█ chapter O8 – who should I believe?

 

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=== Siwon's P.O.V ===

 

I blinked twice to see if my eyes were fooling me.

 

Soomi-sshi's sharp eyes, covered by some of her layered bangs, aimed at JooHee, our co-ordi dongsaeng, as if she was her pray – she looked as if she wasn't going to let her go anywhere. In the midst of this scene, two particular thoughts came to my mind.

 

Thought A being, does Soomi-sshi by any chance... have a preference in women? And thought B was, wow... she looked kind of y. Which, to me, is a perfectly okay thought; I mean, I'm a man, too. But if she had a preference in women, how would she have Minkyung? Okay, forget I even thought of all this. I just need to get those two apart before someone gets hurt. The other guys entered the kitchen cautiously, not wanting to be too involved. Some of them even looked around the room to see if there's a hidden camera.

 

“Excuse me... I don't quite know what's going on but Soomi-sshi, could you please let JooHee go?” I stepped ahead in front of the other guys and asked politely. Soomi-sshi wore an annoyed expression on her face and released her arms that were against the wall, allowing JooHee to be free. The frightened girl immediately ran behind me.

 

Soomi-sshi smirked and rolled her eyes. “Park JooHee. Where are you going? We need to talk. Now.” She said seriously with a hint of amusement. Grabbing onto JooHee's wrist, she attempted to pull her out of the kitchen to the backyard.

 

“S-stop! You're hurting me!” JooHee shrieked as she was being pulled. Soomi-sshi stopped and turned around to face JooHee, still holding a smirk on her face. Everyone was silent in disbelief that Soomi-sshi would act that way. But some of the guys shrugged their eyebrows and looked away from the scene, implying that they weren't so surprised. One of them being... myself.

 

“I'm hurting you? Ha. Have you no idea what you di--?!” Soomi-sshi said slowly in disbelief, her eyes becoming watery and she tightened her grip. JooHee flinched at the pain on her right wrist. Minnie, Hae, and Eunhyuk ran to Soomi-sshi's side and gently grabbed her shoulders, pushing her outside to calm down. She followed obediently and blinked several times to get rid of her b tears.

 

Attempting to break the horrible atmosphere, Henry grabbed hold of the cookie platter. “Well, that was... something. Cookies anyone?” He offered, doing a fancy little spin before he crouched down to Minkyung's eye level. Oh, Henry. Pun not intended. You're awesome.

 

The little boy was completely clueless of what happened, much to my relief, but still ran to the door separating the backyard and the kitchen in concern to his mom. Nearly running into the sliding glass door, Minkyung placed his little hands and squished his face flat directly on the glass whilst pouting.

Chullie hyung seemed to have caught notice of Minkyung's constant looks of worry towards his umma. With that, he walked up to the toddler, grabbing a cookie from Henry's cookie platter on the way.

 

“Soo-umma's going to be fine because Sungmin appa, Donghae appa, and Eunhyuk appa are there taking care of her. So don't worry too much, alright? Here, have a cookie.” Heechul said in the softest, most gentlest voice I've ever heard him use as he handed Minkyung the cookie and patted his head with his palm. What happened to hating children?

 

“N-no thank you, Heechul appa. I-I'm n-not hungry. I'm supposed t-to be th-the one t-taking care of Soo-umma...” Minkyung replied, still glum and in gloom with his lips naturally pursed into a small pout. Almost like... a baby duck?

 

Heechul hyung laughed at Ducky's last sentence and grinned, “You will in time, little guy. But you have to grow up to be a great man one day, arasso (understand)?”

 

“Mm, arasso (Yeah, I understand).” Minkyung gleamed back, feeling a bit better thanks to Heechul's words. Next up approaching the popular toddler was JooHee, who beamed a friendly smile and gently tapped on Ducky's shoulder.

 

“You must be Minkyung, right? Hello! I'm Park JooHee and I'm one of Super Junior's co-ordi dongsaengs.” Said the petite girl as she crouched down and extended a hand. Our ducky glanced at her hand, then to her appearance. Short dark brown hair that looked similar to Tiffany from SNSD's short hairstyle, dark brown eyes, fair skin, and a stunning smile – Minkyung looked charmed and his long stare said it all.

