Chapter Twenty-One: What You Never Knew
Fly With Me
Byunghun’s bare feet pounded against the ceramic tile floors in the kitchen. Droplets of water slid off of his red shorts as he stormed through the kitchen, leaving small puddles behind him. I was careful not to slip in the puddles as I trailed behind him on his heels. He didn’t seem to mind the trail of water he was leaving throughout the house, either. Chanhee was the only thing his mind. I could practically see steam escape into the air with every angry step he took.
Chanhee was a few paces ahead of us. He too was storming through the house, his pink shorts dripping wet as well. He flew around a corner and up the staircase; Byunghun was hot on his heels.
“Chanhee, get back here,” Byunghun commanded angrily.
“I’m done talking to you,” Chanhee said roughly without looking back.
“Oppas, can everyone just calm down?” I cried. I was completely ignored, though.
“We’re not done until you’ve apologized to Kirin,” Byunghun commanded.
Chanhee grunted. “Typical you, not caring about me at all.”
Byunghun’s eyes narrowed. “You know I care about you!”
By this time, we had reached the top of the staircase. Chanhee was already down the hall, his hand gripping the bedroom doorknob tightly. He glared at Byunghun with squinted eyes. “Really? Because these days, all you care about is yourself. And your girlfriend. You think you’re so cool just because you have a girlfriend and I’m sick of it. I’m sick of being forgotten and ignored. Now shouldn’t you two be making out somewhere?” Chanhee turned the doorknob and slipped inside the bedroom, slamming the door behind him.
I saw Byunghun fix his eyes on the door. “Byunghun,” I warned, reaching out to grab his arm.
Yet again, he ignored me. He stormed up to the door and banged on it with his clenched fist. “Open the door, Chanhee,” he commanded.
“Leave me the hell alone,” Chanhee shouted from inside the bedroom. “After all, you seem to be good at that.”
Byunghun grunted and pounded on the door again. “Chanhee, I swear to God I’m—”
“BYUNGHUN!” I cried, gripping his shoulders and forcing him to turn around. “Just stop it, okay?”
“Kirin, you know you deserve an apology from him,” Byunghun answered harshly.
“Well pounding on the door and yelling at him isn’t going to fix anything!”
I watched Byunghun squint his dark eyes. He turned his head to look at the door Chanhee had locked. He silently scowled at it. I gripped his arm, both holding him back and trying to calm him down. “Look, you both need time to cool off,” I said softly. “Let’s go talk about this somewhere else.”
Byunghun took a deep, angry breath and let it out slowly. “Fine,” he concluded. He ran his fingers through his hair, which was still wet.
I tenderly rubbed his arm with my hand, hoping it would calm him down. I ushered him towards the staircase. “Come on. Let’s talk downstairs.”
Just as Byunghun and I had turned our backs to head down, Min Neul, Changhyun, and Jonghyun were making their way up. Jonghyun was glaring at Changhyun with an icy expression and Changhyun had his arms folded tightly across his chest. Min Neul was walking between them, and she seemed to be lecturing them. Byunghun and I exchanged confused glances as the trio breezed past us.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Jonghyun muttered viciously as they turned into the maknae’s bedroom. Someone slammed the door behind them. I think it might have been Changhyun.
“What is wrong with everyone today?” I asked desperately to no one in particular.
I wasn’t exactly questioning Byunghun, but he scoffed in response anyway. “ must be contagious. Chanhee’s spreading his germs.”
I glared at him. Finally, I grabbed him by the hand. “Let’s go,” I commanded harshly.
Byunghun and I made our way down the stairs. I briefly saw Minsoo and Daniel talking in the living room, but I didn’t bother to greet them. They didn’t look like they were fighting; they looked like they were deep in conversation. I think Minsoo was even smiling a little. Perhaps everyone wasn’t in a foul mood today.
