I wake up to the sound of a dinging noise coming from the kitchen. Sporting a curious look on my face, I slowly bring myself up off the couch and into the kitchen to see what's going on. It's still really early, but today we have a later call to be on set. Even so, only the first few strands of daylight filter into the kitchen as I arrive there to find Yoongi in the middle of preparing some instant ramen.

"You're up early," I comment, totally catching Yoongi off guard.

In response to me, Yoongi jumps and wheels around, holding a wooden spoon in my direction as if to defend himself. I just stare at him in such a ludicrous position for a moment before I burst out laughing, totally unable to take him seriously.

"Good morning to you, too," he grumbles. I don't have enough air in my lungs to respond to him what with how hard I'm laughing, but I do try my best to squeak out a "Good morning."

When I finally regain my composure, it's clear Yoongi is judging me harder than he ever has. "It wasn't that funny," he defends.

"And people think you're all tough and cold," I manage, wiping a tear from my eye. Yoongi rolls his eyes and slides a bowl of ramen across the counter in my direction. I take it and dig in, thanking Yoongi for breakfast.

"Sleep well?" He asks, taking a seat beside me at the counter. I nod through a mouthful of ramen.

"You?" I ask.

"Alright," he responds. "I thought a lot about Jieun's book."

"Yeah, me, too. Isn't it so crazy how much of an effect we've had on them?"

"It really is."

We spend the rest of the morning eating in a comfortable silence before getting ready and driving back out to the set. Yoongi's driving again, and yet again I catch myself staring at him. The rising sun silhouettes him, giving a profile shot a fan could only dream of. I take out my phone, hoping he won't notice and snap a quick photo.

"Why did you do that?" He questions, looking at me curiously.

"You looked cool," I explain. "The sun framed you really well."

"I'll look at that once I'm not driving and decide whether or not I want you to delete it."

I just roll my eyes.

When we arrive on set, we're greeted again by Yooheon, our director. He sends us bright smiles and then shoos us off to get hair and makeup done again. This time, though, as I'm having my hair styled, I'm greeted with a familiar voice.

"Rin!" Exclaims the voice of the girl whose birthday I celebrated the day prior. "How are you?"

"I'm good, Jieun-ah," I say brightly, unable to look down at her for fear of inconveniencing the stylist. "Are you excited?"

"Absolutely. They're putting makeup on Jintae, isn't that crazy?"

"They're gonna put makeup on everyone, Jieun."

"Even Yoongi?"

"Yes, even me," Yoongi remarks. Then he follows up with another question. "Are you still wearing the necklace, Jieun?"

"Of course! I'm never going to take it off, ever."

"Good, that's the way it should be." I glance down at the bracelet on my wrist. I'd fallen asleep with it on last night and hadn't bothered to take it off this morning. It seems that decision has worked out for me.

After hair styling comes wardrobe, and after that comes makeup. I'm going to have a couple costume changes today, simply because the MV is covering a lot of time. At the moment, I'm dressed in distressed blue jeans and a baggy red t-shirt, which is the most comfortable outfit I've been forced into in awhile. All this modeling with Sangmi has gotten me used to wearing a lot of dresses, even though actual pants are more my style.

Yoongi takes a seat next to me as Jieun and Jintae are led onstage to start shooting. Yooheon gives them their instructions clearly and calmly and they head over to their separate areas to work with the adult actors. Jieun is playing a young me, and Jintae is a young Yoongi. The music video is supposed to mirror our lives, just as the song does. Although we grew up in separate areas of the country, Yoongi and I had similar upbringings. In these scenes, Jieun and Jintae act with adults playing our parents, learning about music and growing up in parallel ways. Yoongi and I watch the kids act with intrigue, surprised as to how well they're doing. Watching Yooheon in the director's chair, it's also clear that he's surprised, but pleasantly so. After Jintae's third or so take, my makeup is done and I turn to look at Yoongi.

"They're doing well," I comment.

"Yeah, they are." He's got a bit of a somber expression on his face, and I can't quite place why it's there.

"What's wrong?"

