Jae Uck

N e o c u r e  O f f i c e - D o n g d a e m u n - g u ( D e o k m i ' s  A p a r t m e n t )

The door to his white van rolled open, revealing his stylist Ha Na, who bore gifts of Calbee crisps and Binggrae milk. She waved the bag of goodies exultantly in his face.

"Oppa! Manager-nim! Look what I gott.." Ha Na gleefully divided the snacks between the three of them. "Honestly I don't understand why they picked such a random place for filming. Right in the middle of Dongdaemun, but in such a quiet street that the nearest GS25 is at least 10 minutes' walk away. Ya - Are we even still in Seoul, where we walk past GS25s every two minutes?!" she huffed slightly as she clambered into the backseat.

Jae Uck nodded his thanks, grateful for his stylist - it had been an hours' wait in the van and he was starving. Usually, he would go for a smoke to stave off the hunger pangs, but not today, he couldn't. Just as he was about to rip the top off the Calbee cup, a hand shot out from next to him - an attempt to steal his precious snack away.

"Ya - Mwo-ya?! What now?! Tsk.." Jae Uck looked accusingly at Seon Hae. If he nagged one more time about eating crisps, Jae Uck swore he would storm right off for a smoke. His last stick was early that morning - his less than cheerful mood and hunger was probably (well, definitely) due to withdrawal symptoms from his heavy smoking habit.

"...Ha Na-ssi, you are already quite chubby and you're always saying you want to lose weight. Why do you go and buy these oily and deep-fried things for us to eat? Remember the last time Jae Uck-ssi wolfed down this whole cup - we had to ply on the foundation so his pimple wouldn't show on screen? Do we really want to do that for the close ups later?" Seon Hae admonished the stylist as he tried to grab the Calbee cup from Jae Uck's reluctant hands. Ha Na shrugged sheepishly.

A mini hand-scuffle ensued as Jae Uck resisted Seon Hae. "Ya- iruma.. You know how quickly you get break-outs with these things. Do you want a pimple on your face when you.." Seon Hae warned. Jae Uck knew what he was getting at before he finished his sentence. Exasperated, he let go of the Calbee cup. The momentum of the sudden release took Seon Hae by surprise and he fell backwards (thankfully) into his seat.

Semi-pouting, Jae Uck took the Binggrae milk, stabbing it with the straw. He took a long sip and sighed, staring out the window, side profile looking very much like Ryan Gold during the editorial shoot they did at the start of the drama with the milk bottle.

 "Man, you are just a ball of fun today aren't you? Ya - why are you so restless? Is it because you can't wait to get up there to..you know..." Seon Hae teased Jae Uck, as he himself ripped open the Calbee cup and stuffed his mouth with the heavenly, oily, deep fried potato sticks.

Jae Uck rolled his eyes. Seon Hae, for all the good things he was, tended to be quite juvenile when it came to things like this. "You sound like a high school junior, hyung..get a grip.." Jae Uck stared severely at Seon Hae. "and by the way, Ha Na-ya, don't listen to him - you're not chubby. Eat what you like. Koreans these days really place too much value on a skinny body...Oppa thinks you're good just the way you are okay?" Jae Uck held out his hand for a fist bump. Ha Na returned the bump, smiling quietly. This was the reason she stuck around Jae Uck and tried to get on his projects. She could always count on him to look out for her and the rest of his team, even for small things like this. 

*bzzzt bzzzt* *bzzzt bzzzt*

"Notification: Kakao message from 덕미"

"Notification: Kakao message from 덕미"

Jae Uck looked at his phone from the side, trying to avoid the prying eyes of his stylist and manager. He didn't need to worry as they were both busy munching and sharing the snacks.

"..I need to get some air.." Jae Uck slid the door open and stepped out into the cold night, leaving the two of them behind. It was spring, but nighttime in Seoul was still a good 10 degrees centigrade. He shivered slightly as a gust of wind blew through his black and white cardigan. Walking at least 50 steps away into a shadowed bend in the empty street, he finally felt it was safe enough to open the chat window.

덕미: Oops, sorry for the late reply. Had to get in earlier for shooting..

덕미:..but I guess you knew that right..kkk ^^

덕미: anyway, where were we? Oh yep.. favourite travel destinations.. I think I have seen quite alot of the US.. but not as much for Europe. My last trip to Paris was amazing and I loved it....

덕미: Oppa, where are you btw? PD-nim will call for you soon I think..we're almost done here.

덕미: Don't tell me you're sleeping?? kkk 😴 

Jae Uck smiled at the barrage of texts buzzing on his phone. Thankfully he silenced the Kakao notifications. If not, surely his manager would wonder who was texting in such an annoying way. He chuckled to himself, recalling the last time he asked Min Young why she texted like that, one after the other. Wouldn't it be easier to just type everything in one go before sending? Min Young had laughed at his old fashioned self and said that this was how the youth texted these days. After all, it was free - possibly Jae Uck was used to texting in one go because it used to cost money for each text, back in the day. What a dinosaur! She had teased. He started typing a reply, whilst sipping the remnants of his milk.

JW: I guessed you were shooting. Europe eh? I went to Berlin some time ago, to visit some friends. London is my favourite though. If I ever get the chance to go again. I will. I think I also got an invite to Paris Fashion Week yesterday, for Dunhill. I might go, not sure yet....I'm downstairs kk.. since an hour ago. Been waiting for you to finish wrapping your scene before heading up. It's so boring down here T_T and I am hungry..T_T.

