Squinting her eyes, Baram frowned at the sun glaring down at her. She readjusted her sunhat so as to cover her face better, but grunted as she felt flecks of sand infiltrating into her shoes, creating friction with her skin. The whole production team had travelled to Busan to film the two extended episodes. Baram usually avoided attending the actual shooting of the series. For one part it was to minimise social interactions — especially with celebrities that were hard to deal with — and also because she would almost always be overcome with the desire to alter the lines, even if just one word.

This time however it was decided that the trip to Busan would be a mixture of work and leisure, as once the filming ended they would have a wrapping party. It was a very nice gesture and everyone was absolutely ecstatic when they heard the news. For Baram however, it was more of a nightmare which she would have readily opted out of if she had had a choice.

From where she was standing, Baram could see Dahye complaining about being by the beach. Even the usually calm and gentle Junmyeon seemed to be slowly losing his patience, an unnerving vein popping out from his neck. Jaehyun stood awkwardly between them, his eyes shifting around nervously as he attempted to soothe Dahye’s temper. Jin meanwhile was nowhere in sight; not that Baram minded though. She had spent more time trying to avoid the male during the whole trip than focusing on the filming, so it was nice to be able to enjoy some peaceful time where she did not need to be on high alert.

They were going to shoot the scene where the protagonist would run into her ex next and Baram was looking for an opportunity to slip away unnoticed so as to not witness the whole thing. In the end, they had opted to include the flashback scene — which had been filmed back in Seoul — and Baram was certain that Jin must have pushed for it heavily. Nonetheless, she had included another scene where the protagonist would be throwing away the locket that the ex had gifted her. She had originally kept the locket as a keepsake of a past relationship, as a reminder to herself of how far she had come, but running into the ex and having flashbacks of their past together, the heroine decided that it was time to let go.

Junmyeon was very satisfied with the addition, as it offered the ultimate closure for both the characters and the audience. Jin had a look of contempt when reading through the script, but could not deny that the added scene wrapped up all the loose ends nicely. As for Baram, it was her way of vowing a small promise to herself.

Jaehyun had tried on occasions to approach Baram and engage in an amicable conversation with her. However Baram always made sure to give curt replies that even someone as docile and sociable person as Jaehyun had a hard time continuing the conversation. She knew that she was being unreasonable with the young actor, however she did not want to give him the false impression that she welcomed his interventions in her private life and thus preferred to be seen as rude and disagreeable instead.

Sighing loudly, Baram crouched down, tired from standing for so long. It was their third day there, just one more day to go, however, the girl was already counting down the hours until she could step on the coach to head back to Seoul, not looking forward to the celebratory meal once filming wrapped up in Busan.

・・・

Baram wore a scowl as she stared at her virtually untouched beer. Her hopes of returning within the comforts of her home as soon as possible was eradicated the moment Seulgi suggested going for a second round of celebrations now that they were back in Seoul. Everyone else agreed and thus Baram found herself stuck between drunk colleagues, the scent of grilled pork sticking to her clothes.

“You’re not drinking?” Seulgi questioned the girl, having just come back from the toilet.

“Don’t really feel like it,” Baram replied, in her cheeks to stop herself from throwing an accusatory glare at the girl who had instigated the whole ordeal.

Shrugging her shoulders, Seulgi turned towards the others who had started singing some old 90s classic while awfully off tune. Baram exhaled. Baram ran a frustrated hand through her hair, yearning to be sipping on a nice glass of whisky in peace, with jazz music serving as background noise. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to be inside the speakeasy, detached from her every day life.

Seeing a pair of chopsticks place some meat in her plate, Baram lifted her gaze, seeing Jaehyun giving her a tentative smile.

“You should eat more.”

Baram did not bother to give a verbal response to the young actor, instead she simply arched a brow, a blank expression on her face.

“You won’t have to see me after tonight,” Jaehyun kept talking. “You’re probably thinking good riddance right?”

Sighin