In the Dog House

JeeWoon was not amused.  She drummed her fingers impatiently on the black leather couch she currently sat on. Stationed right in front of her, colorful confetti and an assortment of drinks and chips littered the stained-black coffee table. On the opposite wall, an identical black leather couch sat alone with only a discarded sweater on top of it. Around JeeWoon, the bright red room dimmed, except for a few spotlights centered on YoonKi, who fiddled with the karaoke equipment of their norebang^(*).  It was her birthday. September 29, 2006. It was her birthday. ChoMin didn’t even go to her family birthday dinner. It was her birthday – and her best friend was absent. She glared at the black wall clock, and sighed in frustration.

            “Where the heck is that girl?”

ChoMin groaned as she stared down from the large floor-to-ceiling window of Dong Bang Shin Ki’s lounge. Below, a legion of fans barricaded the building, holding up signs and red glow sticks as they screamed for their idols.  ChoMin bit her lip nervously as she eyed the wall clock; guilt gnawed at her as she knew she was over an hour late for JeeWoon’s birthday. She whipped around to face the five tired boys sitting on the c-shaped leather couch.

            “Why aren’t you guys ready yet?” she complained, biting her lower lip in impatience. The members of Dong Bang Shin Ki sat around, tired after a long schedule of promoting their new single “O – Jung Ban Hap”.

            “Che,” YooChun scoffed, picking his head up from its reclined position. “We’re not stepping out there.” He motioned towards the sea of fans outside.

ChoMin groaned, frustration nibbled at her core. She had already asked the guys if they would do her this favor, and they said they would gladly do it. And when it came time to call in that favor, it frustrated her that they didn’t really care. Was it too much to ask for a perfect party for her friend? In the back of her mind, she knew she was the one being unreasonable. She knew she was lucky that DBSK even humored her when it came to asking them to take time off their busy schedule to do her a personal favor. ChoMin plopped down next to YooChun with a dejected sigh.

JaeJoong gave a silent glance at the brooding girl and sighed. “ChoMin-ah, we’re trying here… It’s not like we can get passed the fans out there without being noticed.”

ChoMin bit back a groan, but chose not to respond. ‘How can sitting around and doing nothing, count as ‘trying’?’ she thought angrily.

Receiving no response from the girl, JaeJoong leaned back against the couch. What else could you say to pacify a whiny teenager? He’d rather leave the problem to YunHo, who was the one who entertained her idea.

YunHo noticed the frustration around his cousin and tried to mollify her. He walked towards her, and placed a soothing hand on her shoulder. “We’ll wait for Manager Choi, araso?” he said, “When he comes back, maybe we can take his car.”

ChoMin nodded her head, agreeing only because that was the only option. She knew the manager would not be back for at least half an hour. She felt irritable and frustrated and desperate and impatient and annoyed – but for all those different emotions, the one she felt the most was guilt; guilt for being late, for lying, for insisting, for everything.

Her vibrating phone caught her eye, and she instantly knew that it was JeeWoon without even looking. She did not posses the courage to answer it. With a dejected sigh, she silently rose and walked towards the bed in the corner. With a plop, she stifled a groan as she covered her head with a pillow.

            “I think someone should talk to her,” JunSu commented, watching ChoMin’s action.

            “Araso,” JaeJoong agreed, then nodded towards JunSu, “You go then.”

            “Me?” JunSu was skeptical, “Why doesn’t YooChun-ah go. Aren’t you guys pretty chummy?”

YooChun gave him a dry glare, bur rolled his eyes. “Nope, I already deal with her drama queen tendencies every day, why doesn’t YunHo-ah go for a change?” He nudged YunHo. “You’re her cousin.”

            “Ani, ani ani,” YunHo declined, not wanting to deal with his cousin. He really did love ChoMin, and usually she was a very charming girl; it was just sometimes… she could get a little bratty when she didn’t get her way. And he knew first hand from since they were little, that if it continued on ChoMin might even throw a tantrum. But in all honesty, he didn’t feel up to the challenge in dealing with a teenage drama queen. “Make the maknae do it.”

