31
Not My Prince Charminghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFj6SG0iT7E
It was a gloomy Friday in the last week of July. The rain was softly pit pattering on your rooftop when you woke up. The humming of the quiet rain from outside made you feel nostalgic and in the mood to do absolutely nothing at all. You weren’t the type to just be unproductive all day, but today was just one of those days.
You sullenly dragged yourself out of bed, showered, and cooked yourself a hearty American brunch that consisted of scrambled eggs and French toast. It wasn’t until your father poked his head in the kitchen until you realized his presence. You turned the heat from the stove off, grabbed your plate and turned around. You almost gasped when you saw him smiling at you.
“Good afternoon, sunshine.”
You sat yourself down on the table while your father held onto his coffee mug, leaning against the table. From his posture you could tell he wasn’t going to stay home for long.
“Heading to the office today?” You asked, whilst poking your fork down at the scrambles eggs.
He nodded. “As always.”
You nodded thoughtfully while you chewed. He stole a quick glimpse down at you and noted that you’ve been in good mood these days and that he didn’t even need to ask you to know what the cause was.
“How’s the boyfriend?”
You stopped munching and you looked up at him. Your father had an amuse look on his face while he took another sip from his coffee mug. “How did you know…?”
“I was young once you know.”
A shiver ran down your spine as you thought back to your Dad during his ‘young days’. You quickly stuffed some of your French toast in your mouth before answering with a muffled, “he’s perfectly good.”
Your father chuckled and straightened up as he dusted invisible dust off his jacket.
“We should go have dinner together when he has time. I want to formally meet him as your boyfriend.”
Your eyes rounded as you almost choked on your food. You grabbed your cup of water and began gulping it down. There was a soft look on your father’s face as he patted your head. A technique he did since you were young every time he saw you choke. You embarrassedly swatted his hands away and redeemed yourself.
“We’ll see… You barely have time for me, how will you have time for him?”
Your father gave you a mysterious chuckle before bidding an aloof farewell and leaving the house. You heard his engine starting and the car driving out of the driveway. You could swear you could imagine your father with that same smug yet amuse look on his face. Your father never gave you the answers, he always seems to laugh mysteriously and walk away. That was one of your biggest pet peeves. It just that sometimes, Myungsoo would do the same thing to you. Another cold shiver ran down your spine.
The last thing you wanted was for Myungsoo to meet your father and then having them suddenly become BFFS. But then again… Myungsoo had met your father before… but that was only once, from what you could recall.
Infinite had been nothing but busy this past week since winning their award. There was absolutely no way Myungsoo could come have dinner with you and your father.
---
“WHAT?!”
“I’ll come.”
“Myungsoo… are you thinking straight right now?”
“I’m pretty sure I am. My brain says I am.”
You sighed through the phone, and you could tell Myungsoo was smiling delightfully. With his schedule being so busy with all the radio shows, live performances, travelling from different countries, you didn’t think he would have time to spend it with you, nonetheless, with you AND your father. You knew he had free days, but those were rare, and you wanted him to rest those days. Despite how much he argued against it.
“I think it’ll be fun.” Myungsoo mused.
You frowned. “My Dad’s a tough guy.”
“Oh, I’m sure I’ll be able to win him over.”
You slapped a hand over your face, already fretting about the night.
“If not, I can always tell him some jokes that I’ve learned from Sungyeol.”
“Oh dear, please don’t.”
---
The dinner was officially on.
Your father had chosen one of the most famous and popular 5 star restaurant in Seoul. It wasn’t Myungsoo’s choice, but yours, for requesting a private booth so that no one will be able to see you guys. The last thing you wanted was to get caught. Myungsoo was quite reckless with the relationship while you were the one protecting it and making sure nothing slips. Your father didn’t question you, but instead happily agreed that the booth was better to hold conversation so that he would be able to have a careful look at Myungsoo.
