Chapter 11

 

 

Too much, this is all too much. I was still working around the fact that Yunho and Jaejoong, both famous Hallyu stars, were actually gay and together. And of course, the fact that I was supposed to make the latter fall in love with me and that he actually agreed to act it all out.

 

And now this. Damn you all.

 

“What? What are you talking about?” asked Junsu.

 

“Eh, did I say that aloud? Sorry.”

 

I felt my cheeks fill with blood for the second time in mere minutes.  Talking with oneself when other people are around is never a good idea.

 

“Well, anyways” said Jaejoong, “I can still remember well enough how Yunho and I acted during the first time, so it really wasn’t that hard to find out.”

 

He grinned and shook his head.

 

“Oh, what are the chances…?”

 

He was right. What were the chances that in a group of five men, four would end up with each other. Makes you kind of pity the one left out.

 

I looked up to check on Changmin who was just grinning in between bites from his power bar.

 

“You knew, too” I said to him.

 

“Sure did” he answered, and laughed after seeing everyone’s shocked faces.

 

“I mean, c’mon, I’ve been with all of you for years, you think I wouldn’t notice any changes?”

 

“Wow” I said, floored. “Just wow. You guys, you know, are the weirdest people I’ve ever met. I mean, you’re superstars and still you’re so nice and you’re all somehow together with each other and hiding it and you make it all seem so normal!”

 

After second, laughter broke out around me.

 

“You know what? You’re a pretty cool person, once you leave that shyness behind you.” Said Jaejoong, winking.

 

“Well, you.” I said.

 

The grin left his face.

 

“Just kidding. But really, let it rest okay? Actually, I think you should find your loverboy before he runs away.”

 

The eldest stared at me for a few moments before he stood up and left.

 

“And I still think you’re getting away far too easily from this.” said Yoochun, shaking his head.

 

“Maybe I am. But I’ll make it up to you, I swear. Just tell me what I can do, okay?”

 

He chuckled before standing up.

 

“Just don’t tell anybody. ,Iin any case, we should get going. It’s almost 1 am and tomorrow is going to be a long day.”

 

We all got up and somehow ended up in the van without meeting anyone.

 

It was then when I checked my phone.

 

1 unread message it read.

 

Bring the boys home. Something’s come up. You need to be at the hairdresser at 7 am. I’ll call you then.

 

“What’s it say?” asked Changmin, chewing something again.

 

“Looks like I’m going to stay overnight. Seunghyun-sshi has still something to do. I’ll take you to the hairdresser’s tomorrow.”

 

The answer was only a humpf from the youngest and a giggle from Junsu, who, after checking in the rearview mirror, was being tickled by Yoochun.

 

“Ah, I think they’re coming” said Changmin, or that’s what I could decipher from what he murmured into his food.

 

And really, only a few seconds later, did the two eldest members enter the van. I tried to find out their mood by checking in the mirror, but their faces could have been made out of stone.

 

So I decided not to say anything anymore and drive in silence.

 

Somehow, everybody seemed to feel the same so it was a quiet ride, as was the walk upstairs to the apartment.

 

I let them shower and get ready while I prepared my couch again and checked tomorrow’s schedule. I found the address of the hairdresser in my backpack. Seunghyun must’ve given it to me one time or another.

 

When finally there was no sound of anyone showering anymore, I headed to each room to brief them about the plan. We’d need to get up at six which meant starting to wake them at 5.45 if I wanted anyone of them to actually be up at six.

 

Most answers I got were grumping and hmpfing. Only Changmin graced me with a short “Sure, noona”.

 

Jaejoong barely looked at me, which made me guess that things hadn’t gone that well with Yunho.

 

I forgave them because everybody was tired, tomorrow would be exhausting and I had just revealed why I really was there.

 

Thinking about it, I realized that we hadn’t really come to an agreement about what to do with me. I guessed I’d have to ask them in the morning.

 

But first, there would be sleep. Somehow, it had become so sacred that I couldn’t believe that I was really allowed to rest my head on a pillow and go to dreamland for a few hours. But before that, I checked my alarm five times to make sure I didn’t oversleep.

 

 

 

Once everybody had boarded the van I turned around.

 

“Eh, sorry guys, but I still have one last thing to clear before we start this day, okay?”

 

There was barely any reaction from them, they were still half sleeping.

 

“What will you do about me? I mean, Jaejoong said it we’d fake it, but the others, what about you?”

