1 Ha Na's Big Project

CHEN Ha Na frowned, looking down at the time on her watch as she waited for the train to start moving again. Today was a big day for her and she had planned to arrive at the studio an hour beforehand to make sure everything was prepared correctly. It was just her luck that the train ended up being delayed today of all days.

Sighing lightly, she shifted her weight in her new shoes. Pointy toed with two criss-crossing straps at the ankle, they made her feel like she was long and leggy like a model instead of her small 5'3 stature.

'At least my outfit looks good today, clothes really do make a difference,' she thought. For today, she had chosen her favourite white V-necked blouse to tuck into a grey pencil skirt that tied at the waist to highlight the curve of her figure. Accessorised with her usual gold jewellery and trusty navy tote, Ha Na felt like a professional who knew her stuff.

Pulling out her phone, she fired a text to her junior.

[Jia Jia, my train is slightly delayed. I'll be 15 minutes late; can you please check that all the props have been delivered correctly?]

A second later, her phone beeped. Jia Jia responded with an emoticon making an OK gesture.

[Got it!]

[I'm so excited to see VI-King today! Thanks for bring me along, love you love you love you!!]

Ha Na smiled as she read Jia Jia's love declaration. She had first met Jia Jia when the latter was an intern. A year later she joined the same team again as a permanent staff and was now working as her junior. Bubbly, cheerful and enthusiastic; it was hard not to like Jia Jia. She was also the walking definition of a fangirl, so it was no surprise that she was so excited to see the boy group that they were working with today.

Ha Na on the other hand, was clueless about recent pop culture. Music was something she used to block out other noises rather than something she kept up with. Her tastes ran more towards the heartthrobs of her younger years – Jay Chou, Wang Lee Hom, Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok, etc.

The train announcement rang, signalling that the train was ready to move again. 'Finally!' she thought in relief, 'good thing I built in some buffer time into my plan this morning,'

The moment she got to the studio, she headed straight to the waiting room to check on the props and to go over the planned aesthetic with the stylists. Jia Jia appeared out of nowhere, with a cup of soybean milk ready for her.

"Here, I got this for you as a bribe to continue bringing me to ad shoots with hot guys. I checked the props first thing when I got here, they're good to go. I also had a sneak peek at the outfits that they brought, they looked okay but I'm not sure if all of it will fit with the overall colour scheme so you might need to do some editing with them. Director Toh isn't here yet, want me to call his assistant to make sure he's on time?" Jia Jia rambled as they walked down the hallway.

Ha Na accepted the soybean milk with a smile, the corners of her almond shaped eyes tilting.

"Thanks, bribe accepted on the condition we do a good job today and the big bosses give us more opportunities in the future. I'm on my way to check in with the stylists now and yes please, call the assistant. Meet you in the break room in 15 minutes," she said just before she opened the door to the waiting room.

She smiled in greeting at the group of stylists, make up artists and hairstylists.

"Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Ha Na and I'm the company representative for today's shoot. Thanks for coming in early today, I just wanted to quickly go over with everyone the concept and colour scheme to make sure we're all on the same page," she said as she pulled out the concept boards for them to have a look at.

"Basically, the look that we're going for is more of the boy-next-door feel. Something a little more casual and relaxed, easy for them to move about in," Ha Na started explaining the design brief and answered any questions that the stylists had.

15 minutes later, she made her way to the break room to catch up with Jia Jia again.

"Jia Jia, can you order some breakfast and coffee for the stylists? They're looking a little tired and we haven't even begun yet. Are the director and the boys on the way?"

Jia Jia nodded, "Yup, director is about 5 minutes away and VI-King should be here in about half an hour. You know they're not actually boys right? The oldest is your age and the youngest is only a few years younger than you. They're men, really good looking ones who can sing, dance and act like no other. They're so charismatic on stage but so goofy and dorky offstage, it's the perfect combination. That contrast and duality is what dreams are made of. Why do you think the birth rate keeps dropping in our generation? It's because they set the standards so high that normal guys can't even match up anymore for us beautiful pure hearted girls."

Nodding distractedly while she went over the script for the ad, Ha Na made a faint humming sound as Jia Jia gushed. The latest trend seemed to be mirroring the K-pop craze, in her eyes the groups just seem to get younger and younger with every new one that came out.

Her main concern was on nailing this commercial ad and proving to her boss that his trust was not wasted on her. The new product was originally under her colleague's portfolio. But six months ago, she had announced that she was pregnant with twins! A new replacement had been recruited but he pulled out of the job a month before he was meant to start. Left with such short notice, her boss had given the project to her instead with the assurance that support was available if she was unsure of anything.

'So far so good,' Ha Na thought to herself. She'd come to enjoy the challenge more than she expected even if it was more demanding than any of her previous responsibilities.

The door opened and a short man with greying hair walked in.

"Wow, moving up in the world huh. You must be doing well, kid, for your boss to be sending you out on your own."

Ha Na got up to shake his hand, "There was a last minute issue with Ting-jie's replacement so I was his last resort. How are you, Director? Have you eaten? Shall we go over the script briefly before they arrive?" She had met Director Toh a few times in the past when she had been assisting Ting-jie and he had always felt more like an uncle.

"Yes, yes, I ate on the way. Look at you, wanting to discuss business already huh. What happened to how are you, how's business going, how's your family?" the director grumbled jokingly.

Laughing, she obligingly asked, "How are you? Is your studio making money? Is Mrs Toh still driving you crazy? How are the girls doing at school?"

He waved his hand around in response and pulled out his reading glasses, "Good, good, everything is good, everyone is good. Okay, let's go over the script and tell me what you're envisioning."