Chapter Text
The scrambling of Boo’s paws running up to Mina as she closes the apartment door brings a smile to her tired face.
It’s late midnight and she had just come back from work. She picks up the Norwich Terrier in her arms with a slight grunt and walks to the couch to probably fall asleep.
When she corners the living room, now holding the sleeping Boo in her arms, she notices the lights are on and the subtle ambiance of the tv playing. She sighs and looks towards the couch, spotting a wide awake Momo munching on popcorn and watching a K-drama.
“Momo… Hello.” The girl turns her head to Mina but her eyes are still glued to the tv, the actress mentally laughs at the scene.
Mina lays down the sleeping dog beside its owner and plops herself down on the opposite side. “Oh hey Mina, I didn’t hear you come in.”
Mina chuckles and rests her head on Momo’s shoulder. “What did you do today?” The actress asks. Momo hums while trying to remember, “I was teaching at the dance studio, then I got tired, ate some Korean food, came home, ate again, and now I’m here.¨ Mina smiles, “Would you consider that a good day?” Momo hums again, “…Yeah, pretty much.”
The tv in the background played a sound very familiar to Mina’s ears. A grin creeps on her face and she raises her head to the girl next to her. “Why are you watching one of my films?” Mina teases.
Momo smiles, “After hearing Yoo Jeongyeon was gonna appear in your show, I thought I should probably watch some of your acting.” She replies, still munching on popcorn.
Mina takes her head off of Momo’s shoulder and gives her a questioning glance, “What kind of stupid reason is that?” Momo chuckles, “I can’t help it– Yoo Jeongyeon is hot…” The actress rolls her eyes and yanks the popcorn away from Momo’s grasp and she stands up from the couch, “Go take Boo and go to sleep.” She scolds the older girl. Momo pouts, “My popcorn…”
—
“Why is everybody so obsessed with Jeongyeon… I don’t see the appeal.” Mina mumbles to herself in the dark of her bedroom; under her covers doomscrolling on Twitter. Almost all the tweets about the show are talking about Jeongyeon’s looks and acting. She narrows her eyes at the shallow compliments, but one in particular stuck out.
‘Did Yoo Jeongyeon steal the show?? Because she is mighty fine. Thank god Park Bo-Gum backed out on the role!!'
The actress could’ve sworn her eye twitched just a bit while reading the tweet. Despite what she was feeling, she let out a sigh and calmly closed the app, turned off her phone, put it by her bedside table, and settled into her bed to finally fall asleep.
The next morning, she’s reporting the account.
____
The cold morning air sends a jolt through Mina’s skin when she exits the doors of her apartment. The sigh she lets out turns into a visible vapor right before her eyes. Though still groggy, a giggle manages to escape her lips. The actress was dressed in a long fleece coat, corresponding to the brand she was ambassador of, and a scarf covering half of her face– which she prefers, matching the set. A gust of the sharp cold air passes the top half of her face causing her to wince. She squints her eyes enough to see the car waiting not too close from the building and she trudges her way to the vehicle where her manager is looking at her strangely.
“I thought penguins walked great in the cold?” Jihyo teases from the open car window. Surprisingly, she was rather chipper in the morning. The actress rolled her eyes and entered the car. She sighed in relief as the humidity enveloped her features. "No wonder you're so energetic, it's like summer in here." She breathes out, unwrapping her scarf.
The car ride to the set was peaceful, the radio was playing soft ballads that both Jihyo and Mina loved. As she quietly hummed along, her manager sang even louder as she focused on the road, contradicting the calm melodies. Mina kept laughing at how passionate she was, but nevertheless, her voice was always a pleasure to listen to, and it some how made the cold weather warm up just it bit for both of them.
___
The outside set was lively; the backstage crew was bubbling with energy and the directors were also pretty happy. Mina enters the pop-up tent with her manager to get her hair and makeup done.
Sitting in the makeup chair and scrolling absently mindlessly on her phone, she spots something in the corner of the crowded table of cosmetics. “Who brought coffee?” She asks, carefully turning her head toward Jihyo, keeping in mind of the stylist above her. The woman was busy on the couch, analyzing papers and doesn’t look up at her, “Don’t know, ask someone who was here before me.” Mina turns back to the mirror incredulously, she meets the eyes of her hair stylist. “Do you know?”
The hair dresser pauses and hums, “Hm.. I’m pretty sure it was Jeongyeon, your co-actor. She came here super early and got coffee for everyone.”
Jihyo chuckles to the side and cocks her head to the drinks, “Of course she would do something like that…” She hops up from the couch and happily walks to the makeup desk to pick the cup she wants. “Ohh, I love this café!” She muses as she reads off the paper wrapped around it. Mina side-eyes her manager, “Are you doing that on purpose, or what?” She speaks up flatly.
The staff in the room laugh at their banter, and each of them one by one picked a coffee cup that suited their taste,– luckily there was enough for everyone. But, the woman who sat right across from hers, stubbornly payed no mind and busied her self with a mobile game, tapping profusely on the screen.
The dim atmosphere filled with clattering of cosmetics, scribbling of pen meeting paper and light chatter among staff get interrupted by the assistant director peeking his head inside the tent and clearing his voice with a light “a-hem” as he scans around, “Be on set in 5 minutes!” He announces, but before he pops his head out, his eyes meet the coffee lingering on the vanity, he darts his eyes among everyone, “If nobody’s taking it, don’t mind if I do…” He swipes the cup and glides away without noticing the glare radiating from Mina’s eyes.
Jihyo hesitates to tell Mark, but he left the room in a flash with a grin on his face sipping the drink. She falls back to the couch and sighs, looking to the bewildered actress, “Mina, you would’ve loved it…”
—
And– Cut!
