A Misconstrued Past

You entered the instruments room to find YongHwa waiting there for you, his face thunderous. He was clutching your guitar in his hand, and you realised he was the one who had taken it from your practice room while you were out. The nerve of this guy! Well you had been avoiding him all day, it looked like now you had to face him and you didn't have a choice. Unless you blatantly ran from the room right now? But with the story HanJu had told you the night before reeling through your mind, you didn't know if you had the guts to turn your back to him, however you certainly couldn't remain in the same room with this monster. You felt yourself take a step backwards, and to your horror, YongHwa took a step towards you. His eyes had that powerful intensity in them now, he was holding you there with them, and you suddenly couldn't work your legs and take another step back. But he kept coming closer to you, he took another step, and then another. The whole time his eyes were boring into yours, eyes that despite everything were making your heart race, your pulse quicken. Maybe you were just beyond afraid of him now, knowing what he was capable of towards a woman. Knowing he didn't have a conscience either. Your chest was rising and falling quickly with your intake of breaths, and you found yourself pushed up against the wall with YongHwa's body inches from yours. What was he going to do? There was so much fire in those eyes, they seemed to be forcing all thoughts from your mind, burning memories and all else other than pure anticipation...

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A Year Earlier

Little Park HyeEu was unable to attend the fan sign event for her favourite band because her mother had already given her the hard word not to try anything and stay in school. Because her mother worked in the building next to the venue where it would be held, she knew it would be too tricky to try and get around her mother and skip school to attend. Her heart was breaking at the thought of missing out from her own personal few seconds with her most adored rock idol Jung YongHwa, that unbelievably gorgeous dark beauty with unbelievably white skin and eyes like dark chocolates. Her older brother had finished school however, and she knew he had lots of time on his hands. At her mother’s suggestion, HyeEu appealed to her older brother with all her best charm and her biggest eyes batting long eyelashes. Her brother was such a good natured kind of brother that it seemed to work on him every time. He had given in almost instantly, and said he would line up with the hundreds of fan girls so long as his sister would put in a good word for him with the girl he liked in her school. He had been madly in love with her for years, she was one of his sister’s friends. Whenever she came over to visit he would hang around like a bad smell, he would bake cookies and sit with them and try and join in on their girly conversations, much to his sister’s greatest annoyance. She would often retreat to her room with her friends so her overly interested brother couldn’t follow and listen in as they discussed the sorts of things girls liked to discuss on their own. So with that deal, and feeling slightly sorry towards her friend for agreeing to push her brother onto her, she knew it was all for a good cause if she could see her name and a message written to her in YongHwa’s very own handwriting. She breathed a dreamy sigh and floated out of her brother’s room after thanking him profusely. She knew it wouldn’t be easy on her brother, and she had the easier end of the stick.

So early the next morning Park HanJu set out to the venue of CN BLUE’s fan sign event. His mouth dropped as he noticed the line outside which seemed to stretch several blocks from the door. Of course it would have been that long… these were fan girls, and he was going to join the line of adoring fans for a boy band, girls and boy bands went together in Korea like mice to cheese. It was like he was standing among several hundred versions of his sister, and he almost turned around to go home, seeking to escape this terrible nightmare. But he remembered the face of his beloved. The object of his undivided attention for the past three or four years, ever since his younger sister (who was only younger than him by two years) had started high school and brought that beautiful goddess into their home. Her name was Lee SooYoung and she was amazing. Her long sleek hair fell like black satin over her shoulders, and she splayed it like a fan as she laughed… Her eyes were as black as midnight, and her upper eye bags made them pop like no other girls eyes he had ever seen. The list went on… and it was only moments in which he realised he had fallen madly in love with her. If he went through with this deal with his sister today, if he could brave these fans for just this one day, stand in line for hours, shake hands with the man of his sisters own dreams, then he could have a better chance with SooYoung. She was his sister’s friend, they were best friends. His sister’s word had to mean a lot. He had it, he could feel it in his heart. So with those thoughts he drew himself up, remembering his beloved goddess and joined the end of the line like he was ready to climb Mount Everest.

