Author’s POV

“What about this one then? Too casual as well?” Kayla asked as she showed Heechul her third option for a blouse. Heechul scrutinized the white, simple blouse carefully, then shook his head.

“Yes, too casual. Maybe a normal white shirt will do the trick? Or the grey one that you own. That would work to those black jeans. Then add a few accessories and you have a good look,” Heechul said.

“Oh, yes! Thanks, oppa.” Kayla brought out the clothes from her wardrobe and Heechul went out to wait. The dorm was quite calm this morning and Heechul and Donghae were the only ones who were up and walking, so to speak. The rest of them lay in bed, played on their computers or listened to music in their rooms. Donghae sat with a cup of coffee in the living room, watching the morning news. Heechul slumped down next to him and took a gulp of Donghae’s coffee.

“Did you and Kayla find clothes?” Donghae asked.

“Yep.”

“Good.” Heechul glanced at Donghae who had returned to watching the tv, or pretended like he did. The awkward silence became apparent quickly and Heechul began to feel a little uncomfortable. Donghae and he had a very good relationship normally, but it seemed that Donghae’s nerves made him harder to talk to. Heechul didn’t want to say anything wrong, this made it easier to be quiet.

“Okay, I am done. What do you guys think?” Kayla asked. She spun around to show off her selected outfit. Both Donghae and Heechul nodded.

“Very nice,” Heechul commentated.

“You look beautiful, princess. Do you have everything you need?” Donghae said, standing up.

“I think I do. It’s all in my bag and I don’t think I need that much really. Most of the things is going to be given to me at the meeting.”

“When are you going to be there?” Heechul wondered.

“I have to be there in forty minutes, so I better get going now. Bye.” Kayla started off by hugging and kissing Donghae then gave Heechul a hug and a thanks for the help. She got her coat, her handbag and put on a hat. “Love you,” she cooed and walked down the stairs.

“Bye, princess, love you too,” Donghae said then closed the door behind her. Kayla had planned to walk the way to Starhaus Entertainment so that she’d get some time to mentally prepare herself. She didn’t quite know what she could expect from the meeting or which people would be there. Somewhere in her mind she knew that Lee Joon would be there, definitely, since he was her co-actor. I wonder if he’s as good-looking in real life as in the music videos... Kayla lightly hit her own head.

“I shouldn’t think about that. It’s not good.” She sighed. “I better just listen to some music while walking,” Kayla said, picking up the headphones from her bag. She put on some older Madonna songs and quietly sang along in her head, eliminating the previous thoughts. She nodded to the beat, now and then singing out loud. Suddenly, she felt a pat on her shoulder. Startled, Kayla jumped to the side, gasping. The person that had tapped her shoulder wasn’t anyone she knew, or she didn’t think she did. But then, after a while, Kayla began recognising the smile the person had. She gasped even louder, holding . “A-Are you Lee Joon?” she stuttered. It was obvious that she felt starstrucked, which was weird because Kayla hadn’t felt like that ever before. That time when she’d met Lee Minho, for example, had been to abrupt and hasty. This meeting, however, was not. Lee Joon wore a big hat with a pattern and had big sunglasses on.

“Yep. It is me. And you must be Kayla. Well, I know you are because I’ve seen what you look like and I can see that you’re beautiful, which must make you, Kayla Thompson, my co-actress,” Lee Joon rambled on. Kayla blinked in surprise.

“You’ve seen a picture of me?”

“Of course! Haven’t you seen any pictures of me? I mean... I’m famous and all, so you’ve probably seen me somewhere but would’ve been nice if they’d showed you a good picture of me. Or you might satisfy with reality?” Lee Joon’s voice was so soft that Kayla wasn’t sure she’d heard what had come out of him. Lee Joon’s chuckle was as light and soft as his speaking voice, which frankly didn’t make the situation better. “Are you all right, love?” he wondered after some silence on Kayla’s part. She shook her head a couple of times.

“I think I am. I’m really sorry. I don’t really get like this... Around celebrities. I mean, I haven’t met that many. Although I’ve met like fifteen. That’s quite many, isn’t it? But it’s only one band so maybe that doesn’t count... I’m really sorry, I babble when I get nervous,” she finally shut . Lee Joon laughed again.

“Ah, from what I’ve heard you have no right to be nervous. They’re saying you’re an excellent actress. It’ll be fun to work with you.” He looked down on his watch. “Hm, we should go. We’ll be late. Come,” he said. They began hurrying and managed to get to the building in time. Lee Joon confidently went in first, leaving Kayla a few metres behind. She could see the important people waiting for her near the elevators. Hwang-Mi spotted her and waved her over. Kayla gained courage, taking a deep breath, then joined them. Lee Joon had already greeted everyone; he stood next to the director with a big smile on his face. Kayla bowed.

