Chapter 07: Tokyo Juliet.
By: cutterpillow92 


As the sun shines forth through the whole dorm, and everybody was busy, walking here and there, Ji Hyun felt nothing. In fact she was still half asleep and half awake.

Ji Hyun has this habit of munching her muscles cheeks when she is sleeping or when she is wide awake.

Groggily, she stood up and went somewhere -- wherever her feet could drag her.

Doing her mannerism with closed eyes, she walked over to the kitchen and ---

"ouwp." She rubbed her forehead quite irritated and raised her face upward only to find out that she bumped into ---

"eeeek." She hissed silently (of more of her brain screamed it) as she saw Ki Bum staring blankly at her -- with swollen eyes. It sent shiver down her spine as she remembered what happened last night.

+++

In the middle of the night, Ji Hyun stared at the ceiling. She cannot sleep. She is tired from today’s weird yet exciting happening. She is now living with SHINee... and now, how would she act knowing that Kim Jonghyun, her ultimate crush, is just a room away?

How?

Distress from counting the sheeps and talking to her new friend—Mr. Ceiling, she stood up and decided to go to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

On her way back to her room, she heard some faint sounds -- it was crying. Someone is crying. She gulped and it was coming from the last room, where SHINee's pc was located.

Could it be, SHINee's dorm is haunted? She thought frightfully. Her heart was thumping very fast and she started making some sounds. She was actually scared on stuffs like that. Her breath was the only thing being heard from this lull.

She decided to act brave. She marched towards and the door. As she came closer, the whimpers and sobs were getting distinct.

She swallowed hard once more and twists the doorknob.

Then she saw...

"Ki Bum-ssi?" She said almost inaudible. She saw him crying in front of their PC, left hand glued on the tissue while the other were wiping in his almost feline eyes.

Somehow the latter seems not to hear her soft voice. He continued to wail, to sob, to stomp his feet on the floor and to slam his fist on the table.

Knowing that she won’t be notice, she calls it quits and pulled the door in front of her. She walked away, feeling disturb, wondering why he is crying to that extent that, it seems like he was in so much pain -- from whatever he is doing in front of their computer.

Ji Hyun crawled back to her back knowing that she can’t sleep from what she saw, she exhales loudly and deeply as she closed her eyes and as she shook her head.

'Tomorrow, will be a new day'

+++

"Ji Hyun-ssi, are you okay?" he asked her -- still with a straight face but he's inclining closer to her that she cannot help but to blush.

"Ah?.. Ah!!" She was in hysteria; she doesn't know what to do nor to say. She was even nervous, wondering if Key had heard her last night and might be questioning her now.

"Yah~ Ji Hyun-ssi, you're so noisy." Taemin wailed as he rummages his hair and slumped on the couch. Hasty, he laid his head on Minho's lap and tried to sleep again.

On the other hand, Minho felt discomfited. As honesty compelled him, he doesn't like being near nor touched like that, for the reason that -- nobody knows except for him. His eyeballs were unsteady, he cannot even focus on what he is reading, he cannot even tell Taemin to move away from him, for the young boy might resent.

He started to fidget and exhale loudly, hinting him... Well, just hinting him... that at this very moment, is really awkward for him

"Jwesonghamnida[I'm sorry]" She turn towards their direction and bowed her head.

"Ah." Taemin sat down and laugh breathlessly, feeling embarrassed on what he said. Lightly, he scratched the back of his head and tried to beam at Key and Ji Hyun.


Minho finally felt at ease, he could breathe deeper and he felt more relax.

Key wipe his hands and with a hand towel and says, "Breakfast is serve, let's eat."

He pressed his lips together and smiled at her as he walks away. Ji Hyun huff and watch his back, still feeling troubled about last night.

---

When Ji Hyun saw the four of them (Taemin, Onew Jonghyun and Minho) on the living room, slouching cause there is no practice, slowly and timidly, she approach them.

"Uhm..." Ji Hyun started as she was playing with his finger.

"What is it Ji Hyun?" Minho asks calmly.

