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Chapter 19
IT’S STILL DARK OUTSIDE WHEN SOPHIA PICKS MEup at my apartment the next morning. Normally I can go to all the shooting locations myself using public transportation, but today we’re shooting at a beach in Gangwon-do, which is almost three hours away on the other side of the country.
“Hey,” I say when I get in the car. “Thank you so much for taking me to the beach.”
“No problem,” she replies. “I still don’t know why they couldn’t just film around Seoul, but I guess it’s nice to leave the city for a bit.”
Gangwon-do is my favorite province in Korea because it has beautiful mountains and stunning beaches. It’s basically where everyone goes camping or skiing, depending on the season. A lot of K-dramas film iconic moments there every year since the scenery is so stunning.
I feel bad that Sophia has to drive me so far, but I’m really excited to get out of the city.
“So,” Sophia says once we’re on the highway, “I saw the news about you and Minjee. Well done! That’ll catch people’s attention for sure. I’m actually disappointed in myself for not being the one to come up with the idea of you and her being friends.”
Since yesterday, stories about Minjee and me ended up everywhere online. Compared to how scandalous the headlines about Bryan and me were, these ones are pretty innocuous, talking about how ironic and cute it is that we’re close enough friends to hang out off set when we’re supposed to be mortal enemies on-screen.
I smile. After much debate, I’d decided not to tell Sophia that I’m hanging out with Minjee. Nor did I tell her that I know Minjee from school. I wasn’t sure how she’d react to the idea of us being friends, but now I’m relieved she seems on board with the whole thing.
“Thanks,” I reply. “I’m glad everyone reacted so positively to the news.”
Even though there’s probably no harm in Sophia knowing about Minjee and me, I wanted to keep our friendship a secret, even from her. Everything I do nowadays is so public, ending up in news headlines all over the world. I want to keep my friendship with—and these new feelings for—Minjee as close to my heart as I can.
When we arrive, I’m relieved to see that the beach is pretty much empty, thanks to the cold temperatures and gray skies. What I’mnotglad to see is that everyone is weirdly nicer tome than usual. Bryan’s assistant even smiles at me and asks if I “want water or anything.” Before I can say no, he shoves a boxed water into my hand.
Darn it!I stare at the box of water in dismay. The one old Batman movie quote about living long enough to see yourself become the villain flashes in my mind.
I’m incredibly thirsty after the long drive, though, so I begrudgingly end up opening up the carton anyway. While I’m drinking, I realize what’s going on. Today’s my first time on set with Bryan since our official relationship announcement.
The assistant cups her face with one hand and whispers, “He’s here!” to me, smiling like we share a secret.
I manage to give her a tight grin in response.
And sure enough, Bryan strides onto set, dressed in a sleek black stealth suit. According to the call sheet, he has a lot of action scenes to film today, since we’re almost at the big climax of the show.
“Hey,” he says to me. “How’ve you been?”
“Hi,” I reply. “I’ve been okay. How about you?”
“Oh, cool. I’ve been all right.”
His expression is guarded, and it takes me a moment to understand why. While he talks over scene directions with Director Cha, I pull out my phone from my pocket.
4 unread messages from Bryan Yoon
I’d been having so much fun talking and hanging out with Minjee throughout the week that I completely forgot that Bryan texted me.Oops.
I open up the conversation.
hey, so... wanna talk about what happened at the tower?
hello
sorry are you mad
ok talk to you later
I’m trying to figure out what I can say to him when Director Cha says, “All right, let’s get started, everyone!”
Bryan and I have a few lines together before he has to do his action scenes. Despite the awkwardness between us, we’re not noticeably bad, and we still play off each other well. The takes we film must be satisfactory because Director Cha doesn’t yell “Cut!” more often than he usually does. There’s an unmistakable tenseness in Bryan’s eyes, and it doesn’t go away when the camera stops rolling. Luckily, the scenes we’re shooting are pretty edgy anyway, which fits the gloomy beach we’re at well.
