Everything began to fall into place after the day Jinsol and Kunhang had their day-long trip to the Garden of Morning Calm.
Kim Jinsol didn't hesitate to shoot a message to the Mystic Entertainment Creative Director's email. Their chat through the emails have been brief and sweet, and the director, Park Myungsook, was quick to mention a meetup to discuss more of her project. She even brought up to invite Professor Lin so the meeting wouldn't feel too tense. Jinsol had to think of something to make it up to her favorite professor for giving her the opportunity.
And after meeting the director and her professor at a cafe nearby her university a few days later, it went very smoothly.
Park Myungsook wasn't what Jinsol was expecting.
She was a woman possibly in her early 30s, much like her professor. As her attire, she wore casual clothing; a black cotton button-up with a pair of blue jeans and a pair of Nike shoes. She immediately gave off a laidback vibe the moment Jinsol laid her eyes on her.
Jinsol could barely get a word out to introduce herself before Myungsook interrupted her with a flurry of compliments about her work. Myungsook had seen her YouTube videos, just as Professor Lin said, and commented how she loved the style Jinsol would shoot in. Jinsol was appalled as the woman ranted on and on about the details of her own work, that it got her flustered.
"I could talk all day about your techniques but I almost forgot that we're here today to talk about my upcoming project!" Park Myungsook sheepishly replied, after a certain glance from Professor Lin.
At this moment, the drinks they ordered had arrived to their table and Jinsol grabbed her strawberry smoothie carefully before turning her attention back at the creative director.
"The company launched a Youtube channel that will consist of original webdramas and other fun content," Myungsook started after taking a sip of her coffee. "And I have the great opportunity to be in charge of the first drama that will be posted there. It'll be the first project that I get to have full control over! So the channel and the drama are important to me and I want to do things right. As to why I'm trying to snatch up all the hidden gems and hardworking people while I can before we start, you being one of them."
"You'd be able to learn so much more than what I can teach you, Jinsol," Professor Lin chimed, patting the younger's shoulder. "You can trust in Myungsook and her team to guide you on what to do."
"Plus, you will be paid! It might not be a fantastic first pay, but you'll be paid nonetheless and will provide lunches during work hours!" Myungsook continued. "It will be a very short production since it's just a webdrama, we only have a couple months at most to finish all the filming so it will be fast paced. I can tell you about the scheduling and the synopsis of the drama if you'd like but of course, I could also email you the information so you can see what you're getting yourself into. But I hope that all this won't deter you away."
Jinsol grinned at the woman. "No, no. I'd love to hear about the drama and stuff. It'll be better to hear about it from you directly in case I have any questions."
"Yahh, see. I knew I made the right choice, you'd be a wonderful add in to the team!" Myungsook proclaimed with utter joy. "So passionate, this one is, huh, Sunhwa?"
Professor Lin nodded, smiling brightly too. "She is!"
As time ticked by, the three ladies sat in that cafe for a good hour and a half, discussing the drama and film techniques. It was interesting to Jinsol to hear her professor and Park Myungsook banter on their views of film, she even cut in with her own opinions. The more Jinsol talked to the creative director, the more she was excited to work with her on the drama.
This was definitely the next step. While this could be more stressful and high paced than what the missed internship could've been, she would be an idiot to decline.
It was a start of something... interesting. Jinsol would say beautiful but interesting was far fitting when working with the eccentric Park Myungsook.
Myungsook was a passionate woman when it came to her work, which others could take it as boisterous and stubborn.
On Jinsol's very first day of working for the web drama, Myungsook was quick to introduce her to her production team. Her team was much smaller than what she would expect from a well-known entertainment company. But Myungsook mentioned since they were basically the lab rats for the upcoming YouTube channel, the budget won't allow them to hire more than what they need.
From that point, Jinsol finally felt she signed the contract to something that was far above the next step she was searching for.
Working on the web drama for the next couple months had been both mentally and physically exhausting. More so, it was how fast paced everything seemed to move while they were working. As a newbie to all of it, Jinsol was basically running back and forth, side to side, around in circles, trying to fulfill her duties for the team. She was mostly a helper to the team. Running about getting props together, relaying messages between each person, fixing the microphones for the actors, rolling up the wires. It wasn't a bad job, she was used to it from all the experience she had in her classes.
However, this was different.
