By the strike of noon, the studio was full - the rush of cleaners, staging, and staff all brushing past each other to get their work done in time.

Scarlett walked over to the set - a makeshift setup for the first dry-run scene. Sehun had coordinated the design of a basement earlier that morning, but the mix of textures had left everyone in awe.

“This is….,” Scarlett cooed, unable to think of a perfect word to describe what she was feeling, “How did you even come with this so fast?”

Sehun shrugged, a cocky smirk on his face as he looped his arm around her shoulder.

“Talent, babe, talent.”

The furniture placement was simple - one couch floating in the middle, a coffee table, and a stand up piano against the left wall. Simplicity at its finest, and yet all the extra details Sehun had added in, like the weathering of the leather couch with the of his jagged exacto knife or the scattered sheet music on the table and floor, just made the space come alive. 

But the emotion that the scene evoked came from the lighting. The basement was dimly lit, save for the clear sunlight filtering through the clerestory window aimed straight at the piano. It was atmospheric, and Sehun has hidden stage lights behind the frosted windows and coated the glass with colored plexi. It felt warm within the coolness of the concrete floors and sterile walls.

Scarlett shivered. “I don’t know why you ever gave up being an artist,” she muttered.

“This is much more thrilling,” Sehun replied pensively, leaning his weight onto her.

“And stressful,” Scarlett smiled.

“I like the stress,” Sehun chuckled, “It pushes me creatively, and it always turns out different than how I pictured in my head.”

“So…better?”

“I don' t know,” Sehun replied, “Its subjective isn't it? But that's the fun of it. We create things with an expectation, but somehow our creation grows into something we could have never imagined.”

“Hmm….” Scarlett leaned her head on his shoulder, “I think I know what you mean.”

“Scar!”

They both turned to see Joe muttering under his breath as he approached them.

“Uh oh,” Sehun voiced, “Joe looks pissed.”

“What’s wrong Joe?” Scarlett inquired.

“Have you guys seen either Byun or Park?” Joe questioned gruffly, his hands on his hips as he stopped to catch his breath.

They shook their heads.

Joe cursed. “Their manager apparently dropped them off 30 minutes ago without texting me, and no one knows where they are now. Sehun you’re almost done right?”

Sehun nodded, “Yea I can leave the rest to the crew.”

“Okay, can you two please look around for me then? I’m going crazy - I swear….Kyungsoo is going to be here in 15 minutes and I have enough to worry about already.”

“Sure,” Sehun replied, “Deep breaths, Joe,” he smiled, “We’ll find them.”

“Thanks, look if you do find them, hurry them over to makeup, will you? and Scar you have their outfits ready?”

Scarlett nodded.

“Okay, hey, really thanks guys. I’ll treat you to lunch tomorrow!” And Joe walked off hurriedly, yelling at one of the staff that he was going to kill him if the guy broke another lamp.

“Well?”

“They’re not in their dressing rooms or outside,” Sehun caught his breath.

“Ugh, we have to find them. Joe will be livid,” Scarlett grumbled, trying to think of all the possible places the stars would have access to.

“Did you check the terrace upstairs?” Sehun asked.

“No, not yet. I was about to.”

“Okay, lets head up there together then,” Sehun checked his watched and frowned, “We have ten minutes.”

Scarlett nodded and then followed him up the stairs.

“Why not?!”

Scarlett and Sehun paused in front of the frosted door leading out to the terrace. They could make out the silhouettes of two figures - their ongoing conversation peeking their interests.

“Becase I’m sick of you setting me up.”

“What was wrong with the last girl?”

“Seriously?” the deeper voice scoffed, “She literally jumped me as soon as we got in the car.”

The other burst into laughter - a vibrant and playful laugh.

It made Scarlett smile a little.

Sehun raised his brow.

“That must be them,” he whispered.

But Scarlett didn’t answer, she was certain now after hearing his voice. She could feel her breath getting heavier, her heartbeat resounding in her ears.

“You okay?” Sehun glanced at her with worry.

