red string | jay

three

ina walked into her section and she could feel the shift of atmosphere in the room instantly.

"hey, what's up? why's everyone so tense?" she asked juwon as she settled down at her desk, keeping her bag and removing her laptop.

"one of the lead actors from the variety show wrote to lucy saying he wants to drop out, so now she's a bit frantic and has asked everyone to either get him onboard again or find an equally popular actor or actress," juwon explained as ina scrunched her nose. she knew this was going to be a long day.

"damn, that sounds tough. i guess no lunch today too," she said as juwon quietly agreed, both of them exchanging sad looks before getting right to work.

in the midst of scouting through profiles of actresses, ina glanced up from her screen, turning her eyes toward jay.

he was typing away on his laptop, his eyebrows furrowed and lips forming a small pout. ina scoffed at the sight.

"that idiot looks like a duck when he's focused," she muttered to herself before stretching a little.

she had successfully shortlisted about five actresses so far. she decided that was enough and walked to lucy's cabin to pitch the five to her.

"any leads?" lucy asked as soon as ina walked in the cabin, catching her off guard.

"uh, no, i just had suggestions for actresses," she said as lucy gestured for ina to continue.

after listing the five actresses, the look on lucy's face was uncertain.

"i mean, those are good names but i don't know if they're in our budget. do you want to take over communication and see if you can score us a deal?" lucy asked as ina shot her a bright smile before nodding.

"yes, i—" before she could continue, the door to lucy's cabin flew open and jay entered as if he was being chased by a dog.

"ma'am, we've got him onboard again," jay said as lucy and ina gaped at him, their jaws hanging open.

"wha—" ina was unable to utter any words. how had jay managed to get such a big actor onboard again? that was impossible.

"really?" lucy asked excitedly as jay nodded with a smile. lucy leapt with joy and gave jay a pat on the back.

"i knew i hired you for a reason. good job, park jay," she said before walking out of the cabin and announcing jay's achievement.

"she was gonna let me take over communications. when are you ever gonna stop sabotaging my work?" ina asked in annoyance as jay gave her a proud smirk.

"it's not my fault you're incredibly slow, sweetheart. try to keep up, the entertainment industry works mad fast," he said, cockiness leaking through his words.

"you don't tell me how the industry works, motherfucker," she said before turning on her heel and heading to her desk.

the day passed with ina still being a little annoyed after the whole 'jay sabotaging her work' thing.

"will you let it go? we still have the travel show to work on, that's pretty exciting right?" juwon said in an attempt to cheer her up. ina sighed.

she knew she was being childish but it was draining to constantly be around jay and him constantly trying to make her life a living hell.

"true. we're gonna kill the casting and strategy for that show," ina said as juwon smiled.

••••••••••

as the office slowly emptied out, the only sounds left were keyboards clacking and the soft hum of the AC. ina stretched her arms above her head and groaned.

"god, my back is killing me," she muttered.

jay, still seated across the room, didn't even look up. "old age does that to you."

ina rolled her eyes, grabbing a stress ball from her drawer and chucking it at his desk. "says the guy who makes grandpa noises every time he gets up."

jay picked up the stress ball, turning it over in his hands. "at least i get up. you've been glued to that chair for six hours straight."

"because i'm actually working," she shot back. "unlike some people who probably spent half the day flirting with the intern."

jay finally looked up, mouth open in mock offense. "i was mentoring her."

"right. and i suppose teaching her how to open PDFs is your definition of mentorship?"

jay smirked. "don't be jealous. i could teach you too, if you ever admitted you need help."

"i'd rather burn my laptop."

jay let out a sigh of exhaustion as he looked at his watch.

10:47 pm, it read. he sighed again. it had been a long day of work.

being only 22 and working in the entertainment industry was tough given the fast paced environment and the immense work pressure.

most of his day was spent in the office but it was something he enjoyed, so he didn't mind much. it's not like he had much of a social life anyway.

he stretched his neck and hands a little, an ache settling in his fingers from all the typing he had been doing, working on a show script.

he looked at ina's desk to see her flipping through a file and simultaneously working on her laptop. he checked the time again and shook his head.

"aye dumbass, it's almost 11 pm, you don't wanna go home?" he called out as she looked up and gave him an annoyed expression.

so much for being nice, he thought.

"i'll go home when i damn want to, jay," she said before going back to her work as jay just shrugged.

it had always been her habit of getting lost in anything she did. even as a child, when their parents gave them a set of lego to keep them busy, jay would be the first one to give up out of boredom — but ina always stayed and made sure she finished the entire set.

"okay angry bird, have fun. i'm out," he said before swinging his bag over his shoulder and grabbing his car keys.