When Jaejin, along with Mir's staff, and I arrived at the set, the first thing I observed are the rushing people. Almost no one paid attention to us. Everyone is busy tending to their tasks.

I heard Jaejin spoke beside me, startling me out of my observation.

"Well, Hongki, welcome to your first shoot." He smiled at me. "Shall we go to your tent?"

I nodded and followed slowly behind Jaejin, carefully observing the place. The first scene is to be shot at a certain province in Korea. The place, seemingly quiet, is suddenly so busy with all the rushing crews who were carefully setting the equipment to be used later for the taping.

Although nervous, I can't help but feel exhilarated. A feeling that immediately vanished when I saw the one occupying the tent beside mine.

Choi Jonghun.

I ignored him and sat on the high chair with the name 'Mir' behind it. Jaejin stood in front of me, handing a piece of paper.

"You probably read and memorized this but kindly scan them again so you won't forget later."

I took the paper from his hand.

Jaejin chuckled. "You were so happy earlier and now you seem to have swallowed a bitter pill."

I snorted. "I did." I glanced at Jonghun's direction.

Mir's assistant laughed. "Oh, ignore him. Anyway, looking at his face, he's not in a mood to disturb you. And you don't have a scene together--"

I sighed. "Thanks a lot."

Jaejin grinned and continued where he left off. "Yet."

Pouting, I glared at Jonghun, innocently typing on his phone.

"Stop that. He has a reason to be wary of you. You're Mir and as far as Jonghun knows, you are gay."

"Still, he annoys me."

"Did he do anything to make you feel annoyed?"

I sat thoughtfully for a moment. "Uh..." Honestly, I can't think of anything that Jonghun did that would make me irritated. When he went inside Mir's apartment, he was merely looking for his phone. He's done nothing bad to me and yet I feel anger towards him. Gosh, sometimes I am so irrational.

"See? Jonghun would keep his distance from you as long as you do the same, okay?" I nodded. "Good. You know, for the past four months that Jonghun's known your twin's gay, he stayed away from Mir. Your brother was the persistent one. When he likes something-- or somebody-- he does everything he can to get it." Jaejin sighed. "Stubborn brat, your brother."

"We're alike after all," I muttered, causing Jaejin's eyes to widen. "What?" I asked.

"Hongki, I'm begging you, don't be too stubborn like your brother, alright?"

I plainly nodded, liking the idea that my twin and I had something in common.

Jaejin glanced at his watch. “It’s just 12:35. Taping won’t begin until 01:00 in the afternoon,” he glanced around him. “I better look for the director.” Jaejin looked me in the eye. “Don’t wander around. Stay here,” he ordered.

“Okay,” I replied.

He nodded his head. “Good.”

I was startled when a group of people suddenly bustled in. Based on their looks and what they carry with them, they’re the stylists.

“Greetings, Mir.” The leading tall woman greeted. Of course I have zero idea about who she is so I glanced at Jaejin, catching his eye rolling. She continued. “We meet again.” The woman leaned towards me and to my huge surprise; she kissed me on the lips and smiled cattily afterwards. “I have new staff and they’re dying to meet you.”

She turned to the group of men and women behind her. “This is my friend Mir. Now, ladies and gentlemen, we should do everything in our power do make him handsomer than he already is, okay?” The staff nodded. “Good.” The woman looked at me. “Shall we start?”

I looked at Jaejin and thought he mouthed something like ‘good luck’ before exiting the tent.

 

 

“Mir?” The tall woman whom I found out was named Yuri asked while applying make-up on my face, which by the way, is something I had never done before.

“What?”

“Why does your face seem different? Everything is different, your eyes, your nose, your--- ugh! I must be hallucinating.”

I stiffened at her observation. Clearly, this woman, Yuri, is closer to Mir than I expected. She’s the only one sensible enough to notice the difference between me and my brother. But sensible or not, the situation between us twins must not be known to others, even those closest friends.

“Yeah, you’re probably hallucinating.” I laughed half-heartedly. “How can I be so different?”

Yuri shrugged. “As I’ve said, I’m probably hallucinating. It’s so hot during summers, gosh. The heat must be getting on my nerves.”

I was about to agree when Jaejin entered the tent and said that the others are already set. I sighed. Here goes nothing.

