chapter nine point five
〈 ♞ 〉NIGHT CIRCUS25 SEPTEMBER 2015
01:12 PM CST
01:12 PM CST
THE NINTH (POINT FIVE) CHAPTER
Rushing through airport terminals by themselves and getting through security is strangely exhilarating. Min has to help Jiwool understand what’s going on and has to translate everything else, but it doesn’t deter them from having fun. They haven’t traveled to another country by themselves and it makes this trip all the more memorable, buying little keychains because Jiwool and Min think they’re cute. But the excitement quickly dies as the sudden traveling takes its toll on Jiwool especially, who’s trying not to become more confused and worn out than she actually already is.
Next to her, Min isn’t as affected, already having done this for a couple of months, and she calls Lao Gao last minute to get backstage access and tickets to Lu Han’s Reloaded concert. Jiwool looks over curiously when she laughs, Lao Gao telling her that he’s not going to tell Lu Han anything because he’s currently being a nervous wreck and doesn’t need more things on his mind. It makes her smile, but not before Min is hailing a cab and trying to accurately tell the driver where to go.
Jiwool jumps when they suddenly appear in front of a crowded street and Min is tugging on her hand. “Are you okay?” Min is staring at her in concern, but her own eyes are starting to redden, probably because her contacts are drying out from exhaustion and sleeping on the plane as well. “Are you still sleepy?”
Jiwool shakes her head, trying to shake herself out of her little daze. She didn’t know she dozed off. “I’m fine,” she says, smiling at her as they grab their backpacks, “That nap on the plane kinda threw me off.”
The confused expression on Min’s face makes her laugh. “Threw you off?” Even though she’s been living in Korea for a few years now, she still doesn’t know some of the slang phrases in Korean.
“I’m just a little off,” Jiwool explains, hands trying to gesture what she means. She doesn’t really know how to explain it though. “I’ll be okay–”
They don’t expect to see the amount of fans present at the concert venue when they turn the corner. Even for a mini-concert, the attendance is amazing and Min and Jiwool are shocked still for a moment because of it. There are fans with cameras and other girls squealing and talking excitedly at the prospect of seeing Lu Han up close and for something so very special to all of them, and it catches Min off-guard.
She stares at all the girls, seeing some of them with her friend’s special LH7 logo on white plastic bags, and watches as some takes Reloaded shirts out that she’s heard Lu Han designed by himself. She peeks over some of their shoulders curiously, hearing how they know Lu Han will be ‘so handsome’ and ‘wonder what his new song will be.’ She looks over when Jiwool tugs her along this time.
“Where do we go?” she whispers, looking around confused. Min is confused too, not because she doesn’t know where to go, but simply by the amount of how many people are speaking Chinese at once. They’re speaking so fast too. How long has she stayed in Korea now? “Min.”
“Right,” Min whispers in return, trying to keep her voice low. She looks around for the side entrance, where Lao Gao told her he showed the guards hers and Jiwool’s pictures, and hesitates when she sees a tall man in sunglasses standing there. She feels Jiwool bump into her but doesn’t take another step until the man tilts his head forward, indicating that he does recognize them. “Okay,” she says, “Stay close to me.” She has no idea what it’s like backstage at an event like this. To be honest, she doesn’t really expect what she sees.
There are people walking about, some with clipboards and some simply going about their businesses, and Min is momentarily stunned again by how normal it looks until she quickly shakes herself out of it and walks down the halls until she can hear people calling Lao Gao’s name.
The man really doesn’t get enough credit, helping Lu Han manage his schedules and care for him like a true brother and even mother, and it makes Min feel something strong for him. She thinks his and Lu Han’s bond is amazing and, even after he left China to pursue a career in South Korea, they still managed to stay friends and he was always there waiting for him to come back and see him again.
She smiles when she stops at the doorway and sees Lao Gao standing next to it talking to what looks like the event coordinator. Surprisingly, there aren’t many people in the room, a few scary looking men with a stylist and makeup artist, and Min feels her heart clench when she sees Lu Han sitting in the lone chair, eyes closed but quietly talking to the lady doing his makeup.
Lao Gao catches her gaze and gives her a small smile, telling the coordinator they may be a few minutes late, before gesturing him away and ushering her and Jiwool in. The door is closed behind them instantly after the scary men leave and Lu Han immediately opens an eye at the noise. “Lao Gao, why–”
“You have visitors,” Lao Gao interrupts, voice hinting his smile, “Are you almost done with his makeup?”
“Give me two minutes,” the makeup artist says, giving Min and Jiwool curious looks, before returning to her task at hand. She swats at Lu Han to close his eye again but he won’t stop staring at them through the mirror.
Min laughs at his bewildered look, staying next to Lao Gao and Jiwool just to be safe. She doesn’t know what will happen in the future if word gets out her and Lu Han are actually close. “Close your eye, Lu. Let her finish.”
It’s only then that Lu Han closes his eye, Jiwool staring at them in awe, and Min doesn’t hold her back when she wanders over to them to watch the makeup artist up close. Her Mandarin is basic, but she knows what she wants to say when she tells the artist that her work is good. She can tell that the other knows she’s foreign, but she doesn’t say anything. She quickly finishes up her work with last-minute touches before patting Lu Han’s shoulder and grabbing the stylist to leave the room.
“What are you doing here, Jiwool?” Lu Han questions first, opening his eyes and watching Min in the corner of the room talking to Lao Gao. “I heard that you and Min are actually friends. I didn’t know you’d be here.”
“Our trip was a surprise,” Jiwool answers, smiling at him, “Unnie didn’t know she was coming back either.”
The way Lu Han stares at her next has her fidgeting, taking a step back when he gets up from his chair. He looks thoughtful, pensive. He knows that she dated Junmyeon back when they were all SM trainees. “Where are you two training?” he finally asks, Jiwool’s eyes widening in surprise at the question. “You two have to be training somewhere.”
Jiwool doesn’t know what to say, so she does the only thing that comes to mind. “Unnie!” she calls out, rushing over to Min and clinging onto her from behind. “Lu Han is being mean!”
“What?!” Lu Han immediately calls back, quickly following after her and pulling Min from her grasp. “I was not! I was simply asking a question!”
Lao Gao sighs in defeat as he goes to sit on the couch in the room, grabbing a notebook and flipping through it. “You didn’t tell me Jiwool is like you, Lu.”
“We’re not alike!” Lu Han shouts back, frowning, but Min doesn’t understand what’s going on. Since when did Lu Han and Jiwool know each other? She gasps when she’s pulled into a hug, her arms instinctively reaching up to latch around Lu Han’s neck. “You didn’t tell me you were coming.”
Min laughs as he picks her up from the ground, tightening their hold on each other before he gently drops her back. “I didn’t know I was coming either.” She feels a tug to the back of her shirt and she turns to see Jiwool pouting at her, but all it does is make her roll her eyes. “Jiwool, please.”
“Fine,” Jiwool mutters, not liking Min’s attention moving on to Lu Han, before going over to sit next to Lao Gao. Whatever. She doesn’t even know what to say to the man as she watches Min and Lu Han talk to each other, and she’s surprised when Lao Gao starts talking to her in English first.
“Lu Han told me you two met at SM Entertainment,” Lao Gao quietly says, “You were in the same dance class as Yixing.”
“Yeah,” Jiwool murmurs, staring at him curiously, “How did you learn English?”
Lao Gao shrugs. “School.”
Jiwool jumps in shock when her phone rings. ‘Beautiful’ starts playing and they all look at her with curious eyes. But Min’s gaze shifts to one of warning and Jiwool quickly silences the EXO song before answering it. Even though Lu Han and EXO didn’t end as badly as Yifan and EXO, they still don’t know the strain it put on any of them. “Hello?”
“Jiwool,” Junmyeon softly says, “Can we talk?”
