Long Live

Part II
-Chapter 2-

Since that day, she’d pulled herself together. She’d started eating, started living again. Deaf or not, there were things worth living for. She’d found another job in a bigger company than before, and her paycheck was good enough that in a year, she could afford her own apartment. Lindy had huge hopes for the year 2013. As New Year’s Eve drew closer, the list got longer. She was more talkative, had a whole bunch of friends- she’d finally done the course in lip reading and like that could communicate- and was a totally new person. She’d gained about 22 lbs. and looked healthy again. She’d even dyed her hair blonde and looked fresher now. Prettier, better, all in all happier. Her parents, more than anyone, was happy to see their daughter doing so well the past months and they were more than grateful towards Annie that she’d managed to make their daughter normal again. Annie and Lindy were meeting more often, now that Lindy was going out again. It was easier and almost like when they were teens. Of course, they weren’t anymore, but they would still find themselves do the same things as four years ago.

Lindy had found her love for music again. She didn’t care whether or not she could hear what was played: She enjoyed the lyrics and videos. She had started following BIGBANG again- their newer songs were truly amazing. She had developed a love for ‘Monster’ that she couldn’t even put in words. She would usually find herself humming along, even though she didn’t exactly know what the melody sounded like. She’d tried to grasp it by looking at the chords, but it had been harder than expected.

She was returning home, humming and typing a message for Annie, when her mother rushed to the door. Lindy greeted her, but that apparently wasn’t the reason her mother had come to the door. Annie is in the living room, hurry! She said and Lindy- not being used to people using sign language anymore- nodded, a little confused. She kicked her shoes off her feet and entered the living room. Annie and Lindy’s dad had plugged the Laptop to the TV, and Lindy could see Taeyang’s face on screen. She frowned.

“What’s up here?” She asked, letting herself fall onto the couch, right next to her father. She looked around, but nobody answered. She snorted, but looked back at the TV. Annie had started the video, and she could she Youngbae looking around, feeling obviously uncomfortable. And then, his hands started moving. Lindy remembered the concert and her heart made a small bounce.

Hey, Lindy… I just wanted to tell you that after the concert, I started learning sign language- the bits I knew back then were because of Annie. I think I’m pretty fluent now, right? Anyways, I wanted to tell you that I just can’t get you out of my head and that I’d really like to meet you again. Do you think that would be possible without waiting another three years? I’ll wait for your answer… Bye…

He awkwardly waved into the camera before it was turned off. Lindy looked around, eyes widened. “He doesn’t mean me, does he?” She asked, but Annie only chuckled. Yes, it was more than obvious that he did mean her. But… How was that even possible? She was just a Fan, just somebody crazy about a group. Annie gave her a small piece of paper.

After seeing the YouTube video for the concert, he contacted me. We were mailing back and forth a lot, and he eventually gave me his phone number- to hand it to you. But he told me not to do it before he ‘gives me the sign’. I didn’t know what he meant, but now I guess that was enough of a sign. Take it and text him, or else I’ll kill you! Annie said. And she didn’t have to say it twice. Lindy grabbed her phone and quickly typed in a message. Before she could think about it, she sent it- And screamed out of happiness right after that.

***

They were in the middle of a dancing practice when the mobile in Youngbae’s pocket vibrated. He excused himself and took it out. Unknown number. He furrowed his brows and leaned against the mirror whilst opening the message.

Hey, Taeyang. I just saw the video. Thanks a lot! - Lindy ☺

Taeyang’s heart skipped a few beats. And before the others could ask what happened, he boxed into the air and danced around crazily. While doing so, Jiyong got the chance to take the mobile away. After reading the message, he made a gesture as if he was about to puke.

“Soooo corny!” He said and held the mobile as if it was something really disgusting. The others had to laugh and Daesung took the mobile away, grinning.

“I was right back then. Seunghyunnie, I was riiiiiiight~~” He sang and hugged the oldest of them all. Seunghyun took the mobile and acted as if he fainted, right into Daesung’s arms.