I led Byunghun into the girls’ bedroom and prayed that Hyerin wasn’t in there. Luckily, she wasn’t. I instantly wished I had cleaned up the room a little bit before I let Byunghun in here; my bed was unmade and a pile of laundry was folded on Hyerin’s bed. Her magenta-colored bra popped against the white comforter. A pair of mismatched pajamas and one of Jonghyun’s hoodies covered Min Neul’s unmade bed, and there were about four pairs of flip flops scattered around the floor. I kicked an orange flip-flop and a navy blue sweatshirt under my bed and quickly straightened out the comforter and pillows. Byunghun stood in the center of the room with his arms crossed. He was staring at the ground, but I knew he wasn’t looking at anything in particular. His mind was too occupied with his rage. As much as I secretly admired the way he looked right now, his orange hair still wet and his arms folded tightly across his bare chest, I figured he could use a t-shirt in the air-conditioned house. I found my favorite black t-shirt of his and tossed it at him, followed by a towel. He slipped on the t-shirt and rubbed his orange hair with the towel in an effort to dry off.
“Alright,” I said, taking a seat on my bed. I crossed my arms. “We need to talk.”
“The only person I want to talk to right now is Chanhee, so I can make him apologize to you,” Byunghun muttered.
“Well, he’s not going to want to talk unless you calm down.”
Byunghun narrowed his eyes. “I don’t need to calm down, alright? Chanhee needs to stop being a—”
“Stop it!” I cried. I took a deep breath. “Look. I don’t like what Chanhee said either. You have the right to be a little angry with him. But did you even listen to a word Chanhee said to you?”
Byunghun didn’t answer. He kept his gaze on the towel in his hands.
“Byunghun, he has a point,” I said flatly. “I know you don’t want to hear it, but it’s true.”
“What are you talking about?” Byunghun asked crossly.
“You and Chanhee! You two definitely aren’t as close as you used to be,” I said sadly, glancing down. “Look, I love spending time with you. You know that. But so does Chanhee. You can’t ignore him just because you have a girlfriend. Don’t be one of those guys who ditch his friends to hang out with his girlfriend all the time. You two are more than friends. You’re bandmates. You’re family. Maybe you have been spending too much time with me and not enough time with the guys.”
Byunghun kept gazed down at the towel in his hands. He idly touched the edges of it and bit his lip. He looked like he was thinking.
I stood up and walked towards him. “You and Chanhee are too good of friends to get in a fight over something stupid. You’ve got to talk this out with him—but calmly. Okay?” I asked in a tender voice.
Still, Byunghun was silent. He refused to look me in the eye. “This summer, all I wanted was to spend time with you. Only you. But everyone else had to come along. All I wanted was to spend time with just you. What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing,” I answered, reaching out to touch his arm. “Nothing at all. You know I wish I could spend every second of the day with you. But Chanhee and the rest of the boys are important too, and they deserve your time as well.” I smirked, giggling slightly. “It isn’t fair of me to keep you all to myself, now is it?”
Byunghun cracked a smile. Finally, he glanced at me. “Why do you know just how to calm me down?”
“Because I know you,” I answered. “A little too well,” I added with a giggle.
Byunghun swallowed hard. “Y-yeah,” he answered with a weak smile. He placed a hand on my back. “Yeah, you do,” he said louder, as if he was trying to convince himself it was true. He gently pulled me a little closer to him. He kissed me so he wouldn’t have to say anything more.
In the room next to the girls’ bedroom, Hyerin carefully stepped out of the shower and onto the plush, sea foam green bath mat. She wrapped a towel around her body before rubbing her arms and legs dry. She ruffled her black, medium-length hair with a towel. She loved showering after going swimming; she hated the smell of chlorine. Neatly folded beside the sink was a pair of cargo shorts and a white ribbed tank top. She threw them on before rubbing the foggy mirror with a hand, trying to catch a glimpse at her reflection. All the sunshine had turned her skin golden, which she wasn’t used to. As different as it was, she liked it. She felt like one of those girls she had seen on billboards and advertisements here, smiling on the beach in a colorful bikini. They always had golden skin. In Korea, paler skin was always envied. Naturally, she wasn’t as pale as most Korean girls. It wasn’t until she came to California that she discovered how easily her skin could tan in the summer sun.
