Chapter Nine

Battle of the Idols

 

JB’s face turned stony, his eyes fixed upon his magazine. Jiyeon waited, biting her lip, her fingers fumbling nervously as she waited for his answer. Finally, he spoke.

“I don’t remember any of that now.” He stood up, turning towards the door to leave, but as he pulled the door open he stopped, abruptly, eyes suddenly wide. “You…”

Krystal, Kai and Junho were frozen outside the dorm, in comedic poses. Kai was in the mid-step, about to tiptoe away, Krystal had open, and Junho had his ear to the door (or where the door had been moments earlier).

Although Krystal hadn’t thought it possible, but JB’s brows drew even closer together, his face red in anger. But he said nothing, instead just throwing the magazine down and storming out of the dorm.

Krystal bit her lip, mouthing “Oops” to Kai. Kai beckoned to Krystal quickly, and the two youngsters zoomed right out to the living room. Junho gave Jiyeon an awkward nod, before closing the door quietly and running as fast as he could to the living room to join the youngsters.

Kai leaned forward, speaking in a conspiratorial whisper, “Did you guys hear that? What was that about a baby?”

Junho’s eyes were wide, his expression scandalized. “Do you guys think JB…maybe he got Jiyeon pregnant or something? That would explain why there’s so much tension between them…”

“But it doesn’t make sense, if he got her pregnant, why would she be asking him about the baby? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?” Krystal looked confused. “I mean, most of the time if a female idol gets pregnant it’s the guy who demands an abortion, isn’t it? At least, that’s what happened with Vic-unnie and Kris-oppa.”

Kai swatted Krystal, his eyes wide as he glanced over at Junho. Junho’s eyes were boggling now. “Say what? Victoria and Kris…oh my god…”

Krystal shoved Kai a little. “It’s all right, it’s old news anyway. Yeah, and I remember Kris-oppa made Vic get an abortion, and she was so upset about it that they broke up, so now Vic-unnie is with Zhoumi. Who’s a way better guy, in my opinion.”

“You should be called the gossipmonger Jung, seriously.” Kai grumbled, “And Kris-hyung is a really good leader, okay. He respects us, he’s good to us and he’s always there to help us with our problems.”

“Yeah but he’s a jerk to women.” Krystal retorted.

“But he’s good to us!” Kai tried in vain to defend the EXO-M leader, only to have Krystal roll his eyes. “But he’s still a jerk to women. I bet you that by the time the rest of the EXO members get married, Kris will still be a bachelor.”

Junho hid a smile, and Krystal shot him a look. “What are you smiling at?”

“Nothing. Just that the two of you look pretty cute together.” Junho teased. Krystal swatted him.

“Anyway, regardless of what happened between JB and Jiyeon, it’s really none of our business, is it?” Krystal shrugged. Junho disagreed, “Actually it is kind of our business, we’re their groupmates.”

“Yeah but we’re not involved in the situation, and if they don’t want to tell us then we should respect their wishes.” Krystal shot back, “Besides, I believe that they’ll tell us the truth when they want to. So we should just leave them be.”

Kai looked at Krystal, impressed. “Since when did you become so understanding and kind?”

Krystal shot him a first-class icy glare. “Just because you don’t notice it doesn’t mean I’m not!”

There was a burst of laughter from both guys, suddenly interrupted by a sharp rap on the front door. The trio looked up in surprise, and Kai hurriedly ran to get the door. He opened it, then bowed thrice, stepping aside to reveal Jessica, Jonghyun and Myungsoo.

Jessica’s eyes were still a little red, but she had recovered enough of her Ice Princess self to shoot Myungsoo some of her patented cold glares. Jonghyun, too, looked displeased by Myungsoo’s presence, as he spoke a little rudely, “Just hurry up then get out of here.”

 Myungsoo coughed, a little awkwardly, then turned to Krystal. “Krystal-sshi, could I have a word with you?”

Krystal perked up, surprised. She gave Jessica a questioning look, but the older sister just shrugged, having no idea why Myungsoo wanted to speak with her.

“In private.” Myungsoo clarified.

Krystal hesitated, then got up. “Let’s go to my room, then.”

Kai watched as the duo entered Krystal’s room, closing the door behind them, his expression suddenly dark. Jonghyun patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry so much, kid.”

Kai looked up, feigning ignorance. “I’m not worried!”

Jessica and Jonghyun exchanged knowing looks. “Yeah, right.”

The two of them turned to Jessica’s room; Kai looked at them in surprise. “Where are you guys going?”

“Alone time, kiddo. Don’t eavesdrop.” Jonghyun called back, as he led Jessica into the room he shared with Junho.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taecyeon stared at the boy standing in front of their door in surprise. “JB-ah! What are you doing here?” He frowned, leaning forward to sniff at the boy. “You…are you drunk? Where did you get the alcohol from? Aren’t you underaged?”

JB shook his head drunkenly, groaning as he held his head with one hand. “Wooyoung…Wooyoung-hyung…is he…here?”

Taecyeon gazed at the younger man worriedly for a moment before calling out to his fellow 2PM member. “Yah, Wooyoung! JB’s looking for you!”

Wooyoung hurried out of his room, pulling his shirt on. He stared at Taecyeon and JB, his eyes wide in shock. Both 2PM members practically carried JB over to the sofa, and Wooyoung mouthed to Taecyeon, “What’s wrong with him?”

Taecyeon could only shrug, having no idea himself. He pointed to himself, then to his room. He tiptoed back to his room, quietly closing his door to give them some privacy.

