“Yah, Oh Sehun! Get your here already! It’s already time to leave!”

A series of coughs come as a reply before a voice is heard. “Yeah, yeah, hyung. Why do we have to go so early anyway? The filming doesn’t even start until this afternoon!” Sehun whines as he exits the bathroom, hair still wet and a towel hanging around his neck. Frustrated over Sehun’s dawdling, his manager grabs the towel out of Sehun’s hands and quickly dries it for him.

“Well, if you had paid attention to me before you got out of the van last night, or answered my calls last night, or checked my following messages last night, you would have remembered we have a meeting this morning, which I happened to tell you last week!” his manager exclaims, breathing heavily from his rant. Sehun shows a pout and tilts his head to the side to gain some sympathy from his manager.

“Hyuuuuung, I’m just tired. I’ve had like 5 hours of sleep this entire week” Sehun groans, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand accompanied with a pout.

“No. Nope. Don’t you dare try to pull that face with me” his manager glares, “I’ve been with you since your high school years. I know better than to fall for that crap”

Sehun huffs and walks to his fridge to grab a bottle of water before heading out of his apartment where his manager is waiting for him at the front door.

“You were much more fun and nicer when you were Kim Junmyeon hyung than you are now being Kim Suho” Sehun complains and coughs when he chokes on a bit of water.

“That’s because I was young and naïve. Now I’m older and wiser and know how to control your seemingly uncontrollable habits, so there’s no getting away with the crap you used to get away with now” Junmyeon says sternly as they head into the car.

With a huff, Sehun climbs into the car and instantly closes his eyes as soon as he’s gotten his seat belt on. The trip to the company’s main building will probably take around 45 minutes, considering peak traffic so Sehun wants to make the most of the extra sleeping time he’s being given.

Next to him, Junmyeon turns on the radio, putting it at a low volume high enough for him to hear but low enough to not disturb Sehun from trying to sleep. With a glance at the younger next to him once the traffic light turns red, Junmyeon can’t help but feel sorry for the boy next to him. Sure, as Sehun’s manager, wherever Sehun went, so did Junmyeon. This meant that if Sehun was getting a total of 5 hours of sleep in the entire week, so was Junmyeon.

He laughs a little to himself as he drives as he remembers the times whenever he’d catch Sehun discreetly roll his eyes when people dote on him for having so little sleep. The younger acted like a complete gold medal-earning brat most of the time, but he was also sure to express his love for the people around him very well. Whenever Sehun was tired from his schedules, he made sure to buy Junmyeon some things to keep up his energy throughout the day because he knew Junmyeon was tired too.

“I don’t understand why you would willingly want to put yourself through all this pain. You’re too good to have this sort of ty amount of rest hours” Sehun had wondered aloud one day. Junmyeon hadn’t answered him because he knew Sehun was just deep in throught and his brain to mouth filter had been lacking that day.

The car in front of his suddenly stops, causing him to slam down on the brake, throwing their bodies forward in the process. Sehun snaps out of his daze, mind now completely alert. “What happened?”

“Idiot didn’t signal” Junmyeon hisses. Sehun gives an understanding nod, calming down but decides to remain awake for the remaining of the drive. “You can go back to your nap, Sehun. It’s all good”

Sehun shakes his head. “Nah, it’s alright. It’s better if I’m already wide awake once we reach the building anyway” he reasons, “plus, you’re just as tired, aren’t you? Why don’t you stay home today and rest? I’ll head to filming myself this afternoon instead”

“Just let me do my job, Sehun” Junmyeon answers, fondly patting Sehun’s hair. Sehun grunts and slides lower into his seat and takes out his phone.

“Fine. But sleep at the set then” Sehun tells him. Before Junmyeon can answer, Sehun butts in. “You’re completely underappreciated for all the the jobs that you do, hyung. I’m really grateful for it. So please just let me make an effort to make your life a little easier”. Then just like that, Sehun turns up the volume of the radio and ends the conversation like so.

“...known each other?”

