Author's Note: I'm trying to get this story done. I know what I'm going to do with the next few chapters. I'm going to wrap it up like i usually do, and probably with a plot twist of some sort. I need to finish the Lord of the Ringa story but I'm not motivated to do that yet.
Good news is the snow is gone but it's muddy and cold. I had a nice walk home from work today to ease my tension so it was nice. Then I did a random dance play with kpop which was fun.
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"Li Xuan."
Ren shifted and buried her face in the pillow. She didn't want to move after being warm for so long. It just seemed wrong.
After a few moments of prodding and batting an annoying hand away, she finally rolled over and looked up. Mark unexpectedly looked down at her. But it wasn't Mark she was looking at. It was his character Wen Mao, lover and partner of Li Xuan.
But that wasn't the issue. Ren had really gone to sleep after their scene. She had really gotten into her character. Luckily they were so far into the story that it made sense. They were currently working on episode six in which Jae Joon surprises Li Xuan at home only to find Mao. The scene was supposed to be serious, but the look on Mark's face was anything but. He found it amusing.
He had the right after everything that had been going on. Not long after Yugyeom found out Renley's secret, Ren's house had been broken into while she had been asleep. Nothing had been taken but the place had been destroyed. She had gone down to the boys' dorm shaken and near tears.
JB, who had been in the hallway when she has come down the stairs, had pulled her into the house and wrapped her in a blanket. No one had said a word about her being in a pair of shorts and a tank top. They had taken care of her despite not understanding the rambhling Mandarin that had spouted from her mouth. Even Jackson and Mark had had a hard time translating.
It had been nearly a week before she had even thought about staying in her house, and since then she has barely slept. Every time she had closed her eyes, she had seen her destroyed house and had woken up instantly. So every morning when she went to work she was exhausted.
Mark teased her every time he saw her, but he was the first one to offer to walk her home of give her a ride. He and Jackson were still hellbent on finding the guy who had broken in but they had put her security first since they didn't know if it was a stalker or some other lunatic.
Mark/Mao ran his hand through her hair then trailed a finger down her face. "You ruined my plans you know."
They had filmed the engaged couple's love scene and Mark had been as professional as Jackson. He had reacted as a real lover would react. He had been just as gentle and just as caring as his friend. But they had laughed more than she and Jackson because they were supposed to already know each other intimately. It helped that Ren and Mark were friends. It gave them an easy waynto act like real lovers would. They were able to goof off and yet get the scene done.
They were supposed to wake up and start a fresh love scene, but Ren has fallen asleep without meaning to. She wondered briefly how long ahw had been out when Mark ran his fingers along her jaw and end propped himself up with his hand, giving her a good look at his chest.
She pulled her head out of the blankets. "Sorry. I was tired." It wasn't part of the script but no one was going to stop them. She had already deviated. "What time is it?"
"Two in the afternoon."
She thought about it then scooted forward and hugged him, cheek pressed against his bare chest. "Screw it."
The rest of the scene went by as scheduled. Jackson was perfect in his surprise and Mark was haughty. It was flawless. As soon as the director yelled cut, they burst out in laughter. Mark covered Ren up with a robe then covered himself.
They changed to get ready for lunch. Craft foods were on hand but they weren't feeling the heaviness of the food. So they went for coffee and croissants. Mark finally told her she had aleot for two hours after their first scene. The director had wanted to wake her up, but once Mark had explained what had been going on, Cha had let her sleep and that they would start when she had woken up. Luckily enough for them, she had enough sense to retain her lines and Mark was well versed in improvisation.
No sooner had they stepped out of the coffee shop did the press descend. Cameras were going off all around them. Jackson and Mark pushed her back against the building and stood in front of her as a sort of protection.
"Is it true, Wu-ssi? Are you dating someone five years younger than you? Are you living with him now?" one reporter asked.
"What about the story that you and yur sister are fighting over him?" another asked.
