2011

The warm water hit my skin the moment I pulled up the shower knob of the hotel room I shared with JIyoung in Tokyo. Hoping it would take the worries away from my head, I let the water flow freely over my body. Too much worry filled my head recently. Our Urakara filming, Jet coaster love release and the most troublesome thing was the lawsuit.

It’s been about several weeks since our parents filled the lawsuit against our agency. They wanted DSP to treat us better, but it would be a lie if I said it’s not a troublesome and worry us. Me, Jiyoung and Seungyeon unnie couldn’t make any public appearance during our lawsuit, we even moved out from our dorm and lived in our parents house. Every movement and action made by us gained the attention of the media. I could hold all of my emotion and bear it all, but not when my mum was included inside it.

I read some news about our lawsuit from Naver this morning before we began our filming, all of us did. Some of it just exaggerated the condition of our lawsuit by saying our bond was broke with the lawsuit, and some of it described that my mom was the ringleader of the mess happen. I could take any badmouthing and false judgments about me, but not towards my mom, the most precious woman who raised me with all of her live. It’s hurt when they said my mum who started the mess just for money. How could they say the things that not even true?

I looked at the reflection of myself on the mirror before I left the bathroom. I needed to smile. Jiyoung was too young to suffer from the problem existed, and I was older than her and I need to give her psychological support, not to let her worry about me by seeing the expression I had now. I’m her unnie, and I have responsibility to take care of my dongsaeng.

I walked out the bathroom to see Jiyoung sitting on her bed watching tv. It’s the report of our lawsuit. I could see her sad expression on her beautiful face, so I came close to her and patted her head softly.

“Don’t worry, Jiyoung-ah. We need to stay strong and face it together.”

She looked at me with her big brown eyes. She nodded her head then hugged me. I patted her back slowly. It’s must be very hard for our baby to face the lawsuit in such a young age.

"It will end soon, right unnie?"

"I'm sure it will."

The lawsuit was very troublesome, but with this lawsuit all of us realized the most precious things in our life. As KARA member, as a singer.

Our bond.

This mess made us realized the importance of each of us in KARA, in our life. We were shining most when we're together. We got stronger when we held each other hands. It's too precious to be broken.

Ding Dong...

Hmm? Is it the sound of our room's bell? I couldn't hear it clearly because of the sound of hairdryer I used.

"Who is it?" Asked Jiyoung before she walked to the door.

"It's me." I could hear male voice. Manager oppa?

Jiyoung looked through the peephole on our door before she opened the door.

"Oppa!" Ah it's really manager oppa then. What was he doing... What?

"Cole-ah."

What I saw in front of us was not manager oppa. It's Jaejoong oppa. He's ruffling Jiyoung's hair before he entered our room.

"What are you doing here oppa?" I let oppa sit on my bed. What was he doing here?

"I came to visit Tomo." He's referring to Yamaa-san. "And before I leave for Seoul, I decided to visit you too."

"How do you find our room then?" Jiyoung asked the question on my throat. She sit beside him.

"I met your manager oppa in the lobby and I asked him where's your room." Oppa put his hand on Jiyoung's head. "I have something to ask you too. Could you do me a favor?"

She nodded. "What should I do?"

"Lend me your unnie for three hours." He looked at me for seconds then smiled. Huh?

"You want to borrow Nicole unnie?" He nodded. Grin appeared on her lips. "You can take her whenever you want."

"Yah! Kang Jiyoung!"

"But remember to give her back to me before tomorrow morning." This kid!

Oppa ruffled her hair again. "Thank you baby."

Why did I feel like I was a doll? Lend and borrow? Oh my God!

"First dry your hair first. Night breeze would make your head suffer from headache if you left it wet." Oppa took the hairdryer and help me to dry my half-dried hair. It didn't take too long since my hair was quite short.

"Then change your clothes. It's cold outside." Oppa took the sweater I hang near the cupboard, then pushed me lightly to the bathroom. "And don't forget your jacket." He helped me to put on my jacket.

After finished my clothing, I took my shoes. Oppa helped me to take my cap from the table near window.

