At the Watering Hole

Two weeks traveling wasn’t as bad as Dong Bang Shin Ki initially thought. Because of their new single, they had traveled to cities like Prague and Thailand and they even went back to Japan. They had to admit, O.Jung.Ban.Hap would be one of the best music videos they ever filmed – yet nothing beats coming back home. One of the downsides of being busy artists was that despite having been over seas for two weeks, they were still expected to work when they got back. Once they arrived at the airport, they felt relieved that no fans were there; after all, they came back a day earlier than expected.

            “This ,” ChangMin commented out of the blue as he sat down on the couch inside the recording room. “How many more times do we have to record?”

            “Until its perfect,” JaeJoong replied, drinking out of a cool water bottle, “We have to make sure that our 3rd album is the best."

            “I think you guys were great!” Tiffany exclaimed through the speakers. She had been watching in the sound-check room as the five reordered their single.

            “Heh, thanks Fanny,” YunHo said with a wave and turned his attentions to the others, “I think we were a bit off on the pitch…”

The other four members groaned, knowing their leader would make them redo it again until satisfied with it.

            “But Hyung~” YooChun pouted, “My stomach’s grumbling, can’t we go eat lunch first?”

            “We need to do this; we already ate breakfast.,” YunHo replied with his arms crossed.

            "Yeah, five hours ago," ChangMin groaned, hitting his head against the wood panel repeatedly.

             “C’mon, just one more time! I know this time will be perfect," YunHo stated, picking up the black headphones from it's stand.

            “U-know, but we’re tired!” JunSu said with a groan as he yawned on the couch, “Let’s go eat.”

            “C’mon, just a lunch brea – oh!” YooChun began but was interrupted with a loud vibration coming from his pants’ pocket.

Tiffany opened the soundproof door and walked towards them, linking her arm around YunHo’s. “I want to eat lunch with you,” she declared.

YunHo eyed everyone, contemplating whether he should give in or not. But one look at their tired faces, he gave in with a smile. “Araso.” Being the leader, he knew when to push and when to give in.

Everyone cheered and ran to the door. Tiffany squealed with happiness as she tightened her grip on YunHo’s arm, and proceeded to drag him away. At the head of the group, JunSu turned around and said, “Hey Tiffany-ah. Shouldn’t we invite TaeYeonnie to lunch too? So you wouldn’t be the only girl hanging out with a bunch of us guys.”

Tiffany frowned for a bit, not liking the fact that JunSu wanted another girl to join them. Truthfully, she wanted to be the only one to accompany her oppas; but she forced a cute smile and nodded.

            “If we have to.”

            “Araso,” JunSu replied, taking out his cell phone, “I’ll call and tell her to meet us at the lobby.”

Behind the group, JaeJoong noticed YooChun lagging behind while texting fervently on his cell. “Psst, Maknae, who’s Chunnie texting all the time?” JaeJoong whispered to ChangMin.‘Was it ChoMin?’ he thought secretly.

ChangMin glanced back at YooChun and replied, “Oh him? He’s been texting BoA noona since we met up with her in Japan.”

            “Muh?!”

ChangMin chuckled, “Yep, he’s been talking to her a lot lately. First they started emailing, then they started text,” he then paused as he remembered something else, “At the hotel one time, I woke up at 3 in the morning, and they were STILL talking to each other.”

JaeJoong took one last glance back at YooChun as he boarded the elevator taking them down to the lobby.

           “Omo! How did you guys manage?” TaeYeon said with wide eyes as she and Tiffany were totally immersed in what YunHo’s story.

            “Like I said, we only had manager Choi, our director and two other staff. When you see the MV, there’s a scene where I’m standing by myself in front of a street light and people are passing by really quickly. It’s not like we can block the way, so we did some, ‘thief filming’.”^(*)

            “Muh?” TaeYeon asked, taking a sip from her soda, “What’s that?”

JunSu laughed from his seat next to her, “It’s when we film without a permit,” He turned his attention back to YunHo, “I was laughing when you had to do all that sprinting!”

