At the end of a drab hallway, where even the patter of rain sounded ominous, Asmodeus and his subordinates stood motionless.
They were in front of the apartment their victim called home.
Seeing as no one was answering their knocks, Asmodeus opened the door after finding the correct key from the ring and quietly entered.
It was a small house with a bedroom, a kitchen, and a living room. An old brown carpet spread the dust as he walked around.
It was a place for the destitute. But Asmodeus thought it was unusually warm. It wasn't a good house, but it certainly felt like a good home.
This could not be because of the degenerate gambler he had just executed. No, this warmth came from someone else.
Asmodeus knew who it was.
He walked around the room and paused before a photo frame on the rickety cupboard. With his gloved hands, he picked it up.
For a while—as his subordinates packed bags full of clothes, valuables, and cash to make the disappearance of their victim seem voluntary—Asmodeus stared dazedly at the photo.
His expression remained the same, but his eyes became desirous. Lust was practically dripping from his gaze.
The red-haired woman in the photo hugging the victim was beautiful with full lips and pale skin.
Asmodeus liked that skin; he liked that flesh. He wanted to snatch, ferociously bite, and tear it apart.
Exhaling a shaky, hot breath from his mouth, he chewed on his lower lip. His watery eyes shook slightly as he was sucked further into the photo alongside his desires.
His fantasies ran rampant, and in anticipation, he bit hard on his lip. It drew blood, but even the pain felt pleasurable.
This was his ecstasy; this was his choice for recreation.
He bit excruciatingly harder, licked the hot blood, and smeared it all over his lips with his tongue. His breathing was uneven and his skin ghastly pale. The taste of iron wasn't to his liking, but the thrill wasn't lost on him.
His sensuous lips smeared with blood and his breathtaking expression of erotic pleasure couldn't help but stimulate the senses.
In his debauchery, he looked more attractive than anyone alive. It was arousing, exciting, and electrifying—both the scene and the devil of a man.
That was exactly what over two hundred people on the set felt watching the scene live.
His six co-stars, the directors, and Hyerin couldn't help but stare at the monitors in disbelief. Their eyes were wide open as if to capture every moment of that rare shot.
They hadn't expected a take of this caliber on the very first day of filming, and they didn't need to be told that it was a special scene.
It was supposed to be a simple shot, but Averie had elevated it to levels unimaginable. In filming, it was the rarest kind of scene—an unexpected mixture of circumstance and pure genius.
'Isn't this beyond perfect?' the director thought, slack-jawed and thrilled.
A shot that he didn't care much about had immediately become one of his most cherished. He wanted nothing but to appreciate it without being disturbed.
He wanted to watch a second more of his brilliant actor's thrilling performance. His role as the director didn't matter; he wanted to appreciate the scene as a member of the audience.
To be able to portray such deep pleasure while stimulating the audience was not something most actors in the world could do.
It required far too many skills—skills that would take decades to acquire and master. But what good were those skills once one had lost their youth and beauty?
'He is a very special actor,' Director Lee thought.
No one at that age should be able to act the way he did. But there he was—the most exciting actor he had met in years.
The director was reluctant to stop the cameras. He wanted to watch for a bit longer and capture a little more. But alas, he also wanted to rush to his actor and tell him how amazing he was.
"Cut!" the director roared at the top of his lungs.
He ran towards Averie and held his face in his rough hands.
"Simply brilliant!" he exclaimed, elated. "You beautiful beast, you killed it!"
Averie laughed in response.
He had wanted to make the scene a bit more special, and it seemed to have worked.
Out of nowhere, he felt something on his lips. He looked down to find a cotton ball pressed against his bleeding lip. Hyerin was holding it. Without a second thought, she had rushed to him as soon as she could.
Averie gave her a smile of assurance while he continued listening to the director's praise.
Every actor liked being told how brilliant they were—especially when the flowery words were coming from a director.
"I would kiss you, but I've already been warned by the judge more than once." The director laughed. "And I don't want to go to prison."
"I'm sorry, what?" Averie asked, stunned.
Meanwhile, Hyerin observed her friend.
She knew he was good at acting, but this was something far more special than that. A character she had thought of as an obscene sexual deviant now looked—despite his flaws—irresistible and charming.
His gaze carried a blend of inexplicable expressions. With only his actions and without any lines, he had managed to portray the aberrant nature of his character.
'He is different,' she thought.
Asmodeus wasn't the disgustingly villainous man she had thought him to be. No, he was a deeply troubled character who wore his sin as his charm.
And she realized that the responsibility to understand and portray him so well rested solely upon Averie. It was his doing; it was his magic. And so, he should be praised.
She wanted the whole world to see her best friend's performance and praise him ceaselessly. Perhaps that would help him seal off his old sorrows forever.
But even if the world refused to, she promised herself that she would shower him with endless applause.
She glanced around.
The silence in the air was fading.
"I have to go to—um—to the washroom. Yes, washroom…" one of the ladies of the art crew muttered.
"Me, too…" a female makeup assistant whispered.
"I should too," one of the male crew members chimed in.
Hyerin's face fell a little.
Her friend had already begun corrupting the society.
'This isn't right,' she thought.
But that was only the beginning.