Shim Jang’s POV

Sky and I were backstage for Star Golden Bell, having just finished hair & makeup and checked our mics. We took seats together in the waiting room and looked over the program that they had backstage.

It looked like this:

FRONT

BACK

“Oh my god, I’m sitting next to Taeyang oppa! I haven’t seen him for ages… Not since I was a trainee”, I whisper-shouted to Sky, trying to contain my excitement. Nonetheless, I felt a blush began to spread across my cheeks.

Sky looked at me, half-smiling, but with one eyebrow raised, as if to say How are you so tough on stage and so damn young off-stage?

I just shrugged in response to his gaze and instead tried to calm myself down, fanning myself with the program.

And then there were suddenly footsteps coming down the corridor.

I looked up to see the f(x) members walking down, and walking a little behind them, were our Beast sunbaenims Yoseob and Doojoon.

I simply stood up and bowed to the f(x) girls, not feeling particularly close to them, but Sky wrapped Amber in a warm hug and shook hands with the other girls, although he seemed a little wary of Krystal.

The f(x) girls left quickly to receive their mics and Yoseob and Doojoon walked up to us.

“Getting pretty close there, huh?”, Doojoon asked Sky, his eyebrow raised.

Sky blushed, but simply bowed.

“Don’t bow like your strangers! C’mon!”, Yoseob said, and grabbed both of us into a hug, purposely leaving Doojoon out.

Doojoon scoffed and pushed his head between Yoseob’s arm and mine, trying to fit in.

Laughing at his childish side, I said, “Doojoon sunbae, you’re going to mess up your hair!”

Doojoon just shrugged as he forced his way into the middle of the hug, although Yoseob was trying to pull him out by his pants.

“Yoseob sunbae, you’re going to pull his pants down!”, Sky said franticly, and grabbed at Doojoon’s pants, trying to keep them up.

“Get-out!”, Yoseob said between pulls. In pulling out Doojoon, he let go of me, and as a result, all four of us went tumbling backwards.

I felt arms tightly encircle my waist and pull me against a firm body to prevent me from falling any further. 

I looked up to see Taeyang oppa, his face very close to mine.

I stopped breathing for a second.

“You okay, Shim Jang?”, Taeyang asked me, his face breaking into a friendly smile as he gently set up upright and let me go.

“Ye-yeah”, I replied as best as I could. I could feel the blush spreading to my cheeks, so I automatically looked down, away from him and the rest of Big Bang, and I pressed my palms to my face in an effort to calm myself down.

But suddenly, I saw a foot on the ground… I traced that foot to see Doojoon sunbae… on top of Sky oppa… and… their lips were-

Sky was frozen.

“What the hell are you doing!?”, I screeched, totally forgetting Doojoon sunbae was my sunbae and that I was supposed to respect him. I pushed Doojoon off as Yoseob watched on, laughing, and tried to pull up Sky oppa.

GDragon came over to try to help me with Sky, although he was obviously trying hard not to laugh.

“You might as well get used to it, Sky, you’re going to have to do kissing games on variety shows pretty soon anyways”, GDragon smirked, patting Sky on the back.

Sky just shook his head violently before wiping his lips.

“Hey, Beast, Big Bang, Universe, get up here!”, the assistant director called from the end of the hallway.

“Yes, sir!”, we chorused, and hastily made our way to the main scene.

I took my seat between Krystal and Taeyang, purposely avoiding Taeyang even though he tried to talk to me.

“Okay, we have thirty minutes before the show starts, so we have a short survey for each of you to fill out!”, the PD instructed us. The assistants handed them to us, and asked us to pass them down the line.

As I did, Taeyang turned to me and remarked, “It’s been a long time since I saw you, Shim Jang. I saw your debut stage. You were fantastic.”

“Thanks, sunbae”, I murmured. 

“Since when did you call me sunbae? We used to be close, Shim Jang”, Taeyang reminded me, and poked me in the side.

I laughed a little, but still tried to turn away.

Yeah, we were close before… how come I feel like I have feelings for him now? Did he change… or did I?

“Are you free after the show? I have a few hours before I go record… we can all hang out if you feel awkward”, Taeyang told me.

I just nodded, feeling uncharacteristically shy.

I could feel Sky’s eyes on the back of my head, and I could picture his smirk, so I shifted away from both of the boys to concentrate on the survey.