“You lucky bastard.” The younger Seunghyun said as he read the message and handed the mobile back to Taeyang. “But she didn’t look like somebody you should be crazy about the last time I saw her…” He added, just to receive glares from all of the members and a slap on his head from the leader.

“She pulled herself together. I know it.” Youngbae contradicted and quickly typed in a reply.

Nothing to thank for. I meant every word I said, really. Do you think we can meet someday?

After sending it, Jiyong stole the mobile once again. He squinted upon reading it. “Too fast, Idiot. You have to make yourself interesting before asking for a date!” He corrected Taeyang’s message, but Daesung shook his head.

“He’s waited three years now. How much longer do you want him to wait?”

“No matter what happens,” Seungri began and sank onto his knees dramatically, “I will always be the one who got a girlfriend after Youngbae!”

Seunghyun followed Jiyong’s example and slapped the back of his Dongsaeng’s head. “That was predictable, Pabo.” He crushed Seungri’s hopes. The younger glared at his Hyung and was about to say something, but Youngbae hushed them all.

“She answered,” he said. All eyes were on him. “She says: I don’t see why not. Apart from the tiny fact that you’re in Korea and I’m in Australia.”

“Wheeeew~” Daesung said and looked at the others. “So was that a yes or a no?”

“A yes.” Jiyong and Seunghyun said at once. “What are you going to answer?” The Leader asked after chuckling about him and his Hyung saying the same things at the same time.

“I’ll say: Then why not make the distance disappear?” Seungri snorted, not satisfied with the words Taeyang had chosen. But before he could say something, Daesung raised his voice: “Add a: I’m free next week, I could book the flight immediately.”

“Doesn’t that sound too desperate?” Seunghyun asked, but Daesung shook his head.

“He is desperate!” Seungri answered for Daesung, and Taeyang glared at him.

“Be careful with what you’re saying, you little brat!” He spat, but he knew the younger was right. Youngbae was desperate. Desperate to meet her again.

***

The closer the day of his arrival came, the more nervous Lindy grew. She had gone to the hair stylist who’d fixed her hair, had bought new things- things that were more fitting, not. She had sorted out her old make-up and replaced it by new palettes.  She’d completely covered up, she had a female figure again and she would call herself ‘good looking’ with the silky, now blond hair, which was framing her face. She hoped Youngbae would like it. Really, her only worry this whole week had been whether Youngbae would like the way she looked. She remembered herself looking awful on his last concert, and she wanted to surprise him with how much better she now was. However, she didn’t want to look ty, and so she’d changed the outfit for his pick-up at least a thousand times. Finally, and because of the milder temperatures of the season, she’d settled for a pullover that had black and white stripes and whine-red pants for it. She’d put on some make up, just enough so she still looked natural, and had chosen her black boots. Her wrist was decorated by a small bracelet that said ‘BIGBANG’. The outfit was perfect.

And in that perfect outfit the girl was now standing at the airport- she’d refused to make her father drive her and had just taken a cab (her parents were too worried to let her make her own driver’s license). Her hands were shivering as she was standing in front of the gate where the star could come out any time, and she wondered what he’d look like. Would he hide his beautiful eyes behind sunglasses, wearing a cap, probably a mask? He did like that from what she’d seen on pictures. All her imaginations were clashed away when she could see the door open and a flood of people came out of it, all of them having suitcases in their hands. Lindy searched the crowd for Taeyang, but she couldn’t find him- which was strange, since she was sure she would see him in a crowd of a million people. Dong Youngbae wasn’t somebody one could miss. When the last person came out of the door, the smile vanished from her face and a little pout was visible. She stared at the door for some more minutes before turning around- just to bump into somebody. She held her head and looked up, and the first thing she could see was his smile. That one-in-a-million smile that made her heart bounce everytime she saw it. Her eyes wandered up hungrily, taking in every inch of his beautiful face, and finally she was able to lock hers with his. They were just standing there, looking into each other’s eyes. She didn’t know how much time had passed, but finally, she could feel his hands finding hers, and he pulled her close, embracing her slim figure. His arms were wrapped around her waist and he hid away his head in the hole between neck and shoulder, where she could feel his hot breath through the material of the pullover. She raised her arms and wrapped them around his neck, where one of her hands started playing with the bangs of his hair that hadn’t fit beneath the cap anymore.