 

But even so, he shook his head and sternly said, “I d-don't like y-you. You m-made Soo-umma m-mad.” To top it all off, he even added a 'hmph' sound and crossed his arm before walking over to Shindong hyung, who playfully (and ecstatically!) scrunched Minkyung's hair as a greeting.

 

By now, with the exception of the three who left to the backyard earlier with Soomi-sshi, all the members, JooHee and some other staff were comfortably seated in the large kitchen. People were doing a variety of things: playing with their cellphones, fighting over Minkyung's attention, watching other people, and even comparing who has the bigger cookie.

 

The whole time, Kyuhyun seemed to be staring at JooHee, who was currently playing with Minkyung happily. Which is actually pretty... creepy... Besides that, she seemed to be slowly winning the little toddler's heart, despite his stern statement earlier. Kyu stood up from his stool and approached her, neither smiling or frowning. There was this hint of curiosity in CreeperKyu's eyes.

 

“JooHee, right?” Kyu asked. She nodded and smiled in response. “I hope you don't mind me asking you this, but what exactly is your relation to Minkyung's umma?” He asked, arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed as if he's trying to solve a difficult puzzle.

 

“Wait, who is she?” Zhou Mi whispered in my ear as he pointed to the girl who's been receiving much attention today. Well, of course he wouldn't really know.

 

“Park JooHee. She's our co-ordi dongsaeng and also a makeup artist. That girl's been with us ever since our Sorry, Sorry promotions. I think she's 20 years old, but I'm not too sure.” I whispered back. Zhou Mi nodded as he listened.

 

JooHee pouted slightly and her eyes wandered around for a moment. “Soomi-sshi and I actually went to school together since elementary. But a little something happened so she really dislikes me now...” She said slowly, her voice weakening as each word exited . The topic seemed pretty sensitive to her, which was a very clear implication that we shouldn't ask any further. A little tear began to escape her eyes.

 

“Well... since we're talking about this, why don't you tell us what happened earlier? It's good to release your feelings, you know?” Leader hyung suggested. Somebody here obviously didn't get that implication. Nevertheless, everyone listened in to hear JooHee's side of the story.

 

JooHee hesitated for a moment, but then took a seat on one of the kitchen's chairs before clearing . “Alrighty then... it started out like this.”

 

“Just ten or so minutes before you all finished filming, I went to the kitchen to sort out all the refreshments for afterwards. Things were pretty fine at first, but then I noticed Soomi-sshi leaning on the wall, staring at me. Then she walked up to me and tugged tightly on my wrist. I... I don't know why, but she was glaring at me really hard. I mean, if looks could kill, I'd be dead.

Soomi-sshi... she literally pushed me against the wall and caged me with the hands she slammed against the wall. It was really scary... how she started to play with the ends of my hair and such. That girl scared the crap out of me. But anyways, she said something after that. I remember every word she said, and the tone she used was really hostile. That shouldn't really surprise you guys, though, right? You saw how she dresses, didn't you? It's like she's from a gang or something. And if you didn't, then she'd probably reveal her true self sooner or later. She's always been like that since we were young – two-faced and tries to put on that kind act.

Moving on, she said something like: Park JooHee, for the past four years I've been looking for you. Hah. You hide quite well, don't you? But that doesn't matter anymore, since I've finally found you.

“And then at that very moment she said 'found you', you all entered the room.” The girl finished, a sad pout planted on her face. Poor girl. JooHee and I aren't exactly the best of friends, but we normally have conversations every so often. She's a really fragile and kindhearted girl; I hope the others know that.

“Who said you could address me so informally? Stop trying to act cute. We're not stupid, little girl. You're not fooling anyone.” Heechul hyung snapped back. The atmosphere was tense, and JooHee was taken aback by his words. Leader hyung put his hand on Heechul hyung's shoulder, implying that he should calm down. What did he mean by that?

 

Meanwhile, Henry, our little atmosphere saver, was about to step in and save the day. But someone else did the job. And that someone was our very own, Minkyung. Nonchalantly humming the song, All My Heart, in perfect tune, Minkyung then began to sing the 'ojig neowa na nannana nannana nanna' part. I felt like a proud father. But just how did he know that? Suddenly, Yesung and Wookie excitedly ran up to the boy.

