POV ㅡ Taeyeon
It was 6:30AM and I was in my van with my manager - and best friend - Sooyoung, resting my forehead on the window, with a huge cup of coffee in one hand, my personal phone in the other and heading to a photoshoot that, I unfortunately believe, would probably last for some good 3 hours, if not more. I was tired as hell, for I hadn't slept last night. Insomnia got me good once again. A great beginning for a Friday.
I heard the cellphone I use for work ringing, but I didn't bother to look. I was too tired to even answer the phone.
"Sooyoung, can you please answer it for me?" I said, almost as a whisper, and then sipped my coffee hoping caffeine would make me wake up a little. "And if it is Brandon again, tell that son of a bitch that if he doesn't shut up and leave me alone I will fucking kill him with my own bare hands," I added.
Brandon Collins is a famous Hollywood actor. As famous as I am. We worked together in my last movie, over a year and a half ago. We were a couple in the movie and, for the profits' sake, we agreed on faking a relationship at least during the worldwide promotions of the movie. It worked. You know, Brandon's not actually bad, he can be a nice and cool guy... But he's way to insistent, delusional and consequently childish. While our "relationship" was indeed just acting for me, he kind of fell in love with me for real, and since we "broke up" ㅡ and that was six months ago ㅡ he wouldn't stop nagging at me talking about how much he wants to "be back with me" and how he can't picture his life without me in it. He calls me at least 3 times a week, and thank goodness he doesn't have my personal number. And on the other hand, I've been trying to politely tell him to fuck off for these past months, but nothing seems to work. I'm usually patient and nice, but this man was already driving me up the wall.
"Hello," I heard Sooyoung answer the call, putting it to the speaker mode.
"Hello. Are you speaking for Kim Taeyeon?" the manly voice on the line said.
"Yes, I am. You're talking to Choi Sooyoung, her manager."
"Oh, great. Good morning Ms. Choi. I just received the script for the new movie I'll be directing and I would really like to have Ms. Kim read it. Is she there? Can I talk to her?"
By then, I was already carefully paying attention, but still didn't feel like talking to anyone. I signed Sooyoung to tell the man I was sleeping.
"She is taking a nap right now, sir. I'm sorry."
"Oh... Well, may I send her the script? It is something different than what I've always seen her doing, I think she might be interested."
By hearing that, Sooyoung turned to me with a questioning look. I gave her one thumb up. To be honest, I was excited to get another role, I really love my job. And if the director says it is something different from my previous works, then I'm even more excited. I'm curious to know what the script is about.
"Yes, you may. I'm sure she'll gladly read it. I'll be sending you her address in a few minutes, Mr...?"
"Cox. Martin Cox."
"Okay, Mr. Cox. Thank you for your call."
"Thank you. The script will be delivered as soon as possible."
And, with that, Sooyoung hung up the call.
"So?" She said.
"So what?"
"Are you really interested?"
"Yeah, why not? You know I love to act. And I believe I will have some more time to rest until we start to film it. I'm actually looking forward to reading the script. The Cox guy got me curious," I chuckled.
"Yeah," Sooyoung chuckled with me "I have to admit I'm curious too. People don't usually offer you much different roles, they know in what you stand out the most... I liked how this guy took a step forward with you, you know. And I also think it is going to be great for you to play something different, I have a good feeling about this."
I smiled.
"Me too."
POV ㅡ Tiffany
I woke up by the sound of my phone ringing. I looked at the clock on my nightstand, it said 11:45AM. Did I really sleep this much? Well, I wasn't working, anyway. I picked my phone up and looked at the ID. I smiled a little, rubbing my eyes and answering the call.
"Good morning, Sunny," I said, greeting my manager and friend.
"Good morning Ms. Sleepy Head, I have good news for you."
"Oh, do you? Great news in the morning is lovely. Tell me." I made myself more comfortable in my bed and under the covers, already getting excited.
"I just received a call from Mr. Marting Cox, a director. I got you a new script. It seems to be the kind of movie you would like to be in."
"Oh my god, really? This is so nice, Sunny! I was missing acting so much! That's great, that's really great! When will you hand it to me? Have you read it?"
Sunny chuckled.
"Calm down," she said "I haven't read it. I wouldn't dare to if you haven't yet. But it is here with me, already. And I'm on my way to your house, if you don't mind."
