Chapter 8.

Not long after the incident, the remaining boys all ventured out into the living area. Their manager was still in bed, so Seungho took it upon himself to share the rules then, and the main attraction was over my handwriting. No matter how much I told Changsun to tell them it was because of the difference of worlds, they all still giggled. I started to become suspect of their true intellect if they could be that distracted by my poor writing skill. My mood dropped and I soon left them to their teasing, going into Changsun and Sanghyun’s room to find a new outfit to wear. I had stored my clothing in there since they seemed to have more room than some of the others and decided to change whilst they were all still busy laughing over me.

“Don’t be too put out by it Yoo-” Changsun stopped midway as I let out a squeal, turning away from the boy in utter embarrassment. “Oh, you are changing.”

“Could you please leave?”

“It’s my room though, why are you changing in here?” he continued and I glowered at the wall at his persistence. I wondered if he was really enjoying my discomfort this morning. “I can’t see anything, you are completely covered up.”

“My stuff is in here since you have the bigger room. I didn’t know where else to put it. Thinking back now, I should have chosen another room, where the boys can’t see me to put my things and change. Byunghee-ssi was heading towards the bathroom so I couldn’t change there.” I let out a heavy breath. “Why am I explaining myself to you anyway, I’m a lady and you should respect that and at least turn away!”

“I have, I have,” he told me and I peered over my shoulder to make sure. Quickly placing my red knitted top with a lace neckline on, I turned around and folded my arms across my chest.

“I’m finished, I’m sorry for putting you in an uncomfortable situation.”

Changsun turned slowly, his eyes now on my jeans and shirt. He smirked. “You really shut down when embarrassed Yoomi-ah.”

“How do you feel when in a sticky situation then?” I remarked and Changsun shrugged.

“I laugh it off.”

“And then get loud or try to embarrass someone else,” I corrected and he tilted his head to the side.

“Forgot for a moment you’re a fan. Just how much do you know about me?”

“Enough, I guess.” I didn’t want to scare him; I had been following news about him avidly over the years.

“Well, I guess we’re even now then,” Changsun decided and I frowned at the statement. “I feel I know a lot more about you too now, physically of course!”

“Yah, Lee Changsun!” I yelled and threw one of my new shoes at him. He caught it somehow and poked his tongue out at me, and I clamped my eyes shut, realising I was planning to wear that particular shoe today. I jumped onto his bed and stretched up for it, but he was quite tall compared to me. No matter how much I reached I wouldn’t be able to retrieve it. So I did the next best thing and started tickling his sides, Changsun folding in half from the attack and laughing breathlessly. I grabbed my shoe in triumph and then caught sight of what he was wearing under his tee.

He slowed his laughter and straightened up, looking at me a moment later. “What?”

“You’re wearing my necklace,” I murmured and watched as the boy got uncomfortable and pulled at the top of his tee he had worn to bed. “I didn’t expect you to wear it.”

“I tried it on before bed and then must have forgotten to take it off,” he said softly and then pointed to the door. “I uh, should get changed for work.”

I nodded and walked out of the room in a daze, so much so that I only realised I had one of my shoes when I sat down on the couch beside Cheolyong. I barely paid attention to his exclamation regarding my presence to the others in the room. I continued to comprehend why the idol had put the necklace on. It didn’t seem like he had forgotten at all.

You’re reading too much into this Park Yoomi, so stop now. I blinked out of my thoughts and glanced at the youngest MBLAQ member in hopes for a distraction.

“Yoomi-ah, if you’re there, tap my arm once,” he asked happily and I did the bidding, the blonde boy laughing excitedly and then turned to face me. “Yoomi, I don’t know how old you are, are you my noona? Tap once for yes, twice for no.”

“Don’t treat Yoomi like that,” Seungho called from the table, and I noticed the manager was in the room. I wondered how much he knew now.

“You have a pet ghost?” he soon asked and Seungho pulled a face whilst Sanghyun nodded slowly.

“Those three have adopted a wayward spirit. G.O hyung and I aren’t so keen.”

The manager smiled and ate more of his food. “Spirits if you treat them well can reward you with good karma. If you treat them poorly, it can end badly. Be careful, won’t you?”

“Hyung, you’re not going to put a stop to it?” Sanghyun asked with surprise and Byung-Gi shook his head. “Why not?!”

“You’re all old enough to make your own decisions, so long as it doesn’t affect your jobs. She might teach you a few things anyway, at least the one that was in my family home did.”

I turned my focus back to Cheolyong who was trying to ask if I was the same age as him after my answer to being older was a no. I answered yes and he seemed to be delighted by this response. By the end of the tapping game, he had learnt I was three months younger than him. He had proclaimed me his friend and by this time everyone was ready to go off to work.

I got up and followed them to the door, suddenly getting a notion in my head. Grabbing Changsun’s lower arm for attention, he turned to see what I wanted. “Can I come along?”

