[Sierra’s POV]
“It’s not Jae Joong’s fault,” I said, quickly, in Jae Joong’s defense.
“I didn’t mean Jae Joong,” Yun Ho replied. “I meant that jerk, Darren Kang.”
“Calm down hyung,” Jun Su said as he put a hand on Yun Ho’s shoulder. “We don’t even know his intentions, so we shouldn’t just attack him.”
“He violated Sierra, and hurt her and Jae Joong. Are you saying we should sit back and let it be?”
At times like this, only Jae Joong could calm Yun Ho. The bond they shared as brothers would always be unbreakable. This is the only reason why I could date the both of them and not cause a rift between them.
“We should look into it before we act,” Shoei said.
“Yaa!” Chang Min exclaimed as he walked out of his room. “Why are you guys here at this hour?”
“It’s still early,” Skye laughed. “Don’t you guys like sleep at 2am all the time?”
“We got off earlier tonight, since Jae Joong hyung wanted to go to your album launch. I was looking forward to an early night, before my stomach started asking for food. Now that you guys are here, I might as well eat supper,” he smiled.
“I want supper too,” Skye said, and he walked off with Chang Min into the kitchen.
“Who are you calling?” Jun Su asked when Yun Ho took out his phone.
“Jae Joong,” he replied. “Where the hell did he go?”
“He’s probably still upset,” Shoei said.
“He shouldn’t be,” Yun Ho said.
“It’s understandable,” Jun Su said. “I would’ve been upset.”
“But it’s been hours, hasn’t it? He should’ve come to his senses by now,” Yun Ho said sternly.
“Cut him some slack, hyung. You know how emotional Jae Joong hyung can get sometimes,” Jun Su said in Jae Joong’s defense.
“Jae Joong,” Yun Ho said, holding up his hand at Jun Su to signal for silence. “Where are you? Come home now… What do you mean you’re not coming home? Do you know how upset Sierra is? Come on… you know she’s innocent,” he said, and then he lowered his hand and stared at the phone.
“What?” Jun Su asked.
“He hung up on me,” Yun Ho said.
“He must be really upset,” Shoei said.
“Did you manage to find Jae Joong hyung?” Chang Min asked as he and Skye walked out of the kitchen holding a cup of ramen each.
“Yea, but he hung up on Yun Ho hyung,” Jun Su said.
“It’s alright,” I said. “I’m sure he’ll be back once he calms down.”
“Yea,” Jun Su said as he gave me a reassuring smile.
“Come with me,” Yun Ho said as he grabbed my hand and dragged me to the room he and Jae Joong shared.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him as soon as he closed the door.
“Are you alright?” he said as he turned around to look at me.
“I’m fine,” I said bravely.
I know that Yun Ho is worried about Jae Joong. Even though he seems angry, he is concerned of Jae Joong’s whereabouts, concerned that Jae Joong isn’t taking care of himself. I felt guilty that Yun Ho had to worry for me too.
“Why do you always attract such mess?” he smiled sadly as his hand came to touch my cheek.
“Yun Ho…” I said, as I turned away. “It was just a misunderstanding. I’m fine.”
“That Darren’s gonna pay when I find him,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Don’t,” I said to Yun Ho. “Don’t do anything. Ignore him.”
“How can I?” Yun Ho said. “He hurt my brother, and he hurt the girl I love.”
“Yun Ho… stop,” I pleaded.
“You know how I feel. You know I still love you. I just want you to be happy, and now you’re not.”
“I’m fine, Yun Ho,” I said grabbing his hand to reassure him.
“Jae Joong is such a fool. Why did he get upset like that?”
“You would’ve done the same thing,” I reminded him.
“Would I?” he remarked.
“Yes… you would,” I insisted, and he sighed.
“You look great tonight,” he said, as he looked me up and down.
“I didn’t even have the mood to change after what had happened,” I smiled weakly.
“Don’t cry, alright?” he said as his thumb came to trace the tear stains on my cheek.
“Araso,” I said softly, and then… he pulled me into a hug.
“I miss you,” he said. “But I know you’re happy with Jae Joong.”
I didn’t struggle, I didn’t yell at him… and I should have. I just needed a hug so badly, and Yun Ho was the best person to get one from. He always managed to comfort me, not to say that Jae Joong didn’t. But at that moment, Jae Joong didn’t want to see me, and Yun Ho was there.
“Komawo,” I whispered against his shoulder, and he tightened his arms around me.
“You can cry if you want,” he said. “Just once more… to get it out of your system.”
“I’m fine,” I said as I pulled away. “I’d cried enough earlier.”
“I doubted you once, and it was my mistake. Just know that if there is anyone in this world who believes in you 100%, it’s me. Araji?”
“Araso…” I replied, but I wanted to tell him that he shouldn’t.
I’d betrayed him without him knowing it, and I deserved mistrust if that was how he felt about me. Here he is, telling me that he believes in me 100% and when I heard that, I felt like such a sinner. I didn’t deserve his love.
“What’s wrong?” he asked when he noticed my somber expression.
“Just… nothing,” I sighed.
“Let’s go out then” he said. “Or the guys would be wondering what we’re doing.”
“What were you guys discussing without us?” Jun Su asked when we walked out.
“Never you mind,” Yun Ho said as he ruffled Jun Su’s hair.
“Hey!” Jun Su exclaimed.
“We should get home,” Shoei said. “It’s getting late.”
“Yea,” Yun Ho said. “Go home and rest. Things will be better tomorrow. I’ll make sure Jae Joong comes to see you.”
“Okay,” I smiled.
Back at the apartment, the three of us got ready for bed silently. The events of the night had dampened our moods, when in actuality; we should be celebrating tonight. Shi Kyung hyung called earlier ago to inform us that our album sold 10,000 copies on the first day, surpassing the management’s projected sales target. We had a brief moment of celebration in the car when we were informed.
“Omigod!” Skye yelled when he hung up his phone.
“Who was that?” Shoei asked. “Can you watch the road?”
“Sorry,” Skye laughed.
He’d been driving when he received a call from hyung.
“You should’ve passed the phone to me. Who was it?”
“Hyung called and said that we sold 10,000 copies today,” Skye said, and gave a whoop.
“That’s great,” I said half-heartedly.
“Come on nuna… stop acting like that. We sold 10,000 copies today. Yell with us!” Skye said.
“Yea,” Shoei said, as he turned around to smile at me. “Yell,” he said, and he too gave a loud whoop.
“Do I have to?” I smiled.
“Yes you do,” they both said, and waited for me to deliver.
“Woooo!!!” I yelled and raise my hands in the air.
“That’s more like it,” Skye said. “Altogether, one more time!” he yelled.
“Wooooo!!!” the three of us yelled like crazy, and broke into laughter after that.
I’d just showered and was drying my hair when Shoei walked into my room and sat on my bed.
“Wassup?” I asked him.
“What were you and Yun Ho hyung doing earlier?”
“What?”
“When the both of you went to his room,” he elaborated.
“Just talking.”
“Couldn’t you do it outside? What would the rest of them think?”
“Yun Ho was the one who wanted to.”
“And you shouldn’t allow him to,” he said. “Already Jae Joong hyung was upset and MIA, and you walk into a room alone with Yun Ho hyung in front of the rest of TVXQ.”
“Nothing happened,” I reasoned.
“Only you and Yun Ho know what you did.”
“They’d never make such assumptions,” I said. “Jun Su or Chang Min would never think ill thoughts of Yun Ho and me.”
“Whatever… be stubborn. You and Yun Ho… sometimes you really deserve one another.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked.
“That leader attitude the both of you have… it sometimes gets the better of your judgments and actions.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just think things through before you do them,” he said.
“Are you saying you don’t believe me? About that Darren thing?”
“Now you’re steering away from the topic. I am not referring to anything that has happened between you and Darren.”
“Nothing happened.”
“I know.”
“So what’s this about now?”
“I just feel that you still have feelings for Yun Ho hyung.”
“So what if I do? I’m with Jae Joong now, and I will never betray Jae Joong. I can’t just push Yun Ho out of my mind. I still have to face him every other week, and he’s still my friend.”
“I’ve seen the way he looks at you,” Shoei sighed. “He still loves you.”
“We’ll never get back together,” I said.
“I know. But do you think Jae Joong hyung never notices? Do you think he can’t see that Yun Ho hyung still loves you?”
“He’s never mentioned it.”
“Of course he wouldn’t. Why would he want to mention the obvious?”
“Can we not talk about this tonight?” I said in an annoyed tone.
“Fine, suit yourself. I’ll shut up,” he said as he lay back on my bed.
“Thank you,” I said and I went back to drying my hair.
I put down my hairdryer a few minutes later and turned around to find Shoei asleep on my bed. I sat down beside him and studied his face. For these past 3 years, of all people, I owed Shoei the most. He was the one who always stood by me and loved me silently. Maybe he’s given up on us by now, but he still showed that he cared in so many ways. I’m constantly baffled by the fact that I’m surrounded by people who cared for me, whom I do not deserve at all. I feel blessed and cursed at the same time.
I covered Shoei with my blanket and turned out the lights. I laid down beside him in the faint glow of the city lights, and pulled the blanket up to cover my shoulders. I had no male siblings, only male cousins, so I never really knew how it felt to have a brother. When I first arrived in Korea, I felt that another piece of my life’s puzzle was somehow in place, now that I had 2 brothers; Skye and Shoei. Who would have guessed that Shoei turned out to be more than a brother? It pained me when I hurt him, but he will always be a brother to me. It’s ingrained in my mind, and I can never change it.
I leaned forward to kiss him lightly on the forehead.
“Saranghae,” I whispered, then I turned around and went to sleep.
[Shoei’s POV]
I felt her cover me with the blanket, and I continued to pretend that I was sleeping. She needed me tonight, and I just did what I do best; being by her side. I felt her get into the bed beside me, and I longed to put my arms around her and gather her close. I wanted to hold her and try to melt her fears and sorrows away, but I wasn’t in the position to do so.
“Saranghae,” I heard her whisper, her breath tickling my face, after she kissed me lightly on the forehead.
A single tear escaped my eye as she turned around to go to sleep. The love she gave me, no, allowed me, was not the love I wanted, but it will always be this way. I would always be her tongsaeng in her eyes.
Sunday, 29 April 2007
Wednesday, 25 April 2007
Chapter 80: Break Up The Shell
“Jae Joong,” I called out his name again, this time louder. “It’s not what it seems to be.”
“Then tell me what it is,” he said, his voice shaking.
“He just grabbed me and kissed me,” I said.
“Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
I was close to tears now. Why did Darren kiss me? Why did he just kiss me and walked away? Did he plan this?
“You let him kiss you, and you don’t know?”
“He just grabbed me,” I said, as tears of frustration started to stream down my cheeks.
“What’s going on?” Shoei said as he walked towards us.
“Ask her. I’m leaving,” Jae Joong said, and he walked out.
“Jae Joong,” I called out, and I started sobbing.
“Nuna,” Shoei said as he put his arm around me. “Uljima. What happened?”
“I don’t know,” I sobbed as I sank to the floor.
Sometime later, I was sitting in a chair, nursing a bottle of water. Shoei and Skye sat in a chair beside me, just watching me. I knew that they were waiting for me to explain what had happened since I had been crying since Jae Joong walked out.
“What happened?” Shoei asked me and I just sighed.
“We can’t help if you don’t tell us, nuna,” Skye said.
“Darren kissed me,” I said.
“What?” the both of them exclaimed.
“Yea… what…” I sighed.
“But why?” Skye said.
“How would I know? I have never so much as looked at him meaningfully. I hardly know him and he just grabbed me and kissed me out of the blue.”
“But if you hardly knew him, why is Jae Joong hyung reacting this way?” Skye said.
“I guess he was just shocked at what he saw,” Shoei offered. “I’m sure if he thought of it, he’d realize that there is no way you’re involved with Darren. You’ve met him like twice so far. How can there be anything going on between the two of you?”
“You tell him that. I can’t believe he just walked out like that,” I sniffed.
“We’ll talk to him. Or do you want us to bring you to him, to explain?” Skye asked.
“Come to think of it, why do I need to explain? I did nothing wrong. I was attacked by that Darren. How could Jae Joong just assume the worst and walk out on me?” I said, my temper starting to rise.
“Nuna,” Shoei said as he put his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t let your anger get the better of you. If it had been you who saw Jae Joong kissing another girl, or being kissed by another girl, I’m sure you’d have gone ballistic too.”
“I’m suspicious of Darren,” Skye said. “Why was he here tonight? Did he come just to do that?”
“How could he have planned the exact moment Jae Joong would walk in?” I asked.
“He could if he intended to,” Skye said.
“It could’ve been a spur of the moment idea too. Your back was facing Jae Joong hyung when he walked in, right?” Shoei asked.
“Yea, and?”
“He probably saw Jae Joong hyung coming and decided to just do it.”
Skye muttered an expletive when Shoei gave that conclusion. All I could do was sink back into my chair and stare blankly ahead of me. Why me? Why do I always have to be embroiled in such troubles?
[Darren’s POV]
I drove into the parking lot and parked my car in the reserved spot. Tonight had been fun. I hadn’t planned to do what I did, but since the opportunity presented itself, I took the plunge. For the longest time, I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to cause a rift between those kids at SM. Their closeness sickened me. They went everywhere together; worked together, played together and in the case of Sierra and Jae Joong, dated each other. If I’m not mistaken, there have also been rumors that Skye was dating that new girl, Hae Rin.
“Hyung,” the guys greeted me as I walked into the apartment.
“Hey,” I acknowledged them but walked straight into my room.
I’m close with my band mates, Nakata and Min Jong, but sometimes, because of the age gap, I feel that I am still a world apart. I tossed my keys onto my desk and flopped down onto my bed. Her scent still filled my mind. I’ve always found her intriguing, but there is a bigger cause for me out there, and hopefully, I will make her my pawn.
“Where did you go?” Nakata asked me as he popped his head into my room.
“Nowhere special… just cruising,” I said.
“We have a shoot tomorrow,” he reminded me.
“8am?” I asked him, and he nodded. “I’ll be up,” I said, and he closed the door.
Earlier tonight, I’d been contemplating if I should go for that launch. I was wondering if they’d be suspicious of me. The aim had been to get closer to them, befriend them, and see what their weaknesses are. It was obvious that Sierra was the weak link in S-Cube. Girls usually are. That’s why Helix is an all-guy band. Because of her history of involvements with the other guys in SM, and the fact that she would always be the odd one out in her band, she was an easy target.
I remember when I first met her in the flesh, as in really stood in front of her and interacted with her. It was during the recent MKMF awards, and she had on that really hot Chinese outfit.
“Whoa…” Min Jong had commented as we walked towards the stage in the middle of the red carpet. “Check her out.”
“Who?” Nakata asked.
“Sierra from S-Cube,” Min Jong said, as his eyes strained in their sockets to take in every inch of the visual before him.
“She’s not bad,” I smirked, but looked on appreciatively all the same.
We got onto the stage and introduced ourselves.
“You guys look absolutely dangerous tonight,” the emcee, Gong Yoo said.
“We knew that S-Cube was going for suave and sophisticated, so we decide to go the other way,” I joked. “By the way, nuna.” I added as I looked at her. “You look hot tonight,” and I winked.
“Thanks,” she replied. “You look pretty hot yourself.”
This chick sure is outspoken. Most of the girls I talk to usually go all shy or whither up somehow. I decided, at that moment, that I liked her. Too bad she was dating Jae Joong of TVXQ. Stealing his girl would be hell for my career.
“How about that Sierra?” Min Jong grinned as we sat down in the auditorium. “She’s hot, and I’ve heard that she’s really witty and cute too.”
“Sure… Not bad.”
“Wasn’t she dating Yun Ho last year?” Nakata asked.
“She was,” Min Jong replied. “Until some TVXQ fan attacked her, then Yun Ho disappeared to Japan, and when he came back, she was with Jae Joong.”
“And he let them?” Nakata said incredulously and Min Jong just shrugged.
“How do you know so much?” I asked Min Jong. “Are you stalking her?” I laughed.
“I happen to be in touch with the news,” he huffed.
“Yea… celebrity gossip is news, alright,” I sneered.
“Hey Darren,” Hyun Joong of SS501 tapped my shoulder tapped my shoulder as he walked past to get to his seat.
“Yo!” I smiled at him. “Break a leg,” I said.
“You too,” he replied.
After greeting the rest of SS501, my thoughts turned back to Sierra’s issues. I’d never given it much thought because I wasn’t interested in their matters before. Meeting Sierra made me wonder what exactly happened between her and Yun Ho. Why would Yun Ho just sit back and watch his band mate date his girlfriend?
I found out weeks later, from a snitch from SM, that S-Cube’s manager had lied to Yun Ho, just after Sierra’s operation after the attack, and told him that Sierra wanted to end the relationship. Yun Ho left after hearing it, not knowing that Sierra could not have said that, since she was unconscious at the time. When she woke up, she was told that Yun Ho had left; no explanations. She spent the next 2 months recovering from her reconstructive surgery without hearing anything from him. But she wasn’t alone.
By the time she left the hospital, Jae Joong had become a constant companion. He was always seen chauffeuring her and her band mates around and having dinner together almost every night. In the end, Jae Joong’s persistence was rewarded. When Yun Ho came back, he apparently had a talk with Sierra, and they’d left it at that ever since.
If I were Yun Ho, I would not have just left it. I would’ve called Jae Joong out, but the TVXQ guys, being wusses, will never jeopardize the brotherly bond they had. They would swallow the bitter pill just to keep the band. I am pretty sure that Yun Ho still had feelings for Sierra. I wonder how I can egg him to make a play for her. That would shake things up.
It was so funny how everything played out so perfectly earlier; when she mentioned kissing, and then Jae Joong walked in. The wheels in my mind were spinning overtime and all I could think of was to grab her and kiss her. The look on both their faces was priceless. Both wore shocked expressions, and Jae Joong looked like he’d been hit in the gut. It was so pathetic, and very satisfying to watch. I guess now that I’ve made my move, I’ll have to keep going.
Helix was doing so well the year we debut since Sierra got herself caught up in a scandal with Yun Ho. The news of their relationship didn’t sit well with the TVXQ fans, which led to a boycott of their first album. If it hadn’t been for this boycott, Helix might not have won Best Newface at the MKMF that year.
Now that S-Cube is on track, Helix’s popularity is waning fast. We’ve already lost out to S-Cube this year, and I can’t sit back and watch them trample over us at the next awards. I need to strike them at their weakest spot, and their weakest spot is Sierra.
[Shoei’s POV]
Darren… what was he up to. Skye and I spent almost half and hour just watching nuna cry her eyes out. And I was shocked when she said the reason Jae Joong hyung had walked out was because he caught them kissing. To be exact, he caught Darren kissing nuna. I believe in nuna. She would never cheat on Jae Joong hyung. Besides, she didn’t even know Darren well enough. We’ve only met them once during the awards, and nuna told me they bumped into her, Si Won, Hee Chul hyung and Han Kyung hyung having dinner a few weeks back.
We’ve always been unspoken rivals with Helix because we debuted in the same year. We’d lost out to them during our debut year, but we picked it up and surpassed them this year. Could this be why Darren is acting so weird? To cause problems for S-Cube?
“Let’s go,” Skye said as he picked up his bag and nuna’s.
“You want to drop by Jae Joong hyung’s place?” I asked her, and she nodded silently.
“Don’t worry, nuna,” Skye said as he put an arm around her. “We’ll talk to Jae Joong hyung for you if he won’t listen.”
