Scandal

one | 시점

01

MOMENT

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SIX HOURS EARLIER

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One coffee clunked down in front of Edmond Song.

"Triple, venti, soy, no foam latte," said Eris. "It's your favorite."

Her coworkers, Brandon and Rosie, looked on uneasily as Eddie looked up, his brows raising dangerously.

"Did you memorize my order?" he said, voice low. "Were you planning to be late to this meeting?"

Eris cleared her throat. "It's a very good latte."

Eddie glared at her. She held.

After one angry moment, he let out a hiss of defeat and reached for his coffee, taking a long gulp. A triumphant smile played on Eris's lips as she sat.

"Christ," muttered Eddie. "I needed this."

Rosie leaned forward. "Who were you hunting down last night, Eris?"

"Sebastian Ngo." Eris tucked loose hair away and sat down. "He didn't leave the Vanity After Party until four, so I had a bit of waiting to do."

"A bit?" scoffed Brandon.

Rosie looked at her sympathetically. "Don't tell me you followed him back to his apartment."

"He was with Celestia the whole time."

Brandon winced.

Rosie's eyes widened. "I thought Celestia was supposed to be with Luke Young."

A sharp series of bangs rung out. Eddie patted the table impatiently.

"I want evidence," he demanded. "Not gossip."

"Here. It's on my computer."

It was a Tuesday morning. The sun had already risen, bathing their small meeting room in daylight. The Daily Angel offices were quiet. The others were out doing interviews.

The crew of the Angel were a humble unit of six reporters headed by a sleep-deprived Edmond Song, whose well-respected place in journalism had propelled the Angel to mild success. When Eris had applied for the job, she'd been fresh out of college, naive about the world, timid and lost in the chaos of truth and lies. Here, somehow, she had found purpose.

"Christ," said Eddie again, sipping his coffee. They had all gathered around Eris's computer as she clicked through photos of the notorious Ngo. "Now this is a story."

"It's payback," Brandon agreed.

"Payback?" said Rosie.

"Ngo and Luke Young were costars in Scarlet Prince," said Eris. "After the accident with Young's sister, they stopped shooting for a while, and the delay screwed up Ngo's tight schedule, so he got upset, harassed Young, and got his manager to blackmail the producer so they couldn't fire him for it."

Brandon made a disgruntled noise.

"Payback," said Rosie, nodding.

"Alright, good." Eddie clapped his hands together. "Rosie, you're in charge of writing this up. Brandon, finish up the Han story so we can move onto something more relevant. Eris, I want a story on Celestia Min and Luke Young as a follow up of this one."