Impulsively stepping forward Namjoo tilted her chin up challenging him, “Why? I can’t kiss you?”

To much of her surprise, Jongin yielded falling a step back, his arm flopping to his side. Appearing dismantled and disarmed he stared down at her with a loss of words.

“A girlfriend can’t kiss her boyfriend?” Namjoo continued. “I can even do it now.”

Leaning up on her tiptoes she stared into his face having fun teasing him and very much dying with the need to laugh. Flustered, Jongin flung his arm out pushing her back.

“Stay away,” he warned. “You’re crazy.”

Namjoo scoffed watching him turn to walk away. He must be crazy, very crazy.

₪₪₪₪₪

Slamming the door close Jongin jammed his key into the ignition and huffed. He must be out of his mind. Why did he even come here to do such an embarrassing thing?

The light from Namjoo’s doorway shone and then turned off signaling that she’d gone inside without even watching that he’d made off safely. Whatever, he groaned to himself. Why did he care? What did she have to do with him? Shifting the gear into drive he sped off.

₪₪₪₪₪

“You must be insane, right?” Chanyeol asked the following morning. “You woke me up for this.” He waved his hand over the breakfast table neatly set with eggrolls, side dishes, and kimchi soup.

Jongin was still at the counter fumbling with more dishes.

“Did you not sleep?” the lanky manager glanced at him questionably, more like confused.

“I slept. I slept, ok?” Jongin stated finally turning around to set the table with rice.

Chanyeol stared at the bags underneath his eyes but said nothing. Starting the day by irritating Jongin would do him no good, so he’d just have to take the star’s words for it. Whatever had happened last night was no doubt in the equation to this morning’s Jongin.

“The CEO saw the comments,” Chanyeol started when he sat down. Jongin knew he was talking about yesterday’s lunch date. “She’s very satisfied.”

“Obviously the old hag is,” Jongin mumbled.

“Jongin,” Chanyeol warned. Sighing, he said, “She would like to take you and Namjoo out for a meal sometime.”

“For what?” Jongin asked.

“To build morale,” Chanyeol shrugged, “and to thank you two for doing a good job thus far. Namjoo is holding up her end, so she deserves a thing or two.”

Jongin scoffed, “What is she doing that deserves an award? She’s done nothing but create rumor sand put me in a bad position.”

Chanyeol stared at him with incredulity. “But nothing serious has happened.”

“You don’t even know,” Jongin snapped, “so you’ve no right to comment.”

Ok, now was the time for Chanyeol to back down. Irritable Jongin was seeping to the surface. Holding up a hand to signal his white flag, Chanyeol apologized, “All right. You’re right. I’m sorry.” Taking a spoonful of the soup he complimented, “It’s delicious, Jongin.”

₪₪₪₪₪

Namjoo arrived on set early after stopping by to get ready at the salon. The staff were busily setting up the lights and cameras as well as getting costumes organized at the back. She had just started wandering away from her manager when she ran into Chanyeol.

“Hey,” Namjoo greeted glad to see the manager.

“Hi, how’s it going?” he wondered halting.

“I heard the filming won’t be long today, so I’m looking forward to it,” Namjoo grinned.

“Well, I’m glad too,” Chanyeol admitted.

Namjoo raised a brow.

Leaning in closer Chanyeol lowered his voice, “Something’s up with Jongin this morning. He’s a little more cranky than usual and it doesn’t seem like he slept much last night.”

A small smirk climbed across her lips. “Why?”

“Don’t know,” Chanyeol shrugged. “He had this whole table filled with food he’s been making since dawn I suppose. He called me at 5AM to go over and eat.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Namjoo wondered.

“I wish I knew,” Chanyeol said then lightened up, “but hey, the CEO would like to take you out for a meal. I’m sure she’ll contact you when, so look forward to it. She splurges on her stars.”

Chanyeol gave her a quick and friendly pat before walking away. Namjoo continued wandering and stopped when she spotted Jongin from afar getting his last touchup by his stylist before the shoot. Namjoo pressed her lips together and watched while judging. He sure did his part being the star he was keeping his snob-self secret.

“Coffee?” Taehyung asked catching her attention.

Namjoo turned to see him holding a cup out to her. She accepted gratefully and clutched onto the warm cup feeling both shy and smitten.

“Dinner’s still on, right?” he wondered.

“Of course,” Namjoo smiled. “Just let me know what time and where.”

“I’ll call you.”

“Call me?” Namjoo blanked. “How?”

“Your phone number.”

“Oh…right,” Namjoo laughed embarrassed. Then her head cleared and she asked, “But how did you know…”

“From the director,” Taehyung answered. “I could have gotten it from your manager, but he might ask questions so I thought I shouldn’t.”

She wondered if her face was growing red. So Taehyung had asked around for her phone number. It made her feel wow and important.

“That coffee mine?” Jongin interrupted and snatched the coffee from her hands. Next second Namjoo knew, Jongin was hungrily drinking the gift from Taehyung. “Tastes good, but the coffee shop I go to has better coffee.”

