For the second day of his shoot, Aren got ready and left his room. Just when he was locking his room door with his key, he heard a soft, female voice from behind him. "Um."
With his key left hanging in the key hole, he turned around.
In his sight appeared a girl in her early twenties. She had long, silky dark brown hair that fell in soft, loose waves past her shoulders, framing her face beautifully. Her large, expressive hazel-brown eyes were striking and slightly almond-shaped, with a warm, almost luminous glow under the soft hall light. She had delicate, symmetrical facial features: high cheekbones, a small straight nose, full lips with a natural rosy tint, and smooth, fair-to-light skin that caught the warm corridor lighting.
She was hesitating to speak her mind.
"Yes?" Aren asked with a puzzled gaze, his expression hidden behind his mask.
She fidgeted her fingers and spoke nervously: "I-I'm Lisa Vern. I'm playing the role of your sister, Mr. Aren."
"Ah." Aren immediately smiled behind the mask and extended his hand for a handshake. "Nice to meet you, Lisa. I'm sure you will act wonderfully. All the best."
Lisa's eyes revealed admiration as she wiped her hands on her dress before shaking his hand with both of her hands respectfully.
"I'm honored to act alongside you. Please take care of me. This is my first drama."
"No need to feel pressured." Aren said in a playful tone, trying to make her feel comfortable. "For better or worse, isn't this my first drama as well?"
Lisa giggled lightly, letting go of Aren's hand.
"Well then. See you at the set." Saying that, Aren turned to lock his door.
However, when he turned after locking the door, Lisa was still there, fidgeting her fingers nervously.
"Is there something you want to ask me?" Aren asked in a polite tone.
Lisa nodded and replied nervously. "Yes."
With some reluctance in her voice, she asked. "C-Can I come with you to the set? I'm nervous to go alone."
She was afraid that the director and the other crew members might not pay attention to her; however, if she arrived with Aren, she wouldn't get blatantly ignored in that case.
Aren didn't have a problem with it, as he agreed and let her follow him.
One of the responsibilities he had taken upon himself was to make the actors feel comfortable around him and the set.
Since Lisa was playing his sister's role, most of her scenes were with him, and if she didn't feel comfortable around him, she would get pressured and act worse than she could normally do.
To get the best performance out of her, he had to make her feel comfortable around him and the set.
After all, his own career was riding on the success of this drama.
After reaching the set, he took the lead to introduce her to the director and other crew members. Gisha was completing her scenes right now, and then, she would be free for the rest of the day, allowing her to return to the hotel to rest.
This day was dedicated to Aren's solo scenes, along with a few of his scenes with Lisa.
Aren and Lisa both got ready after getting their makeup and clothing done.
Lisa remained in her makeup room until she was called for her scenes.
It was only after an hour that she was called.
The scene's location was the school ground, and the scene was her getting bullied by her classmates.
These classmates were actually Shin's underlings who would bully her lightly once in a while to not let their relationship come to light.
Shin was hiding the fact that he had a sister who went to the same school as him; mainly to protect her from getting targeted by people who wanted to get even with him.
To not let anyone get suspicious, he would tell his underlings to bully her specifically from time to time. Of course, his underlings didn't know that she was his sister; however, they were specifically instructed to only lightly bully her and not hit her in any way.
Three background actors acted out the scene with her, one pulling her hair, one throwing her bag to the ground, and the other just giving a light flick on her forehead while letting out an amused laugh.
Lisa just had to keep silent in this scene, and act like she was trying to hold back her tears. After the bullies left, she picked up her bag, dusted her clothes, and started walking towards her home silently, without making a noise.
The director cut the scene and praised her as requested by Aren.
Lisa's mood and confidence instantly rose up after hearing the director's praise.
The following scenes were her walking on the street to her house, whining about her brother not protecting her, and then reaching home before opening the door to her small house.
The director wanted an authentic reaction from her so he didn't tell her that Aren was already inside the house, waiting for the next scene to begin.
He cut the scene when Lisa opened the door to her house and then instructed her to wait on the chair under the shade of a tree outside the house.
