At the TVXQ! dorm: January 7, 2015
"Changmin-ah," Yunho called to his junior.
Changmin, who was pulling apart the ripe flesh of a plump tangerine from his place on the couch, sighed before getting up and following Yunho to the doorway.
"What is it, Hyung1?" Changmin asked quizzically, peering over the shoulder of the shorter man.
"I was about to leave to go to schedule when I almost tripped over this," Yunho said, handing Changmin a large cardboard box. "Let me know when to expect your next huge shipment outside the door, okay?"
Yunho laughed heartily, the edges of his eyes and temples crinkling and creasing. Changmin looked at him, completely confused as he held the box.
"I didn't order anything," he mumbled mostly to himself, but Yunho heard.
"It's addressed to you," Yunho said matter-of-factly, though now he found himself intrigued as well. "Unless it's from a fan. But we collected all the stuff since the anniversary."
Changmin wore a troubled expression, curious about the mysterious package. It was surprisingly light, and he would have been able to lift it with one arm had it not been so large and cumbersome. It could be fan mail, but it seemed unlikely due to its rather normal exterior. Most fans made it a priority to decorate the outside of the boxes in stickers or drawings or even took the effort to wrap it in colorful paper.
"Well, if I don't go now, I'll be late," Yunho said with an already-tired sigh. "Let me know what ends up being in there!"
Yunho left, a cheery hop in his step and a bright smile on his face. Changmin envied the man--naive as Yunho may be, his naivety allowed him to keep up a happy demeanor and always appear pleasantly optimistic.
Scoffing at his thoughts, he stepped back through the doorway, kicking off his shoes and setting the large box on the floor in the living room. He peeled another wedge from his tangerine, chewing on its soft skin as he looked for a pair of scissors in the kitchen.
Once he found a pair, he used them to cut the tape that kept whatever mystery it was locked inside the box. Cutting the last bit of tape, the box flaps sprung open slightly, and he separated them as well as the remaining two on the inside.
A breath escaped his lips as the treasures were unveiled before his eyes (which widened slightly as he saw). Inside the box were hundreds--thousands--of paper cranes.
The set of Star King2: February 18, 2015 (Changmin's 27th3 birthday)
"Today, we have some very special celebrity guests with us," Leeteuk spoke, his tone rising to draw suspense from the crowd. "Please welcome... The Rising Gods, Choikang Changmin and U-Know Yunho!"
The crowd applauded excitedly, high squeaks and squeals coming most notably from the mouths of the interested female portion of the audience. The two men smiled and bowed in appreciation for the crowd's jovial response.
Leeteuk announced some of the other celebrity guests and the crowd cheered loudly after every name. He also made a big show of harassing and embarrassing Changmin, who was celebrating his birthday that day, much to the delight of the crowd. The show proceeded as normal: acts displayed their talent one after another to the amazement of the stunned audience.
At last, the last act was announced: "Please welcome to the stage, Smith Kira!"
She entered onto the stage, nervously clutching the microphone to her chest. The audience clapped politely, but the set quickly became silent as the crowd began to notice her apprehension and anxiety.
Noting the awkward silence, Leeteuk quickly began speaking:
"Please introduce yourself."
She looked at him, gaining a bit of confidence from the reassuring look in his eyes.
"Hello, everyone, my name is--"
She stopped as the room went silent again. The audience looked confused. She quickly realized her mistake and corrected herself:
"Excuse me," she said in Korean this time. "My name is Kira. I was born in 1994. Please treat me well.4"
The crowd, amazed by her excellent Korean, clapped for her to continue. She blushed and bowed, and the celebrity audience cooed at her unprompted aegyo5. Leeteuk calmed the set once more.
"What talent will you be showing for us today?" He asked.
"I'm going to be telling a story," she explained, her nervousness was still apparent as her blush refused to fade.
