Hyemin’s P.O.V

Are we over?

The room was silent for about 10 seconds and then Jieun ran out of the door with L.Joe. I hope they run into Jihyun unnie and drag her back. My tears had dried already and most of my grief turned into anger. Andy betrayed our trust, after all the promises he has made. The CEO glared at the door, probably thinking of the two while Andy put his head in his hands, looking down.

“So what’s going to happen next?” Leeteuk asked nobody I guessed.

“Nothing’s going to change much because we’ve already been taking care of their expenses even after they entered TOP Media as a part of the contract with Andy. They are still going to live in that villa with those Teen Top boys but they’ll train at the SM Building with the other SM artists. Since the villa is near the other SM artists’ dorm, it’ll be easier for us to drop by.” The CEO’s lips curled into a sly smile. I could see the others hurt eyes after the CEO talked about them as if they weren’t there.

“Can we go now? The girls need to be on time for their next schedule.” Jinhyung manger-nim said, looking at his watch.

He’s lying; we don’t have any schedule left for the day.

The CEO seemed as if he suspected something because he asked, “What about those two little girls?” The way he talks, the way he looks at us, I can tell that he doesn’t even like us and he thinks that we’re just his play objects, toys. I hate him. “We’ll ask someone to take them to the destination, somehow.” Jinhyung said, he was holding back, I know he’s angry because the CEO made his twin sister angry. The CEO nods and Andy gets up with the boys, bowed and went out of the room. We, except for Soul unnie, didn’t even bother to bow.

After escaping from the room I heaved a sigh of relief but now we have to face Andy.

 Almost at the same time, we turned our bodies to Andy. He sighed and said, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hold on to you girls for a long time. Listen, I’m busy right now, we’ll discuss this later okay. I’ll meet you guys at the villa at 8 o’clock. Make sure the other two is there.” He shook his head and walked away.

“The other two?! They have names you know?!” Issy shouted but I’m sure Andy didn’t hear her. Even if he did, he ignored her. The Teen Top members followed him after hugging us quickly. Wait, what about L.Joe?

Suddenly I don’t feel comfortable with them anymore. I don’t know why, I just don’t. Soul unnie turned to us with that disappointed look in her eyes. “Don’t overreact girls, we’ll get what we want. Let’s just play along for awhile.” She said, Hyun-Ae’s hair. “All we wanted was to be entertainers, right? It doesn’t even matter where we go to train or where we eat our lunches at. We’ve survived this company before, we’ll do it again.”

 “But the people are – Before Hyun-Ae could finish her protest Soul unnie continued a bit harshly, “It doesn’t matter, we’ll be great entertainers even without those people in TOP Media.”

“Be a little specific would you, comedians are entertainers, es are entertainers.” Jinhyung mumbled and Soul unnie turned to glare at him.

Jinhyung held up both his hands and said, “Calm down, bull. I saved your asses back there didn’t I? We need to get going. Let’s go home.”

We shook our heads and went home to the villa where we found suitcases on the floor. The smell of food was clear to our noses. “What the hell? Did robbers get in or something? But why would they cook?” I asked as we slowly and carefully walked towards the kitchen. Loud happy voices were heard and soon we found out who the intruders were. “Sunbaenim! What are you doing here?!” Soul unnie bowed and we followed her. Minwoo sunbae was looking at us with his wide eyes and said, “When did you get here? Sorry, we didn’t realize it.”

What? They do realize that they’re at our house, right? I guess Soul unnie thought so too cause she asked, “I hope I don’t come out as rude or something but what are you doing at our house?”

Rokhyun smirked and said, “Eric thought that we deserved a better house because we’re going to debut soon you know, so we’re living here for awhile.” Yeonie unnie nodded and sat down on one of the chairs.

Jonghwan oppa was standing at one of the corners of the room and was mumbling, “Two people are missing.” Soul unnie immediately sighed and Minwoo oppa rubbed her back trying to comfort her which only made her blush more. “You know how Jihyun unnie and Jieun are. They rebel all the time.” I said. It’s best not to stress Soul unnie out. Chanyong oppa who had his back to us turned around and said, “But I’ve got a message for Jieun.” Of course you do. Sigh. “Where are they?” Changbum asked while untying his apron.

“We don’t know but we know that they are safe.” Issy said and opened the fridge. Stop lying; we don’t know that they’re safe.

Issy’s P.O.V

Hyukjin sighed and turned around, asking “Who are they with?”

