Chapter 5- Feeling Blue and Basketball

Kevin’s POV

The pizza party did make me feel so much better, but still the talk in Hana’s letter bothered me and my rejection from Jamie played over and over again in my mind.

The phone rang as I waited for her to pick up……“Hi Kevin!“

“Hey Jamie” I said

“It’s been a long time since you’ve called. What’s up?”

“I’ve been busy working on our new single that’ll be coming out in a couple of weeks, but otherwise not much. How about you?” I made myself ask , but I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to hear her answer.

“Just the same old, same old. College, hanging with friends, and work.”

“That’s nice.” I replied

We talked for a little while longer before she said “Well, Kevin I really should go now. I’ve got class in 10 minutes.”

“Umm, Jamie wait. Can I tell you something?”

“Sure Kevin, shoot.” She asked innocently

“I love you, and I’ve loved you from the first day we met.” I gushed out

She stayed silent for a minute before speaking again “I’m sorry Kevin, but I don’t have feelings for you. You’re just like a brother to me and nothing more. I will only ever have feelings for my boyfriend.”

“Okay, well I’m glad that’s off my chest anyways. We can still be friends though right?” I said trying not to let my voice break or tears come pouring out while we were still talking.

“Sure Kevin, Take care. I really need to go now. Bye”

“Bye, Take care Jamie.” I said with my voice starting to crack, and as soon as I hung up tears poured down my face. I slid down my wall and sat crying as silently as I could, so the other guys wouldn’t think I was a total woos.

Eli kept trying to cheer me up all week: showing me funny movies to watch, making me go with him to get ice cream, shopping, and doing silly things to make me laugh. The other guys as well could tell I was a bit down, and tried to cheer me up too even though they didn’t know the reason for my blues.

Hana’s POV

“Hana! We’re going to miss the tip-off.” Mary yelled through the bathroom door.

“I’m coming, but I want to dry my hair first.” I yelled back over the hair dryer’s noise.

I heard her sigh ”Fine, but if you’re not ready in 5, I’m leaving for the game.”

That evening we were going to watch Matt play basketball for the NYU basketball team. When we went out to pizza I found out that he was a Jock, but he wasn’t a jerk like most of them. He actually was really sweet, and he had invited us to come to the game tonight. Well actually he sort of blackmailed me to attend the game, but that’s a story in and of itself.

The game was actually really fascinating and Matt looked so focused and sharp on the court. I felt upset when he got fouled and cheered loudly when he scored. Mary teased me that I spent extra time getting ready because I liked him, which wasn’t all too untrue. Actually it was completely true. I had a crush on Matt, and why wouldn’t I have a crush on him –he’s smart, funny, handsome, athletic, doesn’t swear like a sailor, has a killer smile, and is just generally a nice guy.

It was a close game and they were down two points in the last half and there wasn’t much time left on the clock. The other team shot the ball, but they missed and the rebound was taken by Matt. He dribbled hard down the court, shot at the three point line, and as the buzzer sounded the ball made it into the hoop. The stadium erupted with cheers and I was cheering right with everyone else.

After the game I went and congratulated Matt “Nice shot Matt. You looked really good out there.”

“Thanks, but shouldn’t I get a congratulatory hug too?”

I laughed “No! You’re all sweaty and gross right now.”

He chuckled “I guess I am kind of wet and smelly. How about after I change?”

“Maybe……” I coyly replied and then noting the time on my watch I gasped and said ”Catch you later Matt, I’ve got an early class tomorrow and I need my sleep.”

Several days later I got another letter from Kevin.

September 26, 2009

Annyeonghaseo Hana,

It’s been kind of a rough week. I confessed to my friend Jamie that I had a crush on since we met, and she rejected me. She already has a boyfriend too and told me she could only see me as a brother. Have you ever had your heart broken? It hurts a lot.

The guys are all trying to cheer me even though only Eli knows what’s really going on. Eli threw me a pija party, Dongho gave me some funny manga to read, Xander has been forcing me to watch movies with him, Soohyun has been ordering food for me (and eating most of it), Kibum has been cracking jokes, and Kiseop our newest member keeps trying to make me go clubbing.

Anyways we’re getting really busy with putting the final touches on our new mini album that’s coming out at the beginning of next month. We’ve finished the vocal recordings last week. This week we had to polish up our dance and finish up the music video. We also had some photo shoots for and interviews too. So this week has been pretty packed full of things and it’s helped keep my mind off of things.

As far as who I’m closest to in the group it would have to be Eli since he came from the U.S. too and we share a room. No one really gets under my skin too badly, but sometimes Xander and Kiseop can be a bit crazy. Our maknae Dongho can be mischievous, but I’ve kind of taken him under my wing so he’s pretty cool.

Outside of work it’s hard to go places without being recognized, but we do like to go out to eat a lot. We also like to go to movies, sports, play computer games, and go to amusement parks. It’s not much different than what you do hanging out with your friends. My favorite place to visit in Korea would be the beaches because I love swimming and playing around on the beach. Do you remember how much I used to swim? I think if I hadn’t become a singer I would be a swimmer instead.

How’s your school going? I’m sure you’re getting close to taking or have your first exams of the semester, so study hard and don’t party too much. (I probably sounded like your mom there –Joesonghapmida!) Tell me more about your new friends and what they’re like. I’m curious because as a star it’s really hard to make true friends outside of our group or other idol groups, because a lot of people just want to hang with us for our money and fame.

Well I’ve got to run before people come looking for me!

Your Chingu,

-Kevin

‘I can’t wait for their new album to come out and I want to see Kevin dance some more. It sounds like he has a lot of fun with the other members, but at the same time it must be lonely being an idol because it’s harder to make friends. I think he’s really enjoying having someone else that he can talk to about things.’ I thought to myself as I drifted off to sleep and dreamed about how the new album would sound and what the dances would look like.

Chapter glossary

*Annyeonghaseyo- 안녕하세요- Hello (Annyeong 안녕 means peace or peace be to you)

*Pija-피자 -Pizza

*Maknae- 막내 –Youngest aka youngest of the group

*Joe-song Hap-mi-da- 죄송합니다 –I’m sorry, apology, feeling ashamed.

*Chingu-친구- Friend

*Should I keep putting every word used in the glossary or should I just put new words in it? Also, should I start incorporating these words in hangeul instead of the Romanized version? Let me know! Sorry it’s been kind of slow getting new chapters out, but college has been really frying my brain this week.*