Truth or Truth?
Project: Cupid!
Project: Cupid!
Chapter 5: Truth or Truth?
The audience in the studio cheered wildly when the result for the second episode was revealed.
“So the losing team is still Yoonhae team!” announced Leeteuk as he gazed up to the colorful screen behind them. “Yah, it’s such a loyal fan base the Yoonhae team has! Even as we could see they were as flat as the earth in the last episode, they were still dubbed the most well matchmade one!”
“Oh, but Oppa, as we can see from the graphic, the Eunsun team is also climbing up to the title of being the most well-matchmade one!” pointed out Hyoyeon.
The polling was always ended around an hour before the filming of the next episode began. Although the result for the first episode was clearly predicted (78 % for Yoonhae team losing, and 22 % for Eunsun team), the polling for the second episode startled most of the people in the studio (The Yoonhae team lost because it was voted the most romantic one by 61 % of the voters, while Eunsun team was probably on its way to its first lost with 39 % votes). Some other, though, believed that in the end it would be the Yoonhae team winning because their challenges for the Eunsun team were more interesting and thus the couple formed would be Eunhyuk and Sunny instead of Donghae and Yoona.
“Ah by the way, where is Heechul Oppa?” asked Sooyoung. That particular line of her was perfectly scripted, but she had no other choice. She had to speak it up so that the viewers would notice the missing male-Cinderella.
Leeteuk played the role of explaining the absence of his groupmate. “Heechul is away on a special, secret mission for the teams. Some of us are getting impatient of how dishonest they are with their feeling, and our Heenim is assigned to spice things up for this episode.”
“Knowing Heechul Oppa, sometimes his methods could not really be…acceptable,” said Sooyoung.
“Ah, yes! That is our Heechul. And he will be accompanied by a special guest star for this episode!”
“Really? We actually have a special guest star?”
“Yes!”
“And both teams really don’t know about this?”
Leeteuk nodded eagerly. “They do not know at all.”
“Sometimes I pity both teams,” said Hyoyeon. “Oh, not really,” she added an afterthought with a grin.
“Oh, not you two…” said Eunhyuk with a groan.
The two teams were gathered together inside the Super Junior dorm. While most of the other Super Junior members were out for a visit to f(x)’s concert, the situation inside the dorm was full of life, laughter, and dread. Thanks to the two people that made Eunhyuk expressed his aghast of.
Evil Maknae and the bully Cinderella. How worse could the situation get?
“Hello, lovebirds!” greeted Heechul cheerfully (a little too cheerfully). “Come inside. Ah, Yoona-sshi and Sunny-sshi, feel at ease. No harm will be done.”
None of the teams could believe Heechul’s assurance but the four adults obliged as they entered the dorm and settled in the living room. Some of the Project: Cupid!’s staffs were already inside the dorm and cameras were already installed in several angled in the living room. It was a vile trick that both teams could not resist. They all then sat on the pastel blue carpet laid on the center of the room. Jae Won, the PD, cued Heechul to start and so the torture began.
“Today we’re going to conduct a little Truth or Dare game –“
Heechul’s words were cut by groans of displeasure from the Yoonhae and Eunsun team. Eunhyuk was the one who looked unnerved the most and Kyuhyun laughed at his expression. Hyung or not, Eunhyuk always made the maknae felt like it was completely legal to bully him.
Explanations were spoken briefly by Heechul. He made sure to get his points crossed, that although Kyuhyun and he were immune from the challenges of truth or dare, they could give the challenges. The teams booed them in unison, but Heechul ignorantly continued his explanation. It was pretty apparent how the fair-skinned guy wanted to skip all the technical details and jumped into the real bullying instead.
An empty green bottle was already provided by the staffs. In an obvious eagerness, Heechul spun the bottle. It spun for some moments before finally it stopped at… Donghae. Eunhyuk looked and sounded the most thrilled. Lately, he had been waiting for chances to make his best friend taste humiliation.
“Truth or dare?” questioned Heechul.
“…Truth.”
“Do you think Yoona is y?”
Laughter erupted but Donghae clearly expressed his aghast. “W-what kind of question is that?!”
