Betting everything for theperfnerd [3/3]
“Kyungsoo is making out with Minah in the makeup trailer. Again,” Jongin shudders as he bangs the door to Chanyeol’s trailer open two days later. “Oh, Sehun you’re here. Again.”
“Working on today’s scenes,” Sehun mutters absentmindedly while staring at the script with focus. Chanyeol takes the 4:00 pm coffee that Jongin hands him and takes a much-needed sip. Today has already felt like an incredibly long day because they started at 7 in the morning and Kris is showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. Chanyeol could really use a nap, but the chances of him getting one next to none so coffee will have to suffice for the time being.
“You guys never used to work on scenes this much,” Jongin eyes them suspiciously. “I’m starting to doubt you.”
“It comes along with the whole friendship thing,” Chanyeol explains. “He’s struggling, so I thought I’d help him out a little.”
“I’m not struggling. I’m just unable to completely grasp the emotion of this scene,” Sehun clarifies.
“I explained it already, it’s pretty straight forward,” Chanyeol sighs.
“Maybe Chanyeol should be the one becoming a director, Sehun,” Jongin prattles as he makes himself comfortable on the couch. “You don’t seem very good at it.”
“Maybe he should,” Sehun slumps in his chair. “Chanyeol can become a world renowned actor slash director and I’ll just go into modeling like everyone says I should. Even Chanyeol thinks I’d make a good model.”
“He does?” Jongin asks curiously. Chanyeol turns slightly red as his moment of thoughtlessness comes back to haunt him. Sehun must have heard him after all that day a few weeks ago.
“He does,” Sehun smiles with a slight glint in his eyes
“Oookay, there is sexual tension here and I am starting to feel uncomfortable. I’m going to take this as my cue to leave,” Jongin stands up and inches towards the door. “You better not be making out when I come back, or I’ll never forgive you. I have enough images of Kyungsoo and Minah scarring my memories and I don’t need any more.”
Jongin’s comments make him turn even redder.
“You blush so easily,” Sehun notes with the same smile on his face. “It’s cute.”
“I’m not cute,” Chanyeol grumbles. “Focus on the script.”
“Yessir,” Sehun mock salutes and goes back to reading the script with intensity. It’s a good look on him, Chanyeol notes to himself.
“Call time is in ten actually, we should probably head out,” Chanyeol checks the clock and remembers that set is a little bit farther from the trailers today.
“Right,” Sehun says as he checks his watch. Chanyeol throws on his blazer and begins walking to the door. “Chanyeol, wait.”
Chanyeol turns around to look at Sehun. He’s teetering nervously on his feet and picking at his fingernails. For some reason, he can’t seem to meet Chanyeol’s eyes.
“Do you want to maybe go on a not really a date with me tomorrow?” Sehun mumbles almost unintelligibly.
“A what?” Chanyeol asks, eyes wide.
“A date,” Sehun clarifies. “But not really.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Chanyeol prompts, confused as hell.
“It’s still a working thought, but essentially it would be us going on what seems like a date but it could be not a date? Because us going on a date would be complicated, so we could go on one but it could not be a date!”
“Your working thought sounds more complicated than us going on a real date,” Chanyeol says slowly. “But okay.”
He agrees without really thinking about it. As they’re walking down to set, hands brushing lightly against each other with each step, Chanyeol realizes that he doesn’t really regret it. Despite all of his reservations, Chanyeol was looking forward to this date. Perhaps it was the realization that Chanyeol’s attraction wasn’t one sided, but Chanyeol wasn’t as apprehensive as he probably should be.
The only thing that he felt was anticipation and for once in his life, Chanyeol wasn’t going to talk himself out of it.
--
“We’re going to die,” Chanyeol whispers as he walks down a deserted street somewhere in West Hollywood with Sehun by his side. It’s dark outside and the place that they’re in looks particularly run down.
“Don’t worry, Jongin and I come down here all the time,” Sehun waves Chanyeol off. “We’ll be fine. This is, like, one of the safest places to be in the city.”
“At 11:00 pm? Is anywhere safe to be at 11:00 pm?” Chanyeol asks incredulously. “This is a terrible first not date.”
“You won’t be saying that when you put that taco in your mouth, my sheltered little friend,” Sehun hums as they round the corner. There’s a decent crowd of people standing around a food stand devouring tacos like they have nothing else to live for. The lighting is much less frightening and Chanyeol can smell the food as the two of them walk up to the stand. Sehun orders a combination of tacos that he doesn’t even try to make sense of and before he knows it, he’s sitting on the curb devouring tacos much like the people he saw minutes earlier.
“These are heavenly,” Chanyeol mumbles, not even bothering to chew fully. The only thing he can think about right now is the fact that he can’t get nearly enough of these tacos in his mouth at once.
“I told you so,” Sehun grins at the victory. The two of them eat while joking around and shoving food at each other. Chanyeol eats until he can’t possibly eat anymore and it feels like he’s a carefree college student again. It’s a surreal feeling.
It’s almost 12:30 by the time the two of them start walking back to Sehun’s car. They have an early call time tomorrow so Sehun suggested that they wrap up their “not date” a little early. Chanyeol can’t help but feel a little disappointed, even though he knows it’s foolish.
