CHAPTER 10
⤫ AEON : END OF AN ERAChapter 10
Aaah, promotions were finally over, another weight was dropped from Wonwoo’s shoulders. Another month of promotions and schedules and performances, polite smiles and careful images. As he got into his car to drive to his daily radio show. He lowered the window of his car and let the cold wind ruffle his hair, blowing the worries and the image away. Nobody would recognize him anyway, and if they did what would they see? Aeon’s Primo on his way to become Cha Wonwoo of Cha Wonwoo’s Beautiful Night.
He was running a little late, it was already 11:45 when he parked his car and entered the building, but the staff knew he’d be late today. The writer should have prepared an easy night for him, no guests, just talk and callers and music.
He was in charge of the midnight to 2AM timeslot. Not a popular slot, and not a popular shows. He just played on MBC’s FM4U radio channel, never brought in buckets or listeners, but there were always enough.
He bowed to the writer noona as soon as he entered the building. She gave him a page with prompts for the evening and some songs they wanted him to play for sure (probably there’d be some promotion deal or company politics involved) and that was it. The rest would be his to fill. That was fine, that was just the way he liked it. He had plenty to say.
It was 10 minutes before midnight when he entered the studio. There were a few people watching through the glass window, but not many people would come out for him this late and he didn’t mind at all. There’d be a couple on nights like these, when the Aeon promotions were still fresh. More if they’d managed to get a popular guest on board, but otherwise all that was visible past the windows were the neon lights across the street and nightlife walking past in their own worlds.
Wonwoo loved this place.
Wonwoo seated himself in his trusty chair in front of the microphone while the staff got ready behind the stations. The writer noona counted down, the on-air light , and Wonwoo turned to the microphone. “Welcome to Cha Wonwoo’s Beautiful Night,” he said with a gentle voice. “Welcome to another night of musings and music for all the night owls among us. Are you still awake with me? It’s just you and me tonight.
“Aeon wrapped up promotions today,” he continued. “It had been a busy couple of weeks, juggling promotions and the radio show, as it always is when we have a comeback. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to give you the best of me for the past three weeks, but soon you will have my undivided attention again, listeners. To commemorate the promotions, I’m going to play my favorite song off the album: Hallucination. It’s a song about finding love in a dream, or perhaps just somewhere you shouldn’t, a temporary solace. Sometimes love can seem like an oasis, can’t it? Let’s set the tone for tonight with something upbeat but lowkey, shall we?” There, that should have bought the staff enough time to queue the song, and it ticked off his obligation to the group nicely too. Now that he had addressed what had to be addressed he could continue the program on his own.
He lazily talked into the mike, pulling anecdotes from his life or musings he’d had. He answered a few calls, discussed anything from students sorrows to relationship problems. At one point a woman asked him what to do about her husband who’d fallen asleep in the other room and he’d grinned and told her to play a prank on him to get back at him. He liked to imagine that she’d taken his suggestions of a new sharpied monobrow and soul patch.
“My sister has been staying up to listen to the broadcasts lately, despite knowing that she has to study.” he said at one point, after a caller had talked to him about how his broadcasts helped her study for tests. “She started university this year studying political science and gender studies and I couldn’t be more proud of her. She’ll probably scold me tomorrow because I mentioned her, but I’m willing to brave the dragon to let her know that I’m here for her.” He smiled to himself, oh she’d definitely admonish him for talking about her again. He talked to her altogether way too often on air. He was so proud of her that she’d started university doing what she was passionate about. He’d never doubted that she’d withstand their mother’s meddling and go after what she actually wanted to do, but it was nice to see her actually make good on his expectations.
“Youngji, if you’re listening, you had better have all your work done and study hard, okay? You don’t become the future president by slacking off.” He chuckled softly. “I bet she’s so embarrassed right now, but I’ll just consider it payback for all the times she’s bossed me around.”
Even though he’d been doing this for over a year now, it still surprised him how comfortable he was talking into that microphone like it was an old friend. It felt simultaneously like he was talking to everybody and nobody at all. It was like having a one-sided conversation, spilling out his thoughts. One evening he talked about some of the things he’d learning in psychology classes, the other he got to share his thoughts about family life or embarrass his sister some more on-air. One moment he could chat with a caller about their issues, the next he mused about something philosophical that had popped into his head, and that was exactly why his listeners loved listening to him (or so they said, anyway).
He played a Jung Joon Il song he’d been into lately and waved at a passer-by who’d curiously looked through her window on the way past. She smiled and did that half nod half bow people did when they were uncertain but in a hurry. The three people who were still watching through the window waved back, thinking that he’d waved at them, and he just smiled. It was already 1:45, he only had half an hour of airtime left. He flipped through the brief that the writer had given him. He’d played all of the mandatory songs, touched on the topics she’d wanted him to talk about, so he was free to close the program any way he saw fit.
“We’re already at the end of tonight,” he said, when the second song had finished playing as well (Seunghoon and Eunha’s Reply: he liked to play one of either of their songs every night or so as thank you for coming onto the program once in a while to infuse it with live music) and the red on-air light had once again . “Does the time fly as much for you as it does for me, listeners? Is anyone still with me? Please come and rest your minds with me again tomorrow as we face the late night together,” his usual ending lines slipped off his tongue like it was made for this. “This has been Beautiful Night, I am Cha Wonwoo, signing off.”
He spent the next fifteen minutes with the writer discussing what to do for tomorrow’s episode, but it was brief. He’d been doing this so long now, he didn’t need much prep. He’d message the writer if he got specific ideas during the day, maybe write some anecdotes down if he really wanted to discuss them, but most of the broadcast was simply improvising and speaking his mind, playing music, and taking calls and requests. It was an oasis of calm in a day
As he stepped outside in the night air, almost 2:30AM no2, he breathed the cold air in deep. He loved the night. It was quieting down in this part of Seoul, still a little chilly in late April, and it was lovely. The night wrapped around him like a blanket of solitude. No fans were left, nobody who cared about him, he was just another late night Seoulite going for his car. Another person going home to his bed to face a new day. Wonwoo wouldn’t have it any other way.
He took one last deep breath, one last moment just standing outside, enjoying the night. It was time to home, time to sleep properly again, time to enjoy his quiet days and find his way back to the radio studio again tomorrow night.
“I’m taking you off of Aeon.” Hong Sanghyuk said.
