[PG-13] Lights, Camera, Action (1/2)
Title: Lights, Camera, Action
Characters: Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Angst, Life, Friendship, Romance
Summary: AU. Where Kyuhyun is a top star and Zhou Mi is a manager.
Well, hello. It's me again. I keep on writing QMi these days because I just love them to pieces. Anyway, this is weird. It's supposed to be a one-shot, but it got overly long (and still unfinished) so I'm making it into a two-shot. It's not like I have a choice anyway. So, this is this. I hope you like it.
lights, camera, action
Black can appear white when the light is blinding,
but white loses all luster at the faintest sign of darkness.
- Evil Thirst, Christopher Pike
He squeezed his eyes shut as patronizing words seeped right through him. He clenched his fists tightly to prevent them from shaking any further than they already were. He wanted nothing more than to get out of there. But, for now, he had to stand there and endure. It was part of his job.
“He’s an actor.” The words coursed right through his heart. “An exceptionally famous one at that, an international one, almost. And you’re…”
He opened his eyes and met pitying ones.
The sentence remained unfinished. Instead, he received a smile that was meant to be comforting but had made him feel small and a pat on the shoulder. He didn’t need the sentence to be finished anyway. He knew who he was.
He was a celebrated actor, well known and well loved. And he… he was him.
There was nothing more to that.
---
---
---
There was always certain fascination that always came with the stars of TV dramas, sitcoms, variety shows, and music shows. The TV personalities, MCs, comedians, those from variety shows and music performers always brought about with them a certain sparkle, one that people of humble means and occupations, only just watching from afar, looked after longingly. It always seemed that, despite being just normal beings themselves, they were far from that, they weren’t normal and were special.
To Zhou Mi, though, movie stars were something of a league of their own. He felt like they were more mysterious as they’re not seen as often as TV personalities and music performers, who showed their faces at least every week. Film celebrities burrowed themselves into filming for months, rarely appearing on broadcast. When the film is shown on cinemas, it’s only then that they go on promotions and attend premiere showings. If the movie garners much interest and gets nominated for awards, they go on award ceremonies and a couple of after parties. After which, they disappear into filming once more once a new project comes along. And people never really know who they are.
He looked out of the window of his boss’ office on the 9th floor, fiddling with his hands. It was always a wonder to him what happened behind the scenes, how certain movie actors and actresses behaved behind the lens. Even as a young child, he was fascinated with films, its intricacies and its magic. So it had only been natural for him to take filmmaking as his major in university and to dabble in the industry as soon as he had graduated.
“Zhou Mi,” a voice greeted him as the office door opened. His boss walked in and hurriedly sat on his seat behind the desk. He closed his eyes for a second as he leaned back on his seat, as if savoring the small comfort that it gave.
“Everything okay?” Zhou Mi asked, worry clearly expressed in his features.
His boss opened his eyes and smiled. “I’m okay,” he immediately answered.
Han Geng was the god of one of the biggest movie entertainment companies in Beijing. He was the one who made sure that all things concerning production in a film went smoothly. He was in charge of everything, budgets, sets, shoots, casting, and scripts. There wasn’t a day that he didn’t receive movie scripts from all kinds of people, some, good; most, horrible. Not a day went by that he wasn’t approached about the opportunity to act and work in one of his films.
“Qian has thrown a fit again today. She’s saying that she wants to back out of the movie with Choi Siwon.” He let out a breath as he went through the files on his desk.
Zhou Mi frowned. “But I just talked to her yesterday,” he countered. “I’m positive she had been dying to work with him for a while now.” From what he knew the actress had always been interested in South Korea’s most promising leading men, Choi Siwon.
“Yes, well, that was until she found out that he was actually dating someone,” Hangeng told him. “Now, it’s either he leaves or she does, which we can’t very well do since she’s perfect for the role.”
“But Choi Siwon is perfect for the role, too,” Zhou Mi reminded him.
“In cases like this, you always know how it’s going to turn out, don’t you?” Hangeng stated with a soft sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Loyalty to one’s country and people was very important to China. People already knew that Song Qian, one of the prettiest and most talented actresses that have come from Beijing, was going to star in a most-awaited film feature with Choi Siwon. If she was to be pulled out and Siwon was to be maintained, the public would just see it as some sort of treachery. To add to that, the masses loved Song Qian. The company wouldn’t be able to stand up to whatever wrath that the fans would definitely feel if they pulled her out.
Zhou Mi reached for Hangeng’s hand across the desk and squeezed it lightly. To others he may be Han Geng, the big boss, or Hangeng, the colleague, but to him, he was Geng, his best friend.
“I’m sure we’ll find some other Korean actor to replace him,” Zhou Mi comforted him.
Hangeng squeezed his hand back as his form of thank you. “We actually have found someone to replace him,” he then said, getting back to business.
Zhou Mi withdrew his hand and leaned back on his seat. They may be best friends, but they both took their jobs seriously. He was the company’s top talent scout and manager, after all. “Let me guess, Kim Kibum?” he deduced, looking thoughtful. “I suppose he will do. He has more of that boyish charm that Siwon doesn’t have, his amazing smile would look good on film, his intensity and passion is a definite plus… still, he’s no Choi Siwon.”
“Do you really think we would get just anyone to star with Song Qian?” Hangeng voiced out, looking at his best friend amusedly. “That I would allow one of the top actresses in the country in one of my most expensive productions to date to be paired with just anyone?”
“Kim Kibum is not just anyone, though,” Zhou Mi reminded him, a tone of warning in his voice. Sometimes, Hangeng got too condescending when he knew exactly what he wanted. Hangeng merely snickered. “Well, who is it then? If you think Kim Kibum is not up to par, then maybe… Lee Donghae?”
“He is one of South Korea’s best, but he’s too short,” Hangeng bluntly told him, making a face.
Zhou Mi chuckled. “Well, who is it?” he pressed, leaning forward. “Lee Eunhyuk is on the short side, too, so I’m writing him out. I can’t think of anyone else whom you think is-.” He suddenly stopped blabbering and gasped. “You can’t mean-.”
“Yes,” Hangeng nodded, smiling almost evilly. “I do.”
“But how could you have gotten him?” Zhou Mi sputtered, disbelief written all over his face. “He’s impossible to book.”
“Nothing is impossible for the great Han Geng,” Hangeng declared, raising his hands up in the air to emphasize his point. “Not even Cho Kyuhyun.”
Cho Kyuhyun was South Korea’s current blue chip. He had been under the limelight since he was 10 years old, starring in small roles here and there, and steadily made his way to the top. After starring in a detective role, alongside the lovely South Korean actress Kim Taeyeon, his fate in the film industry had been sealed. He had proven, throughout the years, that he was dynamic, being able to be funny, charming and tough at the same time, as well as witty. It didn’t help that he had the most gorgeous dark eyes and had such a winning and contagious smile.
Zhou Mi didn’t really know much about him since his personal life was perfectly (and amazingly) kept under wraps by his management. All he knew was that he was a top star, one that was much sought-after by film directors and producers Asia-wide.
“I just might actually agree with you on that one for once,” Zhou Mi finally granted. “So he’s coming here. In Beijing.” He leaned back on his seat and shook his head. “Wow, I don’t know what to say.” Then he sat straight once again. “He doesn’t know Chinese. How are you going to-?”
Hangeng nodded, retrieving a couple of documents from his files. “That’s where you come in, Mi,” he began, all business-like once more.
“Me?” Zhou Mi echoed, blinking.
“This is his schedule,” Hangeng handed him sheets of paper. “And then here are the filming locations, as well as the restaurants that he would most likely enjoy, shops that he would want to go to…”
“Geng, what am I going to do with all of this?” Zhou Mi demanded, frowning. “I’m sure his manager would appreciate all of this information instead.” He gave his friend a questioning look.
“Kim Heechul sucks at Chinese as much as his talent does,” Hangeng informed him. “And you know Korean, Mi.” He gave his best friend the best winning smile that he could muster, not giving him a chance to protest. “You would be able to communicate with him with no problems whatsoever. Besides, his manager has other talents coming into the country for a separate project. Jessica Jung is scheduled to shoot here for as long as Cho Kyuhyun will be. She’s newer than he is and so, naturally, the manager clings to the one who is possible to create more trouble.”
