Movie star Ted Parsons posted on his social media in the middle of the night: "Folks, secretly going to meet my online crush. If it goes well, call me a stud. If it fails, I'm a clown." The next day, he dropped a photo: a girl in a blue and white floral dress locked in an embrace with a handsome guy with a shock of blond hair. Then, he changed his screen name to [The Other Guy]. The internet exploded. And I looked down at the blue and white floral dress I was wearing, then at my brother’s newly dyed blond hair, and finally at the 99+ unread messages from my online boyfriend on my phone. I exploded, too. 1 I'm a C-list actress, at best. The kind of actress who exists on the very fringes of stardom. My latest drama finally took off, but none of the starlight and riches that came with it landed on me. Instead, I got a lot of rotten eggs and cabbage hurled at me on the street. That's because I played the villainess—the kind you hate with a fury that makes your teeth ache. The hatred for the character bled over to the actress, and just like that, I became a public punching bag. As I scrolled through the endless wave of online hate, the director, Mr. Evans, looked at me, his face a mask of apology. "Kaley, this must have been so hard on you. Why don't you take some time off? Go home, lay low for a bit. I'll make sure you're compensated, of course. Please, don't let it get you down." He was raking in awards for this show, yet he was trying so desperately to look sorry for me. So desperate that the corner of his mouth kept twitching, fighting an upward curl, then forcing itself down, then back up again… a spastic battle on his face. I just stared. Director Evans, please stop smiling. You're scaring me. 2 "A little compensation?" I rolled my eyes. I remembered how he'd sweet-talked me into this role, promising it would be my ticket to the big time, that I’d be dining on champagne and caviar. And now? "You really think I'm that easy to brush off?" I was on the verge of laughing from sheer frustration. I glanced down as my phone screen lit up. A bank notification. A new deposit… for five million dollars. I shook my head, a sigh escaping my lips. "You know what? Turns out I am." 3 Back home, I cracked open a fine '82 Coke. The moment I switched from my work account to my personal one, a video call came in. The contact name read: My 6'4" Six-Pack Clingy Puppy. I answered, and a low, gravelly voice purred through the speaker at the same time. "Miss me, baby?" His voice was like velvet lined with fishhooks, snagging at my heart. For a second, my mind went adrift. I quickly turned off my own camera. On my screen, however, was a glorious view of six-pack abs. As usual, he wasn't showing his face. The frame started just below his sharp jawline. Broad shoulders, a narrow waist, a powerful core—his proportions were absolutely perfect. Droplets of water still clung to his chest, tracing slow, tantalizing paths down the grooves of his muscles. My cheeks flushed, my head starting to feel fuzzy. That’s weird. Can you get tipsy from Coca-Cola? "Why so quiet, hmm?" He leaned closer to the camera, his Adam's apple bobbing. I instinctively reached out, my fingers hitting the cold, hard glass of the screen, which jolted me back to reality. Tsk. Look but don't touch. So frustrating. "Lower the camera a little. We know each other well enough by now, don't be shy." 4 The hand drying his chest with a towel paused. "You sure?" I raised an eyebrow. He wouldn't actually dare, I thought, so I pushed my luck. "Positive. Absolutely positive." To my shock, the camera on his end actually started to pan down. Slowly. From his throat to his chest, then lower, and lower still… The deliberate slowness felt like an intimate exploration of his body. My breath hitched. My face was on fire. Just in the nick of time… BAM! I slammed my phone face-down on the table. "STOP! That's enough! This is not that kind of party!" Silence for a beat, then a soft chuckle from his end. "Scared?" "Yeah, scared I'll pass out from the sight of something so small." "Excuse me?" He bit out, his voice tight. "I dare you to open your eyes and look. I guarantee you won't be disappointed!" Sorry, but my entire personality is built on defiance. "I! REFUSE!" "You're just chicken," he scoffed. "Too scared to admit it." That one sentence lit a fire under me. "Chicken? Are you kidding me? Fine! I'll look!" Without another word, I snatched the phone off the table. 