Jiwool is about to say ‘no, we can’t talk right now,’ but she can’t come up with any other excuse other than Lao Gao staring at her almost pleading that she’ll continue talking to drown out Min and Lu Han now talking happily at the other side of the room again. She doesn’t know what all that is about, but when she looks and sees Min reaching up to fix Lu Han’s hair, she understands. Why is Junmyeon so stupid? “Yeah,” she mutters, frowning at the ground, “We can talk about how you’ve been flirting with all these girls.”
“I haven’t been flirting with them!” Junmyeon protests quickly.
“You called Soojung the prettiest in the world!” Jiwool shouts back, stare angry as Lao Gao jumps next to her at the sudden outburst. Lu Han and Min are staring at her as well, Min giving her a worried look and already making her way to her, but she continues on anyways. “How can you call another girl that when you’ve been trying to win me back all this time? Are you just playing with me?!”
“Jiwool,” Junmyeon hastily says, sounded winded all of a sudden, “Jiwool, you know we’re just friends. We’ve known each other almost as long as I’ve known you–”
“So since I’m gone from SM and you’ve become some big-hit celebrity, it’s okay for you to flirt around like this?!”
“No! You know I only have eyes for you–”
Jiwool frowns, as she gets up from the couch right when Min gets to her and sidesteps her to walk away. “And I’m sure you’ve said that line only to me,” she grits out, “You’ve also been flirting with Wendy or whatever her name is and Sooyeon too!”
“Jessica hasn’t even been here since a year ago!” Junmyeon shouts, “I haven’t been flirting with any of them, Jiwool. I’m just trying to be friendly with them.” His voice is considerably calmer as Jiwool keeps dodging Min’s attempts. “I can’t stop being friends with someone only because they’re female. I still love you, Jiwool. That hasn’t stopped.”
That makes Jiwool’s heart stop, always weak to Junmyeon, and she whines when Min finally wrestles the phone out of her grasp. “Unnie–”
“You know I don’t like you,” Min easily states to the other, hearing Junmyeon’s instant, annoyed groan, “But you need to treat Jiwool right if you want her to love you right.”
There’s a weird sound between a groan and a laugh, but Min can’t help it. She can get pretty punny if she wants to too. “I swear we could be twins or something,” Junmyeon says in return, their personalities strangely similar sometimes, “But I’ve been trying. You should know how I feel. Lu Han has always had a lot of female friends and you’ve always seemed to have more male friends than female–”
Min furrows her brows at the accusation. “How did you know–”
“Jiwool had slipped loose some things,” Junmyeon murmurs, “I just– I’m going to keep trying. I really do love her, Min. Soojung and I have just been friends for so long. Jongin and Soojung are like my little brother and sister. We’ve been together since we all came into SM.”
Min frowns at the answer, but it makes sense. She groans lightly, looking to Lu Han who’s giving her a lopsided, uncertain smile. “I still don’t like you. Call her back later,” she says before hanging up the phone, looking over to Jiwool to see her still looking down. She frowns, going up to her and bringing her in for a hug. “Are you going to be okay?”
The way Jiwool clings onto her when a staff member knocks on the door to tell them Lu Han is going on in ten minutes makes Min wish she can make it all better. Where’s Chanyeol to stop Junmyeon from calling so soon? She looks over to Lu Han again, finally understanding how he and Jiwool are connected, and he gives her another, albeit reassuring, small smile before taking his other set of clothing out of the room to get ready for his concert.
It’s only them and Lao Gao left, the man looking conflicted where he should go, and he eventually tells Min to tell whoever goes into the room that they’re personal friends of his, that he’ll cover for Lu Han, and Min really wonders where Lu Han’s managed to find someone as amazing as Lao Gao and how persistent Junmyeon is going to be for this relationship with Jiwool.
Performing with a hand microphone has never been a problem for Hyemi – she’s been performing with them ever since her high school days in the underground scene – but for some reason, it’s been a problem the whole day as she narrowly misses hitting Jaesun in the shoulder again.
She doesn’t even understand it, glancing at Jaesun who doesn’t acknowledge her, and she curses when she almost misses her next line. She hurries to get back to the routine, hearing Minseok’s commentary over the music, and she doesn’t want to admit she actually needs a break to help her get used to this.
It’s only after they repeat it two more times that Minseok finally lowers the music, all of them panting and trying to keep themselves standing. It’s definitely harder to perform this song with hand microphones, the objects getting in the way of flipping and jumping, but they need to be able to prove they can do this.
Hyemi frowns when Minseok walks out of the room as the other trainees sit around or dance to their own music in their phones in the corners of the room. There aren’t even that many new trainees, their CEOs have been too busy with their own schedules to scout out any more, and Hyemi wonders if they’re even going to get any new ones after they debut. They should though, considering the public will finally know about them and this company. She frowns when Jaesun drops to a knee to catch his breath. Min and Jiwool aren’t even here to practice with the hand microphones. Why are they doing this now without them?
“I don’t think I can perform with a hand mic,” Jaesun breathes out, his knuckles turning white around his microphone, “I can’t do the flips and hold onto this at the same time.”
“Even doing Jiwool’s parts is tough with one,” Seungheon mutters, looking over to Jaesun and giving him a lazy smile, “I wonder how much she’s worked out to keep this performance up.”
That makes Jaesun laugh, still breathless, before collapsing onto his instead. It makes Hyemi smile, going over to lean against the wall and see Suhwan already lying facedown on the ground. She frowns when all he does is lie there, arms and legs spread, but she breathes a sigh of relief when Sookhyun walks over to gently tilt the man’s head so he can breathe properly again.
“It’s a lot,” Suhwan simply says, voice barely heard above the low music. The way it sounds like he trails off in the end makes the rest think he’s going to say more, but he doesn’t. It eventually makes them laugh, Suhwan’s face turning red at their sudden happiness before turning his head the other way so he doesn’t see them.
“Is it different practicing with only four of you?” Shinsuke suddenly asks, walking up to them and giving them towels and more water bottles. It’s amazing how quickly they run through packs of bottles. “Night Circus was almost going to be a four-membered group.”
Hyemi remembers that. She was never in the original lineup, but considering how many changes Circus had to go through, she’s surprised any of the originals had stayed. She looks to Jaesun when he answers, everybody in the company knowing he was the first scouted trainee of KB Entertainment.
“I’m pretty sure this wouldn’t have been our debut song if we were a four-membered group,” Jaesun says, shifting his gaze to Hyemi and giving her a smile. “We only have this song because of Hyemi.”
Hyemi shrugs at the information, slowly falling to the ground until she’s sitting against the mirrored wall. Songwriting and composing are her hobbies. She enjoys it and she takes pride in the fact their first debut song is actually written by her. “You probably would’ve had a different sound.”
“That’s probably true,” Jaesun replies, sighing as he gulps half the water down. It’s distracting how some of the water spills from his lips and Hyemi’s face scrunches in disgust when she sees it, but she understands how thirsty one can get from practices like these. “We probably wouldn’t have intense choreography with it too.”
“I wonder what kind of dances we would have then,” Seungheon murmurs in thought, still standing in the middle of the room. “We could’ve had paired dances, maybe even like Troublemaker. I would take Min and you would take Jiwool,” he says to Jaesun with a shrug, “It might’ve worked.”
Jaesun sighs. “Probably not. What all can we do with four members? If we’re a circus group, I don’t think we could function with only four acts.”
“That’s true,” Seungheon mutters, giving him a look, “How many groups have four members in it anyways? It’s like an odd number. Even though, it’s not.”
Hyemi rolls her eyes at his comment, already used to his off-the-wall thoughts, but it catches Suhwan and Sookhyun’s attentions, Shinsuke already sitting down next to Jaesun and listening intently to the conversation as well. They list off miss A, CNBLUE, 2NE1, and M.I.B.
“What about Red Velvet though?” Shinsuke asks, looking between the two men discussing various groups.
“Oh, that’s right,” Jaesun mutters, not really knowing what went on there, “They originally had four but then added a fifth member this year? I don’t know about all that. Jiwool’s the SM expert.”