“But, Geng,” Zhou Mi began his dissent. “I have work, too, you know, other talents that you pay me to manage? I can’t just drop them, which I would seemingly have to do, for some South Korean actor.”
“Ah, but he’s not just some South Korean actor,” Hangeng prompted. “You know I’m right. Also, I’m your boss. Don’t subordinates usually do what their bosses say?” He tapped his chin, looking smug.
“I hate you, you know that, right?” Zhou Mi grounded out, putting the papers in the file case that he had with him and stuffed it in his bag. “Just you wait for insurgency. It’s not too out of the question at this moment.” He stood up and moved to leave the office.
“Mi, there is something that would make this easier for you,” Hangeng called out to him.
Zhou Mi stopped walking, a sigh on his lips as he turned around. “This better be good,” he stated.
“Oh it is,” Hangeng assured him, a wicked smile on his face.
“Well, what is it?” Zhou Mi impatiently inquired.
“He’s single.”
Hangeng immediately ducked, falling off his chair, as a throw pillow from the sofa flew across the room and right towards him.
“What!” Hangeng yelled. “I was referring to Song Qian! Knowing that he’s single, she’d be willing to babysit him for you instead.”
“Shut up!”
---
The familiar interruptive knocks on his office came faster than he expected. It came along with the noisy, but warm chatter he had grown accustomed to in his daily life as a talent manager.
He looked up and propped his elbows in his desk, resting his chin lightly on his clasped hands as the door opened. The smile was ready on his face, as he knew what was coming.
“Gege, why would you do this?” came the immediate barrage of questions. The young man, half a head shorter than Zhou Mi, dark brown hair, fair complexion and a very cute smile, who had entered first, plopped down on one of the seats in front of his desk.
“Yeah, ge, why would you?” the girl, the same height as the boy, red hair, incredibly pretty, who followed in after him, echoed, almost teasingly. She sat down on the other seat and placed her hands primly on her lap.
“I haven’t done anything,” Zhou Mi gently defended himself.
Henry snorted, while Liyin rolled her eyes. “Right,” Henry muttered. “Then why are we suddenly assigned to Jia jie jie, instead of you? As far as I know, I haven’t consented to changing managers. I reviewed my contract, too, and it doesn’t say anything of the sort either.”
Zhou Mi’s lip twitched.
“I told you, you’re being overdramatic about this,” Liyin shushed Henry. She turned to Zhou Mi, who was watching them with amusement. “I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation for this.”
“And this is what I mean, Yin,” Zhou Mi responded, gesturing towards her. “You just need an explanation for everything. This is what the directors keep on telling me. Sometimes your characters just do things because that’s what they do, that is who they are. There isn’t really a back-story to everything.”
“I think we’ve gone away from the point, but okay,” Liyin dismissed, a small smile on her face. “Qian isn’t talking to you.”
“That’s because she’s excited,” Henry contested. “Right at the minute she found out about Cho Kyuhyun, she sped to the salon and had her hair and nails done.”
“You’re just upset because she blew you off,” Liyin teased him.
“I am not,” Henry countered, looking affronted. But there was a blush on his chubby cheeks.
“I think I’ve found the reason why I would actually want to send you all to Jia for management,” Zhou Mi concluded, glancing at his talents. “This dating nonsense you two are talking about. You know the rules.” He gave Henry a knowing look.
“I haven’t broken anything yet,” Henry firmly declared, crossing his arms on his chest.
“Yet,” Zhou Mi emphasized. “Please,” he continued almost immediately before Henry could protest, “don’t start anything. And not only because it’s what’s required of you by the company. It’s what’s required of you by the public.”
“Screw the public,” Henry muttered. It startled Liyin, but she didn’t counter his statement, nor did she chide him.
“I’m sorry, Henry, but this is your job and it’s my job to make you keep yours,” Zhou Mi gently reminded him.
“How did this go from you leaving us to fend for ourselves to me dating?” Henry grumbled, shooting dagger looks at Liyin, who smiled sheepishly.
Zhou Mi sighed once again. “I am not leaving you to fend for yourselves,” he contradicted. “I am still your manager. But, for now, Jia will be taking care of your schedules and looking after you. Apparently, Cho Kyuhyun is an even bigger star than I’ve imagined him to be. He needs a Chinese manager-slash-translator-slash-babysitter.”
“Will we get to meet him?” Liyin asked, a sparkle in her eyes.
“Oh Liyin is a fan,” Henry snickered teasingly.
Liyin reached across him and slapped his arm. “I’m just curious about him, that’s all.”
“How Geng came to hire the two of you is a mystery to me,” Zhou Mi mused loudly.
“You scouted me,” Henry smugly jogged his memory.
“And me,” Liyin piped in, grinning.
“I must’ve had a brain malfunction,” Zhou Mi muttered. “Anyway, you two will be good to Jia and-.”
“If she’ll be good to us,” Henry muttered just as Liyin said, “Qian won’t be.”
“She will be,” Zhou Mi answered Henry, while he told Liyin, “And I’ll make sure Qian will be too. The three of you will be good to her.”
“I’ve decided that I want to meet this Cho Kyuhyun, too,” Henry announced as he stood up. “I want to see what’s so special about him.”
“He’s South Korea’s man of the moment,” Liyin quoted one of the magazine articles she’d read about him.
Henry merely smirked. “You shouldn’t believe everything that you read and hear about people in our industry,” he told her with a slight scolding in his tone. “Are you everything they say you are in interviews?” Liyin kept quiet. “Right. The same thing with this Cho Kyuhyun. There has to be something off about him.”
“Firstly, he’s your senior so you will do no such thing such as investigating him,” Zhou Mi directed as he stood up to shoo them away from his office. “Secondly, don’t you two have filming schedules that are not here in my office?”
He opened the door to shove his talents out, but abruptly stopped in his tracks. Qian and Hangeng were right outside his door. Talking to a god in broken Korean. Zhou Mi closed his eyes for a second, squeezed them tightly, and then opened them again. They really were talking to a god.
“Ah, Mi,” Hangeng greeted, breaking off their conversation and turning to him. “We were just about to come into your office.” He put an arm around the god they were talking to and lightly patted his shoulder. There was this grin on his face that Zhou Mi wanted to smack away. “This is Cho Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun, this is Zhou Mi. He’ll be the one to take care of you in your stay here.”
Kyuhyun merely tilted his head as his way of bowing in greeting and respect, confusion in his features. Zhou Mi just stood there and stared.
“You need to translate, now that I’ve introduced you two,” Hangeng immediately nudged Zhou Mi, lightly stepping forward and stepping on his toe.
“Oh,” Zhou Mi clumsily responded in stuttering Korean. “I’m Zhou Mi. I’ll be your manager while you’re here.”
“I’m sure you will be,” Kyuhyun replied, giving him a winning smile as seemingly surprised he was that his Korean was practically flawless. He reached for his hand to shake it. “Look, I don’t know what you’ve been told, but I don’t need a babysitter. And not being able to speak Chinese is not going to be any hindrance for me.” He squeezed his hand tighter as if to send a message. “I can find my way around the city without your help.” The smile on his face stayed all throughout the insulting words.
Qian giggled, hopelessly in love with his Korean, while Henry and Liyin exchanged confused looks, not understanding anything. Hangeng merely clapped Kyuhyun on the back and looked relieved. Zhou Mi merely blinked.
“Glad that you two are getting to know each other well,” Hangeng began again, looking at Zhou Mi. “Welcome to Beijing!” he added to Kyuhyun.
“Han Geng says welcome to Beijing,” Zhou Mi translated unwillingly, dropping his hand to his side and fisting it.
“I think I can understand that much,” Kyuhyun answered, smirking this time. Qian continued to giggle.
“You’re a prick.” The words left Zhou Mi’s lips before he could stop himself. He was about to apologize but Kyuhyun’s widening smirk stopped him.
“I’m glad we understand each other,” Kyuhyun told him, bowing respectfully as if he was giving him praises. “I don’t look forward to seeing much of you in the duration of my stay here.”
“Don’t count on it,” Zhou Mi bitingly declared.
His eyes narrowed as Kyuhyun walked away with Qian hanging on his arm like a little schoolgirl.
---
The lights were blinding and the music was loud. It flashed right before his eyes and made his ears pound. It was exactly the effect that he had been hoping for. He took a shot of tequila from the table and downed it with a gulp.
