After the shooting finished on the second day, Aren returned to his hotel with Lisa.
All the cast stayed in the same hotel, while the crew stayed in the adjacent, cheaper hotel.
Lisa was staying in a room on the floor below Aren's.
As he was getting ready to go to the gym, his door was knocked on twice.
Knock. Knock.
He went to check who it was, and it turned out to be Gisha, adorned in a dress suitable for going to a club or a party.
"Were you going somewhere?" Gisha asked, seeing Aren's changed attire.
"Yeah. To the gym."
"Ah, alright." Gisha slid her hair behind the ear and asked with blushing smile: "Would you like to go out for dinner with me after you return?"
"Why not?" Aren answered right away, not finding anything wrong with it. He took it as a simple outing between friends.
Gisha's eyes brightened with excitement. "Alright, let's go around 7:30 pm."
Aren nodded. "Alright, see you at 7:30."
Gisha nodded with a pleased smile as Aren shut the door and went back to wear his mask, cap, and shoes before going to the gym.
At 7:30, Aren's door was knocked again, prompting him to go and greet Gisha at the door.
He was already all set in a plain black shirt and pant, as he left his room and locked the door.
They then got in the lift, and Aren pushed the button to the lower floor where Lisa stayed.
Gisha gave him a confused look, prompting him to explain: "I also invited Lisa, the actress who plays my sister."
Gisha's eyes widened in shock; however, Aren didn't notice as the lift stopped at the lower floor. Aren went and knocked on her door before returning to the lift with her.
She bowed at Gisha and greeted politely: "Thank you, Sister Gisha, for letting me join."
Gisha let out a forced smile and shot a displeased look towards Aren.
Aren, oblivious to the storm inside Gisha, chuckled playfully, trying to lighten the mood.
"I thought, why not let her get comfortable with us since we have scenes together tomorrow, right?"
To his credit, he had been thinking of how to get Lisa and Gisha comfortable with each other, and Gisha's invitation to dinner presented itself as a perfect opportunity.
On the whole outing afterwards, Aren had to remain behind a mask and a cap. Even while eating, he had to keep the cap on to not let his face be seen by anyone.
He didn't want to encounter a Ventage fan and get beaten up by them. Judging from the hate he received in the comments, he didn't want to encounter those humans in real life. Atleast the comments didn't hit him physically, right?
Lisa, however, wasn't famous, so she could afford to show her face in public. She seemed to be enjoying this outing the most amongst them.
Gisha, on the other hand, was similar to Aren, just not to his extent. She wasn't as popular as Aren which gave her moments of relief as people didn't recognize her right away.
However, other than this, the goal for which Aren took them to dinner wasn't accomplished.
The atmosphere remained tensed throughout, even when Aren tried to joke around, the tension didn't alleviate.
He couldn't understand what the problem was.
It was as if Lisa and Gisha both didn't like each other for some reason.
He could see that Lisa wasn't opposed to the idea of getting cozy with Gisha; however, she wasn't making an active effort either. She had left the charge to Gisha, letting her take the first step.
Gisha, on the other hand, seemed in a foul mood altogether. She didn't look like she was ready to act all buddy buddy with Lisa right now.
Afraid to anger her anymore, Aren kept quiet till their dinner was finished.
After their short outing was over, Aren returned to his room and slept, leaving worries for later.
The next day, the shooting resumed.
In this scene, Leah was going to get bullied again; however, this time, Gisha's character, Nataly, would come to her rescue.
However, when they shot the scene, Gisha's acting looked forced when she acted to show care for Leah's injuries. It was as if she was just rescuing her out of formality, as if this was some unwanted labor she had been forced into.
They tried a few more times; however, when the director saw no hope, he decided to postpone this scene for later and instead moved on to the next scene. In this scene, Leah brings Nataly to her house to thank her with a home-cooked meal.
This scene wasn't a problem, finishing in one take.
The next scene was where Shin makes a surprise entrance, surprising Nataly, who is unaware of Leah and Shin's relationship.
"Lights! Camera! Action!"
The door suddenly opened, attracting the attention of both Nataly and Leah, the sound of footsteps clearly audible to both of them.
"Is it a thief?" Nataly questioned to Leah, and without even waiting for her answer, hurried to check on the intruder.
Leah had already informed her that she lived alone because she was an orphan so Nataly couldn't help but doubt the sudden uninvited guest. It was even more suspicious because this intruder didn't knock on the door, instead, barged in like it was his own home.
"No! Wait!" Leah yelled to stop her, however, Nataly was just too quick to stop with just two words. She ignored Leah's words, thinking that she just didn't want Nataly to get hurt by the thief.
Meanwhile, Shin noticed the two female shoes and immediately turned around to leave; however, he was too late.
Till then, Nataly had already arrived, and seeing him turned around to escape, she yelled, "Stop right there!"
She caught a glimpse of his right profile despite his turned back as her eyes widened in shock.
"Prince Shin?!" She blurted out, disbelief written on her face.
Prince Shin was his title, popular amongst each student of the school.
"Fuck!" Shin cursed under his breath.
Knowing that it would be worse to just escape, he turned around calmly. He didn't want Nataly to call police and make a false complaint against him. If that happened, his relationship with Leah would be exposed to everyone.
"Do you?..." Nataly muttered, narrowing her gaze before pointing at him, yelling as she accused, "Come here to harass Leah?!"
At this moment, Leah appeared: "No, wait, Nataly!"
Shin's gaze was calculating and calm all this while, but when Leah appeared, his gaze shifted, turning soft, warmth filling his eyes.
Nataly turned to Leah and muttered resolutely: "Don't worry, Leah. I will not let him harass you anymore. Let's complain to the police about his crimes."
Shin's gaze turned cold at the mention of police, his threatening voice assaulting Nataly's ears:
"Do you really want to make an enemy out of me?"
His voice wasn't loud; however, it was chilling enough to send shivers down Nataly's spine as she took a step back out of fear.
"Brother, stop! Don't threaten her!" Leah yelled. "She saved me from bullies!"
Shin's eyes widened, not because Nataly saved Leah, but because Leah called him brother in front of Nataly, exposing his secret.
"B-Brother?" Nataly looked at Shin and then at Leah, her eyes wide with shock.
"D-Didn't you say you had no one else left in your family?" Nataly asked anxiously to Leah, glancing at Shin's stunned expression alternatively.
"Who are you calling brother, little girl?" Shin laughed, trying to salvage the situation. Though he wanted to sound cold to her sister, he couldn't do it despite trying his best. He just loved her too much to try to make her fear him. He couldn't bring himself to threaten her for real.
Nataly, however, seemed to be believing his performance, but then Leah yelled, exposing him bare in front of Nataly:
"Stop, brother. Can't we just let her know? She is a nice person."
All of his efforts were thrown out of the drain by those words.
Leah's eyes, imploring him.
How could he say no?
He couldn't bring himself to say no.
Reluctantly, he nodded with a defeated expression, and the director called, "Cut—!"
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(A/N - Thanks for reading. ^..^)