“But wait,” Seungheon says, waving his hand up and down to get their attentions, “Wonder Girls had five but went down to four recently too.”
“But then doesn’t that make everything equal?” Sookhyun questions, looking confused with the entire conversation. “Because one group went down to four members while another went up to five?”
Shinsuke frowns, Suhwan pouting trying to understand the logic. “What are you equaling though? They’re just talking about four-membered groups.”
Hyemi heaves a deep sigh when she eyes the girls in the corner. She could always leave the group to talk to them, but she doesn’t even know if she gets along with them in the first place. She hasn’t really talked much to them except to exchange polite greetings. She doesn’t even see Kisumi there – maybe she’s practicing in the recording room again.
It’s when the guys start talking about five-membered groups that Hyemi almost wishes Min and Jiwool were back with her to somehow level the battlefield. Their personalities don’t clash as much and they’re already so used to each other that they can almost look over each other’s flaws. Somewhat. She’s not exactly sure anymore.
“Okay,” Minseok calls out, walking back into the room with his hair all over the place, obviously trying to tame it when all it’s doing is making it worse. “Let’s go again! Then let’s practice some of the older, more fun stuff and the Chinese version until lunch time!” He holds out a hand towards Shinsuke as he gets up, hi-fiving the other man. “Stay until then. Let’s go through that other routine too.”
Shinsuke nods, bright smile on his face. It’s been a while since they danced the routine they put on the Internet, and Hyemi slightly frowns at the reminder. They all grab their microphones again and Hyemi groans when Jaesun taps her on the back with his.
“Rap your version of the intro.”
Hyemi smirks at him through the mirrors. She can’t say no to that.
(Maybe she’ll put her own video on the Internet too.)
Their lunch break comes at an odd but usual time. It’s spent lying around the practice room mentally and physically exhausted, and Seungheon bribes Shinsuke and the other trainees to go out and get their lunches for them – “I guess it’s my responsibility today since Min is gone.”
Sookhyun laughs at the eldest member’s mumbling, collapsing on the ground right when he does, and groans when he hits the back of his head against the wood floor. He doesn’t understand why it feels like they’re practicing harder today than usual. It should be the same as the past few days – vocal practice followed by rap then dancing and then a combination of all three – but they’ve been doing this non-stop since Min and Jiwool left. They haven’t even practiced interviews or memorized lines for introductions yet, or even studied English or Chinese or – “Oh no!” he exclaims, sitting up abruptly, only to groan as his head swims, a wave of dizziness overwhelming him. “Nevermind,” he moans, slowly lying back down and closing his eyes.
He had a bunch of schoolwork he still needed to complete, considering he’s missed quite a few days already, but he hasn’t even had time to get near his book bag. It’s sitting in the corner of the room collecting dust and he turns his head slowly to stare at it forlornly. Min isn’t even here to help him. He frowns when a pair of feet blocks his view of his lonely backpack but jerks up into a sitting position when he recognizes who those feet belong to and when a sweater is dropped by his head. And groans again when his head swims, falling back to lie down on the ground.
He’s surprised by the softness of the sweater under his head, eyes closing to brace himself for the impact and to stabilize his vision, and can’t help but flinch when he feels Hyunchul reaching out to tilt his head up and then the edge of a bottle nudging at his lips. He opens an eye to see what he’s doing before taking in all the water he can drink, feeling the cool, refreshing liquid rushing down his dry throat.
“You have to stay hydrated,” Hyunchul mutters, pulling the water away for a few minutes before tilting some more to let him drink, “Or you’re going to feel dizzy and weak.” Sookhyun thinks he has a beautiful heart. “You were a trainee for five years before this. Why haven’t you remembered to stay hydrated? It’s one of the essentials into being a top entertainer.”
Sookhyun groans at the scolding, tilting his head away from the water bottle to lie back down on the ground in peace. “I know, hyung,” he mumbles, wondering whose sweater he’s even lying on, “You don’t have to tell me this every time.” He yelps when Hyunchul suddenly nudges his leg with his foot before walking away.
“Then who’s going to tell you when you forget?”
Sookhyun frowns at the question but returns to staring at his backpack in the corner in the room, the water bottle almost blocking his vision of it. He can’t remember how much homework he needs to do and how much he needs to make up. Min usually helps him with all of that, but she’s not here. Maybe Seungheon could help him, considering he’s the only other one who completed university besides Min, but he looks busy talking with Hyemi.
By the looks of it, they’re talking about rapping, Seungheon adding unnecessary gestures and Hyemi slapping his arms to make him stop. He didn’t know they were both from the underground scene, having discovered that literally last week, and they actually frequented one of the same clubs together. They just never talked or stayed for each other’s performances, so they never really even knew each other then. He flinches when he feels a poke in his side.
“Are you okay?” Suhwan questions quietly, Sookhyun looking to his other side and seeing Suhwan trying to wipe the sweat from his face with how they were taught in case they had makeup on. He’s sitting next to him, cross-legged, and Sookhyun really didn’t hear him coming closer. He looks genuinely concerned, and Sookhyun smiles at him, moving over to rest on his leg.
“I’m okay,” he says, shifting when Suhwan moves so they’re both comfortable. “I just needed to drink more water.”
“Oh.”
Sookhyun nods, looking over when Suhwan moves again and brings the water bottle closer to them. He laughs at his friend. He’s so quiet, unassuming, but he can also be caring when he isn’t in a dazed state or concentrating on making himself a better performer. Sookhyun loves his friends, s, and he openly shows it with arms flinging out to wrap themselves around Suhwan’s waist, surprising him into making some sort of weird noise in shock.
“Hey,” Seungheon calls, both of them looking over to see him bringing in some of the food with Shinsuke, “Our lunch is here. Let’s eat.” But Sookhyun doesn’t want to move, too tired and lazy thinking about everything else than stuffing his face full of food. “Come on, nong-Hyun. Fill your stomach too. Luk-Su, drag him over here.”
Hyemi is busy sorting out the food when Suhwan manages to pick up Sookhyun, obeying Seungheon’s words, and they all happen to see Suhwan smile when Sookhyun whines against him. He doesn’t even move, and it makes them laugh even more at how amusing the situation looks.
“Oh,” Seungheon says, sounding distracted with the food, “I think your older brother is here too, luk-Su. He’s talking to Minkyung though in the other room.”
That catches Suhwan’s attention, looking up when he’s about to gently lay Sookhyun on the floor. He looks from Seungheon to the opened doorway, but he can’t hear his brother’s voice. “Really?” he quietly asks, looking down to Sookhyun’s lap when the other tugs on his arm.
Seungheon hums his response, staring hard at the food in front of him trying to remember what he actually ordered. “Yeah, said something about finally having time to see this place. He sounds like a nice guy. I didn’t even know you had a brother.”
“Yeah,” Sookhyun answers for him, watching as Suhwan straightens up before walking away from them to find his brother, “He’s around the same age as you.”
Suhwan doesn’t hear anything else after that, quickly finding his sibling in the next room talking with Minkyung who gives him a small smile when she sees him. It makes Su-in turn around after finishing his sentence. His eyes light up when their gazes meet and Suhwan waves, a bit absentmindedly. “Hi, Soo-hana.”
“Hey, Soo-dul,” Su-in laughs out, walking over to him to bring him in for a hug. “I decided to stop by and see how you were doing.”
“And I was telling him that you were doing fine,” Minkyung adds in, giving them a reassuring look, “We’re taking good care of them.”
Suhwan gives her a short, curious look before he’s beaming at his brother, smile infinitely bright, “I’m okay, hyung. I’m having fun.” He laughs when Su-in ruffles his hair. “They take good care of me. Why not?”
