Lacy Dreams and Maroon (Hyunlix)

Act I

Hyunjin is used to the flashing cameras that always threaten to blind him so when he steps on the red carpet, he cocks his chin high and gives everyone a small but confident smile.

'Hyunjin, to the left!'

'Hyunjin, over here!'

'Hyunjin, to the right!'

The cameramen shout over each other, desperate for Hyunjin to look into their lens. To him, they always appear more as starving wolves, faced with a piece of meat, rather than people.

'Looking so handsome today, Hyunjin!', one of them says and the actor doesn't hide his chuckle, knowing that it'll make the photos even better.

Naturally, the moment the skin at the corner of his eyes crinkles with his smile, the flashes increase even more.

He can't say that he doesn't love the attention. For some celebrities, this kind of exposure is one of the worst parts of their career as it can be understandably overwhelming. For Hyunjin though - the second he steps out of his shell, he tends to forget about anything else but the fame. The shouts of his name from the fans after he'd get out of black sleek cars, the shouts of his name from the cameramen who know they'll earn the best money tonight if they get his photos. It all makes his blood rush with excitement, pride and greed for more.

If he can compare it to something, it would be like diving into the ocean. Nothing matters, his eardrums are numb to his own thoughts and the only thing he becomes is Hwang Hyunjin. Nothing else. Just him and his name that costs millions.

The man whose hands regularly shake and whose thoughts often take a dark turn in his lonely bed at night - disappears completely. And there's nothing else he loves more than that. Throwing away his less attractive inner self for the sake of being the dream man of all kinds of people around the world is what often keeps him sane.

Chan says that maybe this mindset is not that healthy but Hyunjin usually responds with: 'I was never born to live a healthy lifestyle. Not when I was born in Hollywood.' That tends to shut his manager up because at the end of the day, there was nothing that could change simple facts. Growing up under the spotlight and disregarding any normalcy that people his age should've gone through, inevitably leaves people with emptiness inside of them that is more often than not, impossible to fill.

But it's worth it. It's what he's chosen to do and he would never regret it, really. It's not as if there's a job out there that is perfect. Hyunjin's is just a bit more demanding and mentally destructive at times. No big deal. He gave away his life for the sake of living the experiences of the characters he has to play and if he were to turn back time, he'd do it all over again.

'You're a really unique type of a workaholic, you know that?', Sana pitifully looks at him while painting Hyunjin's toenails.

'I'll pretend that you didn't say anything else after "unique", the latter retorted back with a grin while watching the familiar frown between Sana's eyebrows while she worked with careful precision.

'You really do look amazing tonight.', the co-star of the movie, Madison Jane, smiles widely at him as she hooks her hand under Hyunjin's arm and makes sure that enough of her profile is revealed for her face to appear in all photos.

Madison is a new rising star and this role was her second big one. She did an absolutely amazing job at it though and Hyunjin thankfully didn't have to worry even for a second while he was on set with her.

She is the type that didn't grow up in the industry but acted as if she was born for it.

And at the end of the day, it's those types of people that stick around for longer than two, three years.