After a few more minutes of mindless dawdling, she finally stepped out of the steamy bathroom. The cool air conditioning brought goose-bumps to her tanned skin the moment she stepped into the hallway. Briefly, she thought about stopping into the bedroom to grab a sweatshirt. The door, however, was closed, and she could hear talking on the other side. Lecturing, even. Perhaps it had something to do with Byunghun and Chanhee’s fight. She took a step back from the door and decided it would be best to leave whoever was in that room alone. If she wanted a sweatshirt, she knew one other place she could find one.
Hyerin bounced down the hallway and up the stairs to the upper unit of the house. She walked curiously through the kitchen, wondering where everyone was. She peered down the hallway and saw that two bedroom doors were shut; the maknae’s and Chanhee and Byunghun’s. The door at the end of the hallway was open, though, which brought a smile to Hyerin’s face. She shuffled down the hallway and peered into the room where the artist was.
Minsoo was propped against the headboard of his bed. A black Yankees baseball cap was placed loosely on top of his straight brown hair. Fitted jeans covered his long, powerful legs and a heather gray long-sleeved shirt covered his solid chest and strong arms. His lips were parted ever so slightly, revealing a sliver of his tongue. His dark, almond-shaped eyes were casted downward at the sketchpad he had propped against his legs. With one hand, he held the top of the spiraled book in place. With the other, he held a soft-graphite pencil. He looked completely lost in his work. The world around him didn’t even exist when he was drawing. Drawing took him wherever he wanted to go and brought him whatever kind of emotions he wanted. He was the master, the creator. What he said goes. There were no rules and there was no wrong or right. He didn’t even see Hyerin appeared in the doorway.
“Minsoo-oppa, do you have a sweatshirt I could borrow?”
Her voice transported Minsoo back to the world. His neck snapped up. The moment he saw wet-haired Hyerin, he smiled. “Of course,” he answered, pulling the sketchpad off his lap and setting it down beside him. He swung his long legs over the side of the bed and motioned for Hyerin to come further into the room.
“Thanks,” she beamed sweetly. She eyed the sketchpad he had set down beside him. Minsoo was a very talented artist, and Hyerin had always secretly wanted to just sit and watch him draw. He drew everything straight from his imagination, which greatly impressed Hyerin, the Master of Stick Figures. “Did you bring the blue one? With the black on the hood? That one’s my favorite.”
Minsoo smiled as he directed her towards the closet he shared with Daniel. “I think it’s in here,” he said, jerking the doors open. He riffled through a bunch of t-shirts, a combination of his and Daniel’s. He frowned to himself when he only came across his black zip-up hoodie. “Maybe it’s in my drawers.” He turned around to face Hyerin. “Check the dresser. It’s probably in there somewhere.”
Hyerin glanced down at the dresser. She timidly reached for one of the knobs and pulled on it, slowly sliding the drawer out. Minsoo had his back turned, still riffling through the closet to find his girl the sweatshirt she wanted. Had he put it in the laundry basket? Had Daniel taken it without asking? Minsoo was slowly looking through the collection of t-shirts, sweaters and sleeveless shirts when he heard the rusting of a plastic bag behind him.
“What’s this?”
Minsoo’s narrow eyes widened as he abruptly turned around. Just as he had guessed, Hyerin was holding the plastic bag of condoms he kept in the dresser. The handles had begun to untie themselves, so all Hyerin had to do was peer through the holes in the plastic to catch a glimpse at the contents. “That? That’s, uh, that’s…”
It was Hyerin’s eyes’ turn to widen. Her eyes darted between the bag and Minsoo’s face. Her bottom lip twitched. “What are these?”
Minsoo nervously touched the brim of his cap with his hands. He felt his cheeks blush. “Um, I can explain…”
Hyerin blinked. She looked down at the bag again, stuck her hand through a hole at the top, and pulled out a little, flat square of white packaging. “Are these condoms?”
“I can explain!” Minsoo was quick to cry. Truthfully, he hadn’t the slightest clue what to tell Hyerin. He had kind of just hoped to slip one in his pocket during the day so when they were alone in his room making out at night, he could just slip it out when the time was right. No explanation necessary. But now that Hyerin had caught him red-handed, he hadn’t the faintest idea how she would react.
“This better be good,” Hyerin said, sounding slightly impatient and maybe even a little hurt. She looked up at Minsoo with wide, almost frightened eyes and she was biting her bottom lip.