"OK. Jiyoung-ah~ I'll bring your unnie back before dawn." Oppa waved his hand to Jiyoung before we left.

Complete with his mask and knitted hat, oppa took my arm and lead me to the parking lot of our hotel. Night breezes hit my bare neck and make me shivered. Seeing me in this condition, oppa took his scarf and put it on me.

I'd never felt like this before, but when he looked directly into my eyes and helped me to put on his scarf, my heart skipped a beat.

Oh my God! Jung Nicole! Calm yourself!

"Here we go." Oppa stopped in front of red car in the parking lot.

"It's your car?"

"Nope. It's Tomo. He lends me for one night." I get on the passenger seat while oppa on the driver seat. It's a nice car I should say. It's nice and clean.

Omo! Suddenly Oppa's face moved so close into mine. What should I do? Oh my God! "You need to fasten your seatbelt before we go."

Ah? Oh~ He's helping me to fasten my seatbelt. Hfff... What did I think about? Ok, calm yourself Jung Yongjoo! Don't think too much.

"Ehmm... Where are we going oppa?"

"Just wait and see." He winked.

"Let's go!"

***

Odaiba.

It's what was written on the guide board. I’d ever been there for the recording in Fuji TV. It’s a nice place though.

“What are going to do here, oppa?” He drive me here without tell me anything.

“You’ve been there right?” I nodded. “It’s a man-made island. It’s a nice place, especially at night.”

I could see it. We drove through the rainbow bridge which connected Odaiba with the rest of Tokyo. It’s really beautiful during its nightly illumination. I was too mesmerized by the beautiful scenery as I didn’t know that we arrived at Palette Town.

“Alright. Our first station: Venus Port.” Oppa lead me to the shopping mall called Venus Port after we get off from his car.

Wow. I could only say ‘wow’ when we entered the shopping mall. The interior design reminded me of the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. It’s really beautiful with the European-inspired decor! Oppa took me there to have a walk around, enjoy the beautiful indoor sight and look around through the shop. I was not in mood for shopping, so I didn’t buy anything instead I just looked around and bought something to eat.

After looked around the Venus port, oppa took me to the second place, game centre inside the Leisure Land. It’s been a while since I went to game centre. Oppa said, play games might reduce our burden and stress. He even challenged me to play the racing games with him.

“Yah! Oppa! Why did you keep bumping into my car?”

He didn’t even bother to listen to my rant! This childish oppa kept ‘bullying’ me through the game, even when we were playing the shooting games together. The only game I could win over him was the dancing machine. Hahaha Finally! But it’s OK. Even though he kept bullying me during the games, I would forgive him since he’s able to grab one cute bunny plushie I wanted from claw crane machines. We played almost every game machine inside and forget about time.

“Oh no! It’s 9.15 pm now. We need to go faster!” oppa grabbed my hand and ran to the other side of the Palette Town. I didn’t have any idea of where oppa would take me until a one big, no it’s huge, beautiful and glimmering ferris wheel caught my attention.

“You go to queue first, I’ll buy the ticket for us.” There were so many people there. Almost all of them were family or couple, I guess with the number of people there and the speed of the giant wheel we need to wait for at least fifteen minutes.

“Phew~ It’s lucky we get here on time.” Oppa gave me the ticket of it.

“Why four tickets?”

“I don’t want to share the capsules with others.” He gave me the mineral water he bought just now. He leaned his head to me. “We don’t want to be caught for our date right?”

“Oppa!” I hit his arm playfully. I knew he like to tease me with those words, but this moment my heart lost control and beat a little bit faster with the grin on his lips. I need to hide it!

“It’s one of famous ferris wheel in the world. You need to try it when you visit Tokyo.” It’s indeed a big and beautiful. “The night view is very nice.”

We were talking randomly while waiting for our turn to ride it. I thought no one notice us, because they were too busy talking and chatting with each other and even some of them were tourist. When it was our turn to get into it, we were lucky to be able to get into the clear capsule.

“Oh! I’m very exciting now.” I looked around like little kid when the wheel started to move up. “How long it will take for one ride?”

“Ehmm… About 15 minutes, maybe.”

