Chapter 5

September 9, 2014

A few days had passed since Hyuna had met with Jiyong, and although she had met with him the day after, Jiyong's attempt at eliciting any type of creative ideas from the younger idol had yielded little to no results. He hadn't messaged her the day after, so Hyuna figured that he was angry with her childish attitude. She would be lying to say that she wasn't satisfied, because she was literally gloating at the fact that she had probably finally gotten on his last nerves. Hyuna was sure that she had wiped that fake smile right off his face.

She felt great. Jiyong was probably calling the collaboration off, and things between her and Siwon had been going well. When she woke up in bed the morning after she had found a sleeping Siwon snoring peacefully beside her. It was the first time she had woken up in his company in awhile.

Today had been the first good day Hyuna had experienced in awhile. She had even drank less in the morning and hadn't caved into her bad habit of smoking like she had a few days ago.

For the first time since her return to Korea a week ago, Hyuna was meeting up with her brother and Seunghyun; who she hadn't seen since his birthday. It had been awhile since the three had gotten together, and when Hyuna entered the noodle shop, she felt a sense of nostalgia hit her as she found the two idiots waving at her from a table.

Hyuna immediately found herself swept into a strong hug by her older brother. And much like Seunghyun had done before, he pulled back to look at the sister he hadn't seen in nine months to look at her. "Did my little sister get prettier while she was away?"

Face scrunched up in mock disgust, she pushed her brother's chest lightly. "Yah, why do you and Chimchim say the same gross things?"

The nickname caused Seunghyun who had been silently watching the reunion between the two siblings to scowl. "Aish, quit using that embarrassing nickname."

Her brother laughed at the teasing. "It's been two seconds and you two are already bickering. Some things never changed." Looking back to

Hyuna, his eyes glinted affectionately. "I've really missed my little dongsaeng."

Hyuna sighed in content, all the anxiety she had built up seemed to always disappear in his soothing presence. He had grown out his wavy, brown hair again. It touched his shoulders, giving him a hippie vibe. Eyebrows thick and eyes kind, Hyuna always felt at ease around him.

She smirked, "who would've thought that Kim Geunsuk, the Hallyu star famous for playing heartless roles in dramas would miss his little sister."

Geunsuk put a hand to his chest in mock hurt. "What a cold sister I have. It's been so long, but you don't even miss this awesome oppa of yours."

"Of course I missed you, oppa." Hyuna's reply was sincere. She really had missed her brother. The time she had spent alone in her apartment in New York had been depressing. She had blocked everyone out during that time and turned off her phone for months. And for a time, the only information that her friends had to go on that she was still alive was her brother's reassurance that she was okay- well in the physical sense she was. Geunsuk had spent long nights and dark days in that suffocatingly silent apartment taking care of her. But eventually even he had to get back to work, and when he was sure that Hyuna was okay on her feet, he left.

It was hard for a Hallyu star who spent his time filming everyday till 5am to fly out of the country to see his sister, but Hyuna remembered with contempt how Geunsuk had called her every day exhausted and delirious from filming just to make sure that she was doing okay. It had been one of the only things that kept her sane in that empty place.

"Let's order jjajangmyeon," Seunghyun suggested eagerly.

"Ahjumma! Three bowls of jjajangmyeon over here please!" Geunsuk called.

"Just two bowls, ahjumma!" Hyuna corrected, earning bewildered looks from the boys.

Seunghyun leaned forward, eyebrows furrowed. "What are you doing, podo? We've always ordered jjajangmyeon ever since we were kids."

The use of the nickname earning him a hard smack to the head, Hyuna rolled her eyes. "We're not kids anymore, idiot. Besides, I need to watch my weight for my comeback." Seeing the concerned look from her brother, she added, "don't worry, I already ate before I came here." Which was a lie, she had yet to consume anything besides alcohol that day, something Hyuna found herself doing a lot.

Geunsuk sighed, "okay, but I'm gonna stuff you full of jjajangmyeon after your comeback."

It wasn't that Hyuna wasn't hungry, because she would be lying if she says that her stomach didn't gnaw in yearning at the site of the hot plates of jjajangmyeon the ahjumma had served, but every time Hyuna found herself beginning to eat anything other than a salad or a granola bar, she stopped. She remembered what Siwon had said about her weight and would feel bad. It wasn't like his judgmental stare was helping whenever she picked up anything that wasn't an apple helped her either.

For an hour the three were engrossed with each other, talking freely about everything and everything. Hyuna didn't say much about herself, but she enjoyed listening to the two closest people to her talk about what had been going on in her absence. Geunsuk prattled about how exhausting filming his new drama 'Love Rain' had been, but he had loved it nonetheless. Seunghyun had sympathized with his friend, talking about the recent movie he had been in and his solo career.

