THREE

The five of them, slight nerves in each, shook out backstage. Sora, busy comforting an uncomfortably jittery Jihae, was probably the least nervous of all of them. She knew their capabilities and she knew they were going to rock that show.  Even as she rubbed Jihae’s back in comfort, she knew why the girl was a little anxious. In the previous days leading up to this, Jihae had enlightened Sora of the entire situation with a certain male. Sora merely laughed at how childish Jihae could be sometimes, but rubbed her back and understood her nerves nonetheless.

“Yo, Mira, can you grab poor Jihae here a bottle of water? She needs to slicken up that throat before we go out there,” Sora asked the bassist who complied immediately, looking at the other girl’s pale face. By this time, Jihae was so hot she had started to fan herself with her vest—despite being rather skimpily clad up top.

“Poor girl, you’re sweating yourself to death,” Sora commented, placing a washcloth to her forehead.

“Change of plans,” Jin commented, holding a white tank top in his hands. He pulled a pocket knife out of his back pocket, cropping the top himself. “Try that on; it will probably make you more comfortable.” Come to think of it, the venue was extremely hot and Sora couldn’t imagine that the thick snakeskin printed top Jihae was wearing could possibly be environmentally friendly for the current situation.

Without the jacket, even more of Jihae’s tattoos were revealed, those that were usually covered by her coffee house shirt. Her right arm had a half sleeve of various flowers with a small scripture on the scales of a dragon—the left slightly more incomplete.

“I may as well just go on stage in rags, Jin,” Jihae snarled sarcastically at him before taking another big swig of her water. Her dark makeup made her look more menacing than she already was and that wasn’t a good sign for the drummer.

“I personally think this is better than the last—it’s definitely lighter and cooler and you won’t fry out there,” Jin reasoned before she snatched the fabric from him. Sora looked at Jihae who was a little feistier than normal, and for good reason. It was the first time Jin really wanted all of Jihae out there, and it happened to be the show she had invited an interest to. However, there was always the possibility he wouldn’t show, but she didn’t want to tell poor Jihae that; it would get her down even further than she was.  

Jihae stood quickly to go change and she did admit that the new attire was much more comfortable. At least she wouldn’t die of heat exhaustion out there. She touched up her makeup in the mirror of the dressing room making sure none of it was smeared or unsightly. As soon as she exited, she was handed her guitar and shoved towards the stage. The stage fright in her stomach was trying to reject the only food she had all day which was a measly protein bar. She threw the strap over her shoulder with confidence as she did every show but she couldn’t deny the fact that her legs were slightly shaking underneath her.

It was just supposed to be a small gig; five hundred people maximum is what she was told. The venue was pretty small, so they were sure to stick to that, but that didn’t calm Jihae’s stomach any.

“Just take a deep breath and get lost in the music, just like every show!” Sora encouraged, slapping the girl on the shoulder as she passed her to take her position. Jin winked at her and gave her the thumbs up, and Mikaru and Mira were equally as supportive.

“I can only hope this goes well,” Jihae muttered to herself, swishing her bangs away from her face with the snap of her head.  The background music started as the lights slowly started to turn on, dim enough to not be able to see anyone at first even as the crowd cheered. Sora was strumming her part as Jihae stepped up to the mic. Thirty seconds went by and Jihae’s fingers did what they knew how to do—played the guitar. The drums started, the bass started, and the four of them were playing until Jihae’s part came. She took a deep breath and with all the strength of her core belted her part into the microphone.

The crowd cheered louder as the guitar calmed for the opening verse. Mikaru grabbed the stand and sang his part. Everything was going the same as it always did, and it was just fine for Jihae, for now. Jihae mouthed the words as Mikaru sang, closing her eyes as she got lost in the music, playing her heart out on her instrument—if she kept her eyes closed, she wouldn’t be able to see anyone; wouldn’t be able to see Minseok.

They played through their first couple of songs rather quickly before taking a short water break before introductions started. Sora took the mic and smirked at the crowd, calling for some noise which was delivered without hesitation.

“Good evening, Seoul!” she called, “As you all know, we recently got back from our Asia tour which was greatly successful. We want to thank each and every one of you for coming out here tonight to support the closing show of the tour and us, as I know most of you follow us closely and we can’t thank you enough for all of your love.”

The crowd cheered, proving their support to Sora and her group. Sora clapped with them as they began settling down.

