Chapter 24

Shinae finished her training session with Jay and the two of them joined the rest of the infinite members on the second floor with HyeSu. She slightly frowned, “Where’s MinRin, Minah and the baby?” she asked, not minding if all of the infinite members were there.

HyeSu looked up to their leader. “MinRin has the baby upstairs with her, in MiEun’s old room, I think she’s with WooHyun.” She explained. “Um, Minah unni, I’m not very sure.” She added then turned her attention back on the television screen.

Shinae waved her head and headed towards the stairs leading to the second floor when she got pulled back all of a sudden by Jay. “I think, you should let MinRin and WooHyun fix what ever’s going on with them. I mean, she can’t always hide from him you know.” Jay explained. Shinae just heaved  a sigh and nodded.

Jay tugged on her hand and led her down stairs. “Where are we going?” she asked him.

He stopped, still holding on to her hand and thought about it. “Hmmm… I was thinking of going to Namsam Park, you know, get away from city life for a few hours. Or we can go to Itaewon, have a cup of coffee or something.” He offered.

Shinae smirked a little. “Are you asking me out on a date?” she asked him playfully.

Jay couldn’t look at Shinae, “Maybe.” He said in a small tone then turned to Shinae. “I know this is gonna get complicated, obviously. You working things out with JunHyung, then there’s the pressure of training, me being busy with a crazy schedule. But… I wanna see you happy.” He explained. “I know, you’re thinking that you can be happy, but I want to be that someone that will make you happy, that can protect you.”

Shinae had to smile. It was obvious, he was being shy about his feelings. “Just spit it out Jay.” She told him.

Jay laughed. He was about to say something when the heard footsteps. The two of them turned to see Minah all dolled up with a huge smile on her face. “Oh, Shinae there you are.” She said then quickly walked up to her. “Um, I’m going out with JiYong oppa. We’re gonna have dinner at Gangnam.” She explained.

Shinae sighed. “Is Jiyong oppa outside already?” she asked and Minah nodded in reply. “Fine, take care okay, unni? If anything happens to you, tell JiYong oppa I’ll have his head for it okay?” she said and Minah nodded in reply, giving the girl a light hug, a wave towards Jay and dashed for the door. Shinae sighed again and turned to Jay. “So, where are we going again?” she asked which made Jay chuckle.

He finally let go of her hand. “Go and get changed. Dark jeans, dark hoodie, whatever you wanna wear.” He told her. Shinae smiled a little and nodded. She walked up the stairs her heartbeat caught on her dry throat, slightly reminding herself to give herself a good slapping. Undoubtedly, she liked him. But did she like him enough to risk his career and her future?

Shinae held on to her phone as she selected clothes to wear. She picked out a simple pair of dark jeans, a grey oversized shirt, her favorite jersey jacket and her Fred Perry sneakers. She took the items to her room and laid them out on the bed. Then started tapping things into her phone then held it up to her ear.

On the second ring, someone finally picked up. “Hello?” A husky voice asked. Shinae’s heart pumped faster, still dry. “Hello? B? Is anything wrong?” the voice asked.

“JunHyung.” She finally called out. “I’m sorry.” She told him.

“What are you talking about?” he asked back, a little alarmed. “Is this about what happened earlier?” he asked.

“No.” she replied. “I’m sorry because… I can’t anymore.” She told him. “I can’t be with you. It isn’t because of your career, or mine but because I can’t love you anymore. I can’t love you like that anymore.” She explained to him.

There was a moment of silence. “You’re in love with someone else.” He concluded.

Shinae sighed. “Not exactly.” She told him. “But I think I might be.” She said honestly. “I just want you to stop hurting. To stop expecting, JunHyung.” She said. “I’m really sorry.”

“When you’ve decided that you’ve fallen in love with him, would you tell me who he is?” he asked back. “I just want to know… and congratulate him.” Shinae replied with a small grunt then the other line went dead.

She sighed and had a heavy feeling in her stomach. Shinae took a deep breath and changed into her clothes then met with Jay downstairs.

“YEAH! I won again!” SungYeol called out and the other members groaned in frustration, specially SungJong who was playing versus with SungYeol in Tekken. “Man, you guys at this game.” He said, chuckling to himself then turning to HyeSu. “What do you think HyeSu?” he asked, flashing his pearly whites at her.

HyeSu smirked with a nod. “You were good.” She said then stood up, leaving SungYeol shocked. HyeSu turned to DongWoo, “oppa, come on let’s go get some snacks.” She said. DongWoo smiled and nodded then the two of them walked towards the other side to the kitchen.

L laughed a little and placed a hand around SungYeol’s shoulder. “Dude, just tell her you like her already. Obviously, your little ploy on ‘impressing’ her is not working at all.” he said which just pissed off SungYeol. “Seems like she has a crush on DongWoo hyung too.”

SungYeol puffed his cheeks and darted towards the kitchen as well, while Hoya wrestled the PS3 controller with Sunggyu. He watched as DongWoo took some things from the fridge and HyeSu getting out some pans. “Hey, can I help with anything?” SungYeol asked.

HyeSu turned to the boy and smiled. “You can cut the fruits.” She told him, turning around and facing the stove. DongWoo stopped beside her and showed her the things he took from the freezer. SungYeol pouted and took a chopping board, a small knife and a peeler then sat by the kitchen counter and started peeling on the apples.