"Doing solo stuff is fun, but I miss being together as Big Bang. I think that's when I have the most fun," he had said.

It was a feeling that Hyuna could understand being in a girl group that had been on hiatus for over a year. She had really missed the late nights in the studio with the girls while she was in America. She didn't remember what happiness felt like, but it was those moments on stage with her family that she had felt the closest to it.

The conversation had been going well between the three of them, until Seunghyun had decided to ask her about the one person she would have much rather preferred not to talk about. "So how is the collaboration between you and Jiyong going?"

"Ah, yes. Speaking of Jiyong-ssi, I never heard of this collaboration or solo work until Seunghyun told me yesterday," Geunsuk accused.

"It slipped my mind," Hyuna answered feeling suddenly annoyed, her mood soured.

"Have you guys come up with a concept or any lyrics?" Seunghyun asked.  

Hyuna sighed, "I really don't want to work with that prick."

Seunghyun practically spit his water out in laughter, while Geunsuk scolded her.

"Yah! Kim Hyuna! That's not how you talk about your sunabe's!"

​Hyuna snorted, rolling her eyes once again. "Does him being my sunbae make him better than me?" Hyuna was sure that if she wasn't out of reach Geunsuk would have flicked her forehead.

Seunghyun wiped the water that had flew from his mouth, still grinning. "What makes you hate him so much? For as long as I've known Jiyong he's been a nice guy and a hard worker when it comes to music."

She scowled. "Do you even hear yourself right now? And quit grinning like an idiot, it's weird." Flipping her hair over her shoulder, Hyuna gave them a pointed look. "All he does his smile. Does he ever stop smiling? What's wrong with him? Is his face stuck like that?" she shuddered at the thought of Jiyong's permanently smiling face. "It's creepy."

After a moment of silence Geunsuk raised an eyebrow. "That's all..? You don't like him because he smiles too much?"

"It's not," she huffed, her tone taking on an icy defense. "He's so overly polite that it's gross and obviously fake. You know what's worse? No matter what I do he never gets angry."

Geunsuk gasped, "that's impossible. My dongsaeng has a specialty to make everyone hate her."

Hyuna nodded, "he's such a weird guy, it's irritating."

"You should date him instead of Siwon," Geunsuk joked a little too seriously.

"Oppa!"

"I was kidding. I was kidding.."

"I really hate working with that kind of guy," she huffed. "He acts like he's perfect."

Seunghyun leaned back, frowning. "I really wish you would give him a chance, Hyuna. He has no ill intentions towards you, despite what you may think."

"I don't want to," she pouted.

"Aish, you little-

Geunsuk had been leaning over to flick her forehead before pausing at the sound of a phone ringing.

Hyuna dug around her purse, expecting the call to be from one of the girls, but when she saw the caller ID, she froze.

Geunsuk raised an eyebrow, "well aren't you gonna answer it?"

"Speak of the devil," she grumbled dryly before hitting answer. "Hello," she spoke bluntly, her tone shifting drastically.

"Hyuna-ssi, are you busy?"

"Actually I'm-

"She's not busy at all!" Seunghyun yelled, earning him an angry glare.

"Are you with, TOP hyung?" Jiyong asked.

"Ye-

"I was just leaving!" Seunghyun yelled once again. By now, Hyuna looked like she was about to kill him..

"Well, if you're not busy would you like to meet up?" he asked.

For a moment Hyuna was silent, before quickly responding when Seunghyun began to open his mouth once again. "Sure. I'll be there."

Jiyong chuckled, "then I'll see you soon."

Hyuna glowered at her friend, ready to let out a string of curses, but she once again found herself cut off, but this time by her brother.

"Go," he waved her off. "Go now before I get angry," he ordered firmly.

Pouting once more, Hyuna gathered her belongings before childishly stomping out of the shop. She really couldn't stand how they meddled in her affairs. If she didn't want to see Jiyong she didn't have to, who were they to force her into that situation?

With great reluctance, Hyuna headed towards her car.

When Hyuna arrived at YG, she was surprised to find Jiyong in the parking lot, leaning against a car. He smiled at her as she approached him. "You're here."

She gave him an odd look. "Yep."

Walking around to the passenger side, Jiyong opened the car door. "Get in."

Hyuna eyed him suspiciously. "And why would I do that?"

"Just trust me."

"I don't," she replied bluntly.

Jiyong chuckled. "Come on, Hyuna-ssi. I promise you'll like where we’re going."

For a moment Hyuna simply stood there, staring callously at him, before silently getting into the car. She crossed her arms, "this better not be a waste of time."

