JYP did not show up at lunch and so with no word from him, the video shoot continued. In the studio, there were six separate scenes set-up: a balcony, a meadow, an Egyptian throne room, a Grecian bedroom, a dancer’s quarters, and a fancy bedroom with a four-poster bed. By lunchtime, Lancelot and Guinevere had consummated their relationship for the last time and Scarlet and Rhett Butler were ready for whatever tomorrow would bring.

            Helen and Paris were halfway through their scene, while those who had not yet filmed were getting photos taken on their sets for promotions.

            Ha Neul, hair straight and shiny, was standing on an oriental carpet, her slippers abandoned nearby. She had her arms up in a pose she had seen in a Bollywood movie ages ago and had her left leg pointed out. Taec was reclining against red silken pillows, watching her with a goblet in his hand. Gauzy curtains were draped around the makeshift room and a fake window looking out onto palace gardens had been made to add realism.

            The photographer was shooting images of them as Ha Neul mimed a dance she had been taught recently. Taec’s eyes were intense as they followed her, leaving the photographer satisfied with the shots for now.

            “Now, Anarkali, I want you to hold that pose and Salim please come up behind her as if you cannot control yourself. You have to touch her now.” Taec rose to his feet and stood behind Ha Neul. His right hand found her waist while his left hand trailed to entwine his fingers with her raised hand. He bent his head to her neck and breathed deeply while the photographer merrily clicked away.

            “I feel the desire, this is fantastic!” Without any further instruction, Taec spun Ha Neul to face him and lifted her chin with his left hand while her own hands rested on his chest.

            Then he pulled her tightly to him, lifting her so he could bury his face in the crook of her neck.

            “You smell nice, Hanna,” he whispered before setting her down. She felt her cheeks get warm, but managed to retain her calm. This was business right now; she really should not let other things bother her.

            “This is just brilliant. I can feel the .” After a few more poses, he clapped his hands and told them that they were done.

            Ha Neul pulled away from Taecyeon meekly. Without the camera there, she was no longer Anarkali, but normal Ha Neul and that person was a little unsettled at how Taec was still looking at her as he had when the camera was there. To Ha Neul, this meant that whatever he was feeling was obviously not a business matter, but one of pleasure.

            In all honesty, it would make sense if he was trying to get into her pants. She had no illusions about males in their 20s, especially idols. And Ha Neul would not exactly hold off on that. In her opinion, if it’s already gone, why should she deprive herself of getting it with a y Korean man? There was no real reason for that.

            Then the romantic side of her piped up about such nonsensities like feelings and relationships. Ha Neul scoffed silently. Who honestly was into that anymore? No one she had met. She kept her wish for a monogamous relationship a deep secret because for some reason guys were not into that, or at least not where she was from.

            By five o’clock everyone had finished filming. JYP has showed up at that point in time and retired to the editing room to see what on earth his talent’s had unleashed for their fans. Meanwhile, 2PM and the girls were changing into their street clothes.

            “Chansung was actually not as fumbling as I thought,” Leila told Maria as she pulled on her shoes. Maria laughed, tugging on her dress.

          “That’s how I felt with Wooyoung. I mean, everything still felt a little awkward, but I think we made it work.”

            “Junsu-oppa was fun to work with,” Madeleine said thoughtfully. “He certainly knew what he was doing though.” She ran a brush through her hair and checked her make-up in the mirror.

            “I’m not surprised,” Laura answered from behind them, already dressed and ready to head out. “It is Junsu-oppa after all. He just exudes this air like he knows exactly what he’s doing.”

            “And he did. Hey, Ha Neul, how did yours go?” The only reply was silence. Madeleine looked around the room, but the girl was nowhere to be seen. Her clothes were gone, but her purse was still in its chair, so she must have changed and left while they had been talking. Anna, though normally watching her every motion, had been in the bathroom and missed Ha Neul’s departure.

            “Where’d she go?” Leila asked though it was obvious no one knew the answer. She shrugged in an ‘oh well’ manner, returning to her conversation with Maria.

            The girls were chatting together about their plans for the evening and the rest of the week when Min Jee, the hair and make-up stylist, wandered into the room. She bowed to the girls and addressed them in Korean.

            “Jin young-ahjusshi is calling a meeting with everyone. He has some words to say about the shoot, uh, and some changes are going to be made. So he will discuss that with you all and make a new schedule. He wants to meet now, so hurry up.” She smiled warmly at them. “I will be waiting outside the door to take you all. Where’s Ha Neul?”