Jae Uck cringed inwardly as he sent that text. Today's texts were not normal. Usually, they'd be having detailed discussions about their characters and the upcoming scenes, on top of the other less informal "getting to know you" type conversations on travel etc. like the one they were currently having. Yes, there was a "usual" for them these days. Jae Uck scrolled through the messages - there were numerous. They had been texting non-stop from morning to night every day for as long as he could remember. 

Somehow, today felt like they were both skirting around a big elephant in the room. She didn't raise the topic of today's scenes, and he did not want to raise it if she didn't. It was just awkward to talk about it, though it shouldn't be for her, he thought. He was the one who was helplessly falling in love with her, not the other way around. Talking about it would just make it weird for him, and he wanted it to be just right, even if it was just in his head.

It would be their first kiss after all.

덕미: wae?

덕미: omo an hour?? You could have come up anyway? kk Keunmin bought me jjajangmyun! You can have some!

덕미: It's always so stuffy waiting in the van..just come up next time..

덕미: I don't mind you watching me ^^

JW: Kenyang.. I didn't want the crew to talk, you know? Always good to keep a distance, especially for Ro-Cos like this..kk jinjaa? You don't mind me watching you? 🤣 Sung Deok Mi-ssi..this sounds very interesting.. Chemisseo..kk

덕미: Ya - don't be a creeper Mo Tae Gu 😝.

덕미: Balli wa- PD nim just looked around for his phone - I think he's about to call Seon Hae-ssi...

Jae Uck stuffed the phone back into his pocket, and searched for a bin to throw his empty milk container. As he ran up the stairs to the set, Seon Hae and Ha Na stepped out of the van.

"Ne ne, PD nim, chigeum wasseoyo..neeee.." Seon Hae ended the call as he spotted Jae Uck loping up the stairs. His mouth dropped open in surprise. "Eh? How did he know it was time to go up?" Ha Na stared upwards at Jae Uck, who had already reached the top (damn those long legs). "Oppa! Wait for me! We have to touch up your make up!" shouted Ha Na as she scrambled for her make up bags. Fumbling around with the bags, Jae Uck's iPad and script notes, the two of them rushed to catch up with Jae Uck.

***

Jae Uck stood at the door, his tall frame casting a shadow over the little nook of an entrance to Deok Mi's apartment. Eyes staring up at the sky, trying to stay as still as possible in that tiny space, he breathed out slowly, trying to control his laughter as Min Young jumped around him, trying to cover his eyes with her hands. 

"Ya - PD-nim has already scolded me three times in the last 20 minutes for laughing too loud," he hissed, under his breath. "Can you stop!" 

Deok Mi's apartment was a small space, and any noise would disrupt the preparations on set for their next scene. PD-nim and writer-nim were deep in discussion in the far corner, as the rest of the lighting and sound crew were tinkering around with the reflectors and the sound mics around the couch, where, well.. something was about to happen.

"What? I am just trying to..reach..your.. darn..eyes..." Min Young responded breathlessly, as she continued hopping around, like a rabbit, hands raised in the air. "I think..you.. need to bend... down a little to my level...". More of those cute hands came into his eye view and Jae Uck wished he could just, reach out and hold them close, so she would stop being such a nuisance to his very serious character preparation.

Suddenly, Min Young landed on his foot. "OW!" Jae Uck exclaimed as he grabbed his right slippered foot. "OMO OPPA, chuesongeyoo!! Gwenchana!?" Jae Uck grimaced as he held his foot and pretended to double over in pain. "Ahh..."

"Ya - Oppa. Jinjaa.. ottoeke? Gwenchana? Omo..." she bent down and examined his foot. "I didn't step on you too hard right? Omo ottokee.. sorry Oppa.. mani appayo??" Min Young said, voice muffled as she was bent down on the floor, peering closely at his big toe.

Jae Uck stifled a giggle as he stood up. Thankfully she was engrossed in his foot and did not look up to see his face. He turned away to face the wall - closing his eyes in mock agony, he whispered in a pained voice, "Aigoo-ya...who knew uri Minyoungie was so heavy...aigoo...I think my toe is broken....Owww..."

Silence met him. Wondering why Min Young didn't continue her protestations and apologies, he opened one eye and stole a glance, coming face to face with an indignant Min Young peering up at him.

"YA - don't pretend it hurts nappun namja!" Min Young pouted, arms crossed. "If it really hurt, oppa would not tease and say I am heavy, because I am so NOT heavy. YA - you really had me worried there, for about 10 seconds...." she whacked him playfully on his arm. 

"CHILDREN! YA! How many times... Jae Uck ahh...do you always have to be so noisy?" Jong Chan PD called out, surprisingly good naturedly for someone who had been interrupted four times in his planning discussion with writer-nim. It was, after all, a good thing if his actors had good chemistry off set. 

"Ahem. PD-nim, it really wasn't me this time....it was..." Jae Uck made to point fingers at Min Young, who was by now innocently standing at the furthest corner away from him. "..ah nevermind..I am too old for this nonsense.." Jae Uck shook his head at her, rolling his eyes in mock exasperation. Min Young gave him a side thumbs up and a big grin. And his heart melted a little more.

"Ah, muulaa muula..OK, set. Ryan, Deok Mi.. let's practice the entrance...ready...action!"

Jae Uck obl