07: Reassurance

She was staring blankly at the mirror before her, she could see herself but her thoughts were elsewhere. In an hour or so she was going to shoot a scene with Jong Suk and after that whole incident the day before her mind has been drifting on and off somewhere so faraway. And right now she could not fathom being in the same area with him without thinking about the other night. 

"I do not know what are you so nervous about, Hyo Joo" her stylist interrupted her thoughts. "I believe there is no kiss scene this time" she added in a singsong voice.
Hyo Joo let's out a small chuckle and sighs in the same time.

"Ive gotten myself into some fine mess" she muttered loud enough for her stylist, Mi Hyun to hear who stop applying blush in her cheeks.

"Why? What happened?" she asked, looking genuinely concerned. 

"Tell me Mi Hyun" Hyo Joo faced her squarely with a serious look in her face. "How do you take back something you had said without hurting the person you have said it to?"

"Well, that would depend" Mi Hyun began to say carefully.
"On what?"

"The situation" she answered the pretty actress who bore such an innocent worried face. "I mean do you really want to take back what you said or are you just forcing yourself for your own convenience?"

Hyo Joo paused, her expression changed as if something had just dawn upon her.
Mi Hyun gave Hyo Joo's shoulder a warm squeeze. 
"In the end its really up to you to decide in the end. Whatever makes you happy without compromising anything.." she tells her.

An hour later, Hyo Joo shoots her scene inside Kang Chul's bedroom where she is asleep, dreaming off the party scene and she falls to the floor. This amuses her after a few takes that for sometime she forgets about her underlying problem when she spots Jong Suk coming
into the set dressed in a black sweater and an eager smile in his face.

"Hello noona" he greeted loudly at her.
Hyo Joo let's out a sight of relief as she greets him back, matching his smile. 

"How are you Jong Suk ssi?" he sits beside her in the bed while the crew go about preparing for the next scene. Automatically as if it were the most natural thing to Jong Suk, he reaches out to tuck a strand of her hair. 

"I miss you" he whispers just loud enough for her to hear. She stares at him for awhile, trying to reel in what he had said.
"Hyo Joo ssi, I can hear you laughing from outside. You rolling off the bed must be really amusing" he said.

Hyo Joo can barely smile, the feeling of anxiousness has come back to haunt her.

"Well" she shifted a bit, "it looks so ridiculous I even end up laughing myself. I saw it on video rolling off the bed all wrapped up like a cocoon"
Jong Suk laughed whole heartedly. "I swear you can be silly and still maintain grace at the same time"
Hyo Joo can see and feel how genuine his words were and that his eyes would linger not just for a brief second or two. They would stay, as if studying her with wonder.
It bothered her to the point of curiousity that she asked him quietly why.

"Jong Suk" she calls his name.
"Hmmm"
He was still staring, with that it made her laugh instead.

"Stop staring, it's getting weird I swear" she chuckled.
"I'm not staring, just looking!" he exclaimed laughing along with her. Then his smile faded and he turned serious.
"But I know your worried" he said quietly looking around the busy set. His and Hyo Joo staff didn't seem to take on what was actually going on between them. If ever they knew, Jong Suk had a feeling they were kind enough to keep it all to themselves.

Hyo Joo looks away from him and began playing with her hands.

"I may not be so active in social media" she began to say matching his quiet voice, "but I'm very much aware of what's going on"
Just then Jong suk takes her hand, not minding the world and squeezes it.

"We will never be able to escape society. The best thing we can do is play along the lines" he tells her making her look at him, slightly confused.

"Cat and mouse" he whispers. 
"I don't like that"