Wait what? Seokmin wasn’t quite sure what to say. The buzzing of the TL light as giving him enough of a headache as it was, and now this new followed suit. He paused, trying to figure out something to say, some compelling argument why this was a bad idea. He knew he only had one chance at this. All he could think of was “Why?”
The CEO raised his eyebrows. “Do you really have to ask me that? The group was a colossal failure and it’s time to cut our losses. You’re one of our best managers and we need you elsewhere.”
“It’s only been a year,” he argued. “There is still time for them to get a breakthrough.”
“You’ve seen their sales,” the CEO pointed out. “We can’t afford to keep pumping money into something that will give is no returns.”
“Are you disbanding them?” He was afraid of the answer, but it had to be asked.
“I’m putting them on indefinite hiatus,” Hong Sanghyuk said. “Until I, along with the shareholders, figure out what to do with them. You can tell them that they can go back to their families or whatever they want to do, but they have to be out of the dorm by the end of the week. We couldn’t disrupt the lease before then.”
“Wait, you’re kicking them out of the dorm?” Putting them on hiatus was one thing, but depriving them of a place to stay? That felt cruel beyond belief. “Isn’t the provision of a dorm in their contract?”
“The contract doesn't outright say that we have to provide for housing,” the CEO waved his concerns away. “It will be temporary. We will provide for them again when we need them.”
“It doesn’t have to come to this,” Seokmin argued. “Let me develop another strategy with the marketing team. Maybe we can promote them in Japan, make a Japanese version of Wow and promote them there? Many groups that are lagging in Korea are turning their heads to Japan nowadays. We could follow suit.”
“We haven’t any ties in Japan, and besides, if they weren’t charismatic enough to make it here what makes you think they can make it elsewhere? Tell that one boy who does the modelling that we can put him up in the trainee dorm as long as he keeps getting schedules, but the rest will have to go home to their parents.”
At least Wonwoo would be okay. But what about the others? What about Youngbae? “Some of them don’t have homes to go to.”
“They’ll have to figure something out,” the CEO said. “We have one spot left in the trainee dorm and it’s for Primo. There simply isn’t any more room and they’re not a priority. They’ve cost us enough money as it is, and there’s no way they’re paying off their trainee debts now either.”
He had to pick his battles and he knew it. “What about Chanhee? He’s a talented actor, you could start sending him out to auditions.”
“Why should we give him opportunities that could go to our acting hopefuls? He’s an idol.” The CEO waved that notion away as well, clearly finding it ridiculous. Seokmin didn’t know what else to try. “We have one of them sticking to modelling, the rest will go on indefinite hiatus. Everything has already been decided and signed off on. You just have to let them know.”
And that was how Seokmin found himself hesitating in front of the practice room. There were many things he’d rather be doing and stepping in there and dashing their dreams but getting fired wasn’t one of them. He took a breath and opened the door.
The group was sitting on the floor, music coming from the speakers while they seemed to be eating lunch and drinking coffee. Come to think of it, he’d seen a lot of the same branded takeaway coffee cups in the trash lately. Curious.
“Hey manager hyung,” Wonwoo greeted him immediately.
No sense delaying the inevitable. “I have some bad news for you all.”
One by one their faces fell when he told them the news.
“What do you mean we have to move out?” Chanhee demanded. “They can’t just kick us out, isn’t Helix required to give us housing?!”
“The contract states that they are in their right to put you on a hiatus, disrupting the other clauses of the contract, including the provision of board. I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do.”
“You’re not our manager anymore?” Baekhyun asked, hurt plain in his voice.
“It’s only temporary,” Seokmin said quickly. “Only for the duration of your hiatus.”
“This is bull! It’s all bull!” Chanhee snapped. “You know it too! They make all of these bad decisions, and in the end we’re the ones getting kicked out of our house. Why doesn’t he just disband us so we can all look for new opportunities?”
“It’s a hiatus,” Seokmin reminded him. “It’s not a permanent end. The CEO said that they’re looking into what to do with you, but they believe a break is beneficial for all parties.” God, he hated himself for spewing his whitewashed company spiel. “Wonwoo, you still have schedules so there is room for you in the trainee dorm. Unfortunately there aren’t any beds left for the rest of you.”
Joowon, who had been suspiciously quiet for the duration of the bad news, got up. “Can I talk to you in private, hyung?”
“I suppose.” He wasn’t very happy with it, but that was mostly because he’d like to avoid Joowon’s knowing looks as much as possible. He was exhausted too and he really didn’t want to fight with the acting leader right now. It wasn’t about Seokmin now, though, and he owed Joowon this moment.
“Tell me honestly,” Joowon said when they were outside of the room. “They’ve given up completely, haven’t they? Are we awaiting disbandment or will they actually give us another chance?”
“I don’t know,” Seokmin said. “I don’t even think the CEO knows at this point. I’m trying to convince them to give you a Japanese debut. Best case scenario is you wait a couple of months and then we’ll get right back to it”
Joowon brushed a hand through his hair. “None of us know Japanese. They never got us reason to study it.”
“You better start, then,” Seokmin said. “At this point it might be your only shot. Besides, groups have succeeded without knowing much Japanese before. Get Wonwoo or Chanhee to study it, they seem to be good with languages, doesn’t he know four already? What’s one more?”
Joowon sighed. “And is this actually something that’s going to happen? Or is it just another pipe dream?”
“Hell if I know, Joowon. I’m trying, that’s all I can tell you,.” He figured, after all of this, Joowon deserved the honesty. “Do you have a place to stay?”
“I’ll find somewhere to say. Parents are out of the question, but you know me. I’ll be alright.”
“If you don’t, you can stay with me. I don’t have much, a couch is all I can offer you, but it’s in Seoul, at least.”
Joowon shook his head. “Give that to Youngbae instead, he truly has nowhere to go. I’ll find my way somehow. I can always pick up a job and get back to my old gosiwon.” A closet of a living space, that’s what Joowon’s plan was. Seokmin felt the feelings of guilt creep up on him, but what was there that he could actually do for them? “Just pack up your things and be ready to move out by the end of the week. If there are any complications, let me know and I’ll do what I can, okay?”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Joowon said.
“Can you, eh, talk to them? I have some work to get back to?” He felt ashamed of the lie but he just couldn’t look at their fallen faces anymore.
Joowon raised his eyebrows, and for a moment Seokmin feared he would argue, but then he nodded. “I can. Good luck with your work, hyung.”
He didn’t at all liked the way Joowon had said that. “Again, if you need any help with anything, let me know.”
“Will do.”
