Late Spring rain was falling. A strange, humid feeling that Nana detested intensely. The little droplets of downpour hit the back of her neck, sprinkling down upon her as if she were a dead lawn. With a sigh, she unwillingly rose from her bed. Everything was too sticky for her tastes. With her little apartment having no air conditioning, no form of coldness other than her crappy fridge, all she could do was sweat it out with a small electric fan.
She had already sweated through her grey tank top, the bottom of her pits stained dim grey. Though a few would think that the rain would provide some sort of cool gust of wind, or anything of the sort, on that specific day, it was nothing but lukewarm water descending from the sky.
Nana stood up and sighed. She contemplated in her mind whether she should stay at home in her lazy manner or risk going to the convenient store (which was air-conditioned goodness) to buy a box of ice cream. She ended up choosing the latter. After changing into a fresh t-shirt and a pair of shorts, Nana was out of the door.
Summer was just around the corner, and the hints of it fluttered around her. Two children kicked a soccer ball outside of the townhouse next door, on popsicle sticks and dripping with sweat.
It always seemed to comfort her in the strangest of ways, innocence and the scorching heat. Most girls were annoyed with days when the temperature rose high enought to make them sweat without doing anything, annoyed that it would ruin their make up and perfume. Nana, however, enjoyed the stench of mud and sweat, mixed together with the heat that made her feel faint.
Fastening her steps, she sped down the lane and towards the convenint store. It was fairly crowded—she wasn't the only one who was craving ice cream in the heat. The automatic doors slid open and she stepped inside, only to be welcomed by a sweet rush of cold air. Nana shivered, and headed straight towards the ice cream aisle. She had an asortment to choose from, but ended up with a tub of Rocky Road.
As she was approaching the cashier line to pay for her items, her phone rang, loud and clear. V-I-C-T-O-R-Y girls! Ooh~ She danced to the tune of the song for half a millisecond, before answering it. "Hello?" she said into the speaker.
"Red!" the familiar and high-pitched voice of Luhan greeted. "I'm outside of your apartment with Taejun Hyung. Where are you?"
"Oh! I'm shopping. I'll be back in like two seconds," she said, hanging up aburptly. Nana quickly paid the measly $8 that she owed and sprinted outside, trying her hardest to ignore the yucky heat that still hadn't left the atmosphere. If there was anything she hated more than suffocatingly hot days, it was making people wait.
The time passed quicker than when she first ran to the convenient store. Nana arrived within six minutes, which was much longer than two seconds. Luhan was leaning against a lamp post, looking incredibly adorable in his white tank top and stripy shorts. With his hair tied up in apple stlye, he looked like he just woke up.
She worked her way to her brother, who didn't look like her the slightest. Nana had wavy red hair, and the biggest eyes possible. Meanwhile, Taejun had your average choppy, black hair, accompanied by his equally dark eyes that were so small he had an eye smile while frowning. Next to him were three large suitcases, which Nana eyed suspiciously. He usually stayed over at her apartment when he came back from tours, but only for a few weeks. Taejun opened his arms, and Nana naturally fell into them. At least she could feel at home with her brother. "You're back already?" she said, walking towards her the main entry to her apartment.
"That's okay, don't say hi to me," Luhan said sarcastically, rolling his doe-eyes. The three of them clambered up the stairs, each of them grabbing one of Taejun's suitcase. Nana tried to get some information out of him, but was silenced with Luhan's stare. They finally reached room 32. Only by the time that they were seated in Nana's little living room, was when Taejun finally told them his story.
"I got kicked off the squad."
"What?!" Nana shrieked. Her brother could not have gotten kicked off. He was the life of the team, the handsome and talented football player, who always shot all of the goals. He couldn't have been fired!
Taejun frowned, feeling awkward under her gaze. "I'm sorry! It was an accident. Coach was acting all pushy and annoying and I just blew off at him. He said I was so cocky he didn't care if the team failed without me."
Nana rolled her eyes. Of course Taejun was super confident. But why wouldn't he be? He had everything. The looks, the muscles, money and unlimited amount of fans. But not anymore. "Don't take it out on him, Nana," Luhan said sadly. "He already feels bad enough." Taejun touched the younger boy's thigh gratefully, and Nana noticed their skinship. Luhan always had a soft spot for his idol and Taejun always loved the boy who looked after his little sister when he wasn't around. The two of them were like two peas in a pod. Sometimes they even finished each other's sentences.
"So...judging by the luggages, you're staying here?"
Taejun nodded sadly. "Luhan picked me up from the airport because I couldn't bare to tell mum or dad. Is it okay?"
Nana sighed dramatically, her hand across her forehead. "But now where will my fifty boyfriends and ten prostitues sleep? And what about my secret love child!" Taejun laughed goodnaturedly, but Luhan's mouth remained in a straight line.
"I'm just kidding, Oppa. Fine, fine, sleep here. But you're taking the living room."
"Oh, by the way, I picked this up outside," Luhan said, breaking the tension. He handed Nana a rolled up newspaper, which she discarded onto the kitchen table. She really had no need for the smelly old newspaper, except for the good old sports section.
"Dad's going to kill me," Taejun groaned, laying down on Luhan's lap. He his Hyung's hair affectionately, and Nana felt like gagging.
"Seriously, don't worry about it. Just call him tomorrow and we'll figure it out."
"I hope so," Taejun murmured under his breath.
。。。
Once Luhan had left, and Taejun was snoring upon a mattress on the floor, Nana crept into the kitchen for a midnight snack. She opened her relatively empty freezer, and took out her large tub of ice cream happily. Taking a spoon out, and eating it right then and there, she decided to go ahead and look for the sports section in the newspaper.
The front headline caught her attention, as it was printed in large letters at the top of the front page.
lee enterprises - business fail?
Several reporters have noted that the CEO of Lee Enterprises, Lee Jungmin (possibly the most powerful man in all of South Korea) has gone missing since May 2nd. But where has he gone? After many investigations and private reports, it has been officially confirmed that Mr. Lee has been doing illegal business with unauthorised companies all over Korea. That may include using and selling products that have not been declared legal in Korea, hiding drugs in Lee items and using unsafe electronics in order to increase his own profit. These products may be hazardous and defy the OHS laws. His selfish deeds have not gone unnoticed, however, as many citizens are protesting to have Lee Enterprises banned and taken down.
Rumours say that Mr. Lee is hiding until this blows over, but the question is, will it ever? Though not much is known about the wife and children of the rich CEO, we can confirm that he has two children, one girl and one boy. Both have been seen repeatedly with him and share facial features. His family are also in low profile, as they cannot be tracked or questioned at all. "Lee Jungmin is acting incredibly immature about this matter. He cannot run and hide from his own mistakes, he now needs to repay his own stupidty—and I'm talking about court and jail," says the CEO of K Electronics, a known rival to Lee Enterprises.
The question on everyone's mind: Where is he? The man who has had his ups and downs, who is the richest and most powerful man in Korea, are you on his side? Voice your opinion at the Jung Shi Daily website, www.jungshidaily.com....
。。。
"Taemin, Taemin wake up—it's out."
Barely able to comprehend anything that his older sister was saying, all Taemin could do was groggily groan. Oh, crap.
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