THE Saturday before the Final Exams Week, instead of reviewing for her lessons, Eunji left her room and headed to the subway station early in the morning.

 

They were set to leave Seoul today to shoot the scenes for Chanyeol's short film in Namyangju City at the Province of Gyeonggi. Wearing a yellow jacket and thick winter boots to keep her warm, she sat in one of the benches in the station to wait for her companions in the day's activity.

 

*  Lit Idiots *

Eunji: Where are you guys at?

Eunji:

Eunwoo: Woah, noona. You look so cool.

Eunwoo:

Eunji: Thanks, Eun-dongsaeng. You look cool, too!!

Sehun:

        

Sehun: I'm heading inside now, Noona. Wait for me.

Eunji: Okay, Sehunie!

Chanyeol: What a vain bunch of people.

Eunji: Said the vainest of them all.
 

 

 

After sending her message, Eunji logged out of the chatroom. As she did, Sehun arrived to her location.

 

"NOONA!" Sehun chirped. The young man looked so tall in his blue jeans and white shirt. A thick warmer were in his hands.

 

"If I were this hot, I would probably not wear my jacket too." Eunji murmured as she watched Sehun walked towards her. "HI SEHUNNIE!" 

 

"Woaah. You look so chic, noona. Yellow suits you great." Sehun praised giving her a thumbs up and his rare smile. She was glad that somehow, the shy boy had started to be warm around her.

 

Eunji tucked some hair strands behind her ears. "Don't think so much about it. It's just me, Sehun-ie..."

 

Sehun laughed. Right then, Eunwoo came in.

 

"Hi guys!" He greeted. He was wearing a stylish shirt and some slacks pants like he's attending a board meeting or sort of. "Good morning, noona."

 

" Hi Eunwoo." Eunji waved and waited until Eunwoo stood beside Sehun. Their tall figures towered over her. These two were surely good looking. They were starting to attract attention from the passengers and Eunji understood these people perfectly. She also had trouble looking away from their beautiful faces.

 

She had to stare for a while before dreamily saying, "Gosh. You guys look like models!" She mewled, unable to contain herself any longer. "What are your roles anyway?"

 

Chanyeol chose them as his actors for the short film that they would be shooting today. He had sent the script to each one of them yesterday.

 

The story revolved around the chances of finding a soulmate in this big world. From the short script, it mentioned the characters named Baek Jaein, Kim Sejoo, and the only girl which Eunji was set to play, Moon Chaeyoung.

 

"I'm Sejoo!" Eunwoo said.

 

"I'll be playing Jaein," Sehun said.

 

"Ohmygod. Am I even worthy for you guys to fight over?" Eunji laughed giddily. If she remembered it right, there was a kissing scene towards the end.

 

God, Chanyeol finally did something good in his life to write a cheesy film like this. I'm glad I agreed with this.

 

"Noona, should we memorize our lines as we wait for Chanyeol hyung?" Sehun suggested.

 

They brought out their script and started spitting lines from the script. They also dissed the cheesy lines their characters were sputtering asking themselves if Chanyeol actually wrote these things. By the time they had finished having a run-through of their scripts, Chanyeol arrived with Park Jinyoung under his wings.

 

Unlike them three who were dressed up, Jinyoung and Chanyeol were just wearing casual clothes. They dropped the big bags they brought in front of Sehun, Eunwoo and Chanyeol, it contained the equipments they would be needing for the shoot.

 

"Woah, Jinyoung-ie. Don't you have class today?" Eunji asked. He had Saturday classes as far as she knew.

 

"We ended the lectures last week." Jinyoung muttered, he looked very sleepy. There were bags around his eyes too like he had been deprived of sleep last night. Eunji wanted to ask if he was alright but Chanyeol interrupted.

 

"Yah, you sure took time to dress up for this." Chanyeol admired his good looking younger brothers. "Thanks for coming, guys." He looked really touched, he almost looked like he was about to cry. 