“Yixing, come on,” Minseok beckoned as he pushed through the crowd, the taller Chinese male followed behind him closely as they made their way to the front of the stage.

“Remind me why you brought me here?” Yixing asked, looking around at the people around them. This was totally not their environment. Yixing wasn’t one to judge, but these were not the people he usually associated him with. The people around him were screaming in excitement to the music he couldn’t even understand. He had to admit, the group was talented and they sounded good, but there was no way he was going to pick up anything that was being sung.

“Because, I got free tickets from my barista—this is not what I had expected though.”

“We have a special treat for you tonight! We’ve been reading all of your suggestions being posted on our page and we’d like to let you know that tonight those suggestions were heard. You all know our lovely rhythm guitarist, Jihae, right?”

Sora smiled, the crowd was ridiculous, chanting Jihae’s name in approval. Mikaru ushered the girl to the front who smiled out to the crowd and waved as well.

“We’ve heard that some of you would like to hear her take on a large part of vocals, so without further ado, the production of your requests, with Jihae on vocals, the cover of the much requested Rouge!”

“What is even going on?” Yixing asked as he stared at a gape-mouthed Minseok.  “Minseok?”

Slack-jawed, Minseok looked up at Jihae with surprise. This was not the Jihae he was used to seeing. The kind girl he saw who greeted him with a smile every morning was completely different. Tonight she was a music goddess. His eyes traveled her body from her face, eyes clad in dark smoky makeup, down her body, over her tattoos and attire.

“What are you looking at?” Yixing asked.

“Jihae,” Minseok replied.

“Do you know her?”

The guitars sounded, signaling the beginning of the song and Minseok barely formulated a reply loud enough for Yixing to hear. “She’s my barista.”

If it was possible for Minseok to be any more slack-jawed than he already was, it did as he watched Jihae nod her head with the guitars before she parted her lips, the words of the first verse flowing freely out of them.

“Yokuni mamireta kono sekai de wa katachi dake no ai ga habikori. Akai kuchibiru kara kobosu uso de atashi wa ikiru sube wo oboeta.

“In this world you get wet with greed, love’s only form is an infestation. A lie that spills from red lips, I learned the way to live.”

Minseok couldn’t even believe his eyes—he had to have been dreaming. He wasn’t actually here, this wasn’t actually Jihae and he would wake up soon. But as the song progressed, he realized it wasn’t, especially with all of the eye contact he had made with her. Passionate looks and winks were sent his way as she sang, showing him her true love in life—music.  

“Pinch me, Yixing. I must be dreaming,” Minseok stated.

“You’re not dreaming, buddy. She’s not the goody two-shoes you thought she was, is she?” Yixing asked in response.

“No,” Minseok commented, “but I’m not sure I don’t like this Jihae better.”

“You’ve gotta be crazy, she’s not even close to what you look for in a girl.”

Minseok dismissed Yixing as he looked up at Jihae, a talented girl who could sing and play guitar, a bunch of beautiful tattoos and she was just as beautiful as her personality, and damn could she belt out those rough choruses. Minseok was nothing less than intrigued by her and everything that encompassed.  

“Meet me outside after the show,” Minseok mouthed to her. She nodded in response and not a second later he was gone into the crowd. Those words made her nervous—what could Minseok possibly have to say to her? A lot, that’s what. Her stomach was flipping, but she finished out the concert strong. They gathered at the front with a screaming wild crowd and took a bow, saying their thank you and goodbyes. The curtain fell and the five of them disappeared backstage only to high-five each other.

“That was a great show you guys, good playing!” Sora exclaimed, grabbing a water bottle. Jihae only stuck around for a few moments longer before grabbing her jacket and slipped out the back. The chilly air nipped at her exposed skin as she tried to cover it with the jacket as she looked around, trying to avoid the fans as much as possible before she spotted a shiny silver sports car with Minseok leaning up against it.

Minseok motioned for her to join him, but she was hesitant as she approached. “Obviously I have some explaining to do,” she said nervously.

Minseok only smiled at her, “Get in,” he said and waited for her to do so as she entered the passenger’s side of the car.  She sat on the luxurious leather as she looked around the interior of the car. It was probably the most expensive personal vehicle she had ever been in. Feeling anxious and awkward she looked at anything and everything except him. Twenty three year old Kang Jihae was extremely intimidated by a male for the first time in her life.

