A/N: Speaking Japanese

May 2005

To be honest, surviving in Japan was hard. You were all popular in Korea but then, no one recognized you here. Thanks to Boa and TVXQ who have made it a lot easier for Hourglass to venture into Japanese market, it was not as difficult as it should have been. They were not going to go with the cutesy concept so they released a ballad song as their debut album. The voices of each member complemented each other and the way it harmonized was beautiful.

Japanese media love it if you work hard. All the girls needed were to prove themselves. The responses that they received were positive as the girls can communicate in Japanese, have good attitudes and their pronunciation wasn’t slurred. So far, no anti-fans…yet.

Another thing that made it fun for Hourglass was DBSK was also promoting in Japan. So they got friends to talk to, and wasn’t all alone. Yumi was in heaven, with Yoochun of course, and both groups already knew about their relationship. That helped the couple as the members always backed them up if they were caught by the managers.

“Get a room,” Soomi said when she walked to the living room where Yoochun and Yumi were cuddling. “I thought you were learning Japanese, Yumi,” Soomi said sternly in her I’m-your-mother-so-you-better-listen-to-me tone.

“I am, Yoochun oppa is teaching me Japanese,” Yumi said and Soomi sighed.

“Yunho is calling you,” Soomi told Yoochun and although he knew it was a lie he nodded and excused himself. Soomi sat across Yumi and shot her a pointed look.

“Do you really like Yoochun that much?” Soomi asked and Yumi pouted.

“Of course, I know you don’t really like him…” she trailed off, pulling her aegyo unconsciously.

“No, I like Yoochun. But I don’t like him with you, he’s too old for you, don’t you think?” Soomi asked.

“Here we go again,” Yumi said and huffed. “Unnie, please let me be. We know how to hide in front of the media and fans.”

“Yumi yah, I worry more about you. You do know about Yoochun being a playboy right?” Soomi asked.

“Unnie! What if he hears you?” Yumi half-scolded her unnie.

“Yah, did you just raise you voice at me?” Soomi glared and Yumi bit her lips.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t like it when you said things like that about Yoochun oppa.”

“Yumi yah, you’re still young. You shouldn’t give full commitments on this kind of relationship when you know it’ll never work out-” Soomi was cut with Yumi’s yell.

“Unnie!”

“I’m telling you the truth, you have to grow up and face it,” Soomi said sternly before her gaze softened. “You’re still young and I know, right now you must be thinking that Yoochun is the love of your life, but he’s not. If he is, you will know when you are older. Right now is the time for you to be with your friends,” Soomi told the younger girl kindly.

“But I don’t have friends.” Yumi countered and Soomi shook her head.

“That’s because you choose to be an idol. So why don’t you focus on your career? You wanted this remember? For us to soar high, and I’m sure you don’t want Hourglass to fall right?” Soomi asked and Yumi nodded quietly.

“We can’t be greedy, you can only achieve one thing at a time. Right now, let’s focus on Hourglass, and once we’ve achieved the popularity, and lived as the number one idols…you can go back to finding the love of your life. Okay?” Soomi said and Yumi gave the older girl a smile.

“I guess…” Yumi trailed off and turned to Soomi. “So unnie, are you implying that I need to break up with Yoochun oppa?” she asked and Soomi shook her head.

“If that happens, you’ll be very sad. And that will affect Hourglass, no? Just tone down a bit, you can start by thinking Yoochun as your close oppa instead of boyfriend,” Soomi suggested.

“I’ll be in my room,” Yumi said and once she left, Sehee joined Soomi on the couch.

“Nice,” she commented and Soomi smiled smugly.

“Soomi noona is the best,” Yunho said as he sat down across the girls. Soomi gave them a weird yet smug laugh, making the two leaders laughed too.

“Thank you, if Sooman sajangnim somehow knows about this, Sehee noona and I are both dead,” Yunho told Soomi.

“Well, luckily we’re in Japan now,” Sehee said. “So when is your comeback in Korea?”

“Want to get rid of us already?” Jaejoong asked and Soomi smirked.

“Yeah, at the end of the year. We’ll see,” Soomi winked and Jaejoong laughed. Sehee turned to Jaejoong at the sound of his laugh, and averted her eyes when their eyes met. There was something about him that interested her, but she hid it well.

“Who do you think we’ll win?” Yunho asked and Sehee smiled at the worried face of Yunho.