It was quite short, only five questions. I just scribbled down the first names that came to my head. Overthinking here meant I had to explain my answers to the entire nation. I’d just go with my gut.

1. Which idol here is closest to your ideal idol? Taeyang.
2. If you were to challenge someone here at something, who and what would it be? Lee Hyori, dance.
3. Which male idol looks most like a player? Seungri.
4. Whose voice here are you most attracted to? Yoseob.
5. Who would you like to become closer to here? Taeyang.
6. Which idol group here do you think fights the most? F(x).
7. Who is the person you would most like to work with and on what project? T.O.P. on a rap song.

As everyone passed their slips of paper to the front to be collected, I sneaked a peek at Sky’s answers.

1. Which idol here is closest to your ideal idol? Amber.
2. If you were to challenge someone here at something, who and what would it be? Shim Jang, dance.
3. Which male idol looks most like a player? Changmin.
4. Whose voice here are you most attracted to? Yoseob.
5. Who would you like to become closer to here? GDragon.
6. Which idol group here do you think fights the most? F(x).
7. Who is the person you would most like to work with and on what project? Bi Rain on a live ballad stage.

We promptly passed them in, checked the mics, went over the script briefly, and the show began.

“Welcome to the 255^th Episode of Star Golden Bell!”

The introductions went by quite quickly, and Sky and I yelled our names out with enthusiasm when it was our turn.

The announcer talked about Exo’s debut, Big Bang’s comeback, f(x)’s comeback, and Song Joong Ki’s new movie before he addressed us.

“And Universe: our new co-ed group that has been making waves in the Music and Modeling world!  What it’s like now that you’ve debuted?”, the MC, Kim Jae Dong asked us. 

“Well”, I answered truthfully, “It’s nice to not be a trainee anymore…So I’m just grateful to have debuted at all right now.”

There were nods of agreement from all the idol stars around me.

“You know, we debuted about two months ago… and now we’ve just started getting recognized this week”, Sky said.

“Oh, really, this very week?”, Kim Jae Dong asked, smiling.

“Yeah, the Universe members all go to the same small supermarket down the street… and it was just this very Monday that the grandmother who owns the place recognized me”, Sky explained.
“And how did she react when she recognized you?”
“She slapped my really hard and started yelling, ‘Omo, omo, omo, it’s that boy, that boy!’ and she gave me a piece of candy for free”, Sky replied. His imitation of the grandmother provoked laughter and I felt a slight twinge of jealously. He always had a story to tell, and I didn’t understand how he made it so entertaining.

Sky bowed and waved lovingly to the grandmother through the television and then Jae Dong turned to superstar Bi Rain.

“All right, moving on to the surveys then! Our other MC, Chae Kyung-sshi, will tell you who voted for who!”

Chae Kyung-sshi bowed and read off the question, “Which idol here is closest to your ideal idol?” There are two girls who tied at three votes, and two boys who tied at three votes apiece. For girls: Hyori and Shim Jang!”

“Seungri, you picked Lee Hyori sunbae as your ideal type here, why did you pick her?”

“Well”, Seungri said, smirking, “When other girls hit me, it makes me angry, but when Hyori smacks me, I feel honored. You know, the Queen of Pop just hit me! And everything she does is just, like, royal.” 

I felt like he was being extremely childish, but I had to admit Seungri was still funny and knew how to entertain the audience.

“And GDragon, you picked Shim Jang, what part of her made you choose her?”, Chae Kyung questioned.

Whoa, Jiyoung oppa picked me? Even though Hyori and f(x) are here?

“Well, actually, Shim Jang and I have been friends for a few years now, since we’re both from YG… and ever since I met her, I found her extremely passionate and charismatic. I mean, because of the age difference, I wouldn’t exactly want to date her, but in terms of personality, she’s the type that knows what she wants and straightforwardly goes for it. It’s cute and at the same time, it’s very attractive to see someone, especially a girl, be so honest and focused all the time.”

I felt myself blushing again, but I could see myself on screen, and although I couldn’t hide the small smile that spread across my face, I tried really hard to stop the blush spreading across my cheeks. I turned to GDragon and bowed, thanking him gratefully and hiding my face at the same time. GDragon just winked casually at me before he turned back to the camera.

