Chapter 106: Girl Friend

[Sierra’s POV]

“I know what you guys are thinking,” Skye laughed when he saw our faces. “I’m not cheating on Hae Rin. I bumped into Yuk Hee during my CF shoot, we caught up, and she just wanted someone to ride with her on the plane back to Seoul.”

“It was really a coincidence,” Yuk Hee said.

“Araso, araso…” Jae Joong laughed as he nodded. “You didn’t need to give that long speech. You’ve embarrassed Yuk Hee.”

“Omo!” Yuk Hee exclaimed. “You’re…”

“Yong-ung Jae Joong,” Jae Joong finished for her. “Pangapseumnida.”

“Let’s go,” Shoei said. “The crowds are starting to notice us.”

“We need to drop Yuk Hee at her hotel,” Skye said as we walked towards the parking lot.

“Hotel?” I said as I looked back at him.

“Yea… her family’s migrated to Taiwan, and she’s from Kwangju. It makes sense that she doesn’t have a house in Seoul,” Skye said.

“Right… I heard you. Don’t need to elaborate like that,” I said.

Yuk Hee was a pretty girl. So pretty, that she could’ve rivaled Hae Rin if she were another kasu. She had long hair, fine features and fair skin, and she was exactly the kind of sweet-faced girl Hae Rin was. She was as tall as I was, and slimmer. If Skye knew her from way back, I wonder why he hadn’t ended up with her long ago.

“You sit in front,” I told Shoei after we’ve loaded the car. “I’ll sit in the back with Skye and Yuk Hee.

We arrived at the hotel 30 minutes later. Skye helped Yuk Hee unload her luggage and they said goodbye.

“Call me when you have a day off,” she told him before we left.

“We’ll see. Cos we’ll be touring all the cities for this new single.”

“Araso. See ya!” she smiled and waved. “Thanks for the ride, Jae Joong oppa.”

“No problem,” Jae Joong smiled, and we drove off.

“Oh… nuna!” Shoei suddenly exclaimed from the front passenger seat. “Guess who I met while in Tokyo?”

“Who? Hyde?” I guessed.

“I’ve met him already. Guess again.”

“I dunno… tell me,” I said in a very impatient tone.

I’m not really into guessing games or surprises. I like to be told.

“Kimura Takuya,” he said.

“What?!” I exclaimed. “Get out of here!!!”

“The Moving Rubber man…” he laughed.

“Omigod… you lucky bum!” I smacked him on the shoulder, and he winced.

“Yah…” he said as he rubbed the spot I’d hit. “I’m never gonna tell you stuff like that again if you’re gonna react like that.”

“Hehe… mian…” I smiled sheepishly.

“By the way… he wants to meet you someday,” he smiled. “He’s thinking that SMAP should collaborate with S-Cube.”

“That’s great!” Jae Joong hyung said.

“Really? Chintcha? Us and SMAP?” Skye piped in.

“Yea… that’s what he said. Unless it doesn’t fall through.”

“Damn… you just got us some nice connections…” I smiled. “Sending you to Tokyo was a very good idea.”

“Kongju-ya…” Jae Joong piped in. “Where to now?”

“Are you guys hungry?” I asked them.

“I’m famished,” Skye said. “But can we bring Hae Rin along?”

“Then you'd better call her now,” I said.

“Do I make a turn to the studios?” Jae Joong said.

“Ne,” Skye said.

While Skye had a sappy reunion telephone conversation with Hae Rin, Shoei, Jae Joong and I continued to talk about Shoei’s Tokyo trip.

“So what else did you do?”

“Photo shoots, MV shoots and when I get back, I’ll be recording a few game shows and interviews with Mika,” he said.

“Wow… busy… busy…” I remarked.

“But I don’t see the need to go to these talk shows. I’m not even singing the song with her. I’m just appearing in the video,” he sighed.

“It’s just publicity,” Jae Joong said. “And you should be very thankful they want you involved on such a large scale.”

“Yea… that’s how we make money, right?”

“Wrong,” I said. “That’s what puts food on our table,” I laughed. “Imagine no one wanting us on any shows… that would mean the end of our careers.”

“I can’t imagine what I would do when I retire,” Jae Joong said.

“I thought we were gonna have our own restaurant…” I exclaimed.

“Oh yea… that… fine…” he laughed.

“I can always go back to school,” Shoei said. “At least nuna already has her degree.”

“I’m gonna be rusty by the time I quit the industry. No one will hire me.”

“You can always open your own company,” Shoei suggested.

“That’s if I have enough money saved. Chef Kim here wants to open his own restaurant.”

“We can always open the kind of business you want, yeobo,” Jae Joong cooed, and Shoei snickered.

“Yah! Kim Jae Joong… you’re excessively sarcastic today. What did you eat this morning?” I poked him.

“Nothing… just a kimch’i kimbap,” he said innocently.

We arrived at the studios and Skye got out of the car to get Hae Rin. When they emerged from the building, they were so lovey-dovey and sweet that it was hard not to just go, ‘Awww…’.

“Annyeong!” Hae Rin said perkily as she got into the car.

She was obviously ecstatic that Skye was back and I had to witness their expressions of love in the backseat all the way to the place we were having dinner.