"That they're acting up there with people who are supposed to be their parents."

My face falls at his explanation. "Oh. Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Somebody has to adopt these kids, Rin. God knows I would if I could."

"I understand, I would, too. But they'll find people. People will find them. It'll work out."

"I hope so."

Jintae comes off the set and Jieun goes on, preparing to do similar takes as the ones she just saw. Yooheon looks down at the child, giving him a high-five and congratulating him on his performance. Faintly, I hear him say, "Do you wanna sit in the director's chair?" and Jintae nods excitedly. I watch then as Yooheon gets up and Jintae takes his place, and then as he begins to direct Jieun.

"Speaking of," I say, pointing at the scene unfolding before me. "Yooheon seems to like them."

"We can hope," Yoongi replies with a sad smile.

Jieun's scenes are just as good as Jintae's, although they take a little longer. Yooheon and Jintae, together, come onstage to congratulate Jieun on finishing her work with high-fives and cheers. There's a brightness on Yooheon's face that I can't seem to look away from— there's just something in the way he handles the kids that makes me smile. I look at them with a budding smile on my face, a heartwarming feeling creeping into me. Yooheon leads the two kids over to his director's chair and says something quickly to a staff member, who comes back with two more chairs shortly after. Each kid takes one and I hear Yooheon deem them both "junior directors."

It's at this point, when the smile on my face is the broadest, that I hear a camera shutter. My head whips to Yoongi immediately, finding that— of course— it's him that took the picture of me.

"What was that for?" I ask, whining.

"Sweet, sweet revenge," he replies. "Plus, you looked cute."

I roll my eyes and turn my attention back to the set. Two teen actors are now on the stage, playing the more important roles. The teen actors are the ones who play Yoongi and me when we meet, become friends, and fight about Big Hit. Sets are changed from homes to concert venues, but some of the other shooting still has to be done on a city street later in the day. Yoongi and I watch for a couple of hours as the teen actors finish up everything that needs to be filmed inside. We watch everything take after take, each scene done anywhere between three and ten times. I'm sure it's exhausting work, getting up there and having that same tear-filled argument about your best friend betraying you over and over and over. It was bad enough just having to go through it once, let alone six times in a row.

When the fight scene is finally over, Yooheon calls for a lunch break. Staff members bring food around to all of us and everyone eats heartily. Even me and Yoongi, who haven't even done anything yet, are starving. I tear into a piece of fried chicken, savoring every morsel of it that I can fit into my mouth at once. Yoongi's also digging in, jamming as much food down his throat as possible. Up by the director's chair, the teen actors are simultaneously eating and reviewing footage, going over their shots. The kids are eating with Yooheon in the three director's chairs. It's like they've totally forgotten that Yoongi and I are even here. I look down at the bracelet on my wrist and smile, letting my mind wander.

At the sound of my name, I look at the source: Yoongi. "Water?" He asks, offering me a bottle.

"Yeah, thanks," I respond, taking it from him. Yoongi uncaps a bottle of his own and takes a sip. I laugh a bit to myself as I watch him drink.

"What is it now?" He asks.

"Do idols take a class on how to drink water or something? You all do it the exact same way like you're trying really hard to be sexy, and it just seems impractical. Normal people don't drink like that."

Yoongi's face scrunches up at my words, his brow furrowing and his lips pressing together into a tight line. "It's all part of the job, Rin," he says. "I do what I must."

"Whatever."

The lunch break wraps up shortly after. One of Yooheon's close assistants leaves with the teen actors to shoot some of the other scenes, and now it's finally time for me and Yoongi to hit the stage. I go first, shooting a scene where I'm in a shabby room writing lyrics under dim lighting. Then, Yoongi goes, doing a completely different style scene where he's all dolled up in No More Dream attire, doing promotional photo shoots. This part of the video is supposed to highlight how we branched off before we reconnected again, and how very different us and our lives became over those four years of separation.