YunHo laughed, recalling that memory, “Anyways, when the light turns green, I have to run about 100 meters, because it only blinks for a very short time, and I need to put in so many expressions in that short time…”

All around him, everyone laughed as YunHo told his story. He felt so at ease, being around people he liked. “I can usually do anything they say, but when the light turns red, because I’m human - I have to live - you know?”

He paused to catch his breath in between his melodic laughter before continuing, “…the cars would be coming and the director would be in a hurry... so he'd say ‘stay there’ and the cars would start honking all the while, people thought I was crazy.”

            “Omo!” Tiffany cried out in fits of giggles, “I wish I could have been there to see it!”

            “We wish you could’ve too,” JaeJoong added with a laugh, “We needed help carrying all the equipment.”

He laughed harder when Tiffany punched him lightly on the shoulder, “Yah! JaeJoong shut up!”

Everyone’s laughter trickled down to a forced chuckle. ChangMin and JunSu exchanged looks, while YunHo and JaeJoong tried to play it off cool as TaeYeon inwardly winced at her friend’s lack of respect. Truthfully, the members and TaeYeon were put-off by Tiffany’s words – who was she, a trainee, to talk disrespectfully to an older sunbae^(*) like JaeJoong. It was YooChun who alleviated the growing tension by lightly pinching Tiffany’s cheek.

            “Aigoo~” she cried, rubbing her cheek with a pout. YooChun just laughed as everyone finished their lunch.

            “Eeeek!!!” ChoMin squealed, pouncing on YooChun as he entered the door to their apartment. “I can’t believe you guys are back!”

            “Yah! Get your hands off my baby cousin! Aish!”

ChoMin smiled and launched herself at YunHo. “Don’t worry Oppa, I haven’t forgotten you either,” she untangled herself from YunHo to give ChangMin a brief hug, “Yah ChangMin-ah, did you bring me back a souvenir?”

            “Of course,” ChangMin said with a blush as he awkwardly returned her hug, “It’s in my bag.”

            “That’s great,” ChoMin smiled, “here let me help you with your bags. Haha, you shouldn’t let them make you carry all of these just because you’re the youngest.”

She was referring to all 6 of the bags ChangMin tried balancing. She took the least heavy looking ones from his grasps as he walked on to the living room.

            “Did you guys eat yet?”

            “Neh,” YunHo said, “we had some lunch with some friends before coming home.”

            “Yah! Jung ChoMin!” a familiar voice called out.

ChoMin recognized a voice – a voice she did not expect to sound so full of energy and cheerfulness.

            “I don’t get a welcome hug too?” JunSu said, standing at the entrance, wearing a tight form-fitting black sweater, half way ped and clearly showing the T-shirtless skin underneath. A gothic cross necklace s around his neck and hung loosely at his clavicle; his hair was gelled up in a faux Mohawk. Just staring at JunSu, ChoMin forgot to breathe. ‘Why the HECK does he have to look so damn hot! Squeeeeee!’

            “Muh? Are you just going to stare at me all day?”

She shook her head, trying to shake the image of a shirtless JunSu from her imagination. “Miene,” she said, placing the bags on the floor and gingerly hugged JunSu.

JunSu smiled, hugging ChoMin’s small shoulders, “You don’t have to be weird around me…I forgive you.”

ChoMin let out the breath she was holding and tightened her hug. “Miene Oppa, Mienhaeyo.”

            “ChoMin-ah…There’s no need to be sappy,” he said as he pulled away from her. He then lightly ushered her down the hall way to the living room, “C’mon, I have to tell you how I was the music director for O.Jung.Ban.Hap! And you have to tell me all about your classes, now that you're a college woman.”

            “It's not as cool as it seems,” ChoMin replied with a shrug, follwing him.

JunSu led her to the living room area where the rest of the members lounged around, telling stories of their adventures over seas. ChoMin took a minute to stare at them, taking in the sight of the living gods before her. She wasn’t going to lie, whether it be 2 months or 2 weeks, she had missed them like crazy. When had they become such a huge part of her life?

ChoMin stared, noticing something was missing.

            “Oppa? Where’s JaeJoong-sshi?”

            “I didn’t expect you to be here,” BongCha said, pouring tea into two mugs. “I thought you would go home first and see her.”

