Sixteen
JUN
“Alright,people, places! We have to shoot this part of the video before lunch! Places!”
The director of the music video shoot screamed obscenities and orders left and right, determined to make everything perfect for the next section of the shooting. Of course, there was no such thing as perfect, but nobody seemed eager to tell him that.
I was no exception.
I took my spot and prepared to be micromanaged, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t concentrate. Not after the other night.
I didn’t need another distraction. But ever since I reminded myself what it felt like to bury myself in someone—in Arista, specifically—my brain was a hot mess of jumbled chaos.
I gave Yejin two different shoes to put on this morning. I forgot my phone on the counter when I left the house. Hell, I even managed to put my shirt on backward, and had a polite backup dancer not brought it to my attention, I’d likely have never noticed.
“Mr. Kim, are you with us?”
I shook my head free of the emotions clouding my thoughts and smiled politely at the man whose time I was taking up. “Sorry, director. I’m ready to go again.”
“From the top. I want you to really get into it this time. You’re back, you’re bigger than life itself, show me the zest! I wanna seelifeandexcitementin every move you make.”
I nodded and put my hands atop the back up dancers’ connected hands, letting the music flow through me as we went through the movements. Left, right, up, down, circles, there wasn’t a direction we didn’t move. But it still wasn’t perfect.
“I’m not feeling you connect with the music, Mr. Kim. You’re here with us, but your heart isn’t.” The director called for a break, giving me a moment’s reprieve to breathe and regroup with my thoughts.
If I could get my runaway imagination under control, this would all be so much easier.
“Struggling out there?”
A steaming cup of coffee appeared in front of my nose, and I took it without thinking, closing my eyes as I inhaled the potent, rich scent.Fuck, I needed this.
Arista frowned as she surveyed me up and down, clearly concerned with my performance. “Whatever’s bothering you, you’d better deal with it. We don’t have time to pencil in a mental breakdown on your schedule.”
My laughter was as dry as her sense of humor. “I’ll try to remember that while the director screams at me about how my heart’s not in it next time.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Why does he think your heart’s not in it? Where else would it be?”
With you.“Right where it’s always been.” I jammed a thumb into my chest. “He’s just mad he doesn’t look this good when he wakes up.”
She rolled her eyes, and I breathed a sigh of relief.Crisis averted.“Okay, well, Mr. Perfection, we have to rush over to the company in a little bit. You have a short appointment with HR and legal, and then we’re off again to the studio.” She glanced sideways at me with another frown. “I assume you can handle yourself at the company without getting into trouble?”
“I’m not a child.” The fact that she would even suggest I wasn’t capable?—
“Okay. I won’t be far if there’s any issues.”
“Mr. Kim, are you still filming, or should we pack up and go home?”
I glanced back at the director, wishing it was appropriate to roll my eyes at the man. He had a way of sounding offensive and polite in the same breath. When I turned back, Ari was gone.
Great.
“Alright, I’m coming, keep your shorts on, man.”
We wrapped filming about an hour later. I’d never been so happy to leave the dance studio in my life.
Arista was nowhere in sight, though. I spotted a familiar face at the corner of the room and made a beeline for Pujin as he scrolled through something on his phone.
“Pujin, my man!” I faked a friendly punch to his shoulder, and he checked me back, smiling from ear to ear. “What brings you here?”