Minkyung gives him a soft smile before Sookhyun is peeking his head around the doorframe, trying to gauge the current situation. He’s already met Su-in a couple of times before and, even though he’s nice, he’s always somehow a little bit intimidated by him. Maybe it’s because he’s becoming a lawyer and that’s why, but his presence is strong. Both Minkyung and Su-in watch him curiously before Sookhyun says, eyes wide towards the elder, “Hi, hyung. We’re about to eat lunch.”
“Hey, Sookhyun,” Su-in says, nodding in greeting, “How are you?”
The small smile Sookhyun gives him is bashful, nodding his head in return. “I’m good, hyung.” He turns to look at Suhwan who gives him a small smile back. “May we eat?”
That makes Su-in laugh, releasing Suhwan and gently pushing him in the direction back out the door. “Go on. I’ll see you later, Suhwan.”
The two give him another set of waves and grateful smiles before they leave the room, Sookhyun linking his arm with Suhwan’s, and it’s then that they notice Jaesun is nowhere in sight. The rest are already eating, but they don’t pay his absence any mind, too focused on getting some sort of food with questionable nutritional value in their stomachs.
Sitting in The Seoul’s Café is a lot more soothing than Jaesun thought. He’s in the back corner, away from the windows and prying eyes, when he takes out his cell phone and puts his ear buds in. He smiles when he sees Sookhyun’s sister, giving him a strange look, but gestures that he wants the house special drink before calling his CEO.
It takes calling her twice before she answers. “Hello?” She’s so pretty even without makeup on.
Jaesun smiles, slightly bowing his head as a greeting, “Hello.”
“I’m sorry,” she says, obviously busy with doing something else if the crowd and outside scenery weren’t enough of a clue that she wasn’t in town. “I did want you to call me when you had your break though.”
“Yes,” Jaesun answers, waiting for her to say what she needed to say. He knows he has less than an hour left of his break, but when Soojin brings him the house special Soul Mate and a sandwich to go with it, he thinks he has more than enough time. He gives her a smile of gratitude.
“Yes, Jaesun,” his CEO breathes out, finally going somewhere where it’s just the two of them. “I wanted to see how things are going. Are Min and Jiwool enjoying their little trip?”
Jaesun laughs at the question, not receiving anything from his friends since they first boarded the plane. “Assuming no messages are a good thing, then I think they’re enjoying their trip.”
The CEO laughs in return, “That’s good,” before a simple smile rests on her face, “I heard her answer from this morning from Jiho.” Jaesun frowns at the reminder. He thought any doubts with Min were done. “Do you believe her?”
“Of course I do,” Jaesun answers, “Her friendship with him may run deep, but she knows where her priorities lie. She knows we’re as important to her as–”
“If she gets caught into a scandal with him, would all of you be able to handle the backlash?”
Jaesun quiets at the question, staring at her intently before looking down to his sandwich and picking at it. His stomach is growling, but he’s learned a long time ago that he can’t really feel hunger anymore, like the rest of s. It’s just a good thing that their managers and their own stomachs remind them to eat when it’s needed.
“We’ve protected all of you to the best of our abilities,” she continues on, “But once you debut, you will never have the privacy you once had. You will be scrutinized from day one. Reporters and journalists will dig into each of your backgrounds, find something to hold against you, until you have proven your worth. None of you have had questionable backgrounds that we’ve been able to find ourselves, like Taeyeong from SM Entertainment’s rookie group, but we feel the need to warn you that it will get tough. It will cause you to fight and it will strain your relationships.”
He stays quiet at her warnings, leaning his phone against his mug so he can pick up his sandwich when she tells him to eat.
“We need to know that we’ve chosen the best leaders for your group.” She pauses, and he looks back at her, knowing he looks a mess between vulnerable and guarded. “We’re going to follow this through,” she says, “Your contracts are made for five years. It’s considerably less than most groups out there, but each renewal will be for three years. The other CEO and I have already discussed this, and we’re going to allow Min to pursue her own career in China as well, if she desires. We will allow her to open up her own studio and schedule her own events.”
“What?” Jaesun breathes, swallowing quickly to stare at her in wonder, “You’re going to allow what?”
“This way,” she continues, “It’ll be easier to pave Night Circus’ path into China. You can expand through her.”
“Wait,” Jaesun gasps out, trying not to choke on his meal. “Wait, I’m sorry. Just let me–” He winces when his drink burns his throat, forgetting that the house special is actually a special blend of coffee and he didn’t let it sit long enough for it to cool. “When are you going to give her the studio?”
The CEO gives him a small smile. “A year from now.”
“And you’re willing to use her to expand our popularity?”
“We’re aiming for her to be Beijing’s Star.”
The mention of Min’s tarot card throws him for a loop, leaning back against his chair in shock. He doesn’t know what to think. How much are they going to work her once they debut? “What about the others?” he asks, “What plans do you have for the rest of us?”
“Jiwool and Seungheon are going to be the faces of Night Circus while Sookhyun will be the visual. The first two are The Sun and The Fool – they will do a variety of activities and will travel just as much as Min in the future. Sookhyun is the youngest but we’re already petitioning him to be on those romantic variety shows.”
Jaesun frowns at the information but nods, continuing to eat his sandwich.
“Hyemi and Suhwan are The Emperor and The Strength. They will be the hidden power of Night Circus. They will perform solo and may appear on those talent singing and rapping shows like Show Me the Money.”
That catches Jaesun off-guard, only because he doesn’t know if Suhwan will be capable of going on shows by himself. He’s still more reserved than the rest of them, still isn’t speaking as much as he should, and that worries Jaesun.
“You’re The Magician from England,” she finalizes, “You’re going to appear everywhere, pop up when the viewers least expect it.”
Jaesun stares at her. How much are they going to work them?
“It’s going to seem like a lot,” she says, giving him a sympathetic look, “But we know you can handle it. It’s going to be fun once you start going.” She gives him a smile. “We have to cut our conversation short. I need you to fill in Min when she comes back tonight.” Her smile is brighter. “It’s exciting being an idol. You’ve already trained yourself to be used to sleepless nights. Adding events and schedules shouldn’t be a big deal.”
When they hang up, Jaesun stares back down at his sandwich. There are messages from Hyemi and Seungheon on his phone, but he doesn’t know what to think. Obviously, he can’t tell the rest of the members yet without telling Min of their CEOs’ plans. He bites his lip when Soojin comes back up to him and asks him if he needs anything else. “And how’s Cookie doing?”
Jaesun smiles at her nickname for her little brother, asking for a glass of water as well. “He’s doing amazing.” He can see she wants to talk longer, but there are more customers entering the café and he gives her a lopsided smile when she groans at the rush that’s about to start. “I’ll tell him you asked about him.”
“Thanks,” Soojin says, going back to her job.
Finishing off his sandwich, Jaesun continues to sit there, staring at his phone where s are chatting with each other without his, Min’s, and Jiwool’s responses, and wonders why they haven’t resumed practice yet. But then he looks up and sees Soojin working all throughout her café and then he’s lost in his thoughts.
He could’ve had a normal job like this. He could’ve worked in a café full-time or worked at one of the many universities in Seoul. He could’ve had a full-night’s rest before going to a nine to five job at an office instead of staying up all day from eight to four in the morning, only averaging three hours of sleep a night.
But when he starts getting a call from Min, instantly hearing her ringtone of EXO’s “The Star,” he shakes the thoughts from his head, gathering his things before getting up to personally pay Soojin for the items he bought and quickly heading out the door. He answers the second time she calls. “Hey, Minnie.”
“Hey.” She sounds breathless, but he can hear the smile in her voice. “It’s so awesome here.”
They could’ve all had different lives, but then they wouldn’t have met each other.
Jaesun laughs as he avoids running into people on the streets. “Tell me all about it.”
Next to her, Min isn’t as affected, already having done this for a couple of months, and she calls Lao Gao last minute to get backstage access and tickets to Lu Han’s Reloaded concert. Jiwool looks over curiously when she laughs, Lao Gao telling her that he’s not going to tell Lu Han anything because he’s currently being a nervous wreck and doesn’t need more things on his mind. It makes her smile, but not before Min is hailing a cab and trying to accurately tell the driver where to go.
