ON THE SURFACE

The loud cheers never got old. It was the fuel that pushed Lucas forward, made him the person who he was and brought him into a new world where everything was loud, sparkling and utterly beautiful and global.

At least, that was what Future magazine had decided to write instead of the original reply which was simply 'Two-faced, hellish world', completely said with a poker face and no elaboration at that.

Nevertheless, those simple words that had been published and printed on paper were enough to aspire artists and new trainees to push themselves forward and produce more creative work, in the hopes to reach Lucas' place and experience the utter beauty he sees every day.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

A perfectly clean pair of boots stepped steadily on the stadium, a light rhythm of a hum followed those steps, sounding beautiful and intriguing even if it was only a melody of some kind.

As people were rushing around that person, they stopped every now and then to greet him quickly which he only responded with a flick of his hand. It was a small gesture but was enough to brighten up some workers that idolized him.

The day was at its beginning only and the sun was shining brightly. The rays of sunlight scattered all over the place, giving him more magnificence as the light poured onto his black hair and reflected the blond strands that were thrown around.

His long legs continued to walk on the stage until he reached the middle where a big X was drawn on the ground to mark where he would be standing, and he lazily put his hands inside his pocket, relaxing his shoulders and raised his head to look at the huge seating area that spread in front of him.

Everyone that was walking downstairs was probably used to his looks by now, but the new interns would stop every now and then and just stare at him in complete infatuation. After all, their god was standing right there!

The light reflected deep in his hazel eyes. The boyish smile he had on his lips and messy hair only gave him a youthful look. Yet, his dark clothes and earrings completely changed the whole vibe, mixing some edge into the style.

He looked like a sin, and that was exactly how everyone described Lucas.

Lucas was a mystery, a total puzzle. When it came to work, he was super professional, giving his insights and views on everything. He made sure that every single detail was done perfectly, not afraid of changing everything until it met his standards.

He also was nice to everyone on the set, would give smiles, greeting everyone nicely, albeit a little reserved. Yet, the moment work is done, and everyone went on their way back home, it was as if he forgot everyone that he worked with or that they never existed.

Lucas never smiled outside of work, would reply coldly to reporters and wouldn't give any second glance at anyone's way unless they worked closely with him.

He almost had no scandals, except for the ones that were made up out of nowhere to create a buzz, but other than that, he wasn't seen with any models or got into any fights.

It was as if he flicked on a switch when he worked, but then switched off when he was done.

Yet, in its way, it gave him a certain aura and a reputation. He was the untouchable king that rose to his seat with hard work and complete dedication.

"Lucas!" The beautiful silent moment that the interns were enjoying was interrupted as Lucas' manager got on the stage. In his hands was a few stacks of paper and his face was swollen red. Some workers wanted to continue listening to what was being said, but a supervisor shot a glare in their direction, making them scatter around, away from the scene.

"What?" The lazy reply made the manager even angrier. He was heaving at this point and the papers in his hands crumpled. Seeing red, he threw the papers onto the youth without holding back.

A few girls held their breaths back, shocked at the way the manager was treating Lucas. It was known that they had a nice working relationship, especially since Lucas brought in huge money to the company. No one had ever seen him being treated like this.

Unexpectedly, the smile on the Lucas' face didn't fade, and he kept his eyes pointed at his manager. There were no malice or anger in them, just totally relaxed, as if he wasn't being lectured.

"Are you crazy?! Totally insane? Do you know how much money the company had poured into this promotion?" With just one paper left in his hands, the manager started slapping it onto Lucas' chest. "This cost us millions! Millions! And then what? You just step in and ruin everything!"

Lucas's hazel eyes slowly dragged themselves to see the paper on his chest, holding it for a couple of seconds and scanning its content silently. The man continued shouting at him, but Lucas didn't pay him any mind, only his smile vanished.

"I wrote that," he simply said. The manager stopped talking for a second, his body was shaking, and his ball-like face was now completely red, resembling a tomato. Lucas saw all of this. "I told you before that I don't want to do this, Key."

Key swallowed silently and tried breathing in a few times to let his body calm down. If he continued this, then he would suffer and he wouldn't hear the end of it from his doctor.

"I know," Key brought his hands onto his face and messaged it. He felt anger rushing back in the moment he remembered the money that was wasted on this prick. "But can't you be more thoughtful with your words? What is this 'I don't participate in such things' talk you posted? Not only you wasted money, But éclat's PR team have also been demanding an apology nonstop."

"I didn't say anything wrong, though." It wasn't clear if it was because of Lucas's height or because of his calm eyes, but his whole person gave an aura of silent warning. "And, I never agreed to such a thing."

Key stared up at Lucas quietly, closing and opening his mouth like a fish, seemingly unable to form a whole sentence. His anger was long forgotten at this point, and he felt as if he was just punching pillows.

He couldn't continue like this, and he couldn't particularly continue lecturing Lucas…

Because what other people may have seen were just two sides of Lucas; the smiling one at the stadium or the cold one. But none of them had seen the dangerous face he pulls out, the one that almost scared Key out of his sleep for a few days.

No, he didn't want to see that.

So, instead of continuing this pointless argument, he just took a deep breath and nodded his head. "You are right, you never agreed to this, but please, at least delete your post and write out a small apology. If not for the company, then for the fans."

Still, even after those words were said, Lucas' expression didn't change. If anything, it seemed to get darker. "As I said, I'm not writing anything." With that, Lucas threw the paper in his hand to the ground before stepping on it while leaving.

Key was seen gritting his teeth and fisting his hair angrily, almost pulling it all out. No one really paid the scene any heed other than the new interns, seemingly surprised at seeing such a thing, while the old employees just glanced at the stage before looking away and working.

After all, this had happened many times before and there was no point watching something they knew how it would end.