*Ring Ring*

*Ring Ring*

Who is that...

*Ring Ring*

Why are they bothering me...

The ringing stopped, and Onew turned over in his half-sleep.

Then the phone rang again. Across the apartment, Onew's ears perked up and his eyes opened.

Over the soft, zen music playing in Ara's bedroom, Onew could hear Ara's phone ringing, the muffled tone echoing down the hall. He yawned, before slowly sitting up.

"Must be Minji," he whispered aloud. He glanced at the digital clock on the bedside table beside the bed, before groaning and standing up. Partially jogging down the hall, he approached the cell phone on the glass coffee table. Leaning down, he examined the caller ID.

Calling: (010) 5556-6748 (A/N: random number; do not call)

Onew frowned, blinking before looking at the number more closely.

It was his number.

Ara was calling him. And suddenly, Onew felt a wave of panic surge through him, this pang of worry, anxiety and sadness that made him want to hurl.

What did she want? He had just gotten the girl off of his mind; what could she possibly want?? Sighing, Onew answered the call.

"Hello?" he greeted, his voice bored.

"Ah! You picked up! Thank goodness... I thought you weren't going to pick up at all; I've called you, like, five times today! What have you been doing?"

It was always a strange thing to hear his own voice on the other end of the line, and hear it in a different mood, a different tone than usual. Ara's tone was more expressive, more exaggerated compared to Onew's normally calm and collected, toned-down voice.

Onew grimaced, pulling the phone away from his ear to frown at the screen as if it actually were Ara, as if Ara could actually see his sneer. He tsked, slightly annoyed.

"I was busy," he replied simply. Ara was quiet on the other line.

"Busy? With what; it's a Sunday. I--You... I'm.. I'M never busy on Sundays."

Onew's shoulders slumped; like he couldn't go out and do something on Sundays? He certainly could; he was his own person, had a mind of his own. Although he wasn't actually doing anything. Ara was right-- Sundays were literally empty. Her homework was done on the assigned date. There was nothing to do around the house; Onew kept her place clean.

But the truth was, Ara had called Onew a lot, and Onew always had an excuse for not picking up. It was because he didn't want to hear from her, hear any bad news...

...Be reminded that he had a life downtown that he was using someone to escape from. He wanted to avoid the guilt whenever he could.

However, Onew was a bad liar, and didn't like the spotlight on him like that. So he decided to turn the topic on her.

"Yeah, but you're busy on Sundays," he replied, referring to himself and his body without quite knowing.

"Yeah, but you're busy on Sundays." Ara pulled the phone away from her ear to look at the receiver. She stared at it for a second, before speaking.

"Wait, are you talking about me.. Or you?"

"You. As in me."

"Wait, what?"

"You. ONEW. The KPOP star." The annoyance in Ara's own voice made her flinch.

"Okay, okay. Sorry," she whispered. Then she remembered that he had implied that she was busy. "I'm actually not busy right now... I'm kinda sick."

"With what?" Ara gulped, as a flashback from the night before came to mind. She squeezed her eyes shut, and hid under the covers of Onew's bed. The warmth and darkness did nothing to comfort her.

"Nothing... Nothing."

"It doesn't sound like nothing," Onew replied straightforwardly. Ara's breath hitched.

"I... I don't want to talk about it," she replied softly.

"Then why did you call?" Ara again pulled the phone away to look at the receiver.

Why was Onew so snappy? "Why are you getting upset with me?" she asked.

"I was busy; you're bothering me." The irritation in his voice made Ara's heart skip a beat, and not in a good way. She felt her heart sink.

"I..."

"What??"

At this, Ara sat up in bed, her teeth clenched. "Okay," she hissed. "You want me to get to the point, then fine. I can't do this anymore. It's too weird, and things are happening..."

"I can't do this anymore. It's too weird, and things are happening..." Onew, with a hand on his hip, felt his heart drop.

"No, what are you talking about? You're doing fine," he reassured immediately.

