Melonie

Walking inside the little coffee shop, I immediately noticed CEO Song’s expensive three-piece suit. Looking up from his newspaper in his hand, he greeted me with a warm smile on his handsome face. Standing he walked he walked the rest of the way to meet me. “Sorry for calling you out of the blue like that, you see I had some extra time, and I wanted to apologize for everything that’s happened thus far. Plus I thought about seeing how you were readjusting back to your old life in Korea.” He said friendly. I didn’t know why but my cheeks started to feel warm from his considerateness. “Thank you sajangnim, but you really didn’t have to take the time out of your busy schedule for something as trivial as that…”  I said sheepishly. “Nonsense, I brought some ice cold coffee’s to enjoy on this hot summer day.” Smiling at his generosity I followed him towards to table he reserved for us. Bowing slightly I took my seat. In all honestly I wasn’t much of a coffee drinker, but after coming from the summer weather outside, it did seem pretty refreshing at the moment…

Sitting down I noticed how he smoothly ed his outer suit jacket to take his seat. His clothing had always seemed to fit him so well every time I saw him. I could smell the light scent of his cologne, while he reached for his iced coffee to take a sip. Why did I always find myself so distracted when he came around? “So I heard you’re having a dance class right up the street from here. How’s that going?” He asked trying to start a light conversation. “It’s going really well actually. All my students were really happy to see me, and everyone seems to be trying their best with much enthusiasm…more so than usual.” I murmured the last part mainly to myself. “Why’s that?” He asked hearing what I said. I perked up thinking he hadn’t heard that. “We-well that’s b-because Min-Jun is actually a surprise guest attending my class today.” I said not meeting his eyes. Sajangnim chuckled. “Haha now I know what you meant earlier about everyone’s over enthusiasm. I’m surprised any of the women were able to pay attention long enough to learn anything with him there.” He said amused. “Believe me that class and I had a talk before I asked Min-Jun to enter the studio.” I said smiling to myself.

I was finally starting to feel more comfortable being around sajangnim, but every now and then when he’d suddenly look me in my eyes, I found myself shyly looking away. It wasn’t like being with manger Jung-Hwa and Hyuk-Shik. With them it felt like I was hanging/working with friends. Then there was Jun… “How is Mr. Drama King doing anyhow?” Sajangnim asked looking directly at me again. “H-he seems to be behaving for now, although he loves being the center of attention. I swear if he winks at another one of my female students again I’m kicking him out of my class.” I said annoyed. Sajangnim laughed. “That doesn’t seem to surprise me… He’s always been like that since his first debut. He loves getting reactions out of people.” He said. “Well if it reactions he wants, he’s defiantly getting it. He’d put just as much effort into dancing then he does flirting…” I said shaking my head.

“Well enough about Jun, I want to know more about how you’re settling in.” He asked curiously. I didn’t expect him to bring the conversation back to me. Honestly I thought this coffee break was about discussing Jun’s progress. I looked around thinking of my answer when I noticed a gentleman with a hat and sunglasses looking directly at me from a coffee table towards the back of the shop. When he saw me looking at him, he quickly glanced away. He almost looked familiar… “Do you like your housing accommodations?” Sajangnim asked bringing my attention back towards him. “Dea? (yes)” I asked not clear if I heard him correctly. “Your dorm, do you like it? I know it’s probably smaller than where you were living before. If you don’t like it I could move you somewhere bigger for the time being.” He offered kindly. “Huh, oh no, no, there’s no need for that. I’m actually used to living in smaller areas. When I was going to college back in Ohio, they didn’t really have the best dorm rooms. There was barely enough room to breathe let alone study. I like where I am now, it’s quite quant and comfortable. As long as I have a little bit of room to dance, then I’m absolutely ok with it.” I said smiling. “…You have a very beautiful smile Ms. Carter.” Sajangnim suddenly said out of the blue.

