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Excuse Me, Miss

Fight

The following days were some of the most pleasant Claire could remember. Their schedule never slowed and the work still piled up, but she felt a little less isolated each time Kibum caught her eye. He did remind her of Sam in the way that he would assess a scene or mutter over his script, but then he would look up and smile at her, and it was the sincerity of it that made her fears lessen.

Despite their best efforts people had started giving them knowing looks and whispering across the set, but everyone left them well enough alone. No one wanted to interfere except for Kyle, who watched disapprovingly from a distance, but so far he hadn't been able to find a single moment of impropriety between them. And he never will, Claire swore to herself. She and Kibum would go public after the end of filming, which meant they only had a few weeks of secrecy left.

“Claire!”

“Sorry,” she murmured. “What did you say?”

Philip gave her an exasperated look. “I said that Lonny left one of the camera lenses up on set last night. I don't know if it rained, but-”

Claire's good mood deflated and she frowned. “Where is he?” she asked tersely.

“Waiting in your office.”

Claire turned on her heel and sped down the hallway, Philip jogging after her in alarm. “Claire-”

“If he ruined that lens, I'll pack his bags myself,” she barked as they approached her office. She threw the door open and folded her arms. “Well?” she demanded.

Lonny fumbled with his glasses as he tried to speak. “I thought I-”

“What is my number one rule for equipment?” Claire interrupted. “Always recount! Do you think lenses grow on trees?”

“I-”

“They don't, Lonny!”

“Why don't we hear what he has to say,” Philip suggested.

Lonny cleared his throat a few times. “I was working from your checklist, and I thought I had packed all of the lenses into the bag, but there was one at the bottom that I forgot to check for.”

“And where did you leave it?”

He fumbled with his glasses again. “I'm not sure,” he confessed.

Claire turned to Philip. “Which lens?” she asked in a low voice.

“The Canon 40 millimeter,” he replied.

“The new one?”

He nodded and Claire looked back at Lonny. “You will get your butt on the first van to the set,” she growled. “You will climb that hill and comb every inch of the set until you find that lens. If it's in anything less than perfect condition, you will be on the next plane back to New York. Got it?”

Lonny scurried past them into the hallway and Claire sat down behind her desk. “This may be the reason I've been looking for to fire that idiot,” she said, almost to herself.

“I thought we needed him?” Philip queried, but Claire just smirked. “Not anymore,” she sighed, “not with the two new grips my loving brother gave me. Jinyeol and Chungdo are so knowledgeable and hardworking that Lonny is quite redundant.”

Philip glanced at the clock on her wall. “Don't you have an appointment with Minho soon?” he reminded her.

Claire snapped her fingers and stood up again. “Remind me why I'm running scenes with him when we're paying a professional actress to do it?” she asked dryly.

“Because Ming Hae is indisposed,” Philip replied, “and because Minho asked you to.”

“Is she ill again?” Claire exclaimed. “That's twice this week, not to mention once the week before.”

Philip shrugged. “All I know is Matt promised she would be back in tomorrow,” he said, handing Claire her satchel.

Minho was waiting for her at the end of the hallway and he smiled at her brightly. “Ready?” he asked.

“Where are we going?”

“To the set,” he said, falling into step with her, “if that's okay?”

Claire looked out at the grainy white sky and shivered. “Anything for the show,” she murmured.

She gave Philip instructions for dealing with Lonny upon his return, then they climbed into a van and trundled up the road to the mountains.

“What's all this?” Minho asked, nodding at the lumber piled behind them.

“Repairs,” Claire replied automatically, “for that hut with the tree branch in the roof.”

She pulled her script out of her satchel and flipped through it slowly. The pages were dog-eared and covered with notes in every color, while new additions were just stapled onto the previous ones. It was incredibly ugly, but Claire revered it as a testament of all their hard work. “What scene is it, again?” she asked.

“The one where Ming Hae and I break into the garrison and steal the weapons.”