“If he’s still upset, there would be no chance for anyone to talk to him. I don’t even know if he’s at home,” she said, sadly.
“Should we call ahead?” Skye asked her.
“No,” I said. “If he knows we’re coming, he might leave the apartment to avoid us. That is if he’s still upset.”
“So we’ll just go there and see what happens?” Skye asked me.
“That’s the plan now,” I nodded.
“Araso…” Skye smiled. “I’m just the chauffer.”
The ride there was silent. I sat in front with Skye while nuna sat alone in the back. I was tempted to climb to the backseat to comfort her. I wanted to tell her that it’s alright if Jae Joong hyung doesn’t believe her, because I do. It’s funny how little misunderstandings can be blown so out of proportion and dramatized to such extent. What could’ve been solved with a moment of calm and patience has been made almost irreparable just because people get hurt so easily.
I sighed as I looked out of the window. It was almost 11pm, and we were all tired from the earlier festivities. So much for celebrating. Tonight would’ve been a joyous one if not for Darren Kang. When I get to the bottom of this, and if I find that he deliberately did it to hurt nuna, I’m going to tear him apart.
We got to TVXQ’s apartment and it was Jun Su who opened the door for us.
“What are you guys doing here?” he asked us.
“We’re here to see Jae Joong hyung,” I said.
“He hasn’t come home,” Jun Su said.
“What?” nuna exclaimed, and Jun Su reacted to her outburst with a puzzled expression, complete with his mouth hanging open.
“We’ll explain,” Skye sighed, and he quickly ushered nuna into the apartment.
“Has he been gone all night?” I asked Jun Su as I walked in and waited for Jun Su to close the door.
“Yea. I thought he went to your album launch party?”
“He did, but he left.”
“Did something happen?” Jun Su asked me as we walked into the living room where Skye was getting nuna to sit down on the sofa.
“That Darren Kang from Helix,” I started.
“What about him?” Jun Su asked.
“He violated nuna,” Skye continued for me.
“What?” came Yun Ho hyung’s voice from the corridor that leads to their rooms.
“He kissed nuna, for no reason, out of the blue, and Jae Joong hyung saw him do it,” I explained.
“And what did Jae Joong do?” Yun Ho hyung asked.
“He left the auditorium. He was really upset and he didn’t even wait for nuna to explain it,” Skye said.
“I’m gonna kill him,” Yun Ho hyung growled through gritted teeth.
“Then tell me what it is,” he said, his voice shaking.
“He just grabbed me and kissed me,” I said.
“Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
I was close to tears now. Why did Darren kiss me? Why did he just kiss me and walked away? Did he plan this?
“You let him kiss you, and you don’t know?”
“He just grabbed me,” I said, as tears of frustration started to stream down my cheeks.
“What’s going on?” Shoei said as he walked towards us.
“Ask her. I’m leaving,” Jae Joong said, and he walked out.
“Jae Joong,” I called out, and I started sobbing.
“Nuna,” Shoei said as he put his arm around me. “Uljima. What happened?”
“I don’t know,” I sobbed as I sank to the floor.
Sometime later, I was sitting in a chair, nursing a bottle of water. Shoei and Skye sat in a chair beside me, just watching me. I knew that they were waiting for me to explain what had happened since I had been crying since Jae Joong walked out.
“What happened?” Shoei asked me and I just sighed.
“We can’t help if you don’t tell us, nuna,” Skye said.
“Darren kissed me,” I said.
“What?” the both of them exclaimed.
“Yea… what…” I sighed.
“But why?” Skye said.
“How would I know? I have never so much as looked at him meaningfully. I hardly know him and he just grabbed me and kissed me out of the blue.”
“But if you hardly knew him, why is Jae Joong hyung reacting this way?” Skye said.
“I guess he was just shocked at what he saw,” Shoei offered. “I’m sure if he thought of it, he’d realize that there is no way you’re involved with Darren. You’ve met him like twice so far. How can there be anything going on between the two of you?”
“You tell him that. I can’t believe he just walked out like that,” I sniffed.
“We’ll talk to him. Or do you want us to bring you to him, to explain?” Skye asked.
“Come to think of it, why do I need to explain? I did nothing wrong. I was attacked by that Darren. How could Jae Joong just assume the worst and walk out on me?” I said, my temper starting to rise.
“Nuna,” Shoei said as he put his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t let your anger get the better of you. If it had been you who saw Jae Joong kissing another girl, or being kissed by another girl, I’m sure you’d have gone ballistic too.”
“I’m suspicious of Darren,” Skye said. “Why was he here tonight? Did he come just to do that?”
“How could he have planned the exact moment Jae Joong would walk in?” I asked.
“He could if he intended to,” Skye said.
“It could’ve been a spur of the moment idea too. Your back was facing Jae Joong hyung when he walked in, right?” Shoei asked.
“Yea, and?”
“He probably saw Jae Joong hyung coming and decided to just do it.”
Skye muttered an expletive when Shoei gave that conclusion. All I could do was sink back into my chair and stare blankly ahead of me. Why me? Why do I always have to be embroiled in such troubles?
[Darren’s POV]
I drove into the parking lot and parked my car in the reserved spot. Tonight had been fun. I hadn’t planned to do what I did, but since the opportunity presented itself, I took the plunge. For the longest time, I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to cause a rift between those kids at SM. Their closeness sickened me. They went everywhere together; worked together, played together and in the case of Sierra and Jae Joong, dated each other. If I’m not mistaken, there have also been rumors that Skye was dating that new girl, Hae Rin.
“Hyung,” the guys greeted me as I walked into the apartment.
“Hey,” I acknowledged them but walked straight into my room.
I’m close with my band mates, Nakata and Min Jong, but sometimes, because of the age gap, I feel that I am still a world apart. I tossed my keys onto my desk and flopped down onto my bed. Her scent still filled my mind. I’ve always found her intriguing, but there is a bigger cause for me out there, and hopefully, I will make her my pawn.
“Where did you go?” Nakata asked me as he popped his head into my room.
“Nowhere special… just cruising,” I said.
“We have a shoot tomorrow,” he reminded me.
“8am?” I asked him, and he nodded. “I’ll be up,” I said, and he closed the door.
Earlier tonight, I’d been contemplating if I should go for that launch. I was wondering if they’d be suspicious of me. The aim had been to get closer to them, befriend them, and see what their weaknesses are. It was obvious that Sierra was the weak link in S-Cube. Girls usually are. That’s why Helix is an all-guy band. Because of her history of involvements with the other guys in SM, and the fact that she would always be the odd one out in her band, she was an easy target.
I remember when I first met her in the flesh, as in really stood in front of her and interacted with her. It was during the recent MKMF awards, and she had on that really hot Chinese outfit.
“Whoa…” Min Jong had commented as we walked towards the stage in the middle of the red carpet. “Check her out.”
“Who?” Nakata asked.
“Sierra from S-Cube,” Min Jong said, as his eyes strained in their sockets to take in every inch of the visual before him.
“She’s not bad,” I smirked, but looked on appreciatively all the same.
We got onto the stage and introduced ourselves.
“You guys look absolutely dangerous tonight,” the emcee, Gong Yoo said.
“We knew that S-Cube was going for suave and sophisticated, so we decide to go the other way,” I joked. “By the way, nuna.” I added as I looked at her. “You look hot tonight,” and I winked.
“Thanks,” she replied. “You look pretty hot yourself.”
This chick sure is outspoken. Most of the girls I talk to usually go all shy or whither up somehow. I decided, at that moment, that I liked her. Too bad she was dating Jae Joong of TVXQ. Stealing his girl would be hell for my career.
“How about that Sierra?” Min Jong grinned as we sat down in the auditorium. “She’s hot, and I’ve heard that she’s really witty and cute too.”
“Sure… Not bad.”
“Wasn’t she dating Yun Ho last year?” Nakata asked.
“She was,” Min Jong replied. “Until some TVXQ fan attacked her, then Yun Ho disappeared to Japan, and when he came back, she was with Jae Joong.”
“And he let them?” Nakata said incredulously and Min Jong just shrugged.
“How do you know so much?” I asked Min Jong. “Are you stalking her?” I laughed.
“I happen to be in touch with the news,” he huffed.
“Yea… celebrity gossip is news, alright,” I sneered.
“Hey Darren,” Hyun Joong of SS501 tapped my shoulder tapped my shoulder as he walked past to get to his seat.
“Yo!” I smiled at him. “Break a leg,” I said.
“You too,” he replied.
After greeting the rest of SS501, my thoughts turned back to Sierra’s issues. I’d never given it much thought because I wasn’t interested in their matters before. Meeting Sierra made me wonder what exactly happened between her and Yun Ho. Why would Yun Ho just sit back and watch his band mate date his girlfriend?
I found out weeks later, from a snitch from SM, that S-Cube’s manager had lied to Yun Ho, just after Sierra’s operation after the attack, and told him that Sierra wanted to end the relationship. Yun Ho left after hearing it, not knowing that Sierra could not have said that, since she was unconscious at the time. When she woke up, she was told that Yun Ho had left; no explanations. She spent the next 2 months recovering from her reconstructive surgery without hearing anything from him. But she wasn’t alone.
By the time she left the hospital, Jae Joong had become a constant companion. He was always seen chauffeuring her and her band mates around and having dinner together almost every night. In the end, Jae Joong’s persistence was rewarded. When Yun Ho came back, he apparently had a talk with Sierra, and they’d left it at that ever since.
If I were Yun Ho, I would not have just left it. I would’ve called Jae Joong out, but the TVXQ guys, being wusses, will never jeopardize the brotherly bond they had. They would swallow the bitter pill just to keep the band. I am pretty sure that Yun Ho still had feelings for Sierra. I wonder how I can egg him to make a play for her. That would shake things up.
It was so funny how everything played out so perfectly earlier; when she mentioned kissing, and then Jae Joong walked in. The wheels in my mind were spinning overtime and all I could think of was to grab her and kiss her. The look on both their faces was priceless. Both wore shocked expressions, and Jae Joong looked like he’d been hit in the gut. It was so pathetic, and very satisfying to watch. I guess now that I’ve made my move, I’ll have to keep going.
Helix was doing so well the year we debut since Sierra got herself caught up in a scandal with Yun Ho. The news of their relationship didn’t sit well with the TVXQ fans, which led to a boycott of their first album. If it hadn’t been for this boycott, Helix might not have won Best Newface at the MKMF that year.
Now that S-Cube is on track, Helix’s popularity is waning fast. We’ve already lost out to S-Cube this year, and I can’t sit back and watch them trample over us at the next awards. I need to strike them at their weakest spot, and their weakest spot is Sierra.
[Shoei’s POV]
Darren… what was he up to. Skye and I spent almost half and hour just watching nuna cry her eyes out. And I was shocked when she said the reason Jae Joong hyung had walked out was because he caught them kissing. To be exact, he caught Darren kissing nuna. I believe in nuna. She would never cheat on Jae Joong hyung. Besides, she didn’t even know Darren well enough. We’ve only met them once during the awards, and nuna told me they bumped into her, Si Won, Hee Chul hyung and Han Kyung hyung having dinner a few weeks back.
We’ve always been unspoken rivals with Helix because we debuted in the same year. We’d lost out to them during our debut year, but we picked it up and surpassed them this year. Could this be why Darren is acting so weird? To cause problems for S-Cube?
“Let’s go,” Skye said as he picked up his bag and nuna’s.
“You want to drop by Jae Joong hyung’s place?” I asked her, and she nodded silently.
“Don’t worry, nuna,” Skye said as he put an arm around her. “We’ll talk to Jae Joong hyung for you if he won’t listen.”
“If he’s still upset, there would be no chance for anyone to talk to him. I don’t even know if he’s at home,” she said, sadly.
“Should we call ahead?” Skye asked her.
“No,” I said. “If he knows we’re coming, he might leave the apartment to avoid us. That is if he’s still upset.”
“So we’ll just go there and see what happens?” Skye asked me.
“That’s the plan now,” I nodded.
“Araso…” Skye smiled. “I’m just the chauffer.”
The ride there was silent. I sat in front with Skye while nuna sat alone in the back. I was tempted to climb to the backseat to comfort her. I wanted to tell her that it’s alright if Jae Joong hyung doesn’t believe her, because I do. It’s funny how little misunderstandings can be blown so out of proportion and dramatized to such extent. What could’ve been solved with a moment of calm and patience has been made almost irreparable just because people get hurt so easily.
I sighed as I looked out of the window. It was almost 11pm, and we were all tired from the earlier festivities. So much for celebrating. Tonight would’ve been a joyous one if not for Darren Kang. When I get to the bottom of this, and if I find that he deliberately did it to hurt nuna, I’m going to tear him apart.
We got to TVXQ’s apartment and it was Jun Su who opened the door for us.
“What are you guys doing here?” he asked us.
“We’re here to see Jae Joong hyung,” I said.
“He hasn’t come home,” Jun Su said.
“What?” nuna exclaimed, and Jun Su reacted to her outburst with a puzzled expression, complete with his mouth hanging open.
“We’ll explain,” Skye sighed, and he quickly ushered nuna into the apartment.
“Has he been gone all night?” I asked Jun Su as I walked in and waited for Jun Su to close the door.
“Yea. I thought he went to your album launch party?”
“He did, but he left.”
“Did something happen?” Jun Su asked me as we walked into the living room where Skye was getting nuna to sit down on the sofa.
“That Darren Kang from Helix,” I started.
“What about him?” Jun Su asked.
“He violated nuna,” Skye continued for me.
“What?” came Yun Ho hyung’s voice from the corridor that leads to their rooms.
“He kissed nuna, for no reason, out of the blue, and Jae Joong hyung saw him do it,” I explained.
“And what did Jae Joong do?” Yun Ho hyung asked.
“He left the auditorium. He was really upset and he didn’t even wait for nuna to explain it,” Skye said.
“I’m gonna kill him,” Yun Ho hyung growled through gritted teeth.
Sunday, 22 April 2007
Chapter 79: Rock This House
It’s the day of our album launch, and the launch party was tonight. During the day, we were holding a press conference and made several appearances at major music stores around Seoul. The turnout exceeded our expectations. It seems that S-Cube’s fan base has increased substantially.
We were practically bombarded by the blue and silver balloon carrying fans from our fan club, S3 Serenaded Seraphs, as we alighted from the car. They were more commonly known as Seraphs since no other clubs used this word in their name. A seraph is a winged angel with the appearance of a child. Since our fans were our guardian angels whom we serenade, the name S3 Serenaded Seraphs was chosen. The abbreviated name is also S3.
We waved quickly whenever we got out the car at each venue and were ushered into building after building by burly security guards. There were actually a shortage of minders and security guards since they’d underestimated the turnout for this album launch. We were stuck in the car for awhile at the first venue while we waited for a backup team of security to arrive.
“The special interviews on Mnet must have worked,” Skye said.
“How could they have helped? There wasn’t even anything juicy revealed,” Shoei said.
If anyone wonders why there weren’t any scandal revealing questions, it’s because Mnet’s interview questions are screened by the producers and executives at SM before they are directed to us on camera. SM takes great care in making sure the images of their artistes are not tarnished by eliminating the potentially scandalous questions from the interviewer’s list.
“I guess any publicity is good. It increased our visibility to the public,” I said.
“Don’t forget the surprise for the first 1000 people. That could be the main reason everyone’s flocking to the stores today,” Skye said.
“Yea,” Shoei laughed. “At least we have a confirmed attendance of 1000 people today.”
“Are there really 1000 people out there?” I said as I peered through the heavily tinted windows.
“Let me count,” Skye said and he started counting. “1, 2, 3, 4… wait a minute… I think I’ve counted her already. Let’s start again, 1…”
“Shuddup, Skye,” I laughed as I smacked him on his arm.
It was finally 6pm, and we rushed back home to shower and then the stylists came over with our outfits for tonight’s launch party. I’m sure most would have already guessed what the surprise for the first 1000 was. In addition to the bonus DVD in the CD box, the first 1000 fans would also have tickets to our launch party, which was to be held in an auditorium. We will be performing songs from our old albums, a few from the new album and there will be games where we will interact with the fans, a lucky draw, and a huge cake to celebrate the launch.
500 more tickets were available for purchase at the door for those who wanted to participate but missed the free tickets that came with the CD. Everyone received a door gift; a special version of the ‘Connect the Dots’ MV, which included behind the scenes footage of the filming and also the recording process.
They put me in a cute black dress with a ruffled skirt, and ankle high boots. The guys were in jeans, t-shirts and jackets, and wore leather sneakers. Skye had his hair slicked back in a sort of wet style.
“You look so proper,” I laughed.
“I am always proper,” he smirked.
“Yea… a proper nut,” I said, and he stuck his tongue out at me.
I was twirling my necklace around my finger while waiting for the cue from the PD to get out onto the stage with Skye and Shoei when Jae Joong appeared.
“Guess who,” he said as he hugged me from behind.
“Jae Joong,” I almost squealed as I turned around.
He hadn’t told me that he was coming and I thought he was too busy to come since he still had recording.
“Ch’uk’ahamnida,” he said and he kissed me.
“Ya, ya, ya…” Skye said as he walked towards us. “You messed up her lipstick,” he pointed out.
“Omo…” I exclaimed, touching my lips, and I ran off to find the makeup artist for a touch up.
“Was that reaction necessary?” Jae Joong said as I walked back towards him and Skye.
“I’m going onstage in like 5 minutes. You want me to go with my makeup messed up?”
“It wasn’t messed up. You looked fine. You always look fine.”
“And you always look gorgeous,” I pointed out.
“That’s makeup too,” he said.
“Whatever… I need more effort to look good than you do,” I said.
“Fine…” he laughed. “I’ll be around. We’ll go somewhere to celebrate after this, alright?”
“Araso,” I smiled and reached out to brush his cheek lightly as he walked off.
The stage lights dimmed, and a screen, which was lowered from the ceiling, was illuminated with graphics.
“Welcome…” a computer voice said, and 3 dots appeared on the screen. “Please connect the dots…” the voice continued, and the music started as lines stretched out on the screen to connect the dots and the final shape shattered accompanied by the sound of chimes.
As the shattered graphics settled to the bottom, some of them started rising and forming our names.
Sierra… and my picture appeared. Skye… and Skye’s picture appeared. Shoei… and Shoei’s name appeared. The fans screamed whenever a photo appeared.
“S-Cube,” the computer voice said, and our names ‘sierraskyeshoei’ kept flashing and streaming across the screen, and by now, the screams where deafening.
As soon as the computer voice said ‘S-Cube’, we appeared on the stage in a burst of lighting effects, and the music for ‘Connect the Dots’ started playing.
Shoei: Do you feel confused
Do you feel lost
Do you feel like you’re drowning in the information
Skye: Do you feel hurt
Do you feel devastated
Do you feel like you could die
Sierra: It took you that long
To connect the dots
It took you that long
To realize there was no such thing as everlasting love
[Skye: there was no such thing]
If you weren’t so dense
You might not have gotten hurt
S-Cube: There is no such thing
As a happy ending
There is no such thing
As love forever
There’re no castles built in the air
[Sierra: built in the air]
Sierra: There’re no unicorns, open up your eyes
Shoei: Do you feel the pain
Do you feel the fear
That someday, we’d be lost forever
Skye: Do you feel the ache
Do you feel the longing
Do you feel like this hell would never end
Sierra: It took you that long
To connect the dots
It took you that long
To realize there was no such thing as everlasting love
[Shoei: there was no such thing]
If you weren’t so dense
You might not have gotten hurt
S-Cube: There is no such thing
As a happy ending
There is no such thing
As love forever
There’re no castles built in the air
[Sierra: built in the air]
Sierra: There’re no unicorns, open up your eyes
Sierra: No such thing
As an honest lover
Skye: No such thing
They’d someday love another
Shoei: Open up your eyes
It has been so long
Sierra: That you’ve been, left in the dark
As the song ended, we stood there, almost breathless and deafened by the cheers from the audience. We gathered in the front and center of the stage and bowed.
