Ficorpio
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
The day Ethan Kane won Best Actor, a hashtag blew up online:
#IsEthanKaneActuallyCelibate?
Top comment: “Don’t make Ethan laugh.”
The attached photo was of the way he looked at his co-star Nina Cole—predatory, intense, like he wanted to devour her whole.
Even I got dragged into it by reporters.
“As the female lead from Ethan Kane’s very first drama, what do you think? Is he actually celibate?”
I froze for a second, then gave a vague answer. “I guess so… He’s a good person, and he’s always respectful to his co-workers.”
That earned me tens of thousands of hate comments from their fans, all saying I was a washed-up actress clout-chasing and jealous of their relationship.
Later, on a variety show, someone deliberately brought the question up again.
This time, my answer was flawless and professionally bland.
“I really wouldn’t know.”
Ethan, though, slowly lifted his eyes and said, “Whether I’m celibate or not—you wouldn’t know?”
And just like that—
#IsEthanKaneActuallyCelibate? shot straight back onto the trending list.
The comments underneath were almost identical:
“Don’t make Ethan laugh.”
“Can people stop making up this fake saint image for Ethan?”
“Ethan: what kind of position is ‘celibate’ supposed to be?”
“Feels like our boy’s the type who knows exactly how to coax a woman—and never stop.”
“You wish. More like he wouldn’t even bother coaxing you, and still wouldn’t stop.”
My manager opened the second trending hashtag with a blank expression and held the phone out to me.
I paused, then slowly scrolled down.
“Oh, please. The way Ethan looks at Nina, he practically wants to eat her alive. And people are still asking whether he’s celibate???”
“Someone irrelevant is feeling jealous, obviously…”
“She’s really embarrassing. Honestly, since she was the female lead in Ethan’s first show when he was nineteen, I actually used to ship them. Now I feel sick.”
“That was then. Has she looked at Ethan’s status now?”
“This woman is going to be on the same variety show as Ethan and Nina’s ship—I’m begging her not to bother them…”
“No chance. She’s definitely going to stick herself to Ethan and try to stir up the old romance for publicity.”
“You’ve got two options now.” My manager’s face was grim. “Either you do exactly what they’re accusing you of and lean into the hate-for-fame angle. Or you keep your head down around Ethan and Nina and make yourself as invisible as possible.”
I gave a quiet hum of acknowledgment.
She ground out, “Didn’t you think before you answered that first time?”
I sighed. “Then what was I supposed to say? That Ethan Kane definitely isn’t celibate?”
She stared at me, speechless. “You could’ve just said you didn’t know.”
I stopped.
Right.
It was because I knew too well that the neutral answer never even occurred to me.
So instead, I’d lied on instinct.
Chapter 2
Chapter 2
“Forget it.” She waved a hand. “It’s also those reporters. They just wanted traffic.”
Ethan’s career had been smooth from the time he was nineteen.
One successful role after another, climbing step by step until he became a household name.
But every time the public talked about his love life, somehow I got dragged back into it.
Because he’d worked well with every actress he’d ever starred opposite. Everything had been friendly, professional, peaceful.
Except with me.
I had been the female lead in his first drama at nineteen, and I was also the one he’d torn things up with so publicly and so badly that neither of us had left any room for old feelings or dignity.
As the years passed, even the hatred faded.
In the end, we became two complete strangers, with no contact and no emotional reaction left between us.
Until recently, when Ethan and Nina’s movie came out.
Onscreen, the two of them clashed brilliantly. They weren’t playing lovers, but somehow they felt even more compelling than lovers.
The film drew in a huge new wave of fans.
To promote their new show, they signed on to a light entertainment series.
And, by sheer coincidence, that same show invited me too.
Inside the sprawling villa, I sat quietly in a corner.
Not until Ethan Kane and Nina Cole made their grand, last-to-arrive entrance did the room finally stir.
Everyone stood to greet them.
I stood too, but said nothing.
Then Nina walked straight over to me and held out her hand first.
“You’re Maya Moore, right? I’ve heard so much about you.”
The mood in the room turned strange for a beat.
I smiled at her. “Nice to meet you.”
Ethan glanced over this way as if he couldn’t care less, then took a seat across the room on the diagonal.
He wasn’t going to greet me, and I wasn’t going to greet him.
Nina gave a small nod, then turned and sat beside Ethan.
I kept Andrea’s warning firmly in mind.
Do not look at Ethan any more than necessary.
And if needed, when he and Nina had their little moments, I was even supposed to help sell the atmosphere so the audience wouldn’t accuse me of being bitter or unable to stand seeing them together.
One of the actresses, who was clearly close to Nina, smiled at me and asked, “By the way, Maya, what would you say is your signature work?”
My signature work?
I had just wrapped a new series not long ago, but it hadn’t aired yet.
Other than that—
There was the breakout web drama Ethan and I had done seven years ago, the one that exploded overnight and racked up insane numbers.
Even though I hadn’t acted at all during the seven years I spent overseas, plenty of people still knew my name.
“None,” I said calmly.
The second the word left my mouth, the room went silent.
I could feel a heavy gaze land on me.
Chapter 3
Chapter 3
I smiled and repeated myself. “I do have a new show coming out later this year. But before that, no, not really.”
I knew exactly what would happen if I said Ethan’s name, or the name of that series.
People would say I was clout-chasing again.
Nina instinctively glanced at Ethan. Only after seeing no reaction from him did she say brightly, “Then we’ll definitely support it when it comes out.”
“Thank you,” I said politely. “I’d really appreciate that.”
Nina didn’t say anything else. She leaned toward Ethan and started whispering to him.
The other guests all wore the same expression: they were eating it up.
The cameras stayed trained on the two of them.
Only then did I finally relax a little and let myself study them without drawing attention.
Seven years had passed, and Ethan hadn’t changed much. He just looked more mature than before.
But there was still that same careless air in the way he moved, the same effortless detachment.
And when he wasn’t smiling, his features carried a sharp, almost aggressive edge.
Just like now.
I could tell almost instantly that he was in a bad mood.
But whatever Nina said to him, his expression eased.
There was a reason people called Nina “Ethan Kane’s perfect leading lady.”
Beautiful, gentle, soft-spoken—the kind of woman with a sweetheart image that made men want to protect her.
Standing next to Ethan, she really did look like a perfect match.
I looked away.
Before filming for episode two, I made the mistake of scrolling through the comments from the last one.
[I’m begging Maya Moore to stop playing hard to get. Does she think people forgot that drama she did with Ethan Kane back then?]
[She’s obviously trying to get Ethan’s attention lol.]
[Honestly? No one even cares.]
[I’m dying. Maya’s clearly trying to stir up buzz, and did you see the way Ethan looked at her? He looked annoyed and disgusted.]
[Of course. The second he saw her, he probably knew his cute little romance show was about to get ruined.]
[Thank God sweet Nina is nice enough to be civil to her.]
…Well.
That had backfired.
How was I still getting dragged?
I hadn’t forced my way onto the show. The director had invited me.
The show wanted ratings. I wanted the paycheck.
I wasn’t here to sabotage anybody.
Maybe my expression gave me away, because Nina walked over to me on her own.
Her voice was soft, gentle, but direct. “If you already left the entertainment industry back then, why come back now?”
She said it quietly enough that only the two of us could hear.
I paused.
There it was—her hostility, plain as day.