He Overhears Someone Being Rude About You ~ Eric Nam
Eric smiled appreciatively in the direction of the producer as the shoot was called to an end, thanking the members of staff around him as they all turned their cameras off.
“You’re one talented singer,” the producer complimented, shaking Eric’s hand, “I hope you’ve been left satisfied with everything on our end too.”
His head nodded, glancing past the producer where he spotted you collapsing one of the light stands. The corners of his mouth turned up, admiring the dedication you had towards even the smallest of tasks whilst you worked on set. Especially knowing that set belonged to Eric, and everything had to be perfect.
When he didn’t say anything in response, the producer waved her hand in front of his face, bringing him back to her attention. His head nodded, pressing his palms together, forcing himself to look away from where you stood.
“You’ve got a great team,” Eric mused back to her, “all of them are great, I’m glad Y/N can work with people who look after her.”
At the mention of your name, the producer’s expression dropped, rolling her eyes without an attempt to be subtle. Eric’s brows knitted together as he picked up on her movement, staring back at her in confusion as to why she reacted such a way.
“She works hard,” the producer added when she noticed Eric still staring at her, “but she doesn’t necessarily contribute compared to a few of the others.”
“She works incredibly hard and contributed a lot to this.”
As he came to think of it, Eric could recall several occasions he’d seen you be disregarded by the producer over the last few days. How she’d coincidentally forget your coffee order or leave your name out when she wanted people for the important jobs.
And yet you got on with it, with a smile on your face, unaware of the true feelings your colleagues had towards you. Eric had thought that perhaps you weren’t as popular with the crew, because of your relationship with him, but never did he expect someone to speak so openly about their disapproval of your efforts.
The producer could sense by the way Eric’s breathing got a little heavier that she’d dropped herself in it, noticing how the smile on his face was replaced by a look of frustration and hurt by the things that he’d heard her say.
“I’m not saying she’s a bad worker,” she quickly found herself defending.
Eric’s hand quickly came up to stop her from talking, “I don’t know why you have such a vendetta against my girlfriend, but when I tell you she’s been the best worker out of your whole team for my shoot, it’s not favouritism, or love, it’s the truth.
Whilst the rest of the crew slowed around the two of them, you were still busy at work, packing away all of the equipment so that those lazing could still leave the building as quickly as possible.
“I didn’t mean it like that, but she’s not been around as long.”
“So, that’s what you judge a worker on, experience? If it wasn’t for Y/N, I would have fired you on day one for how slow you’ve been. She’s worked tirelessly for this short.”
“No,” Eric snapped, pausing to take a breath and calm himself down. “Your staff have done their jobs, Y/N has gone above and beyond, as a professional, and absolutely nothing less.”
Just as the producer opened her mouth to speak again, Eric’s head shook, brushing past her shoulder and out of the studio, heading straight to his dressing room. His heart was heavy as he walked, mind still in a whirl of disbelief at what he’d heard unfold.
Once he took a seat, staring at his reflection in the mirror, he let go of a deep breath, guilty for your own sake that you had to work in such conditions, to be so unappreciated when you were by far the member of staff that deserved the most appreciation.
His mind was in a daydream, until a knock at his dressing room door disturbed him. As he called for the person to enter, he failed to hide his relief when he saw you peer around the door.
“Apparently you’ve been causing trouble,” you teased, stepping into the room.
Eric’s hands tapped against his lap, inviting you to walk over and take a seat. His arms instantly moved around your waist, holding you tightly against his chest.
By the sound of his breaths, you could tell that something had gotten under his skin. “How do you do it?” He asked, before you had a chance to speak. “I don’t even want to repeat what I heard say about you to you, how can you work with that woman.”
“It pays the bills, and I do enjoy the job.”
“But you’re so overworked Y/N, and no one gives you the credit you deserve. She praises, me, but mainly herself, as if she’s contributed anything at all to this shoot.”
You always knew your boss liked to take the congratulations as head of the company, and whilst you knew you worked hard, you were used to letting artists pay tribute to her. Her endless bragging on the drive back to your office always gave you something to laugh about when you got home.
But as you heard the pain in Eric’s voice, you knew he just couldn’t ignore the comments as you did. His heart was broken to think for even a second that someone would undermine you as she had done, especially to his face.
“It’s alright for you, your done with the company now.”
“But I have to let you go and carry on working for them,” he whispered, as his chin settled against your shoulder. “I never want to let you work another day for her again, but I know your far too kind to just walk away.”
Your head nodded back at his statement, perhaps it was one of your biggest flaws, that you always stood back, and always said yes to anyone too.
“It sounds like you gave her a bit of a wake-up call from what I heard though,” you smiled back at him, “I appreciate that you had my back.”
“Of course. I can’t believe that even for a second she had the audacity to think that I was just going to let her stand there and say those things about you.”
“There’s always going to be people like her in this world, especially in this industry too. I’ve grown a thick enough skin now to learn how to deal with her.”
Eric’s eyes stared back at you in complete awe, no person deserved to be spoken about as you were, but as always you put the job first, and the people around it second.
“I wish there was more people like you in this industry, I guess I’m very lucky that I managed to bag one of the best people in the industry for myself in that case,” he whispered closely into your ear, pressing a kiss just underneath it.
Your eyes rolled back at him, jabbing your elbow gently into his stomach. Eric’s eyes went wide back at you, moving his lips back against your cheek as he noticed them begin to turn a light shade of red.
“You know, I’m always going to have your back, right?” Eric questioned, “even is no one else is going to hold you up, I’ll always be there to do it.”
“I know, and I’m eternally grateful to you for that.”
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