[Character Illustration: Kanae]
[Character Illustration: Masaya]
The sound of sneakers hitting the polished concrete floor echoed along the walkway of the VIP parking lot. The atmosphere in this zone was noticeably quieter and more private than the regular zone. Soft white neon lights reflected off the bodies of various luxury cars lined up like a miniature motor show.
Mr. Masaya walked ahead with a much more relaxed demeanor after being relieved of his heavy burden. He stopped in front of an extra-wide parking space before pressing the remote in his hand.
Beep-beep...
The taillights flashed in response, accompanied by the sound of a solid unlock. In front of Owen was a luxurious, pitch-black sedan, resting quietly like a sleeping beast. Its body was polished to a mirror shine, reflecting the neon lights overhead in a dazzling sparkle. The length of the car and the emblem on the hood clearly indicated the wealth and power of its owner.
"Wow... This car is beautiful and very unique," Owen complimented out of politeness.
"Hahaha, of course! It's a special edition, one of only 10 in the world! She's my pride and joy!" Masaya grinned, unable to help but boast about his beloved car. He pressed the remote to open the trunk smoothly.
"You can put the things in the trunk, young man," Masaya gestured.
Owen stepped closer. He crouched slightly and placed the large box of electrical appliances onto the carpeted cargo space as carefully and gently as possible, as if he were placing a box of cotton, not heavy machinery. Then, he turned to take the several brand-name shopping bags from Ms. Kanae's hands and arranged them neatly.
"All done!" Owen dusted off his hands lightly and smiled at the couple.
Mr. Masaya let out a huge sigh of relief. He took out a handkerchief to dab the slight sweat on his hairline. "Thank you again, young Owen. If you hadn't helped us... my wife would have complained about my clumsiness until my ears went numb for days, hahaha."
"Honey!" Kanae scolded slightly, but her face was still smiling. She turned back to look at Owen, her gaze completely changed from before... It was no longer the look of an adult looking at a kind young man, but the look of an 'investor' who had just discovered a priceless 'treasure.'
She shot a glance at her husband... a 'pressuring' look that carried a significant implication known only to the two of them.
Masaya paused slightly when he met his wife's eyes, but he understood the meaning immediately. He didn't wait, quickly reaching into the pocket of his custom-tailored suit, pulling out an elegant cream-colored art paper business card with gold trim, and handing it to Owen with both hands.
"Here is my card..." Masaya said in a serious yet friendly tone. "Our company manufactures and imports high-end automobiles... If you ever have car trouble or want a special discount on a new car, contact me at this private number. Don't hesitate. Consider it a small token of our appreciation."
Owen looked at the card and quickly raised his hand to decline politely. "Oh, it's nothing, Mr. Masaya. It's a small matter. I was happy to help. Besides, I was just passing by..."
"Please accept it!" The sweet, commanding voice of Ms. Kanae interjected before Owen could finish his sentence.
The voluptuous figure in the luxury dress stepped close to him quickly, faster than a typical middle-aged woman could move. She snatched the card from her husband's hand and "shoved" it into Owen's hand rapidly. Her soft yet slender fingers deliberately touched the back of his hand lightly before gripping it tight.
"Please take it. Consider it a kindness from 'Auntie'."
And in the second Owen was confused, an unexpected attack occurred!
Grab! Fwump!
Kanae used the moment Owen was off guard to pull his tall frame down towards her quickly and "tightly!"
"Mmph!"
Owen's face instantly sank into immense softness!
It wasn't a normal hug... but a perfect "body attack." Owen's head was pressed and buried into Kanae's massive cleavage. The pair of giant, soft, supple mountains wrapped in the expensive silk dress ground against his face, nose, and lips until there was barely any room to breathe.
Owen went rigid, his senses scattering for a moment. He was forced to inhale the strong, fragrant scent of the mature woman, which was intensely arousing. The faint smell of sweat from the earlier walk mixed with expensive perfume became a fine pheromone that awakened his primal instincts.
The softness touching his face was both "large" and "firm," far beyond the standard of ordinary women. It gave a feeling of motherliness, but also hid the seduction of an experienced adult. Kanae deliberately arched her chest to press against his face a little more, letting the nipples hidden under the fabric brush lightly against his cheek.
The heat from her skin radiated through the thin fabric to his face... and when she shifted slightly to tighten the embrace, those two volcanic breasts ground and enveloped his face as if to swallow him whole!
'Shit... This is... soft as hell!' Owen cursed in his mind. His 'Sire' instinct began to send a red alert.
"Thank you so much..." Kanae whispered by his ear. Her warm breath washed over his neck, giving him goosebumps. Her voice was dripping with sweetness and hidden meaning. "You're a very good boy... So good that Auntie really wants to 'repay' you even more."