All eyes turned expectantly to ChangMin. The youngest was aghast with what his hyungs were forcing him to do. “M-Me?” he stuttered, which earned him a nod and a smile from the rest of his group. He stood up in alarm and backed away slowly from them. “B-But I don’t know how to deal with girls! JunSu-ah, you go!”

JunSu also stood up and gave ChangMin a push in ChoMin’s direction. “Yah! Why is the maknae telling the hyung what to do? Just go!” He pushed ChangMin once more.

            “But - ” ChangMin protested, but the shooing motions from the rest of them left him no room for argument. With a sigh, he made his way towards the frustrated girl on the bed. He gave one last look at his hyungs to spare him, but they just nodded and shooed him away. ChangMin brought up a chair closer to the bed and asked, “Uh…ChoMin-ah? What’s wrong?”

ChoMin groaned, but removed the pillow obstructing her face. “Everything,” she replied in a huff. When ChangMin raised his eyebrow, ChoMin propped up in a sitting position and elaborated, “I’m already late for my friend’s party and as a gift, I wanted U-know YunHo to sing her happy birthday.”

ChangMin gave her a half smile, feeling slightly bad for her. “But you know how hectic today was, with all the promotions for “O”… We’re all kind of drained.” He watched her sink into herself, the guilt getting to her. “Even if we weren’t tired, how could we get passed all the fans unnoticed?”

            “We could go in YunHo oppa’s car,” ChoMin suggested half-hopefully, “Its tinted.”

            “The fans would know Hyung’s car,” he pointed out, “They were the ones who bought him the TVXQ license plate frame.”

            “And I guess a cab is out of the picture, huh?” ChoMin added sadly. A cab wasn’t the most private nor inconspicuous mode of transportation.

ChoMin sighed, pushing herself up from the bed. She peered down to the sea of fans waiting patiently for their idols to come out for a chance to see them. She kind of hoped they would all have gone home by now, seeing as it was nearing 11. “All we need is a tinted car from someone the fans don’t know,” ChoMin said, mostly to herself.

ChangMin shrugged, “Maybe one of the producers or staff from SM will lend Hyung a car.”

ChoMin lit up and whipped around in excitement. “That’s it!”  He gave ChangMin a big bear hug and sprinted towards YunHo, who was conversing silently with JaeJoong. “Oppa! ChangMin-ah is brilliant!”

JaeJoong stared up at her from his position on the couch and cocked an eyebrow, “Brilliant?”

            “We need an inconspicuous vehicle,” The girl said excitedly, “If you’re not tired that is, why don’t we borrow one of the staffs’ cars? MaeJin unnie from hair and make-up would probably lend us her car.”

YunHo smiled, glad that his cousin didn’t throw a huge tantrum that would not only embarrass her, but him as well. “I’ll ask Yoo YungJin-sshi(*) if we can borrow his car.”

            “Who?” ChoMin inquired, cocking her head to the side.

YunHo chuckled, “Exactly. C’mon,” he said, taking ChoMin’s arm, “If we’re lucky, we can catch him before he leaves for the evening.”

            “I’ll go with you,” JaeJoong stated, surprising both YunHo and ChoMin. He stood up and grabbed his jacked as he followed the cousins to the door. ChoMin stared at JaeJoong with a big grin, for which he replied with a small smile of his own. “You’re not going alone,” he told YunHo, but kept his gaze trained on ChoMin.

ChoMin didn’t outwardly showed it, but she was very thankful that JaeJoong would go with them. Her heart fluttered as he stopped next to her, a smile on his lips and his eyes gazing at only her.

            “Okay, then let’s go so we can get this over with,” YunHo stated, shutting the door behind him as he pushed ChoMin and JaeJoong out with him.

JeeWoon tapped her foot angrily as she dialed ChoMin’s cell phone for the 6^th time. For the last hour, she hadn’t been able to enjoy herself, even refusing to sing whenever YoonKi offered her the microphone. In front of her, YoonKi belted out the lyrics of ‘Rising Sun’, getting too into his performance by dancing along the lyrics.

            “Rise up!” YoonKi belted into the microphone, earning him a higher grade, “Rise up!” The song ended, giving him a grade of 65. Smiling, but sweating, YoonKi handed the mic to JeeWoon, but the latter just pushed it away.