“Where do I have to take you, again?” Sehun asks as they step into the car.
“Beverly Hills area,” Chanyeol answers. Sehun opens his mouth to say something but seems to think better of it.
“Okay, I’ll have you there in 10 minutes, Mr. Park,” Sehun announces in an exaggerated voice. Chanyeol laughs and buckles his seatbelt as they drive off.
True to his word, Sehun stops in front of his condo a little less than fifteen minutes later and parks temporarily on the curb.
“How far from here do you live? I hope I didn’t drag you too far out of the way.” Chanyeol fidgets with his seatbelt, not wanting to get out of the car. Spending time with Sehun was some of the most fun he’s had in a while and he doesn’t want to let it go. Once work starts again tomorrow, reality is going to hit them in full force. From here on out, they only had two and a half months to wrap filming in order to meet the cast member’s scheduling requirements. With all of the delays they’ve been having due to Kris’ perfectionism, filming is going to consist of extremely long hours and a lot of hard work for the remainder of the shoot schedule.
“No, campus is only about 25 minutes south of here, I’ll be fine,” Sehun reassures him. A ridiculous idea pops into Chanyeol’s head and he considers whether or not to say it. “You look like you’re having an existential crisis, are you okay?”
“Isn’t set north of here?” Chanyeol asks tentatively. Sehun nods, brows furrowed and obviously curious. “If you go south it’s farther from set, right?”
“Yeah, but I drive everyday, so I’m used to it,” Sehun answers just as slowly, the small smile on his face gives away that he’s caught onto what Chanyeol was trying to say. Of course, he wouldn’t make it easy for the actor, leaving Chanyeol to struggle with his words.
“But you’re already closer right now, so it wouldn’t make sense to go all the way back…” Chanyeol trails off.
“Are you perhaps inviting me up to your place right now,” Sehun fake gasps, smile growing wider. “What would Joonmyun think!”
“He’s, uh, not going to be at home today actually,” Chanyeol mumbles. Sehun’s expression turns even more mischievous. Before Sehun has a chance to tease him even more he clarifies. “You’re sleeping on the couch. Turn right at that stop sign to park in the garage.”
Chanyeol stays silent while Sehun parks the car. He only turns a little red when the other starts making jokes about how Joonmyun’s absence was quite convenient. Of all the people to fall for, Chanyeol had to go and chose Sehun.
Chanyeol decides right then to accept the fact that he’s never going to find friends (and more than friends) that don’t harass him. As tough as it is, he also decides that he probably wouldn’t change a thing.
--
“Rich people have the most uncomfortable couches,” Sehun complains, perching himself on a barstool while twisting his back to stretch it out, wrapping his arm almost completely around himself. The position looks incredibly uncomfortable and he wonders how much flexibility one would need to do that. At that thought, he quickly goes back to stirring his coffee before his thoughts start to get inappropriate.
“Blame it on Kris’ friend, Yixing,” Chanyeol waves it off.
“Who’s he?” Sehun asks when the name doesn’t register.
“I don’t exactly know much about him other than the fact that he’s loaded,” Chanyeol shrugs. “Oh, and Kyungsoo thinks he’s a god.”
“That gives me absolutely no clarity,” Sehun frowns. Chanyeol can detect the teasing tone of voice and rolls his eyes, sipping his coffee silently. Sehun comes around the bar and into the kitchen to pour himself his own cup of coffee. He hops up and sits on the countertop to drink it while Chanyeol leans against the opposite wall. A brief conversation turns into a longer one and after a few minutes, they’re scrambling out of the door because they’re almost late.
Chanyeol shows up to his trailer looking quite ruffled, finding none other than an incredibly judgmental Jongin sitting on his couch, flipping through Cosmo magazine.
“Slip your hand into his back pocket and lightly stroke his ass… since it’s totally private and hidden from everyone else, it conveys that you’re feeling especially attracted to him,” Jongin reads loudly, looking up from his magazine when he finishes. “I’m sure Sehun will love that one. You know what they say, Cosmo never lies.”
“Shut up,” Chanyeol grits through his teeth. He realizes that he probably didn’t think the entire Sehun-staying-over-thing as much as he should have, given that he spends 80% of his days with the Sehun’s best friend slash roommate. “He slept on the couch.”
“Uh-huh.” Jongin raises his eyebrows and Chanyeol has to restrain himself from punching the other in the face.
“Where do I have to be?” Chanyeol sighs, letting it go. Jongin double takes at the question, eyes widening.
“You don’t know?” Jongin awes. “You always know everything so I don’t find out.”
Jongin gets up takes a few steps to the trailer door, knowing not to question it further.
“I’ll find out and come back.”
Chanyeol drops into his chair with another heavy sigh. This is probably the first time in five years that he’s been this much of a mess. Being late is a concept that doesn’t even exist to Chanyeol but somehow, he’s managed to show up to set five minutes later than he should have. He hasn’t rushed for something since mixing up the location of his required Chem course final freshman year of college. One look at himself in the mirror and the first thing he thinks is disheveled. It’s a new look on him, for sure, and no matter how he looks at it, Chanyeol can’t find it attractive. As he stares at himself, the only thing that he can think is that he needs to get back on track. His brain is telling him to re-focus and throw himself back into filming like before.
