Chapter 6: Get real

Dujun's POV

It was too quiet in the truck, even with the radio on. Miyong had the passenger's seat window down, looking out.

I had to say something, to break the ice between us. 

"Are you excited for the showcase?" I asked. A brilliant start for the conversation, I thought to myself.

"I guess so." She answered.

It's her typical short replies again. 

"Are you the only kid in your family?" I wondered.

"Yes, why?" She asked.

"Is that why you are so quiet?" I asked her back. 

"That's not the reason." She replied. 

I was going to hit her with my 10 get-to-know-you question, when she suddenly spoke out.

"I like your truck." She said. I was surprised that she suddenly complimented my truck.

"Thanks. Just the truck?" I wanted to get a reaction from her, but all she did was stared at me. I guessed that was her reaction.

Then I smiled at her. She turned away and continue to look out the window.

"Sorry, that was lame. Have you thought of a song yet for both of us?" I changed the topic.

"I have one song in mind, but I'm not sure if you're going to like or not." She answered.

"Jeongmal? Tell me what is it." I leaned towards her.

"I'm going crazy by Song Ji Eun." She said

"Jalhaesseo. Let's do that song." I agreed with her

"You don't want to listen to it first?" She asked me

"I have this song in my iPod. It's one of my favorite." I said. At least we had something in common. That's a start.

"Cool, then we can jump straight to practicing." She said.

"Okay" I said.

We were back to the silent mode. There was a little traffic on the way to the cafe. The weather was cloudy and slightly windy. She took out her jacket from her backpack and put it on.

"Do you like SMA?" She asked me all of a sudden

"There are times where I'm happy and there are times when I feel like running away." I said

"What do you mean?" She asked. Now she's hitting me the 10 get-to-know-you question.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm not good enough compared to the other members. I can't sing well like Yoseop shi, I can't dance as well as Gikwang and Hyunseung shi, I can't rap as well as Junhyung shi." I said

"You shouldn't compare yourself. I'm sure there's a reason why you made it through the audition." She replied.

"Gomawo" I smiled at her. She looked at me with a different expression this time.

It was the first time someone said that to me. It made me feel better about myself. Although she wasn't smiling but I can see that her eyes were smiling at me. It made my heart jumped a little. I felt a slight warmth from her, maybe she wasn't that bad after all. I just have to give her sometime, someday she will open up to me, I thought to myself.

Miyong and Dujun finally arrived at the cafe. Dujun sat on the sofa by the window while Miyong went to the washroom.

The cafe was quiet. Only a few customers here and there. Not long, Miyong came and join Dujun. 

"Is this place okay for us to practice?" Dujun asked

"Yeah no problem." Miyong said. "So, what shall we do first?" She asked Dujun.

"Let's divide the parts and then we can practice from there." Dujun said.

Meanwhile...

AeRa's driver came and picked her up in front of the main entrance. Gikwang followed too. It was a luxurious car, Gikwang never even sat in anything like this. It was a all black Cadillac Escalade. Gikwang was looking around in the car. AeRa thought that he was looking for something.

"Gikwang shi, did you loose something?" AeRa asked.

"N-no." He stuttered

"Are you okay?" She asked again.

"Gwaenchanhayo. I just...never sat in such car before." He replied. "I can't practice too late, I have to get home early. My parents needs my help" Gikwang continued.

"Help with what?" Typical AeRa was always curious.

"My mom sells jajjang myun and ttukbeoki. She has a stall nearby our house. I help her every night to prepare and every morning before going to SMA." Gikwang replied

"Wah, jjinja? I love jajjang myun and ttukbeoki!! I have to go there sometime." AeRa said. "What's your family like, Gikwang shi? If you don't mind me asking?" AeRa asked

Gikwang was surprised at her sudden question.

"Mom, dad, me and my dongsaeng." Gikwang answered. "Why?"

"Do you guys have dinner every night together?" AeRa asked again.

"Deh, almost every night. Wae?" Gikwang was getting annoyed by all the question

"I never had that before. Dinner with family. Talk and laugh at the dining table. I never experience that with my parents." AeRa told Gikwang

AeRa wasn't her bubbly self now, she was more calm and Gikwang could hear the sadness in her tone of voice.

"We argue a lot too, about the littlest things." Gikwang didn't know what else to say.