Loud coughs started coming from behind us. Sajangnim turned slightly around to see where the commotion was coming from, but quickly turned his attention towards me again. “I hope you don’t think of me as too forward. I rarely give out compliments, let alone have coffee breaks with co-workers, but it was simply an observation I noticed. I just want you to know I’m very thankful for all your help thus far_” “I’ve only been here for about a week though.” I said feeling my face go flush. “Even so…you’ve already started changing things around here. More than you know. Jun is almost a completely different person around you compared to all the other choreographers I’ve paired him up with. Hell I’m surprised he even came to your dance class today on one of his rare days off.” He explained. My eyes widened at this. I totally thought his manager switched up his schedule so that he could make room for today. I never even took into account that Jun would use any of his days off for me. Hell I thought he hated me! “That is certainly a surprise, but he’s still that same as ever. I doubt me making him be here today will change his attitude.” I said. “True…but it will also allow him to take a break, and take a step down from that high horse of his. Wasn’t that the point of why you asked him to come today, to grasp how hard you and others work every day in order to make him look good?” He asked. He hit the nail on the head with that one. I never realized how insightful sajangnim was. Maybe because I was too busy staring at his handsome face.

“Yea...I did want him to understand me some way, shape, or form. I just wanted him to realize how hard I work every day trying to make a name for myself, but then again after yesterday I’m not exactly dying to have a life like Min-Jun’s. Too many eyes are surrounding everything that he does, with too many schedules to uphold, and too many people to please all the time. I’m surprised he even has time at all to make music.” I said honestly. “If there’s ever any doubt about where he is, it’s almost always in the studio. He’s always cranking out new music, whether it for him, or for the other artists at StarInc. He’s an extremely hard worker for everything that he does, but he has this “I need to do everything by myself” type of mentality that has really distanced himself from everyone over the past couple of years…” He said almost sadly. Understanding quietly I nodded. “It seems that you really seem to care about Min-Jun even though you come off quite stern with him.” I said with a small smile. Sajangnim’s body jerked stiffly from my comment. “…I guess I do a little bit, but don’t tell him that he’ll think I’m going soft. Call it hard love or not I still meant by what I said though, if he doesn’t change his attitude in end then he’s going to have to find someone else to work for in this industry.” He said seriously.  

Before I could say anything else, loud squealing and picture flashes drew our attention towards the back of the café again. A group of young women were surrounding the table where all the coughing was coming from earlier. A deep voice was politely asking them not to bring attention towards him. Now everyone was focused on the ruckus going on in the back. “Oppa! Could you please sign this for me_” “Oppa what are you doing here? Are you waiting for someone?” One girl said. “Omo Omo I can’t believe Min-Jun is actually here, deabak!” The ladies were saying as they were surrounding him even more. I immediately stood wondering why the HELL he was here in the first place.

From the screeching of my chair Min-Jun’s eyes met mine. He looked utterly embarrassed trying to find a way out of the situation all together. “Ladies, Ladies calm down. I will sign and take all the selfies you want, but do you mind giving me a little bit of personal spa_” Interrupt by the sudden screaming coming from the front of the coffee shop, more people started piling inside to get a good look at Min-Jun. “This isn’t good…” I thought as I looked around the crowd of people now in the shop. “Idiot!” I heard sajangnim harshly whisper under his breath. Pulling out his cellphone he started dialing to make a call. “Sorry Ms. Carter, but I think our little break has come to an end.” He said while looking up at me apologetically. “No worries, I completely understand.” I said while glaring at Min-Jun. “What was he thinking coming in here where people were bound to recognize him!” I thought angrily. Looking back behind me sajangnim had already disappeared.

“Where were manager Jung-Hwa and Hyuk-Shik?!” I thought as I started pushing my way through the crowd to get to him. “Excuse me... Pardon me!” I said physically moving people out of my way. With the last three young women in front of me I politely asked them to move. “Excuse me ladies, do you mind moving just a tad_” “Not on your life!” “Yeah who do you think you are anyway?!” They replied rudely. Taking a deep breath I calmly remembered what happened the last time I spoke my mind. Looking around I saw a table and chairs right to my left. Pushing through the crowd once again, I hoisted myself on one of the chairs to get higher. “Min-Jun!” I said trying to shout over the crowd. “What are you doing get down!” Someone said form behind me. Ignoring them I yelled one last time. “Yay! Min-Jun!” Looking up he pulled off his hat and sunglasses to get a better view. He looked shocked, but somehow relieved to see me. I motioned towards to back door behind him to his right. Looking over his shoulder then back at he me he secretly nodded. “Get down! You’re no better than the rest of us!” One of the girls from earlier yelled. All of a sudden one of them reached out, and grabbed my arm yanking me down causing me to fall to the ground. The impact itself didn’t hurt, but the utter shock of what happened surprised me even more! “Melonie!!” I heard someone yell my name.

