Sunbae-Hoobae
You Are The One
"D.O sunbaenim!" I called out for him across the cafeteria. I haven't seen him in a couple weeks due to EXO's comeback. As he noticed me, Kyungsoo smiled and waved at me to run over to him. With him was Jongdae and Minseok both holding trays of energy drinks I assume are for the other members. "Yah, how many times have I told you to just call me Kyungsoo?" He playfully scolded.
We've been friends for a few months now but I wasn't quite ready to suddenly call him that. "Sunbaenim, do you think you're too busy for vocal mentoring now? Europa's debut is in a couple of months now and I get better if you help me." It really does make me better. My actual vocal coach says that I've improved my vocal ranges since I first auditioned. One of the other members, Jimin would ask me when all of a sudden did that start happening, but I would never tell her. I feared if I did, Kyungsoo would no longer be able to mentor me. But I tend to over exaggerate.
Jongdae looked at me and started to playfully whine, "Eunsol-ah, why don't you ever ask me to mentor you? Isn't it boring being with Kyungsoo?"
"Hyung!" Kyungsoo swatted his hand across Jongdae's shoulder as him and Minseok laughed. "I'm sorry, sunbae, maybe next time," I replied. Minseok then whispered to him to let me and Kyungsoo talk. I bowed to them as they walked away waving to me. "So back to mentoring?" I asked again. He raised his hand to his chin to seem as if he was seriously thinking about it. "I don't know. I think I'm busy tonight. You might have to ask someone else." I rolled my eyes. I knew why he was doing this. So I took a quick deep breath and finally fufilled the request, "Kyungsoo sunbaenim, please be my mentor tonight." At the end, I added the best aegyo I could possibly muster. It works everytime, or at least he makes me believe it does. Kyungsoo laughes at the attempt and says yes, he'll help me tonight.
"Eunsol-ah, let's go!" I could hear Jimin screaming from across the cafeteria. All of Europa is with her. "Okey, I'm coming!" I turned back to Kyungsoo and set the time to meet him at the studio. I ran to my group and we left for our daily vocal lessons. "What were you talking to D.O-sunbaemin about?" Jimin asked. "Oh, nothing important."
11:30 pm
Everyone in the dorm is dead asleep. Our schedule today was more energy draining than usual. I tip toe around quietly just to make sure that someone wouldn't wake up and question my whereabouts. Especially Jihye, she would never shut up. One time during the first month of training, I left my room and was almost about to leave so I could get coffee, and by the next morning she instigated me for almost the whole day. Thanks to our heavier training schedule, she became a hard sleeper.
After a change out of my pajamas and fixing my dark brown hair, I grab my coat and leave.
As I walk in the dim-lighted dance studio, I saw Kyungsoo laying against the mirror with his hat covering most of his face. It's obvious that he's tired, too. I sat myself next to him and looked at him. It was a good image to see. Should I leave? Should I wake him up? I thought of those options. But if I was being honest with myself, I just wanted to stay with him. He looked so peaceful.
"Stop staring, it's creepy." He was awake. Kyungsoo took off his hat and looked at me. We looked at each other for a few moments then I looked away as I felt my cheeks burning up. That never happened around him. Weird. "Am I late? Did I keep you waiting?" I'm coming out with all these questions hoping that he didn't see me blushing. Kyungsoo chuckled and patted my head, "It's okey. Stop worrying. Are you ready to start?" I nodded. "Alright, let's start with warm ups."
Up until 1 am, we stayed in the practice room talking and him mentoring me. We looked all around the building to make sure no one would see us as we left. Kyungsoo is really popular these days, being in EXO and also acting. If we were to get caught, it would be another scandal, and his group has already had too much to deal with. His own reputation would also be on the line. I can't ruin that for him. Plus, Europa wouldn't have a good start either. It would be impossible to try to turn anti-fans around if the person who caused the scandal had the nerve to perform.
Sneaking in the dorm was quite easy. Looking at the clock, I had about five and a half hours to get sleep. Crap. Being a trainee isn't easy. But I can't even imagine what being an idol would be like. I almost quit my training because I couldn't handle it at one point. I was tired, hungry, and most of all I missed my parents. Jimin helped me get better and convinced me to keep going. She'd remind me of how far we've gotten together, how we're so close to achieving our dreams together. She always helps me through hard times. The other members also made me feel better. Our maknae sure knows how to brighten our day.
The following morning was hell. It took a while for me to fall asleep and now I'm forced to wake up and head out to jog in broad daylight. Our leader, Miyoung barged in my room and shaked me to wake up, "Eunsol, hurry up! You know we have a busy day today!" I groaned as I practically dragged my feet to the bathroom, "I know, I know!" One of the members is in the shower and Jihye and Jimin are brushing their teeth. "You're more tired than usual, what did you do last night," Jihye's question startled me. "What are you talking about, I'm always tired," I try to throw them off. They threw weird looks at me then continued what they were doing. Did I sound suspicious?