The only problem is that Chanyeol’s heart is telling him something completely different.
--
“Keep it down,” Chanyeol hisses, kicking Sehun in the shin. “The whole set can probably hear you right now.”
“Not my fault,” Sehun hisses right back, pouting. Chanyeol leans in closer, pressing Sehun harder against the wall with a sly smile on his face. Sehun tries his best to look annoyed but fails when Chanyeol goes back to sucking a mark onto his neck.
“Fuck,” Sehun groans, trying to keep his volume to a minimum and failing to succeed. “You’re going to leave a mark.”
Suddenly, the door bangs open and the two spring apart.
“God, please don’t tell me…” Jongin whines. “I trusted you two, how could you do this to me.”
“What?” Sehun asks, confused.
“It has literally gotten to the point where I cannot walk anywhere on set without walking in on people sucking face,” Jongin complains. “Or worse. I can never again look at Minseok and Jongdae the same way.”
Jongin shudders and takes a seat on the couch.
“Why is this entire set so goddamn horny?” Jongin wonders aloud. “Anyways, fun fact, Kris is sick so filming is canceled this afternoon. Poor guy almost looked like he was going to collapse and Minseok had to force him to go home.”
“He probably wants to make up for all the lost time,” Chanyeol sighs walking over to his vanity. He starts to organize his vanity, needing something to do after being caught red handed just seconds ago. Even though Jongin didn’t make a big deal about it, Chanyeol feels awkward about being found out in that way. Especially given the fact that Jongin probably isn’t going to let him see the end of it. “We’re almost two weeks behind schedule. If we don’t start filming those scenes in the second half script soon, I don’t even know if we can finish on time.”
“I’m sure he’ll make it work,” Sehun shrugs. “Apparently, this is a regular thing on his sets. According to Minseok at least.”
“It just means that the next two months are going to be particularly hellish.” Jongin slumps into the couch with a pout on his face. It doesn’t last very long, however, because his face brightens up as a thought pops into his head
“Oh, Minseok suggested that we all band together and do something because we have the night off,” Jongin says excitedly, sitting back upright. “We should do something touristy, how about Santa Monica?”
“Ugh, anywhere but there,” Sehun groans. “Santa Monica Pier is always crawling with tourists.”
“Exactly the point!” Jongin exclaims. “And we can eat at that Japadog stand.”
“There’s one in Little Tokyo too. Just as touristy but less painful,” Sehun suggests.
“Fine by me, as long as I get Japadog,” Jongin agrees quickly.
“What is it with you two and food stands?” Chanyeol questions. “And I’m up for anything as long as it doesn’t involve alcohol.”
“Jongin’s entire life revolves around food and I just get dragged along because I’m the unassuming best friend,” Sehun explains. “Also, Jongin has developed some messed up theory that food stand food is tastier than regular food. I don’t understand how he’s made it through three years of college without gaining 40 pounds.”
“Let’s save that mystery for another day. I would also like to add that alcohol was pretty much the reason why you two are able to get sexy right now. Without it’s help, you would probably be pulling each other’s hair out instead, in a totally non kinky way.” Jongin stands up and brushes imaginary dust off of his pants. “I’ll go tell the others our fabulous plan. You can go back to making out, but be ready to leave in 20.”
As the door closes behind Jongin, Sehun comes back up next to him.
“It’s a rare but true occasion, but Jongin had a pretty good idea there,” Sehun whispers as he crowds Chanyeol’s space.
It had only taken a few days after their first “not date” for Chanyeol and Sehun to realize that their “not relationship” would be much more enjoyable if they made out all the time. They were able to keep it under wraps for almost two weeks, surreptitiously sneaking around set, surprisingly not getting caught. It was pretty easy actually, due to the amount of time they’ve been spending on set lately. Most days have been going an average of 12 hours, leaving them with plenty of time to sneak away and spend time alone together. Honestly, Chanyeol knew better than to start something in the trailer, especially since Jongin was in and out so frequently, but Sehun didn’t feel the same way. What Chanyeol had come to realize is that when it comes to things like this, Sehun always wins. The assistant had some addictive charm that Chanyeol couldn’t resist. Now that they were actually together, however ambiguously, Chanyeol was even more at a loss than before. It had quickly gone from the actor not being able to take his eyes off of Sehun to feeling the need to have his hands all over Sehun at all times.
“We have twenty minutes,” Chanyeol frowns as he packs up his things.
“That’s plenty of time.” Sehun’s mouth is right against his ear and Chanyeol’s heartbeat speeds up.
“Fine,” Chanyeol concedes with a slight smile, turning slightly to give Sehun better access. “Do your worst.”
“Challenge accepted.” Sehun grins against Chanyeol’s mouth.
--
“I hate this place,” Sehun deadpans as the entire group makes their way down the boardwalk. The sun is setting, so the sky is glowing a pretty orange as the lights on the pier start to turn on.