SungYeol watched as the two of them laughed while dropping nuggets on the pan. HyeSu glanced at DongWoo and suppressed a giggle to herself then turned her attention back to the frying. After a couple of second, it was DongWoo’s turn to look at HyeSu and admire her. SungYeol tsked and looked down at the apple that was completely peeled. He took the knife and sliced it in half then made small bite-sized portions. Then he heard the two of them giggle again. “AAHHHHHH!” SungYeol shouted which caught DongWoo and HyeSu’s attention.

“What’s wrong? Did you cut yourself?” HyeSu asked, obviously alarmed and worried.

SungYeol then quickly pulled up a smile. “No.” he said playfully. “I just felt like screaming.”

HyeSu muttered some uncomprehesive things and rolled her eyes at the boy then turned her attention back at the cooking.

WooHyun was watching tv with the volume turned down at a very low volume when he decided to turn back and saw MinRin asleep beside the baby who was still wide awake. He smiled a little, watching her sleep like that. He got up and slowly pulled her legs straight on the bed and placed a pillow underneath her head.

Woohyun sighed. “I know I’ve hurt you so much haven’t I?” he whispered to her sleeping figure. “But it doesn’t change the fact that I do love you. I love you, my little Minnie. I hope you’ll be able to forgive me.” He said, then brushed some strands of hair out of her face.

“She will you know.” MyungSoo’s voice suddenly said which surprised WooHyun. He turned back towards the door and saw MyungSoo leaning by the door frame. He stood straight and entered the room.

“Or maybe she already has forgiven you.” MyungSoo said, stopping beside WooHyun then giving out a small laugh. “She likes you… a lot.” MyungSoo sighed. “And it was stupid of me to think that you don’t like her as much as she likes you.”

“MyungSoo—“ WooHyun started then MyungSoo held up a hand to stop him.

“It’s my fault.” MyungSoo said. “And I am sorry for stopping you from loving my sister. And I am telling you that, I approve of your relationship and I’m pretty sure the rest of the infinite members would be glad and approve too.” He said, smiling at WooHyun and putting a hand on his shoulder.

WooHyun looked at MyungSoo and smiled in reply then heaved a sigh. “If this is the easy part, I’m dreading the next step.” He said and MyungSoo gave him a confused look. “Seeking the approval of her members, of our boss and then of their boss.” He said.

MyungSoo chuckled. “Good luck with that man.” He said then headed for the door. “Oh, I think you should bring the baby downstairs and let MinRin sleep.” He said.

WooHyun nodded then watched L leave. He then took the baby bag with all of the things in it and picked up the baby girl. He gave MinRin a peck on the cheek, “sweet dreams my love.” He whispered to her ear and headed towards the door as well, closing it behind him.

Minah had a huge smile on her face as JiYong drove them to Gangnam. Unknowingly to Minah, JiYong glanced at her and chuckled. Minah turned to him and gave him a puzzled look. “What’s so funny?” she asked him.

JiYong looked at her and grinned. “Have I told you that you look beautiful tonight?” he complimented her for the third time that evening. It made Minah blush, even though he could hardly notice it. “I don’t remember mentioning it.”

It was Minah’s turn to laugh. “Yes, you’ve said that since I got in the car, then while you were driving out of the district and just right now.” She said, remembering each moment. She wore a simple pair of acid washed skinny jeans, ankle boots, a white shirt topped with a purple cardigan.

She jumped a little when she felt Jiyong’s hand come in contact with hers. JiYong chuckled upon seeing her reaction. “Just… relax.” He said. “No one really knows Big Bang is in Korea. They all think we’re in Japan, so don’t worry okay?” he said, linking his fingers with hers.

Minah exhaled deeply and nodded. “Okay.” She said with a smile.

After a couple of minutes more of driving, they finally arrived at Gangnam. JiYong pulled up at an exclusive looking restaurant. He got out first then opened the door for Minah and helped her out the car. Tossing the car keys to the valet, the two of them entered the restaurant and were immediately ushered to their seats.

“Wow.” Minah said and leaned towards JiYong, looking at all the people wearing fancy clothes. “You should have said we were going somewhere fancy.” She said, looking down at her clothes. “I thought we’re just gonna walk around Han River.”

Jiyong smiled at her. “You look beautiful, okay?” he told her. “No matter what you wear, you’re the most beautiful woman in the room right now.” Jiyong watched as she blushed. “Who cares at what you’re wearing?” he said and raised his hand.

The two of them enjoyed their dinner with conversations and laughs. Minah felt like there were only the two of them in the whole restaurant. She forgot about everything else and just lost herself in the moment. After dinner, as JiYong promised, the two of them walked around the Han River.

Minah was holding on a coffee cup, her eyes wandering at the bridge with flashing lights. Oh how she loved the city lights. She jumped as she felt JiYong’s hand grasping hers once more. Jiyong chuckled. “Must you always react this way when I hold your hand?” he asked.

Minah chuckled. “I’m sorry. Let me get used to it.” She said in reply. She looked down shyly, “thank you for tonight.” She finally said.

Jiyong chuckled. “let’s hope this is not the last.” He said, squeezing her hand before lifting it up and giving it a kiss.