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Teen Top - Girlfriend

characters: Lee Senna, Lee Byunghyun 

minor characters: some Teen Top members

by AKApop

The first time I saw him was during his actual audition into T.O.P. media, coincidentally the same day when my own cousin Lee Chan Hee had his own auditions as well.

I, Lee Senna, was not really needed. However, Chan Hee was nervous, deathly nervous that even I could feel the tension as I sat beside him, my hand sandwiched between both of his. His palms were sweating as he went over the lyrics to his song. He just looked so pathetic and pitiful I had no other choice but to cancel everything on my planner for the day and come with him to the entertainment agency’s building.

Chan Hee didn’t really need me. I could tell in a heartbeat that once they see his soft smile, the moment they hear his angelic voice; that trainee spot in T.O.P. media is as good as sold. But he won’t listen; Chan Hee never really listens to anyone other than his own self.

“Oppa, relax.” I manage to say, smiling at him. I admit I am not the best in comforting people; however I do my best. Most people tend to disregard my sad attempt at consoling them [although they do appreciate the thought – I think]. But Chan Hee is not most people. Chan Hee is my beloved older cousin and I am determined to shake him out of his sudden development of stage fright – or at least try to coax a relaxed  expression on his face.

Chan Hee finally looked at me when I put my free hand on top of his. It seemed to be a strange sight; the older, very much male, being comforted by the younger, smaller female. But I held no regards for them, and instead, continued to smile reassuringly towards Chan Hee.

To on-lookers, it might have seemed as if we were lovers of some sort.

“Stop smiling, you’re making me feel even more nervous.” Chan Hee retorts, trying to calm his nerves with a sad attempt at dry humor. He’s horrible at trying to be mean, it certainly does not suit him at all. My smile does not cease, I think it only seems to grow wider, brighter even, with ever whine he lets out. I don’t say anything and instead, let him rant out whatever insecurities he hides inside.

Eventually, Chan Hee stopped shaking and before I knew it, our conversation turned into a normal one with mentions of the weather and school life.

Two fingers tapped his shoulder though, cutting off Chan Hee mid-rant. A young guy – probably not even a year older than I am – greeted my cousin with a blank look, his sharp piercing eyes trained on him. For some reason, I felt attracted to his eyes. They’re a very dark shade of brown, close to black, and as deep as whirlpools.  Why I suddenly started to be poetic is beyond me. His eyes flicker towards mine for a split second and even I have to pause for a bit to gather back my wits.

Weird.

“They called in for the next guy a while ago.” He spoke in a low voice, reminding Chan Hee and I the very purpose as to why we are actually in this building. “It’s best not to keep them waiting. I don’t think hotshots like them are fit for waiting.”

Chan Hee started getting tense again, though he tried to put on a determined face. He stood up, stiffly and set his sights on the door at the end of the hall. He breathed in and out, squaring his shoulders as he started taking baby steps towards the room. He wasn’t fooling anyone though, at least not me.

I pulled him closer first, tugging at his hands, before he went away too far, trying to remind him; “Oppa, relax; okay? You’ll be amazing.”

Chan Hee did not say anything more. Instead he pursed his lips, nodded and ever so faintly – I saw the beginning of a smile forming on his lips.

The next thing I knew, the hallway was silent; eerily so. The hall was almost deserted with only two people left – the stranger with the dark eyes and I myself. I fidgeted in my seat, unused to having to stay put. The stranger must have noticed the awkward tension for soon enough, he fixed his headphones to rest around the crook of his neck.

“So…” he started off. It was clear he was unused to being the first speaker. His awkward fidget with the hem of his shirt and inability to properly look his conversation partner directly was a good a sign as any. “…your boyfriend’s auditioning to be a singer too?”

I coughed – almost hacking – before laughing awkwardly.

“Oh, no, no, no; it’s nothing like that.” I managed to say. I wasn’t all too sure why I had been defensive with this young man whom I will probably never see again. “Chan Hee – that guy is my cousin.” I explained. “But yes, he’s auditioning. He was very nervous – though I didn’t see his need to be, he has got amazing talent – so I had to calm him down somehow. I think that’s how you might have misunderstood – but we’re certainly not lovers. That’s just… eww.”

I didn’t know why I told him all that. But it seemed right, somehow, someway. Maybe Chan Hee’s nervousness had rubbed off on me.