The audience chattered amongst themselves, wondering what that might mean. Hesitantly taking a breath, she began:
"A few years ago, there was a man I really liked. But it was one-sided, if you could even call it that. He, as far as I knew, was not in love with someone else. The one I loved simply had no idea I even existed," she paused and attempted to impress upon the audience that she was not exaggerating the truth. "It wasn't that I loved him from afar, and he failed to reciprocate my feelings. He sincerely did not know of my existence. Why? Because I was simply another quiet fan. And he was a celebrity. He is a celebrity. And..."
She took a moment to build the suspense and attempted to contain the mess of emotions that swirled within her fluttering heart before speaking again:
"He's sitting in the audience today, on stage with me."
Wolf whistles went through the crowd, and the celebrity guests looked expectantly at one another. They looked for recognition in the others' eyes. Nothing. Kira noticed this too and took the opportunity to lessen the growing suspicion between the members of the celebrity audience:
"Like I said, he doesn't know who I am. I'm merely another fan and not a very good one at that. It was difficult for me, finding money to support him, but when I could, I bought his music instead of downloading it free of charge. Regretfully, I never had enough saved to see him in concert or go to any fan meetings.
"I tried to show my support in small ways," she explained, slowly finding her confidence under the bright lights and watchful eyes of the audience the longer she talked. "I would send mail, but I think it probably went unopened and discarded. After all, it wasn't fancily decorated--it wasn't wrapped up and tied with a bow.
"He recently celebrated his tenth year since debut," she hinted and looked toward the only men should could be talking about. The audience immediately knew this man was one of the TVXQ duo, but neither of their faces or her own gave away any indication of which she could be referring to. Genuinely unknowing, they shot each other a questioning glance, but neither knew anything about the girl telling her story on stage.
"To congratulate him, I sent him a present. From the outside, it was simply a large box," Kira explained before softly adding "...but a quantity of paper cranes sat nestled inside."
One of the members of the duo shifted slightly at this confession, drawing the attention of only a handful of audience members. The rest were transfixed by her story of unrequited, one-sided love and were too focused on her narrative to be distracted. But Kira noticed, and her eyes flickered to his but for a moment. Her nervousness was beginning to take hold again, and she quickly looked away.
"How many paper cranes?" Leeteuk asked, mesmerized, much like the rest of the audience, by her story.
"...Ten thousand," she spoke softly. "I made them all in a single year."
Her eyes met his again with the utmost sincerity only to see it reflected back at her, and she understood. He had received the gift and opened it, despite its less-than-impressive exterior. The other member looked at the two as he remembered the mysterious box. He was quick to conceal the smile that played at his lips, intending whole-heartedly to keep the audience at the edge of their seats in anticipation for the reveal. A chuckle stayed hidden in his chest as he watched the two stare intently at one another, meeting the other's gaze with certainty and sincerity.
Finally breaking their eye contact, Kira resumed her story, though it seemed a bit disjointed before it smoothed again:
"Paper cranes, the art of folding them originated in Japan. According to folklore, the crane is a powerful animal capable of granting wishes to those who make one thousand paper representations of it," she explained, stealing a glance at him from the corner of her eye. "The man I love faced many challenges. He fought the loss of many fans when he redebuted without three of his previous members. He fought the resentment of those past members. But today he stands proud.
"He of all people, one who, though he might not seem like it at times, truly cares for his fans--this man, who uses himself so others can have their wish--this man deserves to have some wishes of his own.
"He had faced so many hardships in the ten years since his debut, he deserves at least one wish of his own for each of those years of suffering and difficulty. I began folding just after his eighth year since debut, hoping that by his tenth, I would be able to come to Korea and confess this to him," she paused, pulling something off the edge of the stage and hiding it behind her back secretively. "But, regretfully, I realized, I did not take into account then that his tenth anniversary would have just passed and his birthday would be quickly approaching. He needs one more year of good luck to carry him through the difficulties he will face."
She chuckled lightly to herself as she pulled a large glass jar from behind her. In it was a variety of beautiful cranes, each unique in color, pattern, and size. Holding the jar, she spoke again:
"Who is this man I love?" She asked, and, despite the fact that many had guessed which of the two men it was at this point, they were curious to see what she would do next. Smirking with growing confidence, she ordered:
"Shim Changmin," she spoke confidently, her eyes locking on his. "Na ga.6"
There was a moment of tense silence on the set.
