Joohyun glanced around the set, standing awkwardly as the crew bustled about to set up the scene. The director was talking to the DP, and a few PAs scurried past them with lighting equipment. Joohyun grimaced at the thought of having to introduce herself to all these people—she had been in touch with the casting director and the executive producer, but it was her first time coming to see the scenes being filmed since they started production last week.

            “Ms. Bae?”

            The small girl turned around and saw the executive producer, who waved at her, clipboard by her side. Joohyun bowed and made her way over, glad that she no longer had to linger outside of all the activity.

            “Hello Ms. Lee. It’s been a while.”

            The EP shook her head. “I told you to call me Siyoung.”

            “Alright...Siyoung.”

            Siyoung smiled and took Joohyun’s arm, leading her towards the director. “I know you briefly met the director, but you probably haven’t met the DP or anyone else on set.” She winked. “I specifically came to introduce you to everyone; you won’t see us EPs during the filming process most of the time.”

            Joohyun nodded. “I see.”

            “Your script was lovely, by the way.” She stopped briefly to look at the smaller girl. “I mean, I knew you were a great writer, but there’s not many people who turn their novels into screen adaptations without help from someone who has done it before. You’re a natural.” They resumed walking. “You don’t think you’d want to write a couple screenplays, do you?”

            Joohyun shrugged. “I’m still getting used to the formatting, but we’ll see.” Her mind flashed to Seulgi, who had helped her get the action lines down by acting out what she wrote (although the younger girl complained the entire time she had to stop playing games to do so, now that Joohyun was indeed her to-be-wife). “There’s someone who’s been good about helping me out, so I might take full advantage of that.”

            “That’s great to hear.” The women stopped in front of the director. “Director Park, this is Ms. Bae Joohyun.”

            The director smiled widely. “Nice to meet you!” He stuck out a hand. “Park Seojoon. Big fan.” He was tall and smiley, Joohyun noted. Not the typical image she had of a director.

            “Thank you.”

            “And this is our Director of Photography, Ms. Kim Goeun.”

            “Pleasure.” The DP was a good-looking woman who exuded chicness from miles away. She gave a short nod to Joohyun and turned back to their camera setup, fiddling with some buttons.

            Siyoung looked at the director. “Have the actors arrived yet?”

            Seojoon nodded. “I think Sungjae and Jihye are here already.” He turned to Joohyun. “We’re filming the scene where she visits her brother after moving to Seoul and we’ll squeeze in the leads having their first reunion if we have time. Our other lead will be coming later today for that reason.”

            “I see.”

            “I’ll call them out to meet our writer,” Siyoung offered. “You’ll love them. They’re very different, but their on-screen sibling chemistry is off the charts.”

            She hurried away to fetch the actors and Joohyun silently watched everyone do their jobs. It was admirable, how quickly they moved. The most productive she’d ever seen Seulgi was when she was drawing out plans, but even then, she (stubbornly) chose to move all their furniture out of the way and do it on the living room floor. Joohyun had come close to stepping on her papers several times (she would’ve done so too, if it didn’t mean Seulgi would act like a sulky baby for the rest of the day).

            “Ah, there they are!”

            Joohyun turned to see a very pretty face and a very familiar face head her way. The very familiar face let out a loud hoot and jogged towards her, making her take a few steps back in case he went in for a hug.

            “Oh wow, Joohyun, it’s been a while!” Sungjae’s signature wide smile was to the max. “You’re still the same, oh my, and it seems like you grew out your hair a lot too! I remember when we were in high school and you always kept your hair around shoulder-length. You should have seen—”

            Joohyun tuned him out as she glanced at the very pretty face, who she assumed to be Seo Jihye, and smiled at her. Sungjae didn’t notice her walk to greet the actress as he continued to tell the director that he and Joohyun were high school friends (Joohyun didn’t correct his statement, because she knew it probably wasn’t a good idea to say that they had talked maybe five times throughout high school).

            “He’s loud, isn’t he?” Joohyun raised her eyebrows in surprise at hearing her voice in person, marveling at the low but pleasant timbre the actress spoke with. Her diction was precise, and she spoke with an eloquence that Joohyun envied. “I’m Seo Jihye. Big fan of your work, Ms. Bae.”

            Joohyun smiled shyly, feeling her face get hot at the actress’ soft gaze. “Please, call me Joohyun. I’m a big fan of yours too.”

            Jihye laughed. “You don’t see too many actors and authors be fans of each other. Guess we’ve got something special going on.”

            Sorry, Seulgi. I think I’m in love.

            Joohyun giggled (oh lord, she giggled). “It’s nice seeing you in person. You look even prettier in real life.”

            The actress made a pleased sound. “Speak for yourself, Joohyun. I could've sworn you were one of our leads if I didn’t know better. Do you have any thoughts of joining my agency?”

            “Hey, Joohyun!” Goddamn Sungjae and his loud mouth. “If you’re gonna sign on, you should sign with us. We’re very beginner-friendly.” He pointed his lips towards Jihye. “Her place only takes veterans and insane monster rookies like her. They’ll be too much for you.”

            Jihye narrowed her eyes. “Are you trying to tell me something, Yook?”

            Sungjae put his hands up and made an innocent expression. “I’m just getting into the role. We do quite a bit of bickering on-screen.”

            Seojoon laughed. “Alright, alright. Stop fighting, you two.” He smiled at Joohyun. “We’ll start filming in a minute; you can follow Siyoung or watch them film. I have a couple monitors set up if you would rather stay out of all the bustling.”

            “Um, I guess I kind of wanna see the action,” Joohyun replied. “If it isn’t too much for everyone here.”

            “No, of course not!” Seojoon exclaimed. “You might get a bit bored though, because we have a single camera setup, so we’ll be doing the same scene with different shots