 

“AW MINKYUNGGIE!! YOU REMEMBER THE SONG WE SANG TO YOU!” Wookie beamed as he grabbed ducky's hands and danced them in the air with his. The atmosphere immediately lightened after that and everyone just felt more merrier by the happy looks on Yesung and Ryeowook's faces.

 

Just then, Yesung hyung called the members, except the three outside, over to where he was by the kitchen counter. Leaving Minkyung for a few moments, we all assembled together.

“You guys remember Minkyung's umma saying that his birthday was in August?” He asked in a whisper voice and we nodded yes in response. “Minkyung's voice is really clear and we only sang that song to him once, but he's able to remember almost all of the song already. That has to mean something...” Yesung continued. “So I was thinking, for his birthday, we could give him a compilation of all our albums and a DVD of all our variety shows. It's a win-win situation, don't you think?” He finished, happy with his idea.

 

“Sounds like a great idea.” Teukie hyung smiled approvingly. “We should plan who'll get which CD and such. Zhou Mi, Henry, could you guys please ask Minkyung when his birthday is?” He asked as he took out a pen and a piece of paper. They nodded and went their way to complete their task.

 

The Chinese members approached Ducky with excitement about their birthday gift idea. Henry was rather happy at the time, seeing how he moon-walked to Minkyung instead of walking like a normal person.

 

“Minkyung-ah, hello~” The tall member greeted. Henry smiled and waved to the clueless boy, saying hello in English softly.

 

Their son's blue orbs scanned through Mimi's appearance and then looked at Henry. “Long legs... harro..” The baby mumbled his thoughts and his cuteness caused a smile to creep up the other two's faces. “Aha! Z-Zhou Mi appa! Renry appa! Harro~” Minkyung greeted as he tilted his head to the right, waved his hand from side to side, wore his happy grin and battered his blue eyes. He even said hello in Engrish!

 

I laughed out loud at Henry – the guy just couldn't stand the aegyo, so he turned around and covered his mouth with his hands as his eyes turned to crescents. He turned back around almost immediately and asked, “Minkyung-ah, when is your birthday?”

 

Minkyung suddenly froze in his spot and shrugged his shoulders. “I-I-I don't k-know... Let me ask Soo-umma!” He dashed towards the sliding door separating the kitchen and the backyard, knocking on it lightly three times. Kyuhyun, Shindong and I burst into laughter. We weren't necessarily laughing at how foolish that looked, because he's only three years old. Instead we laughed at how cute he looked. Adorableness can be amusing; especially when Minkyung's the one doing it.

 

I looked out the glass door from where I was standing by the counter, still planning our gift for Minkyung, to see the four sitting cross-legged on the emerald grass. They seemed to be in a deep conversation judging by their serious expressions. JooHee slid the door open for Ducky then shuffled to the side. I guess she's still a little shocked by Heechul hyung...

 

“SOO-UMMA, W-WHEN IS M-MY... WHEN IS MY BURFDAY?” Minkyung shouted. Soomi-sshi and the others looked towards him then smiled. She muttered a few words to the guys, wiped away her tears using Hyukkie's handkerchief, and then stood up to talk to Minkyung. She could have just shouted back... but I suppose she doesn't like to raise her voice.

 

“It's August 24^th... which is a week from now, Minky.” Soomi-sshi said, entering the kitchen as the three other guys followed behind her. Minkyung's mouth formed an 'o' as his eyes sparkled excitedly.

 

“Excuse me, but did someone just say little Minkyung's birthday is next week?” I turned my head to where the voice was coming from. It was Hello Baby's PD. I caught his glance and nodded in response, causing a smile to grow on his face. “That's perfect! Actually, we're going to go to the beach for next episode since it's the last week of summer vacation for students. It's only a one day trip; no nights. Knowing that it's Minkyung's birthday will make the episode much more exciting. But anyways, please do remember to bring your swimming trucks and such for next week. I've already talked to you, Soomi-sshi and your managers about transportation so all I ask is that you bring your things.” He informed, taking a drink of water afterwards.