It took seven hours before HanJu reached the inner door of the signing hall, and he could glimpse the long table which had four handsome men sitting at it. They were dressed in blue-black suits, their white crisp shirts without a single crease, and their ties perfectly in place like their hair. HanJu had to admire them, they were very good looking, very well dressed. He made a note to himself to pay more attention to his own sense of fashion, as he was the type of guy who would throw anything on in the morning. He guessed it was because he had nobody to impress, unless he knew his beloved SooYoung would be visiting that day. But these guys had millions of people to impress, they had women willing to fling themselves at them all over the world. It was pretty crazy, and HanJu felt a flair of envy at the idea. He wondered if SooYoung felt that way about any pop icons. Did she like CN BLUE? He doubted it, because then he wouldn’t be here in place for his sister, as her friend could be doing it for her.

It was HanJu’s turn, and he seemed to be at the end of the line. Only a few girls were behind him, looking at him curiously. Probably thinking he was a gay fan boy. He half felt the urge to argue that he was only here for his sister, but realised it wasn’t worth it. The leader or CN BLUE was looking his way ready for his next fan to approach him with a tired yet charming smile, empty cup of coffee before him and looking a little antsy at having been sitting there smiling, greeting and signing photographs all day. The other boys seemed to be mirroring his expressions, a couple of them twitching in their seats or shaking their legs no doubt with cramps or something similar. HanJu felt for the band a little bit, but not as much as he felt for himself, as he had been lining up all this time and his legs were aching. He hadn't signed up for this kind of life style, these boys were at least being paid for it. They got to greet adoring fans all day long. It couldn't be that bad. What was HanJu getting paid for completing this deed? Oh right of course... a goofy smiled came back onto his face as he stepped with light feet towards the desk where Jung YongHwa, his sister's God was sitting in waiting. Up close the man looked even more tired, his face was becoming drawn with the fatigue. He was handsome of course, but he wasn't sure what his sister was going on about. His bottom lip stuck out, weren't these stars supposed to be perfect? HanJu liked to think his skin was better than the celebrity's as well. In any case, HanJu wasn't gay so of course he wasn't going to understand what the big deal was about this pretty boy. He was here for the signature, and the reward afterwards.

Just as he reached the table and Jung YongHwa bowed to him politely, an older woman dressed in a grey suit with her hair tied into a tight no-nonsense style bun came out  of nowhere and took the young star's attention. She took away his empty cup of coffee and bent over his shoulder, so Jung YongHwa quickly glanced up at her and gave her a familiar smile. He murmured something to her and gestured towards HanJu, but HanJu couldn't make out what he was saying exactly.

The older woman spoke a bit more loudly than the rock idol, her voice full of force and authority. "These tight restrictions are put into place for a reason, we have to think about the company's image in regards to its clients as well. You have already overstayed the time limit at this venue, you'll have to tell your fans to come and greet you at the next fan-sign. Perhaps we can guarantee the stragglers here first serving next time." Jung YongHwa appeared to argue with her but the woman held up her hand and gave him a stern look. He looked to his band members who were also listening, and they shrugged back at him helplessly.

With a sigh Jung YongHwa turned to HanJu and it was clear there were inescapable apologies in his eyes as his supervisor looked on like a Sergeant Major and the young star bowed deeply in regret towards his fans. "Mianheyo, Boices. It seems CN BLUE have overstayed their scheduled time at this venue and we have been urged to move on graciously. Thank you all for coming to support us, just because we couldn't meet you personally today it does not mean we will not remember you. Please come and get your meetings and autographs first in line next time we hold an event like this one. Before you leave, give your name at the door and you will be added to the VIP signing list. Thank you all again, and we are very sorry to have to leave." He bowed again and CN BLUE all rose from their chairs, photographers started snapping away bright flashes from their professional cameras like crazy, determined to get the final shots of the boys long day of fan signing. The boys bowed to the cameras, gave their last thankyous and farewells and retreated through the back doors as two supervisors pushed them hurriedly from behind.

HanJu was left standing at the desk with his sister's CN BLUE poster hanging limply from his hand. He was so very close, couldn't Jung YongHwa just sign this last one? Wouldn't he be allowed to do even that? After all that time... To just leave a job half done. HanJu wasn't usually one to feel anger, it took a lot to make him angry and he usually bottled it all up inside until one day he would just explode with the build up of frustrations all piling on top of him. Things in his life had all been going wrong lately. He thought he finally had the window of opportunity to start making things right for himself, starting with the love of his life, just there, so close... But Jung YongHwa had taken that away from him. Sure he had said sorry, but was that really enough? Couldn't he save his apologies and just allow HanJu this one little favour?