Heechul wagged his hand and instructed the dubbed-Prince to look at his teammate. Mr. Cinderella knew that Donghae could be too honest sometimes. “Just look at Yoona and say what you think honestly.”
Donghae sighed and reluctantly looked at his right to where Yoona was sitting. She clearly was trying her best not to laugh. He gave a quick glance from the top of her head to the way her legs were folded. After a moment of deliberation, he replied, “Yoona-sshi is more the pretty type rather than the y type.”
“Do you like the pretty type or the y type more?” asked Heechul again.
“Yah, one question per spin,” Donghae insisted as he grabbed the bottle and gave it a twirl. The bottle stopped at Sunny. He gave a spontaneous gentlemanly-like smile to the SNSD energy pill and posed the question. “Sunny-sshi. Truth or dare?”
“Truth,” responded Sunny quickly.
Donghae pondered for a moment before he came up with the inquiry. “What is your first impression on Eunhyuk?”
Sunny did not need a lot of time to think. She had expected this kind of question anyway. “My first impression would be…erm, I think that Eunhyuk Oppa is a a hardworking person but…a little too innocent for his own good.”
“Ah Sunny, does that mean you wish him to be wilder?” Heechul teased with a certain naughty tone.
It was a good thing (or not) that Heechul sat next to Sunny. The shortest SNSD member hit Heechul’s back so hard that the guy let out an honest pained groan. “Yah, Heechul Oppa! That’s certainly not what I meant!”
“Why do you have to be so flustered anyway?” retorted Heechul. Another teasing was about to roll out of his mouth but looking at Sunny’s furious face was enough to make the show’s host declined his will. “Alright, alright, Sunny, it’s your turn now…”
The bottle was twirled again and when it stopped, the peak was aimed at Kyuhyun. Just as the rule explained by Heechul earlier, if the bottle was pointed at him or Kyuhyun, they would not get to be challenged but they could challenge other people instead. The gamer formed a smile so innocent but all people in the room were perfectly aware that such smile was not to be taken up lightly. The boy might not talk a lot during show, but all Super Junior members had witnessed how cruel this guy could be.
“I have a dare for Eunhyuk Hyung.”
Eunhyuk’s mouth was parted open as he stared at Kyuhyun in disbelief. “You’re not going to ask me whether I choose for Truth or Dare?”
“The PD gave me a privilege,” Kyuhyun said simply. Jae Won, the PD, laughed silently behind the scene. He had never given Kyuhyun that kind of privilege, but Jae Won could not really detest the idea either. He gave a thumb up for Kyuhyun. Having the approval, the youngest member smilingly spoke, “I dare you to flirt with Sunny-sshi.”
The thinnest Super Junior member paled. He requested a moment to calm himself down and to formulate his pick-up lines. But as minutes passed by, Heechul grew impatient again. The second oldest Hyung ordered him to flirt immediately. Perhaps it was because there was not enough time to prepare or perhaps it was because of Eunhyuk’s natural awkwardness. The flirt he was supposed to do turned out to be more pathetic than what anyone in the room could have imagined.
Having finished his task (or at least, as Heechul announced that the task was impossible to be done by Eunhyuk), Eunhyuk rolled the bottle and it pointed out to Donghae. Since Mr. Fish already chose ‘truth’ earlier, he could not evade the ‘dare’ challenge his best friend ordered.
“Hae, embrace Yoona now,” mentioned Eunhyuk. He was tempted to give him the order to kiss Yoona instead, but he did not want to enforce such thing to Yoona at the moment.
To Donghae, such request was fairly easy. He liked to hug people (although preferably, not from the opposite gender because he could be too shy to do it sometimes) and it was not the first time that he gave Yoona a hug anyway. “Sorry for the inconvenience, Yoona-sshi,” Donghae politely spoke as he extended his arms to pull the girl into his embrace.
Yoona hugged him back casually but just when they were about to let go of the embrace, Kyuhyun pushed Donghae’s back and muttered, “15 more seconds. And the PD gave me the privilege,” he used the same effective line to support his order.
Donghae groaned playfully but did what he was told to do. He had to admit that although he had hugged Yoona before (one was even recorded in the Super Show 2 Backstage DVD, damn it), but to hug her for 15 seconds made him realize several things.