With that Joowon went back into the practice room and Seokmin was released. He went back to his office, he ought to review the acting trainees, after all it had been a while since he’d been in charge of them, but they were his charges now.
Joowon was furious. Absolutely furious. They were being pushed aside like they meant nothing. A bad investment not worth looking into anymore, like they weren’t even people. First the desperate change in concept, and now they were put on indefinite hiatus and kicked out of their house and a week is all they got to find a replacement.
He’d been all over the company all week trying to find some kind of solution. He’d even asked the bookkeeper if he could access the financial records, he was sure that with the acting revenue there’d be enough for another comeback, another try, or at least to afford the rent for a few months. He’d been flatout denied of course, he didn’t know what he had expected. Why had he thought that they would accommodate him, it wasn’t like they had ever actually seen any of them as equals, human being worthy of respect.
He’d known the industry was like that, goddamnit, but he’d still thought that it would be better. He’d still thought that they might listen. How ing naive he’d been.
What was he going to tell the others? He was the leader and he’d let them all down. Wasn’t it on him as much as it was on the company? He should have fought harder for them. He should have- should have what? Stormed the CEO’s office and make the man listen to him? Like that would have gone over well.
He slumped against the wall. He didn’t know what to do.
It was getting late, even some of the company’s office workers were leaving the building. He wasn’t sure why he was still here, he’d given up on butting heads with the bookkeepers two hours ago. He kept going back and forth between taking the lift up to the top floor and braving that door with ‘CEO Hong Sanghyuk’ on it, braving the dragon himself, but he always fell short. Maybe, when it all came down to it, there was only so much bite he had for his bark?
He didn’t know. He felt awful.
He supposed it was time to go home, he couldn’t put it off much longer. It was far too nice outside, summer was setting in but the monsoons were still kept at bay. People were in good moods, trees were in bloom, the weather was soft, there was even a minimal amount of smog in the air. Joowon sighed and soldiered on.
The house itself was in turmoil, he could see that even from the outside, just like he knew it would be. The door was left ajar, suitcases were balanced in the hallway, everything was too spotless. He took a breath, a last wheeze of peace, took off his shoes and entered the chaos.
“Hey hyung,” Baekhyun greeted him first, apparently cleaning the living room. “Any success?”
Joowon shook his head. “Not yet, anyway. How is the cleanup going?”
Baekhyun gestured around him with his bright pink rubber gloves and soap bucket. “It’s going well! We made a lot of progress I think. You should check in with Chanhee hyung for a task, there’s still lots to be done. He’s in his room, I think.”
They’d started packing this morning, he knew. He’d bowed out of it to go to the company and try to argue with anyone who would listen that they were making a mistake, something which hadn’t actually gotten him anywhere but still. Now everything was looking so empty already despite the suitcases and boxes and piles dotting the livingroom.
As predicted, Chanhee was in the little closet he called a room. The futon had been rolled up and secured with twine, his suitcase was bulging but packed, and he was busy sweeping any of the residual trash up. He was wearing a green apron over his usual practice clothes, his hair was dishevelled, and everything was covered in dust and sweat. “Evening, Cinderella,” Joowon leaned on the doorframe, grinning at the sight. He didn’t think he’d ever seen Chanhee like such a mess.
“Look who we have here,” Chanhee said. “Someone call the military police, the deserter has been spotted.”
Joowon raised his hands in defense. “Please, sir, have mercy on me! I meant no harm!”
“Tell that to the mess of your room that had only our fearless leader to clean it. I wouldn’t be surprised to find it worse for wear than when he started. Best check on him.”
“He’s a grown man,” Joowon said. “I’m sure he can handle himself. How are you doing?”
Chanhee shrugged. “Well I’m knee deep in dust and filth despite the fact that Hoon and I literally cleaned this place two weeks ago, packing my things and getting ready to live with my parents again even though I’d much rather swallow a cactus, and contemplating my own failed career and the mistakes I made that lead me here. You know, the usual when you’re packing your life away.”
Joowon laughed. “No biggie huh? You must have been a delight today.” He appreciated the honesty at least.
Chanhee smiled briefly. “I’m always a delight. Have you found a place to stay yet?”
“The owner of the gosiwon has a room left for me.” Thankfully that option remained open. He also told him that he could get right back to his various chores and jobs around the gosiwon too, for the reduced rate. He’d have to find another part time job to actually pay for the fraction of rent left, but he was sure he could manage. He couldn’t go back home, his parents wouldn’t be able to afford housing him, they were still paying for his sister’s university bills. Besides, it’d be stifling to go back after he got used to living in Seoul. He loved the bustle of the city, anywhere else would just pale in comparison.
Chanhee gave him a weird look. “You’d live in that dump for that long?”
“Yeah, it’s all I need. I don’t plan on being home much anyway, so a bed is really all I need.”
“To each their own I guess,” Chanhee said lightly, then he grew serious again. “I’m worried about Seunghoon. He shouldn’t be going back home to that little farming village, he just managed to crawl out of it.”
“It’ll only be temporary,” Joowon said. “Didn’t he want to go back to visit his family for lunar new year? Now he gets to.”
“I know but-” Chanhee stopped. “I don’t think it’ll be good for him.”
“Since when do you know what’ll be good for Seunghoon or not?” Joowon wondered. He didn’t think they were that close. He’d expect something like this from Jinyoung, but not Chanhee.
Joowon noticed something small and green sticking out of the suitcase. “Woo Chanhee, is that what I think it is?”
“What?” Chanhee glanced back to where he was looking and grinned. “That is exactly what you think it is.”
Joowon gently pulled the plush turtle out of the pocket of the suitcase. “I didn’t know you still had this.”
“How could I throw away the spoils of our teamwork?” Chanhee asked with utmost affront. “What monster do you take me for?”
It felt like so long ago that they had all surrounded the claw machine, grabbing for that little devious plush turtle. Chanhee was right, it was a symbol for their combined efforts, a true symbol of their teamwork as much as any of their songs were. Here it was.
They shouldn’t be doing this. They shouldn’t be splitting up now when the going had just started getting tough. They shouldn’t split apart at the first sign of adversity.
Joowon handed the turtle back to Chanhee and leaned out of the closet back into the living room. “Team meeting!” He called out. “Come on, reconvene in the living room!”
Chanhee looked at him like he’d gone mad but he ignored it. There were more important things to consider. He had to keep the team together.
