I stood outside the shop, deliberating whether I should enter.

She said it'll be free, so I guess there's no harm?

Bracing myself for another epic battle, I stepped through the doorway.

"Welcome!" a sunshiny voice greeted me in Korean. "Ah, Jennie-ssi!"

"Hello," I replied in Korean with a polite bow.

"Please, take a seat!" The girl grabbed me by the wrist and quickly ushered me to a less crowded corner of the shop, her orange-coloured hair bobbing up and down in front of me as she walked.

The Korean sure have a taste for funky hair colours.

As I sat down on the wooden stool, I looked around warily. My senses on the high alert.

Anytime now…

Just as expected, a younger girl came tumbling out of the kitchen. "Jennieeeeee!"

I immediately jumped up from my seat. "Wait, wait!" I said in Korean, making a "stop" gesture with my hand. "Three-metre rule!"

Yeri obediently stayed three metres away, although she stared at me forlornly, her round eyes shimmering with moisture.

I let out a sigh of defeat. That look could melt a glacier. "Well alright, you can sit beside me," I said grudgingly as I patted the stool. "But no hugging!"

She nodded furiously and plopped on the seat to my left.

"Yes, be good Yerim," her orange-haired owner said as she reappeared from the kitchen with a steaming bowl of ramen.

She placed the bowl in front of me.

"Thanks."

"It's so good to see you again, Jennie-ssi!"

This place was the ramen shop, Jisoo ordered me to get her, her favourite dish ever.

I took a pair of chopsticks and dug into the noodles. "Just call me 'Jennie', Wendy. And well, you did promise a meal on the house..."

"Yes, yes I did." Wendy smiled. "It was the least I could do, after all the trouble we caused you the last time."

"It's alright, at least Yeri is staying put." I glanced at the girl as I put the noodles into my mouth. She's rooted to the seat indeed, but she was also drooling openly as she watched me eat.

"Wow, it's really good!" I said, completely disregarding the fact that Yeri seemed as if she was about to keel over from hunger.

Wendy's smile grew broader. "Thank you!"

In case you are wondering, Wendy speaks fluent English. She had told me at our first encounter that she would have been an English major at university had she not decided to open a ramen shop instead. Anyhow, I'm grateful for her command of the language; it would have taken an even longer time to pry cat girl off me if I hadn't been able to communicate with her.

"So, you aren't helping Jisoo today?"

I choked on my noodles. "You know her?"

"Yes, we're very good friends. Isn't that why she asked you to get her noodles from here?"

And I thought that Ice Princess was just trying to kill me.

I gave a non-committal hum and continued chewing.

"You know, Jisoo is actually a sweet girl."

I choked again. Sweet? !

"I know she doesn't look like it." Wendy giggled. "But she is, once you get to know her better."

She then leaned her cheek against her palm thoughtfully. "I worry about her sometimes, as the entertainment industry is rather complicated. There's CL to watch out for her, but those two are always bickering."

That must be the understatement of the year.

Wendy let out a deep sigh.

"I don't know if you've heard about it before, but she's had a hard life."

I raised my eyebrows.

"Her father passed away when she was really young, and her mother had to raise her single-handedly. It was so tough on the both of them."

"In high school, Jisoo started taking on part-time modelling jobs and small acting roles because she wanted to ease her mother's burden. Even though her mother was furious with her."

"She became popular after acting in one of those shows. It was good money, so after we graduated she decided to join the industry full-time."

Wendy let out another long sigh. "Her mother is still against it though. They haven't been on good terms for the past three years."

"Ah." The girl suddenly sat upright. "Where are my manners? I've been rambling on and on."

I gave her a small smile to reassure her that it was no problem. I must say that I had mixed feelings after hearing Wendy's words. I didn't know that Jewel girl—I mean Jisoo—had such a tough childhood.

But why is she telling me all these?

"Anyway, I'm so happy that the two of you are friends!"

I choked on my noodles for the third time. At this rate I'll be dead before finishing my food.

"Jennie, are you okay?"

"Yes I am," I said as I wiped my mouth. Are Jisoo and I considered friends? I wasn't sure. But looking at Wendy's joyful expression, I couldn't bear to burst her bubble.

Out of the blue, the girl took my hand and clasped it between hers. "Jennie…"

My eyes grew wider.

"Please, take care of Jisoo."

She said it with so much gravity that I was totally at lost as to what to reply, and just stared blankly back at her.

Luckily or unluckily for me, my phone decided to ring.

"Hello?"

"Jennie! Where are you?"

I could recognize that panicky voice anywhere.

"I'm having my lunch, Dara. I have the day off, remember?"

"You have to come back now! Now!"

I frowned. "What's the matter?"

"Just come back now! It's very important!"

With that, she hung up the phone, leaving me absolutely bewildered and more than a little annoyed.