Donghae was careful enough not to press himself too hard (because as tomboy as she was, Yoonawas still a girl and he did not want his hard chest to brush unethically to her…er… secret areas. And stop that trail of thoughts, Lee Donghae, he reprimanded himself), but he could feel that the girl fit perfectly in his arms. He thought that a girl as thin as her would not give him the comforting effect he usually got from an embrace. But hugging Yoona made him feel good. Probably it was due to her scent (he was sure Yoona did not bother to wear perfume, but her shampoo smelt like strawberry and it smelt nice), or probably it was the way Yoona’s hands rubbed his back in a soothing manner.
“It’s already more than 15 seconds. If you want to continue, we have no objections though, really,” said Heechul. That line drew the Yoonhae team’s attention back. In unison chuckling, they let go of their grip and faced their band mates again. Teasing expressions were evident on the faces around the room, but both Yoona and Donghae were not affected. Yoona was an actress that had been involved in lots of skinship with her male fellow actors and Donghae always had his humble yet confident way in handling girls. Teasing them would not bring the expected reaction.
“My turn now, right?” said Donghae as he spun the bottle again. To his misfortune, it stopped at his own teammate’s direction. Calmly, he inquired, “Truth or dare, Yoona-sshi?”
“Truth.”
“What is your favorite color?”
Protests were heard all over the room. “Yah, Donghae Oppa! Give a better question!” screeched Sunny.
The Yoonhae team only laughed and Yoona did not hesitate in answering the easy question. “Erm, I think it will be purple and blue,” she answered quickly as her hand reached for the bottle. The bottle was spun but it stopped at her direction again. Heechul gave her the chance to repeat the spit, and at the second time, the mouth of the bottle was pointed to Sunny. Yoona cracked a victorious smile.
After almost two hours playing Truth or Dare (to edit it into a one hour show would be Jae Won and his team’s works though), the game was finally ended. Heechul and Kyuhyun were already dismissed and the boys expressed their freedom by immediately taking seat in front of the flat screen TV and battled on the StarCraft game. The shooting of the show, however, was not done. The PD decided to record the personal footage of each member of the team to know their reaction and opinion with regards to the relationship in the show so far. It was currently Sunny’s turn. Jae Won had turned a small corner near Super Junior’s balcony into an ‘emergency studio’ for the teams to narrate their opinion to the camera.
Donghae and Yoona were left by themselves in the living room (Eunhyuk had been there moments earlier, but one of the staff called for him as it would be his turn next). Without cameras around, Donghae let out a relieved sigh. He had always tried to be himself in front of the camera, but still, it was much more relaxing to be off screen rather than on it.
The corner of his eyes caught the side of Yoona playing with the bottle they had used earlier for the game. Instinctively, he grabbed the bottle from her and rolled it back again. It rotated swiftly for some moments before the peak was finally aimed at Yoona. A deliberation passed on his mind for a couple of seconds.
“Truth or dare?” he asked out of the blue.
Yoona chuckled. “What? Oppa, the game is already finished…”
He smiled back. He silently ignored her protest and responded with a recurrence of his earlier question. “Truth or dare?”
Her grin was wide. Yoona was the type of girl to perceive things in good nature. If he was in a playful mood, she could adapt to it. “Truth.”
“Have you ever really had a crush on guys before?”
“Your question might mislead someone to think I’m a lesbian,” she laughed. “Of course I have, Donghae Oppa.”
“Name one.”
She smiled secretively as her hand reached up for the bottle and twirled it. It stopped at Donghae. “Before that, play the game first. Truth or dare?”
He smiled. There was something funnily entertaining about their silent smiling battle. She was the type that loved to smile and so did he. Sometimes they could just look at each other, maintained their smiles like that, and time just flew fast. The twinkle in her eye reminded him that he still had her challenge unanswered. His lips mouthed out the decision. “Truth.”
“Are you…by any chance, intrigued by me? Because you keep on asking questions and analyze me that way these past few days, Oppa.”
Donghae laughed quietly. “Perhaps. Yes, I’m rather intrigued by you.”
“And why is that?”
“Your turn now,” he said as spinning the bottle again. When the peak was aimed at her, Donghae did not even need to pose the question.
“Truth,” said Yoona.
