Chapter Text
I love to draw, from designing posters to promote Random Play, or just sketching Belle or their Bangboos. I spend most of my time with a pencil and a piece of paper in my hand. I especially like to show my drawings on the Interknot; I go by the name "Phaethon."
I post some sketches and drawings, and requests I get, and I’ve even sold a few commissions—I’m really happy about that. I haven’t really gotten any weird requests; I don’t think I’m famous enough for that. But today, I got a DM for a commission from a user called "ChaoticFriedRice."
They requested something really peculiar: a drawing of Astra Yao. I was familiar with her—how could I not be? She’s New Eridu’s biggest singer. Belle has a few records of her music, and we tried to go to one of her concerts multiple times, but the tickets sold out instantly.
I told them my fees and asked if they wanted something in particular. I got bombarded with whole albums of Astra Yao and instructions of things I had to take from each of them. I think I met her most hardcore fan because they sent pictures I had never seen before—some of them even seemed to be of her private life. They also asked for a fully rendered drawing, which, by the specifications, seemed kinda obvious, but with the things they asked, I needed to go above and beyond for this.
It rubbed me the wrong way, but they already paid, and I wouldn’t say no to some extra Dennies. So I got to work immediately, sending them my progress over the course of a few days and getting some tips. After a week of effort, I finally managed to finish it.
Belle got concerned since I took almost no breaks for it, and the client was so happy they even gave me a tip. I blinked twice after seeing the amount. I quickly messaged them, saying they added an extra zero to the amount. They answered almost immediately: "No silly, that’s the tip :)."
Belle came running to my room after hearing me scream. "What’s going on?" she asked worriedly. I just silently pointed to my screen, still dumbfounded by what was happening. She just dropped her expression and looked annoyed now, walking towards me to see the screen. "I hope you didn’t almost give me a heart attack because of an Interknot post."
She read the conversation, and her eyes opened like plates, her jaw dropping. "WHAAAAAAAAAAAT!" She stayed frozen for a few seconds before saying anything. "Bro, please tell me you did not scam someone for this money."
I answered immediately, "Of course not! I’m even more surprised than you are. It feels wrong getting paid tenfold for this."
"Well, you did go above and beyond for that drawing, so I say you deserve it! Or we can tell ourselves that before we feel comfortable spending this kind of money," said Belle, trying to make sense of the situation.
"Yeah, you’re right," I answered.
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But this wasn’t the last time I interacted with this mysterious user. They asked for another commission a few weeks later, as detailed as the last one, and the situation repeated itself. Every few weeks, they would ask for another commission, and every time I finished them, they would give "a tip." At this point, it felt more like a salary.
But every time they asked for a commission, we would talk a little, getting to know them better each time. Before I realized it, I was talking to them like a friend—sending them a funny post or asking about their day. First, it was once every week, then every few days, then every day, just talking to them like another friend, messaging them multiple times a day.
I started to see ChaoticFriedRice as a friend, showing them some sketches of drawings I was going to publish, asking them about their likes and opinions, sharing funny stories about my daily life. After a while, I started returning the payment I got for the commissions; it felt wrong to charge a friend. They would insist, so we went on this transaction back-and-forth daily.
Belle picked up on my behavior and started asking more about this user, noticing how much I talked to them and me telling her things about my friend. "Wow bro, who would’ve thought you’d make such a rich friend," she said, teasing me. "I wish every single commission you got was like that; I could live leisurely with your money."
"As if! Besides, I don’t feel comfortable receiving that kind of money from them anymore," I answered.
"I wish I could get that kind of money; my guitar videos don’t seem to attract anyone," she complained.
"Don’t be so sad; you’ll get your own wealthy benefactor someday," I joked.
"Well, if you want to continue to please your friend, shouldn’t you upgrade your equipment? You’ve been using the same crusty drawing tablet for multiple years."
"Hey! It’s not crusty, and it still works. I don’t get why I should change it," I answered.
"Well, since you care about your little friend so much, I thought getting some better materials would impress them," she answered with a smirk.
"You... make a compelling argument," I answered, blushing slightly. "Since they gave me so much money, I might as well upgrade my equipment. I’ll go buy it tomorrow."
Belle watched me, still smirking, and answered, "I thought as much. Bring me some snacks while you’re at it."
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I got to the electronics store the next day and walked towards the tablet section. I hadn’t decided between a tablet and a display since I was used to the tablet, but maybe the display would help me improve.
"Excuse me," said a woman behind me. "You look like you know electronics. Would you mind helping me pick a new phone? I’m afraid an employee will just try to sell me the most expensive one."
I was a little surprised at the request. Before answering, I took a look at her. She had long black hair and wore a white headband. She was wearing round sunglasses, a red and white coat, and a white skirt. It’s funny—she almost looked like Astra Yao! Chaotic would probably take a photo with her.
I snapped out of my thoughts and answered, "Uh, sure! What are you looking for?"
After that, she told me what she was looking for, and we spent a while comparing multiple phones and talking. It was a fun time, and it wasn’t long before we managed to find something she liked.
"Thank you so much for helping me!" she said with a smile.
"It was my pleasure," I answered back, smiling.
"For helping me, I’ll help pay for whatever you were going to buy!" she said with a smile.
"It’s no problem, really. I haven’t settled on what I’m going to buy anyway."
"What were you planning on buying?" she asked, intrigued.
"Just a drawing tablet."