“Good morning,” she greeted as politely as she knew how.

“Good morning, Kayla. Are you well, dear? You look a little nervous,” Jo Sung-Hee – the director – said. Kayla smiled shyly, feeling an intense blush on her cheeks.

“No worries, darling. We’ll take good care of you. You have my word. Besides Lee Joon will look after you as well,” Hwang-Mi assured. Lee Joon instantly put himself closer to Kayla.

“I will,” he agreed.

“Well, now that we all have gathered. Let’s go to the conference room. We’ve got a lot ahead of us to discuss and go through,” Sung-Hee informed. As they set off, the lot of people, Kayla decided to walk in the back with Lee Joon. She’d just met him but still felt the most comfortable with him. Lee Joon who was a very charming boy, wanted to know everything about her. Though they ended up talking more of him and his acting experiences than Kayla’s background, which Kayla was quite happy about.

As they sat down in the big conference room and everyone had introduced themselves, the director began going through the schedule that they’d follow these upcoming months. They went over the script, the other actors that would join during the process, the places where they would film, clothes, makeup, hair, etc. etc. Now and then, Lee Joon whispered something to Kayla, making sure she was comfortable in the situation. It took almost half a day for the director to make sure all crewmembers were onboard. By the time they took a break it was three o’clock in the afternoon. Sung-Hee arranged for another meeting the next day and asked both Lee Joon and Kayla to look through the full script until next time they would meet. Then Kayla would meet with her acting teacher three times a week, four hours at a time and Lee Joon and she were going to start thinking about their characters. Although it was a lot to think about and do before the next meeting, Kayla was satisfied that they trusted her to make it in time. She was also very excited by all this, hardly believing it was real and that she’d really experience how it was to be on a film set with real actors, real directors and others who could possibly lead her into the world of showbiz one day. Sung-Hee ended the meeting for this time and everyone went their own way, except for Lee Joon, Kayla and Hwang-Mi who went inside her office. It seemed that Hwang-Mi needed to discuss a few more things with them.

“So,” Hwang-Mi said, “Did you learn anything? Did you have fun?” She sat down on her chair while Kayla and Lee Joon sat down in front of her.

“It was very interesting... Definitely learned a lot and I look forward to start the filming and reading the script. Learning the lines, analysing... It’ll be great, I think,” Kayla replied. Lee Joon chuckled, making her turn to him in surprise. “What?”

“Nothing. It’s just lovely to see a bright, fresh, cute smile in the process of creating a piece of art.” Kayla raised her brow. She wasn’t sure those were Lee Joon’s own words or if he tried to somehow impress her with his smart talks. Hwang-Mi observed them both.

“Hm, Sung-Hee did a good job putting the two of you together. You’ll be a great couple!”

Kayla tugged on her bottom lip. That hadn’t exactly been what she wanted to hear, although she guessed it was a good thing. Is it a bad thing that I’m thinking so much about Hae in these situations or is it good? It should be good... She shook her head discreetly, ridding herself of more disturbing thoughts then replied Hwang-Mi, “Yeah, I think we will work good together. Don’t you agree, oppa?” she asked.

“Mm, I agree. Hwang-Mi, I gotta go. Do you want to keep Kayla or can I take her with me?” Kayla stared at Lee Joon. Take her with him?? What did he want her for? Hwang-Mi gave him a wave, telling him that he could go. “Thanks. Come, Kayla.” He went outside, holding up the door. Kayla bowed to Hwang-Mi.

“Goodbye. I’ll see you soon.”

“Goodbye, dear.” Kayla got up, going after Lee Joon out. It was much darker when they came out on the street again, however, it felt good to breathe in fresh air after the long meeting. Lee Joon stopped a couple of metres in front of the entrance.

“Wanna grab a coffee and look through the script?” he wondered, facing her. Kayla shrugged, staring down on the grey asphalt. Is that really a good idea? Oh, come on. You’ll still be working with him for more than half a year. Get to know the guy. Donghae won’t be mad... Does he have to know? Well, of course, he does. What are you talking about? Wait... Is Lee Joon waving his hand- Oh...

“What?”

“Haha, did you space out? Is oppa not interesting?” Lee Joon winked. Kayla wrinkled her nose, realising that this could become hard for her in case she didn’t at least mention Donghae before this went on. Why am I pondering about Donghae so much?