Wow, I really miss being at YG and seeing my sunbaes, I thought to myself. Being a part of Universe is different… because we’re all from different companies so we don’t have the same bond. I’m closer to Universe, but there’s something about being from the same company-

“Sky and Taeyang!”

Sky’s eyes widened in surprise as he and Taeyang exchanged half-startled, half-flattered looks.

“Amber, you chose Sky. Why? What part of him is attractive to you?”

“Oh, every part”, Amber answered straightforwardly, “as everyone knows, he’s a decent rapper and an absolutely amazing dancer and just overflows with charisma onstage, but there’s just more to him the more you get to know him.”

“What do you mean by ‘more to him’?”

“I mean, he hasn’t really gotten the opportunity to share it a lot, but he sings flawlessly and he’s pretty good at guitar now.”

Sky shook his head no, but Shim Jang knew he was trying not to look flattered and embarrassed.

“And he’s really selfless. That’s the part that’s the most attractive to me. He’s incredibly hard-working because he has a sincere love for music, but he never asks for anything more than he has, and whenever he talks to me, he always asks me about my day and my preferences… That’s the quality everyone wants in their friend-“

“Just friend?”, the MC interrupted, “you sure there’s not something more?”
“No, we’re just friends”, Amber said firmly, but the MC interrupted again, saying, “Well, you know, Amber-sshi, Sky-sshi also wrote you down as his ideal type.” 

This time both of them were blushing. I groaned inside. Headlines, anyone?

The MC eyed them both suspiciously- heck, even I eyed them suspiciously and Bi Rain cheerfully called, “It’s okay, Sky-sshi, I was like that too when I was your age. I had that line down flat. ‘No, we’re just friends’”. Bi smiled kindly and knowingly and went on, “When you’re older, you’ll be spilling all the beans anyways.”

Amber stuck her tongue out in exasperation and Sky just buried his face in his hands.

“All right, moving on then,  Shim Jang-sshi, you would like to challenge Hyori-sshi to a dance battle?”

Hyori laughed and commented, “Oh, girl’s got some spark, huh? To challenge me?”

Ugh, if she thinks I’m easy, she’s got another thought coming.

I put on my sweetest smile and said, “Well, sunbae, you’re so great, we’re never going to stand on the same stage… so I wanted to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime chance.”

Hyori grinned back and stood up, beckoning me to stand, “Okay, let’s try it then.”

Let her be confident, I thought to myself, and bowed and offered the stage to her.

Hyori smiled at me before she went to the center of the stage.

A fast-paced hip hop song came on and I watched as she started off with some hip hop moves and then she began to shake her and show off her curves. And as I watched her move her body in a y wave, I had to admit, Hyori was amazing at dancing y. She could probably teach me a thing or two about booty shakes and waves.

But I clearly had the upper hand when it came to popping, so I decided to use that to my advantage. I took to center stage, and smirked when the song came on- it was the perfect song: Boom Boom Pow. I’d practiced this with Chan Hee last week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUYX9FQPabY&feature=related

People started to cheer and clap for me, and I finished strong, and was ready to shoot Hyori sunbae a wink when I saw Sky mouthing at me to “bow” and “show respect”. I scowled but acquiesced, bowing and smiling to Hyori before taking my seat. But as I sat down, I saw a haughty and satisfied smirk cross Sky’s face.

“Wow, what an amazing stage these two have shown us! And Sky, you wrote you wanted to challenge your own member, Shim Jang, why is that?”

I turned to Sky oppa, honestly puzzled as to why he chose me. “We always practice together, oppa. You know you’re better than me.”

Sky pointed at me and said, “See? She always does that- say I’m better, but I think she’s just holds back to show respect as her oppa.”

I shook my head and raised my hands to deny any charges, although there was some truth to what he said… I just liked Sky oppa too much as my oppa to make him feel bad about his dance… especially because Sky oppa only compared us on dance, even when he was far better and spent more time on singing than me.

“Okay, well, since Shim Jang has already went, why don’t you take the stage, Sky? Show us what you have!”

Sky hesitated, I knew he hadn’t prepared anything. He looked at me questioningly and I nodded my head. Go for it, oppa.

He sighed and then he nodded his head and walked to the stage to polite applause.

PD-nim looked worried offstage, because he knew the dance wasn’t scripted, but I tried my best to make eye contact and smile to reassure him. No one knows how Sky oppa can dance.

