"Mr. Kaburagi is here. Should we cover for our late friend?" Nobuyuki Kumano asked the group.
Yuki Washimi thought about it and then nodded. "It's a pain, but let's do it. If we're one guy short, one of the girls won't be able to participate."
The group wasn't happy about their "unprofessional" cast member, but they knew it was for their own good. They had worked hard to get this opportunity, and they weren't going to lose it. They thought the person was either a clueless beginner or an arrogant fool. They never thought the person would be a big shot. After all, they were all nobodies in the entertainment industry. "SeriKoi" was a show to promote newcomers, not to get a superstar. They didn't think the production team had the budget or the value to get a star like that.
"I don't think you need to do that. He's here," Kana Arima said, stopping them. She saw someone walking toward them after talking to Katsuya Kaburagi. As the person got closer, Yuki and the others' eyes widened in disbelief.
"I'm sorry for being late. I wanted to be here earlier, but Yuko was up all night writing and fell asleep. I couldn't find a taxi nearby. My name is Seiya Wenren, I'm a first-year high school student, and I'm an actor. I'm also one of the cast members of 'SeriKoi.' It's a pleasure to meet you all."
When Seiya introduced himself, the group was stunned. They couldn't believe a popular actor like him would be on their show. His level was way above theirs. They were just nobodies with a small fan base, but Seiya was a "Bukyoku," the leader of the new generation of action actors. He had a huge fan base, and some of them were even his fans!
"Seiya Wenren! I can't believe a big star like him would be on a dating show with us! Am I dreaming?"
"Wenren-kun, Wenren-kun, can I take a picture with you?"
Akane and Kana were quiet, but Yuki and MEM-Cho were excited. They immediately turned into fan girls and wanted to take a picture with Seiya. The other boys, Nobuyuki and Kengo, were also happy, but they felt a lot of pressure. "SeriKoi" was a dating reality show, and the participants had to "romance" each other. The more popular a couple was, the more screen time they would get. The show's popularity was already guaranteed with Seiya, but the other boys were feeling the pressure. How could they compete with a popular actor? Aqua was the only one who didn't care because he was not here to get famous.
Because it was a reality show and everyone was around the same age, they quickly warmed up to Seiya after the initial shock. The first two episodes were mainly about him because he was the most popular and they were curious about him. Yuki and MEM-Cho were not stupid. They knew that if they could get close to him or even become his partner, their popularity would skyrocket. Even if they couldn't, they would at least get more screen time.
Akane had a hard time acting because this was her first reality show. As for Kana, she felt embarrassed whenever she looked at Seiya. After he had hung up the phone last night, she had been fantasizing about them having children together. She even had names for them. But when he called back, he told her that he was talking about a girlfriend for the show. Kana was so embarrassed that she wanted to hang up on him, but then she thought about how he was doing this for her. He was risking his reputation just to help her become popular again. She had no right to be mad at him. But she still couldn't look him in the eye, so today's shoot was all about MEM-Cho and Yuki interacting with him.
"Seiya-kun, why did you want to be on 'SeriKoi'?"
"Yeah, is it because you're at the age where you want to be in a relationship? I heard in an interview that you've never been in a relationship. You're such a pure boy."
When Yuki and MEM-Cho asked him a personal question, the cameraman looked at Katsuya Kaburagi, asking him if he wanted to cut this part. Most artists don't like to talk about their personal lives.