Jayne stared at the closed apartment door wondering what had just happened. She started to zone out and as she was going over the thoughts in her head, a single tear slid down her cheek. Quickly wiping it away, she turned around and headed for her bedroom. Once she found her phone and checked the time, she decided to take a shower and start getting ready for work. Shucking off her dressy outfit from the night before and seeing it lie on the bathroom floor set off a flood of emotions. She stepped into her shower and let the heat of the water pound all over her body. Tears streamed down her face and she leaned her forehead up against the tile. Her body shook from sobbing. Jayne cried until she couldn’t produce any more tears. Rolling back the shower curtain, she got out and started to dry off. Once she stepped in front of the sink and looked at her reflection, she gasped. Her face was extremely puffy and her eyes were bloodshot, with swollen bags underneath.

                “Lovely. Just lovely. I hope I can make myself look presentable before I have to be at work this morning.” Jayne sighed to herself. Wrapping the bathrobe around her dried off body, she picked up the clothes from the bathroom floor and went to place them in her laundry basket in her bedroom closet.

***

                Soohyun quietly stepped into his apartment, hoping not to wake up Hoon and Dongho. He tiptoed to their bedroom and gently eased open their door. Seeing them asleep made him sigh quietly in relief. He debated whether he should go back to sleep; even if he wanted to, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to since he drank the cup of coffee over at Jayne’s place. Glancing at the time on his phone, he saw that it was 7am. Soohyun knew he should change out of his clothes from the night before and decided to take a shower to drown whatever thoughts were floating around in his head.

***

                It was lunch time at Jayne’s work and despite being hungry; she had no appetite to eat. She was sitting in the break room staring off into space when one of her co-workers sat beside her.

                “Jayne, is everything okay? You’ve been sitting there for ten minutes zoning out.” Jenna Dean said with concern in her voice. Like Jayne, she was American. She was an inch smaller than Jayne at 5’6” and had blonde hair as well, but with a reddish tint. Jenna was younger than Jayne, at 23. She had attended college in Seoul on a scholarship and gotten her bachelor’s degree two years prior. Although Jenna had a bubbly personality, she was shy and enjoyed doing things that didn’t require too much company: like reading and writing. One thing that she had just gotten into recently was taking up dance lessons. Although the two of them didn’t spend much time together outside of work, they had developed a special friendship based on the similarities they shared.

                “Huh? Oh…sorry, Jenna. I’ve just got a lot on my mind. How are you? How are the kids in your class doing?” Jayne asked.

                “They’re doing really well. There are maybe two or three students that are still struggling in some areas, but I think with hard work and dedication they will be just fine.” Jenna said as Jayne nodded. “Jayne, I know it’s none of my business, but I can tell something is going on. Is there anything I can do to help?” Jenna said more softly. Jayne looked at her dejectedly and sighed.

                “I really want to tell you, but here at work is not the appropriate time or place.” Jayne said as Jenna nodded.

                “Well then, that settles it. I’ll drag it out of you later on tonight after work. Your place or mine?” Jenna asked as Jayne knew she wouldn’t be able to win this battle with her.

                “Why don’t you come over my place. Then you can meet my kitten, Jinx.” Jayne said as Jenna’s eyes lit up.

                “That’s right! Aaaawwww, I bet she’s a cutie! We can work on our lesson plan while we discuss this over dinner. You want me to bring anything over?” Jenna said as she opened her lunch container and started taking a bit out of her apple. They made small talk with the remainder of their lunch break and set a time to meet up at Jayne’s apartment later that night.

***

                The day had gone well for U-Kiss. Their busy schedule had kept Soohyun preoccupied for the most part. He tried with all his might to focus on the tasks for the day so that he wouldn’t be stewing over his current situation with Jayne. Once they were let go for the day, he pulled Eli to the side and asked if they could hang out. Eli agreed and when the company van was dropping the guys off at their respective apartments, Eli and Soohyun got out together. As soon as Eli opened the front door, Soohyun went over and slumped on the couch.

                “Alright, Soo, I can only imagine that you are over here for a reason. You seem to be carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Spill your guts. But, before you do that, you want something to drink?” Eli said as he shoved his hands in his jean pockets.

                “You have any alcohol? I could use a drink or two.” Soohyun said as Eli raised his eyebrow.

                “Must be serious if you’re asking to drink this early. I’ll see what I have. I’ll be right back.” Eli said and a few minutes later returned with some Soju, Vodka, and Red Bull. “Take your pick.” Eli said motioning towards the bottles. Soohyun sat up just enough to grab a small Soju bottle. He twisted the top off and downed some of the liquid. He closed his eyes and sighed as Eli twisted his body on the couch to face Soohyun.

                “Eli, please don’t breathe a word of this to the others.” Soohyun said, opening one eye to gaze at Eli’s expression. Eli nodded seriously and Soohyun placed the bottle down on the coffee table next to him. He sighed deeply and ran his fingers through his hair. “Manager hyung showed me pictures yesterday that the paparazzi took of Jayne and I kissing Monday night when I took her out to the Smokey Grill.”

                “Sh*t. What is wrong with them? Do they have nothing better to do? I honestly don’t believe any of them have a conscious if they see no problem invading our privacy like that.” Eli said as Soohyun downed another gulp of Soju. “So, what happened? The photo hasn’t been published, yet, has it?” Eli said worried.

