Chapter Text
ACT 1:
“AND CUT!”
Geon flinched as the loud statement echoed through the studio. His hair all ruffled, make-up looking a little too rushed, and outfit not put well enough together. He felt confused, and tired.
How did he end up here?
…
It was a sunny day in Paris, the weather felt like it came out of a movie. The streets weren't too busy but not too quiet as well. While people walked and chatted outside, busy with their own lives. Geon was inside his friend—Seita’s apartment, dozing off.
Last night was a blast, too fun yet too tiring to recall. All he remembered was the fact that his friend suddenly texted him to have the night out. Go to a mall, drink at Seita’s place, and have a “non-chaotic” night.
They did in fact have fun at the mall. They went shopping, ate snacks at small food stalls, and took pictures in the photobooth while they were in an arcade. Too tired to go on outside, they continued their fun at Seita’s place.
…
“GEON!!! Stop laying around” Seita shouted while he was getting them drinks from the kitchen.
Geon, being the stubborn guy he is, laid down flat even more on the cream-colored couch. Waiting for a reaction from Seita—which he got, a little side eye.
“Okay okay! What are we gonna do anyway?— OH lets watch a movie!” Geon smiled excitedly, slowly sitting up while thinking about movies they could watch.
“Sure. Are you hungry?” Seita put on his jacket as he asked.
“Oh well, kinda. Where ya going?”
“At the épicerie nearby” Seita finished zipping his jacket up, now slipping into some crocs. (An épicerie is a small grocery, kinda like a convenience store)
“Buy me those lays cheese chips”
Seita hummed as an answer, back already turned as he reached for the door. The door shut with a soft thud.
Left in silence, Geon opened his phone. The blue light of the device shone in his face. He opened apps that could help him find some movies, searching for feedback and descriptions with every small tap his finger made.
A few minutes later. He heard the door handle rattle, signaling his friend’s return
The door opened with a big swing, startling Geon. Behind it revealed Seita with at least 4 large plastic bags of what theoretically would contain snacks and drinks.
“Woah, do you plan on staying up the whole night?!” Geon said, his eyes widening with every plastic bag he saw. He couldn't even wrap his head around what could be inside those bags.
“Well, I kinda went overboard. But so what!” Seita said, settling the bags down on the counter beside him. He unzipped his jacket and tossed it on a coat hanger.
“Go and turn on the TV, I'll fix the food” He said while rummaging through the bags. Geon turned his head to find the remote. He ran his hands on the cushions, hoping to find it in the bundles of blankets and pillows the couch had.
“Hey.. uh Seita?” He called, eyes still darting everywhere trying to spot a remote.
“Can you not find the remote? Look at the drawers of the TV stand.”
Geon hummed as an answer, already trailing to the TV. He opened the drawer with a pull and leaned down in front of it,
“Aha!” He happily exclaimed.
He quickly grabbed the remote and swiftly pointed it to the light under the TV. While doing so, he accidentally knocked over a photo frame. It fell with quite a loud thud, he quickly fixed it and looked at Seita to see his friend’s reaction if he heard it or not.
“Phew..” he closed his eyes.
As he opened them, his eyes focused on what the picture looked like.
It was a family photo, clearly showing Seita with his parents and some pets. Behind them clearly showed a gorgeous view of Mt. Fuji. A mountain that towered over Japan.
Japan..
The country Geon was afraid yet curious about. The country Geon was born in and was raised in for a bit. Not something he remembered though. He looked at how happy Seita looked with his parents, at how the mountain and the cherry blossoms seemed to scream “Japan” right at his face, through the picture.
He gradually came back to his senses, realizing how long he had been looking at the picture. He turned his head towards the direction of the kitchen—where Seita was. Worried that he might have caught him weirdly looking at his family picture. Thankfully, Seita seemed to still be busy putting the things he bought inside the fridge that quietly hummed.
He looked back towards the TV, remote raising, and finally clicking the power on button. He glanced at the picture one more time before finally standing up and going back to the couch.
As soon as he sat down, he heard Seita’s footsteps. He looked beside him and saw his friend carrying some chips and drinks.
“What took you so long? Didn't know you were planning to get groceries for a whole week.” Geon teased.
“Oh shut up. I just bought some new drinks and snacks they had that seemed yummy.” Seita quickly blurted.
“Anyways, what took YOU so long?” He continued and snapped back, emphasizing the “you”.
“Well I was trying to find the remote, which almost turned into a scavenger hunt.” Geon dramatically answered.
