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3518 words Updated 7/1/24

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Before I head to the area that was set up for the stylists, a series of rooms upstairs that were obviously a break room, an office, and a meeting room at one point in time, I head over to the setup for the first scene that the team plans on filming. I go up to the director and ask if I can see the modified storyboard. Before Lily arrived in Korea we met to discuss the shooting of this video. This included a brief summary regarding the planned storyboard, so I already knew roughly what they had outlined regarding the plot line today.

He starts to hand it to me, and when I move to walk away he asks where I am going with it. I'm tempted to not bother answering. However not only would that be disrespectful it would also more than likely bring up far more questions in the long run, so I tell him an abbreviated, albeit bent, version of the truth. "Minsook's new manager is going to be sitting with us today. I want to run this over with her so she can follow along easily and isn't entirely bored while she is overseeing us today." Of course I am sure this answer more than likely still strikes him as odd, but I decide to ignore his inquisitive face before turning away and heading over to Lily with the storyboard in hand.

The twins are currently at the stylist's stations getting ready, and while Jaeyeonie is nodding off in the chair Juahie seems the most sharp and aware out of all of us this morning. My best guess is that it could be because he woke up a tad earlier than everyone else to drink some coffee and put something together for Lily's breakfast. He didn't lie when he said it was something simple, just what he referred to as a Korean style breakfast sandwich. I watched as he put away the leftover ingredients, and could tell it was something any one of us probably could have made for her. He's pretty damn alert though, even for him. It has me curious if something else is on his mind, but I'll have to bring it up later with him. We need to start focusing on work.

Jiseongie is nodding off in another roll away chair tucked in an otherwise vacant corner, waiting his turn for makeup, and Minsook is sitting closely beside Lily on a couch not far from him. He almost looks tempted to throw caution to the wind and pull her into his lap. Well, I definitely need to intervene before that happens, because out of all of us he is probably the most inclined to tempt fate. When I get to the couch they are sitting on I sigh before whispering to him in English, hoping very few staff members will understand me if they happen to overhear us, "Minsook, you should probably scoot a little further away. You are practically on top of her. Look around, the stylists are barely focusing on their job right now. They are sure to be more than curious about the attention you are lavishing on your new Manager should you continue to flirt with her like this." I make sure to stress the word manager and pray it will help get my point across.

"Pssh. I'm sure their stomachs are hurting, and their eyes are definitely high right now if any of them think they can get in the position that Lily has right now." Minsookie smirks dangerously.

I give him another warning look, which he rolls his eyes at but he inclines to my request and puts a little more space between them.

A cute look of confusion, a delicate furrowing between her eyebrows, crosses her face before she addresses Minsookie. "You were speaking English, but I didn't understand most of what you meant just now."

I almost laugh, although I'm not sure if it's due to her confusion or the cute expression on her face. "Oh, he was translating Korean idioms. Inferring that their stomachs hurt because they were jealous of your position. Then regarding the comment about their eyes being high; it simply meant that they might be having unrealistic expectations." I quickly define everything for her. Then I pull out the storyboard and sit on the cushion on her other side to go over it with her. "So the meaning behind the idiom 'Devil's luck' is of course to have astounding good luck. Well, we are taking that a step further. In the lyrics, I pointed out how because of the use of the word 'Devil' in it that it seems to have a negative or dark connotation to it." I hold up and go through the storyboard with her.

She frowns after a short time and puts her hand on the board. "I really do appreciate this, but this really reminds me of Comic Book frames. I've never read Comic Books because any time I looked at the frames I couldn't quite comprehend what order to read the speech bubbles in. I mean I guess I did sort of understand the order, but somehow it was like my mind would take apart all the individual pieces and shuffle them out of order." She once again thanks me for the thoughtfulness.

I smile softly at her before putting the storyboard aside. I should probably take it back to the director or assistant director, but I'd rather sit here for now and explain the concept of the video to Lily really quickly. "In the video each of our characters that we will be portraying are going to become exceptionally lucky at a Casino game. Then in the second half we are all going to experience something grimly adverse happening to us as a result of that luck."

"Most Casino equipment colors are red, black, and green. Well, we decided to change that up in this video to blue, black, white, and silver. Hence the hair colors also." Minsookie chimes in.

I notice Juahie getting up out of the stylist chair from the corner of my eye. Yu Jisun, the stylist who took care of his make-up this morning, looks up at me and subtly gestures for me to come over. I sigh before letting Lily know it's my turn in the hot seat. I signal to Yu Jisun that I will be right there before I carry the storyboard back over to the assistant director then I take my seat in the roll away chair.

It was just a peck! I shouldn't have to keep reminding myself of that fact over and over again; yet still I have repeated the same sentence countless times already in the past hour. It was barely a peck even! It was unintentional! Yup those two sentences I have also added in some attempt to try to emphasize the first point. I've kissed another young lady before, much deeper than the small unintentional peck this morning. The problem was that even those few kisses I shared with that particular individual hadn't left me feeling the way that peck I shared with Lily had. The kiss literally left behind tingles of electricity that spanned throughout all of my nerve endings; from the pads of my fingers all the way down to the tips of my toes. It even left my scalp tingling, and each strand of my hair felt like they had stood on end for a brief moment during, and just after, the peck. I wonder if she has kissed any of the others yet. Crap! No, I shouldn't follow that train of thought.

