Chapter 2 THE CONTRACT

The next morning, Blue was in a deep sleep, completely worn out from the chaos of the day before. But his rest was short-lived, his phone kept buzzing over and over again. At first, he tried to ignore it, groaning in frustration.

"So annoying," he mumbled. "Who the hell is calling this early?"

Still half-asleep, he blindly reached for his phone. But the moment he looked at the screen, his eyes widened in disbelief.

Every entertainment news outlet was blowing up with his name all over the headlines.

Clips from last night's incident with Mimi were going viral, replayed from every angle, and Blue's face was plastered across every platform.

Panic bubbled in his chest. Dozens of missed calls from his manager and his assistant, Key, flashed on his screen. Just as he was about to call back, Key's name popped up again. He answered instantly.

"Phi Blue," Key said urgently, "things are bad. Stay home , I'm coming over now."

He hung up without waiting for a response.

Blue got out of bed and rushed to the window. As he peeked outside, his heart sank ,a swarm of reporters stood in front of his house, cameras ready, waiting for a glimpse of him.

He stepped back immediately and yanked the curtain shut, clenching his fist in anger.

"This is all because of you two," he muttered bitterly, his thoughts filled with Jay and Mimi's faces. "Because of both of you, I'm in this mess."

Meanwhile, Jay sat in front of his computer, grinning ear to ear. The video he posted was racking up views by the second - likes, comments, reposts. He was practically glowing.

His best friend, Tong, who had come over earlier, glanced at the screen with a raised brow.

"You're really that happy about this?"

Jay chuckled. "Of course I am."

"But why do you hate him so much?" Tong asked, clearly puzzled. "What did Blue even do to you?"

Jay's smile faded slightly. "Because he's fake. Everyone calls him an angel, but they don't know the real him. I'm going to show the world who he really is."

Tong sighed and shook his head. He knew better than to argue. Once Jay made up his mind, there was no changing it especially when he was in one of his stubborn moods.

The doorbell rang at Blue's place. He opened the door to see Key, who had managed to sneak past the reporters outside.

"Phi Blue," Key greeted him respectfully with a slight bow. "How are you holding up? Have you eaten anything yet?"

"I'm fine," Blue replied, though his voice was tense. "Just tell me what the company decided at the meeting."

Key's face turned serious. He sat down and explained the plan the CEO had approved of a contract marriage between Blue and Jay, to fix the scandal and protect Blue's image.

Blue shot to his feet. "No. Absolutely not. I'll never accept that! I don't like him, I don't even want to see his face let alone live with him!"

Key remained calm. "I know it's not ideal," he said gently, "but this is the only way to clean up the mess. The public loves a redemption story. Turning this into a misunderstanding-turned-love situation is the safest bet."

Blue paced the room, fuming. Key continued explaining the damage control strategy, the timelines, the terms. After a long moment of silence, and a lot of resistance, Blue finally sighed in defeat.

"Did you at least talk to Jay?" he asked quietly.

Key nodded. "Yes, and trust me... convincing him was even harder. He absolutely didn't want to do it either."

Blue collapsed into a chair, rubbing his temples as the weight of it all hit him. A fake marriage? With Jay? The very thought made his skin crawl.

Their meeting to sign the contract was scheduled for tomorrow, and no matter how hard he tried, Blue couldn't get Jay's face out of his mind. Eventually, the exhaustion pulled him under again, and he drifted back to sleep the storm still looming over him.

Next chapter will be more exciting and interesting, look forward to it as the drama gets deeper and interesting 😀.