Backstage Show
Project: Cupid!
Project: Cupid!
Chapter 6: Backstage Show
Due to the insane schedule SM artists had, the shooting for Project: Cupid! was delayed momentarily. SNSD girls were mostly occupied with the preparation of their new album, while the Super Junior guys were flying back-forth Korea-Hongkong-Japan-Korea for their promotion. It was a good thing that Project: Cupid! was a weekly show and that the PD still had some stocks of the never-before-seen episodes and scenes. Jae Won was not really worried for the continuation of the show, as this was SM’s own project and therefore, no matter how hectic the artists’ schedule were, there would still be a spare time for shooting. Probably not at the time being, but somewhere in the near future, he was sure to be able to shoot the show again.
Yoona herself realized that it had been almost nine days (yes, she counted) since the last shooting, and that also meant nine days since she last saw Donghae. While their lack of meetings had been sort of a routine (with them both being pop idols), but Yoona knew that she had never been away from Donghae (or any other Super Junior member at that) with unresolved problem like this. She was usually the type to evade trouble and thus she did not really know which the best way to overcome this was.
Yoona was very tempted to text Donghae, but on the other hand she did not know what to say. Foremost, she was afraid to open up Donghae’s wound again –and that was clearly not what she wanted.
“Are you alright?” someone asked with a gentle pat on her shoulder. Ironically enough, it was Jessica –the girl who was strongly related to Yoona’s silent cold war with Donghae.
Perhaps because she was an actress, Yoona believed that she could hide her emotion very, very well. Even when she had problems (when she was first badmouthed by the SNSD antis, for example), worries or anxiety would not be shown on her face –unless she chose to show them. She usually showed the emotion to her fellow SNSD members or to her parents. But she had not meet her parents for a long time and she did not want to bother her fellow band mates because she knew that with their album preparation, her friends needed not to worry over her personal problem.
“Yoong?” Jessica asked the silent girl.
Yoona tried to mask it again. “It’s the Sica Effect, Unnie.”
“You’ve been like this even before I came,” the blond-haired SNSD member pointed out.
The Im girl chuckled. Jessica was way more perspective than what people gave her credit for. Jessica might be dubbed as the Ice Princess, but Yoona agreed with Heechul that on the inside she was a very warm person who could even notice what the others would not have noticed.
No wonder why Donghae was still having a hard time moving on.
“I…probably angered someone, Unnie,” she finally decided to share her problem. Yoona did not want her friendship with Donghae to be broken. And perhaps the best way to fix her problem with him was to ask the opinion of someone who certainly knew Donghae very well.
Jessica contemplated for a moment. “How do you know that you angered him or her?”
“I don’t know,” she answered truthfully. “But I said something that probably wounded him and he had never contacted me ever since.”
“Have you apologized?”
“I have… but I don’t know whether he has forgiven me or not.”
“Is he the temperamental type?”
“Not at all!” Yoona was a bit surprised with the way her tone raised an octave. She tried to calm herself again and continued her speech. “He’s really kind. Perhaps too sensitive for a guy, but in a good way. He is very understanding and truthfully, I’ve never really seen him angry. Well, at least, until I invoked it, probably…” she said in an uncertain murmur.
The second oldest SNSD member tilted her head and studied her dongsaeng. “If he’s that nice, don’t you want to talk to him? To sort out your problem?”
“I’d love to, but I just don’t know what to say. And besides, he is oversea and must be very busy right now.”
Jessica’s eyebrow rose at the statement. When Yoona mentioned the word ‘busy’ and ‘oversea’, the word that popped in Jessica’s mind was ‘Super Junior’ as they were in a very tight-scheduled tour at the moment. “Is it someone I know?”
“Ah… yes,” Yoona answered hesitantly. “But –“
“Don’t worry. I won’t ask who,” assured the blond-haired girl. “But Yoong, has it ever occurred to you that probably that guy is thinking the exact same thing? Perhaps he also doesn’t know what to say. And if you two keep on acting like this, it can be too late soon.”
