Fortune Killer

Translator: Miri

"Then who did you like?"

"Gary. He is a much more realistic character."

"Oh, yeah? Your taste is quite peculiar. Wasn’t Gary a bad guy who received much hate?"

"Come on, how stressed must he have been. Next to Ash always pretending to be good-natured. Even I would have been."

Gary Stevenson’s role had clearly been set up in the drama as a pathetic villain.
He picked a fight with Ash every chance he got and failed every single time but the reason Lain could sympathize with him was due to the fact that Gary lived right next door to Ash and their parents were close friends.
Seeing that he had grown up being compared since his early childhood, it made sense for him to become crooked. Moreover, the degree to which Ashton played the hypocrite was quite severe. At least from Lain’s point of view, it was like that.

"In fact, the things Ash did made him a huge nuisance. He’s a b.a.s.t.a.r.d who only knows how to think about upholding justice. He played the field (of female students) 1 and ultimately even took away Gary’s girlfriend, so I was sad it ended with only Gary having to suffer so much.
And to be honest, there’s nothing Ash did after becoming the student president. The vice-president Gary took care of everything."

The moment Lain who had watched the drama solely on Gary’s side and from Gary’s perspective brought up his impressions at the time one after another, the traffic light changed colour.
Matching the traffic light, Lain stepped on the gas pedal and the voice resounding from behind dropped immensely.

"I’m a nuisance, you say?"

For a moment, Lain doubted his ears. The horrible feeling rising up his spine made the back of his neck stiffen and caused him to straighten his body before
freezing in that exact position.
Lain had been absorbed in driving and therefore thought that it was Jerry who kept talking to him but apparently that was not the case.
When he thought about how he could possibly have been unable to tell apart Jerry and Edan’s voices and just barely restrained the urge to hit his head on the steering wheel, a listless voice once again rang in his ears.

"A nuisance and a b.a.s.t.a.r.d obessed with justice?"

Edan’s gentle voice clearly showed a hint of laughter. However, it was definitely scary.
This d.a.m.ned mouth of mine is the problem 2, Lain once again repeated the words he always found himself reverting to. Just why was he so bad at managing his social life.

"……What I mean is, not Edan but Ash……is……."

Hands tightly grabbing the wheel, Lain softly replied and could hear the sound of Edan’s laughter reach his ears.

"You said you started working from today, right?"

"……yes."

"Alright, how long is the contract period?"

"One year."

"Really? So a year it is. Let’s try to get along well."

Lain could not comprehend whether he meant that they both should get along well or whether it was meant for himself only but in that instant, Lain saw a dark future ahead of him.
It was already strange that he found a new job within one day after just being dismissed the day before yesterday, Even after betting on horse racing there was no extreme climatic change whatsoever and on top of that, he had been promised a huge annual salary and given a Jaguar.
A cutting-edge PDA and a Jaguar. Of course, he had thought it was strange. While waiting in the lobby a while ago he had felt really uncomfortable as well. There was no way he could be so lucky.
If something comes, something must go without fail. To everything in this world, the precise principle of cause and effect applied, therefore it was only natural to lose as much as one gained.
Most of all, his life was based on the zero-sum principle in particular and fortunately he was sure to be rewarded as long as he worked hard, but him obtaining something without putting in any effort meant that he had to pay a price of the same value.
Money that came in easily also disappeared just as easily, and things gained free of charge always had some kind of flaw.

Edan Blake (Eng in raws), 33 years old.
The superstar, genius actor and producer representing the US.
Having started promoting through the Disney Club at the age of eight, the drama Rain Vill he started filming when he was 13 years old made him become a teen millionnaire and because of the movie Another Heaven that he appeared in at the age of 18, he was awarded the Golden Globe Best Actor Award. After this, the charming man continued to sweep both Golden Globe and Academy Awards and defended his place at the very top for more than 15 years.
His height of 188cm and statue-like appearance. Perfect self-management and genius acting ability made him receive love from both critics and audience, he was literally a blessing bestowed upon humanity by G.o.d.
So far, this was the image of Edan Blake Lain had drawn in his head.
He did not really like celebrities but Edan was a taciturn and intelligent person who had a certain air of sincerity that made him different from other Hollywood stars.
He was literally so perfect that he would have liked to meet him once and get an autograph.
However, no matter how he thought about it, Lain sensed that it would hard for the two of them to develop a good relationship.
For the time being, no, for a considerably long time, it would be hard for them to get along.