"Oh... you’re an artist!" she said with excitement. I could see her eyes sparkling through her sunglasses. "Can I see some of your work?"
"Sure," I said, smiling. I pulled out my phone and opened the Interknot to my account and showed it to her.
She got closer to take a look. A few seconds passed, and her jaw dropped—it was quite the ego boost. She kept shifting her gaze between my phone and me, mouth agape.
"YOU’RE PHAETHON!!" she screamed excitedly and hugged me tightly.
"Yeah, are you one of my followers?" I was slightly taken aback by her reaction.
I saw her take out her phone, and after a few seconds, she showed me an Interknot profile. I started looking at it, confused, but I quickly realized what she wanted when I read her username: "ChaoticFriedRice."
"Small world, huh?" is all I managed to say, as I was still in disbelief at the situation. "How are you?" I managed to say after a few seconds.
She stopped hugging me. "I never thought I’d meet you like this. This makes me so happy!" she said, beaming.
"Yeah, it’s so nice to finally meet you. And you’re a bigger Astra Yao fan than I thought—you could even pass for her."
She smiled smugly at the comment. "As her fan, I try my best. Some even say we sound the same."
"Knowing you, I don’t doubt it. And since we’re finally meeting each other, why don’t we get something to eat?"
She looked around as if making sure no one was hearing us before smiling at me and saying, "Let’s go!"
She grabbed my hand and pulled me. She looked so happy I didn’t tell her that we didn’t buy my tablet, but it doesn’t seem to matter right now.
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We spent the afternoon together. She took me around Lumina Square, showing me her favorite places, and after that, we went for some spicy soup. It was great talking in person; she’s even more expressive and enthusiastic than in her messages.
After we finished eating, it was already getting dark outside. I looked towards the window and said, "Time flies when you’re having fun, huh."
She saw me, then looked towards the window, understanding what I meant. "Come ooooon, it’s not that late. We can do so many things," she answered, making a pout.
"My sister had to cover for me the whole afternoon in the video store. I need to bring her dinner to return the favor, or I won’t hear the end of it."
"If that’s the case, then I’m going with you!" she declared, standing up.
I looked at her, surprised. She just invited herself to the videoclub, but it’s not like she’s going upstairs, and this will also give Belle a chance to meet her.
"Are you sure? It’s just a regular video store."
"I’m sure we’ll have fun! Besides, I wanted to rent a movie anyway, so it’s a win-win situation," she said, smiling.
I chuckled at her comment. She’s so optimistic it’s contagious. "Fine, you win," I said, smiling and slightly defeated.
We paid for our meal and took the metro to Sixth Street. After getting Belle’s meal, we got to Random Play.
I opened the door to the store. "Welcome to Random Play!"
She entered slowly, took her sunglasses off, and started looking around, inspecting the shelves with carefully curated movies we’ve spent so long organizing.
"I’m home!" I yelled, since there weren’t any customers.
The door to the back room opened, and the three Bangboos came quickly to greet me.
"THEY’RE SO CUTE!" she bent down to get a better look at them. "You never told me you had Bangboos."
The three of them gave me a little glare. "I guess I forgot to mention it," I said, rubbing my neck. I felt them glaring at me a little bit harder.
"These little guys are Number 1 Eous, Number 6, and Number 18."
"Eh nah!" they said as I introduced them, waving at her.
She grabbed the three in a big hug. "So this is what heaven is like."
"And you three, this is ChaoticFriedRice. You’ve heard me talk about her before."
As I said that, Belle finally came downstairs. "Bro, I’m hungry. You better have picked something good."
As soon as she saw Chaotic, she stopped dead in her tracks, and her eyes widened. "B-bro, why is Astra Yao in our store hugging the Bangboos?" She barely managed to say that between her stammering.
"She looks a lot like Astra Yao, right? This is Chaotic, actually. And that’s my sister, Belle!"
"Wise, I don’t know if you’re joking or this is a very early birthday present, but that’s definitely Astra Yao," she said in disbelief.
"Your name is Wise?" asked Chaotic.
"Yeah," I answered. "We called ourselves only by our account handles. I guess I forgot to tell you. What’s your name, then?"
As soon as she was about to answer, there was a knock on the door. I went to open it. There was a blonde, intimidating lady at the door.
"Sorry, we’re closed for today."
"I’m here to pick up Miss Yao," she answered quickly.
Before I could process her words, I heard a voice behind me. "Come on, Eve, it’s still too early to go home."
I turned around and saw her pouting.
"You have a modeling session for a magazine. We need to go," the lady said in a serious tone.
"Fiiiiiine," she answered and made her way to the door.
As I stood there frozen, she made her way out, but before she was out of sight, she said, "I’ll rent that movie another time," before winking at me and putting her sunglasses back on.
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I stood there frozen, trying to process whatever just happened, before Belle snapped me out of it, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me while screaming, "WHY WAS ASTRA YAO HERE? WHAT DID YOU DO?"
I grabbed her hands to stop her from shaking me. "I DON’T KNOW!" I said, panicking.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T KNOW? YOU SPENT THE DAY WITH YOUR BENEFACTOR, AND YOU DIDN’T TRY ASKING HER NAME OR USING COMMON SENSE!"
"COMMON SENSE DICTATES YOU PROBABLY WON’T MEET NEW ERIDU’S BIGGEST STAR WHILE BUYING ELECTRONICS! HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT?"
We stood there screaming at each other in disbelief until our Bangboos stopped us.