ONCE (JoongNine AU)

Chapter 9 (End)

Joong

We managed to film lots of footage for today. Since morning, we went to a flower field not far from the hotel. The scenery was majestic; picture perfect. It felt like we were in some part of heaven, with mix of colourful view, the blue sky, the greenery and the cool mountain air. After that we went to a nearby market, where food was in abundance and the hawkers were very friendly. I bought some clothes to wear for the shoot in the evening at the beach that was just a walking distant from the hotel. We joined all the water activities; liked youths; we forgot everything and just played around. The highlight was the couple parasailing for the last. When we descended from the boat, and reached the sandy ground again, we were laughing happily.

All awkwardness from last night was forgotten. We slept on the bed with pillows in between. Thinking back, that was such a funny scene; when we had been sleeping on a smaller bed, together, too many times before; when we were young; entangled foots and arms; unconscious throughout the night. Sometimes, we fight for the same blanket and kicked each other for better space.

The final shoot would be at the same beach; a candlelit dinner at the beach hut. Because the evening was still young, we went back to the hotel to rest first. The makeup and dress up was done half an hour before we need to go to beach again at night. Nine getups were just a simple flowy white satin shirt and black pants, dangling chain earing on the left ear, light swipe of lip gloss and thin eyeliners; yet, he looked glowing. I looked elsewhere as soon as he turned his head towards me. I could hear his small laughter when he came to stand beside me, waiting for the hotel cart that would bring us to the hut.

I was kind of afraid of this sudden bold Nine; who kept taunting me into some reaction. I had sensed it since last night during dinnertime. My heart, gosh, almost fell to the floor when he'd given me the first bright smile from across the table. Hopefully, no one saw how nervous I had become. Then came the sleeping arrangement. I had laid down on the sofa in the living room, choosing to sleep separately to avoid any discomfort. Suddenly, he came to the living room too, and simply laid down on the carpeted floor with a pillow and a blanket. I urged him to sleep in the bedroom, repeatedly, but he played deaf. Until finally, I relented and agreed to sleep in the bedroom too, with that border of pillows, of course, that was my own doing. I felt liked I was back as my younger self; who felt a mixed of fear, uncertainty, excitement and nerve, whenever facing some bold actions of Nine. This adult Nine was scarier, because he executed such feline quality of getting his way in the end, with a much weakened fight from me. I was again, feeling that this is trouble, exciting, but still...a trouble.

"That is a nice shirt, Joong. You looked great with this soft hairstyle as well", I could hear his word one by one, yet the only word that I could say back was a simple thank you, without turning to look at him. Lucky the cart arrived and no more talk was needed to fill the time in between. The hut was decorated beautifully, it was a private space located at the beach, own by the hotel, so not only was it secluded, it looked romantic as well. Night and dimmed light always looked so pretty, the soft glow made the whole atmosphere felt so surreal. The whole shooting took a while to settle. That was a wrap up, not only for this episode, but also the whole project as well. The team shouted a joyful cry and hugged, as months of effort, went smoothly and finally finished for this project.

I could see Nine was talking with P'Sai for a bit when the team was cleaning up the setting together with the hotel staffs. P'Sai was smiling and nodded. Their talk ended just as the cleanup settled too. I turned and walked to the cart that would bring us back to the hotel, but stopped when I felt my arm was grabbed from behind.

"Joong, I asked P'Sai to be here for a while. He'd agreed and will tell the hotel management about this", Nine said and smiled at me. I could see he was holding a bag in his hand.