The director chuckles in delight, “Great work Jeongyeon!” The mentioned girl smiles bashfully as she gets out of the camera’s way and walks in the direction of the break tents, “…Thank you PD-nim” She shyly bows. In the corner of her eye, a vending machine stood out as clear as day, though it was a cloudy morning, the mint green streaks on the side caught the girls attention.
Whipping her head side to side to check no one notices her, she speeds walks to the metal box, tripping on her own feet, “shi–!” She used her arms to flail herself into balance, she darted her eyes behind and the only thing she saw was a squirrel, cocking its head towards her. “So you tripped me?
The outside air stung a but more for Mina as she practically collapsed her way to a bench, the jacket that Jihyo provided her was warm but wasn’t able to mask the coldness she was feeling— no one had given her a compliment yet. Not the director, stylists, backstage crew and even her manager, she softy shook her head to herself in disbelief.
She lowered her eyes to a nearby tree, where two squirrels were fighting while climbing up the bark, impressive. "Squirrels are cute, don't you think?" The low but sudden voice behind her startled her enough to jump in her seat, she slowly turned her head and prayed to the gods above, Please don't be... "Jihyo told me you weren't able to grab a coffee...so, here you go." Towering above her, the blonde girl extended her hand, holding a can of coffee. A moment of silence passes between them, but Jeongyeon's arm was still fully extended to the actress. "My arm is getting tired." She mumbled, noticing the squirrels had fled from the tree.
A slow hand grasps the can, slightly brushing a ring on Jeongyeon’s finger. She lets out a huff and gazes at the can almost fondly, “Thank you, this actually means a lot to me.” Timidly bringing the drink to her lips, the gush of caffeine was just what Mina needed at a time of day like this. The bench creeks right beside and before she could even sigh after her sip, the blonde girl starts opening her mouth. “Your body literally melted from that one sip, huh?” She giggled, looking at the way Mina was hunched over. “Have you ever watched Lord Of The Rings?—“
“I am not golem.”
"I never said you were!"
Jeongyeon clears her throat, "Its a good trilogy, you should give it a binge." The audible sounds of Mina’s sips and no words were enough to shut her up. "Back on set in 5 minutes!," Mark shouts from afar to the cast and crew.
"By the way... you were pretty-," Jeongyeon pauses, gazing at the staff moving around near the tents, "You were really memorizing out there... it felt like I was hypnotized when you looked at me during the second scene..." Jeongyeon trails off with laughter, staring down at her shoes. A dry chuckle escapes Mina's lips and she brings her palm to cover her smile. "Wait-wait!, did I say something stupid?" the girl beside her stammered.
Mina waves her hand quickly, "No, its okay... Thank you though."
A breeze brushes past and Jeongyeon shivers dramatically. “I could’ve sworn I brought you a coffee.” She said through her flushed face and clenched teeth, Mina frowns as she recalls the moment, ironically, Mark comes strolling by their bench carrying the exact cup in his left hand, “Jeongyeon, we need you for a scene.” He points his thumb where the filming is. She looks at the assistant director up and down, “Oh I see…” She mumbles, clearly not focusing on a thing he directed.
an "ah.." leaves Marks mouth as he looks down at his left hand and the woman sitting in front of him, also staring. "I can't really operate without caffeine so I took a little extra, my bad." Jeongyeon raises a brow, "You could've just asked me, y'know." she said unamused. The timid actor next to her just watches the encounter. A pointed finger swiftly aims at her and the words that come next make her lower her head in embarrassment, "Apologize!"
Mark stares blankly at the two, seriously regretting taking that cup. He lifts up his sleeve where a gray Casio watch was worn underneath and sighs in relief, "Uh-- I think you guys should start the filming right about now." Mina nods, also thankful of the time and the end of whatever that was. She gets up from the bench and is once again reminded of the temperature.
Just three more scenes to go...
____
“Mina! Which one do you think is good, the fur jacket or the leather one?” Momo has been adjusting herself around in the mirror for a solid ten minutes just to choose between two jackets. The thrift store they were in wasn’t very crowded; the shop was tucked in a secluded part in Seoul– which is surprising because it’s Seoul, of course. but that’s why it was one of the duo’s favorite place to shop. Mina, who was basically dragged out of their apartment to accompany her on her off-day was half asleep on a small chair that was placed right beside the mirror, absently nodding her head to whatever came out of the Japanese girls mouth.
Momo tuts her head to the right, “After this how about you try some clothes on.” She pouted. Mina raises her fallen head with low eyes, “Are we leaving now?” She mumbles, staring out to the abyss.
“Argh! I’ll just get both of them,” Momo exasperates. She grabs the other hanger and strode her way to the cashier.
Mina watches her roommate practically stomp her way to the checkout and she squints her eyes, Wasn't she getting only one? Her tired eyes gaze down at the strange tightness that was on her arms. Several shopping bags were strung against her forearms, 4 on each.
What the hell happened the whole time we were out?!
Mina could’ve sworn the two of them have only been out for an hour, and the only store they entered was the one they were in.
Her eyes darted to the nearby window. It was nearly evening! Mina jumped off of the stool and marched her way to the girl who wasted her off-day. Just as she was approaching, she noticed a particularly person talking to Momo, trying to bargain the leather jacket she was holding. What a dunce.
”You know, I think you’d do just fine with the fur jacket, it matches your…,” they twirl their fingers around, “vibe, don’t you think?” Mina notices something about the weirdo.
Why is this guy wearing sunglasses indoors?
And why does their voice sound familiar?
And why is she bargaining for something at a thrift store?– it’s a thrift store!
Wait…