Claire raised her eyebrows. “The garrison hasn't been completed yet,” she reminded him. “Where do you plan on rehearsing this?”

“I thought the barn would work.”

The van pulled up to the hill and they got out quickly. “But there's a whole scene on the balcony,” she persisted.

“The barn has a wide ledge,” Minho countered.

“You're really determined to do this, aren't you?” she commented, shoving her hands into her coat pockets.

The barn was little more than a glorified framework that sat on the edge of the set like a squat sentinel. The hay scattered around it was damp and Claire frowned again. Lonny was nowhere to be seen, which Claire could only hope meant the lens had been found.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, just annoyed with Lonny,” she grumbled. “Let's get a move on, I'm freezing.”

The ledge was only a few feet off the ground, so it was easy for them to climb up, Minho's long legs making it look effortless. “Why do you need to run this scene, again?” Claire huffed as she pulled herself up.

“Let's just say it has to do with personal satisfaction,” he said, brushing dead leaves off his pants.

Claire pulled her script out again and found the scene almost immediately. “Ready?” she asked. “I'll start.”

Minho nodded and crouched down.

“There's only one guard up here, your Highness,” she said, reading from the script.

“I told you, call me Hyeon,” Minho whispered.

“I can't, your Highness.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to.”

Minho smirked and peeked into an imaginary window. “Stay here and keep watch. I'll get the weapons.”

Claire flipped a few pages ahead. “They almost caught you,” she continued.

“They could never catch me,” Minho replied. He leapt off the ledge in a single bound and waved at her. “Jump, Ryu!”

Claire turned and jumped, but it wasn't Minho who caught her. “What the… Kibum!”

Kibum laughed and spun her around easily. “Were you expecting a prince?” he teased.

“I'd rather have you,” she said, “now put me down before you make me dizzy!”

Kibum obeyed and Claire looked around again. “Where did-”

“He's probably already heading back down the mountain,” Kibum surmised.

“You mean this whole rehearsal thing was just to get me up to the set?” she exclaimed. “You could've just asked me.”

“But then I couldn't have enjoyed the look on your face,” he countered, taking her hand in his. “I heard the grips talking about how the weather was keeping everyone off-set, so Minho and I threw together a last minute plan.”

He brought her inside one of the huts, where some blankets and a basket had been laid out. A small cordless heater was already plugged in and making the hut quite the cozy hideaway. Claire smiled ruefully. “This is amazing, Ki, but I can't stay very-”

“Sure you can,” he said, already sitting down. “You get a lunch break, don't you?”

He removed two takeout containers from the basket and Claire's stomach rumbled. “I did skip breakfast,” she admitted, kneeling down beside him. “What's in it?”

“Grilled salmon, wild rice and vegetables,” Kibum said proudly. “No plastic wrapped sandwiches for us today.”

It had been a while since Claire had had something you didn't microwave, and she inhaled deeply before taking a bite.

“Like it?”

“It's delicious,” she said, “but how did you get it here?”

“Had it delivered to my trailer before we left,” he said, taking a huge bite of fish. “Since I've got you to myself, I wanted to run something by you.”

“Like?” she said suspiciously.

“Relax,” he laughed, “it's nothing bad. How would you like the other SHINee members to pay a visit to the set?”

Claire's first response was an overwhelming negative, but she took a second and considered it. “Why?” she asked.

“Why? For good publicity! You've been saying how the show needs a lift, and they're more than willing to-”

Claire held up a hand to silence him. “I'll discuss it with Kyle,” she said, “but I can't promise anything.”

Kibum nodded agreeably. “I can't wait for the first season to be over,” he sighed.

“I thought you enjoyed being on the show,” Claire said, feeling a little crestfallen.

“That's not what I meant,” Kibum said quickly, taking her hand. “It's just that… once filming ends, we can go public, and we won't have to sneak around anymore.”

“Oh.” Claire felt silly. “Sorry, you're right.”