            “We haven’t really hung out recently,” JaeJoong said, choosing to ignore the last part. He glanced up at her from the manwha he read while laying upside down on the couch. “I figured you wanted to see me.”

            “Che,” BongCha scoffed, setting down the two mugs on the coffee table, “Just because you’re YoungWoong JaeJoong, you think the world revolves around you.”

            “Doesn’t it?” he replied with a smirk.

            “This is why you can’t keep a girlfriend,” she said, crossing her legs.

            “Why do I need a girlfriend when I already have you?” he said, peeking over the top of the manhwa. “You, after all, are my favorite ‘stalker’.”

BongCha lightly pinched JaeJoong on the rib before changing the subject. She would just have to ignore the slight pain in her heart at JaeJoong’s blunt words. “So, will you and the rest of Dong Bang Shin Ki be at Chakun Changmi^(*) at 6 or earlier?”

            “Muh?”

            “Joongie!” she exclaimed with exasperation, “Don’t tell me you forgot?!”

JaeJoong pouted, pushing himself up to sit up right. “Miene?”

BongCha sighed, knowing she can never resist his cuteness. “Dong Bang Shin Ki is scheduled for the annual dinner raffle, where 11 Cassiopeia members get to dine with you in a 5 star restaurant. And it’s tonight, don’t you remember?”

            “Oooohhh,” JaeJoong placed his manhwa down on the coffee table and picked up his cup of tea, “So I guess I have to go home and change right?”

He took one sip of the tea then placed it down on the coffee table next to the manhwa. “Well I guess I’m off then!” He stretched, showing off a sliver of skin near his belt. To this, BongCha blushed but did not look away.

            “Yah, Noona,” JaeJoong called out, half way to the exit of their Dong Bang lounge, “What do you think of Jung ChoMin?”

BongCha was taken aback; she turned around on the couch to face him with a stone-cold expression. “Why do you care?” She looked straight at him, hoping to read his expression. “And don’t call me Noona!”

JaeJoong returned her stare with his own masked exposition, “I don’t, I’m just wondering.”

She stood up, carrying both mugs with her and walked to the sink with her back turned to him. “What I think of her is irrelevant, it’s what you think.” She turned her head to look at him.

JaeJoong had his left hand on the door knob, ‘It was stupid. Why did I even ask?’ He turned around and with a wave of his hand he said, “Eh, it wasn’t important. Just one of those random questions. I’ll see you at the dinner.” And with that, JaeJoong left BongCha to herself.

            “I can’t believe those Hoes won and not us!” ChoMin exclaimed through gritted teeth. “I bought three freaking tickets! THREE!!! I spent 30,000 won(*). So expensive!”

            “It’s a conspiracy I tell you,” JeeWoon agreed from her seat next to ChoMin, “I bought six tickets, and none of my tickets were even close to the winning tickets.”

            “That’s nothing,” Pang RiAhn, the short friend of JeeWoon said with a huge frown, “I bought 11 tickets. I can’t believe none of them were picked.”

The three girls sat sulking, for not only did they not win a chance to dine with the members of Dong Bang Shin Ki, it was their luck that they were given a booth, not table, farthest from where their idols sat. It was just not fair. DBSK’s table sat towards the back of the restaurant and was the longest table; the numerous tables surrounding them accommodated 4 people at the most. The middle of the restaurant was clear, left vacant purposely to fill in as an impromptu dance floor for when the boys will perform a dance. They could see one of their friends, sitting star struck next to JunSu. ChoMin had to crank her neck to see what the members were doing.

The three were no doubt envious of their lucky friend.

            “This freaking ,” JeeWoon said. She sat reclining against her chair with her arms cross, staring daggers at the girls squealing over YunHo. “I’m embarrassed to be in the same species as those crowing birds. Che, I bet U-know is so annoyed at those girls, I know I am.”

            “Man, I can’t believe I got all dressed up for this, just to end up sitting next to you two,” ChoMin said with a frown.

She wore an outfit that she and JeeWoon picked out while on a shopping trip together a week prior – a black and silver number, showing off her long legs as it cuts off mid thigh. She wore her favorite black stiletto heels with her hair in a half up-do.