“Hourglass,” Sehee joked and high-fived Soomi. “You still haven’t made a comeback yet, so yeah…” Soomi nodded her head and sent a comforting smile at Yunho.

“Besides, it doesn’t matter.” Soomi told and Sehee nodded.

“You’re our seniors, alright, but as long as one of us get the daesang…it’s good,” Sehee said and Yunho looked deep in thoughts.

“I still want to win though,” Yunho shrugged.

“Don’t worry, we will,” Jaejoong said and Yunho smirked as his closest brother supported him.

“So it’s on?” Yunho asked his older sisters and the Hourglass members smirked.

“Oh yeah, the game’s on.” Soomi said.

~*~*~**~*~**~**~*~**~*~*~**~*~**~*~*~**~*~*

August 2005

“Is it weird if I told you I can’t read Hangul as well as before?” Mai asked and Soomi laughed.

“It’s like I’m starting all over again,” Soomi said, Korean wasn’t even her second language, so she found it quite hard to adjust to Korean again.

“How long did we stay in Japan by the way?” Yumi asked, her Korean slightly slurring.

“Just three months,” Eunsung said, replying in Japanese without thinking. “Oops, three months,” she told Yumi in Korean. Out of Hourglass members, Eunsung has the best pronunciation and was the most fluent in Japanese. She was also one of the popular members in Japan, followed by Yumi and Mai.

“Well, you better work it out. Or the anti-fans are going to talk about your Hangul,” Daejung said and the girl hummed. They were going to have some fan meetings and a few showcases in Korea and China, before going back to Japan.

“And please, brush up your mandarin too, you’re going to need it next week,” Daejung reminded.

“Don’t worry, we have our two lovely unnies,” Mai said and the two older girls rolled their eyes in sync.

“And there’re two dramas for you two,” Daejung said as he parked their SUV at SM car park.

“Really?” Both Sehee and Soomi chorused.

“But don’t get too excited, we’ve already rejected them.” Daejung said and Soomi gasped, feeling betrayed. It was her who got the offer and not the company, shouldn't they tell her before they rejected it?

“But you know how much I want to act!”

“You don’t have time for that, unfortunately.” Daejung replied and Soomi made a face childishly at her manager. The girls followed their managers to their practice room, to rehearse their old songs for their showcase.

“I will be back with food, so go ahead and practice,” Daejung said as the girls placed their backpack down. The girls had just returned from Japan and went straight to SM as their first fan meeting would be tomorrow evening.

“I’ll wash my face first,” Yumi told and went to the toilet in the practice room.

“So, where do we start?” Soomi asked and Sehee raised an eyebrow.

“Girls on Top, of course,” she said and Soomi played the CD.

“I’ve forgotten most of the lyrics,” Soomi muttered and Sehee snorted.

“I totally forgot my raps,” she glanced at the clock. “The fan meeting is third o’clock, so we have more than a day.”

“If we don’t get a sleep,” Mai countered as she warmed her body up.

“Who said we’re getting any sleeps?” The leader asked and Mai pouted.

“Unnie~” she pulled an aegyo and Sehee ignored it.

“She’s right, do you think you deserve a sleep if you’re not perfect enough to perform in front of the fans?” Soomi asked. “Besides, this is the first time we see our Korean fans since we went to Japan.”

“Right, and…” Mai trailed off as she caught a familiar face. “Oppa!” she yelled, running to the door.

“Oppa?” Eunsung asked. “Her boyfriend?” She wondered as Mai’s tone was so happy and full of joy.

“Her older brother,” Soomi answered.

“You’re back! When did you arrive?” Donghae asked as he twirled his younger sister around. Mai giggled happily and hugged her older brother.

“It has been such a long time,” her voice was muffled against Donghae’s skin.

“Yup, I miss you so much,” he said and pinched her cheeks. “You’ve lost weight!” he exclaimed.

“You’ll lose yours too once you debut,” Mai added cheekily and Donghae’s eyes lit up.

“Right, I’m debuting!” He said and Mai’s face brightened up.

“What? Really? I’m so proud of you!” Mai said and pulled her brother into a tight hug again.

“People are going to think you’re a couple,” Leeteuk said. “Annyeong, Younggeun ah,” he said and pinched her cheek, making Mai blushed slightly.

“You’re not touching any of my girls, Park Jungsoo,” Sehee told and Leeteuk made a surprise face.

“Whatever you say, sunbaenim,” he joked and Sehee rolled her eyes.

