Chapter 72: Get Me Some

The filming begins. The first scene has Hae Rin singing the first 2 verses while moving about her room. She starts by sitting on the bed, holding up a stuffed toy as the music began, and then starts singing to it. By the end of the 2nd verse, she walks towards her dressing table and throws the toy down.

The bridge begins, and the scene now shows her looking in the mirror at Si Won and me. Si Won stands behind me and has his arms around my waist. As we sing the bridge together, Si Won was instructed to get touchy-feely with me, and when I sang, I’d roll my eyes as if I was sick of him.

This was actually a hard scene for Si Won and me, since we were friends, and he knew Jae Joong. At first, when he was instructed to wrap his arms around my waist, he didn’t dare to stand close, and he’d left a gap about half a foot wide between us.

“Cut!” the director yelled.

“Si Won,” the producer called out. “You need to stand closer to Sierra. You don’t look like a couple now.”

“Aissshiii… chintcha isange,” Si Won laughed nervously as we tried to get back into position.

“I know it’s weird,” I told him, “but we have to do it, or we don’t get paid,” I laughed.

“Araso” he replied. “But Jae Joong hyung is gonna kill me later,” he laughed.

“He might,” I laughed.

We start at the bridge again, where my parts are supposed to echo Hae Rin’s. Si Won leans into me until our bodies touch, and the producer was yelling for him to kiss my neck, touch my face and etcetera. When the bridge was complete, we took a short break. All in all, we’d had about 5 to 6 takes because we moved wrongly, stood wrongly, or sang wrongly.

“That was weird,” Si Won said as he scratched his head in embarrassment.

We’d just pick up a bottle of water each and sat down on the chairs set out for us during the break.

“Tell me about it,” I giggled.

“I hope Jae Joong hyung won’t mind,” he said.

“Of course he won’t,” I said reassuringly. “This was all done professionally. It’s part of our jobs. In fact, he kissed me in that ‘Insa’ MV back when I was still with Yun Ho. So this is no biggie.”

“Oh… right,” Si Won smiled. “Didn’t Yun Ho hyung mind?”

“Well, I don’t think he did, since he and Jae Joong are like brothers, and he trusted Jae Joong.”

“I’ve always wondered how things went down with the three of you. When he came back and found that you were dating Jae Joong hyung,” he said.

I kept quiet when he said that, as I nursed my bottle of water. Ever so often, someone would bring this up, and I would feel a little guilty thinking about everything that had happened.

“I’m sorry,” Si Won said, when he noticed my silence. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “It’s the truth and it’s what had happened. It’s nothing to hide.”

“But you’re uncomfortable about it,” he said.

“No… it’s just… I feel guilty towards Yun Ho when I think about it.”

“It’s not like you cheated on him. He left you.”

“We were all victims of lies. And I was the victim of loneliness. I needed support at that time, and Jae Joong was there.”

“I would have done the same,” Si Won said. “You were going through a hard time; the attack, the surgery, then releasing a new album. Anyone would’ve felt vulnerable, especially you, a girl living in a foreign country.”

“I’m a kasu. I’m supposed to be able to deal with it,” I smiled weakly.

“Sometimes, I feel we as kasu ask too much of ourselves. We set such high standards for ourselves, that when we fail to reach them, we disappoint ourselves to such great extent.”

“Hey,” I smiled. “All in a day’s work.”

“Right,” he smiled back and took another gulp of water. “Still, I’d have done what Jae Joong hyung did.”

“What?”

“He made his move at the crucial moment, so that he could win you.”

“Oh, that… not that it has done us much good.”

“You’re happy now, aren’t you?” he asked me.

“Happy? Of course. I’m living my dream. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Then stay happy. Don’t think too much of it.”

“If only happiness came so easily. If only happiness came without a price,” I laughed softly.

The chorus would only be Hae Rin and I singing in our own rooms, without Si Won. Then once the chorus was over, the camera cuts to me moving around my room, and Si Won was asked to sit in a chair for awhile, lie on the bed for awhile, and all this while we had to keep stopping and starting again so that he could switch places.

At the 2nd bridge, I had to lie on the bed as I sang, and Si Won would lean over, on top of me, but our bodies were not touching. At the end I would push him off me and he would just fall back. After that, they stopped filming us, started the bridge again, and Hae Rin had to sing her backup parts of the bridge as ‘my reflection’ in the mirror.

For the final chorus, we were placed in a white room, singing side by side, and towards the end, Si Won was to walk down from back to the front until he was between us.

“That’s a wrap,” the producer called out as soon as the final chorus ended.

Everyone clapped as we walked off the set, and we bowed to everyone, thanking them for the day’s hard work. As we walked to wardrobe, Si Won’s hand kept rubbing his butt.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him.

“That shove you gave me earlier,” he said. “I fell hard on my butt.”

“Mian,” I laughed. “I guess I was really into character just now.”

“No problem. I’ll just get compensation from Jae Joong hyung,” he laughed.

“And what are you gonna tell him? I hurt you while you were trying to hit on me?” I smiled.

“Oh… right… Aissshiii… guess I’m not getting any compensation then,” he laughed.

“Oppa! Onni! Wanna go for supper after this?” Hae Rin asked.

We’d been filming all day and probably only had 1 proper meal, that’s lunch, and the rest were snacks.

“Sure,” I replied. “Is Skye coming to pick us up?” I asked her.

“No,” she replied. “He’s still doing something.”

“I’ll drive,” Si Won offered.

“Great,” I said. “Let’s get changed first.”