Jiyong grinned. "Of course, your majesty," he joked before closing the door.

The ride was fairly long and silent. Jiyong attempted idle chit chat, only to be met with Hyuna's silent stone face. When he had refused to quiet down, she had told him that his voice was irritating her, so they drove in silence for the last twenty minutes of the drive. Hyuna had no clue where they were going, nor did she quite care. She just wanted to go home and have a drink. Her head was already hurting from her sober state.

Deciding that staring out the window the entire ride was boring, she opted to check if any news about her comeback had leaked yet. To her dismay, not only information about her comeback had leak, but her collaboration as well. How the word had spread so quickly was beyond her. As she read the articles detailing her comeback and collaboration, Hyuna quickly realized that it had been the president that had spread the news like wildfire. She sighed. He had obviously done it to make sure that she couldn't back out of it without facing backlash from the public.

"We're here." Jiyong's voice broke Hyuna's train of thoughts. When she was finally aware of her surrounds, she stared out the window in surprise. Before she had the time to gather her thoughts and hide the astonishment clear on her face, Jiyong had already made his way around the car to open her door.

"Are you just gonna sit there gawking or are you gonna get out?" he teased lightly.

In a matter of seconds, Hyuna was out of the car, expression cold and lips pressed into a thin line. Though she couldn't help but allow her eyes to dart cordially to the art museum before them.

"Come on, let's head in." Jiyong led her up the long stairs and into the front doors, and before Hyuna could pull out her wallet, he had already paid for her entrance fee.

She scowled, "don't do that. I hate men who pay for me like I'm incapable."

Jiyong eyed her curiously. "Well what kind of men do you like?"

"The exact opposite of guys like you," she snapped. "Why did you bring me here anyway?"

"TOP hyung told me that you liked art," he answered. "I know that being stuck in a studio can feel suffocating sometimes, so I thought you might want to go somewhere enjoyable for inspiration."

Hyuna was silent, already seemingly lost in her own world as she observed various art pieces with a keen eye. They walked around for what seemed like hours, with Hyuna drinking in everything. Her face has softened considerably and she was no longer scowling icily, but observing everything with such an intellectual and perplexed expression.

"Isn't this the Mona Lisa? A French guy made it right?" Jiyong asked when he noticed that Hyuna had been inspecting the piece for quite awhile.

"Leonardo Da Vinci was Italian," she corrected. "Although I’m not religious, this piece has always fascinated me."

Jiyong cocked his head, "it fascinates you?"

"Of course it does," she responded.

“Ah…” Jiyong didn’t know what to say. He was surprise that not only had she not completely ignored him, but she responded with earnesty that lacked snide remarks or the usual flat tone she spoke in.

“What do you see when you look at this piece?” she asked.

Jiyong found himself taken aback more than before. Hyuna had never bothered to ask him a question before. “A portrait of a women, right?”

Hyuna shook her head. “But it’s so much more than that. You would think that maybe it’s a painting of his wife or a daughter, but till this day no one knows who the women is. Isn’t that crazy? That a portrait of some random woman could be so fascinating?” Jiyong nodded his head, now completely engrossed by her words. “Have you ever heard of any of the secrets of Mona Lisa?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Did you know that Da Vinci painted multiple paintings in this? Everyone focuses on Mona Lisa and forgets to look at the background. Did you know he painted various shapes of animals and numbers in the background? Or that if you turn the painting sideways you get a different painting? Da Vinci was so obsessed with his painting that carried it around everywhere with him for six years. I like paintings like this. I like art that people don’t quite understand.”

“Like you?” Jiyong asked.

“What?” Hyuna turned around to find that he was staring at her with a look in his eyes that she couldn’t quite comprehend.

“Why are you staring at me like that? It’s weird.”

Jiyong broke into a smile. “It’s just that I’ve discovered another side of you today. I’ve never seen you do anything but constantly glare angrily. I wasn’t sure if you had any other expression or if you were just always angry. Now I’ve seen what you look like when you’re doing something you enjoy. You look prettier this way.”

For a moment, they silently stared at each other, a strange tension in the air between them. Hyuna was the first to tear her gaze away from his. “We should head back and get some work done, it’s getting late,” she mumbled as she walked away a little too quickly.

“Oh, and Hyuna-ssi,” Jiyong called, quickening his pace to match hers. “I’m not working with you because Seungsung sajangnim asked me to. I’m working with you because I genuinely want to.”

Once again, Kim Hyuna found herself speechless in front of him. She could do nothing but stare at him wide eyed with drawn into a tight line.

That night Jiyong was able to come up with a comeback concept without so much as a complaint from her. That night writing music by Jiyong’s side, Hyuna didn’t feel so small anymore.