As I have nothing to give you, I give you my heart (IU Verse Book#1)

Chapter 17

          "Cut! Great work, Jieun! Seo Joon! Let's take a break." The director shouted from behind the monitor. Jieun bowed to the director and turned to her left to give Seo Joon a smile as he patted her on the shoulder and went his way. Jieun made her way to her own chair and plopped down with a yawn. Hanteo was beside the director's chair watching the monitors and Seri had moved from his side towards Jieun who was nearby. She handed the younger woman a bottle of water as she took it gratefully and gulped it down. She put the bottle down beside her and stifled another yawn, which didn't go unnoticed by Seri.

        "You should go take a nap in the car, Jieun-nah. The director said we're going to have an hour break because the crew needs to go and get more equipment for the set." Jieun hummed in agreement as she looked around the area. As most of the crew had left the set for the equipment, she found that most of the people who were present were her company's staff; from her makeup team to her stylist team to even her writer's team. They were all there at the set. She counted the number of bodyguards that were lining up at the far end of the set. There were 7 of them now. 

        "Don't you think this is too much?" Jieun asked Seri as she gestured to the people around the set. "I mean, I normally come here with just Jihyuk, and now almost everyone in our company is here. I don't know whether this will help prevent the perpetrator from doing anything or it will just provoke them even more."

           Seri scrunched her face up in thought. "Well, it's safe to say that we all feel safe when we're large in numbers. I mean, we had as many people here as when you filmed Hotel del luna. Look at this place. We're dominating." Jieun laughed lightly before she let out another yawn. She noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Jihyuk ssi?" 

          "Ah, Minyoung went out to buy all of us lunch, and Jihyuk offered to go with her." Jieun nodded along and let out yet another yawn. "I didn't know it's lunchtime already." Seri laughed at her and told her to go take a nap, to which she complied and bid Seri goodbye.

          She fell to a blissful nap as soon as her head hit the car seat.

          40 minutes had passed; the crew was back from gathering the equipment and was now setting them up on the set. Once it was done, IU's team members along with the production crew stopped for a quick lunch break after Minyoung and Jihyuk came back with boxes of takeout. Minutes later Boxes and utensils were passed around, and everyone began to dig in. One box remained in the takeout bag as Jihyuk picked it up and looked around. He immediately noticed that Jieun was missing and asked Seri where she was, to which she replied that the younger woman was taking a nap in the car. Hanteo asked him if he could bring the takeout to her to which he complied and left his place, walking towards the car with the takeout in his hand. 

        He stopped in front of the door and knocked on it. When there was no answer, he knocked on it again, this time louder. No response. He peered through the window to see if she was awake. Unfortunately, what he didn't know was that the window was not transparent, meaning that he could not see the inside of the car. He squinted his eyes and moved closer to get a better look, his eyes almost glued to the window itself.

          Moments passed and as he was about to give up, the door of the car slid open revealing Jieun sitting there with a lopsided smile, "Looking for me Jihyuk ssi?" He nodded and showed her the takeout bag, to which she took it and gave him a grateful smile this time. He then excused himself saying that he needed to get back to his lunch. After he left, Jieun opened the takeout box and found that it was bibimbap. She started mixing the rice with the vegetables and the sauce and smiled to herself. 

          What Jihyuk didn't know was that she had woken up even before his first knock. She had noticed him walking towards the car from behind as she was cleaning her mirror to reapply her makeup. She had seen him in the reflection and watched as he went up towards the car and stood in front of her. She put down the mirror and leaned back, her head inclining to her right to watch him. He knocked on the door and she made no move to answer, still watching him. He knocked a second time; she smirked a little. She leaned a little bit closer as he leaned in too and peered through the window, squinting his eyes. She let out a small chuckle, thinking how adorable this boy was. He was still trying to look inside, and she couldn't help but beamed at him, even though she knew he couldn't see her. She decided to stop teasing him without him knowing as she slid the door open.