Wooyong sat down beside JB, waiting patiently.

After nearly ten minutes, JB finally stirred. Wooyoung glanced over him, then looked away almost at once, feeling an odd sense of embarrassment for the younger man as he noted the tears b in JB’s eyes. He hesitated for a moment, then extended a hand, patting JB gently on the back. “What’s wrong, JB? Did something happen?”

There was a moment of silence as JB seemed to gulp back tears. Then he whispered, in a cracked, broken voice, “I can’t do it, hyung. I can’t forget. I can’t forget about her, I can’t forget about her betrayal, and I can’t forget about the baby.” There was another pause, as the tears finally spilled over, his voice choked as he eked out, “Our baby.”

Wooyoung said nothing. There was nothing he could say. All he could do was to continue patting JB on the back, as the youth doubled over, the tears choking him silently.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jonghyun sat down on his bed, while Jessica seated herself on Junho’s. She glanced about the room, tutting, “Man, your room…or rather, your side of the room is seriously messy! You should follow Junho’s example and make your bed, at the very least.”

Jonghyun grinned, shrugging, “Not my style.” He paused for a moment, then started speaking again, his voice much more serious this time, “Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

Jessica hesitated, her eyes flickering to the door as if she wanted to escape. But she forced herself to stay seated and face the blonde-haired man. “…I just want to say thank you, for being there for me all those years. You can be a jerk and an sometimes, but you’ve always been there to support me when I need it. So thanks.” The Ice Princess shot to her feet, clearly unused to giving emotional speeches, but before she could run for the door, Jonghyun shot up, grabbing her head. His expression was somewhat disappointed as he asked, “Is that all you have to say to me?”

Jessica bit her lip.

Jonghyun forced a smile. “Do I have to spell it out more clearly, noona? Fine. I like you. I’ve liked you for a very long time now, and I’m hoping…well, I want to know what you think about me.”

There was a long silence.

Finally, Jessica spoke up, “…I’m grateful to you for being so supportive of me all these years, and I do like you as a friend, but not…not…I’m not ready for another relationship, Jonghyun. Not yet. Not after…not after Kim Jaejoong. I’m sorry, but I just can’t do it.”

She pulled her hand out of Jonghyun, fleeing out of the room, but stopped abruptly as she opened the door.

Kai, Krystal and Junho were frozen outside the door (again), their eyes wide as they stared at Jessica and Jonghyun, caught red-handed.

Jessica said nothing, merely fled out of the dorm.

Jonghyun closed his eyes. He sank down onto his bed, completely dispirited. Kai approached, his tone bewildered, “Hyung, why don’t you go after her? You can’t just sit here and do nothing!”

Jonghyun could only smile bitterly, “She won’t accept me. Jessica Jung, that damned woman…she just won’t accept me.” 

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Finally updated! Whew! I know I promised to upload ages ago, but I was sent to the hospital for food poisoning on the 25th (Christmas day, bleurgh) and stayed there for a couple of days. I only just managed to muster the energy to write out this chapter. I hope you guys liked this update!

Anyway, JJCouple and Jongsica angst finally coming in full force. The thing about the baby should be pretty obvious by now - like, I noticed a lot of comments going "WHAT BABY? WHOSE BABY?" and all that (honestly I fell out of my chair laughing when I read those XD) but all of you probably guessed whose it was already. All that's left now is for them to either break up for real or talk together and make up with each other. Which do you guys want it to be? 

This chapter had some Jongsica too - it actually reveals quite a lot about Jonghyun and Jessica's characters. Jonghyun may appear to be a flirt and kind of a jerk, but like I said in the previous chapter, he protects those that matter to him, and is willing to fight for his love. Jessica, despite her cold demeanour, is actually quite insecure and uncertain about love, thanks to her previous relationship with a certain Kim Jaejoong, so she isn't willing to accept Jonghyun yet. Nevertheless, Jonghyun won't give up quite so easily. 

Kai, Krystal and Junho have officially reintroduced themselves as the Eavesdropper Trio XD

From Chapter 10 onwards, there will be a lot more focus on Myungstal, Kaistal, and a bit on Myungyeon, so Myungsoo, Krystal and Kai fans can rejoice! Note: Myungsoo's conversation with Krystal will be in the next chapter, so you guys can anticipate it! Can any of you guess what he wants to say to her?

Anyway, remember to comment and subscribe! I'll try to update ASAP, so please don't unsubscribe, okay?

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Comments

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Ajbgray #1
Chapter 13: I have a strange feeling that Myungsoo, asking Krystal out was part of Obsidian's plan. The one Myungsoo suggested to Obsidian.
kpopperson
#2
Chapter 13: Is it too late for Myungyeon?
icybyung #3
Chapter 13: Can you have jaejoong and Jessica moments please :)
DaniKato #4
Chapter 13: I thought Myungsoo liked Jiyeon...
Jessica is so cool kekeke
Hope you update soon
Jennerz #5
Chapter 13: Is it too late to ask for some JaySica? I ship JongSica and JaySica, but JongSica is my OTP. Either way, this is a wonderful story and I'm looking forward to the next chapter. :)
MagicalPen
#6
Chapter 13: Jealous kai is super adorable kekekeke myungsoo stealing a kiss from soojung was a cute scene :3
MagicalPen
#7
Myungstal and kaistal \0/
AsianHuntress
#8
Chapter 13: Myungsoo's Engrish...
DaniKato #9
I dont know why, but I really want MyungYeon!
Hehehhe