Suddenly, the studio broke into gasps and whispers as the tall man smirked with a snort and rose to his feet, undeterred by her bold manner of confessing. He could be just as bold as her.
As he approached her confidently, she quickly returned to her original state of nervousness. He towered over her small frame, and she blushed brightly as she forced the jar into his hands.
He took it from her and bent down to carefully set it on the ground. He returned to his full height as he faced her and spoke:
"I remember your box," he said suddenly. The audience quieted immediately at the sound of his voice. "I thought it was going to be something large, but when I held it up, it was light. Mystified, I decided to open it. Inside, cranes. Mountains and mountains of cranes."
She refused to meet his eyes, her blush still prominent on her cheeks. She could feel his eyes aching to see her face but could not find it in her to look up at him.
"I had never been so happily surprised in my life," he said in earnest. "Thank you for the wishes."
She nodded, but could feel the tears slipping from her eyes. It was too much. Despite her inability to be the fan she wished she could be--one who attended concerts, watched dramas he starred in, met him with gifts at the airport--she had ended up being the person in front of him. She was where all those other people wished they could be. She, Kira Smith, had confessed to TVXQ's Changmin. She was brave. And if she was brave enough to do that...
At last, she convinced herself to look into his eyes.
"Thank you," he repeated sincerely, looking deeply into her wet eyes.
Before she could process what had happened, she found her face pressed against his hard chest in a comforting hug. The audience cheered hysterically, some wiping tears from their eyes. Amidst all the noise, his voice in her ear caught her attention:
"Don't cry anymore," he whispered, then added. "Thank you, but I think it's time you had a wish of your own come true."
He pulled her away from his chest only the lay a kiss on her cheek. She blushed immediately, and the crowd went wild, cheering happily.
The Shim household: June 24, 2018
She sat at the kitchen counter, a new stack of square papers sitting next to her on the smooth granite surface. She was at it again: folding more paper cranes despite the various fully-filled jars already cluttering their apartment.
"Babe, how many are you going to make?" She heard his voice travel from the couch where he sat, peeling wedges off a tangerine.
She swiveled in her chair to look at him. He was sprawled out on the couch, his shirt ed at the top and his tie loose around his neck, long fingers popping pieces of orange fruit into his mouth.
"Shim Changmin," she addressed formally. "Do you wish the baby growing inside me, our child, to have bad luck?"
"No, of course not," He chuckled from his place on the couch as he finished the last bit of the small fruit. He got up and walked up to her. He towered over her, and she backed away slightly, intimidated, but stopped as her back met the edge of the countertop. His hands touched her growing belly, and he pecked her lips sweetly.
"...But he has such a beautiful and caring mother," Changmin spoke softly. "I'm not sure how much luckier he can get."
He cupped her face in his hands, pressing their lips together once more.
THE END
1 "Hyung" is a term used by younger males to describe older males who they have a friendly relationship with.
2 "Star King" is a Korean television program that allows international (as well as domestic) talent show their abilities. There is a studio audience as well as an audience of celebrities. The latter group sits on the side of the stage. "Star King" is currently (2013) hosted by Super Junior's leader, LeeTeuk.
3 For the sake of less confusion, I'm going with Changmin's international age with it's application to the time of the story.
4 This is a phrase used commonly when speaking publicly after someone introduces themselves.
5 "Aegyo" comes from the Korean work "Aegi" which means "baby". It is a word used to describe childish cuteness or cute childish behavior.
6 "Na ga." means "Come out." As in, "come out(side)" or "come out (from where you are hiding)". It's bold to say this, as you essentially accuse the person you're speaking to of being a coward.
Author's Note (01/08/13)
Okay, so I wasn't planning to do this, but I busted out the edits to this in one night. Go me! Wooooooo~ Anywhosit, if you liked it, please let me know down in the comments (jaepal~). It's been a long time since I've been this happy with what I've written, and I'd really appreciate your thoughts on it. :) Thank you!!!!! :)
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