 

 

I read the script in my hand, carefully memorizing my lines. The story is so beautiful. It is about a girl who, after learning her father was sick, went to her rich uncle to get some help. Unfortunately for the girl, the help doesn’t come without a price. She had to spy on her uncle’s rival in business named Han Tae Jun. She was made to enter the company as a secretary and was to report to her uncle about the different transactions that Han Tae Jun’s company is about to undergo. As usual, the girl fell in love with the cold, manipulating hero and rejected another man’s love for her, blah blah.

My role is to be the guy the girl befriended after entering the company, Kang Woo. Jang Geun Suk will be playing the male lead; Han Tae Jun. Han Ga In is to play the heroine Cho Ah Ri. And Choi Jonghun will be playing the role of the rejected man; I had to laugh at that.

 “Mir!”

I snapped my attention towards a balding man walking towards our direction. Who’s he calling? Oh, right, I’m Mir.

“Mir!” he exclaimed when he reached our side. He tapped me on the shoulder. “Good to know you’re back from vacation. Let’s give a good performance, okay?” I nodded. He laughed and clapped my back. “Good, good.” He turned to the man behind him. “Dong Min, is everything ready?”

“Yes, Director Cha,” Dong Min replied.

I looked at the man he called director Cha. Mm, typical director—balding, in his fifties, always yelling things even at the shortest distance—yep, he’s the director, alright.

Director Cha turned to me and smiled. “Now, kid, let’s get to business, shall we?”

I nodded, too nervous to speak. Although mine wasn’t the main role, I can’t help but feel anxiety. I was only too glad when Jaejin appeared beside me.

“Calm down and think about your brother,” he suggested.

I let out a sigh and thought of my brother lying palely in the hospital bed. Yes, I thought. I would do this for Mir.

“And who do we have here?”

Jaejin and I turned to look at no other than Choi Jonghun.

“I thought you said you won’t accept the role?” he asked, question directed at me.

I raised an eyebrow. “What do you care? Go,” I said. “Skedaddle.” I waved my hand in a shooing action.

Jonghun was about to say something when we heard someone call my name.

“Mir!”

Jaejin whispered in my ear. “That’s Lee Joon, Mir’s bestfriend. He’s definitely crazy.”

I looked at Joon who’s running towards us. “He seems nice. I met him on my way to the President before.”

Jaejin chuckled. “Wait till he gets crazy. Then you’ll wish you’d never met him.”

Joon hugged me when he got near. “Mir, I missed you so much!” he exclaimed, pronouncing the so as ‘sooooo’.

I don’t know whether I should hug him back so I looked at Jaejin askingly. He gave me a nod, indicating it’s okay so I hugged Joon back a little who finally let me go after some time.

“Aish, Mir! Look at you! You look like a carrot!” Joon ruffled my hair. “I missed you so much. Where have you been you rascal?”

“Uh, Joon,” Jaejin interrupted, thank heavens. “We’re about to shoot just before you came.”

Joon looked around us and at me. “Oh,” he chuckled. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. It’s just that I missed my bestfriend so much.”

“You obviously did,” said Jonghun in an annoyed tone.

We all turned to him.

“Oi, Jonghun,” Joon called. “What happened to you? You look like a bruise to me.”

I didn’t know what Joon meant by that until I took in Jonghun’s clothes. He’s wearing a black long-sleeved polo underneath a black coat plus another black slack.

“You do look like a bruise,” I said in agreement.

Joon wrapped his hand around my waist to my surprise. “See? We’re really bestfriends. We agree on a lot of things.”

Jonghun snorted, glancing at Joon’s hand around me. “I’d bet on that.”

Finally, Jaejin spoke up. “Alright guys, let’s go to the set. It’s already 01:03 for Pete’s sake.”

I looked at Jonghun who gave me a glare. I sighed. Too much negative energy on the first set.

 

 

"That's a wrap everyone. Now let’s take a two hour break. We all deserve it, don’t we?"

I let out a sigh of relief when the director said these words after seven hours of taping.

We finished only an episode or two, I think. And I am so glad I had no scene with Jonghun—yet, as Jaejin said—because after all, he, Jang Geun Suk, and I were the best of friends in the show. And yes, all of us are going to fall in love with the heroine-- because not having all love interest directed at the heroine is too mainstream.

I looked at the people around, noticing how tired-looking they are. It makes me feel awful whenever I whine at Jaejin when all these staff gets paid less than me and yet we work all at the same time. Being a celebrity is hard, but you get to be noticed.

"Now, now, Mir, you're not planning on going to my party this midnight?"

I turned to Joon and smiled. One thing about Mir: he is very sociable. After working with his friends, I realized that everyone's treating me real nicely. That's thanks to my twin, of course.

