Night-Owl Romance

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Note: Chapters will be posted irregularly after number 27.

Apologies, however my life will become especially busy with new job and what-not. Please keep supporting this fic 3 I will keep doing it until the end, I doubt my love for Zen shall diminish.

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Chapter 26: Production with Echo Girl

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Jagiya,

Open your eyes...

Jagi~!

Open your beautiful eyes, my ice princess.

And don't shy away from me anymore because I want to keep everything about you to my memory.

Your hair, your eyes, your cheeks, your rosy lips...

Your touch and, dare I wish, kiss.

Everything belonging to me,

Is my newest dream.

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*BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ*

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The backache was terrible and her eyes were itching and burning. It was past midday when Mina crawled away from the coffee table, the coordinator woken up by the buzzing phone she had mistakenly thrown across the floor with a large swoosh~!

'Again...'

The girl sighed, massaging the tiredness out of her temple while wobbling on frail legs towards the mangled device. 'Poor thing has lived a good, short life...', Mina contemplated its roughened state, appreciating her laptop's safety though which was lying far away from her twitchy, sleep-deprived arms.

"Ngh..."

If anything good came out of this morning, afternoon actually, it was that the girl did not feel the clutches of despair and death so closely to her body anymore. Mina had been revitalized after the lengthy amount of rest she had been blessed with by the heavens – over 8 hours sans interruptions, far exceeding the standard since moving into this city. Moreover, she had been having a strange feeling in the pits of her stomach, her cheeks unusually heated up as well and mood heightened despite the minor inconveniences encountered seconds after opening her eyes.

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She remembered dreaming something last night...

What was it exactly...?

...

...

Nothing came to mind.

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It was not much but the girl did recall being enveloped in overwhelming warmth, sinking nearly entirely in an addicting sensation. Mina did not want to wake up from the dream but remain in its clutches forever. And ever. Because it felt good. Really good. Unfortunately, the coordinator was unable to remember the content of the story had within, it dissipating into thin air the moment she greeted the new day.

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Erased like magic.

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Nothing at all came to mind, except for a color. "Red.", Mina voiced out, furrowing her eyebrows as she combed her fingers through short brown locks. The color she saw had made her think of –

"..."

She lowered her gaze onto the floor. "Stupid...", the girl bemused and lightly knocked onto her head. It was not a realistic idea to have. ^^

"Ah well~!"

Mina walked towards her luggage leaning across the hallway and scanned the messy state the apartment was in. The girl should start doing some proper cleaning and washing since there was nothing of importance scheduled for the day – apart from the R.F.A. duties, of course. She did not wish to turn such a cozy apartment, which wasn't even hers to begin with, into a dirty pigsty.

The party planner inspected her phone for any recent updates before starting up the washing machine.

Her expression immediately lit up, opening Zen's messages that were nearly begging to be read by the blinking number. The corners of her mouth gradually arched upwards as she was reading through them all, the girl feeling apologetic that she hadn't woken up sooner. There was also a missed call from the actor but its duration was too short, barely lasting 7 seconds.

Zen never attempted again afterwards.

The actor was adjusting to her bad habits and how pointless it was to be insistent after her not picking up right away – either she did or you were waiting for hours. Mina was thankful for that, yet also very, very sorry.

^^;;;;;;;

Zen's overall messages had him greet the girl to a beautiful morning, his outdoor selfies portraying his joyous mood. "I saw you last night in my dreams ^.~ ", he confessed, implying his cheerfulness was solely her doing last night and Mina couldn't help from being startled at the notion, blushing terribly at his silliness. The coordinator even blew air towards her face with her healthy hand, trying to cool herself down.

Meeting people in dreams was a fairytale fantasy and not reality...

Nevertheless, Mina... couldn't help believing it held a shred of truth.

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'Red...'

Could she have seen Zen in her own dream, too...?

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It flew past her mind after she had opened the attachment of his final message, carrying all the required details Mina needed in order to finish up last night's e-mail. The party planner could not have been any happier about it! She quickly logged into the chat room, extremely happy to discover Zen online.

