Chapter 50: The Idol With a Few Friends?

When they saw Shiranui Jasmine walking toward Shengzai, the students of Class 1-F all held their breath.

The entertainment industry is chaotic; many actors appear as if they’re blood brothers on screen, but in private, their relationships are often terrible.

Shengzai debuted as a child actor and is currently one of the few action stars in the industry, perfectly embodying roles whether as a samurai, the male lead in a manga adaptation, or in adventure films and TV dramas.

Though young, his acting—especially his swordsmanship and martial arts—is hailed within the industry as the “Wu Qu,” meaning the brightest star representing the action field.

In fact, Shengzai today is already representative enough to be considered the face of such genres.

In contrast, Shiranui Jasmine is a rising actress who only recently emerged in the past few years.

While her achievements as an actress alone don’t match Shengzai’s, she is a versatile performer, so in popularity, she is no less than Shengzai.

Since Shengzai and Shiranui Jasmine are roughly the same age—one representing the seasoned child actor, the other the new idol actress—they are frequently compared by the media.

So when Shiranui Jasmine walked toward Shengzai, the students present assumed the two would engage in a fierce clash.

After all, numerous gossip magazines had previously claimed that Shengzai Wen and Shiranui Jasmine were rivals with a terrible relationship.

“Shengzai, I never expected you’d be in this class—looks like it won’t be too boring from now on.”

And you, why is it that no matter where you go, you always manage to connect with people so easily?”

I asked you before if you had some secret, but you always said just go with the flow.”

But now it’s clear you do have a secret—you’re just hiding it from me, aren’t you?”

The ultra-popular female actress, Shiranui Jasmine, who in everyone’s eyes appears noble and cold.

Yet now, as she reached Shengzai, she casually placed both hands on his shoulders and began shaking him vigorously.

“I didn’t say anything wrong—I’ve always just gone with the flow.”

The reason everyone avoids you, Jasmine, is surely because your aura is too terrifying… oh no, too powerful.”

I mean, you’re Shiranui Jasmine—just being near you makes me feel immense pressure.”

Probably tired of Shengzai’s teasing, Shiranui Jasmine delivered a sharp chop to his head.

Then she tilted her head up and said, “If you joke about me again, I’ll go home tonight and expose your dark history on LINE.”

Seeing the interaction between Shengzai and Shiranui Jasmine, all the classmates were stunned.

Because the bloody feud they imagined never happened; the child-actor Shengzai and the rising star Shiranui Jasmine didn’t stage any epic rivalry.

Not only did they not feud—they appeared to know each other well and seemed genuinely close.

Shiranui Jasmine couldn’t understand why, despite both being ultra-popular actresses, everyone—even back in middle school—was afraid of her.

Yet Shengzai, no matter where he went, always seemed to fit right in.

Was Shengzai really down-to-earth? Did Shiranui Jasmine have any airs? Wasn’t she good at telling jokes? Was it just because she always wore an icy expression?

She wasn’t incapable of smiling—but this wasn’t acting; constantly wearing a fake smile felt phony.

“Expose my dark history? My dark history isn’t as much as yours! If you don’t mind losing your idol image, then let’s destroy each other!”

But no sooner had he spoken than he saw Shiranui Jasmine’s face light up with eager interest—as if she were seriously considering trying this amusing idea.

Quickly, Shengzai raised both hands in surrender. “Fine, I give up—I almost forgot your true nature.”

“But if you’re looking for friends, I do know someone great to introduce you to—after all, with our statuses, too much interaction would be troublesome, wouldn’t it?”

Everyone present heard the conversation between Shengzai and Shiranui Jasmine.

Originally just another bystander, Ruri was curious about who Shengzai would introduce to Shiranui Jasmine—when she realized the two were walking straight toward her!

“No way… no way… Shengzai’s friend can’t possibly be me!”

Yet as Ruri stood frozen, Shengzai indeed brought Shiranui Jasmine right up to her.

It wasn’t that he favored Ruri—it was simply that he had just transferred to this school, and the only person he knew in the classroom was Hoshino Ruri, whom he’d met that morning.

“Hello, I’m Shiranui Jasmine. As you can see, I’m no different from you. Since we’re classmates, I’d like to get along well with all of you.”

Upon hearing Shiranui Jasmine’s words and seeing her outstretched hand, Ruri’s face lit up with stunned disbelief.

Seeing the other classmates now staring at her with envy, Ruri, overwhelmed with pressure, glanced at her new friend Shumiha and quickly pulled her closer.

“Uh… hello… I’m Hoshino Ruri. I’m very happy to become friends with Jasmine-san.”

“And this girl is Shumiha—her favorite actor is Shengzai, so she says she wants to be friends with him too.”

Shumiha: (_!!! That’s true, but when did I ever say that to Ruri?!

“Uh… actually… I’ve always admired Wen Jun and loved every single movie you’ve made—I’ve been your fan since I was a child.”

“I’m really sorry if I’ve caused you any trouble—I’ll…”

“Really? My classmate is also my fan? Oh, Shiranui, are you jealous?”

“And Shumiha, just call me Shengzai—I’m honored to become friends with a lovely girl like you.”

Shumiha’s words were cut off by Shengzai beside her.

Hearing Shengzai’s words, Shumiha’s face lit up with delight—she never imagined her idol could be so approachable.

“You said you were introducing me a friend—but you’ve already made one yourself?” Shiranui Jasmine delivered a merciless elbow strike to Shengzai’s kidney.

Now regaining her composure, Shumiha blushed and quickly said, “No, no—I like Jasmine-san too! You’re both my idols!”

(End of Chapter)