“Shoei,” I called out, halfway through the journey.

“Wae?”

“Can I sit in front at the next traffic light?”

“Why?”

“These two are giving me diabetes,” I said.

“Ya… nuna,” Skye said as he hugged Hae Rin for good measure. “We used to put up with you and Jae Joong hyung and now you’re complaining about me and Hae Rin?”

“We weren’t that sweet, were we?” I poked Jae Joong.

“I wasn’t,” he said. “You were,” he added, and Skye snickered.

“You needy girlfriend,” Skye teased, and I stuck my tongue out at him.

After dinner, we went back to our apartment so that Skye could pick up his car and send Hae Rin home. Shoei got out and went up to our apartment, and I left with Jae Joong.

“You’re not coming home tonight?” Shoei asked me before we left.

“I’m too lazy to move my stuff. I’ll move back when you guys come back for good,” I said.

“Okay… we’re gonna be on the road for the week anyway,” he said as he got out.

“Keurae,” I said. “Good night.”

“G’night,” he said, and closed the door.

We waited for him to unload his suitcase and I waved goodbye to him as our car pulled out into the main road.

“Agasshi…” Jae Joong said. “Where to now?”

“I need the bed… desperately,” I said as I yawned.

“Good idea,” he smiled. “You need to wake up early anyway.”

“Will the guys be home?” I asked him.

“They might be out,” he said.

“Good…” I said in a low deliberate voice, and he laughed.

“Pyeont’ae,” he said as he reached over to squeeze my knee affectionately.

The next morning, I got up early; earlier than everyone else… or so I thought. I pushed open the bathroom door and there was Chang Min in a towel, brushing his teeth.

“Aaah!!!” he squealed like a girl.

“I didn’t see anything,” I said, as I covered my hands over my eyes.

“You’d better not,” he said, laughing as he closed the door.

He emerged awhile later, fully clothed with his towel slung over his neck.

“Why didn’t you lock the bathroom door?” I asked him.

“I didn’t think anyone was awake… and they’re all guys. I didn’t expect you to walk in.”

“I could’ve woken up early cos I needed to pee or something.”

“Good point,” he laughed. “I’ll lock it from now on, and warn the others too.”

“You do that,” I said.

“So why are you up?”

“I need to get ready,” I said. “Hee Chul’s gonna come get me in a bit, and we’re going on the road for about a week to promote the new single.”

“Oh… right,” he said. “You’d better go shower then. I’ll make you breakfast, since I’m making mine.”

“Thanks, Chang Min,” I smiled as I walked towards the bathroom.

It wasn’t until we’d finished breakfast that the other guys started emerging from their rooms.

“G’morning…” Jun Su yawned as he walked out to the living room and flopped onto the couch.

“Yah… hyung,” Chang Min exclaimed. “Go shower, or we’ll be late.”

“Why are you up so early today?” he asked Chang Min as he scratched his head.

I think fans should know how they look when they wake up. Their short hairs usually look like an explosion had happened on their head, something like the characters of the Dragon Ball Z comic. To top it off, they all had their hair dyed most of the time, as do the characters in the comic. I shouldn’t laugh though, for I have short hair myself, and I share the same problem. Still, perhaps I should take a picture of each of them someday, just for the fun of it.

“I couldn’t sleep, cos someone kept talking in his sleep,” Chang Min grumbled.

“It wasn’t me, was it?” Jun Su yawned again, implying that it must have been Yoo Chun.

“No, it wasn’t you,” Chang Min said as he stood up to clear the dishes.

“I can wash up,” I told Chang Min.

“It’s fine. You need to get ready. Hee Chul hyung will be here any minute,” he said.

“Komapda,” I said as I walked towards Jae Joong’s room, ruffling Jun Su’s hair as I walked past.

“Yah!!! You do not touch the hair,” he yelled in mock annoyance as he pretended to fix it.

I walked into the room to find Jae Joong and Yun Ho still sleeping, which was odd, since Yun Ho and Jae Joong were usually one of the first few to wake up. I tiptoed to Jae Joong’s bed and peered down at him. He was still sleeping soundly since his breathing was rhythmic and soft. I pushed back his fringe which had fallen over his face, and I kissed his forehead.

“Yah…” I whispered. “Wake up.”

Instead of opening his eyes, he just wrinkled his nose and flipped over onto his side to continue sleeping.

“Oi!” I said as I poked his arm repeatedly.

His hand reached out to rub the spots I’d poked, and he pulled his blanket up to shield his arm from my future attacks.

“Kim Jae Joong,” I whispered into his ear. “I’m gonna have my way with you if you’re not gonna wake up.”

After I’d whispered that, I leaned over to look at his face, and sure enough, I caught him trying to contain his smile. His lips were twitching.

“Yah!” I poked his forehead. “I saw that smile.”

Then suddenly, he reached out his arm to pull me onto him, but he hadn’t counted on being to near to the edge of the bed. The both of us fell off and ended up on the floor with a very loud thud.

“Ah! Appuh!” Jae Joong whined, and I just burst into giggles since I fell on top of him, and felt nothing from the accident.

“Yah!” Yun Ho yelled all of the sudden, and the both of us sat up quickly and turned to look at him.