“Annyeong haseyo, uri S-Cube-imnida!” we greeted to the cheers.
“We’re glad there are so many fans here tonight,” Skye said.
“Yae,” Shoei said. “Cheongmal kamsateurigoyo.”
“Without your love and support, S-Cube would not be standing here today,” I added.
“We hope everyone has a great time tonight!” Skye shouted, and everyone cheered like crazy.
We had some games where volunteers from the audience came up on stage to play some games with us, while the rest watched. For one of the games, we tied Skye to a board and blindfolded the volunteer. She was then asked to throw paintballs at Skye, who was dressed in a raincoat to protect his clothes. If she manages to hit Skye, he was supposed to grant her 1 wish. Once we had everything in place, we yelled for her to start throwing. She was given five paintballs in total, but she only needed 3. The first two sailed past Skye, and the 3rd one hit him squarely in the stomach.
“Arrrggghhh,” Skye groaned, but could not bend over since he was tied up.
We laughed hysterically as we untied him, and despite being in pain, he was laughing along with us. Once he got the raincoat off, he lifted up his shirt to survey the damage and that brought on deafening shrieks and squeals from the fans. The girl got her wish, which was to be carried down the stage and to her seat by Skye, and then serenaded to with Skye on his knees. Luckily for Skye, she was tiny and slim.
We performed a few more songs for the fans and then we had the lucky draw. The prizes were 3 MP3 players loaded with all our songs and an exclusive bonus track, which was a special message recorded by S-Cube and the grand prize was a mobile phone. Inside the mobile phone were 3 individual video recordings of us, giving our personal message to the winner.
After giving out the lucky draw prizes, they wheeled out a huge cake for us to cut. We stood on either side of the cake with a knife each, in our hands, and counted to 3 before we cut it. As soon as I put down my knife, Skye slapped a handful of cream on my face, and so began our food fight. Shoei and I chased Skye down the stage into the throng of fans waiting below and we pinned him to the ground to slather the cream all over his face. When we were done with Skye, I wiped the remainder of the cream onto Shoei’s face, and started running back towards the stage, giggling all the way.
We sang one last song for everyone, ‘I’m sorry, I love you’, and called it a night after waving good bye to all the fans. As we walked off the stage into the backstage area, we had an unexpected guest; Darren from Helix.
“Ch’uk’ahamnida,” he said as he handed me a bouquet of flowers.
“What brings you here?” Skye asked him as he gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder.
“Just to congratulate you guys on the 3rd album released,” he smiled.
“Thanks,” Shoei said and started walking off. “I’m gonna go wash this cream off.”
“I’m coming too,” Skye said.
“What about you?” Darren said as he looked at me.
“I’m pretty clean,” I grinned. “Did you see Jae Joong? He was supposed to be hanging out around here.”
“I saw him out the back. He said he’d be back in after he’d finish answering a call.”
“Okay,” I smiled. “Nice flowers, thanks,” I said.
“Glad you like them. I wasn’t sure what you’d like, actually.”
“I’m not really a flower person. But any gift is appreciated,” I laughed.
“You don’t like flowers?” he asked me.
“I think they’re a waste of money, since they wither and dry up. I always tell Jae Joong not to buy flowers.”
“Then what does he give you on anniversaries and birthdays?”
“Jewelry,” I winked.
“Ah… smart move,” he chuckled. “Diamonds are a girls’ best friend, huh?”
“Yep…” I laughed.
“I guess all girls are the same,” he said as he raised an eyebrow.
“That’s not true… Honestly, a card would be enough. Or even just a minute of attention.”
“A minute of attention?”
“Yea… just a hug and a kiss is enough for me. If you wanna show me how much you love me. I’m an affection junkie,” I laughed.
“You mean like this?” he said and he grabbed my face and kissed me before I could react.
I was frozen solid when he kissed me. It was totally unexpected and completely out of character. Then again, I hardly knew him. So why was he kissing me? He smiled as he pulled away, and that was when I came to my senses.
“Darren,” I stammered. “What the hell was that?” I asked him.
“Tell you another day. Gotta go,” he said, and he walked out.
I turned around as he walked past and behind me stood Jae Joong. I will never forget the expression on his face. It was worse than the expressions he used to have when he saw Yun Ho and me publicly displaying our affections. This was the look of betrayal. I had just hurt him terribly.
“Jae Joong,” his name escaped my lips, but I could not continue. How the hell am I gonna explain to him what had just happened?
[Darren’s POV]
I smirked to myself as I walked past Kim Jae Joong. The look on his face was priceless. I licked my lips as I walked out the back door. She tasted of the cream from the cake they were messing around with; sweet. She wasn’t that bad… not bad at all.
Power couple… you’re both going down.
We were practically bombarded by the blue and silver balloon carrying fans from our fan club, S3 Serenaded Seraphs, as we alighted from the car. They were more commonly known as Seraphs since no other clubs used this word in their name. A seraph is a winged angel with the appearance of a child. Since our fans were our guardian angels whom we serenade, the name S3 Serenaded Seraphs was chosen. The abbreviated name is also S3.
We waved quickly whenever we got out the car at each venue and were ushered into building after building by burly security guards. There were actually a shortage of minders and security guards since they’d underestimated the turnout for this album launch. We were stuck in the car for awhile at the first venue while we waited for a backup team of security to arrive.
“The special interviews on Mnet must have worked,” Skye said.
“How could they have helped? There wasn’t even anything juicy revealed,” Shoei said.
If anyone wonders why there weren’t any scandal revealing questions, it’s because Mnet’s interview questions are screened by the producers and executives at SM before they are directed to us on camera. SM takes great care in making sure the images of their artistes are not tarnished by eliminating the potentially scandalous questions from the interviewer’s list.
“I guess any publicity is good. It increased our visibility to the public,” I said.
“Don’t forget the surprise for the first 1000 people. That could be the main reason everyone’s flocking to the stores today,” Skye said.
“Yea,” Shoei laughed. “At least we have a confirmed attendance of 1000 people today.”
“Are there really 1000 people out there?” I said as I peered through the heavily tinted windows.
“Let me count,” Skye said and he started counting. “1, 2, 3, 4… wait a minute… I think I’ve counted her already. Let’s start again, 1…”
“Shuddup, Skye,” I laughed as I smacked him on his arm.
It was finally 6pm, and we rushed back home to shower and then the stylists came over with our outfits for tonight’s launch party. I’m sure most would have already guessed what the surprise for the first 1000 was. In addition to the bonus DVD in the CD box, the first 1000 fans would also have tickets to our launch party, which was to be held in an auditorium. We will be performing songs from our old albums, a few from the new album and there will be games where we will interact with the fans, a lucky draw, and a huge cake to celebrate the launch.
500 more tickets were available for purchase at the door for those who wanted to participate but missed the free tickets that came with the CD. Everyone received a door gift; a special version of the ‘Connect the Dots’ MV, which included behind the scenes footage of the filming and also the recording process.
They put me in a cute black dress with a ruffled skirt, and ankle high boots. The guys were in jeans, t-shirts and jackets, and wore leather sneakers. Skye had his hair slicked back in a sort of wet style.
“You look so proper,” I laughed.
“I am always proper,” he smirked.
“Yea… a proper nut,” I said, and he stuck his tongue out at me.
I was twirling my necklace around my finger while waiting for the cue from the PD to get out onto the stage with Skye and Shoei when Jae Joong appeared.
“Guess who,” he said as he hugged me from behind.
“Jae Joong,” I almost squealed as I turned around.
He hadn’t told me that he was coming and I thought he was too busy to come since he still had recording.
“Ch’uk’ahamnida,” he said and he kissed me.
“Ya, ya, ya…” Skye said as he walked towards us. “You messed up her lipstick,” he pointed out.
“Omo…” I exclaimed, touching my lips, and I ran off to find the makeup artist for a touch up.
“Was that reaction necessary?” Jae Joong said as I walked back towards him and Skye.
“I’m going onstage in like 5 minutes. You want me to go with my makeup messed up?”
“It wasn’t messed up. You looked fine. You always look fine.”
“And you always look gorgeous,” I pointed out.
“That’s makeup too,” he said.
“Whatever… I need more effort to look good than you do,” I said.
“Fine…” he laughed. “I’ll be around. We’ll go somewhere to celebrate after this, alright?”
“Araso,” I smiled and reached out to brush his cheek lightly as he walked off.
The stage lights dimmed, and a screen, which was lowered from the ceiling, was illuminated with graphics.
“Welcome…” a computer voice said, and 3 dots appeared on the screen. “Please connect the dots…” the voice continued, and the music started as lines stretched out on the screen to connect the dots and the final shape shattered accompanied by the sound of chimes.
As the shattered graphics settled to the bottom, some of them started rising and forming our names.
Sierra… and my picture appeared. Skye… and Skye’s picture appeared. Shoei… and Shoei’s name appeared. The fans screamed whenever a photo appeared.
“S-Cube,” the computer voice said, and our names ‘sierraskyeshoei’ kept flashing and streaming across the screen, and by now, the screams where deafening.
As soon as the computer voice said ‘S-Cube’, we appeared on the stage in a burst of lighting effects, and the music for ‘Connect the Dots’ started playing.
Shoei: Do you feel confused
Do you feel lost
Do you feel like you’re drowning in the information
Skye: Do you feel hurt
Do you feel devastated
Do you feel like you could die
Sierra: It took you that long
To connect the dots
It took you that long
To realize there was no such thing as everlasting love
[Skye: there was no such thing]
If you weren’t so dense
You might not have gotten hurt
S-Cube: There is no such thing
As a happy ending
There is no such thing
As love forever
There’re no castles built in the air
[Sierra: built in the air]
Sierra: There’re no unicorns, open up your eyes
Shoei: Do you feel the pain
Do you feel the fear
That someday, we’d be lost forever
Skye: Do you feel the ache
Do you feel the longing
Do you feel like this hell would never end
Sierra: It took you that long
To connect the dots
It took you that long
To realize there was no such thing as everlasting love
[Shoei: there was no such thing]
If you weren’t so dense
You might not have gotten hurt
S-Cube: There is no such thing
As a happy ending
There is no such thing
As love forever
There’re no castles built in the air
[Sierra: built in the air]
Sierra: There’re no unicorns, open up your eyes
Sierra: No such thing
As an honest lover
Skye: No such thing
They’d someday love another
Shoei: Open up your eyes
It has been so long
Sierra: That you’ve been, left in the dark
As the song ended, we stood there, almost breathless and deafened by the cheers from the audience. We gathered in the front and center of the stage and bowed.
“Annyeong haseyo, uri S-Cube-imnida!” we greeted to the cheers.
“We’re glad there are so many fans here tonight,” Skye said.
“Yae,” Shoei said. “Cheongmal kamsateurigoyo.”
“Without your love and support, S-Cube would not be standing here today,” I added.
“We hope everyone has a great time tonight!” Skye shouted, and everyone cheered like crazy.
We had some games where volunteers from the audience came up on stage to play some games with us, while the rest watched. For one of the games, we tied Skye to a board and blindfolded the volunteer. She was then asked to throw paintballs at Skye, who was dressed in a raincoat to protect his clothes. If she manages to hit Skye, he was supposed to grant her 1 wish. Once we had everything in place, we yelled for her to start throwing. She was given five paintballs in total, but she only needed 3. The first two sailed past Skye, and the 3rd one hit him squarely in the stomach.
“Arrrggghhh,” Skye groaned, but could not bend over since he was tied up.
We laughed hysterically as we untied him, and despite being in pain, he was laughing along with us. Once he got the raincoat off, he lifted up his shirt to survey the damage and that brought on deafening shrieks and squeals from the fans. The girl got her wish, which was to be carried down the stage and to her seat by Skye, and then serenaded to with Skye on his knees. Luckily for Skye, she was tiny and slim.
We performed a few more songs for the fans and then we had the lucky draw. The prizes were 3 MP3 players loaded with all our songs and an exclusive bonus track, which was a special message recorded by S-Cube and the grand prize was a mobile phone. Inside the mobile phone were 3 individual video recordings of us, giving our personal message to the winner.
After giving out the lucky draw prizes, they wheeled out a huge cake for us to cut. We stood on either side of the cake with a knife each, in our hands, and counted to 3 before we cut it. As soon as I put down my knife, Skye slapped a handful of cream on my face, and so began our food fight. Shoei and I chased Skye down the stage into the throng of fans waiting below and we pinned him to the ground to slather the cream all over his face. When we were done with Skye, I wiped the remainder of the cream onto Shoei’s face, and started running back towards the stage, giggling all the way.
We sang one last song for everyone, ‘I’m sorry, I love you’, and called it a night after waving good bye to all the fans. As we walked off the stage into the backstage area, we had an unexpected guest; Darren from Helix.
“Ch’uk’ahamnida,” he said as he handed me a bouquet of flowers.
“What brings you here?” Skye asked him as he gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder.
“Just to congratulate you guys on the 3rd album released,” he smiled.
“Thanks,” Shoei said and started walking off. “I’m gonna go wash this cream off.”
“I’m coming too,” Skye said.
“What about you?” Darren said as he looked at me.
“I’m pretty clean,” I grinned. “Did you see Jae Joong? He was supposed to be hanging out around here.”
“I saw him out the back. He said he’d be back in after he’d finish answering a call.”
“Okay,” I smiled. “Nice flowers, thanks,” I said.
“Glad you like them. I wasn’t sure what you’d like, actually.”
“I’m not really a flower person. But any gift is appreciated,” I laughed.
“You don’t like flowers?” he asked me.
“I think they’re a waste of money, since they wither and dry up. I always tell Jae Joong not to buy flowers.”
“Then what does he give you on anniversaries and birthdays?”
“Jewelry,” I winked.
“Ah… smart move,” he chuckled. “Diamonds are a girls’ best friend, huh?”
“Yep…” I laughed.
“I guess all girls are the same,” he said as he raised an eyebrow.
“That’s not true… Honestly, a card would be enough. Or even just a minute of attention.”
“A minute of attention?”
“Yea… just a hug and a kiss is enough for me. If you wanna show me how much you love me. I’m an affection junkie,” I laughed.
“You mean like this?” he said and he grabbed my face and kissed me before I could react.
I was frozen solid when he kissed me. It was totally unexpected and completely out of character. Then again, I hardly knew him. So why was he kissing me? He smiled as he pulled away, and that was when I came to my senses.
“Darren,” I stammered. “What the hell was that?” I asked him.
“Tell you another day. Gotta go,” he said, and he walked out.
I turned around as he walked past and behind me stood Jae Joong. I will never forget the expression on his face. It was worse than the expressions he used to have when he saw Yun Ho and me publicly displaying our affections. This was the look of betrayal. I had just hurt him terribly.
“Jae Joong,” his name escaped my lips, but I could not continue. How the hell am I gonna explain to him what had just happened?
[Darren’s POV]
I smirked to myself as I walked past Kim Jae Joong. The look on his face was priceless. I licked my lips as I walked out the back door. She tasted of the cream from the cake they were messing around with; sweet. She wasn’t that bad… not bad at all.
Power couple… you’re both going down.
Friday, 20 April 2007
Super Junior's In Our Hearts
Asteria* has decided to organise a small project to send our love to Super Junior...
The project, Super Junior's In Our Hearts, consists of 2 parts...
1. 2 hearts from every Asterian (folded with paper, with a message written on it).
2. A video with messages, artworks & greeting videos from the members of Asteria*.
All these will be sent directly to Super Junior to wish them well. Those who love them as much as we do, please participate...
For more information, visit:
http://z8.invisionfree.com/Asteria/index.php?s=3c6e730dc1d8896baccf52c15c8742be&showforum=60
My hearts for Super Junior...
My heart for Super Junior...
My heart for Kyu Hyun...
You're in our prayers...
I'm sure everyone has heard of the news by now. The first day I heard it, I really didn't feel anything but hoped that they boys would recover soon. Today, I came to the office, and I read the piece of news I've attached below, and I couldn't help but cry. I knew Kyu Hyun was really hurt, but I didn't think it was so serious.
My greatest fear is to die of suffocation and this includes drowning, being caught in a fire and having my lungs incapacitated. To actually hear that Kyu Hyun is going through this, being hard of breathing at some point and being in all that pain really hit me hard. It's horrible to imagine. Just horrible. Eun Hyuk and Ee Teuk had glass shards stuck in their back. Ee Teuk had a cut near his eye. So many close calls. Why has this happened to our favourite boys?
This is not the first accident involving Super Junior members or even TVXQ members.
Remember TXVQ's accident, where they were in a van and the time Jae Joong and Yoo Chun rammed into a tree. Thank god all they got were minor injuries. And there there's Hee Chul's car accident where he broke his leg. How could all these happen? Were they all because the driver was speeding??? Was it carelessness? Or is it some karma thing that because they are so successful, they have to have some misfortune befall them. I seriously hope not.
For now... I am praying for Kyu Hyun... I hope he will recover soon, and will be able to serenade us with his beautiful voice once again. Eun Hyuk, Shin Dong and Ee Teuk... rest well... we need you guys...
Asteria* is currently planning a small project to convey our best wishes to Super Junior. I'll update here when we have a final decision.
My greatest fear is to die of suffocation and this includes drowning, being caught in a fire and having my lungs incapacitated. To actually hear that Kyu Hyun is going through this, being hard of breathing at some point and being in all that pain really hit me hard. It's horrible to imagine. Just horrible. Eun Hyuk and Ee Teuk had glass shards stuck in their back. Ee Teuk had a cut near his eye. So many close calls. Why has this happened to our favourite boys?
This is not the first accident involving Super Junior members or even TVXQ members.
Remember TXVQ's accident, where they were in a van and the time Jae Joong and Yoo Chun rammed into a tree. Thank god all they got were minor injuries. And there there's Hee Chul's car accident where he broke his leg. How could all these happen? Were they all because the driver was speeding??? Was it carelessness? Or is it some karma thing that because they are so successful, they have to have some misfortune befall them. I seriously hope not.
For now... I am praying for Kyu Hyun... I hope he will recover soon, and will be able to serenade us with his beautiful voice once again. Eun Hyuk, Shin Dong and Ee Teuk... rest well... we need you guys...
Asteria* is currently planning a small project to convey our best wishes to Super Junior. I'll update here when we have a final decision.
the 4 of them before the accidentDynamic of the car accident
Credits to juniorsource.com
On April 19, a little after midnight, Kyuhyun, Leeteuk, Eunhyuk, Shindong, and two managers were on their way back to their apartment after a session of KBS Super Junior Kiss The Radio. While they were on the highway, the front left tire busted as the driver was switching lanes and the van ran into the guard rail/medium on the driver's side and skidded for about 30M+. At some point, the momentum caused the van to flip over on its right side.
Kyuhyun was sitting behind the driver's seat, therefore he was the most injured out of all the members. So far, he has a broken foot, fractured hip, broken ribs, and facial scratches/bruises. The fractured hip is bleeding and his broken ribs have come down on his lungs. He has already gone through tracheal resectional surgery to improve his breathing. They made a 1-2cm incision in his chest and inserted a tube so he can breathe better. He was slipping in an out of consciousness, and couldn't really speak because of the shock. Doctors are speculating that he might have to be in the hospital for a few months.