“It is, it is!” He took a deep breath. Maybe honesty was the best way to deal with this. “Um…okay, look. To be honest, I bought those the day we got here. Remember when we went to the store with Kirin’s parents?”
Hyerin tilted her head to the side. “But…but I was with you.”
“Yes, you were,” admitted Minsoo, “but I bought these within the ten minutes I wasn’t with you.”
“So you bought these without me knowing?” Hyerin said slowly, her eyes narrowing.
Minsoo pushed up the sleeves of his heather gray shirt. He felt nervous, prickly heat on the back of his neck. As he looked briefly into Hyerin’s eyes, it spread to his arms. “Yeah…I did.”
Hyerin looked down at her delicate hands, which still held the flat, white package. “Oppa, why did you buy these?”
Biting his lip, Minsoo sighed. “Because… because I love you, Hyerin, and I think I’m ready.” He took a step closer to Hyerin. “I’m sorry if I didn’t tell you about this sooner. I should have talked to you about this first. I guess I just assumed you were ready too, but if you’re not I totally understand.”
Hyerin squinted as she looked up at Minsoo. She wasn’t surprised that he was ready; in four months, he would be twenty years old. Rarely did she think about the two-year between them because it had never mattered to her. Minsoo had never treated her any differently just because she was younger than him. They had always felt comfortable around each other, and now Hyerin knew just how comfortable Minsoo hoped they were. Hyerin felt his sweetness bring a soft smile to her face. Still, there was something she felt she had to share with him.
“I love you too, Minsoo,” she said softly. She dropped her gaze, then dropped the back into the plastic bag. “But I don’t know if I’m ready yet.”
Minsoo let out the breath he had been holding. “I knew I should have talked to you first,” he admitted.
Hyerin tilted her head to the side. “When were you planning on telling me about these?”
She watched as Minsoo went scarlet. “Honestly, I was just going to pull one out when we were making out and hope you’d be on board.”
Hyerin let out a small chuckle. “Well, I’m not sure that would have happened anyway.” She took a step closer to Minsoo and rubbed his strong arm lovingly. “I love you, Minsoo. I’m just not sure if I’m ready for that right now. There’s a lot going on in your life and mine, and I don’t think now is the time. Okay?”
Minsoo blinked slowly. He still felt embarrassed, but he couldn’t thank Hyerin enough for being so understanding about it. “Okay,” he said finally. “I don’t want to pressure you. I’ll wait as long as you need me to.” He kissed Hyerin’s forehead, sealing the promise. “But I’m warning you, marriage doesn’t interest me too much at the moment.”
Hyerin chuckled. “I’m not trying to wait until I’m married, you know. I guess I’m just waiting until I find the right guy.” She shrugged timidly, her cheeks turning pink. “But you just might be him.”
Nothing had ever brought a wider smile to Minsoo’s face. He wrapped his arms around Hyerin’s waist and pulled her close to him. She laughed happily at his sudden gesture before tilting her chin up to kiss Minsoo’s lips. His strong arms were around her protectively, lovingly. His lips were on her’s sweetly, tenderly.
In that moment, Hyerin was positive Minsoo was the right guy.
Two rooms over, the atmosphere was a lot less peaceful and a lot more tense. From the moment Min Neul had dragged Jonghyun and Changhyun into the bedroom, they had done nothing but argue. Neither boys had even wanted to be in the same room as the other one. Jonghyun and Changhyun were standing in face to face, and they were practically shouting at each other; Min Neul couldn’t even make out what they were even arguing about. She heard her name, though, and it sounded like Jonghyun was accusing Changhyun of something Changhyun was insisting he didn’t do.
“Don’t even try to deny it,” Jonghyun cried louder than Min Neul had ever heard him speak before.
“I’m telling the truth!” Changhyun shouted back, which Min Neul didn’t even know he was capable of doing. “If you were my friend you’d believe me!”
“If you were my friend you wouldn’t be trying to steal my girlfriend!” Jonghyun spat.
“If you were my friend you wouldn’t be accusing me of trying to steal your girlfriend!” Changhyun retorted.
