Just A Normal Day

     It wasn’t even half an hour after they entered Xiao’s room when someone came knocking on the door. Assuming it was Jin attempting to get his way for the last time, she rolled her eyes and opened the door. It surprised her though, to find Suga at the other side of the door instead.

She waited for him to say something, but he just raised his eyebrows at her which had her rolling her eyes. Sometimes, she wondered why he was close to the guy. Even though Jimin always told her that they had the same personality, she just couldn’t understand him sometimes. Most of the times, really. Turning around, she saw Aralle tying her hair into a bun, probably not expecting that his boyfriend was at the door.

“Eonnie?”

“Hmm?”

She opened the door wider, revealing Suga. With wondering look, the director got up from the floor and walked towards them. Jeong-yeon went to sit with Xiao at the corner of the room.

The room was small, so they could hear their conversation.

“Hey.”

“You didn’t bring your phone?”

“No. I left it in our room. Everything okay?”

“Did we not pack any of my comfortable clothes last night? It’s not in one of our bags.”

The question sounded so domesticated. And Suga being domesticated was not something she never imagined happening. Or seeing at least. The guy was full of surprises tonight. It was a good thing she came. She would hate to have missed this.

Xiao nudged her. Just like her, she was staring at the couple with a look of shock on her face.

“Sorry, I forgot to tell you. I took it out a while ago, but I left it on that thing that was hidden behind the cabinet. Your toiletries are there as well.

He nodded and turned around, picking a plastic bag from the floor. A bag full of snacks she didn’t notice before. “Here.”

Seeing how her face lit up, Aralle must have love snacks. Actually, come to think of think of it, the woman loved food in general. She was a big eater, from what she observed during dinner. “I was thinking on going out and getting some. Thanks.”

Suga looked at her and Xiao who, just like her, was still shamelessly watching the two of them with full interest from the bed. It was as if he was assessing if it was okay to leave his girlfriend with them. She raised her eyebrows at him, daring him to say something. Shaking his head, he turned to his girlfriend who looked amused by their silent exchange. “Don’t stay up too late. I’ll wait for you in our room. And don’t drink milk.”

Jeong-yeon could see she wanted to protest but the look he gave her made her say otherwise. “Arraseo.”

“Belle.”

Hmmm. Aside from ‘Lle, he never heard him call her anything else.  An endearment from Suga. Another surprise.

He leaned in and whispered something to Aralle’s ear, making her smile and nodding her head. After handing her his phone, he turned and walked towards their room without another word.

As if nothing happened, Aralle walked to the corner of the room, excited to open the bag of junk foods. Jeong-yeon’s eyes followed the director, having a hard time processing what just happen. It seemed that she was not the only one still surprised and amazed by what she just witnessed. Xiao was also looking at Aralle with what must have been the same on her face.

Aralle felt their stare and looked at them. “What?”

“Hmm,” Xiao mused.

She giggled. “What?”

“I’ve always wondered how he is when he has a girlfriend. He sure is very sweet boyfriend for a scary person,” Aralle said, not hiding the astonishment in her voice.

“Hey,” Aralle softly objected but with a smile on her face.

“Come on. Have you met your boyfriend?”

The woman shrugged. “He’s not that bad.”

She and Xiao exchanged knowing smiles but decided to let it go. It was enough that they witnessed a different side of the cold and formidable Suga. At least they finally had proof that he was human after all.

Shaking her head, Aralle passed them the bag of snack, “Why are you so surprised? He’s a close friend of yours, no?” The question was at her.

She chose her snack from the bag and passed it to Xiao before answering her. “True. But he never really opened-up about his relationships. You were the only one he introduced to us. Or to me at least. And that alone is one of the biggest surprises.”

“So everyone keeps telling me.”

“You really look good together though.”

“Thank you.”

“Wow,” Aralle mused when she was looking at the pictures they took together.

“Waeyo Eonnie?”

This time it was Aralle who was staring at Xiao with admiration in her eyes.

“You really look like a doll.”

Her voice was full of amazement Jeong-yeon couldn’t help but laugh. It turned our she was not the only thinking it then. She always thought that the dancer was a living doll, even naming her Doll in her contact list. “Right? That’s the first one that came in my mind when I saw her.”

Her checks become red from their stares. “Eonnie.”

“It’s true. Especially when you curl your hair and you have bangs. You’re really pretty. Just like the one Jin’s phone.”

The information must have been new to the younger woman, as she seemed surprised by it.

“Oh, Jin has this picture of you looking like a doll,” Aralle explained. “He brags about it all the time.”

Aralle smiled meaningfully at her. “My childhood friend really likes you.”

Jeong-yeon didn’t know it was possible, but Xiao’s face turned redder, her fair skin making it more visible. “You’re making her blush Eonnie.”

“By the way Eonnie, thank you for inviting me to your premier,” Xiao said, changing the topic of the conversation. “I’ll try my best to make it. I heard it was well anticipated.”

“I just wanted to bring more people to watch. Since I don’t know if people will watch it.”

They both gave her a supportive smile. “I’m sure it will Eonnie. Your previous films have done well.”

“I don’t think they did well because of me honestly. I doubt people even know my name. They just watched the movie mostly because of the actors. I think people have just been exaggerating because of the nomination. I’m thankful but scared at the same time. I really hope this does well.”

Aside from winning film awards since she was in college and since she was started professionally, perhaps one of Aralle’s biggest achievement was when one of her film, Society, was also nominated for Best Picture in Cannes Film Festival last year, at the age of just twenty-eight. This solidified her tittle as one of Asia’s Most Anticipated Movie Director.

Xiao asked some questions regarding her works and so did she. She never really met movie directors and as someone who loved watching movies, she had a lot of questions she was curious about. Thankfully, Aralle didn’t mind. She tried to satisfy their curiosity the best she could.  

It was Xiao’s turn to, after they asked most of the questions they wanted to know. “How is China? I read you just scored a huge project. Congratulations.”

“Thank you Eonnie. I’m surprised they considered me but I’m just really happy to be able to have some work.”

She gave her friend a chastising look, hating that she lost confidence on her abilities. “Yah, don’t be like that. You’re a great dancer. They’ll be lucky to have you.”

She reached out and grabbed her friend for a hug, squeezing her. Jeong-yeon hoped that somehow, through it, she could feel her support. That she was hoping Xiao wouldn’t lose hope and continue to do her best.

The dancer squeezed her hand in return, silently relaying her thanks.

Throughout the night, they talked a lot about a lot of things. Normally, she wouldn’t open-up about her life to other people unless she was really close to them. However, she could feel the two women’s genuine curiosity through every question.

She learned about Aralle’s life in Korea and when she was studying overseas. Her and Xiao failed to obtain any information about his relationship with Suga no matter how they subtly tried to ask her questions. She did tell them though that although she didn’t really care about the public’s opinion about her relationship, Aralle was scared on how it will affect Suga.

Jeong-yeon came to know that she wasn’t the only one who had that worry but the director but Xiao as well. Rather than being afraid for themselves, they were more afraid on how Jin and Suga’s relationship with them would affect their career. They all knew that BTS was undoubtedly one of the biggest, if not the biggest, K-Pop boy group in the world. And that came with a lot of fans and people trying to voice out their opinions. A lot can be lost when a member did something people didn’t approve.

Xiao’s biggest worry was that the people will leave Jin because he chose someone who didn’t have enough to offer him in return. Jeong-yeon thought that no matter how much they convince her that she has, she wouldn’t believe it. Perhaps it was one of the reasons on why she was working really hard in China. Xiao wanted something under her name.