“It couldn’t have been that bad,” Sungmin, Zhou Mi’s friend from university, commented, watching as his friend reached for another shot of alcohol and drank it.
“Oh it was bad,” Henry eagerly supplied, ducking when Zhou Mi turned and slapped the back of his head. “Gege,” he whined. Then he turned to Sungmin. “I’m telling the truth.” He immediately scuttled out of Zhou Mi’s reach.
“You always exaggerate things, Henry,” Sungmin berated him lightly. “Go to the bar and get a drink. While you’re at it, chat with some girl.”
Zhou Mi’s hand shot out and grabbed Henry’s wrist. “Don’t chat with some girl and don’t get drunk,” he reminded him.
“When have I ever been drunk? When have I ever been not careful?” Henry retorted, making a face and trotting off to the direction of the bar.
Sungmin, big-eyed, pink, plump lips, straight teeth and a handsome face, turned his full attention to Zhou Mi, who was, yet again, downing another drink. He reached out and touched him on the arm.
“At this rate, you’re going to get wasted and I would have to call Hangeng to take you home,” Sungmin commented.
“He won’t come and get me,” Zhou Mi told him, shaking his head.
“Geng is your best friend,” Sungmin reminded him. “He’s always going to come to take you home-.”
“He almost fired me today, Min,” Zhou Mi interrupted him.
Zhou Mi was never supposed to go to Kyuhyun and Qian’s filming that day. He had planned to pretend to be sick on that day just to avoid being anywhere near the Korean star that was supposed to be in his care. In the first week that he had attended to him, his fists always ended up being clenched, as well as his jaw, all from being so upset and irritated at the Korean actor’s behavior. But he’d made the mistake of forgetting the things that he was to work on at the office while he was pretending to be sick. He had tiptoed his way to the 9th floor to his office and walked in on Hangeng going through the files on his desk.
“You’re late,” was Hangeng’s immediate statement. He gathered the papers on his desk and hastily handed them to Zhou Mi. “Qian and Kyuhyun already left for their filming. I told them you’d just follow.”
“I…can’t,” Zhou Mi stammered, taking a step back towards the hallway. “What are you doing in my office?”
Hangeng gave him a curious look, tilting his head. “Why not?” he asked, ignoring his question.
“I’m…” Zhou Mi then sighed. He knew it would be pointless to lie. “Alright,” he gave in, getting the papers.
“Qian’s having dinner with her family after the shoot, so you will have to take Kyuhyun out to dinner, somewhere nice. Do you remember the list and reminders that I gave you?” Hangeng wanted to know.
“Yeah,” Zhou Mi murmured a lie. He hadn’t even looked at those since his first encounter with Kyuhyun.
“Very well,” Hangeng said, satisfied. “I’m going to meeting with his manager, Kim Heechul-.”
“Why doesn’t he just have dinner with you guys as well?” Zhou Mi prompted, looking hopeful. He wanted to have as little to do with Kyuhyun as humanly possible.
Hangeng looked away. “It’s a meeting, Mi. About still confidential stuff about possible plans for his talents,” he explained.
Zhou Mi merely made a face in resignation and left his office.
He arrived at the set shortly after. Qian was standing in the middle of what looked like a library setting. She had her eyes close as she had her make-up retouched and her hair fluffed out. He looked around, wondering where the obnoxious leading man was.
He had driven over to the shoot psyching himself out in thinking that the Korean star was just probably having a bad day then and that he wasn’t really that annoying and insufferable in real life. He forced himself to calm down and be pleasant, like how he usually was with his talents and with the people that he worked with.
“I thought we wouldn’t be seeing each other any time soon?” a voice behind him said. Zhou Mi immediately turned around and came face to face with a handsomely suited up Cho Kyuhyun, who quirked an eyebrow at him. “Are you giving me false hopes?”
“I am your manager,” Zhou Mi emphasized, forgetting all the psyching up that he had done. It was so hard to be nice when he was always being provoked. “I tell you what to do. Not the other way around.”
“Oh really?” Kyuhyun responded, looking thoughtful. “And here I thought Heechul hyung was my manager.” With a look, he walked away towards the set, where Qian was all ready.
Zhou Mi clenched his fist and stalked off to the chair that was especially prepared for him.
A wrapped scene later, the director called for a break. The crew dispersed towards the buffet table, all hungry for something to eat. Kyuhyun stayed on set and pulled his phone out, while Qian walked off set to talk to him.
“He isn’t what I imagined him to be,” were her first words as she sat down beside him.
Zhou Mi looked up from the documents that he was reading and gave her a look. “If you’re going to back out again, I really don’t want to be the one to deal with this,” he declared. He looked around. “Where’s Jia?”
“Jie jie left a while ago,” Qian told him. “Something about Liyin’s outfits for a pictorial.” She shrugged. “And I didn’t say I was backing out.”
“What are you saying then?” Zhou Mi wanted to know, apprehensive.
“He’s just different from what you see on-screen,” she clarified with a shrug.
“Hmm, I’m sure,” was Zhou Mi’s only remark, not wanting to start saying anything that he was probably going to regret afterwards. Besides, it wouldn’t be very professional of him if he started saying bad things about the talents who were under his wing. It didn’t matter whether Kyuhyun was actually his talent or not.
Qian looked at him. There was a certain twinkle in her eye that she couldn’t place. Before he could even begin to figure it out, one of the staff suddenly came rushing towards him, red in the face and panicked.
“What is it?” Zhou Mi immediately asked.
“Cho Kyuhyun wants to have something to eat,” the assistant said. “He says you know his diet.”
Zhou Mi smirked and dismissed the staff member. He excused himself from Qian, who left to go to the dressing room, and walked towards the buffet. He got one of the sandwich breads and stuffed it with everything that he saw on the table.
Kyuhyun was seated on the side of the set, where few people were hanging out. Zhou Mi almost rolled his eyes. Of course the star would want to be alone and not have anything disturbing him. Of course he wouldn’t even try to get to know the crew who was slaving away for him.
This was the harsh reality that had beset him once he had been immersed in the entertainment industry. Movie stars were always covered with light, making them sparkle, becoming almost godly. Once he had managed to get through the light that seemingly separated them from the mere mortals that were their fans, he was suddenly plunged into darkness.
“What’s this?” Kyuhyun asked, staring at the sandwich that was shoved right in front of him.
“It’s food,” Zhou Mi responded in sarcasm. He even almost rolled his eyes. The man annoyed him to pieces. He didn’t really understand it, but there was just something about him that made him so angry all the time.
Kyuhyun stared at the sandwich then looked at him. “Han Geng has told you about my diet, right?” he asked.
“It’s food,” Zhou Mi merely repeated, practically thrusting the sandwich in his mouth.
Kyuhyun got the sandwich from him and took two big bites. Zhou Mi’s eyes widened for a bit, realizing that he really must have been hungry. Thinking about how he didn’t care, he turned to leave. However, he was unable to as Kyuhyun latched a hand around his wrist.
“What’s in this?” Kyuhyun coughed, his face turning red.
“It’s food,” Zhou Mi repeated once again, looking confused.
Sungmin’s eyes were wide as he covered his open mouth with both of his hands. Zhou Mi leaned his head back and closed his eyes. The alcohol was starting to affect his bodily systems. His head felt heavy and his arms just felt limp at his sides.
“He’s allergic to anything seafood,” Zhou Mi rasped, leaning forward and burying his face in his hands.
“But he’s okay, right?” Sungmin pressed. “I mean… where is he now?”
“He’s confined at a hospital nearby,” Zhou Mi mumbled through his hands.
He almost groaned out loud because of the realization of how stupid he was dawned on him over and over again. It had never happened before that he allowed himself to be so affected by the tantrums of a talent or anything other actor or actress that he had worked with for that matter. He’d always prided himself for being patient and for being able to adapt to any personality that he had the opportunity to encounter. Somehow, this Cho Kyuhyun managed to shatter every one of those things he thought he was good at.
Suddenly, he was pulled to stand by a firm grip on his arm. He blinked and looked to see who was manhandling him.
“You need to be there,” Sungmin explained his rather harsh actions. “You shouldn’t be anywhere near bars or anything remotely party-related right now. You should be at the hospital taking care of him.”
“But I-,” Zhou Mi tried to make an excuse.
