BEHIND THE SCENES

chapter 11: a new-found resolve

<OST: Sleepless Night - Crush ft. Punch>

"But honestly, what are you most excited about?" Byulyi asked Jieun after a while, when they had both finally calmed down. "I mean, I get that you wanna expose that jerk and take him down, and also at the same time achieve your goal of reporting on live TV but somehow, it feels like there's more to it."

"I mean, getting revenge on him is cool, but I'm more excited about the latter-" Jieun said with an excited smile. "But honestly, you're right, unnie - I am looking forward to something else while I'm there."

"What?" Byulyi sat up straight on the couch. "What secret are you hiding from me this time, Lee Jieun?"

"I'm not hiding anything, I just-" Jieun let out a sigh. "I doubt you'll understand how I feel right now, unnie, because you've always liked writing, and writing has always been your one and only true passion. But for me, it's different. If I compare it to dating... news reporting is like my current lover, while doing makeup... that's my first love, you know?"

"Ah... I get it." Byulyi nodded slowly. "I mean, I don't completely understand how that might feel, but I know what you're trying to say."

"Just like how one's first love always has a special place in one's heart..." Jieun had a dreamy look on her face. "I may have moved on physically from doing makeup, but my heart never really moved on, unnie. Just knowing that I'm going to start doing makeup again... it makes my heart flutter."

"Aigoo, aigoo-" Byulyi laughed as she prodded Jieun in her sides teasingly. "Look at you talking about first loves like a pro, when you have never actually been in love before."

"Lee Hyunwoo from middle schoo-"

"Come on, let's put that boy away for now-" Byulyi clucked her tongue, annoyed that that was the only name Jieun could pull out every time she wanted to support her claim that she had ever been in love before. "Y'all dated for four days and broke up."

"Four and a half!" Jieun corrected her with an enraged frown.

"Yeah, like that makes any difference-" Byulyi chortled. "And that's only because y'all broke up after school on the fifth day."

"At least I had Lee Hyunwoo," Jieun said with a condescending smirk. "What about you, unnie? You don't even have anyone you dated for at least five days."

"Four and a half, let's be consistent here-" Byulyi corrected pettily. "And listen - your unnie hasn't had one not because she can't find one but because she has been busy writing her entire life, focused on her goals, alright? She has had plenty of admirers since high school, if you hadn't already noticed before. Also, can we drop the topic now?"

"You were the one who started it-" Jieun sniggered, but one look from Byulyi shut her up. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry-"

"Come to think of it..." Byulyi began after a while. "You began taking interest in reporting a couple of years ago, but why did you have to stop doing makeup? I mean, there are many ways to keep your interest going but for the past few years, you always rejected when I offered to be your makeup model... why?"

Jieun thought for a while, then a playful smirk crossing her face as she wriggled her eyebrows at Byulyi. "Maybe because I wasn't satisfied with the model I was offered...?"