                “Manager hyung said he would do whatever it would take to make sure that it wouldn’t. Of course, he mentioned that he’d probably have to pay a ridiculous amount to keep their mouths shut. It’s absolutely disgusting the way they handle business.” Soohyun said as Eli cracked open the tab on a Red Bull and poured some into his mouth. “Last night, manager, myself, and Jayne went to a restaurant to eat so he could discuss this with her. He showed her the pictures, too.”

                “Oh. How did she react?” Eli asked.

                “That’s what I’m most confused about. Sure, she was shocked just like I was, but the way manager hyung described it to her at the restaurant seemed like she took it okay. He said that pictures are taken by paparazzi all the time and the way we reacted could be positive or negative. We can not let it get to us and just act as if it never happened or make it like a big roadblock and view it as a hindrance. Once he got done explaining that, Jayne seemed like she had relaxed. We enjoyed dinner and went back to her apartment. But, after we went to sit down on the couch, she got real serious and said we needed to have a heart-to-heart. I had to send a text to manager hyung and tell him to leave and that I’d catch a ride home by cab. She said the paparazzi pictures scared her and was worried about it being published. Then she started crying and said she needed some time to think. I think what concerns me the most is she said she needed a week to process all this. Isn’t that a bit too long?” Soohyun said as Eli sat there speechless.

                “I would have never guessed for Jayne to react that way. The way I explained everything the night that she came over, I made her well aware of things that could happen being with you.” Eli said with a perplexed look on his face.

                “I’m just so confused right now. I know we haven’t known each other that long, but there’s just something about her, Eli. I can’t quite describe it, but I would be devastated if she didn’t want to be with me.” Soohyun said as he finished the mini bottle of Soju. He looked down at the empty glass bottle and then set it on the coffee table.

                “She seems like an awesome girl. I’m sure she’ll come around. You think she’ll take the whole week to decide?” Eli asked as he gulped some more of the Red Bull.

                “I don’t know. But, she told me she wants to initiate the contact. I guess it’s so I don’t confuse her by talking to her, but that can’t be a good sign. Right?” Soohyun asked studying Eli’s face to see what his reaction would be.

                “Um, when you put it like that, it’s usually not. But, let’s take a step back and try to look at things from Jayne’s perspective.” Eli said as Soohyun sat up from his slouched position. “You have a girl who is brand new to Korea and has only been here for a few months that is fairly new to the KPop music scene, right?” Eli asked as Soohyun nodded. He took his left index finger and pointed to his right hand for the list he was going to say. “So, that’s one thing. Next, she got to know you on a personal level not even knowing you were a KPop idol.” He said as he had two fingers open from his right fist. “Then Sunday she saw our music video on MNet and found out who we really are. So, you make up for that and then the flippin’ paparazzi decide to get in on the action.” Eli held up four fingers. “Can you see how this might be just a tad bit overwhelming for her at the moment?” Eli said gently. Soohyun was going to say something and then stopped. He nodded his head and looked down. “Talk to me, Soo. What’s going on in that head of yours?”

                “Do I stand a chance with her?” Soohyun asked. Although he asked the question, he was scared of what the answer would be. He knew Eli would give him a no-bull, brutally honest response.

                “I think you do.” Soohyun’s head shot up at Eli’s words. “But, it’s all in how you approach this. You have to tread very delicately. I know you care about her. I see the way she looks at you, too. You both are crazy about each other. You need to respect her space, but while she’s mulling over everything you need to be thinking of ways to prove to her that you deserve to be with her. Don’t expect everything to just fall into your lap. If you care about her the way you say you do, fight for her. Show her that it may not be easy, but that you will do everything in your power to make it worth her time.”

                “Absolutely. I had every intention of doing so!” Soohyun said as a smile crept on his face. Eli gave him a playful punch on his upper arm by his shoulder.

                “That’s the spirit. I don’t want to see you moping about feeling sorry for yourself.” Eli said. “Oh, and Soo, one more thing…”

                “What’s that?” Soohyun asked.

                “I know it’s going to be tough, but you’re going to need to find some ways to preoccupy your time so that you don’t get caught up in all the emotions. I know our work schedule will keep us busy during the day, but you probably should find things to do in the small amount of free time we get. You can always hit me up if you can’t think of anything and we can hang out.” Eli said as he finished his can of Red Bull.

                “Yeah, you bring up a good point. I hope that she does text or call before the week is over. Otherwise I’ll be going crazy.” Soohyun said as they stared at each other for a few minutes.

                “Well, how about we take a break and do something fun. Wanna play some games on the PS3?” Eli asked as Soohyun nodded, perking up.

                “Yeah, that sounds great. What were you in the mood to play?” Soohyun asked as Eli went over to the entertainment cabinet and brought back the game console cases for them to both look over.

                “It doesn’t matter what game you pick, I’ll beat you at it. Remember, you’ve already had a bottle of Soju.” Eli said with a big smirk on his face.

                “You think one bottle of Soju is going to make me lose to you? Bring it on. When I beat you after the first round, you’re going to have to down a bottle of Soju. Then we’ll see how you play.” Soohyun said as Eli held up a case of the first game they would play. Soohyun nodded and Eli went to put the disc into the opening of the PS3.