Work Text:
Whenever View gets a new project, she looks out for the director and eases a little whenever she sees a familiar name.
Fon knows her style better than anyone else she’s worked with. This new series, with Emi and Bonnie as main leads this time, is directed by her too, and View knows she can relax because Fon knows her, understands what makes View shine, how to help her get into character, and what not.
The note in the script isn’t new to View either. She’s been paired off with other people before, some pairs looked more promising than others but none of them stuck.
“I have a partner for you,” Fon says, voice filtering through the speaker of View’s phone. There’s something different in her tone this time, like it’s been touched by hint of finality and boosted by confidence.
“Okay,” View hums, “who are they?”
“She’s quite the character,” Fon huffs amusedly. View’s pulse spikes at the pronoun. She. “I talked it over with Aof and we both agreed you two are a good match. Maybe this could even be the one.”
‘The one’ is what people use to define moments that were it. Life altering, something that will influence everything to come in the future.
View doesn’t say it out loud, but she thinks of it. Finding her own partner. It’s impossible not to think of it, hope for it, because if Love and Milk were able to be paired together despite how long it took for it to be an official decision, then there’s hope for her too.
Hope was all they had. They made it; View wants that for herself so badly.
It’s not to say that she isn’t grateful for all the work she receives with or without a partner because that’s how you survive in this industry, but it’s almost all been temporary.
View wants something permanent. Something she can practically feel on the tips of her fingers. Something she can look at when she turns her head at a certain direction. More like someone.
“The one,” View echoes, then she asks a little eagerly, “when can I meet her?”
Fon chuckles. “I’ll send you more details soon, View. Take care.”
There’s a woman sitting at the table. View doesn’t know her, but she thinks she’s pretty.
She’s the kind of pretty that seems to light the room up when she speaks. The bubbly kind. View isn’t sure if it’s just because her cheeks are full from smiling, but there’s also something about her that both sets View’s nerves alight and calms her down.
Fon perks up at the sight of View.
“View!” Fon calls from the table, smiling as she stands.
View approaches her and greets her respectfully before hugging her. “Good morning, P’Fon. I hope I’m not late.”
“You came right on time, don’t worry,” Fon smiles. Her gaze drifts to someone behind View before they lock gazes again. Her smile turns into something softer, something knowing.
View realizes too late who the newcomer from earlier is.
“I’d like you to meet N’Mim,” Fon says, gesturing to the person behind View. “She’s going to be your partner in this series.”
View turns on her heels to face Mim, and is immediately met with a shy, warm smile and a quiet greeting.
“Hi, I’m Mim,” she says, bringing her hand out for a handshake, “it’s nice to meet you. I’m excited to be working with you.”
View takes Mim’s hand in hers, and something buzzes in her skin, sings in her blood.
Her mind races, but the only thought bouncing around is, this is it. It feels like finding the right key among hundreds to a door that’s been locked for too long.
“Nice to meet you too,” View is all too aware of the growing smile on her lips, but she can’t help it. “I’m View, let’s do our best together.”
She thinks she can hear Fon say something in the background, but her voice is thousands of miles away from the moment. All View can really focus on is the warmth in Mim’s eyes, her shy smile, and the way it’s like a new thread of fate ties itself around the two of them.
Getting to know Mim, View finds, is easy.
It’s thrilling, as thrilling as learning about someone new would be. With Mim, though, there’s a gentleness to it. An ease to calm View’s never-ending, racing mind, a gravitational pull that keeps View around Mim’s orbit.
It’s easy, really easy. So easy that View has to take a mental step back and think what the fuck as she thinks of every conversation she’s had with Mim since they met. She thinks of how natural conversation flows out of her with Mim, who chimes in with her own think pieces and smiles at View with a patience that practically makes her glow.
It startles View, the realization making her jolt physically, at how comfortable she is in Mim’s presence.
It’s an entirely foreign feeling. Sure, she’s had something close to it a few times, but those are nothing compared to this.
View discovers she’s actually quite clingy. She can’t decide if that’s a good thing or not, but judging by the way Mim reciprocates all the touches View initiates, she can’t help but think it’s a good thing. Especially because it’s not just View reaching out.
They’re still shy around each other. They can’t suppress the shy smiles that curve on their lips when someone around them teases them, or hide the slight blush blooming on their cheeks when they read their hand-holding scene in the script.
Still, it’s natural. Being with Mim is… natural. Like something she’s already done a million times before, like something she’s going to do again later. Not quite muscle memory, but something that settles in her body and makes her act in ways she didn’t even know she had in her.
“P’Love,” View starts to say, sighing a little.
They’re out for dinner right now, a rare gathering that happens when there’s a free spot in their schedules. Tu and Prim couldn’t make it this time, both apologizing when they declined the invites; Love had told them it was okay, and to work hard while taking care of themselves.
“How was it when you met P’Milk?” she asks.