“Huh?” Scarlett blew out a large breath, “Yea, sorry. Let’s go.”

Sehun slid the door open - a burst of warm afternoon sun flashing his eyes and the chill of the wind flushing against his skin.

Scarlett followed, keeping her head down and standing slightly a step back.

The laughter died then - two figures leaning against the railing, turning and staring curiously at their intruders.

Baekhyun leaned, his arm on Chanyeol’s shoulder as if he was tall enough to reach it. There was a thoughtful turn on his lips as if amused by their interruption. His jet black hair tossed gently with the wind, bangs brushing against his long lashes and for a moment, Scarlett completely forgot about the object of her worries.

“Who are you?”

Scarlett gulped, recognizing the voice. Chanyeol’s gaze was dark, distant - intimidating against the backdrop of the cloudless blue sky.

The locked eyes for a moment until she looked down again, until she realized how long she was holding her breath.

She had only seen him for a moment, but her memory had captured everything in an instant - the way his long wool coat sat on top his wide shoulders or how the navy blue turtleneck further accentuated the length of his neck.

His hair was different, longer - swept to the side in a disheveled manner.

“Byun Baekhyun and Park Chanyeol?” Sehun broke her thoughts, bowing in greeting and nudging her to do the same.

“Great~!” Baekhyun whined sarcastically, leaning his elbows on the metal railing, “Looks like they found us.” He stood up straight, carelessly slapping Chanyeol’s back, “Guess its time for work, Yoda.”

Chanyeol shrugged off his friend’s playfulness, a cold sternness masking his gaze.

He was different, Scarlett thought, different than how she had remembered him.

“So?” Baekhyun smirked, “I guess you’re our sitters?”

“P.A…” Sehun frowned, clearing his throat, “Mr. Byun, I’ll be your PA for the next few weeks. My name is Sehun and I’m also the set designer here. I look forward to working with you.”

Scarlett followed suit.

“And I’m Scarlett, um…you can call me Scar. I’ll be coordinating both your outfits for today’s shoot, and…” she glanced at Chanyeol, who was watching her with an odd interest, “I’m also your PA, Mr. Park.”

“Get that, Mr. Park?” Baekhyun chuckled, “Your boss is definitely pampering us. Well, at least he picked pretty ones.” He winked shamelessly.

From the corner of her eye, Scarlett could see how rouge Sehuns’ ears had gotten - although, none of that seemed to show on his face.

He cleared his throat again.

“Unfortunately, Director Kyungsoo will arrive in…” he glanced at his watch, “…five minutes. So if the both of you don’t mind, we’d like to take you to hair and makeup now. Meanwhile, Scar can get you fitted into your outfits.” Sehun voiced all of this in such a professional manner that Scarlett was slightly shocked. He was always usually overly friendly with other actors.

“Ahhhhh,” Baekhyun stretched out his arms - a deep yawn pulling his mouth open, “Okay, breaks over. Let’s goooo ~.”

Sehun and Scarlett stepped aside, allowing the two actors to pass them.

Sehun, for some reason, still had his head slightly bowed - refusing to meet Baekhyun’s curious gaze on him.

Scarlett, on the other hand, wanted to confirm her assumptions. She met Chanyeol’s gaze as he passed, dead on, but only found a stark emptiness followed by a deep scowl as he turned away.

A part of her sunk. What had she been hoping for? That he would remember her? After two years?

“You coming?”

Scarlett blinked. Sehun was holding the door open for her.

She nodded.

Just work. She thought. Concentrate on work. Nothing else.

“Are you sure you’ll be fine?”

“For the last time yes!” Scarlett pushed Sehun out of the dressing room, “All I”ll be doing is checking their measurements.“

“I know, but still…you looked kind of uncomfortable earlier,” Sehun frowned.

“So did you,” Scarlett teased.

Sehun rolled his eyes. “I”ll be back as soon as I check on the rest of the set. I’m having anxiety just thinking of what those idiots might change if I’m not there.“

Scarlett grinned, “God, just go will you! Seriously, you’re worse than my mom.”

