Chances

Chapter 13: Two Weeks

The next two weeks came by in a blur, eleven working bodies walking in and out of rooms, barely being able to meet up as a whole group even to just have a meal. Flash after flash after flash did Hyejin work tirelessly creating pleasant shots that would wow the members but even skills as impressive as hers didn't stop Reyna from pointing out what could be done better to elevate the shot as the visual director.

Huffing, puffing, glaring at the younger girl still listened to her advice and took a few more shots to appease her. The two of them did a bulk of the work, adjusting their sleep and taking naps in between scheduled shoots to have enough energy to continue working with the boys who compared to them had a lot of time in between each of their individual shoots.

The boys timetables were done in subunits, divided in groups of two, two, and three meant that each subunit only needed to attend their shoots one every three days, this way, the girls thought, would be a better management of their time not to mention so they didn't become bored shooting the same faces every single day. So on their rest days they spent it exploring the grounds on their own, playing games at the arcade, shooting hoops in the indoor court, Taehyung even managed to ride a few times helping the others and teaching them how to ride too. Jin was a natural. Namjoon, not so much.

Whenever Jimin and Rachel's schedules seemed to align, he silver haired boy took it upon himself to check up on the girl he had grown attached to. A few night ago he finally had the courage to ask for her number and she gave it, not thinking much about it. They texted almost all the time, memes and shorts videos being the main subject of their text. When they weren't on their phones texting, Jimin would come in the make shift dressing room and bring her some fruit when he noticed she hadn't come out for awhile and keep her company even when she was busy styling the other members. Two weeks and that's all it amounted to, text messages, and fruit baring gifts from time to time, there wasn't more he could do, he didn't want to expect that this could turn into something for so never tried to get closer beyond surface level. Besides, he thought, she had been as friendly to him as she were to the others so that was that.

Jin on the other hand was much more subtle on his advances, giving Hyejin encouraging words whenever he was shooting with her and waking up earlier than her on days where he was scheduled to shoot in the early hours of the morning. He would already make her some of her favorite tea, with just a dash of honey and some warm milk, that he first picked up on back in her flat in London when they came to see her. That felt so long ago and she felt like a friend he had been with all this time. Their conversations were always so philosophical and deep but managed to keep it light and natural. He didn't even notice how much attention he had been putting on to her until Yoongi mentioned it one time they went fishing. "Just go for it, she's really great." Yoongi had advised and he agreed that she was great, splendid, too perfect almost but thought the same thing Jimin did. How long could it last, with both our careers, not to mention them living miles away from each other? It just wouldn't work.

Dahee's schedule was a lot more flexible than the others. Hyejin had told her to start editing as soon as she delivered each set of photos from every session. This is how Hyejin works, she realized, to finish the job all at the same time, everyone had to be working none stop which is why she always hired her own crew and only got a few people to join her, so the rotation would be far more simpler and assured no freeloaders who didn't deserve their pay. Dahee definitely liked this method. As an editor, normally photos would be processed when the whole shoot was over, and the deadlines would be inhumane, giving them maybe three weeks tops before they delivered the finished product. Thousands of photographs edited, the final ones only thirty, maybe forty, at most was incredibly deluding. But the pace at which she delivered was far more better, even the output being of sound quality considering she didn't feel pressured, she even got to talk to Reyna a little bit when she asked for feedback on the film and that she gave. It was small interactions but it made Dahee's day.

They had finished all the shoots earlier than scheduled, so Dahee got to work editing, day in and day out. Stayed locked in her room with her computer on lap and mouse on hand clicking and sketching and filtering at a faster speed now that she knew what the director and photographer wanted to see. In a day she had finished with the last batch and sent it to Hyejin. 

They scrolled through the processed film, picking out their favorites, Reyna, Hyejin, and the boys all paying their attention to the projector that flashed their photos, marking what the boys wanted to keep for the album and some for themselves. Reyna had apparently been taking behind the scenes photos of the guys and gave them a copy on a flash drive which I scrolled through on the plane ride back to Korea.

They all took different planes going back to each of their homes. Hyejin told them that she'll be visiting Korea in the next month or so hoping they could go out for dinner to which they all agreed with a resounding yes and hugged and kissed her goodbye since her plane was first to leave.

Dahee left next. She wasn't particularly close to all of them considering her behavior at the start and her work which kept her trapped in her room but Rachel still hugged her extremely tightly getting her a kiss on the head from the taller one. Besides the cutesy girl who let go after probably five minutes of them standing there, Jungkook also came forward and gave her a hug, patting her back twice before letting go and she thanked him for all that he did for her. This moment wasn't a surprise at all considering the fact that when Dahee was trapped in her work, Jungkook came in once in awhile leaving water or coffee on her side table, even bringing up food for her and would ask "How's it going?" and Dahee would reply scratching her eyes and yawning with a stretch said "Never better." and thanked him every single time, exchanging smiles and pats on the back, occasionally praising each other, the edits or for the poses.

Rachel was set to leave with the boys saying she wanted to visit her parents, that she's been away for too long and that they could use her private jet which was currently being prepped. They brought their luggage to the car they were using to drive to the airport and waited for everyone to get in. Yoongi was stopped in his tracks when he saw Reyna sitting near the fire place, chugging a bottle of bourbon, alone. He knocked on the door before asking if she was okay "I didn't say goodbye." She responded, teary eyed. She was talking about when Dahee left, she chose to not say goodbye and stayed locked in her room. 

The integrity of her work mattered more than the personal feeling she harbored for Dahee and actually acknowledged her existence whenever she'd ask for comments and feedback. Reyna always kept her tone neutral and harsh when addressing the editor but only at the start. As their work progressed she found herself being more open, actually inviting the the older girl to get feedback so that they could talk, professionally of course. But even so, it filled Reyna with a feeling to overlook the past and just start anew with her, now, while they had time. But she couldn't forget the hurt and betrayal, her mind making her relive the day it won't to hell, and she couldn't bring herself to forgive Dahee, even though deep down she wanted to.

Surprisingly, the black haired boy took the bottle of bourbon and heeded her with wise advise saying that she got to choose when other people would be let in her heart, if she had said goodbye earlier it wouldn't have meant a thing considering she never said hello to her to begin with. He tapped the younger ones head crack a joke that when she gets to his age she'll finally have all the answers she needed. She laughed along with him and as the moment called for it, leaned her head on his shoulder, looking at the fire, feeling its warmth and thanking his sage-like wisdom.

Moments later she had packed her bag as well and asked Rachel if she could fly to Korea with them. She wanted to see her dad and needed to confront her past. Rachel was hopeful that this would mean their quartet would finally be complete. Arriving at the airport and boarding the plane, without any delay grabbed Reyna's hand, squeezed it tight, and commanded the pilot "Take us home."