Chanyeol’s close friends, Jongdae, Baekhyun and Sehun were betting on how long Chanyeol would last without you.

Sehun scoffed and said, “Three days.”

“No, I think that’s too short.” Baekhyun looks at the others confidently. “I’ll give it one week.”

“Two weeks.” Jongdae pipes and Chanyeol groans at his friends.

“You guys are the most supportive friends ever.” He says sarcastically. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Baekhyun grins before throwing an arm around his shoulder. “Come on, it’s not the end of the world.”

“As far as I know, this marriage is a scam.” Sehun remarks. “You don’t even love her.”

“I don’t.” Chanyeol growls. “It just bruised my ego.”

“Right, because you were dumped.” Baekhyun decides to rub it in and Chanyeol scowls.

Turns out, Chanyeol lasted a month without you before he started becoming restless. Every time he came home it would feel exceptionally empty, cold. It didn’t feel like home anymore.

He started taking more schedules, keeping himself on set almost 24 hours a day.

His friends look at him worriedly as they come to visit him often.

“You look drained.” Baekhyun says softly as Chanyeol finally stops filming for a few minutes to get a breather. “Makeup isn’t covering those eye-bags. Have you been sleeping?”

“Not really.” He answers honestly. “I don’t really go home anymore.”

“Ok, I know this divorce has a really big impact on you but—” Baekhyun starts his rant but Chanyeol shushes him up quickly, not bothering to even listen anymore.

“I doesn’t affect me.” Chanyeol insists, convincing himself more than Baekhyun. “Really. It doesn’t.”

Baekhyun doesn’t even try to act like he’s convinced. He stares at Chanyeol with a raised brow, silently asking, ‘Really? Really? I don’t believe you.’

“If it doesn’t affect you then why would you be driving yourself to overwork your body? You look like a living corpse right now and you’re only going to make the cut if you’re one of those zombies in Train to Busan.” He only pauses to take a breath. “Well you’re not, so get the home, sleep, eat and then you can continue doing whatever you want.”

Chanyeol says nothing for a while before he sighs deeply, giving in to his best friend. He knows he looks awful right now, and is giving one hell of hard time to his makeup artists.  He bites his lip before finally nodding, “Fine.”

Baekhyun grins wildly before skipping over to tell the director of the movie who is more than glad to take a rest.

The deadly silence in his apartment is deafening against his ears. He must admit, it’s never been the liveliest of places, but at least he felt comfort in another human presence in the house.

He plops down on the couch, lying down and staring at the ceiling, feeling the fatigue catch up on him. Silence makes his thoughts run wild.

He’s not sure he can fall asleep at this rate. Working has kept him distracted, but now everything dawns on him that he’s alone again.

It’s supposed to be good, right?

Then why does it feel so suffocating?

Apparently, his body was more tired than he imagined and it starting shutting down the second he started to relax.

His eyes slide closed.

“Cut! Not enough emotion. Why can’t you get it right?” The director yells impatiently as the entire crew is forced to stop for the millionth time.

You squeak in terror as you bow repeatedly, apologies flying off your tongue but falls on deaf ears. The director scoffs at your bad acting before sinking back into his chair and reluctantly calling, “Ten minute break.”

You scramble off set and go get some water. You haven’t been in the show business for very long, only about three months, and it’s your first offer to be in a movie.

Although you aren’t any important character, every character counts and you have to get it right no matter what.

You sigh as you take a sip from your paper cup as you sink into one of the plastic chairs.

“Hey,” a foreign voice greets warmly and you lift up your head to get your breath stolen by an incredibly handsome man. “Are you okay?”

You recognize him as one of the more important characters of the movie. You quickly nod before an embarrassed laugh bubbles from your lips. You can’t believe this gorgeous guy saw your terrible acting. “I’m fine. I got used to it.”

The smile that blooms on his face is boyish and friendly. He plops down next to you and heaves a sigh. “The director can get so picky sometimes. It’s not just you, so please don’t feel bad. In fact, I think your acting is amazing.”

The compliment brings a smile to your face, but not because you believed his words. It was just that he took his time to cheer you up. You found that sweet.

“You’re nice.” You blurt before you could stop yourself, and the man turns to you with wide, surprised eyes.

“Me?” He asks almost as if he couldn’t believe it.

You nod as you watch a grin break out on his face.

“You’re nice too.” He responds. “And pretty.”

You can’t stop the heat the creeps to your cheeks as you turn to the flimsy paper cup you hold too tightly in your hands as he chuckles.

“We’re both newbies,” he starts again. “So let’s be friends?”

You’re surprised yet