Chapter 26: The Problem

 

---

 

Heechul sat quietly in his bed, looking over his shoulder to see a sleeping Youngmi wrapped up in sheets. No, nothing happened between them if you asked; Youngmi just slept over because she stayed late in the hospital and their dorm was the closest plus it was 1 in the morning when she went out.

How was he gonna tell her?

A WEEK AGO

Heechul entered the meeting room where a board of directors -as he called it- and the chairman of SM Entertainment sat down. He greeted everyone and closed the door behind him before taking a seat himself, the air was filled with tension but he merely ignored it. It was always high with tension when Soo Man was around.

“How are you Heechul-ssi?”

one of the board asked him, he sat back comfortably in his seat, cross his legs, rested his elbows on the arm rests and with a smile he answered

“Never better”

“And your wedding?”

Soo Man asked it himself making Heechul smirk

“Out of this world... sir”

it fell quiet for awhile then one of them took out a folder and handed it to Heechul who looked at it in confusion, he opened it to see his contract.

“What's this about?”

he asked in a blunt tone

“That's your contra -”

one of the board members tried to say but he cut him off

“Yeah, I can see that, what I mean is why are you showing me this?”

Soo Man let out a sigh and began to speak

“SM Entertainment's terms and conditions: any idol under the company is subject to no commitment in the span of his/her contract. Any violation of this may be subject to suspension of the idol or...”

Heechul sneered, he hated dramatic pauses

“termination”

Heechul tossed the folder onto the table and sat back once again his seat, his brows stitched together.

“You were too excited for this don't you think Heechul?”

one of the board members asked him. Heechul chuckled and scoffed to the side

“I made up my mind, word is out, the media is hyped about it, isn't that what you're after?”

Soo Man chuckled in amusement

“But you are in violation of your contract, Heechul-ssi”

Heechul got up from his seat, seeing as though this was going nowhere, he started for the door but was stopped by Soo Man's voice

“You have a week to think about that Heechul, if you go through with this wedding, your contract will be terminated and your name will be wiped off along with Super Junior”

Yougmi shifted in her sleep, her face was just so perfect from the angle that he looked at her. He pulled the covers up on her and got out of the bed then afterwards exited the room. He needed to think.

He's been with Super Junior for a long time now. He was there through the ups and downs, witnessed the worst, it was because of them that he was standing on top of the world now and when he was at his most vulnerable... Super Junior was there. He went out of the dorm, entered the elevator and went to the roof top.

He stuck his hands in his coats pockets.

Youngmi? She gave him something that would be worth the fast beating of his heart, she was a person that he cherished like he cherished Super Junior, she was this young doctor he stalked at the hospital, the girl who pushed him to be better, that girl that he set his eyes on one morning at the hospital and thought he was going to heaven.

“Aigo... what to do?”

he sighed as he exited the elevator and went to the door that led out to the open roof.

Cold air hit his face but he didn't care. He actually found it soothing because he really needed to feel something right now. Heechul sat down on the ground near the edge, the city of Seoul twinkling in the cold night of December. Christmas was just right around the corner and here he was with a problem that seemed unsolvable. He took out his phone from his pocket and dialed a number then pressed it onto his ear;

“Yesoboseyo?”

came a tired and sleepy voice followed by a distant yawn.

“Umma, it's Chullie”

“Heechul-ah? Aish, do you know what time it is young man?”

“Neh, mianhe but I really need to ask you something”

-

@Heedictator: my wedding... is in jeopardy

One tweet.

#HeechulsWedding

One trend...

Sparked up the media industry, shook the cyberworld and pushed the hallyu wave into a tsunami of controversy. ELFs from all over the world had been on a buzz about Heechul's tweet, thousand to millions of retweets and replies bombarded his Twitter; everyone knew but the doctor.

She had no idea.

“Yeoboseyo?”

Heechul answered his phone, pausing from tying his necktie.

“Heechul -”

“Oh hyung”

His manager was calling

“What's this thing about your wedding?”

he swallowed hard remembering what he had posted a night ago and scratched the back of his head.

“Well it's true, everyone deserves to know anyway! I mean, they're so hyped up about my wedding then SM enters and be heads!”

“Yah! Keep your tongue in place!”

he heard his hyung let out a sigh on the other line

“Take down the post, otherwise this gets to Chairman Lee and you'll be in big trouble”

The other line went off. Heechul clutched the phone in his hand, he threw it onto the wall and slumped down on his bed, burying his head in his palms and let out a frustrated sigh.

Sungmin and Ryeowook who stood just outside of Heechul's door exchanged glances with each other, a worried look on their faces appeared;

“We should tell Teukie-hyung”

Ryeowook whispered and Sungmin nodded in agreement.

---

Good morning South Korea!

It has been quite one of the biggest happenings in the entertainment industry. If you don't know what I'm talking about then I'm referring to Big Space Superstar Kim Heechul's wedding!

Yes, we also thought the people got over it and the buzz died down but recently, it has sparked up once again and the source of it all? Twitter.

Heechul tweeted just a day ago saying that his wedding was in danger and fans from all over the world have been sent on a tsunami wave of great buzz. Heechul has not tweeted after that and SM Entertainment has not commented on the matter yet regarding their idol.

