Not long after, he finally cleared his throat, looking as if he had just woken up from a long dream.
"I ... I’m not sure I can help much," he said quietly. Then he added, "It’s been a long ti since I kissed soone."
Well, that made sense. After all, he probably chose to focus on recovering his legs rather than getting involved with won.
But—wait. Did he just say it’s been a long ti since he kissed soone?
So ... he had kissed soone before?! Maybe more than one?!
Who were they?!
I quickly caught myself before my thoughts spiraled further. God, I was starting to sound like a jealous wife.
Of course, he must have kissed soone before. He was thirty-five, for god’s sake!
"Ah ... but it would be such a waste to let my co-star take my first kiss," I muttered, scratching my cheek and avoiding his gaze. "It feels kind of unfair, you know? Giving sothing like that away just for a scene."
"No—I-I an the practice," Lando stamred, his voice suddenly unsteady. "But ... but I can still take your first kiss. If you want."
Both of us froze.
My brain completely short-circuited for a second, and his expression mirrored mine. We both froze; eyes wide, bodies stiff, and absolutely clueless about what we were even talking about anymore.
This was so awkward.
Why did I even bring up the topic of a kiss scene? It wasn’t like I was auditioning for a lead role. I was just going for a supporting one, so chances were I wouldn’t even have that many romantic scenes to begin with.
But still ... why did he have to answer like that?!
Then again ... I didn’t really mind if he took my first kiss. Maybe ... his favorability points would skyrocket if that happened.
Now that I thought about it, his favorability hadn’t gone up in a while. Was it because I hadn’t made any physical moves lately?
[Correct, Host.]
[You’ve raised 63% of his favorability through emotional connection and light touches, like holding hands.]
[However, if you want to reach 100% favorability, you’ll also need to take things to a more physical level, like hugging, kissing, and the main course is, of course ... dun dun dun, SEX!]
I nearly choked on air.
What the hell was that tone supposed to be?!
[Don’t act so surprised, Host,] Penny teased. [It’s basic human logic. Emotional intimacy builds trust, but physical intimacy seals the bond.]
I clenched my fists on my lap, my face heating up as I tried to keep a straight expression in front of Lando, who still looked like he was trying to recover from the whole kiss conversation.
Could the ground please open up and swallow right now?
Just thinking about having sex with Lando made my whole body heat up in secondhand embarrassnt. Besides, could he even ... do that?
[You’ve questioned that multiple tis already, Host,] Penny chid in with its annoyingly calm tone. [Perhaps it’s ti you ask him directly.]
Like hell I would do that!
I almost yelled the words out loud. There was absolutely no universe where I’d look Lando in the eyes and ask sothing like that. I’d rather dig my own grave and live there forever than say those words.
[Or maybe you can just touch it and see if it still works,] Penny suggested innocently.
’Penny, that’s called sexual harassnt!’ I scread in my head, nearly choking on my own breath.
Alright, that was it. Penny was getting more ridiculous by the minute, and I had officially reached my limit. I wasn’t going to listen to another word of her nonsense.
"M-Maybe we can talk about this later," I said, clearing my throat, desperately trying to ease the tension hanging between us. "I should just focus on studying for the audition first."
"Y-Yes," Lando stamred, his voice unusually awkward. "You’re right."
After letting the silence linger for a while, I finally gathered enough courage to bring up a topic I had wanted to bury forever. My fingers fidgeted on my lap as I spoke softly, "Husband, have you ... ever heard of an actress nad Helena Moore?"
The mont I ntioned my real na, Lando’s expression stiffened almost imdiately. "Yes, I knew her," he said quietly. "I used to watch her movies back then, but alas ... her fate wasn’t that great."
Why did he look so surprised, and so sad?
I was sure I’d never t him back then. There was no way our paths had crossed. I was just another forgotten na in a long list of fallen actresses, soone whose fa had burned out too quickly.
I had even been on hiatus for about a year, and during that ti, I never t anyone from the industry, or even fans.
Actually, scratch that. If anyone had recognized , I probably would’ve been fired from my part-ti job on the spot. That’s why I always made sure to hide my face behind a mask wherever I went.
And just when I finally decided to return to the entertainnt world ... I ended up running into a bunch of jerks instead.
"Did you know her personally?" I asked carefully.
"No," Lando replied. "I saw a clip of one of her movies once, and ... well, I ended up watching all of her movies and dramas after that."
My eyes widened. "E-everything? Even her old movies?"
He looked away, his ears turning a little red, clearly embarrassed that he’d been caught binge-watching all my old work, most of which were cheesy romance dramas.
"Yes," he said finally. "Her acting was good, and the stories weren’t bad either."
I bit the inside of my lip, unable to stop myself from asking, "So ... was she your celebrity crush?"
Lando let out a soft chuckle, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "Maybe. She had this way of making every scene feel real. You could tell she poured her whole heart into it."
My chest tightened a little, hearing him say that about , even though he had no idea he was literally talking to the person he was praising.
Still, I couldn’t resist teasing him. I tilted my head and asked playfully, "Then tell , who do you think is prettier, Helena Moore or ... ?"
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