sun and star | petalz

18. how you like that

"WHAT?!"

Soobin's enraged yell filled the conference room, and Kazuha winced.

Aoi had informed Sakura and Kazuha of the script change. It wasn't really major, but it definitely did change the ending. Kazuha and Riki's chemistry, while definitely existing, wasn't strong enough for love, so Aoi had decided to edit the script ending where the two split due to differing lives and personalities. Riki was okay with this, due to his calm personality, and simply said that he was glad they both tried.

Kazuha was just happy he'd agreed.

In terms of Sakura's script change, Yumi's and Joonwoo's personalities clashed too much anyway, and even Aoi agreed that dance was too dormant of a medium to fix them. In fact, one of the other actresses on set, Jang Wonyoung (who was normally the sweetest girl in existence), winced when the two of them tried to transition from angry to romantic.

It wasn't pretty.

"I auditioned to be the male love interest of this movie," Soobin snarled, "and you're going to tell me you want to take our relationship out of the script? Yumi and Joonwoo are the main point of the movie. All of that crap about journeys to greatness and acceptance of feelings is just fluff. It's really about the two love interests."

Aoi laughed out loud, and Kazuha resisted the same urge, recalling her spontaneous snicker session (alliteration!) in the office set with Sakura. Her girlfriend squeezed her hand under the table, sending her a small grin. Kazuha guessed she remembered it too.

"It's not about you, Soobin," she said. "The plot is what makes the story good. If there wasn't a company to back you up, everyone would see you as a cold-hearted prick. The story is what gives you credibility. That's why it's so important to make sure it's the best it is."

"Oh, sure, sure," he snapped. "The story. Right. As if this movie isn't marketed as romance, and the audience is supposed to be eating up the love story. Taking me out will be a big mistake-"

"Soobin."

He went quiet, glaring at her.

"I've worked on the movies currently blowing up the box office. I've edited scripts for countless classics. I know chemistry when I see it, and you and Sakura don't have that kind of connection. I'm sorry. It's just circumstances."

"Then we can make it!" he blustered. "Who does she match up with better anyway? Chemistry can be manufac-"

"It's a romance movie, Soobin, I don't think that's a good idea. And as for your second question..."

All eyes in the room turned to Kazuha, even Sakura.

Her girlfriend, who smiled softly at her and nodded.

"No. No. No one will like it if it's a movie with le-"

"CHOI SOOBIN! We don't tolerate that kind of disrespectful language on set," the director, An Yujin, bellowed. "If you even try that again, you will be removed and replaced. Do you understand?"

Soobin, in total shock, could do nothing but bob his head up and down.

"Meeting adjourned," Yujin growled. "And there better not be a next time."

- - -

"Yujin-ssi is cool," Kazuha decided as she sat on Sakura's hotel room couch.

"Is that so?" the older girl mused as she returned from the kitchen holding two cans. One was Ramune, which she gave to Kazuha, and the other was a beer, which she took for herself.

"Can I try?" Kazuha gave her an innocent look.

"No," Sakura laughed, taking a sip of the drink and placing it on the table. "You may be my girlfriend, but I'm not letting you drink when you're underage."

"Aw," the younger grumbled, burrowing herself into the couch to watch the Japanese-language film. It was another of Sakura's, an old-style movie set in a small town. The male lead was played by Nakamoto Yuta, an actor whose popularity in Japan was equivalent to Soobin's in Korea. The movie was honest and sweet, and Kazuha found herself enjoying it a lot.

"You liked the movie?" Sakura's curious voice jerked Kazuha from her thoughts.

"Yeah, you're in it," was the younger's surprised reply, nodding at her girlfriend. "The male lead wasn't bad either, he's a good actor."

"He was great to work with," Sakura sighed. "I wish Soobin was more like him. Then we could've transitioned to the next script so much more easily."

"Yeah, but at least he relented," Kazuha mentioned. "If he hadn't, well... we'd have to reshoot basically everything. Which would be, you know, bad. It's okay, though. I like the new script."

"Me too," Sakura answered softly, and then they kissed for a few seconds, Kazuha leaning across the couch to reach her girlfriend. When they broke apart, Kazuha wore an almost dazed grin, causing the older Japanese to giggle. "You're cute."

"Thank you," Kazuha puffed out, and then laid her head on Sakura's shoulder, tapping patterns on her thigh. "Do you want to watch anything else?"

"You."

Kazuha paused for a second, and then it hit her. She craned her neck up, blushing.

"Smooth, Miyawaki-san. I see how it is."

"You can't see anything, your face is buried in my neck," Sakura answered, amused, poking the ballerina in the arm. "And aren't you the one that bumped into me first the day we met?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Kazuha protested, squirming in her lover's embrace. "It was an accident!"

"I know, I'm just saying, technically you made the first move. I'd call that smooth," Sakura smirked, and Kazuha yelped in protest.

"You asked about me first! I believe your exact words were, Nakamura Kazuha, right? Or something like that."

"They're not exact if they're 'something like that,'" Sakura retorted, and Kazuha poked her stomach in retaliation.

They continued on like that for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's company. Kazuha had never felt this happy with anyone, and Sakura's arms around her and head on top of hers felt like home, a place she could go back to. The soft movie instrumental playing from the TV was like ambiance as the two sat cuddled up together, and for a moment, Kazuha could imagine that she wasn't in a hotel with a world-famous actress, but on her couch at night with her girlfriend.

One day, she hoped, she and Sakura could be official-official, living together and out to the world.

But now?

She wouldn't ruin them for anything.