Jiwool jumps when they suddenly appear in front of a crowded street and Min is tugging on her hand. “Are you okay?” Min is staring at her in concern, but her own eyes are starting to redden, probably because her contacts are drying out from exhaustion and sleeping on the plane as well. “Are you still sleepy?”
Jiwool shakes her head, trying to shake herself out of her little daze. She didn’t know she dozed off. “I’m fine,” she says, smiling at her as they grab their backpacks, “That nap on the plane kinda threw me off.”
The confused expression on Min’s face makes her laugh. “Threw you off?” Even though she’s been living in Korea for a few years now, she still doesn’t know some of the slang phrases in Korean.
“I’m just a little off,” Jiwool explains, hands trying to gesture what she means. She doesn’t really know how to explain it though. “I’ll be okay–”
They don’t expect to see the amount of fans present at the concert venue when they turn the corner. Even for a mini-concert, the attendance is amazing and Min and Jiwool are shocked still for a moment because of it. There are fans with cameras and other girls squealing and talking excitedly at the prospect of seeing Lu Han up close and for something so very special to all of them, and it catches Min off-guard.
She stares at all the girls, seeing some of them with her friend’s special LH7 logo on white plastic bags, and watches as some takes Reloaded shirts out that she’s heard Lu Han designed by himself. She peeks over some of their shoulders curiously, hearing how they know Lu Han will be ‘so handsome’ and ‘wonder what his new song will be.’ She looks over when Jiwool tugs her along this time.
“Where do we go?” she whispers, looking around confused. Min is confused too, not because she doesn’t know where to go, but simply by the amount of how many people are speaking Chinese at once. They’re speaking so fast too. How long has she stayed in Korea now? “Min.”
“Right,” Min whispers in return, trying to keep her voice low. She looks around for the side entrance, where Lao Gao told her he showed the guards hers and Jiwool’s pictures, and hesitates when she sees a tall man in sunglasses standing there. She feels Jiwool bump into her but doesn’t take another step until the man tilts his head forward, indicating that he does recognize them. “Okay,” she says, “Stay close to me.” She has no idea what it’s like backstage at an event like this. To be honest, she doesn’t really expect what she sees.
There are people walking about, some with clipboards and some simply going about their businesses, and Min is momentarily stunned again by how normal it looks until she quickly shakes herself out of it and walks down the halls until she can hear people calling Lao Gao’s name.
The man really doesn’t get enough credit, helping Lu Han manage his schedules and care for him like a true brother and even mother, and it makes Min feel something strong for him. She thinks his and Lu Han’s bond is amazing and, even after he left China to pursue a career in South Korea, they still managed to stay friends and he was always there waiting for him to come back and see him again.
She smiles when she stops at the doorway and sees Lao Gao standing next to it talking to what looks like the event coordinator. Surprisingly, there aren’t many people in the room, a few scary looking men with a stylist and makeup artist, and Min feels her heart clench when she sees Lu Han sitting in the lone chair, eyes closed but quietly talking to the lady doing his makeup.
Lao Gao catches her gaze and gives her a small smile, telling the coordinator they may be a few minutes late, before gesturing him away and ushering her and Jiwool in. The door is closed behind them instantly after the scary men leave and Lu Han immediately opens an eye at the noise. “Lao Gao, why–”
“You have visitors,” Lao Gao interrupts, voice hinting his smile, “Are you almost done with his makeup?”
“Give me two minutes,” the makeup artist says, giving Min and Jiwool curious looks, before returning to her task at hand. She swats at Lu Han to close his eye again but he won’t stop staring at them through the mirror.
Min laughs at his bewildered look, staying next to Lao Gao and Jiwool just to be safe. She doesn’t know what will happen in the future if word gets out her and Lu Han are actually close. “Close your eye, Lu. Let her finish.”
It’s only then that Lu Han closes his eye, Jiwool staring at them in awe, and Min doesn’t hold her back when she wanders over to them to watch the makeup artist up close. Her Mandarin is basic, but she knows what she wants to say when she tells the artist that her work is good. She can tell that the other knows she’s foreign, but she doesn’t say anything. She quickly finishes up her work with last-minute touches before patting Lu Han’s shoulder and grabbing the stylist to leave the room.
“What are you doing here, Jiwool?” Lu Han questions first, opening his eyes and watching Min in the corner of the room talking to Lao Gao. “I heard that you and Min are actually friends. I didn’t know you’d be here.”
“Our trip was a surprise,” Jiwool answers, smiling at him, “Unnie didn’t know she was coming back either.”
The way Lu Han stares at her next has her fidgeting, taking a step back when he gets up from his chair. He looks thoughtful, pensive. He knows that she dated Junmyeon back when they were all SM trainees. “Where are you two training?” he finally asks, Jiwool’s eyes widening in surprise at the question. “You two have to be training somewhere.”
Jiwool doesn’t know what to say, so she does the only thing that comes to mind. “Unnie!” she calls out, rushing over to Min and clinging onto her from behind. “Lu Han is being mean!”
“What?!” Lu Han immediately calls back, quickly following after her and pulling Min from her grasp. “I was not! I was simply asking a question!”
Lao Gao sighs in defeat as he goes to sit on the couch in the room, grabbing a notebook and flipping through it. “You didn’t tell me Jiwool is like you, Lu.”
“We’re not alike!” Lu Han shouts back, frowning, but Min doesn’t understand what’s going on. Since when did Lu Han and Jiwool know each other? She gasps when she’s pulled into a hug, her arms instinctively reaching up to latch around Lu Han’s neck. “You didn’t tell me you were coming.”
Min laughs as he picks her up from the ground, tightening their hold on each other before he gently drops her back. “I didn’t know I was coming either.” She feels a tug to the back of her shirt and she turns to see Jiwool pouting at her, but all it does is make her roll her eyes. “Jiwool, please.”
“Fine,” Jiwool mutters, not liking Min’s attention moving on to Lu Han, before going over to sit next to Lao Gao. Whatever. She doesn’t even know what to say to the man as she watches Min and Lu Han talk to each other, and she’s surprised when Lao Gao starts talking to her in English first.
“Lu Han told me you two met at SM Entertainment,” Lao Gao quietly says, “You were in the same dance class as Yixing.”
“Yeah,” Jiwool murmurs, staring at him curiously, “How did you learn English?”
Lao Gao shrugs. “School.”
Jiwool jumps in shock when her phone rings. ‘Beautiful’ starts playing and they all look at her with curious eyes. But Min’s gaze shifts to one of warning and Jiwool quickly silences the EXO song before answering it. Even though Lu Han and EXO didn’t end as badly as Yifan and EXO, they still don’t know the strain it put on any of them. “Hello?”
“Jiwool,” Junmyeon softly says, “Can we talk?”
Jiwool is about to say ‘no, we can’t talk right now,’ but she can’t come up with any other excuse other than Lao Gao staring at her almost pleading that she’ll continue talking to drown out Min and Lu Han now talking happily at the other side of the room again. She doesn’t know what all that is about, but when she looks and sees Min reaching up to fix Lu Han’s hair, she understands. Why is Junmyeon so stupid? “Yeah,” she mutters, frowning at the ground, “We can talk about how you’ve been flirting with all these girls.”
“I haven’t been flirting with them!” Junmyeon protests quickly.
“You called Soojung the prettiest in the world!” Jiwool shouts back, stare angry as Lao Gao jumps next to her at the sudden outburst. Lu Han and Min are staring at her as well, Min giving her a worried look and already making her way to her, but she continues on anyways. “How can you call another girl that when you’ve been trying to win me back all this time? Are you just playing with me?!”
“Jiwool,” Junmyeon hastily says, sounded winded all of a sudden, “Jiwool, you know we’re just friends. We’ve known each other almost as long as I’ve known you–”
“So since I’m gone from SM and you’ve become some big-hit celebrity, it’s okay for you to flirt around like this?!”
