He doesn’t dare to tell her the truth. That he had fallen for her. They promised to be friends. Just friends. Nothing more, nothing less. But that was getting hard. With her, constantly hanging around him, it was getting pretty difficult for him to act natural. His mind backtracked to the first scene they filmed together, in his latest music video.

Leaning against the wall while waiting for the director’s instructions was one Jin Yoo Jin. The makeup crew appeared out of nowhere, immediately broke into action with one touching up his make up and the other checking his hair. He yawned and stretched his long limbs after the crew left. The director had informed him earlier that they would be filming the kissing scene first once the actress, the female lead for the music video, arrived.

It was a good half an hour before she finally reached the set, apologising immediately, citing bad traffic as an excuse. Yoo Jin only saw her back, as she was facing the director and the two of them exchanged words and she bowed. She was brought away by the makeup artists while he got the cue he had been waiting patiently from the director. He walked up to the grand piano, getting into position with mind focused intently on getting the scene done in one take. He felt someone tapping on his shoulder; he spun around to meet with a huge grin that oddly seemed familiar and the sight of a red fur coat.

“Yah, Jin Yoo Jin!” she cried, beaming a smile. He only blinked. “The cat got your tongue? Aren’t you happy to see me? I know you do-

He snapped at her, “Is this a joke? I’m filming this with you?” She narrowed her eyes, replied with, “What’s wrong with that? Aren’t you happy to see me?”

“On normal days, yes. But this- I am filming for my music video, so what are you doing here?”  He chided her.

She chuckled at his cluelessness, bluntly answered, “I’m your lover.” Before he could even protest more, the director bellowed “Action!” and the shooting started to roll. The scene called for him to kiss his on-screen lover, with full of love while she being impassionate about the kiss.

Nervous was not a feeling that he was often associated with. Not when he was in the presence of Lee Ji Kyung, or in this case, Rian. But today seemed to be a different case. That’s because he has to kiss her, not the famous actress Rian, but the Rian he went to school with. Kiss her ardently. The same Rian who became his friend when Shin Haesong was busy with that, that … brat. It was equivalent to kissing your kid sister fervently!

She sat on the piano’s chair, looking at the scores, pressing the keys alternately and begun scribbling down some notes. He stood about a metre away, staring at her lovingly. She saw him, motioned him to seat next to her. He obeyed her wishes, taking a seat on the piano chair with his eyes still fixed on her. She continued to play the piano when she turned to face him and he bent closer, crashing his lips onto hers. Not fully aware that her tongue was in his mouth.

She tasted like strawberries. His favourite fruit. He really did not expect that. He had kissed a lot of female stars that participated with his previous works. None really kissed like her. Her red lips, so tender and … he was not supposed to think about that at all. It’s blasphemy! Kissing her was supposed to feel like he was kissing a sister. But strangely, it felt right. Wait, his brain told him, this is nothing more than a meaningless kiss and she was or rather, she is … your friend! What about Haesong? You traitor! He chided himself.

“NG!” the director roared through his speaker, for what he thought to be, the twentieth time. “Let’s just do this scene later. Now, move on to the next scene,” he roared. Yoo Jin and Rian broke apart from each other’s embrace, faces expressed their disbelief at the director and Yoo Jin was the first to speak, “Err, did we do something wrong?”

The assistant director, a plump young lad, whispered at Yoo Jin, “Rian enjoyed the kiss too much.” At this point, he became speechless, only staring straight at Rian’s direction. She, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to him. She sauntered towards him, grinning, “Have you been dating?” He regained conscious, cast his sight at anywhere except her face. “No. I don’t have the time,” he replied sheepishly.

“You should. All that is not good for you. I think it’s time, either you ask Haesong out or find another woman altogether.”

“What?” exclaimed the singer. His eyes narrowed at her, “What are you babbling about?”

She just waved her hand dismissively, “Nothing. Forget it.”

The filming of the music video eventually ended after two weeks. But they kept hanging out with each other. Too often that they grew comfortable around each other. One could easily have mistaken their friendly affections for something else, per say dating. Back when they first started to hang out, he would constantly ask her why she has too many free time to bug him on his ‘me time’.  She always told him, “My friends were either busy with other schedules or they went out special dates with their respective partners, so I’m always alone. And bored. You didn’t have any many friends, either. So, why are you complaining? Be grateful that I’m a good friend.”

He had no idea how exactly did he ended up in a ballroom party, with famous but boring people. He rested his chin on one hand, waiting for the party to be done. The music changed from a fast-pace to a slower tempo. More people got to their feet and began dancing with their respective partners. He stifled a yawn, looking bored. All in a sudden, his attention perked up. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted a familiar looking form. A smile quickly formed on his face.

Finally! Someone he knows at the party. It was a good thing he actually listened to that little voice in his head telling him to stay, despite the party being a boring one. He had no idea why all of the sudden his legs began to take a life of its own and brought him towards her direction. Who knew happiness can be replaced with bitterness within less than a second?

Immersing herself in the conversation with Lee Jun, she barely noticed that Yoo Jin was heading towards her. On cue, she instinctively shifted her sight on him, beaming with a smile. Lee Jun placed his hand on her arm, then took her hand and kissed it as a way to ask her for a dance. His eyes narrowed at the sight of her and him. She saw the jealousy and hurt in his eyes just momentarily before he opted to head to the opposite direction, instead. Their bodies were close as he passed her, which he thought he heard her muttered, “This was not part of the plan.”

There was no reason for him to be jealous. Rian was just a friend. Always have, always been, always will be his dear friend. So, he shouldn’t be glaring at that mystery man at all but he just can’t … help it. Somehow, glaring seemed to soot the fire in his heart a little.