 

“Just do what need be done, okay?” said Yoochun sleepily, before popping headphones into his ears.

 

“Yeah, I’m sure Jaejoong knows what he’s doing” agreed Junsu.

 

Changmin also agreed with them, which only left Yunho.

 

He didn’t even look at me. He kept his poker face, looking out of the window. As always, he was sitting next to Jaejoong, but they seemed to ignore each other.

 

I looked at Jaejoong, who gave me a shrug and a confused expression. He probably didn’t get Yunho either.

 

I sighed and turned around to start. We were good in time and arrived at the hairdresser at five to seven.

 

“I’m hungry” said Changmin, sitting down in his chair.

 

“Want me to get you something?” I asked.

 

“Normally, Seunghyun-hyung orders something from this breakfast place.”

 

“Oh, sure, do you know it’s name?”

 

Sure enough he did. He seemed to remember everything concerning food.

 

The food seemed to lighten everybody’s mood by a lot.

 

I, on the other hand, couldn’t eat a bite. I was getting more and more anxious as Seunghyun’s call was overdue and I had no idea about what would happen after the hairdresser.

 

I tried calling him five times before I called the office. But even there it took me three times to get someone on the phone.

 

“Sorry, I’m Im Shinae, I’m currently assistant to Seunghyun sshi, but he hasn’t given me the schedule for the band yet.”

 

“Isn’t  he with you? It says here he’s taking care of them right now.”

 

What? I just wanted to tell the lady on the phone that there must be a mistake but I stopped myself. Something’s come up. Maybe it wasn’t something work related and he hadn’t told the company that he wasn’t here.

 

“Eh, yeah, sorry, he’s getting breakfast right now, for the boys, I mean. He took the schedule with him, can you give it to me? I really need it and he won’t be back for 15 minutes.”

 

Wow, that was a bad lie. But somehow it worked and the lady gave me the schedule.

 

When I hung up I noticed Jaejoong watching me.

 

“Everything alright?” he asked, eyebrow raised.

 

“Sure, I just got the rest of the schedule. We’ll go to the stadium right away, after we’re finished here and then…”

 

I talked about what we were going to do to avert him asking more questions. I was getting worried about Seunghyun. He was very responsible about his job, he wouldn’t just leave without telling anyone, would he?

 

When we were finished I drove them to the stadium and somehow found the room that was designated to them. To be honest, there was a sign with their name on it on the door, but finding the door wasn’t that easy.

 

Once we were inside, Yunho turned around to face me.

 

My heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, I was scared of what he might say, whatever he might say.

 

“Where’s manager-hyung? He’s supposed to be here, right?”

 

“Um”

 

What was I supposed to say to him? Truth or lie? Well, I’d lied quite a bit these past weeks, so I guessed it was time for the truth.

 

“He’s…”

 

“He’s taking care of his daughter” said Jaejoong.

 

He was sitting on the couch, playing with his phone.

 

“How do you know that?” I asked.

 

“I overheard him yesterday on the phone. I think she’s sick.”

 

“And you didn’t think of telling me?”

 

“I figured it was his life. Would you want everyone to know about that?”

 

I sighed. He was right.

 

“Yeah, you’re right, sorry. But he should’ve called me. Anyways, there’s nothing we can do now, so let’s get going.”

 

To describe the following day with one word would be too much to ask. It was hard, long, exhausting and awkward.

 

Most of the time I felt utterly overstrained. I couldn’t believe how Seunghyun managed all of this. There was a constant flow of people wanting something from me, or more from him. I had to explain to everyone that he wasn’t there a thousand times.

 

The boys had to go there, then there, to the press conference and back, warming up their voices, meeting other artists…

 

It was never ending and since I had no idea what I had to do it was a miracle that most things went right. Admittedly, the boys knew what they had to do, so it wasn’t that bad.

 

And then the evening neared.

 

I was getting dizzy and realized that I had barely drunk or eaten anything. I gulped down a bottle of water and had a bite of a power bar. This wasn’t a time to lie down and rest.

 

I had tried to call Seunghyun throughout the day, but he wouldn’t answer this phone.

 

To be honest, I hadn’t expected him to.

 

But I had to try at least.

 

And then the concert started. I couldn’t really remember how it all passed. But it all went well. When finally all the artists had descended from the stage, it felt like a huge weight lifting from my chest.