Lee Byung Hun – his name, I later found out – smiled awkwardly at me. It wasn’t anything special, just a stranger offering his kindness to one in need. Cautiously, I smiled back.

I tried to remind myself.

Smile, Senna, smile.

.oOo.

“Senna!”

The moment I poked my head into the training room, I was immediately greeted with a bear hug courtesy of my ever cheery cousin, Lee Chan Hee, or more commonly known today by his stage name, Chunji. It had been almost three years since he was admitted into T.O.P. Media, and almost a year already after he found out he was part of the final line up for Andy Lee’s new project group, Teen Top.

I laughed, patting him good naturedly on the back. I heard an awkward cough coming from inside the room and almost immediately, I wiggled out from his grip. Chunji apparently remembered that s were present inside the room as well.

“Oh, right.” He mumbled and put on a grin as he faced s. “Everyone, this is Senna. Senna, this is everyone.” He said cheerily. The tallest and presumably the oldest, scoffed at him a bit. I think I heard him muttering something like, “Well that’s certainly informative.”

I couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the offhanded comment.

The boys blinked but smiled nonetheless. Within a few minutes, they had introduced themselves better than how Chan Hee – or rather, Chunji – could ever do.

Bang Min Soo, known by his stagename; C.A.P., was their leader, the oldest and the only one older than Chunji. Ahn Daniel or Niel was surprisingly a familiar face, and was surprised to have me recognize him as the bad little boy in the movie “My 11^th Mother”. Ricky [his real name being Yoo Chang Hyun] was a downright sweetheart and their maknae Choi Jong Hyun, who went by the name of Changjo, was only a year younger than I was. Not that Ricky wasn’t also a year younger than me, I couldn’t very well forget that since he had started calling me noona the moment I told him I was older.

I was surprised at the last face though, someone I never thought I’d see again.

“Lee Byung Hun – L.Joe.” he introduced himself with a bit of a strained smile.

“Senna, Lee Senna.” I said.

There was an unexpected familiarity the way his lips twitched upwards, his smile taking on a more genuine look. It was later he approached me and told me how he didn’t expect to see me again. I was honestly surprised he could even remember me.

“Well, it’s kind of hard to forget you, I guess.” He said nonchalantly, taking a swig from his water bottle after an intense dance practice.

Chunji thankfully called him out, telling him that break time was over and they needed to practice. I could only wish he didn’t notice the blush forming on my cheeks.

That was totally unexpected and had me unprepared; still, I tried to remind myself.

Ignore the butterflies, Senna, ignore the butterflies.

.oOo.

It should be a sin to be as amazing as he is. And I was certainly not afraid nor was I shy to say that at all. The truth was needed to be spoken, after all.

I was at the practice room of Teen Top, hoping to meet Chunji for some well-needed cousin bonding time as he had requested but ended up interrupting the middle of L.Joe’s dance practice. It had been almost a year since Teen Top had debuted and the change was evident with most members – especially L.Joe who had changed his brown locks for bubblegum pink. To this day, I can still remember laughing at his hair, thinking it was a wig the first time I saw it.

I had actually grown close to most Teen Top members, having always hung out with them due to the persistency of one Lee Chan Hee. Out of all the boys though [excluding Chunji himself] I had found myself unexpectedly growing ever so closer and closer with L.Joe, the stranger I had awkwardly met once during Chunji’s audition.

L.Joe made the finishing move after lip-syncing his solo at the end. The song finished and I clapped from my place at the corner of the practice room.

“That was amazing. Catch-” I complimented before throwing his water bottle at him. He caught it with ease, twisting open the bottle cap before practically draining the bottled water completely.

“Thanks, I know.” He said cockily, teasingly. I knew he was only kidding. I was witness to many near break-downs of his before their comeback; how he wasn’t good enough, how he was only bringing the team down, how he wasn’t this and he wasn’t that and many other lies that I had easily contradicted.

Just as I was about to make a playful retort, the door’s room opened revealing the contrasting hairs of platinum white with brunette ends of Niel and pitch black midnight locks of Ricky.

“Noona!” Ricky greeted enthusiastically, he quickly went over and held up a hand, his steps practically bouncing. Niel was thankfully less energetic than the visual. He had a smile on though, as he usually did.

“Hi, Senna. Hyung,” he greeted before acknowledging L.Joe in the room.