“It’s cute,” Chanyeol shrugs. He’s shoulder to shoulder with Sehun and their hands are brushing with each step forward. Despite the fact that they were with almost 10 other people, it still feels intimate. He’s come to really enjoy spending time with his cast and crewmates. This is a the first time in his career that he can say that he’s actually formed a bond with this many people on set and it feels pretty good.
“Try to call it cute after spending six hours straight here with no money,” Sehun frowns even more. “The first time we came here was right when we started at USC. Jongin drove us down without realizing his car was on empty. We had to wait around here until Hakyeon hyung could come get us. It was so hot that day too. I think I ended up getting sunburned.”
“Hakyeon? The one over there?” Chanyeol points at the supporting actor that was talking to Jongdae up ahead of them.
“Yeah. An entertainment company picked him up that year, actually. He moved to Korea halfway through the semester and started his first drama project less than a month later.”
“You think Bomi would say yes if I asked her to take a walk on the beach with me?” Jongin appears next to Chanyeol making him flinch.
“I’m going to start calling you ghost, I swear to god,” Chanyeol hisses.
“Yeah, whatever. What do you think?” Jongin asks again.
“Eunji told me that she thinks you’re hot, so it’s probably a green light,” Sehun replies.
“Thanks man, wish me luck,” Jongin grins, giving Sehun an affectionate pat on the shoulder.
“She didn’t say that did she?” Chanyeol asks once Jongin is out of earshot.
“Nope, but what he doesn’t know won’t kill him. He’s has the courage of a five year old so I gave him a little push,” Sehun says. “Watch, she’s going to say yes.”
Sure enough, about thirty seconds later, Jongin is holding out a hand and leading Bomi down the stairs towards the ocean.
“Well done,” Chanyeol acknowledges. They’re almost caught up with the rest of the group now, after having fallen behind earlier. Chanyeol finds himself next to Minah, talking to her about next weeks shoot schedule.
“I’m dreading shooting the family dinner scene next week. I haven’t been able to get the dialogue right yet,” Minah sighs.
“I thought we were shooting that later this month some time,” Chanyeol frowns. He has the shoot schedule completely memorized after staring at it so often at the beginning of shooting.
“Kris switched it,” Minah clarifies. “It’s next week now. He said it, like, four times today but you were too busy making googly eyes with Sehun to listen.”
“Oh.” Chanyeol knows that Minah only means it teasingly but the words hit him harder than she intended them to. It was true, though, that Chanyeol was definitely paying less attention on set. It wasn’t affecting his performance, but his head has definitely been out of the game for the last few weeks. He can feel it happening, but he doesn’t know exactly what to do about it.
“Don’t worry about it, Chanyeol,” Minah quickly adds after sensing Chanyeol’s concern. “You still know the script better than most everyone on set. You also wrap scenes with less takes than any of the other cast members. Having a little fun isn’t going to kill you. Let yourself go a little, it’ll be good for you.”
She rubs Chanyeol’s shoulder comfortingly.
“You’re the happiest I’ve seen you since filming began three months ago. It’s a good look on you. Makes you more handsome.”
“Is that even possible?” Chanyeol calms down a bit and joins in on the lighthearted fun.
“You know, I never imagined that narcissistic assholes could be loveable, but you have proven me wrong,” Minah teases back. They continue to walk in a comfortable silence; listening to the conversation Sehun and Kyungsoo were having about the FIFA women’s cup.
“Thanks,” Chanyeol says on an afterthought. “You’re really good at putting my head back on my shoulders.”
“I really am,” Minah agrees. “But seriously, you know that I’m here for you whenever. Even after filming is over, okay? I don’t want you to become a stranger; I know you’re capable of doing it. Joonmyun actually equated your social life to that of a hermit and that the only friend you actually spent time with in the recent past was someone named Byun Baekhyun. Which is concerning because the guy apparently forced you to let him live with you.”
“It wasn’t force,” Chanyeol reassures her. “Just bribery.”
“You are hopeless.”
“It’s one of my many charms,” Chanyeol smiles. Minah rolls her eyes in response, linking her arm in Chanyeol’s.
As he continues to make conversation with Minah and as he looks around at his friends having a good time, he realizes that he’s having one too. The more time he spends on set, the more he lets little pieces of himself go. It’s liberating, really, and Chanyeol can’t remember feeling this free in forever. He comes to the conclusion that it’s been too damn long since he’s felt this way.
--
“It says to take a left,” Chanyeol repeats, irritation seeping into his voice. “Google Maps never lies. Take a left.”
“We can still get there if we take a right, calm down,” Sehun waves off, ignoring Chanyeol’s advice and taking a right anyways. Chanyeol sighs in defeat and closes out his maps program, deciding that it’s not worth the effort. Despite the fact that the two of them were stubborn beyond belief, they were somehow able to reach compromises in their many arguments. Chanyeol’s word is law on the various movie sets he works on but when it came to real life, his arguments didn’t seem to mean much. Even though the chances to explore his new found “life” were minimal due to the inhumane hours they were spending on set, he was starting to realize that his words didn’t hold much weight in the real world. In fact, nobody seemed to take him seriously at all.