It took a few minutes to get everyone together in the living room, each looking about as dishevelled as Chanhee. Youngbae, especially, and Joowon was starting to wonder if he should have entrusted their room to him so readily. “What’s up?” Youngbae asked, sitting down on the ground with the others while Joowon kept standing.
“Listen,” Joowon said. “I think it’s a bad idea to split up right now. We’ve only started started our career, our anniversary wasn’t even two months ago damnit. Even if the company is so ready to give up on us, I don’t think we should.”
“What can we do though?” Wonwoo asked. “It’s not like this is in our hands.”
“Isn’t it?” Joowon wondered. “We’re all preparing to go back to whatever holes we came from. Parents mostly, with some exceptions. Why don’t we stay together instead? We could rent a place, live together and split the costs. It’ll be tight, but with the seven of us we’d just have to get some part time jobs to cover it. It shouldn’t be that difficult.”
“That’d be great!” Youngbae said immediately. Joowon figured it wouldn’t take much to convince him since he knew that Youngbae’s relationship with his parents wasn’t great. It was the others who might be problematic.
“I’m in,” Chanhee said too. “I wasn't really looking forward to going back to my parents anyway. “This will do just as well. What about you Seunghoon?”
Seunghoon looked uncertain. “We’d have to pay rent though, right? I’ve, eh, never had a job before.”
Jinyoung snorted. “Isn’t this a job?”
“Well besides this!”
“I can cover for you,” Joowon offered. He hadn’t made the calculations but he was sure it would be fine. “I don’t want any of us to leave the city, at least. We have to stick together.”
“No no,” Seunghoon shook his head. “I’ll find a job, I’ll contribute.”
“I’ll cover for you until you catch your bearings then.” He used his and that is final tone and Seunghoon got the message. “What about you Baekhyun? Jinyoung? Wonwoo?”
“My parents live in the city,” Baekhyun said. “I-I wouldn’t be far.”
“It’s fine, you can stay over whenever you like anyway,” Joowon quickly quieted him. “There’ll always be room for you wherever we are.”
Jinyoung looked conflicted. “Maybe,” he said. That wasn’t surprising either, Joowon knew Jinyoung’s parents lived in the city either so of course he’d rather stay with them and avoid the money. At least he’d be close.
“I’m not sure the company would want me to,” Wonwoo said. “Seokmin hyung said to move into the actor dorm.”
Okay, so it was four out of seven. Not the best turnout but not the worst either. He could work with this! If it kept them all together then it would be worth it.
“Why don’t you just ask to rent this place?” Wonwoo wondered. “We know it’ll be vacant exactly when we need it to be.”
“The rent can’t be expensive either,” Chanhee said. “Look at this dump.”
That was a damned good idea. The place was well located, but the quality of the house would keep the price down. They wouldn’t even have to go anywhere, and with some luck they could keep the company’s clothing racks and other scavenged quality of life improvers as well. Mostly it was familiar, it was theirs. “That is an excellent idea, I’ll give Seokmin hyung a call and see if he can find out who the original owner is so we can renew the lease under our names.”
“You want to do what?” Seokmin’s voice rang through the phone a few minutes later.
“You said you’d help, remember?” Joowon reminded him. “You told me to let you know if there was anything you could do. Here’s what you can do: get us the landlord’s number. That’s all I’m asking for right now.”
Seokmin sighed. “Fine. As far as I know it’s a landlady, the one who lives on the level below you. Pretty old, house was in the family for a while until her daughter moved in with her husband. We got a good deal out of it at the time. As long as you’ve been considerate enough as tenants, you might be able to get her to rent it to you for a lowered rate as well.”
“Oh she’s the one who lives underneath?” He’d never really seen much of their neighbour aside from her frequent shopping trips. Wonwoo had helped her bring in some bags before if he remembered correctly. They hadn’t been the… quietest neighbours, but if he brought maybe that would jog her good natured side. “I won’t even need her phone number then, I’ll just give her door a knock, thanks hyung!”
“Are you sure about this?” Seokmin asked. “You could just take a break for a few months. Visit family, study something. Are you sure you want to cling to this house and this city?”
“I didn’t come this far to quit now,” Joowon said. “And I didn’t come to this city to slink right back home when it got tough. We’re not going to give up so easily.”
There was a soft sigh from the other line. “Alright then, good luck persuading the landlady. Let me know how things went.”
And that was that. They lucked out and the lady hadn’t rented the place out yet, and she’d remembered Wonwoo for the chores he’d done for her. Luck would have it she was partially deaf as well, so she hadn’t even lied awake from their late night guitar parties or drunken shenanigans!
With everything that had been going wrong that week, Joowon was surprised at how swimmingly this went. The rent was steep, that was true, they were paying for the location if not for the actual dump that was the house, but it was still theirs and she even lowered the rent for them when he’d prodded, if they managed to pay an increased deposit of course.
“Okay, so, this is the deal,” Joowon said, when he’d gathered everyone in the living room again. “She’s willing to rent us the place for 1.7 million won a month, but she wants a steep deposit in return.”
“I can pay it,” Youngbae offered. “I think I still have a bit of money left from… eh… my savings?”
Joowon frowned. “Are you sure?” He hadn’t pegged Youngbae for someone who was careful enough with money to have that kind of savings. He wasn’t happy about having to rely on Youngbae for it either, though he had to admit that it was a load of his shoulders if Youngbae could front this.
Youngbae nodded. “Yeah! I’m leader, I should at least front the deposit, it’s fine.”
“Alright, if that’s the case then we can sign the contract tomorrow and ‘move in’ right when we’re supposed to move out.”
“So we can unpack?” Seunghoon asked in awe.
“Those of us who are planning to stay at the dorm can fully unpack,” Joowon said. “Anyone else, well, you can leave whatever you want here. I don’t think anyone really minds. We’re a team after all.”
Baekhyun beamed in relief at that. “We’re a team.”
Joowon laughed, a full free booming laugh. “We did it!” It was a win! For the first time in awhile it felt like a real win! “We get to stay together! Come here you s, let’s hug it out. We did it.” Joowon dragged everyone into a group hug, voluntary or not. It was such a small thing but he was so happy for something to go right finally.
“Do you still have that guitar, Hoonie?” He asked.
“I- I do.”
“Bring it out. Let’s have a celebratory jam session. I think we all deserved it. Youngbae, is there some soju left?”
“There is!”
“Well then,” Joowon grinned. “It’s a party if ever I saw one.”