“I’m sorry. Yes, I’d like to have a coffee. There’s a few things you might want to know- That sounded wrong... I meant that there’s a few things you should know... That sounded y. Yeah, I’m failing here. Let’s just go.” Kayla grabbed his arm, leading him forward. In the meantime, Lee Joon chuckled, following her. They went to a near café and sat down on a peaceful spot in the corner of it, only to make sure that no one would recognise Lee Joon.

“So... What is it I should know? Is it something like... ‘I’ve got a boyfriend’?” Kayla’s eyes widened slightly. Lee Joon stuck out his tongue. “I knew it. Wanna share his name with me? I probably won’t know who he is though. Korean?”

Kayla was confounded. Was Lee Joon always this outgoing? They’d barely known each other for a day, was he joking? “Mm, he’s Korean. And I’m pretty certain you know who he is.”

“Really? Then tell me. I’m curious!” Lee Joon said, sounding like a little child that asked what he’d get for Christmas. Kayla smiled a little. The mere thought of Donghae, caused a tingly feeling to appear in her stomach.

“It’s Super Junior’s Lee Donghae. Sounds familiar?” She took note of how Lee Joon first seemed surprised, then changed his expression to mischievous one. “What? What are you now thinking?” Kayla demanded knowing. She didn’t like how mysterious Lee Joon was, it scared her because she could neither read nor understand him then.

“He has mentioned you in interviews, hasn’t he?” Lee Joon asked, leaning forward on the table. He rested his chin in his right hand. “You’ve made a good choice. I’ve known Donghae for a couple of years. He’s a great guy. Too bad I like him so much...”

Kayla narrowed her eyes. “Why?”

“I would never steal another guy’s girlfriend, especially not a guy like Donghae. He’s too great of a friend for that.” Lee Joon sipped on his latte. Kayla gaped. Was he being serious??? Could Lee Joon be a bad boy that only played on his image in front of a camera? Lee Joon looked up at her with a smirk on his lips. Kayla swallowed. His stare made her very unsecure. Suddenly, Lee Joon opened his mouth and a loud laughter came out of it, startling Kayla to death. “God, you’re so cute!” Lee Joon burst. Kayla felt a small wave of anger wash over her. She squinted her eyes at him, folding her arms over her chest. She was not amused.

“You were acting, weren’t you?”

“Haha, yes. And you fell for it. Now you know what a good actor I am.”

“Hm. You remind me of Kim Heechul. He’s just like you...” Kayla muttered. This caused another fit of laughter from Lee Joon, who now lay with half his body on the whole table. Kayla rolled her eyes.

“I’m sorry. I had to test you a tiny bit. But I really do respect your and Donghae hyung’s relationship. What we’ll be doing is just professional. We do it as our characters and nothing else. All right?” Lee Joon went back to smiling brightly at her.

“Yep. I agree.”

“Fantastic. Then, my dear, I will have to get back to work now. I’m still an idol despite being an actor as well, so I’ve got lots to do. But I’ll see you later in the week. And, oh. Here’s my phone number, in case you ever want to ask something, need anything information or just want to grab another coffee. Bye, bye!” Lee Joon left the piece of paper on the table then made his way out. Kayla looked after him. She’d never felt so confused about someone in the past. Lee Joon had both fooled her, asked her things concerning her heritage and past, taken her out for a coffee after their first time meeting and on top of that gotten it out of her that she and Donghae were a couple. All this he’d managed to get out of her within an hour. Kayla stayed at the café for a while, feeling an urge to go through the day’s events in her head. Processing all the information, the impressions, the people she’d met – mostly Lee Joon – and thinking through this decision. Even though she knew she couldn’t back out now, it felt necessary to know what she was putting herself into.

“Heechul was right. One does know when you’re ready or not. I did feel at home.” Kayla smiled to herself. “Yep, I’m definitely ready for an adventure in the world of showbiz!” She drank her coffee and left the café with confidence.

Hey guys. I'm sorry for the shorter chapter. It's not been a good couple of weeks hehe. Just a headsup warning. There might come slightly shorter chapters than before and might be a long time between them. I just hope that none of you leave. Please, stay with me to the end, all right? It would mean so much to me, you have no idea. Furthermore, there's going to happen a lot of things in the upcoming chapters. It's just a matter of when I've got time to write them and when I'm emotionally stable enough. Thankfully, I have my spring break now. So I'm going to start making a lot of planning for the story so that it'll be easier to write on! ^^

Thank you all so much for reading! Take care, I love you all!!! <3