After some more minutes of just standing there like this, he released her off the embrace and grinned at her. Then, he remembered something. He raised his arms and formed the words Lindy had long longed to hear from him: I’m happy to see you. I missed you. She grinned, unable to hide her happiness, as she answered: I missed you, too. This is a dream come true. He laughed, and she loved how it made his small eyes even smaller. She touched his cheek, feeling the smooth, soft skin under her fingertip, and the grin turned into a smile.

“Thanks for being here,” she whispered- or at least hoped she did. Judging from the expression on his face, he had heard her. His hand closed over hers, and he shook his head. She could see his lips forming the words: Nothing to thank for. Then, he took her hand down and turned around, leading her out of the airport. Lindy wanted to complain- after all, it was her who had to take care of getting back- but she had been shoved into a cab already.

You’ll come with me to my hotel, won’t you?, he asked after having told the driver where he had to put them off. She nodded, she’d expected that already. Though it still made her happy that he was thinking the same way, that he wanted to spend his every minute with her. He still held her hand in his, and to Lindy it didn’t look like he was going to let go off it soon. Not that she minded. She leaned back with a content smile and could see Youngbae doing the same. How could her life, that had been awful not too long ago, turn out to be perfect?

***

Lindy was sitting on the huge, king-sized bed, watching Youngbae running around, unpacking his two suitcases, wondering how a man could probably need so much for just a week. He’d explained it: One suitcase was for his clothes and caps, the other one was for shoes and bathroom stuff only. She still couldn’t understand it, but didn’t question it any further. After all, Youngbae was Taeyang, a star. She assumed that they needed needless stuff like that. After he was done, he let himself fall onto the bed next to Lindy, rubbing his eyes. He was sleepy, she guessed. She lay down next to him, and as soon as she did so, she could feel him taking her hand again. A grin appeared on her lips and she looked up at him. Youngbae, however, was looking at the white ceiling, yawning.

“Tired?” Lindy asked and Taeyang nodded, pouting. It was early, only eight in the morning, and she assumed he’d been stayed up all night just like she had. Just that now that he was next to her, she didn’t feel tired at all. Her thumb started the back of his hand and she wondered why it felt so right to have him close when she barely even knew him. As if he had read her thoughts, he took his hand back, and Lindy pouted. She wanted to grab his hand again, but he was faster: He s his hand under her back and pressed her towards him, making her head rest on his chest. She smiled a satisfied smile and looked at him. “Are we going to sleep like this?” She asked, and again, he nodded. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arm around Taeyang’s muscular stomach before allowing herself to get some sleep.

***

They awoke the same way they’d fallen asleep: Arm in arm. A smile was plastered on Lindy’s lips when she could feel Youngbae move under her, stretching his muscles and probably yawning. She looked up at his handsome face and chuckled at how his hair was looking as if he’d touched an electrical outlet. He ran his fingers through his hair and looked down at her, smile on his face. She couldn’t even express her happiness as he sat up and leaned against the wall, pulling her onto his lap. She leaned her head against his chest, feeling his heartbeat against her temple, and smiled silently as they sat there like this. After a while she looked up and muttered: “I’m hungry.” From the way Youngbae’s chest vibrated she guessed that he’d laughed. Right after, he laid her down on the bed, and for grabbing the phone he hovered over her, making it seem as if it was accidentally. Lindy hit his chest lightly, not able to hide her blush. “Yah~” She called out, seeing Taeyang looking down at her while she was giggling in embarrassment. While she was pretend-fighting him lying on her, he made a call- room service, she guessed. Right after he hung up, a grin appeared on his lips and he leaned onto his arms next to her, with their faces only centimeters away from each other. He leaned down, kissing her forehead. Lindy’s eyelids closed fluttery, and the butterflies in her stomach flew around crazily. She breathed out shakily and opened her eyes again as his lips left her forehead. They locked eyes, staring at each other for quite some time before he started to move again, slowly, as if he was afraid to scare her away or something. His lips were right above hers, she could already feel the warmth of his lips when suddenly, he flinched. Lindy, who was more than confused, watched as Youngbae jumped from the bed and hurried towards the door. The food, Lindy realized, happy that he hadn’t fled because of her. She sat up, her cheeks of a soft rose tone, and saw him bringing in the rolling tablet, on which she found several dishes, wondering who in the world should eat all that. He started setting the table, even lit up two candles- which she couldn’t understand since it was still light outside- and waved her to him. She obeyed, letting him sit her down on a chair and grinned as he took his chair, placing it right next to hers. She could see that he’d ordered traditional Korea food- rice with plenty side dishes, and pursed her lips. “You should’ve tried something else. Crocodile, perhaps.” She scolded and Youngbae grinned, sticking his tongue at her.

