“Daesungah, do you like bluebirds or cardinals more?”

“Uh, what?”

“Oh, I’m just curious… bluebirds or cardinals?”

“Bluebirds, I guess?”

What was Hyung up to?  I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I’m not a total idiot either.  Okay, so maybe I can’t remember exactly when it started, but did Hyung think that I would never notice?  That for the past couple of weeks he’s been asking me these random questions without any rhyme or reason.

“Dae – do you prefer oranges or kiwi?”  “Do you like roses or sunflowers?”  “Do you think the sky is prettier or the ocean?”

The questions always come at the oddest times, with no warning.  Like, we’d be in the recording studio – Hyung is at the mic, I’m just observing, and while Choice Hyung and Jiyongi Hyung are discussing the latest verse, he’ll ask over the system while he’s waiting for directions.  Or, we’re in the van on the way to dance practice, all too tired and lost in our own thoughts to talk, when he’ll turn around and pose the question. 

“Daesungah, which do you think are more attractive – elephants or lizards?”  “Do you think lavender smells better or lime?”  “Do you like merlot or rose more?”

I’d always answer of course, and that was the end of the conversation.  He didn’t write it down, he didn’t question my answer, in fact, he didn’t really react at all.  At first, like I said, I didn’t even notice that it was something he was doing.  We were so busy with planning the album release that it was hard enough to know what day it was, let alone analyze just another odd behavior from my eccentric Hyung.  But then I realized he wasn’t asking any of the other members, only me.  That’s when I started to pay closer attention to the questions, to see if I could see what he was up to.  Maybe there was a theme that I had been missing because of how randomly he was asking.

“Orange soda or grape soda?”  “Tennis or basketball?”  “Ddukboki or miyeok guk?” 

Well, for all I could figure out, he was playing a very weird 20 Questions with me – one that didn’t make any sense and one that he forgot to mention to me.  The questions didn’t seem to have any pattern that I could see, they were a very random mix of “pick one” options.  Since I couldn’t see where it was going, I decided to just go along and stop wondering about what he was thinking – that could be a black hole I never find my way out of!

Now, the questions have stopped for the past couple of days – though not before he asked me whether I liked Tiffany’s or Victoria’s Secret more?  It isn’t anywhere near my birthday – and I’m not a girl – so I have no idea what he was getting at with that one.  We’re in the final weeks before the album release, so maybe he’s gotten too busy to continue.  I have to admit, I’m kind of glad, but also a little disappointed.  It was nice to have Hyung asking me, and only me, questions like that.  I don’t know what’s going on, sure, but it does seem like he was trying to get to know me more.  I mean, we know each other really well of course, but these were really specific questions that he wanted to know about me. 

But, I didn’t have a lot of time to think about it – the next two days were the final fittings for our new wardrobe and style before we had our photo shoots and traveled to New York to shoot the music videos.  It was going to be a hectic couple of days, but I was more nervous because I was making a big change.  We were all doing something a little different to match the album concept – Seungri was getting some heavy piercings and Jiyong Hyung was doing some sort of Skrillex style or something - but I had zeroed in on the words Blonde Daesung and pretty much ignored everything else.  It’s the first time I’ll have hair that light, and I’m vain enough to admit that I’m worried about how it will look.

…