Promissa Redux - Chapter 4
Synopsis: On set, old feeling resurface as you and Jaehyun slip back into a tenderness that never truly faded, blurring the line between what ended and what still quietly lives.
Warnings: minnors do not Interact! for this chapter we've got angst, no sex, and curse words this time and cute.
Pairing: jaehyun x f. reader
Word count: 3.698
Unauthorized copying or translation of this work is prohibited.
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Chapter 4 - Mrs. Jeong?
It was your first day on the filming set, although it was difficult to make the changes to schedules and mostly Nari’s routine, everything worked out fine. And honestly, her being with Jaehyun’s mom was about as good as being with you, after all, she did help out a lot, even months after giving birth to Nari you still had a few breakdowns out of so much fear of screwing up your kid.
Being a mom was the most important job title you had ever had, and it was a commitment for a lifetime. But being able to work with the script of your dreams made you excited, so you walked with a bounce in your step like it was your first day of school after a long summer.
So, after way too many coffees, you walked in with a new badge and an overloaded backpack with stuff you deemed necessary for your first day as a Photography Coordinator on a film set.
Working on films was a little different from working for television series, and while it took longer for Korean dramas to be filmed, filming a movie meant even longer working hours, also it meant lower tolerance for mistakes.
Decisions for television shows meant rearranging materials according to the network’s weekly publicity needs. As for movies, the needs were predicted as much as possible weeks in advance and workflows were already established.
So, it was no surprise that after a few online meetings, just shy of a hundred, as soon as you walked in people were already calling you by name.
Getting in early before directors and the cast meant you had to get everything out of the way before filming time. There was another Photography Coordinator on set so we could arrange our shifts based on how many locations we were shooting that day.
It took you a few hours to tick off most of the boxes of a to-do list on the work tablet when you finally took a break to drink a bit of water and look around the set. It was bristling, people moving things around in haste with some of the interns looking a little lost.
Grabbing an intercom headset from the staff table with your name labeled on the side, you walked towards the camera crew to make sure we were on the same channel.
With a bit of time left, you headed toward the make-up and wardrobe trailers. A camera hung from your neck as the tablet clicked shut and you made a mental note of the task ahead: take enough pictures of the filming cast so wardrobe, hair and makeup stayed consistent in continuity shots.
It was no surprise that glancing around the first trailer you got in and Jaehyun’s eyes instantly caught yours through the mirror.
“Hey, y/n!” he spoke first in a cheerful tone.
With that he made sure every single female eye turned in your direction. Ok, got it, he was still the crush on set. Since your marriage wasn’t the best well-kept secret and people might still recognize you from a few leaked pictures, there was no point in pretending that you weren’t at least friends.
Waving a hand, you greeted him back with a polite smile. “Hey Jae” you said, giving a quick wave to the rest of the all-female crew. Heading toward Jaehyun’s chair so your goal wouldn’t slip away, you asked, “Got time for me so I can take a few continuity pictures?”
“Sure”, he stood up.
“Can it be outside, so we don’t get in the way?”
“Lead the way.”
Outside, he trailed after you to a more secluded area just behind the trailers. A tense breath escaped before you added, “Women and you, huh? That never changes…”
He smiled “Well, what can I say, haven’t lost my dimples…yet.”
Letting out a small laugh, you moved closer, taking a careful look at his clothes and hair. “So, we are really going full nineties for this, huh?”
Looking down at his pants and belt, hands on his hips, he checked himself out. “What? Does the Heath Ledger look not work for me anymore?”
Feeling a bit stunned about your favorite nineties actor comment, eyes rolling at the back of your head and looking up at him. “I wish,” you grinned, “Maybe that way it would humble you a bit”.
He laughed heartily, “It’s okay to say I look good, babe.”
Brushing off the babe, you still grinned “C’mon big ego, we’ve got about 15 minutes to do this, so stay still.”
“Ok, boss”
Your eyes might have rolled back a bit, but the smile lingered on your lips. This felt new, exciting but also made familiar with him there.
----
By the end of the day, your legs hurt, and coffee had to be set aside so a full night’s sleep could replace a night of would-be insomnia. Being a Photography Coordinator, it meant that after all the filming was wrapped up you would be staying behind to back up the photos taken that day, tagging them by scene and character, along with continuity shots and behind-the-scenes shots approved by the director of photography, all uploaded to the company cloud storage.
When you got back to the hotel, it was already too late for a proper dinner so room service would have to do. Nestled in the covers after a few bites, as you scrolled through texts with Jaehyun’s mother, the phone buzzed, and the familiar name on the screen made answering easy.