“No,” Sungmin insisted, pulling him towards the bar exit. “You know I’m right.”
Zhou Mi sighed as the night wind greeted him as they stepped out of the bar. He raised his hand and hailed a cab.
---
It was late when he’d reach the hospital, already way past visiting hours. The hallway lights were dimmed, gloomy, almost eerie. Zhou Mi shivered as he walked away from the nurses’ station after showing her his identification. He wrapped his arms around himself as he walked down the corridor. Somehow, hospitals at night gave one the feeling of being utterly alone.
He stood outside the hospital door that had Cho Kyuhyun written on the nameplate. He could hear some sounds coming from the room, probably his manager and some friends keeping him company. He reached for the doorknob then hesitated. The uncertainty stemmed from the thought that he wasn’t needed there. He didn’t need to be there. If anything, Kyuhyun and his manager would probably want him to stay as far away as possible so that he doesn’t cause any more trouble.
There was a vibration in his pants pocket. He fished his mobile phone out and read the message that he had received.
Sungmin told me you’re going to the hospital. Don’t be stupid as to not actually go. Talk to him. It’s the least you can do.
Zhou Mi sighed and pocketed his phone. Then, with still a tiny bit of hesitation, he lightly knocked on the door and opened it as quietly as he could.
“What are you doing here?” Kyuhyun’s tone was dry, but biting.
Zhou Mi looked around in confusion. Where there were supposed to be people, his manager, some friends and family, there was no one. The room was empty save for the patient lying on the bed, watching a re-run of a Chinese drama.
“You’re alone,” he voiced out.
“Congratulations, you managed to figure that out,” Kyuhyun sneered. “Now get out.”
Zhou Mi turned to go, not really seeing the point of staying where he clearly wasn’t wanted, but he spotted the untouched hospital food that was on the tray beside his bed. “Have you had anything to eat?”
Kyuhyun eyed the food for a second then defiantly turned his gaze away from it and settled it on the television. “I’m not hungry,” he decided. Zhou Mi dropped his bag on the couch and walked over to the tray of food and poked it with the fork. “What are you doing?” the patient demanded irately.
“This won’t do,” Zhou Mi muttered. He picked up the tray and walked to the bathroom to dump everything in the trashcan. He replaced the now empty plates and tray beside his bed. After which, he picked up his bag and walked to the door.
Kyuhyun made an angry sound. “So you came here to inspect my food and throw it away? What’s with you and food?” he spat.
“Despite what you may think, I really didn’t mean for what happened to happen,” Zhou Mi steadily said, his hand on the doorknob.
Kyuhyun merely looked at him, his eyes dark and hard. “Promises are of no importance to me,” he finally told him in reply. “So stop wasting your time and just leave.”
Zhou Mi bowed slightly and left the room.
---
Kyuhyun was asleep when he returned and walked into his room. The Chinese drama still droned on, but Kyuhyun was comfortably leaned back on the bed, his head slightly tilted, eyes closed. It had been almost an hour since he had been metaphorically shoved out. He quietly placed a paper bag on the bigger table on the other side of the room.
“What now?” Kyuhyun whined tiredly, blinking in irritation.
“I brought you food,” Zhou Mi quietly murmured.
Kyuhyun’s eyes shot open and he stared at him. “You have issues with food, you know that?” he commented. “You come here, throw my food out then you go out and buy me some?”
“There was fish and shrimp in that one,” Zhou Mi defensively said, frowning. “I couldn’t very well let you starve to death.”
“You can also feed me to death,” Kyuhyun pointed out. “I don’t know if I can ever trust you when it comes to food again.”
“Completely understandable,” Zhou Mi responded with a smile to Kyuhyun’s surprise. The actor blinked for a couple of seconds and didn’t say anything. “That is why I have ddeokkbokki and samgyupsal and-.”
“Wait-you bought me Korean food?” Kyuhyun’s eyes were wide with a different kind of surprise than the one he showed earlier.
Zhou Mi merely smiled as he unpacked everything. He had managed to find the list of instructions that Hangeng had given to him previously. On it said that Kyuhyun was allergic to seafood and was picky with foreign food. He figured it was safe to feed him Korean food instead, something that he’s used to.
Kyuhyun sat up on his bed; anticipation filling him as the smell of newly cooked food wafted through his nostrils.
“I’m surprised your manager-Heechul-ssi, is it?-didn’t warn the hospital staff about your allergies,” Zhou Mi said conversationally as he placed everything on a tray and put it on Kyuhyun’s lap.
“He’s busy,” was the only thing that Kyuhyun said as he started eating, clearly indicating that he didn’t want to talk anymore.
Zhou Mi sat down on the sofa chair beside the bed and propped his chin on his hand, closing his eyes for a second. His head felt like it was going to explode. Sungmin hadn’t been very forgiving about shoving him out of the bar and into a cab. He hadn’t even been allowed to have a stopover his house just to freshen up for a bit. The alcohol was clearly still in his system. He knew it was a bad idea to visit a patient when he was intoxicated, but Hangeng’s text was clear. He wouldn’t dare defy Hangeng twice in a row.
He was already dreaming of work-related things; filming, shoots, his talents hounding him, his fight with Hangeng… Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun walked into his dream, bent over him and stared. Then he covered him with a blanket. Zhou Mi spent the rest of his sleep dreaming why Kyuhyun would ever do that.
---
Zhou Mi dared not defy anything that Hangeng ordered him to do after that incident. Listening and obeying everything that his boss said, he made sure that he’s in every filming, every photo shoot, and every promotional event that Kyuhyun had. He was even in all of his personal affairs, parties, dinners, even dates, making sure that he was able to eat right and that he understood everything that was said to him in any form of conversation. Zhou Mi had become Cho Kyuhyun’s personal assistant.
“What are we doing here?” Zhou Mi asked, looking up at the store signage.
“I need to buy something for my date tonight,” Kyuhyun told him as they entered, bowing politely to the store attendants who greeted then. Some of the salesladies started whispering to each other, all recognizing Kyuhyun.
“What, are you proposing?” Zhou Mi wondered aloud, looking at all the beautiful jewelry surrounding them.
It was interesting how Kyuhyun always prepared a gift for each one of his dates, not caring whether it was the only the first date. He always made sure he had something on hand. It was his way of showing affection. Because, other than that, his dates practically didn’t get any, other than a handsome smile, a holding hand, and sometimes a kiss.
“Qian’s mentioned something about a bracelet that she likes,” Kyuhyun told him, looking around. He gestured to a saleslady and pointed at a bracelet in one of the glass cases.
“You’re going out with her again?” Zhou Mi blurted out in surprise. This was unheard of. In all the time he’d chaperoned (always staying at another table) Kyuhyun on his dates, he never went out with the same girl twice. He always said that he liked them fresh every time.
“She’s my leading lady,” Kyuhyun answered as if it was obvious. “I think we should be seen going out together more than once.”
“But she really likes you,” Zhou Mi declared. He’d seen the way Qian looked at Kyuhyun. He’d seen the way her attitude changed, especially when she was around him. It was exactly how she was when she fell in love with another one of her co-actors in the past.
Kyuhyun looked at him, as if he was assessing what he was going to say. “She knows my stand on this,” he slowly laid out. “And she knows that our dates are part of promoting our movie. But it still is a date and so I buy her gifts, like I always do.”
“She may know that,” Zhou Mi quietly retorted. “But I know Qian and she likes you, despite what you may have agreed upon.”
“Well, in that case, I’m sorry,” Kyuhyun reacted with a shrug. “But I’m not going to put effort in a relationship that’s only going to last for as long as I am here.”
“Kyuhyun-,” he began.
“That’s that,” Kyuhyun interrupted him. “I don’t do grand gestures or romantic notions. I don’t fall in love.”
TBC
---
Author's Notes:
1. The movie industry has always fascinated me, both on-screen and behind the scenes, most BTS. There's so much going on that we don't know anything about and I get overly curious. I like how relationships between actors develop and always wonder how friendships begin, whether they get along, what causes conflicts or if they remain friends after the movie is long over.
2. Everyone wears a mask. Maybe not all the time, but still.
3. I love the Mi and Geng friendship. I love Song Qian and Henry and Zhang Liyin. Chinese loves. :D
4. And don't you just love imagining SJ as some hotshot movie actors, top of the tier, untouchable? Just a thought.
5. Ending this babbling now. I welcome your honest opinions.
Characters: Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Angst, Life, Friendship, Romance
Summary: AU. Where Kyuhyun is a top star and Zhou Mi is a manager.