"Hey, Joon," I greeted. "I'm sorry if I can't make it to your party." My smile got wider when Joon pouted. "Really, I'm sorry. We still have a few scenes to take. I think we will be shooting till midnight.”

Joon nodded understandingly. "I understand," he smiled. "By the way, have you heard that there’s this haunted house near this place? It’s abandoned according to my sources."

Okay, he has my interest piqued. I love haunted houses. I don’t know if they’re real, I just like them. Their creepiness makes me excited.

“Where?” I whispered.

“See that tree on your three?”

I looked at the tree on my right and nodded. “What’s with the tree?” I asked.

Joon chuckled. “Nothing. It has no relation whatsoever with the haunted house.”

“What?”

He burst into laughter. “I just want you to look at the tree.”

“Why?” I asked confusedly. I don’t get him at all.

He wrapped his arm around me. “Oh, Mir, you never get me. Anyway, the haunted house is on the south of this cute spot.”

“Really?”

Joon narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re not planning on seeing the house, aren’t you?”

“Of course not!” I lied.

Joon ruffled my hair. “Good. There must be ghosts in that house. You don’t want to see them.”

"Yo, Joon!" called Jaejin. "Don’t take Mir someplace okay? He still has few scenes to take!”

Joon grinned. "Already know that."

"Hey, Jaejin, come here!"

The three of us turned to look at Yuri shouting from the distance.

"What now?" Jaejin muttered then looked at me. “Don’t go with him,” he mouthed.

I nodded and see Jaejin run to Yuri. Nervousness seeped through me when the two of them talked so seriously together, especially so when Yuri keeps throwing me glances.

“Oi, Jonghun! What do you think you’re doing there all alone?” Joon called at Jonghun who is busy texting on his phone. Joon turned to me. “Come, let’s help our friend before his phone eats him.”

Looks like I have no choice but to follow Joon to Jonghun’s tent.

“What do you want?” Jonghun asked directly at Joon.

“Oh, come on Jonghun, one day that phone of yours will eat your soul. You never let it out of your sight except,” Joon glanced at me. “When Mir took your phone.”

Jonghun snorted. “You’re making it sound like Mir just did me a huge favor.”

“Oh, he did. For four days I’ve seen you live and now, look at you,” Joon gestured at Jonghun, “You’re with your girlfriend again.”

Jonghun didn’t reply.

“Have you heard about the haunted house near this place? Cool, right? Let’s go there, all three of us,” Joon invited.

Jonghun looked at me in disbelief. “You still believe in ghosts? Grow up, Mir.”

Joon was the one who answered for that. “They’re the scariest thing out there!”

Rolling his eyes, Jonghun turned to his phone. “For three-year-olds.”

“Shut up,” Joon snapped.

 “Where is it?” Jonghun asked nonchalantly.

Joon brightened. “See that tree over there?”

I nudged Joon with my elbow.

“Ow. What?” he asked me.

“Don’t make that joke again. It’s not funny,” I whispered.

Joon pouted. “Alright. South from here, about five kilometers. Mir and I are going, aren’t we Mir?”

For a moment my mind stopped to process who Mir is but realized it was me Joon’s calling. “You told me I couldn’t go there,” I replied.

Joon grinned. “But you’ll still go, won’t you?”

I pouted.

“See? Might as well have me,” he wrapped his arms around my shoulders again, “accompany you.”

Jonghun snorted. “Go take your sweet nothings somewhere else.”

“You’re not going?” Joon asked.

“No,” Jonghun replied curtly.

“Oh, okay. That’s better I think,” Joon looked at me. “I’ll have Mir all by myself.”

“On second thought,” Jonghun interrupted. “I think I’ll go check out that house.”

“So you’ll go with us?” I asked wonderingly.

Jonghun cocked his head to the side. “Yeah, you got any problem with that?”

 

 

Joon and I stared up at the said haunted house and grinned. We finally found it. The house looks very old and abandoned so no one will disturb our ghost hunting tonight. Also, it doesn’t look like a typical Korean house. The structure looks more Western to me.

“Let’s go,” Joon whispered, walking to the door sneakily. I walked silently behind him.

I put my hand on the knob and opened the door. It made a little noise along the halls of the house. I can't help but feel excited. I am going to hunt ghosts—though I don’t believe them for one second. I just want to feel the creepiness a scary, abandoned place can give me. Weird, right?

