Chapter 27

Days started to pass quickly and it was now the weekend of MBLAQ’s Run goodbye stages. Seungho had made a decent recovery, and although he wasn’t completely rested, he returned to finish up promotions after being given the all clear from the doctors. Their company had decided to shorten the projected timeframe for the follow up to This is War, wanting to rest the group before their Asia tour kicked off later in the year. Though it wasn’t exactly a break for many; Changsun was acting in a sitcom which had extended his hours of work most days. Although he was tired, I knew he was enjoying the change in schedule from just variety and music shows.

Unlike Changsun’s busy lifestyle, my own time was spent cleaning, shopping and getting out of the apartment more often. I had already found the perks of being able to get into amusement parks for free and had started to enjoy making day trips around the large metropolitan. I guess without Changsun being home as much, I was incredibly bored, and there was only so much following of MBLAQ’s schedule that I could put up with. Secretly, I couldn’t wait for their promotions to end either, in hopes I could get more time with Changsun that didn’t involve him collapsing on our bed ten minutes after walking through the front door.

I had to admit, many of my trips had been inspired by the constant dreams I was having about Camille. So far I had picked up that the foreigner hadn’t lived in Korea very long, given her lack of Korean language knowledge and going to many tourist spots. I was beginning to wonder whether my dream heroine was not as fictional as I had once believed however. Too many of my adventures into her world seemed incredibly vivid, as if they occurred in the present time. It was slightly unnerving to think of it like that, and although a big part of me wanted to further investigate Camille, I didn’t know exactly what to think of myself if it was a possibility. I had already been labelled obsessed with MBLAQ by my family, and now I could potentially have a new sleeping disorder of stalking another living being. Sometimes I wished that I just slept talked instead.

Today was different than most days. Again, just like with their comeback for Run, Changsun had asked me to attend their first goodbye stage at MCountdown. I was a little nervous, given my last appearance at the show and Seungho’s emergency trip to the hospital. I hoped today’s performance would go without a hitch.

I opted to travel with Changsun to the MNET studio this time, the van filled with idle banter between the members. It was early in the day, and I could tell some of the MBLAQ boys were still attempting to wake up. Byunghee was the loudest member at the time, asking their manager about their schedule for the day. I wondered what the group would be like if he was leader.

The thought made me giggle.

“What?” Changsun lazily inquired and I nudged him, letting him know he had spoken out loud.

Seungho glanced at us in confusion. “Who are you talking to?”

“Ah, Yoomi. Sorry.”

“Yoomi’s here?!” Cheolyong leaned forward from the back and I glanced to see his genuine smile. “I like when you come to cheer us on Mi!”

“She is?” Seungho asked and I shared an expression with Changsun before he nodded. “Where?”

“Right beside me hyung, are you okay?”

“I can’t see her.” His expression instantly darkened. “Why can’t I?”

“Perhaps you never did, I did say it was odd that you had that interaction with her,” Sanghyun pointed out, to which the eldest glared at him. “It’s a possibility, you were on heavy drugs.”

“Or it could be that you’re better now,” Byunghee suggested and I turned to look at the brunette. He seemed thoughtful. “Didn’t you say you read that the mind can strengthen when the body is weak? Well you’re not weak anymore.”

“Still.” Seungho pouted. “I had hoped it was a permanent thing, like with Cheolyong.”

“Maybe you’re just concentrating too hard on today’s stage that you can’t open up to her presence, hyung.” Changsun smiled down at me lightly. “I can assure you that she’s here, so please don’t go falling over or hurting yourself just to see her again would you? I can tell she’s quite nervous about a repeat act of her last visit to MCountdown.”

Nodding, I snuggled deeper into his side and smiled. He always knew me too well.

“Alright MBLAQ, it’s time for a costume change!” a coordinator yelled out as the boys returned to their changing room after a successful recording session of Run. I frowned and looked at Changsun.

“You’re doing another song?”

He nodded and grinned. “We are.”

“What song?”

“You’ll just have to find out.” With another grin in my direction he started talking out loud to a stylist and I looked around the room for clues as to what the song was going to be. Either Changsun had deliberately made it so I couldn’t find out, or I simply wasn’t searching hard enough, because by the time they were heading back out to the stage, I was still clueless as to what song it was.

Cornering Cheolyong before he stepped up onto the platform leading to the stage, I placed my hand on his white jacket. “What’s the song?”

“No ones told you?” he whispered and I pouted.

“No!”

“Ah, well then maybe I’m not meant to. Changsun asked for this song specifically. I think I know why now.” Cheolyong smirked and moved off. I watched after him, feeling even more confused.

A pair of hands suddenly reached for mine and I glanced over at Changsun who was doing his best not to look suspicious. He then grinned and moved closer. “You look lost.”

“Just tell me the song, please!”

“You’re about to hear it. I wanted to give you a gift, from all of us. For helping Seungho with his recovery, for being there for the others, you’ve been there for us all, so go out front and see our performance, okay?”

I nodded softly, overwhelmed with his statement. Slowly, I made my way around to the space in front where the camera people were working. I sat down on top of the barrier between the stage and seats whilst staring up at the five boys all standing in a line.

