hey everyone! I know i haven't done anything in years but Caught on Tape...surprise? so i started writing this in 2013, inspired by donghae's struggle on WGM, and then struggled with it myself. hopefully it's funny, fluffy,and endearing.

this fic is already completed and 16.6K words long (40ish pages!) so i'll post the second half tomorrow or the day after.

of note: hyukjae looks somewhat like this and this, donghae looks like this but sometimes has his hair pushed up, and i had a lot of trouble casting the mean character because i don't know many mean girl idols.  jessi ho of unpretty rapstar fame seems to enjoy the vibe i was going for though i'm sure a lot of it is tv persona.

also that pork comment that donghae makes is 100% something he said on WGM lmao. does anyone recognize the other thing that's been mentioned in real life? ヽ(´ー`)ﾉ

enjoy! i'm rather proud of a few bits hahah.

______________________

“I won’t be able to make it until 3, sorry.  I sent the car for you, so I hope you’re on your way now.  See in you in a couple hours.”

Throwing his phone aside with a huff, Donghae crossed his arms and allowed himself a small tantrum in the backseat of the company car.  He supposed he should be grateful for his manager even getting him this opportunity, but being a newbie in the business meant that he still had to share him -- Seho was probably working with a rookie girl group at this very moment instead of coaching him on his way to his first big reality show.  A dating reality show, which was not exactly his forte.  He replied with a quick text of his own and a frowny face to inform his manager that he was almost there, and then he spent the last five minutes of the ride straightening his jacket and picking at imaginary lint on the outfit that he’d spent an hour choosing, all the while knowing that they’d whisk it off of him within 20 minutes of arriving.

First impressions are important, he told himself firmly, deciding to keep his sleeves unrolled after all.  

The car rolled to a stop, and shortly after thanking the grumpy driver and stepping out, Donghae realized he’d forgotten his phone.  Frantically waving at him through the tinted windows, he watched as the car started up and shot out of the lot without hesitation.             

“Maybe he didn’t see me,” Donghae muttered, not wanting to chase after him and cause a scene in front of anyone who might be on set already.  Hopefully it would be turned in to management back at the company, eventually.  As he turned back and walked towards the sweeping property on the other side of the gate, a perky young woman with a messy bun seemed to appear out of nowhere and latch onto his elbow.

“Lee Donghae?”  

“Right. Hi,” Donghae said cautiously, looking down at her slightly frazzled expression.       

“I mean, of course you are.  Sorry, I’m Hwasa.  You’re on time, but just barely, so let’s get you inside and ready.”  Still clutching his arm, she began to march off, but Donghae was busy gawking at the mansion in front of them.           

“Is this where we’re filming all season?” he said, awestruck.  “Does Ailee-ssi live here or something?” 

He was met with bright laughter. “Oh, you’re adorable. Of course not. It’s just that for the first episode we have to make a big impression, so the official meeting between Ailee and the bachelors will be in the main garden. Gotta make it look classy, you know?  We’re just renting for the day.  We actually need to be out before 8 to avoid any extra fees, so if we could just hurry in...” She shot Donghae a pleading look.

“Yes, of course! Sorry...”

So there was a little bit of smoke and mirrors involved in this, but nothing Donghae couldn’t handle.  He followed Hwasa to the imposing front door.  This would be fun!

______________

Over an hour later, Donghae was reminded of how much fun preparing for shooting actually was -- as in, not much.  Working on dramas, he was used to being caked with makeup and forced into different clothes, but this somehow seemed a lot more...hectic.  He thought he would have been used to this by now.   

“There’s a 30% chance it’ll be cloudy tomorrow,” someone snapped behind him.  “If they have to wear long sleeves and cover up tomorrow, then that means we need to move the sleeveless outfit set to another day, and you just need to come prepared for situations like this, okay?”

Donghae was surprised at the level of micro-managing.  He figured that getting to know Ailee would be like typical dates, with some group activities thrown in and a little bit of competition, but on film.  It couldn’t be that complicated.  Certain outfits for certain days?  He began to feel a bit anxious about what he’d gotten into.  Grabbing a starstruck assistant who’d been cooing over his “innocent face”, he asked for the time and cringed, realizing his manager would be here and looking for him soon, in vain without his phone.  Whatever.  He was going to be a big enough star to merit this bit of carelessness soon enough.  Probably.  Besides, his manager was the one who was late. It made him look bad, showing up alone!  , Lee Sungmin had shown up with three bodyguards. Despite being in action movies as a martial arts expert...

 Still, Donghae was too sweet to let his manager search across the giant property for him and set out to look for him.  Turning into a corridor, he promptly walked into someone coming from the other way and stumbled back.                      

“Oof. Sorry!” Donghae shook his head, disoriented.

“My bad.”  A low, rough voice replied to him, and he looked up, taken aback.

Despite the simple flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up over his sinewy forearms and the weathered jeans slung low on his hips, the man standing in front of him was strikingly handsome.  Donghae felt a sting of something almost like envy as he looked at the smooth, glowing skin and pretty, yet piercing eyes that surveyed him in turn.  He didn’t have much of a chance of charming Miss Kim Ailee with competition like this.

Realizing that the silence between them would quickly grow awkward, Donghae stuck out his slightly sweaty hand.  “Hi! I’m Lee Donghae, contestant number three.  It’s nice to meet you. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of each other during filming.”

The guy with the shock of red hair slowly extended his own hand, meeting Donghae’s in a firm grip.  Before letting go, he raised an eyebrow and asked, “Are you really going to go around for two weeks introducing yourself like that? Contestant number three?”

Donghae accepted that he was, on occasion, clueless. But even he could see the blatant laughter in the taller man’s eyes.  He withdrew from his grasp, furrowing his own eyebrows a bit.  

“No, I mean it’s just the first few days.  So people know.  Anyways, if we’re talking about advice, I might suggest dressing a little nicer next time you come on set if you want to impress Miss Ailee.  Your look is a little...casual.”

Now both of those bold eyebrows were raised high, the stranger looking at Donghae in disbelief.

“Seriously?”

“I’m not trying to be rude,” Donghae explained kindly. “I just really think that even though that look works for you, it maybe, doesn’t really give you...the strongest first impression, you know?”

The other man spread his arms and gestured at himself, drawing Donghae’s eyes down his -- objectively nice -- body.  

“What about this screams reality tv star to you, Donghae-ssi? Hmm?”  He plucked a pencil out from where it had been tucked behind his ear.  “Or this?”