Sehun smirked, turning away, but not before planting a soft kiss on her forehead and then rushing out the door.

Scarlett chuckled, shaking her head. She walked back into the room to find everyone staring at her. The makeup artists were whispering, Baekhyun sat with an odd smirk on his face, and Chanyeol - well, she didn’t exactly understand his gaze at all.

She cleared , nervously - walking over to the rack of clothes she was adjusting earlier.

Awesome, she thought sarcastically, Just awesome.

She struggled to push the rack of clothes near the dressing rooms - Baekhyun was almost done getting his hair fixed up while Chanyeol stood to the side - his attention deeply engrossed with his phone.

“Yoda!” Baekhyun chimed as he peeked at Scarlett’s reflection in the mirror, “Aren’t you going to help your PA?”

Chanyeol glanced up, first eyeing her and then the rack of clothes before completely ignoring both their presence. His attention was back to his phone.

Scarlett frowned, a clench to her jaw.

“Don’t mind him,” Baekhyun chuckled, “He’s just a grumpy giant today.” Chanyeol twitched slightly.

“Are those are outfits?”

Scarlett nodded. “I wanted to make sure they fit right, before you go in front of Kyungsoo.”

“Ahhh~..” Baekhyun waved the makeup artist away - who scowled angrily at being interrupted in her work, “Kyungsoo is pretty picky with details.”

“I heard,” Scarlett admitted. She grabbed two of the hangers and brought them to Baekhyun. “This one’s for you to try on and this….uh….” she peeked at Chanyeol nervously.

“Yoda!” Baekhyun called.

Chanyeol looked up, stuck his phone in his pocket, and walked over briskly - grabbing the hanger of clothes roughly from her hand and then disappearing into the dressing room.

The lock clicked behind him.

“Like I said,” Baekhyun winked at her, “Grumpy old giant.”

An unconscious giggle escaped Scarlett’s lips and when she stopped, she looked up apologetically at Baekhyun.

But his gaze was soft and endearing - a childish twinkle of mischievousness as if egging her on.

“Doesn’t fit,” Chanyeol walked out of the dressing room, tossing the pair of jeans to her, “it’s too short.”

“Oh…um…let’s see,” Scarlett perused through the rack quickly, “I think I might have one a size up here.”

Baekhyun had gone to the washroom and the rest of the staff had cleared out to help on set. So now, it was just the two of them, alone in the room.

The awkwardness was stifling. Scarlett could feel the heat on the back of her neck. Chanyeol watched her like a hawk, every move of her hands on the clothes dissected by his glances.

She gulped.

“This one,” she turned to had the longest pair of dark jeans, “It should be long enough.”

He nodded before grabbing the jeans and heading into the dressing room again.

Scarlett sighed a breath of relief - it felt like she could finally breathe. She caught her own reflection in the mirror - loosely hung curls falling from her top bun and her large blue sweater with the tag in the back sticking out.

She sighed again.

She should’ve spent more time that morning getting ready.

Some impression she was making.

“Too long,” Chanyeol interrupted her thoughts, calling out from behind the dressing stall.

“Can you fold up the bottom cuffs?”

She heard a deep sigh and then a grunt.

“It’s too tight,” he grumbled.

“Can you try pulling it off slightly and then folding it?” Scarlett suggested.

She could hear Chanyeol muttering to himself - Stupid jeans…..didn’t even want to do this movie….going to beat up Baekhyun….

She pressed her lips, holding back her smile as he pictured his stoic face.

“Grumpy giant,” she whispered chuckling, mimicking Baekhyun’s early words.

The stall door swung open.

“What did you call me?”

Brows narrowed, eyes with a glint of anger striking against his face.

Scarlett froze because Chanyeol had overheard her.

“Uh…heh….”she smiled nervously, “I see the jeans fit…” she gestured at the jeans and cleared , “That’s great, I um…I have to go check…..yea…”

And she hurriedly fled the room, still feeling Chanyeol’s ebony gaze bearing into her back as she cursed Baekhyun for all of his influence on her.