“Next time,” his lips formed and Lindy nodded. They had a lot of time, after all. She reached out for her chopsticks, but the male next to her hid her hand away. With widened eyes, she looked at him. He raised his sticks, picked up some rice and brought it to . She rolled her eyes and opened , taking in the food, seeing Taeyang stare at her lips as she was chewing. “You okay?” She asked him and he dragged his eyes away, nodding.

What do you want to do afterwards?, he wanted to know, the chopsticks still in his hands. Lindy shrugged, letting him give her more of the rice, picking a fishy looking side dish. “I don’t care, really. You’re the tourist, you choose.”

Youngbae nodded, looking out of the window, deep in thoughts. He nodded again, running his fingers through his head, before answering: You know, I’ve been to Australia for so many times now, but I’ve never done one of those sight-seeing-tourist-tours. How about that?

Lindy nodded, she really didn’t care. Such a tourist-tour wasn’t really anything she’d totally liked, for she wouldn’t understand a word anyways, but as long as Youngbae was fine with it, she didn’t mind at all. And so, they finished their lunch, and Youngbae hurried into the bathroom while Lindy got into her shoes and waited for him, leaning against the front door.

Youngbae came out of the room, a bright smile on his face, and embraced her before opening the door and pulling her out, receiving giggles from his precious Lindy.

***

It wasn’t understandable for Lindy how Youngbae could look so interested in what the woman told them. Sure, maybe she had a damn god way of telling the most boring stories about Sydney, but he looked way too fascinated by all that. He was constantly holding her hand, but apart from that, his whole attention was aimed at the elderly woman in front of the crowd. The only time he would draw his attention to Lindy was when giving her fascinated looks, and it would widen the smile on Lindy’s face every time. She couldn’t even express how much she treasured his smile. She squeezed his hand, seeing that they (finally) arrived at the last stop of today’s tour: The Sydney opera house. The woman was talking about it for minutes before the crowd started clapping, and that was the only time Youngbae let go off her hand. The crowd soon spread into all directions. The wide-eyed Youngbae looked at her. “Sydney is fascinating,” his lips formed and Lindy shrugged. Maybe to others it was, but growing up in that city the things around here were usual for her. Whereas she knew that if she were to go to Seoul, his hometown, she’d be the one being fascinated, and he’d be the one who wouldn’t understand. It was almost eight in the evening, but neither one of them was tired, for they’d slept for half the day.

“What now?” Lindy asked the man, whose hand had already found back hers, and she wondered about how perfectly they fit into one another. Youngbae looked around, his eyes finding the opera house once again, and he grinned. Lindy shook her head. Out of all things, going to the opera was the last thing she wanted to do. She was deaf. She didn’t want to be reminded of that. He seemed to just remember that- a thing Lindy also liked about him: He forgot that she was deaf. Showed her that he wasn’t there to pity her. Maybe he really, honestly liked her. Unbelievable- but true?

