[CONTENTID1]06[/CONTENTID1]
[CONTENTID2]Dumb Blonde[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

Baekhyun sat next to Ryujin and smiled. "What are you doing?" 

"As your eyes can see, I am reading a book," She said. 

"Aha, what is that?" He closed her book to see the cover. "The Captain's Verse, oh... that is nice. I don't read books a lot, but my niece is crazy about them."

"The man who doesn't read books has no advantage over the one who can't read them," She said, eyes on the book.

"Huh?!"

"Mark Twain."

He cleared his throat. "Anyway, do you know Arabic?"

Ryujin rolled her eyes. "No, why should I?"

"We are flying to an Arabic country."

"I've heard that almost everyone talks in English in Dubai."

"Oh," He nodded. "But it is still an Arabic country."

"Dubai is not a country. The country is called The United Arab Emirates!" She said. "How don't you know these simple things when you have been there more than ten times?"

"Maybe because I am a racer, not a geographer?"

She sighed. "Forget about it, do you know Arabic yourself?"

Baekhyun grinned, he was craving to hear that question from her. "Of course," He said. "I know five languages. Korean, English, French, Arabic and Italian," He counted. "I also know basic Chinese, thank to a friend, who is a Chinese racer."

"You seriously know these all?"

"Yes. Want me to speak for you?"

She shook her head. "No, no. I believed you. Thanks." She went back to her book. 

He leaned back as he looked at her silhouette. "Read aloud," He whispered. "Please."

She looked at him with wide eyes and turned to the book. "My struggle is harsh and I come back with eyes tired, as time eyes from having seen the unchanging earth," She wetted her lips. "But when your laughter enters, it rises to the sky seeking me and it opens for me all the doors of life."

"It's beautiful..." Baekhyun said with eyes closed. "Will I ever mean something like this to someone?"

She took a glance and him before looking back at the page. "My love," She whispered.

"What?" He opened his eyes.

Ryujin looked at him surprised. "It, it is in the book," She showed him the page. "The poem."

"Right..." He nodded. "Continue please."

■■■

They got out of the taxi and started taking their suitcases and bags. "Look at that," He pointed at a very tall skyscraper. "That is Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world."

"Wow..." Ryujin smiled in awe, looking at the building. "Can we go there?"

"We don't have time for sightseeing," She pouted. "Ok, we can go to one place tonight."

"Yes!"

"Only one place, Ryu. Ok?" She nodded. "We can go with Sehun and Lisa. I'll ask Irene to accompany us, she has lived in Dubai for fifteen years."

"Seriously?!"

"Yep," He replied. "She came back to England after turning eighteen."

"What about Jongdae oppa? Won't he come with us?" 

"He behaves like a father when we go out together... he is always like 'do this and don't do that', I don't like it. We are as old as each other and... I'm even some months older. I wonder what makes him think like he is the older one..."

"I know what it is..." They walked in the hotel. "He is married, has a child, but you? Single. You don't even have a girlfriend!"

"I chose this way, ok Miss Jung?" He walked to the reception. "Oh! Salamo alaykom!" Her eyes widened, hearing him speak in Arabic for real. 

"Baekhyun!" The receptionist greeted him happily. It seemed like they were old friends. "The first Korean racer!" 

He chuckled. "Kayfa haluk, ya sadiqi?"

"Ok, Baekhyun... you know I love it when you speak in my language, but you are way better when you speak English," The man said.

Baekhyun pouted. "Hassan, don't be like that. I know I have to work on my accent, though I am acceptable now, aren't I?" 

"You are, my friend," He smiled. "Passport please?"

He turned to Ryujin. "Your passport."

"Shouldn't our personal assistants do these?" She asked, searching through her bag. "Why should we even check in when they haven't arrived yet?"

"As you know, Ryujin... there wasn't taxi for them at the airport, so they had to wait. You want us to stay here waiting for them? We are the athletes! We need rest," He grabbed her passport and gave it to the receptionist. "Women always nag..."

"Is she your girlfriend?" Hassan asked. "Good one, buddy-"

"She is my teammate!" He corrected him immediately. "I got to be crazy to date a girl like her."

"Whatever..." He shrugged. "But if you ever wanted to date a girl, your colleague is the best option."

"Why do you say so?" He raised a eyebrow. "Are you..."

He smiled. "I got married two months ago, I called Mr. Kim to invite you, but your personal assistant said you are busy preparing for the championship." 

"Oh... that is. Sorry man," Baekhyun looked around. "Where is she?"

"Sama," He called his wife and she walked to them. "My friend, that Korean racer of Mercedes I told you before, Baekhyun Byun."

"Hello," She smiled. "Hope you enjoy your time in our hotel and," She leaned towards him. "Good luck on your race. I will definitely come to cheer for you!"

"Thank you, Sama," He said. "And congrats on your wedding. Take care of my friend," She nodded, smiling. 

"Checked in," Hassan said. "Your rooms are next to each other," He gave them the cards. "Rooms 554 and 555. My colleague will lead you to your rooms."

■■■

The man opened the room and took his suitcase in. "You can call if you needed help," Baekhyun nodded. "I'll leave now, sir." He left. 

He opened the door and looked our at Ryujin, who was standing in front of her room like a lost little girl. "Do you want to stay in my room till others' arrival?"

"Huh? Can I?"

"Yeah..." He opened the door completely and stood aside. "Come in, Miss."