Shindong was the least injured out of the members, and has managed to leave the accident with just cuts and bruises on his face and body. He has been released from the hospital as a patient. There is no word whether or not he has returned to the apartment yet.
Leeteuk had glass shards in his back, and has had a successful surgery to remove them all. He also had a scratch near his eye and various cuts and bruises.
Eunhyuk was also reported to have glass shards in his back, and was said to have stitches.
So far, Kyuhyun is resting because his chest isn't healthy enough to go through surgery. He was transferred from the ER to the ICU. For now he has been given medication so he can rest for surgery.
Regarding schedules, all activities involving these four members have been cancelled. More specifically, MBC Popopo, on which Shindong is an MC, has been cancelled for now. Super Junior T was scheduled to perform on KBS2 Music Bank, but that was cancelled. Kyuhyun was planned to appear in a show filming, but because of his injuries, the network is having a meeting regarding that. Since both DJs for KBS Super Junior Kiss The Radio are injured, they have recruited other Super Junior members to take over temporarily. On the 19th, Ryeowook and Sungmin will DJ. Any date later than that is to be determined after Leeteuk and Eunhyuk's full diagnoses are released. Most likely, other members will be asked to rotate in as DJs.
SM released an official statement saying that the hospital needs to observe Kyuhyun for 3-5 days before releasing a confirmed statement about his health. They also said that Leeteuk has scratches on his forehead and near his eye from the glass. The accident was caused by a deflated left front tire. The driver was trying to switch lanes but lost control and collided with the guard rail.
Thursday, 19 April 2007
Chapter 78: Drive II
>Sierra’s Cut<
Interviewer: It’s been 3 years now, Sierra. How much do you think S-Cube has grown in this time?
Sierra: Well, our musical tastes have been diversified; we’re trying lots of new sounds and incorporating them into our songs. We’re basically trying to create our own brand of R&B.
Interviewer: What about your relationship with your band mates? Has anything changed in these past years?
Sierra: We’re now closer than before. We’re brothers and sister, and there is nothing we don’t share. We feel that as long as we are close and feel like a family unit, there’s nothing anyone can do to break us up. S-Cube will remain S-Cube for as long as Sierra, Skye and Shoei are one.
Interviewer: Your relationship with Yong-ung Jae Joong of TVXQ. What do you think it has done for you, personally and career-wise.
Sierra: Haha… okay… (pauses for a second). I didn’t see this question coming. (looks at producer, producer nods) I think… somehow my relationship with Jae Joong has opened doors for me, and yet, it has made my journey a little bumpier.
Interviewer: How so?
Sierra: Being his girlfriend, I became apart of the elite class of kasu; the young and popular. This was a category I was so afraid that I’d missed when I first came to Korea. I thought that everyone would just view me as this 20 something foreigner, and I wouldn’t fit in or be accepted by the general public because most of the debuting artistes are 17, 18 years old. Again, to some extent, I know that some people never liked the idea of us dating, thinking that I’m not good enough for Jae Joong, and because of that, I’ve had people lashing out at me, at my career.
Interviewer: Has this put a strain on your relationship then?
Sierra: I’ve never thought of it like this. I’ve learnt to ignore those who react negatively towards us, because this is a personal choice. This is our personal life, and if I really wasn’t good enough for him, why would we be dating in the first place? (laughs nervously)
Interviewer: Good point. So where do you see yourself in the next 3 years?
Sierra: Still here, in Korea, with S-Cube, making good music.
Interviewer: No marriage in the works? No solo career?
Sierra: I don't think it’s the time for either of those. S-Cube is slowly rising, and in 3 years, we’ll be at our peak. I wouldn’t want to miss out on any of the fun. (smiles)
Interviwer: Kamsahamnida, Sierra. We hope you have a long and flourishing career ahead with S-Cube.
Sierra: Kamsahamnida. (bows slightly in seat)
>Skye’s Cut<
Skye: Annyeong haseyo, S-Cube Skye-imnida!!!
Interviewer: (laughs) You seem to be in a good mood.
Skye: The album will be out soon, less time in the studios, of course I’m in a good mood.
Interviewer: You sound like you hate being cooped up in doors, so I take it that you love traveling. Have you been anywhere lately?
Skye: Nowhere. Do we look like we have the time? (laughs)
Interviewer: If you have the time, where would you like to go?
Skye: Somewhere far away from Korea.
Interviewer: With Sierra and Shoei?
Skye: (pauses for a moment) Yea…
Interviewer: How nice… so… is Sierra the only one allowed to date in S-Cube?
Skye: Who told you that? (laughs)
Interviewer: So far we’ve not heard any public announcement about you and Shoei having girlfriends.
Skye: Well… I guess so.
Interviewer: Are you hinting that you might have a girlfriend already? Cos that would be big news for everyone.
Skye: No… no… Anieyo… I’m single.
Interviewer: What would you say to hopefuls out there; girls who are waiting for a chance to be serenaded by you?
Skye: (looks at camera with solemn expression and pumps fist) Hwaiting! (laughs hysterically)
Interviewer: We asked Sierra this question earlier. How has the relationship between the 3 of you changed in the past 3 years?
Skye: Well… nuna is now immune to my teasing, so sometimes I need to try extra hard to annoy her. (smiles) Keuraeji nuna? (laughs) I think we understand each other better these days, which means we are more prone to arguing, when we disagree.
Interviewer: Why is that?
Skye: When you know the other person well, you tend to think that somehow you would find the right thing to say to make him or her back down. (laughs) But after we argue, we’d still eat together, work together, and share our problems and happiness with each other. Arguing is just another form of communication.
Interviewer: Aah… I see. So Skye, where do you see yourself in 3 years?
Skye: 3 years… that’s really far away. I guess we’ll still be S-Cube. We’ll have put out our 6th album then, and we’re gonna be sonbae in the industry. (pretends to sob) We’re gonna be old…
Interviewer: I think everyone would agree that you, of all people, will never age.
Skye: Cheongmal? Komawoyo! (grins)
Interviewer: So what about starting a family? What kind of girl would you like to marry?
Skye: Hmm… you know that new girl, Hae Rin?
Interviewer: Yea…
Skye: Someone like her. (smiles)
Interviewer: Really? She looks really sweet, good choice. Why don’t you just date her?
Skye: Haha… if she wants me… (winks)
Interviewer: I’m sure she would. No one would be able to resist you.
Skye: Let’s hope. (smiles)
Interviewer: It has been a pleasure. We’re looking forward to the release of S-Cube’s much anticipated 3rd album. Kamsahamnida!
Skye: Ye… Kamsahamnida.
>Shoei’s Cut<
Interviewer: Shoei, can you greet the audience in Japanese?
Shoei: Konnichiwa! (bows and laughs nervously)
Interviewer: So, Shoei… It’s been 3 years now since S-Cube debuted, how do you feel?
Shoei: I’m very excited.
Interviewer: Excited? That’s all?
Shoei: I’m happy that we have made it this far, and I am proud to be a member of this band.
Interviewer: Do you think S-Cube has evolved in these 3 years?
Shoei: Definitely. I think that we have a more refined sound now. Yes, we don’t write all of our songs, so I’m referring to the few songs we had written, and to our vocal styles.
Interviewer: I’ve heard that your favourite genre is actually Rock. How do you cope with a career in a genre you’re not really into?
Shoei: I wouldn’t say I am not into this genre. Rock is my favourite, but I love music in general.
Interviewer: I see. So would you venture into other genres with S-Cube?
Shoei: Nuna and I are actually working on some fusion pieces. Like me, nuna is also into all different types of music genres, so we’re looking to incorporate different styles into our songs, in the future. Perhaps in the next album.
Interviewer: We’ll certainly look forward to that. (pauses) So, Shoei… why is it we never see you involved with any girls?
Shoei: (laughs softly) Me? Well… I don’t have the time.
Interviewer: Come on… I’m sure you do. Is it because no girl has ever met your expectation?
Shoei: Well… that could be true. The only girl I’ve known for the past 3 years is nuna, and because of her, because I live with her and see her day in, day out… I guess I’ve made her the measurement of any girl I might get involved with.
Interviewer: Are you in love with your nuna? (gasps)
Shoei: No… (laughs) I don’t love her like that. I love her like a sister, and she is a role model to me, and in my mind, she is how a girl should be.
Interviewer: You sure put her high up on that pedestal. (giggles)
Shoei: She deserves to be up there. (smiles)
Interviewer: What’s your most memorable experience, being part of this band?
Shoei: When we won those awards during MKMF, especially for Best Lyrics. Skye and I are still shocked that we’d won that. It was such an honor.
Interviewer: I’m sure everyone feels that it’s an honor you deserve.
Shoei: Kamsahamnida.
Interviewer: It’s been great talking to you, Shoei. We hope to see more great things from you and S-Cube. Kamsahamnida!
Shoei: Kamsahamnida!
>S-Cube Documentary<
(Camera focuses on door. Hand reaches out to ring bell. Skye, dressed in track suit, opens door.)
Skye: Waseo! Omo… we’re not decent yet… (covers chest with hands and laughs)
Shoei: Annyeong… (walks to kitchen with dishes)
Skye: Nuna’s still dressing up, so no tour of the rooms this time. (chuckles)
Shoei: We’re leaving soon! (shouts towards room)
(Sierra walks out of room, looking harried. Suddenly noticed camera.)
Sierra: Annyeong… sorry I’m late. Let’s go.
Skye: We’re shooting the promo video for the new album today.
(all walk into the elevator)
Shoei: You’re squashing me… (Shoei pushes Skye off)
Skye: Am not…
Sierra: Pipe down… you’re on camera, remember?
Skye: Whoops!!! (grins)
(In the van)
Shoei: Usually we’d drive ourselves there… but because of this documentary today, they’ve arranged a van for us.
Skye: You mean, I drive us there.
Sierra: Skye won’t ever let us forget that he’s the only one with a license.
Skye: Aren’t you grateful for me?
Sierra: Yes we are! (nudges Skye’s head with her finger)
(Arrive on set, S-Cube alights from van)
Sierra: Omigod… my legs… (stretches)
Shoei: The jam was horrible. Luckily we managed to arrive on time, or the producer would be upset. (laughs)
S-Cube: Annyeong haseyo! (bows as they walk into hair and makeup area)
(Camera on Sierra. She’s dressed in a longish psychedelic motif tank top and dark colored jeans)
Sierra: Don’t film me now... (laughs) My makeup is half on... I probably look like a freak.
(Camera man asks a question - inaudible)
Sierra: Nae? Oh… the theme today? It’s really just a short message to our fans, and part of today’s shoot will be included as the surprise in the first 1000 copies of the 3rd album. (covers mouth) Omo! I wasn’t supposed to say that was I? (giggles) But this isn’t the only bit of the surprise. Be sure to be the first 1000, and you will get lotsa goodies!
(Camera on Shoei. He’s shirtless, wearing only a pair of jeans, standing by the rack while stylist picks a shirt)
Shoei: Omo! (covers body, and laughs)
Stylist: You don’t need to be so modest, Shoei. (giggles)
Shoei: I’m a good boy, nuna. I don’t go around flashing skin.
Stylist: (sarcastic) Nae….
Shoei: (whispers to camera) She’s evil…
Stylist: I heard that.
Shoei: We’re gonna go crazy on camera today… let’s go bug Skye. It’s my turn to be the annoying one in S-Cube (laughs and sprints off towards Skye, camera follows)
(Camera on Skye)
Skye: Shoei… why are you running around topless?
Shoei: I’ve been requested to do this.
Skye: Liar… don’t scare the children who are watching.
Shoei: I’m too loveable to be scary… (cups his face in his hands and tilts head to side)
Skye: What’s wrong with you today? This image doesn’t suit you. Cut it out…
Shoei: Why can’t I be the cute one for the day?
Skye: Cos that’s my job… you’re the cool one…
Shoei: Shiro…
Skye: Shiro…
Sierra: (from far away) Yaa! Shikkeureoptta!!!
(Skye and Shoei pouts)
(Footage of filming process.)
[Halfway through filming]
Shoei: (panting and sweating) We’re stopping for awhile now. Phew… Why? Break, brunch and we need to film the next round.
Skye: I thought we weren’t dancing for this album.
Sierra: You knew we were dancing… quit whining. (laughs, then turns to face camera) We’re almost done… Just another short segment and it’s a wrap.
Skye: I’m hungry!
Shoei: Then go eat!
Sierra: (shakes head) You see what I have to put up with.
[After lunch and another round of hair and makeup]
Shoei: We’re on our way to the final set, where we will record a short speech and introduce our album.
Skye: Wait up! (yells and runs over, crashing into Sierra and Shoei)
Sierra: Aisshiii… you monkey…
Skye: How many more hours to go?
Sierra: Many more…
Skye: Can you be more specific?
Sierra: I don’t know. Ask the producer.
Skye: Miweo…
[On the set]
Sierra: Look… (holds up CD cover) This is our new album.
Skye: Guess who’s on the cover… Haha!
Sierra: We’ve never put our faces on the cover before, just inside the lyrics booklet. This will be a first.
Shoei: But it’s not exactly your face either… I hardly recognize it.
Sierra: Fine… it’s not me.
Skye: It’s our pet monkey… (laughs hysterically)
(Sierra glares at Skye)
(More behind the scenes footage)
Producer: Okay… it’s a wrap.
Everyone: (whooping sounds)
S-Cube: (bowing) Komapseumnida…
(S-Cube walks out of building and stops to face camera)
Shoei: Well, we’re going home now.
Skye: Dinner first!!!
Shoei: Yes… can’t forget that, can we? Anyway… thank you for watching. We hope this short documentary has given you a little insight on what it takes for us to get our job done. (smiles)
Sierra: And how much fun we have doing it!
Skye: And now… the premier of our promo video, and the MV for our new title track, 'Connect the Dots'…
S-Cube: In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!
(Music starts and screen alternately flashes faces of Sierra, Skye and Shoei. Screen cuts to S-Cube dancing, footage of old performances and MVs, then cuts to S-Cube standing in front of the camera.)
S-Cube: Uri S-Cube-imnida!
Sierra: This is our third year, our third album…
Skye: And as always…
Shoei: We’re back with a brand new sound!
(More footages of CF, MVs and behind the scene footages.)
Shoei: It’s been a crazy year for us, and we’ve finally finished our third album.
Skye: So what are we doing this year for this album launch?
Sierra: We’re having a celebration for our album launch!
Skye: Really?
Shoei: Yep.
Skye: I can’t wait!
Sierra: So be there, to spend a night of music and fun with us.
Shoei: Cos this is one party you don’t want to miss.
S-Cube: The launch party of S-Cube’s 3rd album, ‘Connect the Dots’!
(Party details show up on screen as music continues to play)
Interviewer: It’s been 3 years now, Sierra. How much do you think S-Cube has grown in this time?
Sierra: Well, our musical tastes have been diversified; we’re trying lots of new sounds and incorporating them into our songs. We’re basically trying to create our own brand of R&B.
Interviewer: What about your relationship with your band mates? Has anything changed in these past years?
Sierra: We’re now closer than before. We’re brothers and sister, and there is nothing we don’t share. We feel that as long as we are close and feel like a family unit, there’s nothing anyone can do to break us up. S-Cube will remain S-Cube for as long as Sierra, Skye and Shoei are one.
Interviewer: Your relationship with Yong-ung Jae Joong of TVXQ. What do you think it has done for you, personally and career-wise.
Sierra: Haha… okay… (pauses for a second). I didn’t see this question coming. (looks at producer, producer nods) I think… somehow my relationship with Jae Joong has opened doors for me, and yet, it has made my journey a little bumpier.
Interviewer: How so?
Sierra: Being his girlfriend, I became apart of the elite class of kasu; the young and popular. This was a category I was so afraid that I’d missed when I first came to Korea. I thought that everyone would just view me as this 20 something foreigner, and I wouldn’t fit in or be accepted by the general public because most of the debuting artistes are 17, 18 years old. Again, to some extent, I know that some people never liked the idea of us dating, thinking that I’m not good enough for Jae Joong, and because of that, I’ve had people lashing out at me, at my career.
Interviewer: Has this put a strain on your relationship then?
Sierra: I’ve never thought of it like this. I’ve learnt to ignore those who react negatively towards us, because this is a personal choice. This is our personal life, and if I really wasn’t good enough for him, why would we be dating in the first place? (laughs nervously)
Interviewer: Good point. So where do you see yourself in the next 3 years?
Sierra: Still here, in Korea, with S-Cube, making good music.
Interviewer: No marriage in the works? No solo career?
Sierra: I don't think it’s the time for either of those. S-Cube is slowly rising, and in 3 years, we’ll be at our peak. I wouldn’t want to miss out on any of the fun. (smiles)
Interviwer: Kamsahamnida, Sierra. We hope you have a long and flourishing career ahead with S-Cube.
Sierra: Kamsahamnida. (bows slightly in seat)
>Skye’s Cut<
Skye: Annyeong haseyo, S-Cube Skye-imnida!!!
Interviewer: (laughs) You seem to be in a good mood.
Skye: The album will be out soon, less time in the studios, of course I’m in a good mood.
Interviewer: You sound like you hate being cooped up in doors, so I take it that you love traveling. Have you been anywhere lately?
Skye: Nowhere. Do we look like we have the time? (laughs)
Interviewer: If you have the time, where would you like to go?
Skye: Somewhere far away from Korea.
Interviewer: With Sierra and Shoei?
Skye: (pauses for a moment) Yea…
Interviewer: How nice… so… is Sierra the only one allowed to date in S-Cube?
Skye: Who told you that? (laughs)
Interviewer: So far we’ve not heard any public announcement about you and Shoei having girlfriends.
Skye: Well… I guess so.
Interviewer: Are you hinting that you might have a girlfriend already? Cos that would be big news for everyone.
Skye: No… no… Anieyo… I’m single.
Interviewer: What would you say to hopefuls out there; girls who are waiting for a chance to be serenaded by you?
Skye: (looks at camera with solemn expression and pumps fist) Hwaiting! (laughs hysterically)
Interviewer: We asked Sierra this question earlier. How has the relationship between the 3 of you changed in the past 3 years?
Skye: Well… nuna is now immune to my teasing, so sometimes I need to try extra hard to annoy her. (smiles) Keuraeji nuna? (laughs) I think we understand each other better these days, which means we are more prone to arguing, when we disagree.
Interviewer: Why is that?
Skye: When you know the other person well, you tend to think that somehow you would find the right thing to say to make him or her back down. (laughs) But after we argue, we’d still eat together, work together, and share our problems and happiness with each other. Arguing is just another form of communication.
Interviewer: Aah… I see. So Skye, where do you see yourself in 3 years?
Skye: 3 years… that’s really far away. I guess we’ll still be S-Cube. We’ll have put out our 6th album then, and we’re gonna be sonbae in the industry. (pretends to sob) We’re gonna be old…
Interviewer: I think everyone would agree that you, of all people, will never age.
Skye: Cheongmal? Komawoyo! (grins)
Interviewer: So what about starting a family? What kind of girl would you like to marry?
Skye: Hmm… you know that new girl, Hae Rin?
Interviewer: Yea…
Skye: Someone like her. (smiles)
Interviewer: Really? She looks really sweet, good choice. Why don’t you just date her?
Skye: Haha… if she wants me… (winks)
Interviewer: I’m sure she would. No one would be able to resist you.