“No! You know I only have eyes for you–”
Jiwool frowns, as she gets up from the couch right when Min gets to her and sidesteps her to walk away. “And I’m sure you’ve said that line only to me,” she grits out, “You’ve also been flirting with Wendy or whatever her name is and Sooyeon too!”
“Jessica hasn’t even been here since a year ago!” Junmyeon shouts, “I haven’t been flirting with any of them, Jiwool. I’m just trying to be friendly with them.” His voice is considerably calmer as Jiwool keeps dodging Min’s attempts. “I can’t stop being friends with someone only because they’re female. I still love you, Jiwool. That hasn’t stopped.”
That makes Jiwool’s heart stop, always weak to Junmyeon, and she whines when Min finally wrestles the phone out of her grasp. “Unnie–”
“You know I don’t like you,” Min easily states to the other, hearing Junmyeon’s instant, annoyed groan, “But you need to treat Jiwool right if you want her to love you right.”
There’s a weird sound between a groan and a laugh, but Min can’t help it. She can get pretty punny if she wants to too. “I swear we could be twins or something,” Junmyeon says in return, their personalities strangely similar sometimes, “But I’ve been trying. You should know how I feel. Lu Han has always had a lot of female friends and you’ve always seemed to have more male friends than female–”
Min furrows her brows at the accusation. “How did you know–”
“Jiwool had slipped loose some things,” Junmyeon murmurs, “I just– I’m going to keep trying. I really do love her, Min. Soojung and I have just been friends for so long. Jongin and Soojung are like my little brother and sister. We’ve been together since we all came into SM.”
Min frowns at the answer, but it makes sense. She groans lightly, looking to Lu Han who’s giving her a lopsided, uncertain smile. “I still don’t like you. Call her back later,” she says before hanging up the phone, looking over to Jiwool to see her still looking down. She frowns, going up to her and bringing her in for a hug. “Are you going to be okay?”
The way Jiwool clings onto her when a staff member knocks on the door to tell them Lu Han is going on in ten minutes makes Min wish she can make it all better. Where’s Chanyeol to stop Junmyeon from calling so soon? She looks over to Lu Han again, finally understanding how he and Jiwool are connected, and he gives her another, albeit reassuring, small smile before taking his other set of clothing out of the room to get ready for his concert.
It’s only them and Lao Gao left, the man looking conflicted where he should go, and he eventually tells Min to tell whoever goes into the room that they’re personal friends of his, that he’ll cover for Lu Han, and Min really wonders where Lu Han’s managed to find someone as amazing as Lao Gao and how persistent Junmyeon is going to be for this relationship with Jiwool.
Performing with a hand microphone has never been a problem for Hyemi – she’s been performing with them ever since her high school days in the underground scene – but for some reason, it’s been a problem the whole day as she narrowly misses hitting Jaesun in the shoulder again.
She doesn’t even understand it, glancing at Jaesun who doesn’t acknowledge her, and she curses when she almost misses her next line. She hurries to get back to the routine, hearing Minseok’s commentary over the music, and she doesn’t want to admit she actually needs a break to help her get used to this.
It’s only after they repeat it two more times that Minseok finally lowers the music, all of them panting and trying to keep themselves standing. It’s definitely harder to perform this song with hand microphones, the objects getting in the way of flipping and jumping, but they need to be able to prove they can do this.
Hyemi frowns when Minseok walks out of the room as the other trainees sit around or dance to their own music in their phones in the corners of the room. There aren’t even that many new trainees, their CEOs have been too busy with their own schedules to scout out any more, and Hyemi wonders if they’re even going to get any new ones after they debut. They should though, considering the public will finally know about them and this company. She frowns when Jaesun drops to a knee to catch his breath. Min and Jiwool aren’t even here to practice with the hand microphones. Why are they doing this now without them?
“I don’t think I can perform with a hand mic,” Jaesun breathes out, his knuckles turning white around his microphone, “I can’t do the flips and hold onto this at the same time.”
“Even doing Jiwool’s parts is tough with one,” Seungheon mutters, looking over to Jaesun and giving him a lazy smile, “I wonder how much she’s worked out to keep this performance up.”
That makes Jaesun laugh, still breathless, before collapsing onto his instead. It makes Hyemi smile, going over to lean against the wall and see Suhwan already lying facedown on the ground. She frowns when all he does is lie there, arms and legs spread, but she breathes a sigh of relief when Sookhyun walks over to gently tilt the man’s head so he can breathe properly again.
“It’s a lot,” Suhwan simply says, voice barely heard above the low music. The way it sounds like he trails off in the end makes the rest think he’s going to say more, but he doesn’t. It eventually makes them laugh, Suhwan’s face turning red at their sudden happiness before turning his head the other way so he doesn’t see them.
“Is it different practicing with only four of you?” Shinsuke suddenly asks, walking up to them and giving them towels and more water bottles. It’s amazing how quickly they run through packs of bottles. “Night Circus was almost going to be a four-membered group.”
Hyemi remembers that. She was never in the original lineup, but considering how many changes Circus had to go through, she’s surprised any of the originals had stayed. She looks to Jaesun when he answers, everybody in the company knowing he was the first scouted trainee of KB Entertainment.
“I’m pretty sure this wouldn’t have been our debut song if we were a four-membered group,” Jaesun says, shifting his gaze to Hyemi and giving her a smile. “We only have this song because of Hyemi.”
Hyemi shrugs at the information, slowly falling to the ground until she’s sitting against the mirrored wall. Songwriting and composing are her hobbies. She enjoys it and she takes pride in the fact their first debut song is actually written by her. “You probably would’ve had a different sound.”
“That’s probably true,” Jaesun replies, sighing as he gulps half the water down. It’s distracting how some of the water spills from his lips and Hyemi’s face scrunches in disgust when she sees it, but she understands how thirsty one can get from practices like these. “We probably wouldn’t have intense choreography with it too.”
“I wonder what kind of dances we would have then,” Seungheon murmurs in thought, still standing in the middle of the room. “We could’ve had paired dances, maybe even like Troublemaker. I would take Min and you would take Jiwool,” he says to Jaesun with a shrug, “It might’ve worked.”
Jaesun sighs. “Probably not. What all can we do with four members? If we’re a circus group, I don’t think we could function with only four acts.”
“That’s true,” Seungheon mutters, giving him a look, “How many groups have four members in it anyways? It’s like an odd number. Even though, it’s not.”
Hyemi rolls her eyes at his comment, already used to his off-the-wall thoughts, but it catches Suhwan and Sookhyun’s attentions, Shinsuke already sitting down next to Jaesun and listening intently to the conversation as well. They list off miss A, CNBLUE, 2NE1, and M.I.B.
“What about Red Velvet though?” Shinsuke asks, looking between the two men discussing various groups.
“Oh, that’s right,” Jaesun mutters, not really knowing what went on there, “They originally had four but then added a fifth member this year? I don’t know about all that. Jiwool’s the SM expert.”
“But wait,” Seungheon says, waving his hand up and down to get their attentions, “Wonder Girls had five but went down to four recently too.”
“But then doesn’t that make everything equal?” Sookhyun questions, looking confused with the entire conversation. “Because one group went down to four members while another went up to five?”
Shinsuke frowns, Suhwan pouting trying to understand the logic. “What are you equaling though? They’re just talking about four-membered groups.”
Hyemi heaves a deep sigh when she eyes the girls in the corner. She could always leave the group to talk to them, but she doesn’t even know if she gets along with them in the first place. She hasn’t really talked much to them except to exchange polite greetings. She doesn’t even see Kisumi there – maybe she’s practicing in the recording room again.
It’s when the guys start talking about five-membered groups that Hyemi almost wishes Min and Jiwool were back with her to somehow level the battlefield. Their personalities don’t clash as much and they’re already so used to each other that they can almost look over each other’s flaws. Somewhat. She’s not exactly sure anymore.