The crew moved inside, setting up the cameras and lighting for the next scene as Aren waited on the chair inside the house for the scene to begin.
After everything was set, the director called Lisa and instructed: "You remember the dialogues for this scene, right?"
Lisa nodded, "Yes... but director..." She asked, tilting her head in confusion. "Isn't this scene with Mr. Aren? Shouldn't we wait for him to arrive?"
"Ah, he is already inside. You just worry about your performance." The director said with a warm smile.
After seeing the results of complimenting Lisa on Aren's suggestion, the director was convinced that Lisa acted better when he complimented her and talked to her kindly.
It was actually the director's responsibility to bring out an actor's best performance, but here Aren was taking care of such things.
Regardless, the director was optimistic about the drama, judging by how the shooting was going. Even Gisha's acting had improved suddenly, which made him even more confident about success of the drama. He couldn't wait for the drama to finish shooting and get released.
However, right now he had to focus in the scene at hand as he gave the commands:
"Lights! Camera! Action!"
Lisa walked into the house through the main entrance, removing her shoes before walking inside, however, in the hurry, she didn't notice another set of shoes, belonging to a man.
As she walked inside the hall, she was greeted by a smiling Shin, wearing an apron with different delicacies filling the dining table beside him.
Her eyes widened with surprise; however, that reaction was natural and not acting. This was the first time she was seeing Aren's face in person. He had remained behind the mask all this while, and now that she was face to face with him, she was surprised. His appearance was too striking, a bit too handsome.
She was stunned for a moment; however, that was the exact reaction the director wanted from her.
"You are finally home. I was waiting for so long." Shin's voice was a complete 180 from how he sounded in school. It was warm, joyful, and exceedingly loving.
Lisa's mind went blank when she saw him smile, not remembering her lines anymore.
However, before the director could say "cut," Aren's brows furrowed as he rushed forward like a gust of wind and crouched beside her leg, touching her bruised knee.
"What happened to your knee?" His voice cracked a little with emotions, looking up at Lisa with a worried gaze.
Suddenly, Lisa got a feeling, a dialogue that came naturally to her, as if that would be what Shin's sister, Leah, would say to him in this situation.
"Why do you care? You don't even want to admit that I'm your sister." Her voice broke, tears welling up in her eyes involuntarily.
Shin pressed his lips together, holding back his emotions; however, his gaze lowered with guilt, displaying his helplessness and suppressed emotions.
He gently let go of her leg and stood up, his head lowered as if he was waiting to get reprimanded for his mistakes.
"What are you waiting for?" Leah asked annoyingly, as if talking to a fool. She then extended her hand and siezed his right hand. "Let's eat first."
She walked to the dining table while holding Shin's hand, making him follow after her without any protest.
She pulled a chair out, then turned back to Shin, and ordered while pointing at the chair. "Sit here."
Shin silently nodded, as if unable to go against her word.
He went and sat on the chair while Leah took the chair adjacent to him.
She picked up the chopsticks and chose Shin's favorite dish to grab with them.
"Open your mouth." She ordered sternly.
Shin raised his head and glanced at her with a warm smile.
"What are you smiling for?" She reprimanded. "Open your mouth."
The smile wiped away from his face abruptly.
He then awkwardly opened his mouth.
Leah gently dumped the dish into his mouth along with the pair of chopsticks.
Leaving the chopsticks in his mouth, she turned away and picked up another pair, speaking in a neutral tone. "Now eat yourself."
Shin took the chopsticks out of his mouth calmly, without reacting too much to her shenanigans.
He silently chewed.
Leah was already eating when Shin picked another pair of chopsticks and chose Leah's favourite dish to feed her.
He brought the chopsticks close to her mouth with a smile.
Leah stopped eating and glanced at him with an annoyed expression.
She sighed: "Ah, you're hopeless. We are siblings. Don't act like we are lovers for God's sake."
Even though she said this, she still opened her mouth, letting him feed her. They then returned to eating their own food and then the sound of the director resounded:
"Cut—!"
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(A/N - Thanks for reading. ^..^)