Let Me Count The Ways

If Today is the Only Day We are Allowed to be Scandalous (Part III)

"Go sleep," he insisted.

"No," she hissed.

He laughed ruefully at her stubbornness and then moved as if to close her eyes with his own hand to get her to sleep. But quick as an alley cat in the dark, Kim Goeun spotted the roving BTS camera and waved at it. Lee Minho's hand stuttered and he flexed it awkwardly by his knee.

She glanced at him and uselessly pointed out, "BTS cam."

He nodded. But his concerned eyes never left her.

And when Kim Youngok returned after getting her allergic rhinitis checked, he was finally forced to focus back on the job at hand. After four takes, they were able to get enough footage to make the scene. The director then switched onto rehearsals for the scene between Lee Gon and Jeong Taeeul after the doctors have hooked her up to IV unit so that they don't have to keep going back and forth.

But when Lee Minho glanced down at Kim Goeun, she was fast asleep. Sighing in regret that he had to wake her up, he brushed the hair back from her forehead and whispered, "Goeunssi, wake up."

And because she was never really a deep sleeper, her body jerked awake once more. Her bleary eyes tried to focus on his face as she croaked out, "Our scene is next?"

He nodded at her and said, "Rehearsal, yes. Before you change into the royal pajamas."

She snorted at the phrase 'royal pajamas' but was already trying to get up so she can ask her assistants for her script. Then she felt his hand on her shoulder, preventing her from getting up.

"I got your script right here," he said, waving her script in his other hand. "Just get under the covers so we can rehearse how I'm going to hold your hand for that scene."

In no mood to argue, Kim Goeun took her script from him and rolled away so he can turn down the covers for her. Then she rolled back and into the luxurious royal blue sheets from Crown Goose that had swirling leaves and flowers in gold, which were reminiscent of the Baroque era. It looked entirely too ostentatious for her taste but she couldn't deny that they felt like clouds against her skin. She burrowed herself deeper into the covers and didn't even mind when he tucked her in.

Lee Minho smiled softly down at her. Then he placed his hand on top of her head and began to brush back her soft baby hair with his thumb. His heart melted a little more when she leaned into his touch. He wondered, for the first time, if she was acting or this sleepy Taeeul was also her sleepy Goeun self.

"Get some more sleep," he said, keeping his voice low and quiet.

"Stop making me go to sleep," she murmured.

"Well...that is pretty close to your actual line."

Kim Goeun blinked at him, slowly. And when it finally dawned on her that they were supposed to be rehearsing for their scene, she sent a sheepish smile his way. She felt for her script under the covers and brought it out to take a look at her lines. She scanned through it carefully, lips moving at the same time as her eyes over the page.

As always, he watched her. Now and again, his eyes would stray to her lips.

"I'm ready. From the top."

He wrenched his eyes away from her lips to check for his next line. He had a little trouble locating it. A few heartbeats later, he found it.

Get some more sleep.

Lee Minho's voice dipped somewhere between a whisper the sound one makes when wishing on dandelion seeds and sending them up into the air. And when Kim Goeun closed her eyes, she could easily imagine being carried away in the wind by the sound of his voice.