Chapter seven.
authors note:[/i] sorry it took me so long to update! ive been really busy and havent been at home much! Im posting this up just before im heading out to a party so sorry if there are gramatical/spelling mistakes!
also when i wrote this i didnt know about the Japan FM yet --- so now i cannot wait till i fly there in June! =)
“Hyung, you didn’t even tell us you were going home! Good thing Shin Hye messaged me” says Hong Ki as he flops down on the couch. It’s 8:20am but Geun Suk has been awake since 6am. He hasn’t be able to sleep properly for a while now.
“Im going to go change and shower. Hong Ki you should too, we still smell like cigarettes” says Nic as he emerges from their bedroom. Hong Ki reluctantly follows suit.
“So do you want to explain to me what happened?” said Changsu as he searches for a clean cup in the kitchen.
“Nothing. I drove her home. Then I came home” replies Geun Suk as he stares at the tv.
“Hyung, I dont want to sound out of place but you should be careful when it comes to that stuff” says Changsu.
“Wei?” Geun Suk looks at Changsu as he takes a seat on the couch.
“She might think that you’re interested. Girls tend to read a lot into these behaviours such as rides home, replying too much to text messages….” rambles Changsu. “especially since we are both idol groups it might get messy ”
Geun Suk remembers he didn’t exchange numbers with Shin Hye,
“Have you all showered yet? Ah – I see not.” Says Manager Ma as he lets himself in.
“Well I guess we have some time since your Sky Mobile activities have been put on hold for a month. Which is good because you boys need to get back into the rehearsal studio, your comeback date is soon.”
“What? Why are our activities on hold?” yawns Changsu as he slides further down on the couch.
“Jupiter have gone on tour for a month or so. More like a holiday judging by their schedule. Singapore, Malaysia and Japan – im so jealous” says Manager Ma with a bit of distain in his voice.
“Who’s going to Singapore and Japan?!!?!” asks Hong Ki as she shakes his blonde hair in an effort to dry his hair leaving flicks water all over the couch.
“Not us. Jupiter are going on tour. So as Manager Ma said, we must focus on our comeback performance. That’s the only important thing right now.” Geun Suk gets up from the couch and heads towards the shower.
“Hong Ki come back to the room. You’ve left your clothes everywhere” says Nic as he pokes his head out of their bedroom. Hong Ki walks back with a wet towel drapped around his shoulders.
“Hyung, do you find that there is something different with Geun Suk Hyung recently?” says Hong Ki as he sits down on his bed.
“Nope.. why?” Nic is busy chucking all of Hong Ki’s clothes onto his side of the room.
“Just a feeling I got on set the other day… and by his tone of speaking just then… “Hong Ki is busy with his thoughts own when he suddenly recalls
“HYUNG! Speaking of the other day, are you going to finally explain the story about his ring?!”
“Hong Ki-ah, Nic – get changed. We’re leaving in 5 minutes” Manager Ma sticks his head into their room and makes a face of disgust as he looks at the mess. “NOW! Hurry!”
“Dei” Nic probably could not have timed Manager Ma’s interruption better. He slips out into the lounge room amidst Hong Ki’s cries for him to come back.
-
Jupiter are admist rehearsal for their Concert version of “Out of time”. Shin Hye is completely focused since there are some moves which differ from their Music Bank Performance.
As they take a break, she looks around she can see black eye bags under all her Unnis eyes. Signal that a good night was had by all? Shin Hye was the first person back to their dorm last night and thus the most well rested. She still wanted to ask Chloe whether she was dancing with Nic last night but her memories from last night were bit fuzzy.
Flashes of her talking to Changsu, the awful meeting Jung Soon and Geun Suk Oppa saving her. Yes, rescuing her like a damsel in distress and then their argument in the carpark. Wow that must have been so attractive. However what memory she remembers the most was her ultimate realisation that Geun Suk was a very mature type of person. He cares for the most for his members and does everything so as to not risk his reputation. That all he is.
-
“What else do we need to pack?” says Jessica as she throws half her clothes out of her wardrobe.
“YA! Its going to be hot, why are you packing your beanie?” says Sandra as she walks into their room.
