Seunghyun ~~ When fate screws you up
********************************************
Park convinced me to take on the TV drama project
about an alien getting stranded on Earth and then falling in love with a
superstar actress. I admit the male lead’s character looks intriguing and
besides, Jun Ji-hyun is going to play my love interest and who is going to say
no to that, right? I am feeling good about this project especially after we’ve
signed the contracts and had a secret meeting with the director, writer and
producers and lead casts. Nothing final has ben released to the media yet but I
am expecting the confirmation to hit within the week.
It has been a couple of weeks since then and I
was surprised to get a call from the main director himself about an emergency
meeting in his office. He asked if I could come right over but I told him I’m
in Jeju wrapping up Tazza’s last day of shoot. He told me it was really
important and sensing the unease in his voice, I told him that I’ll drop by
tomorrow as soon as we land back in Incheon.
Getting back on the set, I joined some of my cast
mates gathered around a shaded area drinking coffee. It’s a chilly weather and
strong winds have incessantly blown all day. It doesn’t help that we are atop
of a hill overlooking the ocean. The rest of the crew members are busy piling
up the various props and equipment moving them to a nearby location where the
next scene is going to be shot.
I gratefully accepted a coffee cup that was
handed to me by one of the staff and as I was carefully sipping the hot and
much needed caffeine in my veins, I felt a gentle nudge from one of the
supporting actors. He tossed his gaze towards the direction of the leaving crew
and I noticed that Park is among them.
“Look at her” he said, smiling fondly. “Seems like she’s climbing Mt.
Everest.”
I looked. Park’s thin body is struggling against
the wind as she walks higher up on the hill towards the next shooting location.
Her shoulders are hunched down, back almost curved as she clutched on my
clothes against her body. She tries to climb up but the wind is delaying her
progress whenever she takes a few steps forward, she takes a couple steps back.
At this rate, a strong bellow would probably blow her away to the Pacific Ocean
like a kite.
“Are you sure she’s not looking for a boyfriend?”
he asks.
I didn’t answer but instead hands him my half
empty cup. I jog over to Park and as soon as I reached her, I took the clothes
in hangers from her hands and she momentarily loses her balance. My hand holds
her arm and steadies her. “Careful.”
“Give me those” she says, reaching out but I turn
the clothes away and turn around.
“C’mon, let’s go together” I say. “Walk behind
me.”
I kept my pace so Park can walk directly behind
me, sparing her from the brutal wind. I hid my smile when I felt her fingers
gently holding on the back of my jacket as she followed my lead.
***************************
There was a terse silence in the director’s
office as we sat around a long table with the main writer and producer. The
bomb that Jun Ji-hyun has backed out of the project due to her pregnancy has
just been dropped and I thought that it couldn’t get worse than that.
But it did.
They looked expectantly at me when they announced
that I shouldn’t worry because the project will still go through as planned and
that they’ve taken care of the ‘minor hiccup’. Their words, not mine. They said
that they’ve found the perfect replacement for the leading lady. In fact, she’s
on her way up right now, the director said after he received a text message.
“Here she is!” the director beamed after a while
and the people sitting all stood up to greet her and me and Park who is sitting
beside me, followed their suit. My back was against the entrance so I turned
around. And my heart dropped.
Shin Minah.
Shit.
I don’t know how I got through that meeting.
Everything was a blur. I kept my cool and silence as they discussed how the
production will go with the new dynamics. I wanted to storm out from that room
because I felt like I was ambushed and trapped but I remained professional and
civil the whole time. I even returned Minah’s greeting.
She was smiling at me like she was happy to see
me … to work with me. I wanted to rip that smile off her face. I refused to see
her dimples and the way her eyes lights up when she’s excited about something.
I refused to remember how I used to live for that smile of hers and how it made
me so happy when she looks at me with those eyes. I refused to look at her for
the remainder of that agonizing hour.
In the car, I was still lost in my thoughts and
silent rage. How dare she. How dare she.
How can she smile and look at me like that? Like she didn’t break my heart and
tear it to pieces? I bury my face in my hands.
“Are you okay?” came Park’s voice. She’s driving
and I sit at the back of my car. I look up. She’s looking at me from the
rear-view mirror.
“What do you think?” was my snarky reply.
“I’m sorry” she said in her tiny voice.
I know that I’m directing my anger at her
unfairly so I said in a conciliatory tone, “I don’t think I can do this. I’m
just going to back out.”
