Chapter 6- How I First Embraced Him

Since our comeback was soon and we were debuting in Japan as well we were put on an accelerated Japanese language course. I didn’t have free time at all between the practices and the classes, and it didn’t seem like it would end. Why couldn’t I learn Japanese faster? Aish… At least I get to see him during our practices so even though I was exhausted, I could still get back my energy by just seeing him.

While we were rehearsing for our comeback stage, Junhyung was also with us as usual. He didn’t have that much of a part in the song since he only had to introduce us. However, we couldn’t afford a single mistake during our comeback stage so he was rehearsing with us as well. We had one last mini-rehearsal before heading to Music Core.

While we were in the practice room, “Try not to trip this time.” He said to me with a playful smirk. “I won’t be there to catch you.”

“Hey!” I said; I wasn’t that clumsy. “That only happened because of the sand and –“before I could finish my argument however, Gayoon who was oblivious to our little talk in the corner, the song. With this Junhyung moved up front of the room without listening to my reply. Aish!

“Put your hands in the air! ~” he started rapping his part.

Now, I needed to concentrate on the practice and keep him out of my thoughts. He knew exactly how to push my buttons. Tsk, tsk… He was too playful sometimes but then again, I liked that about him as well. I didn’t mind him teasing me… Ugh! “Get a hold of your thoughts!” I thought to myself, I was supposed to be concentrating on the comeback.

We were at the backstage of Music Core waiting for our turn… We had our stage/camera rehearsals earlier. I was getting really nervous. I am pretty sure the other girls were nervous as well but they could hide it and overcome it with excitement. Our two maknaes would try to get the tension up by acting excited. Gayoon would be exercising her vocals once again in a corner. Jihyun would do what a leader is supposed to do and look strong and ready. However, I would pace around the room, sit down, pace again, join the maknaes hyper chants and then go back to pacing and sitting and pacing, you get the drill.

I was sitting down again and Junhyung plopped down next to me. One could see that he was nervous but from the sparkle in his eyes you could tell that he was happy and excited to be on stage. Just by the way he was around you could see his confidence.

“You nervous?” he asked me casually.

“N-no…” I tried to lie. I wanted to look confident like him.

“Yeah, and your hands are shaking just because.” He smirked. I looked down at my own hands; I didn’t even realize that they were shaking until he mentioned it.

“Of course I am nervous. It’s our first performance for HUH.” I said staring back at him.

Then he suddenly grabbed my hands and placed them between both of his hands. I was startled. He looked at me as if he was studying my reaction and then smirked, again. His hands were warm and soft against mine.

“Well, you need to stop shaking if you want to perform well,” he said without letting go of my hands.

“Ri-right…” I stuttered. I was shocked but happy by his actions. He was trying to be friendly but he didn’t know how his actions drove my heart crazy.

“Get ready for stand-by. We are recording in 5 minutes,” one of the staff members announced getting into the room.

This brought me back from my dazed state of mind. He was still staring into my eyes. “Well, then let’s go!” he said standing up and unfortunately letting go of my hands.

The moment I stepped on the stage my nervousness transformed into excitement. Junhyung said his part standing up front with a bunch of back dancers standing behind him, looking badass.  Then they all scattered around and we appeared,

“Say humph!" We started to sing.

The performance was amazing, without any mistakes or accidents, so far that is. Hopefully, this would stay like this and we could finish our promotions without any accidents. Nonetheless, our first performance was a success!

After we were done, we headed backstage where everyone started congratulating and hugging each other or shaking hands and whatnot. I followed the suit and hugged the person next to me. He hugged me back almost immediately. He? I had just hugged Junhyung. Oh God!

But then again, no one was paying attention to us and I was happy like this. I didn’t want to spoil my mood by being all embarrassed. So I continued to hug him. A small hug wouldn’t hurt anyone, right? Suddenly, he hugged me tighter. I smiled. Of course he couldn’t see my smile.

“Congrats! Jiyoonah…” he said happily.

“Thanks.”

He was still hugging me. I had no intention of letting go. I was happy like this.

“Jiyoonah…” he whispered in my ear, which sent shivers down my spine.

“Yes?”

“I need to tell, actually ask you something.” He said. This time it was his turn to sound nervous. What did he want to ask?

“Mmhmm”

“Well you see…”

“Yes?”

“I-“

 Being the “unlucky” me someone grabbed my arm, turned me around breaking my hug with him and hugged me shouting “WE DID IT!! YES!!!”

That’s pretty much what everyone else was shouting. “Great Job.” “Congrats” and similar things.

“Uh huh” was all I could manage to utter back at Jihyun. Why did she have to disturb my moment with him? I wonder what he was going to say. It sounded like something serious.  Jihyun however was oblivious to what she had done. I tried to look for him over her shoulder and saw him leaving the room.

“I am gonna go and call Doojoon,” she said after hugging me and went to a corner to talk properly without all the noise. Now I didn’t have a chance to hear what he wanted to say.

HowHO

Junhyung’s POV

Ever since I overheard Kikwang and Jiyoon’s talk I have been feeling very uneasy. I wanted to know who she actually liked from my band. I kept on observing the guys with suspicious eyes. Who could it be? Just the thought of her with one my friends drove me crazy. UGH!!!