Donghae was confused.  He couldn’t very easily say “well, your face, and also, the rest of you.”  But if he wasn’t just a male model wandering around the set, who was he? “Um...”

The other man relaxed his arms with a slight grimace. “My name is Hyukjae, and I work on the set of MBC’s soulless, most depraved reality shows.  Glamorous, I know. Try not to get too jealous.”  With that he pivoted and walked away, disappearing into the chaos going on in the makeup department.  

Donghae stood still as production assistants and frantic stylists rushed around him.  2 hours on location, and he’d already made himself look like a fool.

________________

The male contestants had been neatly arranged around the stone fountain in the main garden, and were waiting for the arrival of Ailee herself.  Taking away from the romance of the illusion was the fact that Ailee had come around to say hi to each of her suitors during prep time.  Donghae had had his hair clipped up off his forehead like a middle school girl when he felt a soft hand on his shoulder.  He looked up into a bright, smiling face that was extremely familiar thanks to various billboards around Seoul.  “Donghae-ssi?  Hey, I’m Ailee.”  Donghae opened his mouth, but she steamrolled on, sparing him an apologetic look.  “Looks like we’re going to be working together for the next couple weeks.  I’m really looking forward to it!  Anyways, I’m supposed to give you this.”  She rummaged through a sheaf of papers before slapping a crinkled list on the top of the vanity.  “Here’s a list of stuff I don’t like.  You should really be fine but it’s just a precaution if you decide you want to get creative.  I wouldn’t recommend it.  Not that I care, it’s just that we don’t want to throw off filming, you know.  So yeah, no rollercoasters or petting zoos or whatever.  I’ve got severe allergies and a weak stomach.”  A man carrying a pile of audio equipment beckoned to her from the doorway.  “Oh god, I’ve got to run. Sorry.  So get a copy of that to your manager.  We’ll be seeing each other soon!”

At the look on Donghae’s face, she’d patted his head and kindly ignored the bobbling clip.  She certainly was pretty in real life, Donghae noticed, but as she disappeared in a flurry of hair spray, his first thought was that his carefully planned date for next weekend was already in the trash.  Maybe his manager could sell those Lotte World tickets he’d bought.

At the sound of the camera crew yelling out a countdown, Donghae shook himself a bit and prepared to put on a thoughtful, yet engaging expression for the camera.  Usually he was playing a character, and he’d even won a rookie award for his work.  But the problem with playing himself was that Donghae wasn’t really a leading man type of guy.  His last successful date had been in 2011, but he blamed his focus on acting for that.  He was a busy guy!

So maybe after marathoning Nichkhun and Victoria’s We Got Married streak, he was a little sentimental, okay?  He was caught up in their goofy romance.  He could handle that.  He wanted that.  As such, it had taken very little convincing on the part of Seho to get him to sign on for The Bachelorette.  If the exceedingly gorgeous Victoria (Seho swore he’d introduce them via fellow client Amber) could be courted on camera by a pop star, Donghae surely could handle it as someone with lots of practice courting fictional girls on TV.  Right?  Though Seho had mentioned something about the show emulating some American TV show, and the competition would complicate things, he assumed the general premise was pretty much the same.  Win the girl over.  

Getting a little too involved in his own thoughts, Donghae nearly missed the cue but snapped to attention just in time, looking at the camera with a slightly dimpled grin.  On his left, the famed ballad singer Cho Kyuhyun sighed.  Maybe he was going for wistful. Donghae snuck another glance at him.  Or maybe he was just bored.

Ailee finally stepped out, heels clicking against the tiled stone.  “Good afternoon, boys.”  Her voice had taken on a silky tone that Donghae hadn’t heard in the make-up room.  As the terrifyingly cheerful host, Leeteuk, introduced each contestant, Donghae smiled at Ailee.  Her large eyes flitted over the group, pausing at the sight of Choi Siwon and lighting up when she saw Jay Park, the mouthy, tattooed dancer that Donghae had only ever seen on TV.  Great, Donghae thought.  If there’s one thing I can’t be, it’s a bad boy.  

Speaking of which, his new friend Hyukjae appeared just behind the secondary cameraman, lugging a giant crate.  A few more buttons on his shirt seemed to have come loose -- it was spring, after all, Donghae reasoned.  It must be hot, doing physical activity like that all day long.  But really, that was just -- unprofessionally low.     

When it came time for the suitors to talk about themselves a little bit, Donghae paid attention.  He was definitely one of the freshest faces here, and that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Everyone else here was used to the business, as well as getting what they wanted.  

After the slightly eccentric Jonghyun swept a dramatic hand in his direction, Donghae cleared his throat and tilted his head to the side just a bit.  “Hello, I’m contestant number three, Lee Donghae.”  Out of the corner of his vision he saw Hyukjae rolling his eyes before uncoiling a thick cable and walking away.  But he continued without a hitch.  “I’m currently starring in my second drama, The Panda and The Hedgehog, which some of you may be watching.”  Ailee nodded excitedly, while Kyuhyun tried to contain his scoff.  Donghae plowed on, undeterred.  “It’s really lovely to be here with all of you, and I hope that I can show Ailee-ssi that I’m not just the perfect boyfriend on-screen in dramas, but off-screen as well.”  He flashed another smile at the camera and breathed a sigh of relief when everybody clapped politely.  

 After the cameras stopped rolling and Sungmin re-recorded his (overly cute) introduction in front of an increasingly awkward crowd of suitors, Donghae loosened his bow tie and headed to the dressing rooms.  He was moderately proud of himself, although sure not to get a big head this early in the week.  

“I bet you thought that line about being a drama boyfriend off-screen was extraordinarily clever, didn’t you?” a familiar voice drawled.  

Donghae stopped in his tracks.  “Hyukjae-ssi?”

The lanky man had appeared in front of him without him even noticing.  Donghae drew himself up to his full height.  Hyukjae appeared unimpressed, and also two inches taller.

 “Are you saying it wasn’t?”

 “I’m saying that calling anything about this “off-screen” makes you look ridiculous, because this whole thing is being filmed. Otherwise, I obviously wouldn’t be here.  Not saying you sounded fake but...you sounded fake.”  

Donghae gaped at the crew assistant.  He hadn’t thought of that when he’d rehearsed.  Not that it was a big deal, but first impressions, and -- damn.

Hyukjae hefted up the bulky camera in his hand, muscles flexing with the strain of it.  “Anyways, I gotta get back to work.  Better luck next time, contestant number 3.”  He breezed away as quickly as he came, leaving Donghae a little irritated.  Thank god the suitors’ filming was done for the hour.  He needed a break already.

