프니엘: It’s been a week since our first shooting and I could say that everything is going very smoothly, very excellently—perfect, even, and Se Na being a fellow actor and being my friend at the same time is really great. It’s like I couldn’t ask for more. It takes an awful lot of effort for me to start a conversation with her, but it’s opposite for her, with me, but what really is nice is we’re not awkward with each other now. Not anymore. We were done with the first episode and it would air in I think two months now, and at the start of next week, we’re going to film the second episode. Presently we’re at the office, our favorite hang-out, and there’s a raucous background.

“No! That’s the stupidest idea I have ever heard!”

“Hey! It’s cute! What’s wrong with you?!”

“You really want to know? Well, first off, it’s disgusting! I’d rather live in a shoebox!”

“Well then we’ll paint that shoebox blue and white.”

Se Na looks like she’s going to breathe fire through her nostrils anytime now. “No! You live in a separate shoebox. Get one of your own!”

Her best friend just makes this face at her which earns Sungjae a light kick on the leg. “What’s your problem with blue and white, anyway?”

Se Na grimaces like it’s the most rhetorical question ever. “It wouldn’t look good! I mean, don’t get me wrong, it might seem cozy to the eyes but Jae—please, just please, don’t you give me an eye-sore if you try to paint the house with that!”

“What are those two arguing about, anyway?” Changsub-hyung whispers on my ear, with the back of his hand covering the side of his mouth.

Eunkwang-hyung answers for him, as he walks in. “They’re arguing about what they’re going to paint the house with.”

“’They’?”

“Well those two are…well,” I shrug my shoulders. “They plan on getting married,”

“Already?” hyung gasps.

“Um, no; it’s just some arrangement they made while they were kids…it’s…nothing that should be taken seriously, really,” and as I look at the couple, or best friends, at the back of my mind something hopes that it wouldn’t be too serious. The funny thing is I don’t even know why I feel that way.

We all help in clearing the objects on the table while Hyunsik-hyung waits for us; he’s carrying the box of pizza. “Se Na-ssi, Sungjae. Aren’t you getting hungry with your fight?”

The girl sticks her tongue out at Sungjae. “I think this guy needs to eat. Maybe food will slap sense into him,”

“What?” the other scoffs. “White and blue are cute!”

“That’s idiotic! Settle for white, and white alone, really!”

“Geez,” the guy sighs, and sits beside me, on my left. “I’ll show you someday,”

“We won’t get to that someday because the house will be white,” the girl settles herself on my right.

“Alright, alright. Knock it out, maknae, sweetie, have your bite now,” Minhyuk-hyung says, motioning us to get a slice. We all do so, and for like ten minutes the argument dies out.

“Ho-to so-su,” Se Na chants happily, getting the bottle of Tabasco sauce, and pours almost half of the bottle onto her slice she might as well put it in a bowl and have the sauce as soup. As she does this I look at her side profile, wondering how ever does this girl do things happily when she most of the time complains about how tragic her life is. And also how much she could take the burning sensation of really hot sauce in . I think she notices my staring and inquires, with the rise of the brows, “Want some?”

I nod, thinking of the response closest in my mind. “Yes,”

“Let me put it on for you,” and she giggles while putting on the hot sauce on my slice, maybe with the evil thought that she’s going to kill me with the sauce.

“Oops,” I say, withdrawing my slice a little; she is putting on too much. “That’s enough,”

She places the bottle on the table and takes a bite on her pizza. Chewing blithely, this is I think the longest minutes she’s gone silent for this day. She’s extra talkative today, I noticed.

She’s the first one to finish her slice. I think hence the Tabasco sauce. Se Na should just really have all the sauce to herself and we’ll have the pizza, really. It’s not like she’s called Fire Tooth for nothing, right. For a reason of going somewhere within the room she rises, and loops around the chair and fairly halts when she passes by her best friend. She asks, wondering, “Jae, you don’t eat the pineapples?”

“I’m not really fond of them,”

Her voice rises, and we all know it’s going to be another argument. “Eat it! It’s good for you!”

He just pulls a face. “No way! It’s disgusting!”

“Aw come on you haven’t even tried it out for yourself!”