Sanghoon scrunched up his nose and said, “They’re not alone, right?”

Before we could stop the maknae, she blurted, “Jieun unnie is with L.Joe oppa and Jihyun unnie is with Suho oppa, her ex-boyfriend.” We automatically face palmed ourselves. The seniors are very strict about any contact that we have with the SM artists.

“What?!” Jonghwan shouted and Hyukjin held him back.

Minwoo sighed and faced Soul unnie, “Why is Jihyun out with an SM artist?” Soul unnie hurriedly defended herself, “I couldn’t stop her!” “You know you could have stopped her yet you didn’t! Why didn’t you?!” Jinhyung who was just listening pulled Minwoo back and said, “Hey, relax. My sister can handle herself, she probably didn’t want him and ditched him by the way she was ignoring his lingering eyes back at the SM building. No need to go freak on an innocent person.” Jonghwan jerked forward and said, “He was looking at her?!” “Hey, hey calm down.” Rokhyun said and held him back again.  Minwoo hyung shook his head and went to the living room, grabbing his jacket.

 We followed him and he said, “I’m going to go search for Jieun and Jihyun. It’s up to you if you want to follow or not.”

Jonghwan immediately took his coat and followed Minwoo hyung.

 Of course we’re going. We all followed them and Minwoo hyung said, “This won’t do, let’s split up. When we get to the SM building, let’s split up in groups and search the nearby places.” We nodded and got into the van. Jinhyung hyung drove because Minwoo hyung was a terrible driver. The air inside the van was tense with Jonghwan shouting at Jihyun unnie’s voicemail thingy, with bad words and Hyukjin trying to call Jieun but decided not to at the last second. We drove by a bubble tea shop and surprisingly, I don’t even have the mood for it.

“Aish, shut up will you, Jonghwan and just call her, Hyukjin!” Minwoo oppa suddenly shouted and everyone went silent.

 After a few minutes, we reached the SM building and got out. There were a few fans stalking outside the building, I wonder how the stars feel. Do they feel suffocated, do they feel proud?

“So here’s the plan. I’ll go with Sooyeon, Rokhyun will go with Yeonie, Jonghwan will go with Hyukjin, Chanyong will go with Hyemin, Changbum will go with Issy, and Sanghoon will go with Hyun-Ae and Jinhyung.” Jinhyung gaped and said, “Why do I have to do the babysitting?!” “Because you’re an adult.” Minwoo concluded and we dispersed.

 And the awkwardness starts with Changbum and me. “So umm, where shall we search first?” He was rubbing his neck and looking away. “Where ever we’ll go, we better stay away from Jonghwan and Hyukjin. They’re scary.” I said and shivered a bit at the thought of bumping into a currently very scary Jonghwan.

He chuckled a bit and nodded, “So, Issy. How old are you again?”

He doesn’t know what to talk about, I’m sure of that. “I’m 18, you?” Well, I’ll just go along with his boringness. “I’m 19 so you’ll have to call me oppa. Wait, you’re the one who calls everyone hyung, right?”

Huhu, at least he knows that. “Guilty.”

He laughed a clear laugh. It sounds very pleasant. Oh, my britishness. He stopped and pointed towards a shop, a bubble tea shop. “Let’s search there; I heard Suho had a thing for bubble tea.”

He definitely does, I remember him taking me to this very bubble tea shop a few years ago. We walked to the shop and bumped into someone that we totally didn’t plan on bumping into. “We searched here already! Go look at somewhere else.” Jonghwan glared and walked out with Hyukjin on his tails. Hyukjin looked lost and he looked at us as they walked away. Changbum and I turned to each other and I saw the playful look on his face. “While we’re here, let’s get some bubble tea.” We high fived and got into the shop. “I happen to have an obsession for bubble tea.” I declared. Oh my god, it feels refreshing to say that.

 Dude, stop your gibberish P.O.V right now! Okay, no, I won’t.

“Really? Do you have like a pillow with pictures of bubble tea, cause I happen to have one.” He grinned and looked at the menu. I stared at him in disbelieve and cracked up after a few minutes, “What? Are you serious? I’m not that obsessed!” He looked at me, leaning onto the counter. “Wow, you react so late. And yes, I’m serious, I know. I feel like such a creep sometimes.”