Well, hello. It's me again. I keep on writing QMi these days because I just love them to pieces. Anyway, this is weird. It's supposed to be a one-shot, but it got overly long (and still unfinished) so I'm making it into a two-shot. It's not like I have a choice anyway. So, this is this. I hope you like it.
lights, camera, action
Black can appear white when the light is blinding,
but white loses all luster at the faintest sign of darkness.
- Evil Thirst, Christopher Pike
He squeezed his eyes shut as patronizing words seeped right through him. He clenched his fists tightly to prevent them from shaking any further than they already were. He wanted nothing more than to get out of there. But, for now, he had to stand there and endure. It was part of his job.
“He’s an actor.” The words coursed right through his heart. “An exceptionally famous one at that, an international one, almost. And you’re…”
He opened his eyes and met pitying ones.
The sentence remained unfinished. Instead, he received a smile that was meant to be comforting but had made him feel small and a pat on the shoulder. He didn’t need the sentence to be finished anyway. He knew who he was.
He was a celebrated actor, well known and well loved. And he… he was him.
There was nothing more to that.
---
---
---
There was always certain fascination that always came with the stars of TV dramas, sitcoms, variety shows, and music shows. The TV personalities, MCs, comedians, those from variety shows and music performers always brought about with them a certain sparkle, one that people of humble means and occupations, only just watching from afar, looked after longingly. It always seemed that, despite being just normal beings themselves, they were far from that, they weren’t normal and were special.
To Zhou Mi, though, movie stars were something of a league of their own. He felt like they were more mysterious as they’re not seen as often as TV personalities and music performers, who showed their faces at least every week. Film celebrities burrowed themselves into filming for months, rarely appearing on broadcast. When the film is shown on cinemas, it’s only then that they go on promotions and attend premiere showings. If the movie garners much interest and gets nominated for awards, they go on award ceremonies and a couple of after parties. After which, they disappear into filming once more once a new project comes along. And people never really know who they are.
He looked out of the window of his boss’ office on the 9th floor, fiddling with his hands. It was always a wonder to him what happened behind the scenes, how certain movie actors and actresses behaved behind the lens. Even as a young child, he was fascinated with films, its intricacies and its magic. So it had only been natural for him to take filmmaking as his major in university and to dabble in the industry as soon as he had graduated.
“Zhou Mi,” a voice greeted him as the office door opened. His boss walked in and hurriedly sat on his seat behind the desk. He closed his eyes for a second as he leaned back on his seat, as if savoring the small comfort that it gave.
“Everything okay?” Zhou Mi asked, worry clearly expressed in his features.
His boss opened his eyes and smiled. “I’m okay,” he immediately answered.
Han Geng was the god of one of the biggest movie entertainment companies in Beijing. He was the one who made sure that all things concerning production in a film went smoothly. He was in charge of everything, budgets, sets, shoots, casting, and scripts. There wasn’t a day that he didn’t receive movie scripts from all kinds of people, some, good; most, horrible. Not a day went by that he wasn’t approached about the opportunity to act and work in one of his films.
“Qian has thrown a fit again today. She’s saying that she wants to back out of the movie with Choi Siwon.” He let out a breath as he went through the files on his desk.
Zhou Mi frowned. “But I just talked to her yesterday,” he countered. “I’m positive she had been dying to work with him for a while now.” From what he knew the actress had always been interested in South Korea’s most promising leading men, Choi Siwon.
“Yes, well, that was until she found out that he was actually dating someone,” Hangeng told him. “Now, it’s either he leaves or she does, which we can’t very well do since she’s perfect for the role.”
“But Choi Siwon is perfect for the role, too,” Zhou Mi reminded him.
“In cases like this, you always know how it’s going to turn out, don’t you?” Hangeng stated with a soft sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Loyalty to one’s country and people was very important to China. People already knew that Song Qian, one of the prettiest and most talented actresses that have come from Beijing, was going to star in a most-awaited film feature with Choi Siwon. If she was to be pulled out and Siwon was to be maintained, the public would just see it as some sort of treachery. To add to that, the masses loved Song Qian. The company wouldn’t be able to stand up to whatever wrath that the fans would definitely feel if they pulled her out.
Zhou Mi reached for Hangeng’s hand across the desk and squeezed it lightly. To others he may be Han Geng, the big boss, or Hangeng, the colleague, but to him, he was Geng, his best friend.
“I’m sure we’ll find some other Korean actor to replace him,” Zhou Mi comforted him.
Hangeng squeezed his hand back as his form of thank you. “We actually have found someone to replace him,” he then said, getting back to business.
Zhou Mi withdrew his hand and leaned back on his seat. They may be best friends, but they both took their jobs seriously. He was the company’s top talent scout and manager, after all. “Let me guess, Kim Kibum?” he deduced, looking thoughtful. “I suppose he will do. He has more of that boyish charm that Siwon doesn’t have, his amazing smile would look good on film, his intensity and passion is a definite plus… still, he’s no Choi Siwon.”
“Do you really think we would get just anyone to star with Song Qian?” Hangeng voiced out, looking at his best friend amusedly. “That I would allow one of the top actresses in the country in one of my most expensive productions to date to be paired with just anyone?”
“Kim Kibum is not just anyone, though,” Zhou Mi reminded him, a tone of warning in his voice. Sometimes, Hangeng got too condescending when he knew exactly what he wanted. Hangeng merely snickered. “Well, who is it then? If you think Kim Kibum is not up to par, then maybe… Lee Donghae?”
“He is one of South Korea’s best, but he’s too short,” Hangeng bluntly told him, making a face.
Zhou Mi chuckled. “Well, who is it?” he pressed, leaning forward. “Lee Eunhyuk is on the short side, too, so I’m writing him out. I can’t think of anyone else whom you think is-.” He suddenly stopped blabbering and gasped. “You can’t mean-.”
“Yes,” Hangeng nodded, smiling almost evilly. “I do.”
“But how could you have gotten him?” Zhou Mi sputtered, disbelief written all over his face. “He’s impossible to book.”
“Nothing is impossible for the great Han Geng,” Hangeng declared, raising his hands up in the air to emphasize his point. “Not even Cho Kyuhyun.”
Cho Kyuhyun was South Korea’s current blue chip. He had been under the limelight since he was 10 years old, starring in small roles here and there, and steadily made his way to the top. After starring in a detective role, alongside the lovely South Korean actress Kim Taeyeon, his fate in the film industry had been sealed. He had proven, throughout the years, that he was dynamic, being able to be funny, charming and tough at the same time, as well as witty. It didn’t help that he had the most gorgeous dark eyes and had such a winning and contagious smile.
Zhou Mi didn’t really know much about him since his personal life was perfectly (and amazingly) kept under wraps by his management. All he knew was that he was a top star, one that was much sought-after by film directors and producers Asia-wide.
“I just might actually agree with you on that one for once,” Zhou Mi finally granted. “So he’s coming here. In Beijing.” He leaned back on his seat and shook his head. “Wow, I don’t know what to say.” Then he sat straight once again. “He doesn’t know Chinese. How are you going to-?”
Hangeng nodded, retrieving a couple of documents from his files. “That’s where you come in, Mi,” he began, all business-like once more.
“Me?” Zhou Mi echoed, blinking.
“This is his schedule,” Hangeng handed him sheets of paper. “And then here are the filming locations, as well as the restaurants that he would most likely enjoy, shops that he would want to go to…”
“Geng, what am I going to do with all of this?” Zhou Mi demanded, frowning. “I’m sure his manager would appreciate all of this information instead.” He gave his friend a questioning look.
“Kim Heechul sucks at Chinese as much as his talent does,” Hangeng informed him. “And you know Korean, Mi.” He gave his best friend the best winning smile that he could muster, not giving him a chance to protest. “You would be able to communicate with him with no problems whatsoever. Besides, his manager has other talents coming into the country for a separate project. Jessica Jung is scheduled to shoot here for as long as Cho Kyuhyun will be. She’s newer than he is and so, naturally, the manager clings to the one who is possible to create more trouble.”
“But, Geng,” Zhou Mi began his dissent. “I have work, too, you know, other talents that you pay me to manage? I can’t just drop them, which I would seemingly have to do, for some South Korean actor.”