“Okay,” Minseok calls out, walking back into the room with his hair all over the place, obviously trying to tame it when all it’s doing is making it worse. “Let’s go again! Then let’s practice some of the older, more fun stuff and the Chinese version until lunch time!” He holds out a hand towards Shinsuke as he gets up, hi-fiving the other man. “Stay until then. Let’s go through that other routine too.”
Shinsuke nods, bright smile on his face. It’s been a while since they danced the routine they put on the Internet, and Hyemi slightly frowns at the reminder. They all grab their microphones again and Hyemi groans when Jaesun taps her on the back with his.
“Rap your version of the intro.”
Hyemi smirks at him through the mirrors. She can’t say no to that.
(Maybe she’ll put her own video on the Internet too.)
Their lunch break comes at an odd but usual time. It’s spent lying around the practice room mentally and physically exhausted, and Seungheon bribes Shinsuke and the other trainees to go out and get their lunches for them – “I guess it’s my responsibility today since Min is gone.”
Sookhyun laughs at the eldest member’s mumbling, collapsing on the ground right when he does, and groans when he hits the back of his head against the wood floor. He doesn’t understand why it feels like they’re practicing harder today than usual. It should be the same as the past few days – vocal practice followed by rap then dancing and then a combination of all three – but they’ve been doing this non-stop since Min and Jiwool left. They haven’t even practiced interviews or memorized lines for introductions yet, or even studied English or Chinese or – “Oh no!” he exclaims, sitting up abruptly, only to groan as his head swims, a wave of dizziness overwhelming him. “Nevermind,” he moans, slowly lying back down and closing his eyes.
He had a bunch of schoolwork he still needed to complete, considering he’s missed quite a few days already, but he hasn’t even had time to get near his book bag. It’s sitting in the corner of the room collecting dust and he turns his head slowly to stare at it forlornly. Min isn’t even here to help him. He frowns when a pair of feet blocks his view of his lonely backpack but jerks up into a sitting position when he recognizes who those feet belong to and when a sweater is dropped by his head. And groans again when his head swims, falling back to lie down on the ground.
He’s surprised by the softness of the sweater under his head, eyes closing to brace himself for the impact and to stabilize his vision, and can’t help but flinch when he feels Hyunchul reaching out to tilt his head up and then the edge of a bottle nudging at his lips. He opens an eye to see what he’s doing before taking in all the water he can drink, feeling the cool, refreshing liquid rushing down his dry throat.
“You have to stay hydrated,” Hyunchul mutters, pulling the water away for a few minutes before tilting some more to let him drink, “Or you’re going to feel dizzy and weak.” Sookhyun thinks he has a beautiful heart. “You were a trainee for five years before this. Why haven’t you remembered to stay hydrated? It’s one of the essentials into being a top entertainer.”
Sookhyun groans at the scolding, tilting his head away from the water bottle to lie back down on the ground in peace. “I know, hyung,” he mumbles, wondering whose sweater he’s even lying on, “You don’t have to tell me this every time.” He yelps when Hyunchul suddenly nudges his leg with his foot before walking away.
“Then who’s going to tell you when you forget?”
Sookhyun frowns at the question but returns to staring at his backpack in the corner in the room, the water bottle almost blocking his vision of it. He can’t remember how much homework he needs to do and how much he needs to make up. Min usually helps him with all of that, but she’s not here. Maybe Seungheon could help him, considering he’s the only other one who completed university besides Min, but he looks busy talking with Hyemi.
By the looks of it, they’re talking about rapping, Seungheon adding unnecessary gestures and Hyemi slapping his arms to make him stop. He didn’t know they were both from the underground scene, having discovered that literally last week, and they actually frequented one of the same clubs together. They just never talked or stayed for each other’s performances, so they never really even knew each other then. He flinches when he feels a poke in his side.
“Are you okay?” Suhwan questions quietly, Sookhyun looking to his other side and seeing Suhwan trying to wipe the sweat from his face with how they were taught in case they had makeup on. He’s sitting next to him, cross-legged, and Sookhyun really didn’t hear him coming closer. He looks genuinely concerned, and Sookhyun smiles at him, moving over to rest on his leg.
“I’m okay,” he says, shifting when Suhwan moves so they’re both comfortable. “I just needed to drink more water.”
“Oh.”
Sookhyun nods, looking over when Suhwan moves again and brings the water bottle closer to them. He laughs at his friend. He’s so quiet, unassuming, but he can also be caring when he isn’t in a dazed state or concentrating on making himself a better performer. Sookhyun loves his friends, s, and he openly shows it with arms flinging out to wrap themselves around Suhwan’s waist, surprising him into making some sort of weird noise in shock.
“Hey,” Seungheon calls, both of them looking over to see him bringing in some of the food with Shinsuke, “Our lunch is here. Let’s eat.” But Sookhyun doesn’t want to move, too tired and lazy thinking about everything else than stuffing his face full of food. “Come on, nong-Hyun. Fill your stomach too. Luk-Su, drag him over here.”
Hyemi is busy sorting out the food when Suhwan manages to pick up Sookhyun, obeying Seungheon’s words, and they all happen to see Suhwan smile when Sookhyun whines against him. He doesn’t even move, and it makes them laugh even more at how amusing the situation looks.
“Oh,” Seungheon says, sounding distracted with the food, “I think your older brother is here too, luk-Su. He’s talking to Minkyung though in the other room.”
That catches Suhwan’s attention, looking up when he’s about to gently lay Sookhyun on the floor. He looks from Seungheon to the opened doorway, but he can’t hear his brother’s voice. “Really?” he quietly asks, looking down to Sookhyun’s lap when the other tugs on his arm.
Seungheon hums his response, staring hard at the food in front of him trying to remember what he actually ordered. “Yeah, said something about finally having time to see this place. He sounds like a nice guy. I didn’t even know you had a brother.”
“Yeah,” Sookhyun answers for him, watching as Suhwan straightens up before walking away from them to find his brother, “He’s around the same age as you.”
Suhwan doesn’t hear anything else after that, quickly finding his sibling in the next room talking with Minkyung who gives him a small smile when she sees him. It makes Su-in turn around after finishing his sentence. His eyes light up when their gazes meet and Suhwan waves, a bit absentmindedly. “Hi, Soo-hana.”
“Hey, Soo-dul,” Su-in laughs out, walking over to him to bring him in for a hug. “I decided to stop by and see how you were doing.”
“And I was telling him that you were doing fine,” Minkyung adds in, giving them a reassuring look, “We’re taking good care of them.”
Suhwan gives her a short, curious look before he’s beaming at his brother, smile infinitely bright, “I’m okay, hyung. I’m having fun.” He laughs when Su-in ruffles his hair. “They take good care of me. Why not?”
Minkyung gives him a soft smile before Sookhyun is peeking his head around the doorframe, trying to gauge the current situation. He’s already met Su-in a couple of times before and, even though he’s nice, he’s always somehow a little bit intimidated by him. Maybe it’s because he’s becoming a lawyer and that’s why, but his presence is strong. Both Minkyung and Su-in watch him curiously before Sookhyun says, eyes wide towards the elder, “Hi, hyung. We’re about to eat lunch.”
“Hey, Sookhyun,” Su-in says, nodding in greeting, “How are you?”
The small smile Sookhyun gives him is bashful, nodding his head in return. “I’m good, hyung.” He turns to look at Suhwan who gives him a small smile back. “May we eat?”
That makes Su-in laugh, releasing Suhwan and gently pushing him in the direction back out the door. “Go on. I’ll see you later, Suhwan.”
The two give him another set of waves and grateful smiles before they leave the room, Sookhyun linking his arm with Suhwan’s, and it’s then that they notice Jaesun is nowhere in sight. The rest are already eating, but they don’t pay his absence any mind, too focused on getting some sort of food with questionable nutritional value in their stomachs.
