-= Chapter 3: Of Names, Nuances, and Nags =-

“I am so relieved that the maknae cannot come with us. Thank you to the poor, unknowing stage play production for taking him off our hands for even a few peaceful days,” Seung-Hyun said, entering the van and immediately letting his head fall back on the plush seat.

 “Omo! That’s harsh! Why would you say that, hyung?” Dae-Sung asked in surprise, following him in and sitting beside him.

“Hmmm…Let me guess, hyung! You were getting seriously pissed at him for asking all about your music video and kiss with Dara, right?” Young-Bae said, getting in and sitting in front of Seung-Hyun.

“Aisht! Young-Bae-ah! Why are you calling Sandara Park, ‘Dara’ and not ‘Dara-noona’?! Huh?!” Ji-Yong asked climbing aboard and closing the door behind him.

“Why? Because we’ve been friends for so long, and besides, we’re close. I even think of her as someone younger than I am because she’s just too ador - ah, dorky! She’s just so dorky to be thought of as a noona! That’s all,” Young-Bae answered, somewhat defensively.
 

“Aisht! Why is it an issue what we call her?” Seung-Hyun interrupted, opening one eye to stare at them all. 

“Yeah, why is it?” Dae-Sung piped in, “Me and SeungRi are the only ones calling her ‘noona’,” he observed.

"Besides, oh, mighty Kwon leadah, you yourself don’t call her ‘noona’. You’re setting a bad example,” Seung-Hyun quipped, chuckling.

“Why? Because I call her ‘Krungie,’ that’s why. It’s a nickname and you’re not supposed to put in titles after nicknames,” Ji-Yong replied somewhat sullenly.

“Ahhhh, so if we call her ‘Krungie’, then we can not call her ‘noona’?” Dae-Sung asked, quite confused now.

“No. Because you are not allowed to call her that nickname. It’s my name for her, and you can’t use it!” Ji-Yong answered, half-jokingly.

“What? You mean you patented it already? Where are the papers, huh?!” Young-Bae joined in, teasing Ji-Yong and really quite glad that the focus was taken off of him.

“I don’t need to patent it, you pabo!” their leader said, turning to Young-Bae to playfully smack him in the head.

“It’s because you don’t know the etymology of the word, that’s all!” Ji-Yong continued to say in answer.

“Oh! Etymology! Such big words! Spell ‘etymology’ Ji-Yongie!” Seung-Hyun added to the teasing.

“I’m gonna do more than spell ‘etymology’, pabo- yah! I’m gonna kill you!” Ji-Yong said, diving at him as he quickly defended his attacks. The two other boys joined in, making the van shake with their tangling bodies and joyful play.

Outside the van, Jinsu, their manager was being interviewed by a Japanese reporter.

“As you can see, Big Bang is really quite a mature group, despite their young ages,” their manager, Jinsu, said to the camera as the cameraman and reporter followed him to their van.

“Ah, really? That’s nice! So what do they do in their spare time?” the reporter asked, training his microphone to the manager.

“Well, most of the time, they just talk about their songs or share ideas on how to perform,” Jinsu answered, putting his hand to the door handle of the van and opening it without turning.

“They’re actually very serious and mature young si – ” the site that greeted him made him stop and stare at the contents of the van in mortification. 

Dae-Sung’s orange-pants clad bottom was facing the camera as he was sprawled over Ji-Yong’s lap. 

Young-Bae was leaning over him and his hands were on Ji-Yong’s head. 

Ji-Yong’s hands were on Young-Bae’s hands, tying to stop him from taking his beanie, while one of his feet was dangerously close to Seung-Hyun’s face.

Seung-Hyun’s hands were on Ji-Yong’s foot, the other on Young-Bae’s back for support.

All four boys had frozen when they heard the door open, and they could only stare in open-mouthed and wide-eyed horror at the camera, Jinsu, the reporter, and back to the camera again. The three outside were staring back in equal horror and mortification.

“Uhm, yeah, I think we’ll leave them for a minute,” Jinsu said, managing to find his voice and then slamming the door close.

“Well, aigoo, this isn’t live, right?” he asked the reporter and cameraman, who were still staring at the van with their mouths open.

“No, it isn’t,” answered the reporter, clearing his throat and blinking his eyes before focusing back to Jinsu.

“Better. So, how much should I give you to edit that part of the film out?” Jinsu asked resignedly, taking his wallet from his pocket.

“No fee, sir. My daughter adores them so much and I would hate to see her shocked and disappointed at how her ‘serious and mature’ group is really like in real life,” the reporter said, shaking his head.

“Thank you so much. I would give your daughter Big Bang’s latest CD and an autograph from them all. Thank you,” Jinsu replied, bowing low. “And if you’ll excuse me, I have four boys to murd – erm, talk with.”

The reporter and cameraman looked at each other when the shouting in the van started. 

“YAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!” they could hear Jinsu’s muffled voice inside the van.

“Oh. That was weird,” the cameraman said.

“Yeah, it was. But I’m kinda glad that they still have time to play and all that. They’re just kids, after all. It must be so hard to act all proper most of the time because people see you as idols, and not kids who just happen to be talented,” the reporter said.

“Amen to that boss,” the cameraman replied.

A few minutes later, Jinsu came out, straightening his clothes and smiling at them.

“Shall we try that again?” 

And as the door opened, a composed, smiling, and completely different Big Bang greeted the camera.

‘Too bad. I liked the first Big Bang better. But hey, they’re doing their jobs, might as well do mine,’ the reporter thought to himself, then gave his head a little shake and smiled his big, reporter grin to the boys as the interview started and finished without a glitch.

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They had moved onto the studio. The four boys were now back to their roles of Big Bang. Smiling and amicably answering the quite predictable questions that were being thrown their way.

Except for one though.

“TOP, a lot of netizens have noticed your acting for Gummy’s music video, I’m Sorry and your kiss with trainee, Sandara Park,” the reporter started to say. 

The three other BB boys laughed boisterously after hearing that, knowing that Seung-Hyun became totally uncomfortable with that topic.

‘Oh please do not answer any question that involves the words ‘Dara’ and’ kiss’ in the same sentence with your name.’

‘Aisht! Why am I feeling this way?! Am I jealous of hyung?! Nope, I’m not! I must not, I must not, I must not!’ Ji-Yong thought, getting sobered pretty fast, considering that he was laughing so hard just a few minutes before.

‘Hyung, you better answer this right before I clobber you with the mic,’ Young-Bae thought, holding the microphone for his teammate as he looked at the uncomfortable Seung-Hyun.

‘Omo! This should be fun! Maybe SeungRi would get his answer after all!’ Dae-Sung gleefully thought, not noticing the discomfort of the other three.

Seung-Hyun looked a bit uncomfortable, but said, “We had a lot of NGs. I think there were two before we got it right.”

‘Aisht! NGs?! He was asking about the kiss, not the freaking behind-the-scenes!’ he thought furiously to himself, but still keeping a smile on his face.

Good thing that the interviewer noticed their unease and moved on to safer waters, making the three boys inwardly sigh in relief.

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Kill me! Boring chapter, I know!

But I wanted some interaction with the boys...Sorry!

BTW, the interview I was referring to was the one in Thailand, I think. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Watch for TOP's answer, it was so far off from the question. Haha! Oh well, onto the next chappie!