“Well, most of our fans already know that we knew each other since our teenage years. We went to the same high school and I was a year above him. We even went to each other’s graduation”

“So you two must be close then? I think what most people don’t understand is how there’s been such a lack of paths crossing between you two considering your history and profession”

“Haha, I guess that makes sense. But it’s not uncommon considering our busy schedules. The lack of paths crossing simply falls into our own individual preferences when it comes to what roles we want to play”

“So now that you’ve finally been able to work on the same project, have you and Sehun been able to catch up again? How is it working with each other?”

Sehun’s brows furrow as he listens to the radio. He’d recognised Kai’s voice as soon as he heard it and realised that the radio host was trying to dig into their history together. With a scoff, he locks his phone and drops it into his lap before turning to look out the window, ears still trained on the radio.

“Filming so far has been interesting. Everyone on set is really friendly and hardworking. The professionalism upheld by everyone that’s involved in this project is truly admirable. I really enjoy working with everyone. I'm still learning a lot, too”

“How do you two spend the free time on set? You both probably have scenes where you don’t show up right? What do you do during those times when you wait for your turn?”

“We usually just do our own thing, most of the time is just catching up on sleep. Filming is tiring and we try to have as much rest as possible so we don’t make the makeup artists’ job any more  difficult than it already is” a laugh follows and the radio host moves onto a different topic of conversation. With a satisfied nod, Sehun changes the channel and allows the music to blast through the car.

Beside him, he can feel Junmyeon taking glances at him whenever he can. He knows Junmyeon is doing the usual worrying parent role and he appreciates it but right now he really doesn’t want to touch upon the subject. Too bad Sehun and Junmyeon aren’t on the same page.

“How is filming, by the way?” Junmyeon asks as he makes a left turn.

“You know how it is. You’re always there” Sehun answers

“You know what I’m talking about”

Sehun signs and rests his elbow on the arm rest of the seat. “Everything is fine. We’re both professional enough to get on with our jobs without letting personal feelings hinder the task at hand. Everything is fine, hyung. Really”

A slight frown accompanies Junymeon’s features and says, “I’m not caring about the job at the moment, Sehun. I’m asking how you’re doing. In relation to your job, yes, but the main focus being about you”. When he’s met with silence in return, Junmyeon sighs and parks the car once they’ve reached their destination.

“If you ever need to break away from it a little just let me know”

“And do what? We’re already over a month through filming. It’s nothing, hyung. I’ll sort things out myself. I’m used to it” Sehun answers and exits the car without another word and straight into the building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Thank you for joining us today, we really appreciate it”

Jongin shook his head and shook hands with the radio host. “No, thank you for having me on the show. I enjoyed it”

The radio host smiled at how humble the person in front of him was and said, “Well, hopefully we can have you with us again next time with Oh Sehun” and with that, the Jongin was lead out of the building to head to his next schedule.

After greeting the fans, Jongin hurries his way into the car with his manager.

“Hey, can we grab something to eat first before we head over to the set?” Jongin asks his manager, Jongdae.

“Sure, no problem. What do you want?”

“Just the usual café near the set” he answers.

When they reach the café, Jongin tells Jongdae to stay seated in the car whilst he goes in to order. As he wonders what to get, he decides to buy something for the rest of the production team. After finally deciding on a sandwich for himself, he goes over to order and then orders a range of sandwiches to be delivered to the site of the filming later. Just before he’s about to leave, a certain shop across the road captures his attention so he puts his food in the car, handing Jongdae an Americano and his favourite cake that he had bought for him, before heading over to the place across the street.

“Hello, I’d like a chocolate bubble tea please”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upon arriving at the set, Jongin greets the production crew with a bright smile before heading into his dressing room where the stylists were waiting for him. As he enters through the hallways, he passes another dressing room. Looking at the drinks in the bag he was carrying, he decides to give it now, rather than later. Knocking on the door, he’s met with no reply so he knocks again, a little louder this time, for confirmation before turning the doorknob to open the door.

The sight before him hits right in the heart. On the small couch, Sehun is curled up in a foetal position as he sleeps, his fringe falling over his face. Jongin can’t help but stop and stare at the person before him. The last time he’d seen Sehun like this was years ago.

Deciding not to bother him, Jongin quietly places the bubble tea on the coffee table in front of the couch Sehun was sleeping on and turns to leave. However, before he can straighten his back, he sees Sehun stir for a bit before rising to sit up.

