Hyung Sik brushed aside the hair that fell on his forehead. He has been putting hours on the gym, though not as rigorously, since he just completed a film not so long ago and he managed to maintain his physique post military. His muscles are toned and buff, even for a lanky, slim built man such as him. He has been working with Byung Min, the stunt coordinator for his action sequences. He went through the training sessions; the process is almost like a dance, the sequence of steps that translate to seamless movements onto the screen.

"Let's try that hand to hand fight sequence again, Hyung Sik-kah," Byung Min said, showing him the grappling moves again.

"All right," as he took the stance against Byung Min.

The stuntman made the first move, reaching over to deliver a right hook. Hyung Sik dodged the punch and side stepped, check-hooking the stunt man as he was taught, his right fist moved to deliver an upper cut. Byung Min twisted to deliver a low blow intending to catch him in the abdomen, but Hyung Sik shifted, using this momentum to move his body forward to deliver a throat punch. They continued to spar, showing various fighting moves, incorporating muay thai kicks and krav maga moves. Both were panting heavily, sweat pouring from their faces, as they paused to catch their breaths. 

"Good sparring, Hyung Sik-kah. That was very good, man," Byung Min said.

"Thanks. Remind me to buy you a beer one of these days," he replied, clapping the stuntman on the back. "I'll see you on the set." He made his way to the shower to freshen up. 

.

His scenes were tedious, shot frame by frame multiple times. PD Lee can be a stickler for details, wanting to show realistic military scenes even in the flashback/filler scenes. His action sequences were quite enjoyable, the stuntmen giving him a run for his money as they enjoyed each others' companionship. He's always been quick to develop friendship, to get in people's good graces; and even now as an adult, he's known in the industry as a good guy. He's established himself well and his reputation is well earned. And not just with the men; he's certainly not lacking in the female department, mostly of the swooning kind. He's been linked with other co-stars, but those stayed relatively benign. Certainly nothing approaching what he had with Bo Young. 

At this, he glanced over to where she sat. She's surrounded by her makeup artists who descend on her after her scenes are done, fixing her hair and makeup. There were also the occasional locals and papparazzi trying to get her attention and her autographs.

Bunch of fanboys, he shook his head, annoyed that she doesn't seem to have a moment's peace. She not even wearing her down jacket in this cold weather. It certainly wasn't like that when they first worked together, because he was constantly by her side, keeping her away from unnecessary intrusions and keeping watch of her needs. Not my problem anymore, he thought as he walked to grab some coffee from the staff tent. But his eyes would continue to stray to where she's sitting, now seemingly inundated by teenagers with photographs asking for her signature. He instinctively stood as if to intervene, but saw her manager finally walk over to pry her gently away. Hyung Sik drew a breath, relief and annoyance warring on his face. 

"Here, hand this over to Jiyoung-sshi, it's Bo Young's coat they left behind," he said to one of the assistants milling about. Her makeup artist should hopefully realize how cold it's gotten and have her put on her jacket. If she gets sick...he paused, blowing air out in a puff, filming will get delayed, that all.

Just the other day he went to ask the set assistant for a portable heater to be placed in the cottage house. "It's a little chilly in there," he said, "surely we have a smaller one of those heaters, right? I'm sure you can hide the wires so it won't be visible during filming; I've seen how creative you are." He could easily charm the pant's off a snake, this Hyung Sik. It made filming the reunion scene certinly more tolerable, and he noticed she wasn't shivering anymore after several takes with Min Shik sunbaenim. 

He  went back onto the set to gear up for his scenes.

.

[Flashback]

 

"Achoo!" she sneezed again. He moved closer to cover her with her jacket. He was about to ask for a heater when one of the staff brought over a small corded heater where they sat on the ground. 

"Aishh, here, I have a few more hot packs," he said, breaking one to release the heat and holding it onto her hands. "Did you have some hot tea earlier? I ordered  some to be brought over to the the set. Did you drink any?"

"Yes, I did," her voice sounded congested from the cold. The tip of her nose were reddened, and the makeup artists were quick to apply powder and concealer. He tucked a wisp of hair that the breeze blew away from her face. 

"We'll drop by the pharmacy after to grab some medicine ok?" Hyung Sik said, his hand holding onto her jacket sleeves, trying to cover her up as much as he could.

"I don't have a cold, Hyung Sikkie; the cold weather makes me sneeze, that's all," Bo Young said. She added in a whisper, "Stop worrying, others might hear."

"So what if they hear? Can't a guy worry about his girl?" he said, becoming more animated. "Even Hyung Sik Man superhero need to take care of his super power girlfriend!"

Bo Young ended up laughing at his antics, her head thrown back, unable to stop herself from laughing. They realized too late the bts camera is still filming and has captured this on film.

Hyung Sik finally helped her up, lingering while her makeup was reapplied. They have a few more takes to do, the scene in the lot where she lost her power. There were a few NGs since Bo Young could not help but laugh when he had gripped her too tightly, trapping her hair in the process several times. 

They were finally done and he whispered, "I'll see you later," before she left to go to her car.

She didn't have to wait very long. She barely had a chance to wash her face when he rang at the door. He brought her a new eucalyptus candle. He read online about the healing properties of eucalyptus and brought some for her, knowing how much she loves her candles and essential oils.