 

Jinyoung scowled which made Eunji laughed having Chanyeol shot the younger guy a glare.

 

"I'm excited, hyung! Aren't we leaving yet?" Eunwoo announced.

 

"We are!" Chanyeol said enthusiastically and they all helped one another to carry his stuff.

 

---

 

They reached Namyangju City in less than 30 minutes. As they arrived, the squad rode a bus that brought them to the first filming location of the short film. It was an abandoned train station in the outskirts of the city. 

 

Chanyeol and his assistant for the day, Jinyoung set up the filming equipment. After that, he went to the bench where the three actors were preparing their lines.

 

"So guys, I've made a change for this film over the night." He started speaking putting stop to what the three were so engrossed in doing. He fixed his cap, putting the bill at the back of his head and the strap in front.

 

"And that is?" Sehun asked.

 

"You won't be needing your script." He said grinning and pulled the papers they were reading. "We'll not be using these."

 

"Why the , Chanyeol? How are we supposed to act?" Eunji asked irritatingly. "Without lines?"

 

"Yes," he said bobbing his head up and down. "There would be no script for this film except for Sejoo who would do the narration."

 

"How can I possibly do that, hyung?" Eunwoo asked confusedly.

 

"Well, the thing is..." He began saying and went on explaining how the whole story had changed from the one he sent the other night. Instead of having the soulmate concept, Chanyeol said he had an epiphany last night and decided to change the whole thing.

 

The characters would still be played by Sehun, Eunwoo and Eunji but the story had been changed entirely.

 

The story will revolve around Sejoo or Eunwoo's character who will show through the entire film how small moments in life were important—small pleasures like waking up next to his girlfriend, Chaeyoung to be played by Eunji, and having his friend Jaein around.

 

The film would be comprised of these small moments that involve the senses of touch, smell, taste, and hearing that often times, people failed to appreciate. So there would be no need for the characters to spit lines. The film would just be about actions.

 

At the end of the film, they would be sitting by the beach facing the sunset and then it would be revealed that throughout the day, Eunwoo's character could only feel the things around him because the truth was he had been blind.

 

"Wow hyung, and you thought about all of this just last night?" Sehun asked, dumbfounded at the artistic brilliance of Chanyeol.

 

Chanyeol smiled shyly.

 

"God, I want to play his character so bad." Eunwoo said excitedly, feeling pumped at the interesting character he had at hand.

 

Chanyeol instructed the guys to go to Jinyoung who was maneuvering the cameras. When he turned to look at Eunji, he saw her sulking at the corner. "What's with the long face, Ji-ah?"

 

"Why do you have to change it?" She inquired crossly.

 

"I just had this sudden urge, Eunji." He explained. "The new concept just flashed before my eyes and then I had the change of heart..."

 

"You should have told us earlier. At least we did not have to waste time to memorize those lines..."

 

"Oh, are you upset because you memorized your lines already?"

 

She shook her head, "I'm upset because I wouldn't get to kiss that handsome guy..." She pouted pointing dreamily at Eunwoo.

 

Chanyeol stared at her disgustingly, "Yah Jung Eunji! Why would you dream of kissing our dongsaeng?"

 

"Our dongsaeng?" She dragged her eyes from Eunwoo to Chanyeol. "Since when were you part of our family?"

 

Chanyeol rolled his eyes and held Eunji by the wrist, "Let's go. We've got a lot of things to do." And off they went back to where the rest of the guys were.

 

---

 

The problem with filming short scenes was, it really was a taxing job. Imagine having to shoot a 3-second moving picture in one location, having to repeat the scene over and over for various camera angles and then repeat the same thing to another venue. It sure tired the hell out of Chanyeol's support group.

 

At sundown, they had gone to the beach to shoot the final scene of the movie. That was where Sejoo and Chaeyoung were sitting on the sand facing the sun setting down on the horizon, then Sejoo pulling out his cane revealing that he was actually blind.

