chapter sixteen - two lips & tulips.
0:35 ━❍──────── -3:18
↻ ⊲ Ⅱ ⊳ ↺
VOLUME: ▁▂▃▄▅▆▇ 100%
unedited
[visual representation of some of fever dream's mission video can be found at 0:36 in the video above]
"Aeri get out of hair and make up! we're gonna do take one!" Jaemin yelled into the megaphone, making the men at his sides and the crew cover their ears— hissing at the abrupt increase in volume.
The called woman bursted out from a backstage room and traveled onto the vintage Hollywood club set.
The walls gleamed with gold linings and black marbled designs. On her left she passed a circular bar where extras had sat, and actors had began to 'bartend'.
Aeri moved past the various other workers that littered the gleaming dance floor to where she headed towards a lifted stage, velvet curtains framing its sides and top.
She climbed up the dark wood platform, and allowed her eyes to finally fall upon the men of her band. They were dressed neatly in different colored and styled suits. Jaemin wore a mauve pink suit with a tight fit white shirt underneath, and copying his style Jeno wore the same type of suit, but his color was a dark navy. Chenle on the other hand wore a olive green suit with a turtle neck underneath. Following after, Aeri's eyes landed on Donghyuck and noticed that he had only worn a white blouse with a dark red vest that shaped his body into a narrow waist to accentuate his shoulder width more. Collectively, their hair was parted to the sides and gelled down. Accessory wise, their wrists were covered with a watch and their necks held an assortment of chains.
They all looked insanely attractive, especially with the bright lighting that gleamed onto them from the large diamond chandelier above.
But, once Aeri's eyes had shifted to Jisung, she felt her breath lodge itself in her throat. Suddenly all of the other guys looked dull.
He wore a similar suit to Jaemin but in black and underneath he wore a white blouse with its top buttons undone, which allowed his milky skin to peak through— almost as if teasing the woman. Differing from the other members, he had his hair a bit more loose, only running a tiny bit of gel through his hair sparsely- to create an effortless pushed back look— as the stylists had said that he would match it more than the shared style of the other band mates.
It's been a week since they've been delivered the news of their mission, and they were finally filming after a long stage of planning and listening to the constant nags by Jaemin.
It was also the day, Jisung and Aeri would reveal their relationship during the video. After announcing to the others that they were fake dating, Jaemin had immediately got an idea for the announcement, saying he'd spontaneously direct a scene without them knowing beforehand.
Saying the woman was nervous was an understatement. She knew Jaemin was big on doing large things and gestures, but she also knew that he was considerate of her feelings (most times), which left her confused on what he had planned. Ultimately, Aeri chose to push the thought to the back of her mind. She'll worry about it when the time comes.
"Well look at you," Donghyuck whistled, teasingly winking at the girl, to which she reciprocated the same vibe.
Aeri's hair was curled and gelled perfectly to match the past style aesthetic, and her ears were adorned with pearl earrings. The female also wore a black skin tight ankle length dress that hugged her figure in the right places. It cupped her round hips, even capturing her hip dips, that she had grown fond of over time— after hating them in High School. The bottom slit showed off her legs and the thin straps allowed herself to show off one of her favorite features, her collar bones. And an addition the stylists had added last minute was a pair of elbow length velvet black gloves that showed off her slender fingers.
And since her shoulders were bare of any fabric, the coordinating tattoo she had gotten with Jisung on her eighteenth birthday was out on display. His was of the same thing, but it sat on his mid-back. Hers was placed neatly inked on her right shoulder, an image of a tulip.
It represented what was their perfect love, and also it was the flower of the bouquet he had got her for their first date.
It was stupid to get a tattoo with a lover and especially have it symbolize them, and she knew that, but she couldn't bring herself to hate it.
Noticing his intent stare on her skin, she quickly tried to change the attention towards anything other than herself. Her lips parted and before she knew it, she was complimenting her band mates.
"Me? You guys look—"
"Attractive?" The tanned interrupted, and the others had followed after with their own words.
"Hot," Jeno cooed.
Chenle posed seductively, pointing his index finger to his parted lips. "Sexy,"
"Dilfy," Jaemin bit his lip, mimicking an expression of a typical teenage boy in the movies, making Aeri laugh and shake her head.
"I was gonna say good, but that works too," She giggled, waving them and their comments off dismissively.