"I would trade all of that with what I have now. Dad is in the states and my mom is in Italy working. They're never home." AeRa was more timid than usual. 

Gikwang didn't know how to act. AeRa was sad because her parents never spend any time with her.

All he managed to say to her "At least you have JaeMin, Miyong and JaeYoung to keep you company."

"Thanks" She smiled at Gikwang. A sad smile. She turned away and faced the window. 

 

Gikwang's POV

I could see that AeRa was wiping her tears. She didn't wanted to show me. I didn't know what to do. What should I do? Give her a hug? Hand her a tissue? Comfort her?. But I couldn't. I didn't know her that well, so I just kept quiet during the whole ride until we reach her house.

AeRa's house was as big as the football field. The main entrance was enormous. I opened the door and followed her in.

"Welcome to my house!" AeRa welcoming me to her house. She was back to her bubbly self again. Her housekeeper opened the front door and I could see the big foyer which leads to a giant staircase. Marbled floors, high ceiling, crystal chandelier and I saw a baby grand piano in the living room. "This is Brenda my housekeeper, she's practically like my mom!" She gave Brenda a hug.

I greeted her and introduced myself. "Annyeonghaseyo, Gikwang ibnida" I went inside.

All my life, I've been living in a house probably was only as big as her foyer, sharing a room with my little brother. Never had anything luxury in my life. The best thing that happened to me so far was getting a scholarship to SMA. That's it. I envied her.  Never had to lift a finger for anything. She was spoilt by all this richness since she was small. She had a housekeeper, driver, gardener and probably a pool cleaner.

"Gikwang shi, please make yourself comfortable. I'll just go freshened up. The bathroom is behind where the piano is!" She yelled from first floor.

I couldn't make myself comfortable in a place like this. I was afraid that I would break, stain or scratch on anything I touch or sit on and I would have to pay for it for the next 10 years of my life. Brenda offered me a glass of water and then went back to the kitchen. I could smell that she was cooking in the kitchen.

I saw AeRa came down, she looked different than her usual self. She tied her hair in a bun, and putted her dorky glasses on and sat at the piano. This was a side of her that I've never seen. I didn't even noticed that I was staring at her.

"Why are you staring at me?" She asked

"You look very different" I said to her.

"I usually dress like this at home." She answered

"You looked better like this." I replied.

"Do I look that ugly when I go SMA?" She asked again

"It's not that, I just think it's a bit much. That's all. It's better seeing you like this without your make-up on." I told her. She was smiling at me.

"Thanks. Now we have uniforms. No more nice clothes" She was making a sad face.

"Let's start" I said to her.

We made a list of duet songs, and tried it out one by one to see which fit us best. AeRa, surprisingly was a good pianist. Seating there watching her play the piano gives me a new perspective on her. I was impressed.

After a long discussion, we finally made up our mind in singing 'Two is better than one by Taylor Swift and Boys likes girls.'

Back at SMA...

JaeMin signed up for the swimming team and after that they found a class to practice in. It was an old class, the place was dusty but it was away from the other classes. JaeMin took out a tissue from her backpack and handed it to Yoseop to wipe the dusty chairs. There was an old piano at the corner of the class, JaeMin sat on it and tried to play some tunes. The key was off, but It was bearable. Yoseop sat down beside her at the piano and took out his laptop from his backpack.

"So you have any-" JaeMin cut  Yoseop off

"Yoseop shi, mianhae.." JaeMin apologizing all of a sudden.

"Waeyo? Gwaenchana? " Yoseop asked.

"I have something that I need to tell you" JaeMin said.

 

JaeMin's POV

I didn't to know how would Yoseop react to my biggest fear. I was about to tell him something that's been bothering me for a long time. Something that might make me not perform for the showcase.

"Mwoya? It's ok you can tell me." He put his hand on my shoulder. His hand was warm, it made feel better.

"I have a fear of performing in front of an audience. I could never go up the stage and sing. Once I'm up there, I froze up. It always happened to me, and I hate it." I confessed to him. I was trembling when I told him.

I never can get up on the stage to sing. People would dragged me up the stage, and I just froze up.

"Jjinjaro?" He asked. "But you sang in front of us, and you were fine" He didn't believed me.

"I get stage fright when I'm on stage. Even though I like to perform, but It scares me to go on stage." Tears were filling up my eyes.