“P’Milk?” Love tilts her head. “We were kinda awkward. We still are, just a little bit. But things are easier for us now because we know each other more.”
View hums and nods, taking a bite of her food. Love leans forward, a curious glint in her eyes.
“Why are you asking about me and P’Milk?” Love asks. “Does it have something to do with your new partner?”
View really can’t hide anything from her.
She nods, and says, “I like her a lot. I think… you guys would get along well.”
“Oh,” Love breathes out, “so it’s like that, huh?”
View pauses. What does Love know that she doesn’t?
“Like what?”
Love sets her chopsticks down.
“Well, this is the first time you’ve said that to me, and I’m sure Tu and Prim would be surprised too. It means you really like her…” Love trails, pondering, “Mim, is it?”
Blood rushes to View’s cheeks, making them warm. She nods shyly, and hides the smile forming on her lips behind her fist.
“It’s just… easy with her,” View offers as an explanation, “I’ve never felt so comfortable with someone before.”
Love’s eyes soften. She melts into the person deserving of her name, Love, and View is hit by the warmth that practically oozes out of her. It swirls in her chest, making it tingle just a little bit. Talking with Love always seems to end like this; View doesn’t want the night to end just yet.
“I’m glad,” Love says, “that makes me really happy. You deserve it, you know? You’ve worked so hard to get to where you are, and you’ve met so many people already. I’m glad you met someone like Mim.”
Love continues, “You even look happier, and anyone who makes my nong seem that way is someone I’m sure I’ll like. Take her with you next time, okay? Maybe she can meet Tu and Prim too.”
And because she can’t take it anymore, View reaches out and squeezes Love’s hand, pouring all the love she’s received back to Love, and says, “I will.”
When Mim walks into the room, alarms blare in View’s mind and suddenly everything feels wrong.
“Mim,” View calls.
Mim meets her eyes and flashes her a tired smile. “P’View, have you eaten yet?”
View’s heart melts. She knows something is wrong, can almost feel it in the way her skin prickles uncomfortably, yet here Mim is, asking View if she’d eaten yet.
She’s so kind it almost hurts.
“Not yet,” View admits. Mim frowns a little, but before she could speak, View says, “I was waiting for you. We can get something together. P’Fon says we can start after she’s done with P’Emi and Bonnie.”
“Okay,” Mim breathes out, “let’s go.”
View nods at her, turns to let Fon know her and Mim were heading out for a few, and redirects her attention to Mim. Their trip to the elevator is quiet but there seems to be a tension hanging around them. View can almost touch it.
Silence with Mim isn’t like this. Like View has to say something to dissipate the weird air around them. Their silences are comfortable almost all the time with neither of them feeling the need to fill it, but this is different. Different in the way that makes View’s palms sweat.
When they’re in the elevator, View nearly explodes when she asks, “Is something wrong?”
Mim does something she never has in View’s presence before.
She hesitates.
Her eyes dart between View, the floor, the number shown on the screen to indicate which floor level they’re in, and everywhere else that isn’t View’s eyes. View waits and tries not to feel like crawling out of her skin at how it prickles, at how goosebumps erupt all over.
But, all Mim says is, “nothing’s wrong, P’View. Everything’s fine.”
Her tone says it’s anything but.
View finds out later.
She’s scrolling on her phone, laying in bed. Her face mask feels cool against her skin, it’s the only feeling she’s sure of after meeting Mim today.
The last day of workshops went as well as it could be. Fon didn’t miss the way the atmosphere in the room changed after View and Mim had sat down on the floor with their legs crossed, knees bumping.
View didn’t pay any mind to Fon’s nervous glances and sent her a formal apology for it, and she tried not to think about how far Mim is despite being right in front of her. She failed. She felt the floor stretch between them anyway.
But when View opens the comments section of Mim’s new post, she understands what triggered Mim’s behavior today.
There’s a lot of comments, some of them good and most aren’t. View scrolls through them, sees the way the words are meant to hurt Mim, and knows Mim has seen them.
Her fingers move in a blur, and all of a sudden, her phone’s pressed against her ear as she listens the line ringing, attempting to connect her to Mim, who’s in her own home, doing something View hopes doesn’t involve scrolling through her social media.
The line clicks.
“Hello? P’View?” Mim’s voice filters through the speaker, confused.
“Mim,” View breathes out, biting the blunt of her nail to keep her heart from racing, “I know.”
“You know?” Mim asks, more confused than she had been when she picked up. “Know what?”
“The comments,” View offers, “you were— something was wrong, and it was because of them, right?”
Mim falls silent. Then, “I didn’t want to worry you, phi.”
View almost laughs, but she realizes it isn’t really the right time to do so. Instead, she rubs a tired hand down her face, and sighs, “How can I not worry, hm? My nong comes to work looking all gloomy, and I’m supposed to look past it?”
“Was it that obvious?”
View hums. “Even P’Fon noticed.”