"Geez… What's she up to again?" I muttered as I put my phone down on the table. In any case, it's not as if she would know whether I was on my way. I picked up my chopsticks and continued to eat.

The phone rang again.

"Hello?"

"Jennie! If you don't move right now I'm going to dock your pay!"

I instantly scrambled to my feet, thanked Wendy, patted Yeri on the head, and rushed out of the shop. Did the woman plant a GPS tracker on me or something? !

The studio was bustling with activity when I arrived.

"Jennie! You're finally back!"

"Yes," I answered dully. God knows what the woman had just put me through, making me rush back like that!

Gradually, however, I noticed someone chattering in the background. I looked around, and saw a young girl spouting Korean at the speed of a machine gun. She was also gesturing wildly, the two little pigtails at the back of her head swinging around like a pair of broken antennas.

Girl with pigtails pointed at me and continued to rattle on excitedly. Dara nodded with equal enthusiasm.

"Yes, Jennie! She says that you are the one!"

I gulped. "Let me explain, Dara, I thought that bottle of green tea was mine—"

"No, no! She wants you in Jisoo's MV!"

"MV?" I furrowed my brows. "You mean… 'Music Video'?"

"YOU MEAN SHE SINGS?" I guffawed so loudly that the girl in question, who was busying herself at the other end of studio, shot me a very dirty look.

I quickly covered my mouth. From my past experience, I knew how dangerous it was to annoy the girl past her limit. The bump on my head was still quite sore.

"Anyway, what do you mean by that? I'm not going to appear in her MV."

"Please, Jennie! Director Areum insists that you be the one!"

Girl in pigtails is the director? But she looks like she's in high school! One can never cease to be amazed by this industry.

"No way, I didn't sign up for this."

I took my bag and turned towards the door.

"I—I'll pay you extra!"

I paused in my steps. Even though I was staying at Lisa's, I did need some money for my daily expenses. There wasn't much left after deducting what I had to pay for Jiyong's rent, and some additional income would come in handy.

"What's the MV about?"

"Umm… It's a…" Dara hemmed and hawed while I peered at her impatiently.

I was about to do an about-turn when Dara quickly grabbed me by the arm.

"It's a yuri MV! It's very 'in' now!"

"Yuri?" I raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"Ah…" Dara scratched her head, looking as if she was considering a very complicated problem. "It's when, uh, two girls have a very good relationship."

"Good relationship?"

"Yes, yes. Very gooooood relationship. So okay?"

I would have believed her if she had been less enthusiastic in batting her eyelashes at me.

"Not okay." I turned and walked away.

"Wait! I'll pay you sixty thousand yen!"

I continued walking.

"Eighty thousand yen!"

I continued walking, albeit slower.

"A hundred thousand yen!"

I stopped in my tracks. Seriously? Almost half a month's pay just for a music video? Maybe I'll even be able to buy that violin which I've been eyeing for ages.

"Deal."

Dara beamed so widely that I instantly felt that I had just waltzed into a trap.

Well, my instincts were right, as it soon turned out that "yuri" wasn't about a gooooood relationship between girls. But what's done could not be undone.

And besides, it was rather interesting filming the video.

It was much like making a mini-movie, except that Jisoo's song was blaring over the speakers as we followed the cue of the director. Surprisingly, she sounded pretty (okay, very) good, and I wondered idly whether I should purchase her album.

The theme of the music video was a fire-and-ice thing.

I had a number of solo scenes, but most just required me to strike a pose here and there so I didn't have much of a problem. One particular scene, however, required me to make my way barefoot and steadily down a rugged path. I was told that after adding special effects the video would show my footprints searing into the ground as I walked, like I was ablaze.

There were also many close-up shots of my eyes, where I was asked to stare intensely into the camera. Apparently, it was because they resemble "flames". Go figure.

As for my co-star? For obvious reasons, she had even more solo scenes than me. There was one where she was filmed sitting moodily in the corner of a dimly lit room. Again, after adding special effects, the viewers would see ice crystals forming at the tips of her fingers of her left hand, gradually spreading upwards until it reaches her chest, where the heart is.

So yeah, the idea was: I was like fire, she was like ice. And never the twain shall meet.

"Okay Jennie, the director wants you to look pensive," Bom said.

The task of acting as my translator had once again befallen the poor girl, as it turned out that she was a close friend of Areum Areum the underage director.

I stood there, expressionless as I stared out of the bright window.

"The director says this is good! Okay, now, look tortured. Like you're in so much pain but you're hiding it."

I continued standing there, only frowning and shifting my position a little because my legs were aching.

"The director says this is excellent!"

What can I say? I'm a natural at looking pensive and tortured.

Other than the solo scenes, there were some hitches in filming. There was this series of scenes, which consisted of flashbacks of how cosy Jisoo and I were (like happily skipping in the meadows that sort of thing). It was awkward, to say the least. One of us would either fumble or end up chuckling in embarrassment, such that we had a dozen retakes.

