Reel Love

“Are you kidding me?” She yelled, crossing her arms across her chest. “You got into the show and I didn’t?”

My mouth hung agape, and I stared back at her, not quite believing what I was hearing. “What… are you serious?” I questioned my manager, Hana, for what seemed like the thousandth time.

“Yes. Oh my goodness, why would I joke about something like that?” She sighed, rubbing her eyebrows with her thumb and index finger. “Come on, Athena, we have to go to the venue now, since we set up a meeting with your partner.”

“O-okay.” I said quietly, stunned.

My two unnies stared at me as we exited the room.

“Don’t worry, they’re just a bit jealous of you.” Hana assured me. “After all, it’s been a year since your debut, and their schedules are now relatively empty compared to yours.”

I sighed in frustration and followed Hana to the car. Miyoung, Junghwa, and I had debuted a year ago in a group called T.N.T. Despite our hard work and efforts, we never really managed to climb to the top unlike those other rookie girl groups like A Pink. All we could do was sit back and watch them enviously as they constantly got invited to perform at different places, while our days remained void of activity.

Yet, I gained a sudden increase in attention last week, when I was spotted singing at a children’s home for the little kids. Apparently a lot of people commented on my ‘generosity’, although I was only there under Hana’s orders. Miyoung and Junghwa were insanely jealous of me ever since I gained good publicity. They had refused to join me because they insisted that they hated children and the children would mob them and get their dirty fingers all over their clothes. And now that I’ve gained popularity, I’ve been signed up for the teenage version of ‘We Got Married’. It’s a brand new series called ‘We Are Dating’. Just now, Miyoung and Junghwa did not seem to take the news well. At the start, they were pretty nice people. But now I’m not that sure anymore…

“We're here.” Hana said, jolting me out of my reverie. I looked around, startled. How had we reached here so quickly? I’m not even mentally prepared yet!

“Go, go! We’re late!” Hana cried out, pushing me out of the car quickly as I frantically smoothed down my hair while peering at myself in the side view mirror. “Read this before you enter the meeting room.” She ordered, tossing a light pink sheet of paper at me before slamming the door and driving off.

Opening the door, I hopped down from my seat and wobbled uncertainly. I was wearing extremely high heels, and the height of the seat from the ground had unbalanced me. I teetered forward and flung my hands in front of me to brace myself as I fell.

“Whoa!” Someone reached out and steadied me by grabbing my right arm. My handbag swung wildly out of my grasp and onto the floor, spilling its contents all over the rough pavement. “You okay?” The person asked. I turned my head to look at him, and widened my eyes when I saw who it was. He, too, gaped back at me in surprise.

“Sehun?” I squeaked at the same time he said my name. I sprung backwards, wrenching my hand out of his tight grip. My eyes darted around, taking in his perfectly mussed toffee brown hair, long, oval face and his delicately sharp features. I gulped and gaped at his perfect beauty for a few seconds, acutely aware of the flyaway strand of hair that was sticking straight up on my head.

Sehun seemed shocked, too. His mouth was slightly open, and he searched my face during those seconds. “What… what’re you doing here, Athena-ssi?”

“I’m here for a… business meeting. You?” I asked. I couldn’t quite bring myself to tell him that I was here to meet my ‘date’.

“Me too.” He mumbled, shuffling his feet awkwardly. He jammed his hands into his pockets and looked around at the floor uncertainly. Then, he suddenly gasped and bent down to pick up my things.

Kneeling down next to him, I began stuffing my possessions into my bag haphazardly. He handed over my wallet, keys and hand phone and I took them from him after thanking him under my breath.

I had slung my bag over my shoulder and was standing up when I noticed that Sehun was staring at a pink piece of paper on the floor. The words ‘We Are Dating’ was stamped in black ink across the very top, followed by the details of the show.

“You’re… going for this?” He asked me, stunned.

I grabbed it from his hands and hastily crumpled it up. I nodded hard, my cheeks turning an even brighter red.

Without asking me for an explanation, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a baby blue piece of paper. Unfolding it, he held it up to my face. Across the top, there was a caption printed in bold black letters over it. The caption was similar to mine.

“No way!” I cried out, taking a step back.

A loud yell from the entrance of the building shocked the two of us, and we turned to face the source of the noise.

A tall, handsome guy stood at entrance. He was around our age, and had a shock of orange hair. His eyes searched the grounds before stopping on Sehun.

“Sehun, what’s taking you so-” The guy stopped short when he saw me, and he began to smirk. “I see you have met your date, Sehun. Sehun, Athena. Athena, Sehun.” He introduced. “But then again, we don’t need any introducing, do we? According to our sources, the both of you have liked each other for a while, eh? Sehun, you’re Thena’s bias, you know.” He raised an eyebrow at Sehun and my jaw dropped at his straightforward revelation. I felt my face burning up and I immediately wished that I could burrow straight into the ground. I could feel his gaze and I looked anywhere but at him, hoping that I’ll be able to hide my unnaturally rosy face from him.