5 And in the next second, a fluffy white bathrobe, tied securely around his waist and covering him completely, filled my screen. I blinked. "...?!" Seriously, dude? I was halfway to a heart attack, and this is what you show me? "What else were you expecting to see?" Even though I couldn't see his face, I could picture the smug, mischievous grin he was wearing just from the sound of his voice. Oh, he's good. He was totally playing me! "Just looking is boring! If you've got the guts, come over and let me touch!" I squeezed my fists, genuinely annoyed now. I had to get my dignity back. He let out a soft "tsk." "If I actually showed up, would you actually have the guts to see me?" "Of course, why wouldn't I?" "You sure you wouldn't take one look at me and run for the hills?" "Haha, you're dreaming. I'd be more likely to push you onto the sofa and… ravage… you… mercilessly!" "…" 6 When I woke up the next morning and saw my chat history with him, my world came crashing down. The black text on the screen seemed to get more and more suggestive the longer I looked, making my face burn red. The worst part was, I was nowhere near ready to meet in person. But last night, in a fit of bravado, I'd thrown down the gauntlet: [Me: See you tomorrow, 5 PM, at the entrance of the Starlight Hotel.] [Me: Whoever bails eats ramen without the flavor packet for the rest of their life!] So, with trembling fingers, I weakly typed out a new message: [Me: You know, I was just thinking… ramen without the flavor packet probably tastes pretty good too.] He replied almost instantly. First, a single question mark. Then, a location pin for the city's main airport. [My 6'4" Six-Pack Clingy Puppy: If I don't see you this afternoon, I'll hunt you down through the internet, baby. Don't worry.] Great. My heart was now completely and utterly dead. There was no backing out now. I closed my eyes in resignation. It looked like there was no escaping this time. But just as I was wallowing in my despair, a shriek erupted from outside my door. 7 "Kaley! Kaleeeeyyyy! Open up! I know you're in there! You had the guts to steal a man, now have the guts to open the door… " I couldn't stand that weaselly voice for another second. I shot up and stormed to the door. The moment I flung it open, the person standing there was about to speak. I shoved my slipper into his mouth. Instant, blessed silence. It lasted for all of one second before chaos erupted again. He spat the slipper out, hacking and spitting dramatically onto the floor. "Are you even my sister?! Are you trying to poison me?!" I covered my ears, his whining already giving me a headache. Then I got a good look at his new, eye-searingly blond hair, and my expression soured even more. "What is that look?" Hearing this, my brother, Leo, ran a hand through his hair and winked at me furiously. "What do you think? New style. Hot, right?" "You look like you got electrocuted." Seeing he couldn't win a war of words, Leo whipped out his phone and shoved it in my face. Because trending topics about both of us were currently lighting up the internet. #LeoUnlocksNewLook, TotallySlaying!# #DailyQuestion: WhenWillTheVillainessKaleyFinallyGetWrittenOff!# One praising him, one trashing me. What no one in the entertainment world knew was that Leo and I were actually siblings. The reason was simple: we couldn't stand each other. He was the life of the party on variety shows, while I was a nobody actress stuck in obscurity. The day we entered the industry, we made a pact to pretend we were strangers. 8 I couldn't be bothered with him. As I went to shut the door, a foot wedged its way into the gap. "Wait!" he yelped, squeezing half his body through. "I just wanted to ask if you saw that bottle of liquor in the fridge." "No." But Leo pressed on, unwilling to give up. "It was in a Coke bottle. I mixed some whiskey with Coke. You really didn't see it?" My head snapped around. I saw the empty Coke bottle from last night sitting on my bedside table. Then I turned back to Leo, a chillingly sweet smile spreading across my face. "Are you saying… that Coke in the fridge… was actually alcohol?" Leo nodded. I grabbed his ear and twisted. He yelped in pain. "Leo, are you an absolute psycho?! Who puts whiskey in a Coke bottle?!" No wonder! No wonder that "Coke" tasted weirder and weirder last night. It wasn't that my online crush's flirting had me tipsy. I was genuinely drunk! "This! Is! All! Your! Fault! You're