Picking myself up, I brushed myself off. By now the whole coffee shop had become quite. “Yay! You could have hurt her, what’s wrong with you?!” Min-Jun said angrily at the girl who pulled me down. My eyes widened at his outburst. “D-did he j-just defend me?!” I thought bewildered. Bumping his shoulder into one of the girls in front of him, he gracefully mad his way towards me. “Are you ok?” he asked concern in his voice. Trying to find my own voice I replied, “Yeah, I think so…” Looking up at him, his body was so tense, while his face remained neutral. “O-oppa, are you mad at me?” The same girl from earlier asked. Taking a deep breath he turned to face her. “No, oppa isn’t mad with you, but I am disappointed with your actions. You could have hurt this young woman without even thinking twice. You must know that I love all my fans just the same, and I know some of you can get overly excited sometimes, but the last thing I want to see is someone getting hurt because of me.” He explained to everyone in the crowd. “B-but sh-she’s just a crazy fan! She climbed on the table to get to you; I was only trying to protect you…” The girl said lying. Min-Jun neutral mask fell for a split second before he caught himself. Rolling his wide shoulders back, he turned to look at the young girl. “That crazy fan you’re talking about is actually my choreographer! She didn’t want me getting swarmed by the crowd…she was looking out for me.” He said this while staring right at me.

People gasped shocked by the reveal. The three young girls all turned three shades of red as they bowed their heads in shame. Turing towards me they bowed deeply before saying, “We’re so sorry, we had no idea. If we would have known_” I cut them off by raising my hand. “It’s fine…” I said, not even wanting to hear the half apology they were going to give me. “Move, excuse me step aside!” We heard voices behind suddenly coming towards us. All of a sudden two big muscular men, manager Jun-Hwa, and Hyuk-Shik were all by our sides. “It sure did take you guys long enough.” Min-Jun said underneath his breath. “I told you it was a bad idea to go off by yourself like this!” Jun-Hwa said pissed. “You think that’s important now? Help us get out of this mess.” Min-Jun said anxiously. Jung-Hwa nodded in agreement turning around, directing the crowd to move back. When the crowd was moving too slow, the bodyguards then stepped in around us making the crowd back themselves.

Everyone was still trying to get a good look at Min-Jun, but he put his sunglasses and hat back on refusing to look their way. I stumbled after him trying to keep up while being bumped into by the crowd. Suddenly Min-Jun’s hand reached out behind him to grab my left wrist to pull me towards him. I flinched not only because I was shocked, but also from the pain that shot up my arm to my wrist. “Ah!” I called out. Quickly pulling my arm back from his grasp, I stopped in my tracks. “Maybe I did hurt myself after all…” I thought. Min-Jun looked back stunned. “Are you sure you’re not hurt? Hurry let’s get out of here.” He said while taking more care to grab me underneath my left elbow instead, and not my wrist. Once we finally made it outside we were quickly rushed towards Min-Jun’s black van. Once inside and driving away, I finally released the breath that I was holding for so long. “That was freaking insane!” I thought to myself. Reaching up to brush my hair out of my face I flinched once again from the pain in my left arm. I hissed in pain; as I looked down to examine my arm.

Suddenly I felt Min-Jun’s eyes watching me from his side of the van. Straightening I cleared my throat to say, “Manager Jung-Hwa would you be so kind as to drop me back off at the dance studio please.” I said trying to keep a straight face. “Absolutely not! Drive us straight to the hospital hyung.” Min-Jun demanded. “I said I’m fine!” I interjected. “And I said we’re going to the hospital!” “You can’t just boss me around like this Min-Jun. I’ll have you know I’m a grown woman, and a little bruise on my arm isn’t going to put me out of commission!” I said angrily. “How could you know it’s just a damn bruise?! You fell from a f-ing table!” He said fuming. I flinched from the force of his words, but I still didn’t back down. “For your information it was a chair…None of this wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t of followed me to the damn coffee shop in the first place!” I yelled. Everyone in the car got quite and still.