“And, have I mentioned that you’re Sehun’s bias as well?” The guy asked me. This came as a complete surprise to me. He, who had debuted later than me, had risen to fame in such a short period of time, had way more fans than me, actually likes me? He actually noticed me even though I wasn’t famous! The thought brought a smile to my face and I beamed at the ground. This time, Sehun looked embarrassed and nibbled his bottom lip uncomfortably.

“What’s this? Is our talkative maknae feeling uncomfortable?” He gasped in mock horror, bringing his hand to his mouth theatrically.

Sehun frowned and stepped on the guy’s foot. Hard.

“Ow!” He winced, rubbing his foot. “All right, all right. We’ll start briefing you now. Let’s get to business. Beeswax. Whatever. How boring.” He sighed. And then he suddenly brightened up. “But before we start, I’ll tell you another secret. You two are on national television. Right now. We started filming you guys the moment Thena pulled up in that van and it’s now being broadcasted live. We thought that we’d give what the fans want. Something raw and real.” He laughed once more.

He then turned to the camera and bowed deeply. “Hello everyone, welcome to the impromptu first episode of ‘We Are Dating’!” He struck a pose, and then continued after a pause. “I am your wonderfully bombastic emcee, Jin Myungha and today we introduce to you the very first couple that we have selected. Athena and Sehun!” He droned on and on about our careers and the grueling selection process.

I shook my head slowly. How in the world am I supposed to keep up with such a weird, hyperactive emcee? Is he on crack or something? Plus, what’s with them? How can I even act normally around a guy as cute and talented as Sehun?

“Well… let’s make the most out of this.” Sehun grinned at me. Oh, give me a break! What the heck am I doing being paired up with a dream date like him? Flashing a grin back at him, I continued to fan girl over him in my mind, all while hoping he didn’t notice how nervous I was.

“SO!” Myungha cheerfully grabbed the both of us by our arms and shoved us towards a shiny red convertible that had been driven to the sidewalk by a member of the camera crew. The entire camera crew had gathered on the curb now that it was made known to us that we were being filmed. They had popped out of the weirdest places. One of them had even jumped down from the tree branch that he was sitting on.

“We’ve got free tickets to the amusement park and a sponsored convertible! Here, Sehun, you drive!” Myungha tossed the keys to Sehun cheerfully, and pushed him into the driver’s seat. I obediently slid onto the passenger’s seat. “Now don’t get lost, kiddies! Follow the big yellow van!” He waved goodbye and entered said big yellow van. Big yellow van? More like an ugly yellow van with loud green flowers painted on it.

“I… I don’t even want to be seen near that thing.” I whispered under my breath, disgusted. Turning to Sehun, what I saw shocked me even more. His hands hovered inches above the steering wheel, and he stared wide-eyed at the key in the ignition. “What’s wrong?”

He turned to me with a sad expression. “Athena, I… I…”

Feeling frantic, I urged him to go on.

“I don’t know how to drive!” He wailed.

What? That’s it? I stared at him for a second or two after his outburst and began to laugh hysterically. I clutched my stomach and tears rolled down my face. His stricken expression only caused me to double over and howl even louder.

“It’s okay…” I choked out between bursts of laughter. “I’ll drive.”

We switched places and I began speeding to catch up with the van. The moment we reached the amusement park, I pulled into an empty lot far, far away from the ugly monstrosity of a vehicle.

Sehun rushed over to open the door for me, and I giggled. He seemed determined to salvage his reputation as a macho man, after the driving slip-up.

We rode on all the thriller rides at the park first, and then took pictures in the photo booths. Finally, we visited the restaurant for dinner. Everything seemed fine, except that the camera crew constantly trailed behind us and made the both of us extremely self-conscious. I could tell that Myungha was trying desperately to add in some humour into the show, but it wasn’t really working. Imagine two zombies walking around and acting human. Yeah well, that's exactly how we were like.

“Come on, let’s ditch them.” Sehun bent across the table and whispered into my ear.

I nodded and stabbed savagely at the broccoli that was sitting innocently on my plate.

“Let’s.” I replied in agreement.

He stood up from the table and took my hand, yanking me to my feet. “On the count of one… two… three!”

I started to run, but stopped when I noticed he wasn't moving.

“Look! IT’S A TOPLESS KIM HYUN JOONG!” Sehun yelled, pointing at someone in the distance.

And that, my friends, was when we took off running.

“Did you see the look on their faces?” I chuckled. Amidst the chaotic screams of random fan girls hoping to get a glimpse of the invisible Kim Hyun Joong’s chocolate abs, the camera crew had actually fallen for it and turned around, giving us the perfect chance to get away.

The thought of their hopeful faces made us crack up all over again. As I wiped the tears from my eyes, Sehun took my hand gently and smiled widely at me. I barely had enough time to return his grin when someone grabbed my shoulder tightly. I gave a yelp and whirled around, to see a winded Myungha and the camera crew struggling to keep up with all their heavy equipment.