Ren gripped Mark's shirt tightly as the man shuffled along the wall towards his car. When they made it to the edge of the building, Mark inclined his head and she bolted around the corner. Luckily one of them had called JB because he waited just inside the alley in his car. She jumped in the front seat and he slammed the car in reverse then into drive when the were clear.
"What happened?" he asked as they slid through traffic. "What was that all about?"
"Renley opened her mouth to the press. She's trying to start trouble," she replied as she pulled out her phone. "She's starting a rumor that we're fighting over someone."
"What are you going to do?"
Ren didn't answer because she didn't know yet. She was tossing ideas are in her head but at every corner she only came to one conclusions. She was going to have to play dirty with her sister, and it was Renley who was going to be hurt. She was going to lose her career because of it. A little part of Ren was sad but her sister needed her ass kicked. Ren could kill her easily but she wasn't that low. She wasn't going to publicly humiliate her sister, but she would make things right.
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Yugyeom stood in the kitchen and listened to the foreign conversation going on across the room. Ren had come home and he had gone up to see how things were going. She had answered the door while on the phone and hadn't taken a breath to say hello to him. Not that he minded. He was just happy she hadn't been injured that afternoon when the media had bombarded them.
There wasn't much he could do as she spoke to someone so he had set about making fried rice. He remembered that she didn't like eggs so he fried his on the side. He made sure he put the kimchi in though.
She finished talking and tossed the phone on her on the couch. She kicked a pillow and it knocked over a vase. Luckily it was plastic so it bounced a couple of times and rolled under the coffee table. She picked it up and set it back where it belonged. She came into the kitchen and pulled a couple of bowls and glasses from the cabinet.
"What did your dad say?" Yugyeom asked via computer. He had set her laptop up to translate their conversations.
"He doesn't believe the rumors. He knows I'm not really dating anyone. If I did, he would be the first to know," she answered.
"Does he know about me?" Ren looked up at him. He tilted his head as he watched her. "He doesn't know that you're actually seeing me does he?"
Ren dropped her hands to her lap and ran them over her knees. She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and stared just over his shoulder. She hadn't thought about it too much. The two of them had just been hanging out as far as she was concerned. Did she like him? Yes. Had she ever thought of mentioning it? No. She knew after this series she would be going back to Macau. She hadn't thought about bringing anyone back with her.
Yugyeom saw the nervous look come across her face as she thought about it. He didn't know how he felt about it, but he didn't push her. He continued eating without asking anything else.
"Yugyeom." He looked up at he even asthe computer spoke. "I wasn't trying to be mean, but I didn't know you thought like that."
He smiled. "it's okay. I don't usually say what I want. Its a bad habit I've had since I was small."
Ren sighed. "I don't know if I want to take anyone back with me. It'd be hard for anyone who couldn't communicate."
He pointed to the computer before he typed. "What is this? I think we did fairly well. And immersion is a good way to learn a new language."
She understood where he was coming from but she didn't necessarily agree. She was still having problems learning Korean. Cantonese and Mandarin were somewhat worse.
Yugyeom pushed away from the table and rounded it. He took Ren by her hands and pulled her up so she was facing him. Taking her right hand that was in his left, he placed it over his heart. She looked at their hands then into his face. He sighed/smiled as he drummed his fingers along her hand.
"Wu Renner-ah. Noona. I really like you." She tried to pull her hand away but he held firm. "I don't care what your sister says. If she says something and the press asks me, I'm going to tell them we are in a relationship."
Ren didn't know what he had just said but she had understood the gist of it. He was going to kwt her go. She wasn't sure she could either, but there were some things that were weighing against it.
She reached around him and pulled out his phone. She typed something on it then handed it back to him. With her hand still pressed to his chest, he took it and read the message.
"Do you want to come to Taiwan with me?"
"What's in Taiwan?"
"Something I must take care of."
Yugyeom didn't know what it meant but he had a feeling that if he didn't do something, she wouldn't return.