Seita handed him the bag of chips,
“Well whatever, here's your Lays.” he settled down beside the other on the couch.
Both of them got comfy and wrapped themselves with blankets. Geon put on the movie he found online, it was a horror movie—which he wasn’t good with, but—
(It's okay Ken, face your fears, right?) he thought
Just as he was about to hit play, Seita’s voice suddenly spoke up.
“Oh! Yeah, I forgot. I got you this drink from when I went out. It's a new product I've never seen before so I thought we should try it together.”
“Sure, lemme see,” Geon curiously said.
Seita gave him a bottle of what seemed to be a strawberry drink. It had a pink wrapper and it contained some Japanese words Geon couldn't be bothered to read.
He looked at the guy on the drink. Well, at least the guy was good to look at. He didn't ponder about the boy who was probably sponsoring the drink for too long. He opened the pink cap of the drink and took a sip.
His eyes widened as the flavours slowly settled in his tongue. Holy shit, this was definitely his type of taste.
“Damn? This is really good! Definitely my preference. Try it!” He commented cheerfully, looking a little too happy just because of a drink.
“Sure, give me it.” Geon passed the drink to Seita, and as expected, he liked it too.
They spent the rest of the night watching the horror movie which was clearly too scary for them. They flinched and let out small yelps before a jump scare would even pop out. They probably fell asleep a few hours into midnight. The once tense room was filled with the soft sound of their breathing while sleeping. Finally ending the fun day—well, night.
…
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Okay, back to the sunny, good-weather-day in Paris.
The sound of a call quickly woke the two friends up.
They bolted up, clearly surprised by the loud alarm-like ringtone. Seita quickly looked around the living room and kitchen, turning his head around. Not bothered enough to stand up.
The two followed the sound and spotted a vibrating phone on the floor, it was bouncing off the rug. It lightly hit the floor repeatedly, making more tapping sounds that irritated the two even more. Seita reached his arm out and grabbed the phone, looking at the user. His eyes widened with surprise as he hastily tried to tap the green answer button.
“Hel-lo” He accidentally cracked his voice.
Geon had to lift up his hand and try to cover his mouth to prevent a laugh from coming out.
Seita gave him a bit of a side eye before clearing his throat, clearly trying to disregard the embarrassing moment.
“Mmchk” he cleared his voice.
“Ah, yes? Hello?” He steadily said in a serious tone. The professionalism of it all made Geon curious and worried at the same time. Who could it be? And why was Seita so serious about it?
He thought of every person it might be, but that was quickly dismissed with the way Seita suddenly stood up. Making Geon even more worried and curious than before.
“Wait, I am so sorry, we are on our way!” He hurriedly replied.
The call ended with a silencing beep. Seita quickly glanced down at Geon.
“Get your ass up! We forgot about the photoshoot!” Seita didn't even get to finish his sentence in one place. He was already going to his bedroom to get ready while loudly explaining the situation.
Geon processed everything he said and quickly went to the bathroom to get ready too.
“Shit.”
…
“AND CUT”
Geon flinched as he was welcomed with a loud shout.
He looked around, studying his surroundings. It was a photoshoot for a perfume brand named Aerulinè, and they were sponsoring Geon with an exclusive product named “Daydream Static”—-tskk… typical perfume names. The studio looked like a messy apartment. The bed was unmade, clothes scattered and somehow a chair upside down.
(Huh, I guess this is what you call messy aesthetic) Geon thought to himself.
He looked to the side to see Seita talking to what seemed to be the assistant director for the shoot. Probably apologizing for being late. He looked to the other side of the room to see stylists and other staff fixing equipment.
Realizing he hasn't moved an inch since he entered, he slowly took heavy steps to the styling area. Still drained from how much he had to move around because of the way he was rushing earlier.
The stylists finally recognized his appearance, taking his whole look in. Geon says he might have been hallucinating, but he swears the stylists gave him a surprised look. The bad-worried-a little judgmental kind of look.
He shrugged it off and sat down on the black leather chair the stylists patted down.
“Oh yea, I'm sorry for the whole..uhm, look? We were kinda rushing” he signaled his face.
The stylist quickly denied it, telling him that it was fine and it was her job to fix his appearance. Geon nodded along and let her do whatever was needed.
French models and actors don't commonly focus on harsh makeup, they commonly go for the “manly” type of vibe. They use makeup for special things, like unique photoshoots, injured looks, and more. But Geon? He liked wearing makeup, I mean…he might as well. He has been putting up a sort of persona his whole life, a little face change to look appropriate wouldn't hurt—at least for him.
