Chapter 4

Secrets

I didn’t know whether to be thankful or anxious that I hadn’t seen SHINee in a few weeks. I blamed it on a hectic schedule for their lack of presence at SM headquarters.
By now I was accustomed to my work environment, and familiarized myself with artists that came in and out of the office on a daily basis.

I had developed a routine. Work, stay up all night, sleep for a few hours, get up and do it all over again. It was a vicious cycle and I happen to be caught in the middle of it. As the weeks progressed my insomnia remained constant. I even raised suspicion with my parents during one of our weekly webcam chats.

“Ddal! What happened to your face?!” my Appa exclaimed once the connection had been made.

I self consciously touched my face. “Nothing!” I defended. I watched as Umma leaned towards the screen, trying to get a better look at my face

“Umma~ stop it! I’m fine, just jet-lagged” I lied.

“How do you expect to get a boyfriend with a tired looking face! You have to moisturize daily Annie, it will rejuvenate your skin! take the lotion and do like this” my Umma began making circular motions on her own face.

“Oh, see, start with the eyes and towards the neck, this will be good for when you’re older! You won’t have a turkey neck!”

My Appa took this as an opportunity to make chicken noises. I laughed and watched as my Umma abruptly stopped and faced her husband.

“Babo! turkeys gobble, it’s chickens that bock.” she rolled her eyes. I could always count on my family for a good laugh, at their expense.

“Annie, doesn’t need a boyfriend” Appa added “she needs sleep! Are you sure you’re okay out there?”

I felt guilty for worrying my parents, so with a bright smile I convinced them that it was jet lag and I wasn’t accustomed to Korean time yet.

They bought it, hook line and sinker.

My lack of sleep even began affecting me at work. I rubbed my eyes, my vision suddenly blurry.

“Coffee helps!” a voice spoke in front of me. Curious, I looked up and saw a young girl, she looked around my age, give or take a few years. I smiled “I’ve already had two cups this morning. Can I help you with anything?” I asked politely.

“Oh not me! I’m just an errand girl. I’m Min Ki by the way, I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of meeting!” she exclaimed in a happy tone. It looked like nothing could bring this girl down, the epitome of joy.

“I’m Park Annahyun” I offered my own name. “I’m just here to drop off some documents for Mr. Kim” Min Ki said as she pulled out various folders from her messenger bag. They landed with a thud against the reception desk.

“Perfect, I’ll let Mr. Kim know right away”

“Can I bug you for the time” Min Ki asked in a cheerful tone. I briefly looked at the clock on the phone console “1:59PM”

“Gotta jet! They need me at the KBS music venue by two-thirty to help set the stage for SHINee’s performance! We should grab a coffee sometime, when you’re free. Here.” she suddenly pulled my arm towards her, in a flash she had pulled out a pen and scribbled something on my hand.

“Looks like you could use a few more, I can’t imagine being stuck behind a desk, I have to be in constant movement!” She did a little ssanti dance, Wooyoung from 2PM would have been jealous. Then she was gone, jumping into a car parked in front of the building. I looked down at my hand, she wrote down her cell phone number.
 

It was safe to say that I had made my first friend in Korea.

3:47 AM

I lay on my bed, the numbers on my digital alarm clock shone bright in the darkness. I was frustrated that I had not fallen asleep yet. I rolled over and groaned loudly. Thinking it would tire me out, I got out of bed and began running on the spot, after two minutes I felt ridiculous and stopped. Walking over to my bedroom window, I opened my curtains, the landscape of the city now visible to my eyes. Suddenly it hit me.

Why not take a walk?

I was up for anything to pass the time. Besides, I managed to find an apartment complex in a safe neighborhood and attended self defense classes back in the States, so if any one tried to attack I’d give them a swift kick in the you know-what’s and run for the hills.

I had made up my mind. Walking over to my closet I began shuffling through my clothes to find a sweater in case it was cold or windy. I proceeded to put on a beanie and threw on some sneakers. With one final look in a full length mirror, I grabbed my keys and was out the door.

The summer air touched my skin. I smiled, finally I had something productive to do. Lonely, but time consuming, which is what really mattered. Using my internal GPS I began walking, I passed by a few parks, ignoring them completely, I would explore them another night. Ten minutes had passed and I had come across a High School. To the left I saw that lights surrounding the basketball court had been left on.