She grinned and walked in with her suitcase in her hand. She sat on his large bed. The senior racer took his phone and went to the balcony. The girl sat on the bed and stared at him. "He asked me to come in and he is spending time out of the room," Ryujin whispered to herself. "What a gentleman..."

"What is the date, Ryu?"

Her eyes widened. "Uh... January 10th?" She replied. 

"Right," His lips started trembling. "Today is January 10th."

"Is today... a special day for you?" She asked uncertainly. The girl didn't know if it was rude to ask such a question or not, but she did it anyway. Baekhyun didn't seem to be comfortable, so she had to make him talk. "Like... your birthday or something?"

"Today... the woman who has brought me into this world was born," He answered. "I..." He walked in slowly. "I can't recognize her face if I see her one day, even if her birthday wasn't in my identity card, I didn't know this too."

"Is your mother dead?"

Baekhyun smiled bitterly. "Not literally, but for me, yes," He said. "I'm a child of divorce."

"Oh... I didn't know that."

"My mom cheated on my dad and they separated ways when I was five," He sat on a chair. "Dad didn't let her take me. She wanted to marry that er, who didn't like me, so she said she didn't want me either. My mom gave up on me like I'm a piece of sh*t!"

"Don't say that..."

"I know I'm not that cute, attractive or smart, but I am still her child. How could she live without knowing where I am or how I am doing?" He wiped his eyes. "She never came to meet me. Once, I asked my stepmother, Junmyeon hyung's mom, to take me to her new house. She did that without a single excuse."

"What was your mother's reaction?"

"She told me to leave... she had a seven year old daughter and an infant, my mom loved them, though me? She acted like we aren't even related by blood!" He sniffed as tears rolled down his face. "Women are emotional? This is the biggest lie in the universe! They don't have hearts, let alone emotions."

Ryujin stood up and walked to him, she took a seat next to the crying man. "Maybe she had her own reasons..."

"No reason can be found for this one case, Ryu..." He sobbed. "What does a little boy want in his life? What did I want? To be hugged by my mom and hear a simple 'I love you' and a small kiss on cheek. Did she give it to me? No! Instead, she asked me not to come meet her again, she said she doesn't want to see my face ever again!"

"I'm... I'm so sorry," She was speechless. His story was like an imaginary tragic book, it was too sad to be real and she had nothing to say other than sorry. "I am truly sorry. You have the right to be sad about it."

"Since then, Tiffany's sympathies started and haven't finished up to now," He clenched his fist. "I hate to be an object of pity!"

Ryujin stood up and got closer to him. "It's ok to feel this way," She hugged his head. "I know you are sad and...the only thing I can do is to say, I'm here for you."

He bit his lower lip and rested his head on her chest. Her embrace felt like home. Her warmth was more than peaceful. If he could see the angel of death, he'd rather die in her arms than pulling away. These feelings made him think that this might be the reason why men are attracted to women. It could be the reason why men need women. Everything made sense, but... he couldn't accept it, not yet. He was drowned in the heaven-like feeling when the door opened quietly by Jongdae and Suzy followed him. "They must be-" They both froze. "Here..." He completed his sentence. 

Baekhyun and Ryujin opened their eyes and pulled away immediately. "Ah..." Suzy pressed her lips together and faked a smile. "Let's go to our room, Ryu..."

"Yes, we better leave," She said. "They need to rest."  She patted his shoulder before leaving the room. 

Jongdae closed the door. "What the hell were you two doing?"

"Nothing," He wiped his eyes. "Just talking..."

"And while talking you placed your head on her chest and she put her arms around you," He sat on the edge of the bed. "Interesting?"

"Yes. She was hugging me, so what?!" He asked with a frown. "So what? So what? What's wrong with that? It's not like you saw both of on one bed!" 

"Well, the way I see things... I guess I'll see that in the near future."

"Huh?!"

"Nothing! Nothing!" 

"By the way," Baekhyun stood up. "We are going out tonight."

"Who are that 'we'?"

"Baekhyun, Sehun, Lisa, Irene and Ryujin."

Jongdae nodded, giggling. "And Ryujin..." He mumbled.

■■■

Suzy closed the door. "What were you doing?"

"He was talking about his past," Ryujin replied immediately. "And I was trying to make him stop crying..."

"What about his past? Was he talking about me?" She asked, crossing her arms. 

"No, he had told me about you before," She said, putting her suitcase close to her bed.

"Before? When was that before?"

"The time when we went out to have dinner together." She smiled and sat on her bed.

Her eyes widened. "You had dinner together?" 

"Yes, at his own restaurant."

The personal assistant gasped. "He owns a restaurant now?!"

"Yes, an Italian restaurant," Ryujin put her cap on her nightstand. "The foods are delicious there..."

She shook her head. "Ok, what was he saying now?"

"He was telling me about his own past, childhood and all..."

The elder girl frowned. "What is in his childhood?"

"You don't know?" The racer asked. "Then I'm not allowed to tell you."

"Tell me what his past is about!" Suzy lost her temper. "Hurry!"

"I can't! When he didn't tell you during the time you were his girlfriend, it means he doesn't want you to know!" She shouted. "Why are you questioning me like I'm a criminal?"

She bit her lower lip and flipped her hair back. "I'm sorry, Ryujin..." She whispered before leaving her alone and going to bathroom. 

■■■

"Ah..." Ryujin touched her neck. "This is really tall!" 

"Let's go in! The lift is the exciting part!" Irene walked in and others followed her like ducklings. "There it is!"

"It's really busy here..." Lisa whispered. 

"Formula one world championship will start in a day, of course it is crowded, babe,"