After paying attention, he realized that he agrees with his friends more often than not. When it came to Baekhyun demanding to occupy his house, although begrudgingly, Chanyeol did say yes. Multiple times. The same thing applied to Joonmyun taking him sightseeing and Sehun pulling him into hidden corners on set for a little “R&R” that more often than not left him less rested and relaxed than before. Minah was right, much like she always is. Nobody takes him seriously, except maybe her.
“We’re going to be late and everyone is going to tease us when we get there,” the actor grumbles, shifting in the passenger seat of Sehun’s car. He’s become quite familiar with it since the two of them started unofficially seeing each other. Whenever they get a chance to go home these days, Sehun has been opting to drive the both of them to Chanyeol’s place to crash for the night. It’s nice to be able to eat a home cooked meal with Joonmyun and snuggle into bed right after. These days sleep has been coming faster than ever with both of them worked to the bone and tired to the core. Other than avoiding Joonmyun nosy mother hen questions, Chanyeol’s life has been pretty smooth sailing. The manager seemed to be incredibly proud of him for finally “getting a life” apart from his career. He was probably even happier that Sehun was driving Chanyeol around everywhere, leaving him with practically nothing to do in LA other than visit tourist locations and go to the beach. With just about a month of shooting in LA left, he was probably enjoying it as much as he can before they have to go home.
With how quickly the last month passed, Chanyeol was starting get nervous. The end date of filming was approaching fast and he didn’t know if he was ready to leave everything he was able to find in LA behind. Kyungsoo, Minseok, and Jongdae already have plans for Seoul, which he was looking forward to, but without Sehun and Jongin it wouldn’t be the same. Leaving Sehun behind was going to be incredibly difficult and he has no idea how he was going to do it. There never seemed to be a good time to bring up the fact that eventually there were going to have to say their goodbyes. With their ambiguous relationship status and absolutely no idea of what it would mean in the future, Chanyeol didn’t even know what to expect and it was scaring him.
“You’re being quiet,” Sehun observes. “What are you thinking about, Mr. Park?”
“We only have a month left,” Chanyeol says quietly. “I’m going to leave to Korea in a month.”
Sehun falls silent, and the air between them is heavy. Chanyeol waits for Sehun to say something but the words don’t come.
“Sehun, what are we?” Chanyeol breathes out, asking himself as much as he was asking Sehun. Sehun reaches out and grabs Chanyeol’s hand over the console.
“Why do we have to put labels on it?” Sehun answers his question with a question. It’s probably the exact opposite of what Chanyeol wants to hear.
“How can we just keep going without labeling it? I hate not knowing what exactly you’re thinking, Sehun. What is this to you?” Chanyeol raises his voice a little. “You keep pretending like nothing is really going on between us. Why do we have to keep doing that?”
Sehun is stunned into silence. Chanyeol is pretty shocked as well, not expecting those words to come out of his mouth. Normally, he would be the last person in the world to say those words because not knowing is always safer, easier to leave behind and easier to forget. Sehun, however, is different. Sehun makes him want to hold on and remember.
They finally arrive at the restaurant that the crew decided to eat at and Sehun parks the car. They sit in silence for a few seconds before Chanyeol makes up his mind to say what he’s been thinking for the past few weeks.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking or feeling, but I do know myself,” Chanyeol begins in a low tone. “And I know that I love you.”
Chanyeol feels weight lifting off his shoulders. A moment later he sees his world crumbling around him because, for some reason, Sehun isn’t saying anything.
“I love you, Sehun. It scares the hell out of me because I don’t even think I understand what that means,” Chanyeol continues. “I can’t keep doing this if I don’t know. I just-”
Chanyeol waits for Sehun to say something but the other just stays frozen in place.
“I have to go,” Chanyeol stutters out, flinging the car door open and stumbling out. His legs feel numb as he walks into the restaurant. When he finds the table that everyone is sitting at he calmly avoids question of where Sehun is as he sits down next to Jongin. He pretends not to see the concerned looks Kyungsoo and Minah send him and quickly orders the first thing he recognizes off of the menu when the waiter comes around. Conversation bubbles around him, yet he can’t focus on anything but his own thoughts. As he sits there, he tries to wonder where he went wrong. This entire time, he was pretty sure that Sehun felt the same way he did. Occasionally, he glances at the door; half hoping it will open to reveal Sehun and half hoping that it won’t.
Dinner is served and eaten and an hour later, Chanyeol is staring at the desert in front of him.
Sehun’s seat is still unoccupied beside him. The room is full of people, but Chanyeol has never felt emptier.
--
After being around Sehun for almost 24 hours every day for the last month and a half, it’s shocking to Chanyeol that it’s so easy to avoid the other. All he really has to do is rush off to his trailer the minute Kris wraps a scene and stay in there until the next one. Sehun doesn’t come to find him and Chanyeol doesn’t know if he ever will. Nevertheless, the ball is in Sehun’s court now and all Chanyeol can really do is wait and see, as painful as that might be.
“You look sad,” Jongin sighs, handing him his coffee. In the past few weeks, Chanyeol has upped his caffeine intake in order to support the ridiculous schedule Kris has them shooting on.