"No, of course not! Come, I'll be waiting for you," I said and smiled to myself.
"Good. Oh, and by the way, I'm bringing us lunch," Sunny added.
I just had to chuckle.
"You are fabulous, Sun."
I hung up the phone without waiting for Sunny to respond and immediately got up from the bed. My house was kind of far from the downtown, so I was sure that Sunny would take at least almost half an hour to make it to here. I decided to take a bath and put on some comfortable clothes to wait for my manager to arrive, and I couldn't contain my excitement. I definitely have a good feeling about this upcoming project ㅡ I believe I'll take it without thinking twice.
Taeyeon ㅡ POV
The photoshoot went by smoothly. I was surrounded with good people. And, for my surprise, it didn't last as much as I expected it two. I arrived at the studio at 7AM, and by 9:30AM I was already done. Sooyoung and I stopped by a small cafeteria to have breakfast, since neither I nor her had had anything but coffee the whole morning. When I got home, it was around 11AM. I found the script that was offered to me some hours earlier packed on top of my bed, my housekeeper must've received it and decided to let it for me in my room, since I dismissed him from his chores this afternoon. I'll thank him later.
I took of my shoes, threw myself on the bed and let out a small sigh of relief when I did so. I had been praying for that moment for the whole morning. I would take a nap if I could but, unsurprisingly, I wasn't sleepy anymore. I made myself comfortable and took the script's package, opening it and grabbing the script. It said "Stupid Cupid" and "LEAH" on the first page ㅡ I suppose that's my character's name. I furrowed my brows.
"What is this going to be? Some kind of a chick-flick?" I murmured to myself.
Anyway, I was still curious about the plot, so I decided to give it a chance.
Fifteen minutes later, I was already in the middle of the script and completely surprised with what I was reading.
"Now... That is something different from my previous roles," I said to myself, already convinced that Leah's role had to be mine.
I finished the script so quickly I almost felt like I was devouring it and, as soon as I did so, I texted Sooyoung asking for Mr. Cox's number. It made me so excited to get the chance of playing something I had never played before, that was everything acting was about for me. I really wanted that role, it would be an amazing personal and professional experience. I had to try.
I grabbed my phone when I heard it beeping, saying that Sooyoung had replied my SMS. I instantly called the number I received.
"Yes?" Mr. Cox answered.
"Hello, Mr. Martin Cox? This is Taeyeon Kim speaking. I just finished reading the script you sent me."
"Oh goodness, this is awesome! It's marvelous! I'm so glad you did, Ms. Kim. So?"
"I'm in," I replied and smiled.
POV ㅡ Tiffany
It was already 12:20PM and I was sitting on my couch playing with my puppy Prince when I heard Sunny's car's horn. I rapidly got up and made my way to the door, opening and consequently watching a cute Sunny chewing something that I believed that was fried chicken. I chuckled. She was so small and cute, it didn't even look like she was 2 years older than me.
"Hey!" I shouted "I'm hungry too!" I pouted. "Share!"
She turned to me when she heard my voice and giggled. She finished grabbing everything she needed from inside her car and made her way to my door. I greeted her with a small hug, I didn't want her to drop everything she had in hands.
"So?" I smiled widely "Where's the script?"
"Hi to you too," she said "I thought you were hungry."
"I am hungry, happy to see you but above all I'm excited AND curious," I said as she walked in and I closed the door.
"Here," she chuckled and handed me the script. "You can read it while eating. If I were you, I would do that. I won't wait for you and you'll have no right to complain if there's no food left for you when you finish this thing."
I agreed with her and we sat on my living room's carpet. She placed the food in between us, she had bought chinese food ㅡ my favorite ㅡ and, as I expected, fried chicken. Eating fried chicken during Fridays was almost becoming a tradition to us. I placed some cushions under my body and lay on my stomach, Sunny did the same beside me after finishing her meal, and we opened the script's package together.
"Stupid Cupid," I started to read the first page "ELLA. I suppose I'm Ella?"
Sunny just shrugged. "Let's read."
"Wow, Sunny, wow, this is..." I started some minutes after starting to read.
"Yeah..." she nodded "This is something."
"This is actually awesome, Sunny! This is great for me. I haven't had the chance of showing all of my acting skills yet, this will start to show people what I'm capable of. I wasn't expecting it to be such a different character, now I'm even more excited."
"So, you'll take it?"