Skye: Let’s hope. (smiles)
Interviewer: It has been a pleasure. We’re looking forward to the release of S-Cube’s much anticipated 3rd album. Kamsahamnida!
Skye: Ye… Kamsahamnida.
>Shoei’s Cut<
Interviewer: Shoei, can you greet the audience in Japanese?
Shoei: Konnichiwa! (bows and laughs nervously)
Interviewer: So, Shoei… It’s been 3 years now since S-Cube debuted, how do you feel?
Shoei: I’m very excited.
Interviewer: Excited? That’s all?
Shoei: I’m happy that we have made it this far, and I am proud to be a member of this band.
Interviewer: Do you think S-Cube has evolved in these 3 years?
Shoei: Definitely. I think that we have a more refined sound now. Yes, we don’t write all of our songs, so I’m referring to the few songs we had written, and to our vocal styles.
Interviewer: I’ve heard that your favourite genre is actually Rock. How do you cope with a career in a genre you’re not really into?
Shoei: I wouldn’t say I am not into this genre. Rock is my favourite, but I love music in general.
Interviewer: I see. So would you venture into other genres with S-Cube?
Shoei: Nuna and I are actually working on some fusion pieces. Like me, nuna is also into all different types of music genres, so we’re looking to incorporate different styles into our songs, in the future. Perhaps in the next album.
Interviewer: We’ll certainly look forward to that. (pauses) So, Shoei… why is it we never see you involved with any girls?
Shoei: (laughs softly) Me? Well… I don’t have the time.
Interviewer: Come on… I’m sure you do. Is it because no girl has ever met your expectation?
Shoei: Well… that could be true. The only girl I’ve known for the past 3 years is nuna, and because of her, because I live with her and see her day in, day out… I guess I’ve made her the measurement of any girl I might get involved with.
Interviewer: Are you in love with your nuna? (gasps)
Shoei: No… (laughs) I don’t love her like that. I love her like a sister, and she is a role model to me, and in my mind, she is how a girl should be.
Interviewer: You sure put her high up on that pedestal. (giggles)
Shoei: She deserves to be up there. (smiles)
Interviewer: What’s your most memorable experience, being part of this band?
Shoei: When we won those awards during MKMF, especially for Best Lyrics. Skye and I are still shocked that we’d won that. It was such an honor.
Interviewer: I’m sure everyone feels that it’s an honor you deserve.
Shoei: Kamsahamnida.
Interviewer: It’s been great talking to you, Shoei. We hope to see more great things from you and S-Cube. Kamsahamnida!
Shoei: Kamsahamnida!
>S-Cube Documentary<
(Camera focuses on door. Hand reaches out to ring bell. Skye, dressed in track suit, opens door.)
Skye: Waseo! Omo… we’re not decent yet… (covers chest with hands and laughs)
Shoei: Annyeong… (walks to kitchen with dishes)
Skye: Nuna’s still dressing up, so no tour of the rooms this time. (chuckles)
Shoei: We’re leaving soon! (shouts towards room)
(Sierra walks out of room, looking harried. Suddenly noticed camera.)
Sierra: Annyeong… sorry I’m late. Let’s go.
Skye: We’re shooting the promo video for the new album today.
(all walk into the elevator)
Shoei: You’re squashing me… (Shoei pushes Skye off)
Skye: Am not…
Sierra: Pipe down… you’re on camera, remember?
Skye: Whoops!!! (grins)
(In the van)
Shoei: Usually we’d drive ourselves there… but because of this documentary today, they’ve arranged a van for us.
Skye: You mean, I drive us there.
Sierra: Skye won’t ever let us forget that he’s the only one with a license.
Skye: Aren’t you grateful for me?
Sierra: Yes we are! (nudges Skye’s head with her finger)
(Arrive on set, S-Cube alights from van)
Sierra: Omigod… my legs… (stretches)
Shoei: The jam was horrible. Luckily we managed to arrive on time, or the producer would be upset. (laughs)
S-Cube: Annyeong haseyo! (bows as they walk into hair and makeup area)
(Camera on Sierra. She’s dressed in a longish psychedelic motif tank top and dark colored jeans)
Sierra: Don’t film me now... (laughs) My makeup is half on... I probably look like a freak.
(Camera man asks a question - inaudible)
Sierra: Nae? Oh… the theme today? It’s really just a short message to our fans, and part of today’s shoot will be included as the surprise in the first 1000 copies of the 3rd album. (covers mouth) Omo! I wasn’t supposed to say that was I? (giggles) But this isn’t the only bit of the surprise. Be sure to be the first 1000, and you will get lotsa goodies!
(Camera on Shoei. He’s shirtless, wearing only a pair of jeans, standing by the rack while stylist picks a shirt)
Shoei: Omo! (covers body, and laughs)
Stylist: You don’t need to be so modest, Shoei. (giggles)
Shoei: I’m a good boy, nuna. I don’t go around flashing skin.
Stylist: (sarcastic) Nae….
Shoei: (whispers to camera) She’s evil…
Stylist: I heard that.
Shoei: We’re gonna go crazy on camera today… let’s go bug Skye. It’s my turn to be the annoying one in S-Cube (laughs and sprints off towards Skye, camera follows)
(Camera on Skye)
Skye: Shoei… why are you running around topless?
Shoei: I’ve been requested to do this.
Skye: Liar… don’t scare the children who are watching.
Shoei: I’m too loveable to be scary… (cups his face in his hands and tilts head to side)
Skye: What’s wrong with you today? This image doesn’t suit you. Cut it out…
Shoei: Why can’t I be the cute one for the day?
Skye: Cos that’s my job… you’re the cool one…
Shoei: Shiro…
Skye: Shiro…
Sierra: (from far away) Yaa! Shikkeureoptta!!!
(Skye and Shoei pouts)
(Footage of filming process.)
[Halfway through filming]
Shoei: (panting and sweating) We’re stopping for awhile now. Phew… Why? Break, brunch and we need to film the next round.
Skye: I thought we weren’t dancing for this album.
Sierra: You knew we were dancing… quit whining. (laughs, then turns to face camera) We’re almost done… Just another short segment and it’s a wrap.
Skye: I’m hungry!
Shoei: Then go eat!
Sierra: (shakes head) You see what I have to put up with.
[After lunch and another round of hair and makeup]
Shoei: We’re on our way to the final set, where we will record a short speech and introduce our album.
Skye: Wait up! (yells and runs over, crashing into Sierra and Shoei)
Sierra: Aisshiii… you monkey…
Skye: How many more hours to go?
Sierra: Many more…
Skye: Can you be more specific?
Sierra: I don’t know. Ask the producer.
Skye: Miweo…
[On the set]
Sierra: Look… (holds up CD cover) This is our new album.
Skye: Guess who’s on the cover… Haha!
Sierra: We’ve never put our faces on the cover before, just inside the lyrics booklet. This will be a first.
Shoei: But it’s not exactly your face either… I hardly recognize it.
Sierra: Fine… it’s not me.
Skye: It’s our pet monkey… (laughs hysterically)
(Sierra glares at Skye)
(More behind the scenes footage)
Producer: Okay… it’s a wrap.
Everyone: (whooping sounds)
S-Cube: (bowing) Komapseumnida…
(S-Cube walks out of building and stops to face camera)
Shoei: Well, we’re going home now.
Skye: Dinner first!!!
Shoei: Yes… can’t forget that, can we? Anyway… thank you for watching. We hope this short documentary has given you a little insight on what it takes for us to get our job done. (smiles)
Sierra: And how much fun we have doing it!
Skye: And now… the premier of our promo video, and the MV for our new title track, 'Connect the Dots'…
S-Cube: In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!
(Music starts and screen alternately flashes faces of Sierra, Skye and Shoei. Screen cuts to S-Cube dancing, footage of old performances and MVs, then cuts to S-Cube standing in front of the camera.)
S-Cube: Uri S-Cube-imnida!
Sierra: This is our third year, our third album…
Skye: And as always…
Shoei: We’re back with a brand new sound!
(More footages of CF, MVs and behind the scene footages.)
Shoei: It’s been a crazy year for us, and we’ve finally finished our third album.
Skye: So what are we doing this year for this album launch?
Sierra: We’re having a celebration for our album launch!
Skye: Really?
Shoei: Yep.
Skye: I can’t wait!
Sierra: So be there, to spend a night of music and fun with us.
Shoei: Cos this is one party you don’t want to miss.
S-Cube: The launch party of S-Cube’s 3rd album, ‘Connect the Dots’!
(Party details show up on screen as music continues to play)
Tuesday, 17 April 2007
Chapter 77: Drive I
>S-Cube Cut<
S-Cube: Annyeong haseyo, S-Cube-imnida!
Interviewer: Thank you for being here today. Are there any particular messages you would like to convey to the viewers before we proceed?
Skye: Yeoreobun… we are ready to divulge the deepest, darkest secrets we have been hiding for the past 3 years, please continue watching us on Mnet today!
(Set laughs)
Interviewer: (giggling) That should hold the viewer’s attention for the rest of the program.
Shoei: Skye’s the master at getting attention for us. It’s been his job since the day we debut.
Skye: I thought that was nuna’s job?
Sierra: Why is it my job?
Skye: All those scandals… aigoo…
Interviewer: Which reminds me, we have put together a collage video of all the occasions S-Cube has made the headlines. Would you like to see it?
Shoei: Sure… replay all our moments of embarrassment for all to see. (laughs)
(Video plays. Headlines, videos clips and photographs flash past.)
S-CUBE… SM’S NEW SUCCESS
SM’s latest investment has proven successful.
S-CUBE’S SINGLE BURNING UP THE CHARTS
S-Cube is unstoppable…
SIERRA S-CUBE & YUNHO TVXQ: MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN, LIVING IN HELL
Could their choice of partners hurt them eventually?
S-CUBE ALBUM SALES HURT BY ANTI-FANS
TVXQ fans lash out at S-Cube…
SIERRA’S SECRET LOVER
Does Yun Ho know?
SIERRA: HE’S ONLY A FRIEND
Don’t we all say that?
SIERRA ATTACKED BY ANTI-FANS
And Yun Ho disappears…
SIERRA: BEFORE & AFTER
Was reconstructive surgery necessary?
S-CUBE’S 2ND ALBUM: A RECOVERY
This time… they’re on track
2008 SUMMER SM TOUR: FEATURING BOA, TVXQ, SUPER JUNIOR, S-CUBE, TSZX…
An event not to be missed!!!
JAEJOONG: SIERRA AND I ARE ONE…
Will there be another disaster with this couple?
TVXQ & S-CUBE LIVE IN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
SM’s super combo!!!
S-CUBE AT THE AWARDS
This is S-Cube’s year…
SIERRA HOSPITALIZED
Have SM been overworking their stars?
SIERRA RECOVERS
And blazes a trail up the red carpet…
SIERRA & HAE RIN
A new dawn for female artistes…
S-CUBE’S UPCOMING ALBUM
Will the 3rd time be a charm?
(Video fades and music ends)
Interviewer: So… how do you feel after watching that?
Sierra: It feels like I’ve just had my career and personal life, for the past 3 years, flash past me.
Skye: And nuna’s the only one with her personal news up there.
Interviewer: That’s true. For the past 3 years, most of the troubles and scandals to do with S-Cube are related to Sierra. How do you feel about that Sierra?
Sierra: I’m a little ashamed that I have put our band in unfavorable light because of my scandals and personal issues. But I have a life to live too, and we’re only human. I just hope that Skye and Shoei knows that when it comes to us, as a band… I give 101% to us. My personal life is an entirely separate matter.
Shoei: It’s alright nuna. We understand. (pats Sierra on her back) We’ve never blamed you and we know you are always giving your best to our music.
Interviewer: That’s so sweet. Okay… let’s look through the questions that your fans have relayed to us and see if we can answer them.
S-Cube: Nae…
Interviewer: The first one, what do you think differentiates this new album from the previous ones?
Shoei: I’ll take this one. (laughs) I know it’s really cliché to say that we’ve matured, but it’s the standard answer, and it’s a truth. We have matured, and this is attributed to the experience we’ve gained through these years.
Skye: Right. There are new elements in our music like different instruments, incorporating a little of other musical styles into our current ones. It’s very subtle, but you will notice the difference. Like our title track, ‘Connect the Dots’… it has a hard beat and the voices were given a very… sort of digital feel, which hasn’t really been tried in our usual songs that are usually slow and smooth or fast and groovy.
Interviewer: Nicely answered guys. So, were some of the songs written by you personally?
Sierra: Skye and I wrote 1 of the songs for this album. It’s called ‘(Why Am I) Never Enough’.
Interviewer: Really… But the title sounds sad.
Sierra: It’s a sad song, but with a light tone of music. Hard to describe… (laughs) Skye was bugging us for a song with a Chinese feel. So he and I started working on one, and this is the product.
Interviewer: Are there any experiences from your life which you based your lyrics on?
Skye: ‘Never Enough’, this is the short name, I’m lazy to say it all, (laughs) is about feeling unappreciated, about always feeling that you don’t live up to someone’s expectations.
Interviewer: And have you ever felt like that?
Skye: I’m sure we all have, at some point of our lives, in some relationship.
Sierra: And I think this is one of the reasons how a relationship ends. Feeling that you have given everything and yet the person doesn’t show that it’s good, it’s enough for them.
Interviewer: Sounds painful… and we’re looking forward to hearing it… (laughs)
Skye: And… we got kinda carried away writing Chinese inspired songs that we wrote another.
Interviewer: Really?
Sierra: I sing in Mandarin for this song. It’s the bonus track in this album.
Interviewer: I see… (picks up CD case) ‘Don’t You Know’?
Sierra: That’s the one…
Interviewer: You guys sure are trying out all new stuff.
Skye: This is a duet between me and nuna. Shoei’s not in it.
Interviewer: Why not?
Shoei: We decided that it sounded better with two person, so it was just them recording, and it was made a bonus track.
Interviewer: Very interesting. This is a must listen track on your album then?
S-Cube: Nae…
Interviewer: Araso… (pauses and flips through papers) Here is a probing question. (laughs) Shoei, Skye, we know that Sierra is dating the hot Jae Joong from TVXQ. Did any of you guys wish you can have your nuna?
Skye: (immediately) No!!! That’s crazy…
(Everyone laughs)
Shoei: I think this speculation has been going on since the day we debut. (laughs) We’re naturally very protective of nuna, and we love her a lot.
Sierra: Thanks guys… (laughs)
Skye: We’d beat up the sleaze balls who try to come on to her.
Sierra: Including Jae Joong?
Skye: Not Jae Joong hyung. We don’t have a death wish.
Sierra: So if he happened to be a sleaze ball, you’d still let him have me?
Skye: Erm… yea… I don’t wanna die in the hands of his fans.
(Everyone laughs)
Sierra: (sarcastic tone) Thanks a lot, Skye…
Skye: (winks) No problem.
Shoei: The answer to that question is, ‘No’. Sierra will always be our nuna and we’ll always be there for her as her brothers and band mates.
Interviewer: Aww… that’s so sweet. Right, let's go back to the album, what is your favorite song?
Skye: All of them? (laughs) Erm… ‘Never Enough’, since I wrote it!
Sierra: Typical… (smirks at Skye) I like ‘Waiting for You’, the song we collaborated with Hee Chul from Super Junior.
Interviewer: Shoei?
Shoei: I like ‘Connect the Dots’, cos it’s totally different from our usual style.
Interviewer: Which song was the most difficult to interpret and why?
Sierra: I would say ‘Connect the Dots’ because it’s fierce and angry, unlike our usual style.
Shoei: Same for me. It was a challenge, but it was truly refreshing to sing something different.
Skye: Me too…
Interviewer: So the new concept for this album is a tougher image?
Shoei: Whilst maintaining soul… don’t forget soul… (smiles)
Interviewer: Yes, soul… (laughs) Any plans for a solo concert?
Skye: None at the moment. Let’s release a few more albums, so that we’ll have a bigger repertoire for the concert. (the rest nod in agreement)
Interviewer: Okay. Here’s a question for Sierra. You have worked in a close collaboration with Hae Rin, do you think the song is in connection with the rest of your songs, complementary or totally different?
Sierra: Hae Rin is singing ballad, and we’re R&B. I guess it is totally different from our usual style. But for ‘Wanna Be’, our collaboration, I think it’s got a little R&B flavor, and that makes it complementary to my work with S-Cube.
Interviewer: I see. It was a great song, ‘Wanna Be’. The MV was beautiful.
Sierra: Kamsahamnida.
Interviewer: I have here another onslaught of questions for Sierra. Are you prepared to answer them all?
Sierra: (looks at Skye and Shoei) Should I?
Shoei: Go ahead… (smiling) we’ll just sit back and relax while you do all the talking.
Skye: Yea… wake us when you’re done. (pretends to close eyes and sleep)
(The set laughs)
Interviewer: Okay… Sierra, it is common knowledge that you are dating Jae Joong of TVXQ... what do the two most bankable singers in the Korean industry do when they go on dates? Do they have ordinary dates just like the ordinary people?
Sierra: Yea… we have ordinary dates, but sometimes, I think it’s not so ordinary when we have to hide. (laughs) There are days when we prefer to really be alone, so we’d go to spots that are a little obscure.
Interviewer: Where do you go?
Sierra: It wouldn’t be obscure anymore if I announced it on TV, would it?
Interviewer: (laughing) No… good point. Next question, what was the hardest thing to adapt to, moving to Korea?
Skye: I can answer that for her… the weather! Everyone should know that.
Interviewer: Really?
Sierra: I’m a tropical girl. The cold weather was the one thing I had to get used to. Even now… I still hate the cold. And yea… all the guys are constantly hearing me complain about the cold.
Interviewer: Then I guess you wouldn’t go skiing either?
Sierra: Not very keen on it.
Interviewer: Okay… How does being the only girl in the band make you feel? Are there any 'special duties' you feel you have had to take on because of this?
Sierra: Honestly, I’ve always felt like one of the guys, but they never let me forget that I’m a girl.
Interviewer: How?
Sierra: By making me do those ‘special duties’. They’re always asking me to cook, to give them facials…
Interviewer: Facials?
Skye: (jumps up) She’s lying!!!
Sierra: Skye’s the vainest. He’s the one who has to have a facial every week.
Skye: Keojinmal!!!
Sierra: Let’s ignore him.
Interviewer: Okay… (giggles)
Sierra: Anyway… I think the main thing that I try to do as the only girl is that I try to be a mother to them.
Shoei: Which gets annoying sometimes… especially when she nags.
Sierra: I’m a typical girl. I nag. It’s normal.
Shoei: The nagging is not welcomed, but apart from the nagging, she does take care of us.
Sierra: I try to.
Skye: You’re pretty good at it. You should have kids soon.
Sierra: Michoso…
Shoei: Sierra will be a great mother in the future.
Interviewer: That’s nice to hear. We’re looking forward to when Sierra has beautiful children with Jae Joong. Are you both getting married anytime soon?
(Sierra blushes and everyone laughs.)
Sierra: We’re at the peak of our careers now. I think marriage is not on our schedules for now.
Interviewer: But later?
Sierra: Maybe… (laughs nervously)
Interviewer: Here are questions for S-Cube. We understand that being in one band necessarily means living together in one apartment - care to spill the beans on some quirky/bad habits that your band mates have?
Skye: I wanna go first…
(Sierra covers Skye’s mouth with her hands)
Sierra: No, no, no…
Shoei: Then I’ll start. Skye… when in a good mood, he sings off-key. Imagine waking up to that every morning.
Skye: I do not…
Sierra: Yes you do!
