Chapter 4: Seatbelt Shuffle

“So where are we going?” asked Sooyoung as Yonghwa ran over yet another pothole. How had his driving skills gotten so rusty and why did it have to show so much during this one outing?

Minhyuk, all the way from the backseat, was the first to speak. “My father’s restaurant.”

“Oh, wow, your father owns a restaurant?” Sooyoung turned all the way around in her seat to face him in fascination.

“Dae. He’s closing down early so we can go and eat freely.”

“Wah, cool!”  

“We’ll eat very well tonight,” Minhyuk replied confidently.

Yonghwa grinned to himself over Minhyuk. Just over a half hour ago, Minhyuk was complaining that it would be impossible to do, and now he was trying to show off. Still, he had to hand it to the boy. The girls were making an effort to make things comfortable with s, who had warmed to them as well. The only ones not talking were Seohyun and himself. He wanted to, and it wasn’t like him to keep quiet for long, but after Hyoyeon and Sooyoung’s confrontation, he felt like his every move was being watched by everyone in the van.

“I’m already anticipating it. But it won’t be too fun with Hyunnie coming,” Sooyoung pouted. “She’ll monitor everything I put into my mouth.”

Yonghwa glanced over at Seohyun to see her reaction. She looked hurt for a few seconds before responding with a half-hearted “Unnie!”

Hyoyeon and Sooyoung chuckled. Yonghwa knew they were being funny, but he didn’t feel like laughing.

“Seohyun,” said Yonghwa loudly, “Will you choose something healthy for me to eat at the restaurant? I haven’t been eating very well.”

Seohyun smiled timidly at him. “Dae. Of course. Do you still drink coffee?”

“Yes! He does everyday,” shouted Jungshin.

“Oppa…” Yonghwa was expecting her to begin lecturing him, but Seohyun trailed off and looked out the window.

The van fell silent again. A familiar melody came through the speakers, a melody that oddly made Yonghwa want to dance, and that just didn’t happen on a regular basis. It was “Party Rock” by LMFAO. Even ahjummahs knew that song.

“Oh, I love this song! Turn it up!” cheered Hyoyeon.

Yonghwa turned up the volume, and the pop lyrics that none of them could understand blasted from the speakers. Hyoyeon began to dance wildly. Sooyoung joined her, then Jungshin smiled and began mumbling along, wiggling around. Yonghwa had to hand it to Jungshin. No matter what situation he was thrown in, the boy went with the flow.

Pretty soon Minhyuk and Jonghyun had joined in in their own little way, Minhyuk drumming with his hands on the seat and Jonghyun nodding his head. When the shuffle music break came on, the van went wild together, moving in their seats and laughing.

Yonghwa focused on driving, and Seohyun remained shy.

“Seohyun, can you shuffle?” he asked.

“Annio.”

“Come on, show me. Show me the seatbelt shuffle. It’s the coolest dance, right?”

“Annio,” she laughed.

“Come on! One, two, three, go!”

On his count, she did a little wiggle, pumping her arms. It lasted all for 10 seconds before she collapsed into laughter, her long hair swinging forward to cover up her blushing face. It made her look beautiful.  

“And that’s how you do it?” he smiled widely at her.

“That’s how you do it,” she confirmed with a cute nod before giggling again.

“Definitely the coolest dance in the car. Even cooler than Hyoyeon’s,” he shouted over the music.

“Ha! Maknae wishes,” Hyoyeon stuck out her tongue.

A couple of other songs came on after that, but a conversation had begun about schedules, performances, tips for certain TV shows, station broadcasting protocol. It was clear that all of them were exhausted by their work, most of them were lacking in health except Seohyun, and all of them had mishaps over foreign food while touring in other countries. By the time they had reached the restaurant, they had talked themselves into malnourishment and couldn’t wait to devour anything set in front of them.

“Wait, we can’t just walk in together right?” asked Minhyuk.

“Maybe we should circle around the block a couple of times and see if we notice any hidden paparazzi,” suggested Hyoyeon.

“Maybe we should drop off the girls first, then we’ll come about 15 minutes later,” suggested Jonghyun. 

“Annio, Minhyuk should go first. He can go in without looking suspicious. Then he can call us and let us know it’s safe,” said Sooyoung.

Yonghwa looked at Seohyun. “What do you think?”

She thought for a moment before responding. “Circle around once, drop all the CN Blue boys off first, and then I’ll drive and wait for the call. Once oppa calls, then I can park, and we can go in quickly. Maybe through the back way?”

Everyone was quiet while they thought over the plan until Yonghwa finally said “You’re a genius.”

…………………………….

Seohyun didn’t feel like a genius, but she wanted her plan to work. So far, the atmosphere was good between everyone, even if she and Yonghwa were barely speaking. Eventually he had initiated talk between them, but it had taken him longer than she expected. Still, she wanted to renew their friendship. She wanted to share a meal with him once again and get back to being comfortable with the first guy she was ever close to. That seatbelt shuffle thing had been so embarrassing, but she knew he liked stuff like that. If she was taking him away from a night of composing hit songs, she should at least appease him by making him laugh.

They drove around the block once and searched for anyone who looked suspicious but determined that things were pretty clear. The boys were dropped off, and Yonghwa had trusted her with the van, but not before telling her a thousand times to drive carefully and not to miss his call.

The minute she revved up the engine, and the boys disappeared into the restaurant, Hyoyeon and Sooyoung descended on her.

“So, what’s it like seeing Yong Seobang after all this time? Is your heart fluttering?” Hyoyeon chirped from the passenger seat.

“Of course it’s fluttering. She’s acting so cute in front of him.”

Seohyun tried to change the subject while she navigated the small alley way. “Has Jungshin chingoo chosen yet?”

“Don’t change the subject. Tell us about Yonghwa. Why were you giggling so much?”

“I wasn’t giggling. We were just talking. He’s like a friend.”

“We have plenty of friends,” Sooyoung sighed at her. “We have plenty of everything. What we don’t have are boyfriends.”

“Is that the most important thing to you?” asked Seohyun.

“No, it’s not, but if I found a guy that made me act the way you act around Yonghwa, I’d want him around as more than a friend.”

Seohyun parked the van at the end of the alley and put her phone in her lap, awaiting Yonghwa’s call. She sat back in her seat and breathed.

“I know what you two are doing, but can we be honest? I’m not his type. I’m not even close. Everything that happened between us is in the past, and now all we have left is friendship. I don’t want to date just to have to someone to call every night. When I date, I want it to be serious. Not something that will last a couple of months before we’re too busy to care about each other anymore.” Like what already happened, she thought.

Hyoyeon was about to say something when Seohyun’s phone went off. It was Yonghwa telling her that the coast was clear, and that they were waiting for them to come. That signaled the end of the conversation as the girls quickly exited the van and greeted Minhyuk’s friendly father at the back of the restaurant.    

The restaurant had been cleared of customers as promised, and the boys had apparently chosen their normal spot, a sitting area where some of their CN Blue posters decorated the wall. Seohyun and her unnies sat down, and everyone uttered small words of accomplishment.

“And that, chingoos, is how you avoid a scandal,” Sooyoung grinned proudly at her maknae.

Seohyun sat across from Yonghwa, a seat no doubt perfectly planned, and was determined to finish dinner without any other mention of that word. Scandal.

A/N: Yeah, not so good, but I tried right? I’ve got a lot going on, but I’ll try harder next time! Hopefully the next update will be some time on Friday. Thanks for reading, subscribing, and please feel free to leave a comment :)  There's more to come. I've been scribbling down stuff just about everyday so please anticipate it.