Nine; 

I didn't see Jongdae at all that week. On Friday, Heechul popped into Kamong to grab the contract I had signed and get some noodles to go.

"Jongdae's in the dance studio all day this week," he explained as he waited. "He has a lot of choreography to learn. Jongdae's a decent dancer but he has to work hard for it. It doesn't come to him naturally."

That was a surprise to hear, because Jongdae's dancing always looked so perfect in his videos. I guess hard work does pay off then.

Baekhyun, however, showed up twice for dinner.

"I feel like this job is stealing you from me," he grumbled into his noodles. "I never get to see you anymore, Inna."

"I need the money for university," I replied simply.

"I'll pay you to hang out with me," Baekhyun said at once, before wincing. "Wait, that sounded kind of sad because one, you're not an and two, why the hell am I paying for friendship?"

I appreciated the gesture. I know Baekhyun wished that he could help out with my financial problems, but I couldn't take his handouts like that. I had too much pride to take money that I didn't rightfully earn.

"Or you can come over tonight after I get off work for free," I offered instead. "Minseok has the night shift so he's sleeping all day and won't be home. You can stay over."

"Stay over?" Baekhyun's eyes widened comically. "Cho Inna, so scandalous, inviting another man to stay the night?"

"I changed my mind. You're uninvited," I grumbled, smacking him on the shoulder.

It wasn't like Baekhyun hadn't stayed over before. Baekhyun's snuck in before when he was fighting with his parents, or when he was just bored to death after a long period of time home by himself. Of course, Minseok would probably disapprove and maybe throw Baek out of the window so we keep it secret. It's not like we do anything other than sleep, so it wasn't really a big deal.

"I was just kidding!" Baekhyun called after me, laughing.

Baekhyun did end up popping by around 10PM, after Minseok had left for the night shift. I let Baekhyun in with a glare, still annoyed at him for teasing me from before. However, when he emptied the contents of his backpack over my floor and two boxes of my favorite strawberry peppero fell out, he was quickly forgiven.

It was the perfect temperature outside, so we left the window open and turned out the lights, Baekhyun's phone playing through a kpop playlist as usual.

"You know, if you wanted to earn more money, you could always go talk to Yixing," Baekhyun said suddenly. "You could probably pick up two nights a week at the club and earn the same amount as three days at Kamong. Then, you can have more time off to hang out with me."

Yixing was one of Baekhyun's hyungs who had gone to his old school and was also some sort of a family friend. He worked as one of the bartenders for the club that I had worked for in the past, when I just passed out flyers on the street.

"I was thinking of doing that actually," I admitted, reaching for Baekhyun's hand in the dark. I ended up brushing his hip bone, but Baekhyun quickly moved his hand down to take mine. Baekhyun had really pretty hand, especially for a guy. I liked playing with his long, thin fingers. He was wearing a ring on his middle finger and I fiddled with it for a moment, just spinning it around as I thought.

If I picked up two nights behind the bar, I probably only needed to work three or four days a week at Kamong unlike the six I was doing right now. I really missed hanging out with Baekhyun too.

"Should I call Yixing?" Baekhyun asked.

"I'll go talk to him first," I decided. "Do you think he'll let me behind the bar?"

Baekhyun scoffed. "You've spent so much time watching him make drinks, I think you could do it in your sleep."

I certainly hoped Yixing would agree. Usually, before and after my flyering shifts, I would sit at the bar with Yixing so I could keep him company. He would give me a sprite for free and ask me about my week at school. Maybe, if I asked nice enough, he would vouch for me and put in a word with the owner.

"Oh, Baek, I'm going to Busan with Jongdae in a few days." I had almost forgotten to tell Baekhyun about that.

"With Jongdae? What about me?" Baekhyun whined.

"It's not for vacation," I explained. "He asked me to be in his new music video, and it's a lot of money for easy work so…"

Baekhyun laughed, tapping his thumb against mine gently. "It's okay, you don't have to explain yourself to me. Jongdae seems like a nice guy. Plus, I've already threatened him if he was to treat you as anything other than how a gentleman should."

That caught my attention. "You threatened Jongdae?" This was news to me.

Even in the dim light, I could see Baekhyun's grin. "Just a little, don't worry."

That night, I fell asleep holding on to Baekhyun's hand, our fingers laced together.

Jongdae and I flew to Busan, even though we could have easily taken a train. Well, I guess I could have. Maybe Jongdae would have been mobbed by fans. However, since his agency paid for my plane ticket, first class seat, I had nothing to complain about.

