The next day, Hyerin woke up early despite her splitting headache.
"Where are you going?" asked Averie.
"I need to hand in my resignation letter," she said.
Averie smirked, evil thoughts swirling about his head. "No, don't go. Call in sick."
"What?" Hyerin looked terrified. "You aren't taking back your offer, are you?"
"Of course not. I'm telling you to make life difficult for your boss. He doesn't know that you are planning on quitting, does he? Use up all of your paid leaves before handing in your resignation."
"That's—" Hyerin looked torn.
She wanted to follow the malicious advice of her friend, but she had never acted so mean-spirited before, and it felt wrong.
"That's not ethical," she mumbled.
"Neither is your boss. The company is not going to compensate you for the harassment you suffered. So, the least you can do—to gain some sort of justice—is ruin your boss's week. You have to fight for your rights, Rin. You have to be mean and spiteful if you want your beliefs and ideals to endure."
Hyerin thought that her friend's eyes looked especially deep at that moment. It was as if she was looking into the soul of someone who had stood at the forefront of a revolution.
It felt like a friend who she had known for all her life had gone through an eternity of struggle while she wasn't looking.
"Okay," she murmured.
The rest of the day was spent mostly relaxing and planning for the future.
The next day, Hyerin left for her hometown where her family and Averie's grandma lived. She had informed her father about their situation before leaving, and he was happy to lend his car for as long as they needed it. He managed to wash, oil, and repair it before Hyerin even arrived.
Everyone who knew the two close friends came to see her. But when asked what kind of role Averie had gotten, she found it extremely hard to speak. The only thing she managed to utter was that children shouldn't see it, which made everyone extremely suspicious.
'What in the hell is that child actually doing?' their expressions seemed to yell.
The following morning, Hyerin returned.
Despite the exhaustion from the long drive back, she took Averie to take his headshots. The tires of the sedan needed to be changed, so they took a taxi.
The photographer kept instructing him to pose in a manner that would highlight his pretty features, but Averie firmly told him to shut his mouth.
He had done photoshoots plenty of times in his previous life, and he knew conventional beauty was the most boring kind of beauty.
He was a haughty actor before he died, and he was going to be a haughty actor now that he was alive.
The headshots came out great. Every last picture showed a man who was both arrogant and attractive. The photographer complimented them but kept saying that this was not what producers and directors were looking for.
But again, Averie gracefully told him to shut up.
A couple more days passed, and the day of the table-read arrived.
Early in the morning, Hyerin had come to pick up Averie.
She escorted him to her father's old sedan and opened the door to the back seat.
"Shall we?" she asked.
But Averie did not reply.
He had expected to find some rusty old car that wouldn't sell for peanuts. Instead, what he found left his mouth ajar and his heart pumping with excitement.
"Is this real?" he asked in shock.
It was a sable 1968 Jaguar XJ6.
"Do you have any idea how much this thing costs?"
"Dad said not that much," Hyerin replied nonchalantly. "A lot of the original parts have been replaced, you know. It was originally my grandpa's."
'What was he, the prime minister of Britain?' Averie thought.
He knew he had suddenly become the coolest man in the entirety of Seoul.
"Shall we?" Hyerin asked again.
Like an excited child, Averie nodded his head vigorously before jumping in. He looked around, touching every single thing.
The interior of the car was modified to suit the modern safety and comfort standards.
Whether it was his car or not, Averie felt like a prince.
Hyerin climbed into the driver's seat, placed a large white bag in the passenger seat, and drove off smoothly.
"What's the canvas bag for?" Averie asked.
"Fruits, napkins, a change of clothes, chocolates, a towel—things like that."
Averie was impressed.
The girl was more dedicated to her new role than he had expected.
It took an hour for them to arrive at Elvin Production's building, where the table-read was set to begin in half an hour. Onlookers stared as they saw an elegant classic car pulling in front of the building.
Averie stepped out.
As always, he was in a tucked-in white shirt with the top two buttons left open. His newly bought black leather shoes matched well with his dress pants.
His haughty gaze and confident strides drew attention. Even though they didn't know who he was, there was no doubt in their mind that he was an actor.
Hyerin talked with the receptionist, who guided them to the venue where the table-read would take place.
It was a large conference room with a rectangular table in the middle. Chairs for onlookers were arranged some distance away from the table.
Press passes were hanging from the necks of entertainment reporters. Managers of actors were talking amongst themselves. Executives of Elvin Production, TVN, and Trinix looked particularly solemn.
Crucial crew members such as the Art Director, Music Supervisor, and Director of Photography were busy working on their laptops.
Some of the cast had already gathered. They were either reading the script or chatting quietly.
Averie approached one of the chairs, carrying his script in hand. The nameplate placed in front of it read: 'Averie Quinn Auclair—playing the role of Asmodeus Binsfeld.'
As he sat down, he drew the attention of everyone in the room. It was evident that Asmodeus's casting had given most of them extreme trouble. Their filthy eyes were evaluating Averie.
Hyerin whispered words of encouragement in his ear before mingling with some of her acquaintances. Averie could tell that they were inquiring about him.
He looked around, finding actors for Beelzebub and Belphegor. They were rehearsing quietly, as most of their scenes included each other. Mammon's actor, on the other hand, was sitting alone, playing with his phone.
Averie opened his script and began reading the markings he had made all over it. Emotional changes, subtlety in expression, inflection, and emphasis—he had marked everything in red ink.
Suddenly, Averie felt someone's hand on his shoulder.
Looking back, he saw a handsome man in his late twenties. He was how people in the countryside imagined a conventionally handsome man. Averie didn't see the charm, though. His trained eye could immediately notice the signs of plastic surgery.
'That nose is fake,' he thought.
This was another thing he hated about the modern world—the incessant use of plastic surgery. Such obsession with modern beauty standards was appalling to him.
There was a time when he appreciated the advancements in plastic surgery, as it afforded a normal life to the innocents caught in accidents, those born deformed, and veterans impaired in wars.
Now, it was used to trim inches off perfectly fine noses.
'Mired in a false definition of beauty, their fixation has stripped them of their humanity. And yet, they do not notice,' he thought. 'As we speak, to rule over this new sin, the eighth prince must be being conceived in Hell.'
"You are playing Asmodeus?" the man asked with malice dripping from his voice. "Who are you anyway? No one here has even heard of you."
'Oh, sweet Lucifer, thank you for sending this sacrifice my way,' Averie thought, an expression of pure ecstasy covering his face.
"Did you sleep with someone for the role?" the man sneered.
The volume of his voice ensured that no one but the cast heard the last sentence. But anyone with some intellect could tell that he wasn't being very nice towards Averie.
Everyone was staring at the two, and the actors looked disgusted by what was said. They wondered how a newcomer was going to deal with the outrageous show of hostility.
Alas, they didn't know how much Hell could toughen a soul.
"You are correct," Averie answered, getting up from his seat.
The gravity of his gaze was turning into the depravity of Asmodeus.
He made sure everyone in the room could hear his words with distinct clarity as he grinned maliciously.
"Just as you said, I slept with someone to get the role."