Reading Between (the line)

Scene 5

"Cut!"

When I heard that cue from the director, I broke up from the kiss immediately. I caught a glimpse of Noon's surprised expression, but I didn't care. Turning to the staff and crew, I thanked them all for their help. When I saw director Nong approaching, I gave a slight bow.

"You did great there, Praewa!" he said, complimenting me. "I knew you were surprised by Noon's improvisation, but you did a fantastic job joining with the flow and not breaking the scene. That last cry of yours was so touching that I felt like crying myself. Great job!"

"Thank you so much for the compliments, director." I smiled, genuinely appreciative of his words.

He patted my shoulder. "You're a great actress, Praewa. I hope to work with you again after this series."

"Me too, director Nong."

After his encouraging words, the director returned to his tent, and I headed toward Anda and Lookkaew. However, I noticed that Noon was already there with them, wearing her usual poker face.

There were just the four of us in the room. Anda and Lookkaew were practicing their lines for their last scene of the day, so I left them to it. I scanned the room and saw only one empty chair—right next to Noon. Reluctantly, I sat down.

Noon was on her phone, so I took mine out as well. Opening my social media, I was flustered to see the first video was an edit of me and Noon, specifically a clip of our kiss scene from last week's episode. Quickly, I scrolled past it.

One minute later, Anda and Lookkaew were called by the director, leaving me and Noon alone.

Silence.

Noon was quiet, and so was I. Since she was wearing AirPods, I decided not to use mine. She wouldn't hear anything I played anyway, so what was the point?

It only took less than five minutes before Noon broke the silence. "Why did you cry like that?" she asked.

"Then why kiss again when it's not in the script?" I bravely asked her back, a bit annoyed by her question.

Noon raised an eyebrow. "I was improvising the scene. I thought it made more sense for our characters to kiss on the lips rather than the forehead and eyes. They're about to be apart for a long time. Don't you think it was the right move?"

I gritted my teeth. "And my character is sensitive. When the person she loves is leaving and leaves her with a kiss, wouldn't she be even sadder? Crying like that is the right reaction."

"Then why... why—"

"Why what, P'Noon?" I cut her off, using the formal address for the first time. "Did you think I was crying because of something else? I improvised because I had to react to your improvisation. That's all." I stated firmly.

"Are you two arguing right now?" Both of us turned to see one of our managers at the entrance. "What's going on, girls?" she asked us with concern.

Noon and I shook our heads almost simultaneously. Noon was the one who answered, "N-no. We're not. We were just discussing the scene we shot earlier." She wasn't lying, so I nodded in agreement.

"Right. It was just a normal conversation, Ms. Pram." I added.

Ms. Pram eyed us suspiciously before nodding. "All right. That's good to hear then. Oh, I came here to pick you two up. Anda and Lookkaew are changing locations, so they'll be packed up late. Say goodbye to everyone before heading to the parking garage near Gate Number 3. I'll be waiting in the van."

"Got it."

"Okay, Ms. Pram."

Once our manager left, I quickly stood and gathered my things. "Let's bid goodbye to them together," I said. 

Without a word, Noon took her things, and together, we walked back to the set to say our goodbyes.

---

A few days after shooting our special episode, all four of us were invited by a popular MeTube influencer as guests.

Naturally, our management accepted the invitation. This influencer was renowned, with a massive subscriber base. We were nearing the final episode of our series, and appearing on her channel would be great for promotion.

"Woah!" / "Wow!"

Anda and I gasped in unison at the sight of the influencer's house. Calling it huge was an understatement—it was gigantic!

"Welcome, ladies!" The influencer appeared at the door, cameras already rolling. "Come in, come into my humble abode." She opened the door wider, and we stepped inside.

The interior housed a mini studio right in the middle with equipment typically seen in major production studios. No wonder her videos were so high-quality! This was a large-scale operation.

Turning to the beautiful influencer, I noticed her genuine smile while she welcomed us. Her humility despite her success was impressive that she caught my admiration. "She's so cool," I muttered unconsciously, completely in awe. It was official—she was now my girl crush!

But my moment of admiration was interrupted by Noon, who stood in front of me, blocking my view. "What do you think you're doing?" she whispered in my ear, ensuring others couldn't hear.

"Huh?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"You don't—"

"Aww, we caught a romantic moment."

The comment halted Noon's attempt to speak again. She walked away from me, faking a shy smile. She was becoming quite good at pretending.

"Where?" I asked, playing innocent. Everyone teased us, and I played along. Minutes later, the filming for the MeTube channel began.

---

"Let's welcome the cast of the hit series, Luv U Senior—Anda, Lookkaew, Noon, and Praewa!"

"Hello, guys!

"Hello!"

"Hi. Thanks for inviting us."

"Right. Hi."

After the introduction and some small talk about the series, as well as answering questions about the shoot, the topic suddenly shifted to our personal lives.

As expected, the earlier scene with Noon was brought up. "We captured a behind-the-scenes moment between one of these two beautiful pairs. So, if you guys stay with me until the end of this video..." The influencer teased her audience.

'They got that on camera?' I didn't know that we were captured earlier. But we were just talking so I guess, it's fine if she adds that on the video.

I looked on my side and the three were teasingly eyeing us already. While Noon acted coy to fuel their imaginations, I chose to laugh it off.

"But seriously, is there someone you like right now, Praewa?" the influencer/host asked after the teasing subsided.

"Well, there is, of course," I answered immediately, shocking everyone. "There's Kim, she's the love of my life," I said, referring to Noon's character in the series.

"Eyyy."

Everyone, including the staff, reacted violently to my celeb answer. I laughed.

"Not Noon's character," the influencer pouted at me. "But what about Noon herself? Have you never been attracted to her? Do you not like her?" she pressed.

I froze in my seat.