BACK IN REALITY

Hong Joo: So that was I saw! (Clapping his both hands)

Yoojin: You saw us?

Ji Soo: Yeah, I’m looking for you guys, those times and I saw everything.

Nana: But why you kissed Rian Yoojin-ah, don’t tell us you’re already in love with her those times?

Rian: He likes me then, he was just afraid to be dumped by an idol named Rian, (she chuckled)

Yoojin: Oh really, the Famous Rock Star Jin Yoojin will be dumped? I don’t think so it’s just that I already knew you like me then that’s why I didn’t confessed earlier. (He protested to his wife)

Rian: Your imagination is really something? (She scoffed) I didn’t even like you as what your thinking dumbo! (Everyone giggles as the two starting to argue)

Ailee: Hey...hey…Rianremember the night we stuck on a snowy night in Japan & Yoojin saved us?

Rian: (She look Ailee but thinking that memories then she remembered) Yeah right, which was your entire fault then.

Jin Guk: Wae? What happened? (Everybody get curious too)

Ailee: That was the night Rian admitted she likes Yoojin (She smiled to Rian) but she threaten me, I’ll die if somebody find it out. (Everyone laugh again)

Yoojin: See honey? (He even put her arms around Rian’s shoulder while making his smiling eyes on her) You’re really head over heels over me than I am with you…hahahahahaha…(He laugh so hard, Rian elbow him, everyone laugh again)

Rian remembered that night in JAPAN…

 She learned her lesson to never travel overseas without him (Yoojin), thanks to a trip to Japan with the most unreliable former HershE band mate.

When Rian agreed to Ailee’s request to accompany her to Japan, she thought she would finally have some me-time, away from Jin Yoo Jin and his never-ending whining, even if she has to put up with Ailee’s annoying habit of bothering her every hour. Little that she knew she actually signed up for a crazy weekend trekking all over Japan in the name of love, at least that’s how Ailee sees it.

If you ask for her personal, honest opinion – Rian was very tempted to have Ailee check in into a mental institution or asylum. Why? That girl has a serious problem when it comes to love, or how Nana puts in, “Love drives Ailee mentally and physically crazy, in all the wrong ways.”

That is the only reason why she and her former HershE band mate have binoculars sticking to their eyes with their heads poking from the car in the middle of nowhere and heavy snowing for 9 straight hours.

Ailee actually dragged her all the way from the comfort of her home in Korea to spy on her boyfriend whom she had been suspecting of cheating for the last two weeks. “There has been no movement since,” Rian paused to glance at her smartphone, “8pm. Let’s go, Ailee. I’m starving.”

“Shush, I think I see something moving at 2 o’clock direction.” Rian quickly grabbed her binoculars and stared into the stated direction. She sighed when she realised it was just a cat. Ailee seemed to realise the same thing, “What is taking him so long? I mean, shouldn’t he be returning to the hotel by now?”

Rian gave the Korean-American a side-long stare. It just occurred to her that despite knowing Ailee has been dating with the man for about three months, she had yet to meet him personally or know the details of the man who was dating her friend.

“What does he do for a living anyway?” the actress questioned. Ailee carved a smile – the smile she has on when she knows the answer to a trivia question – replied, “Well, he owns a pest-control company and he said before leaving Korea, he had opened a branch here in Japan.”

“If he has a pest-control company in Japan, then why would he go for rental, when he can simply use the pest-control van, instead to travel? You know, since it is much cheaper than rent a car.”

For the next few minutes to come, Rian remembered that it was mainly her fault for not realising about that fact in the first place. Which could had saved up all the troubles she had to endure the nine hours before.

“Yeah. YEAH,” Ailee’s already doe-like eyes was getting bigger than Rian was afraid might pop out from its sockets. “You’re right. Why didn’t I think of that before? Knowing him, that’s sounds like exactly what he would do. So, whose car is that? And who have we been following around?”

“You tell me,” was meant to be a sarcastic snap, which Ailee failed to notice as she continued, “He does look like my boyfriend from the way his hair sticks out at back of his head.” Her answer only served Rian to slap her own forehead. “You fool!”

“He could be freaking psychopathic killer!” Rian shrieked. Losing her temper at Ailee has never happened before, but considering their conditions at the moment; hungry, tired, stuck in a place where Rian never bothered to learn the language (and Ailee? She was a genius in language but never thought of learning the language before purchasing two tickets to Japan), the weather decided to pour snow heavily on that particular day and most importantly, an overworked imagination.