The scene made Mr. Masaya stand stunned for a moment. He raised an eyebrow at his wife, who usually carried herself with the elegance of a queen, but was now 'molesting' a strange young man in the middle of a parking lot... But when he remembered her [Appraisal] ability, he immediately understood that this kid must have 'good stuff' hidden. His wife never invested this much effort if the return wasn't worth it. So, he chose to give a dry smile and pretend not to see.
A few seconds passed that felt like hours. Finally, Kanae reluctantly loosened her embrace...
She slowly pushed Owen away, but her eyes still gazed at him sweetly... leaving the seductive scent and heat still lingering on the tip of the young man's nose and face.
"Hope we meet again... little boy," she whispered huskily, sending him a smile with deep meaning.
Although she really wanted to drag this 'Lion King' into the car and introduce him to her daughter 'Reiko' right now, experience taught her that chasing startled prey would only drive it further away. She had to slowly surround him, building a golden cage so sweet he couldn't refuse.
"Let's go, dear," Kanae turned to tell her husband before stepping into the luxury car elegantly, leaving only a triumphant smile.
The sound of the door closing softly, the engine roared faintly, before the beautiful black sedan slowly moved out of the parking lot, leaving Owen standing alone in confusion. He raised a hand to touch his nose unconsciously... The sweet scent and soft touch from a moment ago still lingered on his nose like a hallucination.
"What the hell was that..." Owen muttered to himself, his face full of bewilderment. "Why did that auntie suddenly act so intimate with a stranger like me?"
His A-Rank brain tried to process the most logical reason... but it was so hard when facing the logic of women.
"Or maybe..." Owen frowned, trying to find an explanation for himself. "Is this a special way of giving thanks in Fuji culture? Like... hugging to show appreciation or something?"
He looked down at the card in his hand, then inadvertently thought back to the touch just now... The softness surrounding his face, the size that exceeded the standard...
The corner of Owen's mouth twitched into a smile helplessly.
"Hmm..." He nodded to himself lightly. "What a 'bouncy'... I mean!... 'wonderful' culture indeed."
He shrugged, shaking off the confusion and lewd thoughts, before putting the fancy card into his pants pocket.
"Consider it a profit in life."
Owen whistled a tune in a good mood as he turned and walked with his hands in his pockets, heading back to his own SUV parked in another zone, feeling that... today was truly a lucky day.
.....
The late afternoon sun shone through the cream-colored curtains into the living room of the Ward household, creating a warm and peaceful atmosphere. Owen had just driven back home after parting ways with Mrs. Kanae at the mall. He was humming softly as he took off his shoes, preparing to go upstairs for a nap.
However... that peace didn't stay with him for long.
"Owen! You're back!"
His name was called out, along with the voluptuous figure of Clara, who burst out of the kitchen as if she had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
Today she was in a home outfit that seemed simple... a thin white wide-neck t-shirt revealing a hint of her cleavage, and grey short shorts showing off her smooth white legs. Although it was a plain outfit, on Clara's body, it looked seductive and fiercely arousing.
"Clara? Is something wrong? Why the excited face?" Owen raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Clara didn't answer immediately. She rushed in, grabbed his wrist, and pulled, half-dragging him to sit on the long sofa in the middle of the living room. Her expression was a mix of worry and unconcealed excitement.
"We need to talk... about our 'work'," she whispered softly, glancing toward Damian's office to make sure her husband was still busy with paperwork.
"Work? You mean OnlyStar?" Owen asked back, sitting down next to her.
"Yes!" Clara nodded vigorously. She took a deep breath, as if gathering courage, before pouring out her frustration. "Owen... I don't think we can keep doing this."
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"The filming location!" She pointed towards the storage room. "Sneaking around to film in that narrow storage room... it's starting to become a big problem. The lighting is hard to arrange, and there's no ventilation at all. Whenever we have to film for a long time, or when I have to... you know... move around a lot, I get soaked in sweat until my makeup runs. Finishing each shoot drains a lot of my energy." She vented all her frustration at once, her face flushed red.
Owen nodded in agreement. He remembered having to hold the lights and find very limited camera angles in that room.
"What about going outside to film?" Owen suggested.
"Outside?" Clara bit her lip. "I admit, going out to film sometimes makes me feel good and relaxed... but it's too risky to do that often. Plus, renting places like luxury hotels or studios is too wasteful in the long run. Wouldn't it be better to invest that money in something else?"
She looked at Owen with determined eyes. "I want a place that is truly private. A place where we can control everything, both lighting and sound. And most importantly... we can film anytime, 24 hours a day, without fear of anyone seeing or hearing!"
Owen stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Sounds reasonable... but where are we going to find a place like that?" He could guess she must have thought about this already, otherwise she wouldn't have such an excited expression.