More than a couple times, Director Myungsook would ask Jinsol about her input or opinion about the filming the scenes. It caught her off guard at first when the director was approaching her in the middle of filming. But, it happened more often, that sometimes Jinsol would go out of her way to say her thoughts.
Kim Jinsol, just a mere second year in college, was able to have her opinions said for an actual drama? She would have never believed it if she was told this months ago. It was like a dream coming true before her eyes. She felt like a very crucial and important member to the team.
Before Jinsol knew it, she fell into a routine with this web drama.
The rest of the production team had been nothing but nice to her. While there had been times of stern nagging over their work, it didn't sway Jinsol. She knew they only wanted the best for their project, and she did too. Just because she was a rookie to the whole thing, she didn't want to be the one that drags them. Jinsol did her best to keep up with her team, no matter what.
As drained she'd be at the end of the day, she didn't want to stop.
She honestly was having some fun with this group of people. No one flaunted their superiority or many more years of experience to her (at least, not intentionally). They made her feel included.
To be able to watch everyone edit, film, direct, act, and such; it was more than what Jinsol could ask for. She learned more during the two months with the Mystic Entertainment team, than all the years of learning about media production combined.
And every single night before she would go to sleep, only about 6 hours until she'll have to wake up and start the day again, she would think about how lucky she had been to reach this point.
After the insecurity and the struggle she had gone through with her project and the internship from last semester, she never could have imagined this happening. Fate had taken care of her all too well this whole time, she had realized this.
And Kunhang had been there.
When she was stuck on her project, he had come along at the most perfect time. When she was torn with her crush on her senior, Kunhang had comforted her. She fallen in love with that dumb dork. He had given her strength when she needed it. And even when she lost the internship because of Kunhang's contract to SM Entertainment, it only lead her to another open door.
Ever since that boy entered her life, she was gifted with so much more than she deserved.
Was it... too early to say she loves him?
. . .
Park Myungsook announced they'll have a viewing party for the drama they had created together, all eight episodes worth. The director said it was to see how their hard-work paid off (as well as see any last minute mistakes). The party would be followed with a grand team dinner to celebrate their incredible teamwork. For the party, Jinsol could invite people to watch the drama with her.
She had five she invited, but now she wondered whether or not it'd be a good idea to have all of them be in the same room together.
"I'm so proud of you, sweetie!" Her mother chimed from the passenger seat of the car. She beamed brightly, reaching back to give Jinsol's hand a loving squeeze. "I was worried about it, seeing how tired you'd be when you come home from work, but I'm excited to see the drama you worked so hard for!"
Jinsol smiled, absolutely enthusiastic about showing her family the project she was a part of. "Yeah, this is the biggest thing I could ever be a part of. I can't believe that we already finished it."
"And these past two months I never saw you!" Haneul grumbled to Jinsol's right. The pigtailed girl giggled as she linked her arm with her best friend's. It was true. Jinsol had been so busy with the drama, she barely had any free time. None with her family, friends... or her boyfriend. Today was the first time she will be able to spend some time with everyone. "Finally I can steal you away!"
"Haneul, don't you dare, we want time with our daughter too. You can have her once you all start the new semester in a week," Jinsol's father muttered in an obvious disappointed tone, his eyes still trained on the road ahead.
The two young girls laughed quietly behind.
Suddenly, Jinsol's phone buzzed. She checked it, her smile only growing wider as she read it.
"Oh yeah, Boram-unnie said that she will be at the restaurant soon," Jinsol proclaimed for her parents. "We'll probably be able to meet her at the entrance when we get there."
Haneul suddenly leaned in and uttered in a whisper for only Jinsol to hear. "And, what about the BF?"
Jinsol nudged Haneul roughly, her cheeks flaring hot. "He'll be there too... maybe a bit late."
"Ah, I'm more excited for this than your drama, to be honest."
"Shut up, what a supportive friend you are."
That annoying smirk on Haneul's face only got Jinsol more worried about what was about to happen. Of course she invited Kunhang to watch the drama. Some of her coworkers were even excited to meet him when she had briefly mentioned she was dating. However, this would be the first time Kunhang would be meeting her parents. He knows, but her parents don't.
Her parents only thought they'll be meeting another one of Jinsol's friends from college... if only that was the case.
While she was nervous about everyone's thoughts of the drama, it was this upcoming interaction that was getting Jinsol's stomach flipping. After a few months of dating Kunhang and how important he was to her, it only felt right to introduce them to each other.
