Prologue + Day 1
Scandal
It only could've been a lost bet. That was the ONLY reason reason I was standing in the lobby of the Mnet building like an idiot. Looking down at my hand formed to make scissors, I frowned. Kai-bai-bo was SO not my game.
"It'll be fun," Nana had told me.
Yeah, it was fun so long as it wasn't her. It was fun as long as she got me past my apprehension of signing up for this ridiculous show when I should've been helping that idiot study for her upcoming test.
With a sigh I went up to the lady at the front desk who had begun to look at me with suspicion. A bright smile bloomed on her face when I when I got close enough to bow.
"Annyonghaseyo. Where do I sign up for 'Mnet Scandal'?"
"I hate physics!"
I rolled my eyes at Nana, her head buried into her book. "Want to quit?"
"Yes!" She groaned. "But I can't....."
My soda was pushed towards her as an offering which she gladly accepted. I didn't need to take all the levels of physics that she did, so I was pretty much in the clear for the test scheduled for the following day in English class. I was fluent, but the rules of our university stated I had to take the class. Can somebody say, 'easy A'?
"Anyway, Minnie," Nana pushed her stick straight brown hair over her shoulder. "Have you heard from Mnet?"
I flipped a page of the novel I was reading. "You didn't really expect them to pick me, did you?"
"Who did you list as potential matches?" she asked over my rattling my cup in search of more water.
I thought back to when I was sitting in the waiting room, with the form staring me in the face. The pen they had given me was flat on the table as I wracked my brains in panic. I suddenly couldn't understand why I was even going along with this nonsense.
"Did they give you the list of all members of the guy groups? Was it like multiple choice or something?"
I shook my head. "You had to fill that part in yourself. They said the maximum was five groups, I think. They said it was for 'understanding my taste in music'. What a lame lie."
Nana's ears perked up. "Oh, so we're talking about a bias list?" All her energy seemed to have returned to her then. "Spill: who did you choose? I bet you picked groups whose dances we covered."
I realized I never really talked much about my bias list to her, who never liked to talk about anything else.
"I wrote TVXQ, Block B, Beast, Shinee and BAP. They said order didn't matter, so--"
"BAP?!" Nan exclaimed. "No wonder they haven't called you back. Firstly, I refuse to comment on TVXQ. They just seem so far out of our league that we can't even play."
I nodded in concession.
"That aside, only heaven knows what Block B is up to, Beast is probably buried in comeback preparations, Shinee is forever on demand and BAP, if they had time to even blow their own noses, which I doubt they do," she added sternly, "they still wouldn't consent to something like this."
I sighed. I wasn't so sure about that last part, but generally, she made a good point. I found it amazing that celebrities found time for things like that at all. Particularly BAP. They had only just debuted and they were working their cute little butts off. They needed rest. It was the one thing that both Nan and I could both reach the same level of frustration over.
As it began to get late, I grabbed my bag. It was the first time I had to drag Nan out of the library to drop me home. Her feet were actually dragging on the way to the parking lot.
I rolled my eyes. "You're not going to fail. Its just one exam. You'll be fine."
She whimpered some but didn't make any more sounds after that. I rubbed her back soothingly. Thankfully, the library parking lot had bright street lights so we weren't completely spooked to be going to the car .
Other than two mini vans--one black, one grey--parked on opposite sides of the lot, hers was the only vehicle. There was a man walking toward another suspicious looking character who was leaning on the side of the black van, which was nearest our parking spot, carrying cups with steam coming from them. Not my business, I decided. But the taller man had detached himself from the car door and was already making his way toward us.
"Excuse me!" he called, waving an arm.
"Let's get out of here. I don't feel like listening to any corny pick up lines."
Curious, Nana turned to look toward the guy approaching us in a black camouflage hoodie. "You're not just saying that because you're scared, are you?"
She met my gaze and I automatically knew what she was saying. It was a ridiculous telepathic exchange. I knew well of this area's low percentage of incidents at night so, against my better judgment and with the knowledge that I'd be called a chicken if I didn't comply, I it up.
"Kai bai BO!"
Nana covered my rock first with her paper hand. She didn't give me a smug smirk, but rather she zipped her lip and gave the stranger time to come closer as she went around to the driver's seat. I moved forward to meet him some of the way, making no attempts to hide my disinclination to talk.
Black Hood seemed to be looking at me rather curiously when he drawled uncertainly, "Uh, Choi Minhee-shi?"