The sounds of the other disappointed fans leaving filled the room and the photographers were the first to push past them, hoping to dash around the corner of the building and catch some snaps of the boys leaving in their company van. HanJu eventually turned around, feeling exhausted, feeling like he had been cheated by the world and decided to go and grab a drink at the vending machine down the hall from the fan sign room. He wondered if the vending machines here had any beer. Stopping and peering through the glass glumly he opted for a soft drink as that was all that was on offer. He would pass the street vendors on the way home and grab some soju on the way home. He had two things that made him want to drink. One, was he had to face his little sister's heartbroken face when he told her the news that he was unable to get an autograph for her in time. The second was his own heartbreak he could already feel pushing down on his chest. Maybe there was still a way he could win over his immaculate beauty. His life companion... If he loved her this much, there had to be a way he could make it work with her. Should he just get her alone next time she visited and confess his feelings to her? He felt he had to... If he didn't try that, he couldn't call himself a man. It wasn't over until it was over. Would she reject him? Had she perhaps been feeling the same way about him? Grimacing at the thought, he calculated how many bottles of soju he would be drinking tonight when he heard voices in the room next to the closed cafeteria.

Feeling vaguely curious through all his inner anguish HanJu peered through the crack in the door and his eyes widened. It was her. Lee SooYoung, the woman of his dreams. His breath caught in his throat and he clutched the side of the door as he leaned in to get a better look. She was looking as amazing as always, his heart ached as his eyes ran over her perfect body, her beautiful hair. She was standing in a way that was completely endearing, bowing her legs with her hands clasped in front of her as if she was playing it cute. It totally suited her, thought HanJu, she played the part of cute too well. Yet he had never had the honour of witnessing it before. He wished she would act that way around him. Only after thinking this HanJu's eyes moved to the other occupant in the room and his eyes went even wider. That was... it was... Jung YongHwa?!

Rooted to the spot HanJu watched as the love of his life gripped onto the disinterested leader of CN BLUE, but to in HanJu's eyes, Jung YongHwa did not look disinterested. Who could possibly be disinterested in Lee SooYoung? She was pawing at him, whinging in the cutest way possible as YongHwa made to get past her put she pushed him into the chair that was behind him. He looked at her in surprise and tried to get up but a feminine finger was placed at his lips and he remained where he was, his eyes almost popping out of his head. As HanJu saw it, YongHwa pulled SooYoung onto his lap and proceeded to make out with her. Pieces of her clothing were thrown around the room and there was a struggle in which HanJu assumed SooYoung was trying to get away from Jung YongHwa but he must have been holding her there. There were strange noises, scuffling. HanJu was certain SooYoung was fighting off the erted rock idol as more of her clothing seemed to be slipping away. But then she laughed. It wasn't so much of a laugh but more of a giggle. This is what held HanJu in place as he watched his love in the arms of another man.

He caught sight of Jung YongHwa behind her, his expression was strange. Not one you would expect from a man in the act of love. He looked shocked, disgusted... He must have been feeling guilty about what he was doing to one of his fans... His shirt was flung open and HanJu felt a twinge of horrified envy at the toned muscles on the young stars chest. Jung YongHwa was playing hard to get, teasing the beautiful helpless SooYoung by covering himself up and making her  rip it open again. He must have been loving the control he had over her. HanJu slipped his hand into his pocket with trembling hands and took some photos of the scene before his eyes. Lipstick smeared over Jung YongHwa's face as he ravished one of his fans at his own personal pleasure. How could he make his fans do this for him? HanJu made his apologies to Lee SooYoung in his mind as he took those photos. He was careful not to get her face, every part of him certain that somehow, even through what he was seeing, his perfect goddess was still innocent.

He didn't see the desperation in YongHwa's eyes, the way he skirted around the girl who was forcing herself onto him, tripped over the chair as she made to bring down his pants. He didn't see YongHwa raise his hands in defence, yet not able to fend off the girl without hurting her in some way. As he fell towards the door in hope of escaping, and HanJu guessed to check it was locked and that nobody was watching what he was up to, the boy fled. He felt his world coming down with the evidence he held in his hand as he ran straight for his house and his computer. He forget all about the soju, all about his sister. Now all that was on his mind was a burning hatred for the man Jung YongHwa, who had taken his love from him. A love he had held in his heart for so many tender years. He was going to bring Jung YongHwa down however he could. He was going to defile the young star's popularity, show all of Korea what a terrible person he really was when he thought the cameras were no longer on him. Yes, the press was going to go wild with these pictures, with this story. He knew the company would have a hard time keeping such an undesirable individual in their best interests.

