“If I say that when I see the moon tonight, it’s blue, what will you say, Hyeon?”

Seo Hyeon laughed. Really. Talking with this guy worked better than any vitamins to brighten up her mood after a longtired day.

“I’ll say, “Oppa, it’s impossible””.

“Ah. And if I say that we’re going to sing Banmal Song together in that Niigata festival, what will you say, Hyeon?”

A pause. A heavy sigh. Before she answered again with, “I’ll say, “Oppa, it’s impossible””

“Hmmmm………….”

“What’s with this hmm?”

“Then maybe the moon will soon be blue, Hyeon”

“Deeeeee?” she exclaimed in amusement. “You are funny, Oppa. I swear you are”.

“No, it’s true”

“That the moon looked blue?”

“No, that we’re going to sing together in Niigata”

“No way”

“Yes way”

“What?”

“Either it’s MBC, the event organizer, your label or mine, or all of them combined got hit in the head or was drunk when they wrote the list of performers, or maybe they finally think Yongseo couple is a marketing force to reckon with. I don’t really care actually. I just care about the fact that we’ll sing together again”

“You—you mean on stage Oppa?”

“No, Hyeon, just the two of us singing in my bedroom”

He was sure she’d have something to say to that, but he already cut her with, ”Yes, on stage, Hyeon, where else?”

“Huh. I haven’t heard anything from our manager”

“But I have. Unless there are two Seo Hyeons in Korea…..”

“I think...... I think, Oppa. I don’t want to say anything else until I hear it myself from my manager”

“Ah jjinjja? Hang up on me then, and call your Manager Hyung. And then call me back, whether you realize it’s true or a joke. Ahrasseo?”

“De. Bye” Seo Hyeon answered in a hurry.

Five minutes later, his phone rang. Her hello was an “Oh my God Oppa, I just found out that it’s true. I can’t believe we’re going to have a duet. I mean, how come? Why now? I thought our labels like to throw us to different parts of Asia?”

“Haven’t I told you? Marketing strategy, Hyeon”

“Wow. I can't hardly believe this” Seo Hyeon let out, leaning on her bedpost. The surprise really blew her away.

“Hmmm….so what should we sing?”

“Didn’t you say Banmal Song?”

“Strangely, I want to hear you sing Intuition”

“What? But you’re going to sing that in the festival I guess? With your dongsaengs?”

“Hmmm. Yeah. And Love Girl, probably. You and your unnies?”

“Mr Taxi, I guess. And Bad Girl”

He clutched his phone harder, “Which costume? That yellow one or that leopard leggings?”

“I don’t know” she answered, fighting to sound steady, “I guess the second choice”.

He had yet to comment on her newest Music Video. Truthfully, before he started talking about the blue moon, she thought that was why he called.

“Hyeon…….”

“Yes, Oppa?”

“I like Bad Girl MV”

“Ah. Gamsahamnida”

“I think Tiffany and Yoona looked really pretty”

“Hmmm”

“Tae Yeon and Hyo Yeon looked great too”

“Cham. Anybody else you want to comment about?”

“The maknae”

“Mmhmm?”

“The maknae looked…….”

“What? Did she look weird?”

“I think I better text the maknae and tell her what I think”

“Oh, come on Oppa! Tell me what you think!”

“This means we have a chance to practice together” he said, sharply changing the topic.

“Yah!”

“I look forward to meet and practice with you. And I’ll know if you stop practicing guitar, no matter what you say…….”

“Oppa! You still haven’t said—“

“Ah, I’m tired. I need to sleep now. You know, regenerate my skin cells…….”

“Yong Hwa Oppa!”

“Good night, Hyeon”

Her answer was a grumble, but he still hung up.

One minute later, Seo Hyeon received a text.

“The maknae of So Nyeo Shi Dae looked very y in their latest music video. She should wear leopard prints more often”

In her bed, Seo Hyeon grinned widely. Reading the text over and over again.

**********************************************

“Ommo. You’re definitely getting better. You’re getting better at this”

“Really?”