“I’m really sor—“
“There’s nothing you have to apologize for,” View interrupts, rushing the words out of her mouth. It feels weird to be comforting her like this when she’s only ever been comforted when it comes to the hate comments.
She’s not new to them. She already knows they’ll be there as soon as she hits post anywhere, so she’s accepted it. But accepting it doesn’t mean she’s numb to them, there are times when it still gets to her. When she starts to question if this career path is worth going forward with if it means having to look at horrible words sometimes.
Then, View goes to events where she finds out she’s so loved by so many people, even outside of Thailand, and that alone makes it all worth it.
“I worry because I care, Mim,” View starts, tracing patterns on her bedsheets with her free hand, “and I know what it’s like. Don’t carry all of that alone, okay? I’m here. Let’s fight through it all together.”
“Will it be worth it?” Mim asks.
“I think…” View trails, swallowing thickly, “as long as we have each other, it will be,” a pause, then, “you know what that means, right?”
View knows they should be having this conversation face-to-face, at least the one about their future work. View knows they’ve both been teased about being the new official couple in the company, and while neither of them have said anything to each other about it, she knows they were both thinking about it.
View has done her fair share of thinking herself. It’s all she does. She’s never been more sure of taking this final leap with Mim, of doing this with her. View wouldn’t want to work with anyone else—doesn’t want to work with anyone else.
It has to be Mim.
“I do know,” Mim says. “I want to work more with you too, phi.”
“Good,” View sighs in relief, “we’ll talk more about that later. Are you feeling better?”
“Mm. I am,” Mim sighs, “thank you for calling. I didn’t know I needed it, so thank you, P’View.”
“I’m always just a call away.”
“I’ll remember that.”
When Mim walks in the room the next day, View’s body moves without thinking. It’s only when she’s two steps away that it catches up, arms hovering awkwardly in the air as she’s coming up to hug Mim.
“Can I…?” View asks.
Mim smiles, one that’s a striking difference from the hollowed out one View saw on her yesterday, and nods. She closes the distance between them and wraps her arms around View’s middle, her cheek resting on View’s chest.
View’s heart stutters.
Touch doesn’t come to her naturally. She knows skinship is one of the things that connects her with her partners easier, but it’s not something she’d do without thinking. However, she was the one who initiated it this time. She was the one who wanted to bring Mim in for a hug.
She slowly wraps her arms around Mim’s shoulders and tries not to think about how perfect Mim fits in her arms like this, how View can rest her chin on top of her head and shield Mim from everything.
“Thank you,” Mim says quietly.
View runs a hand down Mim’s hair and pats her back in an attempt to soother her. “Of course.”
The smile Mim gives her after they peel apart is almost blinding, like how it would be if View stared into the sun for too long.
After the day is over, View offers Mim a ride home. She accepts with a grateful smile.
When they both slide into their seats, View starts the engine but doesn’t make any move to start driving. Instead, she shifts in her seat to face Mim, who sees the movement and follows suit.
View has a lot of things she wants to say. All the words float in her mind, a few more prominent than others. Still, she doesn’t want to start overthinking everything, so she chooses to say a thought she grabs onto.
“I want you to tell me whenever something’s wrong,” she says slowly, “especially something like that. Okay?”
Mim watches her for a few seconds before glancing down at her lap. She starts playing with her fingers; View suppresses the urge to take Mim’s hand in hers.
“Okay,” she agrees softly, looking back up to meet View’s gaze, “but phi has to do the same. Let’s depend on each other from now on.”
View smiles wobbily. It hits her all at once, that she isn’t alone anymore. That she has Mim now, that she can trust Mim even if they haven’t known each other for long.
She finds that it’s a little scary to have someone like this and to know they have you too, but it’s not something she’s feeling all by herself if Mim’s soft smile is anything to go by.
“Of course,” View sighs, shoulders loosening as all her worries ease off her.
(There’s a lull in her and Mim’s schedules now that filming for US, and Starlympics are over. Love had reached out and asked to eat dinner with her later in the day.
“P’Love,” View starts to say, trying not to sway on her heels, “can I bring N’Mim with me later?”
Love hums, voice crackling through the phone, “You’re sure about her? About this? Is she the one?”
View thinks she might be making it more serious than it actually is, but Love is right. This is a big deal for View. She’s never asked to bring a plus one like Mim before, it would be a lot like merging two worlds together.
Well, she’s never had someone she could be calling her partner this confidently before either.
“I’m sure,” View nods, even if Love can’t see it. “And I do think she’s the one. This is it for me, phi. I can feel it.”
“Then of course you can, the more the merrier,” Love tells her, “Besides, I’d love to meet the person who makes my nong happy.”
“You met her just a few days ago for Starlympics,” View huffs, rolling her eyes.
“That was for work. This is different.”
View smiles. “Fine. We’ll see you later then.”
“You guys are a ‘we’ now,” Love teases. She laughs when View squawks in response. “I’ll go now. See you later.”)