 

I mentally did a fist pump since it's been a while that I've gone to the beach. I smiled happily at the news – next week's filming is definitely going to be tons of fun. I noticed JooHee sitting in the corner of the room with a noticeable frown on her face, so I went to go talk to her.

 

“JooHee-ah, you okay?”

 

She smiled weakly but avoided my eyes. “I'm alright, thanks...” Well, the tone of voice she used didn't help make it believable. Teukie hyung noticed us talking and joined in the conversation.

 

“On behalf of our Heechul, I'd like to apologize for his rude behaviour. Please forgive him?” Teukie asked, flashing his dimple in attempt to charm JooHee in saying yes.

 

JooHee giggled and smiled. “Of course~ But anyways, I have to get going now. Bye bye!” She grabbed her bag sitting beside her and proceeded to exit the kitchen. However, of all times... she had to leave when Soomi-sshi was leaving...

 

The atmosphere became silent yet again, with only the other staff members that didn't know chatting in the background. Soomi-sshi's smile quickly faded when she caught notice of JooHee. Minkyung was holding on to his mother's hand, completely oblivious to the tense air. Man, girls are scary when they're mad...

 

“U-um, Soomi-ah... would you like a ride home? We have some room in our van for two people...” Hyukkie offered. I quirked up my shibrow. What's with him? Does he like her or something? Why does he sound so... nervous and smitten? And it looks like they've gotten closer; he always used some honorifics when talking to her before.

 

“No, it's okay. I've already called a taxi. But thanks for the offer!” She replied, forcing a smile.

 

“But... Are you sure?” Hyukkie asked. Sheesh, she already said no! No need to be super persistent now. You just sound desperate, even if you don't mean it that way.

 

Hae placed his hand on Eunhyuk's shoulder and whispered, “She probably needs some time to cool down.” Hyukkie then nodded in understanding.

 

“Yes I'm positive.” She chuckled and genuine, charming laugh. “Bye now!” Soomi-sshi smiled and waved goodbye as she walked past JooHee, completely ignoring her existence.

 

“B-bye appa! I love you!” The mama's boy said as he waved goodbye, displaying more of his natural aegyo. Following that was a roar of good byes. Everyone loves Minkyung! He's completely lovable and adorable – how can someone dislike such a cute existence?

 

“I'll Skype you!” Sungmin yelled. Soomi-sshi raised a thumbs up as she walked out the door, leaving a pleased smile on Sungmin's face.

 

-

 

Time passed and everyone had left the filming set. This time, we took a large van that could seat all twelve of us and our managers. We were driving back to the dorm when the van started to run low on gas. As our manager hyungs helped add more fuel, the members and I talked with one another. Some of them got bored and played with their phones but still listened in to the conversation. But then, Wookie asked the question most of us wanted to know.

 

“So, what did you guys talk to Soomi about outside?” He asked, nonchalantly.

 

“Well, lots of things happened. She was really angry at JooHee and we told her to let it all out.” Sungmin said as he turned up the air conditioning.

 

“Yeah, and she was swearing a lot, too. But the strange thing was that she was crying as she swore. Almost like... she was sorry for saying such mean things or something. It's really complicated.” Donghae hyung added as he spoke seriously.

 

“Did she tell you her relation to JooHee-sshi?” Kyuhyun, who was silent this whole time, asked.

 

“Erm, no. I asked that but she said it was personal. But she did tell us her side of the story.” Hyukkie replied and Kyu looked down disappointingly. Speaking of Kyu, he's not normally one to care about others' matters. He must be really interested in this 'case' to ask about that. But that's just him – curious to know things without a specific reason.

 

“Before I tell you her side of the story, I just want to warn you guys about that co-ordi dongsaeng. I'm not saying this because I'm on Soomi's side, but just from my own personal observations. I just can't trust JooHee, even after the past two years.” Sungmin said, his voice becoming serious.

 

“I second that. It's like she's hiding something...” Yesung, the supposed airhead of the group, said. The ones not speaking simply listened quietly, not knowing what to contribute to the conversation.

 

“But anyways, I don't know what JooHee told you but this is what Soomi told us.” Sungmin began to explain. The van was silent and only the sounds of passing cars and the van's air conditioner could be heard.

