You miserably watched as he got scolded by the director for the 10th time that day. "Listen kid! Learn English, you get it? If you mess up again, I swear to God I will throw the fucking camera at you, now get back there!" the director yelled loudly and sat down on his chair. All the cameras were now focused on Lee Joon, portraying a young Raizo, the main character in the movie "Ninja Assassin".
You felt really nervous as the director yelled action once again and Joon got in character. He was having a lot of trouble with the first line he had to say. The whole crew grew silent, waiting for the actor to his phrase. You held your breath and prayed he would say his line correctly.
"You-you shouldn't do… that; it's against the rul-"
At that very moment, the director jumped out of his chair and stormed towards Joon, yelling at him. "You stupid kid! Get out! GET OUT!" He harshly grabbed the actor's arm and pushed him out of the set. "And come back when you've learned English!"
The actor ran out of the set and to his dressing room. One of the cameramen told you to go check on him to make sure he was alright, so you did as you were told. Reaching your hand towards the door, you knocked on it slightly.
"Mister Lee? I'm Ms. Harris' understudy. May I come in?" you said, but heard no response. Uneasy, you opened the door and found the Korean boy sitting on the floor, against his bedside with his head tucked in between his legs. "Mister Lee what's wrong? I know Director McTeigue can be a little harsh but-"
"No, I don't care about him." he said, interrupting you. He sighed. "I don't know what I'm doing wrong."
"You seem frustrated about your English lines. Maybe all you need is a bit of help." you replied, trying to comfort him. He got up and dusted off his pants. You smiled to yourself as he apologized for his weird behavior.
"Will you help me with my lines, please?" he asked to what you agreed. "Oh, and you can call me Joon." He said, smiling.
The next day, Joon came back to the set and apologized to the director. The filming went by very smoothly; Joon did so well that he got complimented by the whole crew for his skills. You felt very happy watching him. After his scenes were over for the day, everyone was dismissed. You were about to head out when you saw Joon running towards with a huge, dorky smile on his face. He stopped in front of you and smiled shyly.
"I did the scene in one take and it's all thanks to you… Thank you." he looked serious for a minute. "But I need your help for something else. Can you meet me this evening in my dressing room?"
You were speechless but agreed to his plan. During the rest of the day you wondered in excitement what Joon would have in his mind. Thinking about this, you finished your afternoon snack, brushed your teeth and headed out towards the set. Once there, you knocked on the door of his dressing room and he greeted you with a grin as you made your way inside.
Both of you sat down on the small couch on the right side of the room. He handed you a copy of the script, nervously. "I have to do a sad romantic scene with the girl that Raizo falls in love with, Kiriko." he tightened his jaw "I've never done that kind of scene before and I'm really nervous." You didn't know what to say; this was really unexpected. I have to say something, you thought.
"Uhm… wouldn't it be better if you practiced with Kylie, since she's playing Kiriko?" you asked, fiddling with the buttons on your jacket.
He sighed, annoyingly. "She doesn't want to! She keeps saying it should be 'spontaneous'." he said, making a silly face and mocking his co-star. You laughed at his newly-found goofy side. After some small talk, you both began reading lines.
Joon was doing pretty well you kept thinking; he was truly trying his best to sound like he was in love. That thought made you start looking at him carefully, noticing only now how good-looking he was. The only thing that weirded you out a bit was his shaven head. It's hair, you thought; it grows.
"Now we, uh… kiss." Joon's voice interrupted your daydream. What? Kiss? You thought nervously. He noticed your look and bit his lip. "…It's in the script." he looked down, seeing your suddenly pale face. "…I'm sorry; I guess I was being too selfish. I'm just really afraid of Director McTeigue and I don't want to disappoint Rain."
You immediately snapped right out of your shock. "No, I mean, of course I'll help you. I'm scared of Mr. McTeigue too." he chuckled and you examined the description of the kiss. "Well, uh, it's a very sad kiss. Kiriko is escaping and wants Raizo to run away with her but he refuses."
"Alright, I think I can do that." he replied, awkwardly. He threw the script on the floor. He then threw the script on the floor and straightened his back. Then, both of you stood up and faced each other. "Ok, let's do this. Can you, uh… close your eyes?"
You did as you were told and shut your eyelids. A few seconds passed when suddenly you felt Joon's soft breathing coming closer to you. Then the breathing became stronger as he was an inch away from you. Just when you were to pull away because of the awkwardness, he pressed his lips on yours, softly but steadily. You surprised yourself as you kissed him back and kept uniting your lips with his.
You thought how this was possible and why you were responding this way, but continued kissing him. You never knew you had wanted Joon in any way, but this was just proof that you these desires had been revealed.
All of a sudden, he wrapped his hands on your waist, pulling you close to him. You responded by sliding your hands on his neck, stroking it softly. Joon's kisses became rougher as your tongue slammed against his and you bit his lower lip. His hands found their way up to your hair and you tugged harder on his neck.
He pulled you towards the couch and made you sit on him; his breathing was now extremely heavy. Your lips were hanging onto his, but they thirst for more. Joon moaned hoarsely as you started nibbling on his ear, as he lifting his v-neck shirt. You stared at his abs covered in sweat and bit your lip as he smirked. As you were about to start kissing him again, you looked into his dark eyes.
As you stared into his eyes, you started thinking; thinking about how he was in the States only for the shooting of this movie and would return to Korea when the shooting was over; how he would break your heart when he left and how you would never see him again. All this made you realize how hard you had just fallen for him.
Joon started to unbutton your blouse but stopped at the sight of your blank stare. "Is there something wrong?" he asked and put his hand on your thigh. You reluctantly pulled back and got up. Surprised, he stood up from the couch.
"I- I can't. I'm sorry." you stuttered, with all those miserable thoughts streaming through your mind. "I can't do this, Joon."
He looked at you with gloomy eyes. "I guess this was too soon and uncalled for. I'm sorry too." he made an effort to laugh but failed. He lifted his hand and gently stroked your cheek. You couldn't bare to look into Joon's eyes and, before he would be able to see your tear-filled eyes, you opened the door and left.
Joon went to look for you on set the following day, but was told you had quit. The director heard that Joon wasn't feeling too confident about the kissing scene so he changed the scene and made Raizo receive the kiss from Kiriko. On the flight back to Korea, a note fell from Joon's script:
"Joon, you're amazing but I don't want you to see me cry as you leave for Korea and I will never see you again. I know I'm being really selfish but I would rather remember you as the best kiss I've had in a while. Thank you for making me laugh, I will treasure your smile.
Take care and be strong. I won't forget you, I promise."