"Are you sure you're okay?" Ben asked Nine.
He was alarmed when Nine knocked on his door in the middle of the night. His eyes were puffy and red, Ben can tell that Nine has been crying on his way to his house.
Although worried and curious as to what his problem was, Ben knew that it was better not to push Nine to answer any question that he has.
"Thank you for letting me stay." Nine
"Sure thing buddy. Anytime." Ben smiled and exited the guest room.
A head belonging to Earth peeked through the door.
"There's fresh towels in the restroom. If you need anything else let me know." And he was gone as quick as the wind before Nine could thank him.
What am I going to do tomorrow?
Nine wonders as he plunged on the soft bed.
I shouldn't have slapped him. That was way out of line. Wait.. He's the one who started it. He's the one who crossed the line, he crossed all the lines.
Who am I kidding? It was Joong. He loves to prank me. I should have reacted like how I used to.
Nine shakes his head trying to get the thought out of his mind. He picked up his phone and saw three unopened messages from Joong. He didn't had the heart to open it on his way to Ben's house. And he still doesn't have the courage to open it now.
The softness of the cushion cradled him to sleep.
Nine woke up from his phone alarm. There is a shoot today and he anxiously prepared for it.
Earth was cooking breakfast when Nine entered the dining area. Ben was setting up the plates on the table. Nine awkwardly sat down, embarassed that he woke up too late to help out.
"P'Nine have some coffee. That's yours." Earth pointed at the steamy drink on the table.
In his memory he remembered a recent situation with Joong handing him a cup of coffee. He smiled and it faded quickly.
I just need to be professional and steer clear away from him. Do my job and avoid Joong. That's right. That's what I should do.
The whole breakfast was a blur for Nine. Earth was a great cook but he just can't taste anything at the moment, still he managed to eat a lot because he knew it's gonna be a long day and he needs all the energy that he can get.
The three arrived at the set via Ben's car. Pavel and Dome was already there, tickling each other for some reason.
Joong immediately stood up when he saw Nine. And although shy and still ashamed of what happened last night, he went towards him.
"P'? Have you read the messages I sent you last night?" His question fell on deaf ears.
Nine walked away like he didn't hear anything. Joong grabbed his wrist.
"P'Nine? Let's talk please. Please P'Nine." Joong's voice had slightly shaken.
"Joong! Nine! Meeting!" The director shouted out from the distance, calling their attention for the morning meeting before starting to shoot.
Nine took it as his escape and walked as fast as he could away from Joong.
The meeting went on about how the scenes would go down and how they were to film a reaction video for the MingKit kiss.
To the best of his ability, Nine acted his part wonderfully, most specially the scenes he had with Joong. Little did everyone know that it was Nine's way of avoiding Joong. The sooner he finished their take, the sooner he'd be away from Joong. Nine didn't want to be a part of his pranks and games anymore.
He's afraid of falling deeper than he already did, knowing that it was all a joke for Joong.
The cast and some of the crew were taking their break outside. Nine was eating a gyoza with Ben and Earth while Dome and Pavel were wrestling nearby for Pavel's cigarette, Dome wanted to throw it all away. Nine and the other two watched and laughed at Pavel as he was being scolded by Dome on the danger of smoking.
In the midst of laughing and goofing around, Nine found himself looking at a bench where Joong was sitting alone, eating his sandwich away from them. Nine felt pinch in his heart.
Joong looked at the group and accidentally met Nine's eyes. He smiled at him. It was the saddest smile Nine had ever seen.