“Why were you there anyway Min-Jun? To spy on me?!” I asked demanding an answer.  “Why the hell would I waste my time spying on someone like you? Maybe I simply wanted a cup of coffee.” He said suddenly ripping off his shades. “Oh cut the bull you knew I was there with CEO Song.” I said not believing a single word he said. Jun threw up his hands in anger and frustration. “Fine! Yes, I was there secretly, but how else am I supposed to feel when the two people who hold the future of my career in their hands meet up together without my knowledge? Huh, tell me how I’m not supposed to worry?!” He said looking me right in the eyes. “He did have a point…” I thought. “He only asked how I was doing Min-Jun. You barely came up in the conversation.” I said lying. His shoulders seemed to relax. “R-really? He didn’t ask about my behavior, or anything?” he asked surprised. “No, believe it or not, not everything is about you Min-Jun. Thanks to your groupie hounds I’m going to have a huge bruise on my left arm?” I said rolling my eyes at his pretentiousness. “That’s why we’re taking you to the hospital to get it look at Melonie… Step on it hyung.” He ordered his manager. “I told you I’m not going! Thanks to you I’m going to be late getting back to my class.” I said annoyed. “You still intend to dance with that type of injury?!” He asked incredulously. “What kind of question is that? Of course I intend to go back to finish my class, I’d be a foolish not to. Manager Jung-Hwa please take me back to the studio.” I asked once again. “You are one stubborn woman, you know that? Hyung don’t turn this car around or else...” He said menacingly. “There he goes bullying people again!” I thought angrily. He might be able to do it to everyone else, but I refuse to let him push around too! ‘Stop the car…” I said, but nothing happened. Slamming my right fist into the side of the car I demanded, “Stop the car now!” The van suddenly skids to a stop on the side of the road.  

Jerking the van door open I was on my way to hopping out of the car, when a hand grabbed my shoulder. “What the hell is wrong with you?! Can’t you see I’m just trying to hel_” He stopped realizing what he was about to say. My expression softened a bit. “I appreciate your offer Min-Jun, but I kindly have to refuse.” I said looking over at him. “But you’re obviously in pain, and you still intend to carry on like this?” He asked confused. “Yes, Min-Jun I do… This is my job, my career, and my morals we’re talking about here. How am I supposed to feel knowing that I ditched my students like that? I worked too hard to get here, to just leave and go to the doctor over a little bruise Min-Jun.” I said while gently removing his hand from my shoulder, creating that zing that happened every time we seemed to touch one another…

He deeply sighed before finally leaning back in his seat. “Fine do what you want, it’s not like I care anyway.” He said nonchalantly. “It sure didn’t sound like that a minute ago.” I murmured under my breath before jumping out of the van to close the door. Hyuk-Shik hopped out of the front seat with concern still etched on his face. “Are you sure you’re ok?” He asked still unsure of my declaration to Min-Jun. “Yes, I promise.” I said while patting him on the shoulder with my good hand. Suddenly the van took off down the road. “Tch, goodbye to you too.” I said aloud while heading off in the opposite direction. “Wait Melonie I’ll grab us a taxi to get us back.” Hyuk-Shik said while flagging down a cab. “Thanks man I don’t know what I’d do without you…” I said appreciating his effort at the moment. Quickly looking away from me he said, “How else did you think we were going to get back on time?” He said humorously. I let out a small laugh. “Thanks Hyuk-Shik, my mind is just all over the place right now.” I said while gingerly holding my hurt arm. I could feel his eyes on my, but I decided to ignore it because I was too tired to debate about this again.

When we finally secured a taxi, Hyuk-Shik told the driver the address for the studio. For a while it was quite on the way back, until Hyuk-Shik finally spoke up. “I saw what you were trying to do for Min-Jun hyung…I was just about to open the door when we all saw you fall down suddenly.” I let out an embarrassed laughed trying to hide the blush creeping up my cheeks. “Trust me the fall was much more graceful then it seemed…” I said trying to play it off. “Maybe so, but I’ve never seen Min-Jun react that way around his fans…I guess that fall really startled him. He rarely raises his voice in public, let alone protects anyone other than himself.” He said looking right over at me. “T-that doesn’t mean anything, he w-was just trying to look good in front of everyone.” I said trying to wave off his observation. “It sure didn’t sound like that in the van.” Hyuk-Shik said. Sighing I said, “Hyuk-Shik if you don’t mind I’d like to keep this between us, so let’s stop talking about it all together.” I said nodding towards the driver.

Who knows…Hyuk-Shik might actually have a point about what happened today. It was the first time I actually felt real emotion and passion come from Min-Jun. Usually he was very calm and collective, and but never panicked or angry. I’m not going to lie I was very shocked to see him standing in front of me defending me like that. To be honest my heart actually raced when he grabbed my hand to pull me out of the coffee shop with him. It almost felt like he was protecting me. To be honest it felt nice…