            “Aniyo,” JeeWoon mumbled, a scowl on her face.

Shrugging, YoonKi flipped through the song selection while JeeWoon angrily called back her best friend.

Suddenly, the karaoke room burst open, revealing a gasping ChoMin. The new arrival’s hair was in disarray with strands of hair sticking to her face, but she wore a gigantic smile.

            “ChoMin-ah!” YoonKi exclaimed, enveloping the girl in a bear hug. “You're in biiiiiiiig trouble,” he whispered into her hair.

ChoMin nodded, keeping her smile on her face, she then faced JeeWoon who had stood up and glared at her. “Miene JeeWoon-ah,” ChoMin pouted cutely, hugging her frustrated friend.

Still a bit angry, JeeWoon shrugged off her friend’s embrace and frowned. ChoMin took it in strides and hugged JeeWoon tighter, barely letting the younger girl breathe.

            “I promised you a birthday gift that would make up for everything, didn’t I?” ChoMin asked, still hugging JeeWoon.

            “Well, it better be goo – ” JeeWoon started, but was interrupted by the soft baritone of voice of someone singing.

            “Baby, duryobji anha, hamke handamyon, do hinmdun neiri chajaondedo midojugil yongwonhi,” YunHo sang as he walked in, smiling handsomely to JeeWoon, “Urin hamkenikka~”

JeeWoon stood frozen in ChoMin’s arms, agape, as the older of the two jumped up and down in anticipation. JaeJoong came inside a second later, carrying the homemade vanilla cake with fresh fruit toppings ChoMin made. JeeWoon couldn’t believe it. U-Know YunHo – THE U-Know YunHo sang to her, simple Sohn JeeWoon, for her birthday. ‘Are my eyes tricking me,’ JeeWoon thought, ‘Is that really who I think it is?!’  It was too good to be true. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever think it was possible that U-Know YunHo would sing to her. If she could only move, she would’ve kissed ChoMin then and there for the best birthday gift she ever received. Off to the side, YoonKi stared at the two new guests, dropping the microphone on the soft carpet with a thud. ChoMin let go of JeeWoon as her cousin walked closer to the birthday girl.

            “Banbog dweeneun haroo gateun jareereul maemdoldun nah ehgeh geudaen haessaleejyo…” YunHo finished, standing right in front of the already beet red JeeWoon. “Happy Birthday,” he said, staring right into her chocolate orbs. JeeWoon gulped, realizing the close proximity of her idol. “Happy Birthday Sohn JeeYool.”

The room grew quiet.

            “Huh?” JeeWoon stared at YunHo skeptically. Did she hear right? “Um, my name is Sohn JeeWoon,” she corrected, putting emphasis on her given name. “Mienhaeyo,” JeeWoon started, “But if you’re going to go through the trouble of singing me a song, shouldn’t you at least know what my name is?”

            “Pabo,” JaeJoong said, shaking his head as he hit YunHo’s arm for his faux pas, “ChoMin-sshi told you her name in the car; how could you forget already?”

            “Miene!” YunHo apologized, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, “JeeYool sounded more like her name – I thought I heard wrong because ‘JeeWoon’ sounded like a guy’s name.”

            “You should’ve just kept your mouth shut,” JaeJoong said with his arms crossed and shaking his head.

            “It’s not my fault,” YunHo countered, staring at JaeJoong and repeated, “JeeWoon sounded like a guy’s name.’

JeeWoon crossed her arms over her large chest, and gave YunHo a dry look. “Excuse me, I’m right here…” she said, not liking the fact that they talked as if she wasn’t there.

            “Um, lets blow out the candle,” ChoMin interrupted, trying to draw the attention back to the small party. She lifted up the small vanilla-fruit cake so that JeeWoon could blow out the single candle. To her horror, however, she brought the cake too close and smeared the whipped crème on JeeWoon’s chin. “Omo! I’m sooo sorry!” ChoMin apologized, trying to wipe the crème off of her friend’s face. Both JaeJoong and YunHo snickered at JeeWoon’s whip crème beard, as YoonKi still stood agape watching the two idols.