Yoona thought over Jessica’s words and tried to match it with Donghae’s personality. Surely, Donghae was one of the kindest guys she had ever known… And Donghae did not look like the type to hold grudges.
But on the other hand, even if Donghae was not angry, she was sure that he was still hurt. Upset, at least. Why had Donghae not contacted her if everything was alright? There must be something that was not right and –
“This is only my personal opinion, Yoong,” said Jessica suddenly, bringing Yoona’s mind back to the reality. “There are some things that even time cannot heal. One of them is regret. Act now, Yoong. Before it gets even worse. And if you’re worried about what to say… well I guess just don’t be afraid of what you want to say. If I were a guy, I could not even think to refuse an honest apology from a girl as cute as you are,” the Ice Princess said as she lovingly pinched Yoona’s cheek.
“Unnie!” Yoona protested as she caressed her reddening cheek. “It’s not about cuteness or anything –“
“I know, I know,” spoke Jessica. “But seriously, Yoong. I’m sure that guy would forgive you. In fact, I kind of have a feeling that he will be apologizing to you instead.”
Yoona was stunned. “...Do you know who am I talking about?”
Jessica gave a secretive smile. “I think I do.”
Sometimes SME’s policy could be too coincidental to be true.
Some of SNSD girls were told to fly to Japan to be the guest stars in Super Junior’s Japan concert. And one of those SNSD girls was none other than Yoona herself.
Deer-eyed Yoona thought that a concert had never been that frightening before. Sure, she was always nervous before concert, but this was the different kind of nervous. As she walked through the alley of the backstage to the dressing room that she shared with Sooyoung and Taeyeon, Yoona was torn between wanting to run into Donghae or to run away from him. So far, one and a half hour since the concert started, God granted her wish not to run into him.
“Yoona, Sooyoung, and Taeyeon, it’s your turn in five minutes,” announced the stage director. The referred girls expressed their understanding in unison and focused themselves for the vocal warm-up. Just exactly as planned, when the five minutes passed, the three girls were told to go to the stairs that led to the main stage. Their performance was to sing as quintet with Kyuhyun and Yesung. Sometimes Yoona wondered why it was her that was chosen. Well, she knew that her manager reasoned it was because her popularity in Japan’s audience that made her chosen. But truth be told, Yoona believed that she could not sing and her singing role should have been exchanged with Jessica or Tiffany instead.
Their performance went smoother than what she originally thought (or probably, it was because her singing lines were the least compared to the other four, that the performance went smooth). She smilingly bowed to the Japanese audience and grinned when the people demanded an encore. But her role was done. Sooyoung and Yoona left the stage, while Taeyeon continued her duet with Kyuhyun.
“Thank goodness it went well,” said her rival in eating. “The rehearsal was awful and I’ve been worrying about it the whole day…”
“You sang very well, Unnie,” complimented Yoona honestly.
“Aish, you too, Yoong!” replied Sooyoung. “You could –“
The first shikshin’s words trailed off as the taller girl stared up to a spot behind Yoona. Before the actress girl could turn around, a voice she knew so well murmured near her ear and a strong hand grabbed her upper arm.
“Sorry, I’ll be borrowing her for a while, Sooyoung-sshi.”
Yoona had no chance to react, as her body was dragged away gently to a dark, secluded corner backstage. Yoona turned her body around and even in the dimness of the backstage lighting, the girl could recognized that firm shoulder anywhere.
Donghae’s.
It was only when Donghae led her to a vacant corner away from the crowd that he let go of his grip around her arm. He was wearing a gray suit and his brunette hair was arranged in a messy style. Yoona silently wondered just how long had it been since she last saw his boyish figure, because she could not deny the fact that her heart had momentarily skipped a beat at the sight of him.
Or rather, perhaps her heart skipped a beat because she knew that this would be the time she dreaded the most for the past few days. Nervousness was surely not absent.
She tried to remember Jessica’s advice and was about to let her heart spoke itself, but Donghae beat her to it.
“I’m sorry, Yoona,” Donghae spoke.