“Hyung?” Sehun murmurs, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands. Jongin has to bite his lips to stop himself from cooing at the cute gesture. Straightening himself up, Jongin clears his throat, effectively snapping Sehun out of his daze.

“What are you doing here?” Sehun glares, now fully awake and unlike the innocent image he displayed just moments ago. Jongin gestures awkwardly towards the bubble tea on the table in front of Sehun.

“I, uh, was buying some food for the staff this evening and I happened to pass by a bubble tea shop and I remembered how much you liked them so…” Jongin trails off when he receives no reaction from the other.

“Anyway, I’ll just, uh, leave you to it. See you later…” and with that he turns to leave. Behind him, he hears Sehun get up from the couch and follow him towards the door. Once Jongin is outside, he turns slightly to face Sehun, whose face remains impassive. Much to his surprise, just before Sehun is about to close the door, he mutters a quick “thank you” before closing the door in Jongin’s face.

Disregarding the fact that someone had just slammed the door in his face, Jongin continues to walk towards his own dressing room with a huge grin on his face, deciding that getting Sehun’s acknowledgement for his actions for now was good enough.

Meanwhile inside the dressing room, Sehun leaned himself up against the door and stared at the drink from the distance. He runs a hand through his hair and then ruffles it out of frustration. He freezes when he remembered that his hair had already been styled, so he groans when he thinks of the scolding the stylist will give him later for messing up her work.

Sehun makes his way over to the couch again and sits down. He reaches forward and grabs his phone which was on the table and unlocks it. He checks his mail and messages for any updates, eyes drifting towards the drink in front of him every so often.

Once done with his phone, Sehun throws it on the couch beside him and leans back with a sigh. Eyeing the drink, Sehun can’t help but grin.

“Chocolate. Huh, he still remembers” Sehun mutters to himself. Coming to the conclusion that it wouldn’t be right to waste food and drinks, Sehun picks it up and drinks it. As the taste touches his tongue, Sehun lets out a satisfied moan. It’d been so long since he’d been allowed to have bubble tea due to his strict diet. If Junmyeon were to see him right now he would–

“Oh Sehun, what do you think you’re doing?”

Sehun’s gaze slowly shifts towards the door where his manager is standing with his hands on his hips, a displeased look on his face.

“Um… drinking?” Sehun says sheepishly. Junmyeon glares at the boy for a moment but decides to let it go, knowing how much Sehun likes the drink. What he doesn’t believe is the state that Sehun had turned his hair into.

“What did you do? The stylists are going to grill you once they see what you did” Junmyeon rants as he walks towards the door to poke his head out and call for the hair stylist. As soon as the hair stylists see the state of Sehun’s hair, she screeches at him and has to hold back her temptation of slapping the boy on the arm. Instead, she pushes him into the chair and quickly gets to work since Sehun was about to be called up for filming.

Within moments, Sehun’s hair is perfect once again thanks to the work of the hair stylist, which is what he tells her. Her only response is a huff and a playful glare, along with a warning to not mess her hard work again. With a salute in reply, Sehun follows a staff out of the dressing room towards the set.

On his way out, he bumps into Jongin who was waiting outside for him. Knowing that there were people with their attention on the both of them, Sehun greets the other so people don’t have suspicions and they continue to walk in silence. Much to Sehun’s delight, they walk in silence the entire walk and get right into filming as soon as they arrive on set.

For the next couple of hours, everyone is busy working and both Jongin and Sehun are immersed in their roles as they continue to act throughout the afternoon and into the evening. Just as the director calls for a break, the food that Jongin ordered arrives. Jongin distributes the sandwiches to everyone around him and once he’s certain the staff have some food, he grabs two sandwiches and two water bottles.

Sehun’s scrolling through his phone when he feels someone approaching him. Seeing the person to be Jongin, Sehun can’t help but roll his eyes. He’s really tired and the effort he has to put in to deal with Jongin as civilly as possible happens to drain a lot of his energy, so he’d very much appreciate it if Jongin could just go away and let him rest in peace.

“Hey, for you” Jongin says, placing the food beside Sehun.

“I didn’t order this”

“Neither did anyone else in the building”

“I don’t need your hospitality” Sehun scowls.