Kibum set his food aside. “Here's something else I can do,” he said, and he leaned in and kissed her. It wasn't rushed or disguised, like the ones they sneaked in her office; it was a real kiss, deep and sweet and full of joy.

I could get used to this, Claire thought blissfully.


******


Claire jolted awake and realized someone was hammering on her door. Great, I fell asleep at my desk again, she realized, lifting her head slightly. Her clock said it was just past seven, which meant she'd have enough time to brush her teeth and have coffee before the day started.

The banging continued and Claire groaned. “Alright, alright!” she shouted, straightening up painfully. My back can't take many more nights like that, she thought as she went to the door. Philip nearly tumbled in as she opened it and she automatically braced him up. “Where's the fire?” she joked.

“Lonny told everyone,” he wheezed, “about you and Kibum. He said he… saw you at the set. He even had pictures.”

Claire wanted to panic, but knew she couldn't allow it. “Kyle?”

Philip shrugged helplessly. “Don't know. I got an email this morning, and… this was on the cafeteria wall.”

He gave her a crumpled paper and Claire looked at it. It was a blown up picture of her and Kibum kissing in the hut, probably from Lonny’s phone. The angle and good lighting made it impossible to mistake them, and Claire snorted quietly. “Ironically it's probably some of the best work he's produced,” she said, folding the picture crisply. “How bad is it out there?”


******


Minho maintained a calm stride as he entered the building, though he wanted to sprint straight to Claire's office. How did this happen? he wondered behind a practiced smile. Kibum is gonna flip out.

More than half of the cast and crew were buzzing with gossip in the cafeteria, but Lonny was nowhere to be seen. Kibum and Claire were absent too, but that couldn't be a good sign.

“Minho!” Ming Hae called, waving him over elegantly. If her personality wasn't so fake, she'd be one of the most attractive women I've ever met, he thought.

“Where's Kibum?” Dong Hyun asked as Minho cautiously joined the group. “Does he know about this?”

“Of course he does, we all got the email,” Ming Hae said dismissively. “This is just delicious. Did you know about this secret romance, Minho?”

Minho managed a shrug. “Kibum doesn't tell me everything, you know,” he lied.

“That assistant Philip seemed pretty upset about it,” Ming Hae continued. “Maybe he's in love with her too.”

“Why do you say that?” Minho asked.

“He came in here and saw the picture, then ripped it off the wall and took off,” she replied, texting furiously while she talked. “My followers will love-”

“Don't, Ming,” Minho said suddenly. “I mean, we should wait to hear from our managers before we post something.”

Great, there's pictures, he thought. Philip must have taken it to Claire, which means she's already here.

He was trying to think of a way to sneak off to her office when Kyle came in. He looked angry and everyone hushed as he looked around the room. “Everyone stay on schedule,” he ordered, “I'll give further instructions shortly.”

He left again and the group slowly began to disperse, giving Minho an excuse to head for Kyle's office. Something told him he'd find both Kibum and Claire there.

There were muffled voices coming from the office, but he put his ear to it and could make them out faintly.

“- say for yourselves?” Kyle was saying. “I knew this would happen. You can never resist, can you, Claire?”

“Don't talk to her like that!” Kibum snapped. “This isn't her-”

“Don't think I won't fire you, Justin Timberlake,” Kyle interrupted. “Were there not enough groupies around to keep you from feeling up my sister?”

“Shut up, Kyle!” Claire said hotly. “No one is being fired, and insulting people isn't going to fix this.”

There was a pregnant pause as Kyle presumably decided what to do next. “I have a voicemail from one of the studio execs,” he said finally. “Apparently they also received the email, and I'm sure we can all assume they won't be happy. I'll have to sit down with them and some of the SHINee managers to iron this out.”

He sighed loudly. “Let's keep to our morning schedule,” he decided. “Claire, you'll have to direct while I straighten this out, and you'd better pray this isn't grounds for cancelling.”

Minho’s heart dropped into his stomach. They can't do that, can they? he wondered.

