Uh Huh, Honey

Hook,Line and Sinker

There's—there's even a fucking secretary sitting at the front desk, with one of those fancy bluetooth microphones tucked behind her ear. At the sound of the door clicking shut, she looks up and offers a genial smile.

"Hello," she says, completely unfazed by the dumbstruck look on Sanemi's face. "How may I help you?"

"I, uh—I'm Shinazugawa Sanemi. Here for filming."

The secretary glances down at her computer, taps the keyboard twice, then pushes herself from the desk to stand up. "Ah, good to see you, Shinazugawa-san. Follow me this way, please."

So Sanemi follows her. Down the hall, past sleek black doors with their own goddamn nameplates, around a corner, and down another hall.

The secretary—Kanata, as her name tag says—stops about halfway down the corridor, right in front of a door identical to the ones behind them. With his own nameplate pasted to the front. What kind of fucking porn studio is this?, Sanemi wants to ask, but keeps his mouth shut. Maybe it's better not to ask.

"This is your dressing room," she says. He nods, reaching for the silver handle, but apparently there's more.

"Please take your time getting ready, and let me know if you need anything else. The bathroom is at the end of the hall should you need it. An assistant will be with you shortly."

An assistant? Fucking hell.

Sanemi just nods again, muttering his thanks as Kanata turns to leave. Then he twists the handle, opens the door, and steps inside.

His mouth drops open.

The place is huge, for one. It's clean, too, with shiny counters and a shiny private shower in the corner. There's a two-seater sofa directly in front of him, along with a mini fridge and a smooth coffee table. Adjacent to the wall on his right is a fucking vanity, stocked with makeup and brushes and wipes all neatly stacked to the side. The clothing rack sits right beside it, with the outfit Sanemi's expected to wear for the scene. Although, Sanemi thinks with a grimace, it's probably not gonna stay on his body for long.

Still eyeing the room, Sanemi falls into the sofa and sighs in disbelief when he sinks right into it. It's definitely a hundred steps up from the dingy backrooms he has to use when preparing for regular scenes. He knows he hit the jackpot with this deal and he's going to milk it for all it's worth.

In the time he has to himself, Sanemi rinses off in the shower and changes into the provided outfit. It isn't too different from what he had on originally, given the fact that he's playing the role of himself today—a college student. Though the persona he's assuming will take some effort to pull off, Sanemi's sure he can sell it.

The assistant turns out to be a radiant girl with thick, baby pink braids and eyes like mint. She bounces into the room the second Sanemi opens the door, thrusting her hand forward to take Sanemi's in a vigorous grip and introducing herself as Mitsuri Kanroji from Hair & Makeup.

"Nice to meet you, Shinazugawa-san!" She drags Sanemi to the vanity by the hand she's still shaking and pushes him into the seat. "Let's get to work! Not to say you aren't already very handsome, but I can do wonders for your face in front of the camera!" She winks at him through the mirror. Sanemi's trying to get a word in, but she grabs a brush and a few appliances out of a nearby drawer and keeps going.

"I'm so excited to work with you, Shinazugawa-san! It's been a while since—"

"You can call me Sanemi," he grunts, frowning around the tickling sensation of the brush over his nose.

"Ah, okay! Sanemi, that's an attractive name. Anyway, it's been forever since I've felt this excited for a shoot. You know, this one's gonna be big, I can feel it. So I'm gonna do my best to make sure you look positively yummy on set. Not that you aren't already yummy. Sound good?" Mitsuri beams at him, yanking a comb through a knot in his hair at the same time Sanemi tries to smile back at her. It ends up looking more like a wince than anything.