Of Fake Smiles And Real Ones Chapter 2

Hyun Soo
I was silent, as the Director witch handed Ye Rim and me our schedules for the next five weeks.

They were the same.

We had to attend every interview, every TV show together.

I was relieved.

At least I didn't have to do all of this alone.

Ye Rim wasn't that bad. She was always trying to distract me from all the tension, which was slowly building up inside me. For some reason she seemed to know exactly what I needed, even if I didn't talk to her...

I hadn't heard from any of the guys in two weeks, since our fight in the dorm. Sometimes I wondered how they were doing, what they were doing. I wondered if Kyung Jong still dragged the others to the karaoke bar. I wondered if Ha Jin had tried to make a move on another girl. Probably not though, he liked Ye Rim. I wondered if Do Il had finally gotten the courage to confess to Woo Kyung. I wondered, if, at least, Ji Hyuk was happy with Byung Hee's- no, with his muse.

But these thoughts left my head as soon as they entered.

I didn't want them there.

The only thing, which was constantly on my mind, was Da Som’s upcoming surgery. Her surgery had to go well, that was all that I needed. If the surgery went well then, everything would be alright. I was sure of that.

"Hyun Soo," the Director witch calling my name brought me out of my thoughts: "This will be your first project, as a solo artist. I want no complications and I expect you to listen to your manager. Is that understood?" 

I didn't say anything and ignored my manager’s pat on my shoulder.

"Director," Ye Rim spoke this time, she was sitting next to me: "I don't think it's necessary to say all these things to Hyun Soo. He's smart enough as it is."

The Director witch scoffed at the girl: "You're schedule starts next week. You two are dismissed for now. Go, wait outside! I have something to discuss with your managers."

I sighed, as we made our way out of the Director witch's office.

Author

The two teenagers sat in silence, which was rather common for them, outside Director Yoo's office.

It was a completely different thing that Ye Rim didn't like the silence. The last time Hyun Soo had talked to her was four weeks ago, when he had thanked her for getting him to the hospital. There were so many things she wanted to ask him, but she didn't do it. It was not like he was going to answer anyways. 

He was sad, she could see as much. He might have been a good actor but that didn't mean that he was able to conceal all of his emotions.

"Do you have any plans for this week?" she finally asked: "We have this week off, you know?"

Hyun Soo didn't look at her and once again she was sure that she wouldn't receive an answer but then: "My sister's surgery is next week, the day our new schedule starts… I think I'm going to spend, as much time with her, as possible.”

Of course he would spend as much time as possible with his sister.

Ye Rim smiled subtly: “Is she going to be alright, after the surgery? Your sister?”

This time, the Ice Prince finally averted his gaze from the wall, in front of him and looked at the girl, who had just asked the one question aloud, which had been repeating itself, in his head.

He was so used to glaring at almost everyone around him that sometimes, he didn’t even notice he was doing it.

He didn’t mean to glare at Ye Rim, it just happened.

What was interesting though was her reaction.

Her smile didn’t waver, not for a second but her eyes told a completely different story. Was it…fear?

What would Ye Rim be afraid of though? Hyun Soo didn’t know but he was still sure that it was fear he saw.

And he was right.

Ye Rim was scared. She was scared that she had taken one step forward with him and two backwards, right after that.

For a second, Hyun Soo was amused, thinking that he really had to control that glaring-habit of his. It wasn’t doing him any good, especially now that he was in the entertainment business.

Then he thought about Ye Rim’s question again and the glare disappeared from his face, replaced by a small smile, a genuine smile: “She’ll be fine. I’m sure she’ll be fine after the surgery.”

Ye Rim looked relieved but didn’t say anything anymore and the two of them shared silence once again, this time it was comfortable though.

Both of their managers exited the Director’s office shortly after that and as all four of them stepped out of the building, they were surrounded by reporters immediately.

Hyun Soo was almost inside the van, when he looked back at the girl, who had shown real concern for his sister and him and whose manager was doing a terrible job of getting her out of the crowd. He had no idea what possessed him at that moment but he went straight back to where she was standing and put his arm around her, shielding and steering her out of the crowd of reporters.

He wasn’t aware of it at that moment in time, but it was after that particular day that he stopped ignoring and started being nice to her instead.

And later, when he did realize it, however much he tried, he couldn’t figure out what exactly had made his behavior change so drastically.

Had it been her concern for Da Som?

Had it been her constant attempt to keep his thoughts from wandering too far off?

Or, had it been maybe the fact that after his fight, with the rest of Eye Candy, she had managed to make him smile for the first time?

Whatever it had been, he hadn’t been able to ignore her after that anymore.

Shortly after Da Som’s surgery and before their first interview, when Ye Rim had eavesdropped on his phone call with his mother and had requested to pay a visit to the hospital, he had denied her initially.

But afterwards, when the interview had finished and he had tried rushing to the hospital all on his own, she had snuck away from her manager and caught up to him already, this time insisting that he take her along.

The visit to the hospital had been something else altogether.

Da Som had been awake, when they had arrived and she had been instantly besotted by her Ye Rim unnie, just like she had been with her Hyun Soo oppa, or her Ji Hyuk oppa for that matter…

Before neither Hyun Soo, nor Ye Rim noticed, five weeks went by in a flash and their schedule together was coming to an end already.

Hyun Soo had finally found out the real reason behind Ji Hyuk’s so-called betrayal and he wanted to beat that idiot up a lot more than he had.

‘Would Eye Candy go to Japan, or not? Did Eye Candy want to go to Japan, or not?’ these questions all depended on each of the members’ dreams.

And if it hadn’t been for Ye Rim and her encouraging words -even though he had rejected her once again, using Ha Jin’s feelings as an excuse- he would have needed a lot more time to come to a decision.

So, “The Idol Boy Band Eye Candy” would not reunite and go to Japan, but Eye Candy had never and would never be disbanded, as long as the boys’ friendship didn’t get lost somewhere…

End of Chapter

Hey guys!

Before you all start ranting at me for not updating so long, read the next chapter and my excuse for not being able to update...