“OKAY! Jaewon, Hayi, you're just gonna walk down the aisle slowly okay? Be natural. Imagine… it's your actual wedding day, and you're walking next to the love of your life. Got it?” he bellowed over with his speakerphone. The pair gave their affirmative, correcting their posture as the staff scurried out of the frame while the cameras turned towards them for the long shots.

And down the aisle they walked, arms linked, chins held high with blissful smiles on their faces. Jaewon turned to look at his bride, and his teeth peeked out from underneath his lips as he grinned widely at the sight he beheld. Despite this being all an act, Hayi truly was beautiful. And despite this being the first time they interacted as colleagues, Jaewon felt relaxed that it was Hayi he was acting with - if it had been any of the older seniors like the girls from 2NE1, he probably would've felt really intimidated.

“And cut! Ok that was great, now we'll do a take 2 for the close up shots and Jaewon, look at Hayi and smile like that again, it was a great shot,” the director ordered. They returned to their original positions and retook the shot a couple times until the director was satisfied with what they had, moving on to the next cut.

“I know the two of you want this scene over and done with as soon as we can so we'll do it know, ok,” he stated, and Hayi braced herself, knowing what was coming. “Positions by the altar, face the camera up front here in the aisle, pastor pup, get in position as well!”

Hayi glanced at Jiho who had been watching the entire shoot intently, despite keeping his phone on so it wouldn't seem like he was over interested in the happenings before him. He cocked a brow when their eyes met, arms and legs folded. She mouthed a quick sorry before getting in her place, standing straight like a doll as she faced the camera. “We'll start rolling at the count of 3, then you guys just get to it whenever you're ready, okay?”

The singer tried to hide her nerves, pulling the most natural smile she could (at least, she hoped it looked natural) while staring straight down the eye of the lens, even though her mind was much more focused on something - or rather someone - way outside of the video frame. The director gave the roll for action as the slate was cut, and Jaewon wasted no time, turning to face her a mere second after.

She gulped, waiting for Jaewon to seal the deal but when he didn't, and waiting for him got too unbearable (she really just wanted this over and done with as soon as possible), she turned and gave him a swift peck. This, of course, surprised both Jaewon and the director, but before they could react Hayi let out a whine as she fell to her right, covering her face in embarrassment.

Peeking through her fingers, she found that her boyfriend had finally put his phone down and was observing her with an unreadable expression on his face. Was he mad? Trying to hold in a laugh? She couldn't tell anymore and besides that, her mind was already in a mush because clearly, they had to do a second take.

The staff burst out laughing, oblivious to the reason for her heightened nerves, playing it off as the regular jitters that come with on-screen kiss scenes. And it was Hayi's first time having an actual male actor in her music video, so it was a given for her to be making slips here and there, being new to it all. The girl was a great vocalist, no doubt, but clearly not much could be said about her acting skills at the time (she could count the number of acting classes she had gone for on one hand).

Bringing herself back to a standing position and making sure her wardrobe was still in tact, Hayi watched as the director gave a thumbs up. “That was a great try! And Lee Hi-ssi, I think you making the move is a wonderful idea, so let's just do it exactly like before, okay? Just try not to fall to the side and keep a straight face this time,” he added teasingly, making a slight blush creep up Hayi’s cheeks.

They took the shot again, Jaewon simply raising a brow as he turned back to the camera after her lips ghosted over his for a fraction of a second. The clip's replay was scrutinized by the editor and directors before they gave the okay, deciding they could make do with the current footage, not wanting to lengthen the entire process for the two artists either.

Hayi heaved a sigh of relief that it only took two takes, worrying into her bottom lip as her eyes find her boyfriend’s. He gave her a tight lipped smile that was not resentful, but he was clearly anything but elated at the most recent turn of events. Jaewon excused himself to walk over to the man in question, his gaze finally tearing away from hers as she’s pulled to the front of the set where a long dining table is being set up.

Stashing away any distracting thoughts of the impending confrontation with Zico, Hayi focused on the instructions being laid out for her solo shots. Everything went smoothly and she sauntered down the table, twirling and putting on a show for the camera, born artist that she was. Meanwhile, a couple yards away in a corner of the studio, Jaewon waved a hand in front of his fellow rapper’s face.

“Hyung, are you listening?” Jaewon asked as Jiho snapped out of his daze and returned his focus to the suit-clad lad. “Yeah, sorry. The set looks cool, I was just gathering ideas,” he fabricated, earning a smirk from One.

“I can introduce her to you, if you want,” Jaewon casually offered, taking off his suit jacket and bowtie to prepare for the next wardrobe change later. “We’re not very close, though. But I’m hoping today will change that,” he added with a wink, and Jiho internally clenched his fist to stop himself from over reacting. He just means he wants to get closer to her as a colleague and friend, Woo Jiho. Take a chill pill.

Jiho chuckled, scoffing lightly. “I was really checking the set out!” he insists, playing it off cooly. “Besides, I wouldn’t wanna steal your fake wife,” he joked. Jaewon just rolled his eyes, pointing a thumb in the star of the day’s direction. “I was surprised she made the first move for the take just now though,” he mused, “I barely had time to process what was going on. Thank goodness acting class paid off.”

Humoring him, Jiho maintained his composure before swiftly bringing the topic back to One’s preparation for SMTM. If the boy talked about the last take for a second more, Jiho thought he might really punch him. Okay, no, he wouldn’t. He was a professional. But he would have been very very tempted to send a sharp uppercut to his mentee’s jaw - and he really couldn’t have that happening. Especially not on his girl’s MV set.

