The Son of Zelos (VIXX Fanfiction)

Falling

"Is that the storyline for next month's issue?" Hakyeon inquired.

Nayoung looked up as he placed the tray with her drink down, to find him peeking at the papers on the table. "Oh yeah, it's the script." 

"A script?" Hakyeon asked.

"Why don't you sit down and I'll explain it to you?" She offered.

He pulled up a chair and turned it, resting his chin on folded arms on the headrest. "So, how does this work?" he asked.

"Well, how it works is that I write out a basic storyline of what happens over a few issues and I work on it with the artist." She looked up to see whether Hakyeon was listening, which he was, with rapt attention. "Once we figure out a general direction for the story to go in, I then work on breaking it down into separate issues."

"What happens then?" Hakyeon asked, eyes wide in wonder.

"I then get to work scripting the issues," she informed him.

"Scripting?"

Nayoung nodded, turning the paper so he could see the writing in the form of dialogue. "Since the story is heavy on dialogue, since it is a mystery, I break up the issue into dialogues. I then take it to the artist, who then creates a manuscript."

"Isn't a manuscript like a first draft of a story or something?" Hakyeon asked, miming writing.

She hummed. "Yeah, that is true," she agreed. "In our case, the manuscript is the first draft of the comic itself. We sketch out all the panels, the placement, the angles of the characters, the scene..."

Hakyeon let out a low whistle. "That's a lot of work," he said. "So where does it become the comic we get in the store?"

"Then we take the manuscript to the editor, who irons out the last knots, and then the artist gets to work inking and coloring," she explained. "Once we've got the pages inked and colored, it goes to the printer after the final okay from the editor. Copies are printed and that's when it comes to the shelves."

"Cool!" Hakyeon blurted out. "I never knew the comic I read had so much work go into it. I think I'm going to appreciate it more now." 

She chuckled. "I'm glad." Then as her eyes fell to the sheets of paper in front of her, she let out a slight sigh.

Hakyeon furrowed his brows. "What's wrong?"

She let out a breath. "Well, I guess you could call it a version of writer's block," she admitted.

"Writer's block?" he asked. "So even you comic writers have blocks?"

She picked up the empty coffee cup next to her (she'd ordered a second time) and threatened to throw it at him. He mockingly protected himself, laughing as her face was something between chastising him and laughing with him because he was so ridiculous. 

"Yes, Hakyeon-ah." Her voice was laced with ice and truly made him believe that she really did mean to throw that plastic cup at him. "Even us lowly comic writers sometimes get writer's block." 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he quickly pleaded. "Please don't kill me!" 

She leaned back in her chair and Hakyeon straightened himself. "So where are you stuck?" he wondered. "Is it that you can't think of a way to progress the story?"

She shook her head. "No, that's not it," she said. "I already worked out the direction of the story beforehand. It's just that I can't figure out how to take this particular scene forward."

He thought about it for a minute. "May I see it?" he asked.

"Why?" She gave him a strange look.