Third Person's POV
Dara is busy with her acting career. After finishing her photo shoot in the morning, she heads straight to the shooting location of her new series.
They are at the point of filming where Dara's character is being chased and needs to jump from the rooftop of a 12-floor building.
"You have nowhere to run!" says the antagonist.
"That's what you think. You'll never catch me," Dara replies, running to the edge of the building.
The people chasing her are shocked and quickly run towards her, but Dara jumps off the edge.
Dara lands on a balcony of the building on the 11th floor and looks up. She looks up and sees her pursuers looking down at her, so she jumps to another balcony and enters through the unit.
"AND CUT!" the director shouts through his megaphone as Dara enters inside.
Upon hearing "cut," Dara feels relieved and returns to herself, feeling relaxed and breaking character.
Inside the unit, various staff members are present. Her personal assistant, Lizzie, immediately approaches with a bottle of water and a rechargeable fan. Other staff members come over to remove the harness from Dara.
Some staff members congratulate Dara on her impressive action stunt.
"Good job, Dara."
"You're amazing," they praise her.
"Thank you," Dara replies with a smile before walking towards Lizzie.
"Here's your water," Lizzie says, handing the bottled water to Dara while pointing the fan at her.
"Thank you," Dara responds.
After the harness is removed, Dara thanks the staff and sits down in her designated chair to rest.
After sitting down for a few minutes, the director approaches Dara.
"Good job, Dara," the director said with a smile.
"Oh, thank you," Dara replies happily.
"Our next shoot is the scene where you run down the hallway and outside, exciting the building. After that, we're done for the day, so we can go home early. For now, take a 10-minute break to rest," the director informs her.
"Okay, sounds good," Dara says with a smile, pleased to hear they will finish early.
The director nods and leaves Dara to rest.
While Dara is resting and chatting happily with her PA, a woman stands nearby, glaring at her with envy.
"She really annoys me! Why didn't she fall during the stunt?" Sophia mutters angrily to herself.
Sophia's role is the antagonist for this series who orders the chase that drives Dara to the rooftop.
She is angry at Dara because ever since Dara became known, Sophia has always ended up in second place, despite having more experience. Moreover, Sophia was supposed to be the lead in this series, but she was replaced due to Dara's rapid rise to fame. This makes Sophia glare at Dara with resentment during every shoot.
"Don't worry, Sophia. I've done what you asked," says Sophia's PA.
Sophia secretly smiles at this news.
'Let's see if you can keep smiling after this,' Sophia thinks to herself.
The 10-minute break ends quickly. They start shooting again, and it goes smoothly until the end. However, every time Dara finishes running out of the building, the director yells cut and makes her redo the scene from the beginning.
Dara repeatedly runs up and down from the 6th floor to the outside of the building. It's also starting to get dark, but the director still isn't satisfied.
"CUT!" the director shouts loudly. "What is this? Fix the way you're holding the camera," he criticizes the cameraman.
It's clear there isn't really a problem with the staff and crew, but the director keeps finding faults. The frustration and exhaustion are evident on the faces of the staff and cameramen.
On the other side, Dara, gasping for breath, bends over with her hands on her knees from exhaustion. Lizzie runs to Dara's side to support her.
"Are you okay?" Lizzie asks, worried. "I'm really going to talk to that director! It's obvious he's just making things hard for you," she adds. Lizzie believes the director is deliberately giving Dara a hard time without saying it outright.
"Let it go," Dara says, holding Lizzie's arm as she prepares to confront the director.
"But—" Lizzie starts to protest, but Dara cuts her off.
"I'm really okay," Dara assures her, trying to convince Lizzie that she's fine.
Meanwhile, in a corner, Sophia watches with satisfaction as Dara struggles. She is the reason why the director is doing this. They are close and ask him to play around and tire out Dara.
They do several more takes until the director himself gets tired and finally ends the shoot. At last, everyone can pack up and go home.
While most people have already left, Dara remains on set. She feels embarrassed that everyone had to stay late because of her.
"Oh dear, you don't need to help us. We can handle it. There's just a little left to clean up, and then we can go home," insists a female staff member as Dara continues helping.
"It's okay with me. I'm the reason you all had to work overtime," Dara replies, holding a box of costumes.
"Oh, you're so kind. Even though you're a famous actress, you're still so nice," comments another staff member.
"Right. I hope you never change," adds her companion.
Since Dara shows no sign of stopping, the staff have no choice but to accept her and Lizzie's help until everything is done.
Thanks to their help, the cleanup finishes quickly, and everyone gets to go home. Dara then gets into her car, and Lizzie drives her home.
"Drive safely. See you tomorrow," Dara says cheerfully to Lizzie as she gets out of the car.
"See you," Lizzie replies simply and drives away.
Dara enters her house and a warm and cozy atmosphere welcomes her.