            “She disappeared.”

            “Oh really? Well, I’m sure she’ll find her way to the conference room.”  Min Jee turned and left the room while the rest of the girls gathered up their stuff. Leila picked up Ha Neul’s purse and followed them out.

            When they arrived at the room, the boys were sitting on one side of a long table, leaving the other side open for the girls. Taec was seated in the seat closest to the door, a wide smile on his face. His hair looked as if he ran his hands through it multiple times. The girls settled in, leaving the last seat empty. As JYP entered, Ha Neul tip-toed in quietly and slid into the seat. She was looking worse for wear, her hair mussed from the ponytail it was in, but her eyes were shining.

            “Well, well, well, look what we have here,” JYP drawled, holding a DVD in his hand. He shook his head and placed the DVD in the player. “This is the compilation of everyone’s scenes. I’ll just let them speak for themselves.” He closed the DVD player and dimmed the lights. Taec met Ha Neul’s eyes across the table and winked at her. She smiled grudgingly in return, only inciting the idol to grin.

            “Actually, I will not. Some of these scenes were lacking passion, actually most were. And a couple of the shoots were fine and then one showed entirely too much passion.” JYP raised an eyebrow at the confused looks. “Shall we start with that one?” he asked, pointing the remote to the player. He clicked the ‘next’ button a few times and then hit play.

            The scene opened to a lush Indian room with silken pillows and colourful drapes. The camera zoomed onto a reclining Taec, his gaze riveted on Ha Neul, her body moving slowly to a soft melody. The opening music to “All Night Long” began to play and Ha Neul’s movement stopped as Taec began to speak.

            “Girl…come a little closer. Let me show you…what you never felt before…” She turned lightly on her heel at his words. “Yeah…sshhh…….c’mon.” Taec beckoned her over with a finger and a lazy smile. He repeated those words as she slowly strolled over and then dropped to her knees at his side. The music skipped to the final chorus before Taec’s rap. Ha Neul’s position had moved and she was laying over Taec, her knee between his legs and her hands were placed on either side of his head.

            His fingers were slowly trailing down her face and then neck as he began, “Yo, out of all the girls who make up half of this world…me having met you…I know it’s too obvious for me to say it’s good luck.” He reached up and lightly kissed her forehead as his hand rested on her hips. “But as I watch you know, those words come out…when your eyes meet mine, those words come out of my mouth, oh my god!” Ha Neul bent to press her lips to his cheek and then down along to his ear. “Touch your red lips to my cheeks; keep melting my heart with sweet words.” Her lips began moving at his ear, but whatever she said was inaudible. “Here, there, there, here, there, here, there, there…” At that point, Taec flipped so that now he was on top of her and he continued, “Until any girl that’s not you doesn’t seem like a girl to me…” With a smirk, he bent his neck and placed his lips to hers as the chorus began.

            One arm was beneath Ha Neul’s back and his free hand ran down the side of her body to her thigh, where it stopped and then he pulled her leg to wrap around his lower back. Taec deepened this kiss as his now free hand caressed her side. Ha Neul arched her back at the contact and then moaned. At the corner of the scene, Wooyoung dressed as Romeo popped in. He looked scandalized at the scene before him. He picked up a spare pillow and proceeded to whack his hyung with it.

            With that scene fresh in everyone’s mind, JYP paused the DVD.  The boys were doing a respectable job of not staring open-mouthed at the pair at the end of the table, except for Chansung whose mouth was completely open. As for their feminine counterparts, they were all silently thinking that Ha Neul’s scene was way better than the ones they filmed. Even Anna was amazed at what good actors they were though she wondered how much was faked and how much was real. “Perhaps too much realism, you think?”

            “Aish, hyung, you didn’t have to show the whole video. I thought they said they would erase that part,” he said to JYP. Jin Young-hyung lifted his shoulders and made a face as if he had no control over this.

            “It is erased from the official cut, but a couple of the female producers just could not let such ‘undeniable passion and such a true representation of what this video was about’ go to waste.” In his explanation, JYP even included air quotes. “Those are their words, not my own. I assure you.” He set the remote down and flicked his eyes over the twelve young adults before him. “What do you all honestly think of that scene? Was it too much or appropriate enough?”

            They all exchanged looks, somewhat perturbed that he was asking their opinion. Ever since JYP had released the ban on dating, he had been oddly lax with the rules. He had not even shown up to the video shoot today and now he was asking for their input.

