The weather’s good—not too sunny, not too gloomy, Joong ki thought.

For some reason, he arrived 9:30 am, an hour earlier at Studio Dragon. He was received by project manager Hansung, the PM assign for Vincenzo’s product placements. 

“Annyeonghaseyo, Park Hansung imnida. I am the Project Manager for this drama’s product placements. Mianhe, our intern texted your manager the wrong time scheduled, it was supposed to be 10:30 am but she sent your manager 10:00 am. And by the way, I’ll be the one to receive you right now as Head Park hasn’t arrived yet.” Hansung said with whole enthusiasm.

Joongki smiled and shook hands with him and said, “Ani, gwaenchana. It’s just a matter of thirty minutes anyway. And I just so happen to arrive earlier. By the way, I’m Actor Song Joongki I’ll be playing Vincenzo. Please take care of me.”

“Omo, uri Vincenzo~ga, we all know you’re THE Song Joongki! Ahhh, since it’s so early why don’t I tour you here and have a chit chat?” Hansung offered.

Vincenzo who knows how much time he got till the meeting took the offer in a snap, “Oh, that’s sounds a plan!”

Hansung led the way to the outskirts of the office, he talked about how studio dragon is now the leading production company in South Korea when in comes to drama and movie production to which Joongki listened to sincerely. Hansung was the best tour guide, he has stories to tell for every corner of the office he went to. It was fun, Joongki was was either laughing all through out their walks or he was teary eyed as he was touched from the stories of the employees of the said studio. 

They took a sit in the pantry of the office, since it was still early, they’re the only ones there. “Coffee? Tea?” hansung asked Joongki who was settling his self at the corner table for two which was near the pantry cabinet for chips. Joongki who was choosing what chips to get said, “Iced americano.” Hansung got 2 bottled iced americano from the refrigerator and sat across Joongki. 

They were silent for a moment as they savored the pantry goods they got, after all, it was big office that they felt like they walked from one bus station to the next. The silence once broken by Hansung, “I see you’re working with a great actress,” Joongki was clueless for a second, he stared at him blankly, “Jeon Yeo Been. The great actress that I mean. Yeobeen~na” Hansung continued. 

Yeobeen~na, he seemed like Hansung know her on another level that he can call her that, Joongki thought. He just let out an awkward laugh and stuttered, “ne, ne—oh, yes,” he smiled in between, “I-I’ll be working with such a great actress.” 

“Gueromyo! She isn’t just a pretty talented actress, she has a good mind and heart!” He said proudly. “Every people she has worked with would do anything to work with her because she’s a ball of sunshine—people would describe her as warm, kind, sincere, lovable, yet deep and still leaves a part of her mysteriously,” Hansung continued.

Song joongki was left in awe with everything he has just said. It left him curious, unconsciously he replied, “Jinjja? Aigoo~how do you know all these things?” 

“Aigoo~I’m one of those people she has worked with before. I was a senior staff then in LG Arts Center and she was my hoobae then. We work for events. So I know a lot of things about her.” He said smiling

“Ooooh....” the only thing he could say. Yesterday, after watching her movie, he was curious about her, now that he has heard things about her, it didn’t help, he got more curious. He grabbed a piece of chip only to find out there’s already none. He stayed silent trying to process all the random thoughts that’s rushing on his mind right now. For someone who has worked for so long in the industry, it feels weird that he feels iffy in meeting his costar, probably because this is his first after his divorce, he doesn’t know. 

Hansung on the other hand was a very good sunbae of Yeobeen, more like a a good friend or brother. When he knew that Yeobeen was going to be part of this drama, he was kind of worried and scared that Yeobeen might be slandered by fans as, although she has already bagged prestigious awards under her belt, she’s still considered to be as a rookie actress who still finds her place in the industry. Being part of the drama production gave him a sense of responsibility, he wanted to protect her at all cost. Thus, when he heard that there’s would be an initial meeting between the two main leads with the writer and director, he automatically assumed the responsibility of receiving them,  told Head Park, he could report that day late, and lied that the intern was the one who texted his manager the schedule thirty minutes earlier when it was actually him so he could have the opportunity to have talks with Joongki and tell him about how precious Yeobeen is and how he should protect her too.

“I don’t know if you have listened to any of her interviews, but I just want to share to you that, unlike you and most of today’s top stars, Yeobeen had it the hard way. Where she is now is a product of her grit and determination....” he paused for a while, finding his way into Joongki’s eyes. If people saw them right now, they’d probably think weird as their eyes are locked with each other.

“She wasn’t casted on the streets, it was her who brought herself to every agency’s door step only to be rejected in one glance as they would refer her as someone who was plain looking....”  

Joongki bowed down in response. He felt disgusted for the industry he was working at for how many years. ‘Plain?’ He thought. For him it was absurd. 

“....But that didn’t stop her, she tried endlessly until Moon Sori discovered her. The thing that amazes me most about her is that, from her childhood to her adulthood, life was bitt