“Ah, but he’s not just some South Korean actor,” Hangeng prompted. “You know I’m right. Also, I’m your boss. Don’t subordinates usually do what their bosses say?” He tapped his chin, looking smug.
“I hate you, you know that, right?” Zhou Mi grounded out, putting the papers in the file case that he had with him and stuffed it in his bag. “Just you wait for insurgency. It’s not too out of the question at this moment.” He stood up and moved to leave the office.
“Mi, there is something that would make this easier for you,” Hangeng called out to him.
Zhou Mi stopped walking, a sigh on his lips as he turned around. “This better be good,” he stated.
“Oh it is,” Hangeng assured him, a wicked smile on his face.
“Well, what is it?” Zhou Mi impatiently inquired.
“He’s single.”
Hangeng immediately ducked, falling off his chair, as a throw pillow from the sofa flew across the room and right towards him.
“What!” Hangeng yelled. “I was referring to Song Qian! Knowing that he’s single, she’d be willing to babysit him for you instead.”
“Shut up!”
---
The familiar interruptive knocks on his office came faster than he expected. It came along with the noisy, but warm chatter he had grown accustomed to in his daily life as a talent manager.
He looked up and propped his elbows in his desk, resting his chin lightly on his clasped hands as the door opened. The smile was ready on his face, as he knew what was coming.
“Gege, why would you do this?” came the immediate barrage of questions. The young man, half a head shorter than Zhou Mi, dark brown hair, fair complexion and a very cute smile, who had entered first, plopped down on one of the seats in front of his desk.
“Yeah, ge, why would you?” the girl, the same height as the boy, red hair, incredibly pretty, who followed in after him, echoed, almost teasingly. She sat down on the other seat and placed her hands primly on her lap.
“I haven’t done anything,” Zhou Mi gently defended himself.
Henry snorted, while Liyin rolled her eyes. “Right,” Henry muttered. “Then why are we suddenly assigned to Jia jie jie, instead of you? As far as I know, I haven’t consented to changing managers. I reviewed my contract, too, and it doesn’t say anything of the sort either.”
Zhou Mi’s lip twitched.
“I told you, you’re being overdramatic about this,” Liyin shushed Henry. She turned to Zhou Mi, who was watching them with amusement. “I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation for this.”
“And this is what I mean, Yin,” Zhou Mi responded, gesturing towards her. “You just need an explanation for everything. This is what the directors keep on telling me. Sometimes your characters just do things because that’s what they do, that is who they are. There isn’t really a back-story to everything.”
“I think we’ve gone away from the point, but okay,” Liyin dismissed, a small smile on her face. “Qian isn’t talking to you.”
“That’s because she’s excited,” Henry contested. “Right at the minute she found out about Cho Kyuhyun, she sped to the salon and had her hair and nails done.”
“You’re just upset because she blew you off,” Liyin teased him.
“I am not,” Henry countered, looking affronted. But there was a blush on his chubby cheeks.
“I think I’ve found the reason why I would actually want to send you all to Jia for management,” Zhou Mi concluded, glancing at his talents. “This dating nonsense you two are talking about. You know the rules.” He gave Henry a knowing look.
“I haven’t broken anything yet,” Henry firmly declared, crossing his arms on his chest.
“Yet,” Zhou Mi emphasized. “Please,” he continued almost immediately before Henry could protest, “don’t start anything. And not only because it’s what’s required of you by the company. It’s what’s required of you by the public.”
“Screw the public,” Henry muttered. It startled Liyin, but she didn’t counter his statement, nor did she chide him.
“I’m sorry, Henry, but this is your job and it’s my job to make you keep yours,” Zhou Mi gently reminded him.
“How did this go from you leaving us to fend for ourselves to me dating?” Henry grumbled, shooting dagger looks at Liyin, who smiled sheepishly.
Zhou Mi sighed once again. “I am not leaving you to fend for yourselves,” he contradicted. “I am still your manager. But, for now, Jia will be taking care of your schedules and looking after you. Apparently, Cho Kyuhyun is an even bigger star than I’ve imagined him to be. He needs a Chinese manager-slash-translator-slash-babysitter.”
“Will we get to meet him?” Liyin asked, a sparkle in her eyes.
“Oh Liyin is a fan,” Henry snickered teasingly.
Liyin reached across him and slapped his arm. “I’m just curious about him, that’s all.”
“How Geng came to hire the two of you is a mystery to me,” Zhou Mi mused loudly.
“You scouted me,” Henry smugly jogged his memory.
“And me,” Liyin piped in, grinning.
“I must’ve had a brain malfunction,” Zhou Mi muttered. “Anyway, you two will be good to Jia and-.”
“If she’ll be good to us,” Henry muttered just as Liyin said, “Qian won’t be.”
“She will be,” Zhou Mi answered Henry, while he told Liyin, “And I’ll make sure Qian will be too. The three of you will be good to her.”
“I’ve decided that I want to meet this Cho Kyuhyun, too,” Henry announced as he stood up. “I want to see what’s so special about him.”
“He’s South Korea’s man of the moment,” Liyin quoted one of the magazine articles she’d read about him.
Henry merely smirked. “You shouldn’t believe everything that you read and hear about people in our industry,” he told her with a slight scolding in his tone. “Are you everything they say you are in interviews?” Liyin kept quiet. “Right. The same thing with this Cho Kyuhyun. There has to be something off about him.”
“Firstly, he’s your senior so you will do no such thing such as investigating him,” Zhou Mi directed as he stood up to shoo them away from his office. “Secondly, don’t you two have filming schedules that are not here in my office?”
He opened the door to shove his talents out, but abruptly stopped in his tracks. Qian and Hangeng were right outside his door. Talking to a god in broken Korean. Zhou Mi closed his eyes for a second, squeezed them tightly, and then opened them again. They really were talking to a god.
“Ah, Mi,” Hangeng greeted, breaking off their conversation and turning to him. “We were just about to come into your office.” He put an arm around the god they were talking to and lightly patted his shoulder. There was this grin on his face that Zhou Mi wanted to smack away. “This is Cho Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun, this is Zhou Mi. He’ll be the one to take care of you in your stay here.”
Kyuhyun merely tilted his head as his way of bowing in greeting and respect, confusion in his features. Zhou Mi just stood there and stared.
“You need to translate, now that I’ve introduced you two,” Hangeng immediately nudged Zhou Mi, lightly stepping forward and stepping on his toe.
“Oh,” Zhou Mi clumsily responded in stuttering Korean. “I’m Zhou Mi. I’ll be your manager while you’re here.”
“I’m sure you will be,” Kyuhyun replied, giving him a winning smile as seemingly surprised he was that his Korean was practically flawless. He reached for his hand to shake it. “Look, I don’t know what you’ve been told, but I don’t need a babysitter. And not being able to speak Chinese is not going to be any hindrance for me.” He squeezed his hand tighter as if to send a message. “I can find my way around the city without your help.” The smile on his face stayed all throughout the insulting words.
Qian giggled, hopelessly in love with his Korean, while Henry and Liyin exchanged confused looks, not understanding anything. Hangeng merely clapped Kyuhyun on the back and looked relieved. Zhou Mi merely blinked.
“Glad that you two are getting to know each other well,” Hangeng began again, looking at Zhou Mi. “Welcome to Beijing!” he added to Kyuhyun.
“Han Geng says welcome to Beijing,” Zhou Mi translated unwillingly, dropping his hand to his side and fisting it.
“I think I can understand that much,” Kyuhyun answered, smirking this time. Qian continued to giggle.
“You’re a prick.” The words left Zhou Mi’s lips before he could stop himself. He was about to apologize but Kyuhyun’s widening smirk stopped him.
“I’m glad we understand each other,” Kyuhyun told him, bowing respectfully as if he was giving him praises. “I don’t look forward to seeing much of you in the duration of my stay here.”
“Don’t count on it,” Zhou Mi bitingly declared.
His eyes narrowed as Kyuhyun walked away with Qian hanging on his arm like a little schoolgirl.
---
The lights were blinding and the music was loud. It flashed right before his eyes and made his ears pound. It was exactly the effect that he had been hoping for. He took a shot of tequila from the table and downed it with a gulp.