“Yes. I can see that you’ve been practicing”

“Of course I have. Before I go to sleep, whenever I’m in Seoul”

“Ah” he let out, touched by the fact. There’s something special in her growing love with his favorite instrument. It meant a lot for him.

“So uh, Banmal song?”

“Of course” she answered without any doubts at all.

“And what else? CNBLUE will sing Intuition and Imagine”

“Oh. Why not Love Girl?”

“I said I want to sing it with you”

Her eyes widened before she broke to a wide smile.

“Good choice. I like that song so much”

“Me too”

“So, we should think who will sing which part”

They were sitting together in front of his recording tools in his room. Her manager dropped her an hour earlier in front of the dorm.

“I already thought about it” he said, before he moved forward and gave a quick peck on her lips and took out his music sheet and pencil.

Seo Hyeon blushed, “What was that for?”

“That? Which “that” are you talking about?” he asked back, turning on the machine and avoiding to look at her.

“You—you just—“

Yong Hwa turned to her and pecked her lips again, “Don’t even think about kissing, Hyeon. You should concentrate…….”

“But you’re the one who kissed me! You’re the one who’s not con—“

He pulled her chair closer and kissed her fully on the mouth, silencing her.

She opened her eyes slowly when he stopped,

“I do believe” he said, lips a mere inch apart from hers, his breath blowing softly on her face, “that people who work hard deserve a break from time to time. You know, to recharge their energy”

Seo Hyeon could not say anything, her eyes darting from his eyes to his lips. So he just put her guitar off her lap and pulled her body to his, taking a deep breath to kiss her as long as he could.

************************************************

In a random traffic jam, CNBLUE’s van stopped on the road near a small church. A wedding was held. Guests were smiling and clapping hands around the wedding couple. The bride’s gown seemed to shine under the sunny day.

And it made the gears in his head clicked.

Bride. Seo Hyeon. Niigata.

He felt shocked himself with the idea that crossed his mind.

I’m going crazy.

In front, they could see a big billboard of SNSD endorsing Intel Core processor.

“I definitely am going crazy” he muttered.

“Huh?” Jong Hyun asked beside him, cracking his eyes open, thinking Yong Hwa talked to him.

“It’s nothing” he said.

It’s definitely not nothing. He couldn’t forget it.

*******************************************

The cheers and screams of the fans when he and Seo Hyeon appeared together onstage holding their guitars were deafening. Did they even hear us singing? He wondered. They seemed to scream the whole time.

Their duet started with Banmal Song. They finished successfully, her voice was clear and sweet and blended really well with his. Afterwards, crews took out her guitar and they sang Love Girl while CNBLUE played the music in the stage behind them.

They didn’t hold hands. Or touched each other in any ways during the performance. But her eyes sparkled like no other and he felt the skin on his cheeks was stretched so wide as he couldn’t stop smiling widely during their seven minutes performance.

They bowed to the audience afterwards, some fans screamed “Yongseo! Saranghae! Fighting!”

*******************************************

He was ready in front of a big plasma TV back stage when SNSD sang. His heart beat crazily and his blood rushed all around inside as he saw Seo Hyeon transformed into the vixen on stage. Those dance moves, those fierce expression, that sharp look in her eyes.

Help me, Yong Hwa whimpered inside, as she strutted around in that black tank top and that cursed leggings.

I hope my mind is still intact when I talk to you after this.

*******************************************

True to her word, after the final encore when all the artists went on stage once again, she walked inside CNBLUE’s dressing room. His dongsaengs definitely stood gaping looking at her, costume still on, bowing politely saying, “You’ve all worked hard. And I love your album”.

Following previous instructions, Jong Hyun walked out, pulling Jung Shin’s hand and pushing Min Hyuk’s back.

“Yah!” he whispered frantically to his two dongsaengs, “You both were definitely ogling her!”

“Well. Well—what the hell could we do? She just walked in in that—that—“ Jung Shin muttered.

Jong Hyun hit Jung Shin’s head, dragging Min Hyuk along who haven’t even recovered yet.