On our way out, we called up Hee Chul and Han Kyung and asked them to meet us at this stall we always go to for soju and samgyupsal.

“Yaa…” Hee Chul said as soon as he saw both Hae Rin and me. “Why are the two most beautiful ladies in Korea without their men tonight? Skye and Jae Joong are not worried that we’d steal you away?”

“If only you could, Hee Chul oppa,” I said sweetly.

“Aisshii…” he exclaimed at my sarcasm.

“Ignore him,” Han Kyung said in Mandarin to me. “Paramdung-i,” he added, and Hee Chul pretended to throw a punch at him.

We settled down and ordered our food. The drinks arrived immediately, and the guys started filling our glasses. As usual, mine would be half-filled, since Han Kyung knew that I hardly drank.

“Konbae!” we all yelled and drank our first glass.

“So how’s your schedule these days?” Han Kyung asked me.

“I’m playing hooky tonight, since I just got off from an MV shoot with Hae Rin. If I weren’t, I’d be in the studios with Skye and Shoei now.”

“I’m gonna call your manager,” Hee Chul said as he pretended to dig through his jacket pockets for his phone.

“And I’m gonna tell everyone you’re gay,” I told him.

“That’s not nice, Sierra,” Hee Chul wagged his finger at me.

“Calling my manager isn’t nice either,” I reminded him.

“Food’s here,” Si Won said, in an attempt to distract us.

Just then I looked up, and guess who walked into the stall and sat down beside us? It was Darren, Min Jong & Nakata from Helix. If anyone’s forgotten, DSP was our rival from DSP, just like how SS501 is to TVXQ. Darren was the oldest, born in 1984, which made him a year younger than me. Min Jong and Nakata were both born in 1986. The three of them were dressed in black t-shirts and jeans, and had baseball caps on.

“Sierra nuna,” Darren smiled when he noticed me.

“Hi, Darren,” I said in English.

“You guys come here too?” he asked.

“Not as often these days,” I replied.

“Hey nuna,” Min Jong and Nakata waved.

“Hi guys,” I smiled.

“Ya… hyung,” Darren smiled and he stood up to greet Hee Chul.

“Darren,” Hee Chul smiled. “Sit with us.”

The three of them moved over to our table; Darren between Si Won and Hae Rin, and Min Jong and Nakata between Si Won and Hee Chul.

“Is this your sister?” Darren asked Si Won, as he sort of pointed at Hae Rin.

“You can say that,” Si Won said. “Actually, she just happens to be from my neighborhood back home. She’s debuting next month.”

“Nice,” Darren smiled. “I’m Darren,” he said as he turned to Hae Rin.

“Hae Rin,” she smiled back.

“Hae Rin,” Darren flashed his pearlies at her. “I’ll be sure to look out for your first single.”

“It’s actually going to include a MV with Sierra onni,” Hae Rin said.

“Chintchayo?” Darren said.

“Nuna,” Nakata said. “You’re really popular these days. I heard you have many collaboration projects coming up. When are you going to collaborate with Helix?”

“You can get your manager to talk to mine, then we’ll see,” I said as I took a sip of my drink. “Besides… there are so many female kasu out there lining up to collaborate with Helix. You don’t really need to go through the trouble to collaborate with me.”

“But you’re what sells these days,” Min Jong said.

“Is that what the latest market analysis said?” I laughed.

“Sort of,” Min Jong replied.

“Ya… Can we not talk about work?” Hee Chul cut in. “Let’s drink.”

“You know what?” I said to Darren after a few rounds of drinks. “I think you guys should collaborate with Hae Rin.”

“Hae Rin?”

“Yea… since she’s new and all. A controversial collaboration might boost her sales, and yours. You should ask your manager to get in touch with hers.”

“Hmm… I’ll check with him then.”

“We’ve heard about you, Hae Rin,” Min Jong said.

“Chintcha?” Hae Rin said, her eyes widening.

“We know SM was planning to debut another female kasu, and that she was going to be as big as BoA and Jang Ri In. But we didn’t know who.”

“They’re releasing information about me next week, to the press, to generate interest.”

“After which, Hae Rin and I will have a zillion of promotional events to attend,” I sighed.

“Hey… every entertainer worries when they don’t have events to attend,” Han Kyung reminded me. “Cos that’s when they’re no longer popular.”

“Yep,” Si Won quipped in agreement.

“So make the most of your hectic schedule now,” Hee Chul said as he reached over to pat my head.

“Yah!” I exclaimed as I smoothed my hair back down. “Do not touch the hair.”

“Now is our time,” Han Kyung said. “In a few years time, we’ll be has-beens, and no one will remember us.”

“Don’t say that. We have long careers ahead of us,” I said.

“You’ll never know when the novelty wears out,” Han Kyung said.

“Well,” Nakata said. “Look at Jang Woo Hyuk. He’s still doing pretty well.”

“He’s bloody talented, that’s why,” Darren said.

“I don’t think any of you are less talented than he is,” I said.

“That’s what you think,” Darren replied. “Woo Hyuk sonbae’s been through a lot, and to get where he is today, it isn’t easy.”

“Maybe not all of us will have that sort of luck,” Hee Chul said. “But some of us might,” he said as he looked pointedly at me.

“Are you saying I am the one who’d most likely have a longer career, compared to all of you at this table?” I said.

“Nae,” all of them replied and nodded.

Suddenly, someone’s phone started ringing, and we looked around the table to see whose it was. Hae Rin dug through her bag, produced her phone and flipped it open.

“Yoboseyo?” she said, and as the call progressed, her expression turned more and more somber.