Chapter 6: Oppa

My Oxford’s click on the pavement as I skip briskly towards the little café as excitement courses through me. I know I should not be excited. I know I should not expect him to be there. But most importantly I know I should not feel this way. Yet I cannot stop the skip in my step or the smile that is glued on my face as I get closer to my location.

Young Bae and I have not seen each other in ages, or to be exact, a month and a half. He has been prepping for Big Bang’s up coming activities and I have found myself to be on the fast-track in the comic industry. So in turn, I haven’t left my humble home at all during the week and can only manage to sneak away on Sunday afternoons after church. So far I have yet to see Young Bae there on Sundays, but that doesn’t mean I have stopped hoping. I sense the hot feeling of my blush rushing to my face as I picture the last time I saw him. Dripping wet, in a towel, six-pack, and for … I shake my head trying to clear my thoughts as my cream lace, Sunday dress causes my red face to stand out more.

Don’t get me wrong, Young Bae is my friend. I realize, being who am I and he being who he is, that there will never be anything but friendship. I do honestly miss his playfulness and fun conversations, but Lord all Mighty I am only human. One can only take so much. After spending all day with him at the water-park, then seeing him sleeping so cutely my hot-male-alarm was red-alert. After-all he was the one that decided to step out of the shower and show the world how much of a man he is. Gah! I shake my head. Taking all my unholy thoughts and locking them up tight in my mind I step through the doors of the café.

“Oh hello there dear.”

I smile at the elderly woman behind the counter. “Hi there Ajumni! Where is Cho Hee today?”

“Oh you know how she is. She is out playing with the kids from her school.”

“That’s good, I was beginning to think she did not have many friends.”

“No worries. That one is always making friends. Speaking of which, that charming young man is here today. He seems to be very busy though.” I instantly turn to gaze around the shop at her words. Young Bae is sitting in our normal place. His back hunched over, sporting skinny jeans, a sleeveless hoodie, and one of his many flat-rim hats. I smile and walk up behind him to glance over at what he is doing. He hums along to a tone, his ears covered by large headphones. I watch him studying a dance video on his phone and reading over the worn-out lyric sheets on the table.

Silently I slide in the seat across from him and decide to watch. The unguarded flow of expressions that cross his face fascinate me. I see the faint dark rims under his eyes from lack of sleep. I notice the weariness in his posture and the heavy slouch of his shoulders. Questions scroll through my mind. Has he been eating enough? How much sleep is he getting? They won’t work him to hard right?

Of course it isn’t all bad. My worry is eased by the determined look on his face and the confident strum of his finger-tips on the table. What really grabs my attention, as I listen to his broken bits of singing is the blazing spark in his eyes. The passion in his eyes for what he does off-sets the weariness. I smile lightly as an idea pops into my head. Without disturbing him, I slowly slide my sketch book from my shoulder bag and rumble around for a pencil. With a soft click of my mechanical pencil I start sketching his face.

I smile and hum along to his tune as I shade in the soft shadows on his face. Forgetting my need for stealth I lean closer to exam his neck-line, completely caught up in what I am doing. I sigh in frustration as his shoulders and neck-line does not come out the way I want. Swiftly I erase and lean close again studying the curves of his neck. I notice his body stiffen and the bob of his Ape’s Apple. I tilt my head up to find myself staring into Young Bae amused eyes.

“Why do I feel like bug under a microscope?”

“Umm…” I jerk back into my seat, my face hot with embarrassment. “Sorry, you were concentrating so hard on what you were doing that I didn’t want to disturb you.”

I watch him laugh and slide his headphones onto his neck. “So you decide to stare at my neck instead?”

“Ah, actually I was drawing you. Sorry I kind of get carried away when I draw.”

He eyes fall on the sketchbook between my hands. “Can I see?”

“Hmm…” I give him a sly grin. “Only if I can hear those songs you have been singing this whole time.”

“Deal, now hand over the master piece.”

I roll my eyes at his comment and pass him my sketchbook. “I don’t think you can call it a master piece, more like a doodle. I am having a hard time drawing your neck-line that is why I was staring-“

“Emily!” I stare at his amazed face. “This is really good. It looks just like me!”