Once they arrived to the parking lot to the restaurant, Haneul clung tightly on Jinsol's arm as they exited the car. Good thing too, because it felt like her legs had turned to jelly.
Just as she guessed, her older sister stood at the entrance of the restaurant waiting for them. The family had a sweet little reunion with one another, it had been a while seeing Boram now that she lives with her husband.
"How has Seokju been, sweetheart?" Their mother asked, holding onto Boram's hands with a loving touch. "I hope he has been eating the dishes I've made for you two."
"He's been fine, eomma," Boram grinned at the mention of her husband. "Working hard as always but I do make sure he eats your cooking. Sometimes I don't have to since he loves it so much, haha."
"Well, let's head inside, right?" Their father interjected, pointing over to the door, where a swarm of people are starting to shuffle in.
Another buzz from her pocket distracted Jinsol. As she took out her phone to check what it was, she gasped to herself. Haneul didn't even have to ask, all she gave was a knowing glance.
"Ah, Jinsol's friend is going to be here soon," Haneul brought up to her family. "Let's head in first and they will meet up later."
Jinsol's parents had quite questionable expressions, while Boram might have guessed what was about to happen. "Yes, let's go ahead in. I know Director Park, so I can introduce us to her, hmm?" Boram began to usher their parents into the building while giving Jinsol one last warning look. Haneul gave her a thumbs up quickly before disappearing into the building with them.
Jinsol turned back around and sat down on the bench just outside the restaurant. It barely took a couple minutes until she saw the familiar stature of her boyfriend. Instantly, a smile tugged at her lips at his appearance. He looked just as handsome as ever, it made her heart skip a beat.
Just as she stood up to greet her boyfriend, he had wrapped his arms around her and hugged tightly. The air was knocked out of her lungs but it didn't stop her from returning the much needed embraced. She nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck, taking a whiff of the cologne he would wear on their occasional dates before her production job.
"I missed you like crazy, Kim Jinsol," he muttered.
"I missed you too, Wong Kunhang." As they pulled away from each other, Jinsol didn't miss her chance to give him a kiss on his cheek. "Are you ready?"
Kunhang weakly chuckled, "To see your drama? Hell yeah. To meet your parents, sister, and coworkers? No, not really, but here I am."
"It's overwhelming I know. But you insisted on coming, even after knowing all that." Jinsol rubbed the back of her neck as possible scary possibilities crossed her mind. She pouted, "My father can be quite intimidating... as well as my mom... and my sister now that I think about it. My sister knows about you though so, like, maybe she won't be too harsh on you or anything. But with my parents, they're a bit of a curveball and—"
Kunhang placed his hands on Jinsol's shoulders, stopping her from her babbling. Deeply, he stared into her eyes and gave a small smile. "You sound more nervous than me, you know. You don't have to worry about messing up Korean while talking, you know."
"I don't think I can make words when we go in there, though..."
"Breathe," Kunhang told her with a shake of her shoulders. "Whatever happens, happen. And we got each other, right? That's what matters. Plus, I'll do all I can to make your parents like me."
"No amount of b-boying will have them instantly like you, Kunhang."
"... well there goes my plan for the night." Jinsol cracked a smile, sighing at his silly response. "There we go. You look loosened up now. And if we ever really need help, we got Haneul, remember? Now, lets go in. I don't want to miss a second of the drama you have raved on and on about."
"O-Okay, let's go in."
Just as Director Park informed them before, they had a humongous room reserved for their team to have. As the two 99-liners arrived, they saw rows of tables start to fill up with people, as well as a humongous lit projector screen on the wall in time of the viewing party. Kunhang and Jinsol cautiously walked in, trying to search where Jinsol's family and Haneul were seated at.
There were so many people bustling about, probably all of her coworkers' friends and family.
A couple of her coworkers have greeted Jinsol warmly, some even smiling wider once noticing the boy besides her. Embarrassed, she grabbed onto Kunhang's hand and quickly bid her farewells to them, excusing themselves to find her family. They walked further into the spacious room, their eyes darting around for her parents, or at least Haneul.
Just as she was about to pull out her phone to send her best friend a message, a different voice had called out to her, a familiar voice that got Jinsol's skin crawling.
Both her and Kunhang turned around to the voice.
