I noticed people tend to skip the Foreword; I used the Foreword as a Preface, so please go back and read it in case you missed it :)

J J A J A N G M Y U N - 01

April 14th, 2014

The door bell to Apt 508 had the greasy, shining surface typical to well used plastic buttons, making the printed ciffers look all washed out. I remembered what a pain it had been to find the right bell for the first time.
 
As I rang the bell, I held the last delivery of the day close to my chest, trying to balance it on my left hand only. It was eight XL portions of Jjajangmyun Lemon Fried Chicken, and honestly, I couldn't imagine anything heavier at that moment. April 14th was the busiest day at my uncle's business. I had been driving around on the delivery scooter all day long, helping frustrated seoul-ians to my uncle's delicious jjajangmyun dishes. My back, neck and arms hurt as if I had spent the entire day at the gym, and even smiling bore a challenge. But even Black Day had an end, and at 11:12 PM I had finally reached my last - and most loyal - customer.
 
The humming of the electric door opener pierced my ears shortly, and I pushed the door open with my back. I heard the empty echo of a door opening a few floors above me as I blindly hit the button for the elevator to come. The sensation of lactic acid releasing into my muscles slowly began to build in my left arm and I comforted myself thinking it was only a matter of seconds until I could officially call it a day.
 
The familiar ringing of the elevator finally echoed through the hallway and I got in. Using my right pinky finger to dial the fifth floor, I prepared myself for what was to come. Last year this day had been a catastrophe. SungGyu usually ordered jjajangmyun only when he was troubled and needed someone to listen to him.
 
But my worries were instantly cleared when SungGyu greeted me with a smile.
 
"I'll be back in five," he told me, snatching the heavy order of jjajangmyun out of my hands as if it weighed nothing. He must be hungry, I reckoned.
 
I nodded, massaging my left wrist to ease some of the pain. "Usual place?"
 
"'Course!“ Saying that, he disappeared into the apartment.
 
I dialed floor number 20, and waited for the elevator to bring me to the rooftop. This was where SungGyu and I usually spent from a few minutes to several hours while he ate his order of jjajangmyun. It was some weird habit we started two years ago, after he first ordered jjajangmyun at my uncle's shop for Black Day in 2012. I sighed at the memory of that day.
 
I know, I know. It's soooo cool, right, being close to Infinite and all. But let me tell you, the boys seemed to be a pain in the . I only personally knew MyungSoo and SungGyu, and I had only even met MyungSoo twice. This was when SungGyu hadn't been able to personally get the jjajangmyun he ordered because he had been promoting his solo album. Oh, that disastrous solo album of his cost me few sleepless nights and endless consolation words to make him stop drowning himself in self-pity...that's actually how and when our strange friendship began in December 2012. But that's a completely different story. 

Nonetheless I had come to know many random details and habits of SungGyu's band members: him being their leader who always tried to abide to everybody's wishes, then secretly crying his eyes out every other day, and asking for my opinion from while to while. Yep, leader SungGyu was quite the crybaby. But shh, you didn't hear that from me.
 
I made myself at home at my usual spot on the rooftop, letting my feet dangle over the edge. Having my body being supported by the railing, I watched cars and lights move through the city which stretched to the horizon. The wind carried the distant humming of the city that never slept to my ears. New York? If you wanted a city full of life, even at three in the morning, I would advice you to pay a visit to Seoul. I would know, frequently working night shifts as jjajangmyun delivery. 
 
"Finally," SungGyu's voice jolted me back into reality. "Today has been mad."
 
He let himself fall on his usual spot next to me, and placed his serving of jjajangmyun on top of his crossed legs. "I'm staaarving!" with that, he shoved a chopstick full of black bean paste noodles into his mouth, smearing half of the sauce all over his face. One wouldn't believe he was turning 25 in two weeks.
 
As if reading my mind, he suddenly commented, spitting sauce in my direction: "My birthday is coming up in 14 days."
 
"Ew, gross!" I retorted, trying to dodge sprinkles of sauce.
 
"Sowwy," he said, and gulped down what must've been a family sized portion of unchewed jjajagmyun. Boys will be boys.
 
"I'm thinking of having a small party at the dorm," his voice turned serious as he picked up a piece of chicken. "Do you think your uncle can cover 15 people's worth of jjajangmyun?"
 
I turned my head in his direction, expecting him to start laughing and tell me it was just a joke. But he did none of it, instead he just took a big bite off the piece of chicken.
"You serious?" I asked, after he didn't show any sign of amusement.
 
He nodded and shoved another portion of Jjajangmyun into his mouth, despite not having finished chewing the chicken. Don't ask me - up to this day, I still don’t know how he could fit such huge amounts in his mouth. But he must’ve gotten used to it, living with six hungry boys and having to organize time to eat all around their weird schedule.
 
I leant back from the railing and fixed my eyes on an airplane flying above us. After a short while of silence, interrupted only by the sounds of SungGyu eating, I turned my head toward him. "Jjajangmyun for your birthday?"
 
He nodded with a shrug - SungGyu's way of saying: "Why not?"
 
I sighed. "Well...isnt that a bit too sad? Even for an idol?"
 
