CHAPTER 29 

February had just begun and obviously a new year. The weather was still cold and a bit gloomy. Some days sparkled other days were just a bore. Snow still fell but not as heavy as last year.  ShinHye looked outside through the window that was by the piano. The snow was falling gently on the ground. According to the news, that week would be the last snowfall of the year. Seeing the white and pure snow on the ground soothed her heart. She turned herself around and went back to practicing.  ‘Just wait and see Yonghwa. I will reach you,reach you until your heart becomes to pieces.’ She thought and smiled to herself as touched the piano keys.

After four hours, there was a knock on the door. ShinHye immediately walked to the front door and opened it.

“Oh..Hi I didn’t expect you.” She was shocked for the sudden visit.

“Shin Hye!!! Yong Hwa’s debut music video is out!!” Hye Jung said.

“Enter!!” Shin Hye was excited. Hye Jung and Kahi entered. They made their way to the couch along with ShinHye. So, with Hye Jung’s phone they went online to watch the video.

“Loner? Ahh. He must be lonely.” Hye Jung began to comment.

“Wow, they look so handsome. Oh my. But their hair is so long. Haha. Look  at Minhyuk and Jonghyun. Hahaha.” Kahi began to laugh.

Shin Hye didn’t say anything. She was mesmerized how good YongHwa looked. Wow, he even got a piercing. His hair was dyed and he was also showing his forehead. Something he never did before. He was amazing. Wow, she didn’t know how he could include a rap into a song so perfectly.

“Woah, that random scream. I never heard him scream like that. Hahaha.” Hye Jung was enjoying herself.

“This song is really good. Oh my.” Kahi was bobbing her head to the rhythm.

“Wow, what a nice song! Shin Hye what do you think?” Hye Jung asked when they finished watching the music video.

“I really liked it. I’m proud of him.” She smiled at them. ShinHye was actually proud of him. The song was catchy and definitely it would stay in your head. The thing that made her ponder was the lyrics. Supposedly, he wrote and composed the song. Why the lyrics? Was this from a past love? Is this how he is feeling right now? A rather sad song for debut. Another thing, he does look like the guy from the restaurant the other time. ‘So it was him. Wow..’ she thought as she was making tea for Hye Jung and Kahi. Meanwhile, they kept on refreshing the page to give his music video views.

ShinHye stared at his name on her contact list. Should she text him? Are they even allowed to text each other? She was scared, she didn’t want to put his job on the line.  But it's not like they are going to keep texting.  Just if he doesn’t reply but sees it that is enough for him. Well, just like a fan. It’s like commenting on the celebrity’s instagram or on the video, they may read it . The most important thing is that Yong Hwa will see that she supports him. She reasoned to herself. She clicked on his name to text him. ‘How should I say it?’ she thought for a while.

‘Nice debut song!’ she typed. “Nah, that sounds boring.”

‘I really liked the song and video! Keep it up!’ She erased. “Nah, it sounds plain.”

‘Song and video was dope! Fighting!’ She typed and placed a smiley face. “That sounds good.” She hit send. ‘Stay calm, Shin Hye.’ she said to herself. She was nervous and her heart was beating so much. Wait what if he changed his number? Oh no. Wait, but his mom would have told her. She calmed herself down. Now to wait.  Every ten minutes she would check her phone to see if he read it. Nothing. ShinHye tried to occupy herself , so she decided to  do some origami.

After,twenty minutes Shin Hye’s phone vibrated. Her heart skipped a beat and quickly grabbed her phone. “Oh, boo.” Ailee had texted her asking if she liked Yong Hwa’s debut music video.

“Yes! I love it! How about you?” she texted back. She decided to back to the text she sent to Yong Hwa, and it said it was read. He did read it! But a part of her wanted him to respond. Maybe just a ‘thank you!’.

“Oh a text from Shin Hye?” Jonghyun looked over his shoulder.

“Yeah, she liked our debut.” Yong Hwa smiled to himself.

“Okay a relief then.Right?” He playfully punched his arm.

“Yeah definitely. Hopefully, she understood the song..”

“Of course she did. She knows korean right?” Jonghyun .

“Pft.” Yong Hwa chuckled. “Well, you know I wrote that song in her perspective. How she would feel after the break up and probably doubting me. Doubting me in a sense maybe she began to think maybe I started to lose interest in her. She probably started to question that I should have fought for her love…She must feel lonely. I, also, do feel lonely at times.”

