him."
She shrugged. "Still never heard of him."
"Well, that's okay. He's filming in town, and we thought you might like to get an interview for us. There might even be a promotion in it for you if you do a good job."
Okay, she knew a setup when she heard one. "What happens if I fail?"
Mr. Niigata chuckled. "I'll fire you. We don't have room on the payroll for failures."
Ooh, hadn't expected that.
"You won't fail," Masaaki assured her. "You graduated the top of your class in journalism."
Cristal raised her cup to the two snakes. "When and where?"
"This afternoon. He's filming a new movie not too far away from here. I'll send Hyun-woo with you as cameraman. All you have to do is get Yi-jun to agree to do an interview."
"That's all?"
"That is it," Masaaki answered.
How come she didn't believe him?
Chapter Two
"Why the hell am I here?" Cristal asked as she stood among all the reporters from the rival television stations and magazine media. Every Korean reporter in town was trying to get an interview with the illusive movie actor Yi-jun Lee. The last thing she wanted was to try to get dirt on some spoiled and pampered pretty boy.
She'd been waiting for two hours for him to exit the sound lot where he was filming his latest movie...some type of martial arts film, and she could think of several things she'd rather be doing, including soaking in a tub of hot water.
Hyun-woo Kim, her cameraman, fiddled with some of his equipment. Hyun-woo had worked for Mr. Niigata longer than she had, and was very experienced in what he did. He was cute for twenty-seven, and had a sweet smile. "He shouldn't be much longer, Ms. Gentry," he said.
"How do you know that?"
"My friend just texted me from the inside. He said they were just about to wrap up taping."
"You have a friend on the inside? Why didn't ask him to sneak us in or to arrange a private interview?"
Hyun-woo shook his head, sending black bangs spilling in front of his eyes. He used his fingers to brush the hair back.
"It doesn't work that way with these celebrity types, especially this one. He never gives private interviews."
"Never gives interviews? Then why am I here?" She mumbled something under her breath. "What's so special about him anyway?"
Hyun-woo looked at her like she'd lost her mind. "What planet have you been on? Yi-jun Lee is one of the biggest stars in Korea, if not in all Asia. He's only twenty-six years old and he's wanted by every film studio in Asia."
Cristal scratched the back of her head...a habit she'd had since childhood. "Never heard of him." She'd been in Osaka trying to have a life. Running behind some movie star never crossed her mind. She had better things to do, like keep her ass out of trouble with Goro Niigata. It was bad enough she had to deal with all the K and J-pop groups he managed. He'd hired her as a publicist for all his groups, but his trophy group Aomori took up most of her time. They thought they owned her just because they ruled the Asian recording market.
Satoshi and Takumijo were lucky they were cute.
The doors to a big white warehouse inside a high guarded gate opened, and a bunch of people exited.
"Someone is coming out," Hyun-woo announced.
Cristal turned to see and caught her heel on the curb of the sidewalk, breaking it. "Damn," she said sitting down on the curve to remove her shoe just as the crowd of reporters moved forward. "Ooh," she said, scooting out of their path so she wouldn't be trampled.
"Mr. Lee, Mr. Lee. What's the movie about?" she heard a reporter ask in Korean. Unlike Japanese, Korean words flowed smoothly from the mouth. She, fortunately, was fluent in both, thanks to living in Japan most of her life. Being an army brat did have some privileges, which included dual citizenship in Asia and the United States, where her parents were from.
"I don't do interviews," she heard a deep, sexy voice reply as she struggled to take off both her shoes. The ground cut into her feet, but it was a lot easier than hobbling along on one shoe.
"Ah, come on, Mr. Lee. We've been out here waiting a long time. The least you can do is answer a few questions."
Cristal couldn't see a thing from her position on the curb.
She hoped Hyun-woo had better luck that she did.
"No, the least I can do is ignore you."
The