"It's okay, I'll help you. Don't worry about it." He wiped my tears with his thumb and hugged me. "Don't cry, we'll find a way." He comforted me.

His sudden embrace shocked me. No guy ever hugged me before except my dad and JaeYoung oppa. Yoseop was calm about me confessing my fears. I break away from his embrace and wipe my tears.

"Gomawo. Please be patient with me, Yoseop shi. I might give you a hard time." I said to him.

"No worries, let's just pick our song first." He said. 

"I've always wanted to sing this song..." I showed him a sheet of lyrics. A song called What I want to do once I had a lover by G.NA and Rain

"Ooh, I like G.NA." He took my iPod and plugged in to his laptop. The song started to play.

I was afraid that he won't do this song for our duet, then we have to go through the whole process of finding the right song.

Then he said "Jjinja johayo!" 

I was glad that he liked the song too. We started practicing straight away. Hearing Yoseop sang again made me happy. I love the tenderness of his voice. Yoseop was like a ball of light same like his name. He was cute and cheeky. We stopped practicing for a while, and Yoseop started to put on some songs and started dancing around the classroom. He was singing along to the song loudly, he was like a firecracker. He pulled me up and asked me to joined him dancing, but I was too shy to do it. I just sat there and looked at the firecracker. He made me forget about my problems, and made me laugh.

I looked at the time, it was time for work. I quickly pack my backpack.

"What's up?" Yoseop asked me

"I need to get to work" I answered him.

"Can I come too? Dujun texted me and said he was there. I can give you a ride." He said

"Jeongmal? Gomawo." I thanked him for offering me a ride.

 

On their way out of the academy, Yoseop got a text from Junhyung.

"Yoseop ah, HELP! Hyun Ae shi is driving me insane! Ppalli wa! I'm at the auditorium!" 

After reading the text, Yoseop laughed so loud that the whole hallway could hear his laughter. He then showed the text to JaeMin. JaeMin laughed along too.

"Eottheoke? Should we help him?" JaeMin said.

"Are you late for work?" Yoseop asked.

"I can spare 30 minutes." I said

"Let's go save him!" Yoseop pulled JaeMin's arm and ran towards the auditorium. 

Once they arrived, the slowly enter the auditorium, they can already hear Hyun Ae's voice arguing with Junhyung. Hyun Ae was standing on stage, while Junhyung was seating at the audience seat. Yoseop and JaeMin sat behind at the back row. Hyun Ae saw them and called them out.

"Excuse me? What are you guys doing here?" Her hands were rested on her hip.

Junhyung turned around and ran towards them.

"Please, just take me away. She's giving me a headache" Junhyung was holding Yoseop's arm begging him to take him away.

"Shhhhh...The witch is coming!" JaeMin whispered.

Heading towards their direction was angry Hyun Ae. "Junhyung shi, we're not done here! You can go yet" she said angrily.

"WAEYO?!" Junhyung yelled.

"We haven't picked a song yet!" Her eyes were wide open looking at Junhyung.

"We can help you guys decide." Yoseop said.

"Oh, joha! Come and help us out." Junhyung said.

"FINE!" Hyun Ae turned away and went up to stage.

"Okay we have two songs, she wants to do 'Oh yeah by GD and TOP featuring Park Bom" and I suggested 'Pyramid by Charice and Iyaz' because she has a high vocal range, it will showcase her as a freshmen at SMA." Junhyung said to Yoseop.

"Jjinja? Arasseo. Okay Can you two please perform each of the song?" Yoseop said as he and JaeMin went up on stage.

Without hesitation Hyun Ae started to sing her choice of song. They quickly continued the second song which is Junhyung's choice.

"She sounds amazing!" JaeMin whispered to Yoseop

"I know, but I think the second songs suit them better. What you think?" He whispered back.

"I prefer this one too" JaeMin answered in a low tone.

"Yoseop shi! How was it?" Junhyung asked

"Hyun Ae shi, as your sunbae, I thought the first song you sang was beautiful, but most of the song I just hear you sang 'OH YEAH!'. So, JaeMin and I pick the second song, not because Junhyung is our friend, but because this songs highlights your voice even better. It's better for the showcase." Yoseop gave his verdict to Hyun Ae.

"OKAY FINE! You win!" Hyun Ae finally gave in.

"WOOHOO!!!" Junhyung was punching his fist in the air.

