the place under the spotlight | soogyu

Chapter One

Soobin liked working with the perfect people.

From staff, writers, and actors—he was particular about the roles given to them, big or small. Yeonjun and Beomgyu are household names for melodramatic films, and it was what Soobin was searching for; Taehyun is a famous writer under an alias, has connections left and right—collaborating with different types of artists to produce art is beautiful.

But it's no walk in a park.

"Hyung, great job today," Taehyun came rushing to his side, joining him and a couple more people in the team to monitor.

"You, too, Hyun. I'm just glad the schedule didn't need much adjusting from the previous incident," Soobin sighed, exasperated by the memory of Beomgyu causing a huge mess over an empty stomach. (Which is fully Beomgyu's fault!)

Taehyun always seems to see the good in everything as he nonchalantly shrugs and says, "There's no use thinking about what has already passed. I think Beomgyu's actually trying now; he came early."

"You're easily pleased."

Standards are probably taboo in Taehyun's vocabulary. Although Soobin trusts his intelligent judgements, Taehyun was an easy going guy. He called Soobin to turn one of his most famous novels into a film—Soobin; someone who daydreamed his way through a couple film focused studies until he graduated, and now has a major project under his belt as soon as he did.

That Soobin. A dreamer and clumsy but picky director. It was humbling.

"I feel sorry for your cowardly self," Taehyun pouts. "Don't be too hard on him and just admit that he's not that horrible."

Soobin shook his head. "I'm more terrified of what you think. I hope I'm doing this right."

"Ever since I started writing, I have learned to accept that my work will never be imagined uniformly."

"Stop talking to me like you're writing poetry," Soobin playfully commented.

Taehyun snorts. "Add a little sparkle in your life, hyung. All I'm saying is that—well, this is pretty much your story now. Your version of my work. I like watching from the side and seeing everything unfold."

"You know, Beomgyu thinks the story is mediocre."

"How dare he," Taehyun gasped. "But then again, he's never pleased with anything."

________________

Soobin was frustrated, perplexed, and tired from all the trouble that's been happening between the cast.

He had his fair share of tension and working in a very ill environment workplaces, but he doesn't want to keep working with two main characters who kiss on camera and then urge each other to choke and die when he yells cut!

Yeonjun and Beomgyu... okay. They have a strange history that's far too vague for Soobin to talk to them about clearly—he dances around the issue like he's Michael Jackson.

But when Soobin knocks the door open in the dressing room after hearing a series of yellings and finds both actors ready to throw each other fists; there is no way he's sweeping this under the rug. The time will come when conflict gets a little bit too out of hand and Soobin gives up on the playing pretend.

The overdue conversation goes a little bit like this:

One: Yeonjun apologizes for allowing a commotion to occur in the studio, and for failing to keep his personal life separated from his work. The positive reaction from the staff gave him an upper hand. While Beomgyu;

With number two: Beomgyu was insisting that he had nothing to apologize about when it was Yeonjun who started the entire thing. What entire thing? It turns out;

Number three: what sparked the fight was a comment that was misunderstood—or maybe, not received kindly. ("You did great today, Gyu!" Yeonjun said; cue Beomgyu's sensitive feelings!)

Taehyun chose to handle the situation with a short talk about being professional. Even so, Soobin had to stop by Kai's car with a slightly reprimanding talk about the way Beomgyu's been acting.

"Please, do tell him. We can't keep accommodating him the way he demands if he continues to forget the reason why this one big team is formed and why he's part of it," Soobin, at this point, doesn't let shyness get the best of him.

Kai nodded more enthusiastically than usual from being flustered. "Will do! I'm sorry for causing a scene at work. I don't know what came over me."

"We all get sensitive at times, but Beomgyu and Yeonjun handled the situation horribly. I'm hoping this won't happen again."

At least not at work, Soobin wanted to add since the anger in Beomgyu doesn't seem like it'll subside any time soon.

He was about to leave when said anger hoarder got out of the car. Beomgyu's face is red—as Soobin understands as the outcome of his choice to eavesdrop on the previous conversation. Kai was almost frantic, he tried coaxing the actor back in the passenger seat, but to whom does Beomgyu listen to anyway?

"If you have something to say, say it to my face."

Soobin ignored the most disrespectful tone in Beomgyu's voice and took a deep breath to grasp composure. He's not afraid, he's had confrontations like this far too many, and he swears to never give Beomgyu the power he acts like he has over people. So, Soobin shakes his head and says, "I left nothing unsaid."

"You didn't say much."

"Well, besides asking you to stop making everyone's jobs harder for everyone? There's not a lot to say," Soobin sighed. "I warned you before: do something that you're not supposed to and I'll fire you."

Beomgyu's snort contradicts Kai's gasp. He dismissed his manager's attempts to cut the conversation short. "Soobin, I can make a thousand mistakes and you'll still have me in the show," He rolled his eyes. "I'm not threatened."

Soobin sighs, exasperated. No words can tame this conceited bastard. "Your pride will be big enough to crush you one day, and I hope I'm not there to see it."

"Is that another empty threat?"

"No. I'm jinxing you," He smiled. "Good night."

Soobin leaves.