“Pfh you are only saying that because you don’t have an eye for these things. Look your shoulders are too square and your jaw-line is off a bit. Not to mention the fact that your neck is a mess.”

He just gives me an eyebrow raise. “If you say so… I still think this is amazing.” I just laugh and take my sketch book back. He passes me his headphones. “Hear you can listen to the songs.”

I hand him the headphones back. “No silly, I want you to sing them.”

“Umm… well I don’t sing the whole songs and I can’t really sing in a restaurant full of people.” I stare at the “full restaurant” that consists of two old men playing Chinese checkers in the back and Ajumni at the counter, but decide to leave that comment to myself.

“Well let’s see… are you free for the rest of the day?”

“Pretty much.”

I smile wide. “Prefect, then we can go somewhere.” He just gives me a questioning glance. “Come on, it will be fun. I have a favorite place I want to show you. We can order some snacks and take them too. The sunset is great from there and it is isolated too! You won’t have to worry about people seeing you.”

“Well…”

“Please? It is close by too, so it will not be much of a walk.” I watch him laugh and nod his head in defeat.

“Let’s go.”

~~~

I listen intently to the sing playing in my ears as we make our way to my secret get-away. Young Bae watches my face with interest. “Hmm… I like the beat and the lyrics are really nice, but it sounds to copyrighted.”

Puzzlement flashes onto his face, “copyrighted?”

“Yeah, it sounds so much like an American 80s song my parents love that I can practically sing the English song along with this. Of course without T.O.P.’s rap.”

“Really?” He asks with curious stare as we cross the street.

“Yeah, it is that close. That fact will really hinder the song for anyone that knows the other, which will be most of your foreign fans.”

“Interesting…” I watch him stare at the road in thought as we enter my favorite park to run in. “Hey I know this park.”

“Well I would think you would, considering you have lived in this city way longer than I have.”

“No, no I run here a lot, because of how isolated it is.”

“Really? Me too, I like the quiet when I run.”

“You like to run?”

“Heck yeah! I love a good morning run.” I smile cheerfully at him glad for the new found connection.

“We should run together sometime.”

“Okay.” I mutter as I stare at his radiating smile.

“Where are we going from here?” He asks as I tear my eyes away from his smiling face and start in the direction if the building. We come to a stop at the park’s electrical control building. “This is it?” I laugh at Young Bae’s confused look.

“No we are going up top.”

“Is that allowed?”

“Oh, I don’t really know, but the ladder is not blocked off and there isn’t a sign.”

He stares at me suspiciously and glances at the rusted ladder. “Okay… but you go first.”

“Scared?”

“No I just want to be able to catch you incase you fall.” He grins at my sheepishly as I burst out in laughter.

“Okay manly man, whatever you say.” I roll my eyes and start up the ladder. As both Young Bae and I make it safely to the top I smile and spread my arms wide. “Welcome to Emily’s top-secret hideout!” I turn to Young Bae to say something else only to watch him drop into a roll and flatten himself against the wall. “Young Bae wha-”

“My name is James Bond…” He says in English, his hand in the form of a gun as he scoops the area like a spy.

“Oh gosh…” I laugh as he gives me a goofy grin. “No he says it like this: Name’s Bond, James Bond.” I say trying to mimic the actions from the movies.

“Oh ho, I did not know Emily is such an actress.” I roll my eyes and sit on the concrete ledge on the edge of the building.

“Sit down and have something to eat, Mr. Spy.” The smile never leaves his face as he bounces over to me and sits down.

“Hmm… You seem very active today.” I comment as I munch on our snacks watching Young Bae swing his feet.

“Sorry,” he grins sheepishly at me like a boy caught with his hands in the cookie jar. “Big Bang is preparing for an upcoming concert, so I have been very busy lately. Coming up here is nice. I feel…like I have room to breathe. So I am happy…I get hyper when I’m happy.” 

I watch him stare at his feet, his ears red with embarrassment. So what do I do? I flick him in the arm. “Yah! That is nothing to be sorry about. Hey, if you ever need a breather just come up here. I come up here a lot when I need to just escape for a moment. I glad I finally saw you today. I was beginning to worry.” Young Bae just shakes his head chuckling at his own personal joke. I sigh inward at my success of thinking straight when my mind is now melted because of his words.

“Come on, I want to hear this song now.” Young Bae perks up to stare at me mid-chew. “Right now Young Bae, I want to hear this song.”  He nods swallowing his food. Jumping up he grabs his phone and messes around with it till music starts to blast through the tiny speakers. Now with my full attention he gives me a smile and the show begins.

I stare at him like a crazy fangirl and clap as his ends his little mini concert for me. “Woooow Young Bae, that was amazing. You are really good.” He just blushes and smiles at my praise.

“It isn’t that good. I made a lot of mistakes. I still need to practice more.”

“Now why do I feel like we have had this conversation before?” His eyes widen with realization as he plops down beside me again.

“Deja-vu”

“Speaking of which…” I rumble around in my bag for my sketchbook. “Is it okay if I draw you for a bit?”

“Draw me?” He questions

“Yeah we don’t have much sunlight left. Let me sketch you a bit. I need to practice people. You can work on your song if you want.”

“Okay…”

We fall into a comfortable silence. Me sketching away on my paper as Young Bae hums the same tone over and over. The sun starts to fall over the horizon and I stop my art to watch the sky. “This building has a surprisingly great view.” I smirk at the amazement in Young Bae’s voice. “You would not think so, given the location, but wow… great sunset.”