Skye: Nuna sleeps with a bolster!
Sierra: Yes I do. I like to have something to hug.
Skye: When Jae Joong hyung doesn’t come over? (wiggles eyebrows)
Sierra: Even when Jae Joong is around, I will hug my bolster. It’s softer. (giggles)
Interviewer: I guess that’s a compliment to Jae Joong.
Sierra: It is… (winks)
Skye: And Shoei…he spaces out a lot.
Sierra: Yea… we’d walk out from our rooms and find him sitting in front of the TV, spacing out.
Skye: The TV won’t be on.
Shoei: I’m having deep thoughts.
Interviewer: I’m sure you are.
Shoei: Nuna has another habit, which is a good one.
Interviewer: What is it?
Shoei: She carries a lot of stuff around. You will never see her with a little bag, unless she’s going shopping or somewhere with Jae Joong hyung, in that case she only needs her credit card. (snickers) But when we’re working; going to dance training or recording, you will see her carrying a huge bag.
Skye: She’s got an arsenal in there.
Interviewer: What do you carry in it?
Sierra: A change of clothes, for when we have dance training, a towel, water, my wallet, lip balm, some cosmetics, in case we need to go somewhere later, medicine, mp3 player, tissue paper… the usual stuff.
Skye: The most impressive would be her medicine case. She’s got something for everything. (laughs)
Shoei: Which is good… cos we never have to worry when we get sick, since nuna would always have the cure.
Interviewer: I guess this is what you meant by being the mother.
Sierra: Yes…
Interviewer: Here’s a favorite question. Besides TVXQ, for obvious reasons, which other celebrities do you guys most often hang out with? How close are you?
Sierra: Hmm…
Skye: Yea… hmm…
Shoei: Super Junior… we hang out a lot. We’re always having dinner, or playing soccer during the weekends.
Skye: Brian and Hwan Hee hyung.
Sierra: They are both very supportive, especially when we have live performances at bars or wherever, you would most probably see them there.
Shoei: Min Woo and Jun Jin hyung as well. We meet them from time to time, for advice.
Interviewer: It seems that you’re pretty close with some of your sonbae.
Sierra: Which is a good thing because we have a lot to learn from them.
Shoei: Yea… They’d been very supportive and helpful when it comes to our careers.
Interviewer: It’s great to know that the kasu community is actually caring and friendly. All the news of constant rivalry we always hear of have always lead us to believe that not many friends are made in the industry, especially when the kasu are singing the same genre.
Skye: Yea… it’s pretty untrue.
Interviewer: I guess we will stop here… or we’ll be here for the rest of the week. (laughs) If your questions have not been answered here, they will probably be addressed during the one on one session I will have with each member of S-Cube. Please continue to watch the next episodes of the S-Cube special to know the answers. Any last words?
Sierra: This is our third year… and to us, we’re making a big deal of it, corny as it may seem, since there are 3 of us in this band.
Skye: How we’re making a big deal of it? Shall we tell them?
Interviewer: Please do tell us.
Shoei: Well… there will be a surprise in the first 1000 copies of our album, nationwide. If you want to be the lucky recipients of the surprise, please be the first 1000 to purchase our album.
Interviewer: Can I get a special copy?
Skye: Sure… (smiles slyly) Be one of the first 1000.
Interviewer: (laughing) I will try… Wow! The anticipation sure is getting unbearable… Viewers, remember to tune in for the next episodes of S-Cube’s exclusive interviews, only on Mnet. Kamsahamnida!
S-Cube: Kamsahamnida! (waves)
S-Cube: Annyeong haseyo, S-Cube-imnida!
Interviewer: Thank you for being here today. Are there any particular messages you would like to convey to the viewers before we proceed?
Skye: Yeoreobun… we are ready to divulge the deepest, darkest secrets we have been hiding for the past 3 years, please continue watching us on Mnet today!
(Set laughs)
Interviewer: (giggling) That should hold the viewer’s attention for the rest of the program.
Shoei: Skye’s the master at getting attention for us. It’s been his job since the day we debut.
Skye: I thought that was nuna’s job?
Sierra: Why is it my job?
Skye: All those scandals… aigoo…
Interviewer: Which reminds me, we have put together a collage video of all the occasions S-Cube has made the headlines. Would you like to see it?
Shoei: Sure… replay all our moments of embarrassment for all to see. (laughs)
(Video plays. Headlines, videos clips and photographs flash past.)
S-CUBE… SM’S NEW SUCCESS
SM’s latest investment has proven successful.
S-CUBE’S SINGLE BURNING UP THE CHARTS
S-Cube is unstoppable…
SIERRA S-CUBE & YUNHO TVXQ: MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN, LIVING IN HELL
Could their choice of partners hurt them eventually?
S-CUBE ALBUM SALES HURT BY ANTI-FANS
TVXQ fans lash out at S-Cube…
SIERRA’S SECRET LOVER
Does Yun Ho know?
SIERRA: HE’S ONLY A FRIEND
Don’t we all say that?
SIERRA ATTACKED BY ANTI-FANS
And Yun Ho disappears…
SIERRA: BEFORE & AFTER
Was reconstructive surgery necessary?
S-CUBE’S 2ND ALBUM: A RECOVERY
This time… they’re on track
2008 SUMMER SM TOUR: FEATURING BOA, TVXQ, SUPER JUNIOR, S-CUBE, TSZX…
An event not to be missed!!!
JAEJOONG: SIERRA AND I ARE ONE…
Will there be another disaster with this couple?
TVXQ & S-CUBE LIVE IN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
SM’s super combo!!!
S-CUBE AT THE AWARDS
This is S-Cube’s year…
SIERRA HOSPITALIZED
Have SM been overworking their stars?
SIERRA RECOVERS
And blazes a trail up the red carpet…
SIERRA & HAE RIN
A new dawn for female artistes…
S-CUBE’S UPCOMING ALBUM
Will the 3rd time be a charm?
(Video fades and music ends)
Interviewer: So… how do you feel after watching that?
Sierra: It feels like I’ve just had my career and personal life, for the past 3 years, flash past me.
Skye: And nuna’s the only one with her personal news up there.
Interviewer: That’s true. For the past 3 years, most of the troubles and scandals to do with S-Cube are related to Sierra. How do you feel about that Sierra?
Sierra: I’m a little ashamed that I have put our band in unfavorable light because of my scandals and personal issues. But I have a life to live too, and we’re only human. I just hope that Skye and Shoei knows that when it comes to us, as a band… I give 101% to us. My personal life is an entirely separate matter.
Shoei: It’s alright nuna. We understand. (pats Sierra on her back) We’ve never blamed you and we know you are always giving your best to our music.
Interviewer: That’s so sweet. Okay… let’s look through the questions that your fans have relayed to us and see if we can answer them.
S-Cube: Nae…
Interviewer: The first one, what do you think differentiates this new album from the previous ones?
Shoei: I’ll take this one. (laughs) I know it’s really cliché to say that we’ve matured, but it’s the standard answer, and it’s a truth. We have matured, and this is attributed to the experience we’ve gained through these years.
Skye: Right. There are new elements in our music like different instruments, incorporating a little of other musical styles into our current ones. It’s very subtle, but you will notice the difference. Like our title track, ‘Connect the Dots’… it has a hard beat and the voices were given a very… sort of digital feel, which hasn’t really been tried in our usual songs that are usually slow and smooth or fast and groovy.
Interviewer: Nicely answered guys. So, were some of the songs written by you personally?
Sierra: Skye and I wrote 1 of the songs for this album. It’s called ‘(Why Am I) Never Enough’.
Interviewer: Really… But the title sounds sad.
Sierra: It’s a sad song, but with a light tone of music. Hard to describe… (laughs) Skye was bugging us for a song with a Chinese feel. So he and I started working on one, and this is the product.
Interviewer: Are there any experiences from your life which you based your lyrics on?
Skye: ‘Never Enough’, this is the short name, I’m lazy to say it all, (laughs) is about feeling unappreciated, about always feeling that you don’t live up to someone’s expectations.
Interviewer: And have you ever felt like that?
Skye: I’m sure we all have, at some point of our lives, in some relationship.
Sierra: And I think this is one of the reasons how a relationship ends. Feeling that you have given everything and yet the person doesn’t show that it’s good, it’s enough for them.
Interviewer: Sounds painful… and we’re looking forward to hearing it… (laughs)
Skye: And… we got kinda carried away writing Chinese inspired songs that we wrote another.
Interviewer: Really?
Sierra: I sing in Mandarin for this song. It’s the bonus track in this album.
Interviewer: I see… (picks up CD case) ‘Don’t You Know’?
Sierra: That’s the one…
Interviewer: You guys sure are trying out all new stuff.
Skye: This is a duet between me and nuna. Shoei’s not in it.
Interviewer: Why not?
Shoei: We decided that it sounded better with two person, so it was just them recording, and it was made a bonus track.
Interviewer: Very interesting. This is a must listen track on your album then?
S-Cube: Nae…
Interviewer: Araso… (pauses and flips through papers) Here is a probing question. (laughs) Shoei, Skye, we know that Sierra is dating the hot Jae Joong from TVXQ. Did any of you guys wish you can have your nuna?
Skye: (immediately) No!!! That’s crazy…
(Everyone laughs)
Shoei: I think this speculation has been going on since the day we debut. (laughs) We’re naturally very protective of nuna, and we love her a lot.
Sierra: Thanks guys… (laughs)
Skye: We’d beat up the sleaze balls who try to come on to her.
Sierra: Including Jae Joong?
Skye: Not Jae Joong hyung. We don’t have a death wish.
Sierra: So if he happened to be a sleaze ball, you’d still let him have me?
Skye: Erm… yea… I don’t wanna die in the hands of his fans.
(Everyone laughs)
Sierra: (sarcastic tone) Thanks a lot, Skye…
Skye: (winks) No problem.
Shoei: The answer to that question is, ‘No’. Sierra will always be our nuna and we’ll always be there for her as her brothers and band mates.
Interviewer: Aww… that’s so sweet. Right, let's go back to the album, what is your favorite song?
Skye: All of them? (laughs) Erm… ‘Never Enough’, since I wrote it!
Sierra: Typical… (smirks at Skye) I like ‘Waiting for You’, the song we collaborated with Hee Chul from Super Junior.
Interviewer: Shoei?
Shoei: I like ‘Connect the Dots’, cos it’s totally different from our usual style.
Interviewer: Which song was the most difficult to interpret and why?
Sierra: I would say ‘Connect the Dots’ because it’s fierce and angry, unlike our usual style.
Shoei: Same for me. It was a challenge, but it was truly refreshing to sing something different.
Skye: Me too…
Interviewer: So the new concept for this album is a tougher image?
Shoei: Whilst maintaining soul… don’t forget soul… (smiles)
Interviewer: Yes, soul… (laughs) Any plans for a solo concert?
Skye: None at the moment. Let’s release a few more albums, so that we’ll have a bigger repertoire for the concert. (the rest nod in agreement)
Interviewer: Okay. Here’s a question for Sierra. You have worked in a close collaboration with Hae Rin, do you think the song is in connection with the rest of your songs, complementary or totally different?
Sierra: Hae Rin is singing ballad, and we’re R&B. I guess it is totally different from our usual style. But for ‘Wanna Be’, our collaboration, I think it’s got a little R&B flavor, and that makes it complementary to my work with S-Cube.
Interviewer: I see. It was a great song, ‘Wanna Be’. The MV was beautiful.
Sierra: Kamsahamnida.
Interviewer: I have here another onslaught of questions for Sierra. Are you prepared to answer them all?
Sierra: (looks at Skye and Shoei) Should I?
Shoei: Go ahead… (smiling) we’ll just sit back and relax while you do all the talking.
Skye: Yea… wake us when you’re done. (pretends to close eyes and sleep)
(The set laughs)
Interviewer: Okay… Sierra, it is common knowledge that you are dating Jae Joong of TVXQ... what do the two most bankable singers in the Korean industry do when they go on dates? Do they have ordinary dates just like the ordinary people?
Sierra: Yea… we have ordinary dates, but sometimes, I think it’s not so ordinary when we have to hide. (laughs) There are days when we prefer to really be alone, so we’d go to spots that are a little obscure.
Interviewer: Where do you go?
Sierra: It wouldn’t be obscure anymore if I announced it on TV, would it?
Interviewer: (laughing) No… good point. Next question, what was the hardest thing to adapt to, moving to Korea?
Skye: I can answer that for her… the weather! Everyone should know that.
Interviewer: Really?
Sierra: I’m a tropical girl. The cold weather was the one thing I had to get used to. Even now… I still hate the cold. And yea… all the guys are constantly hearing me complain about the cold.
Interviewer: Then I guess you wouldn’t go skiing either?
Sierra: Not very keen on it.
Interviewer: Okay… How does being the only girl in the band make you feel? Are there any 'special duties' you feel you have had to take on because of this?
Sierra: Honestly, I’ve always felt like one of the guys, but they never let me forget that I’m a girl.
Interviewer: How?
Sierra: By making me do those ‘special duties’. They’re always asking me to cook, to give them facials…
Interviewer: Facials?
Skye: (jumps up) She’s lying!!!
Sierra: Skye’s the vainest. He’s the one who has to have a facial every week.
Skye: Keojinmal!!!
Sierra: Let’s ignore him.
Interviewer: Okay… (giggles)
Sierra: Anyway… I think the main thing that I try to do as the only girl is that I try to be a mother to them.
Shoei: Which gets annoying sometimes… especially when she nags.
Sierra: I’m a typical girl. I nag. It’s normal.
Shoei: The nagging is not welcomed, but apart from the nagging, she does take care of us.
Sierra: I try to.
Skye: You’re pretty good at it. You should have kids soon.
Sierra: Michoso…
Shoei: Sierra will be a great mother in the future.
Interviewer: That’s nice to hear. We’re looking forward to when Sierra has beautiful children with Jae Joong. Are you both getting married anytime soon?
(Sierra blushes and everyone laughs.)
Sierra: We’re at the peak of our careers now. I think marriage is not on our schedules for now.
Interviewer: But later?
Sierra: Maybe… (laughs nervously)
Interviewer: Here are questions for S-Cube. We understand that being in one band necessarily means living together in one apartment - care to spill the beans on some quirky/bad habits that your band mates have?
Skye: I wanna go first…
(Sierra covers Skye’s mouth with her hands)
Sierra: No, no, no…
Shoei: Then I’ll start. Skye… when in a good mood, he sings off-key. Imagine waking up to that every morning.
Skye: I do not…
Sierra: Yes you do!
Skye: Nuna sleeps with a bolster!
Sierra: Yes I do. I like to have something to hug.
Skye: When Jae Joong hyung doesn’t come over? (wiggles eyebrows)
Sierra: Even when Jae Joong is around, I will hug my bolster. It’s softer. (giggles)
Interviewer: I guess that’s a compliment to Jae Joong.
Sierra: It is… (winks)
Skye: And Shoei…he spaces out a lot.
Sierra: Yea… we’d walk out from our rooms and find him sitting in front of the TV, spacing out.
Skye: The TV won’t be on.
Shoei: I’m having deep thoughts.
Interviewer: I’m sure you are.
Shoei: Nuna has another habit, which is a good one.
Interviewer: What is it?
Shoei: She carries a lot of stuff around. You will never see her with a little bag, unless she’s going shopping or somewhere with Jae Joong hyung, in that case she only needs her credit card. (snickers) But when we’re working; going to dance training or recording, you will see her carrying a huge bag.
Skye: She’s got an arsenal in there.
Interviewer: What do you carry in it?
Sierra: A change of clothes, for when we have dance training, a towel, water, my wallet, lip balm, some cosmetics, in case we need to go somewhere later, medicine, mp3 player, tissue paper… the usual stuff.
Skye: The most impressive would be her medicine case. She’s got something for everything. (laughs)
Shoei: Which is good… cos we never have to worry when we get sick, since nuna would always have the cure.
Interviewer: I guess this is what you meant by being the mother.
Sierra: Yes…
Interviewer: Here’s a favorite question. Besides TVXQ, for obvious reasons, which other celebrities do you guys most often hang out with? How close are you?
Sierra: Hmm…
Skye: Yea… hmm…
Shoei: Super Junior… we hang out a lot. We’re always having dinner, or playing soccer during the weekends.
Skye: Brian and Hwan Hee hyung.
Sierra: They are both very supportive, especially when we have live performances at bars or wherever, you would most probably see them there.
Shoei: Min Woo and Jun Jin hyung as well. We meet them from time to time, for advice.
Interviewer: It seems that you’re pretty close with some of your sonbae.
Sierra: Which is a good thing because we have a lot to learn from them.
Shoei: Yea… They’d been very supportive and helpful when it comes to our careers.
Interviewer: It’s great to know that the kasu community is actually caring and friendly. All the news of constant rivalry we always hear of have always lead us to believe that not many friends are made in the industry, especially when the kasu are singing the same genre.
Skye: Yea… it’s pretty untrue.
Interviewer: I guess we will stop here… or we’ll be here for the rest of the week. (laughs) If your questions have not been answered here, they will probably be addressed during the one on one session I will have with each member of S-Cube. Please continue to watch the next episodes of the S-Cube special to know the answers. Any last words?
Sierra: This is our third year… and to us, we’re making a big deal of it, corny as it may seem, since there are 3 of us in this band.
Skye: How we’re making a big deal of it? Shall we tell them?
Interviewer: Please do tell us.
Shoei: Well… there will be a surprise in the first 1000 copies of our album, nationwide. If you want to be the lucky recipients of the surprise, please be the first 1000 to purchase our album.
Interviewer: Can I get a special copy?
Skye: Sure… (smiles slyly) Be one of the first 1000.
Interviewer: (laughing) I will try… Wow! The anticipation sure is getting unbearable… Viewers, remember to tune in for the next episodes of S-Cube’s exclusive interviews, only on Mnet. Kamsahamnida!
S-Cube: Kamsahamnida! (waves)
Wednesday, 11 April 2007
Chapter 76: Phantom III
Jae Joong was the first to react to Yoo Chun’s comment.
“Gay? Are you saying I’m some gay magnet?” he laughed.
“I wouldn’t rule out the possibility,” Yoo Chun laughed.
“Omigod…” I said. “A gay man is after me because he’s in love with you?” I said to Jae Joong.
“Gay magnet!” Jun Su exclaimed, the guys laughed.
“If he really is a gay fan, I wouldn’t be laughing about this now,” Yun Ho smiled grimly.
“What are we going to do when they catch him?” Shoei asked.
“First of all, we’re going to sue him for trespassing,” Yun Ho said.
“Then for attempting to cause harm to Sierra,” Jae Joong said as he tightened his arm around me.
“You guys have everything thought out, don’t you?” I smiled. “I’m sure it was a moment of insanity. The guy just needs some therapy.”
“Which they will provide in prison,” Shoei said.
“Let’s just wait till he’s caught,” Yoo Chun said.
“Don’t you guys need to continue?” I asked them.
“The technician and producer went out as soon as Yun Ho and Jun Su hyung went missing. I think they went for a drink. We’ll need to wait for them to get back,” Chang Min said.
“Well, then we should get back to ours,” Shoei said.
“Yea,” I agreed.
“You’re alright?” Jae Joong asked me.
“I’m fine. Just a little freaked out just now, but fine,” I replied.
“We’re not leaving you alone from now on,” Shoei said.
“Yea,” Yun Ho agreed. “Until this psycho is caught, you should not go anywhere alone.”
“Araso,” I said as I stood up from the chair.