“Congratulation, you’re finally going to debut,” Sehee said sincerely and Leeteuk smiled. His hard work was going to pay off, finally. “Congratulation to you too,” she told Donghae.

“Where’s my favourite girl?” Leeteuk asked and tried to peek. Sehee blocked his view with a playful smile.

“Go away,” Sehee said.

“Oh, annyeong haseyo,” Eunsung greeted Leeteuk with a ninety degree bow. Although she has debuted, Leeteuk has been in SM way longer than her and was also much older than her.

“Aigoo, no need to be so formal,” he said with a smile, showing his dimples. That totally melted Eunsung's heart, his smile was beautiful accompanied with his dimples.

“Oh, please. You were like, ‘be formal!’ to me,” Yumi imitated him and pouted making Leeteuk laughed.

“But Eunsungie is prettier, what do I do?” He asked, and blood rose to Eunsung’s face.

"Lame pick up lines," Sehee commented.

"No, I was just telling the truth," Leeteuk defended himself and cast a sideway glance to Eunsung again. "She's pretty," he said boldly, turning Eunsung's face redder than before.

"You're unstoppable," the leader sighed.

“Where’s Soomi?” he asked.

“In the toilet,” Yumi told.

“Well, we’ll talk again later and right now we need to rehearse,” Sehee said and pointed her finger at Leeteuk. “You, are not supposed to be here,” she said.

“I was just accompanying Donghae,” he shrugged. “Let’s go.”

“I’ll see you later, Younggeun ah,” Donghae said and kissed Mai's forehead.

“Bye oppa,” Mai said sadly, hugging her brother.

“I’ll go first sunbaenim-deul,” Donghae said politely, bowing.

“Annyeong,” Leeteuk waved, directed to Eunsung, causing her to blush again.

“What did I miss?” Soomi who has just walked out of the bathroom asked.

“Nothing, let’s get started.”

~*~*~**~*~*~**~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~

Mai struggled with the eight water bottles and a plastic bag of fried chicken, walking up the stairs.

“Aish, why did I lost,” she muttered under her breath grudgingly.

“Let me help you,” a man’s voice offered and Mai looked up. It would be a lie if she said he wasn’t handsome. He was more than handsome, a perfection. His brown hair that went below his ears, his thick eyebrows, his brown eyes, his straight nose and strong jaw, and his full lips. She would have mistaken him as Kangta sunbaenim, but Kangta sunbaenim’s nose is thinner and higher with narrower face. Besides, her successful sunbaenim wouldn’t be offering her help at this kind of time.

“Is there something on my face?” Siwon asked naively and Mai snapped out of her dreamy thoughts.

“No, no! There’s nothing, I was just-yeah, nothing,” she said quickly and bit her lips so she would stop talking. She almost blurted out how handsome he was and luckily, she didn’t say it out loud.

“Here, let me help you sunbaenim,” he offered and took five water bottles and the plastic.

“Thank you, you’re…?”

“Choi Siwon imnida, please treat me well,” he said politely with a light bow.

“You’re debuting in the new boy group, aren’t you?” Mai asked and he nodded with a smile, happy that a sunbae like Mai knew about him.

“Yes, oh, I know your brother. He’s a nice guy,” Siwon said and Mai smiled.

“Thank you,” she said and the rest of the journey was in silence. Mai wasn’t one who was lost at words, but with this guy walking right beside her, she thought it was a miracle that she didn’t faint. Her heart was beating rapidly, and once she arrived at the corridor, she thanked him again.

“I’ll take it from here since you’re not really allowed to be here,” Mai said bashfully and Siwon smiled, showing his dimples.

“I’ll see you around, sunbaenim,” he said with a bow.

“Please, call me Youngrae,” Mai said and he nodded.

“Ne, Youngrae sunbaenim,” he said and Mai just smiled. As she walked to the practice room, she wanted to thank the members for winning the rock-paper-scissor game. If she has won, she wouldn’t have met Siwon. She laughed heartily, smiling ear to ear.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Since Mai isn’t getting together with Yunho soon, I presented you a little scene with Siwon. Hope you like it. And yes, kyjinky unnie, you’re not getting together with Eunhyuk soon either, so here’s Leeteuk for you =)

*****

Happy new year, let’s hope for better changes in ourselves and life, and hope everyone achieved their 2012 goals! If not, there’s 2013 for you~

Let’s wish Hourglass, TVXQ, Super Junior, SNSD and other SM Family a great success too for this 2013! ^^