Just like what oppa had side, the night view of Tokyo I could see from the capsule was very wonderful! The light came from the neon from the wheel, lamp from the street and the city just too great to be missed!

When the wheel moved for about five minutes, oppa suddenly move the seat beside me. Before, he sit on the opposite of me.

"Cole-ah~ Feel better now?" He looked at me. "If you want it, you could open the ventilation window and shout." He chuckled.

"Ah~ I'm ok oppa." I knew he was referring to our lawsuit. I looked outside. "The city looks very beautiful at night."

I wanted to thank him for his care gave me, but I didn't want to burden him with my problem. I could take care of myself. I need to.

"You know, our career cycle is just like riding ferris wheel. You started from the bottom and move slowly to the top then with the times flow it would move back to the bottom." He said without taking his beautiful eyes from me. "The most important thing is that you need to enjoy every things you could get and see during this ride, whether it's good or bad."

I looked back at him and smiled. I got what he meant by it.

"I had ever felt what you feel right now. It's painful and tiring, but I decided to go through it." He took my hands with his big warm hands. "It's because you were there to give me support. So let me do the same for you this time."

I didn't know what to say. His words made me lost the words on my throat. Suddenly I felt lost, I didn't know what to do. The next things I realized was the tears on my eyes. Haha... I thought it was very funny to know that I could control myself in front of anyone but mum and oppa. They really know how to make me cry.

"I felt lost." I said. "I love what we do, but I know our parents want the best for us.

Instead of say a thing, oppa stay in silent with his hand still on mine.

"They said something bad about my mum, and it's hurt when what they said was not even true."

He nodded. He swapped away the tears from my eyes.

"They said we're outcasting Gyuri unnie, fill the lawsuit for the sake of money and even try to get attention." My emotions started to get a little bit out of control. "They even sent us petition asking us to disband! I loved KARA, I love unnies, Hara and Jiyoung. They're my precious treasures. How could I do that?"

He took me into his arm. He patted my back gently like he always did. I didn't want to hold my emotion anymore. In his arm, I let out all of worries and burden that filled my head. Tears kept running from my eyes, but now I don't care.

He cupped my cheeks and lifted up my head to look at his eyes. He swapped the tears away. He closed his eyes and put his forehead on mine.

"No matter what you choose, I'll be there by your side." I could feel his mint-like breath with every words he said. "But I want you to know something important."

His brown eyes looked straight into mine. "Separation will not do good to each of you. I have ever gone through the same situation, I exactly know how it feel to be separated with your loves one. You girls started it all together, and now you need to face it together however it would turn to be. Good or bad, just keep the faith on it."

I nodded. "Thank you oppa."

He patted my head. "Jaa, we still have about five minutes before our ride reach the end." He stretched his arms. "Enjoy the night view before it's end."

I smiled. He put his hand on my head. "When we leave the capsule, press the reset button and welcome the world with your smile. Just believe what you think is right."

The smile on his lips lightened up my way. It lead me to find the path I should take. I nodded.

"I will."

***

Oppa drove me back to our hotel. He walked me to the room I stayed.

"I'll back to Seoul tomorrow." He rubbed my cheek. "Do well with your filming."

"Ehm. Good night." I hugged him lightly. "Have a safe trip home, oppa."

"Good night."

I opened the door slowly. It's about 0:30 am now. Jiyoung might be asleep.

Yes, she's sleeping peacefully on her bed. I laid on my bed after brushed my teeth and changed into my pajamas. I looked at the bunny plushie oppa gave me.

Uh? What was this feelings I had? I felt like there's butterfly flying on my stomach. OK, relaxed Nicole. Maybe I was too tired. I need to sleep now. Just close your eyes.

Oppa's close-up face suddenly popped up on my mind in the second I closed my eyes, and I felt like the number of butterflies on my stomach suddenly increased by the moment his smiling face appeared.

Go away go away! Hey butterfly, don't stay on my stomach! I need sleep now! Stop calling your friend to come here!

-END-

AN: New chapter! ^^ It's about KARA crisis... It's a must-known story for Kamilia TT_TT 

Thanks for the comments and support! Please keep giving me comments and support~ Don't be a silent reader! >o<

Happy reading~