__________________________________________

The next day, lunch was served for Donghae and Choi Siwon on the patio.  The two had lucked out by getting picked for a longer encounter during mealtimes, the PD assured them -- they just had to be careful and make sure they looked good eating and talking around Ailee.  And to make sure that the labels on their drink cans were showing.  

Ailee appeared, looking graceful and classy in a white lace dress, and she allowed Siwon to pull out her chair.  His manners were impeccable, but Donghae wasn’t going to make a fool out of himself by jumping up to her side of the table when he was obviously further away.  He vowed to try harder in the future though, and carefully speared a tricky piece of curly pasta that some heartless monster had put on the menu for lunch.  

But the meal went smoothly, as did the conversation.  An enthusiastic review of their delicious pasta gave way to a joking fight over favorite foods.

 “Do you eat a lot of pork, Ailee-ssi? Your skin is so clear,” Donghae commented, feeling a bit proud for slipping a compliment in.  Siwon stared at him weirdly.  

Ailee placed a delicate hand over her lips, and her shoulders shook for a moment. She regained her composure soon enough.  “Why yes, I do, Donghae-ssi.  Thank you for noticing.”

Just then, Hyukjae strolled by off-set, dropping a heavy looking box and then beginning to set up the tangled mess of poles and wires inside it.  Today he was wearing fingerless gloves and a ragged t-shirt that looked like the sleeves had been violently ripped off, and Donghae envied him.  His suit was getting more than a little warm (why had anyone been worried about a 30% chance of clouds?!), and what’s more, Hyukjae made him realize just how long it had been since he’d worked out his arms thoroughly.  When Hyukjae glanced up and caught him looking, Donghae instinctively raised a hand to wave at him.  

Hyukjae’s eyes widened at just about the same time that Siwon muttered “What are you doing?” out of the corner of his mouth.  Luckily, the main camera was focused on Ailee, who was saying something about how “interesting” it was to go on dates with such “charming, innocent boys” with a wide, strained smile.  Donghae’s hand shot back into his lap like a bullet.  

2 days on location, and he’d already made himself look like a fool twice.  At the very least.

__________________

Donghae was glum and twiddling his thumbs as he waited for his car to come pick him up at the front gates.  Not only had his frazzled manager grumbled at him about his hopeless cluelessness when he’d  called for reassurance, but a freak summer storm had popped up after all and cut out about an hour’s worth of filming.  Donghae had had no chance to redeem himself in Ailee’s eyes, and what’s more, it was their last day filming at the palatial mansion.  Tomorrow’s location would still be nice, Hwasa assured them, but not quite as luxurious.  

 But really, the biggest problem in Donghae’s eyes was that he hadn’t proven himself as a quality companion to Ailee at all.  She just thought he was nice.  Nice was safe. Nice was boring.  He would have to really turn up the charm tomorrow if he wanted her to actually be interested.

“What are you still doing here?”         

Donghae turned.  “Oh, hi Hyukjae-ssi,” he said moodily, not really feeling up to conversation at the moment.  

For once, Hyukjae paid no mind and carried on cheerfully.  “Don’t you have important things to be doing?  What’s a big star like you doing sitting around on a bench like a hobo?”

 Donghae sighed heavily and massaged his temples.  “If you must know, my manager had to take the car back and pick up documents for someone else, and he’s on his way now.  I can’t be a hobo if I have a manager.”

Hyukjae’s nimble fingers flicked a carton closed before lifting a slim cigarette to his lips.  At Donghae’s irritated look, he paused.  “What?”

 “Nothing.”  Donghae shuffled himself down the stone bench a bit, not caring if he seemed rude. To his surprise, Hyukjae let the unlit cigarette fall into his lap and shrugged.

“Whatever, I’m trying to quit anyways.”  Before Donghae could appreciate this bit of maturity, he continued, tone teasing but still a little too snide for Donghae’s liking.  “But anyways, is it killing you to wait out here like a normal person?  Wait a minute, who else does your manager even work for if--”

“You know, you’re kind of a jerk,” Donghae said abruptly.  He turned to face Hyukjae, who looked rather abashed.  “I know I’m not a big name or whatever, but one day that mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble around all the famous people you do piss off.”

Hyukjae recovered quickly, lips tilting on the edge of a sneer.  “You think so? Well, they need me around here to keep the whole charade from falling to pieces, so my big mouth and I are safe for at least a while now.  I appreciate the concern though, Donghae.”

“Donghae-ssi.” To you, at least, he thought moodily.

 “Donghae!”  But that came from Seho, who was leaning lazily out the window.

He had never been so happy to see his manager, he realized.  Bowing quickly to Hyukjae out of sheer habit, he muttered his goodbyes and made his way quickly to the car.  

As they drove away and the rain came down harder against the ornate roof of the sheltered garden, Donghae looked back and saw Hyukjae watching their car leave, fingers fiddling with that same cigarette.  He wondered what he was waiting for.  A twinge of guilt poked at his insides.  Perhaps tomorrow he would offer him a ride.

_________________________________

Jay Park’s charisma was off the charts, Donghae noted a bit sourly.  As he and the other contestants watched, he popped and locked  on display for a giggling Ailee before sliding down into a split.  Donghae felt panicky.  He had no discernible talents, unless someone was going to let him read off a script in order to impress her.  He wasn’t a bad singer per se, but with the likes of Kim Jonghyun and Cho Kyuhyun around, he --

 “Donghae! Can you come here, please?”  A petite girl that he’d seen flitting around Hwasa was beckoning to him on the other side of the room, and he tore himself away from the monitors that relayed images of Jay and Ailee’s smiling faces from the room downstairs. “We just need to go over the competition for tonight.”  Apparently he would be fighting for Ailee’s heart against Lee Sungmin tonight, via ...a movie date.  Seriously?  

 “It’ll be cuddly and cute,” the assistant explained, not quite registering Donghae’s scrunched up expression.  Cuddly and cute would certainly work for Lee Sungmin, martial arts or not.  “But, you know, whoever picks the movie she likes better and makes it romantic or comfortable or whatever...” She flipped through the thick stack of papers in her hand.  “I’m not really sure what they’re going for, to be honest, but you know,  when they choose your movies you have to put your arm around her shoulders and act like --”

 “I know just the thing!” Donghae butted in, suddenly beaming at her despite the confusion on her face. “If you’ll excuse me.”  He had a copy of Titanic that he needed to get his hands on.  Perhaps this would work out after all.

