When I got back to our table, with G-Dragon trailing behind, everyone was already preparing to leave. L handed me my bag and I gladly took it from him. "Gomawo, L oppa."

     "Why do you keep calling me L?" he asked as we piled out of the VIP area.

     I, too, have noticed that, more often than not, I refer to him as L. Is it weird for idols to be called by their stage name during their private time?

     "Mian. It's just that, I've known you as L and Myungsoo doesn't really sound like you," I explained to him honestly. "At least for me."

     "Naneun? Does Sung Jae sound like me?" Sung Jae butted in. "I feel like I should've picked a cool stage name but I couldn't really think of anything. Ji Yong hyung's stage name is so cool, like G-Dragon was really meant to be his stage name. But L? Like what is that even?" L raised an eyebrow but he just jutted his tongue at him.

     "Ya! Why are you suddenly being mean to me?" L joked back. "Oh? Are you drunk?"

     "Aninde," he replied curtly.

     "Manne!" L confirmed. "How dare you talk informally to your hyung?" He put him in a headlock and held it still until we finally exited the restaurant.

     "Hyung! Let go of me!" he cried.

     "Sagwahae," (Apologize,) he ordered with a playful smirk, clearly enjoying Sung Jae's inebriation.

     "Jwesonghamnida!"

     "There you go." He then released him but in return, Sung Jae flicked his forehead.

     To my surprise, Sung Jae ran towards me and hid behind me as L chased after him. "Ya! I'm not a human shield."

     "Neo nawa ppalli," (Come here, quick,) L ordered, infuriated.

     Sung Jae held the ends of my hair as if it were a blanket to take cover with and retained his position. "Shireundeyo." (I don't wanna.)