“Continue your earlier statement. Name the guys you have had a crush on.”
There was no need for a long contemplation as names rolled out of her lips easily. “I like Takuya Kimura, oh, and Micky Oppa during our training days. And perhaps…Taecyeon Oppa,”
“Have you ever fallen in love with someone?”
She knew that in accordance to the rule of their secret game, he would need to wait for his next turn before she answered it. But she felt like being a little merciful that day and she responded to his question without making him answer her next question. “I don’t think so. Sure, I had crushes; I had guys who could make my stomach churn at the mere sight of him. But I don’t think any of those are love.”
Soon the bottle was forgotten. She asked question, he answered. He inquired, she replied.
“Why are you intrigued by me?” Yoona asked as she positioned her chin on her palm. She must not have intended to act cute, but her gesture made him stumble for words. Or perhaps, it was due to the nature of the question itself.
Donghae took a long breath before he answered. “Because I cannot read you.”
Yoona clasped her hands and laughed in mirth. “What, Oppa? Are you claiming to be a mind reader now? Do you usually read girls well?”
He shrugged. “I’m quite a sensitive guy. And my senses are usually sharp when it comes to girls.”
“And your senses are not telling you anything about me?”
“It’s pretty indescribable, but yeah, sort of. You’re friendly in one second, but the next second, you’re being secretly reserved. You always put yourself somewhere in the middle. You don’t take sides. Thus it’s hard to predict your movement.”
“Why is it so important to predict me anyway?”
“No reason in particular,” he told her honestly. “I’m simply curious…and feel challenged at the same time.”
“So now I’m part of Donghae Oppa’s lists of girls to be conquered?”
He laughed. “You say it as if I’m a heartless playboy.”
“You’re not?” she asked back playfully. His nice and gentle treatments to girls in general were always so casual, always so smooth. People could have (and probably they already have) misjudged him as the Casanova for his debonair way of treating girls. But Yoona knew that it was not the case. “I’m joking. I know you’re not that type of guy, Donghae Oppa.”
His eyes glinted with amusement and his lips were tugged up to form a boyish smirk. Flirting might not have been intended, but it had long been part of his natural (and unintentional) charm. “And just what type of guy I am, Yoona-sshi?”
Yoona contemplated for a moment before the words rolled out automatically from her pink lips. “One that will devote his everything for the one he truly loves. Just like what you do to Jessica Unnie.”
At the mention of the Ice Princess’ name, his expression changed and Yoona realized thatprobably she had crossed the boundary she should not have done. Donghae gazed at her sternly and she had to admit it was the first time she had seen that kind of looks from him. He was not angry, but he was clearly not pleased either. The hidden coldness in his brown eyes ignited guilt inside of her and Yoona found herself apologizing in the next second. “I’m so sorry, Donghae Oppa. I didn’t mean to –“
“How…?”
She exhaled a tired sigh. “When we were inside the Ferris Wheel… You muttered her name…”
Donghae froze. He didn’t even pay attention to Yoona again. The tall girl was explaining how his mutter during the Ferris Wheel ride was barely a whisper; how she thought that the camera could not have caught the part; how she believed that even if the camera caught that part, the staff must have deleted that part. But Donghae heard none of these elaborations. His mind was stuck on thinking of one object. It was only when Yoona apologized once more that he was cut off from his trance.
“I’m really, really sorry, Donghae Oppa. I just –“
“I don’t want to talk about it, Yoona,” he stated firmly. His tone might have sounded harsher than what he intended because Yoona’s eyes widened and she looked as if she wanted to go on an apology rampage again. A sigh escaped his lips. Donghae knew that Yoona did not deserved to be treated like this, but on the other hand he was still struggling to control the turmoil of emotion inside. In the end, he chose to add the word ‘please’ to Yoona, but he did not say another word to her after that.
What could have been a very awkward situation did not occur though. Jae Won called for Yoona as it was her personal footage shooting time. The girl nodded weakly and shot one worried look at Donghae before she approached the show’s staff and put up her professional mask once again.
To Be Continued
A/n: I'll try to update at the very least once a week. I'll try to make the chapter longer though as the compensation. Oh, and I made a new poster! *grin* What do you think? I've just learned photoshop, so I don't expect much though. haha.
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