Jungsu was back at the building he had previously met the director and other actors. He wasn't feeling very happy at the moment with the chatter of the room biting into his ears as he sat alone. Everyone seemed to be quite standoffish around him.

That was to be expected however, as they all had previously worked with each other. On average, according to Jungsu's calculations, everyone in this room, excluding him of course, had worked with each other in at least one movie or drama. Even the supporting actors. Jungsu felt that perhaps he should want to feel more included, however, he could summon nothing more than relief in his heart.

He didn't know what they would ask of him and he didn't know how to respond to them. How was he supposed to act on set? He had examined the behaviour he should strive to copy, however, he was sure he must have missed some internal and social cues that came with the hierarchial system of acting. Jungsu wasn't sure where he fell in that hierarchy, so he deemed it best to remain quiet.

Almost everyone had gathered in place, well, everyone except for the female lead, Hwang Sujin. Just as he'd thought of her name, the woman herself stepped through the doors, drawing everyone's attention as she reached over her head to push back a pair of luxury brand sunglasses through her black hair.

Despite Jungsu having previously done research on the woman, he was still surprised by how beautiful she was. She somehow appeared both graceful and delicate, along with seductive and bold. Though Jungsu wasn't sure why he found her to look bold at the moment as her demeanor conveyed that she was quite rigid and reserved, but her eyes seemed to be telling him something else. She had somewhat of an international appeal to her with her big eyes, pouty lips, and small but defined nose. But it was not simply her face that commanded attention and praise, it was the aura she exuded that demanded everyone look at her. Jungsu blinked his eyes hard for a moment, feeling as though she was glowing far too brightly, similar to how he had looked in the edits on Double Shift.

He watched as she took a seat at the head of the circular table, directly across from the director and looked straight down at the script in front of her, dismissing all those who had glanced in her direction.

From his research, he had found that she was South Korea's number one actress, despite only being twenty-three at the moment. She had been in so many dramas and movies, that Jungsu was surprised at the plausability of filming repeatedly without a break period every year. And despite some rumours about her having an attitude problem, she was a professional whose acting couldn't be compared to anyone else in the industry. She was quite good from what Jungsu had seen of her work. Hwang Sujin would easily be able to play any role she was given. Jungsu believed she even had the potential to be a good spy, especially given her background as a finalist in the nationals for Taekwondo when she was younger.

Jungsu shifted his head back to Dong-ha who had just started reading his script lines.

"It's very easy for you to blame someone Detective, but have you even tried looking into the evidence I've given you? I told you that on the day before the incident I was-"

"At a laundry mart." Sujin said, the weight of her voice and the tone in itself drawing a sharp contrast to Dong-ha's performance. While Dong-ha's delivery was decent, even good, the expressions on Sujin's face and even her voice added an element to the dialogue that simply could not be replicated by anyone but her.

"Yes! You can check the CCTV footage. The cameras must have captured me." Dong-ha said with desperation in his voice.

Sujin sighed, "Yes. Should I now go check the deleted security footage? Where should I get that, because from the time you were gone to the time you returned, we have no records of it. Don't you think it's rather convenient for you to erase everything and then claim your innocence?"

Dong-ha slammed the table and shouted, "It wasn't me dammit! I have an alibi! He can tell you everything!"

The dialogue continued back and forth and Jungsu was more and more impressed with Sujin's acting.

Finally, it was Jungsu's turn. The dialogue he would exchange would be with Sujin. It was a scene in which Jungsu had asked her out for coffee, to which the detective had only agreed in order to get closer to him.

"What's so special about this place?" Nabi, the female lead asked Baekhyun, the villain, referring to the coffee shop he had insisted on bringing her to.

Jungsu took a deep breath in, chanelling all his attention at the moment on Nabi, the character. He was no longer Jungsu, he was Baekhyun. Jungsu could feel the emotions in him, his body posture, and his facial expressions change as he shot Nabi an easy smile.