“I know you don’t, but just accept it anyway, would you?” Jongin says gently and begins to unwrap his sandwich wrap before digging in. With a sigh, Sehun picks up the food and begins to eat, much to Jongin’s delight.

Filming continues smoothly after their break now that everyone was no longer hungry and well fed. However, as the night grew deeper Jongin had noticed Sehun lagging behind and slipping up in his acting. They had moved outside for their next scene and Sehun was having difficulty walking up the slope.

“Are you ok?” Jongin asks, concerned. He reaches out to help Sehun but the latter brushes his hands away and continues to walk in silence. With a shake of his head, Jongin follows carefully behind Sehun, keeping his eyes on the younger for the remaining time they have to film.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“And CUT! Good job, everyone” the director calls out. Jongin and Sehun clap along with everyone else on set and quickly move to leave the site in order to go home.

They’re walking through the studio when Jongin spots Sehun lose his footing on a step. Without thinking, his hand shoots out and grabs Sehun by the arm to steady him. His action causes Sehun to fall backwards and into Jongin’s chest, allowing Jongin to feel the excess heat radiated off Sehun’s body.

“You’re hot” Jongin says with a frown.

Sehun snorts and replies, “Yeah thanks, I know”. Jongin rolls his eyes and steadies Sehun on his feet until he’s standing straight.

“No, you’re burning up. You need to go home. Right now” Jongin informs, and looks around to try and find Sehun’s manager. “Where’s Suho?”

“Home. Sleeping, hopefully” Sehun grumbles.

“What? Why?”

“He’s been done till his bones shake, Jongin, I forced him to go home and rest”

Jongin’s a little thrown off hearing Sehun calling him by his real name rather than his stage name. Hearing this, he assumes Sehun’s probably much worse off than he’s letting on. ‘A true actor indeed’ he thinks to himself.

“Alright, I’m taking you home then” Jongin states as he pulls Sehun’s body closer to his and wraps an arm around his waist.

“What? Heck no. There's no need, I’ve got my own car. I’ll just drive home” Sehun protests. Jongin scoffs. “Really? In your condition at the moment? I don’t think so”

Sehun frowns. “You are in no position to tell me what I can or can’t do”

“Actually, Oh Sehun, you’d be surprised by how rightful a position I’m in at the moment in comparison to you who, if you may not realise, is definitely too unwell to be behind the wheels of a vehicle capable of–”

“Alright, alright, alright geez” Sehun complains. “What about my car, though? How am I going to go anywhere later? Why does everything go wrong whenever I’m with you, Kim Jongin. I was living my life completely fine but then you came into the picture and –”

Sehun suddenly stops talking and his body begins to sway. If not for Jongin’s quick reflexes, both of them would have fallen.

“Sehun? Sehun?” Jongin tries to steady Sehun in his arms and shakes him lightly. Getting no response, Jongin sighs when he sees Sehun was now completely knocked out and sleeping. He makes his way into Sehun’s dressing room and places Sehun down on the couch. Once he’s arranged Sehun properly on the couch, Jongin quickly runs out of the dressing room and into his own, where he finds Jongdae. Quickly explaining the situation, Jongdae assists Jongin in carrying his things into his car whilst Jongin carries Sehun in his arms.

"Will he be ok? Do you want me to call Junmyeon and tell him" Jongdae asks. He then stops and thinks for a moment, "actually, will you be alright?"

Jongin raises an eyebrow at his manager and long time friend, who raises his hands above his head in defence. "I'm just playing my role like I should. We don't know how he's going to react waking up to the an unfamiliar house, only to later figure out it's the home of his nemesis- alright alright i'll leave you to it"

Rolling his eyes, Jongin closes the door and walks over to the driver's seat. “Just call Junmyeon and tell him that Sehun's with me so he doesn't freak out tomorrow morning. Thanks, hyung. I’ll see you tomorrow” Jongin calls out before driving out of the parking lot.

Throughout the drive, Jongin would constantly glance over at Sehun to make sure he was still ok.He soon realises soon enough that he had no idea where Sehun lived, so he’d opts to bringing Sehun to his home instead. As he parks his car, Jongin looks over towards the passenger beside him. He could only hope Sehun’s reaction would be favourable once he wakes up.