Eventually, Areum blew up. And when I say blew up, I mean really blew up. The kid yelled at the top of her voice and threw her script down with a loud smack. She then continued firing a chain of Korean words at us. I didn't have to understand what she was saying to know that she was utterly, utterly infuriated. Thankfully she wasn't blessed with some godlike power, for otherwise we would be seeing a mushroom cloud over where the studio was supposed to be.

As you can guess, Jisoo and I immediately snapped to attention and performed the scenes with zero faults. It didn't matter that it was so awkward; our lives were literally at stake.

It was in the wee hours of the morning when, at last, we reached the final scene.

Bom  looked over her shoulder at Areum before turning back towards me.

"She says to do what you did to Jisoo-ssi outside the restaurant on Tuesday night."

Do what I did outside the restaurant on Tuesday night? Both Jisoo and I stared at Bom in confusion. Oh wait, this sounds really misleading! As predicted, the rest of the crew were looking at us curiously.

"What does she mean? I didn't do anything." I said this as calmly as I could, as I did have a gentle and refined image to chi chu in front of the crew (even if it was a creature of their imagination).

Bom shrugged lightly before turning around to confer with Areum in Korean. "She said she'll demonstrate it to you."

I exchanged glances with Jisoo, who seemed equally perplexed.

Areum said something in Korean as she pointed at herself, and pointed at me. She then pointed at Bom, and pointed at Jisoo.

"The director says she is you, while I'm Jisoo-ssi," Bom explained.

What? Are we playing charades now?

The director spoke again and Bom turned to face her.

Without warning, Areum grabbed Bom by the shoulders and lunged forward, leaning in as if she was about to kiss her.

"WHAT?" I exclaimed, image be damned. I most definitely didn't do that!

Bom let out a loud squeal, blushing furiously as she struggled to get out of Areum's grip. The latter tried desperately to pacify her while Bom continued slapping her hands away.

The sight would have been comical, if not for the fact that my mouth was still agape from the shock of witnessing what happened earlier. I glanced at my co-star. Yep, hers could contain a hippopotamus.

Areum must have said something right, because Bom finally stopped hitting her like she was some ert. The blonde brushed her fringe away from her eyes, her cheeks still tinged with red.

"The director wants you to lean towards Jisoo-ssi and say something to make her blush."

My jaw fell again.

"B—but…" I uncharacteristically started to stutter.

Bom offered me an apologetic look, though she was clearly distracted by Areum's earlier assault.

Areum called loudly, and the assistant director shouted for everyone on the set to keep quiet. Another member of the crew came running with the clapperboard.

"Just make her blush, Jennie!"

What am I supposed to say? Do they think that I'm some blush-producing machine, where you press a button and a blush-worthy sentence comes out?

I stood dumbly in front of Jisoo. She, too, looked lost. And a little embarrassed.

The guy held out the clapperboard in front of us.

"Scene 15, take 1. Three…"

Areum the underage and crazy director eyeballed us from her chair, her hand tightly gripping the script. I wouldn't want to see her explode again.

"…two…"

Jisoo glanced at me uneasily before averting her gaze.

"…one…"

I shot Dara a pleading look. She just mouthed "do it!"

"…action!"

My body moved on its own. I took a step forward and leaned close to her ear, and she seemed to shudder. I said the first thing that came to my mind.

"I think… that you look even prettier when you smile."

I slowly backed away, to see that the girl's face had become bright crimson.

My gaze locked on to hers, and suddenly all I could perceive was brilliant black. That, and the sensation of my own face heating up.

"CUT!"

I inhaled sharply, and we finally broke our eye contact.

Areum sprung up from her chair. I could tell that she was really pleased as she bounced gaily out of the studio, with Bom in tow.

I turned my attention back to Jisoo and our gazes met again.

We stood there quietly, even as the clamor around us grew, the rest of the crew focused on packing up for the day.

The atmosphere was decidedly strange.

"Umm…" I felt that someone had to say something. Anything.

I lifted my arms, stuck two fingers above my head, and wriggled them.

"Guess those antennas don't really help her sanity huh?" I said.

She snorted, and we burst out laughing.

The ghost of a smile remained on her face even after our laughter died down.

"So…" she said softly as she looked to the floor, gingerly tucking her hair behind her ear before shifting her gaze back up at me "…see you tomorrow then."

I blinked. "Ye—ah, see you." Did I just croak?

The girl turned and strode out of the studio in her usual confident manner.

"Good job, Jennie!" Dara said as she patted me on the back, breaking me out of my trance.

"Th—thanks," I replied as she trotted off to supervise the packing.

For a moment I remained where I was, and shook my head slightly in amusement. It has been one long, crazy day.

Now that it's over, all I want to do is to go back home and sleep.

But…

Why is my heart beating so fast?

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2 Updates a week with double chapters. Every week. This fic is pretty much already over in two weeks time. So enjoy :)