“Aish, where did the stylist— Sun Ae! Can you grab the hair gel and get Jong In’s hair back in shape?” Min Kyung yelled as she spared him a glance and went back to photographing Sehun, “He’s up next!”

She had quickly found out her boss was a nice person, as long as you followed directions well. That meant doing what she needed, when she needed it and she was a good person too. So it wasn’t like Sun Ae even had a good excuse for refusing. Letting out a slow breath, she hesitated for a second before mutely grabbing the hair gel and heading to the other side of the room where he waited for her quietly. He kept his gaze low as she came up to him and tried to ignore that he was who he was. In the end, this was her job she repeated silently as she poured a glob of thick blue hair gel onto her hand and slicked his hair back. She kept her eyes fixed on dark brown tendrils of hair and pulled back as soon as she could. He opened his mouth to say something when she grabbed the bottle and turned away from him.

“I did it! Should I set up the next light?” She asked and Min Kyung, as she liked to be called, merely gave her a thumbs up as she quickly went to the other side of the room where the light fixtures were.

The next few hours went by relatively slow as she basically sat besides Min Kyung. She watched her carefully as she photographed each of the members of EXO. If they were handsome in real person then all twelve looked nearly perfect on film. Her discomfort of having Jong In there was forgotten and instead she was awed at the way Kim Min Kyung captured all the right angles, the right shadows, to make them look so… well, perfect. The older woman caught her eyes and smiled as she pointed out a few tips and had her set up the next background.

“Here I got it” Baekhyun said lightly as he grabbed the bench she was pushing to the side.

“Thanks” Sun Ae said with a smile as she pointed to where it had to go.

“So… we never really got to meet. You’re dating my best friend—“ He began quietly.

“I’m not dating him. We broke up” She said calmly, keeping her expression relaxed as Baekhyun studied her. He looked back towards Jong In who was staring not so subtly and sighed.

“I know he was being an idiot, but I can tell that he really cares about you. You should talk to him” He whispered.

Sun Ae pushed the bench all the way up against the wall and turned to Baekhyun almost angrily, “I should talk to him? I tried and I was left to figure out that it was over. So tell him I got it and that he doesn’t have to feel guilty about anything just because I work here too. Tell him it’s 100% over. There’s absolutely nothing left and to forget everything!” She hissed quietly, glancing behind to make sure no one was close enough to overhear.

“Alright, I’m sorry for interfering” He said sincerely. He understood her because there was no denying Jong In had acted like an and as good as a friend as Baekhyun was, he didn’t blame Sun Ae for being mad.

“That’s ok. I just… I would like it if you told him to stop bringing it up every time you guys walk in here. I have a job to do” She said with slight bow of her head as she walked back to the main area and began to move more props around, leaving him to pass the message on.

It was really kind of sad though she thought quietly as she moved around the set. That she was this close to him and there was no longer anything left of them. She recalled the girl he had been with earlier and frowned as she remembered the fact that she and two other girls had walked with them into the photo shoot. They didn’t pay her any attention, but Sun Ae wished she didn’t have to see the way she touched Jong In’s elbow and laughed before finally leaving.  It was obnoxious and now, she was trying to work, but she just kept meeting his gaze all the time. She tried to avoid it, but it wasn’t like she could walk around staring at the ground and he was just always staring!  It was tiring to go through this every time she saw him. If he only kept his distance from her then maybe it would be easier.

Her shoulders sagged as she finally felt the day take its toll on her. They’ve been were for very nearly 12 hours and it was exhausting to be here… to pretend that he didn’t exist. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to regain control. She couldn’t really show anything right now. Only a few more minutes…

“Are you ok?” A soft voice asked from behind her and she shut her eyes tighter.

“I’m fine” She replied sharply, opening her eyes and facing him. Her eyes went to his hair and she was glad the gel had stayed stuck at the very least.

“Are you sure?” He asked again and she bit the inside of her lip to keep something much ruder from escaping her lips. She fought to remind herself that she was at work.

“I’m sure”

“Sun Ae can we please talk after this is over?”

“No” She replied quietly, keeping her eye on the rest of them, so far no one had noticed their conversation yet.

“I know you don’t want to see or talk to me, but I want to tell you something. I want to tell you the truth and apologize” He said and she glared at the ground as she took note of the despair in his voice. Damn him.

“I get it. You’re very sorry. Jong In, I don’t want to talk” She whispered, “And besides, apparently telling the truth about things is a deal breaker for us”

“At least we should wrap it up then. We should break up properly” He said and he watched as her body went still.

She turned to him with an unreadable expression and walked away. Properly break up…boy was he eager to make sure she didn’t go blabbing to anyone she thought bitterly as she went to put away some lens. The lens nearly slipped from her grip as she felt Jong In come up besides her and grabbing her by the forearm, he pulled her behind one of the backdrops.

“We’re almost done here. Just come talk to me. I promise I’ll leave you alone if you just talk with me” He said.

Sun Ae stared at him silently and shook her head.

“You’ll seriously leave me alone?” She asked, the words leaving a bitter taste in .

“…Yes” He said quietly.

She nodded, “Alright let’s talk after this is done”

They both stepped out and it was to her relief that no one noticed. The photo shoot went smoothly until it was finally over and Sun Ae groaned both dreading her conversation with Jong In and the fact that it was late so she would probably have to spend the night in the extra room they had offered her for those times when work ended this late.