With a mischievous smirk, JeeWoon scooped up a handful of cake and prepared to throw it at her friend, “Yah! Jung ChoMin!”

ChoMin backed away, knowing full well JeeWoon would throw the cake, with a small “Eeep,” she tripped over the coffee table just as the cake went flying over her head. With a splat it landed smack dab on YunHo’s shirt. The room grew quiet. YunHo stared down at his ruined shirt, wiping the cake off with his hands; shock was evident on his face.

            “Mienhaeyo! Mienhaeyo!” JeeWoon apologized, grabbing fistfuls of napkins as she tried to wipe off the stain from YunHo’s very expensive looking shirt. She grimaced, not wanting to look up at his face, for fear of his anger. She failed to see, however, the mischievous smile plastered on his face. With cake-stained hands, he rubbed his hands all over JeeWoon’s face and hair, laughing as some of it went inside .

JeeWoon laughed, pulling away from YunHo. She smacked her lips thoughtfully, and looked up at him with a huge grin. “Good cake,” she commented good naturedly.

YunHo smiled, engulfing the grinning birthday girl in a hug. Despite not really wanting to attend at the start, YunHo was glad he actually did come. When ChoMin told him about JeeWoon, he expected her to be a bit annoying or clingy or even be obsessive. Even though he loved his fans, he hated it when they grabbed at him or hugged him without his permission. This girl didn’t act like the usual start-struck fangirl, and for that he would give her the best birthday party to his ability. YunHo smiled, as he watched the girl shyly snake her arms around his torso.

JeeWoon, on the other hand, bit back a squeal of delight, as she basked in YunHo’s embrace.

Laughter overcame everyone in the room, finally snapping YoonKi back to reality.

            “Omo! Dong Bang Shin Ki’s U-Know YunHo and YoungWoong JaeJoong!” YoonKi screamed, a little too girly even for him.

The other four stared at him, and in unison laughed at the star-struck fanboy. JeeWoon made her way towards ChoMin and hugged her tightly in gratitude. “Oh my God! Thank you!” she smiled, letting go of ChoMin.

 In the background, YoonKi fanboyed over the two idols, wanting them to sign every little thing he could get his hands on.

            “But how did you get U-Know YunHo and YoungWoong JaeJoong to come to my birthday party?” JeeWoon asked.

ChoMin grinned, “Believe it or not, U-Know YunHo is my cousin.”

            “So all that time – I can’t believe it,” JeeWoon said, recalling all those times ChoMin let it slipped. How could she not have known earlier? With the truth out, how did she not realize it before? “So all that time you talked about your mysterious ‘cousin’; you were actually talking about Jung YunHo?”

            “Neh,” ChoMin nodded, her guilt coming back as she remembered the many times she hid the truth from JeeWoon.

JeeWoon just smiled and replied, “Wow, I can’t believe my best friend is related to a celebrity.”

In the background, YunHo and JaeJoong humored YoonKi as he fawned over them.

Touched by JeeWoon’s words, ChoMin glomped the taller girl. “I’m sorry for ever hiding anything from you.” ChoMin confessed, “In a short amount of time; you’ve become my best friend.”

JeeWoon returned the hug and said, “Thank you ChoMin-ah, this has really been the best birthday I’ve ever had.”

ChoMin smiled. Everything was perfect, and she couldn’t be happier. She glanced around her; JeeWoon hit YoonKi for embarrassing her, while YunHo and JaeJoong seemed to be enjoying themselves.

            “Yah! Let’s get this party started!” ChoMin exclaimed, jumping up and running to join her friends.

Unnoticed to ChoMin, JaeJoong glanced at her from the corner of his eyes and smiled.

Notes:

Norebang – karaoke rooms where people pay by the hour to use. It is pretty popular for high schoolers to use after school, especially to host parties or dating parties.
Yoo YungJin – SM producer. I just skimmed through a list of SM personnel, and liked his name.
What YunHo sings – actual lyrics from DBSK’s “Your Love is All I Need” and it translates to: Baby, I’m not afraid, if we’re together, of what will come tomorrow. Always believe in me; because we’re together.” The last part is actually YunHo’s part of the song. “During each repetitive day, you’re the sun that revolves around me.”