"We're done here, I gotta go or JaeMin will be late for work!" Yoseop grabbed JaeMin's arm again and ran out of the auditorium.

"Gidaryeo!! I need a ride!" Junhyung chased after them. "See you!" He waved at Hyun Ae who looked disappointed that they couldn't continue practice.

Three of them ran until they reach the main entrance, they saw JaeYoung was walking towards the parking lot.

"OPPA!" JaeMin called out!

He turned around

"YA! Gamjagia! You guys are still here? Where's the rest?" He high fived Junhyung and Yoseop.

"AeRa is at home practicing with Gikwang shi and Miyong is at the cafe with Dujun shi." JaeMin answered him.

"I'm not sure where is the rest of the boys are either." Yoseop said. "You're gonna be late!" Yoseop said to JaeMin.

"Oppa I have to go to work! Annyeong! You want to come along?" JaeMin asked

"Not right now. I need to go home and practice too! Mr. Han said I wasn't playing as smooth as before. I'll join you guys later." He said. "Yoseop ah, drive carefully! Annyeong!" He waved at them.

 

At AeRa's house...

Both of them took a break from practicing. AeRa showed Gikwang her house. AeRa showed him, the kitchen, gym, backyard, swimming pool, all the bedrooms and bathrooms, the cinema room and lastly the dancing studio.

Gikwang walked around the dancing studio.

"Do you practice here often?" He asked.

"I used too, but I preferred SMA's studio. SMA's dancing studio makes me feel excited. When I stepped foot on the dance floor, I said to myself, this is where the famous performers danced" She explained to him.

"I wished I have a room like this." He told AeRa

"You can always come by to use it. I can inform Brenda to let you in." AeRa offered Gikwang.

"Thanks." He said.

Then AeRa's tummy was rumbling. It made Gikwang laughed. It was the first time AeRa seen him laughed.

"Let's go have dinner! I'm too hungry!" AeRa asked Gikwang to followed her.

"I should head home." Gikwang said.

AeRa stopped and looked at him.

"Please stay for dinner Gikwang shi, I don't want to eat dinner all by myself again." AeRa begged him

Gikwang saw the dining table was filled with many dishes. It made him hungry too, but he was shy, he didn't know AeRa yet and here he is going to have dinner with her.

"Please stay." AeRa grabbed Gikwang's arm and brought him to sit.

"Thanks." Gikwang said.

Brenda came out with a plate of rice for AeRa and a bowl for Gikwang.

"Kamsahamnida" Gikwang said to Brenda as she served the rice.

"Gikwang shi, if you want more rice, please tell me. I always cook extra because AeRa eats a lot." Brenda said to him.

Gikwang wasn't used to people serving him. He felt awkward. He waited until AeRa started eating, then he began to eat. It was quiet at the table. Gikwang is used to his loud family. After he finished eating, he saw that AeRa was still eating. She asked for another round of rice. Gikwang just sat quietly and watched her eat. AeRa has a big appetite. Gikwang was surprised that a petite girl like her could eat that much. She noticed that Gikwang was looking at her.

"Are you watching me eating?" AeRa asked with food in .

"Yes. I'm in amazement." Gikwang said

"Of what? Me eating?" AeRa continued to eat.

"Of you, eating like a gorilla" Gikwang .

AeRa almost choked on her food.

"Gorilla? I'm just a baby gorilla." AeRa finally finished eating. She put aside her plate.

"Where do you put all that food?" Gikwang asking curiously.

"I have double tummy. It's built-in somewhere in my body to store food for winter." AeRa joked.

It made Gikwang laughed.

"But seriously though, I am so full by just a bowl of rice and you can finish two plates?" Gikwang still was surprised

"I'm not sure why, but I don't get full easily. That's why I eat a lot." AeRa explained

"But you don't eat that much at the academy..." Gikwang said

"Are you crazy? You want me to eat like this in front of those talented people? I will embarrassed myself!" AeRa said

"You're not embarrassed of me?" Gikwang asked her

"You're my duet and dancing partner." AeRa said.

After dinner, Gikwang was ready to head home, AeRa told her driver to send Gikwang home even though Gikwang insisted on walking.

"Thanks for dinner, AeRa shi" Gikwang said

"Thanks for accompanying me for dinner, it meant a lot." AeRa thanked him back.

"See you tomorrow, bye" Gikwang went in the car.