She helped clean up as the rest of them changed back into their normal clothes.

“Sun Ae, don’t forget to come in bright and early tomorrow. We’ve got photographs to look through and edit!” Min Kyung said with a bright smile, “Now get some rest. You look exhausted”

“Alright. Good night!” Sun Ae said giving a polite bow and stepping outside. She hung around pretending to be on her phone as Min Kyung passed her by and a few members passed by and said their goodbyes.

As a pair of legs stopped in front of her she finally looked up to find Jong In. He tried a small smile only to be met by her cold face.

“Let go upstairs. The roof is usually private. The doors are open…” Jong In kept going, prattling on about something dumb as Sun Ae followed behind quietly.

“Jong In!” Someone called from behind and Sun Ae frowned as she watched Jong In’s eyes widen nervously and she heard light footsteps approach them, “Jong In! Some of the guys were starving and we were thinking about going to get some food and— oh, who are you?”

“I’m Miss Kim Min Kyung’s assistant. I help with the photoshoots” Sun Ae explained, giving the girl in front of her a quick and subtle look over. She was pretty.

“I’m Krystal I’m part of f(x) I work with Jong In” She said with a conceited smile and Sun Ae just stared quietly, “Sorry to steal him from you it’s just that everyone is waiting on him and they’re starving” She said as she grabbed Jong In’s sleeve and pulled him along. Sun Ae could have punched her for the use of words and the subtle emphasis she put on steal.

To his credit, he managed to look uncomfortable as he tried to free his arm.

“I can’t, we have to talk about the photographs” He explained, his tone polite as he dug his heels to the ground.

“Jong In, they’re waiting for you and some other people are coming and it’s not very good to keep people more experienced than you waiting on a rookie you know? It’s bad for the atmosphere” She explained with a smug smile and he paused.

Sun Ae kept quiet as Krystal all, but pretended she wasn’t even there. She glared at the ground as Jong In made some noncommittal excuses, but she knew he was going to go anyway. She glanced up and saw Krystal begin to pull him away again, laughing as if she was playing some game and Jong In… he looked like he didn’t want to go, but Sun Ae wouldn’t have bet her life on it. Still, she found herself reaching out grabbing him by his free arm.

“I don’t have time later to talk” Sun Ae said calmly as she turned and faced them both.

“Work can wait and besides you’re just an assistant, how busy could you possibly be?” Krystal shot back before Jong In had a chance to reply and with a swat of her hand she slapped Sun Ae’s hand off of him.

Sun Ae raised an eyebrow and stared at her in disbelief.

“Don’t” Jong In said in a low tone, “Don’t touch her” He said simply as he pulled his arm away from Krystal in annoyance and Sun Ae tried to the hide the small smile that threatened to show on her face.

Krystal shot her a look of disdain. As quick as it had come it was gone, but it had been there none the less.

“Fine, talk to the little assistant” She said composed, “But I can already guess the things they’re going to say about the rookie that thinks he’s in a position to turn down dinner invitations…”

“…I’ll be there. I’ll be down in 5 minutes” He said and Krystal merely rolled her eyes as she walked away. Not before turning back to give Sun Ae a suspicious look.

Jong In sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “Let’s just go by the staircases, it’s pretty empty. I think they can wait for me 10 minutes at least” He said and Sun Ae clutched her bag tightly.

Ten minutes… was that how long she was worth. A quick ten minute conversation to break up? A quick ten minute conversation to ‘wrap things up’? She shouldn’t be surprised though, this coming from the king of inconsideration.

“Just go”

“What? No, I want to talk”

“Is this important at all? You talking to me?”

“Of course!”

“Then is a 10 minute conversation something that counts as important?” She asked, finally meeting his gaze before he could look away.

“No… it doesn’t, but

—“

“All we really need to make clear is that we’re not dating anymore. Other than that any other explanations or things you want to say… they can wait. They won’t change anything you know” She said firmly and she held his gaze even as the disappointment crossed his eyes.

He closed his eyes and sighed, “I wanted to tell you that I was sorry and that—“

“Go be with your friends Jong In. Just save it alright?” She said and almost on impulse she added, “Besides I promised I’d go see Taemin after work today”

“It’s so late already” He said, his body freezing up and Sun Ae felt a small surge of victory go through her.

It might have been cruel, but Kim Jong In wasn’t her favorite person on this planet at the moment and it was nice. To see him squirming and maybe he could get a taste of what she had been feeling all the time that he hadn’t even bothered to freaking call. Besides if he had needed reasons to be jealous then she could certainly give him some now. He could choke on it for all she cared. Maybe Krystal would help him out she thought bitterly. In the end, wasn’t he just ditching her for that girl? Maybe not exactly… but still did he really need her to step in before he said anything firm? Why didn’t he just tell her to leave?

“Not really, it’s Taemin. Well I’m gonna go. Have fun” She said and turned away before he got the chance to say anything else.

The pathetic part about all of it? It was that the entire time that she made her way to that stupid empty little room she had actually expected him to follow behind her. To call out for her, to do something at least. So that by the time she actually found the small key and had stepped into the tiny room she could actually feel a stupid stinging sensation in the backs of her eyes. Throwing her bag to the side, she laid on the stiff mattress and closed her eyes wishing desperately for a miracle to take away all the feelings she had for Kim Jong In.

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Hey guys here's the update (finally) lol I will definitely post more through the week!

Thanks for reading! :)