“I wonder why,” Chanyeol deadpans. In the last few days since him and Sehun stopped talking, he’s gone back to intensely studying his script whenever he has free time. It’s probably Chanyeol’s strongest habit but for some reason, it feels wrong. After Sehun came around, the two of them would sit and discuss scenes in great detail together, so reading it alone felt odd.
“You’re best friend fucked up my life,” Chanyeol whines. “Nothing feels normal to me anymore.”
“He’s been avoiding me too, if that makes you feel any better,” Jongin mentions. “I think he knows I’ll try to weed it out of him. I’ve only seen him get like this once in my life before, and I’ve known him since I was eight years old.”
“When was that?” Chanyeol asks.
“College decision time. He was picking between going to film school and doing something more ‘respectable’,” Jongin explains. “It was really stupid, because everyone knew what the right choice for him was. Even he did, I think, but I guess he really needed that time alone to sort out his thoughts. In the end he made the right decision, as Sehun often does.”
Chanyeol knows what Jongin is attempting to tell him and tries his best to believe it’ll end up being true. He gives Jongin a little smile of thanks.
“Don’t be too happy, I never said that the right decision was being in a relationship with you,” Jongin teases, receiving a well deserved punch from Chanyeol in response.
“How long do you think it’ll take him?” Chanyeol asks, trying to keep his voice causal even though he felt anything but. Despite Jongin’s reassurances, he still felt uneasy, but there was probably no cure for that other than having a conversation with Sehun.
The waiting game, Chanyeol decides, is no fun at all.
--
“That’s a wrap for today guys,” Kris calls into his microphone. The entire set lets out a collective sigh of relief and immediately begins moving off location to get something to eat.
Chanyeol is about to do the same when a hand grabs his arm as he’s walking away. Sehun.
Chanyeol takes a deep breath and turns around to face him.
“Ready to talk?” Chanyeol says, half sincere, half sarcastic.
“Your trailer? We can order dinner from that Chinese place.”
Chanyeol feels like punching Sehun in the gut for acting so casual but he stops himself. Instead, he decides to be civil and agrees with Sehun’s plan. Chanyeol begins walking in the direction of his trailer with Sehun following behind him.
When they finally make it to the trailer, Sehun starts talking immediately.
“First of all, I’m sorry,” Sehun blurts out. “I’m really, really sorry.
“You better fucking be,” Chanyeol grumbles.
“I just needed some time to organize my thoughts,” Sehun explains.
“Would you like to explain exactly what thoughts you were organizing, because I don’t seem to know even one of them,” Chanyeol starts to get irritated. The frustration of the entire week is threatening to break through his somewhat calm exterior.
“You asked me what we are,” Sehun states. Chanyeol waits for him to continue.
“Any conclusions?” Chanyeol asks sarcastically.
“We’re happy,” Sehun says simply, reaching over and giving his hand a squeeze. “I don’t want to stop being happy just because you have to go back. I don’t want to stop being happy even after you go back. That’s my conclusion.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Chanyeol prods further.
“It means that I love you too,” Sehun speaks softly. He comes closer to Chanyeol and tentatively wraps his arms around him. It takes a few moments, but Chanyeol relaxes and does the same, holding Sehun close to him in a tight hug.
“Do you think we can do it?” Chanyeol voices his worries. “Long distance.”
“I guess we’ll have to find out,” Sehun hums, burying his head in Chanyeol’s chest. “Ugh, I missed this.”
“It’s been three days,” Chanyeol intones, trying to keep himself from laughing.
“Three days too many,” Sehun complains.
“And who’s fault was that?” Chanyeol pinches Sehun in the side, making the other flinch. Perhaps it was the newfound realization that Sehun was officially his and only his, but for some reason hugging Sehun like this feels better than it did before.
“So, what about that Chinese?” Sehun carefully mumbles, ruining the moment. “I’m really hungry, sorry.”
“I’m going to kill you.”
--
“I vote that we keep the drinking to a minimum so I don’t have to cart all of you guys home at the end of the night,” Chanyeol attempts to yell over the noise of their group.
“Or you could get wasted also and we can all struggle to get home together,” Jongdae suggests, throwing his arm around Chanyeol’s shoulder. It’s the night after filming finally wrapped. Jongdae and Minseok decided that it would be a great idea to organize a cast and crew bar crawl in LA.
Miraculously, they were able to finish on time even after all of the delays. The moment that Kris called a wrap on the film was one of the weirdest blend of emotions that he’s ever felt in his life. It was a mix of happiness, relief, exhaustion, and sadness that he was going to have to leave it behind. With all that’s happened in the last four months, Chanyeol considers this movie to be a turning point in both his career and his life. From the few rough-cut scenes that Kris has shown him, Chanyeol has no doubt that the movie will be the talk of the industry when it releases.