“Oh I see. I didn’t know. But she did say to make her proud and you can’t do anything about the break up. We aren’t in a drama.Rules are rules. But don’t worry about it. With that text message, she’s not mad at you. She is there for you.” He patted Yong’s shoulder.

“Thanks, bro. Should I respond to the text message?” He asked aloud as he looked at it with such care and love. His manager was near and listened to the conversation.

“No, don’t respond.” His manger suddenly said.

“Why?”

“Because since feelings are still there, you guys might start texting again. It would be more painful to tell her to stop texting you.” His manager reasoned with him.

Yong Hwa sighed. “You’re right.” He turned off his phone.

“Practice tomorrow for the debut stage. Don’t be late.” The manager said as he walked away.

“Shin Hye!!!!” Hye Jung bursted through Shin Hye’s front door.  

“You scared me!” Shin Hye came running from the kitchen.

“I got tickets for Cnblue’s debut stage!!” Hye Jung jumped in joy. “Never thought I would pay to see my son..”She muttered.

“Oh my gosh! No way! You didn’t have too! Thank you!” Shin Hye bowed her head. “I thought you would a free ticket.”

“Oh yeah, just one free ticket. He told me to give it to you.” Hye Jung smiled at her. Shin Hye was ecstatic inside. He didn’t forget about her.

“When is it?” Shin Hye held on to the ticket.

“Next week, on a wednesday!”

It was Wednesday, the day of the debut stage. Shin Hye looked at herself in the mirror. Definitely, she was loving herself. She was happy to overcome everything and all the negative thoughts. Life was being calm and tranquil. Shin Hye was glad that her body has responded well and was fully working. Apparently, she was at her optimal weight. Everything had distributed out nicely. Her body had filled out nicely. She came to love her new self and she was proud of that. She wore a light cotton blend winter grey shirtdress that had a bow on the front with thick dark green tights (the patterns were leaves) and soft booties. Her hair had become long, thick, shiny and smooth. She was glowing from head to toe of how healthy she was.  She applied a dark red Pacifica brand lipstick on her lips. Then she put on her dark green beret and jacket. She left with Hye Jung and Kahi to the debut stage.

CNBLUE were backstage waiting for their turn. They were watching through the tv the groups that were performing. Yong Hwa seemed the only one that was nervous. His palms were sweating and he was continuously shaking his leg.

“Bro, everything is going to be alright. We’ve done this before.” Jungshin assured him.

“I know, but this is finally it guys. We are actually doing it.” He replied.

“Ahh, this makeup is really heavy though.” Minhyuk semi complained.

“The struggles, haaha.” Jonghyun chuckled as he tried not to rub his eye or else the eyeliner would smudge.

“Do you think your family members came?” Yong Hwa asked.

“Yeah I sent my mom the free ticket.She said she would come.” Jungshin said. The other two nodded their heads.

“Do you think Shin Hye is here?” His leg shook some more.

“Yeah, don’t worry. Focus, just focus on the performance so she can love you even more. Make her proud.” Jonghyun replied.

“Guys it’s time.” The manager curtly said to them. They stood up and got ready for their performance.

The announcer announced the band and they were surprised a good number of people screamed. They began their performance.

Mid way  through the chorus, Yong Hwa kept hearing somebody calling out his name. It sounded different from the other girls’ voices. He took his eyes off the whole audience and suddenly he met eyes with a woman. She began to say his name and waved as he looked at her. So that was the woman and why does she look so familiar? Is that Shin Hye?? Or am I just seeing things? His eyes widened. No that cannot be her. He told himself to focus on singing and playing the guitar. His fingers were beginning to shake which could lead to playing a wrong note. He focused himself again.

Shin Hye was in awe in the whole performance. Not once did his voice crack and or played the wrong note. Everybody in the band were just wonderful. The stage was overflowing with confidence and flower boys. The crowd for sure loved it. She was happy that her and Yong Hwa had eye contact during his performance. He did seem surprised. ‘Hopefully, he did notice.’ she thought.

Shin Hye was waiting outside in the cold for the band to come out. Other girls were also waiting but not as much because they were still a rookie group. Kahi and Hye Jung were in the bathroom at that time. They waited fifteen minutes until CNBLUE came out, their van was waiting for them.  The girls screamed in excitement as they were walking to their van. The security guards were surrounding the band. Shin Hye kept her poised position and shouted, “Jung Yong Hwa! Let’s take a picture!”

The tone of her voice seemed so familiar to him. It sounded like the woman that was screaming his name. He immediately turned his head to see who shouted that, he was curious to see that woman in person.