            Wooyoung tentatively raised his hand. JYP gruffly nodded to him, waiting for him to speak. “I would like it better if I wasn’t shown being a bad dongseng and hitting my hyung. But, uhm, I think the producer nunas are right, it does promote the theme well. I was just surprised. I had no idea they were filming.”

            “And so you hit Taec with a pillow…why?” inquired Laura from across the table, her blonde head cocked to the side.

            “I thought he was molesting Ha Neul, of course.” He of mandu cheeks answered matter-of-factly.

            The great JYP himself could not stop the face palm that overtook his body and the others were just as powerless. Save He Neul who stared at Wooyoung like his was a moron. She shook her head and rubbed her temples tiredly.

            “Why are we even discussing this, ahjusshi?”

            “I think this is a great topic,” Junsu said before JYP could answer Ha Neul. “Taec has more moves than I thought. I applaud you, dongseng.”

            “This really is not about what sort of game Taec is spitting,” interjected Leila.   “Jin Young-ahjusshi, what is this meeting really about?”

            “Oh well, you figured me out then.” JYP sat in the big leather chair at the end of the table. Crossing his hands in his lap, he began, “It’s like this. Though you still have the Hottests, your public image has taken a downturn lately. This has been distressing me as of late since you boys are very important to me, like the sons I never wanted.” He sighed wistfully and wiped invisible tears from his eyes. “Now, how to rectify this problem has been haunting my waking and sleeping hours. My mind was wondering how we together could change this and so I conducted an online poll!” He grabbed up the remote and switched from DVD to the computer. The screen turned blue and then changed to a bar graph. One of the bars, a yellow one, was obviously the winner of whatever poll this was. But there were no words on the graph at all. Before anyone could ask, JYP continued his tirade. “It was overwhelmingly clear what we should do to help you guys! Are you ready?”

            Maria cleared , destroying any suspense. “What does any of this have to do with us?”

            “Yeah, I agree with Maria. How are we involved at all?” Laura and Leila nodded to add their assent to what Maria and Madeleine had said. They were outsiders technically here.

            Anna slammed her fists on the table and shot up out of her chair. “You girls are pathetic! We have been chosen to help save the greatest boy group that the world has ever seen and you are daring to back out! This is your chance to be a part of something special!” Her impassioned voice rang out through the room. “Don’t Stop! Can’t Stop!” She her fist into the air and waited for applause. None came, so she sunk back into her chair.

            “What a lovely display of fanaticism,” commented Ha Neul drily. She let out a breath and shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I have to agree with crazy Anna on this one. We’re obviously here for a reason though Jin young-ahjusshi is not quite revealing it yet. At least I hope I’m right. Are we even using this video we just filmed?”

            “Heh, about that…” With the grumble of protests, JYP raised his hands to silence them. “No, have I ever led you wrong, 2PM? Listen to me, a film will be the perfect way to showcase your individual talents!”

            “We’re doing a movie?” Junho inquired incredulously. Way JYP losing his mind?

            “If Super Junior can film a movie then so can we,” JYP replied, a hint of petulance in his voice.

            “Did you go out for drinks with Lee Soo Man-hyung again?” Chansung asked.

            “Oh god, is that what this movie thing’s about?” added Wooyoung.

            “Hey, hey, hey, it’s not only that. Fans have always wanted to see more of you boys and that’s what I, the great JYP, shall give them. If I can take the Wonder Girls to America, then I can get you to make a movie.”

            “It doesn’t seem quite fair, does it? I mean, the Wonder Girls get to go to America for a year and we’re here filming a movie?” Junsu raised an eyebrow at his hyung.

            “Who said we are filming here?” The boys piqued up expectantly. “We’re filming in Jeju Island.” The seemed to appease them for the time being though everyone was still wary about how exactly this would help anything. “Basically it will be an hour and a half fan service music video. Since it’s on an island, there will be plenty of shirtless shots and summer romance a la High School Musical 2, but at a beach resort!”

            Any interest in the project was effectively killed by the comparison. JYP could feel the mood dampen at his words. He laughed nervously at their decidedly unimpressed looks. And then he had an epiphany.

            “You have no choice in the matter. I will reinstate the ban on dating and I knowsome of you would truly hate that. And you have signed a contract to work with the company for a certain amount of time, all of you,” he stressed when he saw the girls exchange relieved looks.

            “Hold on a sec, we have to be in this Korean HSM?” Leila was aghast at the mere thought of it.

            JYP nodded sagely, though a small grin was lighting up his face. Ah yes, he thought, those girls blindly signed contracts that were for a movie not a music video. He was very clever.