As they walk down the LA street together, Chanyeol and Sehun stay close together. At Chanyeol’s request, Joonmyun managed to push back some of his commitments so he could spend a few more day in the city before saying goodbye. With the number of projects Chanyeol has lined up and the fact that Sehun’s bank account perpetually only has enough money for gas and cheap tacos, they knew that seeing each other wasn’t going to happen again any time soon. No matter how many times Chanyeol tried to convince Sehun that buying plane tickets to Seoul every once in a while would be more for himself than the other, Sehun refused. For the time being they were going to have to do it the hard way. It was odd how despite the fact that Chanyeol’s future with Sehun is a complete mystery, standing next to him right now, he feels more comfortable and at ease than he ever did before.
“I don’t even know how I consistently managed to only make friends with people like you guys,” Chanyeol sighs. “You guys are such a mess. And you’re mean too.”
“Wait till you meet Luhan, it’ll get better,” Minseok laughs. The producer’s best friend was an investment banker in Korea that was swimming in money when Minseok was still trying to get his career in film off the ground. Apparently, the two had a lot of fun together, especially after Minseok met Jongdae through the industry. Sehun made them promise to drag Chanyeol out as much as possible so he doesn’t return to his hermit ways, so the actor was probably going to be spending a lot of time with Luhan. After Jongdae heard about Baekhyun, he’s been insisting on having a group bonding session with him, much to Chanyeol’s disdain. He can’t imagine what bar hopping with these four people would be like, but Chanyeol is already dreading the thought. As much as he enjoys the company of his friends, their drunken personalities just make him want to push them into oncoming traffic.
“Here we are,” Jongdae announces as they arrive at their first destination for the night. They all head inside to the bar. It has a low-key environment with dim lighting and some local band playing in the corner. Their huge group disperses throughout the place, with Minah, Eunji and Bomi head over to a table while Kyungsoo and Jongin go straight to the bar. Chanyeol is thankful that Minah is around tonight because Kyungsoo’s “No More Kris, Good Riddance” celebration was most likely going to end in either a stupid decision or a blackout.
“How drunk do you think they’re going to get tonight?” Chanyeol wonders aloud, nodding towards the two of them.
“Absolutely fucked. Well, Jongin at least,” Sehun responds. “Jongin and alcohol have a very friendly relationship. Too friendly, actually.”
“Do you think Bomi can handle him?” Chanyeol worries.
“No, Bomi is probably going to slap him and leave him abandoned on some street,” Sehun laughs. “We should keep an eye on him tonight.”
“What about you?” Chanyeol wraps his arm around Sehun’s and leads them both to the bar as well. He might as well get a little buzzed; they have a long night ahead of them.
“Nah, I’d rather be able to remember today,” Sehun says, grabbing Chanyeol’s hand.
They all end up sitting around a table, sharing stories and making fun of each other when suddenly a questions pops up in his head.
“Wait, Minseok,” Chanyeol gets the producers attention. “Did you finally decide on a movie title? The last time I heard it was No Time to Waste When You Only Have One Life or something dumb like that.”
“Oh, yeah,” Minseok remembers. “We did! He actually came up with something that I didn’t hate.”
“I still don’t get why I wasn’t the one to name it,” Jongdae complains. “I wrote the goddamn thing, shouldn’t I have named it?”
“If all goes to plan the latest Kris Wu project, Betting Everything should be released this coming winter.”
“It’s a summer movie…” Jongin frowns.
“It’s always summer in California,” Sehun shrugs. “It’s going to be a good movie. From what Kris has shown me it’s going to turn out really well.”
“It better turn out well after all the shit Kris put us through,” Kyungsoo says. “I mean, I learned a lot, but never again.”
“Agreed,” Chanyeol chimes in, taking another sip of his drink. “At least we got lucky with our cast and crew.”
“We really did,” Jongdae agrees. “I don’t remember ever getting this out of a movie.”
Jongdae gestures around the table at everyone who came along that night. There were almost 20 people from the cast and crew celebrating together.
“We should have reunions,” Jongin suggests. “And go on trips together to Colorado or something.”
“What are we, a frat?” Sehun teases.
“Honestly, that’s not even that much of a stretch to describe what you guys are,” Chanyeol shrugs. “If Minseok, Jongdae, Jongin, Baekhyun and this so called Luhan get together, it would be pretty frat.”
“It really would be,” Sehun laughs.
“Yeah, and you two can be the nerdy kids who never leave their house and marathon the High School Musical on the weekends,” Jongin bites back.
“That’s you, like, every other weekend man,” Sehun chuckles. “Don’t even try to deny it, I have photo proof.”
Jongin goes silent as the rest of the table laughs. It only takes about another hour for people to start getting buzzed, or worse. Words are slurring together and people are stumbling over themselves and the people next to them.
Chanyeol and Sehun watch the night unfold in front of them, feeling content to be around their friends. Chanyeol doesn’t think about how he only has a few days left. All he can think about is how warm he feels with Sehun next to him, and that’s all that really matters.
--
“I’m going to try my best to come in six months,” Chanyeol whispers to Sehun. He’s got his arms wrapped tightly around the other.
“I know, you’ve told me 3 times. In the last 10 minutes,” Sehun laughs into his shoulder. “We’ll be okay.”
“We’ll be okay,” Chanyeol echoes, and he truly believes it too.