She noted that he had dropped the usual –sshi honorific he had. But that was not the important thing that ran in her mind. What was important was the fact that why should he be the one apologizing instead of her. “What do you mean, Donghae Oppa? I should be the one to apologize! I’m sorry for being inconsiderate and –“
He stared at her in disbelief. “What are you talking about? I was the one being immature, acting that way over such…” he paused, most probably because the image of Jessica suddenly came up in his mind again. “…over the issue. I should not have overreacted.”
Yoona shook her head. “You did not overreact. I was not being sensitive enough to speak that way –“
“No, it was I who –“
“I was too careless so I should be the one apologizing and –“
“It should be my line. I was the one being too careless and –“
“Donghae Oppa, you really did nothing wrong –“
“No, Yoona. You’re too kind. I did a cowardice thing and I also –“
“Donghae Oppa, let me finish my apology, okay?” she said impatiently.
“No. You let me finish my apology,” he retorted, equally as irritated.
And upon the realization of their situation, Yoona suddenly chuckled. Her small laughter got louder in the end and Donghae eyed her as if she had lost her mind.
“Are…you okay, Yoona-sshi?” he asked –returning back to his usual way of calling her by attaching the honorific.
“…I’m okay,” the brunette-haired girl said once her laughter ceased. Jessica was right and she knew Donghae too well. The guy’s action was exactly what her Unnie had predicted. “It’s just that… I’ve never realized that we were equally as stubborn when it comes to apologizing.”
Donghae blinked before he gave a delighted small laugh himself. “Yeah… probably you’re right.” He sighed and gave her a wide smile. “So…you’re ready to forgive me now?”
“Only if you’re ready to forgive me too.”
“You don’t even need to apologize in the first place, Yoona-sshi.”
“A-ah, Donghae Oppa,” Yoona said as her index finger moved to left and right to give him a warning signal. “Your stubbornness must stop here. I forgive you, you forgive me, deal?”
Relief was way too evident on Donghae’s expression. But it was his action that conveyed too many puzzling sentiment in her. The guy pulled Yoona’s body into an embrace and exclaimed eagerly like a young boy, “Thank you very much, Yoona! You don’t know how much I’ve felt burdened these past few days. I’ve been wanting to call and text you, but I…”
Donghae’s next words did not sound clear in Yoona’s mind. What was registered in the girl’s mind was only the fact that this was Donghae, and that the very same Donghae was embracing her in his warmth. The way his arms encircled around her body was very gentle and very considerate. She knew that he kept himself in the perfect distance to respect her (he never tried to crush the front of his body to her) but it was still very close enough. His movement was calculated in one point, but very spontaneous at the other hand. In the end, Yoona tried to refrain herself from over analyzing as she let herself actually enjoy being hugged by this warm man.
He let out an incomprehensible murmur as he laid his head on the crook of her shoulder. “…You know what, Yoona-sshi?”
“W-what?” she asked in slight stutter. She tried to keep her cool, she truly did, but Donghae had hugged her for almost a whole minute and as composed as she tried to be, minor nervousness still crept inside.
“…After that Truth or Dare game, I realize that I actually like the feeling of hugging you,” he said as he slowly let go of his embrace. A sheepish grin made it on his handsome face and although probably it should be Donghae to be embarrassed with his own blurt out, but it turned out to be Yoona whose cheeks were blushing in faint red hues. “W-what?”
Donghae let out an audible relieved sigh. A second later, he looked back at the brunette-haired girl and gave her his trademark grin. “I’m recharged now! Thanks! And I’ll see you after the show!” he shouted in clear excitement as he waved his hands and dashed back to the other Super Junior members. Yoona stood rooted to her spot –feeling awkward all by herself but not really knowing what to do either.
The concert continued as scheduled. The next day, Japan’s magazines and sites reported of a huge success the concert was and how a certain Super Junior’s dancer was reported to have one of his best performances in the last six months.
To be Continued
A/n: Thank you very much for reading / subscribing / commenting... I may not express it well, but you guys really, really made my day! ^^
I know this chapter is pretty dull, hopefully I'll be able to spice things up in the 7th chapter. See you!
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