"Ahhhh!!!" She stomped her foot and sat beside them. "I saw Ki Bum-ssi last night..." She said in a low voice. The five of them cluster closer. "Then, he was crying! It is so bothering... I say bothering not because he was loud, it's because I find it really weird."

Jonghyun chuckled with a tone of gloat. "Key is really weird."

"I concur." Taemin cupped his hand on his cheeks. "I remember one time, he stayed up late in front of the computer, and then the next day he was still lively..."

"But it sounds normal to me?" Onew alleged.

"...I'm not finished Onew..." Onew looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "...Hyung... Then, when he prepared a breakfast for us, he was talking to me in Japanese and I was terrified!"

The boys stared at him blankly. "Maybe he has a Key condition, just like Onew hyung has?" Minho covered his lips with his left hand.

"Yah. Choi Minho, what the hell is Onew condition? Huh?"

Immediately, he shook his head, "oh... It's nothing."

"Maybe he's watching those Japanese drama or movies again." Jonghyun spoke. All of them seem to agree.

"Oh! Oh! I remember, one time, he asked me, when we'll go back to Japan to have some fan meeting."

"Ki Bum-ssi seems to like Japanese culture that much; does he have a girlfriend there?" Ji Hyun inquired.

"No. He doesn't have a girlfriend and neither one of us."

She nodded. Suddenly Key's head pop out of nowhere. "Are you guys done gossiping? I will clean now."

Ji Hyun's spines on her nape rose up again. It's not that she's afraid of Key, (well sort of) it's just that she wants to confide Key about last night's matter ,and at the same time she's quite afraid of how he would react if she would talk to him, knowing that they just met last night.

"Oh, yes, yes! Anyway, I'm off to school! I'll be back later!" She stood up with her skirt swaying and she bows at them. In a quick manner she waves her fingers goodbye and vanished out of their sights.

As they heard the door bang on its sill, they all gawked at one another - oddly. "I thought, Ji Hyun doesn't go to school anymore?" Jonghyun inquired as he placed his thumb on his chin.

"I thought so too." Onew answered unwarily. Minho gaped at him, his forehead and eyebrows were giving an inkling of doubts on his hyung. The older male, then notice it, "Choi Minho, why are you starring at me like that?"

"Well... She is your cousin, aren't you supposed to know simple facts like that?"

Onew swallowed hard. He is feeling jitters again. "Well... I... Er... Uhm..."

Taemin chuckled on the side and intentionally slap Onew's back really hard, "You know Onew hyung, he can be really forgetful sometimes... Right?"

Jonghyun shrugs and accidentally met Ki Bum's gazes, "Key! I remember, last night I think we heard you crying, did you watch some dramas again?"

"Yes, a Japanese movie."

"Was it really that angst?"

Key made a poker face and pointed at the bulge under his eyes, "see my eyes?"

"Sure it is." Onew commented. "So what is the story about?"

Key cleared his throat and felt the excitement. "It's about two high school students who fall in love with one another, until the guy left her for unknown reason leaving the girl puzzled and heartbroken, but in the story they got reunited again but another reality come to face them."

"It looks pretty sad." Minho said though obviously he is not really paying much attention on what Key had said.

"And you know why, I cried buckets??"

'Absolutely, this will lead into a rant' Knowing Key, all of them already forecast was would happen next.

"Definitely because I got carried away from the female lead's acting, and I bet all of you know that she is my ultimate cru---"

Jonghyun yawned and stretched his arms upward. "Oh god, my back hurts; I think I should take a rest now." He started to march up, going to his room.

"I'm going to use the computer!" Minho yelled.

Onew stood up and pulled Taemin's arm, "Hyung, shouldn't you be calling your vocal coach? Cause I heard manager hyung and you talking about your practice?"

"Oh right, thank you for reminding me Taemin. You should be doing your homework too." The magnae nodded and smile.

"Ah. Key hyung, we're going to leave now, take your time while doing your favorite hobby! Later!"

All of them went to their separate places leaving their maid on the living room, with a bandanna on his head and a broom on his hand.