Pulling out his phone, he made to dial his manager, not seeing the forlorn look on the assistant’s face as he walked away.  But when he ducked into a corner of the hallway to make the call, he noticed Hyukjae tugging an unwieldy cart towards the elevator (the “smaller” mansion they were in now still had an elevator).  His back was to Donghae, and before he could say a word of warning, a hurricane burst through the elevator doors in the form of Jessi, the control freak who had ranted and raved about the weather on Donghae’s first day here.  Just as Hyukjae straightened up, the manicured hand holding her cup of coffee crashed into his side, along with the rest of her, and somehow Donghae was caught in the crossfire.  Still-warm coffee splashed and seeped into the fabric of his tan suit, and he yelped.  

 “Holy , Donghae, I --”  Hyukjae looked startled and then immediately horrified, but before he could say another word, Jessie interrupted.

 “Are you kidding me?  You have one job, which is to carry around, and you can’t even do that without ruining a contestant’s day?”  Her voice was unexpectedly shrill, and both men winced.  

Donghae was a little annoyed, but mostly just sticky.  “I really don’t think that Hyukjae--”

“You think that was my fault? Seriously?” Hyukjae, apparently, wanted to stand up for himself.  “Maybe you could remove your drawn-on face from  your before trying to walk and chew gum at the same time, and actually look where you’re going?”

“I don’t think that’s necessary --” Donghae tried, annoyed at how petty Hyukjae was acting, but the fuming girl in question cut him off as well.

 “Whatever, you owe me a coffee and an apology.  Or do you want Sooyoung to hear about how you threw a latte all over one of our most promising contestants?”  Her enraged expression had melted into a self-satisfied smile.

 “You think I’m promising?” Donghae couldn’t help but ask, but Hyukjae’s scoff was louder.    “Right, because your empty threats last time worked really well.  Oh wait, no, I’m still here.”  Still, he looked on edge.

But Jessi simply sank her nails into Donghae’s arm.  “They will with a witness,” she smirked.  Donghae supposed she would look kind of y under any other circumstances, but his arm was starting to hurt, and besides --

 “Um, I’d really rather not get involved,” he said awkwardly, attempting to free himself from her vicious grip.  For the first time, Jessi actually looked at him.  Hyukjae was staring as well.

 “What?”  Jessi’s pitch was rising dangerously again, and Donghae had to remind himself not to physically cower.  “He practically assaulted you! You say one word to Sooyoung, and you can get him kicked off for good!”  She was practically vibrating with excitement, and this time Donghae did back away slightly, if only to avoid her intensity.

 “Right, about that....it’s really okay.  I’m sure it was just an accident on Hyukjae’s part, and next time he’ll be careful around such a lovely lady like yourself.”  Donghae offered her one of his most charming grins in the hopes that she would just calm the down.  He was the one with coffee all over him, for god’s sake.

Jessi simply glowered and pivoted on her heel, stalking away while pulling her cell phone back out and dialing furiously.  Donghae exhaled.  This place was full of ridiculous  people.  He turned and realized Hyukjae was still there, looking at him like he had an extra head.

 “Uh, hello?”  Donghae waved a hand in his face briefly and it was as though he’d flipped a switch.  Hyukjae practically deflated, a tense sigh hissing through his lips.  

 “If it were just Jessi nobody would care, but pissing off a contestant would put my on the line for sure,” he mumbled.  Then he raised large, inquisitive eyes to Donghae’s face.  “You basically just had my job in the palm of your hand and you didn’t even try to mess with it?”

Donghae just looked at him in disbelief.  “Why would I?  Because you’re rude to me personally, you really  think I’d try to get you fired? I don’t even have time for that, nor do I care.”  Hyukjae was still visibly surprised by what Donghae considered a seemingly normal reaction.  “Also, I’m not an .  You should try it sometime.”

At that, Hyukjae laughed shyly.  It was a pretty noise, almost seeming too gentle for him.  “Aren’t you going to say “I told you so”?  I believe I remember you saying something about my big mouth getting me in trouble...”

Donghae shrugged and started to kick aimlessly at the edge of Hyukjae’s box.  “I mean, no. She kind of seems like she’d start breathing fire if you even looked at her the wrong way.”  He fell into step beside Hyukjae easily as they both moved towards the elevator.  “Going down?”

“Yep.” Hyukjae pummelled the “close” button and they began their descent.  “I mean, to be fair, it wasn’t entirely... without precedent.”

“Uh-oh.” Donghae grinned for the first time since this whole mess had started. “What did you do?”

“More like what didn’t I do,” Hyukjae retorted.  “I didn’t say yes to her when she asked me out last year.”

Donghae’s brows crinkled in confusion. “That seems a little excessive, though.”  Jessi was gorgeous, but after seeing her personality in action, he couldn't blame Hyukjae much.

Hyukjae heaved a sigh.  “Well, then I said yes to the next person that asked me on a date.  Which happened to be her cousin.”

“So what, you caused some girl-on-girl hate within the family? Maybe I do get it,” Donghae said as they walked out to the ground floor.  Wasn’t there a bathroom just over there before?  Damn it.

Without missing a beat, Hyukjae replied, “Not quite. She saw him kissing me outside at a staff party and kind of flipped her .”

She saw him-- oh.  Oh.  Suddenly a vividly cartoonish image involving Hyukjae and Jessi’s faceless cousin came to mind, Jessi shrieking in the background.  Donghae hated himself for assuming.

He realized Hyukjae was glancing at him out of the corner of his eye, as if to gauge his reaction.  Donghae cleared his throat with a weak chuckle and just said, “Still, you were tearing their family apart.”

“Something like that,” Hyukjae agreed as Donghae followed him around an unfamiliar corner.  “Weirdly enough, she got mad again when I dumped him the next week.  She really wasn’t mad about him being a guy, but by the time she got used to being rejected for him, her familial loyalty kicked in.”

Before Donghae could reply, he realized that they were standing outside of the ornate bathroom that he thought he’d seen before by the elevators.  Hyukjae had led the way.  

“Here.  I’ll radio someone about bringing you new clothes, actually.”  It was the nicest thing he’d said to Donghae since they’d met.”And by the way...thanks a lot.  For saving my .”  He was grinning, a little sheepish.

Despite his shock, Donghae managed a slight smile.  “No problem.”