He had been previously chatting with Jaehee, whom was still complaining about the cat fur looming in the house, the extensive cleaning sessions rendered void the following minute. The woman disappeared rather quickly, hoping that the third attempt would be her lucky charm~!

'Poor soul.', Mina thought, her attention then diverted by the actor who had noticed her online, calling out her name happily.

"Jagi~~~~! ^^" *hearts emoji*

The party planner hurriedly returned a text, appreciating the effort he had made just for the girl's sake. He had outdone himself as the questions were answered in lengthy phrasing – heck, even those she had filled in during their late conversation had extra details added to them. Zen could have simply ignored those but he had been so meticulous and thorough, pages after pages flowing in front of her eyes...

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His actions touched Mina considering his busy schedule.

She felt a stinging sensation at the corner of her eyes.

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"Anything to make your workload easier, jagi ~! *wink emoji* I'm glad that it's been helpful to you."

"Extremely helpful!"

"Also..."

"Considering how the other guests have responded to my previous mails, I might need to further convince them in joining us..."

"I will come asking for help again if it's ok!"

The actor was fast in replying, lacing his happiness with cringe worthy comments and hearts. "Ngh...", Mina grimaced as she scrunched her nose, the blushing increasing in intensity and turning her face into a cute tomato – if this was even anatomically possible anymore.

Zen was enjoying himself too much at the girl's expense!

And the coordinator was ready to scold the actor's attitude but he was quick to change the topic with a reply seemingly less cheerful in tune – her curiosity was flaring up because of how instant this shift had been. Zen admitted he was getting ready to participate in a meeting at the moment thus he would be unavailable for the next hour or so. "A meeting on a weekend...?", Mina mumbled, not remembering the topic coming up last night.

"Ah, yeah. I forgot to mention it back then. ^^;;;; "

"And there's another thing I've overlooked – involving you."

"Oh? O-O"

"I remembered while packing my stuff in the morning. But, I'll tell you about it later, don't worry! ^^ It's nothing to be panicking over much."

'He... forgot to mention it... and overlooked telling me something directly involving me...? Nothing to panic over much?!', Mina thought puzzled, wondering what was it he had mistakenly 'forgotten' to tell her. 'Also... why couldn't he have simply written it down by now? ^^; Was he certain it wasn't anything I should be quickly made aware of?'

"Jagi, I told you don't worry! It's in safe hands, so relax."

"Safe hands? What is? O-O"

His wording was suspicious but the actor didn't dwell on the situation further, explaining how close he was to the main theatre building already. *sigh* well, Zen hadn't given the girl a reason to suspect him of any intentional foul play so far. If anything, the actor was more honest about things than she was, so...

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Mina should patiently wait.

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It was probably not a big concern she should have.

Probably just wanting to tease her.

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~oOo~

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"Alright... it's just me. Great.", Zen reached the conference area, gazing at his wrist watch. He was 27 minutes early so he expected at least the director to be present at this hour. No matter, it wasn't too problematic for the actor. Other than...

He was becoming quite bored.

And rather nervous, frankly.

Mina was still online, proving to be the most delightful distraction. The girl was showing curiosity about his schedule and the actor could not help but indulge in her curiosities~! Long story short, his meeting involved talks of being booked a potential role which he might end up taking.

"Or not."

It was a large production which would have him team up with various celebrities, the most famous one being Echo Girl. This would mark a stepping stone to his career, the biggest one so far. And –

"That's amazing! ^^"

– Mina appeared unexpectedly happy for him, the young male moved by her sincere reaction and chuckling. "It sounds like such great news!"

"Right? ^^"

"Congrats, Zen~~~!", the coordinator innocently typed, but his reply showed hesitation from the amount of sweat drops tagged onto his defeated emoji.

"O.O"

"You aren't convinced you should do this?"