     L the center of his upper lip and I unconsciously followed his tongue until it traveled down to his lower lip and remained there. He then chuckled, clearly amused at Sung Jae's current state. The rest of us in the circle then giggled and guffawed at his foolishness, including GD who just snorted and suppressed his laughter.

~~~~~

     I have had too much to drink. My knees were already turning jelly but it didn't stop me from approaching the artist a few seats away. The music in the club clouded the sound of my heart beating so fast and it was to my advantage. I could at least pretend that I wasn't nervous at all.

     The wine in my glass kept escaping from it as I unsteadily made my way towards the man who had already finished performing two hours ago but managed to fool his fans into thinking that he already left the area. He was wearing his hoodie up beneath his black baseball cap and a pair of fake eyeglasses was resting on the bridge of his nose. There was no doubt. He looked dashing even in the most casual clothes.

     I took a seat right next to him and stared him down. "Hey, Mr. Celebrity," I greeted. He was known for getting frisky with his fans so I took a shot. As soon as his eyes landed on mine, I reached for his face and traced his jawline with my fingertip.

     His lips curled into a smirk and I did the same. "I'm not in the mood today. Sorry." He then downed one shot of alcohol and totally ignored me.

     Just when he was about to grab the bottle to pour another, I grabbed it too so our hands could touch. Our eyes met and I saw disgust in them to my disappointment.

     Was GD always this good at acting or he's acting from experience and laced with real life emotions? It made my heart sink a little, that's for sure.

     "Neo museun jishiya?" (What do you think you're doing?) he asked with warning in his voice.

     The hair on my back rose in horror but I wasn't backing down. "Wae? Nan an ippeo?" (Why? Am I not pretty?)

     "Mollasseo?" (You didn't know?) he shot back, making every inch of me seethe with anger. "You should at least know why, right? You know, you're the type of girl that will remain ugly even after several plastic surgeries. Why? Because you're easy. Very easy."

     Every word of his insults pierced through the me in real life. I had lost control and before I even knew it, a slap on his face already landed, which was totally not in the script. And totally not a fake slap but a real one. A gasp escaped him and I honestly felt bad immediately. My hand began to tremble as I worried about how the directors would scold me after this and how GD was going to recover in the scene.

     To my surprise, he got off his seat and pulled me off mine, which made me go crashing against his chest. He stared at my lips and inched his face closer. I closed my eyes unknowingly. My lips parted, anticipating his action.

     When our lips were just a few breaths away, he stopped and whispered, "I'm not going to kiss you. You're still ugly," and took off, leaving me all humiliated.

     At last, the scene ended the way it should have had. But I, however, was beyond immersed in it. Tears rolled down my face, one after the other, as the camera zoomed in. Little did everyone know, I was already crying for real. The director yelled 'Cut!' to wrap up the filming in our current location and a make-up artist rushed towards me to give me tissue. I found it difficult to calm myself down but I managed.

     "But that adlib," Kim PD began, "it looked so real." He looked at GD, who had just arrived to my side, with worry in his eyes. "Gwaenchanha?" he asked. I was tongue-tied at the moment as I did not know what to say.

     "It didn't even hurt. I was actually the one who suggested to her the slap. It was just appropriate for the scene, you know, given how she was being humiliated," GD explained.

     I looked at him in surprise. Did he just save me from trouble?

     "You're right, actually," the director responded. "Whoa. Look at you. Do you want to start your acting career now? I'll help you," he joked.

     GD laughed and decided to ride along. "Is that true? If so, then I'd choose Miss Maki to be my leading lady. She's a great actress," he complimented as he gave me a smile.

     I smiled back before I excused myself to go to the restroom.

     I locked the room and collapsed onto the sink.

     I must have gone crazy for a minute out there. How could he say that it was an adlib when his reddened cheek was saying otherwise!?

     I quickly washed my face to wake myself up. I had to apologize. He covered up for me so he must know that the slap was not an adlib at all.

     I exited the restroom after drying my face and as I rounded the corner, a straight-faced GD appeared. "Oops. Sorry. I'm going to the restroom too."

     I bowed and walked past him but stopped when I realized that I was seriously being unprofessional already. I turned around and grabbed his arm to stop him from walking away. "Can we talk?" I asked.

     "Can that wait? I'm kind of in a hurry right now," he said with a chuckle, while pointing to the restroom.

     "Oh. Sorry," I apologized.

     They have all packed up and set to go to the next location when I returned. My manager was waiting for me and a smiling L was standing beside him. His smile was contagious so I smiled too.

     "What are you doing here?" I asked since the next location is where he should be.

     "It's just near anyway so I decided to just stop by and go with you guys."

     "You know that that doesn't make sense, right? We have our own vans so we'll go there separately," I told him with a chuckle.

     "Yeah, that's actually true," he agreed after giving it a thought and then laughed too. "Not. I do not have a van," he added with a serious face.

     "What do you mean?"

     "My manager is already in the next location. Meaning, I'll ride with you guys," he told us with a grin on his face.

     "Ugh. What a nuisance," I joked and he laughed.

     "What's so funny?" GD asked and I almost jumped out of my skin.

     Why did he have to creep up like that?

     "Nothing, really. We were just leaving. I'm going with them in their van," L answered with a polite smile.

     GD nodded and faced me. "So, when are we having the talk?" he asked me. "You know. The revelation." He smiled and it was as alluring as ever but it puzzled me. What does he mean, revelation?

     "What revelation?" L asked as if he read my mind.

     "It's something between the two of us," GD responded then faced me. "Now?"

     "Oppa. You go ahead. I'll just take a taxi from here," I told L and he did not seem happy about it.

     "No, I'll take her there. Don't worry," GD reassured my manager and he agreed.

     L looked at me in confusion as I turned around and followed GD.

     "I'll talk to my manager first before we head out," he told me.

     Out? Where are we going?

     "May I ask where we're going? Because filming will resume in an hour," I told him politely.

     "Don't worry. I won't keep you that long," he said with a smile.

     After talking to his manager, he led us to their van. I was expecting his manager to follow but he didn't. I entered the vehicle and sat beside him reluctantly. It was a single-seater so there was a safe distance between us, so I didn't have to worry about him getting to hear my heart pounding like there was no tomorrow.

     Being alone with him in an enclosed space like this brought back memories from a distant past that should never resurface. Too bad they already did.

     Through my peripherals, I saw him looking at me as if he was waiting for me to speak up.

     Oh, right. It was me who wanted to talk to him.

     "I-I don't know where to start," I stuttered.

     "Maybe you should start by telling me why you slapped me," he said nonchalantly.

     When I raised my head to look at him in surprise, he had a smile on his face. Quit playing games, mister.

     "I was just kidding. Relax," he said in between chuckles.

     I laughed back awkwardly. "I..." I cleared my throat and continued. "I'm so sorry I slapped you. It's just th-that, I was so deep into the scene that I let myself get carried away." I cleared my throat once again because words still struggled to come out. "But still, I shouldn't have done that. I'm so sorry."

     I was looking down the entire time so I had no idea how he was reacting. It also didn't help that he was not saying anything in return yet, like he was waiting to hear more.

     "But..."

     "But?" he asked in a tone that urged me to go on.

     "But why did you cover for me?" I asked, genuinely curious. Does he want something in return? "You could've easily told the director and had me punished."

     "Or you could just thank me," he suggested.

     "Oh."

     "Or just that, 'Oh.' That's fine too." He was smiling the entire time and it was so uncomfortable.

     What is he up to?

     "Can I ask you something?"

     "S-sure," I agreed.

     "Did you get reminded of someone while we were doing the scene? That's the only possible reason I could think of."

     Yes. You.

     "No. Like I said, I just got so immersed into the scene," I answered instead and as polite as I could.

     "Alright then."

     He then got up, placed his right hand on the left hand-rest of my chair for support, and reached for the door to call for his manager. I, on the other hand, was dumbfounded in my seat not only because of his sudden movement towards me but also because the side of his neck was right in front of my face.

     He noticed me staring and he turned to face me but it was a huge mistake on his part. Our faces became an inch away and our eyes met. I immediately laid back onto the backrest of the seat to avoid further awkwardness but I guess it was already too late. The position I ended up in was so awkward and I was sure my double chin were showcasing themselves already. My chin was tucked deep into my chest and I practically looked like an otter.

     He, upon witnessing the spectacle, snorted. "Ya, chingu! What are you doing?" He then laughed but I was not in the mood for it. His slip-of-the-tongue was much, much more funny. So funny that a laugh won't suffice, so why bother laughing?

     "What did you just call me?"

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I'm so sorry for the late update! 😭