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“Oppa, it seems we finished earlier. Mido eonni and oppa-deul aren’t here yet,” Hyunbeen looked around, noticing some staff were taking a slight break and readjusting their equipment. “Looks like so,” Yeonseok followed close behind her, their towels and farm hats in his hands. He quickly moved around the house, hanging their towels to dry and putting the pink and blue farm hats back in their places. He picked up the cup Hyunbeen had been using since breakfast and poured her some water.
“The others won’t be here soon, you have at least an hour for yourself,” PD Na, who came together with them from the chili farm, said with a teasing tone.
“Oh really? Gyeoul-ah, what should we do~?” He playfully replied, handing her the water-filled cup. PD Na and the staff burst out laughing. Hyunbeen tried hard not to spit the water she was drinking, her brows scrunching together. “Gyosunim!” she squealed in high pitch inviting another laughing mess from the PD and his staff.
“What should we do to make others jealous~?” Yeonseok continued teasing her, reciting one of their ad-libs. Little did she know, he adored that high-pitched squeal of embarrassment she always did.
“Instead of making others jealous, you need to sleep,” Hyunbeen retorted with a laugh. “But I do think everyone will be jealous if we steal a nap now,” she giggled. She was sitting on the porch facing the living room, observing him refilling his tumbler with some more omija tea and ice cubes. She had emptied out his tumbler before when they were still in the field, the sunlight was scorching hot and the cold tea was just so good.
“ We? Will people be jealous because Jeongwon and Gyeoul get to squeeze a quality time together in between work? Sleeping?”
“I mean you, oppa! You need to take a nap!”
Yeonseok giggled hearing another high-pitched squeal from her. He always loved teasing her in every way possible — either with his lame dad jokes or simply teasing her word choice or her tone. Her response was always so funny and adorable — she didn’t get mad, only playfully mad. Instead, she unconsciously let out squeals or screams or pouted, and easily got flustered as her words got mixed up like a tipsy person. But he admitted he did need a nap — after filming all night and went directly to the site without resting, now that Hyunbeen mentioned it he realized the heaviness hanging in his eyelids. It was his friends’ presence that made him feel energized and managed to fight the sleepiness, and of course, her. Seeing her after long days at work just felt right .
He agreed it would be good if he could steal a little sleep before the others arrived and they would start preparing lunch.
“Can we take a slight break, PD-nim? It’s not like we can do something fun without the others here,” Yeonseok eyed the PD. Hyunbeen turned her eyes to him also, waiting for his response. She moved inside and sat beside him, putting some ice cubes into her own cup and he poured some more tea into it.
“Watching both of you is fun,” PD Na said, but he directed his staff to cut off their audio, and both their assistants ran to detach the microphone from their shirts. “It’s like watching this old variety show the nation loved,” he continued with slight amusement in his tone. Yeonseok and Hyunbeen both threw him a confused look, and then he decided to elaborate further.
“ U-gyeol, u-gyeol! Ah, good old times,” he joked and the whole site cracked. Yeonseok could feel Hyunbeen’s eyes on him and he awkwardly laughed it off. He did feel like they are filming something on their own, with a slightly different concept while the others weren’t there. But whatever. He enjoyed it anyway, and he was sure she did too. Her eyes were beaming and her laugh was heartfelt. They were having a good time together.
“There are sheets and pillows in the middle room, oppa, you can nap there,” Hyunbeen pointed into the room next to the living room right after their microphones are taken off. “Hmm. Thank you, Hyunbeen-ah,” he mumbled, dropping to the floor and finally closing his eyes for the first time in two days. Yeonseok could feel sleep quickly taking over his whole being.
“You sure you don’t want to shower first?” Hyunbeen asked, closing the front door to block the direct sunlight from his sleeping figure. “It’s okay, I’m too sleepy, the guys won’t mind me smelling like sweat anyway,” Yeonseok mumbled, voice a little breathy from the tiredness. He was already half-asleep when he vaguely heard Hyunbeen whisper an okay and quietly left, closing the door making the whole room darker.
He never knew this quick, stolen nap would be one of the best naps he ever had.
Because he woke up finding her next to him. Peacefully napping, her breath steady and her hair wet, fresh from the shower, with her left cheek resting on her arm. Her face was facing his side and he couldn’t imagine what could probably be better than this.
