2. Chapter Two Park

Chapter Two: Park

E ntering the studio of SPPT Productions, I note that many of the cast members are already present, most of them chatting while standing around the long table laid out with breakfast food.

"Park!" Someone calls my name and I turn around to see a slim girl with stylishly curled long, dark hair whom I have worked with before. Beside her is my ex-girlfriend. Pear's grandmother is my neighbor, so I can hardly avoid her, but I didn't expect to see her here. Pear has worked as a makeup artist at Rainbow TV for the past couple of years.

"Hi, Cream. Hi, Pear. Pear, I'm surprised to see you here."

"I heard there was an opening and snapped it up. So many of my friends work at SPPT," Pear says, smiling and stepping closer to me while placing her hand on my arm. "Looks like you're doing well. You're a lead, I heard."

I nod, a little uncomfortable. She took it pretty hard when I broke up with her last year. I don't know how I feel about seeing her all the time at work.

"I'm playing your ex-girlfriend in this series," Cream tells me. "Everyone's talking about you and Spin. He's so cute."

Glancing around, I spot Spin Jetatikarn talking to Daeng, another SPPT actor I've worked with before. I'm not surprised to see Spin, since I read with him at the audition and learned he got the part of Boom shortly after.

"Oh, he's talking to Daeng," Cream says. "Maybe we should save him."

"What's wrong with Daeng?" Pear asks, looking over her shoulder at the two actors, her hand still on my arm.

"He sleeps with everyone," Cream says, lowering her voice.

"Has he slept with you?" Pear asks.

"No! Of course not." Cream looks affronted.

Pear's expression is innocent, but I'm pretty sure she meant the question as a slight to Cream. This type of game is just one of the things about her that I found unappealing by the end of our relationship.

"I'll see you guys later," I say, gently tugging out of Pear's grip. As I walk toward him, Spin looks up, a smile blooming on his face when he sees me. My heart does a weird little flip in my chest. We'd gotten kind of close when we did the play together at university when he was a freshman and I was a junior, but my life changed completely not long after that, and we lost touch. I forgot how cute he is. As well as affectionate , I think when he wraps his arms around my waist and hugs me.

"Hi, P'Park," he says.

"Hi, Spin." I hug him in return. His hair smells really good. Like apples and citrus.

Daeng smiles. "Hi, Park. I heard you were playing Khao." His gaze returns to Spin. "I just met your new partner. Looks like you two already know each other?"

"P'Daeng's playing the secondary lead, Champ," Spin tells me. "And Aod is playing Champ's love interest, Bear," he adds as a slender boy around Spin's age walks up and hands Spin a bubble tea .

In the series, Champ is Khao's best friend, which means Daeng and I will have a lot of scenes together. Fuck. And poor Aod, new to the bl industry, if I remember correctly, and partnered with Daeng.

The producer, Khun Hom, appears to be giving everyone some time to chat before we begin the workshop, so I clear my throat and say, "Spin, can I talk to you before things get started?"

"Oh, sure. See you guys later." Spin waves to Daeng and Aod and follows me to a quiet corner.

"I was surprised to hear you left Hearts Entertainment. Were you unhappy there?" I ask when we sit down on one of the couches. "I've always heard Hearts is one of the better production companies to work for."

Taking a sip of his bubble tea, Spin shrugs. "No, it was fine. But SPPT's better, don't you think? You've been with them a while.``

"Sure. They've been good to me."

I remember Spin's co-star in that series was Bang Suramongkol and wonder if he was the reason Spin left. Of course, not all paired actors stay together—I've been through a few partners since I started in the bl industry a few years ago. But if things were uncomfortable enough, it might push Spin to leave the company.

Khun Hom's PA comes by and hands us each a script with our names in marker at the top. Spin opens his.

"We'll just be doing a lot of get-to-know-you exercises today," I tell him, since he looks a little nervous. "After that, we'll run through scenes together, probably with the acting coach."

Spin looks relieved. "Okay. That sounds like what we did at Hearts. I wasn't sure if it was the same with every company. I've been reading the novel, but I'm not finished yet. Have you read it?"

"Yeah, I read it a couple of months ago when I heard I was going to be cast in the series," I tell him .

"Attention!" Khun Hom calls out. When everyone's quiet, she requests that each member of the cast introduce themselves. I begin, and when it's Spin's turn, he blushes but stands and tells everyone who he is in a loud, clear voice. He's small and has a cap of dark, wavy hair, round eyes, and a smile that draws people in. I remember how confident he was on stage, and how I admired that about him.

Cream, who sat down on my other side when Khun Hom started talking, leans toward me and whispers, "The two of you look great together. Seriously."

Hope blossoms in my chest. Spin and I were good together in the play—maybe we'll get lucky and still have that chemistry so many people said we had back then. Maybe our ship will be successful and my career will finally take off.