Chapter 13

“I don’t have a way back home,” she said. We were all confused to silence as she went on. “I was supposed to leave in two days, but my mom just called and… now we can’t afford a plane ticket. It’s over $3,000 and Island Records stopped funding me.”

-

KEY

After we arrived home from Carribean Bay with an order of Chinese food, we all sat down around our living room table and ate in near silence from exhaustion and worry.

Claire spoke up with a small voice. “I’m sorry, guys, for being a burden. I really didn’t mean to be—“

“No, don’t be sorry, Claire,” said Minho quietly. “We’ll figure this out.”

Then, Jonghyun’s phone rang again. “Manager hyung?” he answered. His short figure walked a few feet away so his words would be muffled.

There was a brief silence as we all tried to connect the pieces of the “scandal” together. “Do you think this is because of yesterday’s ‘kiss’?” I asked bluntly.

Minho cocked his head to the side, saying, “Americans really don’t take those things lightly, especially because of Bieber’s already disrespected rep…” He trailed to a silence.

Onew spoke up first. “We’ll find a way, Claire. Don’t look so worried.”

“Yeah,” Taemin piped. “Jonghyun’s probably talking with manager hyung about what’s going on now.

Putting his phone into his now-dry swimsuit pocket, Jonghyun turned and spoke with a grimace on his face. “SHINee’s okay, guys, but Bieber’s company isn’t okay.”

I glanced at Claire, who looked at Jonghyun with despondence. “The reason Island Records isn’t giving her the plane ticket is because Bieber’s going to be unactive for a month, and they no longer support Keyber. SM’s afraid that they’ll lose a tie with Island Records and stopped supporting Keyber too.” He turned his gaze to Claire. “Which means they stopped supporting you too, Claire.”

Claire just blinked, unable to take it all in. I couldn’t keep looking at her, cause I felt like my heart would rip to see her so hopeless.

“Key’s going to be taking a break from some schedules, too,” said Jonghyun, almost apologetically. It wasn’t news to me; the manager told me yesterday. Now Claire turned her head to stare at me with anguish.

“I’m so sorry, Key,” she said softly, a film of tears covering her eyes. “I’m gonna go call my mom.” With an abrupt shove of her chair, her hair swooped side-to-side as she briskly retreated to the room.

“I feel God-awful,” Minho said, putting both of his hands into his messy ‘do. “What do we do?”

No one answered for a few moments, eyed fixed on the table. What could we do?

SM doesn’t give us enough money at all to fund her ticket, and it’d be difficult for all of our families. Island Records would be impossible to persuade; SM just as hard. She could become an employee in SM, then be given an apartment? If we put in a good word…

But this isn’t fanfiction or something, and nothing that unrealistic is gonna happen.

My phone buzzed at that moment. When I picked it up, it was an all-too-familiar voice:

Justin Bieber.

-

CLAIRE

“I just don’t want to pull from your college savings, Claire,” my mom said, voice weaker than it usually was. “And I don’t think the business is going to be able to handle that debt.”

I said nothing, imagining my mom and uncle working hard in their small Korean store in Koreatown to send me money. My throat was too choked up to respond because I was so sorry and regretful.

“Just go to your great aunt’s in Chungcheongbuk-do*,” she said. “You still have the money I gave you in the beginning. A bus there will only be like ₩20,000*. I’ll email you the address. Stay there for the summer and I’ll call you when we can send you money.”

“Alright. I’ll tell the guys and I’ll leave for there tomorrow.” I swallowed to clear my tears. “I’m so sorry, mom.”

“It’s not your fault, dear,” she reassured with the determined voice I was used to. “Trust yourself.”

After hanging up, I walked back to the boys around the kitchen table.

“Give me the phone, you idiot!” shouted Key, grabbing Jonghyun at the shoulders and trying to grab the phone.

Jonghyun was cheekily smiling at Key with the phone pressed against his ear in one shoulder. “Ohh, I see,” he said in his heavy Korean accent.

Oh God.

“Do you even understand what he’s saying!?!” Key yelled, now battering Jonghyun’s backs with smacks from his palms. “You motherer, give it to me!”

Onew gasped theatrically. “Not in front of maknae, Key!”

“I can handle, it, hyung!” Taemin protested indignantly. “You motherer!”

Despite the circumstances, we all cracked up laughing.

Jonghyun caught sight of me, eyes widening. “Oh. I call you back.” Oh jeez, he needs work on his English. “Bye bye~” he said cheekily again, the “byes” sounding more like “bah-ee bah-ee.”

I covered my mouth so he couldn’t see me laugh.

“What did your mom say, Claire?” Jonghyun asked in Korean. The other members quieted down, waiting for my response.

After quickly explaining the situation, they all nodded their heads slowly.

“That could work out,” said Minho.

“But we only got to know you for two days, Claire!” said Onew. “That’s not fair!”

I shrugged. “You guys are busy anyway. I already bought my ticket online for a bus tomorrow at 12.”

“How long will you be staying at your great-aunt’s?” Key asked inquisitively. He cocked his head to the side.

“Probably until the end of the summer, so around a month?”

Key nodded. “I think I’ll go with you, Claire.”

WHAT?!

-

*₩20,000= around $20. If you see any Korean money amounts, just pretend the comma is a decimal point :3

*Chungcheongbuk-do= an agricultural province in central Korea, quite rural.

Hey guys! I wrote this up really quickly after I came back from vacation~ sorry for my intensely spaced out chapters. Thank you for the love and keep supporting Keyber! I’ll try to update more often!

BAH-EE~

blueducttape

BTW, I TOTES USED A SEMICOLON IN THIS. I'M FREAKING PROUD