“That was quite a show you put on in there,” Minseok laughed, “I definitely wasn’t expecting this when you said you were playing in a show. I had half expected a classical instrument, maybe just some vocals but that… that was a surprise,” he finished as he sat back in his seat.

“My biggest problem telling you the whole truth was… fear, I guess. This isn’t a big genre in Korea, but it’s what I love to do, and I just thought I would share a little piece of me with you,” she replied. “But there are also the vocals and the tattoos and the skin and the entire atmosphere; maybe it was a bad idea to invite you but I really appreciate you for showing up.”

“I’m glad you invited me,” Minseok piped up.  “Don’t think something unusual will be so easy to deter me from you,” he said with a wink. “I’d like to know more about you—you know much more about me than I know about you. Why don’t we grab lunch or something sometime?” he offered.

“That would be really nice,” she replied, feeling more relieved now that he wasn’t going to ‘dump her on the curb’.

“Give me a call maybe tomorrow or something; I expect you’ll go home and go to bed, you look exhausted,” he teased and scribbled down his phone number on a piece of note paper before handing it over to her. “I look forward to hearing from you; get a great night’s sleep and have the sweetest of dreams.” He leaned over to plant a soft kiss on her cheek.

Jihae blushed uncontrollably as she gripped Minseok’s number in her hand before pushing the car door open. She stepped out and turned just enough to see him wink at her before she shut the door once more.  He threw the car in reverse and drove off as she stood there, watching him go, his number still clenched in her hand.

“Kim Minseok,” she growled to herself, “we’ll see what you’re really about.”

Hours had passed before Jihae finally returned home. She set her bags down by the door—she would unpack them tomorrow. Right now all she wanted was a hot shower and to crawl into bed. But first, she pulled out her phone. She looked at it and looked at Minseok’s number scrawled across the small scrap of paper. To text him now, or not to text him now?

“It’s Jihae, this is my number.”

She took her phone with her into the bathroom and began stripping, not expecting a reply, but as she finally got her tight pants off her phone buzzed on the countertop. She picked it up, a message from a number she hadn’t saved—Minseok.

“I didn’t expect to hear from you this early, but I’m glad I did. Are you in bed?”

“Isn’t that a little bold to be asking, Minseok?” she asked herself as she looked down at her phone, unsure of what to respond before finally thinking up a response.

“Not yet, just got home.”

She set her phone back down on the countertop before stripping completely and pulled her hair-tie out and turned the water on to warm. Her phone buzzed once more.

“Oh? What are you doing now then?”

Unconsciously she replied with the truth—probably not appropriate for Minseok at the time.

“Just getting in the shower, I’ll text you after.”

She set her phone aside before entering the shower, letting the hot water run over her and rinse off the sweat and bottled water and other bodily produced oils. Jihae washed up quickly, cleaning her hair and washed her face clear of makeup before getting out. She wrapped herself in a towel as she looked at herself in the barely steamed mirror. It felt good to have that thick makeup off her face and all clean and ready to sleep. She yawned as she ruffled her hair before leaving the bathroom to her room where she dropped the towel and got dressed for bed; underwear and a t-shirt.

Jihae hopped into bed, pulling the covers up to cover her before she grabbed her phone.

“Now I’m in bed. ;)”

“Me too. Did you have a nice shower? ;)”

Jihae rolled her eyes—she knew where Minseok was going with this.

“It was nice, but I’m really tired. I’m gonna go to bed.”

“Alright. Sleep well. Lunch tomorrow? Think about it. Sweet dreams, Jihae.”

Jihae didn’t offer a reply but blushed and covered her face with her blankets after tossing her phone onto the nightstand to the right of her bed. “This brat!” she called out loud. “First he flirts with me, then has a serious talk, and is doubly flirting with me now! What does he think I am?”

“Well, awake for now. Probably sleepy and embarrassed. That would be my best guess,” a voice rang through her room. “Might want to check before you accidentally press call, but all of that was cute,” Minseok said through the phone with a small chuckle. “Sleep tight, silly girl.”

“What!” Jihae called back, throwing the covers back off herself to look over at her phone, but before she could pick it up to say something, Minseok had already hung up. If she wasn’t embarrassed before, she couldn’t possibly be any more embarrassed than she was right now.

“And so what if I am flirting with you? Maybe I am, maybe I’m not.”

“Cryptic and unhelpful, Minseok,” she said, laying her phone face down on the counter before rolling over in her covers—she’d had enough of him for the night.