"Minkyung-ah!" a lively voice called as the tired female was running her fingers through her hair. She turned around, smiling brightly upon recognising its tone.

“Eunyou— ah, sorry…”

"It’s ‘Junhee’, unni," Eunyoung reminded with a playful laugh. This was what Minyoung loved about the younger - she had this inherent ability to make every situation feel lighter.

Minyoung chuckled sheepishly with her before bowing her head at the producers. “Sorry!”

"Take 2! Start from Ellin."

"Junhee-ya!"

"Where are you going?" the brunette chirped, skipping lightly towards her. "Aigoo, you look tired…"

Minkyung smiled, though she couldn’t hide the signs of exhaustion from her eyes. “It’s been a long day.”

"I was just heading to the shops— do you want to come grab a coffee with me?"

"Coffee?" her eyes widened at the word and she gave an uneasy shake of her head. "Ani, ani. I’m never drinking coffee again. Never."

Junhee furrowed her brows, her head tilting in confusion. “Never…? Minkyung… not to be blunt or anything, but I’m almost four-hundred-percent sure you’re going to change your mind when you try to wake up tomorrow morning—”

"I mean it!" she nodded seriously. "Not from La Petite, at least…"

"But that used to be our favourite," Junhee whined. "Why are you being like this, huh? Did you get a blood test?"

"No, it’s nothing like that. It’s because Lee Kang is working there now."

"Lee Kang… oh! Oh, yeah, I remember him! Woah, he’s working there now? I thought he wanted to be a lawyer!"

Minkyung glanced around for a moment before raising a hand to cover as she whispered. “Don’t spread the word, but… I think he got fired.”

"Aigoo…" her hand flew to in concern. "Poor thing. He must be really struggling…"

"Struggling to hold a cup of coffee? Yes. Yes, he is!" she grumbled, crossing her arms. "He spilled my drink on me last Monday. Then I saw him at the bus stop on Wednesday, and as soon as he said hello, a car drove past a puddle on the road and wet me!"

"I don’t think you can really blame him for the second one, though," Junhee reminded her.

"I’m not done yet. I saw him today, too. He didn’t see me - he was looking for something, and then a while later he returned cradling a cat in his arms."

"Aw, how—"

"It was a black cat, Junhee!" Minkyung complained, frustrated that her friend wasn’t seeing the situation the same way as she. "The kid’s existence itself is bad luck, I’m telling you!"

Junhee rolled her eyes. “You and your superstitions. You’ve got to grow out of it someday - you know that, right?” Shaking her head with a click of her tongue, she gave the other a wave. “Well, I’m getting a coffee. Have a good day, mm? Try to rest soon!”

"I will, I will," Minkyung agreed, still feeling tense with worry for her friend. "But if you go in there, and he’s working, and you end up with a broken bone - I’m not visiting you at the hospital!"

"Aiiiiiiigoo, this girl—!" Junhee mumbled as she left.

"Cut! That was good. Can we get the last two lines again? Broken bone one and then Eunyoung. I want a shot of Ellin from the right diagonal. Eunyoung, try waving backwards as you walk away."

After the recording ended, Eunyoung ran straight to the older girl. She’d spent all of the night before wondering exactly how she should act so that she could make her question sound natural - Hakyeon was someone special to her, and she definitely didn’t want to let him down. “Unni!”

"Mm! You did well," Minyoung complimented sincerely.

"Thanks! You were better, though. Can we eat together?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," she grinned. Over the past few days, Eunyoung had become a source of energy for Minyoung. It was hard not to smile when someone so bubbly was around.

Breaking apart her chopsticks, Eunyoung stirred her instant ramyeon.

"Wait— that’s your lunch? No, no, you can’t eat that. Don’t eat it. Ramyeon makes your face bloat, didn’t you know?"

"That’s what everyone says, but it doesn’t do that for me," Eunyoung shrugged, blowing gently on her noodles. "I guess I’m just lucky!"

"Even so, that’s not going to fill you up… have some of my kimbap, will you? The meat, too. I cooked too much last night, anyway."

"Unni—"

"SHH!" she raised a finger in warning. "Don’t refuse. Just eat it. I’ll admit I’m not the greatest cook in the world, but I promise it tastes better than instant ramyeon."

Eunyoung smiled gratefully and took a slice of kimbap. “Thanks, unni. I’ll eat well!” Minyoung was right - the food wasn’t exactly top quality, but the younger female nodded and hummed her approval nonetheless.

"Do you not cook often, Eunyoung?" she asked.

"I do! I normally bring my own food, but last night I didn’t have time to make anything."

"Ah, you must have been tired," Minyoung frowned, her chin resting on the palm of her hand.

Eunyoung’s bottom lip jutted slightly in a pout. “Yeah… Honestly, I didn’t sleep well last night, either.” she sighed.

"Why not?"

"I was thinking about—" she blinked suddenly, realising she couldn’t tell the truth in this situation or else Hakyeon’s plan would be ruined. "—how fun it is working here. All the cast are great, aren’t they?"

Minyoung nodded wordlessly as she filled with more meat.

"Except… ah, can I say this? I get a little intimidated by Hakyeon oppa sometimes. I’ve worked with him before, but… hm, I don’t know," Eunyoung trailed off, focusing instead on the food in front of her. She didn’t think about how guilty she’d feel lying to someone who had only ever treated her kindly.

"Right?!" Minyoung’s eyes widened, her palm hitting the table in excitement. Finally, she’d found someone who understood! "Truthfully, he’s kind of annoying, isn’t he?!"

"Ah… I feel like I shouldn’t agree, because it’s not like he’s done anything bad to me directly. But it’s just… he gives off that kind of vibe! Oh, I’ll feel so bad if I’m wrong, though… what if he’s actually very nice and I’m completely misunderstanding him?"

Minyoung shook her head, waving a finger in the air in emphasis as she placed another slice of kimbap in . “Trust me—” she mumbled between chews. “He’s not a nice guy.”

Eunyoung’s eyebrows rose and she leaned in, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Really?!”

"Mm. Really."

"What makes you think that, unni?" she asked, genuinely curious. This wasn’t the reaction she’d been expecting.

The elder cleared , knocking a fist on her heart thrice before taking a gulp of water. “Ah, that went down the wrong way,” she said to herself before remembering the point of the conversation. “You know how I went to school with him?”

"Oh, yeah! I remember you two spoke about it at the press conference. I thought it must be really cool, working with a former peer."

"Aniya. It’s not cool at all. You know, back when we were kids, he said something to me that haunted me all~ throughout high school. Even now, I still remember them exactly!" she frowned in frustration.

"R-Really?" Eunyoung was stunned. What could he have possibly said to hurt her so much? He’d always seemed so sweet… "What… what did he say?"

Minyoung shook her head. “Nothing I want your ears to hear.”

"It must have… probably been bad…" she realised sadly, glancing over to the door where Hakyeon had just entered after getting his hair and make-up finished.

"Tch. Speak of the devil," Minyoung scoffed.

"Ready to resume!" the director called out and the two actresses replied an obedient ‘yes’ in unison.

As the two packed up the rest of the food, Minyoung nodded at the younger with a light grin. ”Good talk. I feel better now, knowing I’m not the only one who thinks he’s an idiot.”

"Ah…" Eunyoung laughed awkwardly, brushing her hair behind her ear. She wanted to say that he wasn’t an idiot, but how could she? For all she knew, he could have been putting on a kind, gentle ‘oppa’ act for her the entire time and she’d never have realised.

He was, after all, a professional.