“I’ll see you later,” Jae Joong said as he lifted my hand and kissed it.
“Later?” I looked at him questioningly.
“I’ll have dinner with you. I should’ve walked you to the studios just now,” he sighed.
“No harm done,” I smiled as I caressed his neck. “I’m fine.”
“But you were in danger,” he said.
“I’m fine now,” I insisted.
“Let’s go,” Shoei said.
“Yea… we’re making a scene here,” I laughed, referring to Jae Joong and me.
“Glad you know it,” Yoo Chun winked and Jae Joong stuck his tongue out at Yoo Chun.
That night, Jae Joong dropped by our studios as promised, and waited for me until I’d finished recording.
“They found the guy,” Jae Joong said as we walked hand in hand toward the elevator.
“Who is he?”
“Apparently, he’s a staff here. That’s how he got in, and I wouldn’t have believed it if the police hadn’t said it; Yoo Chun was right.”
“Right? You mean the guy’s gay?”
“Yep,” he replied, and I started laughing hysterically. “You shouldn’t laugh,” he smiled. “That would be sexual discrimination.”
“I’m not laughing at the guy. I’m laughing at you,” I said as I continued laughing.
“You shouldn’t laugh anyway,” he said as we entered the elevator. “You could’ve been hurt.”
“I’m fine now,” I said as I put my arms around his waist.
“Thank god,” he said as he put his arm around me.
“So where are we going?” I asked him.
“How about making up for the dinner we missed more than 2 weeks ago?”
“Good idea,” I replied.
We ended up at Jackie’s Kitchen, and yes… it’s Jackie Chan we’re talking about. The man’s a brand… I’d always thought the place to be a little gimmicky, but at the end of the day, I love my Chinese food, and I don’t care where it comes from as long as it’s nice.
The ambience was actually pretty good at Jackie’s Kitchen. We sat by the windows, overlooking the street, and if you looked up, you could see the sky since the roof was made of glass in that section. Not exactly the wisest place to sit since it was very public, but somehow that night, not many people interrupted us.
We ordered prawn dumplings, fried rice and stir fried noodles in black bean sauce. Jae Joong was laughing hysterically when the prawn dumplings arrived.
“Why are you laughing?” I asked him as I picked up my chopsticks happily.
“I should have a camera ready next time,” he laughed.
“For what?” I said as I stuffed a dumpling into my mouth, which was a mistake since it was piping hot inside.
“The look on your face when the waiter set the dumpling down on the table… it’s priceless.”
“What do you mean?” I said as I quickly drank some water to cool down the contents in my mouth.
“The way your eyes lit up,” he smiled.
“Oh…” I grinned sheepishly. “You know how much I love dim sum.”
“Yea… you love dumplings in any form. Dim sum, mandu… it’s a wonder your face doesn’t look like a dumpling.”
“Now you’re being mean,” I pouted.
“But you’d be a very cute dumpling,” he said, and I smiled.
“Come on… eat. Before I finish it all,” I laughed, and he picked up his chopsticks.
“So…” I smiled. “You still haven’t said anything about the MV.”
“The MV?” he said, his chopsticks in mid-air.
“Si Won and I?”
“Oh… the MV,” he murmured as he picked up a dumpling with his chopsticks. “Isn’t it a good thing that I’m not saying anything?”
“I don’t know. It depends on how you’re feeling.”
“How I’m feeling,” he laughed softly.
“Come on… didn’t you feel a little jealous? Not even a tiny bit?”
“Si Won wouldn’t dare touch you for any other purpose other than work,” Jae Joong said.
“Still… you’re telling me you felt nothing when you watched the clip?”
“Nope. Nothing…”
“I know why,” I said.
“Why?”
“If it had been someone like Darren from Helix, or Bi sonbae, I don’t think you’d act so nonchalant about it.”
“What?”
“Si Won’s your friend, and you trust him. But if it were someone you didn’t really know personally, I don’t think you’d be keeping you cool.”
“Hey… if the guy acted professionally, I have nothing to get upset about. If Si Won did come on to you during filming, I would kick his butt.”
“Really?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Yea,” he said with conviction. “So did he?” he added, and I burst into laughter.
The way his expression changed really cracked me up. One moment he was saying how confident he was of his friend, and then suddenly throwing a question at me which more or less showed that he wasn’t that confident after all.
“Pabo,” I said as my laughter subsided. “Si Won was so uneasy and scared throughout the filming. He was kinda afraid of what you might say.”
“I’m okay. And to answer your question, yes… I felt a little uneasy watching my friend hit on my girlfriend,” he admitted.
I think I was almost beaming, knowing that he felt jealous. I can’t explain why it would feel good, but it did. To know that he was jealous sort of proves to me that he is possessive. Not that he was possessive to the extent that he locks me up, but to some extent, it felt good to know that he feels that I belong to him, and I wanted to belong to him.
“Why are you smiling,” he said, the corners of his mouth turning up. “Pabo…” he said affectionately and reached over to grab my hand and give it a light squeeze.
By the end of dinner, we’d signed at least 3 autographs, taken pictures with some of them and there was even this tourist from Malaysia who came up to greet us.
“You’re Sierra from S-Cube?” the girl said in English.
“Yes I am,” I smiled. “You’re not local, are you?”
“I’m from Malaysia!” she almost squealed.
“Really? Nice… What's your name?” I said.
“I’m Ling,” she replied.
“Hello Ling,” I said, as I shook her hand.
“Why haven’t S-Cube come to Malaysia?” she asked me.
“It’s not in the management’s plans, I guess.”
“But you’re from Malaysia. You should come and hold a concert soon,” she said.
“Maybe soon, and if we do come, I will make sure they inform everyone in Malaysia that I’m coming back,” I laughed.
“Really? Then we’ll be waiting,” she smiled. “Can I have your autograph?”
“Sure,” I said, as I signed her book.
“And Jae Joong’s too?” Ling said as she held her book out to Jae Joong.
“Sure,” he smiled, and signed her book for her.
“Can I take a picture with the both of you?” she asked us, and we complied with the help of a waiter.
“Sierra will come home soon,” Jae Joong told Ling before she left.
“Okay…” she replied. “Jae Joong! Your English is so much better now!”
“Ah… Cheongmal? Thank you,” he laughed softly.
“Must be Sierra’s influence,” she added.
“Definitely,” I quipped.
“You should go back soon,” Jae Joong said as we sat down after Ling left.
“The management has never talked about such plans. And you know that they don’t really listen to our input when it’s to do with promotional issues.”
“But it’s your home, and I am sure you have a legion of fans waiting for S-Cube to hold a concert. One of their own is in S-Cube. The tickets would be sold-out within the day.”
“We’re not TVXQ,” I laughed. “Our ticket sales don’t move that fast.”
“I still think the management is making a big mistake,” he said as he ate his noodles.
“It’s not our call,” I shrugged. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”
The next morning, the news about the ‘attack’ on me was all over the papers.
‘Gay Jae Joong fan lashes out at Sierra!’ was the main headline. The guys laughed till they were in stitches when they read it.
“Hyung!” Chang Min exclaimed, almost in tears. “It was really a gay fan!”
“Very funny, Chang Min,” Jae Joong said sarcastically.
“I don’t find it funny,” Yun Ho said. “Sierra could’ve been seriously hurt.”
“We know that hyung, calm down,” Jun Su said as he put his hand on Yun Ho’s shoulder. “It’s just really funny to know that Jae Joong hyung had such an extreme male fan.”
“Yea… we’ve heard of gay fans,” Yoo Chun said, “and we are aware that not only Jae Joong hyung has them,” he quickly added, “but it’s just funny that one of them went public about it.”
“He’s a madman,” Jae Joong said.
“That I agree too,” Jun Su said.
“How’s the hand?” I asked Jun Su.
“Better,” he smiled. “Thanks to your loving attention,” he winked, for Jae Joong’s benefit.
“Xiah Jun Su,” Jae Joong said and scowled at him.
“Oops,” he said, covering his mouth. “We mustn’t be too open with our affections, Sierra. Alright?” Jun Su said in a stage whisper, and I giggled.
“The both of you have no shame?” Jae Joong said, pretending to be hurt.
Jun Su and I looked at him, and we started giggling again.
That afternoon, Skye, Shoei and I were filming a promotional video for the album. This was different from an MV. They’ve planned a short film, documentary style, for us, and this will begin airing the week before our album launch. There will be 5 episodes; 1 documentary of our activities, 1 interview as a group and 3 separate interviews. They will be aired separately for the next 4 weeks. And the final episode is a special premier of our second MV.
They had an interviewer from Mnet come and we each took turns and sat down in with the interviewer. The camera would only be filming us, with the interviewer sitting beside the camera, across from us, and from time to time, they would cut to video clips and etcetera, taken from events and performances we’ve had in the past 3 years. Before the individual interviews, we had an interview as a group…
“Gay? Are you saying I’m some gay magnet?” he laughed.
“I wouldn’t rule out the possibility,” Yoo Chun laughed.
“Omigod…” I said. “A gay man is after me because he’s in love with you?” I said to Jae Joong.
“Gay magnet!” Jun Su exclaimed, the guys laughed.
“If he really is a gay fan, I wouldn’t be laughing about this now,” Yun Ho smiled grimly.
“What are we going to do when they catch him?” Shoei asked.
“First of all, we’re going to sue him for trespassing,” Yun Ho said.
“Then for attempting to cause harm to Sierra,” Jae Joong said as he tightened his arm around me.
“You guys have everything thought out, don’t you?” I smiled. “I’m sure it was a moment of insanity. The guy just needs some therapy.”
“Which they will provide in prison,” Shoei said.
“Let’s just wait till he’s caught,” Yoo Chun said.
“Don’t you guys need to continue?” I asked them.
“The technician and producer went out as soon as Yun Ho and Jun Su hyung went missing. I think they went for a drink. We’ll need to wait for them to get back,” Chang Min said.
“Well, then we should get back to ours,” Shoei said.
“Yea,” I agreed.
“You’re alright?” Jae Joong asked me.
“I’m fine. Just a little freaked out just now, but fine,” I replied.
“We’re not leaving you alone from now on,” Shoei said.
“Yea,” Yun Ho agreed. “Until this psycho is caught, you should not go anywhere alone.”
“Araso,” I said as I stood up from the chair.
“I’ll see you later,” Jae Joong said as he lifted my hand and kissed it.
“Later?” I looked at him questioningly.
“I’ll have dinner with you. I should’ve walked you to the studios just now,” he sighed.
“No harm done,” I smiled as I caressed his neck. “I’m fine.”
“But you were in danger,” he said.
“I’m fine now,” I insisted.
“Let’s go,” Shoei said.
“Yea… we’re making a scene here,” I laughed, referring to Jae Joong and me.
“Glad you know it,” Yoo Chun winked and Jae Joong stuck his tongue out at Yoo Chun.
That night, Jae Joong dropped by our studios as promised, and waited for me until I’d finished recording.
“They found the guy,” Jae Joong said as we walked hand in hand toward the elevator.
“Who is he?”
“Apparently, he’s a staff here. That’s how he got in, and I wouldn’t have believed it if the police hadn’t said it; Yoo Chun was right.”
“Right? You mean the guy’s gay?”
“Yep,” he replied, and I started laughing hysterically. “You shouldn’t laugh,” he smiled. “That would be sexual discrimination.”
“I’m not laughing at the guy. I’m laughing at you,” I said as I continued laughing.
“You shouldn’t laugh anyway,” he said as we entered the elevator. “You could’ve been hurt.”
“I’m fine now,” I said as I put my arms around his waist.
“Thank god,” he said as he put his arm around me.
“So where are we going?” I asked him.
“How about making up for the dinner we missed more than 2 weeks ago?”
“Good idea,” I replied.
We ended up at Jackie’s Kitchen, and yes… it’s Jackie Chan we’re talking about. The man’s a brand… I’d always thought the place to be a little gimmicky, but at the end of the day, I love my Chinese food, and I don’t care where it comes from as long as it’s nice.
The ambience was actually pretty good at Jackie’s Kitchen. We sat by the windows, overlooking the street, and if you looked up, you could see the sky since the roof was made of glass in that section. Not exactly the wisest place to sit since it was very public, but somehow that night, not many people interrupted us.
We ordered prawn dumplings, fried rice and stir fried noodles in black bean sauce. Jae Joong was laughing hysterically when the prawn dumplings arrived.
“Why are you laughing?” I asked him as I picked up my chopsticks happily.
“I should have a camera ready next time,” he laughed.
“For what?” I said as I stuffed a dumpling into my mouth, which was a mistake since it was piping hot inside.
“The look on your face when the waiter set the dumpling down on the table… it’s priceless.”
“What do you mean?” I said as I quickly drank some water to cool down the contents in my mouth.
“The way your eyes lit up,” he smiled.
“Oh…” I grinned sheepishly. “You know how much I love dim sum.”
“Yea… you love dumplings in any form. Dim sum, mandu… it’s a wonder your face doesn’t look like a dumpling.”
“Now you’re being mean,” I pouted.
“But you’d be a very cute dumpling,” he said, and I smiled.
“Come on… eat. Before I finish it all,” I laughed, and he picked up his chopsticks.
“So…” I smiled. “You still haven’t said anything about the MV.”
“The MV?” he said, his chopsticks in mid-air.
“Si Won and I?”
“Oh… the MV,” he murmured as he picked up a dumpling with his chopsticks. “Isn’t it a good thing that I’m not saying anything?”
“I don’t know. It depends on how you’re feeling.”
“How I’m feeling,” he laughed softly.
“Come on… didn’t you feel a little jealous? Not even a tiny bit?”
“Si Won wouldn’t dare touch you for any other purpose other than work,” Jae Joong said.
“Still… you’re telling me you felt nothing when you watched the clip?”
“Nope. Nothing…”
“I know why,” I said.
“Why?”
“If it had been someone like Darren from Helix, or Bi sonbae, I don’t think you’d act so nonchalant about it.”
“What?”
“Si Won’s your friend, and you trust him. But if it were someone you didn’t really know personally, I don’t think you’d be keeping you cool.”
“Hey… if the guy acted professionally, I have nothing to get upset about. If Si Won did come on to you during filming, I would kick his butt.”
“Really?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Yea,” he said with conviction. “So did he?” he added, and I burst into laughter.
The way his expression changed really cracked me up. One moment he was saying how confident he was of his friend, and then suddenly throwing a question at me which more or less showed that he wasn’t that confident after all.
“Pabo,” I said as my laughter subsided. “Si Won was so uneasy and scared throughout the filming. He was kinda afraid of what you might say.”
“I’m okay. And to answer your question, yes… I felt a little uneasy watching my friend hit on my girlfriend,” he admitted.
I think I was almost beaming, knowing that he felt jealous. I can’t explain why it would feel good, but it did. To know that he was jealous sort of proves to me that he is possessive. Not that he was possessive to the extent that he locks me up, but to some extent, it felt good to know that he feels that I belong to him, and I wanted to belong to him.
“Why are you smiling,” he said, the corners of his mouth turning up. “Pabo…” he said affectionately and reached over to grab my hand and give it a light squeeze.
By the end of dinner, we’d signed at least 3 autographs, taken pictures with some of them and there was even this tourist from Malaysia who came up to greet us.
“You’re Sierra from S-Cube?” the girl said in English.
“Yes I am,” I smiled. “You’re not local, are you?”
“I’m from Malaysia!” she almost squealed.
“Really? Nice… What's your name?” I said.
“I’m Ling,” she replied.
“Hello Ling,” I said, as I shook her hand.
“Why haven’t S-Cube come to Malaysia?” she asked me.
“It’s not in the management’s plans, I guess.”
“But you’re from Malaysia. You should come and hold a concert soon,” she said.
“Maybe soon, and if we do come, I will make sure they inform everyone in Malaysia that I’m coming back,” I laughed.
“Really? Then we’ll be waiting,” she smiled. “Can I have your autograph?”
“Sure,” I said, as I signed her book.
“And Jae Joong’s too?” Ling said as she held her book out to Jae Joong.
“Sure,” he smiled, and signed her book for her.
“Can I take a picture with the both of you?” she asked us, and we complied with the help of a waiter.
“Sierra will come home soon,” Jae Joong told Ling before she left.
“Okay…” she replied. “Jae Joong! Your English is so much better now!”
“Ah… Cheongmal? Thank you,” he laughed softly.
“Must be Sierra’s influence,” she added.
“Definitely,” I quipped.
“You should go back soon,” Jae Joong said as we sat down after Ling left.
“The management has never talked about such plans. And you know that they don’t really listen to our input when it’s to do with promotional issues.”
“But it’s your home, and I am sure you have a legion of fans waiting for S-Cube to hold a concert. One of their own is in S-Cube. The tickets would be sold-out within the day.”
“We’re not TVXQ,” I laughed. “Our ticket sales don’t move that fast.”
“I still think the management is making a big mistake,” he said as he ate his noodles.
“It’s not our call,” I shrugged. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”
The next morning, the news about the ‘attack’ on me was all over the papers.
‘Gay Jae Joong fan lashes out at Sierra!’ was the main headline. The guys laughed till they were in stitches when they read it.
“Hyung!” Chang Min exclaimed, almost in tears. “It was really a gay fan!”
“Very funny, Chang Min,” Jae Joong said sarcastically.
“I don’t find it funny,” Yun Ho said. “Sierra could’ve been seriously hurt.”
“We know that hyung, calm down,” Jun Su said as he put his hand on Yun Ho’s shoulder. “It’s just really funny to know that Jae Joong hyung had such an extreme male fan.”
“Yea… we’ve heard of gay fans,” Yoo Chun said, “and we are aware that not only Jae Joong hyung has them,” he quickly added, “but it’s just funny that one of them went public about it.”
“He’s a madman,” Jae Joong said.
“That I agree too,” Jun Su said.
“How’s the hand?” I asked Jun Su.
“Better,” he smiled. “Thanks to your loving attention,” he winked, for Jae Joong’s benefit.
“Xiah Jun Su,” Jae Joong said and scowled at him.
“Oops,” he said, covering his mouth. “We mustn’t be too open with our affections, Sierra. Alright?” Jun Su said in a stage whisper, and I giggled.
“The both of you have no shame?” Jae Joong said, pretending to be hurt.
Jun Su and I looked at him, and we started giggling again.
That afternoon, Skye, Shoei and I were filming a promotional video for the album. This was different from an MV. They’ve planned a short film, documentary style, for us, and this will begin airing the week before our album launch. There will be 5 episodes; 1 documentary of our activities, 1 interview as a group and 3 separate interviews. They will be aired separately for the next 4 weeks. And the final episode is a special premier of our second MV.
They had an interviewer from Mnet come and we each took turns and sat down in with the interviewer. The camera would only be filming us, with the interviewer sitting beside the camera, across from us, and from time to time, they would cut to video clips and etcetera, taken from events and performances we’ve had in the past 3 years. Before the individual interviews, we had an interview as a group…
Sunday, 8 April 2007
ALERT: S-Cube's Exclusive Interview!
S-Cube will be having an exclusive interview with Mnet next week. If any of you have a burning question to ask Sierra, Skye or Shoei, submit it here, in the comments section, and it might just be answered!
The exclusive interview is in conjunction with the upcoming release of their 3rd album, Connect the Dots.
The exclusive interview is in conjunction with the upcoming release of their 3rd album, Connect the Dots.
Dateline for submission of your questions is:
Wednesday, 11 April 2007, 8am (GMT +08:00).