~~~

I smile at the starry night sky. Young Bae and I are lying on the cold, hard, dirty concrete floor of the roof just staring at the stars. Even with the fall nip in the air causing me to shiver and the dirt staining my dress, I smile. Staring at the open night with Young Bae next to me seems almost to prefect to be true. I am fulfilling my dream. I have moved here and made a name for myself. I have companies dying to contract me. My Manhwa is going to become an anime here and in Japan. I have loving assistants and a best friend that I can stare at stars with. I breathe in deep, smelling the fall sent in the air, the city smell of Seoul, and (though I hate to admit) the smell of the man lying next to me. I can’t really place what the smell is. Maybe oranges? Or something totally different… What matters is it is there. His smell, and the light feeling of his upper arm touching mine, is actually quite distracting.

 Suddenly I feel something warm on my body. I look down to see Young Bae’s sweatshirt lying lightly on top of me. “Young B-”

“It’s okay… You are shivering.”

“But-”

“I am hot-blooded so I will be fine.” I feel him lie back down beside me. Silence falls on us again as we stare at the sky. I slip my arms into the inside of his warm sweater.

“…thanks.”

I hear him chuckle. “No…” I feel him shift beside me in the dark. “Thank-you.”

I smirk lightly and decide to play innocent. “Why?”

“…” I wait patiently. I know what he is going to say, but I feel selfish. I want to hear him say that he is glad I brought him here.

“Thank-you for being my friend,” I tilt my head towards him in surprise at his words. He lets out a chuckle. “You know, I think you are the first person of the opposite I have ever spoken comfortably with.  Well… if you do not count my mother.”

I try and fail to suppress the laugh bubbling up inside of me. “Pfh, your mom is a very lucky woman. I bet she has an anti-fan base with all your jealous fans wishing they were her.” I grin at him in the dark.

He stays silence of a while, to the point where I wonder if I have offended him. “…They would wish to be you instead.”

I let this information sink in as I stare at the stars again. I guess I never fully understood my position till now. To me Young Bae is like every other friend. Just the thought of his real status and fan base seems almost too surreal to be true. The thought starts to depress me so I decide on a change in subject. “Why do you find chatting and hanging out with me to be so easy?”

“I… do not really know.” I wait as Young Bae falls silent in thought. “I have never liked silence. I find it awkward, so I am always chatting with friends, or if I’m alone there is always music or TV playing. Then again, there is silence a lot when I am around you and I do not find it awkward. I can look you in the eye, which I never do around other girls. I… don’t know.”