They spent the rest of the evening drinking and jamming, something that had turned into a bit of a tradition after that session so many months ago. It might even be the first time in awhile that any of them felt so free, certainly Joowon. They were here, they were together, and they were ready to jump into action as soon as Joowon would manage to wear down the CEO. It might be a small win in the grand scheme of things, but his little team was sticking together and, at least right now, he couldn’t be happier.
“Hey mom, I’m home!” Jinyoung called, as soon as he opened the door of the familiar apartment. The light filtered through the blinds just the way Jinyoung remembered it did, the hall smelled just the way he knew it would, and the tick tock tick tock of the clock was exactly as it had sounded his entire life.
Tick tock tick tock, the heavy wall clock in the living room echoed throughout the house. Tick tock tick tock with every of the clock.
“Jinyoung!” His mother’s voice rang out from the kitchen. She was probably cooking something, she was usually cooking something. “Come help me with the kimchi!” Ah, well there was the answer to that.
“Is it okay if I put my suitcase in my room first? I’ll be right there.”
“Of course, dear.”
He wheeled the suitcase the familiar few steps through the dark wooden hallway to the room that had been his since, well, since he could imagine. He knew his parents were from Busan originally, but that was all before he was born. This dark little apartment was all he’d known, and the bedroom was exactly as he had left it so many years ago, when he’d first moved into the trainee dorm.
It was small, a single bed was pushed against the wall. Worn posters still adorned his walls. The members of H.O.T stared at him as he sat down on the bed, greeted by the ever familiar creaking of the springs. He kicked the football that was still under his bed. How often had he carried that ball to the field around the corner and played with the other boys? How often had he ran his lungs out to compete with that little Do Taekwon? He hadn’t touched this ball in years, hadn’t really plaed football since he found out about singing.
He always forgot exactly how many H.O.T posters were still up. They’d been his heroes back then, he’d wanted to be exactly like them. Even when newer groups came along, like TVXQ, he’d remained faithful to his role models. How many times had he sung Candy to his mom with the accompanying sugary dance moves? It had been old even when he’d found about it, he was what? Seven at the time? Eight? He wasn’t sure, all he remembered was her taping him and showing all the neighbours and all their family members how cute he’d been. It was so embarrassing now, he was sure she still had the video somewhere even if he’d looked for it before with the sole intent of destroying all evidence.
There was still his old wall calendar hanging up next to the antiquated Windows XP computer. It was a football calendar, one his dad had bought for him at the time, featuring all of the players who’d been in the national team in 2006. He grabbed it and flipped through the pages. There were the vocal lessons he’d been getting, always scheduled in with little music notes drawn next to them, as if he would have forgotten what the topic was if he didn’t have that little visual reminder. He remembered how much he’d loved those classes at the time. He’d always been good at singing, he’d had a nice tone and the naive enthusiasm to throw himself into learning singing as soon as he’d had the chance. It was the one thing he was the best at out of anyone he knew, and he showed it off at any opportunity at the time. He was pretty sure he’d annoyed the teacher to death every time he raised his hand whenever she asked for a volunteer to try singing this or that passage. He’d just wanted to be heard by absolutely everyone. His dad had thought his fascination for singing absurd then, too, but his mom had signed him up for lessons anyway.
Every few days there’d be days penned in with tests or homework deadlines, or study groups. A few times he’d been forced to attend after school classes by his dad when his grades weren’t up to standard. Various doodles and emojis accompanied every single entry, from frowny faces marking tests to excited squiggles for festivals or friend birthday parties. Nothing was allowed to be neutral, everything had to be doodle-coded.
And then there were the auditions, those were obsessively circled in red pen and surrounded by exclamation marks in case he might forget them if they didn’t jump out of the page at him.
!! SM Ent Audition!!
Of course SM had been his first attempt, he couldn’t let down H.O.T hyungs, now could he? No such luck, of course. He’d been so nervous that he totally messed up the dance, and in hindsight Candy wasn’t the best song to audition solo with, but hindsight was always a wasn’t she? It was no surprise he hadn’t heard anything back from them.
!!! JYP audition !!! (pls pls I’ll do all my homework if I make it this time)
He’d tried JYP next. Little Jin had had ambitions that only the big three could fill. The song had been better chosen that time, but nerves had still gotten to him, and even though he’d been the best vocalist there (in his humble opinion), the company had looked more at the dancers than singers and he’d been criminally overlooked.
!!! Hil-Hae Heliks Audition !!!
He remembered the audition for Helix had been on something of a whim. Seeing an advert on the subway that they were conducting auditions for singers. He’d never heard of them, hadn’t even known how to spell the name, but he’d never been one to miss an opportunity. He’d tried, and it had actually happened. He’d thought, then, that his future was assured. He hadn’t even flinched when his dad had told him no, had told him he’d regret everything bla bla the same old spiel he’d heard hundreds of times since. He’d thought he’d had it all now, he’d felt big enough to stand up for himself. Hindsight was a indeed.
It all felt so familiar, this room, and it always made him feel like he was still a teenager. Like he was still in and out of vocal classes, still trying his best to keep on top of his classes so his dad wouldn’t blame his mother for indulging his hobbies while he devoted every minute of spare time he had to singing and music. His cheap mike was sitting next to his old computer, used to record himself and listen to what he sounded like. His various pop music CDs were still stacked in the corner, just waiting for him to pick one up and insert it into the ancient CD player and sing along to their contents. The brush he’d used to simulate a microphone was still tossed away in the first drawer of the desk.
It made him feel small, behind here. It made him feel like he’d never felt, like he was still the little kid with the big dreams who’d finally gathered the courage to stand up for them.
He didn’t want to be here. Why had he decided to go home instead of staying at the dorm?
Well he knew the answer to that, didn’t he?
“Jinyoung!” his mother called. “Are you coming?”
Oops, he’d gotten lost in thought. He carefully hung the wall calendar back where it belonged and joined his mother in kitchen. She was bent over a big plastic tub on the floor, several pulled apart cabbages already deposited in the cold water and she was working on the next one. “Are you making enough for a small army again?”
“I’m making extra for the elders nextdoor,” his mom said. “And I thought you could give some to your friends as well, they probably won’t have time to make it themselves and store-bought kimchi just won’t do.”
“I’ll bring them some,” Jinyoung said, mostly to make her stop nagging about it. He knew she wouldn’t stop until he relented. Ah well, it wasn’t like the others couldn’t use some extra food anyway. He didn’t bother correcting her that they were his group members, not his friends. Some of them were, but it still didn’t feel quite right.
