Chapter 22: Sunrises (with you)

"What do you mean she's not here yet? It's noon already!" Jiyong glared at Seungri's reflection at the mirror while Tiffany was fixing his hair.

He has an interview in an hour for the Nike collaboration. His designed shoes called Paranoise is coming next week and it's the day of his press conference. 

Yoona's job was to get the interview questions from the reporters, review what could be asked and then give it to Jiyong with the talking points. 

"Yoong's not answering her phone. Sooyoung, can you try calling her again? Or her brother?" Seungri instructed their assistant as she nodded. 

"She went out last night with Johnny the hottie~" Tiffany sang as she puts mousse on GD's hair. "Maybe she's just tired from that."

"Shouldn't you be already done with my hair?" Jiyong snapped at her. Tiffany knows any mention of the Joon guy irritates him but she keeps doing it anyway.

"Right. Make up time! Hmm, what do you think of green eyeshadow?" Tiffany hummed, looking at him on the mirror. "Should be fitting. For our little green-eyed monster."

He scoffs and stuck her tongue at her. If she's implying that he's jealous then she's wrong. "You know what, I think I'd go with a different hair and make-up artist for my next comeback--- OW! THAT HURT!"

"Oops. You shouldn't move too much or I'll accidentally take your eye out." She said in a fake sweet voice.

It's been two weeks since horrible words came out of his mouth. Two weeks since he's had a decent non-work related conversation with any of CL, Yoona, Jessica and Tiffany. They've been very hostile towards him and to be honest, it makes him feel so much worse.

"Hey, where's Yoona going? We still have the after-party to get to." Jessica asked as she and Tiffany approached Jiyong and CL watching Yoona walk towards the exit.

"This in' --"

"Oh come on, Chae, language---*

"Told Yoona to pick up Nana from the airport after days of stringing her along with a promise of a date." She hit his shoulder. 

"OWWW!"

"YOU DID WHAT?" Tiffany screeched.

"You jerk!" CL shook her head. "This is our fault. We're the ones who told her she should go for it. And this is what she gets."

"Here you go," Sooyoung handed him an iPad. The questions and talking points were already up. 

"Wait-- where's Yoona?"

"She said she's taking a personal day off." Sooyoung looked thoughtful as she continued. "I thought it was odd too with her forgetting the big press conference today but I think she's not feeling well. She sounded off."

Jiyong frowned. A personal day? Yoona is the most workaholic person he knows. Something must be wrong.

The door was opened by a very confused Jaehyuk. 

"Jiyong hyung? What are you doing here? Weren't you just on TV live like 15 minutes ago?"

He raised his hands showing the six boxes of shoes. "Shoe delivery."

The younger guy's eyes widened. "Six pairs? Of Paranoise?"

They walked inside the apartment. Jiyong dropped the boxes on the couch and sat there too.

"Yup. For the six of you." He nodded to one of the framed photos on the wall. It was Jaehyuk, Junkyu, Jeongwoo and Asahi's high school graduation. They are all holding a bouquet of flowers each and then Amber and Yoona were smiling proudly. 

"Woahhh, how generous! You must have really pissed off, noona huh?" Jaehyuk guessed. "They won't tell me what you did but it must be bad if you are giving all of us limited edition shoes. Thanks hyung! Woo would be so thrilled."

This kid and his mouth. If this isn't Yoona's beloved baby brother, Jiyong would already have punched the kid once. 

"Where's your sister?" 

"Still sleeping. Feel free to wait for her to wake up. I have to go. I'm already late for a group study." Jaehyuk grabs his bag and heads for the door.

"Wait a minute--- have.. have that Jun guy ever visited here before?"

"Jun?" The college kid's eyebrows furrowed. "Oh! Do you mean Johnny hyung?"

Jiyong's jaw twitched. It's hyung now huh? But did they spend hours together playing video games? No, that's only Kwon Jiyong hyung right, kid?

"He's never been here at home." 

That felt like a relief on his shoulders he never knew he had. 

"But noona's visited the NCT dorms at least once." And it just got replaced with another kind of worry. 

"Don't you have to go? Go study and ace that test."

Jaehyuk thanked him again for the shoes and finally left. 

Jiyong waited. Ten, fifteen minutes? He spent his time answering the thank you messages from his friends who've already received their shoes and even posted on IG to rile up the fans and get them excited for the global launch. 

Twenty, thirty minutes. It's 2 in the afternoon now. How can she sleep this long?

He finally stood up and walked towards Yoona's bedroom. The door wasn't closed all the way so he let his foot push it slightly. 

Yoona was sleeping on her bed but it didn't look peaceful. She would twitch every now and then and her forehead was full of sweat. 

"Yoona? Gwenchana?" He slowly walked towards her and when he put his hand on her neck, he felt how feverish she was. "! You're heating up. Doesn't your brother know you're sick?"

He knows the answer to that. Typical Yoona. Not wanting to incovenience other people with her problems.

He panics, not knowing what to do. "Okay, uhmm.." He dials a number he sures would be an expert in taking care of someone. "Umma? I need some help."

An hour later, he slumps on the dining chair he brought inside Yoona's room, done with making her drink her medicine and washing her face with lukewarm water.

He also ordered her samgyutang because Lord knows he doesn't want to get her sicker if he tries to cook. She would open her eyes from time to time but she looked too out of it to realize who was taking care of her. 

That's okay for him. All he wants right now is for her to get better.

Her phone buzzed on the bedside table and.. well, curiosity got the best of him. He lifted her finger up on the scanner and the phone unlocked. 

From: Haruto Watanabe 

Good afternoon noona~ I just had my first one-on-one lesson with the rap trainer here in YG. I still can't believe I'm training here now.

He can't help but grin at the text. Haruto Watanabe. The boy who was involved in the car accident he was in. Who would have known?

"These are legit kids. The youngest is 15, man! Fifteen!" Jiyong complained as he stretched before the game starts.

"We're not even in our thirties yet, Ji. Stop acting like an ahjussi." Taeyang chuckled at his friend. 

Taeyang had always been the more athletic between the two of them so when Jiyong invited him to the soccer game, he readily agreed.

"That's true. And it's just soccer. This should be easy." Jiyong boasted, shrugging nonchalantly. 

"Oh really?"

"It's like running but with a ball, right? I've been running with warden for a few good months now. Piece of cake."

Taeyang shook his head at his friend's very inflated ego. "Care to put your money where your mouth is?" He smirked. "GATHER AROUND BOYS~ this is no longer a friendly game. Team Taeyang versus Team GD."

"Oohhh, I'm liking this." Jaehyuk stepped towards Taeyang's side but Jiyong got a hold of his shirt.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To the winning team?"

​​​​​​"I'm the winning team. Loser has to treat these rugrats to lunch?"

The boys cheered at the prospect of free lunch. No matter who wins, they get free food. 

"Better have your black card ready, Ji."

As it turns out, soccer isn't as simple as running. In soccer, you have to score goals too. When the score was 2-3 favoring team Taeyang, Jiyong sat the game out. The other team had no problem with it and out was a tall kid who sat distantly next to the idol.

"You don't want to play anymore?" GD asked, striking up a conversation.