"Lain, there are many things you have to do for me. Look forward to it."

Listening to his fearsome voice, Lain did not dare to tell him that he was originally a divorce lawyer and knew nothing about show business at all.
Even though he thought of ripping up the contract and getting away this very moment, the remaining 8 years of his student loan flashed across his mind.
The amount of loans he took up during his four years of university and law school alone- exluding when he was granted scholarships- were about 300,000 dollars worth.
This meant that for the next decade, he had to pay back 30,000 dollars a year, while his monthly expenses were a bit more than 3,000 dollars.
Besides, the rent for his apartment alone cost him 3,000 dollars a month. Taking into consideration miscellaneous tax and insurance, he had to earn a minimum of 6,500 dollars a month for a somewhat stable living standard.
If he were to receive the promised annual salary, leaving out taxes and as long as he managed to carefully evade this and that, he would be able to get his hands on 300,000 dollars.
If he lived at Edan Blake’s villa during the next year like stated in the contract and was even provided with a car, it would be the end of his infernal student loan.
As New York’s lawyers and doctors boasted enormous annual salaries, everyone thought they earned a huge amount of money but reality was nothing like that.
After graduating from one of the top 6 3 law schools, the annual salary they earned after pa.s.sing thirty and somewhat settling down/finding their own place was 250,000 dollars.
It was a considerably high income but the sum that went into keeping up a certain standard of appearance as a lawyer by trade for things like clothes, shoes, a watch, a car and so on- it was not a matter of choice.
But that did not mean they were enjoying luxury. Clothes, shoes and watches were the fundamental criteria used to a.s.sess the other party.
This was especially severe within the upper cla.s.s, no client would hire an attorney wearing a cheap suit- was an appropriate way to put it.
And after one paid for the apartment rent and that d.a.m.ned student loan over 10 years, there was nothing left.

However, having repaid the student loan did not mean it was over either. After desperately paying back the student loan and car loan installments, housing funds would smilingly beckon one over.
After getting married, most people invested at the same time 4 and instead of paying the apartment rent that only filled other people’s bellies, they got a loan and bought a house and then spent the next 20 years repaying that loan.
And once those 20 years had pa.s.sed, one’s children became university students. Unless one came from a working cla.s.s background and managed to grab a foothold to a certain degree, one would end up solely repaying debts for life.
If one did not want that kind of life, there was the alternative of moving to a different, less expensive area, being reborn after dying or really working like crazy and rising to the ranks of shyster lawyers.
But Lain knew very well that all of these three options were impossible for him.
If he were to move to a different state, he would have to take the bar exam again over there, he definitely did not want to die and while he could certainly work like crazy, he did not have the confidence to become a shyster lawyer.
The reason he insisted on becoming a divorce lawyer was because he could earn a lot of money without having to be tormented by a guilty conscience as much.
He was too afraid of blood to work in criminal law, working as a attorney for the mafia would weigh on his conscience too much and lawyers specializing in business dealings/trade sometimes hurt the public interest to the extreme with their work, so he had easily chosen civil law- and then decided on the highest-paying field of divorce law.
No matter where he found a job now, there was no company that could pay him that kind of money.
As long as the money properly found its way into his hands, he could go through any hardship.
No, he much rather wanted to suffer his fill of hardships. Because then, that money would become his for sure.

"Edan, don’t shock someone on his first day of work. He’ll get scared."

While Lain remained frozen and tightly gripped the wheel, Jerry took Lain’s side and only then did Edan sit back.
He could finally breathe comfortably again, so Lain silently let out a long sigh.
He had not known because he had only ever listened to him on television but his voice had a certain drive/energy.
It clearly was a mellow, beautiful voice but it was oddly frightening.
Come to think of it, the role he played in the movie that was nominated for the Academy Awards three years ago was that of a serial killer…….

"Now, now, let’s talk at home. Let’s go home for now and take it from there."

Jerry barely managed to lift up the initimidating atmosphere with a smile. Edan also did not comment on Jerry’s words any further and gazed out of the window as he leaned on his seat.
Lain who saw this image through the back mirror let out a long sigh. It seemed like the truth behind the anxiety he felt before that person arrived was gradually revealing itself.
That was how Lain’s th.o.r.n.y path steadily opened up in front of him.

