The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era [BL]

509  A FREE RIDE

ASTRID checked himself in the mirror. He was wearing simple, comfortable clothes, as well as a brown wig with long fringe that could cover his eyes. It's a simple disguise that he prepared for today's outing.

He would meet up with Kiran and Snow for lunch. Kiran planned to treat Astrid and Snow to lunch to celebrate the other successfully finishing the songs that Polaris had commissioned him.

This lunch date was supposed to happen last weekend. But his commercial shoot was suddenly moved, and then the next day, Snow had a schedule of his own. So, the three of them had to reschedule the next weekend. And that was today.

He checked his disguise once more. Satisfied, he finally walked out of his room.

He's probably one of the few newcomers out there that disguised himself so tightly whenever he went out for personal reasons. It's not just because, among the newcomers who debuted around the same time, he was probably the most popular. And that's not just his ego talking. Just look at his [Cyberspace] followers.

With more than 12 million followers, he could hardly strut around the capital without being recognized by at least one or two people. Especially when his billboard ads for EMMA were still hanging around the capital.

This did not mean that he's afraid to be mobbed. Which would probably not happen, anyway. He's popularity was still not at that level yet. He just wanted to spend time with his friends without others gawking at him. Aside from that, he also didn't want to be photographed with Snow and Kiran.

Both of them were now technically in the same industry. If he was photographed with them, and people found out that one was a rookie actor and the other a budding composer, the first thing people would do was to associate them with him instead of thinking of their talents.

And he didn't want that. He wanted Snow and Kiran to be known for their amazing talents and not because they were his friends. They deserved that much.

As soon as he walked out of his room, the door of the apartment opened. Surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly, Reas walked inside, followed by Wulfric. The two did some morning exercise together at the personal gym in Wulfric's suite. Considering how it took them this long, they also probably fought some virtual Mecha battle.

And yet, they still insisted that they're not getting alone.

"Aster, are you going somewhere?" Wulfric asked when he noticed how Astrid was dressed.

"Yes. I'm having lunch with my friends," he answered. "I already cook lunch, so you two can just heat it up."

"Let me drive you, then," Wulfric said. "It will be much faster and safer than calling a taxi."

Since Aster didn't have a car of his own, he knew that the other would usually ride AI driven taxi whenever he had to go to places that had nothing to do with his job. He couldn't help but feel worried about that. Although AI taxis were proven to be safe, there were still some things that one couldn't control. Like AI malfunction, for example. Which was not a common occurrence. But that that didn't mean that it couldn't happen.

It's even more dangerous since Aster was usually travelling alone whenever he had to ride on an AI taxi. If a malfunctioned somehow happened, then things could get really dangerous for him.

Because of that, he thought, countless times, of buying the other a car. But he knew Aster wouldn't accept it, since it would be too expensive. Which wasn't really that much, in his opinion.

Maybe he should talk to that agent lady so their agency could assign a personal driver to Aster. What was the term for that? Ah, a road manager!

If they couldn't provide him one, then should he apply?

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he quickly erased it. As much as he wanted to, he shouldn't. Aside from the fact that Leland would nag him endlessly if he did, the other might even resign for all he knew. Doing this would just make him a step away from being a true stalker.

Besides, Aster would also not be happy with that. Maybe the other would even think that he's too irresponsible for doing such a thing. After all, he was still a general of the Empire. If he didn't do his job properly, knowing Aster, the other would definitely have a much lower opinion of himself.

In fact, right now, he was already walking a fine line by staying here for this long, instead of going back to Beowulf. It was only because they had just finished a huge operation that he was allowed to stay away this long. He probably still had two weeks left before Leland nag him to go back.

If he stayed more than that, Leland would definitely come here himself and drag him back. Not that he's afraid of that, he's just worried that the other would threaten him with resignation. As much as he hated to admit it, the Fenris Army wouldn't work without Leland taking care of the administrative aspect of it.

So, with that thought, Wulfric decided to get the best out of his last two weeks' stay here. Hopefully, before he left, he would be a bit nearer in Aster's heart than he was now.

"General, you're not offering Aster a ride to join in later with him and his friends, right?" Reas asked, cutting off Wulfric's wandering thoughts.

Wulfric glanced at Reas, and said in a dry voice, "Of course, I won't. What do you think of me?"

"Someone who always wanted to be by my brother's side 24/7?"

Wulfric was about to retort back, but couldn't really think of anything to say. Because it was the truth. He truly wanted to be by Aster's side all the damn time.

"That might be true. But that didn't mean that I would just insert myself in a situation where I'm obviously not a part of," he said indignantly.

Only for Reas to look at him with an expression that's like saying 'yeah, right'.

Seeing this, Astrid couldn't help but laugh. Then he turned to Wulfric. "I don't mind a free ride."