Chapter 2
“CUT!”
Yaya opened her eyes. Nadech removed his weight from her and they both sat up in the bed, looking over at the director and cameras.
“Nong Nadech, nong Yaya, I want to make myself very clear and also emphasize right now that I want this lakorn to be different from the others. I already explained to you at the beginning that I want a different level of romance displayed in here and I know you both have been working towards this very well.” Director Fa had taken them aside for a short break. “You two have been doing so well so far that I know you won’t disappoint me, but what you did before was not enough. It was too stiff.”
She noticed Yaya shifting in her seat and patted her hand reassuringly. “Now, I know that that is the traditional way in the majority of lakorn—we usually only use a kiss with the lips touching. But this is modern time and the viewers will find this more romantic and realistic. Two people in love will want to be close, right? So that’s how we must express p’ek and n’ek’s feelings.”
Yaya smiled uncertainly. Of course, she knew from the start that the director was going to demand something she had never done before, but her manager had encouraged her, since the storyline for this new lakorn was famous, plus Yaya would get to develop more as an actress. This was going to help her become more experienced because her character, Ying Aom, is complex and mature and her relationship with p’ek, Apirak, was complicated. It was understandable that the audience would be expecting more passion. There was little reason for her to be nervous. Besides, she had acted with Nadech before and was comfortable with him. She wouldn’t give up until she had created the perfect Ying Aom.
“Ok, we’ll try.”
“Krup.”
“Ok, we’ll start from the frame before the kiss.”
As Nadech and Yaya walked back on set, Nadech playfully nudged her with his elbow. She nudged back, making him smile. They got into position and he wiggled his brow at her.
“You ready for me?”
She smacked his arm. “Don’t play around. We’re going to start.”
“That’s what Khun Ying and Rak are supposed to be doing anyway. I’ll apologize later, ok?”
“…ACTION.”
“CUT!”
“Action.
“CUT!”
Yaya winced.
“Nong Yaya! Why do you move away from him? If you continue there will be a hole in the bed.”
It was true, but Yaya had done it unconsciously. For some reason, the closer Nadech got, the more she pressed herself into the mattress under her.
“Just relax. You don’t have to exchange saliva or use your tongue like in western movies. I’m just asking for Ying to let Rak show his love. Ok?”
Nadech was reclining on his side next to Yaya and teased, “Maybe Yaya is scared of me.”
“Who’s scared of you?” Yaya demanded indignantly.
“Well, look, the pillow has your head shape permanently dented in it.”
“Don’t make me dent your big head in,” she retorted.
“Now, now, Khun Ying shouldn’t be rough with her Khun Rak, right? She loves him a lot.” He grinned with sass.
Even though he was older than her, Yaya wasn’t about to let Nadech teach her about her own role. “Just wait and see, then you’ll know exactly how much Ying loves Rak,” she challenged.
“Goh dai.” Nadech’s fingers encircled her wrist. He looked into her eyes and said, “Show me.”
(TAKE X)
“Wait,” she protested with a hand on his chest.
“Why?” he whispered. “I’ve waited for this moment, for the person in front of me my whole life. Why must I wait?” This time, Rak wasn’t just teasing her or provoking her like before. His eyes never strayed from her face, but implored her for permission to continue with such intensity that Ying was feeling short of breath. How did he make her feel like she was the only thing that existed in the world? Every time his dark eyes captured her, everything else went away—light, dark, noise, heat, cold. And now he was looking at her lips with a yearning she felt within herself, but he was holding back. She no longer resisted and in fact, was calmed by the pounding of his heart which her hand could feel.
“Chun ruk tur.”
He dipped his head closer to hers, but still, he hesitated, so that she couldn’t help but lift her chin as if to say ‘Go on'. And he did. Their lips molded sweetly together due to his smart angle. His hand trailed up like a soft shield, stroking her jaw. She sighed with satisfaction at finally experiencing the sensation of his lips. But his hungry mouth parted her lips as he nipped and kissed and kissed her many times.
“CUT!”
Yaya’s eyes flew open. The first thing she noticed was Nadech’s lips still touching her. The second thing was the director and crew, though they were somewhat out of focus. It could only have been two seconds after the CUT had been called but for Yaya, it felt much longer.
She slid her head to the side and felt cool air on her face at last. “P’Nadech, sorry.”
“That’s an ok!” Director Fa called to them gleefully. “More than ok, it was perfect!