“Why do you care? You’re not my mom!”

Se Na gasps at this, and kicks his foot. “No, but I will be—of your future children!”

Then there’s a collective amount of “WOOOOOOOOOEEE” around the table and we all laugh.

“Burn!!!” Eunkwang-hyung does a plummeting motion with his free hand.

“Yes really Sungjae! Don’t let your kids inherit your hatred towards pineapples!” Minhyuk-hyung teases.

I just laugh by myself, actually really being touched and amused at the same time by these two, though…

Well anyway, Sungjae ends up eating the pineapples.

A little later, when the box is empty and we’re back to business, memorizing the lines I mean, the room is silent one more time save for a few mumblings from some of us. On Se Na’s case though, she’s busy typing away on her laptop in her usual speed-typing fashion.

Flipping sounds are emitted when I turn the page to the next one, and while I sit on the couch in a very lazy position; half-lying half-sitting, she’s just in sight. The white surface of the paper is ignored when i get distracted by the person busy typing who’s just a few feet away. Does she even think about what to write? She doesn’t even pause. Is she working on something? Maybe on an assignment similar to that Koko Krunch thing again? Or is it something Father had told her to do? Should I ask?

Goodness, what am I thinking. The thoughts are racing all at once all of a sudden. I blink, hard, shaking my head a little, and place my sight back on the paper.

“’Why don’t you believe me? I’m telling you, this lunch box will be filled in no time!’” I mumble, and as my eyes go the edge of the paper it goes beyond there, out…out…until I’m looking at it—or her, again.

Fine. This is either I’m being nosy or I have a crush on her.

“I caught ya,” suddenly something punches my arm and Ilhoon laughs, almost manically, that I get creeped out. “Hyung, you know…”

I flatten my eyes at him. “No. And shut up.”

“Oh, really,” he brays. “I know it when I see it.”

“That coming from you, is just really…funny. You know that? Look, you’re the one who’s got a massive crush on her here!”

“Drats,” he cusses, but quickly recovers from my comeback. “But it’s okay, hyung. That’s forgivable; really…crushing on someone who’s already taken is not a crime,”

I just roll my eyes at him and continue reading my script. “Whatever you say. And she’s not taken, alright?”

“Ah, fine…” he does this pfft sound and continues reading.

A couple of minutes later, the room transforms back to its business a while ago: playing. Since maybe the guys must have memorized their lines now they’re playing again, with the PS actually, and Sungjae is losing again to Eunkwang-hyung with 4-0 on that soccer game. The room is just so noisy but there’s a particular area—a different dimension here, with Se Na as the only occupant. I dare to enter this said dimension and stand behind her, saying, “Water.”

“Ah?” she sort of mumbles dumbly, busily typing.

“Water you doing?”

She turns her head and immediately yelps in this high-frequency voice and shuts her laptop that it’s almost a crashing sound. “Don’t sneak up behind me next time like that!” she yells.

“Oh, sorry,” I say, slightly taken aback, and stand beside her. “Was that a new assignment?”

She breaks out of my gaze and looks down the floor. “It’s not an assignment…well maybe it is. Yeah, it is.”

“What kind of assignment is that?”

She shakes her head. “It’s kind of hard to describe.”

“Oh,” I sit next to her, keeping a distance not so far, not too close, either. “Se Na-ssi, I think there’s something I need to ask…”

“Hm?”

“Have you read the story, yourself?”

“Uh…yes. Why?”

“There’s this… uh…” I swallow. “It’s still a few weeks from now but…has the script-writer written the script for the third chapter already?”

She tilts her head sideward. “Yes. She has. I think…”

“Well just in case,” I swallow again. “Are you…really…fine with the…scene?”

“What scene?” her eyes look genuinely puzzled for a moment, and then suddenly, she gets what I mean, and her face turns beet red at what I was just about to say and then she covers her face. “Oh, gourd, oh my gosh, oh my goodness…”

“I know, I know,” I laugh, and now I regret having broached this topic. “Are you fine with it?”

She peeks between her fingers and whines, “Can we not talk about this for now? Please? It’s just….brrrrrrr.”

Right. Because it really is ‘brrrrr’.

