Chapter 12
Striking Matches
Argg!!!! AFF said it autosaved, and it turns out, it didn't. 
Oh well.... I hope you guys still like it!
Setting: Striking Matches, scene shoot
KEY POV
A week had passed from Jonghyun's party, and I was back on set. Today we were in a nice rose garden. Junsu would finally be confessing to Meera. Which meant some mouthwork between me and Surim.
Luckily, we could fake it. Taemin would kill me if he found out I had to kiss his precious Surim. Not that I particularly wanted to kiss her.
"Places, everyone! Camera 2, get in position. Not too close to them, it'll be a fake kiss today."
I fell into place next to the director, ready to come running into the scene. Surim sat down on the bench under the rose arch.
"And... Action!"
NARRATOR POV (drama mode)
Meera sat on the wood bench, tearing up a scarlet rose on her lap.
"He loves me, he doesn't love me... He loves me, he doesn't love me..." she counted off the petals one by one. Junsu had asked her to meet him there at 3, but he was late. Almost an hour late. "Is he meeting again with Yuri?" she thought out loud. She stared down at the rose in her hands.
"Yah! Park Junsu! Where are you?" Meera yelled to the roses. "Why did I even agree to meet him here?" she muttered. The events of the previous week played through her mind. He had kissed Yuri, and had told her that he loved her. Yet even after all that, she was willing to put her heart on the line for him. She sighed, exasperated at herself.
"He doesn't love me, he loves me..." Meera reached the last petal. "... he loves me. He loves me! Yes!" she said, and kissed the petal happily. Then her excitement washed away. "Yeah, right...."
"Meera! Meera!!!" yelled Junsu, running to her and panting heavily. He sat down next to her and hugged her. "I'm so sorry I'm so late. I couldn't get rid of Yuri."
Meera's gaze turned cold at the mention of Yuri's name. "Why would you want to get rid of her? You said you love her."
Junsu looked embarrased. "Oh, that? I was lying. I.. well, I love someone else."
Meera looked up into his eyes, suddenly hopeful. "But... you and... Yuri are engaged." she said 'yuri' like it was some disgusting word. Junsu chuckled.
"Well, the engagement was arranged. They never took my feelings into consideration..." he said sadly. "No, I don't love Yuri. I-- I love you," he whispered. Meera heard, but she wasn't sure he meant it.
"What?"
"You heard me, I'm not gonna say it again!" he said indignantly. They laughed together, and Meera got close to him.
"Me too," she said.
"Huh?"
"I love you too."
He smiled at her words and pulled her in, closer and closer, until their lips met.
SURIM POV
It was so hard not to laugh. Key oppa was so near me, I went cross-eyed trying to focus on him. I mean, I couldn't close my eyes since we weren't really kissing, and I couldn't laugh right now. It was just sooooo awkward.
"CUT!" yelled the director. I sighed in relief and pulled away from Key. "redo the kiss scene," the director was saying. "It has no feel!" I smiled and nodded, but inside i groaned. So we redid the scene again. And again. And again. And again and again and again, until the sky darkened and I had to say 8 o'clock instead of 3 o'clock. Finally, as we did the scene for the hundreth time, Key oppa leaned in and I leaned in for the kiss, and we actually kissed. Entirely an accident. But a kiss all the same. He pulled away all too soon for me, but I didn't care. He had kissed me!
Apparantly, that had the right "feel", and the director dismissed us to go home. I was exhausted, but Haejin unni started talking to me right after I had changed, and I couldn't get away.
"Why'd you kiss him in the scene? It was supposed to be a fake kiss," she said.
"It was an accident, unni. And... not to be rude, but, why do you care? Aren't you dating Jaejin-ssi?" I asked.
She gave me a hard stare. "So, what if I am? You leave Key alone."
"But you don't even like him!" I protested.
"So what? I'm better than you. You don't deserve him."
"How can you be so mean? He loved and still loves you, and you broke his heart!"
Haejin unni looked at me sharply. "How do you know that?"
I returned her stare. "I was there with him, two years ago, when you dumped him. You might be better than me, but you don't deserve anyone as nice as him!" I gasped at my words and covered my mouth, knowing that I had gone a bit too far. She was older than me, and I had just insulted her. She opened , probably to curse at me, when Key oppa covered her eyes. Outside, I looked like I was genuinely sorry. But truthfully, I had meant every single word. How dare she treat oppa like that! I thought.
KEY POV
The shoot was over, finally... I was so tired I was ready to pass out. And the kiss... Well, what Taemin didn't know wouldn't hurt him. My phone buzzed, and I read the screen. DubuDuck.