 

They still had to wait after dusk just before darkness completely enveloped the place to shoot the very last scene were the two of them walking through the dark holding each other's hand.

 

"AND CUUUUT!" Chanyeol screamed. 

 

Jinyoung immediately clicked the video to end the recording and the rest of the actors slumped on the ground.

 

"WOAAAAH!" Eunji exclaimed. "That was pretty tiring. I don't think I would ever want to be an actress."

 

Eunwoo who just sat on the sand agreed, "Imagine to repeat the same thing over and over again. I don't like this too."

 

Sehun who had fewer scenes in the afternoon started handing them bottled water for refreshment.

 

"Thanks, Sehun-ie." Eunji muttered.

 

"Noona, you both looked great. I bet the scenes will come out good." Sehun commented as he took the seat beside her.

 

"Really?" Eunji asked unconvinced of her acting stint earlier. She looked up to Chanyeol who was reviewing the last scene in his camera.

 

The look on his face was serious and determined, which signified his highly competitive spirit. Eyebrows pulled together, eyes narrowed a bit. "Do you think he will like them?"

 

He was furious earlier every time he couldn't get the right angle or even the proper emotions from his actors. 

 

Sehun looked over his shoulder and saw Chanyeol. "Hyung?" He turned back to Eunji. "He always liked you, noona." He teased while smiling at her.

 

Eunji spit back the water she had just drank. "Stop saying nonsense, Sehun."

 

Chanyeol walked back to where his friends were sitting on the ground. "It's getting late. I think we should go home."

 

"GO HOME?" Eunji repeated. "Should we like eat something first before we go home?"

 

"Come on, Eunji. We might miss the subway if we don't head up." Chanyeol muttered and smirked. By his looks, Eunji could tell right away that he would not spend money over them tonight. 

 

"What a stingy man." She scowled and kicked the sand beneath her feet.

 

"Ugh. I'm so hungry, hyung." Eunwoo complained. "I don't think I can come back for tomorrow's morning shoot if I don't eat tonight."

 

The quick change of expression on Chanyeol's face was evident and without hesitation he asked softly, "Where do you want to eat, Eunwoo-yah?"

 

---

 

To Eunji's surprise, that night, Chanyeol treated them to dinner. Knowing what a cheapskate he was, she took it as an opportunity.

 

After stuffing themselves with food, they rode the last trip of the subway back to Seoul that evening. Jinyoung who was really tired from being the back up camera man slept all the way home beside Eunji.

 

When they got off at the terminal, Jinyoung offered to walk Eunji back at the dorm. The dorm was closer than his place and all he really wanted was to sleep in peace. He decided to just sleep at Minyoung's room in the dorm. Chanyeol had to bring back all his stuff at their house alone.

 

The guys just agreed to meet the next day to shoot the Eunwoo and Eunji's scene in the bed.

 

As soon as they reached their house, Park Jinyoung hit the sack. He settled on the couch  and when Eunji went back to find her spare key of Minyoung eonni's room, Jinyoung was already snoring. The next day, he woke up at the smell of the girl's cooking breakfast.

 

"Noonaaaa." He called as soon as he saw Eunji's back from the couch where he was lying. "What did you cook?"

 

"Are you still dreaming? Nobody's cooking Jinyoung-ah." Eunji teased. Jinyoung looked exhausted since yesterday so she got up early to cook her dongsaeng some food. "Come on, get up! Do you want coffee?"

 

"Noona, my body hurts. I don't want to." He complained, covering himself with a blanket.

 

Eunji pitied her dongsaeng, he was on the roll yesterday doing everything Chanyeol was telling him to do.

 

"You should eat, Jinyoung-ie."

 

Still covering his face with the blanket, Jinyoung ranted, "I hate hyung. I used to love him but now, I hate him."

 

"Why?"

 

"He pestered me the other night asking me of his sudden changes with the film he's writing. And yesterday, he dragged me to join him in that shoot even if I don't want to."

 

Eunji walked to where Jinyoung was. "Jinyoung-ie, should I not go to his shoot today to avenge you?"

