[Ah! Joon-won. Your shooting is already done? I thought you said this one is going to take longer than your normal ones?] Min-Seok answered his call and immediately asked a few questions like he always did. 

Joon-won rolled along the bed as he replied, “Yes, even I thought it would take longer. But it turned out fine at the end and it got done quickly. Anyway, what are you guys doing? Did you take a leave today too?” 

[Yes, I took leave today. I need to help the little girl in packing up things. She can’t handle everything alone. So, I’m helping her out. We went to the store earlier and bought the things she might need there. Everything is going well. What are you doing? Did you have your lunch yet?]

“I’m back in my room now. I had lunch with the other actors in the film. They took me out for lunch as today is my last day here. Everything went fine. Did you guys have lunch too yet? How is the packing going on? Everything ready?” 

[You went to lunch with the other actors? That’s good. You can build more relations like that. Relations are very important in the world right now and that seems to be especially true in the entertainment industry from what I hear. We still didn’t eat lunch here. Yun-hee told me to wait in the living room and said she is going to cook something for me.]

“Yes, yes dad. Now tell me about the packing.l and she is cooking? How is Yun-hee doing right now? It’s her first time going away from home. Even though I’m in the same city and she can come meet me anytime, it’s different. I heard there are some strict rules and they are allowed out only on weekends or something. So how is she?” 

[The packing is going completely well and Yun-hee? That girl is more active now than ever before. She seems to be very excited about leaving home and going away. It is making me sad seeing all this. I’m going to be all alone after I come back.]

“Don’t feel too bad. You can come meet us anytime you want. It’s only a few hours on the bus. We will also come home. So don’t worry about anything.” 

As he said that, he heard Yun-hee shout his name on the other side as it looked like she snatched the phone away from Min-Seok and she even turned on the video call, showing her bright face.

[Brother, what are you doing? How was your last day on the set? You are leaving tomorrow morning right?]

“I am doing fine, Yun-hee. I heard from dad just now that you are cooking? Don’t try to make some poisonous concoction now. You both need to travel the day after tomorrow, we can’t have upset stomachs and yes, I’m leaving tomorrow morning. The last day was nice, it’s not like I’m an important actor for the entire crew to gather and give a round of applause or something. The director spoke a few words and invited me to dinner tonight.” As he sat on the bed.

[What did you just say about my cooking? Let me tell you. I’m really good and when I come there, I’ll cook for you too. Add, can you go turn off the stove? It should be done.] As she asked Min-Seok. Min-Seok just nodded and said he would be right back before walking into the kitchen. 

Joon-won looked at Yun-hee and asked with a slight smile, “So, are you prepared? How are you feeling now? After all, it’s still your first time moving out of the town.” He noticed from the memories he got of the original owner that he never went out of that small town and the first time was when he came to Arios to check out the university, that’s all. The family condition wasn’t optimal for them to have vacations like others. 

[Everything is alright. I’m fine. I’m excited to live in the big city. Also, you are going to be there, so I’ll be completely fine.] Hearing her words only made him worry a little more. It was the same with the original Joon-won too. He had too much excitement about the big city life that things didn’t go as planned. But he just kept his thoughts with himself as he knew he would be here to keep checking on her and also that Yun-hee is much more responsible than the old Joon-won could ever hope to be. 

So, he just nodded and said, “Well that’s good. The bus is at 7 in the morning and you guys will be here by lunch. I’ll pick you guys up from the station. So just get everything ready. It’s ok if you forget things too, we can buy them here.” 

Yun-hee nodded and after they talked for a few more minutes, Joon-won just said his goodbye before falling asleep on the bed. He was tired and wanted some sleep before going for dinner. 

After a few hours he woke up from sleep and noticed it was already 7:30. The director asked them to be at the restaurant by 9 and so he wasn’t worried about it much. He took a slow and long shower before wearing the best clothes he had. He sat down on the chair as he took out his phone and sent a text to Hea-Jung. She was quick to reply as she asked him to be down stairs in 10 minutes. 

After 5 minutes, he walked down and stood before the hotel, waiting for Hea-Jung to roll by. After a few minutes the car stopped in front of him and he got in. He noticed Hea-Jung was wearing a better dress too. 

Hea-Jung looked at him and said, “Little brother, you need to buy a car very soon. It’s going to be hard for you to use cabs and stuff.”

Joon-won glanced at her and simply said, “I don’t even know how to drive a car, so why do I need to buy one now. I’ll buy one when I have a surplus of cash in my bank and learn how to drive.” Hea-Jung seemed to expect an answer like that as she just shrugged and looked out of the window. 

The car came to a stop and both of them got out. Joon-won just followed Hea-Jung behind as she went upto the reception, showed her the invitation the director sent earlier before she led them to a huge dining space. It was enough to fit 10 people. 

As they walked in, they already noticed a few people inside. It was Chea Young and Ham Mun-hee with the assistant director. Both of them walked towards them and it looked like the three also noticed as they stood up. 

“Miss.Seo and Mr.Kim, both of you are here. Please come and have a seat.” The assistant director greeted both of them and they took their seats before the assistant took his leave.

“Hea-Jung, Joon-won, you don’t know how awkward it was to be the first one to arrive. We both came together and thought everyone was going to be here already. But it was empty and only the assistant director was there. It seems like the afternoon shoot took a bit more time than expected. The others will be here soon.” Chea Young sighed as he took a sip of the alcohol he had in his glass. 

Only these 4 guys didn’t have a shoot in the afternoon. The others who were also coming to the party had one. So during the afternoon shoot, it took a few more takes than what they originally anticipated which led to more time being consumed for it.

Hea-Jung shrugged as she poured some alcohol for himself and said, “Well there is nothing we can do about it. They will be here in a few minutes and until then let’s drink some and talk about other matters. Mun-hee Sunbae, how is your son? He should be in elementary school now right?” She turned towards Ham Mun-hee and changed the topic. 

Ham Mun-hee, who was having his own drink looked up and said with a small smile on his face, “Yes, he is going into elementary school this year. How is your mom? I heard she is making plans to make a special album this year or the next? Is it true?”

Hea-Jung shrugged and replied, “I don’t know. I never talk about this stuff with her. My mother is very different, if she wants to do it, then she probably will. Are you a fan, Sunbae?” 

Ham Mun-hee nodded and said, “Yes, me and my wife listen to her music. She was ruling the industry when we were growing up.” 

As they continued their talks the door opened and the director walked in with the other actors behind him.

****************************

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