“As much as I hate to break this up,” Joonmyun interjects apologetically. “We’re going to be late if we don’t head through security now, Chanyeol.
Chanyeol nods and gives Sehun another squeeze. Before he can step away Sehun leans up and kisses him hard and fast.
“Bye, for now,” Sehun whispers against his lips. Chanyeol can feel the Sehun’s against his own and can’t help but grin in response.
“For now,” Chanyeol echoes Sehun yet again.
“Chanyeol would make a good parrot,” Jongin chimes from behind Sehun. Chanyeol lightly punches his arm and gives him a quick hug as well.
“Visit when he does,” Chanyeol tells him. “You can party it up frat style with the rest of the boys.”
“You tell me as if you think I won’t,” Jongin grins. “I’ll be there.”
“Good,” Chanyeol approves. He starts walking towards the security gate slowly after giving Sehun’s hand one last squeeze.
“See you soon,” Chanyeol says before finally turning around to walk towards the gate. He forces himself not to look back as he gets farther and farther away.
“You okay?” Joonmyun asks after they make it through security and walk towards the gate.
Chanyeol thinks about it for a moment. Being in LAX again, this time on his way home, makes him think about the entire trip. He’s grown more as a person in these past four months than he had during the five years of his career. As cliché as it sounded, this project changed his entire life, in a good way.
“You know what?” Chanyeol feels a small smile appear on his face. “I think I am.”
--
“Sehun!” Baekhyun grabs the cell phone out of Chanyeol’s hand, yelling into the receiver. “Come visit soon, you’re missing out on the fun.”
“Your definition of fun is annoying Chanyeol until he plays Call of Duty with you and then staying in his apartment for the night. And every night after that,” Sehun laughs.
“Exactly,” Baekhyun confirms as he stretches out on Chanyeol’s couch. The actor has officially given up on trying to get the smaller man out of his place. After countless attempts and failures in the three months since he’s gotten back, Chanyeol has just accepted his fate. At least he can be happy that Baekhyun didn’t invade his house in the four months he was gone.
“You two should come here,” Sehun suggests.
“With what money?” Baekhyun raises his eyebrows.
“Exactly.”
“I see what you did there,” Baekhyun says as Chanyeol snatches the phone out of his hand.
“So finals are finally over?” Chanyeol asks. Filming had ended just a week before school started. After Sehun and Jongin had spent an entire summer on an exciting movie set, they had a rough time getting used to the grind of school but they managed to make it out alive.
“I think I failed all of them,” Sehun groans. “I don’t want to know what I got and I also want to just find out and be done at the same time.”
“I’m sure you did fine,” Chanyeol reassures him
“So, any changes on the trip?” Sehun asks after a pause.
“I don’t think so. It still doesn’t look like I can make it,” Chanyeol sighs. “I have to do too much promotional stuff for the movie.
Betting Everything is set for release during the holidays, which was the same time Chanyeol had initially planned to visit Sehun in LA. It would have been perfect, with Sehun and Jongin on break and Minseok and Jongdae wanting to take a trip there as well. The film was originally supposed to come out a week or two ago, but postproduction ended up taking longer than planned. According to Minseok, Kris was unsurprisingly being a difficult perfectionist and was making it a bit difficult for them.
It’s more than a bit regretful that Chanyeol wouldn’t be able to make it. It’s been about four months since the actor came back to Seoul and even though him and Sehun talk more than enough, he still wishes he had the chance to see Sehun in person.
“It’s okay,” Sehun assures him. “There’s always next month.
“What’s happening next month?” Chanyeol asks, confused.
“Oh, Jongin’s favorite ballet is coming to Seoul and I figured we could all go and see it. It’ll be fun, don’t you think?” Sehun shares just as the doorbell rings. Chanyeol heads over to open it.
“Next month? In Seoul? You guys won’t be in Seoul next month though. Don’t you have school?” Chanyeol pushes the door open to reveal Sehun standing in front of him, phone held to his ear with one and suitcase held in the other. He puts his phone away and grins at Chanyeol.
“I do have school actually,” Sehun confirms. “So will Jongin, actually.”
“You’re here,” Chanyeol breathes out. His body is frozen in place with shock.
“I am,” Sehun grins. “People kept going on and on about how studying abroad is an amazing experience, so I figured why not give it a try? I had to pick KAFA in Seoul, obviously. The food is too good to miss. Knowing the language was a plus too.”
“The food, you say?” Chanyeol raises his eyebrows.
“Well, I’ve heard the actors are pretty cute too. Good kissers too.”
“Are they now?” Chanyeol asks, stepping closer to Sehun.
Sehun leans in and closes the distance behind him, lips pressing against Chanyeol’s.
“There’s only one way to find out, I guess.”
“You guys are fucking gross,” Baekhyun calls out from the living room.
-THE END-
Final author's note: I tried to do as much justice to the prompt as I could! I hope you liked it. I actually don’t know much about making movies, so I cannot guarantee the accuracy of anything movie related in this story (so basically the entire thing). I had a lot of fun writing in this AU, even though it ended up being about 4x the length I initially intended it to be lol. This entire thing would probably not be comprehensible if not for the best beta ever, so thank you to her as well.
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