Geon isn't really the type to go for the manly vibe. He had soft features, but eyes that were sharp-shaped, something you don't typically see in France. He hated the fact that the “makeup isn't for boys” thing is commonly seen in many places in the world. Associating makeup as something to be limited to a specific gender was dumb.
But he was thankful Paris wasn't that harsh.
Geon looked around the vanity, the amount of products was enjoyable to see. Although deep down it was really a bittersweet feeling. Ever since he was young he always had to look this way, act this way, talk this way—and he hated that.
Don't get him wrong, he loved being a part of the industry, it made him who he is. But sometimes things can get overwhelming and stressful. Everything has their pros and cons, same for entertainment. Seeing himself in the mirror, he wonders where did this guy even come from? This wasn't who he was, but who was he to say this…
It's the same thing every week; photoshoots, meetings, parties, practice, sleep.
He just needed a change, a good change.
He just hoped it would come sooner.
Geon finished his very little makeup and got dressed up for the theme. He was done getting ready and was just waiting for the staff’s cue if they can start or not.
In the short amount of time of getting the set ready, he looked more closely at all the details. The “bedroom” had many books and papers scattered around it and they all had some writings and characters Geon couldn't recognize, and he didn’t have it in him to even figure out what language it was.
“Excuse me? Mr. Ken?”
A voice called out and snapped Geon back to reality, he looked at the staff calling him and gave them a confused look.
“We can start now, please head on over to the set.”
“Oh, yeah. Thank you..” he looked away. The photoshoot finally started, everything went perfect—like usual.
You can't get tired from being perfect.
That's what he always said.
But Geon shouldn’t think of this, he locked his focus on the shoot and did a great job. After a few snaps here and everywhere, he and Seita were finally heading home. Sadly they lived in separate ways, so halfway through they split paths.
Geon being left alone with his thoughts was a bad idea. He was really the type to rely on people around him, and being alone wasn't his thing—well, not anymore.
Seita has always helped him with that, he has known him since they were teenagers. You might say that it wasn’t that long ago, but for the two of them it was like they have known each other their whole life. Plus, having a best friend as your manager is everything to Geon.
His mind could even be compared to the ocean, and somehow the depth of it would be deeper—unexplored. It frightened Geon to a high extent. It made him curious, but he always believed that curiosity kills the cat, not believing that satisfaction could ever bring it back.
The streets were still a little crowded so Geon wouldn't say he was ALONE alone.
Paris was beautiful for him, while passing by he saw the Eiffel Tower that was shining bright, sparkling with a soft yellow glow. It was ironic to him, how he was in the city of love. Yet he has a hard time connecting to others outside of his friends—hell, he has a hard time finding himself.
The lamposts dawned on him, guiding him to his apartment and he arrived faster than he thought, probably got himself distracted with his thoughts.
…
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
(Seriously, again?)
The ringtone echoed through his room, waking him up abruptly. The sun was shining through his blinds and the birds chirping told him it was already morning, time to wake up. It was the next day.
The constant beeping of his phone annoyed him, and being half-awake, a part of him thought yesterday happened again. I mean, he did wake up with the same disturbing sound. Man, he was also dreaming of food. He instantly reached for the phone on his nightstand.
He casually answered the call before he could look at the number.
“GEON, GEON, GEON!!” The voice of his best friend woke him up even more, he was louder than the ringtone. It was rare to hear Seita like this, and Geon couldn’t put his finger on what could possibly be happening.
“Okay okay, chill. You’re making me nervous.” His voice came out more serious than he intended to. He was just worried.
“Oh, of course. Sorry sorr—wait.” Geon frowned, was this an emergency? Was Seita okay?
A few minutes passed by and no signs of Seita were heard, the call was silent. Overtaken by worry Geon quickly called out, he was now more awake than ever.
“Hello? Seita? Are you okay? Do you need help? Should I come over?” He rambled all his worries before he could stop himself.
“Uhh yea-yeah, look, don't get surprised okay?” Seita’s response put Geon on edge, he was getting more nervous with every passing second it took Seita to talk.
“…”
…
“Afamousproductionteamanddirectorhasdirectlycasted-“
“Woah woah, slow down. I can't understand you.” Geon cut in before Seita could finish rapping. Seriously, in another world he would be a rapper and it wouldn't surprise Geon.
“Okay,” Seita sighs and calms himself down.
“A famous and great production team and director has offered you a role. It's your dream!”