Yoongi and I come together on the venue set, where I'm up and performing and Yoongi is in the crowd. Now I'm wearing black jeans, a white shirt, and a blue leather jacket. Extras mill about, waiting for their cue to begin, as are the rest of us. Yooheon finally gives us an "Action!" and one of my songs begins to play. I rap along to it into a microphone, watching as the crowd jumps and chants the lyrics and enjoys themselves. Then, as directed, I notice Yoongi about halfway through the song and stop. At that point, Yooheon calls cut, and we do that much of the scene a few more times. When we do eventually progress, I finish up the song and move to run backstage, just as I did in real life not that long ago. Unlike reality, though, Yoongi finds me and grabs me by the wrist as I try to run away from him. Yoongi looks me dead in the eyes, and that says it all. There isn't a need for words because the lyrics to the song will do all the talking for us. A moment or so of silence follows before I wrap Yoongi in a hug, ending the scene and closing out the story portion of the video. Of course, we do more takes, but everything goes smoothly.

"Okay, everyone, we're going outside," announces Yooheon. Before we go, though, we all do one more wardrobe change, so now I'm dressed in an outfit similar to the one Jieun's wearing. This will be the final shot of the video, essentially wrapping everything together with a neat bow and telling the story again, but simpler.

We arrive outside the building in a green field, looking at the sun high in the sky above us. Jieun and Jintae are the first people to have a call, and their job is simple. Yooheon instructs them to walk forward in the field, so a few meters are separating them. This only requires one take, as— thankfully— the children are pretty skilled at walking. Even so, Yooheon congratulates them overexcitedly when they finish, more high-fives ensuing. Yoongi gives me a knowing look squeezes my hand, smiling. I return his expression knowingly, having hope.

"The middle actors shot this before they left, so it's up to you two now," Yooheon instructs, motioning for me and Yoongi to get on camera. We get ourselves into the frame, doing our equally— if not more— simple shot. I just have to approach Yoongi and walk right next to him for a few seconds, then stop and just stare at the sky. That's exactly what I do, and filming the shot takes only about a minute. This final section of the video says the same thing the rest of it said, but simpler. As children, Yoongi and I grew up separately but similarly. The teens' part involves them walking together, and then Rin stopping and turning away, symbolizing the fight. Finally, I come back to Yoongi and we continue life together, stopping to take in the little things instead of constantly moving. The whole video sums up our entire experience together, exactly as the song does.

"That's a wrap!" Yooheon exclaims, clapping as he does so. With that, the music video is finished. Yoongi cheers and so do I, bowing to everyone in sight and thanking them for their hard work.

"Great job, Rin!" Jintae exclaims, coming over to me and giving me a hug.

"Thank you, Jintae. You did great, too!" I reply.

"Thanks! It was fun. Yooheon is really really nice to us! I like him a lot."

"I'm glad, Yooheon is a good guy." Looking over at him, I see that he's still talking with Jieun. She's pulling on her necklace, showing it to Yooheon and pointing at Yoongi. I smile.

Yoongi and I spend another hour or so helping to clean up and thanking everyone. When all of that is done, though, it's time for us to leave. Back in the car, I'm exhausted despite not having to do much, and it's clear Yoongi feels the same way.

"I can't believe it's finally done," I say, amazed. "It hardly feels real."

"All that's left to do now is promote, right? Will it feel real then?" Yoongi asks, laughing lightly.

"I hope so," I manage. "I'd really like this not to be a dream."

"It's not a dream, Rin. It's all real, I promise."

"How do you know?"

"Intuition."

"Sure." I drag the word out, sarcastic suspicion dripping from my voice. Deep down, though, I know Yoongi's right.

All that's left to do now is prove it.

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hey!

hope you're all doing well! here's an update, it's okay i guess. a little boring, but it's necessary. i'll probably come back to edit it. if you did find it a bit boring, please let me know so i can do that. if you didn't, it would also be beneficial to tell me! as a lazy millennial, i'd rather do as little work as possible, so really i'll do whatever you tell me. but seriously, feedback of any sort is immensely appreciated because it helps me improve so i can entertain you all more.

thanks, and rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead will change your life,

sam

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