            “Yah!” JeeWoon exclaimed, elbowing ChoMin in her ribs, “Don’t be so conceited. You’re not the only one who looks good.”

JeeWoon wore trendy jeans, with orange flowers embroidered down one leg. She wore a backless halter held together by two strings in the back and a black vest. Orange and metallic bangles adorned her wrists, while orange wedge-heels, borrowed from ChoMin, complimented her outfit.

            “Whatever.”

            “Arrggh!” JeeWoon exclaimed in agitation, “I can’t stand it anymore.”

ChoMin and RiAhn both stared at their friend. “Hmm?”

            “I’m tired of seeing those girls throw themselves at YunHo, don’t they have any decency?” She pushed her chair back as she stood up in huff, “I’m going to the restroom. ChoMin-ah, if my food gets here before I do – eat it and I’ll kill you.”

With that JeeWoon maneuvered her way out of the sea of tables and into the women’s restroom, leaving the two to their willowing.

JeeWoon quickly did her business and washed her hands in the marble sink. The sink, like the rest of the bathroom fit with the rose motif. A gold engraving of a vine of roses encircled the nozzle; the faucets themselves were little rose buds. JeeWoon reapplied some lip gloss and fixed her stubborn bangs.  She had to admit, though she wasn’t one of the prettiest girls in the room, she really cleaned up well.

            “Che, and that pabo NakMin said I didn’t look like a girl,” she said to her reflection, “I’m gonna beat that son-of-a when I get home.”

She placed her lip gloss back into her over sized purse and left the rest room. Just as she pushed open the door to the restroom, the familiar tune of ‘Dangerous Mind’ rang from her purse. “Just great,” she mumbled to herself as she dug to the bottom.

Just then, she collided with a very solid and very tall body.

            “Miene,” a manly voice said, placing his hand on her shoulder to steady her before walking away.

She took a moment to recover. ‘I know that voice…’ JeeWoon thought, before whirling around just to see the man she bump into enter the men’s restroom. “Holy… That was U-know YunHo!!!”

YooChun sat at the end of the table with his head down cast, texting on his phone while the rest of his table talked animatedly. Between each of his friends sat 2 or 3 girls, so that each girl was guaranteed to be sitting next to a member of DBSK. YooChun would look up once or twice when he was spoken to, but other than that, he was busy typing away in his slide phone. Truthfully, he was bored with all the small talk and was relieved when Kwan BoA texted when she did.

BoA had always been his celebrity crush growing up, and when he signed up with SM, YooChun was so excited to be in the same management company as her; he even begged JaeJoong, who was really close to the star, to set them up.  During his pre-debut years, he would always wander around SME, hoping to bump into BoA - yet luck never seemed to be in his favor. Even though he had dated Kahi during those years, he always kept one eye open for BoA.

But the fact that she spent most of her time in Japan did not give chances for them to get to know each other very well.

It was quite a surprise when YooChun, as well as the rest of the members, found out that their sunbae stayed at the same hotel they stayed in and, when they were reintroduced to her, she had the most angelic smile on her face, leaving YooChun star struck. But don’t get him wrong, he still kept his play boy charm, it being what got him her number.

It started off innocent enough, a few texts here and a few calls there, but by the time they had finished YunHo’s shoot in Japan and had left for Korea, the texts and calls doubled. And YooChun couldn’t get enough of it.

On the other end of the table, JaeJoong and BongCha sat next to each other, laughing at some joke JunSu had told. JaeJoong had his left arm resting loosely on BongCha’s chair, with her leaning back. This little scene didn’t go unnoticed, for ChoMin sat in her own table, silently wishing BongCha would spontaneously combust. Jealously was no stranger to ChoMin, and the sight of JaeJoong and BongCha so comfy together did not sit well with her.

            “ChoMin-ah! Guess what?” JeeWoon exclaimed as she excited sat down on her chair. “I just saw U-know YunHo on the way out of the rest room!”

            “Oh really?!” RiAhn asked enthusiastically as ChoMin remained transfixed into glaring dagger at the back of BongCha’s head.

            “I even bumped into him – Yah! ChoMinnie, did you hear me?”

            “Neh Neh,” ChoMin replied, but still did not look away. “You bumped into my cous – U-know.”