And so HanJu unleashed media hell on the leader of CN BLUE. He posted the photos and captioned them himself in the most derogatory of forms, making sure everyone understood exactly what the man was really like in person. The response was most satisfying. Fans, press, other companies of interest all contacting HanJu with questions, requests for interviews, more information. This lasted three days, and in those three days FNC Entertainment had contacted him countless times. He had received letters of criminal grounds based on his actions towards the company, but he didn't care. He didn't have anything for them to take, were they just going to send him to jail? He knew that wouldn't look very good for them either, their client would still be guilty in the eyes of the world. Jung YongHwa would still have to live with this stain on his morality. The thought brought a bitter satisfaction to the obsessed lover who had now appeared to bend to the edge of reason and madness. He would sit at his computer all day every day, fuelling the fire in every way he could. He was oblivious to his sister crying her heart out in her room at the news that her chosen idol had turned out to be a heartless, womanising playboy and every other horrible rumour that had stemmed from her brother's findings. Jung YongHwa's popularity had already dropped immensely, CN BLUE's songs had been struck of the radio station playlists and the only reason they were ever mentioned in talk shows was to discuss this latest revelation about the star's personal life. Everyone was obsessed with the news, people were talking about it everywhere. HanJu couldn't have hoped for a better reception to his revenge.

After days of ignoring FNC Entertainment's many variations of quieting him, HanJu received an unexpected knock at the door while the rest of his family was out. The moment he opened the door something white flashed across his face and he momentarily saw something red cloud his vision as he reeled backwards from impact and a thudding pain filled his head. He reached for his nose and noticed it felt out of place, something red was running from his nostrils... he looked at his fingertips... blood? He stared dazedly ahead and was vaguely stunned at the sight of Jung YongHwa on his doorstep. Wow, after writing about him and talking about him and posting pictures of him for so many days, now he was starting to see Jung YongHwa around his house? That wasn't such a good thing... he retched at the sight of Jung YongHwa. As his senses came to him, HanJu realised he wasn't seeing a vision, but it was in fact the real thing. He spat at the celebrity's feet, some blood coming with it.

The rock star's eyes flashed and he made to lunge forward again when a rather corporate looking hand came out of nowhere and shot in front of his chest, stopping him from going any further. YongHwa's jaw muscle twitched as he turned to the source of his obstruction, and a guy in a suit with kind eyes stepped into view. With him he brought Lee SooYoung. HanJu let the blood trickle from his nose as he stared at her. She had been avoiding him for days, she hadn't even spoken to his sister. Right now she wasn't even looking at him either. Her eyes were red and wet, it looked as though she had been crying. His heart ached at the sight and he made to call her name, comfort her, ask her what was wrong, when the man holding back Jung YongHwa spoke first. "I think we all need to talk. There appears to be some kind of misunderstanding between the three of you, and I think this girl is the one to sought it all out." He looked pointedly at HanJu. "I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement after our meeting today. Will you let us in?" Perplexed, HanJu held open the door so that the corporate man, Jung YongHwa, and the object of his desire walked into his house and took up precedence in his lounge room. He was soon to discover just how far he had gone over something that had never truly occurred as he had thought, and as he discovered the error of his ways, he fell into regretful silence... and an overwhelming feeling of insurmountable repentance .

What had he done? He could never look at his breath-taking beauty the same way again. It was only fitting she was planning to move abroad for the next few years. He apologised to Jung YongHwa, but he knew no amount of apologies were going to make up for the trouble he had caused. He admitted to having a history of obsession towards his love interests in the past, and that he was in fact taking medication for it. Many girls had been scared away by some of the drastic measures he had taken. Jung YongHwa's manager seemed to be the only one who was listening, or willing to accept HanJu's requests at making amends. He was offered a place in their company working a minimal wage and ultimately to set things straight in regards to the spider web of rumours he had spread about his client.  Jung YongHwa had made it clear that they were never to come into contact with each other inside the company walls, and of course without question outside them too. HanJu agreed with shame, thanked the rock star and his manager for being so light on him, and promised to set things right again. He watched sadly as Lee SooYoung fled from the house in just as much shame yet more tattered dignity than anything else, her face streaming with tears of judgement, criticism and rejection. She had lied to her friend about her interest in Jung YongHwa, and she had ruined herself by backing him into this corner and forcing herself onto him in such a way. She could no longer stay in the country with everyone knowing what she had done, and so her parents had decided to send her to study in America while it all blew over in the next few years. Jung YongHwa barely said two words to HanJu, grunted that he should put ice on his nose, and saw himself out the house. His manager was the most diplomatic of people, and informed HanJu on the best course of action before reprimanding him again, but then wishing him luck and telling him to do a good job at their company. He would mostly be working for nothing there, in a way, paying them compensation with his employee hours. Yet HanJu agreed. He didn't have a job yet, and even that measly wage would be a start for him. He also knew it was the company's way of shutting him up, buying his silence.