"No, no I'm not. I'm not doing fine. I'm out of place... There are things going on that I shouldn't be going through--"

"Don't be ridiculous." He immediately cut her off. Onew walked over to the kitchen window, stared out at nothing. "You're doing the right thing!"

"No I'm not... I..." Onew heard a pause, then what sounded like a sob, and his heart tore.

"I can't do this anymore, Jinki-oppa..."

He was crying... Well, Ara was providing the emotion, but Onew could hear a wet sniffle, an indication that tears were falling from his own face...

He didn't think that was possible. He blinked in surprise, before frowning.

"Did something happen between the members again?"

Another sob-- Goodness, it was weird to hear himself cry-- before there was a "no" for a reply.

"Manager," Onew stated.

"No..."

"What's going on then? You could handle this before..."

"I'm ruining your relationships with people... Sp-special ones." Onew was still, thinking about who she could be referring to, before his breath hitched and he felt another wave of nausea. He leaned back against the counter, running a hand through his hair.

"Ara," he started. "Don't worry about that."

"No, Jinki-- I-I think I messed this up... I think I ruined everything for you. I don't want to do this anymore; I'm not you, I don't have your feelings. I'm just a fan." Now, Ara was full-on crying, and Onew sighed.

"Ara..." He felt bad for yelling at her earlier, being so harsh, and his tone was softer. "Ara, that... That can be fixed. I just...I need more time away from all of that."

"How much more time?"

"Just a little. You're doing a great job; don't worry about anything. Just think of what you're doing... for me." Onew took in a deep breath, before he uttered the two sentences that he would remember for the rest of his life, and would signify just how hard he had hit rock bottom:

"You're my fan, right? Just do it for me; you're supposed to do these things to help your oppa."

Ara pulled the phone away from her ear shakily, gazing at the blurry number. Another tear fell from her eye.

This wasn't right, and what Onew said was definitely not right...

"Ara?" Before Ara could think about it further, her own voice brought her back to attention.

"Y-yes, I'm here..."

"Just think about how much you're helping me by doing this... And trust me, there's a light at the end of this tunnel. Your... Your duty will not go unnoticed."

It was true that Ara was a fan, and that she'd do anything for Onew... But this?

"I..."

"Ara, please. Just a little more time, I swear."

Ara sniffled, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "I... Okay."

There was a sigh of relief on the other line, then a small laugh. "Thank goodness; thank you!"

"So you're not... You're not mad?"

"How can I be? I'm not mad at all."

Ara drew a shaky breath, before nodding. "Okay..."

Another laugh, then "Okay, so it's settled. Hey, I have to go-- bye Ara, and thanks again!"

Before Ara could get out another word, Onew had hung up.

Onew nearly slammed the phone down onto the counter, feeling relief wash over him. He breathed a sigh of relief, threw his head back and closed his eyes.

"That was close... And she wonders why I don't answer her calls. They're so stressful..." Onew huffed out a laugh, before he fell silent.

But the relief soon turned to a creepy kind of silence. The kind that no one is comfortable being in.

The kind where guilt liked to play "tag" in.

However, before it could catch him, Onew began to walk away.

Back to his room.

Back to his music.

And away from the guilt before it could tag him "it."

~*~Author's Note~*~

Heyo~!

Another chapter out! Sorry for the delay; last weekend was pretty hectic and my professors have decided to throw a BUNCH of assignments my way.

EXPECT ANOTHER UPDATE WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS: This chapter is one half of an important piece of the plot. I can guarantee that the second half is shorter than this chapter, but I think you'll like it.

ALSO: Ara's supposed "relationship" that she ruined? That'll be coming up after that ;) This is going to be an interesting chapter to write, and I'm a little nervous about it...  But I'll give you a hint...

The relationship is that of a girl. ;) So stay tuned!

And that's it; see you soon (hopefully)... In fact, Imma get to writing this second half now, so it might be up tonight.

See you, lovelies~ <3

-AS