The 16^th of December, 2012

Kim Jonghyun

A warm, steady breeze gently blew through the bedroom and brought the sweet smell of freshly baked pancakes with it. I could hear Jae Mi blundering around in the kitchen, and the sound of orange juice getting poured into a glass was heard.

The fresh winter wind made the light blue curtains waver, and a few birds left were slowly singing a lonely song outside of the window.

I slowly sat up in the bed and rubbed my eyes to wake up myself. I smiled as I peeked through the doorway.

Jae Mi’s ebony hair fell down her back in big, wavy curls as her back faced me. She was drowning in my sweater she had stolen from me. The dark grey knit stopped highly up her thighs, revealing a peek of her classy undergarments.

She looked incredibly cute like that, guarding the pancakes so they wouldn’t burn. She elegantly flipped the pancakes over with the spatula and stacked the finished on a plate besides her. An entire tower was only waiting to be eaten now.

I quietly snuck up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. “Morning, Love”, I hummed in her ear.

I let my lips softly touch her skin for a brief moment. “Pancakes?” I asked as I peeked over her shoulder. Jae Mi nodded and placed the hot pancakes in front of me.

Without a moment of hesitation, I stuck my fork into the pancakes and poured a great amount of syrup over it. “Delicious”, I said at the sensation playing out on my tongue.

I noticed that Jae Mi wasn’t joining me at the table and her expression looked rather guilty. “What’s wrong?” I asked her as I chewed the pancake in my mouth.

“Um… I actually need to get something done today”, she admitted. She hurriedly grabbed her coat and rushed into her boots. “Bye”, she pecked my cheek and was out before I could say a word.

Lee Jae Mi

I tried to gulp down my salvia as I stepped into his office. The room was enormous. The walls were simple, not a single picture of his family but big, wood shelves covered them. Books were aligned on the shelves and in the middle of everything a big wood desk was placed.

A man was sitting behind it, the sound of hastily pressed keys pressed spreading in the room. He didn’t even look up as I stepped into the terrifying room.

Meanwhile he was typing he was holding a phone between his neck and shoulders. He talked fast and demanding, not showing any kindness at all.

For a moment I just watched him. A cup of hot coffee was placed besides him and met his mouth at regular basis. He nastily slurped the caffeine in and made me slightly cringe, though I tried to hide it of politeness.

His face looked lifeless and out of emotion. His forehead were covered my two frowns that seemed to be forever stamped on his skin. He looked very old and very lonely.

I wondered how he could have given life to an amazing person like Jonghyun. His mum must have been a goddess.

“Mr. Kim”, I bowed and made him note my company. “I am honored to meet you.”

The man looked up from his phone conversation. He tried to show me out of the room with his hands but I did not move.

“Can I please have a moment with you?” I asked, trying to sound as mature as possible.

Jonghyun’s dad looked at me like I was the modern version of the plague. “Excuse me; can you not see that I’m busy with a phone call?”

I apologizing bowed. “Yes sir, I’m sorry. But this is very important.”

“Everybody thinks of themselves that way”, he growled and continued to speak in the phone. He pointed at the door as I still didn’t leave.

“Sir, only a minute”, I begged.

Mr. Kim let out an angry scowl. “I have tried to say it nicely but you are being impossible. Get the hell out of my sight and I want it to be immediately!” He shouted.

“No no, it wasn’t for you”, he hurriedly told the person on the other line. He looked at me, very annoyed. “Just an annoying, little kid, who thinks she is way more important than everybody else.”

I got more and more impatient with Mr. Kim and suddenly it hit me that Jonghyun’s dad maybe wasn’t aware who I was.

“Mr. Kim”, I said with a stubborn voice and was almost stamping the floor in annoyance with the old, bitter man. “I am your son, Jonghyun’s girlfriend and I came here to talk with you about his future.”

It tasted funny to introduce myself as Jonghyun’s girlfriend. I had always just been Lee Jae Mi, the poor girl with cancer. Now I belonged with someone. The taste was sweet and satisfying.

Mr. Kim let out a huge sigh but finally hung up his call. He judged me with highly raised brows for a while. “So, you’re the one who’s ruining Jonghyun’s life”, Jonghyun’s dad finally growled.

I bit my lip, unsure what to say. When I finally had gotten his attention he seemed even scarier than before. In a second I had turned back into the little, insecure girl again.

“Listen Sir, I only came here to ask for your acceptance.

Mr. Kim’s eyes widened and he dropped his jaw. “Are you going to marry him?” He asked with hint of panic, exposing he was a human being with feelings just like everybody else. It was obvious he didn’t imagine this kind of girl to marry his son.

I laughed an awkward laugh but shook my head. “No, no.”

Mr. Kim scowled at me with raised brows. “Pregnant?” He asked. His voice suddenly sounded threatening, and I was sure he was planning how to get rid of me as fast as possible.

I shook my head and went direly to the real matter. “Mr. Kim, we both know that Jonghyun carries an extraordinary voice. Something that can’t be ignored.”

Jonghyun’s dad let out a long sigh and shook his head. His fingers were already dialing the previous person he had talked to before.

