비디오 ☼ | Get Down - Key/Minho ♪ | Please Don`t Go - CL/Minzy ♪

All I could do was groan and scrunch up my face while watching an online video Minji forced me to watch.

“But unnie, it`s funny!” Our innocent maknae laughed. “There he goes again!”

“Fans like this..?” I raised a brow at her and the video. Ugh. I haven`t felt so disgusted in.. forever!

Minji sighed. “I`m pretty sure you know how fans like it when fandom clashes happen,” she said. “Besides, you usually just laugh at these! Anything wrong with this in particular?”

I took a deep breath, pointing at the almost-finished video. I didn`t really think of what I was about to say. “Kim Kibum of SHINee is an ugly blob of ugly.”

I saw Minji`s eyes widen from the corner of my eye. I had to mentally slap myself.

“That`s mean!” She gasped. “You don`t even know the guy! I guess, sure, we`ve greeted SHINee a couple of times and seen them perform in the same shows as us but-”

“It`s not just that-!”

As cruel as this may sound, I`m quite happy the microwave a few meters from us had a minor burning frenzy. We ran out the place, and I didn`t have to explain anything to Minji.

Right after late night practice, I dragged my tired self to bed. We haven`t had any rest lately. Of course, comeback preparations are never easy, and they prepared a three-song promotion for us. Crazy!

Like any other night, I did all my thinking before dozing off. I had to be honest; the video incident earlier caught me off-guard. Of course, he would pull all that on me. Only on my part too! Ugh. If fans think it`s just another innocent, coincidental fandom clash, then they`re wrong. But who could blame them? I mean, when 2PM messed with Fire, everyone knew it was partly because they knew me. Everyone knows I used to train at JYP, but no one knows that I`m acquainted with SHINee`s Almighty Key. It`s quite unfortunate..

--

“Hey Chaerin!” someone called out right when I got off the school bus.

I looked over to the side. “Sup, Sophia?” I approached her. I felt slightly dumbfounded. I`ve only been to this school for two days. It`s only a week in the country itself, actually. Sigh. I don`t get why I have to stay in America for a semester. I could`ve just stayed in Japan all the way.

“I was just in the office, and they told me we have a Korean exchange student staying for a while,” Sophia explained.

 “Oh?” Well, that`s nice.

“Yeah.” She nodded. “I was wondering if you want to be his guide around. You know, just in case he can`t communicate all that well yet.”

“I-I`ll try,” I reluctantly said. Years abroad definitely took its toll. “But, my Korean is really broken.”

“You can still understand though, right?”

I nodded.

“Good enough.”

“Chaerin imnida,” I introduced myself in the most basic way possible.

“Hey,” he awkwardly greeted in English. “My name is Kibum Kim.”

I couldn`t help but chuckle at him. It was really rude, I know. “You`re accent will get better, don`t worry,” I said in English. I didn`t want to risk saying something really wrong in Korean.

My eyes widened when I saw him cross his arms and roll his eyes at me. “Hmph.”

I scoffed. “Well, someone has an attitude.” I knew I wasn`t going to enjoy whatever I got into.

“You know, I didn`t go to study abroad to teach Korean right?” Kibum snapped at me. “I want to speak English!” he exclaimed in English.

I sighed. He did have a point. But it`s not my fault I have to go back to Korea after I finish my school year here! And my parents are usually at work, so I don`t have enough time with them to practice. “At least help me a little?” I asked in Korean. I assume it turned out broken since Kibum laughed at me.

“You do need help.”

“Agree to help each other?”

“Fine.”

Three weeks up, three more to go.

We decided that I would talk to him in Korean while he talked to me in English. Anytime any of us made a mistake, we`d correct it. It wasn`t as bad as I expected it to be, actually. At first, we were really impatient with it, but after a week, we became pretty considerate towards each other. By this time, Kibum`s English wasn`t perfect, but he was able to communicate a lot more than he was able to initially. I`m not really sure if my Korean was getting significantly better. Kibum`s corrections became less frequent, but I can`t be sure if that`s just because he got tired of telling me how to say things right.

Luckily for Kibum, he was able to go on field trip for our Art class during his stay.

During the bus ride, I decided to kill the whole time through by listening to some beats I had on my iPod. Not much people knew, but I really liked to rap. I could tell people, but it might just come off really weird with my appearance. Sophia was sitting right next to me, so it was alright for me to whisper some lines. She knew about my hobby.

I was going on for a while and I was pretty sure no one else could hear me.

Drop the beat.

CL in the house and I`m about to-

I felt someone tap my shoulder from behind. I looked to my left and I saw Kibum peeping through the small opening between my seat and the window.

I took my left earphone out. “What?” I whispered at him.

“I rap too,” he said with a smile.

My eyes widened. “You?”

“What`s so wrong about that?”

“It just doesn`t look like something you do.”

“Look who`s talking.”

The field trip went alright. We just strolled through a local museum.

When we got back, everyone waited for their rides to pick them up from school. Eventually, I found myself slowly being left alone. I wasn`t really surprised. I knew my mom had to finish work before getting to me. It didn`t really take long until it was just me and a certain guy left.