The door opened and Claire and Kibum stepped out, both somber and quiet as she closed the door behind them. Minho realized she was wearing the same clothes from yesterday and felt that familiar frustration flare up. She works harder than everyone, and he has the audacity to blame this on her?

No one moved or spoke for several seconds, but the whirlwind of emotions was palpable between them. Kibum obviously wanted to comfort Claire, but she looked like an emotional train had just flattened her and Minho expected a raging tirade to explode any moment.

They heard footsteps and Philip came around the corner. “Lonny's gone,” he announced. “I escorted him off the property myself and booked him a flight back to the States.”

Kibum gave a nod of acknowledgement, but Claire didn't respond.

“Was it that bad?” Philip whispered.

“The execs want a meeting,” Minho whispered.

Philip groaned. “The cafeteria's filling up and people are starting to get antsy. What's the plan?”

Claire suddenly took a deep breath and rumpled her already-disheveled hair. “Get our schedule moving,” she said quietly. “If we hurry, we could be caught up by lunchtime. Repairs on the hut should be finished soon and we'll be able to film those last three scenes.”

She looked at Minho and he thought there were tears in her eyes, but she swallowed hard and they were gone. “I need our prince to rally his subjects,” she said, trying to sound lighter than she felt.

Minho gave a courtly bow. “You can count on me,” he said, smiling.


******


Once Minho and Philip were gone Kibum looked back at Claire. He still hadn't said a word, mostly because he felt like his throat wouldn't allow the sounds to come through. Did I do this? he wondered. Did I push her too far?

Claire began walking down the hallway and Kibum immediately fell into step beside her. Luckily Kyle's office wasn't far from hers, and they managed to avoid encountering anyone else on their way.

He followed her into the office and closed the door softly. She still hadn't spoken to him, and she began clearing the mountain of papers off her desk. It slowly dawned on him that she was wearing the same clothes from the previous day and he sighed. “Let me,” he murmured, helping her stack the last of the papers.

Claire set the stack in a box and leaned on the desk. “I don't regret it,” she said firmly. “Even if they cancel the show, I… I'd do it again.”

This was the last thing Kibum had been expecting to hear, but it was also the best thing, and he felt tears welling up. “I'm sorry,” he said thickly. “You tried to warn me and I was so damn stubborn. I'm so sorry, Claire.”

Claire walked around the desk and put her arms around him. “I'm glad you were stubborn,” she said. “I didn't truly realize how miserable I was until a few months ago.”
She sniffed and Kibum realized she was crying too. “Are we being silly?” she wondered aloud. “We've only known each other a short time, after all.”

Kibum steeled himself and pulled back to look her in the eye. “It's not silly,” he said, wiping his cheeks. “Whatever you want, whatever you decide, I'll make it happen. If you want me to resign and leave the show, or fight to stay, I'll honor your choice.”

Claire smiled at him. “Fight, Ki,” she whispered. “Fight to stay.”

Notes

Hey guys,

I know it's been a really long time since I updated this story, but I had a difficult time working on it after Jonghyun passed away. Even though the story primarily follows Minho and Kibum's relationships with Claire, I needed to set it aside and process this tragedy.

That said, I'm pleased to announce I'm officially resuming this story and will reintegrate it into my regular update schedule. I hope you're enjoying this story as much as I am, and I look forward to exploring it with you to its conclusion. I also hope that Jonghyun's death won't keep you from continuing to love and support SHINee as a group, but that it will only deepen your dedication to them and Jonghyun's memory. Rest in peace, Jonghyun.

Love to all,

keepcalmandyehet

Comments

Minho's and Claire's friendship is going smoothly, I just don't want Kibum to 'mess it up', I hope it works out for all 3 of them as friends. :)

@asterisk
Thank you!! It's gonna be fun to write. I've got some other stories planned, so keep your eyes peeled lol

I love this so much already! I'm looking forward to where the story goes, and what happens to Minho and Clare :) Keep writing - I love your work <3

asterisk asterisk
3/8/17