“Mr. Kim, please listen”, I begged, feeling like crying in desperation. This man was impossible, worse than any child I had ever met. Even the worst teenager would be easier to handle than this man.

“All I want is your acceptance for Jonghyun to attend Seoul Academy of Music. All it takes is an audio of him singing, and if the people on the academy are smart enough they’ll accept him. Imagine how he would be living out his —”

My voice died out in fear as Mr. Kim became more and more similar to a lion roaring at its enemy. He knocked his knuckles into the hard surface of the table and his head had suddenly turned burning red.

“You have no business in me nor my son’s life and future. You’re just a little, pathetic girl, butting in on a subject that isn’t near your business. There is no way in hell that I will let Jonghyun waste his life on music.”

“Then why did you allow Jonghyun’s brother to study music?” I demanded to know.

“I only allowed Jinki to attend because I know he has the talent and mind to get very successful and he will do very fine on his own. Jonghyun has never really been had the biggest brains and nor am I sure he will have the talent to make it through in that business. He would do much better by continuing my company.”

I tried really hard to remain calm but my voice was breaking with frustration. “That’s nonsense! I can’t say anything about Jinki-sshi’s singing skills, but what I can say is that it’s completely ridiculous to say that Jonghyun doesn’t have the talent or passion.”

Mr. Kim kept quiet and tried to send me out of his office but I continued. “Forcing Jonghyun to work for your company is like forcing not to breathe. Yes, it sounds dramatic but it’s the truth. He’s going to spend every single day being unhappy and dreaming about the life he could have. Is that what you want for your son?”

Mr. Kim shook his head. “What I want for my son is to have a status in this society and have money supporting his back.”

“Status is nothing if you don’t do what you love. Do you really think money will matter in the end when Jonghyun is old and look back at his life? No, what matters is that Jonghyun got to live the life he wanted and live every day with joy.”

“The young people always think they know everything about life but it’s really not that simple. Someday the fairytale will crack and Jonghyun will have nothing left.”

“Are you really happy with this life of yours?” I blurted. “With no wife, no family, no friends?”

I gasped and covered my mouth with the cruel words that slipped out my mouth. Mr. Kim suddenly looked very sorrowful and I cursed at myself. Even Mr. Kim did not deserve those kinds o words.

As the silence grew in the office my eyes fell on a book on the wood shelf. I walked to the shelf, guarded my Mr. Kim’s gaze. I pulled the book out and read the title out loud. “The World as I See It, by Albert Einstein.”

I looked up and met Mr. Kim’s eyes. “Did you know that Einstein first learned to talk when he was 4? And that his teacher’s never counted him as anything?”

Mr. Kim turned silent and I was sure I saw some respect flicker across his eyes. “Really?” he quietly mumbled. “Look where he is now.”

I nodded and sent a slight smile to Mr. Kim. Finally the man was starting to make sense.

I walked to his desk and placed my hands on the surface. I caught Mr. Kim’s eyes and made sure he listened. “Listen, I am going to send that audio tape in no matter what your opinion is, ok? I just thought that it would mean the world to Jonghyun, knowing that there’s someone who supports him no matter what.”

Mr. Kim eyed me skeptically. “And why can’t you be that person?”

I felt a pang in my heart and suddenly I felt like blurting it all out. But instead I patted Mr. Kim’s shoulder. “Just think about it, please?”

As I turned to walk away, Mr. Kim let out a little sigh. “One chance, okay?”

I didn’t trust what my ears just told me and turned around. “What?”

Mr. Kim repeated. “I will give Jonghyun one chance on that academy, understood? If he doesn’t get in I will be the one to decide his future.”

An enormous smile spread across my face and I bowed to Mr. Kim. “Thank you so much, Sir. I swear you won’t regret this.”

No one’s point of view

“Where have you been?” Jonghyun asked, flipping through the television channels, as she walked into the small home.

“I just visited my parents today and had a doctor check-up”, Jae Mi answered. She didn’t want to tell Jonghyun about her plans about recording him.

It was typically him not to have enough confidence in himself and she didn’t want him to turn this project down. When he was accepted she was sure Jonghyun would accept it too. It was his dream after all.

“What did they say?” Jonghyun asked, turning off the TV.

Jae Mi shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing much, just the same old stuff.”

Jonghyun nodded and kissed her lips. “I missed you, honey.”

Jae Mi smiled while she fiddled with her phone in her pocket. Without Jonghyun noticing, she found the recorder program and entered it.

“Can you sing for me, please?” Jae Mi sweetly asked him so it was impossible for Jonghyun to reject. He nodded while he chuckled over her cuteness.

As Jonghyun started to sing his song, Jae Mi pressed the record button on her screen. When he finished his memorizing song, Jae Mi hurried to the computer and mailed Seoul Academy of Music the audio file.

“Good luck”, Jae Mi whispered to Jonghyun and crossed her fingers for his sake.

The chapters are catching up on me! D: I used to be like 10 days ahead, and now I'm only by the 20th! Wow, I really home I can keep the dates... Btw, I wonder how the chapters actually fit with your time? Is it even the 17th anymore?