The actor had doubts, indeed, his hesitation fueled by the fact that Echo Girl was not an established actress, not even a seriously practicing one – unless you counted the work she did for commercials as 'professional acting'. There was not nearly enough acting experience one could gain from such activities alone. Yet, she was handpicked by the producer as lead to this new production.

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"Wow..."

"You've researched this girl."

"A lot."

"It's surprising..."

"You're showing so much interest in Echo Girl!"

"So much interest!"

"Dare I say – great interest~~~! OwO"

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Mina's sharpness was akin to a knife, the actor feeling her blade dig deep into his flesh and causing his heart to encounter severe palpitations. Her unsubtle assumptions were ridiculously uncalled for, Zen incredibly bothered by the levels of ludicrousness found within her sentences. He went to great lengths in order to convince the girl, who'd been, otherwise, showing signs that she did not fully trust his excuses. "It's not like that, jagi!",the silver haired male had viciously gone into defensive mode as he tried to demonstrate the party planner how his interests on the woman lingered on the purest of his intentions!

"Mhm."

"It's just work – nothing else!"

"I see. She is gorgeous work ~~~! *winks*"

"J-Jagi!"

Zen was exasperated, the only motivation lingering behind his actions was in discovering the type of work Echo Girl had done throughout her career. This kind of interest was something Zen would show anyone in the entertainment field who was willing to work besides him. No exceptions were made to this rule as a matter of fact! It was not often he would find things detrimental in decision making.

"Mhm."

As such, there was definitelynothing deeper to his actions regarding Echo Girl – it was the only reasonhe would ever check this woman out so he could establish her skillset and assess how good their chemistry might be if they would wind up together on a production!

"That's it! Nothing more, jagi."

"Sure, Zen. Sure."

"I believe you."

"Just how I believe my own intentions of checking out info on you were purely for research too."

"HUH...?" *surprised emoji*

"..."

" - "

"I-I mean..."

"I was joking~! J-O-K-I-N-G ~~~ no need to be so riled up about Echo Girl, ha, ha ^o^~!"

Zen's eyes widened at the unintentional slip from Mina and her futile attempt to play it down as a joke. A golden opportunity presented itself right in front of him and, normally, the handsome actor would have pressed on the girl's precious blunder, enjoying every second of teasing her mercilessly – all the while feeling overly excited and jittery himself~!

Sadly, the actor was currently in a grave pinch.

A decision would have to be made soon, the clock rapidly ticking towards that final moment when the meeting would begin – people would be arriving any minute now. And Zen couldn't help but question the value of this production, considering how someone with such feeble acting background had been offered a huge part in its storyline. The silver haired male assumed Echo Girl's popularity had a big part in the casting process, which...

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Was not to his liking one bit.

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"I don't think you should focus on 'why' she'd been chosen – I mean, this project, you've mentioned it being a large-scaled one, correct?"

"Yeah, it is..."

"You may never know, Echo Girl could become a surprise for you~!"

Zen grumbled, constantly tapping a finger on the side of his head but listened to the party planner's reasoning carefully. "I doubt people working in that production team would risk their careers in hiring someone without skills as lead figure for something so important, right?"

"No matter how popular one is, it's meaningless if not supported by talent and dedication."

"No person would willingly risk putting in so much money and hire amateurs for the job."

"I doubt anyone sane would."

"So, relax~! ^^"

"I... did not expect such words from you..." *defeated emoji*

"Eh? O.O Why make that expression?"

"You're thinking in materialistic terms. ^^;;;;;; It's a bit shocking."

"Well, ya...?"

"Zen, large productions don't mess around so they need to play it smart...", Mina was unsure whether she had made the actor upset, continuing her thoughts on the matter. "Look, to put your mind at ease a little. I've been looking up Echo Girl online and she seems to be extremely likeable from the few titles that popped up. ^^"

"Everybody seems to put her in a favorable light~!"

"So she must be really talented and hardworking herself. Else, how could she have earned so much praise from people and fans?"

"Or have so many achievements for her young age? For good looks alone – I truly doubt this, lol."