*******************************************

“Do me a favour will you? Don’ t ever walk around wearing that. Guys will drool and make a mess”

She laughed shyly, covering , “Ah jeongmal! I haven’t changed yet. You’re the one who asked me to come straight here after the show ends!”

“Right. I did”

Her smile disappeared. “Is there something wrong?”

“N—no. There’s nothing wrong”

“But you look—troubled”

“That’s because I have something important to do tonight. At least I’m hoping I can do it”

“Jjinjja? What is it? Are you going somewhere?”

“I will be going somewhere if you want to go too”

“De? Go where, Oppa?”

He walked to her and took a deep breath.

She frowned. Strange. He looked nervous.

Seo Hyeon let him held her hands and waited.

He closed his eyes and held her hands tighter.

“Hyeon? Seo Joo Hyeon, I want to ask you something”

“Hmmm, what is it Oppa?”

“I want to ask you something irrational. And crazy. And something you might refuse. The bigger chance is that you’ll refuse—“

Seo Hyeon frowned deeper  but she was still smiling, absolutely sure that it’s one of his choding pranks.

“Marry me, Hyeon”

Seo Hyeon gasped. Before she laughed shyly.

“I will, Oppa. We will, one day. When we’re ready, when our career—“

“No. Marry me tonight”

The silence that came next was filled with potential explosive. Her eyes went wide and then her nostrils flared and she looked instantly furious.

“Don’t joke with something like this, Oppa. It’s cruel for you to say so. It’s cruel for you to even consider joking about this”

He quickly held her hands.

“Seo Hyeon, I mean it. I want to marry you here tonight. Let the world think we’re drifting apart. As long as I know you’re mine, I’ll be more at ease living my life”

Seo Hyeon scrutinized him. Trying to see a hint of jokes in his eyes or look. Trying to wake up from this apparently very real hallucination.

“You can’t be serious, right? You’re not, right, Oppa?”

“Hyeon, I’ve never been more serious in my life before”

“But how could us—what the hell do you mean, Oppa? How do you even imagine we’d do that?”

“My father has a very good friend. He’s a lawyer. Our family used to stay in his house during summer holidays when I was a kid. He lives in this city, Hyeon. Niigata”

Her heart beat madly in her chest.

“Are you saying—that we—“

“Let’s marry by law”

Her head spun. 

This can’t be true. 

He who’s always been so indulging and responsible. He who always thinks first for me. How could he ask such a thing?

“I don’t get this. Is this even legal?”

“Hyeon, we’re of age”

“I know that. But does—does marrying abroad is accepted by Korean law?”

“It is. You can marry anywhere in the world and our country will say it’s legal. Or to make sure, when we have the opportunity, we’ll make it official in Korea too”

“Oppa. Oppa, stop. This—this is suicide. If your label knows—this might be the end of your career. Of—of CNBLUE, even”

“It won’t if nobody knows”

“It’ll leak. Surely someone will tell” she added, voice higher and she was panicking by then, “Yong Oppa, why this sudden wish? Have you planned this? What happened?”

Yong Hwa paced around.

“Okay. Okay, listen up. I love you Hyeon, you know that right? I might have fallen for you that very night we first shot our show. Or the many occasions after that. I just—know that you’re everything I want. You’re—you’ve becoming my ideal. It’s not only that you’re very, very beautiful, but it’s your—character that blows me away. Your stubbornness, your firm views, your obsession with health. And you sing amazingly and you play piano and you love—music. I just know that you’re the one I search in a girl. It’s—it’s almost unbelievable that you’re you—with everything in you. But I just know that I love you and I know I’ll never gonna find anybody else I want more than you, so that’s why I want to officially marry you”

“How on earth are you planning to do this?”

“I already contacted Junichi-san. He agreed to help. He liked me a lot. And he said, since I want it so much, he’ll provide the witnesses to make it legal. All I have to do is just to take you to his house and we’ll only have to sign the certificate he prepared for us”

Seo Hyeon was bewildered. This is something impossible. Preposterous. Like he said, irrational.

“Oppa, you do realize you’re asking me to marry without my parent’s consent, right?”

