6. Second meeting
It's Me!
Chapter 6: Second meeting
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“Ahh, Vin unni, I’m already here at the set” Yeongji walked towards one of the book cafés in Paju where the shooting for Joongki’s drama was taking place. She had called on Vin, Joongki’s stylist, to check up on them.
“I’m here at the back, they’re currently shooting a scene inside” Vin informed her so she headed to where all the other staff were.
A couple of tents, trailers and equipment vans were parked at the back so it was easy to locate them.
“Unni!” Yeongji spotted Vin inside one of the tents resting. “Hey, long time no see” they exchanged hugs. “Yah, we have got to go out this weekend, it’s been a long time” Vin told her and she nodded, “I missed you a lot” Yeongji agreed.
She set the bag she had brought on the table, “What’s that?”
“Oh, I just prepared a little dosirak (A/N: similar to a Japanese bento box), haven’t cooked for Joongki oppa in a while” she told her. Vin then smiled knowingly at her, “You guys should just go out, you know”
“What?” Yeongji looked at her weirdly, “You guys look like you’re dating anyway” Vin continued on and the other just stared at her.
“No we’re not” she denied, “Yes, you do” Vin interjected, still standing by what she thinks.
Yeongji sighed, “We’re just friends” trying to stop Vin from saying anything else but the other only shrugged.
“Vin! Can you come here for a sec?” someone called after her and their conversation was cut short.
Yeongji sat down on one of the chairs. She took out her phone to check her messages but nothing was up. She sighed heavily, waiting was not really her thing. She gets bored easily.
She played with the laced hem of her floral summer dress, that just reached above her knees. Then she puffed her cheeks as she looked at her ballet flats.
“Yeongji?” the sound of a surprised voice caught her attention. She looked up and saw Niel who was showing a brightly lit smile.
“What brings you here?” he asked as she stands up to greet him, “Niel” acknowledging his presence.
“Oh, I was just dropping by to visit my friend, Joongki” she told him. “Song Joongki?” he asked in shock and she nodded.
“Oh, wow” he couldn’t think of anything else to say. A little part of him felt a bit jealous, to think that she even made an effort to go all the way here just to visit him.
“Are you two…?” he began and she immediately waved her hands, “No, no… we’re just close friends, well, more like best friends” she told him honestly. “Oh, that’s good then” he smiled in relief and she didn’t quite get what he meant by it but just waved it off.
“Do you want to go for a walk?” he offered and she smiled, “Sure!” since she really can’t stay in one place doing nothing, might as well go for a walk.
“I haven’t been here before” she told him as they began to stroll away from the set.
“Ahh, I’ll show you something” an idea came to mind as he led the way. “What a coincidence meeting you here” she said thoughtfully and he grinned, “We just met the other day and here we are again” he said happily.
“What role are you playing?” she asked with curiousity, “Eunhye noona’s younger brother” he explained, pertaining to the story.
“Oh, I saw the drama you had the last time” she added, remembering that she had seen ‘Do you know Taekwondo?’ on television.
“Really?” he asked with glee and she nodded. They finally arrived at one of the coffee shops. Only a number of staff was inside the spacious book café, obviously taking a short break. The drama team rented out the whole art village so they had the place to themselves.
“This is my favorite café here” he told her as they entered the shop. It was quiet and such an eye candy as the place was decorated with luscious and colorful furniture. The walls were lined with shelves full of books and all sorts of stuff.
They walked up to the counter to order drinks. Yeongji chose a nice warm cup of caramel macchiato while Niel opted for an iced coffee and a plate of cheesecake, “Do you want anything to eat?” he asked turning to her and she shook her head.
They headed to one of the tables in the corner with Niel carrying the tray of food and drinks, and then sat on opposite sides of the table facing each other.
“How’s the product launch going?” he asked, trying to make casual talk and she sighed, “It’s very tiring, I need to do a lot of planning for it since we’re about to launch the clothing line in 2 to 3 weeks’ time”
“I get that a lot when we’re about to release a new song” he understood her situation, “It’s very stressful”
“Hey, you can always call me if you want to come out and play” he offered as an after-thought. She smiled, “Thanks” appreciating his sudden proposal. She found him adorable, at the same time very easy to talk with. Like her first impression of him, he looked so pure and innocent. Even though they have just met for the second time, it felt like they’ve been friends for quite a long time already.
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The two eventually went their separate ways as Niel had to shoot his next scene. He brought Yeongji back to the set and bid her goodbye.
She looked around trying to find him amidst the crowd of people. "Lost?" that familiar voice asked and she couldn't help but smile. Turning around, she saw Joongki standing in front of her. He always looked so perfect and angelic, even until now, there are times when she asks herself why god gave her a best friend like him. She must be one lucky person, Joongki had been very caring all this time, like an older brother she never had.
"I have something for you" she quickly pulled his hand to follow her back to the tent where he rests.
"Ta-dah!" she held up the lunch box in front of him. "How was the shoot?" she asked casually as she began to lay out the contents so that he could start eating. She handed him a pair of chopsticks and a bottle of his favorite orange juice.
"Komawo!" he said with a big smile as he patted her head with affection. She smiled at his sudden gesture, she always felt happy whenever he does so she didn't like seeing him stressed out and sad. When he does, she always tries to cheer him up.
Joongki ate the food she prepared happily while Yeongji just watched her with a smile of content.
"Wae?" he asked as he looked up only to find her watching him silently. She shook her head with a smile.
"How was the photo-shoot by the way?" he asked, wanting to know how it went the other day.
"It was alright, it was easy working with them but of course it's more fun when you do the modeling" she said thoughtfully then ended on a teasing note. The two smiled at each other, they find immediate comfort whenever their together, for whatever reason, they just feel that way towards each other.
"Did he talk to you or anything?" Joongki continued and she nodded, "Yeah, he tried to talk to me but I freaked out and made a random excuse to get away" she confessed.
He couldn't help but laugh at this, she was so terrible at facing her fears and well, people she wanted to avoid. She pouted, "Hey, that was a difficult situation that I wasn't prepared for!" she tried to defend herself and hopefully a bit of her dignity.
"Arasseo, Mianhae~" he said to stop her from feeling bad.
They went on to talking about other things, their random conversations usually went on for hours and this was probably one of the reasons they remained best friends over the years. They can talk to each other about anything and everything, and yet they don't run out of things to talk about.
Still, Joongki was concerned about how she was coping up. With all the stress of the upcoming launch, the last thing she needed was to see him. He knew what she'd been through and he didn't want to see her go through it again. It had taken a toll on her and it took months to finally pull her out of it.
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TBC
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