They smirked in return before turning to focus on Jaemin who had began to direct them for their first scene.
"We're just gonna perform the song once then we'll film Aeri and Jisung after," He instructed, causing them to all disperse to their respective instruments, but the lead singer had stayed frozen to her feet.
"What's our scene?" She question but as she saw the glint of mischief in his eyes, she knew he wasn't going to tell her.
He tapped his index finger on his lips, indicating that it was a secret.
. . .
"Everyone except Aeri and Jisung get out of the scene! It's time for the couple to shine!" Jaemin yelled through the megaphone, making the rest of the Fever dream members run off the stage leaving the two alone. "Jisung put that guitar down!" The pink-haired male scolded.
Begrudgingly, the youngest did as he was told and stood showing his empty palms to the older sarcastically. "What now?"
"Stay out of frame while she sings, then once she finishes you have to kiss her—"
"Jaemin," Aeri gritted her teeth. She wanted to argue but the unknowing actors that stood in the crowd below the stage platform had their eyes on her, seemingly thinking she was just shy to kiss her boyfriend in front of a group of people, but they were very wrong.
Something in her fluttered, but she wasn't as excited as she used to be when she knew they were gonna kiss. Her mind traveled towards a specific boy. She contemplated over Renjun and how he might feel after watching the video as she hasn't yet grown the strength to tell him she was fake dating Jisung for the public.
She needed to tell him right after the shoot.
Why am I overthinking this? She thought, a headache slowly forming from her anxious overload of thoughts. We've kissed millions of times before, the only difference is that we're not actually dating
"Do we have to?"
Jaemin nodded his head yes, dropping his megaphone momentarily before raising it again to yell at the camera men.
"Okay! We're filming! Que the music!"
Before the frame landed on her, Aeri shook her head to get rid of her nerves. But almost as a switch was turned on, her eyelids fell slightly, and her mouth parted.
With her hooded orbs and her mic pressed close to her matte red lips, she stared sensually into the camera, following the character, Jaemin have given her previously before the shoot.
"You want me to be yours, well then you gotta be mines, if you want a good girl then goodbye," [refer to video above @ 2:30 ]
The camera zoomed out from her face and she dropped her hands to her hips, now they needed to kiss.
Jisung walked into frame, an unreadable look in his eyes, as he gently snaked one hand around her waist— the other holding her at the back of her neck. It burned their skin, but this time they couldn't bring themselves to pull away.
Their orbs instinctively met each other's as he stepped closer. Jisung's adam's apple bobbed at his throat, diverting Aeri's attention to it for a moment before she refocused on his clouded gaze.
She gulped down.
She couldn't read him, but her irises still shook, searching for something that gave away the emotions that stirred inside him. But to no luck, it was an abyss. He was a closed book once again, and the next thing he did took her by surprise.
He dipped her the old fashioned way, as her dad used to do with her mom. Aeri naturally allowed her hands to fly to his shoulders where she wrapped her arms around his neck— scared she might fall back. But weirdly, she believed he wouldn't drop her.
Though she had put a tiny amount of trust in him for the scene, she was still overridden with nerves.
Yet, as if they were two main character's in a movie, it all dissipated into thin air once Jisung leant down and captured her lips in a sweet kiss. It wasn't one sided nor did they purse their lips— but they allowed themselves to mold together just as before.
"Hold it!" Jaemin yelled, as him and the other members stared at them in shock— hearts stilled behind their ribcage.
It looked too real— just as before.
Aeri clenched her eyes shut, lips frozen with his, but before she knew it, his tongue had peaked out and slid across her bottom lip. He knew what he was doing. He had pulled this stunt many times before when they were dating, and it still had her knees weak.
He felt her push more of her weight onto him, resulting in Jisung squeezing her hip reassuringly— as if non-verbally telling her, he's got her.
Habitually, her hands closed into fists, tugging at the hair behind his head— knuckles turning a ghostly white.
"Cut!"
Immediately, they pulled away, both now standing upright, staring into the crowd of crew members, actors and their friends.
They simultaneously exhaled a breath they didn't know they were holding in.
Aeri for a split second glanced in Jisung's direction— her cheeks reddening more once noticing his lips were smudged with her lipstick.
And as she turned to face the front again, the entire moment stopped— seeing Renjun, in shock, holding a bouquet of tulips.
Her favorite flowers in hand.
. . .
kinda iffy abt this chapter 😃