A soft, sleepy drawl filled the line “Tired?”
“Yeah, I made it back hours after you left.”
“I figured. I waited by the lounge so I could see you before you went up, but when the restaurant closed, I figured you might take longer to come back”
“You waited for me?”
“Sure did.”
“Thank you, Jaehyun, but you’re probably tired as well, so don’t mind me.”
“Y/N, you mean a lot to me and I’m the only other person you know in this town, so yeah, I’ll be waiting for at least a text just to know you got home safely.”
A gentle sigh escaped, a warm flutter spreading at the thought of his care for you. “Jaehyun…thank you. I truly appreciate it.”
“It’s no bother…so did you have dinner?”
“I did, I was starving. Pretty sure I asked for a serving for four.”
“Tired of walking around all day?”
“Physically? Yes. Mentally I’m still kicking my feet at how cool this is.”
In a grimacing tone, he said, “Don’t you ever get tired of working, woman?”
“Never.”
“Maybe if you’d been on the job since barely out of your diaper days like me, it would change your mind.”
“Sooo you’re saying you were barely out of baby-milk stage when SME scouted you?”
He didn’t reply, but soon enough you were able to hear his puffs of laughter over the phone, I guess he too was thinking about his viral “I want milk” video. Best meme ever.
The call lingered for a few more minutes, but exhaustion was winning. A yawn betrayed your tiredness, goodbyes were exchanged, and before long, sleep came quickly.
---
About two weeks into the filming process, a few friendships were formed. And soon, Friday nights were being reserved for dinners and drinks at nearby restaurants, with hamburgers and beers topping the orders.
That specific Friday had started off badly. Seated on the floor at one of the outdoor shooting locations, your attention was focused to the laptop used to select and submit pictures for the marketing team (again!!!) since earlier submissions were rejected, earning a thirty-minute lecture from the Director of Photography on how to do your job. It wasn’t long until Jaehyun’s 90s shoes lined up right next to the laptop.
“Having a bad day?” he asked, settling down on the ground next to you.
You were about to give him a lecture on dirty street floors and filming clothes, before noticing that he had a cushion tucked underneath him. That’s my boy, never adding people’s work if he can help it, so you smiled a little bit.
“Not really a bad day, but I took a thirty-minute lashing today.”
“Ouch, that bad?”
“Yes.”
Ignoring him for a few minutes, attention stayed on the screen while the selected pictures were uploading for the DP’s approval. When it finished, you glanced at him turning the laptop screen his way, “The DP said the wrong pictures were chosen for the marketing team. Something about ‘not the best light’. Hopefully, these will do the trick.”
“Well, I don’t know which ones were sent the first time, but these look fine. I see no problem with them.” he said with a smile trying to reassure you.
“I don’t know if I trust you on this…I mean, would you really tell me if they were bad?”
“Sweetheart, do you think I’d rather not tell you the truth and have the director come after you?” His eyebrows shot up in mock indignation.
Yeah, you were being silly.
He kept going. “Look, you’re the most hardworking person I know, you LIKE to work, and every time you do, you do it brilliantly. Even if people don’t compliment you enough, it’s only because it’s always easier to point out the faults than to acknowledge 99% of the time everything was done perfectly. And you know this, we both come from the same place, but give yourself time. It is another country, in every industry or every film, expectations from directors and marketing strategies change. You have got this, y/n, I don’t doubt it for a second.”
You were nodding, but by the time he finished your head was elsewhere. There was a reason he was your best friend and husband at some point, it was because of moments like these.
“I missed working with you.” it slipped out on a whisper.
“Missed you too, y/n”.
---
You were just about to head out of work, the only thing missing was to put the intercom headset back at the staff table so the batteries could get swapped for the next day, so you were returning back to its place when Jaehyun began walking in your direction.
“Heading back to the hotel?”
“Yes.”
Zipping up your bag, ensuring nothing wasn’t taken home by mistake, Jaehyun stood close as if seemingly debating whether to speak.
“So you’re not much of a fan of those dinners after shooting?”
“Guess not really. It’s a habit I think, heading straight home to be with Nari.” Thinking back, the last dinner with colleagues during a shoot feels distant. “Perhaps ever since your SME days I haven’t done much socializing after work.”
“Oh.”
The hint of guilt in his tone didn’t go unnoticed, triggering an urge to smooth things over before it lingered.
“Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t a matter of wanting to join but being unable to. Your mother, the babysitters, and you were always making sure I had time to myself. It’s just … we made a baby I couldn’t wait to get home to.”
A wide smile spread across his face, that unmistakable ‘I love her too’ kind of smile. “She’s the best, isn’t she?”