Then again, were they still if they were on the precipice of disbandment?
Stop that.
Jinyoung busied himself helping his mom make kimchi, which was quite the task when the tub was overflowing by the time all the ingredients were deposited. He helped cut and pull apart the cabbages, soaking them in cold water before depositing them in big plastic tub number two while his mother tossed the salt over them and made the porridge and the sauce.
“So how are you doing dear?” She asked, when they were both waiting for the cabbage to take in the salt. “Are you going to stay with us for long?”
“A few months,” Jinyoung said. “As a, eh, bit of a break. Is all.”
She smiled. “That’s nice, I’m sure your dad will like having you around again too, and I can always use a hand around the house.”
Jinyoung tried not to cringe at the mention of his dad. “Did you listen to our songs?” he asked hopefully.
“Oh no,” she said. “You know I don’t really listen to pop music much, but I’m sure they’re great dear.”
Oh. “It’s okay. Maybe I can show you some later?”
She smiled “That sounds nice.” She spent the rest of the hour they waited talking to him about all of the gossip around the neighbourhoods, the elderly couple that was struggling financially and how she hoped they wouldn’t be evicted but kept given them food. Maybe she’d try to organize a fundraiser for them, but oh nobody else around the building seemed to care. They all just cared about their own lives, back in Busan the neighbours would be a united front even in the city and she’d know all of them by name and talked to everyone. The city was so cold and oh how she wished she could go back to Busan sometimes but Jinyoung’s dad had a good job here so they stayed. Jinyoung zoned out halfway through, honestly, he’d heard all of this so many times before.
Then the cooking started again. “I’m going to put some raw mussels and squid in, is that okay for your friends as well?”
“Yeah sure, go ahead.”
She got him to chop the squid and the green onions and radish while she rinsed and drained the cabbage and chattered to herself. Jinyoung just kept to his own thoughts. It had always been like this, his mom liked talked about everything and nothing and he just wasn’t really interested, but he humored her. Then it was time for the rubber gloves to come on and the paste to be rubbed into the cabbage. Jinyoung hated this part of the process, it was so gross and he hated the red gloves with the flowers his mom always made him wear.
He would stay in a kimchi paste ring of hell of all eternity if it meant not hearing the sound of the door opening and his dad giving his gruff greeting at the end of the day.
“Good evening,” the voice called out two hours later. Jinyoung was back in the kitchen, helping his mother prepare dinner like he always used to do when he was little. “Is dinner ready?”
“On its way!” his mother called back, a ritual that had existed for as long as Jinyoung could remember. She handed him some of the plates and cutlery. “Go set the table, would you?”
There he was, already sitting at the table in their little living room. Impeccably pressed suit, tie so tight it ought to be choking him, hair graying but neat, lines ons his face indicating a life of few smiles. There was none of that for him now, either. “Jinyoung,” he said. “So you’ve returned.”
“Only temporarily,” he muttered.
“What did I tell you about muttering? Speak up or don’t speak at all.”
Jinyoung swallowed. “I’m only staying for a few months,” he repeated, louder this time. “I won’t stay for very long.” He set the table as quick as he could and retreated back to the kitchen. Unfortunately the reprieve was temporary. Soon enough the food was brought out to the table and the three of them.
Jinyoung kept his head down, silently eating the food while his mom asked his dad about his day at work. Conversations he’d heard day in day out for years of his life. She’d ask how his dad had been, he’d give some gruff non-committal answer. It had been fine, it had been as it always, nothing interesting to talk about, nothing to disrupt the careful separation of the two spheres.
“So,” his dad said, focusing his steel gaze on Jinyoung. He wanted to wither away until there was nothing for his dad to look at. Instead he lifted his chin and maintained eye contact, even if it was the hardest thing he’d ever done. “You’ve already failed.”
“It’s just a hiatus.” His voice broke at the end of the sentence. He coughed to mask it. “Just a hiatus. A short break. We’re, eh, given leave to visit our parents.”
“When you set out on your fool’s errand I thought it would take you years to figure out you had a made a mistake,” his dad continued, paying no mind to Jin’s weak lies. “How many years did I tell you it would take for you to come crawling back home? Well?” he prodded when Jinyoung didn’t answer.
“Ten,” Jinyoung finally croaked out.
“Right. Ten. Ten years of prancing around on some stage like a dolled up disgrace, living for nothing and accomplishing nothing of value, that’s what I thought your future would look like when you told me you wanted to be a singer.” He spat the word out like it was the most vulgar word to have dripped from his tongue. Jinyoung clenched and unclenched his fist under the table.
“Dohan,” his mother said. “He’s only just arrived, please.”
“Maybe this is for the best,” his father continued, ignoring his mother completely. “You’ve failed now, and it’s taken you far less time than I’d thought. You can study for the high school diploma test, you’re only 19, despite the fact that you’ve never achieved much academically it should still be fresh enough. Then you can take the university entrance exams and be on your way to a respectable career.”
“I haven’t failed,” Jinyoung said, much less impressive and assertive as it had sounded inside his own head. “It’s just a break, we’re getting back to it in a few months. This is just a temporary break.”
His father sighed, but his mother interrupted before things could escalate. “I’m sure dear.” she squeezed his hand before getting back to her food. “You’ve only just settled in and we can discuss all of this later. Let’s just eat our food. Our Jinyoung helped me prepare it and it would be a shame if it went to cold, now, wouldn’t it?”
Jinyoung let out a breath of relief and went back to his food. Tomorrow he’d go back to the practice room. Tomorrow he’d practice until he’d be too tired to continue. He had to get better. Had to become the best singer he could be, the best dancer he could be.
He could not be a failure.
It was weird, unpacking again after they had spent so much time packing everything up just the day before. Youngbae was glad they weren’t leaving, so very very glad. He didn’t like the house much but he liked all of them, and he’d really much rather they stuck it out together. Nevermind that he’d really had no idea where to go, it was mostly the sticking together that brought him relief.
He’d been avoiding thinking about it before. Where would he have gone? Seokmin had offered to let him stay with him but that was weird. Wrong. He was the leader of the group, he shouldn’t be the one to rely on the manager’s kindness like some lost puppy. Youngbae wanted to do better than that! But who would he have called?
This was much better. This meant that nothing had to change. Nevermind the fact that he didn’t have very much money left on his account after they’d handed over the deposit this morning. Nevermind the fact that he really didn’t know how he was going to afford rent. He’d have to find a job, he supposed, but he had absolutely no idea in what. It wasn’t like he had an education or any kind of skills that weren’t idol related. He didn’t think there’d be openings for mediocre idol rapper but he had to do something.
