After dinner, Rahul took Wannida's hand and they walked all the way back up the lively promenade to the Hilton Hotel.
Along the way, Wannida fired off another barrage of questions at him. She asked about Rahul's past, his upbringing in India, his relationship history, and his long-term plans for his vlogging career.
Rahul answered all of her questions truthfully. Although he jokingly called himself a "global heartbreaker" to his audience, he couldn't bring himself to lie to Wannida at all. After all, who could refuse such an innocent, inquisitive girl?
They chatted happily all the way to the hotel, where the mood instantly shifted.
Waiting for them on the plush sofas in the lobby were Sister Pa (her manager) and several SGE Entertainment staff members. When Wannida saw her manager's stern face, she instinctively let go of Rahul's hand. Like a middle-school student caught skipping class, she walked toward Sister Pa with her head hanging low.
Sister Pa and the staff members looked visibly stressed and furious when they saw Wannida and Rahul, who had essentially been missing for the entire day. She stood up and pointed an accusing finger at Wannida.
"You must have just played around like crazy all day today! I bet you didn't even film your promotional videos properly, did you?"
"No, Sister Pa, I filmed everything properly today," Wannida defended herself in a small, squeaky voice.
"Then how did I hear a rumor from my contacts that you were performing an impromptu set at a seaside cafe?"
"Ah! Sister Pa, you already knew?!"
Wannida was surprised, and at the same time, a sharp sense of rebellion rose in her chest. How could nothing be hidden from her? She must have had someone secretly following us! It seemed the rumors were true: once you become a contracted entertainer, you really have absolutely zero private life.
At this moment, Rahul stepped forward, smoothly interjecting to shield Wannida:
"Sister Pa, please don't be angry with her. It was my explicit request that we shoot the vlog this way today."
"If you and the production crew had followed us around all day, the final cut of the video would have a stiff, heavily scripted corporate feel to it. The fans back in India have incredibly picky tastes when it comes to vlogs; they crave authenticity above all else. Please don't use traditional television metrics to judge social media content."
Rahul's calm, authoritative tone left Sister Pa momentarily speechless.
After all, Rahul was the professional global vlogger with millions of views; he knew his demographic and his filming techniques better than she did. The social media landscape in India was incredibly cutthroat and arguably years ahead of Thailand in terms of influencer marketing.
Sister Pa's tone softened significantly as she turned to Rahul. "Mr. Rahul, I need to see how the raw footage you shot today turned out."
Rahul nodded. "Let's go up to my suite. I have my laptop set up there. And... I also have a major business proposal I'd like to discuss with you."
Sister Pa clapped her hands in agreement. Taking Wannida and two staff members with her, she followed Rahul into the VIP elevator and up to his room.
Rahul booted up his laptop and imported the massive 4K footage as quickly as possible. He clicked on one of the unedited clips.
In the high-definition frame, Wannida appeared wearing her white floral dress, running happily barefoot on the pristine beach. The deep blue sky, the white clouds, the endless sea, and the young girl letting out bell-like, unscripted laughter sketched out an exquisitely beautiful, cinematic scene.
This raw footage left Sister Pa and the SGE staff members utterly stunned.
The vibe—it was exactly the right vibe!
The persona the company was desperately trying to manufacture for Wannida was that of the "National First-Love Goddess." The footage Rahul effortlessly captured provided a flawless, perfect interpretation of what a pure, beautiful young girl should be!
This video captured Wannida's strengths naturally, without any of the forced, heavy-handed acting she usually struggled with. It looked exactly as if the viewer were in a relationship with her—so comfortable and so deeply natural. This first-person perspective of being in love gave the viewer an incredibly strong, intoxicating sense of immersion!
"Good! This is filmed so well!" Sister Pa excitedly grabbed Rahul's arm.
"Mr. Rahul, you truly are a professional! This is filmed exceptionally well! You were totally right. Videos filmed without a script have a much stronger emotional impact! It perfectly captures Wannida's persona—she looks approachable and sweet, not like an aloof pop star."
Rahul casually pushed her hand away from his arm and clicked on another piece of footage.
