Chapter Three: Walking Contradiction

Naeun felt the sunbeams streaming through the window. It was directly hitting her face. Groaning, she turned to her side. She was never a morning person. One would thought that years of being in the industry have made her accustomed to waking up in the early hours, but they were wrong. Up to now, she had trouble getting up.

Keeping her eyes closed, she thought of her long day ahead. They would be doing rehearsals all day in preparation for their upcoming concert in Tokyo. They would be flying out to Japan in a few days’ time so they had to make sure they had everything settled by then.

She was convincing herself to skip breakfast so she could get more sleep when she had this nagging feeling that something was off. Frowning, she opened her eyes and looked around her room. Everything looked the same, nothing unusual.

Rubbing her eyes, she sluggishly pushed herself up. Then her eyes landed on the space next to hers. Her eyes widened. The events of last night came rushing back to her. The memories were like ice water, jolting her out of her sleepiness.

“That’s right!” she whispered. “Key and Minho were here last night. And Taemin…” She glanced at the empty space next to hers. It was the spot Taemin occupied. He left?

After a while, another realization hit her. She clearly remembered falling asleep on the chair, but here she was, sitting on the bed. Subsequently, she remembered that dream she had. The details were vague but she dreamt about being lifted by someone. Like puzzle pieces, everything clicked into place. Nodding, she concluded that Taemin must have carried her to the bed.

She let herself fell back to the bed. She felt dejected for some reason. That feeling of emptiness seemed to be associated with the silence that fill her room. She turned to her side, facing the other side of the bed. It was cold and empty. It was as if Taemin was never there in the first place. The only evidence left was the faint smell of his cologne on the sheets.

Then a question popped up in her mind. Did Taemin carry her to the bed then left afterwards or… Her thoughts were interrupted by the loud ringing of her phone. Hopping off the bed, she sauntered to her vanity and picked up her phone.

“Yah! Son Naeun, what time is it?” Chorong’s angry and loud voice echoed the moment she answered the call.

“Wha-”

“You should have been here hours ago! Hayoung and Eunji said you were tired so we let you sleep for a bit, but don’t you think five hours is too much? Hurry up and come over!”

“But I-” Before she could answer, the call was dropped.

“Five hours? What time is it?” Still was unable to comprehend the situation. With furrowed brows, she checked the time on her phone. Her eyes flew open when she saw the time. It was almost noon! Was her bed that cozy that she managed to sleep through the entire morning? Her previous thoughts now forgotten, as she scrambled to get ready.

Naeun sprinted through the doors of their company. It was almost one in the afternoon. She should have been there at seven in the morning. She kept her head low as she continuously apologized. This had never happened before. Though she hated early call times, she was always on time.

Despite her tardiness, the people around her seemed to be in good spirits for she only heard a few reprimanding words from their manager. Her members, even Chorong who sounded angry on the phone, just smiled and told her to be more careful next time.

The rest of her day was eventful as they sang and danced to dozens of their songs. Each member had to practice her own solo number as well. It was not until it was almost eleven in the evening that their rehearsal ended. Most people don’t get to see the hard work spent behind the glitz and the glamour of a concert. It was demanding, yet fulfilling at the same time. What matters the most was the love they had for what they’re doing, and the joy on the faces of their fans.

“Someone slept quite soundly last night.”

She scowled at Hayoung and continued tying her hair. “Don’t think I forgot about how you almost gave me a heart attack last night,” she reminded.

They were getting ready to go home and were the only ones left in the room since the others moved like lightning, eager to go home and rest.

Her friend gave her an unapologetic look. “We were just worried about brother-in-law’s health. He needed to rest.”

Naeun froze, and was rendered speechless. Her mind only picked up three words from Hayoung’s sentence: brother-in-law.

Before she could react, her friend was already at the door. “Hurry up, we’ll wait for you in the parking lot,” Hayoung said before walking out.

It took her a moment to get her bearings together. Really? Brother-in-law?The same question from last night crossed her mind. Since when did the SHINee and Apink members started hanging out again? Were they communicating behind her back? Perplexed, she grabbed her purse and walked to the parking lot.

When she got to the parking lot, their company car was not on its usual spot. She looked around and saw a few parked cars but none them was her ride. She frowned. They didn’t leave without her, did they? She was only a few minutes behind Hayoung.

She scanned the area one more time. To her disappointed, she still couldn’t find their car. How was she going to get home now? One of their company’s drivers picked her up earlier. She didn’t want to take a taxi for she deemed it unsafe for her to be riding alone around this time.

She dug her phone from her purse and called the first person in her recent call list. “Unnie, did you guys leave?” she asked, although what she actually wanted to say was ‘I can’t believe you guys left me here!’

There was a pause before Chorong answered. “Don’t worry, your ride will be there.”

Her brows knotted. “My ride? What are you say-” Before she could finish, a car stopped in front of her. She watched with curiosity as the window on the driver’s side rolled down, r