~ [Music Recommendation: "A Sweet Smile" by Yu-Peng Chen (Genshin Impact OST)-available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

After the mind-blowing offer, Ms. Qian Yu and I talked about where we could meet and discuss all the things that needed to be discussed. She also knew that I was a teenager and told me to bring a guardian with me. That should mean she's legit, right? Not some phone scam? Still a bit half doubting if everything was true, I told mom and dad all about it and they, too, reacted the way I did. Good thing they agreed to meet.

The only problem was… I never submitted my story anywhere—well, except for letting Hora and Kai read it. I wasn't that brave enough to submit it to a film company. Besides, what I did was basically a "derivative work" where I wrote a sequel of the original storyline. Armageddon wasn't even that long in the market yet, so I don't have any rights to do it, that's why it's basically fanfiction. Unless … Red Dragon Holdings owned the full rights to it then it would just be like they're hiring me as one of their writers, right? And since I already wrote it, they just need to sign me to a contract. But how did they get a hold of my story? Did someone submit it for me? If that's the case then it could either be Hora or Kai, right? Hmm… I need to speak with them.

I dialed Hora first since she was the one who knew the situation about me and mom. I was only able to inform her that we made up when I came back to school on Monday. Maybe she submitted my story from the day I argued with mom to help me gain leverage and have mom approve of what I wanted. But how would she even know how to do that? She liked films and wanted to be a film editor so maybe she's studying it. But still! I'm 30 plus years old if I include my old life and I had no idea how.

Ring… ring… ring… ring… ring… toot.

"Helloow, Sena!" Hora greeted me in a playful tone.

"Hi, Hora!"

"You're calling late. It seems to me like you're no longer a morning person. Did you just wake up?"

"Actually…," I deliberated if I should tell her because I knew if I did, she'd reprimand me. Oh well, better brace myself. "I haven't slept yet," I said in a murmur.

And there was silence. I knew it.

"Are you trying to be an owl? Or maybe a tanuki? Remember that animal that looks like it has forever eyebags? Or maybe a panda?" I could sense the rising anger in her voice. Sometimes I feel like she's my mom.

"I'll sleep in a few but I have something to ask first."

"Trying to change the topic, hm?" she snorted.

"What? No, I'm serious," I chuckled. "Anyway, I wanted to ask if you submitted my story somewhere? Like a filming company?"

"Hm?" she sounded perplexed. "Well, I wanted to… I looked it up on how to do it but I don't know how to make a professional query letter. I'm no writer."

I see… So it wasn't her. In that case, it's Kai? But he's only sixteen, too. How would he know how to create a query letter? I didn't even know it was needed.

"Why? What happened?" Hora asked, worried.

"You won't believe it. Even I am still a bit doubtful."

And so, I told her what happened an hour ago. In contrast to my, mom's, and dad's happy yet skeptical reaction, Hora was overjoyed. I lost count on how many times she congratulated me and cheered for me. Her positivity was contagious. My doubt ended up getting washed away in the drain. After what seemed like an hour of talking, we finally hung up. She said she's coming over to celebrate.

While waiting for her to come, I dialed Kai real quick. My curiosity was killing me. I wanted my questions answered. If Kai really did do it, I have no idea how to thank him. He's literally the ultimate friend anyone could have.

Ring… ring… toot. Wow. That was fast.

"Hi, Sena." Ahh… what a cool voice. I grinned the moment I heard his voice. I felt like a fangirl, stanning her idol. "What's up?"

"Hello, Kai," I shyly greeted him. Seriously, Sena? After talking with him numerous times already, you're still shy? Come on, be a little cooler. "How are you?" I asked. Ugh. I couldn't think of anything nicer to say. How in the world could other people be so great at small talks? Please give me a bit of that talent.

"I'm good. And you?"

"... Fantastic." There it was, my chance to ask my question. "Actually, someone just called me an hour ago."

"And that person made your day fantastic?" he chuckled.

"Yes." I found myself chuckling, too.

"Your lover? Or crush?"

My eyes widened in an instant. Did he just ask me something related to love? Oh my goodness!

"No!" I almost shouted at him. If he only knew that he's my crush and I never had a lover. "I don't have a lover. For your information, I'm single." Wait a minute. That sounded so weird, like I'm hinting unto something. Nooooo… please don't think too badly of it.

He snorted and laughed at me. Was he bullying me again? What did I do this time?

"Anyway," I tried to get the conversation back on track, "that's not the reason why. That someone who called is a woman named Qian Yu who's apparently an executive producer of Red Dragon Films. Because it seems that SOMEONE submitted my story to them and they're interested in making it into an animated film."

"Oh. Congratulations."

"Thank you. I'm really, really happy about it that I don't know if I'm dreaming or not. And if it's real and not a scam. But one thing I'm curious though and wanted to ask you is—are you the one who submitted my story?"

And there was silence.