BEYOND | Choi San

18

San's hands were firmly holding Teena's waist, trying to keep both of them firmly in place. The sound of their heavy breathing was the only sound in the entire studio as their bodies held close to each other. Teena tore her gaze away from his eyes and gazed at his lips, swallowing heavily at how close they were to her.

After a few seconds, she saw those lips move right in front of her and shook her head, finally reacting. Awkwardly, she placed her hands on his chest and pulled him away, taking a couple of steps back.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry," San murmured, staring at her. Teena turned her gaze to him, still not fully returning to her senses. Their eyes connected and she licked her lips, "Are you okay?"

"Yes Yes." she nodded, awakening.

San nodded in the same way and then looked at the ladder on the ground, smiling now in disbelief at what had happened. He would never have believed that he could react so quickly to a situation like this.

"Thank you," Teena murmured.

"It's nothing," San smiled innocently, "I'm glad you didn't fall to the ground; I just noticed how dangerous it has been from the start." He grimaced. "Maybe it wasn't one of my best ideas..."

"What are you talking about?" The girl frowned at him, almost outraged by the way the boy was looking down on his own wit. "Thanks to that we have what we need."

Teena moved the camera back and forth and allowed herself to smile, putting what had happened aside and refocusing on her work. San shot her a look, and then his eyes moved to the camera, recovering that emotion on his face.

Indeed, they had succeeded just in time, because a few minutes later the doors of the studio opened and Abel entered with the two models for the next section. San and Teena shared a smile, both relieved and satisfied, and walked over to greet the new temporary team members.

Then, as if nothing had ever happened, as if neither of them had tripped and fallen from a considerable height, as if they had not been one slip away from finishing that day in the hospital, and as if they had never been less than thirty inches from each other, Teena and San shifted their focus and turned their full attention to the new section of their work that had just begun.

Celine, on her side, had been running around for hours to get the birthday surprise for San done on time. Since she had woken up later than she had planned, it did not take her two minutes to get out of bed and begin to get done each of the steps on the mental list that she had created during the night before.

She had initially thought that she would go to San's house with all the things that she had received in the mail and fully decorate it, however, it was not long before she realized that she had forgotten certain details. How could she celebrate his birthday without a cake? No, actually the real question was: how had she forgotten the cake?

A snort had left inside her as soon as she noticed it; she had definitely had her attention elsewhere the past few days.

That was how her plans were seen with slight modifications, now with more places to go before reaching her final destination.

That was the reason why it had taken longer than estimated, but finally the hours had passed and everything was ready. With a smile and nerves on the surface, the girl left San's house and began to walk towards Future's building. As a result of her changes in plans, she hadn't been able to go to any of his breaks like she used to —and she had initially planned—.

Would San have noticed her absence? A small smile appeared on her face; of course, there was no doubt about that. Could he have missed her? What would he say to her once he saw her arrive?