She turned her head briefly to me. “You can’t.”
“What do you mean I can’t? Of course I can. The
filming hasn’t started yet and besides if Ji-hyun can back out, why can’t I?”
“You’ve already signed the contract” she reminded
me.
“But I signed when I thought I have a different
leading lady.”
She shook her head. “There was no stipulation
about the actors or actresses you have to work with, I checked.”
“What do you mean you checked?” I asked
suspiciously. When did she have the time to check? I was with her all this
time. She didn’t answer and I knew she was not telling me something. “Park” my
tone has a warning to it.
“I heard about it yesterday” she began
hesitantly. “I got a call from the company. Someone in the entertainment
department got a tip that Shin Minah was offered the role and they told me
about it.”
“And you didn’t tell me about it?” I asked
incredulously.
“I wasn’t sure …”
“Still!” I thundered. “Damn it, Park! I was
completely blindsided in there. Couldn’t you at least have given me a head’s
up? What kind of manager are you?!” I slammed my palm on the leather seat and
the sound made her flinch.
I felt betrayed. Of all people, she should know
what I’d feel about her.
I didn’t speak to Park and stepped off the car as
soon as we got home banging all the doors that I passed by. I seethed in my
room and paced back and forth. I was a caged tiger, restless and ready to
pounce on anything or anybody. This can’t be. I need to do something. I called my personal driver and asked him to
pick me up. He came in less than 30 minutes and I was out the door as soon as
he arrived. I didn’t see Park as I left but I smelled something cooking in the
kitchen. I remembered it was my turn to cook for us tonight but I guess she was
feeling guilty about what she did that’s why she’s doing it. Let her eat by
herself. I don’t care.
I marched into YG building straight to the team
who handles the contracts of YG actors. I demanded that they get me out of the
project and I refused to listen to them until the head of the legal team asked
me to step into a room for privacy and basically just gave me a detailed report
of what Park said in the car. He said that Park already asked about my options
last night if ever I would feel the need to drop the project. He said she
sounded so concerned about this issue that’s why his team reviewed the
contract.
I can’t back out because there was a change in
the lead actress. It was not a valid reason. Backing out would just create more
problems for me since it was already released to the media that I already
signed for the lead actor. Backing out now would only make the media dig up the
past rumors about Minah and me and it may backlash and reflect on my
professionalism as an actor.
I left feeling dejected and impotent.
I asked my driver to keep driving around to pass
the time when I got a call from an unknown number. I didn’t answer at first but
it rang and rand until I was forced to.
“Hello?” was my curt greeting.
“Hi” breathed a soft voice. “Seunghyun?”
Oh, hell
no.
I met her in a vacant parking lot near the
restaurant we used to frequent before. I don’t know if that was intended on her
part to make me meet her there but I came.
Her manager was standing outside her van when we
parked beside them and he opened the sliding door when I stepped out. As soon
as I climbed inside, he shut it and he stepped away from the van.
Minah’s smile was not as bright and her eyes are
unsure unlike this afternoon. “Hello” she tentatively greeted, sensing my mood.
“Why did you ask to meet?” I asked without
preamble.
She looked away for a moment, sighed and returned
her look in my direction. “It was nice … seeing you again.”
“I wish I can say the same thing.” I replied.
Her eyes registered hurt. That’s right. Feel hurt for all I care. That’s nothing to what you made
me feel, I say in my head.
“I’m sorry.”
That was her.
“I’m really sorry, Seunghyun.”
I stayed silent.
“I know that this might be hard for you …” she
continued. “But it has been years … Couldn’t we forget about the past and start
a new beginning?”
I couldn’t stop the smirk. What new beginning?
“What do you really want?” I asked her. “Why
accept this project? You didn’t want to be associated with me, right? Didn’t
you think that this would dig up our past rumors when the public finds out that
we’re going to work together? Your reputation may be tarnished.”
She averted her eyes and didn’t say a word for a
beat or two. “I … I thought that this was a good chance for us to reconnect. I
wanted to see how you are.” She locked eyes with me. “I’ve missed you…” she
said softly, almost too soft for me to hear.
And then, she cried.
I was surprised to find Park sitting in the dark
waiting for me when the lights went on. I came home drunk but I was not drunk
enough. At least, not enough to be numb or to pass out. I know because I can
still feel the pain in my heart.
