Listen to Voicemail 

 Ring, Ring, Ring… “Please leave a message after the beep.”

            “Hey, Daehyunnie? Let me explain please?” With a click of a button, her voice faded and the dial tone sounded. He stared off into the distance.

            Their relationship had started with a voicemail. He had been calling Yongguk-hyung but had forgotten he didn’t save his number so he dialed from memory. The phone had continued to ring until he heard the voicemail message.

            “Annyeong! The person you’re trying to reach is currently unavailable. Call back another time. Mwah!” The voice was chipper, a far cry from his hyung’s normally deep timber. He’d been bewildered and amused. His manly hyung must have found himself a girlfriend and she must have messed around with his phone.

            “Ya, Bang Yongguk!” You haven’t been to practice in a while. If we lose the band war, it’s going to be all your fault! Himchan-hyung is furious. And you dare go to have a girlfriend? Aish, this hyung.”

            But the person who called back wasn’t his hyung but a girl. Daehyun started off, calling her sister-in-law and joking around. This had freaked her out. To save himself, he decided to tell her the truth and they started to make small talk. They realized that they had gone to the same middle school and both came to Seoul to attend the same high school.

            “I don’t think I’ve seen you around,” he laughed. And so they agreed to meet. Daehyun fell in love with her sweet personality and innocent ways. They were together ever since, the visual couple from Busan.

            Then, the band signed with TS and he had less time for her. In the beginning, she was beside him the whole time. She supported him as he labored before their debut and went to all their performances, regardless of school. But B.A.P.’s popularity grew and he was travelling all the time. He still called her but she seemed to be drifting away. When he saw her, she was different. She no longer smiled.

            “Jagi,” he greeted her, kissing her and reveling in the rare sweet moment they had together.         

            She pulled away. “How are the members doing?”

            “We’re preparing for our second album. Warrior was a great success. It’s going to be busy all over again.”

            She was silent. “Are you doing another collaboration with Secret?”

            He had answered truthfully. “Jieun-sunbaenim and Hyosung had been most helpful. It would be an honor for us to work with them.”

            “Hyosung? Isn’t she older than you? You don’t even call her noona or sunbae? Are you two that close?”

            Daehyun played with a lock of her hair. “You’re everything to me, if that’s what you’re worried about.” And that had placated her.

            The month that followed caused more separation and she became colder. She always had plans when he was free and when he asked her to go to his concerts, she always had excuses.

            It pained him and the other members knew. From a purely selfish angle, however, this anxiety only caused his voice to be more filled with powerful emotion. He didn’t tell them anything and so they didn’t ask.

            “Did you bring me anything?” her first words to him after he landed from Singapore.

            He held out his arms. “Only my entirety, love and sweetness included.” This response normally would earn him a blush and a kiss but she just stared.

            Almost mockingly, she said, “You’re rapidly becoming a superstar and yet you still treat your girlfriend as if she were a nobody. Really now.”

            Daehyun then produced a jade bracelet he had custom made for her with their names engraved.  This brought a smile finally. “Glad to know you’re thinking of me.” He had smiled back, wanting to think that they were okay.

            Then the fighting started. She would accuse him of neglect and other little, trivial matters. She began posting pictures with other guys, calling them her comfort and her solace.

            When he questioned her, she had shrugged. She rolled her eyes. “You’re never at school. I need friends. They know who my boyfriend is. We’re just friends.” She was nonchalant and he let it go.

            But those “just friends” began to pop into their arguments. She would compare him to one of them and reproach him for being such a failure of a boyfriend. “Why can’t you just care a little more?” she always spat at him. Daehyun took it all quietly.

            One night, after a painful fight, he had broken down. He told Youngjae who confided in Yongguk and when Power promotions ended, the leader gave him time to attend school and make things up to her.

            She was thrilled to parade around with him but made catty remarks when he interacted with his female classmates. If he met her late, he would find her intimately embracing one of her male friends. She never apologized and he looked the other way.

            Things got worse. When he told her they were starting No Mercy promotions, she threw a chair which narrowly missed him.

            “Go!” she screamed. “It’s all about B.A.P. now isn’t it? Who cares about the lonely girlfriend?”

            “I’m leaving my family behind too.” This was the first time he had truly fought back.

            She cried. She sank onto the floor, her long hair covering her face and sobbed. He knelt next to her. “Baby, please don’t cry.” She buried her face in his shoulder and he melted. After three years, he still loves her.

            But the phone calls turned into voicemails and every time he heard her chipper voice telling him to leave a message, he is reminded once more of their beginning. She rarely called back but he persisted. He continued to smile on stage. Daehyun was good at hiding his hurt.

“Neon seulpeun mellodeurama sok juwinkon-gigil wonhae

(You want to be a main character in a sad melodrama)
Keuraebwaht-ja urin an dwaeh, neon gashikjeo-giya da ppeonhae

(Even so we can’t be – you’re so fake)
Dareun namjadeu-ri neol wiiroha-go kkeu-reo-wanneunkeol

(Other guys are comforting you, hugging you)
Sangsang-hal ttae-myeon yeokkyeowo jeollo useumi naneunkeol

(Just imagining it disgusts me, automatically making me laugh)
Mae-il nan sum kappeun sseuldeyeom-neun datumdeu-re

(Everyday, I’m part of these arguments that leave me short-breathed)
Mujo-geonjeo-gin majchumdo jichyeo neon geumankeum igijeo-ginkeol

(I’m tired of giving in to your unconditional standards- you’re just that much selfish)”

            The last straw came when he wanted to surprise her. He went to pick her up after school and found her kissing one of the guys she had labeled as her “comfort.” He made sure she saw him before leaving.

“Heunhaeppajin geojinmaldeul nae-gen haji ma

(Don’t tell me those super common lies)
Eochapi mideo bonjeokdo eop-seo, neo eobshido nan jal sanikka

(I never believed them anyway because I can live well without you)”

            She tried to explain, telling him that she was sorry and that he had started it but Daehyun never listened. It didn’t matter what she had to say.

“Badeun seon-mul da taewobeorigo neol jiwo beoryeojul-ke

(I will burn all the gifts you gave me and erase you)”

            He threw all relics of her into the fire, the flames painting horrific shadows on his impassive face. He wanted no memory of her.

“Huhweh ttawiin eop-seo, nan eop-seo

(I have no regrets, I have none)
Neol kidaril keora saenggakhaji ma

(Don’t even think that I’ll be waiting for you)
Miryeon ttawiin eop-seo, nan eop-seo

(I have no lingering emotions, I have none)
Neo-ye-ge modeun geol da jwosseunikka

(Because I gave you everything already)”

            Daehyun belted the song, the emotion ringing through. He knew, deep in his heart, that he was done. All the members understood and encouraged him. They wanted their brother happy.

“Nun-mul hanbeon peongpeong heu-lligo neoreul jiwo beoryeojul-ke

(I will cry my eyes out and erase you afterward.)”

            He was done with her. His tears were dry now.

            “Please leave a message after the beep.”

            “Daehyun, please.”

“Ijen time to say goodbe

(Now it’s time to say goodbye)”

            The dial tone sounds . . .

plot by: Commander J