That, barely there, pressure of our lips pressing against each other has been legitimately plaguing me ever since it happened, and has been stimulating me far more than the cup of coffee I drank this morning. I almost felt like I barely needed to drink the coffee to help me function and keep me awake today. The moment has been living rent free in my mind playing the sequence of events picture by picture on repeat. Yu Jisun, the stylist that was doing my makeup this morning, has to put her hand on my shoulder and tell me once again that she is done with my makeup.

I walk over to Park Yewon, the hair stylist that will be taking care of me this morning. I barely register In Solmi, the other hair stylist who took care of my younger twin's hair, dragging the rolling chair that Jiseongie is dozing in toward the other station they have set up for hair.

Lily is behind me and the mirror is between myself and Park Yewon, so I can't openly gawk at her beautiful self right now. Yet in my mind I still find myself intensely studying her glossy pink lips, and remembering how sweet the flavor they left behind tasted when I subtly licked my lips after our briefly shared kiss. Yeah, I really shouldn't be thinking about it. The way things are going I probably won't even hear the instructions the director will give me, or even the suggestions and advice he will give me to change up any mistakes.

Despite my intentions I still find my thoughts trailing back to Lily and our kiss. If she had a choice would I have been the one she chose to kiss first? Fuck. I really can't think like that!

Yewon moves around me to work on the back of my hair now. If I look around her reflection I can barely see part of Lily's reflection in the mirror. Earlier Gamon-hyung and Minsookie had both kept her company, but now only Minsookie is by her side. Lucky rascal! He will be going last today, which means he gets to spend the most time with her one on one. It's sensible though, she is his manager after all, and it wouldn't completely make sense for her to stick around the whole time unless she was with him.

Huh? Where am I? Per normal I fell asleep due to the dismal hour, and also per normal I woke dazed and disoriented. I take a moment to take in the scenery. Oh yeah. We are going to be primarily working out of warehouses for this video in particular. It was an easily controlled environment to ensure that the weather wouldn't interfere with the taping. Due to the preliminary meeting regarding this video, I know the warehouse has several sections blocked off, each with a different soundproof set, so even if it did rain against the metal roof the soundproofing would block it out. If I remember correctly we are probably going to be sent to a different warehouse tomorrow and the next day so we can smoothly transition from one set to the next to help expedite the recording of the video. It's really unorthodox to try to tape a video only a week before the release date, but having to work around a busy schedule that included Gamon's soulmate Meet and Greets, our most recent week of Comeback stages, Holiday events, and Award show performances we didn't really have the time outside of that.

"Hey sleepyhead." The melodic voice of my soulmate calls over to me.

Oh. I didn't even notice that I was right next to her. Oops. "Morning, Angel." I whisper softly in English.

She arches an eyebrow at me. "You're the one who is known as an Angel by numbers of Currents worldwide."

I lean closer to her so my whispered confirmation doesn't reach others ears. I plan on speaking in English, but that doesn't mean that everyone here wouldn't understand. "Yes, but what if I consider you my Angel?" I raise a defiant eyebrow. It's a look Minsook-hyung helped coach me on for videos and live performances, and I perfected it to give me a sexier, edgier, more physically mature vibe. I want to ensure she sees me as a man since I am slightly younger than her.

A shadow hovers over the two of us and we both look up. Gamon-hyung sighs and frowns down at me. "Do I have to warn you to also be careful of your obvious flirtations with Lily, Jiseongie? I already warned Minsookie. I'd like to flirt with her too, but we don't want the members of the staff to catch on."

I frown immediately. I want to be able to shout it from the rooftops that Lily is ours.

I'm unsurprised when Gamon seems to read my thoughts. "Don't worry. When we are all ready to share the news I have a few ideas." He stares at me hard before diverting his eyes to our soulmate.

Oh yeah. She wasn't sure how she would feel about the fame due to association. Unfortunately, she will probably become mildly famous just for hanging out with us. One of our former female staff had to quit due to the fans' backlash and media insinuating more than a professional work relationship between Minsook-hyung and herself. Damn! Why hadn't we thought about that moment before?!?! Oh because the management job was a solution made on the fly, and because at the time we wanted a way to guarantee her place beside us.

"I realize that I probably won't be going on for hours now, but I insist you go ahead and do my makeup and hair now. Then you can make any necessary touch ups you see fit when it's time for the choreo section in the wardrobe for today." Minsookie's words are perfectly professional regarding definition, but it's his tone and implication that are borderline hostile.

I glance over at Lily and find her eyes widening in astonishment at this somewhat dangerous side of Minsookie. We are all rather protective of the people we care about, but Minsookie and Gamon-hyung alike both are inordinately vigilant at times. Gamon-hyung just happens to have a bit more control over this element of his personality. He handles himself in situations like this with a lot more decorum.

As if sensing the issue Gamon-hyung comes back from the bathroom. "What's going on?" He notices Minsookie's stiff shoulders and reddening ears. He pulls him away, and they carry on a whispered conversation. Gamon-hyung pulls away from him, and looks back to the stylist in question who is causing the problems, In Solmi.