"We don't have to go far..." A cunning smile appeared at the corner of Clara's mouth. She pointed her index finger down at the floor.
"Right here... right under our feet."
"The basement?" Owen raised his eyebrows high.
"Yes! The basement storage room!" Clara's eyes sparkled. "Right now it's full of cardboard boxes and dusty old stuff that Damian hasn't touched in ten years. If we clear those things out... that space is wide enough to build our dream studio!"
She began to draw her dream in the air with both hands. "Imagine, Owen... We'll line the walls with premium soundproofing material. Then, no matter how loud I scream, no one will hear... Install a professional studio lighting system, and create sets with changeable themes! Today a luxurious princess bed, tomorrow a nurse's office, or the next day a cage in a dungeon!"
Owen looked at the picture she described, and had to marvel at her seriousness and vision. He couldn't help but look at Clara with eyes of admiration. Usually, it was him who had to offer opinions or plan things like this. But now, it seemed she wasn't the old Clara anymore who relied on him for almost everything. He felt very proud that she had developed herself to the point of daring to initiate something on her own. That meant she was starting to take OnlyStar seriously.
'This woman... isn't thinking of playing around anymore,' Owen thought. Investing in a private studio would elevate the quality of their work by leaps and bounds, and it was definitely worth the six-figure income they were making.
"Excellent idea, Clara," he praised sincerely. But then he frowned as he thought of the biggest problem. "But... what about Damian? Renovating a basement isn't a small matter. Drilling sounds, hammering sounds, we definitely can't hide it from him."
There was no way a regular contractor could build a secret underground room without the people in the house knowing, like Iris did at Alicia's house. Alicia didn't even know what her mischievous daughter was doing in the basement storage room. She only knew that her daughter had turned the basement storage room into an ordinary workroom for a university project. And she didn't suspect much when she saw the security door (which she thought was fake) locking her out, because her daughter always liked to be secretive with her mother anyway.
When Clara heard her husband's name, instead of worrying, she smiled wider with pride as if she had been waiting for this question.
"Don't worry about that, Owen~ Because I've already handled it."
"Huh?" Owen felt a little dazed, as it was quite beyond his expectation that she had handled this in advance.
"I told him that..." Clara leaned in to whisper closely, as if afraid the walls had ears. "My 'sponsored product modeling' work is booming. Lots of clients are contacting me, and I need to elevate my professionalism to up my rates and accept high-end jobs... Therefore, having a home studio will reduce location rental costs and add immense value to the work in the long run."
She continued, chuckling in her throat. "Hehe~ You know he's a businessman. When he heard the words 'reduce costs,' 'add value,' and 'long-term profit,' his eyes went wide and he approved immediately! Plus, he's very proud of me too... Besides, he's even glad that messy storage room will finally be put to use."
Owen looked at her with amazement. "Wow... You're really devious." He had to admit that Clara had manipulated her husband very smoothly.
"But..." Her expression turned slightly worried. "The really hard question is... finding a contractor."
"It's a major problem... We can't just hire general construction workers, Owen. If they knew what we were building a thick soundproof room for, or saw our weird props... rumors about me being a porn star would spread throughout the village for sure."
She moved closer to Owen, using her full breasts to press against his upper arm deliberately, looking up at him with pleading eyes that melted the young man's heart.
"Darling~ You're good at finding people and have way more connections than me. Could you please find a trustworthy 'expert' to handle this? Someone with an artistic sense, good at design, and most importantly, must be excellent at 'keeping secrets'!"
The soft touch on his arm and the faint scent from her made Owen's brain work twice as fast.
'A trustworthy expert... good at keeping secrets... and has an artistic sense...'
Faces of several people popped into his head... Jace? That guy was good at tech. Construction or interior design probably wasn't his path, but his connections seemed very wide...
Sahara? She was a celebrity, so she might know someone good at this because her shop looked very classy, but the fee would probably be expensive...
Alex? That wasn't even an option because I don't want to ask for help from someone like him, especially for a small matter like this.
First, I should ask Jace. If not, then ask Sahara. And if still not, I'll probably have to find one myself.
Owen spent less than a second thinking before nodding to her immediately. "Sure," he replied firmly, with a confident smile. "I can think of someone to ask... I'll try contacting them. I guarantee you'll get your dream studio."
"Really! Thank you, Owen! You're always reliable!"
Smooch!
Clara was so happy she couldn't contain herself. She lunged in and planted a big kiss on Owen's cheek as a reward. His scent made her want to do more, but she knew now wasn't the time because Damian was still in the house.
"Then I won't disturb you anymore. I still have housework to do."
She smiled sweetly at him again, along with a mischievous wink, before getting up and humming as she walked back into the kitchen in a good mood, leaving Owen sitting there stroking his cheek lightly with a happy smile.
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