I grin like I have won the lottery at the night sky. My body feels as light as air at his words. I am special. That thought alone makes my stomach do back-flips. I find myself giggling like a child, “It’s cause I am such an oddball.” I sit up and smile down at him as he laughs along with me.

“You might be right.” We laugh at our own silliness and start making up names of stars in the sky. I give them stories behind the names and Young Bae rolls with laughter.

“Hey Emily,” I turn to face him as we gather up our things.

“Yes?”

“Big Bang is having a concert in two weeks. Umm… would you like to come?”

~~~

I smile at my kitties as they play with their new toy. Tabi pounces on it while Georgie stealth fully tries to sneak up on the mouse toy. I laugh at their silliness as I wait for my assistants to arrive. My freshly showered hair drips down into Young Bae’s sleeveless sweatshirt. Yes, I still have his sweater. I, being the idiot I am, forgot to give it back to him. A smile ghosts across my face. I can always just give it back to him after the concert.

That’s right people; I am personally invited to Big Bang’s concert by none other than Taeyang himself! I smirk inward. Young Bae has given me front rows seats and V.I.P. tags, allowing me to go backstage and everything. I feel the fangirl in me squeal with glee. I can still hear his words from last night. His thank-you echoes in my ears.

I lightly touch the fabric of his sweater that I’m wearing. My face hot from blushing. I take a deep breath and try to forcefully shove these threatening feelings deep inside me again. It is wrong. Young Bae trusts me like no other female. He sees me as his friend. I cannot let this feeling ruin that. I must not let this interfere. Yet it is still there, the want to... touch him. To run my fingers over his features, to feel his lips on mine, to be warmed by his embrace.  I sigh as I block off the flow of unfriend-like feelings for Young Bae and answer the knock at the door.

~~~

“Good-bye guys.” I yell as Minhe and Ji Hoo wave walking out of my apartment. I go over to my kitchen to wash the growing pile of unclean dishes. “Hyun Shik, you almost finished?”

“Yeah I just want to finish up the inking on this page.”

“Okay.” I busy myself with my work humming to an unknown tone. Young Bae has weighted on my mind all day. The time seems to have passed so slowly and my work not as enjoying. Suddenly I feel warm arms wrap around my waist. I freeze, “Wha-”

“Shhh…” I hear Hyun Shik whisper in my ear. His warm breath tickling me, “Need a hug?”

I start to pull away, but stop myself. Instead I let go of the dish on my hands and lean back against Hyun Shik’s solid body. I let his touch relax my tense body as Hyun Shik holds me tighter, resting his chin on my shoulder.

I close my eyes. “Thank-you, Hyun Shik.”

“Call me Oppa.”

TEYDADDY @Realtaeyang

I have a friend that has to be the easiest person to talk to. I do not really understand why, but whatever I feel like saying I can say around this friend. Maybe it is because my friend is foreign. Anyone else find non-Koreans easier to talk to? Or is my friend just one-of-a-kind? ^.^ I hope I see you all at the Big Bang Show! God Bless!

Author’s Note

An the games begin! Ah so I actually finished this chapter three days ago and was going to post it a day after chapter 5 because I wanted to edit it some more, but I ended up delaying it till today. I have been informed that the college I will be attending in the fall has decided to raise its prices another $10,000 per year, thus making it impossible for me to afford to attend there. So I have not had time to even login in on this site. Plus I have not really been in the mood to do so. I ended up just redoing the whole chapter because I no longer like the other one. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It is filled with fluff that was not originally there, but I needed to write some distracting fluffiness so here it is~

I hope to write two chapters next week since it is Spring Break for me, but the keyword is hope so do not expect much. I do most of my writing in notes on my iPhone between assignments. As of late I cannot seem to login on my phone. It signs me in as “Guest.” I went to the FAQs and found out the problem and how to fix it, but that did not work. Anyone have any ideas?

Anyways chapters will slowly become slower and slower till my graduation, especially since I now need to find a new school. Thank-you all for being patient and reading my little story. Your comments are all wonderful and WELCOME all new subscribers!!!

Anyone want to strangle Hyun Shik? hrhrhrhr