It was Director Park Myungsook.
Jinsol quickly bowed to her boss in greeting.
"Kim Jinsol! Just the girl I needed to see!" The woman chimed, her tone overly cheery. "And oh, and with the boyfriend, too! Welcome, welcome~ It's nice to meet you."
Kunhang gave a small nod, "Nice to meet you too."
Myungsook clapped her hands together. "This is actually quite the serious matter but I doubt it would be too weird if your boyfriend heard too." Jinsol raised her brows, anticipating what she had to say. "How has the past few months been treating you, Jinsol? I do got to admit, you were overworked a bit for someone your age and experience."
Jinsol pursed her lips. "It has been very tough at times but this has been quite an amazing experience. I learned so much through this and I wouldn't trade it for anything else! I can't thank you enough, Director, for letting me join the production process."
"Of course," Myungsook replied. "Now, I do understand that you have school to come back to soon but I think it'd be a shame to let you go so early when I like you so much. I'd like for you to continue working with me, Jinsol."
This was... unexpected. Jinsol only thought this was just a one time thing, and it was the perfect temporary job to gain a lot of experience. Just like an internship, it wasn't meant to last.
However, she was saying something else.
"I'm totally fine with giving you a schedule that will work with you, but I can understand that having both this and school would be way too much to deal with. So give it some thought, okay? You don't need to let me know yet, take all the time you need to think this through! But I would be very happy to keep you around and have you as an official employee at Mystic Entertainment and the Mystic Dramas Youtube channel!" As she finished off, Director Park patted Jinsol's head adoringly before walking off to greet the others.
Jinsol craned her head towards Kunhang with a dumbfounded expression.
"Did that really just happen, Kunhang? I'll be able to actually work in Mystic Entertainment?" She muttered in awe.
He nodded, giving her hand a squeeze. "Congratulations, Jinsol! Your hard work paid off!"
"There you two are!" Haneul proclaimed, waving at the two of them. With that, Jinsol and Kunhang rushed over to the girl's side. "You guys took quite a while, you better not have been off somewhere making out."
"No way!" Jinsol interjected with a squeak, her face suddenly burning. "We ran into Director Park and we talked, stupid."
Haneul tsked. "Well anyway, we are seated just a little that way." She glimpsed over at Kunhang. "Are you ready? Meeting your girlfriend's parents is a big thing, you know."
"I know." Kunhang let out a breath. "Let's go."
As Haneul led the way, Jinsol and Kunhang cautiously followed, unsure what to present themselves once in front of her parents and Boram. There was no other way around it though.
Finally, they walked up to the table they were seated at. Jinsol could see the cogs turning in her family's head at the sight of Kunhang. Words were caught in her throat.
She then choked out, "Everyone meet Kunhang... my boyfriend."
The silence. It was killing Jinsol from the inside out. Was this a bad idea? Should she have introduced him at a different time?
"Oh, Kunhang! Are you the one that makes my Jinsol so happy nowadays?" Jinsol's mother beamed as she stood up to properly greet him. Jinsol stood there shocked, gawking at her wide eyed from the unexpected response. She glanced at her father, who held a shockingly warm smile. "Nice to finally meet you!"
Kunhang stepped forward and shook hands with her parents. They fell into a conversation, which mostly consisted of Jinsol's mom and dad bombarding him with questions. Her boyfriend answered each one carefully. Everything seemed to be going fine.
What was happening?
"Just so you know, your parents already assumed you were bringing your boyfriend over," Haneul whispered over to her, a playful smirk to her face. "Silly girl, you must've been blatantly obvious when you were at home!"
Jinsol blushed at the very thought. However, she felt warm inside.
It was crazy...
At how much things could change because one simple factor. She was sure, if she had never met Kunhang, all these amazing opportunities.
Her lovely muse.
A/n: The next chapter will most likely be the epilogue! We finally reached this story's end~
Is there anything else you guys wanted any back story for? Maybe a bonus chapter for any of the other characters. I have a couple ideas in mind because I know some of them need some closure (like a couple seniors and the tea lady).
But anyway, I'm super happy to finally finish this story. I've definitely hit a lot of roadblocks for this story, so its nice to be able to get past them! Thank you to those that have stuck with this story despite the lack of consistent updates! I couldn't be any more thankful to you readers.
Until one more update! 😊
—Bianca