She looked breathtaking in her grey oversized hoodie. And smelled really good, like her favorite eucalyptus oil. Relaxing and calming.
Yeonseok propped himself up and stared at her in the dim lighting of the afternoon sun seeping inside through the gaps around the wooden door. He stared at her sleeping figure, steadily breathing the air around her, and at that moment he could surely decide that this was the most healing sight he had for the last few days.
He had a back-to-back filming schedule, shifting from character to character, from one site to another. It was draining, both physically and mentally, and headaches had been his best friend. But he wouldn’t lie that his heart soared when he saw her behind that wooden door, wittily waiting to be found by him. And her laughter, oh God.
Her laughter.
He wouldn’t admit this in front of her (of course, who is he?), but seeing her made him feel like his exhaustion evaporated away, leaving a fuzzy, warm feeling in his chest.
And even now, as if the morning bliss wasn’t enough for him, she was here, replenishing her energy, in the same room with him, in a respectful distance. But it hit him hard that they actually spent some time napping next to each other.
What could be better?
A faint buzz came from outside and he realized it was their friends. They were back from harvesting apples and he knew it was their cue to end the refreshing nap.
Yeonseok gently stroked her hair to wake her up. “Hyunbeen-ah, the guys are here,” he whispered close to her ears.
**
Hyunbeen didn’t like the sticky feeling from sweating under the sun so she showered and hung her shirt to reuse later. She even washed her hair, the cold mountain water felt good on her scalp. She changed into her comfortable grey hoodie and decided to get some sleep too, before her unnie and oppa-deul got back from harvesting apples and the pleasant-slash-chaotic food preparing process would resume.
She was about to lie down in her shared room with Mido when a need to check on Yeonseok flashed inside her.
So she tiptoed her way from the back room to the dark middle room, trying her best not to open the door too wide so the light from outside wouldn’t disturb his sleep.
There he was, in deep sleep despite the lack of comfortable covers and sheets.
Hyunbeen quietly sat down beside him and stared at his sleeping figure.
Hyunbeen wouldn’t lie that her heart soared when she heard his laugh coming from the footpath leading to the house. She wouldn’t admit this in front of him (of course, who is she?), but she actually missed his presence. It hadn’t even been a week yet since they last saw each other in their last scene together, but hearing his voice and his laughter brought this weird sensation to her chest. And oh God, his laughter.
His laughter had this weird capability to turn her whole being into jelly.
She hated the feeling that emerged in her chest when she saw his tired face, all fresh from work, coming without an ounce of sleep.
His sleeping figure soothed her.
Hyunbeen hugged her knees as she sat a respectable distance from him inside the dark middle room. She didn’t dare to scoot even a little bit closer. This is enough, she thought. It was enough to see him napping comfortably, his stable breathing calmed her down. Even though he did smell a little like sweat, she didn’t mind, too. She didn’t mind a little sweat as long as she could observe his peaceful sleeping face like this.
A wave of sleepiness hit her and before she could change her mind, she decided to take her place beside him, just because she still wanted to observe him for a little bit longer. She scooted a little further to pay a respectful distance between them.
Hyunbeen could easily decide that this was one of the best ways to fall asleep she ever experienced.
Him as the last thing she saw before she fell into slumber.
Her peaceful nap was disturbed by soft strokes on her head, and she thought she was still dreaming.
“Hyunbeen-ah, the guys are here,” she heard his gentle voice on her right ear and her whole being shuddered.
She got back up in a flash, suddenly remembering her crazy decision to sleep in the same room with him. As much as she wanted to collect her consciousness right away, it actually felt calming to be in this proximity with him. It felt like a dream.
She started questioning her own ears when she heard him chuckling.
“Hyunbeen-ah , wake up.”
“I am,” she answered shortly, succeeded in fully opening one of her eyes. And the first thing she saw was him smiling at her.
“Good afternoon, miss sleepyhead?” Yeonseok softly tapped her head. “The way you sleep makes me think you were the one who had overnight filming,” he teased.
Hyunbeen buried her face in her hands just in time with the strong sunlight breaking through the front door.
“They are here! What are you guys doing?” Kyungho opened the door wide, blinding them both with the afternoon sunlight.
“We were stealing nap,” Yeonseok answered with a laugh.
Hyunbeen giggled as they made their way back to the porch side by side, head clear from the peaceful nap, so ready for the rest of their day.
The sky looked so much prettier that afternoon.
**