"Melissa, coffee."

After parking the car and riding the elevator, these were the words Edan shouted towards the kitchen as soon as he he entered the house. However, no reply could be heard from inside.

"Melissa?"

Edan took off his sungla.s.ses while walking down the corridor and entered the kitchen, then looked around as if it was strange.
But as expected, the inside was completely empty. Seeing his face that was inspecting the kitchen like something was not right, Jerry exclaimed like it only occured to him now.

"Ah, right. Melissa is on leave from today on. She went to Boston saying that she had to look after her granddaughters instead because her daughter had an accident?"

"What?"

"She said she couldn’t tell Alex yesterday because things were so hectic. This matter urgently happened last night so she only told me before she left.
It appears that her daughter and son-in-law got into an accident on their way back from a gathering. Her daughter’s arms and legs got hurt, so apparently she’ll have to stay there for the time being?"

Hearing Jerry’s kind but detailed explanation, Edan shouted all of sudden.

"Then, what about my coffee? My food? Cleaning? Laundry?"

"We’ll have to call someone else."

"How can I trust someone other than Melissa and leave the kitchen to them?"

"Then you’ll have to do it yourself."

Hearing Jerry’s accurate and down-to-earth words, Edan looked at him with a dissatisfied expression.
Lain had followed them inside in the confusion of the moment and looking at that plainly frowning but marvelous face, he got the useless thought that handsome people looked marvelous no matter what they do.
Even though there were many things he should be deeply concerned about apart from this, after meeting Edan, Lain continuously found himself doing nothing but looking at Edan’s face.
Recently in Korea they used the words "crazy good looks" and he felt like he understood the meaning behind those words.
It truly was a crazy face. This was extremely unfair, Lain repeated once again.

"Eddie, this matter can’t be helped. Being hard at work for 20 years is enough, now that her daughter had a traffic accident you can’t tell her to focus on work.
Melissa is the one who basically raised you, if you have a conscience then you also can’t be like this."

Maybe because Edan had nothing to say in return to Jerry’s gentle persuasion, he quietly clicked his tongue and stopped.
Edan had never even made a cup of coffee or fried eggs on his own, so when he heard that Melissa who had looked after him his whole life could not come to his house for the time being, he was faced with the problem of taking care of the household right now but since the daughter of the woman who brought him up since the age of thirteen got hurt, he could not insist on his own position.
Usually he never thought about other’s situations at all but Jerry and Melissa were different.
The people who worked at Edan’s side for more than three years throughout his whole life were exactly three people.
The bodyguard Jerry Brook who looked after him since he was 13 years old, the housekeeper Melissa Sanchez, and his friend from highschool and manager Alex Veaber. Precisely these three people.
Edan did not trust anyone apart from these three and also disliked keeping others at his side.
Due to him being active in the entertaiment world since childhood both his preferences and personality had become difficult to a serious degree, on top of that he had a hard time trusting people and felt extreme repulsion from strangers entering his house.
Edan did not even tolerate his own parents’ cic.u.mstances, but even so, he was rather tolerating when it came to Melissa and Jerry.

"Hey, you make it."

Lain who had suddenly suffered an attack in the midst of watching Jerry and Edan with his eyes wide open, pointed his fingers towards himself and asked with a surprised face.

"Me?"

"Right, you."

"Why should I?"

In this awkward situation, Lain was standing there holding up his right hand as if he was voicing an objection and caused Edan to knit his brows.

"Who knows? If you go to the delivery box at the building entrance, you’ll find the coffee that was delivered today. Grind it and brew it properly. It’s Americano. If it’s too heavy or excessively watery, you’re dead."

"……I’m not a barista though……."

(4 lines)

TN:

1 - (lit. managing the fish in the tank)

2 - He often doesn’t think before speaking and it always causes him trouble.

3 - It says “level Top6” in Eng in the raws but that sounds kinda strange.

4 - not sure about this

Aaaaand the story of Lain and Edan continues, sorry for the long absence! But can I just say this, Edan is such a brat. I’m praying for character growth. lol

On another note, I have an announcement to make sometime soon, so stay tuned for that.

Hope you enjoyed reading!

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