“It couldn’t have been that bad,” Sungmin, Zhou Mi’s friend from university, commented, watching as his friend reached for another shot of alcohol and drank it.
“Oh it was bad,” Henry eagerly supplied, ducking when Zhou Mi turned and slapped the back of his head. “Gege,” he whined. Then he turned to Sungmin. “I’m telling the truth.” He immediately scuttled out of Zhou Mi’s reach.
“You always exaggerate things, Henry,” Sungmin berated him lightly. “Go to the bar and get a drink. While you’re at it, chat with some girl.”
Zhou Mi’s hand shot out and grabbed Henry’s wrist. “Don’t chat with some girl and don’t get drunk,” he reminded him.
“When have I ever been drunk? When have I ever been not careful?” Henry retorted, making a face and trotting off to the direction of the bar.
Sungmin, big-eyed, pink, plump lips, straight teeth and a handsome face, turned his full attention to Zhou Mi, who was, yet again, downing another drink. He reached out and touched him on the arm.
“At this rate, you’re going to get wasted and I would have to call Hangeng to take you home,” Sungmin commented.
“He won’t come and get me,” Zhou Mi told him, shaking his head.
“Geng is your best friend,” Sungmin reminded him. “He’s always going to come to take you home-.”
“He almost fired me today, Min,” Zhou Mi interrupted him.
Zhou Mi was never supposed to go to Kyuhyun and Qian’s filming that day. He had planned to pretend to be sick on that day just to avoid being anywhere near the Korean star that was supposed to be in his care. In the first week that he had attended to him, his fists always ended up being clenched, as well as his jaw, all from being so upset and irritated at the Korean actor’s behavior. But he’d made the mistake of forgetting the things that he was to work on at the office while he was pretending to be sick. He had tiptoed his way to the 9th floor to his office and walked in on Hangeng going through the files on his desk.
“You’re late,” was Hangeng’s immediate statement. He gathered the papers on his desk and hastily handed them to Zhou Mi. “Qian and Kyuhyun already left for their filming. I told them you’d just follow.”
“I…can’t,” Zhou Mi stammered, taking a step back towards the hallway. “What are you doing in my office?”
Hangeng gave him a curious look, tilting his head. “Why not?” he asked, ignoring his question.
“I’m…” Zhou Mi then sighed. He knew it would be pointless to lie. “Alright,” he gave in, getting the papers.
“Qian’s having dinner with her family after the shoot, so you will have to take Kyuhyun out to dinner, somewhere nice. Do you remember the list and reminders that I gave you?” Hangeng wanted to know.
“Yeah,” Zhou Mi murmured a lie. He hadn’t even looked at those since his first encounter with Kyuhyun.
“Very well,” Hangeng said, satisfied. “I’m going to meeting with his manager, Kim Heechul-.”
“Why doesn’t he just have dinner with you guys as well?” Zhou Mi prompted, looking hopeful. He wanted to have as little to do with Kyuhyun as humanly possible.
Hangeng looked away. “It’s a meeting, Mi. About still confidential stuff about possible plans for his talents,” he explained.
Zhou Mi merely made a face in resignation and left his office.
He arrived at the set shortly after. Qian was standing in the middle of what looked like a library setting. She had her eyes close as she had her make-up retouched and her hair fluffed out. He looked around, wondering where the obnoxious leading man was.
He had driven over to the shoot psyching himself out in thinking that the Korean star was just probably having a bad day then and that he wasn’t really that annoying and insufferable in real life. He forced himself to calm down and be pleasant, like how he usually was with his talents and with the people that he worked with.
“I thought we wouldn’t be seeing each other any time soon?” a voice behind him said. Zhou Mi immediately turned around and came face to face with a handsomely suited up Cho Kyuhyun, who quirked an eyebrow at him. “Are you giving me false hopes?”
“I am your manager,” Zhou Mi emphasized, forgetting all the psyching up that he had done. It was so hard to be nice when he was always being provoked. “I tell you what to do. Not the other way around.”
“Oh really?” Kyuhyun responded, looking thoughtful. “And here I thought Heechul hyung was my manager.” With a look, he walked away towards the set, where Qian was all ready.
Zhou Mi clenched his fist and stalked off to the chair that was especially prepared for him.
A wrapped scene later, the director called for a break. The crew dispersed towards the buffet table, all hungry for something to eat. Kyuhyun stayed on set and pulled his phone out, while Qian walked off set to talk to him.
“He isn’t what I imagined him to be,” were her first words as she sat down beside him.
Zhou Mi looked up from the documents that he was reading and gave her a look. “If you’re going to back out again, I really don’t want to be the one to deal with this,” he declared. He looked around. “Where’s Jia?”
“Jie jie left a while ago,” Qian told him. “Something about Liyin’s outfits for a pictorial.” She shrugged. “And I didn’t say I was backing out.”
“What are you saying then?” Zhou Mi wanted to know, apprehensive.
“He’s just different from what you see on-screen,” she clarified with a shrug.
“Hmm, I’m sure,” was Zhou Mi’s only remark, not wanting to start saying anything that he was probably going to regret afterwards. Besides, it wouldn’t be very professional of him if he started saying bad things about the talents who were under his wing. It didn’t matter whether Kyuhyun was actually his talent or not.
Qian looked at him. There was a certain twinkle in her eye that she couldn’t place. Before he could even begin to figure it out, one of the staff suddenly came rushing towards him, red in the face and panicked.
“What is it?” Zhou Mi immediately asked.
“Cho Kyuhyun wants to have something to eat,” the assistant said. “He says you know his diet.”
Zhou Mi smirked and dismissed the staff member. He excused himself from Qian, who left to go to the dressing room, and walked towards the buffet. He got one of the sandwich breads and stuffed it with everything that he saw on the table.
Kyuhyun was seated on the side of the set, where few people were hanging out. Zhou Mi almost rolled his eyes. Of course the star would want to be alone and not have anything disturbing him. Of course he wouldn’t even try to get to know the crew who was slaving away for him.
This was the harsh reality that had beset him once he had been immersed in the entertainment industry. Movie stars were always covered with light, making them sparkle, becoming almost godly. Once he had managed to get through the light that seemingly separated them from the mere mortals that were their fans, he was suddenly plunged into darkness.
“What’s this?” Kyuhyun asked, staring at the sandwich that was shoved right in front of him.
“It’s food,” Zhou Mi responded in sarcasm. He even almost rolled his eyes. The man annoyed him to pieces. He didn’t really understand it, but there was just something about him that made him so angry all the time.
Kyuhyun stared at the sandwich then looked at him. “Han Geng has told you about my diet, right?” he asked.
“It’s food,” Zhou Mi merely repeated, practically thrusting the sandwich in his mouth.
Kyuhyun got the sandwich from him and took two big bites. Zhou Mi’s eyes widened for a bit, realizing that he really must have been hungry. Thinking about how he didn’t care, he turned to leave. However, he was unable to as Kyuhyun latched a hand around his wrist.
“What’s in this?” Kyuhyun coughed, his face turning red.
“It’s food,” Zhou Mi repeated once again, looking confused.
Sungmin’s eyes were wide as he covered his open mouth with both of his hands. Zhou Mi leaned his head back and closed his eyes. The alcohol was starting to affect his bodily systems. His head felt heavy and his arms just felt limp at his sides.
“He’s allergic to anything seafood,” Zhou Mi rasped, leaning forward and burying his face in his hands.
“But he’s okay, right?” Sungmin pressed. “I mean… where is he now?”
“He’s confined at a hospital nearby,” Zhou Mi mumbled through his hands.
He almost groaned out loud because of the realization of how stupid he was dawned on him over and over again. It had never happened before that he allowed himself to be so affected by the tantrums of a talent or anything other actor or actress that he had worked with for that matter. He’d always prided himself for being patient and for being able to adapt to any personality that he had the opportunity to encounter. Somehow, this Cho Kyuhyun managed to shatter every one of those things he thought he was good at.
Suddenly, he was pulled to stand by a firm grip on his arm. He blinked and looked to see who was manhandling him.
“You need to be there,” Sungmin explained his rather harsh actions. “You shouldn’t be anywhere near bars or anything remotely party-related right now. You should be at the hospital taking care of him.”
“But I-,” Zhou Mi tried to make an excuse.
“No,” Sungmin insisted, pulling him towards the bar exit. “You know I’m right.”