"You shouldn't have," she said, immediately opening her little present. "Oh, it smells lovely, Hyung Sikkie. I love it, thank you!" she exclaimed. She went to give him a kiss on the cheek.

His smile is vibrant, seeing how he made her happy with such a simple gesture. "Come over here." He said as he brought her down to sit next to him on the sofa. 

"What if I truly had a cold? You might catch it," her voice teasing.

"I'll survive a cold; I won't survive without you," he said as he leaned forward to give her a kiss. He felt her smile at his words, then felt her respond to his gentle kisses. Her lips so soft, so pliant, so sweet. He felt her move until her arms were wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer to her, turning their kiss deeper, more passionate that even their heartbeats throbbed perfectly in sync.

He saw her sitting in the corner reading next episode's script. She's changed to her normal clothes, her hair loosely falling around her in curtains. Her face still somewhat reddened from their earlier scene. Even as he kept his heart hardened, he couldn't but help watch her scenes on the monitor, marvelling anew how great an actor she is. He blamed the ache in his heart to her emotional performance, nothing else. Looking at her sitting quietly, so small, still sniffling made him almost want to turn around and leave.

Have I turned into such a coward? he thought. Surely speaking with her will be fine. It will just be a conversation, nothing else.

She looked up hearing his steps and surprise registered in her face. She waited for him to speak.

"You have next episode's script, I see," he said. "if it's not too early for you, we can meet an hour before the filming starts to rehearse."

"That's should be fine. We'll meet here then?" she asked, glancing at him briefly. "Have you read it yet?" nodding at the script in her hand.

"Not fully. I skimmed it. I'll go over it tonight." he was quiet then tentatively asked, "How is it? The script I mean?"

"The story is moving along. But we have time to practice, um, being acquainted again, before the story gets fully immersive."

He nodded and moved to leave. After a step he turned and said, "Why aren't you leaving yet? It's cold here."

"Oh, Minki had an appointment. There was a mix up with my ride. It's on its way."

"I'll drop you off," he blurted, looking somewhat flustered after he said it.

Bo Young was at a loss for words, certainly this was the least of what she expected. "I...I..."

"C'mon, you'll catch a cold sitting here," he said abruptly as he walks off. She scrambled to join him still looking just as bewildered.

.

.

The car ride was quiet and somewhat awkward. The drive is but a couple of hours, but felt like forever. He didn't quite know what to say; she was sitting quietly, staring out the window at the darkening sky.

He cleared his throat to speak, prompting her to glance at him. 

"How is your family?" he ventured tentatively.

"They're doing well, thank you. And yours?" she asked back.

"Theyr'e fine too. They've been enjoying retirement and have been travelling a lot." 

"Ah, I'm glad to hear it. Did they finally visit Paris? I remember your mom telling me she wanted to go see the place."

"That was the first place they went to after I came back from enlistment," he chuckled.

"Did she get her fill of clafoutis? She loved the ones from the bakery in Seoul," she said.

"Oh did she ever! I told her that must have been all she ate, coz she was too 'healthy' when she came back." 

"No, you didn't! How could you? Your own mother!" she said, her hand over  trying to stop the laughter from bursting out.

Hyung Sik couldn't help but glance at her and smile after hearing her soft giggles. 

"Its..Its nice to hear you laugh again," he said as nonchalant as he could.

She sobered up at that. "There's not much to laugh about in the drama right now." 

Their silence stretched for miles again.

"I wish you told me," he finally said, in a voice much subdued.

Even now their thoughts are in sync, for she know what he meant immediately. "It would not have made much difference at that time, would it?"

"You made up your mind, regardless anyway."

"I did what i thought was for the best, given the circumstances," was her soft reply.

"Perhaps. But you took away my decision. And you just left." She heard the tinge of bitterness in his voice. 

"You knew what happened. I did explain why I.. why we could not... why we couldn't go on. I didn't just leave." 

"You told me the reasons, true, but you didn't bother to hear what I had to say. You wouldn't see me, talk to me. After all we went through, you just shut me off. It's as if you disappeared from me."

Bo Young looked at her hands on her lap, focusing on the whorls and loops, the lines on her palms, anything to keep her composure in place.

"Maybe I thought I was protecting you," she said, ignoring him scoff at her words. "Would you rather have been dragged down to the same scandal I went through, your reputation on the line? I barely survived it and I've been in this business for much longer than you." 

"You were innocent; he wasn't! He was charged with embezzlement not you. You could have told me your plans of exposing him, of bringing him to court. I could have helped.." his voice trailed away.

"It's done and it's over with. I've learned to live with my decision," was all she had to offer.

The rest of the ride was quiet. Their words lay in exhausted heap around them, after being bottled up all these years. There was nothing left to explain.

They reached her house. He opened the door for her. Their behavior once again stilted and fraught with disquiet. 

She thanked him for the ride, turning to face him, not hiding herself anymore. She needed this closure to move on.

He looked at her, unwavering, his thoughts still lingering on their conversation in the car.

"I won't make the mistake again of confusing how you truly felt about me. I could have been there for you if you had wanted..."

He paused, his voice cracking, "but you didn't...You just never really needed me."

He turned and walked away.

.

.