The rest of the shoot went by uneventfully. Jiho left after the first part since he had other matters to attend to, but agreed to meet Jaewon after the whole thing to go over a few more tips and monitor the younger rapper’s practice session. He managed to throw a small smile and a thumbs up at Hayi before he left, which served to soothe her nerves just a little so she could go on with the shoot without a hitch.

When they had a small break in between, she rushed to her phone, texting a quick ‘I’m sorry’ to Jiho before her phone was set aside once more. The end of the day came rolling by and they were set up for the last scene at the back of the movie theatre, where Hayi and Jaewon would have to ‘kiss’ again. Thankfully, this time they just had to pretend to kiss since Hayi’s face would be hidden by Jaewon’s head while the camera panned.

Just as they began the third take for the final scene, Hayi caught Jiho strolling back into the venue, casually standing behind along with the staff as they monitored the screen. She brought her eyes back to Jaewon, glancing down to his lips for the take. And even though she was doing so just to make sure their lips wouldn't touch, she noticed how the air around Jiho shifted.

She could see the way he grit his teeth and his jaw clenched slightly as Jaewon and her drew closer to each other, stopping a mere few millimeters away from each other’s lips as the camera shot the back of their heads, drawing a convincing shot of the two kissing. The final ‘cut!’ call was made and they pulled away, breaking into smiles as everyone cheered, glad to finally wrap up the day after a long, hard shoot.

Hayi put her hand up to get a high five from her fellow actor, and he returned it, fingers lacing through hers to give her hand a brief squeeze. The exchange was a slightly more intimate one than she expected but she wasn’t too uncomfortable with it, seeing that the two of them had gotten closer over the course of the day, cracking jokes and fooling around off screen.

But this little platonic skinship didn't go unnoticed by Jiho who was out there pulling the most convincing congratulatory smile as he applauded with the rest of the crew, bowing to some while wishing them a job well done as they shuffled off to pack up their equipment. But there was a tenseness in his shoulders that Hayi noticed right away - he couldn't fool her even if he tried.

When his eyes met Hayi's with that wide grin she had on, though, he softened up a tad, giving her a small smile. He knew how much this comeback meant to her so he was glad she was happy with the shoot. Jiho pat Jaewon's shoulder as the two approached him, Hayi bowing as she greeted her ‘senior’.

“Good job today, you two.”

Hayi beamed up at Jiho. “Thank you, Jiho sunbae. I'll leave Jaewon with you, I'll go and change first,” she said as she bowed courteously once more and walked off, her hairstylist walking over to start taking some pins out of her hair. Zico tore his gaze away from the girl and turned back to Jaewon who was shrugging out of his leather jacket.

“I'm gonna need to change too, but I won't take long. I'll meet you downstairs?” Jaewon asked, waiting for the affirmative nod from Zico before running off to the change room.

Jiho took a step in the direction Hayi had disappeared off to, but halted, deciding against acting on impulse. He headed down instead, sitting in the lobby to wait for Jaewon so that they could leave. If he were being completely honest, he just wanted to ditch Jaewon. But he made a promise to mentor the guy so he'd stick by it. While trying to finish up as fast as possible because he had other, more pressing matters to deal with.

While he waited, his phone screen lit up with a new message in response to his earlier reply to Hayi's apology.

Z: I wanted to surprise you. Lol. Guess I got surprised instead.

H: I'm sorry-

Z: You don't have to apologise, it's work, I understand…

H: Still, I feel like I need to… are you sure you're not mad? You weren't exactly hiding you weren't happy, babe.

Z: Am I supposed to be happy seeing my girl and another guy kissing???

H: That's not what I meant- besides, like you said. It didn't mean anything. It was just work-

Z: I know it was just work, Hayi-ah. It's not that I'm mad about.

On the other side of the conversation, Hayi bit her lip as she watched the three little dots signifying that Jiho was in the midst of typing a reply appear, and disappear, then appear again. What was taking him so long? Was he really that mad? Was she going to be bombarded by an essay? Jiho was never one to send long texts, he was always concise.

The message popped up and she almost jumped. Let's talk about it later. Jaewon's here right now. I gtg.

Hayi groaned, and a few heads turned her way before she giggled awkwardly, pointing to her phone. “I just lost another level of candy crush,” she sighed to make the tale more convincing. Her stylists rolled their eyes as they finished packing their equipment away and all filed out, Hayi and her manager in tow.

He sent her straight back, instructing her warmly but sternly to rest up since it had been a long day. She reminded him the same as he drove off, and she trudged up to her apartment, laying on her bed and staring at the ceiling, unable to rest as she was told to. She could tell Jiho was mad, but she couldn't quite pin the severity of his rage. And now that he was actually working, even if she tried to text him, he probably wouldn't reply.

Hayi turned to stare at the digital clock at her bedside table.

23:45

23:50

00:04

Somehow, she fell asleep watching as the little colon splitting the four digits down the middle blinked in its metronomic nature. The exhaustion from the day had finally made her yield, drawing her into the blissful land of slumber, where she hoped no dreams would mar her rest and she could put the nagging sound at the back of her head aside for a while.

A/N: oof it became too long again so this chapter's gonna be 3 parts instead of 2. Sorry for the suspense yall, I just thought it'd be better to get this out rather than let it sit around in my drafts for forever again. (then I'll keep procrastinating on updating). On a side note, I'm so happy to see that quite a few of you guys are still reading TuT. it really makes me so happy sobs your support means everything to me u have no idea. So thank you for that. As always, stay snazzy. <3