Namjoo frowned at him with distaste and turned to see Taehyung just smiling as if nothing was wrong. Maybe he didn’t know Jongin was trying to get at him. Or maybe he knew Jongin was expressing his dislike. Geez, these people were good at acting on and off set.

Scary.

“The director wants to have a word with us about our scene,” Jongin drew an arm around her shoulders and led her away without letting her say her farewell to Taehyung.

Forced to go with him Namjoo bit her lip in protest and eyed the coffee Jongin was still holding. Taehyung had given her that. The annoyance and regret oozing through her stomach was too much for her to handle this early on.

“Did you really have to do that?” Namjoo asked quietly.

“Do what?” Jongin asked pretentiously. “Oh, take your coffee? Do you want it? We can share.”

Namjoo glared at him.

Smirking, he said, “I told you, when we shoot you stay by my side.”

“I don’t want to.” Namjoo flung his arm from around her shoulders and stomped toward the director leaving him to follow.

Director Song Ilhong was sitting down at his designated black chair with the script folded open on his lap. One of the staff managers was speaking to him in a hushed tone and was waved away when Namjoo approached. Warmly greeting her with a smile he asked the usual about how her morning was going and if she was nervous for today’s shoot. He also didn’t forget to compliment her with how good of a job she was doing. And then Jongin arrived.

“It looks like there’s been a change of plans today,” the director explained. “An intimate scene is scheduled for today. If we get through with this smoothly today, there won’t be many more to worry about later.”

Namjoo might have choked if she had been drinking her coffee. “What?”

“There are a few lines to remember,” the director handed them the script on his lap and it was just one which meant they had to share. “I want to film this scene delicately, as you two are just in the first stage of infatuation. You very much admire each other and there’s a lot of passion that should be expressed here. That’s the entire key point of this scene. We’ll start when you’ve finished reviewing the script.”

Getting up to leave them alone, the director left. Namjoo just took one glance at the script and turned away. “I don’t want to do this.”

Jongin glanced at her silently then shoved the script against her. “You think I feel any better?”

“Oh, so are we going to argue about who hates it more?” Namjoo asked irritably.

“Why?” Jongin asked. “A couple can’t kiss?” he stepped toward her, leaned in to face her, “You said you’d kiss me wherever and whenever you want.”

Her expression contorted. “So you have no problem with me kissing you now?” Namjoo tilted her chin up. “Will you be able to sleep tonight if I kiss you?”

Jongin’s brows tightened. Obviously, he didn’t like it when she chewed on him that way. Well, that was satisfactory.

“Then do it,” Jongin tested, “in front of him if you can.”

He brushed past leaving her to hold onto the script until she turned to find Taehyung from afar being suited up for his scene.

₪₪₪₪₪

Halting in his steps Jongin turned back to find Namjoo staring off in Taehyung’s direction before finally glancing down at the script worriedly.

A few minutes later the stage was swept clean and was cleared off. Jongin waited with the director who, once more, went over the script with them again, giving specifics and details he wanted them to show. Their first intense makeout scene wasn’t somewhere romantic like a private apartment, a bedroom, or a park. They were going to do it in the ballet studio where he’d come to find her out of a whim.

What kind of lovely characters Seo Yul wanted to create for them was beyond Jongin’s illusion. He could never imagine living an affair this way, but a drama was a drama.

From beside him Namjoo fidgeted nervously. The stage of their fake relationship went nowhere as near as even touching each other that way. Hand holding was basic and a peck was up a level but nowhere as near as sensual as being tongued or pressed down with a body. Everything this far had been fake. Jongin couldn’t tell about Namjoo anymore but he had always been fake, and if she was going to thwart his control she better get to explaining her actions.

“Are you ready? Lets get this rolling,” Director Song called out.

Jongin didn’t feel like looking at Namjoo as he stepped onto the set. He sensed she felt the same, but even as they entered the stage he reminded her, “It’s just filming, nothing more.”

She glanced at him with no words to spare. Jongin walked out the stage door and waited for the director to call action. Bursting through the door Jongin played his part, panting. Turning from where she’d been stretching Namjoo stared, startled by his abrupt entrance.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I just…I wanted to see you,” he stepped toward her. “I missed you.”

Lifting his hand, he hesitated before sliding it across her cheek and leaned in for the first kiss. Their lips almost brushed but Namjoo twisted away and muttered a loud apology to the director, who was forced to cut the filming. Jongin glanced down at her then turned to walk away.

Kissing his co-stars had always been no big deal. Jongin had managed to be professional about each kiss scene. If he couldn’t pull this one off, what would it make him? He just wanted to get today’s filming over with. The shoot was planned to be cut early today anyway, so couldn’t they just get this over with?

Jongin waited behind the door for the director to call action again then he repeated his scene. Sinking back into actor mode he successfully slid his hand across Namjoo’s cheek. She tensed up when he closed in but at least she didn’t mess up. It was nothing when their lips touched but it suddenly became something when he recalled her leaning up for the surprise kiss yesterday. Abruptly disturbed by the memory, Jongin pulled away. This time he had to be the one to apologize for the mess up.

