Dominate Showbiz: Media Tycoon Discovered My Talent-Chapter 95: Why Would You Care?

Little did Kaija know, what she had always considered the most terrifying, blood-chilling expression she’d ever seen on any living man was simply Juho’s natural state whenever he became wholly serious.

No, he wasn’t trying to scare her to death with that intense look in his eyes.

He had simply stopped fooling around, and taken off all the masks he always kept ready to wear whenever the role called for them.

His natural state just happened to be... cold. Freezing cold. And empty.

A mere reflection of what remained inside his soul, after a lifetime of constantly pretending to be someone else.

"I had a crush on you back when we were still in the airline," Kaija admitted plainly, one foot stepping backward, away from the frightening young man in front of her.

Juho’s voice dropped to a murmur, his face tight like he still couldn’t believe his ears. "But... but how? We barely even talked."

"It’s just... you," she said, her gaze dropping away from his. "You were so... captivating, don’t you know that?

"The way you took care of tiny things no one even thought about. The way your gaze sometimes drifted outside the classroom, like you were retreating into your own world.

"And there were times you just smiled at something funny on your phone... I kept staring at you, smiling along like an idiot before I caught myself and—"

Her recollection came to an end when she realized she had wandered far too deep, deep into emotions that had once bubbled fiercely in her chest without her even acknowledging them.

Her gaze lifted back to his, lips pressing together as her voice shifted from a soft confession to a cold dismissal. "But that’s all long gone, and it turns out you’re not who I thought you were. I was only in love with the version of you I imagined in my head, not who you really are, Juho."

For a moment, not a single reaction came from him.

When he finally moved, it was with a sharp push that swung the door wide open, followed by a sudden grip on her shoulder.

"You actually had feelings... for me?" he asked, impatience edging into his tone. "Then why did you reject me when we were in the studio?"

She replied flatly, "I don’t see the point of having meaningless sex with someone I have feelings for. Sex is fun and all, but when there’re feelings involved, then it becomes a dangerous game to play. Why would I put myself in a position where I’m making love to you so wholeheartedly, while you’re just purely fucking me? I’d only set myself up to get hurt in the end, anyway."

His grip tightened around her shoulder. "But you could with Charles Kosonen?"

"That was different!" she snapped. "I was feeling like shit that day, and back then I had no feelings for him."

"What about now?"

Her lips quivered faintly at his cold question. She stared up at him, her words slipping out softly on a sigh. "I don’t know."

Grateful as she might have felt toward Charles, for offering her this opportunity, for showering her with his attention and all the privileges she’d only learned of recently, gratefulness was still very far from love.

For her to understand Charles and what was going on in his mind, how he might have felt during the brief times they’d been together, she couldn’t tell at all.

Besides, after spending four years witnessing Niklas turn from a caring, loving soul to the most despicable of men, and the unthinkable discovery that the young man standing before her now was not a kind, sweet colleague but an absolute playboy and potentially a dangerous criminal, she didn’t know whether trusting her feelings entirely, thoroughly to someone other than herself was a wise option anymore.

But even so... whenever her gaze pointed his way, or when she’d heard him called her his woman just earlier, something in her chest shifted.

Her voice sharpened, her shoulder yanking free from his grip. "But why would you care?"

Now it was Juho’s turn to fall silent. His hand hung mid-air, cold green eyes staring at her with confusion at their depth.

She was right.

Why would he care?

But that sharp pain he’d felt when she said she didn’t know whether she had feelings for Charles Kosonen... that burning sensation when she admitted she’d fallen for him long ago...

Back in those training days, to him, she had been nothing but a pretty target among many other shiny, pretty girls he had no better intention for than trying once and tossing aside for good.

Did she truly steal glances at him when he wasn’t looking in class? How had he never once felt her eyes on him, when he was always perfectly aware of his surroundings because of the nature of his "real" job?

What were these nauseating sensations he was feeling now? Since when had they slipped into his chest?

He had only ever known that exhilarating feeling whenever he discovered a new gorgeous beauty on his set. But as always, after taking them to his bed and turning them into mindless, moaning creatures under his manhood, that feeling also inevitably faded away.

Still, it had always felt good. Terribly good.

Not painful and stinging, like the unnamed emotions gnawing at him now.

Seeing Juho standing motionless, his face blank like he was lost in another world, Kaija waved a hand in front of his eyes.

"Yo, you good?" she asked, her words snapping him out of his confusion.

Startled, Juho stepped back, one hand running down his face as if waking from a daze.

"It’s late. You should sleep," he muttered, turning and walking out of her room, not without closing the door behind him.

She raised a brow in confusion.

That was it? Did he seriously just walk out right in the middle of their heaty conversation like that? He didn’t even answer her question.

She clicked her tongue, climbed back into bed and push any lingering thoughts away from her weary mind. Maybe it was a good thing that she’d lost all feelings for him.

The next day, Kaija was woken not by her alarm, but by the doorbell. The sound was relentless and urgent, like whoever was pressing it meant to break it.

She didn’t even get the chance to answer. Juho did, and the auditory torture thankfully stopped.

When she finally stepped out of her room and saw the man standing by the doorway, her sleepy eyes snapped wide open.

"Slept well?" Charles asked, steely silver eyes piercing straight through her like he could freeze her solid.

"Not... not bad," she nodded awkwardly, one hand running through her messy bed hair.

By now, Charles had definitely figured out she’d lied to him last night in the dressing room about her whereabouts, and standing before him felt nothing short of mortifying.

She stole a nervous glance at him. He was suited up in his usual black suit, spotless from head to toe, chestnut hair combed and styled neatly.

Polished as he looked, she had no idea he hadn’t slept at all last night, ears straining for the slightest sound from her room.

Though he’d planted five men guarding outside of her room all night after he left, when the first morning light slipped through his window, he had already gotten up, ironed his clothes, gotten dressed, and headed here, before dismissing the five sentries and relentlessly assaulting the poor doorbell.

In contrast to him, Juho, sitting coolly on the stool by the kitchen counter, was still wearing the bath robe from the day before. He was lazily swiping through his phone, one hand barely covering a yawn, a steaming red cup beside him.

Her gaze darkened immediately. These uninvited guests kept using her favorite coffee cup without her permission, even though there were plenty of other options in the cupboard.

But wait a minute. How were these two men looking so calm right now, being in the same room, when they’d nearly killed each other in her living room last night?

Noticing her attention shift toward Juho, Charles’s gaze hardened. His steely voice came, already dripping with irritation. "I see you had a guest in your place last night."

The tone startled Kaija, snapping her attention back to him. "Uh... yeah," she stammered. "This is Juho."

"I’m aware of who he is," Charles said coldly as he stepped farther into the apartment, taking the stool across from Juho.

"Eh... so what are you doing here?" Kaija asked.

He didn’t answer. Instead, he asked, "Did you sleep alone in your room last night?"

She raised a brow. "Uh, yeah?"

"And this punk didn’t do anything to you?"

Her mind flicked to that little talk after Charles left, but she quickly shook her head. "Nope, nothing at all."

Charles’s gaze narrowed, still not fully convinced, but he had a more pressing question.

"Now tell me," he demanded, fingers interlaced on the counter, "are you on his side, or mine?"