"And grabbing the lead female acting role must have been a lot of work, too~!"

"I understand where you're coming from and know you mean well, but... it's not so black and white in this industry ^^;;;;;;."

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"It feels so unlike you to be so critical of people you haven't met, Zen."

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Mina hit him hard with this reply, the actor probably coming off too strong in his displeasure of the situation. Perhaps... It was truly nothing to worry about. Regardless, the feeling rumbling in his gut was uncomfortable and Zen usually preferred following its warnings – religiously. He gave up multiple important offers in the past due to such feelings that were bothersome and regrets never really followed.

Or...

If those ever did, it would become a rarity in Zen's case. Unfortunately, he was not getting the outside confirmation of these worries from the cold party planner who remained puzzled as to why the actor carried this harsh attitude over the matter. "Ah, sorry..."

"Hn. Maybe you're right, but I still feel uneasy and I rarely do." *defeated emoji*

"I think you should give this role a shot and look at it with an open mind."

"Or else, you might regret not taking this chance due to concerns which might well be in your head alone."

"In my head...;;;;;;;;;;"

"Do you really believe so, jagi...?", he was saddened by Mina's outlook on this and how positive she was being in his stead about the news. Did he appear that ungrateful...? ^^

"Zen..."

"It's normal to feel uncertain but it seems to me that you are nitpicking at some things way too deeply instead of just looking at the overall picture."

"You've been working hard for many years!"

"If anyone deserves this opportunity, then it's you!"

"Accept it if you are truly tempted to do so!

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"I mean, what's the worst thing that could happen to you?"

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"Heh..."

"..."

"The role is temptingly good..."

"I've been mailed snippets of the script in the morning and –", Zen's eyebrows furrowed, the story being unlike anything he had done before. The writing seemed fresh and interesting, his character different and more complex than what he was used to playing on stage. It gave him creative space to contribute to the character's growth too, not something he had been accustomed to. Nevertheless, Zen felt a drawback due to these concerns pooling over his wishes and destroying them. It was conflicting.

"..."

"And...?"

"..."

"And?"

"And I'm being greedy over it."

"LOL."

"I like it so much, jagi! But, I don't know if I should go through with it."

.

"You should definitely do it!"

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"Even more so if you like the story thi~~~s much!"

"IMO, it's better to sometimes take a leap of faith than declining something due to potential 'what-ifs', which may or may not come to fruition."

"You might regret missing this chance."

"Speaking from experience, are we?", Zen cheekily asked, becoming somewhat overwhelmed of the entire conversation. It was as if their roles had been put on reverse, Mina being the one to encourage the actor now compared to how it had been the day prior. The girl shared she simply followed what her mom had taught her throughout the years. "It proved disastrous sometimes."

"Wow, jagi...", the actor sighed, unable to comprehend the path this conversation was heading towards. Every bit of her advices seemed to plummet into a wall, Mina feeding into his restlessness about the acting gig. Yet, if there was anything positive coming out of their interaction, it had to be the party planner's own optimistic view surrounding the negatives. The girl was confident in admitting that she wouldn't have experienced a multitude of situations had she given up certain opportunities or acted differently upon certain decisions because of the various uncertainties she was feeling.

"I would give anything to erase some bad moments."

While, similarly, there are things she would regret not knowing or discovering.

Even today.

"Hm, such as?", Zen curiously asked but the girl went into a secretive mood again as it was too embarrassing for her to admit it openly. "Jagi, why are you like this to me...? " *defeated emoji*

"Anyway. I don't think that being greedy from time to time is harmful.", Mina added, pointing out how there was nothing wrong with reaching out for the roles he liked or wanting to do a project he was tempted to, especially when it was one presented to him directly.

Zen should not dismiss it too recklessly.

"As my mom would always say - it's better to try at something and miserably fail at it than to have never attempted it in the first place~!"

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"WOAH..."