You nodded. She was the most incredible thing you’d ever brought into the world, and judging by the look in his eyes, he was thinking just the same.
With the bag slung over your shoulder, you headed out, Jaehyun falling into step beside you. “Are we going home together? Skipping the staff dinner tonight?”
Walking right beside you, his voice low and easy, “Well, we could go home… but I’ve got a better idea if you’re not that tired and want a safe space to vent.”
More than a head taller than you today, you looked up at his face, keeping a slower pace so you could talk before the street noise took over “That does sound promising. What do you have in mind?”
Smiling like the answer had already been given, he went on without pause, “So here is the thing, I miss Korean food. And there’s this spot downtown, nothing fancy but just solid comfort food. A few of my staff and publicist are heading there, planning to knock back at least five bottles of soju before even considering going home. Thought it might be fun if you want to tag along.”
This time you stopped, a pause taken as the wall by the door offered just enough support to lean into the moment. Eyes lifting, searching for his “I know we were not a secret, but do they know?”
He paused as well, considering it before answering. “I never told anyone besides the director, so he’s ready in case someone questions it when the film drops. My publicist knows I was married, she probably knows about you, if she did her job correctly, but you’ve changed a lot about yourself, and those leaked pictures were in low quality anyway so there’s a chance she won’t connect the dots.”
Nodding a few times so you could steal a bit of time to think about it, then came the decision “Well, the offer does sound good… but what exactly am I to you?”
He blinked, caught off guard for a beat, though the confident smirk on your face seemed to steer his thoughts away from anything else. “We don’t have to lie, we are co-workers and long-time friends, aren’t we?” You nodded along. “And it’s not like you have to pretend those hands haven’t found their way under my shirt before.” now he was teasing you.
“Jaehyun!” you half-laughed, half-scolded him.
“You really did do that the first week on the job, don’t pretend it didn’t happen.”
“I know,” now you were smiling too “In my defense I was legit getting paid to put that mic on you.” “Oh, now you’re just being mean,” he said with a laugh and kept teasing “Paid or not, those bright red cheeks are burned into memory.”
“I did not blush!”
His arm draped over your shoulders with ease, pulling you in close as the two of you headed toward the exit. “You did,” he was still grinning. “Now let’s go, hunger makes us both unbearable.”
---
Turns out, Jaehyun has a pretty decent idea of things you like, so it’s no surprise that the food is nice, and the rest of the people seated at the table are too.
The topic of who’s steering his career overseas has never come up in conversations, at least since the time you were married. Back then, he seemed clear on the kind of path he wanted to follow, the type of manager that fits, and maybe most importantly, the ones to steer clear of.
So, it was no amazement that his secretary, makeup and hairstylist, manager and assistant, were actually nice people and mostly second-gen Korean immigrants. Kinda made sense since that way he could still keep a foot in South Korean culture while having to adjust to the way things were done in markets such as Hollywood.
Now a well-established actor, Jaehyun, could choose when and on what to work on, making his schedule far less packed in comparison to his idol years. It also gave him the freedom to be a hands-on parent with Nari, making sure he wasn’t just the dad that picked her up on weekends, but the one who made school runs when you needed a couple more hours to sleep, and even tackled helping with homework.
If the Jaehyun of our marriage had been this version, one with a manageable schedule, things might have turned out differently. But back then, all you could see was the chaos of motherhood, being a wife and the lack of husband support and love you needed but his schedule wouldn’t provide. It affected you deeply, but there came a time when thinking of Nari was more important than staying married.
Everyone at the table was already at least one soju bottle in and after a lot of work venting, his manager asked, “So you were his manager before, right?”
“I just made sure he didn’t forget his passport”, you mused remembering that Jaehyun, while being a responsible dad, wasn’t the most attentive with his own stuff.
“You worked together for how long?”
“Almost 8 years” now that you had to count, it really sounded like a long time ago, but it still felt like yesterday.
“So, you knew his wife?” the younger staff member asked with a sheepish look.
You turned your head towards the men in front of you, seeing his relaxed face. “Oh, of course.”
She pressed a little more “Was she pretty?”
“Still is the prettiest woman I have ever seen” he chimed in.
Feeling your cheeks flame, you tried to disguise that by drinking another soju cup, hopefully people would think it was the alcohol.
Chaeyoung, his manager, then said “Interesting…hm Jaehyun, do you still have your baby picture so I can take a look?”
“Sure” Jaehyun replied already grabbing his wallet out of his pocket, you knew he always carried a picture in there, but it still made you melt a little bit.