“P’Nadech, are you ok?” she asked seeing him remain rigid.
“Yeah. Oh, I have a stomachache. I’ll be back,” he informed them and ran off to the bathroom.
“Why does he have a stomachache?” one person mumbled.
“Too much sweets?” another crewmember joked in a hushed tone.
“What do you mean? What sweets?”
“You know, the Yaya flavored one.”
Yaya let her legs dangle off the side of the bed and took a deep breath while the makeup person came to fix her up.
------
Nadech gulped in air. His mind wandered straight back to the set where the crew and Yaya were waiting, but he squeezed his eyes tight.
“No, you are not Apirak right now,” he scolded himself. “She is Yaya, not Ying.”
Not that that helped much, because Yaya was a beautiful woman. He wouldn’t deny he himself was attracted to her. But they were friends, and more importantly, they were coworkers and had never stopped being professional. At the same time, he’d been looking forward to that kiss, even if he told himself it was only because he wanted to see how it would be different from other onscreen kisses. But the moment he had started, boy, thoughts of cameras and acting had flown out the window. If the director’s CUT had come a minute later, Nadech wasn’t sure what other action he would have taken.
“Oi!” He slapped himself. “No! I am not an actor who gets confused with his character! Wait, more than that, I’m not someone who is controlled by emotions during work!” he lectured himself. “It was one kiss and I’ll blame this weird feeling on human nature. That’s all. And this is a little more intense than usual but it’s over with and I will be ready for the next one. Right. Ok.”
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“Hurry over to fix your hair, Nadech.”
He looked over his shoulder at Yaya in her white nightgown, her wavy hair loose down her back. The lights made her whole body glow and then she smiled that sweet smile. He shook his head and faced forward.
“You guys are doing wonderful.”
“Thank you. We finally got it over with.”
“All we need are the full length body shot, the room and the second angle of the kiss. Get ready.”
Nadech clenched his fist, silently groaning.
“Nong Nadech, is your stomach hurting again?”
He shook his head. This was going to be one long night of shooting.
-------------
“Thank you. Nice work today!”
Nadech inclined his head to the crewmembers, waving good bye. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a tall thin figure in white. “Uh, see you tomorrow then.” He hurried towards the exit.
Someone in a car waved at Nadech. “Ay! Over here!” Even though they were both busy with their own acting jobs, the two friends got together whenever possible to hang out. Donning a pair of shades, Mark nodded at Nadech’s slumped form after he got in the passenger’s side. “Yo, how was it? Tired?”
“Dude, you have no idea.”
Mark chuckled and drove off. “Why? Was the director being tough on you? Or…. Maybe n’ek gave you a hard time?”
“Tch, just drive carefully. I’ll take care of my own problems.”
“You admit you have a problem? It must be like what I said, hehe.”
"Right Mr. Smarty, who can barely wait until next year to work with your 'Resort Wife' from long ago..."
"Hey, don't try to provoke me. You're just changing the subject," Mark said smugly.
Nadech pulled his hat lower. Mark didn’t need to know just how right he was. Nadech and Yaya had to shoot many more angles of their kiss than the director had said before, and then she decided to get the morning scene done right away, so the couple was forced to stay close to each other for a long time. Nadech cringed, remembering how natural it felt to have Yaya beside him. It was ridiculous. There should be no difference from when they acted in Duang Jai Akkanee.
‘Blame it on my non-existent love life,’ he grumbled in his head.
----
“Did Nadech leave already?”
“Yes, I saw him head out.”
“Wasn’t he handsome tonight?”
“He’s always handsome. And he and Yaya acted so well, it made me so happy seeing Rak and Ying get to be together!”
“I know right?”
“Yaya, are you going back now?”
“Ka. I’ll just change first.”
When she reached the privacy of the bathroom, she breathed out slowly. The whole time they were shooting, she felt like she was suffocating. Yaya didn’t think being intimate with Nadech was the problem—no way—because it was only for the screen and she was used to doing romantic dramas. Maybe she was just stressed. She was filming this lakorn and preparing for another one, so she was already practicing lines with the Other Cast.
“Hmph, no way that dork P’Nadech can make me lose focus on a job,” she declared. Satisfied, she changed to her own clothes and washed her face. She needed all the rest she could get.
-------------
Some mornings later, Nadech was shooting more for Jao Hua Jai. He had scenes with his family and friends from the story that were gathering for the later episodes. Hours later, he was shrugging on a sweater when a cameraman and two emcees came in. They were the crew that captured Behind the Scenes.