He wasn’t the only one who wasn’t really sure what to do. There were no practices anymore. They were still welcome at the company, Seokmin had explained that to them earlier, but nobody really felt like going through the usual paces. He should, and maybe he should be leading them, as a leader and all, but why? What was even the point? What were they actually practicing for?
The dorm was pretty empty too. Chanhee and Wonwoo and Jinyoung had all gone to see their parents in the city. Seunghoon was in his room unpacking or whatever it was he was doing nowadays, he wasn’t much company. Joowon was… off doing important stuff probably, wasn’t he always doing important stuff? Baekhyun was the only one left.
“Are you still going to go back to your parents?” Youngbae asked. “You sure you don’t want to stay?”
“I’ll be around often!” Baekhyun promised. “I mean, my parents both work so there won’t be much to do during the day anyway, but also I haven’t seen them in a while and I miss them, you know? There was never any time to go visit.”
“Couldn’t you just go any time? Except for comeback time we usually just did practice and practice, you could have missed some to go see them?” They’d even had days where they just didn’t do much at all. Youngbae had always felt a tiny bit resentful on those days because, if he hadn’t had to break with Jinah, he could’ve just visited her and it would’ve totally been fine! He was a good enough dancer to miss a practice here and there without it having much effect, and Baekhyun was much better than he was.
Baekhyun’s eyes widened. “No I couldn’t do that! That would be really unfair! When you guys practice I will practice, for sure.”
Oh no now he felt bad about thinking that before! “We’ll just have to do a lot of practicing then, while we’re on hiatus, I mean I’ll have to find work as well but we can practice together after!”
Baekhyun beamed. “I’d like that! I want to get better, I mean I kind of feel like I’m the only one who’s not really good at anything. You and Joowon hyung are good at rapping and leading of course. Seunghoon hyung and Jinyoung hyung are good at singing. Wonwoo hyung is good at both singing and dancing…”
“What about Chanhee?” Youngbae wondered. “I mean he can’t really do much of anything.”
“He’s really good at talking to people!” Baekhyun defended him. “I mean you’re right he’s not really good at the music stuff but he’s really handsome and charismatic to make up for it. Sometimes I wonder, you know, where do I fit?”
“With us!” Youngbae said quickly. He threw an arm around Baekhyun and ruffled the maknae’s hair a bit. “You’re the baby! What would we do without the baby? Besides, without you Jinyoung would be the maknae and that would be so weird, I mean do you see him doing aegyo? It would be a disaster! I bet you’re really good at doing aegyo.”
Baekhyun smiled. “I can do a cute!”
“See! That’s your thing, you’re the cute one! That’s really important, once we have our own tv show we’re sure to need someone to bring in all the noona fans by being super cute and that’ll be you. We need you. Together you and I will be the perfect fan magnets, I’ve got the muscles and you’ve got the aegyo and nobody will be able to resist us.”
Baekhyun nodded. “You’re right!” Youngbae was feeling very good about himself now. Look at how great that leadering had been, Baekhyun felt totally better now and he’d made that happen. Good job Bae!
“We’ll still practice loads though, I mean we’re not really doing anything right now so might as well spend it being productive, right?” Youngbae offered. He did want to get better at rapping, though he didn’t think he could afford any more lessons. Not with the rent and the amount of money that had gone into the deposit. “I can teach you what I know about rapping too!”
Baekhyun’s eyes widened like he’d just been offered treasures beyond imagination. “Really? You would do that?”
Youngbae grinned. “Of course I will! By the time this hiatus ends you’ll be the best performer in the group!”
“I would love your help, thank you!”
They spent some time discussing just how they’d train while Youngbae tried to think of all the things he’d actually learned from his rap classes. He’d have to teach Baekhyun about flow and rhymes and pronunciation and all the little tricks he’d been taught but it should be a piece of cake! He’d never taught anyone anything before and it was kind of exciting. Then Baekhyun had to go bring his things home and Youngbae was alone again.
He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t go to the company, there wouldn’t be anything for him to do either. He could hardly practice on his own that was silly. He couldn’t clean, they’d cleaned yesterday. There wasn’t tv he could watch, wasn’t any food he could eat, wasn’t much of anything at all.
He was going insane from boredom!
Finally he grabbed his phone and started just looking online. He read some comments on their articles but that wasn’t making him very happy. There were some good ones, but mostly there were just… few. And some mean ones as well that he really didn’t want to think about (and excuse you sungjongoppa5ever, but she was wrong about them copying Infinite, Infinite had definitely copied them).
It wasn’t long before he ended up at Jinah’s SNS. She’d uploaded some more pictures with her and the guy she was with now. He looked boring. She could do much better, and definitely much more handsome. The guy was such a 5 at most, and she was definitely a 10.
He wondered what she was up to. He wondered if she’d agree to see him, just to hang out? They’d been friends for yeeeears before they’d even started dating. Since they were tiny little kids. That had to count for more than just a breakup right?
Before he could stop himself he dialled her number, his heart beating in his throat. Would she pick up?
“Bae?”
“Jinah!” She picked up! She really picked up!
“Youngbae, hey! Why are you calling? Aren’t you supposed to be busy doing, I don’t know, idol stuff?” Oh man it was so good to hear her voice again. She had such a great voice!
“We’re kind of, eh, on a break right now. A hiatus. Things aren’t really going so well here so they put us on a break. It .”
“Oh I’m sorry to hear that! I’ve been trying to keep track of your releases, I bought your albums too! It’s a shame that things aren’t working out, they’re good albums.” She’d bought his albums!!
Youngba beamed. “Thank you! Hey do you have some time today? I have nothing to do at all today and I thought it’d be nice to, you know, catch up?”
“Yeah, sure! I have a class in half an hour but I’m free after that, we could go get some coffee from the usual spot off-campus? You know the one I took you to the first time you came to visit?”
“Yeah! Yeah I know the one!” He couldn’t believe this was happening. He was going to see her again!”
“I’ll meet you there in an hour and a half, does that sound okay? It’ll be nice to catch up again.”
“Yeah! Yeah I’ll be there!”
“Great, I’ll see you there!”
Oh my god he was going to see Jinah. How long had it been since he’d last seen her? Over a year! That’s the longest they’d ever been without seeing each other and it was way not okay. He’d missed her so much! , what was he going to wear? He had to make sure that he looked as best as possibel. Because… eh… to show her he was doing okay? Right! So that she didn’t have to worry about him. He was doing okay and he would look his best to show it.