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"I can't disrespect such a good advice then!", Zen chuckled and complimented these wise words, although Mina did not cheer him up exponentially. Failurewas a concept he diligently tried to avoid because in the acting field – one bad moment could ruin a future and would often be powerful enough to put an end to a career and a lifelong dream. Which is why, in recent years, Zen had struggled to maintain his image as clean as possible, straying away from potential scandals or situations that may turn too delicate for his reputation.

"Your mother is incredibly knowledgeable~!" *wink emoji*

"Yes! She's really amazing. ^w^~! I look up to her a lot.", the party planner wrote very fondly, the actor melancholic at the happiness she was exhuming. If only he could be as happy about his own relatives... "You must take after her then for sure, right?"

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha~~~!"

"No."

"Not at all~!"

"Aigoo..." *defeated emoji*

"I mean, I wish. T-T"

"I'd get into trouble far less if I were, LOL."

"Then your father?"

"Knowing my luck in life – there's a high probability that I do resemble him."

"Huh?", her answer was strange, Zen suddenly feeling terrible for asking. Their discussion was quickly cut short, the actor needing to log out immediately – he had just heard ruckus from outside the conference room.

"Tell me how it went after you've finished!", Mina cheerfully wrote before departing, the door to the conference room opening widely with Zen glancing at his side. Director Kwon was the one who'd entered first, followed by quite a number of people draped in expensive business attires.

Zen's mask had been neatly folded across his handsome features, smile gracing his lips as this small ordeal began.

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All throughout the pleasantries and talks, the actor was pondering carefully whether or not he should take a leap of faith, as Mina suggested, and just accept this new role while ignoring the odd sensations pilling up in his stomach.

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In the end,

Zen should say 'yes' to working with Echo Girl.

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~oOo~

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Meanwhile, back at Rika's apartment, the cleaning was going terrifically well~!

If Mina ignored her wrist she accidentally smacked into doorways while vacuuming.

The girl was so tempted to rush to Jumin for a freaking doctor yet there was an inexplicable urge to burn Seven's Medical Bible, wanting to remove it from sheer existence for its presence was giving Mina shivers and crumbling fears. The book was calling out her name and chanting...

.

'Go see a doctor, go see a doctor, go see a doctor, go see a – '

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"UGH!", she clapped both hands over her ears, wanting the noise to stop! (º □ º l|l)/

Thankfully, the ointments and fresh bandages coated with the healing cream were helping with the swelling and coloration. And the many breaks she had done in-between housework, randomly checking the Cheritz inbox for new guest e-mails. When that had no updates, talking with the other R.F.A. members who were online took some thought away from this sharp pain.

Everyone had learnt of V's decision by now, questioning the real motive behind this extreme rush to prepare the upcoming event.

Yoosung was adamantly horrible when it came to the photographer, loathing his attitude with a burning passion and complaining very forcefully about him to the point it had shocked Mina to the core. The girl honestly sensed no wrongdoing coming from V on her part, only kindness and fair treatment and the man never once gave her the impression that he was anything but gentle or extremely polite. Furthermore, the blonde's strong reaction against the party date was close to being unnatural like he was projecting other issues on top of it. It wasn't long before the chat took dramatic routes, Rika being mentioned a lot.

A whole lot.

.

'It was uncomfortable to read.'

'Rika was... gone.'

'And Yoosung saw so many similarities between us,

comparing us both in such a strong manner.'

...

'Very,

Very uncomfortable topic to discuss.'

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"I don't want burdens to pile up on your shoulders and become too pressured."

"Like Rika had been without any of us knowing."

"Without V knowing, too!"

"That bastard didn't realize Rika was suffering and he was the closest to her than even I was!"

Just how much anger and sadness was stored inside the angry youth? Years after Rika's death, the blonde was still pinning over her unexpected passing – forgiveness was out of the question when it came to the woman's fiancée, Yoosung confident that he had a huge connection to her death.

"It's not fair..."

"Rika was such a good person, my best friend when I was met with difficulties during high school."

"Your deep kindness is similar to Rika's as well..."

