Min Ho seemed lost in his thoughts enough to miss Shin Hye arriving on set. Following the sounds of greetings being exchanged, Min Ho turned around and watched her shrug out of her light overcoat, which she laid over a chair as she sat down for her hair and makeup touch-up.

She looked around as if to assess how much longer she had. As she scanned the room, her eye locked onto his. Neither made a move for a while, however, a tap on her shoulder alerted her of company and she quickly averted her gaze away from him.

Min Ho continued watched her quietly from where he stood. After awhile, a male staff member walked by and stopped to greet Shin Hye and her makeup artist. He must’ve said something funny because Shin Hye grasped on to one of his arms as she burst into laughter. Min Ho felt his belly tighten a little and he curled his fingers into a tight fist, Yah! When something is funny you laugh, there is no need to touch! He thought. The makeup artist began about how Shin Hye’s sudden movement caused her to make a mistake. Sheepishly, the staff member and Shin Hye bowed their heads in mock embarrassment. Good, let her know she shouldn’t be touching people like that!

The tune of ‘I’ve Got A Boy’ came from their direction and the staff member quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. As he lifted the phone to his ear, he moved to give Shin Hye’s hairstylist a quick peck on the cheek before walking away. Min Ho cleared his throat in embarrassment, and raised his hand to slap his cheeks lightly, Aishhh! Pabo-yah! Get a hold of yourself!

‘She’s quite a character, ey?’ His manager said, coming up from behind him.

Was my staring that obvious? In an attempt to feign ignorance, Min Ho replied, ‘Who? Ha Eun noona?’

‘You may be an actor, but you’re a terrible liar.’ His manager replied, patting Min Ho on the back, ‘You’re not the first.’

First what? First co-star to be caught staring at her? First co-star to have fallen for her? First boyfriend?!

‘Anyway, Kang PD wants you to know filming will begin shortly.’ 

‘Thanks, hyung.’ Min Ho answered. Turning away, he walked over to Shin Hye just as Ha Eun Noona completed the finishing touches of Shin Hye’s makeup, ‘Annyeong Noona! Shin Hye, are you ready? Filming will begin shortly.’

Shin Hye turned to face him and smiled, ‘Oh.’

‘Oh, Annyeong! You look better from this mornings filming! Did you catch up on some sleep?’ Ha Eun asked as she began placing things back into the makeup container.

‘Ani, I guess Ye Jun Noona did a better job,’ Min Ho joked.

He watched as she tried to bite back a smile, ‘Good you know Oppa!’

‘Yah! What are you trying to imply?’ yapped Min Ho, ‘I’ll have you know I am considered to be one of the best looking actors in the Korean acting industry today!’

She tilted her head back and said in between giggles, ‘All thanks to Ye Jun Unnie!’ she replied, as she hi-fived Ha Eun, ‘Oppa~ Where will you be without Unnie?’

Min Ho shook his head and bowed his head in mock sadness, ‘Shin Hye-ah, what did I ever to do to you to deserve such treatment?’ He looked back up and her and offered his best doe-eyed look.

Shin Hye sniggered and reached out to pinch his cheeks.

‘Aissssh! Didn’t I tell you not to pinch a grown man’s cheeks?’

In retaliation, Min Ho began reaching for Shin Hye’s ears. Shin Hye immediately slumped down in her seat in an attempt to dodge Min Ho’s assault on her ears, the most sensitive point of her body. Thus, a game of push and pull began.

‘Oppppaaaa! Hajima! I promise…I promise I won’t touch your cheeks anymore!’ Shin Hye cried just as Min Ho finally managed to pin her down.

Ha Eun shook her head in amusement, These two dorks! She thought to herself and walked away.

~.~

The electricity between the two co-stars was undeniable, and he was pretty sure that she felt it too.

The ragged breaths, and the charged looks were irrefutably two co-stars; suddenly painfully aware of the close proximity they shared in the dark, storage room closet. It helped that while they filmed within the closet, they were pretty much alone, except for some cameras specially positioned.

He could most definitely feel her nervousness. Her body was stiff, and it seemed like she wasn’t breathing evenly. He looked down and saw her shift her eyes away timidly. Slowly, he bowed his head and tilted it at an angle, leaning in intimately. In response, she shut her eyes and pressed her lips tightly together. She’s not breathing. Min Ho’s own heartbeat was roaring in his ears, and he was acutely aware of the sound of his own uneven breathing. Heat was spreading from the depths of his stomach to his face.

He wasn’t sure how long they’d been at this, but each time they repeated the scene, he felt the same. They may have shared their first ‘kiss’ earlier today, but there was something about this scene’s setting that made everything different. In this ‘closet’, he forgot about Kang PD, about the sound crew, about the filming crew, about their managers…as far as he was concerned, right now, in this very moment, it was just Min Ho and Shin Hye.

The memory of the kisses they had shared earlier only made him want to kiss her even more, and not just his lips pressed against hers. He wanted full, open-mouthed kisses; he wanted to know how she tasted, he wanted to drink all of her in. Just inches away, and he could smell the now familiar scent of cherry, My favourite kind of cherry.

Almost as if it had a mind of its own, he felt his lips move a little and his head inching closer to her than had been rehearsed. Swiftly, he stopped himself and turned away, not without letting a curse out from under his breath. He let her hand go and took a step back, shoving his hands into his pockets.

‘My Mom is gone.’ He heard himself say.

Shin Hye drew her eyes open and looked at him accusingly, as if saying: Yah! We didn’t rehearse it that way! Shin Hye scrunched up her face while simultaneously lifting her right leg. She stamped down hard on his left foot and stepped past him.

Aaaah! I forgot that was coming. Talk about mood killer… He thought, as he bent down to soothe the pain, Aissssh! That girl! She didn’t have to tramp so hard!

The closet door closed behind her.

‘Cut!’