It didn’t help them at all when Rian tried to start to car and the engine bailed on them and refused to move. Rian would be lying if she said she wasn’t on the verge of tears once they realised the car will be stationary until god knows when and for how long. But, since Ailee was already rocking the teary, feary eyes and was slipping into her panic mode, she didn’t want to add the trouble they’re in with her obsessive-panic-manic mode.

“There is no need to panic. We can overcome this, we can call for help.” Ailee looked up at her with twinkling eyes (the one that screams ‘We’re not going to die tonight’). “That’s a great idea but my phone died hours ago,” Ailee muttered, disappointed with her stupidity. However, Rian just smirked at Ailee, “Don’t worry. I still have my phone.” A smile stole the younger lady’s face at the tender tone Rian reserved to comforting people (one that she rarely uses when HershE are in public). Rian pulled out her smartphone from her purse, narrowed her eyes at the bright, blinding screen.

“Crap!” slipped out from before she could stop it, which caused Ailee to jolt up and peered over the taller lady’s shoulder. “What’s the matter?”

“Low battery and I think it’s the fourth warning. But I can still call, I hope. Hold on,” Rian held her finger to Ailee’s lips while she tapped the first number she could think off. “Are you busy? It’s a funny story actually. But I don’t have time to explain. Can you just call the police headquarter in Japan-

Then, the line went static and Rian no longer can hear the other caller’s voice. Ailee stared at Rian curiously, “Who did you call?”

“Help.” After that, they spent probably three or four hours huddled closer in the backseat of the rental car, singing their previous hits during their HershE days. Once they ran out of HershE songs, the two friends continued with Ailee’s hits, Nana’s solo projects and after a much heated debate (in which Rian emerged as a victor), Yoo Jin’s songs.

However, they realised despite the singing was done in loud volume (in their effort to drown out the creepy noises beyond the car’s walls or whatever it was called), Ailee could swear she heard footsteps – like the ones you hear when a crazy murderer has as he walks towards your car with an axe – and the girls were holding on to each other more so than ever.

Then, it came; the series of furious tapping or knocking on the car’s windows. The snow and night already made it hard for the ladies to see clearly. Instead, they get a vague, black outline of someone wearing a thick coat (unsuspecting serial killer type) and gloved hands cupping around the window. Just like the movie Urban Legend.

Rian can almost feel the pain of Ailee’s nails digging deeper into her skin, despite wearing a thick overcoat, as she continued to hug and spew nonsense, “I don’t want to die young! I still haven’t won a Grammy yet! I want to get married with a good man, like Yoo Jin! I want to have kids, three of them, two girls and a boy! I don’t want to die -

“You’re still a ?” was the only thought that Rian could convert into proper speech. Ailee pulled away briefly, staring at her friend with a ‘Duh’ look, “Yeah, only my husband gets to deflower me as a gift for our wedding. I don’t want him to think me as a cheap .”

Rian was impressed by her answer, she always thought that Ailee was more promiscuous than Nana and her, given the numerous boyfriends she had over the years. But that feeling did not linger long, another knock, no, banging on the windows sent her to discharge nonsense, “I don’t want to die young too! I want to get married to Yoo Jin! I want to tell him that I really liked him more than friends should have for their best friends! I totally want to sleep with him again after the first time we did it by accident! He’s just that good!”

Ailee giggled at the appalled reaction Rian developed after blurting her inner most desire. Making a cutting motion above her neck, Rian simply warned, “Nobody will ever know about it or you’ll really die a .” Ailee quickly made a cross gesture over her heart. “I swear. Just in case, one of us makes it out alive and I die, I want to say that you should shag Yoo Jin or I’ll haunt you down from the grave. Nana will agree with me, your unresolved with each other is enough to kill anyone in the vicinity.”

It was ten minutes after their confession moment; Rian decided to be brave and opened the door when it occurred to her that their so-called crazy murderer might be someone who was trying to help. Sure enough when she opened it, they were greeted by a very angry face.

“What took you two so long to unlock the door? I knocked, tapped, banged the windows more than I should be just to tell you that you’re saved and you guys left me freezing outside, in the damn freezing snow! Do you want to be rescued or not?”