But the blonde's rant had been put to rest by Jumin's rapid interference, the corporate heir diverting the chat's attention back to Mina's work. Their newest R.F.A. member was a person of her own self and was certainly not on Rika's level yet despite their obvious similarities – he could spot the differences with precise clarity. Adding to that, MC was doing an acceptable job as the party coordinator as it was.

The blonde's concerns were unfounded and childish for his age to put the blame on V.

Mina appreciated the thought though Jumin could have used a softer stance when explaining stuff to Yoosung. Leaving the chat room that upset was painful to see, the girl quickly sending the young boy a cheery personal message, hoping to raise his mood up.

And she was glad her message did the intended comforting. ^^

... for a few seconds.

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"I don't understand how Jumin can be so calm about this issue."

"Even Jaehee is OK with the party date although she thinks V's decision to be unusual too."

"Zen gave up protesting half way, going on to talk about himself."

"Again."

"Skipping the party date issue completely."

"It was just himself and Echo Girl, ugh."

"I mean..."

"I LOVE ECHO GIRL! LOVE LOVE!"

"I'M JEALOUS OF HIS LUCK! AAAAAAAAH!"

"But... I dunno... compared to the party if just feels..."

" : / "

"I don't even want to mention Seven, he hasn't been answering my calls lately..."

"I'm so done with people!"

"I'M DONE!"

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Yoosung's venting was something Mina could understand perfectly, the world falling on top of her head when she'd been made aware of the upcoming party date – but whining and complaining solved nothing. "I have everybody in the group helping me so please don't feel upset anymore. And please stop being frustrated over how Zen reacted at the news, he did not brush this off and worried too."

"He's really not happy either and was super vocal about it to me."

"Oh..."

"Plus, I need you guys more than ever in order to successfully complete my R.F.A. mission!" They should be gathering their thinking hats together because time was of the essence due to V's decision which could not be undone anymore. Mina had already informed the guests of the full schedule thanks to the photographer.

"I cannot switch the date even if V changes his mind – the group would appear unprofessional and lacking good management."

Eventually,

Yoosung had calmed down, filled with renewed purpose in aiding Mina with the planning. "That's the spirit!", the party planner cheered.

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~oOo~

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In virtually no time, fresh targets had been brought to Mina's attention, the girl accepting each and every one of the members' propositions without restraints – the weirder, the better~! The questionable variety of individuals she was interacting with was so different to what she had been previously subjected to or expecting. And Mina had been working in plenty of shops, interacting with all types of customers. This melting pot of party guests had bits and chunks of flavor floating across that were randomly mixing together – the end result would most likely taste...

"Unique."

^^;;;;;;

"Too unique, possibly.", she giggled, scratching her cheeks nervously with a nail.

And while the coordinator was diligently working on so many fronts in the apartment – housework, messenger, e-mails – there was one thing that made a significant dent in this beautiful day of hers, putting a stop to the happiness within.

The youth had been thinking of Zen... often.

Today, more so than she had ever done before or intended to, Mina was constantly glancing at her side, watchful gaze on the phone whenever it beeped or noticed the screen blink. Her heartbeat fastened, deeply wishing it was the actor who had finally sent her the good news.

Nothing.

And it had been so long since his meeting had begun, evening at her doorstep soon.

Was Zen still in the meeting...?

Was the time extended...?

What was going on?

...

...

Was she too pushy and nosy and Zen was avoiding her...?

...

...

Mina hoped the actor was doing alright whatever the motive behind his silence was. ^^

She still wanted to know what his final decision had been regarding that role.

...

...

"What are you doing now, Zen...?", she breathed out softly, sipping warm tea from a large cup she had recently brewed. A distraction came soon due to a new chat room window opening, Jaehee being the initiator. The woman appeared quite desperate to reach Mina.

It seemed dire.

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"MC, there is something urgent we must discuss."

"Please come to the messenger."

"It is highly necessary to have this conversation now,

as I've discovered something which cannot be overlooked anymore."

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"Your actions need to be addressed immediately."

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