“Your host dad`s busy all the time?” I asked Kibum who sat next to me after all his other friends left.

He nodded. “It how I always get left with you,” he said. “I went to America to meet Americans.”

I smirked. “You tell me that almost every day.”

“So you rap?” he asked, changing the topic.

I nodded. “Probably better than you,” I teased.

Kibum gasped. “Are you challenging me?”

I hesitated a bit. “You`re on.”

 “CL in the house

Reppin` and tippin` it from France to Japan

Out in here

Keepin` it cool, keeping it real

Keepin` the flow, rollin` the reel~”

“Here`s the one and only

You better brace yourself, tell yourself

There ain`t nothing better than the king himself

I`ll show you how it`s done, I`ll show you where it`s gone

You better just take your run~”

Before I knew it, we were battling on for minutes with beats playing from my iPod. Rapping has always just been a personal hobby. This was the first time I`ve openly showcased it, and it was a pretty intense battle. Not to mention that we were attacking each other in different languages. It was really fun, to say the least.

Kibum ended the exchange, and at the same time, the last beat ended.

We gave each other high fives, feeling accomplished about what we just did.

“Not too bad,” I said.

“Same to you,” he half-heartedly said.

“Your raps are so egotistic though!” I laughed.

“You started it!” he exclaimed. “Just keeping the flow, y`know,” he said in English. “But really, you`re pretty feisty.”

“Oh?” I wasn`t sure how to react. He really was the first person who got to see me do my thing. “I can`t help but say the same to you,” I teased.

He smirked. “More than you, probably.”

I laughed, seeing how he took it as a compliment. I sat back down and retrieved my iPod and bag. “You know, you need a nickname,” I suggested. “Like how I have ‘CL’ just for the heck of it. ‘Kibum’ isn`t very catchy and it`s a pretty common name.” I slightly regretted saying that at the moment since it might`ve offended him. But then again, he has offended me countless time. “You never know when you`ll need a cool name to go with.”

He nodded. “I`ve actually been thinking of that, but I surprisingly don`t get good ideas.” He shrugged.

I rolled my eyes at his ego. Suddenly, an idea hit me. “How about, ‘Key’?”

“Ki?”

“Key, as in k-e-y,” I explained. “From the sound of Kibum.”

His face brightened up, looking at me. “I like that. I actually really like that.”

From that moment on, Kibum, or should I say Key, and I grew closer. He managed to still make the most out of his stay in America. He was indeed a social butterfly, even though his English wasn`t perfect and he could get rude sometimes. Nonetheless, people loved him. Classmates loved him. Teachers loved him. His neighbors loved him. He really was pleasant to have around.

I can`t deny the fact that I loved the moments I had with him. He helped me get my Korean back and he helped me gain some confidence with my rapping. I wouldn`t say it out loud, but he was a great friend despite the crazy attitude.

It didn`t take long until he had to leave.

“Take care, ok?” I told Kibum as we shared a hug before we parted during his last school day with us.

He tightened the hug and jokingly ruffled my hair. “You too, Chaerin-ah,” he said in Korean.

In our English class, we decided to all write farewell letters to him to read on his flight or when he gets back to Korea. I gave the bag of envelopes to him. “Here are our gifts to you~”

I was surprised when he gave me a piece of paper himself. “Just read it when I leave,” he said.

I was somewhat shocked. “Uh, ok.” I nodded. “Thanks.”

So then the other people took their turn in saying goodbye. I guess, that was the last time I saw him. Or so I assumed.

Kim Kibum! Kibum! Ki! Diva! Key!!

I`ll start off by saying that I really didn`t like you at first. You can say that I just pursued being friends since I really needed a way to get my Korean back intact. Sorry about that. ^__^’ But hey, you helped me a lot! Thanks A LOT for that! I was really surprised that first day when I found out they gave you almost the exact schedule as mine. Sadly, I saw you almost every day for your whole stay. :( Haha. Honestly? I did get annoyed with you a lot. Your personality is really something, Key. You`re the kind of person who can get someone angry, but you reassure them that you`re still a nice guy in the end. I really appreciate your caring side. You didn`t know me well, but you comforted me when I was feeling down even though I wouldn`t tell you my problems. You would try to help me with homework. You would always ask me how I am. You would ask me if I really had a ride home. And I can`t believe you even bought me an ice cream cone that one time we walked to the park! I still feel bad for that! :( I`ll honestly miss that about you. It was a short six weeks, and yet I`ll miss the friendship we had. I feel really ashamed that I can`t say any of this to your face. .__. Anyway, I move around too much, and it`s hard for me to connect with people. One reason we got close was because you found out I was a rapper. Not that it`s a bad thing! I`m actually glad that you did. I don`t know.. it just seems like I got a lot from knowing you. And I`m kinda sad that it was short-term. Even when I go back to Korea, your city would still be far away from mine. But I do hope we meet again one day. I can`t seem to sum up all my thoughts in this letter. I guess all I want to say is that I`m really thankful and glad that I met you, diva Key! Even for just a short while~ I`m sorry for always being mean to you when we`re actually face to face. I guess it`s because you`re mean to me. Hn.