With my silence, I comply with the resolution that we close the topic…for the meantime.

That night, as Sungjae is outside walking Se Na home (which, by the way, should have had been Ilhoon’s role actually, because Eunkwang-hyung into doing that but Ilhoon looked like he was blushing to death so it was cancelled) the guys and I, at 3 AM, are still awake. They’re all chatting about one topic: the best friends-slash-couple.

Minhyuk-hyung, who stays at the bunk under mine, suddenly says. “You know what, if only Se Na’s not taken I totally would have hit on her.”

“You’re kidding,” Hyunsik-hyung sniggers. “You only see her as a younger sister,”

“Well yes, but she’s one really pretty little sister!” he reasons, and then sighs. “Man, our kids are gonna be beautiful,”

“Not to mention imaginary,” Changsub-hyung seconds.

“Geez, guys! Minhyuk-ah, cut that out you sound like a manic--ic erted older brother!” Leader Kwang grunts, scolding them and swatting the air, as if to ward off some fly.

“But it’s settled isn’t it? I’m already thinking of what to wear for the wedding of the two,” Ilhoon notions.

“Or your wedding, maybe if you steal a chance,” I sneer at him, sort of mischievously.

My fellow upper bunk-bed buddy frowns at me. “Says the one who has a crush on Se Na-ssi too,”

“THE CAT’S OUT OF THE BAG!!!” Minhyuk-hyung suddenly cheers, a little too loudly, as the others gasp in awe.

I glare at Ilhoon. He just shrugs.

From where I lie I could see our leader eyeing me with wide eyes. “You too, Donggeunnie?!”

Sighing, “You’re not supposed to ask that kind of question…” I mumble, but the answer doesn’t reach him.

“But in all seriousness guys,” Sik-hyung speaks again. “I think those two are secretly in a relationship,”

There’d be no surprise there, I think.

“You’re right.”

“Maybe there really is!”

“You could be right, hyung!”

“Well they would tell us if they were. You know that, right?” Changsub-hyung says, nonchalantly, shifting in his position in bed.

“Maybe…” Minhyuk-hyung replies. “But they’re so…incredibly sweet they beat the sweetness of a newly-wed couple.”

“Are they always like that?” Ilhoon asks.

“Apparently they are.” Sik-hyung replies. “I remember the first time I meet Se Na-ssi. It was in the hospital when Sungjae came to visit and…well…you’d think twice about them being best friends. And I mean, just best friends.”

“They’re gonna end up together.” The oldest among us notions, with finality in his voice.

“Yep.”

“Sure.”

“They sure are.”

But that isn’t all. Eunkwang-hyung says more. “You know the funny part here ? Sungjae…he could be in-love with Se Na. I mean really. Maybe he just doesn’t know it…yet, but it’s a matter of time before he does, and…wow, I just hope that wouldn’t complicate anything,”

“Se Na-ssi would be glad,” I finally talk. “She loves Sungjae too.”

“I mean romantically, Donggeun.” Kwang-hyung corrects.

I shrug my shoulders. “Well, yeah. I know,” I say, maybe a little distastefully.

“But I am totes rooting for them,” Changsub-hyung chuckles.

I have to admit, I’m a little reluctant to agree.

“Me too,” Hyunsik-hyung assents, and  both do a high-five.

Just in time, the door of the room swings open, revealing our maknae who’s smiling.

“Welcome home,” we all hum.

“Se Na-ssi asleep yet?” Ilhoon queries, as Sungjae climbs up to his bunk. We meet gazes and he just smiles at me with this really creepy grin he gives me the chills. Like he knows something.

“She is; I told her so,”

“So you finally decided on what to paint the house?” the question comes from Eunkwang-hyung.

“Nah. She had enough of it. For today.” He puffs his pillow and invites, “Let’s sleep,”

“Yep; let’s sleep. Good night,”

“Good night,”

“Jaljayo,”

And the room goes lights-out, and even while I toss and turn in my bed I couldn’t get any sleep, a single thought keeping me awake.

“Se Na-ya, I think white’s perfect,” the line keeps on playing back in my mind, as I unconsciously start to rehearse, because maybe someday white is just what would fit our house.