Rian never thought she would be glad to see his angry face and his yelling voice so much that she automatically launched herself in a hugging position onto Jin Yoo Jin. Only when Ailee cleared and faked out a cough, that she realised what she was doing and let him go, with a sheepish look on her face – and hey, it kind of silenced him immediately.

“Sorry, about that. It’s just – you have no idea how long we’re in this car-

Yoo Jin shot a dirty look at Rian’s direction, with a finger pointing at her, “You, of all people, should know to never agree with any schemes or ideas that come out from . You could have died, both of you! As is D-E-A-D, six feet under for real!”

“I beg your pardon,” Ailee snapped, gasping in horror when the rock star turned to her, “You! You’re not a spy at all and if you are, you’re the worst. Next time, hire a professional. You know what? I’ll do it for you.”

Yoo Jin’s rant was a lot longer than that, if memory served her right. But she and Ailee was too busy trying to get into the car Yoo Jin rented and be warmed again. Of course, while Ailee was still in the car with them, the rock star had refrained himself from tearing her head off by nagging.

Once they arrived at the hotel, Ailee rushed out from the car, saying that she needed to use the toilet badly, leaving the actress and rock star behind. “I nearly had a heart attack because of your stunt with Ailee! Do you know how bad the heart attack is? No, you don’t! I can’t believe I almost let you go to Japan on your own! Your future children would weep if they knew they almost never existed because of your inability to say no to Ailee’s wacky plans! They better be grateful that you’re alive today because of me!”

Rian turned to the taller man with a slight puzzled look, “I called Nana for help. What are you doing here in Japan? As far as I can recall, you’re supposed to be in Busan.”

She arched her eyebrow, pursing her lips and crossed her arms. The angered expression quickly dwindled. Replaced by an embarrassed look, instead. He cleared his throat three times, inserting a cough in between, and his eyes darting all over.

“Err, um, well – I, the Busan activity was um, err, cancelled,” he stuttered. If previously there was a perplexed expression on her beautiful face, now there was a rather large smirk on it. “You couldn’t possibly know where we were unless you’ve been following me the whole time-

“No, I wasn’t!” he protested, quickly – too quickly, in fact, Rian could swear he was being defensive. “I thought I err, joined you on your holiday in Japan since I can speak the language well,” Yoo Jin returned.

“That doesn’t explain it. I called Nana, instead of you. Unless she knows you’re trailing us, then it means she just simply called you and told you that we were lost. Besides, it wasn’t that long from the time I phoned Nana and the time you arrived.”

“That is the most preposterous theory I’ve ever heard. I’m going to warm up my body now because of you two who refused to open the door when I tapped for the first time.” With that, he stormed off to his hotel room, which he claimed to apparently to have stayed after being recommended by a fellow musician. At night, while she was having a nice dip in the bathtub with Ailee, sprawled all over the bed they shared, snoring in peace – she heard her phone vibrated several times.

Picking it up delicately with a towel, she noticed it was nothing but notifications of missed calls (all coming from Jin Yoo Jin), voice mails (again, from Jin Yoo Jin) and a text message that reads, Never scare me like that again, princess. P.s I don’t want to be your mother’s punching bag when I tell her that her beloved daughter was found frozen in the car after an attempt of spying went awry. Who else would save me from her, if it was not you?

She never got the truth from Yoo Jin but she managed to put the pieces together after Nana confirmed that she called Yoo Jin because she knew Yoo Jin was in Japan as well. Of all, she learned the most important lesson of all, to never go to a foreign country without Yoo Jin – and to never participate in Ailee’s spying activities (granted that the girl took Yoo Jin’s advice and had him to help her hire a Private Investigator for that matter).

For the record, she really felt bad for having to scare him like that. And she also reminded her kids to be thankful for their father’s overly, obsessive and protective behaviour every time they decided to dislike him for saying no to their plans.

Surprisingly, she found herself smiling over the text and she made a mental note to make it up to him once they returned to Korea. Of course, that’s only going to happen, after she was done with teasing him about being a stalker, almost a saesang fan. She wiped her hand on the towel and typed in, My hero, before sending it. Knowing him so well, that was enough to keep him smiling all day along – at least for tomorrow.  

It took her several years to understand and noticed the last part of his text actually foreshadowed the future – one where they are husband and wife and her mother has a habit of nagging at him, much to his annoyance and she had to save him from her all the time.