Chapter 8

Onew crept around the set, keeping an eye out for Lex.  Not seeing her, he ducked into the room where he knew that she would be having her hair and make-up done by stylists before shooting.  He placed a small green gift bag with tufts of blue paper coming out of the top down on the make-up counter.  From his back pocket he slipped a small card which he leaned up against the bag that had her name written on in block letters. 

He stepped back to make sure it looked alright before high-tailing it out of the room, knowing that Lex would be there soon. 

Lex wasn’t the type for flowers or jewelry, so he knew he couldn’t get her anything like that as an apology.  The only thing he knew she really did like was white chocolate.  He had bought her a solid heart-shaped block of white chocolate about the size of a fist.  Then he had spent three hours, and about five discarded cards, before finally crafting an apology note that he thought was good enough.

And apparently it was.

As Lex walked up to him before filming started she gave him a light pat on the shoulder that ended with a gentle squeeze.  “You didn’t have to do that.” She whispered.

“Yes I did,” Onew stated, “And I’ve cleaned your hoodie, it’s in the car.” 

“Are you alright?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder to make sure that no one was going to hear.  They hadn’t been mic-ed yet so their conversation could still be private. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Onew smiled at her, “Why are you asking?”

“Just…just checking,” she said with a studying glance, but they couldn’t say anything more because the audio crew came over to give them their mics.

*****

Things got back to normal after that.  Well, as normal as being a celebrity in Korea could ever possibly be. 

They continued with shooting the show, playing at being this perfect little couple, with Onew falling a little deeper by the day. 

The show decided to send them on a vacation and so off to Jeju Island they flew, Korea’s own little Hawaii-like island paradise.

Currently, they were walking down the pier out over the ocean, filming some distance shots for the camera before they would call it quits for the day. 

But being the klutzes that the two of them were, walking around on slick surfaces was bound to be a disaster.  Onew slipped first, pitching forward onto the warped wood, throwing out his hands to catch himself.  

Lex reached down to help him up, cupping her arms around his upper arm, when her foot slipped, using her own momentum against her and she fell backward off the pier and into the water with a surprised yelp.

“Lex!”  Onew screamed, crawling to the edge of the platform and glancing over.  His heart was racing in his chest, and his mind was already running through all of his worst case scenarios.

But what he saw was Lex already surfacing in the water and shaking her head back and forth as though to clear it.  She started to swim towards shore, not having to go very far before she was able to get her feet under her and walk to the sandy beach.

Onew was already off and running, back down the pier, turning sharply at the end to bolt through the sand, sending clouds of it into the air.  He had darted several steps into the surf when he reached Lex.

He grabbed the sides of her face, making her look at him, “Are you ok?  Are you alright?”  He asked rapid fire, trying to find any sign of injury.

“I’m fine,” Lex told him, slightly breathless. 

“Are you sure?” Onew started patting on her shoulders, and twisting her around to check out her back, all while they were both still shin deep in the water. 

“I promise I’m okay…” she trailed off, looking at herself for the first time and reaching up to pull off some strands of seaweed that were draped over her shoulder.  “Wet…but okay…”

“Oh god…” Onew pulled Lex in and hugged her close, never mind the damage that his clothes were now taking.  “When you went over…”  Onew couldn’t finish that thought; he couldn’t bring himself to think of that because it would just hurt too much. 

“Onew, I’m fine, I’m okay, nothing bad happened, it’s alright.” 

Lex may have been the one to fall, but she was comforting Onew who seemed to need it more just now. 

Holding her in his arms, knowing that she was alright, suddenly Onew’s world snapped back into focus.  He became aware of the camera at water’s edge that was taking in the shot, he saw managers already chewing out producers, and he knew that Lex’s people were going to want to have her looked at. 

He slowly disengaged himself from Lex and wrapped one arm around her back, leading her the rest of the way towards shore, where one of the stylists was waiting with a towel that they quickly wrapped around her shoulders before whisking her off to get checked out.

He tore off his mic and handed it off to the audio guy before storming off of set. 

“Onew!  Wait!” he heard one of the PDs call.  He stopped and waiting without turning around for the man to come to him.

“What?” he asked tersely.

“We need to get your confessional, your reaction to this.”  The man explained with a look on his face like he wasn’t expecting an argument, but Onew was pissed.

“No.”  He said simply, before beginning to stalk off once more. 

“What do you mean ‘no?’  This is part of your job on this show!  This is what we pay you for!” he said indignantly.

At this point, Onew’s manager had finished chewing out the main PD and had made his way over to the angered idol.  He was about to step in when Onew suddenly pulled an about face and got close to the man who was dogging him, getting right into his face.

All semblance of the easy-going idol Onew was gone.  This was Lee Jinki, and he was pissed.  “I am not going to talk about this on camera.  To be honest, I can’t even believe that you filmed that!  She could have been hurt!  Lex could have been seriously hurt!  A few more feet farther inland on the dock and she would have been.”  Onew grabbed the man’s shirt, “And you guys filmed it.  I shouldn’t have been the only one rushing into that water…but I was.”

Onew shoved the man back, “That is a callous disregard for a human life that I find intolerable.”

He his heel and stalked off again, his manager close behind.

“That could hurt you…” his manager said slowly, meeting Onew’s pace.

“I don’t care.”  Onew stopped, “You know noona…they don’t treat her right as it is.  All the editing always makes her look silly.  This…this is just too much.”

“I get it Onew.”  A young staffer ran over and pulled the manager aside to tell him something.  Onew waited when the manager ran his hand through his hair before coming back over to Onew.

“Yeah, they’re pissed, but I’ll smooth it all over.  You just come over here and wait alright?”

Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed Onew at the elbow and led him off to one of the buildings that the production was renting out for the few days that they were down here. 

He opened the door and pushed Onew through before walking off. 

Onew sighed softly and turned around and was greeting with the site of Lex’s .

Note: The picture at the top is of Jeju Island.  I went there on vacation this summer and it was beautiful.  If you ever have the chance go there.

The image of an angry Onew...it's really strange.  I honestly can't help but think that that image is just entirely wrong...but impressive too.