His eyes widened in protest as he hastily gulped down the pasta. I tried not to imagine the stomachache he was getting himself into. 

"It is delicious!" he said in defence. "Besides, do you have a better idea?"
 
Sometimes, I found it hard to believe this guy survived the biz for four entire years.
 
"How about cake?" I said, my voice soaking in sarcasm. "I heard that one's popular on birthdays."
 
He groaned, which was kind of an accomplishment, given his mouth was, again, filled with jjajangmyun.
 
"Tho ovadone," he tried to explain. I shook my head.
 
"Eat. We'll talk when you're done."
 
It didn't take him long to finish his meal. He put the plate away, and laid down on his back next to me. Patting his stomach, he sighed contently.
 
"That was good. Thanks."
 
"You still have to pay me so no way in sweet talking your way out of it."
 
"Damn, I thought I would get lucky tonight." SungGyu mumbled, but I could hear the smile in his voice.
 
"That's not the way you use that phrase, boy."
 
He chuckled. "I got caught. How much is it?"
 
"55,000 Won."
 
"You're cheap, girl," he said, faking concern.
 
As I got what he was playing at, I elbowed him in his left side. "Since when are you this kind of erted? Do your fans know about this side of yours?"
 
He just chuckled, and we both fell silent, taking in the nightly sky over Seoul, filled with airplanes instead of stars.
 
As we laid on the rooftop, I contemplated our strange friendship. We might not have been your usual acquaintances, but I would easily have considered him one of my closest friends. If only he wasn't so annoyingly fixated on what others thought of him... sometimes I felt as if we weren’t in a friend-helps-friend but in a psychiatrist-helps-patient type of relationship. But then again, being an idol bore a lot more complications in daily life than your usual occupation. It was nice, though, escaping my normal life sometimes, and listening to his seemingly luxurious problems.

But since SM Enterntainment had taken over Woolim Entertainment, he barely had a second to himself. Our rooftop encounters had been reduced from two times per month to once roughly every six weeks. Last time we met, SungGyu had confessed he felt just like when they had just debuted, there was a lot of pressure on them.
 
"MinAe?" SungGyu suddenly jolted me of my thoughts, his voice quite serious.
 
Oh man, I knew that tone. Speaking of the devil, this sounded like Infinite related problems. I braced myself for boydrama. "Hm?"
 
He seemed to be collecting his thoughts, as he didn't start talking right away.
 
"How much soju would I have to order? Do you think you could deliver that as well? And how can I persuade manager GeoNam to leave us alone?" He sounded so serious, one would think he was talking about famine in South Africa.
 
When I realized his problem revolved around such profanity as his birthday party, I couldn't help but laugh.
 
"What? Is my life such a joke to you?" he asked, sounding somewhat hurt, turning his head in my direction.
 
I poked my tongue out to him. "If those are your biggest problems...then yes."
 
"Yah, MinAe," he retorted, "Why are we friends again?"
 
"Because you are addicted to my uncle's jjajangmyun and my abnormally intelligent sense of judgment on boygroup problems," I sang back my usual answer, and he complied with a smile.
 
"You're invited to join us, too, if you want," he then said. "If manager GeoNam allows it, that is."
 
Wait, what?
 
"Your birthday?" I asked. This was a first.
 
"Sure. Why not?" he said, pulling himself up. "Then you could finally meet the others."
 
I thought about his offer. He sounded honest, but I didn’t quite buy it. I doubted the others even knew about our rooftop-friendship. At least not SM Entertainment. I doubted SM even knew he sometimes ordered jjajangmyun...

"Do I even want to meet them?" I joked, "Knowing what I know about them, I'm sure I can't look half of them in the eye."
 
I recalled countless stories he told me about s. Nothing that would bring them bad publicity, if I spilt it, but personal stories, which would most definitely make them feel awkward in my presence, if they knew that I knew. I giggled at the thought of WooHyun's reaction to me knowing about his -related pimple problems. (Shh, you didn't heard that from me either....)
 
SungGyu laughed, probably imagining something awkward by himself. "You have a point there."
 
"Do you think your manager would allow a girl on your party? I mean, you are supposed to stay im female-less environment as often as possible..."
 
"Look who's talking, spending countless hours on the rooftop with me."
 
"Touché."
 
SungGyu turned around and let his back push against the railing. With the city lights behind him, I could only make out his shilouette, with his hair standing up in all directions.
 
"I'll find a way to persuade him into believing that you are not some weird sasaeng fan trying to steal my underwear..."
 
"Yah, don't make it sound like I AM!" I tried to kick him with my right foot, but couldn't quite reach him. Damn, how I hated being short.
 
He laughed heartily and threw his head back, looking up into the starless sky. The nightly breeze carried the sounds of honking cars, people talking, and random music playing somewhere up to us, but it all seemed far away. 

I had come to love this rooftop. Sometimes I stayed here, even after SungGyu has already left to some event on his busy schedule, just to feel the freedom of towering over my surroundings. It was weird that I liked this grey concrete-built rooftop this much. 

Somewhere in Seoul, a Christian church rang midnight, the wind carrying the distant bell sounds to our rooftop.

JaeRin - out.