For some, it has been a reason to celebrate, some fans claim that their oppa will be single again while as to some, they best feel the need to cheer Heechul on and face whatever it is the reason behind the tweet.

---

A smile crossed her lips as she turned off the television and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Thank you Chairman Lee”

She chuckled.

8 Days ago...

“Yeoboseyo?”

she smiled, hearing the man's rusty voice. The voice of Sm entertainment's most powerful man: Chairman Lee Soo Man

“Good afternoon Chairman Lee”

She greeted, a smile on her face. The man's brows knitted together as he heard the voice of an unfamiliar female.

“Who is this? How did you get my direct line?”

“It doesn't matter Mr. Lee; I called to point out something”

Chairman Lee frowned

“This is ridiculous, I have no time for -”

“This is about Kim Heechul's marriage and the violation he's making”

Chairman Lee held his thoughts

“A violation?”

he questioned; Hyerin smiled on the other line, he was finally listening

“I would like to point out to you that an idol is not to be under personal relationships -girlfriend, fiancees, etcetera- while they are under contract”

Yes. She was the one who called Soo Man's attention to it. She was the one who pointed it out to the chairman and this, might she say may be one of the greatest things she has done so far and it seems that Heechul has heard of the news.

“Looks like I may not be needing Hyunjung's help afterall”

-

It was around 8 AM in the morning when Hyunjung arrived in her home in Seoul and her mother greeted her as soon as she entered through the door.

“Where's Youngmi?”

she asked the lady

“She's upstairs getting ready for work, have you eaten breakfast?”

she nodded her head sideways but gave the lady a soft and gentle smile

“Is something wrong Hyungjung?”

Her mother asked, a tone of worry in her tone. Hyunjung nodded her head sideways; should she lie? She already was. Steps came and Youngmi had appeared, startled to see her sister.

“Oh... you're here?”

That was all she said before walking over to her umma and gave the lady her usual morning hug. They all walked into the kitchen and sat around the table.

“I promised to come home didn't I?”

Youngmi grabbed a piece of toast and took a bite, their mother quietly drank her tea andread a magazine while Hyunjung stared out into the window.

“Well you're early unnie”

the lady set down her cup and magazine, she turned to her eldest child and asked

“Have you gotten your dress fitted for the wedding Hyunjung-ah?”

Hyunjung turned to the lady, she felt her soon-to-be married sister eyes her; she forced a smile and nodded her head sideways

“Aigo, shall I go with you later then?”

the lady asked

“Ani, umma... Youngmi and I will go there”

the lady smiled

“Araso, I have to go see your grandparents later on anyway, see if they could come to the engagement party”

“Engagement party?”

Hyunjung questioned. Youngmi finished her piece of toast and dusted off the crumbs on her fingers.

“Neh but we haven't seen the coordinator yet...”

She turned to the lady with a smile

“I'll call you later to let you know of the exact date umma”

She got up from her chair and drank up the water in her glass

“I'll be going now, I'll see you later umma... unnie”

she then exited. Hyunjung's frown appeared, she let out a sigh and turned to the lady once she heard the front door close and Youngmi's car drive off.

“Umma...”

The lady turned to her child; Hyunjung bit her lower lip and grabbed the lady's hand.

“I'm sorry”

the lady looked confused

“Whatever for?”

Hyunjung didn't answer but just got up from her seat and walked out of the kitchen leaving the lady in confusion.

-

“You should be better by next week Mrs. Kang”

She smiled at the bed-ridden lady;

“Thank you Dr. Nam; I heard about your wedding”

she chuckled and placed her hands inside her lab coat's pockets.

“I hope you have a blissful marriage”

“Thank you Mrs. Kang -”

the conversation was cut off when she heard her phone ringing, good thing that she was just about to leave too.

“Excuse me, I'll see you tomorrow Mrs. Kang”

she waved off and exited the room, answering her phone.

“Yeoboseyo?”

“Yeoboseyo”

She smiled hearing Heechul's voice. He hasn't been so up lately and she was beginning to wonder why.

“So you finally called”

“Mianhe, I was... busy”

she raised a brow, he sounded so off.

“Is something wrong Heechul?”

she finally questioned; Heechul forced a chuckle on the other line

“Aniyo! I'm just tired... anyway, I called to let you know that I won't be Seoul this week”

“Oh... where are you going?”

“On a trip overseas”

“With Super Junior?”

“Aniyo, just me... don't worry, I'll be back and I'll keep in touch too”

He assured her, Youngmi let out a sigh. She was hoping that they could finally give the wedding some clarity so that they can rest and leave the rest to their coordinator.

“Okay but be back soon, I'm gonna walk down the aisle a few months from now”

-

Heechul bit his lower lip as he sat infront of his computer, a ticket in hand.

“And I'll see you there”

He heard her laugh, her hearty laugh that shook him

“When are you leaving oppa?”

Heechul swallowed hard.

“Tomorrow”

“Ahh, araso... have a safe trip then, I have to go, I'll call you later”

“And Youngmi...”

“Deh?”

He was silent for a while; he let out a quiet sigh and placed the ticket onto the desk before running a hand through his hair.

“Saranghae”

Youngmi chuckled on the other line

“Cheesy grandpa! Saranghae oppa! Bye!”

He put the phone down and buried his face in his palms.