Well, Kikwang hasn’t been that hyped up lately either. He was also trying to figure out who Jiyoon liked. The guys were amused by Kikwang’s “misery”.

Yoseob even said, ”I would totally date Jiyoon if I am the one she likes ‘cuz she is well, very hot.” He said to annoy Kikwang but it annoyed me more. I didn’t want others to look at her that way and think things like how attractive she was.

“Let it go already.” Doojoon said to him once during dinner.

“How can you say that?” Kikwang complained. “You could be the one she likes!”

“I have Jihyun, remember?” he said but Kikwang ignored his comment and went on.

“What is it that the others’ have that I don’t?” He said. “I am hot, cute, nice, talented…” he went on listing his good points.

“Maybe instead of nice, she likes the bad guy type, like Junhyung or something” Hyunseung suggested.

What? When was I included in this conversation? I was just eating my dinner. But then again, what Hyunseung said somehow bothered me. What if she actually likes me, and not someone else…? Why didn’t I think of that before?

“Whatever hyung.”Kikwang said. “No one’s ever turned me down before. Aish. I don’t understand girls.”

“You can always take classes about women from Junhyung,” Yoseob said, with a playful smile on his face. I looked up from my food with a “WTH?” expression on my face.

“Can I hyung?” Kikwang said.

This conversation was getting weirder by the second. Dongwoon who hadn’t said anything yet, was looking at me with an amused expression, trying to figure out what I would say.

“What?!” I asked.

“Can I?” Kikwang repeated.

“Absolutely NOT.” I said and looked at Yoseob with a ‘you are so dead’ stare. “Stop giving the kid weird ideas. I am not a master about girls.”

I stood up getting my plate from the table at the same time. “I am going to sleep.” I said.

“Kikwang, it up and get over it.”Hyunseung said to him annoyed. “You can’t force her to like you. And you making yourselfsuffer like this won’t help either. You just need to fall for someone else.”

After placing my plate in the dishwasher, I went to our bunk beds and lay down. What if Hyunseung is right? I thought…What if I am the one she likes? No, that can’t be right. I needed to sleep in order to think properly but the guys were too loud.

“Can you guys just SHUT UP?” I shouted from the bedroom, not bothering to get back up. “We have a busy schedule tomorrow! You guys should go to sleep, too!!” I shouted and put my pillow over my head to stop the noises. I could hear the words like umma, mad, sleepy, nagging queen, and so on before their sound faded.

I was at the backstage of Music Bank with 4minute waiting for our turn to record. Even though I am naturally a sleepy person, right before stage I would miraculously get my energy back. I observed the girls trying to figure out their moods. Jiyoon was the only one that revealed her nervousness. She was pacing up and down in the room and then sitting down on the couch and repeating the same thing over and over. I found it cute and attractive in a way. When she sat back down, I sat next to her. I stared at her for a second, and her hands were shaking.

“You nervous?” I asked her.

“N-no…” She tried to lie and failed.

“Yeah, and your hands are shaking just because.” I said smirking she looked down at her own hands followed by an expression as if she had seen them for the first time in her life. Cute.

“Of course I am nervous. It’s our first performance for HUH.”

She said but her hands were still shaking so I grabbed both of her hands gently and placed them between my hands trying to calm her down.

 “Well, you need to stop shaking if you want to perform well,” I said when I saw her startled face.

“Ri-right…” She stuttered, but then the corner of her lips turned into a smile. This meant that she didn’t mind. I didn’t want to let go anyways. I looked at her wondering who the guy she liked was. I couldn’t ask her who she liked, obviously. Then, she would know that I was eavesdropping. And I couldn’t bear to see her with someone else so I decided to keep quiet for a while.

“Get ready for stand-by. We are recording in 5 minutes,” a staff member barged into the room.

This brought me back from my thoughts. “Well, then let’s go!” I said and stood up, letting go of her now non-shaky hands.

I stood at the front of the stage with the back dancers and rapped my part. Then 4Minute appeared on stage and I got off the stage and watched them perform from the side. Jiyoon’s nervousness was long gone.  She looked confident, and I liked that.

After their performance they headed backstage and I went after them to congratulate the girls. When I entered the place she hugged me. I was surprised by her sudden actions but she seemed surprised at what she had done as well. I hugged her tighter because I didn’t want to let go.

“Congrats! Jiyoonah.” I said to her.

“Thanks.”

Then I remembered Hyunseung’s words “she might like the bad boy types like Junghyung,” What if he is right? I probably wouldn’t have a chance to ask her this again…

“Jiyoonah…” I whispered since I didn’t want others to hear what I was about to say.

“Yes?”

“I need to tell, actually ask you something.” I was nervous. What would I do if she were to reject me as well… Then, that would mean that the guy she likes is either Hyunseung, Dongwoon or Yoseob…

“Mmhmm” she said wanting me to continue my speech.

“Well you see…” I said. How should I start? And they call me the expert!

“Yes?”

“I-“

Suddenly she wasn’t in my arms anymore. Jihyun had taken her away from me. Maybe it’s a good thing that she interfered. I still wanted to hug her… but… what if this was a signal to show me that she would reject me? Aish… My phone vibrated in my pocket. I had to head down to my next schedule so I left the place congratulating the other girls on my way out.

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