Niel surprisingly turned out to be a good friend. It was much easier to befriend him than the others seeing as we were actually of the same age and had unexpectedly liked the same stuff. Plus, he just had that friendly, approachable aura about him.

“Hi there, Niel,” I greeted cheerily, earning a pout from Ricky. Quickly, I said my hellos to the young boy as well.

“What am I, noona, second best? I see you have your favoritisms. Tsk, tsk.” He shook his head dramatically, arms crossed over his chest. “Oh, but I always liked you best, noona! Life is so unfair.”

Three out of the four of us laughed. I noticed L.Joe stiffen before taking another few sips of his bottled water.

“Anyway, we’re here as messengers of Chunji hyung. He told us he couldn’t make your lunch date with him since he still has vocal practice.” Niel said. Well, that certainly explained why Chunji was suddenly so late. He would never on a hang out unless his career was on the line. “Ricky and I are off for lunch though, would you like to come? Hyung, would you like to come too?”

L.Joe shook his head, a clear pass on the prospect of free food.

I laughed and shook my head. “No, it’s fine. Ricky is still mad at me.” I teased, a grin playing on my lips. As if on cue, Ricky whined louder about how he wasn’t mad and how much he missed hanging out with me and how unfair life was with him.

Eventually, Niel managed to steer Ricky towards the door of the practice room.  The older of the two pushed the other out the door before turning and looking over his shoulder. “Senna, I’ll just call later to tell you when Chunji is free again, okay?” Niel said and I nodded brightly with a grin on my face.

“I appreciate it, thanks, Niel!”

He waved goodbye with a soft smile on his face and closed the door behind him. As soon as the door clicked shut, L.Joe spoke out.

“Why didn’t you go with them?”

“Well, why didn’t you?” I countered, suspicious of his sudden mood change.

“I still have practice. Why didn’t you go?”

“I didn’t feel like it.” I had no courage to tell him that I didn’t want to leave him alone.

“If it was only Niel, would you have gone?”

The question left me speechless. I had no idea what was going on in L.Joe’s head. Does he think I might like L.Joe?

“You’re close with him, aren’t you? Closer than the rest of us anyway – save for Chunji.”

He pursed his lips and glared at the mirrored wall, glaring at his face before playing the stereo, blasting their latest song, “Supa Luv”.

“Never mind,” I heard him mutter, ever so softly.

Was it just me, or was that actually a display of true, honest to goodness jealousy from one Lee Byung Hun?

It was very sudden, but I didn’t mind at all. Not at all.

My assumptions were running wild; still, I tried to remind myself.

Don’t assume, Senna, don’t assume.

.oOo.

“You’re leaving for Europe?” I asked Chunji in disbelief. He sighed and slumped in his seat opposite of mine.

Only two-thirds of the Teen Top members were here; Niel, Ricky, Chunji and L.Joe to be exact. The rest were recording for their new song, [I think it was called “Crazy”?] but would eventually get here later.

“Yeah.” He pursed his lips in a bit of a pouting manner. “We’ll be staying for a few months. I don’t want to go though! I can’t leave you all alone here in Korea.”

“Oppa, you’re forgetting that I live with my family. So technically, you aren’t really leaving me alone.” I teased, just because I could. Chunji pouted at my response, clearly not liking the lack of care in my voice.

“Senna-yah, you’re too mean.” He complained and ranted off about how he was only caring for my well-being.

“Noona, you’re going to miss me though, right?” Ricky asked, leaning on the arm rest of the couch he sat on. I smiled and nodded.

“Of course, I’m going to miss everyone.” I reassured him, feeling as if I was speaking to a child although I knew very well Ricky was only joking as he usually did. “It’s going to be really different! For a few months my life will be very quiet!”

Ricky and Niel laughed at my joke whilst Chunji had pouted. They weren’t the one who I wanted to see the reaction of though. I wanted to see L.Joe’s. What would he think of this? I glanced at him from the corner of my eye and realized he had been staring at his phone the whole time.

Since I went into the room he hadn’t talked to me at all. It was weird and was all kinds of wrong. L.Joe is supposed to be the one quarreling with Chunji, not me. L.Joe was supposed to be the one spouting out various good-hearted teasing, not me.

