[7]

 

Phone Calls

 

"Aish!~ I can't stand it anymore!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. No response. They left me all alone for how many days now? All they do is get up, leave, rehearse, perform and don't get home until 2 in the morning which by then, I get tired of waiting and just go to bed. What's more, after the last incident, not only had Young Saeng completely ignored me up 'till now but managed to convince Hyun Joong oppa in keeping me under house arrest. I.e. Watch the dog.

 

"Ddaengee!~" I called to the dog who laid on the floor staring at me. "Ddaengee!~ Noona is bored~ All the oppas hate me don't they?" The advantages of talking to a dog, they can only agree or say nothing at all.

 

"Ddaengee~ Tell me, how is noona supposed to survive another 2 months of this torture?" Just then, I heard a soft melody playing in one of the rooms. I followed it and dug it out from the sheets of Jung Min and Kyu Jong's untidied bed. 

 

"Yabaseyo?" I called into the phone.

 

"Min Hee-shii? Is that you? Ah, thank god, it's at home." Jung Min's voice piped in relief. "I was worried someone would pick it up and send the numbers and contacts to a bunch of creepers."

 

I laughed at that. "How do you not notice you didn't have it with you since the beginning.?" I asked with a giggle.

 

"Hah, that's true. I gotta go now, thanks a bunch kiddo." he said, his voice tainted with stress.

 

"No prob old man. Good luck with your performances." I told him before he hung up.

 

Just then, the phone vibrated in my hand. On the screen, it read "New message received." Curiosity killed my bitter instincts as I opened the message.

 

The sender was a girl named "Nami." 'Are they close?' I thought. Usually the lack of last name meant something more than normal, especially on a contact list.

 

The text read: 'Are you busy today? There's something I need to talk to you about.'

 

'That was suspicious.' I thought as I placed the phone on the kitchen counter and prepared food for Ddaengee as well as myself. When I was done with lunch, I simply laid on the couch and did nothing out of boredom. Somewhere along he way, I had fallen asleep. 

 

It's almost a habit now, when I woke up, Double S was already back, I found that out the hard way. “Hey Min Hee-shii, wake up or you’re gonna catch a cold here.” I never failed to differentiate Jung Min’s voice from the rest, it was always unnecessarily happy, that’s probably the reason why I’m always wide awake around him.

 

“I don’t wanna get up.” I grumbled, refusing to open my eyes. His hand shook my shoulder.

 

“If you don’t get up, I’ll attack you.” He threatened.

 

“Oh, I’m so scared.” I replied sarcastically. Suddenly, I felt my wrists being pulled to either side of my head. Was he on top of me? My eyes shot open when I figured it out, he was! And then it hit me even harder. Didn’t I say it was a bad habit?

 

“W-Why are you shirtless?” I stuttered, unable to comprehend anything.

 

“Haha, is it that surprising? You’re in a house full of guys.” He replied as he got off of me.

 

“Your hair is still wet/” I told him. He simply shrugged without care.

 

“You’re gonna develop headaches when you become and old man, that is, in a few years, if you don’t take care of yourself properly.” I scolded him. “Sit.” He sat down obediently as I got up to grab a towel from the closet and returned to sit cross legged behind him on the couch.

 

“I can do it myself.” He insisted.

 

“You probably can,” I agreed, “but what are the chances that you will?” He didn’t reply so I took that in as a sign of defeat. I looked up to find Young Saeng staring at us from the kitchen counter. When his eyes made contact with mine, he looked away and headed towards the bedroom. His expression almost as if in pain. I quickly finished up drying Jung Min’s hair.

 

“You know,” I told him as he got up, “you should towel dry more often, heat kills your hair.”

 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he replied as he searched through the fridge. “Oh yeah, where’s my phone?” He asked.

 

“On the counter, I’m gonna go to bed now, good night.”

 

“G’night.” I made my way to the room where Young Saeng was and closed the door behind me.

 

“You actually came, I thought you’d be staying with Jung Min tonight.” Young Saeng’s voice was low in volume yet almost penetrating and aggressive.

 

“Why do you want me here anyways?”

 

“Come here.” He commanded, patting the bed space next to him. His voice wasn’t demanding but for some reason, I allowed myself in next to him.

 

“Last time, you said that as long as none of us fall in love with you, you’d stay right?” He started, “However, you’re not falling in love with one of US are you?” His tone wasn’t a question, it was a warning.

 

“Are you insane—“

 

“Good. Good night.” He interrupted and placed his arms around me, securing us together once again. 

 

It was who knows how much later that I heard a one sided conversation coming from the living room. I almost didn’t recognize the voice at first but it shocked me even more when I realized it was actually Jung Min. Something wasn’t right. I got up from Young Saeng’s grip and peaked out the gap of the door. He seemed to be in the middle of an argument out on the balcony.

 

As I inched closer, I got a better idea of the intense atmosphere.

 

“No, don’t do this. What? Now it’s my problem. I – no, that’s not it! Listen to me! I don’t want this to end, I – What does that have to do with – well in the beginning you said – wait, don’t. I—“ He stared blankly at his cell phone, his hand shaking. I might’ve imagined it but a tear managed to slide down his face. 

 

“Jung Min?” I called out to him. Him who was clearly no longer the Jung Min that I once knew nor the Jung Min that everybody knew. I went next to him and dabbed at his running tears. 

 

“Shh. Shh, don’t cry.” I told him as I took his hands in mine.

 

“My girlfriend…said I was too famous… that I never had the time for her…She broke up with me just now…I … I don’t know what to do…I…”

 

“Shh, Shh, it’s okay. I promise. It’s gonna be okay. I’ll always be here for you.”

 

“Will you?”

 

“Yes, no matter what.” I promised, taking his limp body in my arms though I was clearly a head shorter than him. “I promise, I’ll never leave you no matter what happens. So, don’t cry anymore.”

 

Suddenly, I felt as if we were no longer alone.

 

“Min, what’s going on?” 

 

Young Saeng?