Kyoko held the phone to her ear and listened to the message over again. She pulled it away to double check the caller ID. It was from a private number, but she could guess that it was Melissa. She sounded exactly how she looked, nasally and fake.
Kuon stepped out of the bathroom and smiled at her on his bed. He picked up his clothes to put on, wishing he had thought of bringing extra clothes so he wouldn't have to leave so early to change at his apartment. It took him a second before he noticed Kyoko was staring down at his phone in her hands.
"What's wrong?" He asked walking over to on the bed in front of her. He reached for her hands, but she flinched away. She pressed speaker on his phone and replayed the message.
"I can't believe that you got a blowjob from Elizabeth. That's illegal, you know?" The voice rang through his room sending chills down his spine.
Panic stricken he opened his mouth to deny it as he reached for her face. She backed away staring at him with wide eyes filled with hurt.
"Kyoko." He said, his voice strained with fear. "Kyoko it's not true. I didn't… I would never cheat on you. I found her in my dressing room, and she didn't have clothes on, so I gave her my jacket. Nothing happened between me and that girl."
"Elizabeth is sixteen, isn't she?" Kyoko asked.
"Yes. So, if you can't believe that I wouldn't cheat, at least believe I'm not dumb enough or perverted enough to touch a child. You know me better than that don't you? Melissa is just trying to spread rumors because I wouldn't sleep with her." He said heart full of terror. What would he do if she believed Melissa. She would never speak to him again. He couldn't imagine a life without Kyoko.
For a long moment she stared into his eyes then her shoulders relaxed, and she looked down at the phone in her hand. There was no way he had done anything indecent to Elizabeth. She knew exactly what was going on and it pissed her off that he hadn't told her.
"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked scanning through his texts.
There were several from Kevin from days ago warning Kuon of Melissa's plans. The co-star was worried that he was being bullied and told him that maybe he should just do what Melissa wanted. Kuon was being bullied again and he was doing what he had done when he was a child. He wasn't trusting the people who loved him to help.
"Why didn't you tell Julie or Kuu? Why didn't you call president Takarada or Yashiro-san?" she asked. "I would have listened to you if you had come to me. Instead, I have to find out from Melissa on a voicemail."
"Kyoko, please you can't believe a word she says. I didn't do anything with Elizabeth." Kuon sobbed.
"I know that!" She shouted, wanting to shake him. How could he not see that her believing him wasn't the problem? Melissa was bullying him in a way that could get him into a lot of trouble. Everything he had worked so hard to achieve could be lost.
"Then why are you mad?" He asked genuinely confused but also relieved. If she knew he was faithful, why was she yelling at him and refusing to let him touch her?
"Because my husband is being a dumbass and not taking the accusation that he had sex with a minor seriously." She screamed standing up and grabbing him by the arms to shake him.
"I am taking it seriously. I am telling you that I didn't do it. I promise you I never touched that girl." He said, wishing she would just accept the truth.
"Yes, I know Kuon! This is not an issue of proving to me that you are faithful. This is a serious crime, and you could lose everything if Melissa goes public with her accusations. You could go to prison."
He sighed shaking his head. Was that what she was worried about?
"As long as you believe me, I can handle the rest. No one's going to believe her without proof, and she has no proof because nothing happened." He said taking her hands and kissing her fingers.
"Kuon, stop thinking with your heart for a moment and think with your brain. It doesn't matter what I believe. I am nobody. You don't need me to believe you. You need the media to believe that there is no way you could possibly have done this." She said. Normally she found his devotion charming, but this was serious. He needed to see that he could be in serious trouble.
"Elizabeth will deny it." He said to reassure her.
"Will she? Melissa has famous parents. She has a lot of pull in the industry." She reminded him.
"Not as much as I do." He said with a shrug. There was no way Melissa would risk Eltra's wrath.
"You? Who are you?" Kyoko shouted. Why wasn't he getting it?
"You know who I am. I'm Tsuruga Ren, and I don't have scandals." He reminded her.
"Yes, you are Tsuruga Ren, gorgeous star who can do no wrong, in Japan." she said, wanting to shake him again. "Here you are some Japanese actor trying to make it big in Hollywood after a minor standout role in one of Cedric's films. You are not Kuon Hizuri. Nobody is going to believe you over Melissa. Why is she even bullying you? What does she have to gain from bullying some actor from another country." She crossed her arms raising a brow at him before it dawned on her, "Melissa is working for Cedric, isn't she?"
Kuon shrugged, "She might be dating him, or she wants to date him. Who knows."
"Kuon, you have to go to grandpa. Tell him that Cedric…"
"No." Kuon shook his head. "I can't go crying to Eltra, that's exactly what Cedric wants. He wants to prove I am nothing but a spoiled brat who can't take care of myself."
"No, what Cedric wants is to ruin you. He's counting on you not going to your family for help." Kyoko tried to reason with him, but he wouldn't hear it. There was no getting through his head that this was not a battle he could win alone.
"I have to go Kyoko." Kuon said pulling his clothes on.
"Kuon?"
He continued gathering his things. She watched him with increasing annoyance as he ignored the issue at hand and the very simple solution.
"Kuon."
"I have to be on set by nine. I'll text you later."
"Kuon!" She called him again. At this point he had all his things and was just walking around in circles unable to leave when she was still clearly upset.
"I love you, Kyoko." He said walking over to take his phone then swiftly planting a kiss to her forehead. "I love you." He repeated, taking her face in his hands. "I love you."
"Kuon," She sighed kissing his cheek and wrapping her arms around his neck.
"I promise it'll all be ok. As long as I have you on my side, I'll be ok." He said embracing her.
She sighed shaking her head at her stubborn man. He wouldn't learn until something bad happened and then he would be all contrite and admit that she was right. It would be too late by then, though and she couldn't let all Kuon's hard work go to waste because of some idiot starlet with a crush on Cedric.
"I love you Kuon." She whispered in his ear, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'll see you soon. Don't worry too much about me." He said then tapped her phone on the nightstand. "I suspect you have your own scandals to worry about." Her brows scrunched together in confusion. "You were seen with the entire Hizuri clan yesterday. There you were cheated on and newly single, free of Fuwa, and there was Kuon looking absolutely enthralled by you."
She blushed and snatched her phone. Why had she not realized sooner that his family was up to something? She opened her web browser only to see that she was the top celebrity news. Well, Kuu and Julie were top celebrity news. Rumor had it that they were trying to push her on their single and once troubled son.
She scrolled through pages of people discussing her and Kuon as though they were dolls that could be forced together. There were discreetly shot photos of them eating together. Someone had recorded her dancing and zoomed in on the look on Kuon's face. There was no denying that he looked like a man who was falling in love. Kuon pressed his lips to her head and lifted her chin up to look her in the eyes.
"Kuon Hizuri has not been seen for years and now you have had the misfortune of being spotted with that wild and reckless boy. I am sorry but the plan was always to create gossip. We all agreed that it would not suit your image to be too heartbroken over Fuwa." He explained then winced as she narrowed her eyes.
"Who is we? I don't recall being asked about what would be best for my image." She said holding his sheepish gaze.
"Ah," Kuon hesitated. "I should get going. Can't risk ruining my reputation."
"Kuon." She growled clenching her teeth.
"I love you." He said kissing her repeatedly on the lips. "I'll call you," he kissed her cheek, "when I'm having lunch. I love you."
She shook her head rolling her eyes. It would be her and Kuon together in the end, she supposed this was them planting the idea in everyone's heads. She kissed his cheek before letting him leave, not letting on that her own plans on how to safeguard his reputation were already forming in her mind. There was no way she was letting Melissa or Cedric win.