"I couldn't put my finger on it the last time I came here, but now I think I know. It reminds me so much of you." Jungsu said charmingly.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The director let out an audible gasp as he witnessed the moment Jungsu had transformed so completely into Baekhyun. Everyone around him also seemed to be both shocked and impressed with how easily Jungsu had adopted the character. His acting seemed too natural to them, as if they weren't watching a script reading, but rather were witnessing an unplanned interaction.

What was most surprising to them was how easily Jungsu had adapted to the charming personality of Baekhyun. Jungsu was very stoic and expressionless oftentimes, in fact, nobody had ever seen him smile in public. However, witnessing him smile so leisurely and in such a charming way made them hold on tighter to their hearts.

Sujin herself had broken character for a moment to stare at Jungsu in puzzlement, before bringing herself back to character.

"Really? And what about this coffee shop reminds you of me?" Sujin asked skeptically, her gaze assessing him through the keen eyes of a detective.

Jungsu leaned back in his chair, keeping his eyes on her as he shrugged his shoulders and shot her a grin.

"I think it might be the plants in the corner over there. The way the sunlight hits them is simply too picturesque."

"The plants in the corner?" Sujin huffed, as she rolled her eyes at him. "You're telling me I remind you of those plants?" She asked in disbelief.

Jungsu tutted as he shook his head slightly, "It is not simply the plants that remind me of you, but the way they sit there so still, so serene." Just then Jungsu felt his emotions change in that moment, adjusting to what Baekhyun would feel. His eyes then fell to the slope of Sujin, or Nabi's neck, and narrowed there, focussing on the delicate pulse that must have been beating there at a steady rhythm.

"So utterly delicate." He said quietly, distracted enough to not realize that he had said something that was not in the script.

"Stop!" Beom Seok said.

Jungsu snapped out of the trance he was in, breathing in as he brought himself back to the room and the people in it. Turning towards the director, he expected for him to tell Jungsu to get out.

The director, however, looked anything but unhappy at the moment. He seemed to be inspired even as he looked at Jungsu.

"Jungsu... you..." he trailed off, his voice breaking as Jungsu looked at him in alarm.

"Brilliant!" He finished and started writing down vigorously as he talked quietly with the screenwriter. He could feel multiple eyes boring into him as they stared silently.

Jungsu exhaled as he looked away from the director only to find Sujin looking into his eyes with her intense stare. Jungsu felt as if she was looking into his soul with those eyes as she continued staring silently. Her gaze was intimidating as her face showed no expression whatsoever, before she dismissed him, turning back into her seat and flipping through the pages.

After that one scene, the director seemed to be satisfied enough for Jungsu to not have to play any more of his parts. And so Jungsu sat still, interlacing his fingers together as he leaned back in his seat to assess the other performances.

It was about another hour before the director dismissed them and Jungsu headed home in a cab. He had yet to buy a car, which perhaps he should do given the convenience of having one.

After getting out of the cab, Jungsu stared up at his new home. He had only moved into the company apartments a couple days ago, however, he was still startled every time he looked at his new apartment building.

It was quite expensive looking with its glass windows and numerous floors. It was a stark contrast to the apartment that Jungsu had lived in with Grandma.

The elevator door opened and he got out onto the fortieth floor, taping on his door with a card before it clicked open. That was another thing that Jungsu wasn't sure if he liked or didn't like about the building. While the card allowed for him to enter more quickly, it also meant that others could enter just as quickly and silently.

As he took in the unfamiliar sight of the floor to ceiling windows, he walked closer, his feet carrying him toward the beautiful view.

From this high up, Jungsu felt so small. Despite it being natural for one to feel bigger when the city looked so small in comparison, Jungsu felt even smaller for that reason.

There were so many skyscrapers in cities. Jungsu felt that humans must build these structures to feel more in control. To feel larger than the Earth.

The sky was so vastly large, so far out of his reach that even so high up in the sky, he still felt small, insignificant. People were walking around below so clueless as to what was happening around them. Clueless to how fast the Earth was revolving so fast, yet was too big for any of them to feel it at that moment.

Jungsu sat by the sofa right next to the windows, laying himself down on it as he stared up through the window at the sky.

Closing his eyes briefly, he felt himself drifting away, his mind taking him to a once forgotten place.