Averie spent the rest of the day lounging around and listening to Hyerin, who informed him all about his current popularity.
The third episode received an average TV ratings of 27.9%, and the fourth episode received an average of 32.1%.
On CottonPop, the third episode received an average rating of 9.3 from both the critics and the audience, while the fourth episode received an average of 9.4 and 9.5 respectively.
"There is a wiki page about you now, you know?"
Hyerin spent the next ten minutes reading it out to her unenthusiastic friend.
"Do you know what this means?"
"No."
That was a lazy reply, and it clearly reflected Averie's state of mind.
"It means you are a celebrity. Oh my god, can you believe it? My friend, a celebrity?"
Averie raised his arms in the air. "Yay…"
That was the least energetic 'yay' Hyerin had ever heard.
"What's the matter?"
Averie sighed. "I'm bored."
"Why?" Hyerin was genuinely baffled. "You are popular now. People love you, and your very first project is doing so well. Why the long face, then?"
But Averie couldn't answer; he was too preoccupied with his thoughts.
"Do you need something?"
Those words snapped Averie back to reality.
"Yeah. I need a new project. Find me some scripts, please."
"You..." Hyerin looked at him as if he had gone mad. "You want to start a new project right away?"
"Why not?"
"Bathe in the glory a little more."
"Don't want to."
"We need to hire bodyguards and a personal stylist. What about that?"
Averie snapped his fingers and clapped his hands.
"Get to it, then."
Hyerin had the inexplicable urge to hit her friend squarely in the gut. For the first time in her life, she felt that her friend was a bad influence on her.
***
The next day, Hyerin visited Averie early in the morning.
She had brought with her a dozen or two scripts.
"Where did you get these?"
"Well," — She looked around, unsure — "I received them after we returned."
"You are telling me you hid these from me while I spent an entire day bored?"
There was venom in Averie's eyes.
Hyerin gulped.
"I didn't want you to start working right away. It's not healthy."
While that was a good sentiment, Averie couldn't care less about her excuses. Boredom was the worst of his enemies, and she had practically aided it.
"I can't leave the house because you insist on not taking any chances, and still you hid the scripts from me? Is that right? Am I wrong, or am I right? I am right, right?"
The poor girl was terrified of Averie's fake smile. He was doing his best not to scare her into a coma, but it was increasingly difficult with his violent tendencies.
So, as punishment, Hyerin had to do his dishes.
"What punishment?" she complained, her voice barely audible. "I do this every day, regardless."
While she busied herself with the chores, Averie brewed himself a cup of tea and sat huddled with the scripts.
The bell chimes in his window chimed in the wind, creating a fun melody with the sound of running water and intermittently flipping pages.
Time passed.
Averie threw the last of the scripts on the floor.
"Well, at least, I have something to burn if it ever gets cold in here," he muttered.
Hyerin sliced up a pear for her irritable friend.
"You don't like them?"
"They are trying to typecast me." Averie sighed. "I wouldn't mind if the story was good, but this is just the same old same old."
He picked up one of the scripts and pushed it towards Hyerin.
"This one is somewhat intriguing. Get in touch with them. It's a minor role. It shouldn't take too much of our time."
Hyerin was curious.
Her friend—whom she considered a genius actor—had chosen a new work.
She picked up the script and noticed the marked role.
Her eyes—which were as calm as a serene lake—became as turbulent as the ocean amid a storm.
"Are you kidding me?!" she yelled. "You want to do this role? Why don't you just say you want to commit career suicide!"
Hyerin kept screaming in anger and frustration.
"I don't understand; what's the problem?"
Averie wasn't pretending. He was simply unaware.
"This character is a piece of trash racist, that's the problem! Did you even read the dialogue? It's downright vomit-inducing; it isn't even clever! This is a deplorable character that isn't even fun to read!"
Exhaling heavily, Hyerin tried her utmost best to catch her breath.
It made Averie realize that he might have pushed the girl a little too far with his antics.
"Why did you choose this?" she asked, glaring at him. "Why do you want to do it?"
"Well, It's an extremely racist role. What more needs to be said?"
"That would be reason enough for refusing it... I asked why you chose it."
Averie coughed shyly.
"Well, I have never played the role of a racist, so I figured—"
"You figured it would be fun?"
"Funny, would be more accurate."
In the end, Hyerin's vehement refusal strongarmed Averie into abandoning the racist role.
"Anything else you like?" she asked.
"Not really."
She put forward a short bundle of papers. "What about the cameo?"
"Why would I do that? It's not even interesting."
The cameo role they were discussing was for a successful drama that had been running for years.
"Many big celebrities have done cameos in it. It's good for your popularity. It will also show that you can play different kinds of roles."
"It's a waste of time."
"Look, I know you don't like acting for the sake of popularity, but it's a good opportunity to show the industry that you are here to stay and that you have the ability to be at the top."
She stuffed a slice of pear in his mouth.
"And it's just for one episode. You will be done in a day or two, I promise. "
Averie pondered while chewing on the delicious pear.
"I will act only the way I want, and my interpretation of the character is the only one I will play. I will accept if that is okay."
Hyerin looked delighted.
She got up with her phone in hand.
"I will contact the director. We can discuss everything with him."