“Since you’re going to miss us so much, why don’t you just come with us to Europe!” Chunji suggested, grinning from ear to ear. Although I knew he was only joking, I waited to see L.Joe’s reaction, wondering if he would like me to come with them as well. Both Ricky and Niel had laughed and approved of Chunji’s suggestion, the visual maknae even seconding the motion.

“She’s only 17; way too young to be on her own in Europe especially since we’ll be busy. No one’s going to look after her. Chunji-ah, don’t drag her into this just because you’re going to miss her for a few months.” Everyone in the room was surprised to hear the voice speak out so seriously. Even I was. Though I was more surprised at whose mouth those words exactly came from.

I stared at L.Joe. He didn’t look back and instead, stood up and walked out of the room.

I knew it was futile; still, I tried to remind myself.

 Don’t cry, Senna, don’t cry.

.oOo.

I hadn’t seen L.Joe lately. I hadn’t seen any of the boys.

I assumed all six of them would be fairly busy packing up for a few months stay in Europe. I wondered how they were.

“Thank you for your patronage, we hope to see you again soon.” The young woman at the counter smiled brightly at me, her earphones were blasting a song by Teen Top, “No More Perfume on You”. How ironic, I thought. I smiled back at her, grabbing the plastic bags from the counter and exiting the mini-super mart.

The air was cold tonight, even more so than usual. I looked up to see a familiar face. His hair might have been dyed blonde now and he might have been covered by layers of clothing in an attempt to not be recognized even as his face was covered by a mask. But still, I could tell whose eyes those were any day. Those eyes as dark as midnight and as deep as whirlpools.

“I don’t think your fans will be very happy if the media ever finds out you’re waiting for a girl in front of a local super mart in the middle of the night.” I reminded him, prepared to make a sprint home or something.

He shrugged, “Screw them.”

We stood in silence before he asked me to walk with him for a while. Even just for a while. For some reason, I ended up agreeing. It had never been as awkward as this between us before. But it was. And I knew it was my fault.

We ended up coming to a park and sat down at a bench at opposite ends. We didn’t talk, just stared aimlessly in front of us. It was awkward. But at the same time, it was kind of funny as well. I remembered that this was the kind of atmosphere that pushed L.Joe to talk to me all those years ago. I missed that time, wishing even the slightest to go back to the time where nothing was complicated between L.Joe and I.

I missed him.

“I’m going to be selfish, but I want you to go with us.” He suddenly blurted out. My eyes widened in disbelief. Just a month ago, he was all for leaving me behind, even as the other Teen Top members generally approved of Chunji’s [very rash] suggestion. L.Joe looked at me, almost as if waiting for my reaction.

“I – what.” I stuttered out. My head was still blank from the sudden information. Awkwardly, he laughed, biting his lower lip and rubbing his neck. A habit he does only when embarrassed.

“I don’t know, I’ve just – I’m very confusing, aren’t I?” he asked and I could only nod in response, a smile slowly forming on my face.

“I just… I don’t trust myself. I can’t trust myself to make you fall hopelessly in love with me in two days, also known as the amount of days ‘til we leave for Europe. I don’t trust myself to make you fall in love with me so hard that you wouldn’t look at any other guy at all, okay. That you won’t be able to think about any guy except for me,” He explained. For some reason, I couldn’t stop him, even as he wasn’t starting to make sense and began rambling about his feelings – something very un-L.Joe-like.

“I mean, come on – I can’t even stop you from liking effing Niel and that’s Niel; the guy who is right in front of me! What more about a guy who I possibly don’t know? I can’t leave you alone, okay. Even though I told Chunji that he should grow up and notice that no – you’re not a little girl anymore and you can take of yourself fine. But what happens if you don’t? Isn’t that why I’m always here, because you do need help, okay? And what about –“

For some reason, I took his cheeks with my hands and crashed my lips down on his.

“One, I don’t like Niel. Two, I can take care of myself. Three, you don’t need to try to make me fall for you, L.Joe. Because goddammit, I think I have been in love with you before I even knew your name.”

I don’t know what happened. I don’t know how that happened. But the next thing I knew was that L.Joe was grinning harder and brighter than I’ve ever seen.

My mind went blank; still, I tried to remind myself.

Breathe, Senna, breathe.

.oOo.

note from the writer: I don’t know a thing about Teen Top except for their songs. So I hope the requestor [SennaMinSoo] forgives any inaccuracies present.