Oh yeah. I had forgotten. Onew hyung was going to pick me up today. I opened my phone and hit the green button. "Yah! Where are you?" I asked.
Onew's voice sounded scratchy over the phone. "We're almost there. Sorry, there was a chicken shop next to the road, and we-- uh, I-- couldn't refuse."
"Sure, sure," I said sarcastically. "See ya!"
"Okay, bye--"
"WAIT! Umma! Don't hang up!" cried Taemin. "Is Surim still there?" he asked.
I laughed nervously. Why did the sound of her name make me have goosebumps? "Yeah, Minnie. She's still here. Why? Do you want me to invite her over? If you do, I'm not cooking for her!"
"Okay, sure, yes, yes, please invite her over, umma!" he pleaded.
"Well....... no."
"But, Key hyung!~" he whined.
"Let's hear some aegyo (did i spell that correctly??)," I told him.
"Please, Key umma? Could we possibly just maybe have Surimie over for dinner? I'm sure everyone wants to see her," he said. I heard Onew laugh.
"Taemin, Key can't see your puppy face through the phone," said Onew.
I could so~ see Taemin pouting. "Well, I didn't do it on purpose, hyung! Don't tease me!" Taemin pouted. "So, Umma, please, will you? For your little Taeminnie?"
"All right, araso. I give in. I'll tell her," I promised, and hung up, but not before I heard Taemin's excited whoops and cheers. That kid was just a bundle of cuteness overload. I swirled around, looking for Surim. She was talking to Haejin. Awesome. Double bonus!!
I snuck up to them and put my hands over Haejin's eyes.
"Jaejin?" she wondered excitedly. I felt myself go tense. Did she have to be so cold?
"No, even better. Me!" I said with my stage voice, uncovering her eyes and jumping in front of her. The second she saw me, her face turned to stone and she walked off. Hiding my disappointment, I turned to Surim.
"Hey, wanna come over for dinner?" I asked. Her face was frozen as well, and her eyes were looking at something I couldn't see. "Surim? Earth to Surim!"
SURIM POV
Key oppa had invited me for dinner. I felt like I would burst with joy. Wait. I couldn't feel this way. Oh no! I thought desperately.
Forget. him. forget. key. you. love. Taemin. He. loves. you. Key. is . just. an. oppa. Key. loves. Haejin... even if she's a cold hearted jerk... You are nothing to oppa. Move on.
"Earth to Surim!" said Key oppa, jerking me out of my mind.
"oh... huh? Oh. Sorry. Uh, sure, oppa. Dinner. Who's gonna be there?"
"You," he said simply, and grabbed my wrist and pulled me out to the front of the garden. I looked at the place where his hand met my arm. If only he would hold my hand...
There was a screech of tires and a sleek shiny green car stopped in front of us. Someone who was wearing a hoodie and dark sunglasses got out of shotgun and opened the back door, chauffeur style.
"You first," he said.
"...Taemin? Is that you?" I asked incredulously.
He put a finger on his lips to shush me. Nodding, he gestured for me to get in. I was a bit surprised, but I smiled and climbed in. The first thing I noticed was the smell. The car reeked of chicken, cooked and ready to serve. I gagged a bit. The smell was almost suffocating. Taemin climbed in behind me, and Key oppa took the front. Onew oppa was driving.
That explained the chicken. Ugh... I did not want to ride this car for longer than five minutes. I think i would faint if I did.
"Um.... how long of a ride is it?" I asked tentatively.
Taemin laughed. He hadn't stopped smiling since I had gotten in. "Don't worry, it's only a couple minutes," he told me. He leaned in closer and whispered, "Sorry about the smell."
Those "couple minutes" turned out to be the longest "minutes" of my life. Key oppa kept on screaming at Onew oppa to stop so he could go buy the "perfect" outfit. And Onew oppa kept on stopping for chicken, too. Fortunately, Onew oppa had a disguise on, but the first time Key oppa tried to buy something, he forgot to wear a disguise, so a screaming mass of fan girls and media people surrounded him, adn he couldn't get away for a looonnnnggg time. He eventually had to crawl through the bathroom window and sneak into the car. And it didn't help that there was a huge traffic jam. Finally, at one point, I started dropping off into sleep. Before I knew it, I started to nod off, catch myself, then nod off again.
Taemin was so sweet, he lent me his shoulder to lean on. It was a bit awkward at first, but I was too tired to care. The last thing I felt was something warm against my forehead and a weight on the top of my head. The smell of chicken was overwhelmed by the smell of cologne.
(AN: in case you didn't figure out, Taemin kissed Surim's forehead and put his head on hers.)
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