For the special night (and also because you truthfully missed Amber), you had asked her to come with you to pick out a suitable outfit for the night.
“You actually remembered me, eh?” She punched you in the arm. You rolled your eyes and threatened to pull down her mask.
“Hey man, if you want to, go for it. Don’t blame me when paparazzis chase us down.”
You quickly retrieved your hand placed it on your lap. The two of you got out of her van and headed into the mall, promising her manager you two would be back in less than 2 hours. You could hear him groan and chuckled.
“You know I thought you’d be busy and reject my offer to come with me.” You said as you looped your arm through hers.
Amber rolled her eyes and pulled you closer to her. “Me? Too busy for my little cousin? Never.”
You laughed and hugged her arm. The two of you walked closely to each other, and the only time you would part was when you saw something that caught your eye and ran over to the object. You and Amber leisurely walked as you passed by stores,
There was a bright music store that caught your attention making you stop. Amber stopped talking and turned her attention to you. You turned your head to her with your sparkling eyes that were filled with curiosity and temptation. She rolled her eyes and nudged you in. You giggled and dragged her inside.
Your mouth widened in awe at all of the instruments. You passed by a guitar which reminded of you of Myungsoo. Amber saw you eyeing it for the longest time and she smiled. “Can you plat the guitar?”
Your eyes grew sad, “No. I can only play the piano.”
“It’s not that hard.”
“Can you play the guitar?”
She nodded and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “A fellow labelmate named Henry taught me. Good guy.”
“Amber, you have to teach me!”
Her eyes widened in alarm. “Hey… hey I’m not that great!”
You looked at the guitar and suddenly, your eyes grew determined. This could be yet another skill that you could learn, and maybe in time, can perfect it. And when you do, maybe you could play it to Myungsoo. You could already imagine the look on his pleased face. The thought of it made you melt.
You quickly turned back to Amber with a pleading looking. She leaned back slightly, hoping that you wouldn’t use your puppy dog—Too late.
“Oh Amber, pleaseeeeeee!” You clasped your hands together.
Amber cast you a panicked look as people in the store began to stare at the two of you. “Shh, not the name! SHh!! Alright. When you buy yourself a guitar, I’ll ask my labelmate to give you some lessons, got it? Now- don’t- say- the- name.”
Your eyes widened in surprise and you nodded fervently. “Thank you thank you!!” Amber rolled her eyes, though behind her mask she was smiling. She dragged you out of the store before you could ask her more questions.
---
Your legs grew tired and so did Ambers after an hour of walking. You bought milkshakes for two of you while Amber bought a small poutine for you two to share. There were no more tables so you guys comfortably sat on the bench.
“So little cuz, what’s the plan for the future?” She asked, her voice slightly muffled from the mask.
You stopped chewing and then brought your lips to your milkshake while you thoughtfully slurped. Amber was staring at you with her big, prying eyes and you sighed.
“I don’t know. Dad wants me to take care of his business but I want to…” Your words trailed until they stopped. Truthfully, you wanted to go back to America to study music but now that you’re with Myungsoo, you weren’t so sure if you wanted to go back.
“You want to…?”
You shrugged and poked your fork at the poutine. “I don’t know.” *I just know I want to finish High school with a good mark, make lots of memories, create lots of compositions, take lots of photos and… be with Myungsoo.* You thought of Myungsoo’s smiling face and suddenly grew dazzled by his smile.
“What’s with that dazed look on your face?” Amber said while waving her hands in front of your face.
You blinked a couple of times before snapping out of it and shaking your head. You didn’t tell Amber about Myungsoo yet, and you weren’t sure if you should. You only told her that you had a special dinner with your Dad, and you were more than glad when she didn’t press on with her questions.
Maybe you’ll tell her when the time is right.
Whenever that is.
---
Amber helped you pick out a beautiful satin midnight blue one shoulder dress that went mid way to your thighs and fit every curve of your body. It was simple yet elegant and that was what you needed. Amber insisted that you buy yourself some nice heels, even offering to buy it herself, but you declined. You were a danger magnet, and wearing heels will make you and the people around you more endangered.
