The Accidental Star

PHOTOSHOOT

JI CHANG WOOK

" Last few shots! " Mario shouted as he and his team continued to click photos of us. " Lean on Anne, Chang. Lean on her back. Yes, yes that's it! "

" I hope I'm not too heavy? " I muttered under my breath.

We were on the last set of the day's photoshoot. Mario and his team had taken a hundred shots of us, separately and in tandem, in practically every imaginable spot in the forest. They've also taken individual shots of Anne and I driving the motorcycle in our gown and suit respectively. Two hours earlier, we've completed a session of myself behind the wheel with Anne clinging behind me. We were finally on the shoot's final leg and were doing poses of her driving the bike while I lean against her from the passenger seat.

" Didn't you know that I trained hard all those months just for his moment? " She joked, not breaking her pose for the camera.

I cracked up.

" I don't want smiles! " Mario shouted from across us. " No smiles! No laughter. I don't want you showing off your teeth. What's funny, Chang Wook? Can you enlighten us here? "

" Sorry, Mario, " I called out and quickly put on my poker expression.

" So here's my plan, " Anne said after a few more clicks from Mario's team. " I am going to sneak into Mario's room tonight and drug his drink. I'll make it strong enough for him to sleep through the rest of the shooting days. "

I grunted. " That might be tough. "

" Why? " She asked and I felt her shift in her seat to do a different pose.

I moved my head in a different angle before I replied.

" See that guy in a black cap standing beside Mario? That's his lover. I was told that before anybody can go inside Mario's room, they need to go past him. " I said under my breath. " See those dark circles under his eyes? They said he stands guard at Mario's door each night. "

We shifted in another position and Anne leaned her back against mine.

" Beautiful! " Mario shouted. " Look away. Look at opposite directions! Yes, yes nice! "

" Is that serious? " Anne asked curiously as she arched her neck so the back of her head touched mine.

" No, " I chuckled. " But it sounded really sinister, didn't it?"

Anne guffawed and I ended up laughing along with her.

" What is wrong with the two of you?! " Mario demanded angrily as he approached us with a stern expression on his face. " What is so funny? "

He looked from Anne to me, enlarging his eyes to probably scare us.

It didn't.

" I'm sorry, " Anne muttered in between laughter.

I gave her a sidelong glance. I could see that she was wiping tears at the corner of her eyes.

My smile widened as I watched her surreptitiously. She looked more relaxed than I've seen her in days. Except for that incident this morning with Mario, she adapted pretty well. She seemed to have gotten the hang of things fast and was finishing her shoots faster than I could finish mine.

She was a natural in front of the camera. Mario and his team seemed to think so too. Despite being at odds with her earlier that day, Mario seemed to like how she looked behind the lens. They were snapping her photos faster than a bullet could travel after being fired. I even think they took more photos of her than me.

" Maybe you'd want to share with me what's cracking you both up and ruining this shoot? " Mario demanded as he looked at me angrily.

Just then the guy in the black cap approached Mario and handed him a piece of paper. The head photographer nodded his hand and gave black cap a dismissive wave.