 

“Inside the kitchen was JooHee talking on the phone as she was setting up the drinks and refreshments. Soomi was just standing by the wall of the living room and she planned to ignore JooHee throughout all of Hello Baby's filming. But then she overheard some of JooHee's phone conversation.”

 

“I can't remember the exact words, but I think it went something like this.” Sungmin said. I noticed that Hyukkie and Hae stiffened a little at the mention of the phone conversation.

 

“Yeah, it really is her. Ugh, I can't believe it either. Of all people, the baby's mom just has to be that girl. Quit my job? Haha, I can't do that! Well, I can, but why would I want to quit a job that involves hot guys? Hahaha. Avoiding her is something I think I can do. Besides, the members have known me longer than they've known her, so they'd definitely take my side. Kay, I gotta go. I think filming just finished. See ya girly!”

 

“Then she closed her phone and fixed her hair and such. Soomi then entered the kitchen and leaned against the wall, looking at JooHee dryly. Soomi then walked up to her and cornered her to the wall; not pushed her or anything. Soomi said that she has a way with words, but JooHee, being a black belt in tae kwon do, could easily pound her to pieces so she had to be careful. Afterwards, JooHee said all these words to provoke Soomi and so she slammed her hand against the wall in anger. Soomi told JooHee something like: I've been looking for you all this time and now, I've finally found you.”

 

“And that's when we stepped in...” Minnie ended, clearly tired of explaining.

 

“Oh, and when Soomi was cursing, she mentioned how much she despises JooHee's little sensitive, innocent, and vulnerable act. Just thought I should put that out there...” Hyukkie added. I'm not sure why he would say that though – is he trying to get some of the members of Soomi-sshi's side?

 

“Now, could someone tell the three of us JooHee-sshi's side of the story?” Ming requested. Yesung hyung told them JooHee's story as the others leisurely chilled in their seats.

 

Heechul, Zhou Mi, and Kyuhyun nodded as they listened. “To be honest, I don't completely trust either girl, but I'm going to have to side with Soomi-sshi on this. JooHee looks a little fake to me.” Zhou Mi said his opinion in broken Korean that was still understandable. I looked at the quiet members – Teukie hyung, Henry, Shindong, and Yesung. The five of us didn't really know what to say to this... I couldn't read Wookie's expression, but I think he's in favour of Soomi-sshi.

 

“Siwon hyung, Teukie hyung... I saw you two conversing with JooHee-sshi earlier. I'm not saying you can't talk to her or anything, but try to make sure she doesn't manipulate you or something.” Kyu instructed, despite his position as the second youngest in the group.

 

“JooHee's not bad.” I muttered, defending her. Teukie hyung, Shindong hyung and surprisingly Henry, too, nodded at my words, implying that they agreed. Actually, I'm not so sure about Henry... he just seemed so out of it. Yesung better watch out – he has a rival for his 'airhead' position~

 

“And neither is Soomi.” Donghae defended back.

 

“Guys, let's not argue over this. Believe who you want to believe. It's as simple as that, okie dokes?” Henry said in his English accented Korean. Ever since I first met him, he always disliked group quarrels. I'm glad he never changed his position as the peace maker of the group.

 

I asked myself that question on the drive back to the dorm.

 

Who should I believe?

 

 

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█ author notes.

I have great news for you all... my school year is ending this Thursday! Haha, I'm actually graduating elementary school (grade 8) on Thursday so high school starts this September ;__; But even so, I hope you all know what that means! FASTER UPDATES~! 8D

 

By the way, I'm really sorry if you get bored with my really long chapters :( I can shorten them if you prefer, so give me your input on that. I think it's about time in the story that some kind of mini conflict arises. Next episode on HB! should be lots of fun to write about. The beach <3 /pictures SuJu shirtless 0///0~

 

Question of this chapter: What's your favourite thing about summer?

☆ listening to: Boyfriend by Boy Friend (JEONGMIN<33)
☆ drinking: Large iced coffee from McDonalds
☆ feeling: Calm

 

█ june 18, 2O11 ★ o r a n g e z z a n g __ !