            “Muh?”

            “Nothing, I said nothing,” ChoMin tried to cover up. She mentally kicked herself in the head for letting that slip out

            “Ani, you were gonna say something but you stopped yourself,” JeeWoon said, not one to be fooled, “You said ‘my’. Your what?”

            “It was nothing, just a slip of the tongue,” ChoMin pressed, “You know how it’s hard for me to speak Korean sometimes.”

            “Eh, whatever. If you don’t wanna tell me, then fine. Be that way,” JeeWoon said with a pout.

            “It’s nothing!” she said in finality, still staring at the laughing JaeJoong and BongCha.

JaeJoong scanned the tables around him, whether it was just his mind playing tricks on him or not, he could feel an intense glare directed towards him. Maybe it was because of the intense stare or maybe it a desire to see a certain person, but JaeJoong’s gaze landed on ChoMin after a minute.

Their eyes locked for an instant.

Warm brown eyes meeting dark brown ones. It was ChoMin who broke their intense gaze by looking down, and to which JaeJoong chuckled at. He beckoned her to come over, knowing full well that she couldn’t. Irritated, ChoMin stuck out her tongue but grinned at their silliness.

ChoMin hummed a quiet tune as she yanked open the heavy glass door to the SM Entertainment building. As soon as she opened it, a gust of cool wind blew pass her, messing up her bangs and giving her chills. She happily skipped across the marble floor, her DBSK button on her Cassiopeia badge bouncing up and down on her chest. She swung the big red lunch box as she bounded towards the elevator with a huge smile on her face. Yes, she was angry about the whole dinner thing the night before. But she was able to pacify herself by reminding herself that it wasn’t Kwak BongCha that lived with DBSK, it was her, Jung ChoMin who did. It was that very thought that made her laugh triumphantly like a maniac inside the elevator.

            ‘You know, being just his friend is kind of hard. How can ANYONE resist jumping such a hot, y, delicious god?’ ChoMin thought to herself as she waited for the elevator doors to open, ‘it would – JaeJoong!’ Her eyes grew in surprised, for as the doors opened, JaeJoong and the rest of the members were standing right in front of it.

            “Oh? ChoMin-sshi!” JaeJoong exclaimed in surprise, “You’re here a little early.”

            “Anyong!”

            “Hey ChoMin-ah, what’s up?”

            “Oooh! Lunch?”

            “Anyong!” ChoMin greeted with a cheery smile, moving farther back into the elevator to let everyone in. “I brought lunch a bit early today so we could have more time to hang out,” she shrugged. “Wae? Are you guys busy?”

            “Aw, you missed us that much?” YooChun cooed with a smile as he pinched ChoMin’s cheek.

            ChoMin slapped his hand away from her face and jabbed him hard on the ribs.

            “Aigoo!”

            “Neh,” YunHo said, taking the red lunch box from her grasps, “We have a radio show to do right now, but it won’t take long.”

            “In that case, I’ll just wait for you guys to finish,” she said with a smile, purposely brushing against JaeJoong as the elevator lurched to a stop. A small touch of skin was enough to send shivers up her spine. Her fangirl side laughed evilly, contemplating if she could get away with touching JaeJoong again without him noticing. Being in such close proximity to him, in such a closed space, ChoMin was ecstatic. ‘OMG! I can smell him and holy crap! He smells sooooo yummy! God! I just want him to ravish me,’ her inner fangirl screamed.

JaeJoong shook his head, feeling the girl next to him silently giggle to herself like a erted old man. ‘She’s so weird,’ he thought with a smile,‘But it’s endearing enough.’

ChoMin looked up, catching JaeJoong’s eyes. She gave him the cutest smile she could muster, and he gave her a smile of his own.

JunSu watched the two from the corner of his eyes and frowned. It was true that he was beginning to get over ChoMin, but he was still not at that point yet. He felt the pang of jealousy ignite within him, but he forced himself not to care.

It was better to just ignore everything.

JunSu was silently thankful when the doors slid open, allowing him to escape that little torture.

            “ChoMin-sshi,” ChangMin said softly, “There’s a sitting room down the hall if you want to sit down. We’ll be in this room,” he said, pointing to a room five doors down from the elevators.