Chaerin/CL~ ^w^

Yo, CL!

Where do I start? Hm. You`re so boring and blunt. -__- I just love messing with you. Hahahahahahaha. Ok. Enough of that. Before anything, you should know that you`re the only person I`m writing a letter for. So you better feel special! And I thought it would help with your Korean reading skills. ^o^ I just wanted to say thank you for guiding me through my stay in America. I heard people just asked you to help me because you`re Korean, but whatever. You stayed with me anyway. You can be so mysterious sometimes, and it frustrated me sometimes. Haha. I guess I`m just being weird, right? I mean, I`m just a stranger being creepy. ;D But really, I found you really interesting.  That`s why I kept hanging out with you. It REALLY amazed me when I found out you were a rapper. I didn`t think I would meet a fellow Korean like that. Let alone a girl! o__o That really impressed me. You have a really intense and charismatic side to you. I don`t know why you`re so insecure and not show that to other people. It`s such a waste to keep a talent like yours to yourself. :( Haha. Be more expressive, ok? I`m glad to have seen the awesome side of Lee Chaerin! Well, as embarrassing as this may sound.. I may have liked you in the process of us getting closer. .__. Something about you was just magnetic. Maybe it`s because I`m the only person who knows about your fierce side? ^__^ I don`t know. It`s not every day I meet an awesome, mysterious, pretty, multilingual, rapper girl. .__. Uhm, don`t worry about that confession. It`s probably just an impulse and it shouldn`t last! Besides, you hate me anyway. -__- Anyway, thanks for being such an awesome friend for the past six weeks! And if we ever meet again, I want to see the real side of Lee Chaerin. :3 Take care, my eternal rapping rival!

Peace out,
Key

P.S. Thanks for the nickname! :D

I realized after a while that I never left my email like I initially planned. After I read his letter, I felt somewhat glad that I didn`t. It would`ve been awkward, right? Hm. Maybe not.

After that semester, I moved back to Korea. It wasn`t until then that I realized how big of an impact Kim Kibum left in my life. If it wasn`t for him, I would still be rapping alone in my room. Our little battle and his encouraging words really pushed me to be better.

I took a leap of faith and decided to audition for JYP Entertainment. Long story short, I got accepted and eventually transferred to YG.

I could never forget the day SHINee debuted. The other trainees and I would always keep an eye out for current and new artists. Unlike the other trainees, I really only had an idea about new artists when we gather to watch new music videos.

I practically died inside when I saw his face. I could not believe what I was seeing. I couldn`t believe that his ugly, diva face was now famous. And he sings? That`s just weird!

He even used the name I gave him, and I get no credit at all!

I never told anyone I knew Key, or even the mere fact that I pretty much named him. I just kept it to myself. I`m not sure why, but I found no reason to tell of our back story. Yes, I was updated through all those Noona, Love Like Oxygen, and Amigo eras. Even if I could, I didn`t contact him. His debut motivated me a lot more to work hard on my own debut. I mean, what better way to reunite, right? I wanted it to be a surprise. He still sees me as competition anyway.

When I finally had my debut with 2NE1 a year later, a meeting was inevitable. It`s hard to conceal anything, especially when your debut song starts with a self introduction.

I go by the name of CL of 2NE1!

“Don`t even think you can outshine me, Lee Chaerin!” Key, with his curly blonde hair and hippie clothes, found a way for us to have a talk in private. And not surprisingly, this is how he greets me.

I crossed my arms at him and smirked. “Already did.”

He gasped. “Are you challenging me?” Felt like déjàvu..

 “Is this a competition between our careers now?” I laughed at him. “And is this really how you greet an old friend??”

Key rolled his eyes. “Fine.” He finally gave the act up and gave me a hug. “Long time no see, `Rin!”

We pulled away, and we both found ourselves smiling.

“You really didn`t find a way to contact me?” he asked. “I`m sure you`ve known for a while..”

“I wanted to surprise you!” I said pretty excitedly.

He scoffed. “Yeah. By almost giving me a heart attack.”

I pouted and gave him a light push on the shoulder. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“Then I guess we`re even.”

After that, all the performers were called out. We both rushed to our groups, not even saying another word to each other.

I honestly didn`t expect our meeting to be that way. It was a nice moment, but I was expecting it to feel a little more special.

Months passed, and we both got a lot busier. We would greet each other from time to time, and exchange text messages when we felt like it. To the public eye, we were just two separate entities. Not even our groups know about our little past. Well, we didn`t show it, and we kind of had an understanding that we wouldn`t exploit that piece of information.

For a while, we did grow distant. We didn`t talk for a long time.

When Minji showed me that video of him lipsyncing to Go Away, I wasn`t sure what to feel. 

To be continued. ;D

This got really long, so I decided to make it a two-parter. And well, this is the most popular pair for 2SHINee1 in general~