The mess with the K-pop idol group Soul took them down in the end. They were immediately called back to Korea by their agency and because of that, Rachel had to go to the live shows alone to promote the songs.
Cyco media was unhappy about it but there was nothing they could do.
The whole Soul fandom was breaking down at the moment and no one could save it. There was a saying that an idol loses half his fans after a dating scandal.
And this was on another level.
Day by day, Rachel's title song growth went down on Melody and MeTube while Aiden's title song with 'The Boys' kept growing at the regular pace and soon, it became the top song around.
On Melody, it had gotten over 170 million views in a month and on MeTube, the numbers were even higher with 190 million views on the music video. Like this, it was easy to say that in a year, the song would cross 500 million views, bringing in a lot of revenue for Aiden.
Though at this point, he really didn't need it.
He had already invested in things due to getting a financial advisor and was getting passive income from a number of places.
Moreover, his fees were just increasing and it was the same for his movies. The big thing was still <God's World> that was going to be released next year.
The game was in development for a while and they have made significant progress on it. If it's successful, Aiden would have shares in a rising game company.
Maybe not now, but in 10-20 years, this would fetch him millions of dollars every month and just the valuation of it would be in the tens of millions of dollars.
Currently, his main focus is still on doing live shows with 'The Boys' and other singers that Aiden have collaborated with and spread his album.
He was also enjoying doing stage shows.
But somewhere, there was a fatigue at the back of his mind that was not easy to ignore. It was like an itch that wasn't going away.
Actually, he had already tried ignoring it for a long time but everytime, it would return. After a long talk with Uncle Sam, Aiden realised a few things. Things that weren't something that he could just overlook.
So, he decided to act on it himself.
***
"You were at Sam's house yesterday? He told me you slept on his couch."
Wade said as he took a bite out of a sandwich. Today, he wasn't wearing a suit or anything. Something he would wear whenever he had an important meeting or event to attend.
He always says the line, 'Clothes make the man. Different clothes for different occasions' and follow it.
Today, he was in his casual clothes as it was a week off for everyone. Aiden would do it after every successful venture of theirs to give his team a small holiday, knowing that they have worked extremely hard in the past few months.
He was currently at Aiden's place as he had nothing better to do.
"I slept at his place."
"You were playing games?"
"Only for the first two hours. After that, we were talking."
Aiden said. Wade put down his sandwich before asking.
"What were you talking about?"
"Just things... I had some advice to take from him."
Hearing that, Wade squinted at Aiden.
"Advice that correlates to you wearing those nice clothes and setting your hair. You look like you are getting ready for a wedding but I doubt you are going to one. You were sick of weddings early on due to your wedding song."
Aiden smiled hearing that and turned towards Wade.
He was wearing a white shirt and a jacket over it with the best pair of pants he had. With his hair all set up, he looked like he was playing the role of a handsome playboy in a movie. But there was a gentleness to him.
"Well, yeah, it correlates and I'm not going to the wedding."
"Then, where?"
Wade raised an eyebrow. In his mind, he wondered about the places that would make Aiden spend time grooming himself.
"Are you going to the party of some famous filmmaker whose movie you want to be a part of? Or are you going to some book club? Or just a lecture on filmmaking. Maybe you are meeting up with Joseph to talk about your recent album?"
"Why are all your options some sort of a meeting related to work?"
Aiden asked, finding it amusing.
"Because you are a robot who only works and works. When you are not working, your actions make me think you are some depressed teenager who can't get out of his house. I only let it go because all geniuses are weird. I'm actually glad you not more crazy."
Wade laughed and Aiden looked at the time, feeling like he was getting late. He smiled at him and decided to end the conversation.
"Anyway, I'm going now."
"Wait, you haven't told me where you—"
"I'm going on a date."
He said and left the house while Wade kept blinking his eyes, going over and over on the words Aiden had told him.
"Did he say a date? That robot is going on a date!"
He kept muttering that as he wondered whether Aiden was for real.
***
After leaving his house, he quickly got in his car and started driving with a smile on his face. It was after a long time that he wasn't going to any work. Maybe that's why he felt fresh.
It was a feeling that Aiden had almost forgotten.
When he reached his location, he looked around and after checking that the address was right, he parked his car outside the house that looked more like a mansion and rang the doorbell.
After a while, the door opened, revealing Ava who was wearing a blue dress and looked at him with wide eyes, apparently surprised that he was dressed so well.
He kept looking at her for a while. It was after a long time that they were meeting. Though, they kept talking via texting.
"Are you ready?" He asked and she nodded her head, getting out of the house. After locking it up, they started walking towards his car and Ava couldn't help but ask.
"So, is it what I'm thinking it is?"
"What do you mean?" Aiden raised an eyebrow.
"Is it a date?"
She asked and looked at him with a straight face. He just smiled and opened the door for her.
"Yes, it is. You said yes without even knowing it? Were you expecting something else when I asked if we could go out?"
"I was just confirming it."
She said and sat down in the car, looking pleased. They have known each other for a few years now and although they have gotten close, she had never thought that she would be going on a date with Aiden one day.
Especially, because he had always ignored this aspect of his life, until this point.
She had also gotten busy with her work. As one of the main figures in Titan studios, she always had a lot of work. Enough that it was hard to have a life of her own.
"So, I heard about your album and what happened with Soul?" She looked at him, trying to not let the atmosphere become awkward. "You didn't have anything to do with them, right?"
"No, I don't. I was even surprised that it happened so conveniently for me. But I don't think I have any way of leaking out such a big thing."
"Who knows? You are pretty well connected from what I have seen."
Aiden smiled hearing that. He did know reporters and even paparazzi but they would only do an exchange with him rather than helping him out for nothing. And he didn't have anything to give to them.
The only thing he had was the 'Luck coupon' that he was only going to use when his career was close to ending.
"If we are going by connections, then you are the biggest one I have. I heard you helped to appeal to the press association in my favour during the Golden Globes fiasco."
"I just did what I felt was right."
Ava said and it was then that they reached their location. He parked the car and they got out of it
"So, are we watching a movie?"
"Yup."
"But why here?"
Ava looked at the theatre in front of her. It looked very old and it was actually one of the oldest theatres in town but it wasn't in a good position as the building still looked old and hadn't been renovated.
There could be tons of better theatres in town.
"It was the place I used to watch movies during my first year in America. They actually show old movies for a low price every Sunday and I would watch them as I wasn't able to afford others. It was a big event in my life back then."
He said as they walked inside.