Locking the door behind us, I surveyed the empty house. Empty if you don't count the furniture covered with white cloths on them.

"Hello?" I asked rhetorically, ofcourse.

Nobody responded, as expected. Now, what should we do? All three of us went upstairs. Joon went to the room on the right wing while Jonghun and I entered an unlocked room. We locked the door behind us and toured the huge room. Probably the master’s bedroom based on its size.

I looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of a white figure or something. What caught my attention is a mirror hanging on the wall. It looks old, medieval even.

I walked to it and wiped some of the dust that covers it.

"Wow," I muttered.

I looked over my shoulder, since in movies; this act leads to the hero finding a standing corpse behind him.

And there it is—a pale white man standing probably six feet from me.

I screamed and ran towards the door. Why did I even want to see a ghost? They're ing scary in movies and hell, they're scarier in real life.

"Shut up, Mir."

I opened one eye. "Jonghun?" I asked.

"Scared you like , didn't I?"

Fear forgotten, I pushed Jonghun to the dusty ground. "You !"

Jonghun chuckled. "You can't blame me if you had seen your face earlier. It was hilarious."

I gave him a small kick. "You're sick." I glared at Jonghun before facing the door and turning the knob but it won't budge.

“It won’t open,” I mumbled to myself. “The door won’t open,” I said louder for Jonghun to hear me.

"What?" Jonghun asked, rising from the dusty floor.

The panic I sensed in his voice gave me a bit of delight. So, Jonghun is scared isn’t he? Mmm…

“I heard that in times like this, a ghost or a bad spirit locks the house down so people inside can’t get out,” I told him, hoping for some fear to mar his perfectly indifferent façade.

“That can’t be true,” he muttered.

Grinning, I turned to face him, putting on a scared act. “You can’t be sure!” I exclaimed. Gosh, I’m so good at acting. “Maybe there’s a serial killer ghost here that wants to kill people and he decided it had to be us.” I almost dropped my act when Jonghun’s eyes widened. I continued, “I heard from Joon, that this house used to be the home of a man who lives to kill. When he died, he still continued to do so,” I dropped my voice to a whisper at the last sentence to add an effect.

I want to laugh when Jonghun moved to my side but I controlled myself. I pushed him.

“What are you doing? You’re angering the spirit!” I whispered.

Jonghun glared at me. “I don’t care.”

“Hey, spirit!” I shouted. “Go take Jonghun, he doesn’t care about—“

Jonghun put his hand on my mouth, cutting me off. I bit his hand.

“Ow!” he yelped, massaging his hand. He shot me a glare. “Why are you being so mean today? Stop calling it!” he bit out.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re not scared, aren’t you?” I asked suspiciously.

Jonghun snorted. “Who, me? I’m just fearful for your sake.”

“Since when did you care? Just admit it,” I tapped him on the shoulder, “You’re scared.”

He pushed me lightly. “No way!” he denied.

“Oh, okay. Hey spirit! Did you hear that? Jonghun’s not so scared of you! You may show yourself to him and take him with you as an assistant since he’s the only one who’s not scared of—“

Jonghun pushed me on the wall and kissed me on the lips before I even finish my sentence. I closed my eyes, not knowing how to feel. Before this, all my kissing history only has girls in it. Kissing a guy didn’t even enter my mind. But right now, I don’t know. All I could think of is how soft Jonghun’s lips are and how good they felt on my lips. The way he moves his lips, I could say he’s kissed lot before. But I don’t care about that, I care about now.

“Oh God, Mir,” he murmured against my lips.

It is as if someone splashed me cold water right in the face. He kissed me not because he wanted to do so. He kissed me because he knows I’m Mir. That I am gay. He knows he could silence my twin by doing so.

The next thing I know, I punched him on the jaw and he dropped lifelessly on the dusty floor.

Damn.

 

 

“Again,” Joon ordered laughingly, wanting me to repeat—for the third time—how I scared Jonghun out of his wits—not mentioning the kiss.

Jonghun threw a pillow at Joon’s head. “Shut the up, Joon, you crazy fool. It’s not funny.”

I watched in guilt when Jonghun grimaced. Maybe I punched him too hard. I didn’t mean to. Okay maybe I meant to but I’m not a violent person. I don’t hit people randomly. I don’t know why I punched him instead of just pushing him off me.

After seeing Jonghun lying on the cold dusty floor earlier, I went to the door and pounded on it, hoping Joon would hear me. Fortunately, he did. Apparently, the damned door can only be unlocked from the outside. Good thing Joon didn’t go inside the room with us or we’ll all be trapped.

