Last week, on Vanishing Points...

"You decided where we were going to end before we even began..."

"It's here, isn't it? It's gone too far already."

"I'll disappear. I'm sorry for ruining everything."

 

A pillow is thrown out of a room as Minkyung rolls around her bed. "Ah, seriously- why did he have to- why did I have to- ugh!" Pushing herself up she picks up another pillow, punching out her frustration. Two days had passed, so why would Kang's words refuse to leave her mind?

She flops down onto her belly, groaning loudly into the pillow. "Should I text him?" she suddenly wonders, rolling on to her back. "No, that's too insincere... should I ring him?! No..."

It's not long before she's walking toward the cafe where he works. Glancing down at the freshly brought packet of chocolates and slightly too large teddy bear in her arms, she can't restrain her wince. "It looks like I'm asking him to be my Valentine..." she grumbles in embarrassment. She's still muttering to herself when she spots him standing at a bus stop; her eyes widen and she quickens her pace, though her voice as she calls his name is muffled out by the sound of the bus arriving. Squeezing the box of chocolates between the bear and her body, she waves frantically for the bus driver to notice her before she's finally able to jump on. She's standing by Kang's seat, panting in quite the unlady-like fashion until he glances up at her in confusion.

"I was... going... to give it to you... s-sorry..." she wheezes.

"You don't know where I live, though--"

"I was... going to go to the... cafe... and wait..."

His mouth opens briefly as if he's about to speak, though he can only blink in absolute bewilderment of the situation at hand. Averting her eyes in awkwardness, she clears before shoving the items onto his lap.

"Um--" he begins, sensing the stares of the people around them.

"I'm sorry. Honestly. I didn't-- realise... what I was doing, I--" she sighs, shaking her head at the floor. "It's just... a habit for me now. I'm stupid sometimes. I do some really stupid things, and I don't ever want to think it's my fault, so I find someone else to blame, but..."

It's clear from the look on Kang's face that he's not entirely sure where she's going with this.

"It's... nothing personal. You were just always in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's-- none of it-- it's not your fault. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for making you think that it was."

His eyes trail back down to the squashed chocolates in his hands and offers her a small, hopeful smile. "Does this mean... I get an extension on my vanishing point?"

There's a moment of hesitation before she gives a weak chuckle. "It'd be a bit dumb for you to vanish before eating your half-melted chocolates."

"The best kind," he grins teasingly, though is quick to slip one into his mouth. At his gesture she does the same, and he shuffles the teddy bear over so that she can take a seat by his side.

They're soon reminded by the bus driver that eating is not allowed on the bus, and after responding with a meek 'yes', they smile softly in their opposite directions until an elderly woman steps on at the next stop. Minkyung is quick to give the woman her seat, only to find Kang jumping up as well. She raises a brow.

"She's holding grocery bags, she needs the space," he reasons.

"You're holding bags, too."

"Yeah, but these are light."

"Li-- light?!" she repeats in incredulity. "Are you suggesting I didn't buy you enough?!"

"No-- no, no, that's not it, I just-- I mean I'm strong, so--"

"Strong, yeah, alright..." Minkyung scoffs, rolling her eyes.

 As Kang's stop grows near, he asks where she's headed.

"Oh, I don't-- I just came on to give you the stuff..." she realises belatedly, not knowing the area around her.

"Idiot..." he laughs, bowing his gratitude to the bus driver as he hops off. He takes a few steps forward before noticing Minkyung is still standing by the bus door, staring down at her phone in uncertainty. "Come along, then!" he calls out, waving the hand of the teddy bear with a dorky grin.

"Cut! Good job. Let's move out. We're shooting scene 4 next."

Soyul clasped her hands together. Before entering, she had been made to sign a non-disclosure agreement ensuring she wouldn't reveal the contents of the future episodes in any way, shape or form. "That was so good! This is so good!" she half-whined, feeling almost guilty to not be able to reveal this new information to the rest of the show's fans.

"You liked it, huh?" Minyoung smiled proudly at her friend as the staff began preparing the outside set.

The next scene was to contain a 'fresh marketplace atmosphere', according to the script, and Soyul could only giggle as she peeked over the actress' script. "He's going to carry you!"