 

Jinyoung uncovered his face, "Can you do that?"

 

"I can't." Eunji shook her head and joked, "He'll kill me."

 

"Kill you? That's highly unlikely to happen, noona." Jinyoung assessed and looked at her eyes growing a bit wide at the thought that she had not made sense of everything yet. "Do you even know why he changed the script?"

 

---

 

8:03 PM| the other night

 

Jinyoung was on the couch of their place holding the script Chanyeol had asked him to review.

 

The other guy was on sprawled on the floor. Beside him were all the papers he used for the storyline as well as the filming equipments he borrowed from his classmate.

 

"Hyung, did they seriously agreed to do this with you?" Jinyoung asked, eyes fastened on a page of the script.

 

Chanyeol nodded his head, "It took me only a question to ask them and they agreed." He placed both hands on his cheeks. "Ahhh I'm so excited for this."

 

"Really?" Jinyoung got up from lying and faced Chanyeol. In complete disbelief that Eunji actually said yes to do this, Jinyoung asked, "Even Eunji-noona?"

 

Chanyeol smirked, "I know, right?"

 

The younger guy's mouth dropped as he went back to the page he was reading, "I can't believe noona would actually do this thing."

 

He expressed his surprise then proceeded to read aloud a line from the page he had been eyeing for a time now, "Sejoo grabs Chaeyoung and KISSES HER-- the best kiss ever. At a beat, they pulled away, he looks at--" Jinyoung was not able to finish reading the part as Chanyeol had hastily grabbed the printed script from his hand.

 

Chanyeol's own eyes grew wide as he read the same part," Ohmygod."

 

---

 

As Jinyoung finished narrating, Eunji was flabbergasted.

 

"He ended up to change the whole thing after. And he pestered me the whole night asking me if this line is okay or not-- Noona, I literally had to be awake the whole evening."

 

So that explained a lot about his eyebags yesterday. "I'm sorry, Jinyoung-ie."

 

"And he always threatened me that he wouldn't lend me his consoles if I don't help him until yesterday. I hate hyung!!!"

 

"But you still helped him, didn't you? Do you hate him that much?" Eunji inquired.

 

Jinyoung stared blankly, contemplating his emotions about Chanyeol. He kicked his leg out of frustration when he realized that when it came to Chanyeol, he just became the same person he was with his Minyoung noona.

 

" I hate myself." he muttered and covered his face again with the blanket.

 

Eunji was left wondering if Chanyeol actually changed the script to avoid the scene.

 

---

 

OUT of frustration, Jinyoung decided to stay in the dorm and slept some more which left Eunji no choice but to go back to his place alone.

 

The guys agreed to shoot the remaining scenes in Chanyeol's boarding house so that they wouldn't have to find another venue. Besides, there was one unoccupied room in the house which they could use.

 

Eunji brought her sleeping garments for the shoot. She had planned to meet Sohye after she was done with Chanyeol. She came to the house at 8:30 in the morning. She thought she was early for their call time which Chanyeol had set at 9:00 in the morning. Eunwoo who was a lot earlier opened the door for her.

 

"Noona, annyeong!"

 

"Eunwoo, you're early." Eunji muttered as she made her way inside the house. "Where's Sehunie?" She inquired as she placed her backpack on the floor where Chanyeol was sitting adjusting his camera.

 

"Sehun will not be here today."Eunwoo explained. "Vivi's not feeling well."

 

Eunji's eyes widened. "Is Vivi his girlfriend?" 

 

"It's his dog." 

 

"Oh," Eunji uttered as she sat on the couch. "So that leaves you, me and..." Her eyes lands on Chanyeol.

 

He looked so tired his eyelids were dropping already. "Yeolie?" She called out. He must have stayed up the whole night to do the editing.

 

Chanyeol jolted and straightened his back. "Oy Ji-ah, you're here." He said as he yawned. "I'm sorry. I barely slept the other night."