“Well, well.” Myungha smirked. “I see you two have warmed up to each other. Well folks,” he panted heavily and pressed his right hand into his side. “This marks the end of the introduction of our very first couple. Seems like they’re a cheeky duo, aren’t they? Catch the next couple next week! Want a clue?” He waved his arms wildly in the air and winked mischievously at the camera. “Well, I’m not giving you any hints! See you next week!”

“What kind of clue is that?” I snorted, turning away from Myungha to hide my laughter.

“It wasn’t one.” He said blankly. “Didn’t I say that it wasn’t one?”

“Yeah, but you looked so strange!” I clutched my stomach, which was aching with laughter. “Gosh, I’m gonna get abs from all this laughing.”

“I guarantee that by the end of this season, you’ll have a rock-hard six pack.” Myungha slapped his own midriff and grinned.

“Looking forward to seeing you next time… partner.” Sehun held my gaze, raising the hairs on my skin before turning to leave.

“Looks like this is going to be one interesting season.” Myungha sang happily.

--

“Today marks the end of one long and successful season!” Myungha cheered, raising his champagne glass and putting his microphone on the table. We were at the very first wrap party for ‘We Are Dating’, and the entire crew was there. The other three couples were mingling with different people in the room. “And the most popular couple is…” He unfolded a piece of paper and picked up the microphone from the table. “Park Chorong and Zelo!”

The brown haired beauty and the handsome blonde boy flashed wide, toothy grins for the camera while I sat down next to Miyoung and Junghwa at a dark corner. They had come today under Hana’s instructions to network with the big shots in the reality TV industry. The two of them had tried their best to strike up conversations with them, but due to their low popularity, all the big wigs overlooked them.

Sehun came over and handed me a cup of jelly. “I thought that you’d like this. I saw it sitting on the dessert table and immediately thought of you.”

I took it from him and thanked him, spooning the cold pudding into my mouth.

“You know that he’s only nice to you because it was broadcasted on TV, right?” Miyoung sneered after he had walked off. I happily on my spoon, watching him as he interacted with the other A Pink members.

“Yeah. I mean, who would like someone like you.” Junghwa chimed in.

I swallowed, my throat tight with tears. Was it so hard for them to be supportive of me for once? I tore my gaze from Sehun and turned to look at them. At that moment, a short shriek was heard, and my head whipped around to see a girl being helped up by Sehun. The scattered items on the floor, the same gentle treatment. It was a play-by-play re-enactment of the first time I met Sehun. Maybe they were right. Maybe it really was false.

I thought of all those smiles he sent my way. All the times I laughed because of his words. Of how happy I was after every filming, and how much I looked forward to the next one. Was I the only one feeling that happy?

I got out of my seat and stumbled out of the door. The moment I got outside, I took in a deep breath of fresh air and sat down on the steps to think.

I was still brooding when a familiar voice interrupted my thoughts.

“Are you okay?” Sehun asked me, sitting down on the steps next to me and stretching out his long legs.

That voice of his. It’s still as gentle as it was a few months ago during the filming. If he were just acting everything out for the camera, why would he still use that same voice to torture me? It was as if he cared.  

“No I’m not.” I replied in a shaky voice. “I thank you for all the sweet things that you did for me during the filming, and all the kind actions that made me actually think that, no matter how insane it might sound, you cared.”

“What’re you talking about?” He furrowed his brow, reaching for my shoulder.

“Stop it!” I gasped, shying away from him. “Stop making it even worse than it is now! Stop giving me the wrong idea! Maybe Miyoung and Junghwa are right.” Tears rolled freely down my cheeks, messing up my make up. I didn’t care.

“Thena, I-”

“Stop calling me that!” I pleaded. Hearing him call me by the affectionate nickname had caused another wave of salty tears to spill down my face. “I had felt so alone until you came along. So fake. I thought that finally I had found someone who would make me feel comfortable with myself, and yet-”

He silenced me with a kiss.

I was too stunned to do anything but sit there limply, tears still dripping off my chin and onto his coat. I turned my head to the side, staring at bushes lining the yard.

“I don’t know what happened, and what people have been saying.” Sehun told me quietly. “But you should know by now to trust me, right?” he gingerly took my face between his hands and stared right into my eyes. His eyes, normally a dark-brown when the sunlight shone on his face, were now jet-black in the dim lighting.

The sounds of the ongoing party could still be heard from the outside. The clinking sound of silverware as they progressed with their dinner, the loud laughter of the conversing guests were clear as day.

I tuned out those noises and stared back at him. What had made my confidence in him waver?

“Everything I felt was real. What about you?” I asked softly.

He nodded, and sighed. “And here I was thinking that you were the one who didn’t like me. That I was the only one in love.”

I began to protest, and he held my hand to his cheek. He took a breath and began to speak.

“Well, I guess I don’t have to worry about that anymore, right?”

Writer: minminXP

For: LsLoveisInfinite

I'm not too familiar with EXO, so I had to do some research before writing this story. Hopefully, I managed to get some things right. Thank you for requesting and I hope you enjoyed reading it! :)