They say curiosity killed the cat but thankfully I was born human. As I approached the court I was surprised to see someone shooting hoops by themselves. I squinted but couldn’t make out a face. I scolded myself for taking out my contact lenses and forgetting my glasses. My body guided me closer this person until I was a few feet away.

I watched as the person took a shoot, the ball slammed against the backboard of the basket. Within seconds the ball bounced off and hurled towards me. An audible thud was heard as the ball smacked against my forehead, unprepared I was thrown to the ground.

I screamed as I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead. My eyes began to water because of the impact. Stupid ball, this was why I never played sports in High School.

When I opened them, a pair of Nike sneakers were in my line of sight.

“Why didn’t you move?” a familiar voice asked. I followed the shoes to a pair of legs which led to a torso, then a concerned face. For the second time, I found myself looking to the eyes Minho.

After a few moments of silence, he held out his hand to help me up. His hand was warm as it encompassed my own, it tried to hide the blush on my cheeks as I stood up. This was the closet that I had ever come to contact with Minho, aside from when I bumped into him.

“Move? How was I suppose to know that the ball you hurled at the hoop would smack me? You should have better aim!” I counteracted in an exasperated tone as I brushed the debris off my jeans.

A chuckle escaped his lips and I looked up at him. The lights that lit up the court had illuminated his face. Up close I now noticed the eye bags that appeared on his face, more noticeable without the use of make up to hide them. I had found one flaw in Minho that I was positive no one else knew about. SHINee’s flaming charisma was an insomniac just like me.

“So what are you doing playing basket ball in the middle of the night?” I asked while I watched Minho retrieve the ball.

“It’s a hobby of mine.” Going out at four in the morning to play sports?

As if he could read my mind he added

“Not going out at four am but playing basketball, I’m actually out here because I can’t sleep, so I need to do something to pass the time.” I was slightly taken aback, it was the most I heard him speak. “I assume it’s like that for you too? I mean not any girl would take a walk alone at night in Seoul just for kicks”

“Actually, I usually pass the time in my apartment but for some reason I felt like exploring the city. Taking a walk made sense” I admitted.

He smiled at me and took another shot, this time it passed through the hoop with a swish. Minho picked up the ball and offered it to me. I shook my head, a polite refusal. He shrugged his shoulders as if to say ‘suite yourself’ and took another shot. Again, it went in with ease.

“I guess you’re not just any girl Annahyun.” I felt my cheeks heat up. “even Key would be afraid to walk alone at this hour, but it’s Key.” he said as if it explained everything.

“Does your manager know about this? I mean won’t you get into trouble?” I asked genuinely concerned. He shook his head, “No one knows, well except for you.”

A warm feeling spread throughout my body.

“Well I won’t tell anyone if that’s what you’re worried about”

“It’s not people finding out that concerns me, what bothers me is that I haven’t been able to get a good nights sleep for over two months!”

“Maybe you work too hard? Stress perhaps?” I offered.
“According to SM we don’t work hard enough” he said with a hint of bitterness. An awkward silence fell over us. I didn’t know what to say or do.

“Well, sorry to interrupt your game, umm, I’ll just continue my walk” I said as I turned towards the exit. I was almost to the main road when I heard footsteps behind me.

“Wait!” Minho called out, “you shouldn’t be walking alone. Can I at least walk you to your apartment?” placing he ball between his feet he put his hand on his knees and was panting, it was evident that he ran after me.

I had to smile. Beads of sweat plastered his face causing his bangs to stick to his forehead, his cheeks were tinged pink from the sprinting he had done, and he looked even more tired than before. This was the most human I had seen him, without the magic of retouching or make-up, and he was beautiful.

I let him walk me to my apartment, he told me that his dorm was a few blocks away. I was worried that he was going out of his way just to see that I made it home safely.

I waved goodbye as I entered the lobby. I stood there for a moment watching his retreating figure. Minho was walking in the middle of the street, there were no signs of oncoming traffic. The streetlights hung above him, causing his white shirt to stand out, it was almost as if he was glowing. And watching him head home, it was like he was the only one awake in the world right now, except for me.

A/N:

For those of you who don’t know
‘Ssanti’ means cheap in Korean!

I was inspired by 2PM’s Wooyoung. His ssanti dances on Star King are awesome!

Check it out if you have time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J9CD8FUEPc

Thanks for reading!