I had been on planes before, but it was all before my parents died. Since then, Minseok and I haven't really had the time or the money for a vacation.

Jongdae was not very chatty on the plane.

"I had dance practice until 2 or 3AM and before that, I shot some solo scenes for the video," he explained, head already lulling before the plane even took off. "Last minute stuff, you know. We're shooting your scenes tonight and tomorrow, and then a dance video for one of the other songs on the mini album the day after. That was my last practice and I had to make sure I got everything right."

Heechul was sitting across the aisle from Jongdae, pulling face masks out of his carryon bag.

"Let me stick this on before you sleep," he said, ripping over a packet. "I need your skin to be shiney and on tip top form for the shooting."

Jongdae just mumbled in agreement, letting his manager pin his hair out of his face with a few bobby pins and slide the face mask on.

"Inna, you do one too. Are you wearing make up? You have to wash it off first." When I shook my head, Heechul advanced at me with another mask. "Pull your hair up in a ponytail," he instructed. A minute later, he pressed a smooth, slimy face mask on.

"We look funny," Jongdae muttered, trying not to move his mouth. He took out his phone and gestured me closer, holding it up for a selfie.

A few minutes after takeoff, Jongdae was asleep, head lulling to the side. I didn't mind too much, because I had the window seat. It was fascinating to see the fluffy clouds from the top as we went past.

It was a short flight by all means and Jongdae was up fifteen minutes before landing, looking much more refreshed. He went to the bathroom to take off the mask and wash his face, and then apply a layer of standard bb cream.

"Have you ever been to Busan?" Jongdae asked when he returned.

"When I was in elementary school," I told him. "It's been a while."

As soon as we landed, Jongdae and I were taken to the location of the night shooting, which was at Gamcheon Culture Village. It was to be a night scene, and one of the roof top cafes had been converted into a set. While the wardrobe people picked out the clothing, Heechul brought us dinner, takeout from a local restaurant. Then, it was to hair and makeup.

Jongdae's new song was about love, called Best Luck. I had read the scene script from the director of the MV, and I knew what he wanted. We were supposed to convey a feeling of innocence and discovery. Tomorrow, we would be shooting scenes on the beach and in the boardwalk shops. Tonight's scene just had us relaxing on the roof. There would be romantic fairy lights and candles while we pretend to enjoy a dinner date. There was a scene where I played with some sparklers while overlooking the matchbox like houses, in pastel colors and Jongdae would wrap his arms around me from the back.

"Are you nervous?"

I looked up to find Jongdae looking at me, phone in one hand and a carton of yogurt in the other. His own hair had been curled a bit in the front and made to be purposefully messy. He was holding a snapback in his hands, which I was supposed to be wearing. However, the hairdressers were still working on my hair, which to be honest, after an hour of fiddling, didn't look all that different from usual.

"You said it was easy, right?" I said, flashing what I hoped was a confident smile. In actuality, I was very nervous. I had gotten a preview of the song, and it was beautiful. It was a ballad, and Jongdae's voice was soulful and so full of love. I knew that the song was going to be a hit and I didn't want to it up.

"Sure," he replied with a sly smile. "You just have to pretend to be in love with me."

Filming for the music video really wasn't hard. All I had to do was act like I was having a fun time, which I was, so it wasn't even much of an act. The director played cheerful love songs in the back to set the mood, and Jongdae and I basically ate a meal together and flirted as the sun went down, surrounded by cameras.

"It's good. She's very natural," the director said from where he was monitoring the last shot. Jongdae was next to him, eyes fixed on the screen.

The last scene we filmed that night was the one with the sparklers. The stylist pulled my cardigan halfway off my shoulders and handed me a sparkler, unlit. The camera crews started repositioning all the lights and equipment, waiting for it to get completely dark. Gamcheon Culture Village looked beautiful against the backdrop of the setting sun, something I had never seen before. I turned to as Jongdae if he had been here before, but the director called for us to start shooting.

I lit one of the sparklers carefully as Jongdae moved behind me. I could feel his arms wrapping around my waist, pulling me against him. His chin dug into my shoulders and I squirmed a little, giggling. Jongdae watched me wave the sparkler around until it fizzled out.

"Another one, go ahead," the director called.

As I lit the second sparkling, one of Jongdae's arms came up over my shoulders instead, looping around my neck. With his other hand, he covered my hand