Stranded.

2.

"Come on, come on," Waiting in the lobby of his apartment suite, Seok Jin grabs a hold of his bag and rushes out through the entrance door to the BMW parked outside. Jungkook wanted to laugh at the cartoonish walk on the elder but held it in. "Didn't I tell you not to be late?" He said, once Jungkook got in and closed the passenger door.

"Didn't I tell you not to talk to me like you're my dad?"

"I wasn't. I was aiming for your mom,"

"Don't nag. It's too early for that," Jungkook rolled his eyes. "And I can't believe you're wearing this shirt again,"

Seok Jin looks offended. "Is it not too early for insults?"

"Stripes and swirls don't go together. I told you this,"

"Ahh sorry I don't have a stylist to remind me of these things. Anyway, here's your schedule," His manager hands him a folder as the car starts moving. "You'll have a week before filming starts. You'll be doing run-throughs with the other casts during this time -"

"A week for run-throughs? Is that why we're going this early - for a damn run-through??" 

Seok Jin pretends to not hear his annoyance by flipping to the next paper in his hands. "They've done their script-reading in their cast screening. You haven't,"

"I don't need to do run-throughs, just give me that one week and I'll master the script,"

"It's too early for arguments, Jungkook-ssi. I bet you haven't even had your coffee yet,"

"What are you talking about? I don't take coffee in the morning -"

The elder shot him a deadpan stare. "You're right. But I do. And I haven't had one yet,"

It got him to shut up. What's up with this guy - acting all bossy and strict all of a sudden? Has he knocked himself in the head this morning and flipped thinking he's the money-maker between the us?? 

"You're weird today," He mumbled unapologetically before throwing his gaze out to the streets passing him by. It's gonna be a long week...

"Esquire is out. You're at page nineteen," Seok Jin hands him the magazine and Jungkook lazily flips it open to the full spread with his picture, write-ups and its headline of '21 Questions...Jeon Jungkook'. He's not bothered to read it. It's pretty much the same as what they always write about him. 

The young actor who started his career at 14 years old. Having done drama and family series, Jeon Jungkook challenged his talent by venturing into feature films. He rose to fame with his emotional depiction of his character in the 2018 drama 'My Time'. Winning the hearts of millions overnight and more, Jungkook continues to challenge the international entertainment industry with a step forward into Hollywood...bla bla...what's new?

In reality, he wasn't sure why he felt so off about everything nowadays. It's probably the painkillers...yeah...must be the pain. It'll be too much if he admits that he's tired. Actually, 'bored' is the correct word for it. But there's nothing he can do about it. He looks to his left and Seok Jin is back on the phone. 

The guy has been looking out for him since he was 16. Jungkook remembers calling out for 'Jin hyung' all the time, asking for guidance and checking if he's doing things right. His manager took good care of him up till now, he knows that. But somehow, things are different. Everything started becoming so formal...so...scripted. 

It's like he lost touch on how to be a normal human being and having normal conversations - everything is about 'what's next'. 'Are you up for this project? Do you wanna work with this production? Where are we going next?' and so on. Everywhere he goes, someone needs to be there with him. The only private time he has by himself is when he's in his apartment or a hotel room somewhere.