“We are only going for 3 weeks. Don’t overpack since half the time we are performing. Remember to take your hat, sunglasses and sunscreen. Management isn’t going to like it if we all come back darker than we left.” Chloe is packing from her bedroom across the hall.
** Beep Beep ** Shin Hye’s mobile vibrates on the floor as she runs towards it.
“Heard you girls were leaving on tour this afternoon. Have fun!
Send me some pictures!
Jupiter hwaiting!^__^
~HK Oppa.”
Shin Hye smiled at the message and asked Jessica to check her mobile too only to be told that she left it in the rehearsal studio yesterday. Typical.
-
“What are you smiling at?” Nic grabs Hong Ki’s mobile to see what he was looking at.
“Nothing! Hyung ~~ fine. You can read it, it’s pretty funny”
“Arasso Oppa, ill send you pictures of Jessica Unni in her bathing suit!
Just for you =p kekeke~~”
“Shin Hye is pretty funny. She sure knows what you’re thinking about!” nudges Nic.
Geun Suk is sitting in their recording studio listening over their recorded tracks when he sees Hong Ki and Nic laughing about the text message.
“Ya, give me her number too” says Nic
“Just ask Chloe Unni to give it to you” says Hong Ki who knows Nics charms.
“Cre – guess I should message Chloe goodluck anyways” says Nic as he starts to text.
“You guys are so delayed. They left already” says Changsu as he sat down.
“Hyung, did you message Sandra Unni already? Thought you were scared of her!” questions Hong Ki
“hahaha… she has charms you guys don’t know about” resides Changsu. You can never tell whether Changsu is being serious or not.
Geun Suk is bewildered by what he is hearing. Is he the only one who didn’t exchange numbers?
-
“Shin Hye don’t you want to sit next to the window?” asks Chloe as she comes back from the bathroom. Planes have never been Chloe’s favourite form of transport. It always brings back bad memories of her father. He was a pilot and who spent more time in the air than at home. As Chloe lost her mum at an early age, she needed him the most then but he was never there. Probably explains Chloe Unnis mature leader side. Shin Hye noticed every time they board a plane, Chloe’s eyebrows always crease slightly signalling discomfort.
“Unni, you can sit there. I know how it makes your plane rides better” Shin Hye swaps with Chloe. She understands her leader better than the other members in her group which is probably because Shin Hye likes to observe people compared to her Unnis.
“Komowe-yo Shin Hye” smiles Chloe.
It had already been 1.5 hours since they took off from Seoul so they were already patching up their makeup and hair for landing in Tokyo Airport.
“As you girls know, we will be spending 9days in Japan – 3 shows and some of sightseeing. Your flight to Singapore will be early morning and we will be bussing it to Malaysia. The Concerts will be staggered….” Manager Song’s voice could be heard rambling in the background but Shin Hye was remembering Hong Ki’s text message and started to laugh. “Ahhh – got to get Oppa a present! Hmm… perhaps I should get Geun Suk a present too? I mean he did save me the other night but is it appropriate?” Shin Hye has learnt he is very professional when it comes to any sort of interaction.
“The plane has begun it descent please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts”
“Alright ladies, focus only on fabulous concerts and enjoying our holiday!” finishes Manager Song. With that, Shin Hye promised herself to forget all about the argument, all about Seoul and all about Geun Suk.
-
The Japanese crowd welcomed Jupiter on arrival, if this was any indication of the fans at the show, Shin Hye was very overwhelmed by the love they felt from their fans. Every Concert in Tokyo was booked out and the presents they received, she felt were beyond generous.
In particular, Jessica Unni fell in love with Japan the most with their advance fashion style. One of her fans gave her the latest LV bag filled with fan letters. As Shin Hye shared a room with Jessica the whole time, she never heard the end of this which she found endearing. That fan would be so happy if they knew realised how much her Unni loved the present.
It had already been 7 days since they landed in Japan and they were flying out tomorrow morning.
“Unni, is there anything you wanted to do while we were in Japan?” asked Shin Hye as she laid on her bed watching tv.