Well damn, he thought, if Namjoo was going to get nervous she might as well be getting to him too. They repeated the scene again and this time they managed to kiss but awkwardly. The director called out an impatient cut. “You two are too stiff. You don’t look like lovers. Is something wrong? Do we need a break?”  

“No,” Namjoo hurriedly spoke before he could.

Director Song called for their positions again and Jongin walked back out the stage door with a silent sigh. Only the dialogue transitioned smoothly. It was all he could make himself perform until it was time for them to kiss again. He hesitated, felt the heat rise, and the breath stop in his throat. He couldn’t stand looking at Namjoo, because of the nervousness he might detect there. Because nervousness might mean something. And he couldn’t stand it because she might see something in his eyes.

Locking lips with her he questioned himself how to be intimate. Kiss like passionate, infatuated lovers the director had instructed. What was it to be that kind of lover?

And then Namjoo kissed him back, leaning up to better meet him, hold him. Jongin tasted something like desire before deciding to ok it to pull her closer. He detected a quiet gasp of surprise but Namjoo didn’t disentangle herself. She fisted his shoulder, hugged, and kissed him a little harder. Jongin actually her nape and curled his fingers around her waist as they slid lower onto the floor.

“And…cut!” Director Song’s loud voice echoed pulling the apart. “That was perfect! Very nice!”

Jongin was flushed when he pulled himself up. His heart was racing wildly he couldn’t breathe right. One glance at Namjoo told him she was in the same disoriented state. Without looking at him she got up and walked away. Left with his feelings he also stood. He may have kissed her first but that had been an act. It was Namjoo who had kissed him.

Jongin glanced around and caught sight of Taehyung sitting alone across the room. Good. That meant Namjoo hadn’t gone to find him.

Allowed to leave for the day Jongin climbed into the van where Chanyeol was waiting for him. Settling into his seat he asked, “Did she leave already?”

“Who?” Chanyeol asked from the driver’s seat. “Namjoo? I saw her manager leaving earlier, so I guess so.”

“When does the CEO want to have dinner?” Jongin wondered.

“Not sure. Haven’t heard from her,” Chanyeol replied. “You’re interested now?”

“I guess we could have dinner,” Jongin said turning to look out the window.

Dinner. Him, Namjoo, and the CEO. That would work.

₪₪₪₪₪

The first thing Namjoo did when she got home was brush the hell out of . She had been too embarrassed making out in front of the 100 staff that she didn’t want to afford any more mistakes. If she had to keep repeating that kiss scene with Jongin she’d rather kill herself.

Finally! It was over and done with! If he didn’t make it so hard the second time and keep messing up, it wouldn’t have taken over 30 minutes of kissing to get that damn scene done. And he called himself a professional.

Namjoo spat out her toothpaste and continued scrubbing her teeth. She really wished she didn’t have to return to filming tomorrow. It was too embarrassing to look anyone in the eye and pretend she didn’t kiss the hell out of her fake boyfriend and make it look real. Namjoo supposed that was part of what made her an actress now. Still, she didn’t really like it.

Her phone beeped from the other room. Hurrying out Namjoo grabbed it to find a message from Taehyung. Worries about the day’s shoot ceased and Namjoo smiled giddily. Well, what did anything matter when there was the handsome actor about to befriend her and take her out for a meal?

After hopping into the shower she relaxed for several hours then finally got dressed. Namjoo threw on a casual dress and sprayed some perfume. Deciding to leave her hair down she gave herself a once over in the mirror. Satisfied, she stepped out to find a taxi waiting for her outside.

Namjoo arrived at the restaurant half an hour later. Tugging at her dress to make sure it was well fitted on her for the last time she stepped inside to find Taehyung seated, waiting for her. He waved and with a smile. The other customers glanced their way curiously but luckily with no commotion.

“You made it,” he greeted. “I was waiting for you to order. Take a look at the menu. It’s on me tonight.”

“Oh no, I can’t do that,” Namjoo shook her head.

“It’s my treat,” he emphasized. “The food here is really good. I come here a lot with my manager.”

“You’re not one of those people that never let ladies pay, are you?” Namjoo narrowed her eyes with suspicion.

Taehyung laughed. “I guess you don’t like those types of men.”

“Special service is welcomed only once in a while,” Namjoo told. “Like, when it’s my birthday.”

“Then next time, you treat,” he suggested.

“Sounds good.” Lifting the menu up Namjoo browsed the pages before making her pick. The waiter stopped by several minutes later for their orders and by seeing him converse with Taehyung it really seemed like he was a regular. No wonder the other customers had enough sense not to trample on their dinner. That was nice.

“How do you like acting so far?” he wondered.

“It’s all right,” Namjoo answered. “Not all the hype I was thinking it would be.”

“What did you expect?”

She shrugged. “To be honest, I’m not sure. I’ve barely started.”

“I’m sure you’ll get a better impression of it soon,” he assured. “And some good friends.”

***So does Taehyung want to be her friend or what?