Emerging from the bathroom fifteen minutes later feeling considerably less grimy, Donghae looked around for the young intern that had brought him clothes.  He was nowhere in sight. In fact, nobody was around. And Donghae had no idea how he’d gotten here. This was supposed to be the smaller mansion?

After pitifully calling his manager for help, Donghae managed to make it upstairs in time to eat dinner -- or rather, film dinner while trying not to drop oversized pieces of drippy lettuce on his clean new suit.  Who was choosing these ing menus?  He had informed his manager of the pressing need to find a copy of Titanic before they departed for the home theater on the first floor, and hopefully everything would go according to plan.  He and Sungmin were supposed to flip a coin or something to decide who would be going first, but something about being in a rush and filming it later came up, so Jessi’s boss herself (presumably Sooyoung? Should Donghae know these things?) waved him in the direction of hair and makeup first, ignoring Lee Sungmin’s severe pouting.  

As Donghae waited for yet another outfit change for his date, Hyukjae appeared, toting what looked like a toolbox.  He opened it for the woman who was tending to Donghae’s hair at the moment, only to reveal rows and rows of makeup.  He supposed he hadn’t been paying attention before when all the spackle came out, in favor of zoning out and worrying about his image.

At Donghae’s baffled look, Hyukjae grinned.  “To make sure your face looks just as pretty on camera,” he teased, but somehow it didn’t sound malicious.  Suddenly Donghae felt a bit hot and hoped that they wouldn’t be putting him in another suit.  

 “But I’m already wearing make-up,” he protested weakly as he was whisked back into his chair.  

 “Well, you have to get ready for your close-up.  It’s date night, after all.”  Hyukjae allowed himself a tiny smirk before disappearing back through the door.  Donghae’s makeup artist proceeded to block every visible pore on his body and decided that he was almost ready.

Ailee’s face had fallen a bit after hearing Donghae utter the words “Have you ever seen Titanic?”  He panicked a little as she stared at him helplessly, before snapping back to reality and arranging her face in a benevolent smile.

 “Not for a long time! That...that’s the one that’s three hours long, right?”  Donghae thought her smile was a little strained.  

“That’s right!  It’s a classic,” he said cheerfully, boldly taking her hand and leading her into the home theater, hoping his good mood would rub off on her.  She was really nice, but Donghae got the impression that she wasn’t particularly impressed with him yet.  Tonight, he could change that. Probably.

At the 30 minute mark in the movie, the cameras following their rapt faces (well, Donghae’s rapt face) all turned off, and a PD came bustling into the room.  “All right, so now when we forward to the last half of the movie, try and interact a little bit more, okay?  Good shots so far!”

Donghae blinked in the light, confused.  “Why are we fast-forwarding?  He hasn’t even painted her yet! Like one of his French girls!”

Ailee patted his arm comfortingly.  “They just gotta make sure they have enough time for Sungmin-ssi’s date too, you know?  It’s okay, you’re still going to get just as much facetime once they edit.”

Donghae relaxed in his seat, a bit put out.  “Okay then.  Maybe we can finish the whole thing some other day when you’re free!”  He didn’t see the way her eyebrows flew up, or how she turned and mouthed to her manager “Is this guy for real?”

“And go!”

They had managed to progress to one of the more dramatic scenes near the end when Donghae started sniffling. .  Ailee looked at him, alarmed.  “Donghae? Are you feeling okay?”  She looked around as though to find a crew member.  “Do you have...allergies or something?”

Donghae waved his hand around in a way that hopefully showed nonchalance.  “No, I’m fine! I’m fine. It’s just...this is where it all starts to go downhill, you know?This is it.  Where you know their love story is going to meet its tragic end and it’s just not fair --”

Donghae hiccupped, so caught up in his weepy retelling that he didn’t notice the lights flicking on until the PD’s shadow loomed over him.

"What’s going on?” she asked, staring at the tear tracks on Donghae’s face with a look of dawning disgust.  

 "I think Donghae-ssi has just had a very long day,” Ailee said helpfully.  “Maybe you could tell Lee Sungmin we’ll be ready for him to film soon?”

“Right...”  As the other woman walked away, shaking her head, Donghae started to realize that maybe he should have picked a less hard-hitting movie.  This was too much, too fast. Ailee was not ready for this side of him, no matter how sensitive and romantic.  He drooped in his seat, feeling the fresh sting of failure.  The crew moved around him, prepping the theater for Sungmin’s date (featuring a movie starring himself), and all of a sudden Hyukjae plopped into the seat next to him. Kicking his heels up, he reclined next to Donghae as he was rubbing his eyes.  

“You know, just because I’m gay doesn’t mean everybody here is.”

“What?” Donghae mumbled, feeling completely ashamed.

“I mean, Ailee doesn’t want to date a girl,” Hyukjae replied, straight-faced.

“What are you -- hey!” Donghae cried, jumping to his feet.  Hyukjae laughed and swung himself over the row of theater chairs, beckoning to Donghae with a long finger.  “Men can be in touch with their emotions too, you – you !”

“I’m just kidding. Don’t tell anyone I said that, it’s ing rude, I know, and Hwasa will have my head, deservedly so.  She’d blackmail me with my abominable taste in romcoms as well.  Come on, I’m going on break.”  Donghae followed him warily, in part so he wouldn’t have to make eye contact with anyone else in the room. When they reached the quiet hallway, Donghae grumbled again.  “ you.”

“Ooh, didn’t know you had that in you.  Watch out for cameras,” Hyukjae remarked, leading the way to the patio doors with a battered, unlit cigarette in his hand. They sat outside at a wrought-iron table, taking in the sunset quietly for a moment before Donghae fidgeted and pulled out his phone.  He felt awkward and had nothing in his hands to distract him.  Why had Hyukjae even brought him out here?  

“Why are you hanging out with me?” he blurted out.  

Hyukjae shrugged a single shoulder. “You looked like you maybe needed an escape, and my other option for company was following Jessi around and torturing her. Everyone else is upstairs filming the argument between Siwon and Kyuhyun.”

“Wait, what?!”

Hyukjae snickered.  “Calm down, you’ll see it all on TV later.”  Donghae couldn’t believe they would risk their images on the show over a petty fight.  He would have to tell his manager.

They were silent again for a bit.  Donghae tilted his head back.  “You know, instead of keeping us locked inside for a movie date, they could take advantage of this gorgeous sunset.  We could have gone on a picnic.”

“Sunset picnic is saved for the second to last episode, generally,” Hyukjae said automatically.  Donghae shot him a weird look.  Hyukjae certainly had a strange sense of humor.