"And then he's going to be carried back to his car, because I'm going to break his legs if he touches me any more than necessary."

Chortling to herself, Soyul scurried to pick up a tray of kimbap before making her way over to the male lead who was taking a drink from his bottled water. "Hakyeon-ssi! It's a pleasure to meet you, I--" she glanced to either side almost cautiously before a wide smile reached her eyes. "I'm a friend of Minyoung unnie. Kimbap?"

"A friend of a friend is a friend of mine!" Hakyeon chimed with a well-trained flash of a smile. "Should I call you 'new friend' for the rest of the day or do you have a preferred name? How about 'newd'? 'New' and 'friend' put together. I think it sounds pretty!"

"Sounds a bit like 'newt'," she admitted with a scrunch of her nose. "I think Soyul suits me a little better. But when I have a kid someday, Newd will definitely be on the list of options."

Hakyeon laughed politely. "Here, I'll hold it," he gestured toward the tray, which Soyul did not hesitate to hand over.

"These arms weren't made for carrying..." she mumbled. Patting down her shirt and glancing back at her 'staff' badge with a little too much pride, she smiled over at Minyoung as she spoke to a staff member. "Unnie's so pretty, seriously..." she cooed exaggeratedly, her eyes flickering in attempt to catch the man's first facial expression.

Her attempt was in vain. "She did a bit of work in the modelling industry before she became an actress, right? I remember hearing about it. It must have saved her a lot of time later on - I had to learn everything about posing from scratch," Hakyeon explained in a subtle change of topic. "Our Eunyoungie was the same."

"Hm?" The brunette's brows rose at the mention of her name.

"I was saying how difficult photoshoots are. They take ages to get the hang of, you kn--"

"Oh, yeah," Eunyoung nodded simply before turning her head, gulping softly as she looked around for Seungri. Though he held a more minor position in the drama and thus had fewer working days, she couldn't help but search for his face in every crowd. "Don't depend on him any more, and don't look at him any more..." she repeated his words in her mind. "Find someone else to look at, even if it's not in the same way. Distract yourself." Her expression brightened as she finally spotted him, immediately making her way over.

"Eunyoung-ah!" he smiled warmly, his eyes flickering up only briefly to see the confused expressions of the two people she had left.

"Tell me - what are your thoughts on Candy Crush Saga?" she folded her arms, squinting slightly as she tried to focus on anything but the man at her back. Anything to distract herself. I'll stand by your side instead, she promises Seungri silently, her lips tugging a small smile at his tangent regarding the perils of the chocolate blocks.

The pair tentatively keep their distance while walking, though Kang makes the mistake of catching the eye of a street competition host. "How about this lovely couple? Ready to test your strength?"

"Oh-- no, no-- we're not--"

"Not a couple? That's alright - you might be if this goes well!" the host finishes loudly, provoking a laugh from the audience. The pair get the feeling the man has dealt with the same situation in the past.

Their eyes scanning the promotional posters, Minkyung almost snorts as she realises what the game entails. A prize is boasted for the man who can carry his significant other for the longest: "And if we win?"

"A meat set for the pretty lady and her... friend," he adds with a mischievous smirk.

The word 'meat' had barely passed Minkyung's ears before Kang was being dragged by the short female onto stage. "Let's do this."

Another 'cut' signalled a brief pause, though Minyoung and Hakyeon were told to remain in their positions. The grip the female had on Hakyeon's arms grew slightly weaker nevertheless, and she averted her gaze with a quiet, frustrated sigh.

"Are you alright?" he asked in concern, wondering if the physical contact would bother her. She didn't respond and he bit his lower lip, looking down for only a moment before he spoke in a soft, serious tone. "Minyoung, I miss you. I miss the coffee and I miss the donuts and I miss trying to make you smile... why did you make me stop? Wasn't it fun? Weren't... weren't you happy?"

She shut her eyes tightly, her tongue rolling against the side of her cheek in absolute refusal to speak.

"I don't want to be strangers, Minyoung. We're better than that," he added quietly before dropping his gaze. "And I think that deep down you know it, too."