"Of course I am! I want the number of Mr... Mr... Mr. Cox, right? I want Mr. Cox's number. I want to speak to him directly about this."
Sunny chuckled over my excitement and handed me her phone, already calling the director. I wasn't sure if I was nervous, excited or both.
"Hello?" I heard him say.
"Hello, Mr. Cox. This is Tiffany Hwang," I smiled
"Oh, Ms. Hwang, my dear! I presume you read the script Ms. Lee got you?"
"I sure did," I said, still smiling "I just called you to say that I'll take it."
"Great! Fantastic, this is just fantastic! Your partner just confirmed her taking her role, too. I'm bubbling with excitement right now, I believe from now on it's all downhill."
"Oh, did she?" I wasn't expecting any news from my partner until the beginning of the filming. "May I know who is she?"
"Sure, my dear. It's Taeyeon Kim. You know her, don't you?"
Jesus FUCKING Christ.
"Uh... Yeah... Yeah yeah, of course I do..." Oh. My.
"Good. I think you two are perfect for your respective roles. I can picture you two making a great pair. Listen, Ms. Hwang, I'm sorry, but I have to go now. I still have a lot of work to do. Oh, but by the way, I want you and Taeyeon to meet as soon as possible, and I want to see you both too. Is Monday 9AM good for you? It's probably the only time of the day I'll be free."
"Yes, Monday is good. Thank you, Mr. Cox. Bye!" I said as I hung up the call.
I just stood there with a desperate but blank face.
"Hey!" Sunny poked my arm "Wake up. What happened?"
"I'm going to be sharing the screen with Taeyeon Kim."
"NO WAY," Sunny said, as she widened her eyes.
I just nodded.
"OHMYGOD Tiff, you are with the big ones now! This is awesome!" She started to clap.
"Yeah, it is, but Sunny, she is so... She is she, you know?" I sighed "What if I get too nervous and mess up? I can't mess up when working with someone like her."
"Hey, hey," Sunny hugged me from the side "Don't worry, okay? You're always so full of self-confidence it's almost enviable. Use that. You'll do great in the movie and you'll do great with her, okay?"
I smiled. Sunny was definitely a great friend and manager.
POV ㅡ Taeyeon
I was finally in my dream land when I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. I picked it up with my eyes still half closed.
"Hello, Taeyeon Kim speaking," I lazily said.
"Ms. Kim? Am I interrupting something?"
I recognized the voice as Mr. Cox's and immediately sat on my bed and recomposed myself, cleaning my throat.
"No, Mr. Cox, of course you aren't. Is there anything wrong?"
"No, everything is perfectly fine. I just called you to tell you your partner just confirmed her participation and that I want you to meet and I also want to see you both. Are you free on Monday 9AM?"
"I guess I am, I have to talk with my manager. But don't worry, if not, I'll cancel any other plan. I'll be there," I said before making a small pause "Can you tell me who is she?"
"You girls are curious, she made me the same question," he chuckled "It's Tiffany Hwang."
I mouthed an 'O'. Tiffany Hwang. I had heard about her.
"Okay, thank you, Mr. Cox. Have a nice day."
"You too, Ms. Kim," he said and hung up.
I stood there for a moment before calling Sooyoung.
"Hey, Soo?" I said as she picked up.
"Hey Taeng, what is it? I'm eating, you know. Don't disturb me."
"I pay you. I disturb you as much as I want. Listen, do I have anything scheduled for Monday at 9AM?"
"No," she said, making a pause "Nothing I can remember of. Why?"
"Mr. Cox just called me. He wants me to meet with him and my partner then."
"Oh, your partner? Do you already know who is he?"
"Mhm," I said. "But it is not actually a he," I added as I picked up my laptop and opened Google, typing Tiffany's name on it.
"Aren't they?"
"No. It's Tiffany Hwang."
"Tiffany Hwang?!" She sounded really surprised. I bet she only didn't scream because she was in public. "Wow. She is in some of my favorite movies. She's good. How do you like her?"
"I... Well, she is..." I started to say as I went through her pictures on Google "She is a gorgeous woman. Talented, too, as far as I know," I sighed "But from what I've heard, we're really different, personality-wise. I'm afraid that might stand in our way."
"Hey, chill. Everything is going to be fine. But, if she is your partner... What is this movie about?"
"I think you should come over here later and read the script by yourself."