"Good evening, Bebu," Eli says, sitting on the sofa and watching a K-drama. "You're a bit late. I thought you would get home early today, huh?" she asks with concern.
"Hi Bebu," Dara replies tiredly, flopping down on the sofa next to Eli. "We just finished now," she explains.
"That's really late," Eli says. "Have you eaten? Do you want me to cook something for you?" she offers.
"No, it's okay," Dara says, refusing her offer to lessen the effort.
"Come on! It won't take long. I'll cook for you," Eli insists.
"Alright, if you insist," Dara finally agrees with a smile.
"Okay," Dara replies, sliding down to stand up and puts on his slippers.
"Don't sleep there. Take a shower first. Your food will be ready when you're done," Eli says.
"I don't want to. I'm so sleepy," Dara mumbles, barely awake.
"Come on," Eli insists, pulling Dara's arm to get her to stand up.
Eli succeeds in getting Dara up, and she walks like a zombie to her room upstairs to take a shower.
A few minutes later, Dara comes downstairs, freshly showered, drying her wet hair with a towel.
"You're getting water everywhere," Eli notes, taking the towel from Dara's shoulder to help her dry. "Eat your food, I'll handle this," she adds, gently drying her hair to keep it out of her food.
Dara smiles and sits down on the ground to eat while Eli carefully dries her hair. The comforting smell of the freshly cooked meal fills the room, and Dara feels a sense of peace and gratitude for Eli's care.
"By the way, have you heard the news about your official fans club?" Eli asks, opening the topic.
"What about it?" Dara asks curiously while sipping her soup.
"Petina stepped down as president of your fan club," Eli reveals.
"Really? Why?" Dara asks with concern, turning to look at Eli.
"Wait," Eli says, grabbing her phone from under a pillow. "Here," she says, handing her phone to Dara and showing her the post. "Her pregnancy is delicate, so she needs to step down," she explains.
"Oh, I see," Dara says, relieved by the news that she's ok. "But who will replace her? Did they already have someone?" she asks, still curious.
"Slide to the left," Eli instructs.
Dara slides the screen and sees the congratulatory post from her fan club with a picture of the new president.
"That's the new president," Eli says.
"Hmm, he looks familiar," Dara says, trying to remember where she has seen the man. She pauses, a spoonful of soup in her mouth, staring at the photo with curiosity.
"Oh! Yes! He's the quiet treasurer," Eli answered.
"Ah, that's why," Dara says, putting the phone down on the table and focusing on her food again.
"By the way, have you made any plans for your birthday? It's only two months away," Eli asks, bringing up a new topic.
"I forgot. Is it really only two months away? I've been so busy with my next concert that I didn't even think about it," Dara admits.
"Ugh! Forgot or intentionally ignored?" Eli says with emphasis. "I know you're not used to celebrating your birthday, but you need some 'me time' for yourself. You can't just work all the time," she adds. She's concerned about her friend being workaholics even in her acting career.
"I do have 'me time'! I have my birthday event prepared by my fans," Dara says, trying to make an excuse,
"That's not what I mean. I'm saying you need to take a real break," Eli responds. "Ever since you became famous, you've forgotten how to rest. You're working every day," she points out, noting how Dara always comes home late. "Also, we're not struggling for money like before when you had 2 or 3 jobs. Not to meddle, but you also need to rest," Eli adds, expressing her concern. She's not trying to be strict with her friend. She just wants Dara to remember that she's human too, and she has limitations.
"I know that, but I need to work hard. The spotlight isn't on me every day," Dara says. "Plus, I have to feed a pig, so I can't rest," she jokes, flashing a smile.
Eli knows she's the one Dara is referring to, so she takes her teasing lightly.
"Hey! I'm not a pig. I'm just not a big eater," Eli defends herself, grabbing a stick of fries unconsciously.
"Oh, that's why," Dara remarks, watching Eli grab the fries.
"Hehe," Eli chuckles cutely when she notices what she just did.
They both laugh at Eli's actions.
"You can't deny it, you got caught red-handed. Get yourself a bowl," Dara says but still handing Eli a bowl of fries and continuing to eat hers.
"But Bebu, you really should rest. Even just for a week or even just a day. You deserve it," Eli brings back the topic from earlier.
"I won't earn anything if I rest," Dara remarks.
"Don't worry, I'll support you," Eli confidently says.
"Really? And how would you do that?" Dara raises an eyebrow.
"I have a job. I can support you," Eli proudly states.
Dara is surprised. Eli has been wanting to work to help Dara since before, and now that she's graduated, she wants to repay her friend's kindness.
"Wow, really?" Dara asks happily. "That's great, but..." she pauses to tease Eli.
"But what?" she asks curiously.
"But I'm high maintenance. How will you support me?" Dara jokes with a smile.
"It's okay. I'll work hard," Eli replies genuinely.
Dara is touched by this. While her joke isn't entirely true, she still feels the sincerity in Eli's words.
~To Be Continued~