“You feel like a creep? A creeper who creeps over bubble tea, it suits your face.” I joked and he looked offended for awhile. “I’m offended, what is wrong with my face.” Okay, what do I do now, “I-I’m so- Suddenly, he cracked up and laughed for a few minutes, leaving me puzzled. “I was just kidding, silly.” Har, har.

Jieun’s P.O.V

I looked at L.Joe’s figure who was talking to the phone with his back to me. Why is he here? Don’t get me wrong, I like him but why is he so supportive of me? We’re best friends, I get it but why is he willing to risk his career for me, a person that he just met 3 years ago. It makes me curious. He sighed and got off the phone. He messed his hair up and frowned. “I need to go to the company building for training but I’ll stay with you.” He sat down again beside me. We were in a sauna, trying to calm down. “It’s okay, you should really go. I’ll be okay.” I pushed him a bit, trying to get him to stand up. He shook his head and held my hand. “No, I can’t leave you here alone.” I furrowed my eyebrows, why is he so persistent.

“Are you really willing to risk your career that you’ve worked hard for just for me?” I asked, a bit frustrated.

He glared at me and said, “Why haven’t you figured it out yet? Or are you pretending that you don’t know.”

What is he talking about? “For the 3 years that we’ve known each other, you’ve never guessed that I had some feelings for you?” He leaned in closer and I pressed my head onto the wall. “What kind of feelings are you talking about?” I asked. I probably know the answer already but I really want to hear him say it. “I like you, Seo Jieun.”

It feels so refreshing to hear those words.

He leaned in bit by bit and just as our lips met for a second, his phone rang. I pushed him away softly and said, “I like you too but you really should go. I’ll be fine, the owner of this place is my friend.” He sighed but got up and said, “See you at 8 at the villa. Those two old man want to meet all of us.”

I nodded and got up too, I want to go and eat. He waved and walked out of the room into the locker room. Touching my lips, I felt happy again. No matter what, he’ll be there for me.

I walked around for awhile and sat down on a spot. While I was eating, I saw a young couple who were like an old couple. The lady was scolding the man while the man just laughed. Wait, isn’t that Suho oppa and Jihyun unnie? I was planning on leaving the two alone but suddenly Jihyun unnie turned around and caught me staring.

 Her eyes were red and fluffed up.

She pointed at me in disbelieve. In a few seconds, both of them were already taking a seat in front me. “What are you doing here, alone?” She asked while trying to shake Suho’s grip off her arm.

“I left after you did and I didn’t come here alone. I was with L.Joe but he had a schedule to attend to so he had to go.”

Jihyun unnie shook her head and took one of the eggs and cracked it on Suho oppa’s head. While he complained she said, “You lovebirds, you go everywhere together.” I gave her ‘the look’ and pointed at Suho oppa and said, “Then what’s he doing here. Shh, lovebirds.” She quickly denied it and said, “I tried to ditch him but he’s just too persistent.

 I laughed but then I remembered something that L.Joe said, ‘The other seniors are searching for us. Jonghwan is going mad. I heard him swear through the telephone.’

I cracked an egg and said, “By the way, the bigger oppas are looking for us and Jonghwan isn’t happy.” The uncracked egg that she was holding fell and she chocked. Suho patted her back and she went back to normal after a few minutes.

“The bigger oppas are searching for us and Jonghwan’s angry?” She asked and after I nodded, she leaned against Suho and closed her eyes. “I’m dead meat if he finds us.” 

“Yes you are.” A harsh voice growled. We looked at the source of the voice and saw Hyukjin who looked glad and Jonghwan who was looking absolutely scary. His hair was messed up and a few upper buttons of his shirt was opened.

He yanked Jihyun unnie up and Hyukjin called someone, probably Minwoo oppa. Suho oppa got up and pulled Jihyun unnie. “You really shouldn’t treat a lady this way.” Jonghwan raised his hand but dropped it and growled, “You’re lucky we’re at a public place or I would have smashed that face of yours already.” Indeed, a large crowd has already formed around us but we were disguised so we’re fine. Suho checked his phone and said, “I’ll call you later, Jihyun. I have things to attend to.” “You better not call her.” Jonghwan said and Jihyun unnie hit his head. She walked out of the crowd, holding my hand. I can’t help but feel happy and gooi.

We met up with a very surprised looking maknae line at the door after we changed our clothes. Jinhyung came a few steps behind, looking utterly annoyed.

starrygrape's chit-chat time;

Lowls, it's been a long time! Yes sir! Anyways, try to enjoy the chapter!