“You’re a real romantic at heart, aren’t you?” Hyukjae added as an afterthought, looking at him properly.  “So then what the hell are you doing here?”

“Here? I mean, you know, I’m 26,” Donghae said thoughtfully.  “It’s about time for me to find a girlfriend...or something,” he added lamely, not wanting to offend Hyukjae even though his preferences had nothing to do with it.

Hyukjae snorted.  “Right,” he drawled. “Or something.”  But then his eyes widened.  “So wait, you would seriously want to date Ailee? Why?”

Donghae wasn’t sure if he should be offended on her behalf or not.  “I mean, why not?  She’s pretty and really nice and she’s a good dancer, and that’s kind of hot. Sooo, yeah.”  He looked at Hyukjae expectantly, as though awaiting his review.  The look in his eyes was nothing but disbelief.

“You can’t seriously think that she’ll --”

At that precise moment, Hyukjae’s walkie talkie crackled to life.  “Hyuk?  Can you come upstairs, please?  I believe we’ve lost Lee Donghae.”

“.”  Hyukjae jumped to his feet and Donghae scrambled to put his phone away before hurrying after him.

For some reason, he really wanted to know what Hyukjae would have said.

___________

A few days later, the first episode aired, and the next afternoon a tired-looking Hyukjae came up to him and clapped him on the back.  “Despite your unbelievable cluelessness, you’re doing pretty damn well in the rankings.  Well done, rookie.”

Donghae stared at him.  “You watched it?”

“Uh, it’s kind of my entire job to work on this show.  And I do a little bit more than carry your makeup around. Yes, I watched it.  You’re absurd.”  Hyukjae rolled his eyes and made to walk away, but Donghae stopped him.  

“Wait! So...you looked up my rankings?”  At this, Hyukjae sighed, turned right back around, and grimaced in Donghae’s face.  

“Okay, I realize that you think I’m just the lowly crew member who follows orders like a trained monkey and moves heavy boxes.  But if the idea of me being an intelligent part of this team bothers you, maybe you need to realize that this show’s success directly affects my career.  Got it? Have we gone over all the basics yet? Jeez.” He swung back around, an irritable look on his face.  

“I was just asking,” Donghae muttered.  But he felt a flutter of pride at Hyukjae’s hidden compliment -- and apparently his “quirky charm” was a hit with many of the girls watching.  Siwon was still above him in terms of pretty much everything, but his stock was dropping.  Soon, Choi Siwon, soon --

“Donghae, what are you doing here?”  He looked around for the familiar voice and found Hwasa staring at him, clipboard in hand as usual.  

 “Um...I’m...going to film?” he said, wondering if he’d done something wrong.          

Hwasa’s eyes were wide.  “Didn’t you get our message?  Only half of the boys are supposed to come in today, we’re having a surprise competition and we don’t want you guys to know what it is ahead of time. Damn.” She fidgeted with her headset as Donghae suppressed a groan.  His company’s car had already left.  He prayed that he had enough money for a cab on him.  When would he get a normal manager like everybody else on this damn show?  Why was this entire operation micromanaged yet somehow less organized than the average preschool?

“Oh hey, Hyukjae!”  Donghae looked up as Hwasa called the other man back over.  With half a cookie in his mouth, Hyukjae shuffled over.  “Did you tell Sooyoung that you were taking off early today?”  Hyukjae made a noncommittal munching noise, and Hwasa simply rolled her eyes.

“Before you head out, could you please lead Donghae-ssi somewhere far enough from the filming so he can wait for his car?”  Donghae cringed internally, but Hyukjae just gulped down his food and shrugged.  “No problem.”

Donghae registered a soft, warm weight on his arm a moment later.  “Come on.”  Hyukjae was gently tugging him towards the heavy wooden door, but he didn’t look particularly put out.  Still, Donghae felt awkward and childish.

“You don’t need to take me around on your day off.  I can manage just fine.”   Hyukjae shot him a look.  

“You’re a liability on your own.  I’ve got this.”

He noticed immediately when Hyukjae dropped his arm.  They had managed to weave a roundabout path to the same patio they’d visited a week or two ago.  It was a bright and blazing day, and Donghae felt a twinge of annoyance now that he’d left it unoccupied for work.  Maybe he could get together with some of the guys, he hadn’t seen --

“Are you going to call your manager or what?”

Hyukjae was already sprawled out on the stone bench, soaking up the sun.  He peered up at him curiously.  Donghae felt irrationally frustrated.  Hyukjae was being perfectly polite, pleasant even, but to admit that his manager was busy for the day would give him yet another barb to throw right back at Donghae’s vulnerable skin.

“Maybe later.”  He’d checked his wallet discreetly and was pleased to see he’d remembered his newly minted company card.  Rookie status no more.  He trudged over to the other end of the bench and sat down cautiously, an inch or two from Hyukjae’s dirty boots.  Luckily, Hyukjae seemed content to drop the subject.

“So don’t you have a day off?  What are you going to do?”  he tried, assuming that civil conversation was now definitely an option between them.  Hyukjae pillowed his buttondown under his head, leaving his arms bare to the sunlight and Donghae’s gaze, and sighed.  

“Not much, really.  I was just getting really exhausted from work and had a lot of off-time saved up.  It’s not a busy day today so it might not even count against me.  I kind of just wanna go get drunk.”

Donghae was busy staring at the absurd level of muscle definition in his arms, but caught himself and glanced up at Hyukjae’s face to see if he was joking.  “It’s three in the afternoon.”

“By the time I get anywhere it’ll be almost five, and there will be people drunker than me,” Hyukjae reasoned.  “Do you not drink?”

“I do!” Donghae defended needlessly, as though Hyukjae had been incredulous.  He hadn’t, really, but now his eyebrows rose up a bit.  “Just not, you know, getting drunk on the weekdays.”

At that, Hyukjae swung his legs around and sat straight up. “Ever?”

“Maybe in college?”  It was a lie.  Donghae had been terrified of alcohol until halfway through third year.  

Hyukjae snorted.  Then, after a beat: “Wanna go get a beer?”

Donghae resisted the impulse to let his jaw drop.  But he turned and looked at Hyukjae, a smile playing on his lips.  “Wait, really?”

“...has anyone ever told you that when you get eager, your eyes light up all crazy and you look like a puppy ready to someone?”

“...”

“Don’t me.  I’ll drive.”

