Model to Holywood

"Ed, where's the knife? I need to cut it off! It's messing with my runway walk!"

Luca stormed backstage, face full of rage after leaving the stage.

"Stop it!" 

Ed was covering his forehead, speechless, his face dark.

He had just witnessed Luca's "shocking" performance on the runway. He saw the changes in Luca's body, and how he ran around the stage with something… threatening. Ed was embarrassed, sweating nervously. What kind of person had he signed?

"Luca, can you focus when you're on the runway and stop thinking about ridiculous things?"

Ed said helplessly.

Luca shrugged, looking innocent, "Ed, it's not my fault. It just happened suddenly. I couldn't control it."

Usually, models wear tight underwear or wrap things up in plastic to avoid accidents before going on stage. This time, he hadn't expected to be so stimulated, so he hadn't prepared, which led to this disaster.

"Sigh, forget it!"

Ed waved his hand, "After something like this, no one's going to hire you to walk the runway anymore. You should just focus on being an actor."

"Fine, I was an actor to begin with anyway. But I need to hit the bathroom first. It's uncomfortable to keep it... like this."

Luca tugged at his pants as he spoke.

Ed turned away, too annoyed to talk to him anymore.

"Haha, did anyone see someone 'raising the flag' on stage just now?"

Ben Hill came striding back from the front, shouting loudly to the backstage.

"Haha, yeah, we saw it! So bold and powerful!"

"Totally unprofessional!"

"How embarrassing! How is someone like that even a model?"

People standing behind their clothes racks in the changing area loudly mocked him.

Luca heard all of this and was upset, but he held his tongue. What could he say? Wrong was wrong. Even if he argued and won, what difference would it make?

Ignoring the ridicule, he rushed to the bathroom. He had three more walks to do; he couldn't stay like this, could he?

"Haha, Luca, there you are!"

Ben Hill walked over with a friendly tone. "Luca, congrats! You're going to be famous again, haha!"

"Thanks, well, I am the most handsome model in the fashion world, so fame is just a matter of time."

Luca kept walking forward, but Ben Hill backed away quickly, looking disgusted.

"Luca, I have some great news for you."

Ben Hill whispered excitedly, "Do you know? Curtis, CK's Senior Vice President of Fashion Marketing, was in the audience."

"So what?"

Luca wasn't planning on staying in the fashion world, so what did it matter if the CK VP or the LV director was there? It had nothing to do with him.

"Hehe..."

Ben Hill grinned and whispered, "Just now, Curtis said he's considering me to be CK's new underwear spokesperson. Aren't you happy for me?"

Luca stared at him for three seconds, then his face changed. "Wow! Really, Ben? Curtis himself said he wants you to be the spokesperson? Wow! That's huge!"

"Shh..."

Ben Hill made a shushing gesture, instantly regretting saying anything. It wasn't confirmed yet, and he shouldn't have blurted it out.

But it was too late. Everyone backstage had heard.

"What? Curtis wants Ben to be the spokesperson?"

"Ben's only been in the business two years! Why him?"

"No wonder Ben's been jumping around recently. He's been aiming for this all along. Smart guy."

Everyone forgot about mocking Luca and focused on the CK contract instead. Making fun of Luca was just for laughs, but the CK deal could change their careers.

"Ben, is it true?"

"Ben, congrats! You're going to be a supermodel!"

"Ben, have you signed the contract yet?"

They all crowded around him.

Ben, with a forced smile, said, "It's just an opportunity, nothing's confirmed yet. Luca was exaggerating."

"Ben, you told me yourself! You can't hide it; what's yours can't be taken by anyone."

After saying that, Luca stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked into the bathroom.

When he came out, the atmosphere backstage was cold. Everyone looked tense, like someone had stolen their girlfriends.

Luca smiled slightly, changed his clothes, and went back to the runway.

At 7:30 PM, the CK show ended.

Luca said goodbye to Ed and drove to the west exit of the park.

A little while later, Kate and Lima showed up in thick, long down jackets.

Honk honk~

He flashed his car lights from under a tree.

Kate and Lima got into the car.

"Wow, Luca, we just heard that a male model had a, um, reaction during the CK show. Did you hear about that?"

Kate, sitting in the front passenger seat, asked gossipingly.

Luca awkwardly started the car, which shook a little as it pulled onto the road.

"Luca, CK uses top models. How could such an amateur mistake happen?" Lima asked, lounging on the backseat, her long legs crossed.

Luca glanced at them, suspicious. "Did you really not hear the guy's name?"

They both shook their heads.

Luca let out a sigh of relief. "Good, no need to talk about it then."

"Why not? It's the biggest gossip in the modeling world at this Fashion Week! It'll definitely be in the papers tomorrow," Kate said confidently.

"No way! How could something like that make it to the papers?"

Luca started to panic. If this got out, people would laugh at him behind his back everywhere he went.

"Luca, why do you look so nervous?" Kate asked, eyeing him.

"Nervous? Me? Haha, no way. I'm totally fine," Luca replied, forcing an awkward laugh.

"Hello, Daria?" Lima started making a call from the backseat. "Were you just in the CK show? I heard there was a male model who had an incident..."

"Lima, don't make calls while we're driving."

Luca said sternly, his face dark.

"Wait, what?!" Lima suddenly raised her voice in shock. "Daria, did you say it was my boyfriend, Luca?"

"Luca?" Both Kate and Lima turned to look at him.

Screech~

Luca stopped the car, slumping over the steering wheel, unable to lift his head.

Too awkward.

He didn't feel much on stage, but now that Kate and Lima knew, it was far more embarrassing than he imagined.

"Wow, Luca, it was really you?!" 

Kate touched his cheek with the back of her cold hand, feeling the warmth and confirming the truth.

"Wow wow wow! Unbelievable, Luca! It was really you? Hahaha!" 

Kate laughed so hard she could barely stay upright.

Lima rubbed her forehead, half-crying and half-laughing. "Luca, I had no idea you were so… excitable. I guess I have some responsibility in this."

Luca pushed away the still-laughing Kate and explained to Lima, "It's not your fault. You know, last time Emily gave me that bottle of medicinal wine for my bone injury? That wine also has some... stimulating ingredients. I drank too much of it, and that's why that happened."

"Medicinal wine?"

They both looked surprised.

"Yeah, I think I won't be drinking that again."

Luca started the car and drove off quietly.

"Hmm, Lima, this is your responsibility. What are you going to do about it?" Kate asked casually, crossing her long legs.

Lima smiled softly, "Don't worry, Kate. I'll take responsibility."

"Good!" Kate turned to Luca.

Luca forced an awkward smile. Talking about such ridiculous things so seriously was embarrassing!

What else could he say?

"I'll follow orders!" 

(Chapter ends)