I guess saying she is causing problems is a bit of a misnomer. She is simply trying to follow typical protocol. I can't completely fault her for that. After all, she isn't the one I would say is a problem staff member. The one that I would say causes the most issues would be, So Nara. Who I will be seeing in just a few minutes here in the warehouse office, the room they have set up for the wardrobe stylists.

So Nara isn't actually a member of the staff dedicated primarily to our group. No, she is a floater often used for the company. We only see her during music videos and comeback stages. There are a few other floaters that are hired through the same temp company should we need additional hands, like for concerts and awards shows, or should there be a schedule conflict with another group.

The woman is nothing but trouble. "They are ready for us in Wardrobe." My twin touches my shoulder and insists I follow him along. I can't help but release a disgruntled sigh at the idea of seeing the vile woman.

The original plan was for those of us not taping to be able to watch the others while they were, but of course that plan seems to be completely falling apart. I was able to convince the stylists to do my hair and makeup, but by the time I was done we discovered that Juah-hyung was already taping and that Jaeyeon-hyung was at a different stage setting getting ready to be recorded with the Assistant director in the seat. I know it's all to make everything transition smoother, but I can't help but be a little disappointed that things aren't working out quite the way we planned.

I head over to Lily and explain my unhappiness with how today is going. She is careful to hide the touch on the back of my hand from those around us. I wish she could let that simple, barely there touch linger as long as she would like. As long as we would both like.

"No, worries. Since Juah started first we will pop over to his set first, and we can stick around there for a bit to at least get a sense of how his taping is going. Hopefully Jaeyeon will still be working on his scene when we hop over to his set." She gives me a hopeful smile, but I can tell how much this is bothering her too.

We stayed at Juah's set for maybe twenty minutes, and it was interesting to watch Lily's reaction. We are all wearing black suits with blue and silver accents for this set in particular, and I can tell that the combined visual is strongly affecting our Soulmate. Her breath is coming out slightly choppy and her pupils dilate; luckily the darkness, where we are sitting, could at least partially contribute to the latter and explain it away should anyone assume her physical attraction to each of us. It doesn't explain the former, but she's not being overly loud and hopefully I am the only one close enough to be able to hear her.

Juah's scene is set up in front of a digital wheel with blue and white LED lights. It is programmed to stop at the jackpot during part of his recording after he lip sync's his lines to the camera that is recording him from his peripheral vision. On the last word, he winks at the camera just before it stops on the jackpot. They have him record it multiple times, if only to make sure they get the timing perfect. Honestly, the first time he went through the whole scene after noticing Lily's arrival he fucking nailed it, but because this particular scene was being recorded by the Assistant Director he was ensuring he had all the footage necessary.

Twenty minutes later we are at Jaeyeon's scene. One side of his hair is slicked back while the other is slightly falling in his face to give him a mysterious look. He is playing blackjack, and instead of a single win like Juah they have him win several hands in a row. During his recording one of the assistants behind the camera reports that I need to head to the office for wardrobe now.

Great. I've been dreading this.

Once I got there I was happy to see that Junghee-hyung was able to arrange the portable changing rooms like I asked. I breathe a sigh of relief and head directly to Ry Miyun, our wardrobe stylist, in hopes that I can completely ignore the other woman in the room. I'm able to retrieve my costume for my set and get to the changing room without incident, but when I go to shut the curtain behind me a hand clasps around my own. "What's going on Minsookie? Why the changing rooms? Why have you been avoiding me? You used to love my attention." She seductively purrs the last statement, but the only reaction I have to it now is revulsion.

I shrug my shoulders nonchalantly. "I'm out of this game we have been playing. Why don't you go off and find another pawn to play with?"

I pulled my hand away from hers and shut the curtain, wishing it was a door that I could lock behind me. My hands shake as I replay my response. I shouldn't have proposed she should find someone else. I might have just sent her on the path to seduce an innocent victim. Although, who's to say she doesn't already have another young Idol she is toying with? Or even a slew of them? The only thing I can be relieved by is that I wasn't completely innocent when I was the one that she singled out.

Before getting dressed I take a moment to send a text to Junghee-hyung.

Me: Thank you for the changing rooms. Unfortunately, So Nara still attempted to make a move.

Junghee: Do we need to consider reporting this to the personnel department?

Me: She would only say that I invited it at this point. I'm mostly worried that she might approach one of the younger members of the company. Can you help me get the word out?

Crap! Minsookie wasn't wrong that there was nothing we could accuse So Nara of in regards to him. That meant she would have to approach another Idol of the company, or perhaps even other companies. But what happened if this time she approached someone completely innocent?

I quickly text the managers of the other groups. Let them know to watch out for any kind of unwarranted sexual misconduct from the viper.

I tried to get her fired years ago when she approached Minsookie, but nothing came of that due to their subtlety in nature and the way he returned her flirtatious affections.

A/N:  So how is everyone liking the story thus far?  Have any stand out favorite male main character?  

You can find links to resources used for this chapter in the comments section on this paragraph.