He let go off her hand and Lindy pouted. What do you want to do, then? He asked and she squinted at him, taking back his hand.

“First of all,” she began, holding up a finger to stress the ‘first of all’, “don’t let go off my hand.” Youngbae chuckled at her serious face and interlocked their fingers, his lips forming the word ‘deal’. “Secondly, I can read your lips. Been training that for quite some time now. It’s not perfect, but with the context I understand you most of the time. So speak to me.” He felt uneasy about that, she could see it, but nevertheless nodded. “Thirdly,” and as she said that the smile came back onto her face, “I don’t care what we do, as long as we do it together. And- it doesn’t necessarily have to be connected with music, if you ask me.” She knew that someday, if a relationship was to establish out of what they had at that moment, this topic would be something where they’d clash against each other. Music, the thing that Taeyang lived for, was something Lindy couldn’t treasure any longer. But until then, she wanted to enjoy what they had. More than anything, she wanted to enjoy Youngbae being there, spending time with her.

He seemed to be thinking for some time, and in the end bit his lips. “You trust me, don’t you?” He asked, and Lindy frowned, wondering what he was up to. She nevertheless nodded, anticipating expression on her face. Obviously content with her answer, he took her hand, and dragged her into the direction they’d come from. And she soon figured why: A club. She grimaced at Youngbae, but his lips just formed the words ‘trust me’ as he dragged her inside. Even though it was just eight and she wouldn’t have expected anybody to be there, the Club was fairly full. Lindy could feel the bass vibrating through her whole body, and it unwillingly brought a smile on her lips. Seeing that, the male pushed her further inside, and as they were in the middle of the crowd, he started moving. Not as awesome as he did in the Music Videos she remembered, but it still looked awesome. She stood and stared until Youngbae grabbed her hips and started moving them, making her feel slightly uncomfortable. But she nevertheless obeyed and started moving her hips to the sound of the bass- knowing that she was rather good at it- and wrapped her right arm around his neck, whilst her left arm hung loosely next to her hip. Youngbae enjoyed it, enjoyed getting to know that side of her. The wild, y side. He his lip as he watched her moving so close to him and his arms brought her closer, almost automatically.

She smiled at him, but it wasn’t the smile he was used to by now. It was different, darker, ier. He gulped and his hand found hers and at first she didn’t even notice him talking to her. She raised her head, looking at his lips, that formed the words: “Wanna go?”

No, Lindy did not want to go. She’d just found out that she was able to enjoy music. She’d just found out that music could, to some point, still be a part of her life. And that made her happier than she’d expected. But since it was him who was asking her to go, she nodded, running her fingers through her sweaty hair as she let him take her out. A look on her clock told her that it was already close to midnight. “No way!” She called out when they were outside, and Youngbae looked back. She showed him the clock and he nodded.

“What, do you have to be home already?” He teasingly asked and Lindy stuck her tongue at him. “Pabo! I just didn’t think we were dancing for so long.” She answered, adding something about her being 22 already, and let him push her into the cab, sitting down next to her. It reminded her of the scene from the morning, with him telling the driver where to go and then squeezing Lindy’s hand and staring at her, just that this time, there was something else lying in his eyes. Something she couldn’t define.

As soon as they got out, Youngbae seemed to be in an extreme hurry. He pushed her into the elevator and after that, into his room, and before she could even wonder about why she was there (she hadn’t expected to sleep there) he wrapped his arms around her figure and she smiled, expecting this to be one of those minute-long hugs they’d shared for at least ten times that day. How could she have known how wrong she was. 

saranghae

Okay, this is one loong and booring chapter, I'm sorry. Just didn't know how to end it. I love to write lovey-dovey stuff between Lindy and Youngbae as long as it's still possible x.x And the ending... Harr~ That's because of my best friend, really! I told her I didn't know how to end the chapter, she gave me the last line and said: Take that. I did. And it fits :P Thank you all for reading and especially my subscribers and the one person that constantly comments, you're making me one happy wreck! Hope you still have fun with this Crap, guys :) ♥

credits - contradictori