Chapter 10: Love Lines

By the time their schedule was over, Seohyun, Yonghwa, and Yunji were starved, and Jungshin, Jonghyun, and Minhyuk were bored. It started to rain outside, and the six of them took cover in Minhyuk’s father’s restaurant several blocks over. Mr. Kang had retired a year ago and now Minhyuk’s older sister and her husband were running things for the family. They had caught her on her way out, and she had ordered for the place to be closed down early so they could eat in peace. They sat at the typical table, which made Yonghwa smile. There were some things that no matter how many years had gone by, it was still the same habit.

Seohyun had chosen to sit across from Yonghwa, Yunji in her lap. She was sandwiched in between Jungshin and Minhyuk, which he knew was on purpose. They were the same age as her and naturally, she felt more comfortable with them. He and Jonghyun were the lone oppas on the opposite side of the table.

The arrival of food didn’t take long, and no one cared what they had just gone through. All that mattered was eating.

Yonghwa realized he hadn’t had a proper meal. He had eaten breakfast the day before but it had been something he had whipped up quickly to appease his hungry daughter and judging mother-in-law. This morning, he hadn’t had anything at all!

Forgetting all of his table manners, he shoved food into his mouth with his chopsticks, almost forgetting to chew. Across the table, he could tell that Seohyun was starving, but she was eating slowly and cautiously, not wanting to any of the boys to see her true habits.

Apparently everyone else noticed it too because Jungshin looked at her curiously and stated “You really aren’t Seohyun. Why are you eating so carefully? It’s just us.”

Seohyun turned red. “Oh?”

“Eat comfortably. If you’re going to be stuck in the future, you’ve got to blend in better with us,” Jungshin continued to lecture. “You’re making me nervous.”

“Jungshin, don’t talk to her anyway you’d like,” snapped Yonghwa.

“Waeyo? She’s my friend. The way we talk is blunt.”

“I’m sorry,” she replied quietly. “But Jungshin chingoo, we’re not going to be stuck here forever. Yonghwa Oppa said we’ll figure out a way back.”

“How? You don’t even know how you got here,” Minhyuk chimed in.

“We just need to contact the woman on the phone,” said Yonghwa. “But first we need to learn how to use it. What happened to simple touch-screen phones?”

“Don’t say that out loud. You’ll lose your cell phone endorsement,” Jonghyun warned jokingly.

They talked about the mysterious woman on the phone again, and the CN Blue boys had questions that Seohyun and Yonghwa couldn’t answer. Trapped in another maze of unknowns, they stopped talking and went back to eating.

Yongwha watched as a full-stomached Yunji gently rested her head again Seohyun’s chest and began falling asleep, hugging her bear tightly. He wanted to lean over and kiss the littler girl’s cheek. Only day two and he was putty in his daughter’s hands.

“Minhyuk, how’d you know to believe Yunji?” Yonghwa asked his dongsaeng curiously. “About us not being us?”

“Ah, I believed her when she said you forgot about her hearing loss,” said Minhyuk seriously. “You two would never, ever joke about something like that nor would you forget it.”

“She’s so attached to this bear,” Seohyun mused. “You would swear the thing talks to her.”

“It doesn’t talk, it whispers music,” said Jungshin, Minhyuk, and Jonghyun at exactly the same time. Yonghwa and Seohyun chuckled, looking around at all of them.

“Either way, thank you… for believing us. I know it can’t be easy. Kamsahamnida,” Seohyun kindly thanked them.

The rain outside pelted the windows as the sky grew darker and the natural light dimmed inside of the restaurant. All of them mused that they were going to be there for awhile until the storm calmed down.

“So, Jonghyun, who’s your girlfriend?” asked Yonghwa.

Jonghyun looked up from his food surprisingly. “What?”

Jungshin and Minhyuk snickered.

“When I called you this morning, there was a girl in the background calling you oppa?” he explained.

“Oh…” was all Jonghyun could say. He looked over at Seohyun, judging the atmosphere.

“So?” Yonghwa grew impatient. “Who is it?”