 

Everybody was cheerful and happy, although tiredness was in everybody’s faces.

 

The boys’ performances had been marvelous. Maybe I was being biased but I felt like they had stood out a lot from everybody else.

 

I had to say that I had immensely enjoyed Changmin’s solo. Junsu had seemed so happy on stage with Eunhyuk. Jaejoong… was Jaejoong. I had realized how great a singer he really was, although the stage had seemed a bit awkward. It was probably because of the practice they’d had before that hadn’t gone that well. The rap duel was really fun, too.

 

All the staff was clapping when the singers came. It felt weird, knowing that I was, for once, really part of something this big. In the media department you didn’t really get to feel part of it. You promoted it. Period. But this…

 

I couldn’t stop smiling and feeling proud. Although my part in all of this hadn’t been very big, I still felt proud.

 

And then, to my surprise, everyone started hugging everyone. It didn’t really seem to matter who it was or if they had every talked with each other, but suddenly there was an ahjumma in my arms, who’d be replaced with Eunjung, a make-up artist.

 

The singers were a bit pickier, mostly I guessed because they were really tired.

 

So it really surprised me when Eunhyuk, the dancer guy from Super Junior, came up to me to hug me. I didn’t really know to respond, so I just hugged him back.

 

“So, you ever think of starting to work for us?” he asked when he’d pulled away.

 

“Eh, I don’t think I get to decide…”

 

He winked and started to laugh.

 

“Just kiddin’. You did a great job though.”

 

He patted me on the back and then left, to hug someone else, I assumed.

 

I was thankful for the dim lighting so that less people would see me go red again. Why was this company filled with guys that always try to make me blush?

 

There were a few other people that came to me and we exchanged congratulations. Then I started to look for my boys.

 

Seunghyun hadn’t called, so I had to make sure they came home safely.

 

I found them in a big bulk of people, being hugged and patted and talked to. I could see Yunho because he was so tall. He seemed so tired that I wondered how he could still stand. I figured that the others would be in a similar state.

 

I needed to help them.

 

I called to everybody to please make a hall-way, to let them leave. But no one even looked at me, much less do what I asked for. Since most people didn’t know me, they just saw me as a small woman yelling, no one you needed to pay attention to.

 

The only way left to help them seemed to be making a path myself.

 

Yeah, well.

 

Problem was that I was 5’4” and not strong. I still had to try.

 

I was just starting to fight my way into the crowd when I realized that I was small.

 

I mean, I’d known that, but now I saw how easily I could fit under people’s legs. I mean, it wasn’t really glorious, but glory wasn’t made for short people.

 

I got down on all four and started crawling. It took me less than a minute and I was at their feet. Getting up was harder, but not impossible.

 

Then I stood and I realized that I was facing Changmin. He on the other hand hadn’t realized that I was there.

 

I poked him in the chest until he looked down. The light made his eye bags seem deeper than they were. This was good because otherwise they’d have reached his chin. I guessed the reality wasn’t far from that though.

 

“Shinae, great job!” he said, “what are you doing here though?”

 

“Doesn’t matter. But I guess you want to escape the crowd? I doubt they’ll leave you in peace any time soon.”

 

“I guess they won’t. But eh… yeah, thanks, you too. Yeah, fighting!”

 

He was pulled away from me. What could I do? I considered just shouting at everybody again, but even if that’d work, I doubted that I’d have a good reputation in the company anymore. If I had one to begin with.

 

My eyes caught something. It was Jaejoong, who gestured at me, but I couldn’t understand what he wanted from me. He disappeared for a moment when someone stood in front of him, but then continued to make gestures. And then I understood.

 

I turned around to look for Changmin. A few people had come between us, but there was enough room between them for me to slip through.

 

“Changmin! Listen, if we want to get out of here, you need to carry me!”

 

He looked confused.

 

“Why? Can’t you walk? Are you okay?”

 

“No, we need to leave and…”

 

“It’s okay” I heard a voice next to my ear.

 

Jaejoong’s voice. But how could he have made it from where he was to here?

 

“Don’t turn around, okay? Just do it and I’ll make sure we’ll all get out of here.”

 

I hesitated a second. Who was he to give me orders? But I put that thought away as soon as it’d come. This was no time for questioning authorities.

 

I took in a deep breath and let it out again. Ok, I was as ready as I’d get.

 

Then I screamed.