Chapter Five: Sadness Is Only For Now


"2NE1, hwaiting!" We all turned around to the voice at the back and was shocked to see six familiar looking Korean boys giving us their widest, toothy fruitiest smiles like a bunch of goofballs.


"UNBELIEVABLE!" Bom could only exclaim. We remembered those guys, those silly-looking muscular guys.


Minji nudged our leader. "I thought we were the only korean idols promoting under Avex this year?" She whispered to CL-roo.


CL-roo looked at them and blinked. "Them!" She whispered while pointing to the six guys who were still smiling at us. "They were the ones who murdered our song at the karaoke!" She hissed at them. All of a sudden, the rowdiest of the group rose up and did an impromptu performance.


"Eh eh eh eh eh eh eh 2NE1!" He sang in a high-pitched tone while swaying his hands up in the air. He looked like he was viciously fighting off flies. I shook my head in disbelief. 


"Him!" I pointed to the guy who was singing our song and causing us headaches. "He's the guy who kept on looking at us during MAMA 2010." I added. Ok, I actually have a feeling he was looking more at me than the rest of the girls but I'm not about to disclose that since the members might think I'm conceited. Kkkkkk. I giggled. I remembered how Jiyong got infuriated when he caught him stealing a glance at me during MBC Gayo Daejun ending ceremony. I blushed momentarily at the thought of Jiyong getting jealous but erased the thought immediately. You're nothing to him now. He wouldn't shed any ounce of jealousy for you from now on. I laughed bitterly at my thoughts.


Meanwhile, Bom was staring hard at the tall, muscular guy known as the panda of the group. She narrowed her eyes at him.


"He was the reason Tabi lost his appetite!" She fumed to the panda guy who was giving her an amused smile. I chuckled, remembering the said incident.



It was SBS Gayo Daejun 2010. We were standing at the back together with Tabi, Jiyong and Wookie-oppa, quietly observing as other idols were busy entertaining the crowd. CL-roo nudged me and raised her perfectly-shaped eyebrows, pointing towards a suspicious-looking idol inching his way towards us. At first, he talked to Simon D of Supreme Team who was five people away from our group, making small talks and occasionally laughing albeit a bit forced. Later on, he was joking with Hara who was just three people away from us, making small talks and occasionally laughing albeit a bit forced. A few more minutes had gone by and to my surprise, he was already in front of me! Woah, this guy’s fast! I said to myself. Just then, his panda groupmate approached him and pulled him towards their group who was at the left side of the stage. While dragging the suspicious-looking idol, the panda guy caught a quick glance at Bommie-yah and gave her a wink that didn’t go unnoticed. I felt Tabi stiffened and his piercing eyes followed the panda’s every move.


Afterwards, Tabi came back to his alien world just as Kara sang “Rudolf, the red nose reindeer.”




Max Matsuura, the average looking guy who turned out to be Avex Group’s President, cleared his throat. Everone’s attention snapped to him.


“Well, I’m glad to know that it seems the two groups are already familiar with each other. I expect each of you to treat each other like brothers and sisters.” He smiled towards us. 


“2NE1, meet your sunbaes…


… 2PM!”

I suddenly missed Big Bang. I heaved a long sigh as we were listening to Ms. Matsuura informed us on how our schedules would go. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against 2PM. It’s just that we didn’t get to have that much interaction with them back in Korea. That, plus the feedback we’ve been getting that they can be as rowdy as little rascals fighting over a girl’s doll just to see who can make her cry first.


I looked over them. At this moment, they seemed to have calmed down. Each one of them are now engaged in different activities. The rowdiest of the group, Jang Wooyoung, was bouncing his head up and down and doing some hand moves while listening to his iPod. Is it just me or is he copying our hand movements in “Clap Your Hands” MV? I shook the thought away.


I turned my attention to CL who was busy eyeing someone. I could see that her eyes were squinted and her face was in a frown, as if carefully analyzing the famous actor in the group. Ok Taecyeon, probably feeling that someone was watching him, turned his head towards CL who was caught off-guard. To cover up, CL pretended to scold Minji who was in her line of sight. Minji scratched her head in confusion.


Leaning by the mirror, the maknae of 2PM, Hwang Chansung, smiled to himself while watching his fellow maknae. Somehow, Minji reminded him a lot of his favorite cousin who lived in the country. Both shared childhood innocence and bright probing eyes that seem to want to ask a million question. Yes, both looked like a "country girl".


Bom nudged Minji and pouted to the direction of Chansung. Minji blushed, realizing that the big maknae was watching her from a far. Bom chuckled at Minji’s childlike action. Her laughter, though, was soon cut short by a sight that repulsed her. From the far corner of the room, the panda, Kim Junsu gave her another wink. Bom was fuming mad at the panda's audacity.


“Who gave him the permission to wink at me? Aigoo, I have to sew his eyes into tiny slits!” Bom shared with us. We all just laughed at her misfortune.


Seated comfortably in one of the beanies in the room, I recognized Lee Junho smiling and waving at us.KYAAAA! Why does he look like Rain?? I asked myself, seeing the young guy losing his eyes while smiling. I shook the thought away again.


I was about to give my attention back to Ms. Matsuura when something caught my eyes or rather, someone. The Thai Prince of 2PM, Nichkhun Horvejkul, was busy texting away, looking serious. For a split second, he turned his head up and met my gaze. He smiled briefly and returned to texting but not without me noticing the sadness in the little boy’s eyes.