 

"Should we let you sleep first?" Eunji asked.

 

He shook his head, ears flushed at the cold Sunday morning, "We will miss the morning sun if we don't shoot right now." He brushed his forehead with his fingers. "Are you guys ready?"

 

"At your word, PD-nim." Eunwoo replied with a salute.

 

They proceeded with the Director's instructions to shoot the remaining scenes. The scenes were mainly taken on the bed where Sejoo and Chaeyoung were lying. It consisted of Sejoo's scenes where he tried to feel his surrounding—the morning sun touching his bare skin, his eyes reflecting the color of the skies, the warmth of Chaeyoung, the comfort of their sheets.

 

The shoot they had that morning did not become as tiresome as it did yesterday. This was probably because most scenes were on the same place and it did not require them to move around a lot. They finished all scenes by 11 in the morning.

 

When Eunji came out after changing her clothes, she discovered that Chanyeol was already sleeping on the wooden floor of the house.

 

"Yah, what happened here?" She asked wondering how Chanyeol had slept on the floor when less than five minutes ago before Eunji went to the unoccupied room to change, he was so alive and excited to edit the clips he had recorded.

 

"He was already sleeping when I came out," Eunwoo explained. "Hyung must be so tired."

 

Chanyeol's big body was sprawled on the floor and he looked so peaceful while sleeping that Eunji thought waking him up to just tell him that they were leaving already would be so cruel.

 

"Eunwoo-yah, just go ahead." Eunji ordered, eyes not leaving Chanyeol. "I'll just stay here and wait for him to wake up." She knew that Eunwoo was in a hurry too, she couldn't hold the younger guy with her quite longer.

 

"Will you be okay noona?"

 

Eunji scoffed, "Yah. What do you take me for?" She asked shooting Eunwoo a gaze. "Go on, Eunwoo. I'll leave as soon as he wakes up."

 

"Then I'll get going. See you around, noona."

 

"Bye, Eunwoo." Eunji waved and watched as Eunwoo disappeared behind the door. As the door locked behind him, the house was engulfed with a defeaning silence. They were left alone together again.

 

Eunji put back her bag on the floor and fished her phone out of her coat's pocket to message Sohye about the change of their plan.

 

 

Eunji: Sohye, I can't come like right now?

Sohye: Why? Did you finish your shoot already?

Eunji: Yes. But Chanyeol fell asleep.

Eunji: I can't leave him alone.

Sohye: Oh boy.

Eunji: I'll just wait until he wakes up. Then I'll come and meet you.

Sohye: Forget about meeting me today. Just sleep together with him, Eunji.

Eunji: What the hell, Im Sohye?

 

 

Eunji shook her head as she dropped her phone back to her bag. She went to Chanyeol's room to get some pillows and his blanket.

 

He looked so helpless lying on the floor like this. He was still wearing his glasses so she had them removed. Eunji wondered why this guy liked tiring himself.

 

She sat beside him and spent a few moments staring at his face. He looked peaceful while slumbering. Mouth slightly agape and light snores escaping between his lips. His dark hair looked light and messy and they had grown obviously longer for they were hiding his thick eyebrows.

 

". Why do you look so beautiful?" She mumbled softly beside him.

 

Her heart sank a little at the thought that her curse in this lifetime was not to have beautiful things.

 

It had been awhile since she had this moment of certainty and admitted to herself again that she still liked Chanyeol. She deemed this to be the most stupid thing she had done in a long time, even more idiotic than confronting Kyungsoo when she got drunk few months back.

 

To fall for someone like Chanyeol who only saw her as a friend and nothing more. Doing it high school did not affect her much because he had a girlfriend and she knew her place quite well. Falling for him now was a different thing because he was single and even though he was, he would never look at her the way she wanted her to be.

 

For him she would always remain a high school best friend, a close confidant, a subject of his constant teasing, a seatmate he liked distracting, a food tripping buddy, a friend, his Eunji, his Ji-ah. And in the oddliest sense, Eunji had wanted to keep Chanyeol as a friend because what were the chances to find someone like him in this lifetime?