“I do, Hyeon. I know. And your sisters too, they wouldn’t know. And that is a huge price to pay. The only comfort I can give is that if you say yes, I’ll do the same thing. My parents and dongsaengs have no clue too”

The possibility was tearing her apart. The possibility of refusing him—however insane his wish was—and breaking his heart was cutting her inside.

“So, what do you say? You have every right to say no, of course”

And then Yong Hwa was sure. She knew her stubborn expression when she wanted to set things right. Of course she’d say no. Of course. This was something delusional to begin with. Seo Joo Hyeon would never marry anybody like this, without her parent’s consent, without her sisters’ knowledge. It was craziness from his part. He shouldn’t do this to her.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry Joo Hyeon—I shouldn’t have asked you this. I shouldn’t even think about this. You have to understand that I—“

“Alright”

“--loved you. And these times without seeing you has cornered me to the walls. I just have this silly idea of wanting to at least know that you’re officially mine though we can’t often meet. But I guess I shouldn’t—wait, did you say something? What did you say?”

“I said. Alright”.

“Alright means……--do you mean……..”

“I mean yes”

“Are you sure? Have you thought about this  thoroughly?”

“Yes”

“You won’t be able to tell your parents. And you sisters” he repeated once more.

“I know. I get it”

“And—and if our label knows…….there might be hell to pay”

“Let’s just face it if it happens”

He blinked. For one moment, he wanted to change her mind. Say that he was only joking after all. To tell her to think of herself. To remind her that she deserved much more than this. But what came out was only, “Seo Joo Hyeon, are you really, really sure?”

She faced him squarely in the eyes. Hers were sparkling and she looked…….happy.

“Yes. How many more yes do you need to hear, Yong Oppa?”

He grabbed her hand. “Okay. Alright. Let’s do this. I’ll take you there”

“Wait. Wait just a moment”

Are you changing your mind already?

“As much as I love you, I don’t want to marry you in a tank top and leopard leggings. Give me time to change into my dress and tidy my make up”

“Oh. Yes, go ahead, Hyeon”

“Thank you”

“But your uh—dress. Do you—do you want to buy anything? Do you want me to buy you anything?”

“Absolutely. Buy me that glittery wedding dress I wore on our photoshoot”

He gaped. “But. But Joo Hyeon, it’s—“

“I know, Oppa. Don’t panic. I know you can’t. I’ll just do with what I have now”

He exhaled in relief.

“I need to change”

“Right”

She nodded and squeezed his hand before letting go and left his dressing room.

He paced around and around as he waited.

She might change her mind. Of course she would. She would come back here and apologize. He decided he would not get angry if she did that. It’s her right after all. He’s the one who’s asking something impossible.

She opened the door again, looking pretty. Her hair fell in long waves and she had her make-up retouched.

“Y—you’re wearing a white dress?”

She looked down at herself. “I wore this earlier when I came here. I guess I chose the right dress for the occasion”

Yong Hwa felt like he was in a daze, looking at her in a simple one piece white dress. And she was smiling softly at him, not giving any kinds of objection at all.

“We can go now” he said, “If you’re ready”.

“Do you know the way to go there?”

“I went there before I came here”

“Oh. And your dongsaengs and managers didn’t know about that?”

“No”

She nodded. “How do we go there?”

“I ordered a taxi. It’s in the back door”

He walked beside her to the exit.

“What did you tell your unnies?”

“Dinner with you”

They had to bow and answered the greetings of several staffs and crews before getting out the back door.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Yes” and she opened the taxi door and got in. He followed and closed the door.

***************************************

TO BE CONTINUED.



Authors note :

All these hype about that (strong) rumor of Yongseo's duet in Niigata get to me too. I want to be a part of this whole spazz worthy week. I even rewatched episode 18 last night. That playing pool and piggy back ride episode.

I know that a fanfic writer wrote about a similar idea like this. But I can't resist writing this one. I hope you like this new miniseries.

PS : I dedicate this story to Shasha, my Ubi friend. Because she cried reading the Crossroads Series.