And such was the past between Park HanJu and Jung YongHwa.

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You squeezed your eyes shut tight as YongHwa's face became too close to yours. You could feel the heat from his skin on your face, his breath only lightly brushing your eyelids and cheeks. Why was he getting this close to you? You let out a small involuntary squeak, turning your head away, when you heard YongHwa withdraw from you. Eyes flashing open quickly you glanced back at the predator standing before you, relaxing as you realised he had given you back your personal space. The intensity in his eyes had shifted, they now looked downcast, troubled. They moved from your feet, slowly back to your face and his face softened as he looked at you silently in the dim lighting of the instruments room.

"Why are you so scared of me?" he asked you quietly, the usual power present in his tone vacant, making him sound far away and helpless.

You squared your shoulders as you regained some of your strength. "I'm not scared of you," you snapped, your nose tipping to the air automatically so you looked as if you were sneering at him. "Why are you in here with my guitar? Were you stalking me?"

Something flickered across YongHwa's face but it was too quick for you to distinguish. "I wanted to talk to you, but it seemed you were out shopping with your Assistant all afternoon." The steel was back in his voice.

Unable to work out why this was even an issue, or his business, you glared at him. "That doesn't answer my question," you retorted.

"Yes it does," YongHwa retorted with equal fervour, "I'm teaching you a lesson for going off playing with your undesirable friends while you should be focusing on developing your professionalism!"

You almost choked on those words, "U-undesirable? Like you're one to talk Mr Jung YongHwa! You are the worst kind of person there is!"

These words seemed to hit YongHwa with total surprise, "I'm the w-worst?" he his lips. "What do you mean I'm the worst? What have you heard about me?"

"I heard everything from HanJu!" you found yourself shouting, your voice high with emotion, almost breaking. "I know all about your past! What kind of person you are!" You flinched as your guitar slipped from YongHwa's hand, whether it was on purpose or not you weren't sure. You guessed it wasn't on purpose, because YongHwa's face had slackened at your shouting, along with his arms. The solid acoustic body clattered loudly on the floor, humming angrily at its fall.

"What did he say?" YongHwa breathed, he seemed to have momentarily lost his voice. He cleared his throat and his eyes flashed with anger. "What did that £$@£%@£ say to you?" his voice was back, it was loud, it was scary. You flinched at it more than you had done at him dropping the guitar. Without warning he aggressively closed the gap between the two of you, his nose almost touching your forehead as he stared down at you, towering over you, his breathing hard and hot on your face.

You stared straight at his chest, refusing to look up at him while he was standing this close to you. Your mind was starting to cloud at the sudden close proximity again, at the return of his intensity and boiling emotions. "He said that you forced the woman he loved to be yours," you said nervously, quietly. "That you... made her do impure things, you blackmailed her into it. And she killed herself." You swallowed at the sound of YongHwa taking a sharp intake of breath through his teeth. Would he lash out at you? Your eyes involuntarily strayed over his broad shoulders, heaving slightly, at the shadow of his collar bone showing above the collar of his shirt. You could see the hint of muscle there underneath, but your roaming was cut short as YongHwa suddenly grabbed your arm and pulled you aside. He swung open the door without another word to and stormed out purposefully. Worried as to what he was going to do in this state of mind, you bit your lip and decided to follow him out into the corridor and down two flights of stairs. Your footsteps clattered after his thudding echoes as the two of you made quick progress to the first floor and into the foyer. He approached the Administration desk and to your confusion, started rummaging through some of the files there.

"Uh... what exactly do you think you are doing?" you said uncertainly, keeping your distance from him as you looked on from behind.

"Finding out the new address for that worthless lying piece of excuse you call a P.A!" came the response that sent shivers down your spine. His response echoed through the deserted corridors, and your blood ran cold at the thought of what YongHwa was planning to do once he got hold of that address.

End Chapter Seven