"rdgsfdfrsg" mumbled by Key. "YAH~ I'M NOT DONE WITH MY STORY! Stupid. dksjhdkn. "

---

Inside the train, Ji Hyun's face was pressed on her textbook, it was their qualifying exam, an exam to determine whether a student would advance on a higher level or would take some remedial classes.

As the train slowly stop, Ji Hyun stop reading as well. In fact, though she's studying really hard, her mind seems not to decipher those notes and her mind was indeed flying and pre-occupied with many many stuffs particularly : Key's dramatic moment, fancy short talk with Jonghyun, mushy moments with Onew and Taemin and a silent time together with Minho.

Ji Hyun smiled alone, enjoying the delight all by herself; she did not even notice that other passengers are looking at her unearthly.

She plucked out a medium size notebook on her bag and momentarily, she flips it on the exact date today. "Hmm, what's my itinerary for this week? Exam. Exam. Exam." Ji Hyun continued reading until...

"OH MY GOD!!!!!!" She shrieks out. "HOLY CRAP! I totally forgot Yui! OH MY GOSH!" She started to rummage her own bag, looking for her phone and when she was able to grasp on it, she immediately called her best friend.

"Moshi. Moshi?" The other line answered.

"Yuiiiiiiiiiiiiii"

"Ji Hyun?" She asked. Her voice sounded surprised.

"Ye(yes)" Ji Hyun said, almost crying because of guilt. Yui paused for a while and did not answer vocally, instead she huff which made Ji Hyun guiltier. "Yui, I'm so sorry, I totally forgot about you, it's just that my schedule got tangled up together and I have an upcoming exam, that's why I haven't called you. I know you are worried about me and I'm really sorry about that. I'm sorry, if I made you worry, I know I'm an awful best friend, and I am really sorry."

Yui wanted to act snobbish, but she can't, this is her best friend, of course she was worried sick on her whereabouts. "Are you eating and sleeping well?" She asks.

It brought a wide grin on Ji Hyun's face, though Yui is playing hard, she surely knows that Yui is not mad at her anymore. "Yes. Yes. And I have good news for you."

"And what is it?"

"I have a place to stay!"

"Really? That's good! So where is your new apartment?"

Ji Hyun laughed sheepishly. "Actually, it’s not mine, they just let me stay there."

"And who is that 'they'?"

Ji Hyun looked around first and covered the mouth piece and whisper, "SHINee."

Yui was taken aback on what she said, thinking that it was a joke from her friend. She said, "Usotsuki! (Liar) "

"Yah, Yui, don't underestimate my Japanese, I know what you said and I am not lying!"

"Okay, if you say so. But still, I don't believe you, unless you will prove it... to me."

"Fine. Fine. The day after tomorrow will be the last day of my exam, I'll bring you on their dorm."

"Really? Cool! I will clear my schedule on that day then. Say, how did you end up there?"

Ji Hyun chuckled breathlessly as she remembers what she did, "well, I sort of blackmail Lee Taemin."

Yui laugh aloud. "You did what?! You're so mean!"

"I know! But didn't he offer to help us in any aspect? So I took the opportunity!"

"You sly!" Yui chortled. "So how does it feel like?"

"HEAVEN! Oh my god, my heart never fails to beat very fast. It was like having some butterflies on my stomach! Sometimes, I even thought my heart would explode every time I would see them."

"You're such a fan! Demo (but) I think, this feeling of yours won’t last, maybe one day, you'll get tired of seeing them every day, and you will realize it felt like convention." Yui spoke in a calm manner. As she said those words, her mind engrossed all of her memories in Japan, how it was tiring, and slowly she compare it to her new life in Seoul.

Ji Hyun grimaced. "Yui. You're talking weird?"

"Ah? Really? Gomen ne (I'm sorry.) Anyway, I'll go first; I have some cleaning works to do. Take Care Ji Hyun, see you on, the next next day."

"Alright. Good luck... Yui?"

"Hmm?"

"Arigato (thank you)."

Yui chuckled and say, "You are always welcome."