He helped me carry Jonghun to the bed. I lied by telling Joon that Jonghun fainted after telling him about the bad spirit roaming around the huge house. Joon laughed so hard and by the time Jonghun awakened, Joon is making me repeat the same story over and over.

“Jonghun, it is probably the funniest story I ever heard.” Joon said, mouthing the word ‘ever’ afterwards.

Rolling his eyes, Jonghun went to the door and went out. Joon followed him, while I stayed for a while inside the bedroom, sitting on the side of the king-sized bed.

I thought about the kiss and whether I like it or not, I felt a shrill of excitement when Jonghun kissed me. Of course, I also felt a bit of disgust. Not of the kiss but of myself. How can I allow someone, a guy especially, to kiss me just like that? Not that it couldn’t be done, it shouldn’t be done.

I sighed and followed the two out the house.

 

 

“Okay, this time, we’ll have Mir, Geun Suk and Jonghun please.”

I looked up from reading the script before I rose to my feet enter the scene. I feel so exhausted, both emotionally and physically. I want to creep to my bedroom, to my bed, and sleep for the rest of the week. That, I thought, is paradise.

“Earth to Mir!”

Startled, my eyes darted towards Jaejin. He snapped a finger in front of my face.

“Wake up sleepyhead. You’ve had your break, now it’s time to break backs again,” he pushed me towards the set. “Go, go, go! Hwaiting!” he cheered.

“Hwaiting?” I asked.

“Means ‘fighting’ but we don’t have the letter ‘f’ so we pronounce it like that. Hwaiting!” he said again, folding his hand into a fist and holding it in front of him.

“Sounds like ‘waiting’ to me,” I said.

Jaejin smacked my shoulder. “Shut up and just go.”

“Okay, alright, I’m going,” I walked towards the set with heavy feet. I thought school was bad. Obviously, it is heaven compared to being a celebrity. This is the price of living in the luxury of fame and fortune: your life.

 

 

“Cut!” The director shouted before turning angrily at Jonghun. “Jonghun, what is wrong with you? You’re supposed to stare at Ga In too just like Geun Suk and Mir and not at Mir, okay?”

I glanced at Jonghun, wondering if he’s really staring at me. He looked away when I turned to look at him.

“Okay, let’s take a thirty minute break,” Director Cha stated. “Thirty minutes everyone got it?”

We nodded and the crew turned to their equipment while the actors went to their tent. I was about to do the same when Jonghun went to my side and grabbed my wrist.

“Hey!” I exclaimed, trying to free my arms off his grip.

He ignored me and continued walking until we reached the back of a building near us.

“What are you going to do? Kill me?” I sneered. “I thought you were smart but if you’re going to finish me off, you should do it on a place without witnesses.”

“Shut up, Mir,” Jonghun snapped.

I’m not Mir, damn it! I want to say out loud but stayed silent instead, watching Jonghun pace back and forth as if contemplating something.

Frustrated, I finally spoke up after ten minutes of silent. “What are you thinking about?” I asked.

Jonghun turned to look at me. “You said you like me, don’t you?” he asked.

Am I supposed to say yes to the question? I breathed in. If I were Mir, what would I say? “Yes,” I finally said although it came out hesitatingly.

Nodding, Jonghun walked towards me and pushed me against the wall again.

“What are you doing?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

He didn’t answer but hesitatingly wrapped his arms around my waist instead. “I’m going to try,” he whispered breathlessly.

I couldn’t comprehend what he is saying and I’m very sure that our position isn’t exactly comfortable. I tried to get out of his arms.

“Don’t,” he whispered.

I pushed him. “What are you playing at?” I glared at him. I am starting to feel really irritated

“When I kissed you…” he started. “I don’t know,” Jonghun shook his head and looked down on me. “But I want to try.”

“You can try whatever you want to try,” I said. “But let go of me first.” I tried to pry his hands off me but he’s so strong.

Jonghun continued. “I want to try being your boyfriend,” he finally said before leaning down to kiss me.

And this time, I didn’t punch him.

 

 

A/N

 

Hello everyone, sorry for not updating for so long. I missed all of you. I hope I did alright in this chapter. Leave your comments below (I need your comments to live) and thank you so much for reading (and for sticking with this fic)!

 

xoxo,

ftiyguitarJH

 

P.S. Everything is told from Hongki's point of view, okay? Don't get lost :)