going to be the death of me!" 9 After I explained the situation, Leo mocked me relentlessly. "I was wondering what the big deal was! So that's what happened!" A death glare from me cut him off mid-sentence. "I have three hours until the meetup. What am I supposed to do?" He shrank back, looking sheepish. "Hey, you can't blame it all on me! Besides, you two have been talking for a year. Meeting up was bound to happen. Sooner or later, what's the difference?" He wasn't entirely wrong. It's just… We'd never once shown our faces during our video calls. Even the photos he sent were artsy, atmospheric shots where his face was always cleverly obscured. He wouldn't even tell me what he did for a living. All I knew was that he traveled a lot for work, flying all over the country. When he was truly busy, he'd be unreachable for half the day. Chatting behind a screen was fine. But the thought of meeting face-to-face? It genuinely terrified me. "But that name, Ted… why does it sound so familiar?" Leo mused, stroking his chin. Suddenly, it clicked. "Wait, isn't that the name of that new A-list movie star? The one who just won Best Actor?" I waved his comment away. "Just a coincidence." The man was a movie star, with a face that could launch a thousand ships. He had the looks, the fame, the charisma. Why on earth would someone like that bother with the hassle of online dating? So I paid Leo's comment no mind. "But what if it is him?" Leo grinned, and before I could react, he'd pulled out a tablet. A picture of Ted Parsons's chiseled abs was suddenly magnified in front of my eyes. "You're always on video calls with your online guy, right? Why don't you take a good, hard look? Compare and contrast?" "…Get out!" 10 In the end, I braced myself and went to the hotel we'd agreed on. As for Leo, I'd dragged him along with me. There's safety in numbers, after all. My phone had been buzzing nonstop on the way over, all messages from Ted. [My 6'4" Six-Pack Clingy Puppy: I'm about to meet you, baby! I'm so nervous! I have a huge surprise for you, hehe!] I finally just put my phone on Do Not Disturb, snapped a picture of the hotel entrance to let him know I'd arrived, and told him we'd talk when we met. But the thought of it just made my stomach clench even tighter. Seeing my state, Leo leaned in to comfort me. "It's okay, Kaley, don't be scared. He came all this way to see you, which means you're really important to him. If there's love, it's a beautiful romance. If there's not… well, at worst it's a police report." I was speechless. I threw a punch at him. "No one will think you're a mute if you just shut up!" But my punch hit nothing but air. Leo made a goofy face at me, which only made me angrier. "Get back here!" Thanks to the iron-clad rule of older-sibling dominance, I ended up pinning him to the ground and giving him a proper noogie until he begged for mercy. "Kaley, stop, ow, ow, ow! Your online date is gonna be here any second! You have to maintain your image!" His words snapped me back to reality. I scrambled for my phone. It was already fifteen minutes past our agreed-upon time! "What the hell? Don't tell me he stood me up!" I unlocked the screen and froze. 99+ messages from [My 6'4" Six-Pack Clingy Puppy]. Before I could even open them, a breaking news notification popped up, taking over my screen. #BREAKING: Movie Star Ted Parsons’s Online Date Ends in Disaster# #TedParsons: The Other Guy# I blinked. "?!" A terrible, sinking feeling washed over me. 11 Last night, the award-winning actor had posted: [Ted Parsons: Folks, secretly going to meet my online crush. If it goes well, call me a stud. If it fails, I'm a clown.] He'd even specified the time in the comments: 5 PM today. Fans and curious onlookers had been waiting with bated breath, only to see him change his screen name to [The Other Guy]. Then came the paparazzi photo: One second, he's on his phone, smiling and texting. The next, he looks up and sees a girl in a blue and white floral dress looking all "cozy" with a guy with blond hair. The smile vanishes. The internet exploded. I looked down at the blue and white floral dress I was wearing. At my brother's newly dyed blond hair. And at the 99+ unread messages on my phone. I exploded, too. So, the guy I'd been dating online for over a year… Was actually the movie star Ted Parsons?! The realization hit me, and the world started to spin.
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