“So what are you going to wear?”
“My white flats.”
She raised her eyebrows at you.
“Flats can be very classy, thank you very much.” Not to mention very classy.
Amber sighed as you two made your way back to the van. “I don’t know why you would buy such a beautiful dress and not wear some killer heels to go along with it.”
“Why don’t you wear heels?” You elbowed her lightly.
“Not my style.”
You smiled. “That’s how I feel. They just aren’t my style.”
She rolled her eyes, making you laugh and hook your arms through hers again.
---
Since it was rare for you to spend a day with Amber, she decided to take you out to eat. It was late, and you didn’t even realize it. Although when you stepped out of the house with Amber, it was already 8.
You yawned and laid your head on her shoulder.
“If you’re tired, I can take you home.”
You dismissed her with your hands. “Never too tired to hang out with my big cousin.”
Amber looked down at you and smiled fondly.
The two of you arrived at a restaurant. It was small and quite empty which was rare for this time of the night. There was a group of boys, and two other older girls. The boys were wearing hats and hoods and they were quite intimidating from what you could see. Their laughter echoed throughout the small room. The older girls were quiet and reserved, sealing their lips with food.
The old woman who owned the restaurant quickly came and seated you guys with a tired smile. You felt bad seeing her frail her hands shake when she handed water to the two of you. After reading from the menu, the two of you ordered the food, while the old woman promised that the food will be coming shortly.
“I’m going to the washroom,” Amber told you. You nodded whilst taking out your phone. You had it on silent all day and didn’t realize the amount of messages Myungsoo had sent you. ‘Where are you?’ ‘Thanks for ignoring me. I’m going to ignore you then.’ ‘I’m just kidding, I really miss you.’ and your favourite one which was sent a few minutes ago, ‘I don’t love you’ ‘OhMYGOD, that was Sungyeol! That stupid !’.
You laughed and replied to the messages.
“Amber sunbaenim? Is that you?!”
You quickly looked up and saw as the boys bowed their heads respectively to her. Amber grew flustered and bowed back to the intimidating group of boys. They lifted their heads and you realized it was TEEN TOP. You should have known! Ricky’s girlish voice was hard to miss.
“Enjoying your food well?” Amber asked politely.
The boys all nodded in agreement as they chorused. “Yes.”
“Who are you here with?” Changjo asked as he leaned forward. You quickly ducked down and began playing with your phone.
Amber nodded her head to your direction. “I’m with my cousin.” Out of respect and common courtesy, Amber called your name, making you bite your lip.
L.Joe’s eyes widened and he quickly glanced your way.
“Say hello to my juniors.”
You bit your lip even harder, accidentally making the skin rip. You slowly looked up and smiled as curtly bowed your head not daring to look into L.Joe's confused and hurt eyes.
The rest of TEEN TOP gaped at you. Remembering that you were that one girl that they looked down upon. They nervously fidgeted in their seat as they bowed their heads back at you. If Amber found out how they treated you, they were definitely in big trouble. She’s been in the industry for awhile, and not to mention that she’s closer to people who are bigger in the industry.
The first person to act upon it was Ricky.
“Noona! It’s nice to see you here! You look very, very pretty today.” He sweetly beamed at you. You felt your left eye twitch and you forcefully nodded with a smile. L.Joe frowned, realizing how awkward this must be for you.
Amber smiled, “Oh, you guys know each other?”
Ricky nodded with a big smile. “Yep! We go to the same school.”
Just in the nick of time, the old woman returned with your hot food.
Amber nodded. “Well that’s interesting. I’m going to head back there now. Eat well guys!” The boys nodded and bowed to Amber.
“Eat well, noona!” Ricky hollered to you.
You gave him another forceful smile before lowering your head. You didn’t need to look up to know how intensely L.Joe was watching you.
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