Sitting in The Seoul’s Café is a lot more soothing than Jaesun thought. He’s in the back corner, away from the windows and prying eyes, when he takes out his cell phone and puts his ear buds in. He smiles when he sees Sookhyun’s sister, giving him a strange look, but gestures that he wants the house special drink before calling his CEO.
It takes calling her twice before she answers. “Hello?” She’s so pretty even without makeup on.
Jaesun smiles, slightly bowing his head as a greeting, “Hello.”
“I’m sorry,” she says, obviously busy with doing something else if the crowd and outside scenery weren’t enough of a clue that she wasn’t in town. “I did want you to call me when you had your break though.”
“Yes,” Jaesun answers, waiting for her to say what she needed to say. He knows he has less than an hour left of his break, but when Soojin brings him the house special Soul Mate and a sandwich to go with it, he thinks he has more than enough time. He gives her a smile of gratitude.
“Yes, Jaesun,” his CEO breathes out, finally going somewhere where it’s just the two of them. “I wanted to see how things are going. Are Min and Jiwool enjoying their little trip?”
Jaesun laughs at the question, not receiving anything from his friends since they first boarded the plane. “Assuming no messages are a good thing, then I think they’re enjoying their trip.”
The CEO laughs in return, “That’s good,” before a simple smile rests on her face, “I heard her answer from this morning from Jiho.” Jaesun frowns at the reminder. He thought any doubts with Min were done. “Do you believe her?”
“Of course I do,” Jaesun answers, “Her friendship with him may run deep, but she knows where her priorities lie. She knows we’re as important to her as–”
“If she gets caught into a scandal with him, would all of you be able to handle the backlash?”
Jaesun quiets at the question, staring at her intently before looking down to his sandwich and picking at it. His stomach is growling, but he’s learned a long time ago that he can’t really feel hunger anymore, like the rest of s. It’s just a good thing that their managers and their own stomachs remind them to eat when it’s needed.
“We’ve protected all of you to the best of our abilities,” she continues on, “But once you debut, you will never have the privacy you once had. You will be scrutinized from day one. Reporters and journalists will dig into each of your backgrounds, find something to hold against you, until you have proven your worth. None of you have had questionable backgrounds that we’ve been able to find ourselves, like Taeyeong from SM Entertainment’s rookie group, but we feel the need to warn you that it will get tough. It will cause you to fight and it will strain your relationships.”
He stays quiet at her warnings, leaning his phone against his mug so he can pick up his sandwich when she tells him to eat.
“We need to know that we’ve chosen the best leaders for your group.” She pauses, and he looks back at her, knowing he looks a mess between vulnerable and guarded. “We’re going to follow this through,” she says, “Your contracts are made for five years. It’s considerably less than most groups out there, but each renewal will be for three years. The other CEO and I have already discussed this, and we’re going to allow Min to pursue her own career in China as well, if she desires. We will allow her to open up her own studio and schedule her own events.”
“What?” Jaesun breathes, swallowing quickly to stare at her in wonder, “You’re going to allow what?”
“This way,” she continues, “It’ll be easier to pave Night Circus’ path into China. You can expand through her.”
“Wait,” Jaesun gasps out, trying not to choke on his meal. “Wait, I’m sorry. Just let me–” He winces when his drink burns his throat, forgetting that the house special is actually a special blend of coffee and he didn’t let it sit long enough for it to cool. “When are you going to give her the studio?”
The CEO gives him a small smile. “A year from now.”
“And you’re willing to use her to expand our popularity?”
“We’re aiming for her to be Beijing’s Star.”
The mention of Min’s tarot card throws him for a loop, leaning back against his chair in shock. He doesn’t know what to think. How much are they going to work her once they debut? “What about the others?” he asks, “What plans do you have for the rest of us?”
“Jiwool and Seungheon are going to be the faces of Night Circus while Sookhyun will be the visual. The first two are The Sun and The Fool – they will do a variety of activities and will travel just as much as Min in the future. Sookhyun is the youngest but we’re already petitioning him to be on those romantic variety shows.”
Jaesun frowns at the information but nods, continuing to eat his sandwich.
“Hyemi and Suhwan are The Emperor and The Strength. They will be the hidden power of Night Circus. They will perform solo and may appear on those talent singing and rapping shows like Show Me the Money.”
That catches Jaesun off-guard, only because he doesn’t know if Suhwan will be capable of going on shows by himself. He’s still more reserved than the rest of them, still isn’t speaking as much as he should, and that worries Jaesun.
“You’re The Magician from England,” she finalizes, “You’re going to appear everywhere, pop up when the viewers least expect it.”
Jaesun stares at her. How much are they going to work them?
“It’s going to seem like a lot,” she says, giving him a sympathetic look, “But we know you can handle it. It’s going to be fun once you start going.” She gives him a smile. “We have to cut our conversation short. I need you to fill in Min when she comes back tonight.” Her smile is brighter. “It’s exciting being an idol. You’ve already trained yourself to be used to sleepless nights. Adding events and schedules shouldn’t be a big deal.”
When they hang up, Jaesun stares back down at his sandwich. There are messages from Hyemi and Seungheon on his phone, but he doesn’t know what to think. Obviously, he can’t tell the rest of the members yet without telling Min of their CEOs’ plans. He bites his lip when Soojin comes back up to him and asks him if he needs anything else. “And how’s Cookie doing?”
Jaesun smiles at her nickname for her little brother, asking for a glass of water as well. “He’s doing amazing.” He can see she wants to talk longer, but there are more customers entering the café and he gives her a lopsided smile when she groans at the rush that’s about to start. “I’ll tell him you asked about him.”
“Thanks,” Soojin says, going back to her job.
Finishing off his sandwich, Jaesun continues to sit there, staring at his phone where s are chatting with each other without his, Min’s, and Jiwool’s responses, and wonders why they haven’t resumed practice yet. But then he looks up and sees Soojin working all throughout her café and then he’s lost in his thoughts.
He could’ve had a normal job like this. He could’ve worked in a café full-time or worked at one of the many universities in Seoul. He could’ve had a full-night’s rest before going to a nine to five job at an office instead of staying up all day from eight to four in the morning, only averaging three hours of sleep a night.
But when he starts getting a call from Min, instantly hearing her ringtone of EXO’s “The Star,” he shakes the thoughts from his head, gathering his things before getting up to personally pay Soojin for the items he bought and quickly heading out the door. He answers the second time she calls. “Hey, Minnie.”
“Hey.” She sounds breathless, but he can hear the smile in her voice. “It’s so awesome here.”
They could’ve all had different lives, but then they wouldn’t have met each other.
Jaesun laughs as he avoids running into people on the streets. “Tell me all about it.”
co-author's note: ONE MORE CHAPTER AND THEN IT'S THE DEBUT OMG I HAVE PLANS FOR THE CHAPTERS AFTER AND IT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME. as a side note: i hate work. i'm so stressed. pls include any idol friends you want in your apps ;u; hopefully the next chapter comes out soon cries
question of the day: how was everyone's halloween? i tried to get the debut chapter out by halloween, but life happened and i had my fifth quarter-life crisis but now i'm just stressed with work and ;; did you guys get a lot of candy? what did you dress up as???? hOW IS YOUR LIFE GOING LOVES?????? (pls ignore me i'm dyin luhan came out with promises and he's cute and the girl's cute and time and dying ok bye)
updated: november 04, 2015
question of the day: how was everyone's halloween? i tried to get the debut chapter out by halloween, but life happened and i had my fifth quarter-life crisis but now i'm just stressed with work and ;; did you guys get a lot of candy? what did you dress up as???? hOW IS YOUR LIFE GOING LOVES?????? (pls ignore me i'm dyin luhan came out with promises and he's cute and the girl's cute and time and dying ok bye)
updated: november 04, 2015
created by -catalyst
〈 ♞ 〉i swear i'm going to spam this entire story with new chapters by september/october! ( 1 aug 2017 )
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