            “Thanks,” ChoMin said, patting ChangMin on the shoulder, “But I think I’ll explore a bit. Do you think anybody will mind?”

            “Nah,” ChangMin answered, “Since you belong to our fanclub, you can basically go anywhere in the building. As long as you have your pass –”

            “And you don’t break anything,” YunHo interjected with a teasing smile, “Because if you do, I’ll be the one who ends up paying for it.”

            “Oppa,” ChoMin lightly punched YunHo on the shoulders, “You act like I’m this klutzilla monster or something.”

            “Haha! I think we found a new nickname for you, ChoMin-ah!” JunSu said, poking her on the forehead. “Klutzilla! Klutzilla! Klutzilla!”

            “Ahhh! Stop! That’s not my name!” she pouted.

            “Whatever you say, klutzilla,” YooChun teased again.

            “Arrgh! Fine, I’m going!” ChoMin cried out, sticking her tongue and walking away.

            “Don’t get into trouble klutzilla!”

            “Aniiiiiiii!”

ChoMin peeked into every room she passed as she walked down the hall; she’d never seen such huge dance rooms in her life before! It was times like this that she wished she was back home in the states. She hated the fact that she missed that big dance camp she always looked forward to once the school year ended. She frowned when she realized that her new passport and visa were beyond late. ChoMin was so caught up with the whole Jae-Chun-Su drama the last month, that the absence of her passport escaped her mind. ‘Why hasn’t it come in yet?’ she wondered, ‘I turned in everything, right… wait, did I??’ She tried to remember if she had actually mailed in all the forms. Not remembering if she did, she mentally made a note to herself to look for those forms.

Clearing her thoughts, ChoMin entered the last dance studio on her right, flipping the light switch on. She ran her hands on the hard wood barre^(*) attached to the mirrored walls. God, she missed dancing!

‘Hmmm…maybe I could…’ Like a child in a candy store, ChoMin rushed to the big black stereo in the corner of the room, dropping the lunch box next to it. Taking out her beloved ipod, she searched for a connector and plugged it in. Classical ballet music filled the small dance studio. ChoMin removed her black converse; clad only in denims shorts, a checkered shirt with a red bandana around her neck and white socks, she swayed to the familiar dance steps of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake^(*). What she would give for the opportunity to actually dance on stage – to be the featured dancer in Gisselle or Raymonda^(*).

The music completely enveloped ChoMin, hugging her as she danced. It gave her a peace of mind; she let it completely devoid her of anything – all she knew was the rhythm and the steps.

Her heart was in tune with the music – making them one.

ChoMin was so caught up in doing fouettés^(*) as the song reached a cresendo, she did not notice the tall figure enter the music filled studio. She did not notice him watching her every turn, every move, every jump – with analyzing eyes. She did not notice he was there at all, until the man cleared his throat.

The girl froze in the middle of her arabesque penchée^(*), and in embaressment, she fell to the floor in a heap. The suited-man walked up to ChoMin, offering his hand.

Notes:

Whatever YunHo said about filming in Japan – these are exact quotes that YunHo has said before in an interview. It took me FOREVER to research it and I was so glad to have found it! ^-^
Sunbae – like senpai in Japanese; it’s a term meaning someone who is older in a field or has more experience.
Chakun Changmi – literally mean Rose Garden, same restaurant in Ch. 5 & Ch. 6
30,000 won – about $30, JeeWoon spent about $60, and RiAhn spent about $110
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake – famous 19^th century Russian ballet composer; also composed Sleeping Beauty and the Nutcracker
Gissele or Raymonda – both classical ballets in the late 1800’s
Fouetté – I don’t know exactly how to explain it so here’s a link on how it looks like:[x]
Arabesque penchée - [x]

I've been on hiatus for so long =X I suppose I owe you readers an explination.... =/ My favorite thing to do in the world is to write. I always have an influx of ideas and inspiration, which in turn I jot down and create stories. For lent, I gave it up.... So for fourty days, I gave up writing fanfics. Of course I couldn't give up writing in itself... I mean, I do have to write essays for grades xD So I hope you'll forgive me for this late update~

Until next time!

~Asian_Innocence