 

Someone who could be annoying but would listen to her always. Someone who was always loud but would keep his mouth shut to give her all the time she needed to speak her mind. Someone who would stay close beside her in crowded streets, in the midst of her boring activities, inside quiet libraries. Someone who would always save her a seat, pick her up wherever she might be drunk and no matter how late it was, tell her she had messed up really bad, laugh at her when she cursed, and choose her to be his partner over and over again. Someone who could be her safe haven, her safe place, her person.

 

She had lost him once, and there's a high chance of losing him again if ever she would tell him her feelings. She would rather have this set-up than not to have him at all.

 

Eunji sighed and spent more minutes staring at the beautiful boy lying on the floor until eventually, she fell asleep too.

 

---

 

Three hours later, Eunji woke up on the couch covered with the same blanket she tucked him in earlier. Chanyeol's back was literally on her face, he was close enough for her to smell.

 

His proximity made her feel warm and she fought the urge to lean closer to him and snuggle at his broad back or run her fingers through his hair or touch his big ears that were sticking out of his beanie.

 

She spent a few more minutes admiring his back and thinking what it would be like to wake up next to him every day? She mentally slapped herself for thinking such horrible thought. She could hear him humming softly and tapping on his laptop computer.

 

"Yeolmae?" Her voice croaked she sounded like a frog. Good thing was Chanyeol never really minded her moments like this one.

 

The guy halted typing and moved a little to look over his shoulder to gaze at her, "Oh, Ji-ah... You're awake."

 

Her mind went blank as his face turned to her direction. He was so close, his breath was brushing her cheeks. The look on his eyes was soft and Eunji could not help but look at his pink lips which she thought were equally soft. Her heart was pounding hard against her chest and all she really wanted was to kiss Chanyeol right then.

 

She sat up straight at the thought, "." Why am I having these erted thoughts?

 

The guy was surprised at her sudden act as well. He transferred his laptop from his lap to the table and faced Eunji, "What's wrong?"

 

"What time is it?" She asked randomly.

 

"It's 3 in the afternoon." He murmured. "Are you going somewhere?"

 

"I'm meeting Sohye today."

 

"Im Sohye?" His eyes popped a little.

 

She nodded. "God, I slept way too long. I was just waiting for you to wake up but I dozed off myself. I should get going now."

 

"I'm about to finish editing too." Chanyeol explained reaching back for his laptop again.

 

"So?"

 

"Just wait for me and let's go together, I want to meet Sohye too." He said casually and leaned back again on the couch.

 

Eunji snorted, "You're not even invited."

 

"I'm inviting myself." He said and began typing on his computer again. "Give me thirty minutes more,"

 

She clicked her tongue and got her phone to message Sohye that she would be coming with Chanyeol. After putting her phone back to her bag, she lied back on the couch.

 

She stared at the ceiling and soon after, only the tapping of Chanyeol's fingers on his laptop could be heard in the room matched with their breathing and the slow ticking of the clock on the wall. Everything was so quiet.

 

"Is this what it feels like for you to wait for me when I study?" Eunji asked.

 

"How does it feel like?" Chanyeol murmured still facing his computer.

 

Personally, Eunji liked the quiet and the stillness. But imagining the loud and hyperactive Chanyeol doing this, "Boring." She managed to say.

 

"Yes." Chanyeol nodded his head.

 

That was probably why he always slept when she studied. "How come you always waited for me?" She asked randomly.

 

"I don't mind waiting for you, Ji-ah."

 

Her heart fluttered at his words. When he talked nonsense like this, she would like to think that he meant it but this would just probably lead to her hoping. Hoping was the last thing she ever wanted.

 

"Yeolie..."

 

"Hmmm?"

 

"I forgot my question," She dismissed the thought and kept quiet. She spent the next few minutes thinking and fighting the urge to cuddle with him.