Zhou Mi sighed as the night wind greeted him as they stepped out of the bar. He raised his hand and hailed a cab.
---
It was late when he’d reach the hospital, already way past visiting hours. The hallway lights were dimmed, gloomy, almost eerie. Zhou Mi shivered as he walked away from the nurses’ station after showing her his identification. He wrapped his arms around himself as he walked down the corridor. Somehow, hospitals at night gave one the feeling of being utterly alone.
He stood outside the hospital door that had Cho Kyuhyun written on the nameplate. He could hear some sounds coming from the room, probably his manager and some friends keeping him company. He reached for the doorknob then hesitated. The uncertainty stemmed from the thought that he wasn’t needed there. He didn’t need to be there. If anything, Kyuhyun and his manager would probably want him to stay as far away as possible so that he doesn’t cause any more trouble.
There was a vibration in his pants pocket. He fished his mobile phone out and read the message that he had received.
Sungmin told me you’re going to the hospital. Don’t be stupid as to not actually go. Talk to him. It’s the least you can do.
Zhou Mi sighed and pocketed his phone. Then, with still a tiny bit of hesitation, he lightly knocked on the door and opened it as quietly as he could.
“What are you doing here?” Kyuhyun’s tone was dry, but biting.
Zhou Mi looked around in confusion. Where there were supposed to be people, his manager, some friends and family, there was no one. The room was empty save for the patient lying on the bed, watching a re-run of a Chinese drama.
“You’re alone,” he voiced out.
“Congratulations, you managed to figure that out,” Kyuhyun sneered. “Now get out.”
Zhou Mi turned to go, not really seeing the point of staying where he clearly wasn’t wanted, but he spotted the untouched hospital food that was on the tray beside his bed. “Have you had anything to eat?”
Kyuhyun eyed the food for a second then defiantly turned his gaze away from it and settled it on the television. “I’m not hungry,” he decided. Zhou Mi dropped his bag on the couch and walked over to the tray of food and poked it with the fork. “What are you doing?” the patient demanded irately.
“This won’t do,” Zhou Mi muttered. He picked up the tray and walked to the bathroom to dump everything in the trashcan. He replaced the now empty plates and tray beside his bed. After which, he picked up his bag and walked to the door.
Kyuhyun made an angry sound. “So you came here to inspect my food and throw it away? What’s with you and food?” he spat.
“Despite what you may think, I really didn’t mean for what happened to happen,” Zhou Mi steadily said, his hand on the doorknob.
Kyuhyun merely looked at him, his eyes dark and hard. “Promises are of no importance to me,” he finally told him in reply. “So stop wasting your time and just leave.”
Zhou Mi bowed slightly and left the room.
---
Kyuhyun was asleep when he returned and walked into his room. The Chinese drama still droned on, but Kyuhyun was comfortably leaned back on the bed, his head slightly tilted, eyes closed. It had been almost an hour since he had been metaphorically shoved out. He quietly placed a paper bag on the bigger table on the other side of the room.
“What now?” Kyuhyun whined tiredly, blinking in irritation.
“I brought you food,” Zhou Mi quietly murmured.
Kyuhyun’s eyes shot open and he stared at him. “You have issues with food, you know that?” he commented. “You come here, throw my food out then you go out and buy me some?”
“There was fish and shrimp in that one,” Zhou Mi defensively said, frowning. “I couldn’t very well let you starve to death.”
“You can also feed me to death,” Kyuhyun pointed out. “I don’t know if I can ever trust you when it comes to food again.”
“Completely understandable,” Zhou Mi responded with a smile to Kyuhyun’s surprise. The actor blinked for a couple of seconds and didn’t say anything. “That is why I have ddeokkbokki and samgyupsal and-.”
“Wait-you bought me Korean food?” Kyuhyun’s eyes were wide with a different kind of surprise than the one he showed earlier.
Zhou Mi merely smiled as he unpacked everything. He had managed to find the list of instructions that Hangeng had given to him previously. On it said that Kyuhyun was allergic to seafood and was picky with foreign food. He figured it was safe to feed him Korean food instead, something that he’s used to.
Kyuhyun sat up on his bed; anticipation filling him as the smell of newly cooked food wafted through his nostrils.
“I’m surprised your manager-Heechul-ssi, is it?-didn’t warn the hospital staff about your allergies,” Zhou Mi said conversationally as he placed everything on a tray and put it on Kyuhyun’s lap.
“He’s busy,” was the only thing that Kyuhyun said as he started eating, clearly indicating that he didn’t want to talk anymore.
Zhou Mi sat down on the sofa chair beside the bed and propped his chin on his hand, closing his eyes for a second. His head felt like it was going to explode. Sungmin hadn’t been very forgiving about shoving him out of the bar and into a cab. He hadn’t even been allowed to have a stopover his house just to freshen up for a bit. The alcohol was clearly still in his system. He knew it was a bad idea to visit a patient when he was intoxicated, but Hangeng’s text was clear. He wouldn’t dare defy Hangeng twice in a row.
He was already dreaming of work-related things; filming, shoots, his talents hounding him, his fight with Hangeng… Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun walked into his dream, bent over him and stared. Then he covered him with a blanket. Zhou Mi spent the rest of his sleep dreaming why Kyuhyun would ever do that.
---
Zhou Mi dared not defy anything that Hangeng ordered him to do after that incident. Listening and obeying everything that his boss said, he made sure that he’s in every filming, every photo shoot, and every promotional event that Kyuhyun had. He was even in all of his personal affairs, parties, dinners, even dates, making sure that he was able to eat right and that he understood everything that was said to him in any form of conversation. Zhou Mi had become Cho Kyuhyun’s personal assistant.
“What are we doing here?” Zhou Mi asked, looking up at the store signage.
“I need to buy something for my date tonight,” Kyuhyun told him as they entered, bowing politely to the store attendants who greeted then. Some of the salesladies started whispering to each other, all recognizing Kyuhyun.
“What, are you proposing?” Zhou Mi wondered aloud, looking at all the beautiful jewelry surrounding them.
It was interesting how Kyuhyun always prepared a gift for each one of his dates, not caring whether it was the only the first date. He always made sure he had something on hand. It was his way of showing affection. Because, other than that, his dates practically didn’t get any, other than a handsome smile, a holding hand, and sometimes a kiss.
“Qian’s mentioned something about a bracelet that she likes,” Kyuhyun told him, looking around. He gestured to a saleslady and pointed at a bracelet in one of the glass cases.
“You’re going out with her again?” Zhou Mi blurted out in surprise. This was unheard of. In all the time he’d chaperoned (always staying at another table) Kyuhyun on his dates, he never went out with the same girl twice. He always said that he liked them fresh every time.
“She’s my leading lady,” Kyuhyun answered as if it was obvious. “I think we should be seen going out together more than once.”
“But she really likes you,” Zhou Mi declared. He’d seen the way Qian looked at Kyuhyun. He’d seen the way her attitude changed, especially when she was around him. It was exactly how she was when she fell in love with another one of her co-actors in the past.
Kyuhyun looked at him, as if he was assessing what he was going to say. “She knows my stand on this,” he slowly laid out. “And she knows that our dates are part of promoting our movie. But it still is a date and so I buy her gifts, like I always do.”
“She may know that,” Zhou Mi quietly retorted. “But I know Qian and she likes you, despite what you may have agreed upon.”
“Well, in that case, I’m sorry,” Kyuhyun reacted with a shrug. “But I’m not going to put effort in a relationship that’s only going to last for as long as I am here.”
“Kyuhyun-,” he began.
“That’s that,” Kyuhyun interrupted him. “I don’t do grand gestures or romantic notions. I don’t fall in love.”
TBC
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Author's Notes:
1. The movie industry has always fascinated me, both on-screen and behind the scenes, most BTS. There's so much going on that we don't know anything about and I get overly curious. I like how relationships between actors develop and always wonder how friendships begin, whether they get along, what causes conflicts or if they remain friends after the movie is long over.
2. Everyone wears a mask. Maybe not all the time, but still.
3. I love the Mi and Geng friendship. I love Song Qian and Henry and Zhang Liyin. Chinese loves. :D
4. And don't you just love imagining SJ as some hotshot movie actors, top of the tier, untouchable? Just a thought.
5. Ending this babbling now. I welcome your honest opinions.