and singer. Me, a very very great solo idol. Keith is already an A grade model after debuting for a year, and Anita is a comedy muse who is already contending against her 7 years actress bitch sister. Anyway, that whatever girl singing and dancing group is only for a Sunday variety show. If they're not going to let us debut as a group, so what? Friendship first before career!" Maila Asuncion, the prized idol of Starlight, protested.

"You're funny, girl. Kate and Anita wanted more exposure, so we could only be happy for them. Anyways, it's not like I'll be moving places every day. Just suffer for today, Miss Great Idol," Sofia laughed, teasing her narcissistic and overly confident friend.

Maila gave the 21-year-old actress a sideways glance, staring at Sofia's busy figure bending down to the box lying open on the floor to fetch the items there, placing them one by one inside one of the drawers.

The black-haired beauty was only wearing a grey T-shirt tucked into her long skirt that reached past her beautiful and creamy calves.

Maila's eyes went to the girl's exposed arms and for a moment, wonder how a person could look so beautifully fair without appearing like an albino.

'Her face is almost poreless too. Plus her exquisite features. No wonder so many people are so enamored with her. To be honest, she's only one point inferior to the current most beautiful lady in the country. Gosh, I'm also a great beauty but I'm a bit envious of her.'

Sofia heard the sounds of clicking of the tongue coming from her right. She raised a brow at the idol and asked, "What's your problem?"

"You." The answer that came from the blonde. "You're too beautiful I'm being blinded."

"Oh. I'm flattered," the girl in a long skirt gave the blonde in an oversize peach shirt and fitting jeans a wide smile. "Since it came from the super weapon of our Idol Department."

"Shut up. I'm still angry at you for making me your slave today! It's supposed to be our day off! I thought you have invited me in for a drink or a movie marathon! But see what you did! You didn't inform me that you're moving to another apartment!"

Laughing, Sofia said, "This is my surprise. I just bought this place. It's near the workplace and has a nice view from the balcony."

"It's nice that you finally saved up enough money to buy a high-end place like this. But so what? My point is, you made me your slave! I'll post this to my IG!"

"No problem!"

"Don't 'no problem' me! I'll tell the world your awful treatment of your friend!"

Only gentle laughter came as a reply to Maila's furious statements.

The other pretty woman was only amused because even though the blonde kept on bombarding her with complaints, in the end, she still helped her tidy up and make her new apartment a place suitable for a popular star's dwelling place.

A couple of hours later, as a token of gratitude for her friend's help, Sofia promised to buy her a meal.

She changed her comfortable get up into a long forest green dress paired with black strappy stiletto heels and then led Maila out of her half-tidied house.

It was already late afternoon but the two of them didn't remove their shades and long coat until they secured a table at the second floor of Blue Feathers, a luxurious restaurant within Central Alina half an hour drive away from her new place.

"I want all their dishes priced more than 10,000 credits each! And red wine too! The most expensive one! No, I don't want a single bottle. I want ten! You're not allowed to say no!"

However, before the demanding blonde could even finish speaking, Sofia had already said their orders to the waiter. And although all the said courses were indeed above Maila's quoted price, she only ordered three dishes and a fairly known brand of red wine.

"Hey, I said all!"

"Stop being unreasonable. The one not paying has no say in this."

"What kind of person are you? So inconsiderate! And who's unreasonable, you must be referring to yourself!"

Sofia shook her head, murmuring to herself, 'Childish.'

"How's your preparation for your new Extended Play, by the way?" she asked the blonde to divert the topic.

"Boring as always. My manager is having daily warfare with the choreographer and lyricist. I don't know why."

"Must be about the packaging of your image. The higher ups want to mold you into a chic girl, right?"

She laughed as the idol was the bubbly type, the kind which could sit side by side with their other close friend, Anita, in a comedy show, not the stylish and fashionably elegant kind. Though she could act the part, what was natural was still different.

The inherent would always be the most charming in an individual, this was why everyone in their small peer group was either shaking their heads or laughing at the plan.

Maila nodded, rolling her eyes the second after. "Just because I'm foreign-looking, they think I must be like that. Stupid. But whatever. My manager is a tough opponent for them. She's a genius when it comes to wars of logic."

"Good for you."

The blonde looked at her fiery red nails, seemingly bored, "You too. Your career is shooting past the clouds."

"It attracted some, er, many haters though. Especially within Starlight."

"Well, there are always bitter people in the world, losers who dislike seeing others, notably those who come later than them becoming more popular and receiving more resources."

With a raise of her perfectly drawn left eyebrow, the beautiful blue eyes stared at Sofia. "Hey, don't tell me, that bitch Lina, did something again? What? Last time she tried to frame you of ruining her ballgown."

Sofia's lips slowly curled into an amused smile. "Don't speculate. She didn't. I was just saying since lately, I'm receiving unfriendly stares there."

"Oh," Maila's bored looks returned. "I thought I'd be hearing an entertaining drama. What a letdown."

"You're that bored?" Laughingly, the black haired woman brushed her hair back and shook her head.

"I am. Because unfriendly stares are boring. It's not like I'm not receiving those too. Everyone's gossipping about us since we're people without high backgrounds. Must be nice to be Alessa Morgan. She's not subjected to such things since she's from a very prominent family."

"Ah, our Great Queen of Primetime, the other real darling of Starlight."

"Apart from you?"

Sofia laughed at the other's jesting. "There is a rumor that she is an unfavored young miss in her house. But who cares. Her last name screams of wealth and influence so her life in the industry is still very smooth sailing. I admire her dedication to her career though."

Acting similar to those people not liking the success of others, Maila sneered and said, "Which one of us is not as dedicated as her? We survived this far. Of course, aside from our faces and talents, all of us showed dedication and toughness more than necessary in this line of business. I'm not that impressed with her since she's from a very wealthy family and has enough money to buy popularity. Say she didn't and has also taken the regular route like us, she's still not the most dedicated person I've ever encountered in this industry."

"Who then? Me?"

Maila laughed at her friend's boring joke, gazing through the glass wall to the male perfume advertisement playing on the huge screen outside the building across the restaurant.

She then haughtily replied, "Sorry. Not you."

"I wonder who."

A playful smile appeared on the black-haired beauty's red lips as she followed where her friend's eyes were leading to. Clicking her tongue, she commented,

"Of course, who else could it be, apart from your famous crush?"

The tinge of red that bloomed on the blonde's cheeks made her look so beautiful and cute that if ever her fans were nearby, they would surely squeal madly in excitement or bewilderment.

However, that beautiful scenery merely served as Sofia's laughing material.

If only the waiter delivering their food and drinks did not arrive, she would have teased the blue-eyed lady more until she dropped convulsing or shrieking on the floor in great embarrassment.

...

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