There was somone knocking at the door. "Are you girls ready? We don't have all day," our manager, Hoon said. Miyoung started panicking and rushed everyone whether they were ready or not. Sometimes, I regret voting for her to be our leader. She opened the door and let him in. "Alright, we don't have much time, let's go." And with that, our day started.
Jogging
Exersicing in the gym
Lunch
Vocal practice
Dance practice
Break
Student studing, since some members were still in high school, and the others went back to dance practice
Dinner
Sleep
Repeat.
It was like this everyday for the past year of my life. Miyoung, however, has been doing this for two and a half. She almost debuted as a duo with another trainee, but that girl quit and went to Cube Entertainment instead. That's why she's our leader. That, and she is the oldest by a month.
During our lunch, we went to the cafeteria and I looked around to see if Kyungsoo was around. Nope. I didn't even see one EXO member. Maybe they're practicing? I sat down at the table with my other members and tuned out one of them fawing over some new group at JYP, GOT7. Jimin and I happen to be close friends with one of the members. "Eunsol-unni, who do you like?" Jihye asked. "Hmm, I don't know. Their Chinese member is pretty cute," I confessed. The girls swooned as I mentioned him. The sight of them fan girling over him was funny. Our maknae, however, was pratically in love with GOT7's maknae. That sunbaenim is also attractive - but much younger than me - and the group had debuted not too long ago.
After our day was done, I jumped on my bed and looked at my phone for any messages. There was a couple from my mother and one from him.
From D.O-sunbaemin: Are you busy tonight? I need to talk to you.
It was so unusual. We only met every other day. Was something wrong?
To D.O-sunbaenim: um, sure. I'll see you in a bit.
I know I shouldn't be going out but something felt uneasy about this sudden urgency. I internally prayed that it wasn't serious. I left the dorm and ran to the studio. Once I got there, Kyungsoo was inside walking in slow paces. His hand seems to be shaking. It's making me nervous. This is the first time I've ever seen him like this. How serious was his problem? "Sunbaenim, is everything alright?'
"Did I wake you? Sorry," he shyly smiled. I told him it was fine. He took me to get coffee then back to the studio. The whole time, he was quiet. Well, more than usual. Did he argue with one of s? We are friends but I don't think we've ever really talked about things that went on in our lives. Taking a deep breath, I decided to speak up. "Sunbaenim, can you tell me why you wanted to meet me for?" He put his coffee down and looked deep into my eyes. He's acting strange today. Not knowing what he might say next made my heart pump hard.
"Eunsol-ssi, what am I to you?" He suddenly asked. What is he to me? What does that mean? Is this really all he wanted to ask? I stood there confused. "Well, you're my sunbae. Why?" I'm not getting what he means. "That's it?" he asked. Was that not a good answer? "Um, you're my mentor? My friend?" Kyungsoo started to look frustrated. It made me feel slighty the same because he's not explaining himself. How am I supposed to understand him if he talks about something as weird as this.
"Do you know what you are to me?" He says. I nodded no. "D.O sunbaenim, what's going on?" Within a matter of seconds, he grabbed and pinned me against the mirror. Has he gone crazy? I looked at him with wide eyes as I struggle get out of his grip. He keeps his eyes locked on mine, not even phased by my movements. His grasp on me was tight, as he was two times stronger than me. Few seconds passed and I gave up. "Eunsol-ssi, I..... I like you," he confessed to me.
My heart was thumping at a pace that I thought was impossible and my eyes were wide in shock. He likes me? I never thought of him like that. At least, not that I think. His hands let go of me and stood still in front of me, waiting for a response. From what I thought was a sunbae-hoobae relationship suddenly changed into something else. Never have I thought any more of Kyungsoo than a friend, and here he is expecting an answer from me. I had to tell him the truth, though.
"Sunbae, I can't return the feelings. I'm really sorry," I felt a tear come down my cheek. It felt horrible saying that to him. But lying would feel worse. He then wrapped his arms around me, comforting me. "It's okey, I understand. I just had to tell you. But know that I won't be looking at you as my hoobae. So give me a chance." I didn't respond to what he stated. I just stood there in the middle of the dance room with him holding me. It took me a while to register that I was crying, too.
He offered to walk me back to my dorm, but I told him not to. I want to be by myself. My conscience is scolding me for being such an idiot and not reading between the lines earlier. But I was too tired to even think of what he meant.
That night, I couldn't sleep at all. Kyungsoo's words ran through my head countless times.
I like you.
What do I do?
Authors note: my first chapter! Sorry it's pretty short. I'm really excited to see how this goes~ feel free to leave comments! Feedback would be great~^^
Hey guys^^ are you liking it so far? I'm really nervous bc this is my first story but hey, maybe the next one will be better! I'm in the middle of a new chp~
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