“I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Then who—“

“It was just a girl I spent the night with,” the words quickly rolled off of Jonghyun’s tongue before he thought to take them back.

“Eh?” blurted Seohyun.  

“Nae. Future Jonghyun is a man like this,” Minhyuk confirmed Yonghwa’s epiphany and Seohyun’s silent accusation.

“He hasn’t seriously dated anyone since Yoona-sshi,” Jungshin added.

“What happened between you and my unnie?” asked Seohyun.

Jonghyun shrugged. “Nothing. We’re still very close. We just got too serious too fast and neither of us wanted to get married right away. So we broke it off.”

“And now you just play? How mature,” said Yonghwa.

“Don’t worry about me. Worry about your own situation,” Jonghyun waved his finger at both Yonghwa and Seohyun.

Yonghwa and Seohyun looked at each other awkwardly.

“Jungshin chingoo, I have to know, what happened between you and Sooyoung unnie?” Seohyun changed the subject.

Together, Jonghyun and Minhyuk sighed dramatically in exasperation.

“What didn’t happen between them?” Jonghyun muttered under his breath.

Yonghwa laughed. “Now I really have to know. Come on, Maknae, tell us.”

Jungshin prepared himself to relive the drama. “I’ll give you the short version. Sooyoung noona and I started dating right around the time you had Yunji. We wanted to be a couple who held nothing back since we didn’t see the point in keeping it secret like Hyung and Yoona-sshi. She was older than me so that drew some attention anyway, but when we started dating in public, everywhere we turned, the media was following us. At first, we just had fun with it. Things were going amazing for a couple of months and then we started—“ Jungshin looked over at Seohyun in hesitation, “uh, started—“

“Having ?” Jonghyun offered, grinning.

“Nae,” Jungshin blushed, as did Seohyun. “It was really good, so good I thought we’d get married. Then we went on tour in Europe, and the media took photos of me chatting with a woman at a coffee shop. It was nothing. In fact, I didn’t even know her, and we were talking about how cold it was outside and the upcoming concert. But when I got back, Sooyoung noona believed what the media reported. We fought really badly. We tried to resolve it, but then she started complaining about me in bed, saying I wasn’t being passionate or connecting with her anymore. She started saying stuff like she needed an oppa, only an oppa could satisfy her. Then we went to Japan during the same time SNSD went, and she ‘caught’ me backstage with some girls. They were fans who had won the chance to meet us, and I wanted to be charming with them. Hyungs weren’t around yet, and some person took photos, making me look like I was seriously flirting. She took it the wrong way.”

“The sad part is, he’s telling the truth,” said Minhyuk. “They were only about 16.”

“She wouldn’t talk to me to find out it was a misunderstanding, and then she announced our break-up on a variety show. I can never forgive her for the embarrassment she caused me.” Jungshin looked like a man who had been scorned by the love of his life.

“You’re not so innocent though,” Minhyuk called him out. “She was going through a rough time. You should’ve been more careful.”

“What rough time?” asked Seohyun.

They all looked at her. “Nothing.”

“Annio,” Seohyun breathed. “I need you guys to tell me about…Hyoyeon unnie.”

She felt the air being from the room as everyone held their breath.

“Chinjayo, I know about the scandal, but… what happened to her? Please tell me?”

“Guys, Seohyun’s really down about it. Just tell her,” Yonghwa supported her.

“That’s what the rough time was about,” explained Jungshin. “It was the last time you ever saw Hyoyeon. She got pregnant and had the baby right before we got out of the military. She was still living in Seoul, and the only two people still in contact with her were you and Sooyoung noona. The rest were just too… angry and tired of what the scandal had done to everyone. Right around the time Yunji was 2, the media found out where she lived and essentially got her chased out of Seoul. She disappeared, and you two lost contact with her. You were really depressed during that time, but it’s been a couple of years now.”

Seohyun regretted eating now. She felt queasy and lightheaded. How could everyone be so cruel, especially when a child was involved?