“If you were my friend you wouldn’t give me a reason to accuse you of trying to steal my girlfriend!” Jonghyun insisted.
“Well, then, I guess I’m not your friend!” Changhyun shouted.
Min Neul couldn’t take it anymore. She squeezed her way in between the arguing friends and tried to push them apart. “ENOUGH!”
Jonghyun and Changhyun shut up immediately upon hearing her shout. Both of them stared at her, panting heavily. When Min Neul was sure she had their attention, she took her hands off of their chests and cleared . “Well, now that I’ve shut you two up, someone calmly tell me what the hell is going on!”
“He keeps flirting with you!” Jonghyun cried, pointing an accusatory finger at Changhyun.
“No I don’t! I swear!” Changhyun was quick to protest.
Min Neul’s eyebrows scrunched. “You think Changhyun’s been flirting with me?” she asked Jonghyun.
“He has!” Jonghyun cried. “Can’t you tell? Ever since the aegyo battle he’s been trying to talk to you more and more! He always comments on how good at aegyo you are and how cute you are! All he talks about is how cool you are and how easy it is to talk to you and how much he wants to hang out with you!”
Changhyun’s jaw dropped. “You are such a liar!” he shrieked. “I never said some of that stuff!”
“Well you didn’t have to. I can tell you’re thinking it,” Jonghyun retorted.
Changhyun crossed his arms. “Oh, sure. You think that just because I talk to Min Neul it means I like her? You’re being ridiculous.”
“I’m not being ridiculous,” Jonghyun spat. “You need to back off my girlfriend.”
Changhyun scoffed. “Serves you right. Now you know how Byunghun-hyung felt.”
“Huh?” Min Neul asked, wrinkling her nose.
“Changhyun!” Jonghyun gasped.
Changhyun’s eyes grew wide. His eyes darted between a stunned Jonghyun and a confused Min Neul. “You mean she doesn’t know?”
“Know what?” Min Neul asked wearily. She suddenly felt weak. Was Jonghyun keeping something from her?
“About Jonghyun and Kirin,” Changhyun answered slowly.
“Changhyun!” Jonghyun pleaded. “No!”
Min Neul ignored Jonghyun’s pleading. “Changhyun-oppa,” she said seriously, stepping closer to him. She could feel her shoulders start to tremble. “What are you talking about?”
Changhyun was conflicted. He glanced at Jonghyun, who’s faced was filled with panic. He was breathing heavily and his eyes were wide with fear. Then he glanced at Min Neul, who had practically stopped breathing. He’d never seen her look so serious, so alarmed before. It almost scared him. The truth was on the tip of Changhyun’s tongue. He could spill everything to Min Neul and make her turn against Jonghyun, which would be the ultimate revenge. If he did that, though, Min Neul would be crushed. He could, of course, save Jonghyun’s sorry and protect the truth from coming out. That would be enough to make Jonghyun eternally grateful of him, so much that he would never accuse him of flirting with Min Neul ever again. Changhyun knew he had a choice to make, and he had to make it fast.
Changhyun narrowed his eyebrows and looked straight into Min Neul’s dark, worried eyes. The taste of revenge was too tempting after all.
“Jonghyun used to be in love with Kirin. So much, that he used to flirt with her all the time. He always used to tell me how lucky Byunghun-hyung was, and how he wished she would love him and not Byunghun-hyung. He even asked Kirin to be his first kiss behind Byunghun’s back. And you know what? She actually did it. You think you were Jonghyun’s first love? His first kiss? You’re wrong. Kirin was. She never told Byunghun. And Jonghyun never told you.”
Changhyun watched as Min Neul’s lips parted and her chest heaved in an out. She turned around to face Jonghyun, to beg him to tell her that Changhyun was lying. To her surprise, Jonghyun hadn’t even notice that she had turned around to face him. His eyes were wide with horror as he stared at the doorway. Changhyun and Min Neul snapped their necks around to see what Jonghyun was staring at.
Slowly backing away from the open door, with tears welling in his dark eyes, was Byunghun.
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AND THE SECRET HAS BEEN REVELED! You all remember when Jonghyun and Kirin kissed, don't you? And uh-oh, it looks like Byunghun overheard...
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