___________________

Hyukjae’s car was reasonably nice, perhaps a touch on the flashy side with its red veneer, and absolutely perfect for the man himself.  Donghae admired the leather of the dash, running a gentle finger across it.  

“Would you mind terribly if we stopped at home so I could change?  It’s en-route. ” Donghae asked, realizing an awkward moment too late that he sounded weirdly formal.

Hyukjae took his eyes off the road for a moment to scan Donghae’s body up and down. “You look fine.”  Donghae opened his mouth to argue, then paused, confused.  “But sure,” Hyukjae added.  “Just plug in your address.”

As they neared his street, Donghae stiffened self-consciously.  His new apartment was pretty nice, in a cozy sort of way.  He didn’t have to wrestle with street parking, and they allowed dogs and didn’t have those flickery fluorescent lights that made everyone look kind of ghoulish.  And he’d saved up for this.  But it wasn’t exactly Kim Heechul’s mansion.  It was..an apartment.  An apartment that was more than big enough for one, one point five if you include Donghae’s puppy and fish, but --

“We’re here, I think.”  Donghae sneaked a glance at Hyukjae.  He looked a little confused, but wasn’t staring at the building so much as right back at Donghae.  “You’re being weird.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yeah, you are.  You’re never this quiet.  What are we going to talk about for the rest of the evening if we can’t even take a drive together?”

Donghae felt, absurdly, like blushing.  He yanked his seatbelt off.  Then, suddenly, he turned back to Hyukjae.  “Do you want to come in?”

Hyukjae scoffed.  “Like I was going to sit out here and wait for you to pick through your entire wardrobe.”

He bit back a smile.  Hyukjae’s bluntness and sass was a little refreshing, and maybe a bad influence.  “You can have a beer while you wait.  I’m pretty indecisive.”  

Hyukjae, perhaps surprisingly, said nothing about expecting a grander abode.  “It’s really nice,” he offered as they walked through the door, looking around with genuine interest and appearing suitably impressed.  Donghae puffed up with pride.  “Thanks, I just moved in.”  He moved to grab two glasses from the bartop and heard Hyukjae flop down onto the sofa behind him.  

“So where were you thinking of taking me tonight?” he asked Hyukjae, closing the door of the fridge with his hip and carrying two cold bottles by the neck.  Hyukjae nodded in thanks and cracked his open, forgoing the glass in favor of taking a straight swig.  Donghae perched on the couch’s arm beside him.

“Not sure.  There’s this place closer to the east side of the city where my band and I used to play every so often, and that’s always fun.  Don’t you have a certain type of scene that you’re not allowed to be caught in, though?  With the whole nice boy next door shtick.  I don’t want to end up on some gossip blog.”

Hyukjae was definitely teasing, but Donghae furrowed his brow.  “Ha ha.  But bear in mind that it’s still technically a weekday,” he reminded.  “Wait, you’re in a band?”

“I play the drums.  We’re not really a group anymore, it was just something fun to pass the time.”

“I sing,” Donghae said boldly, as though anyone had asked.  Then he took a large gulp of his beer and crinkled his nose.  “Sometimes.”

“Really?” Hyukjae looked interested.  “You should tell the producers so they can edit in a section for that.  It’s good date night stuff.”

“Maybe.  But considered that we have actual ballad singers on the show, I would rather not...”

Suddenly he felt a vicious poke to the stomach, and yowled like a cat.  Hyukjae snickered.  “I thought you were supposed to be getting ready?”

By the time they decided to leave, the pair had gotten -- if not quite drunk, at least tipsy.  Somehow a few packages of instant ramen had made their way out of the cupboard ( “Where the is all the soup?  These noodles are dry as a bone” Hyukae had muttered disdainfully, as though Donghae wasn’t fully capable of cooking ramen by himself) and what had been left of Donghae’s 12-pack was demolished.

“Maybe we shouldn’t go to the bar across town,” Hyukjae groaned, stretching as they left the building.

Donghae pouted unconsciously.  Whether he wanted to admit it to Hyukjae or not, he hadn’t been to too many seedy dive bars, and the thought intrigued him.  Hyukjae flicked his chin.  

“Stop whimpering.  We’ll go next time.”  He began steering them towards a trendy bar Donghae had mentioned not two blocks away.

“I’m not whimpering!”  But Donghae felt an unbidden flash of joy at Hyukjae’s words. Next time.   It had been so long since he’d just hung out with one of the guys, thanks to work -- he vaguely remembered his plans to invite some of them out tonight, but brushed them aside -- and he could admit, now, that he was enjoying the start of this unlikely friendship.  

______________

“Hyukjae,” he slurred, leaning over the second pitcher of the night. They’d shared with others, of course -- Donghae hadn’t even had that much of it.  Though he did have something that smelled vaguely like iced tea and nail polish in his hand, so there was that.  “Hyukjae!”

The other man looked up, eyebrows raised in what Donghae would come to consider a signature look.  “What do you want?”

“I have an important question for you, you know.  Stop texting, it’s rude.”

Hyukjae rolled his eyes, though with some difficulty.  “Donghae, I told you maybe thirty seconds ago to hold on because I had to reply to this text.  I’ve barely finished writing back.”

“It feels like longer.” Donghae slumped over to mash his cheeks against his forearms.  “Hurry up.”

“All right, all right, goddamn.  I’m done.  I can’t even leave you alone for a minute, you needy, pouty drunk.”  Donghae immediately tucked his lower lip back in.  “What’s your important question, idiot?”  Hyukjae had fluctuated back to being even ruder, but it was laced with a kind of affection now.  We’re bros, Donghae thought to himself and nodded sagely, feeling confident about his question now.

“What the are you nodding about, Donghae, jeez --”

“Hyukjae,” Donghae interrupted.  “We’re friends now, right?”

Hyukjae gave him a look.  “Do I need to sign anything?  Put my hand on a holy book?  Is this binding?”

“You’re such an -- “

He could barely hear Hyukjae laughing at him over the din of the bar, but his crinkled eyes and wide grin were a dead giveaway.  He looked exceptionally handsome with his gums showing, Donghae noted.  

Bros, Donghae reminded himself.  

“Yes, we’re friends.  You can’t tell anybody I said it out loud though.”

Hyukjae had his arm around Donghae’s shoulders (but in a bro way, Donghae thought to himself) as they made their ungraceful way out towards the sidewalk.  

“This is the second time you’ve tried to walk me somewhere like a dog in one day,” Donghae grumbled, but Hyukjae merely snickered.  