The screen showed the scene at the seaside cafe where Rahul was singing the Hindi Bollywood ballad. He reached for the mouse to drag the progress bar forward, wanting to skip his own performance and find the footage of Wannida singing.
But Sister Pa suddenly reached out and slapped her hand down on his wrist, stopping the mouse.
"Mr. Rahul! That Indian song at the beach cafe this afternoon... you were the one singing it?!"
Rahul turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow. "Didn't you have someone following us? You didn't see?"
Sister Pa shook her head, her eyes wide with excitement. "No! When my contact got there, they only filmed our Wannida singing while you were playing the piano! I really didn't know you could sing like that. I genuinely thought the cafe was playing the original track!"
"Mr. Rahul, your pitch and vocal technique have already completely surpassed the professional vocal coaches our company hired from the Bangkok Conservatory!"
"Are you interested in debuting as a singer in Thailand?" Sister Pa stared at Rahul with burning, greedy eyes, looking as if she were ready to sign him right then and there.
"I'm sorry, I have absolutely no interest in becoming a singer," Rahul said flatly. "I'm just doing it for fun. Shall we keep watching?"
Hearing this definitive refusal, Sister Pa didn't push further and nodded eagerly for Rahul to continue playing.
Rahul pointed at the clip of Wannida singing on the screen and turned to the manager.
"Didn't you say you wanted Wannida to break into the massive Indian market?"
"Once this video is edited and released, we can gauge the reaction of the Indian netizens. If it goes viral—which it will—then we can have Wannida create an official YouTube and Instagram account specifically for posting singing covers and daily life vlogs aimed at an Indian audience. We use viral internet fame as a stepping stone to pave her way into mainstream Indian media."
At this point, Rahul deliberately paused, letting the bait dangle.
As expected, Sister Pa swallowed the hook and took the initiative to ask: "If we create official Indian accounts for Wannida... how should it be managed? We don't understand the algorithms or the culture there."
Hearing this, a sharp, corporate smile played at the corners of Rahul's mouth.
"Sister Pa, there's absolutely no need to worry about that. What a coincidence... I happen to own a mature, highly successful Media & Talent Management company based in Mumbai."
"My agency can provide complete, all-around localization and management services for Wannida in India."
Mr. Sharma, oh Mr. Sharma, Rahul thought to himself, referencing his former toxic boss. I'm stealing your corporate pitch to build my own empire; you won't mind, right? "Mr. Rahul, for a strategic international partnership this significant, I will have to discuss it immediately with SGE's executive board," Sister Pa said, her tone suddenly incredibly respectful. "You can post the video first to see the data response, and then we will make a formal decision."
Rahul stood up and nodded professionally. "Of course. Take your time to discuss it. I'll have my team back in Mumbai edit the final cut as soon as possible."
Sister Pa bid Rahul farewell with a highly thoughtful expression, her mind racing with profit projections. As she led the staff out of the suite, Wannida deliberately dragged her feet, walking at the very back.
When everyone else had stepped out into the hallway, she took advantage of their lack of attention, turned around, and suddenly gave Rahul a quick, daring kiss on the cheek.
Only then did she quickly scurry out to follow Sister Pa toward the elevators, her face burning.
Rahul looked at the mischievous, sweet girl and shook his head somewhat helplessly, a smile on his face.
Opening the System panel in his mind, he saw a notification: [Karma Target Engaged: +1 Charm Point. Total Proficiency: 7 Points.]
The point he had spent today had already been earned back.
After returning to his room and locking the door, Rahul took out his phone and dialed his best friend, Kabir.
"Kabir! Boot up Premiere Pro. I have a massive project for you. We are about to launch a future ten-million-subscriber idol in India. Interested in being the head of production for my new media company?"
Upon hearing this, Kabir was immediately overcome with loud excitement.
"Bhai! You're finally setting up the agency?! Don't you worry, I'll definitely throw every editing trick I know into this! Are you going to be the face of it?"
Rahul interrupted Kabir's rambling.
"It's not just me, bro. It's a Thai pop idol! I'm uploading the raw footage to the cloud right now. Take a look, and make her look like an absolute goddess!"