“What’s this, what’s this, Khun Nadech is dressing!”
“We came too late,” MC 2 joked, “the female fans will be disappointed.” They greeted everyone and sat down with Nadech.
“The lakorn called Jao Hua Jai has been highly anticipated and so far, we’ve only seen the beginning but viewer response has been extremely positive. How are the actors feeling?”
“Thanks to all the support from our viewers. We’re excited for them to see more and get even deeper into the story.”
“Yes, the couple is also popular. But how come we don’t see Khun Ying? Where is nong Yaya?”
“She’s at her other lakorn,” Nadech answered.
“Oh, so she goes to meet a different p’ek, do you feel jealous?”
Nadech laughed. “No.”
“Why is that?”
“Because she puts more focus on this one, while the other lakorn is filming slowly, so I don’t need to keep an eye on her,” he played along with them.
“No need to worry, here comes the lady Khun Ying!”
Yaya appeared and she greeted everyone, “Hello!”
“You’ve come! You seem so busy going back and forth between different jobs.”
“No, it’s really not that bad.”
“Wow, she’s really like a super woman.”
“It’s called Wonder Woman,” MC 1 corrected. “That means she needs a Superman.”
“Chai, chai! Won’t you tell us about the superman we heard the other castmembers talking about?”
Yaya laughed and poked Nadech’s shoulder. “It’s this one right here.”
The emcees went “Oooooh…”
“How did nong Nadech become Superman?” They requested for Nadech to flex his arm muscles for the camera.
“Because in the script p’ek is good at everything and he is always secretly protecting n’ek and there’s an upcoming scene where Khun Rak opens his shirt so the staff made fun that he is like Superman changing identities.”
The emcees squealed in excitement.
Nadech jokingly apologized, “Sorry to the real Superman, I can’t measure up to him.” They laughed.
“Can you spoil for us? Is there an time when Ying will see Rak shirtless?”
“Ah…” Yaya giggled shyly. “Mai mee.”
“No, none.” They informed.
“But it’s ok everyone,” MC 1 spoke to the camera, “because there will be love scenes in the future, correct?”
“Yes, we all know the director’s announcement that this is a serious romance.” The two emcees looked at each other sneakily. “Do you want to share about what you two had to do a couple days ago?”
“Mm…” Yaya pursed her lips shyly.
“It was a kiss scene,” Nadech said with a straight face.
The emcees cheered. “Then we will let the viewers anticipate the love scenes for themselves. Thank you!”
“Thank you…”
-------------
“How is the other drama going?”
Yaya looked up from her script. “Mm, like usual. I’m still trying to get to know my character, and I have not met all of the cast yet.”
“Well, don’t overdo it.”
“Yes sir, ka,” she smiled, appreciating his concern.
“You two, be ready for standby. You’ll be making your entrance soon.”
They nodded. Nadech casually said, “Excuse me, I’ll take this now.” He took her hand in his and together, they entered the set as Khun Ying and Khun Rak.
:fanfic:
Author's note-------------
This one's a bit longer. Don't know if I can keep up though :sweat:
So here we get just a very teeny tiny bit of Mteam. I'm excited lol because I love writing meddlesome friends like Mark here. Perhaps not meddlesome, just playful.
Ah, and also the introduction to Yadech's two characers Ying Aom (Ying) and Apirak (Rak). I really like those names and used to consider using them as the actual names of the koo used in my ff. But I've been absent from ff for so long, I feel it's a waste to keep saving the names for 'later'. Anyway, the story Jao Hua Jai is supposed to be famous...not sure if this version is a 'remake' or not in the world of jjinxx's ff. haha (You see this useless author)
I wanted to use the formal "Phom ruk khun" but I wasn't sure if that would work or if it's spelled like that. As a matter of fact, I just spelled "Chun ruk tur" off the top of my head. Hope it's correct.
I remember someone wrote in the 4HJHKK thread that her grandma was shocked when watching Fai and Jeed's real kiss, unlike "back in the Num/Kob days". But it's also a big deal for me ^^ because asian drama, and especially Thai lakorn doesn't go as far as western movies, so actually the real touching lip kisses are like a treat now and then. Also, I've only seen the more advanced actors like Ken and Ann do KISS, not just pecks.
And just in case tomorrow gets too busy: Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it!
jjinxx