Four

|ATHENA|

[Unbelievable News: Have you guys ever wondered about what Film Emperor Jason Lamar was doing before he became a film emperor? Well, let me tell you. I recently got a few videos of Jason’s life beforehand.

Bro used to be one of those extras who hold umbrellas for main characters around the set. He also once acted as a rock in an action movie where the female lead stood on top of him. So many other little pathetic roles can be traced to his name.

So, how come he never mentioned any of these roles beforehand? There are hundreds of visual proof of him saying that ‘Battlegrounds’ was his first movie and that he was lucky enough to get fame at a first try.

Why is he trying to bury the steps he took to get to where he is now? Isn’t that disrespect to screenwriters and producers of the films he previously begged to serve water to the crew for?

Tsk tsk. I always knew that the man was a fake. But let me hear what you guys have to say. What do you think about the goody-two-shoes image Jason Lamar puts out to the public? Is it real or fake?]

I read through the article of a famous blogger that I had sold five clips of Jason wherein he was still in the trenches, too. This particular blogger was a really good one. He didn’t hold back at all.

His post has already gathered hundreds of thousands of shares, likes, and comments. I decided to go through the comments to see what people thought about the true face of their ‘Golden Prince’.

[Oh, no! Who did this film emperor!? How much was he paid to eat that bread off the dirty mud?? Ewwwww!!]

[I have been a die-hard fan of JL since ‘Battlegrounds’. I was deeply inspired by the fact that he was able to pull off such a difficult role as a rookie. It turns out that he wasn’t a rookie at all and was just whitewashing himself. Not cool.]

[These clips aren’t fake. Check the credits of the movies, JL’s name is truly there.]

[This totally ruined the white prince image I had of JL in my mind. Ugh. Now I have to go scouting for a new actor to stan.]

As I looked through the comment section, the smile on my face grew wider and wider. It was fun to see people losing interest in Jason.

Most of his fans weren’t really focused on the dirty roles that he played, it was the fact that he had never talked about them and posed as if he was a star from the very start.

To be honest, it wasn’t a shameful thing to start from the bottom of the entertainment industry and crawl to the top. That was endearing hard work. However, lying about working your way to the top was a big no-no.

I closed the app I was scrolling through and stood up from the chair I was sitting on to prepare food for myself. I hadn’t even gotten to the kitchen when I heard my phone ringing.

The caller ID read Mina Alvarez, so I accepted the call and placed the phone against my ear.

“Did you do this?” Mina said with a straightforward tone, skipping pleasantries.

“If you’re referring to juice about Jason, then yes, I did it.” I spoke with a smug tone, not bothering to act coy as Mina didn’t sound like she was in the mood for games.

“Athena, how could you?! I thought we talked about this. If Jason finds out you’re the one who leaked his embarrassing digital footprints, do you have any idea what he’s going to do to you?!”

“If, Mina. If. But he’s not going to find out. And if he does, I have more of his digital footprints to leak.” I said with an entitled tone. And it was the truth.

After Jason left me, I gathered all I had of him. I rewatched every film he was in, imprinted every picture of him I had in my head, all so I could hold on to the traces of the man that I had cherished with all my life.

I was really sick back then. But who would’ve thought that I’d be able to use all my objects of obsession of him against him?

“That’s not right, Athena. We agreed to only go against him once you’ve done something for yourself. What’s the point of releasing the clips now? If he finds out you were behind it, bye-bye to all your chances of making it big once again.” Mina explained with a lecture voice.

However, her words were going through one ear and leaving through the other.

“All you should be focused on is getting a role and starring in a movie. Leave the petty schemes for later.” Mina advised.

I sighed and said, “You should understand how I am. I’m prone to being impulsive. I find it hard to sit still, knowing that everything he has is undeserved and through cheating.” I said, gritting my teeth.

“Look, I understand—”

“You don’t.” I cut in quickly. Mina went silent after that. A sense of guilt weighed down on me.

“I just want you to trust me. I’ll be fine. I know what I’m doing and how I’m doing it. Don’t worry too much.” I said with resignation.

“It’s because I trust you that I worry about you. But since you say you’re fine… You better be fine.”

I knew I had finally worn her down when I heard Mina say those things. There was a smile on my face as I said a few reassuring words to her and terminated the call.

Just after terminating it, I got an urge to check on the blogger who talked about Jason.

I gave into the urge and my heart almost stopped beating at the news on the front page of the social media app.

Author's note: I don't know if you guys are aware of it already, but this story might be set in America but depicts Korean entertainment industry setting. Yes, I made it that way. I don't really want or know how to write Hollywood things. I'm more familiar with Asian entertainment (not that I'm Asian). I'm just a bit more knowledgeable about it, so that's that. Add to your library, please. ❤️