Page 67 of You Had Me At Annyeong!
Hanee’s heart beats wildly as she inhales Timira’s jasmine, tuberose and fabric-softener fragrance.
Guess I’ll have to settle for this. If not her knight in shining armour, I’ll be her wingman. The best ever! Goose to her Maverick!
Putting her arms around Timira’s slim waist, she hugs her right back. Warmly, in a tight embrace.
* * *
‘Pull it down a little further!’
‘Push a little harder!’
‘Work it like you mean it. You know you can!’
‘The messier, the better!’
‘Tissue, more tissue, please!’
‘Shall we rub some more oil?’
‘C’mon, you’ve gotta make everyone in this room sweat!’
Cameras have been rolling since 6 a.m. A mock football game is in progress on a makeshift pitch to get action shots of Rodrigo. Jeju weather is temperamental, ‘much like women’, Mr Choi has chuckled, much to Timira’s annoyance. The forecast predicts rains for the following two days. The painstakingly constructed set would get completely ruined if it were to rain, so all shots have to be canned today while the sun is shining bright. Everybody is walking a tightrope. Timira has avoided eye contact with Haneul all morning. Much to his chagrin, she has been poring over the script with laser focus and looking fixedly at Rodrigo who is starting to look bored and tired as the shoot progresses.
‘Rodrigo is starting to tire. Look at his expressions! We can’t use any of the footage we’ve shot in the last twenty minutes!’ one of the producers remarks.
The director nods in agreement, his brows furrowed together.
‘Why don’t we take five? Let me try and fix this.’
The producer, a young Caucasian recruit of the ad agency in charge of the film, walks up to Mr Choi and whispers in his ear. The latter, frowning and looking helpless, darts across the set to find Timira.
What does he want with her?
Haneul’s eyes follow Timira as she walks up to the sound console and whispers into the ears of the MC. She then gesturesto the caterers to get something across to Rodrigo and has the production team play footage of all his best goals. On the other side of the room, Haneul looks at Rodrigo’s neck relax and bob to the beat of Nicky Jam’s ‘Hasta El Amanecer’ as he takes a swig from a can of Black Bull and a faint smile appears on his face.
The shoot resumes soon after and good takes keep getting canned one after another.
‘Daebak! Timira-ssi seems to have her finger right on Rodrigo-ssi’s pulse!’
‘I know, right? Such a huge advantage to have her on our team.Daheniguna!’
‘You think they might still have unresolved feelings? She seems to know him very deeply!’
‘Unresolved feelings? Like what? What are you suggesting?’
‘You were there, didn’t you see? He left everything to tie her laces! TO TIE HER SHOELACES! Which guy would do that unless there’s something going on between them?’
‘But then what about all that drama between her, Daepyonim and Mina-ssi?’
‘Must have been some kind of misunderstanding. Which man would leave Mina-ssi? Brains, beauty, bank balance—she’s got all three in abundance!’
‘Daepyonim won’t dare to leave her. His business will be ruined!’
‘Look, look, Rodrigo can’t take his eyes off of Timira-ssi!’
‘And they even worked together for a whole year!’
‘But wasn’t he dating a model when he was in India?’