“Don’t try and tell me that you’ve really never gotten the puppy comparison before, because I won’t believe you.” He let Donghae go, and out of sheer momentum he teetered for a moment before lurching back and glaring at Hyukjae, who was cackling at this point.  

“Go home,” he snapped.  Then he contemplated walking back to his apartment alone, and remembered Hyukjae’s car at his place.  “Wait, you’re not driving are you?”

The words left Hyukjae’s mouth just a millisecond before Donghae opened his again.

“I’ll probably just call a cab--” “--do you want to spend the night?”

There was a pause, and then another one.  Donghae could almost see the awkwardness billowing out between them like a physical barrier.  His regret was immense -- he’d only meant to offer, not that, and Hyukjae knew that he knew he was gay, even if he didn’t know what he himself felt about -- anyways, he’d just meant to say...not that.  Not like that, anyways.

The shock was evident on Hyukjae’s features, but only for a moment.  He moved towards Donghae, too easily, and Donghae fought the urge to step back or hide his face like a shy schoolgirl.  

“Sorry, I meant I just don’t think you should be driving.  It’s not safe.”  It was astonishing how quickly he’d sobered up, and how fast the night air became cool again.

“No, I know. It’s fine,” he added, looking pointedly at Donghae when he opened his mouth to babble some more.  The smile on Hyukjae’s face was one part exasperated, one part amused, and two parts tender.  Or maybe pitying.  “I’ll walk back to your place with you and grab a cab from there. Okay?”

“Okay.”  

__________________

“Do you think it was unprofessional of me to let you get ed up last night?”

“Let me?” Donghae croaked, as Hyukjae cheerily swung his legs over the chair next to him.  “Let me? It was your damn idea!  On a Wednesday!”  

“I should’ve known that you’d have the tolerance of a child,” he mused, unwrapping a chocopie and shoving an unholy amount of it into his mouth at once.

Donghae looked down his nose at Hyukjae’s bulging mouth.  “I’m the child here?  Really?”  He turned back to his outline for the day’s filming.  Beside him, Hyukjae tried to swallow with great difficulty.

“Yesh.”  He wiped his mouth.  “You know, Donghae, I think I bring out the y side of you  It’s kind of fun.”

He offered up the last morsel of chocopie as the best apology Donghae was going to get.

Instead of snapping back or accepting his peace offering,  Donghae turned his head towards the sudden commotion in the hallway.  Jessi’s enraged voice was unmistakable in the chaos, but there were others present that he couldn’t make out.  They didn’t have to wait long, however, as Jay Park’s manager burst into the room, dragging the protesting dancer in by the arm.  

“Completely irresponsible, you can’t just treat this like a game --”

“It is a ing game,” Jay said dangerously, swiping at the corner of his mouth.  Donghae thought he saw blood and nearly gasped.  “It’s a popularity contest and I’ve clearly got no chance, so just let me get on with filming and you can cut your check and go home.”

“If you’re not careful, you will be the one going home, and soon,” Jessi chimed in, her tone nasty.  “Don’t forget that we have any number of excuses set up for a contestant to leave the show, some less flattering than others.”

“Like you would really risk it on something that nobody even knows about,” Jay retorted.  “Drop it. It won’t happen again.”  He allowed himself a smirk.  “At least, I won’t get caught again.”

Hyukjae, Donghae, and the three crew members that had been tending to Jonghyun’s request for baby carrots were frozen, eyes darting between the three curiously.  Jay wrenched his arm out of his manager’s grip, making him stumble a bit, and sauntered past them out the back doors.  He gave Donghae a short nod of recognition as he passed, and then he was gone.  Donghae caught another dash of red smeared alongside his mouth, and suddenly realized that it was lipstick.

“For God’s sake,” Jessi screeched, and Donghae hurriedly turned back to Hyukjae before she could descend on any of the innocent spectators, his forgotten headache from the night before biting in again with a vengeance.

“What the hell?”  

“You’re not really supposed to be hooking up with people during the filming...well, at least not at filming,” Hyukjae informed him, stretching lazily and sounding bored despite his clear intrigue just moments before.  “Rumors will ruin any sort of image.  Jessi is pretty justified in being pissed.”

“I like Jay,” Donghae said worriedly, and it was true.  Despite his initial envy of him and his easy rapport with Ailee, the young man was the life of the party and generally pretty laidback.  This was the bad boy side that all of them had expected, but not yet come across.  “Do you think he’ll really get kicked off?”

“I honestly can’t say,” Hyukjae admitted, “but if he gets caught again with a staff fangirl or whatever, I don’t doubt it.  The fact that Jessi doesn’t around is at least one of the reasons that she’s here.”  

There was a clattering noise at the back door.  Donghae looked around, bewildered, but the other assistants had already disappeared in a flurry of gossip.  A moment later, raised voices could be heard through the thin screen.  Snatches of an argument floated in.

“ --if you get kicked off --”  a woman shouted, clearly out there with Jay.

“Yeah, we couldn’t with your precious ratings, could we?” The sneer in Jay’s voice was unmistakable, even from here.

“That’s not why and you know it.”  Her voice had gone cold.  “But if you think so, then why are you here?”

“ if I know,” Jay said more quietly.  “I thought I did.”

Barely a minute later, Ailee stormed in through those very doors, and it was the first time Donghae had seen anger cloud her pretty features.  She stopped dead once she saw them, clearly caught in the act of eavesdropping without much a choice, and her face fell.  She seemed to deflate in front of their eyes.  

Hyukjae was the first to speak up.  “Uh...are you okay?” he probed cautiously, hesitation clear in his voice.  Donghae was, despite himself, impressed with his efforts to be tactful.   

After a pause, Ailee sighed.  “Please don’t tell anyone,” she said tiredly, running a hand through her gleaming hair.  “Jay and I go back a bit, and I know he can be difficult. I just don’t want him to mess up this opportunity and thought I could try and talk to him offscreen.”  She smiled weakly at them, making her excuses and bowing out of the room.  

Donghae and Hyukjae looked at each other, silently agreeing on something for perhaps the first time on set:  no matter what Ailee said, whatever was happening offscreen was far, far more complicated than that.

Filming was delayed for an hour because Ailee had a headache.  “That’s the first diva move she’s pulled the whole time,” Hwasa observed. “I suppose we should be grateful.”  Donghae bit his tongue.

_______________

a/n: remember, part 2 of 2 will be up in a day or two! thanks for reading (: hope to hear from you guys