He spent way too long finding the perfect outfit (digging through the parts of the luggage he still hadn’t unpacked yet) and styling his hair and stealing some of Chanhee’s products. He’d ended up putting on so much bb cream he looked like a ghost and had to wash it all off again, and by the time he looked sort of okay (but also kind of great) he was already 15 minutes late and had to run to the metro stop.
He was antsy the entire way there. He couldn’t wait to see her face again, it had been way too long. Why hadn’t he called her before? They hadn’t always been so busy, it seemed silly now to put that off for as long as he had. He didn’t even mind standing the entire way, he had to switch lines three times to get there from the dorm and each time there had been an ahjumma or ahjusshi who’d claimed a seat, or one time a very scary-looking pregnant lady who Youngbae was not going to fight with.
It didn’t matter, anyway. He would stand in the subway for hours if it meant seeing Jinah at the end of the line.
There was a wave of nerves in the pit of his stomach when he got off the subway. Every step closer made his heart beat faster. Would it be awkward? He hoped not. But why would it be awkward, they’d been friends for years! There was no reason at all for it to be awkward, it would be fine. It was going to be amazing.
And there she was. Sitting at a little table outside the cafe, hair in a loose and messy bun, eyes on her cell phone despite the open textbook in front of her, absentmindedly playing with the spoon in her coffee cup. Had he kept her waiting that long? She looked absolutely stunning, he swore the sun came out just to bask her in it.
She must’ve felt him staring for she turned around just then and smiled when she saw him. “Hey! You made it!
“I’m sorry I’m late!” Youngbae said and sat down opposite her. “I, eh, forgot that it takes that much longer to get here from the dorm, sorry! Did you wait for long?”
“Only 15 minutes, and I spent most of it doing my reading.” Had she always been this pretty or was it just because he hadn’t seen her in a year? “How are you doing?”
“Alright I guess,” he answered. “We’re just not really doing anything right now. Just waiting.”
“I’m sorry, that sounds awful,” she said. “I know you really wanted to be an idol, I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work out.”
“Oh no it’s not over yet!” he said quickly. “They said it’s just a hiatus while the company figures out what to do with us. We might be going to Japan too, I’m not sure.”
“Do you know any Japanese?”
“No! No not at all, but Joowon wants us to learn now.”
“That’s a good idea if you’re going to be promoting in Japan.”
“I guess!” Youngbae didn’t really want to learn Japanese, it was daunting to learn a whole new language. He’d already in the Mandarin and English classes he had to take in high school, he didn’t imagine he’d do much better. But if it helped the group succeed in Japan then he’d try. “How are you doing?”
“I’m good!” she said immediately. That bothered Youngbae, why was she so happy when he was so unhappy? He’d missed her so much, had she missed him too? “I’m in my final year now which is really tough but I’m excited to finally be done studying and actually start working!”
“How’s…” wait what was his name again? He hadn’t paid as much attention to the name as to the fact that his existence was the worst thing. “Eeeh….Tae… Wooooo?”
“Youngbae!” Jinah admonished. “You’ve been keeping tabs on me!”
Youngbae blushed. “I saw a post on SNS!”
She laughed. “It’s alright. Taehyun is good, he’s nice. You’re not upset about it are you?”
“Oh no!” Youngbae shook his head. “No of course not! I’m glad you found someone and you’re happy!”
“Phew,” Jinah smiled. “I’m glad you’re taking it well. I’ve missed talking to you Bae, I’m so glad it’s not awkward.”
Youngbae beamed. “Me too!” At least she was happy, if she was happy then that would be enough right? It wasn’t awkward and she was the same Jinah she’d always been and he was so excited to have her back in his life.
“Tell me everything about your life as an idol!” Jinah prompted. “You’ve hardy told me anything. What’s it like to film MVs and and record music shows and everything. I’m talking to a real star now and I need to know absolutely everything.”
“Oh, we met Kim Taewoo last month!” So that’s why Taewoo had been on the tip of his mind!
“What! Really?!” Jinah all but squealed. “I used to love G.O.D! Oh remember how we used to listen to their newest songs back in high school? How dare you not tell me sooner! Tell me everything oh my god!”
Youngbae laughed. “I didn’t talk to him much but he was cool! I got his CD too, he even signed it for us specifically, like, he gave us a nice little message and everything he was really cool!” Most people just wrote to: Aeon and called it a day but he’d been really sweet about wishing them good luck in their careers.
“I need you to tell me everything right now.”
“Only if you tell me everything about your year in return!”
“Do you really want to listen to me talk about dental hygiene?”
Youngbae laughed. “Only if you’re the one talking about it.”
“In that case you have a deal.”
They spent three hours at the cafe catching up. He told her all about life as an idol, the good and the bad both. How they had started with Wow (which she’d really liked! He swelled with pride when she’d said that) and everything had been great. How the other songs weren’t very good and how Joowon had been so disappointed with their direction, but they worked hard and stuck together anyway. How he had met so many other idols and stars and people he’d looked up to in the flesh and how weird that was! He told her everything he thought to say, until the owner of the cafe came and shooed them out when it was closing time and the sun was setting. Then he walked her home and he talked more.
It was amazing. He had missed her so much and here they were, laughing at the dumb parts (“Are you serious about the fanny pack right now?! Bae! Bae no!”), going quiet at the bad parts (“They cut out your stages for Big Bang? Jerks!”), and smiling proudly at the good parts. It was amazing. And then they were in front of her apartment and the end was there.
“Thanks for walking me home,” she said.
“I don’t really have anything to do now?” Youngbae said hopefully. “I could, I don’t know, hang out some more?”
“I’m sorry, Taehyun is coming over in a bit.” She looked apologetic. “It was really nice to see you, Bae. We should do this again soon!”
“You can call me anytime! Maybe sometime next week? I ended up talking all about myself so you still have to fill me in about you!”
She laughed. “Sure, I should be able to find some room for another coffee somewhere.”
He looked at her, not entirely sure what to do. Did they hug? Did they just wave goodbye? After a very awkward second sighed. “Oh come here you idiot.” She pulled him into a hug. “We’ll talk again soon, okay?”
He wrapped his arms around her and it all just felt so familiar. The hug was brief, and he already missed her touch the moment she let go. “Okay!”
And then she went back inside and he was alone again.
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