“I think we’ve visited everything I had on my list. How great was Harajuku today!” says Jessica who was brushing her teeth in the bathroom. It’s been a long time since they could walk openly in a populated area as a group without getting bombarded by fans and ushered away by their managers. “But I would want to try their cow milk again, that was so yummy!”
Shin Hye laughs at how random she sounds.
“Arasso Unni, ill buy you some now if you promise not to steal my blankets again tonight”
“…………………. That wasn’t on purpose! But Arasso arasso..” Jessica pouted.
“Call me if Manager Song does a surprise inspection! Ill be back soon!”
-
Shin Hye puts on her black hoodie and pulls it over her head. Even though they are in Japan, she cant be too careful in openly revealing herself. She takes the elevator down and walks towards the 711. Immediately she sees the milk that Jessica likes but decides she wants to buy something very different for herself too.
“what should I get….. good thing I learnt abit of Japanese….” She starts talking to herself
“you should stay away from the sake” Shin Hye looks up in surprise to the person who was speaking in Korean.
“uhhh… nei - Kamsamnida” Shin Hye looks confused at her apparent fan?
“you don’t recognise me?” He smiles a familiar smile.
Shin Hye freezes, something about that familiar smile makes her recollect a very distant and forgotten memory.
“…….
Sang Woo-ssi?!…what are you doing....” she mutters incoherently.
“Shin Hye-ssi. Its been a while. Ive been reading the magazines, how is my brother?”
Never in her wildest dreams did she expect to see him again, especially now - here, in 711, IN JAPAN?
Seeing him standing infront of her reminds Shin Hye why she tried so hard to forget that smile and ultimately reminds her why she finds it hard to trust people.
“…yeboseyo?” Shin Hye answers her phone while still fixated on the person in front of her.
“YA! Shin Hye, hurry up and come back – Manager Song is going to freak out when she realises 1 of her 4 paychecks aren’t here!”
“nei--- “ she shuts her phone “Mianhe. I got to go” she runs out of 711 without purchasing the milk.
Shin Hye glances behind her once more before heading back into the foyer Elevator.
“Why is he here.” She thinks to herself hoping to not relive this moment again.
-
It has been 7 days since Jupiter had left on tour and R20 had been busy in the rehearsal studio busting their choreography for their comeback.
For the past 3 days their record label J&J has been under immense pressure due to a scandal being written all over gossip magazines. Manager Ma was feeling the pressure from the CEO Choi JiaJin and was tightening the hold over R20.
“Ya, Geun Suk I need to talk to you” they were in the middle of their lunch break when Manager Ma decided to approach Geun Suk.
“I assume you know what has been written in the papers lately about LEX’s main singer Joo Yung and his apparent relationship with a girl while on tour? Pabo.”
LEX had debuted as a 5 member band early last year under J&J. They had built quite a name for themselves over the past year winning several awards for rookie artists of the year and had plans to debut in the Japanese market this year.
Geun Suk had always thought LEX gave SHINee a run for their money in regards to their dancing abilities and songs thus he has always admired Joo Yung Hyung’s success in this regard.
Geun Suk knew Joo Yung since their trainee days at J&J. He knew he was quite a playboy in high school and popular among all the Nunas. However never thought him to be reckless enough to endanger his band’s reputation and their record label.
“So as the leader, I expect you to not give the media reasons to doubt R20. That means no unnecessary public contact with lady friends and erm, weird sounding phone calls ok? Public performances are fine but just watch the members especially Hong Ki, that boy is naive when it comes to the opposite gender” Manager Ma pats Geun Suk on the arm in a comforting manner.
Geun Suk sees Hong Ki texting on his mobile and rubs his temples in confusion..
“Hyung, what was that all about?” Changsu walks back into the room.
“ohh.. Manager Ma was just talking to me about the Joo Yung scandal”
“ You know Joo Yung well?”
“Yes. Well at least I thought I did.”
“Well I heard J&J doesn’t know if he can promote LEX after this scandal, but least I know we have a great leader right?” jokes Changsu as he walks over to join Hong Ki on the floor.
That’s right. I am a leader first and a friend second, Geun Suk reminded himself.
He now knew what he needed to do.
That's how eager we are! 