“I wish I had never agreed to this,” he muttered in my direction as we walked down the hallway of the KBS building to their dressing room. They were there to record and perform on Music Bank and naturally I was a little excited. It wasn’t every day that I was surrounded by idols – apart from MBLAQ of course. Though compared to others, I was slowly starting to lose track of the fact that they were famous with each interaction I had with the members. As we passed X-5 in the corridor I let out another gasp and blushed deeply when I was sure the leader Ghun had been looking in my direction. I felt Changsun’s hand on my upper arm as he tried to subtly yank me along.

“I’m sorry, it’s just so amazing! You can’t deny a girl the chance to be excited over guys that I’ve only seen from afar!”

“Do it on your own time, or if you wish go off by yourself now. I’m sure if you think of me enough you can shift back to me,” he whispered and I gave him a look. Now he was being rude.

“Hyung,” Cheolyong called quietly, purposely slowing his step so the others in front wouldn’t hear. “Has Yoomi come to cheer us on today?”

“More like to be a nuisance,” he replied, and he gave me another severe glance. I narrowed my eyes on him and made an effort to be silent. It was a little hard when I saw LEDApple, but I managed to not even utter a sound.

As we rounded the corner, some of the members of T-ARA were there, and I was stunned by their beauty in real life. Although I wasn’t a huge fan, I couldn’t help but be taken back. Seungho was conversing with Soyeon and I was surprised to see Changsun step forth and make conversation. Leaning against the wall, I started to get a little frustrated. It was okay for him to act like this but not for me to even gasp at the sight of a boy group? I wanted to get away from the scene, and so spotting their name on a door, I stormed down to it, entering the room and taking a seat on the small couch against the wall. Their staff were already in there getting the performance outfits ready and I watched on silently, not even looking up when the boys finally arrived. I felt eyes upon me but refrained from seeking out Changsun’s stare. I soon became interested in the preparation of getting the boys ready and watched as all of them comfortably converse with the staff who got their outfits on and re-touched their makeup from the salon earlier. Although there was a changing cubicle in the room, none of the boys seemed to use it, and the stylists were unfazed by the open changing within the room. Whilst I turned away with another blush, I came to the conclusion that they were simply used to not having enough time and privacy when coming to these kinds of situations.

I noticed a particular person moved into my view and I rolled my eyes as Changsun pulled off his tee, and then looked at the stylist. “You have a low cut jacket on tonight Joon, sorry but the singlet will have to go too.”

He took that off also and I gaped at his confidence, his eyes falling over to my direction as he slipped the belt that secured one of his mic packs down his body. He then put on his jacket and the stylist turned her attention to Byunghee. The idol came and sat down beside me, smiling to himself.

“What was that all about?” I enquired, hoping the heat from my cheeks would soon fade.

Changsun smiled lazily and then looked down at me. “I guess it calls us even.”

“Even?”

“From what little I saw this morning,” he whispered back and I glowered at him, wondering if was that easy to start to despise the person you once loved with your very being. He seemed unaffected by my glare. “Don’t worry Yoomi; I don’t mind that I showed you a little more, free of charge.”

“You’re simply wicked,” I exclaimed and Changsun grinned, getting up to go and talk with Sanghyun. I wondered why I was reacting so clearly about my love affair with him, when I had promised myself I wouldn’t make anything awkward.

Glancing back at the boy, I nodded bitterly. He was fuelling it. Whatever Lee Changsun had figured out about me, he was testing his boundaries and where my emotions lay. I smiled to myself, knowing it would take a lot more than he was playing with to get me to admit that I liked him from now on.

I wouldn’t play into his hand anymore.

________

Author's Notes...

My apologies for a lack of an update for the past week. As you know I'm a uni student and I have been writing four essays back to back and it got a little hectic. But I'm back now and have no more assignments due - just exams next month! I hope this chapter was enjoyable and like Yoomi discovered - set up the testing of boundaries! I will be posting a second chapter like normal on Friday :)

Replies...

@Rirakuma; Yep, she has the ability to hear the thoughts of the living! And yeah, if she wasn't so innocent I believe she could have a LOT of fun with that ;) Hehe it just makes her more "human" I think to write her with flaws despite her new found abilities. Can't have everything! And thanks, sorry you've had to wait lovely!

@Kate; Haha right! Must be quite the task hehe!

@nikka0407; Welcome to my fiction and thanks for reading. Sorry for the lack of an update until now!!

@vanaja; Thanks. You have raised a good point... it is fiction afterall. My apology was in case I miss anything ridiculously obvious, namely about the other members as I don't know a great deal. For me I like realism so I guess even if someone puts a twist on a character, I like if that person is meant to have a specific trait then I'd hope for it to appear. For me its not about their stage presence but what isn't shown/said that I like to build. As you say it's fiction and I like to write my own interpretations and make my characters relatable and as real as they can be. In the past I have seen friend's get a lot of questions for why they wrote someone not like the person they were writing about and got a bit of slack for it... rather than assume, I'd like to consider the thoughts of readers who may expect some traits to appear that I perhaps will miss. But otherwise, I have to agree with you and wrote them to my own ability :) I hope you take the time to read this!