“Park!” I shouted as I stumble forward over a
chair.
She immediately stands up and helps me sit on the
couch. “It’s 4AM. Where have you been?”
I tried to smile at her but it came off as a
grimace. “Why are you still up?” I asked.
“I asked you first” she retorted.
That made me grin. As sassy as ever. I can always
count on Park.
“I’m sorry I shouted at you” I tell her. I
realized that although Park didn’t tell me about Minah, she really tried to
look out for me. On our last night in Jeju, she was on the phone all throughout
the celebratory wrap-up dinner. The same thing happened in the morning on our
flight back to Seoul. I should have noticed her agitation and silence but I was
too busy celebrating and catching up on sleep. “I’m sorry Parky.”
“It’s alright. I’m sorry, too, for not telling
you …”
“I met her” I blurted.
“What?”
“I met the girl who broke my heart” I slurred.
“She wanted to talk …”
Park stood up. “Let me get you some water.”
I shake my head, ‘No’ but she already stepped
away out to the kitchen. I leaned my head back on the couch and replayed what
happened in the van. All the things she said and how I asked my driver to buy
me a bottle of whiskey after she left.
“Drink this.” Park hands me a couple of pills and
a glass of ice cold water. I complied.
“Tell me what happened.”
I leaned my head back again on the couch and
recounted the details. When I came to the crying part, I paused. “She told me
that she really loved me” I said raggedly. “She said that it wasn’t all for her
career but for mine as well. She said she wanted me to reach my dreams. That’s
bullshit, right?” I sit up straight suddenly, making me dizzy for a while. “How
can she say those things after all these years? What did she expect? Did she
want me to accept her back with open arms?”
Park was making soothing noises and rubbing my
back. I realized that I’m crying. I was stone-faced with Minah earlier. I
refused to let her see how her confession was hurting me all over again. But I
am unable to stop the hurt from showing anymore. I let my guard down. I wipe the tears with the back of my
hand. “This is stupid.” I said. “I feel
stupid for feeling like this …”
“It’s okay … you’re not stupid. It’s
understandable you have misgivings but if she’s sincere, maybe you should hear
her out.”
I look at Park.
“You know what she did to me, right?”
She nodded. “And I also know that sometimes, we
do sacrifices for love even though we don’t want to.”
“What are you saying?”
“Maybe you should hear her out …”
I pulled away from her touch. “I can’t believe
you” I tell her. “You’re taking her
side?”
She adamantly shook her head. “No! I’m just
looking at both sides of the story. What I’m saying is, there is some truth to
what she told you. Do you think that you’d have taken this path in your career
if you stayed together? She may have sacrificed your love at that time but look
at how it all turned out?”
I scoffed. “What sacrifice? I didn’t ask her for
that.”
“Yes. But do you think that you’d still be
together if you fought for your love back then? Would you be as successful? Men
and women think differently, Choi. You’d be surprised at what we can do for
love.”
“Yeah, right! Like how you sacrificed for GD?”
She flinched and looked away. “What GD and I had
was completely different.” She stood up and picks the empty glass. “Look, why
don’t you go to sleep and think things through tomorrow when you’re sober and
clear-headed. We can talk again tomorrow.”
She turns her back to me and leaves.
But we didn’t get the chance to talk because I
left for my parents as soon as the sun was up. I had my driver pick me up and I
sent a text message to Park that I’ll stay in the villa for a whole week. After
that, I turned off my phone.
********************************************
A/N:
Hello lovelies! Comment, subscribe and vote!
Shin Minah in the house!
Here’s an update because I’ll be seeing BIGBANG tomorrow! I’m so
eggzoited!!! Sorry it’s short, I’m on zombie mode. Still have to go to work in
a few hours.
Who else is going to #BBMADEinManila? See you there! I hope I get to
see Dara again, too, since she’s in Manila!
*shameless plugging*
Also, I have a new story and it’s only posted in Wattpad. The reason
is because it’s written in Taglish so only Filipino readers will be able to
understand it. Please check it out if you have Wattpad accounts. Please follow
this link - http://www.wattpad.com/story/29687289-dirty-little-secret
Song for the day is ‘If You’ by our kings - BIGBANG - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0eT9omRQS0&spfreload=10
If you have comments, suggestions or violent reactions, feel free to
state your case below.
*bisous*
~mzbookworm4life