Eight Weeks

Mukashi stood outside the door to Miya's bedroom and glanced at his phone. 
     When she walked out, she smiled at him. 
     The two of them walked towards the elevator on the third floor of Zygeist Media together in relative peace. His breathing was relatively calm. His heartrate was almost normal. His nerves were under control. He stayed close to Miya as they went up to Zygeist Media's fourth floor.
     He watched over her as she ate a quick breakfast. She savored her food slowly, which served as fuel for his slightly faltering breath. Once she was done, he walked alongside her out of the cafeteria and towards the staging rooms. 
     He kept his eyes firmly on Miya throughout the entirety of the social media photo shoot. After four hours had passed, it was time for her break. She spent the entire break chatting with other Zygeist employees while they sat near her. He listened in on the conversations; they weren't anything special. It was all meaningless small talk.
     He wanted her to be meaningless with him.
     Once her break was done, they resumed her social media photo shoot. Mukashi kept his eyes glued to her as she worked and smiled. Every time he tried to force himself to look away, his heartrate would increase; if he looked away for too long, something negative might occur. If he wasn't doing his best to protect her, he might be removed from his position.
     After her photo shoot was completely finished, it was time for Miya to eat lunch. The two of them sat in the cafeteria once more. He watched her eat and tried to appear detached as he did so. His breathing took considerable effort to keep under control. She finished the soup that he'd ordered for her with gusto, and she finished her lunch break by looking out over the rest of the cafeteria while staying seated.
     "It's a nice day today, isn't it?" She said pleasantly.
     Mukashi quickly glanced out over the cafeteria, then returned his gaze to Miya. She wasn't looking at him.
     "You haven't been outside." He said coldly. "It could be raining."
     Miya glanced at Mukashi and tilted her head at him. Her bangs lilted to one side as she spoke.
     "You're right." She said softly, then redirected her gaze out over the cafeteria. "Maybe the weather doesn't matter."
     Mukashi kept his eyes fixed on Miya's shoulders as they moved slightly with each small breath she took.
     "Even if it's raining, I still think it's a nice day." She said slowly, and her voice became slightly more energetic. "After all, I'm here to enjoy it."
     He looked at her as she stood up from her seat, then stood up absently and led her down to the ground floor of Zygeist Media and the garage. The two of them stepped into the tour bus and sat down in silence. He saw Miya looking out the windows of the bus again, and he still didn't understand why she was drawn to do so.
     It was cloudy; but it wasn't raining. 
     The two of them stepped off behind a recording studio and he walked in front of Miya as he led her to the indoor set where she was supposed to record another advertisement for a pizza company that had struck a deal with Zygeist Media. He stood in a corner of the room as she smiled and played her part in the advertisement without needing to be corrected even once. His watchful gaze never faltered.
     The recording session was short; they'd made plans to record for the advertisement every day for the next three weeks, and so the rush and hurry wasn't as severe as it would become. He made his way to Miya as soon as the allotted amount of time had passed and led her back towards the tour bus rapidly. He glanced over his shoulders several times as she walked behind him. 
     She was still smiling, even as the two of them stepped back onto the tour bus under the cloudy sky. She took her seat and looked out the window again. 
     Once the two of them arrived at Zygeist Media's main offices again, they went up to the fourth floor once more and entered one of the practice booths. Miya entered a small booth and sat down with an older woman who served as her vocal tutor. Mukashi stood directly outside the booth and listened intently as Miya went through her rigorous vocal training.
     Mukashi did nothing other than listen to her as he leaned against the wall next to the entrance of her booth. Her voice was not audible because of the soundproofing that had been done, but he could've sworn that he heard it despite that. That made him want to linger. Linger and listen. Listen to her sing. Sing about mortals and heaven and wonderful things. 
     He flinched when the door to the booth opened as the tutor and Miya stepped out of the booth. She looked at Mukashi as he composed himself, and he led her back to the cafeteria. She sat down and ate her dinner with a small grin. 
     "It was cloudy today." She said once she finished her food. "So we were both wrong." She smiled at Mukashi gently. 
     "That's correct." He said noncommittally as he looked out over the entirety of the cafeteria.
     "Still, I think today has been very nice." She said softly. "I was able to take some nice photographs for my official social media account, and my vocal exercises today were fun." She mused innocently.
     Mukashi didn't understand why she was so happy. 
     He glanced at his phone. It was seven fifty; her dinner was officially over. He checked his schedule for her and his eyes widened in shock. 
     The Ronshi Cafe promotion had been cancelled. He checked his messages and saw that he'd been sent a text five hours earlier detailing that there had been an issue with the recording equipment, forcing them to reschedule Miya's recording session to the next day. His breathing quickened as he began scrambling to fit something else into Miya's schedule. 
     He'd failed to manage her. His gray eyes darted around the small screen of his cellphone as he frantically checked every contact and message he'd received. He hadn't received anything else; he'd only missed that single message. 
     His mind raced and filled with the smell of smoke as he desperately clamped down on the black cabinet. What would happen if word of his failure reached the ears of Director Sang-Ki? He was suddenly grateful that there were still two weeks left at a minimum before his arrival. Perhaps that would be enough time for him to make up for such a glaring mistake. His taps on his cellphone became faster and more frantic as he tried thinking of ways to greatly improve his standing with the director so that he wouldn't be perceived as inadequate to serve Miya.
     "M-Mukashi?"
     He snapped to attention as Miya's melodious voice cut through all the noise in his head. 
     He looked directly at her face; though her eyes were hidden by bangs, he could see her slightly trembling lip as she spoke.
     "I-I just... Are you..." She started to ask something, but then stopped and looked away. Mukashi watched her chest rise and fall as she breathed deeply. "I-Isn't my dinner over now?" She asked, after waiting for longer than necessary. 
     "Yes." He said, trying to sound calm. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to find anything else to fill her schedule. "You may go to sleep early tonight; there was an unexpected complication in your schedule."
     "R-really?!" She sounded shocked and surprised. "B-but... What happened?"
     He looked at her.
     Her innocent curiosity was terrifying.
     If that was how she reacted, how would Director Sang-Ki react?
     "There was an unexpected cancellation; it’ll be resolved tomorrow. I will take you to your bedroom." He stood up from his seat and motioned for her to do the same. 
     She followed him slowly. 
     He was lost in his head as his thoughts devolved into panic that he couldn't freeze to death. He hardly registered her stepping into her bedroom and closing the door. 
     Mukashi spent the next several weeks spiraling deeper into his own fear. The black cabinet rattled and shook almost constantly; every time he thought he had it sealed up, it would break free of its bindings and start filling his mind with smoke and panic. It became worse and worse the longer Director Sang-Ki stayed away.
     As Miya and Gene sent constant letters back and forth for eight weeks straight, Mukashi spent those eight weeks desperately trying to freeze himself again.
     His thoughts threatened to set him ablaze; he worried about Chi-Hun spying on them, and about what Director Sang-Ki would do upon finally returning, and about why Miya was so upbeat and calm. 
     On Sunday, Mukashi stood outside Miya's bedroom, glanced at his phone, and worried.