And then the music began. My mouth fell apart gently, hearing my favourite MBLAQ song playing over the sound system. Byunghee started singing Love is Coming and Changsun was unable to remain still, swaying along to the beat of the song and grinning out at everyone watching. When it came to his part in the verse, he sang with conviction, even lifting his hand up to his face and smiling through his words. I couldn’t help but smile back at his infectious behaviour; it had been a little while since I’d seen him up on stage grinning so freely.

And as the song progressed with his inability to stay still, I realised why he was acting the way he was. It was all for me. Even though to the rest of the crowd, he was performing as Lee Joon, and happy to sing to all his A+ fans, I could tell the song choice meant everything to him. It was the first time he had confessed his feelings out loud to me, and ever since that moment in the practice studio, it had been the one song I requested to hear all the time.

I didn’t even realised I was crying until Byunghee started hitting his high notes in the shortened version of the song, and I wiped my tears away, laughing as Changsun pretended he had wings. The performance was then over, and after bowing to the audience, they left the stage. I was already waiting for them by the time they stepped down.

“Changsun, you were ridiculously happy up there,” Sanghyun pointed out and the boy in question grinned, patting the younger member on his shoulder.

“Got every reason to be.”

“So it’s true then?!” Cheolyong cried, and poked Changsun in the arm. The taller boy rubbed the woollen jersey in the area he had been attacked. “Tell me I’m right!”

“Changing room first,” Seungho announced, and I followed them all down to the room, where a flurry of activity prevented Cheolyong’s statement from being answered. I could tell he was impatient as he flung his outfit off, changing back into his previous one for another Run performance in front of the live audience. He then huffed as he waited for everyone else to catch up. Instead, once he noticed that Changsun was ready, he grabbed his arm and dragged the complaining member with him. I hurried along, intrigued.

“Cheolyongie, what the hell?!” Changsun cried as they finally came to stop in a secluded corner. The rapper looked around them and then pointed at his friend.

“Tell me yes or no right now. You’re with Yoomi, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” Changsun appeared awkward with saying it in the hallway, and kept looking around. “Seriously you couldn’t wait-”

“Really?”

“Yes, I just said yes!”

Cheolyong’s dark eyes widened. “That can happen between you two?”

“Can we talk about this later?”

“I have so many questions though.” The youngest was serious and I couldn’t help but smile. Changsun placed his hands on his friend’s shoulders and nodded.

“I will answer everything later, when we leave. Is that fair?”

“Everything I ask, you can’t leave out a single detail!”

Changsun sighed. “I promise, now can we go before someone gets suspicious?!”

The youngest seemed satisfied with their compromise and started walking back to their dressing room. Changsun rubbed his face tiredly and then noticed me standing there. He smiled weakly.

“Looks like you’re in for a lot of questions later.”

“Well Seungho kept his promise at least, I knew he would.”

I nodded. “I guess it’s about time you looked as equally crazy to all of them.”

“You’re so comforting,” he replied and then sneakily wriggled his hand so I would slip mine into his. He was really warm and I smiled.

“It’s a couple thing, right?”

“So long as you’re beside me the whole time.” He glanced at me and I nodded.

“Deal.”

Changsun reached the door of the dressing room and looked down at me again. His expression faltered. “Are you okay? You look really pale.”

“I’m fine,” I assured, looking down at myself. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. “What makes yo-”

I stopped talking as a bright light blinded me, and I clamped my eyes shut, bracing my arms around my face to block it out. I heard the distinct sound of screeching wheels and snapped my eyes back open, finding myself in the middle of a street. 

________

Author's Notes...

Thanks everyone for patiently waiting an extra day for this chapter, I was quite busy yesterday and just didn't have time/the energy to proof and post last night when home. I'm sure it's been worth the wait though, and it's probably a good thing the time between this chapter and the next is shortened with the cliff hanger it's ended on. Cannot wait to hear what you all think has happened here!

Replies...

@Kate; Lol. Yeah, I bet you wonder what Camille's position is in this fiction! 

@asdfghjkenia; Sorry to disappoint... I originally wrote that chapter far more dramatically (it was ridiculous actually), but then when I thought about it, both Yoomi and Changsun have a need for one another more that would outweigh resistance from either of them. I personally think that Yoomi being away for two days was a LONG time for her! And Changsun too. Thanks for still loving this!

@Maggie; No worries, reply to the email whenever... I haven't written any further since Chapter 1 on that particular story that I've discussed with you, which is a bit of a pain since it's supposed to be showcased AFTER this fiction. Which will be ending on the 18th of this month (although it might be later since I have two essays due pretty much in the next week and neither have been started >_<).. best get onto it if I have some free time after looking at my uni work! I'm glad you're highly interested in Camille, you should be! You're right to think there's a connection too! I'm glad you saw why and how their fall out and subsequent making up worked... it was rather realistic of them both to run back to one another upon sighting... though when apart they could conjure any sort of thought otherwise! I love the lads, so I added them in because they're a huge part of Changsun's life, and also now Yoomi's... they hadn't really had much in the previous chapters, so I had to drag them back in! Definitely, Yoomi is insecure and relateable to many of us because of her reactions - even if she is a bit dramatic! Hugs for you back ^_^

@patdmblaq93; Welcome to my story and I hope you enjoy the journey as much as you already are!