“I have to find her,” she frowned at Jungshin. “Please, is there anymore information you can give me on where she might be? Did Sooyoung unnie mention places she might’ve gone during that time? Anything?”

Jungshin uncomfortably shifted in his seat and thought quietly. “I think I remember Noona commenting on something that person used to say sometimes. She used to talk about going somewhere peaceful and never coming back here. Somewhere peaceful, where she can breathe. Where she can dance.”

Seohyun repeated the words in her mind over and over again. She dropped her eyes and felt tears welling up, but she couldn’t cry here. Not in front of everyone. She blinked them away and looked up. Yonghwa was looking at her with concern.

“One mystery at a time, Seohyun. Wherever she is, she’s ok.”

Seohyun nodded and hugged the sleeping Yunji tight in her arms. If only she could be as peaceful and oblivious as her daughter was right now of all the things happening around her. Everyone around the table frowned and the mood was downcast almost as much as it was outside.

“Minhyuk, Jun Hee-ah’s here,” Jungshin suddenly called Minhyuk’s attention to the door.

Minhyuk looked up from his tea cup and smiled widely, breaking the sour atmosphere. “Yeobo!” he called out happily.

Yonghwa whipped around, curious to see Minhyuk’s wife. He couldn’t believe that the boy had married. He couldn’t believe it even more when he saw just who he was calling Yeobo. Juniel. With a stroller. A baby stroller.

“You married Juniel?” Yonghwa hissed across the table at his dongsaeng. “Juniel, our little sister?”

“She’s far from being my little sister, Hyung” Minhyuk’s eye smile was more mischievous that cute. He got up from the table and greeted the girl with a kiss. Her hair was wet despite her hooded raincoat, but the stroller had an attached umbrella to keep the baby dry and warm.

Juniel detached the umbrella, leaving it by the door to dry, and wheeled the stroller over to the table to join them. When she saw Seohyun, she waved brightly. “Unnie!”

Seohyun did so in return. Juniel still looked the same, young and beautiful, but Seohyun had never seen the girl look so bright. They weren’t close, but Seohyun assumed that in the future, they probably spent a lot of time together. She was eager to see the baby in the stroller too. It had become kind of fun seeing who had children and who didn’t.  

Yonghwa, dazed and confused, scooted down along the bench to make room for her. She smiled and greeted him warmly but he could barely get out the words in return.

Juniel looked around laughed. “Did I interrupt something? Everyone looks so… sad.”

“Annio,” Minhyuk replied as he lifted his very beautiful, chubby baby into his arms. “The weather’s a bit depressing and Yonghwa and Seohyun had a long photoshoot. Ah, look at my little drummer boy!”

“What’s his name?” Seohyun blurted.

The boys nervously laughed and she realized it was too late to catch her mistake. Juniel looked absolutely startled.

“Kang Yi Jeong, your aunt’s so worn out from work she’s losing her memory,” Minhyuk talked to the baby, who smiled and cooed at his father. “Yeobo, you must be starving. Here, eat what’s left. We’ll order more. Anything you want, you beautiful mother of my child.”

Yonghwa couldn’t hold back his snicker.  

A/N: Guys, CN Blue is on fire right now! Their new CD is amazing and “Coffee Shop” is the best song ever. I’m such a proud Boice :D I also still listen to “I Got a Boy” at least 3 times a day! It’s become my workout song. SNSD fighting! Also, I cannot deny that Yoona and Jonghyun seem to be pretty close these days….. hmm….. I don't know if I ship yet. 

I just want to remind everyone that SOME future chapters of this story will be rated M. Keep that in mind because I don’t want to freak anyone out later. Seriously, guys, thank you for everything so far. Even though I haven’t replied to any comments, I’m reading them all and smiling like a crazy person. Your questions will get answered eventually! I hope you continue to enjoy the story, subscribe, and comment on it. I really, truly appreciate it.

Now here’s the part where you’ll hate me lol. I won’t be updating this for about two weeks because I’m about to become extremely busy again. But hang on tight and I’ll continue to work hard!! :D Happy Anniversary, OTP :)