Excuse Me, Miss

Claire turned the TV off with a sigh. “Never thought I'd see the day where we'd be watching our pilot air again,” she confessed. Kyle got up and stretched his arms. “You made a good call about Minho and Kibum,” he said, going to the kitchen. “They work well together onscreen.”

“Does that mean you've calmed down a little?” she asked. Kyle gave her a look as he opened the pantry. “I'm still not sure about you being together,” he said, “but I don't mind him objectively.”

“That was almost a nice thing to say,” Claire commented.

“Sorry if some of us still hear rats scurrying across the floor in the middle of the night,” Kyle said, coming back into the living room with a bag of chips. Claire felt a stab of regret. “I'm sorry. But I promise nothing like that will ever happen again.”

Kyle grunted. “What's your plan for after the show ends?” he asked. “If the company doesn't greenlight another season, we could be done in a couple months.”

Claire shrugged. “Maybe stay here, get a job somewhere,” she said. “It would be easier than going back to New York, or even the States.”

“Just be careful,” Kyle cautioned. “Kibum's a nice guy, but he might not be able to commit to anything long-term. I don't want to see you heartbroken again.”

Claire stared at her reflection in the the black screen of the TV. “Never again,” she whispered.


******


Minho rubbed his eyes tiredly. “Ki, it's after midnight. We can figure this out tomorrow.”

“I can't sleep!” Kibum puffed, starting another set of pull-ups. “My brain’s going a million miles a minute. I don't know what's happening to me.”

“Obsession,” Minho mumbled.

“I heard that,” Kibum panted. He let go of the pull-up bar and landed on the floor with a solid thud. “I'm not obsessed. I just want to do this right.”

“I'll remind you once again that you can't fawn all over Claire in public,” Minho said. “It's not good for either of you professionally, and after that shouting match-”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Kibum said, waving him away. He grabbed his water bottle and took a long drink as he joined Minho at the table. Minho wrinkled his nose. “Go get a shower,” he said, throwing a towel at Kibum's head. Kibum caught it easily and draped it around his neck. “I think she might actually like me,” he insisted, heading to the tiny bathroom.

“Sure she does,” Minho agreed, “but she's still facing a lot of uncertainty. If this show goes under, she and Kyle have nothing. Maybe Philip's right about giving her some space.”

The shower clicked on and Minho's phone buzzed almost simultaneously. It was a text from Jessica, reminding them of a fitting first thing in the morning. “Kibum!” he yelled over the sound of the shower. “We've got a fitting tomorrow at seven! Jessica left a note for her assistant to re-line your outfit!”

There was a dull crash and Minho sat up in alarm. “Kibum?” he called. “Are you okay?”

Kibum's head poked around the corner, shampoo and water dripping from his hair. “I think I've figured it out,” he said, grinning widely.


******


Claire yawned as she clutched her coffee in both hands. Her habit of only getting four or five hours of sleep per night was catching up with her and she took a gulp of coffee. Maybe I'll go home early today, she thought.

“Claire!”

Maybe not. “What is it?” she called, taking another drink. Matt came running down the hill, trying not to slide on the dead leaves covering the path. “Kyle hasn't come in,” he panted, skidding to a stop beside her. “Do you know where he is?”

“I haven't seen him since last night,” she said, frowning. “Is something wrong?”

“It's just we're ready to shoot, and-”

“You have no director,” she finished. She took another long drink as her mind whirled. Surely he would've texted me if he was sick. She downed the rest of her coffee and handed Matt the empty cup. “Call Philip and tell him to meet me on set,” she instructed. “I'll handle this.”

Matt got on his phone and Claire left him at the bottom of the hill, trudging up the path to the set. Everything seemed to be in order when she arrived, the cast and crew talking quietly in small groups. At least Matt was prompt to get me, she thought with relief. “Okay everyone, let's set up for the first village scene,” she called.

“Is Kyle here?” one of the cameramen called. “I need to-”

“He'll be here soon,” Claire assured him. “Ask me whatever you need to.”

“We need to reshoot the B-roll since the sun is so much higher-”

Claire caught sight of Philip winding toward her through the set. “Do whatever you need to,” she told the cameraman. “Make sure to get some wide shots of the forest.”

She waved Philip over. “What's going on?” he asked in a low voice. “Where's Kyle?”

“I don't know,” she whispered, keeping a calm expression on her face. “I need you to find out. Call him, go to the apartment, whatever. Just make sure he's okay and let me know ASAP. I can keep things moving on schedule until he shows up.”

Philip nodded and Claire clapped her hands. “Okay, I need my talent at this end of the village!” she called. “Where's the makeup team?”

“Here!” they called, hurrying over. The head makeup artist was a tall Korean woman named Jisoo. She had a knack for getting things done efficiently, a quality Claire greatly valued. “Make sure we don't get too much shine,” she instructed. Jisoo nodded as the cast arrived at their cue mark. Kibum smiled at her and Claire fought the blood rising to her cheeks. “Are we ready?” she called. Everyone gave a thumbs up and she took her place behind the camera display screens. “Ready, and action!”

Filming went quickly, so much so that Claire was surprised when the lunch tent opened. “What time is it?” she wondered. Her watch said twelve-thirty and she shook her head. Time flies even faster when you're directing, she thought. She opened her satchel and found a folded piece of paper tucked inside. She pulled it out and opened it carefully.

I know we can't be together on set, but I'm determined to talk to you. What do you think of my solution?

K

Claire smiled and tucked the note back into her satchel before grabbing her water bottle and heading to the food tent.


******


Minho tried not to fidget as Jisoo powdered him for the umpteenth time. Though it was rather chilly at this altitude, he still managed to work up quite a sweat. “Thanks,” he said as Jisoo finished. “See you in five minutes.”

Jisoo smiled and walked away just as Kibum ran over. “I just got off the phone with Jinki,” he said. “He said they might be able to visit the set in a few weeks.”

Minho raised his eyebrows. “It would be good to see them, but why would they make a dedicated trip just to visit the set? It's not like we're in downtown Busan or anything where they could just stop by.”

“I may have hinted that the show could use a little boost,” Kibum admitted. “I thought if the guys came it would spark attention in the media.”

“And give Claire a better chance of success,” Minho finished.

“It would give all of us a chance,” Kibum said gravely. Minho shook his head. “Just don't start sinking money into it,” he teased.

“Do you think she read my note?” Kibum wondered. “I haven't been able to tell.”

“Probably,” Minho said, “but she may not have time to reply. Kyle still hasn't shown up and that worries me.”

“I know,” Kibum groaned. “Assuming he's not sick, it's pretty unfair to let all the work fall on Claire like this. She does the work of four people as it is.”

“I'm sure he'll get here soon,” Minho said optimistically. “Oh, looks like we're getting ready to shoot again. Remember, don't actually punch Dong Hyun again. We're acting.”

“Shut up,” Kibum muttered.

“Kibum!” Claire called, waving him over. Minho watched him walk over with amusement. He may really like her, he thought, but he's going to draw attention if he keeps pulling strings like this.

The two of them talked for a minute, presumably about the script since Claire kept pointing to it. She took the script from Kibum's hand and made a few notes, then handed it back to him and sent him away. Kibum was smiling like an idiot as he looked at the script again, until he caught Minho watching him. “What?”

Minho walked over to him, holding his robes up with one hand. “What did she say?” he asked. Kibum showed him the script. Written in pencil above the scene heading were the words Great idea. A small C was scrawled beneath the message.

“Looks like your idea worked,” Minho murmured.

Notes