            Only Ha Neul and Anna seemed unaffected by this news. Ha Neul more so because she wanted to see the famous Jeju Island and Anna wanted more time with her favourite idols, especially if it meant a chance at stardom.

            “Well, that is all for today, so we will meet in a few days and I will provide scripts and the like. Consider this a mini-vacation until the real work begins. Great work today on the video, by the way. Especially you two,” he winked at Taec and Ha Neul, before walking out of the room.

            “Did that just happen?” Nichkhun asked, having been oddly silent the entire time. He rested his cheek in his hand and let out a deep breath. “At least we have a vacation.”

            “And we’re going to Jeju,” Wooyoung added. He looked down at his arms and pouted his lips. “I’ll have to get sun block. I can’t mess up my complexion, my fans will hate me.”

            “Beach means bikinis,” Junsu mused, a whisper of a smile on his lips. He shot a look to the girls, “Do you ladies need help finding bikinis?”

            “Yes, actually,” Madeleine and Laura responded.

            “Ooh, me too,” put in Leila.

            “Same here,” Maria agreed.

            “I always come prepared,” Anna announced. “I packed four just in case. A model should always have a bikini packed, for you never know when there will be an impromptu swimsuit photo shoot.”

            Junsu nodded his head slowly, sorry that he had ever asked. He turned his head to Ha Neul, waiting for her answer.

            “I suppose I might as well,” she answered, leaning back against her chair.

            “This is great! Boys, we’re going shopping tomorrow.”

            Taec looked less than thrilled at this as did Chansung since neither of them was big on fashion. Ha Neul herself who did enjoy shopping, but not for swimsuits was also unenthused at the explosive positive reaction that this shopping date entailed. As the Jun bros. filled them in on the best shopping places in Seoul, Wooyoung and Nichkhun were talking to each other quietly. Wooyoung was bent over his cellphone while Nichkhun hurriedly whispered in his ear. Chansung was staring off into space, thinking about what he wanted to eat for dinner. However, his sharp eyes did not miss a little exchange between Taec and Ha Neul. She looked at him pointedly and then tilted her head towards the door and mouthed a word Chansung was completely unfamiliar with. It had to be in English, he decided. His hyung then nodded in reply.

            After a minute or two, Ha Neul stood up and bowed deeply to the room.

            “Mianhae, everyone, but I cannot join you for dinner tonight. I have some other matters to take care of, but I’ll see you tomorrow.”

            There were grumbles from everyone, but they reluctantly said their farewells to her. Taec rose to his feet, asking if she even knew how to get back to her hotel from here.

            Chansung watched as Ha Neul slapped her hand to her forehead. “Whoa, I’m such a babo. I hadn’t even considered that. We’re like two blocks away, right? Or is that your apartment building. Omo…” She bit her lip nervously, pondering what to do.

            “Aish, c’mon, I’ll take you. I’ll see you guys later.”

            Taec leaving as well was no surprise to anyone. Anna herself learned to accept this fact, or at least she would pretend to. In the meantime, she had set her sights elsewhere. Why should she be fawning over a Beast when there was a Prince right before her? Sure the beast turns into a prince in the end, but an already-made prince was sitting right before her.

            Nichkhun became aware of a pair of batting blue eyes on him. He steadfastly ignored looking back because he knew what he would see and it spelled nothing but trouble for him.

            Chansung looked from the door back to the table and then back again. “D-did you just see that??”

            His hyungs shrugged their shoulders and the girls nodded. “They’re probably going on a date,” Junsu explained. “That babo asked her earlier.”

            “I don’t think it’s a date. Did you see how they were looking at each other?”

            “Really Chansung? I highly doubt they are going to have a hot and steamy make-out session,” Leila said with a laugh.

            “I don’t know about Ha Neul, but Taecyeon-hyung is so greasy and goofy with girls that I doubt anything of that sort would happen,” Junho explained with a laugh. The other boys couldn’t help but agree with that statement.

            “But, you all saw the video!” The maknae protested, pointing to the now blank screen.

            “Taec-hyung’s a different person on-camera rather than off,” Wooyoung pointed out. “He doesn’t scowl like that on a daily basis. He’s a bit of a mess actually.”

            “Ha Neul does not seem like the type to be so physically forward without the promise of a relationship,” Maria considered thoughtfully.

            Though everyone in the room was in agreement, Chansung still was not sure. But they were just not listening at this point. The conversation had turned back to shopping and what to do with their vacation.