Chapter 75: Phantom II
I’d been sitting right by the door when whoever it was locked it, but I didn’t turn around in time to see who it was. I fumbled my way back to my chair and stubbed my toe on the table on my way. I winced as I bent down to rub it, and in the process, hit my head on the table.
“Aisshiii,” I exclaimed, rubbing my head.
Why am I so unlucky today? And whose bright idea was this to lock me up in here? Are the boys playing a practical joke on me?
“Skye,” I called out, just to make sure if he was hiding somewhere.
I got no reply. I leaned back in the chair and rubbed the spot on the head that I’d injured. This was definitely going to leave a bruise. I closed my eyes and groaned. I didn’t dare move again, not even to turn on the lights, in case I ran into something else. Then I remembered my mobile phone. I should call someone to come unlock me. The oddest thing was that you’re supposed to be able to unlock and lock the door from the inside, but somehow, that person had rendered the lock inside useless.
I dug through my bag and found my phone, flipped it open and dialed Jae Joong’s number.
“Yoboseyo,” Jun Su said.
“Jun Su,” I exclaimed. “Where’s Jae Joong?”
“He’s recording. What’s up, Sierra?”
“Someone locked me in the studio,” I said.
“Someone locked in you in the studio?” he repeated after me, then I heard a soft scuffle.
“Sierra,” Yun Ho said. He must’ve heard what Jun Su just said.
“Yun Ho.”
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Someone locked me in the studio. Can you guys come get me out?”
“We’ll be there in a minute. Stay put. Arm yourself or something, in case some psycho’s running around,” he said, and he hung up.
I flipped my phone shut and felt around the room to find something that resembled a weapon. I found nothing, so I just stayed where I was, and waited for them to come for me.
“Sierra,” I heard Yun Ho call out a few minutes later.
“I’m here,” I replied as I crawled to the door.
“Someone’s padlocked the door from the outside,” he said.
“What?”
“I’m gonna get something to break it,” he said to me. “Jun Su’s here. Don’t worry. You talk to him.”
“Araso,” I replied.
“Jun Su, watch the door,” I heard him say to Jun Su before walking off.
“Sierra,” Jun Su called out to me. “Are you alright?”
“I hit my head,” I giggled.
“What? How?”
“Long story,” I said.
“Why were you alone in the room anyway?”
“I came for my recording session, and I found everyone gone.”
“That’s odd. Where did they go?”
“You tell me.”
“It’s almost 3pm. They should’ve been back by now if they went for lunch.”
“I know. That’s why it’s so weird.”
“Let me call Shoei,” Jun Su said, and there was a moment of silence and he took out his phone to call Shoei. “Shoei,” I heard Jun Su say. “Where are you guys? The studio downstairs? Then why didn’t you guys leave a note for Sierra or something? You did? No… there’s no note on the door. Sierra’s locked inside the studio. How would I know? Some phycho I guess. Yun Ho hyung’s gone to get something to break the padlock. Yea I know… this is crazy. You’re coming up? Okay. See ya.”
“What did Shoei say?”
“He said that they left a note on the door, did you see it?”
“Nope.”
“Maybe it flew off, let me look around.”
“Did you find it?” I asked him awhile later.
“Yea,” he said. “It’s crumpled up somewhere by the bin.”
“Who would do that?”
“There really must be a psycho somewhere here in SM.”
“Stop saying ‘psycho’, Jun Su. You’re freaking me out,” I said.
“Okay… don’t freak,” he laughed. “By the way… Shoei said they went to the studio downstairs because they had technical problems here this morning.”
“I see.”
“Yep… he’s on his way up.”
“Okay… where’s Jae Joong?” I asked.
“He’s recording. We left the studio without telling him what’s going on.”
“Good. Otherwise he’d be too worried to continue working.”
“Hyung!” Jun Su exclaimed, and I assumed that Yun Ho was back.
“Stand back, Sierra,” Yun Ho said, and I moved back about 6 feet away from the door.
I heard loud banging on the door and the clanging of metal, then the door opened, and I could see Yun Ho standing in the doorway, panting. Jun Su walked in and reached out his hand to turn on the lights.
“Aaah!!” he yelped and that was when we realized that there were no switches.
“What the…” Yun Ho said as he came to look at the wires sticking out the wall where the switches were.
“Are you alright, Jun Su,” I asked him.
“Yea… burnt my finger, but I’m fine.”
“Didn’t you notice the switches, Sierra? And the padlock on the door outside?”
“I saw the padlock, and I thought they’d put it there because the lock didn’t work. But I didn’t notice the switches cos the lights were on when I walked in.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Yun Ho said as he grabbed me by the arm.
“Wait,” I said and I turned around to pick up my bag.
“Nuna!” Shoei yelled as he ran down the corridor, just as the 3 of us walked out of the room. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. Someone locked me in the studio, and literally threw away the keys.”
“Why would anyone do that?”
“Because he has some mental illness?” Jun Su offered.
“Very funny, Jun Su,” Yun Ho said.
Yun Ho’s face had been grim ever since we left the room. I guess he was still exhausted from running around trying to free me just now.
“Komawo,” I said softly to Yun Ho.
“You don’t need to say that,” he said. “Not to me.”
“Still, komawo,” I smiled as I touched his arm lightly.
“Where are we going now?” Jun Su asked.
“We’re going to the Security Department. I want them to check who has been on this floor in the past hour.”
“Maybe Sierra doesn’t need to go,” Jun Su said. “I’ll take her to our studio.”
“I’ll go with Yun Ho hyung,” Shoei said. “I’m interested to know which sick person did this.”
“Okay,” Yun Ho said. “You go with Jun Su,” he told me, and I nodded obediently.
It felt as if Yun Ho was going to war, and when he was like that, you wouldn’t want to disagree with him.
We walked into TVXQ’s studio a few minutes later, and Jae Joong was sitting in the control room talking to Chang Min and Yoo Chun.
“Where did you and Yun Ho go?” he asked as soon as Jun Su walked in, then his eyes widened when he saw me following Jun Su in. “Sierra, why are you here?”
“Some psycho locked her up in the studio,” Jun Su explained.
“Were you alone?” he said as he looked at me, I nodded.
“Can someone get me a first aid kit?” Jun Su whined.
“What’s wrong?” Yoo Chun asked.
“I burnt my finger,” he said.
“Hold on,” Chang Min said as he got up to get the kit.
“Are you okay, Jun Su?” I asked him.
“Let me see,” Jae Joong said as he grabbed Jun Su’s hand to take a look. “It’s just a little red. Put some antiseptic cream on it.”
“Yea,” Jun Su said as he pulled his hand away. “I’ll be fine. You should check Sierra. She could have had a concussion.”
“What?” Jae Joong said as he looked at me.
I pointed to the bump on my head and smiled wryly.
“I hit my head while fumbling through the dark,” I said as he pushed my hair away to look at the injury.
“It’s bruised,” he said as he touched it lightly.
“Yea… I hit my head pretty hard,” I laughed.
“Why would someone lock you up?” Yoo Chun asked.
“You’re asking me?” I giggled.
“I’m gonna find that person, and I’m gonna…” Jae Joong growled.
“Calm down,” I said as I put a hand on his chest. “Yun Ho’s already worked up. I need you to be calm in case he goes nuts.”
“How can I be calm when there’s someone out to hurt you?”
“Yea…” Jun Su said. “Imagine if you tried to turn on the lights like I did. You would’ve hurt yourself badly. I only got burnt cos I pulled away just as I saw it… I was like almost touching it, but my reflex was a little too slow as I pulled away, that’s how I got burnt. If you were fumbling around in the dark, you could’ve been electrocuted to death.”
“Thank god you’re alright,” Jae Joong said as he put his arm around me and kissed the top of my head.
“First aid kit coming through!” Chang Min yelled as he placed the kit on the table in front of Jun Su.
“Let me find the cream for you,” I said and I opened the kit and rummaged through kit.
When I found it, I unscrewed the cap and squeezed out some of the antiseptic cream to apply onto Jun Su’s outstretched hand.
“I feel so loved now,” Jun Su laughed as I put a band-aid on his finger.
“Don’t get used to it,” Jae Joong warned him.
“I could if I wanted to,” Jun Su said cheekily.
“Dream on,” Jae Joong laughed as he put his hands on my shoulder. “Your turn now,” he said as he examined the bump on my head again.
“Looks nasty,” Chang Min said as he peered at me over Jae Joong’s shoulders.
“And I have an album launch in 2 weeks,” I said.
“It’ll be gone by then,” Jae Joong said as he lightly rubbed some cream on my bruise.
“Is Yun Ho hyung coming back?” Chang Min asked.
“They went to the Security Department to see if they can get footage of the culprit.”
“Let’s hope he finds the culprit. It’s creepy to know that there as weirdos running around in our building,” Yoo Chun said.
“I still can’t imagine who would want to hurt Sierra,” Jun Su said.
“Yea… it’s sick. I though that the days of the anti-fans were over. I guess not,” Yoo Chun said.
“You think it’s the work of anti-fans?” Chang Min asked him.
“Who else?” Yoo Chun said, and all of us just shook our heads and shrugged.
“We got him!” Shoei said as he and Yun Ho walked through the door.
“Who is it?” Jae Joong asked.
“Some guy,” Yun Ho said. “Some guy we don’t know.”
“A guy?” Jun Su exclaimed. “I’d expect an anti-fan to be a girl, didn’t think it could be a guy.”
“Well, it’s a guy,” Yun Ho said. “And he may not be an anti-fan, we don’t know for sure. They’ve alerted the police and they’ll be here to pick up the video for investigation.”
“Good,” Jae Joong said. “I want that guy to be caught and punished.”
“Same here,” Yun Ho sighed, and there was a moment of silence.
“Hey guys…” Yoo Chun said.
“What?” Yun Ho said as we all looked at Yoo Chun.
“I was just thinking. He could be an anti-fan.”
“Why would a guy be Sierra’s anti-fan?” Chang Min said.
“He could be gay,” Yoo Chun offered, and the entire room just stared at him, speechless.
“Aisshiii,” I exclaimed, rubbing my head.
Why am I so unlucky today? And whose bright idea was this to lock me up in here? Are the boys playing a practical joke on me?
“Skye,” I called out, just to make sure if he was hiding somewhere.
I got no reply. I leaned back in the chair and rubbed the spot on the head that I’d injured. This was definitely going to leave a bruise. I closed my eyes and groaned. I didn’t dare move again, not even to turn on the lights, in case I ran into something else. Then I remembered my mobile phone. I should call someone to come unlock me. The oddest thing was that you’re supposed to be able to unlock and lock the door from the inside, but somehow, that person had rendered the lock inside useless.
I dug through my bag and found my phone, flipped it open and dialed Jae Joong’s number.
“Yoboseyo,” Jun Su said.
“Jun Su,” I exclaimed. “Where’s Jae Joong?”
“He’s recording. What’s up, Sierra?”
“Someone locked me in the studio,” I said.
“Someone locked in you in the studio?” he repeated after me, then I heard a soft scuffle.
“Sierra,” Yun Ho said. He must’ve heard what Jun Su just said.
“Yun Ho.”
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Someone locked me in the studio. Can you guys come get me out?”
“We’ll be there in a minute. Stay put. Arm yourself or something, in case some psycho’s running around,” he said, and he hung up.
I flipped my phone shut and felt around the room to find something that resembled a weapon. I found nothing, so I just stayed where I was, and waited for them to come for me.
“Sierra,” I heard Yun Ho call out a few minutes later.
“I’m here,” I replied as I crawled to the door.
“Someone’s padlocked the door from the outside,” he said.
“What?”
“I’m gonna get something to break it,” he said to me. “Jun Su’s here. Don’t worry. You talk to him.”
“Araso,” I replied.
“Jun Su, watch the door,” I heard him say to Jun Su before walking off.
“Sierra,” Jun Su called out to me. “Are you alright?”
“I hit my head,” I giggled.
“What? How?”
“Long story,” I said.
“Why were you alone in the room anyway?”
“I came for my recording session, and I found everyone gone.”
“That’s odd. Where did they go?”
“You tell me.”
“It’s almost 3pm. They should’ve been back by now if they went for lunch.”
“I know. That’s why it’s so weird.”
“Let me call Shoei,” Jun Su said, and there was a moment of silence and he took out his phone to call Shoei. “Shoei,” I heard Jun Su say. “Where are you guys? The studio downstairs? Then why didn’t you guys leave a note for Sierra or something? You did? No… there’s no note on the door. Sierra’s locked inside the studio. How would I know? Some phycho I guess. Yun Ho hyung’s gone to get something to break the padlock. Yea I know… this is crazy. You’re coming up? Okay. See ya.”
“What did Shoei say?”
“He said that they left a note on the door, did you see it?”
“Nope.”
“Maybe it flew off, let me look around.”
“Did you find it?” I asked him awhile later.
“Yea,” he said. “It’s crumpled up somewhere by the bin.”
“Who would do that?”
“There really must be a psycho somewhere here in SM.”
“Stop saying ‘psycho’, Jun Su. You’re freaking me out,” I said.
“Okay… don’t freak,” he laughed. “By the way… Shoei said they went to the studio downstairs because they had technical problems here this morning.”
“I see.”
“Yep… he’s on his way up.”
“Okay… where’s Jae Joong?” I asked.
“He’s recording. We left the studio without telling him what’s going on.”
“Good. Otherwise he’d be too worried to continue working.”
“Hyung!” Jun Su exclaimed, and I assumed that Yun Ho was back.
“Stand back, Sierra,” Yun Ho said, and I moved back about 6 feet away from the door.
I heard loud banging on the door and the clanging of metal, then the door opened, and I could see Yun Ho standing in the doorway, panting. Jun Su walked in and reached out his hand to turn on the lights.
“Aaah!!” he yelped and that was when we realized that there were no switches.
“What the…” Yun Ho said as he came to look at the wires sticking out the wall where the switches were.
“Are you alright, Jun Su,” I asked him.
“Yea… burnt my finger, but I’m fine.”
“Didn’t you notice the switches, Sierra? And the padlock on the door outside?”
“I saw the padlock, and I thought they’d put it there because the lock didn’t work. But I didn’t notice the switches cos the lights were on when I walked in.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Yun Ho said as he grabbed me by the arm.
“Wait,” I said and I turned around to pick up my bag.
“Nuna!” Shoei yelled as he ran down the corridor, just as the 3 of us walked out of the room. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. Someone locked me in the studio, and literally threw away the keys.”
“Why would anyone do that?”
“Because he has some mental illness?” Jun Su offered.
“Very funny, Jun Su,” Yun Ho said.
Yun Ho’s face had been grim ever since we left the room. I guess he was still exhausted from running around trying to free me just now.
“Komawo,” I said softly to Yun Ho.
“You don’t need to say that,” he said. “Not to me.”
“Still, komawo,” I smiled as I touched his arm lightly.
“Where are we going now?” Jun Su asked.
“We’re going to the Security Department. I want them to check who has been on this floor in the past hour.”
“Maybe Sierra doesn’t need to go,” Jun Su said. “I’ll take her to our studio.”
“I’ll go with Yun Ho hyung,” Shoei said. “I’m interested to know which sick person did this.”
“Okay,” Yun Ho said. “You go with Jun Su,” he told me, and I nodded obediently.
It felt as if Yun Ho was going to war, and when he was like that, you wouldn’t want to disagree with him.
We walked into TVXQ’s studio a few minutes later, and Jae Joong was sitting in the control room talking to Chang Min and Yoo Chun.
“Where did you and Yun Ho go?” he asked as soon as Jun Su walked in, then his eyes widened when he saw me following Jun Su in. “Sierra, why are you here?”
“Some psycho locked her up in the studio,” Jun Su explained.
“Were you alone?” he said as he looked at me, I nodded.
“Can someone get me a first aid kit?” Jun Su whined.
“What’s wrong?” Yoo Chun asked.
“I burnt my finger,” he said.
“Hold on,” Chang Min said as he got up to get the kit.
“Are you okay, Jun Su?” I asked him.
“Let me see,” Jae Joong said as he grabbed Jun Su’s hand to take a look. “It’s just a little red. Put some antiseptic cream on it.”
“Yea,” Jun Su said as he pulled his hand away. “I’ll be fine. You should check Sierra. She could have had a concussion.”
“What?” Jae Joong said as he looked at me.
I pointed to the bump on my head and smiled wryly.
“I hit my head while fumbling through the dark,” I said as he pushed my hair away to look at the injury.
“It’s bruised,” he said as he touched it lightly.
“Yea… I hit my head pretty hard,” I laughed.
“Why would someone lock you up?” Yoo Chun asked.
“You’re asking me?” I giggled.
“I’m gonna find that person, and I’m gonna…” Jae Joong growled.
“Calm down,” I said as I put a hand on his chest. “Yun Ho’s already worked up. I need you to be calm in case he goes nuts.”
“How can I be calm when there’s someone out to hurt you?”
“Yea…” Jun Su said. “Imagine if you tried to turn on the lights like I did. You would’ve hurt yourself badly. I only got burnt cos I pulled away just as I saw it… I was like almost touching it, but my reflex was a little too slow as I pulled away, that’s how I got burnt. If you were fumbling around in the dark, you could’ve been electrocuted to death.”
“Thank god you’re alright,” Jae Joong said as he put his arm around me and kissed the top of my head.
“First aid kit coming through!” Chang Min yelled as he placed the kit on the table in front of Jun Su.
“Let me find the cream for you,” I said and I opened the kit and rummaged through kit.
When I found it, I unscrewed the cap and squeezed out some of the antiseptic cream to apply onto Jun Su’s outstretched hand.
“I feel so loved now,” Jun Su laughed as I put a band-aid on his finger.
“Don’t get used to it,” Jae Joong warned him.
“I could if I wanted to,” Jun Su said cheekily.
“Dream on,” Jae Joong laughed as he put his hands on my shoulder. “Your turn now,” he said as he examined the bump on my head again.
“Looks nasty,” Chang Min said as he peered at me over Jae Joong’s shoulders.
“And I have an album launch in 2 weeks,” I said.
“It’ll be gone by then,” Jae Joong said as he lightly rubbed some cream on my bruise.
“Is Yun Ho hyung coming back?” Chang Min asked.
“They went to the Security Department to see if they can get footage of the culprit.”
“Let’s hope he finds the culprit. It’s creepy to know that there as weirdos running around in our building,” Yoo Chun said.
“I still can’t imagine who would want to hurt Sierra,” Jun Su said.
“Yea… it’s sick. I though that the days of the anti-fans were over. I guess not,” Yoo Chun said.
“You think it’s the work of anti-fans?” Chang Min asked him.
“Who else?” Yoo Chun said, and all of us just shook our heads and shrugged.
“We got him!” Shoei said as he and Yun Ho walked through the door.
“Who is it?” Jae Joong asked.
“Some guy,” Yun Ho said. “Some guy we don’t know.”
“A guy?” Jun Su exclaimed. “I’d expect an anti-fan to be a girl, didn’t think it could be a guy.”
“Well, it’s a guy,” Yun Ho said. “And he may not be an anti-fan, we don’t know for sure. They’ve alerted the police and they’ll be here to pick up the video for investigation.”
“Good,” Jae Joong said. “I want that guy to be caught and punished.”
“Same here,” Yun Ho sighed, and there was a moment of silence.
“Hey guys…” Yoo Chun said.
“What?” Yun Ho said as we all looked at Yoo Chun.
“I was just thinking. He could be an anti-fan.”
“Why would a guy be Sierra’s anti-fan?” Chang Min said.
“He could be gay,” Yoo Chun offered, and the entire room just stared at him, speechless.
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