“Here” he extended his arm towards her with a small polaroid you knew way too well.
“Humm” she said murmured, looking intently at the picture and glancing a couple times towards Jaehyun.
You were smiling at Jaehyun, when she paused her gaze on you.
“Well, she sure does look like her mother. She’s going to break hearts.”
So, she knew. He smiled broadly at her and stated, “Pretty sure she already broke a few at the playground.”
The table chuckled at Jaehyun’s remark, and his hairstylist made a few hand signals asking to see the pictures, so soon enough Nari’s picture was going around everyone’s hands, while a few “Oh my God, she’s so cute!” and a “She’s got your dimples Jaehyun” escaped.
Jaehyun was still smiling at the comments when the picture landed in your hand, heart aching a bit from being so distant from Nari, but fixing your attention on her smiley face while Jae had her a few feet off the floor while he pressed a kiss to her cheek.
Looking up, you saw Jaehyun’s face focused on you. Extending the picture back to him “She’s the perfect mix. Don’t you think?”
“Nah, I have to give credit where it’s due, it’s all her mother’s cooking,” he winked.
Chaeyoung fixed him with a look “Phew…that explains a lot. My cousin is still mad at me for your date not working out.”
“Told you it wasn’t her!” he laughed back looking red eared and tipsy.
“You sure did, but my cousin well, she’s pretty but weird. So, blame me for thinking she scared you up a mountain” he grimaced a little.
“She’s just a bit weird, but hold on” He thinned his eyes at her “If she’s that scary, why would you set us up?”
“You broke all of my friends’ hearts by not going on a second date, so I thought a little bit weird would be you know…your type.”
He shrugged, “Well, kinda liked her a lot, you know… she gave me enough stories so I can embarrass you if you ask for a raise, again.”
I might have lost the inside joke, but the table broke out in laughter after that.
“Fair enough” Chaeyoung conceded.
A few other soju bottles and conversations flowed in before your head got so heavy you decided to rest it on the table. His staff were mostly slurring and giggling.
Still in a haze, you heard someone say “Mrs. Jeong!” and your head shot up, it took a few seconds to realize it was someone else’s name, no longer yours. Peering up at Jaehyun you saw the cute smile he was shooting your way at your mistake.
Trying to somehow make the situation less weird, your foggy drunk brain said “I thought it was Mr. Jeong…”
Your face was aflame?
Yes, but hopefully nobody would notice it.
Well, except for Jaehyun who was still sheepishly smiling at you like a five-year-old who doesn’t know how to keep a secret.
When it was time to leave the restaurant, you were on wobbly feet, so you didn’t care when a familiar arm went around your waist, helping you out to the taxi area. A few of the table members got in the first few cabs that were already waiting while Jaehyun and you got waitlisted for a few minutes.
“I want to sit down,” you said moving towards a bench.
“No, no, no, baby. We can’t sit down” he said encasing you in his arms before you could reach it or stumble on it.
“Why not?” now you felt like a child complaining but honestly, you were safe so you couldn’t care less about what your sober brain would think.
“You might fall asleep” he said, looking down at you while having you encased in his arms, his chest and too close to the feel of his heartbeat and…fuck, he still looks as handsome as always, his fucking dimples urrrg.
“Yeah, yeah, my dimples” he said, oops you probably were thinking on speaker “Here, you should drink some water while we wait.”
“You should drink it too, you were drinking too!” you replied loudly, for no specific reason, but obeyed.
By the end of your shared bottle, things did feel a little less hazy. So, you could feel the extent of your body pressed on his. Warmth always wafting off him, always heating you up when you needed.
Deciding to blame it on the alcohol, you circled your arms around him as well, resting your head right by his heart.
“Y/N, you’re feeling better?” he asked, trying to peer at you, tucking your hair behind your ear so he could see your face better.
“A little, thank you”
“No problem”
After that you started praying the taxi would take hours to come because he tightened his hold on you, and oh boy, you missed him.
Not just your co-worker or your best friend.
But the one you missed most of all was Jeong Yuno, your husband.
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Hello! I know it’s been quite a while since I last updated the fic, but I’m FINALLY back… and I’m happy to say that the rest of the story is already written and revised!
I should be posting on Fridays or Saturdays, depending on your time zone.
I want to thank everyone who waited, and everyone who stumbled upon this story over the past few months and took the time to read, like, and reblog it. Thank you so much!
If you’d like to be added to the taglist, just send me a message!
Also, thank you to everyone who’s been waiting, and I’m sorry for not updating sooner. Believe me, no one is happier than I am to see this story coming back to life.
Thank you, Tessa <3 ---------------