He stretched a little and then cued for the music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzGeNiUOpUY (Junho’s part)

By the end, everyone was cheering loudly and on their feet, clapping.

PD-nim looked so surprised, but you could tell this definitely wasn’t going to be edited out.

He bowed politely and made his way back to his seat, but both GDragon and Amber stopped him for high fives.

I didn’t acknowledge Sky, but I didn’t have to, pride was just radiating from me. That’s my oppa.

“Marry me, Sky-sshi!”, Hyori called jokingly from the front. I scowled at her.

The questions went on and the MC addressed the other guests before saying, “And as for which idol group here is thought to fight the most… Universe!”

“What?”, I said, without thinking. I didn’t think we were going to get picked. I looked back at Sky, but he just shrugged and listened to Song Joong Ki, who was explaining how he thought co-ed was bound to be uncomfortable and difficult to maintain.

“Actually”, I replied, without thinking it through, “it’s actually just the girls who fight the most.”

“Oh, really, who?”, the MC prompted.

Crap, I didn’t mean to say that aloud.

“Uh… just in general, us girls… tend to be more picky about things…”, I said, trying to laugh it off.

The set was feeling slightly awkward when Amber piped in, “Yeah, it’s true. I think girls tend to be more involved in each other’s lives. Boys just use their own shampoo or they give and take freely, but girls are always wondering what other members are using and wanting to try it, but at the same time, they have pride about their own opinions, so they try to hide the fact that they sampled it… things like that.”

I nodded, grateful for Amber, and said, “Yes, things like that. Small things that involve any random two members.”

The MC nodded and said, “Thank you so much for explaining.”

“BREAK!”, the PD called suddenly.

I went to the bathroom and then went out in the hallway to stretch my legs when suddenly Sky came sprinting up to me.

“Have you seen it? Have you seen it?”, he asked me, franticly. He was staring at his phone, alarmed.

“No, what?”, I asked, stretching my arm.

“Soo Ri and Jinwoon!”, Sky whispered furiously, and shoved the phone in my face.

I stopped stretching and looked closer at the screen.

Two people were hugging at a stop sign, wearing hoods and shades, but that face profile was obviously Jinwoon’s.

The girl was facing away, but her long black hair flowed out of her hood.

She was in his arms, leaning onto him, her hands on his chest.

“How do you know that’s Soo Ri unni?”, I asked, my eyebrow raised. “It can be anyone, like Seohyun sunbae or Hara sunbae.”

Sky leaned in close to my ear and hissed, “Cause that’s Kyu hyung’s jacket that she’s wearing!”

I looked closer and realized that it was, indeed, Kyuhyun’s jacket she was wearing.

I groaned but quickly responded, “No one’s going to be able to tell. We can’t confirm anything.”

“Let’s just hope another photo doesn’t come out”, Sky replied, sighing.

Then he asked me flatly, “Are they dating?”

“Not that I know of”, I answered truthfully. But then again we don’t talk about boys all that much…

“Chan Hee’s going to flip”, I realized suddenly, and groaned.

“We all have to keep quiet for now. While people try to guess who she is, no one’s going to recognize her jacket”, Sky reasoned.

I nodded thoughtfully and asked, “Should I call Soo Ri unnie?”

Sky shook his head, “Let Chan Hee or JiHyun handle that.”

I nodded and said, “Come on, there’s only two minutes before the show’s starting again. We have to go back- and don’t let yourself look stressed out.”
Sky nodded and we walked back out together.

The two of us purposely stayed rather quiet for the next half of the show, contributing the bare minimum as we mulled over this in our heads.

I remember when Soo Ri unni came back late after one of the fashion shows… was it Burberry? She was really happy… said she’d gotten coffee with someone… was that… Jinwoon? And what if the President does notice the jacket? Oh, god…

“-AND SONG JOONG KI IS THE WINNER OF THE STAR GOLDEN BELL!”

Streamers erupted from the ceiling, and fifteen minutes later, Sky and I were in our van.

My phone buzzed so I picked it up and said, “Hello?”

It was Jaesun. His voice was flat, with no energy.

“Shim Jang, you and Sky need to get to the hospital now. Kyuhyun’s hurt.”

a/n: missed everyone. still way busy with sats, college apps, sports, and then finals, but here's a long chapter. and i've started planning your guys chinese and japanese stages. :]