It was my turn to give a curious look. Since he wore a cap over his hood, the bill from it cast a shadow over his face. It didn't help that we were right under the street light either. His voice didn't sound like any of my friends; it gave me immediate chills, hearing it so close.
"Oh? Ne." I bowed awkwardly in greeting. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"
"Minnie," Nan called in a hushed tone from behind me.
In trying to glance at her over my shoulder, I noticed a red light glaring at me from above a camera lens watching us from in the second, grey van. My head whipped back around just in time to see the leader of BAP lift his cap and push the hood off his head to let light shine down on his features.
Nan gasped loudly. I heard the door snap open before hearing her scamper to my side. My heart was ready to burst as I stared at his trademark gummy smile.
"Ne, annyonghaseyo," he said with a respectful bow. "I'm your one week boyfriend, Bang Yongguk. I really shocked you didn't I?" I nodded dumbly, finally retrieving my jaw from the ground. "Nice to meet you," he went on offering a hand for Nana to shake.
"Likewise." They shook hands with smiles all around.
I regained my composure when he gave me the cup that was in his hand. "Gamsahamnida."
"It's a little cool out so me and hyung got some cocoa and tea and whatnot. I hope you like it." I bowed my head in acknowledgement again. This time addressing my speechless best friend, he asked, "Do you mind if I borrow her from you for a while?"
"Go right ahead." She held her hands up to her chest in mock surrender. "She's all yours."
All his.
My legs wanted to give so bad at those words, but my pride was a strong enough force to fight gravity off. Yongguk motioned for me to head towards the black van and I had to put effort into working my stiff joints.
He and Nana bowed to each other one last time before he came to my side. The man I had seen earlier had gone into the driver's seat already so all Bang had to do was open the door for me. Out of pure reflex, I shot Nana a look. She hadn't left yet, instead waiting on us. She gave me a reassuring smile that said that later she expected a complete play by play. I smiled back and finally got into the car.
Bang settled into the seat next to me. "Did you already eat?"
I had an idea of how hectic his schedule was so I turned it around. "Did you? Its already after ten."
He laughed a little. "Don't think about it like that. I want to know if you're hungry."
I pouted gently in thought. "I can eat," I admitted finally, out of consideration for him.
Instructions were given for his hyung to drive to he nearest ramen place. I smiled into the lid of my cocoa, remembering how much he loved ramen. At that point I was glad I watched every single episode of 'Tadah! Its BAP'.
As we drove on, he seemed to be looked at something in the front passenger seat. I didn't ask and he didn't tell, but it was so cute to see him nervous like that in front of me.
Because I knew the area, I knew that it wasn't very far to our college owned plaza that housed something like a cafeteria/restaurant blend on the bottom floor. I was surprised for all of two seconds that his manager knew it was here. This was a TV show after all. They probably did all their homework before they dared to drag one of their celebs out here. Likewise, I knew that there were cameras in the car but they were so well hidden that I couldn't see them, giving the illusion of privacy. I had to say that I really appreciated their efforts.
From earlier, he had rested his hat casually on his head so when I glanced across sideways I could properly see Bang's profile. He was biting his bottom lip gently--another trademark of his--the entire time until the van pulled into the plaza's parking lot.
Once again, he escorted me out, ushering me to the spot in the corner that had been cleared for us. Thankfully the room was pretty empty anyway. There weren't any close friends of mine in there at the time, but a few of my classmates were watching with wide eyes as we went to take our seats. I had already gotten comfy, sipping from my Styrofoam cup still, but Yongguk seemed to be trying to come to a decision.
"One sec." He excused himself and quickly headed back outside.
I sat back in my chair; I noticed that all eyes were still on me. One of the girls from the other tables who was familiar with me, was calling me to their table, no doubt for an explanation. I smiled at her instead and mimed that I shouldn't move. Of course she took as it was supposed to be taken: "Mind your own business."
It wasn't long before Bang came back, walking rather slowly. He was hiding something behind his back.
"Uh..." His eyes touched on a few things before he finally looked back at me. "I was supposed to give you this earlier, but when I actually saw you, I just....Anyway--"
He revealed a bouquet of flowers wrapped in this pretty , sparkly yellow gauzelike paper. My mouth literally fell open. I wanted to take out my phone and take a picture SO badly but it would've probably made him even more uncomfortable so I just stood and took it from him.
"Oh gosh, thank you." I bowed.
He didn't sit down until I did. "Is this place OK?"
"Yeah, the food is pretty good."
"I mean, are you OK with us being here? You were so quiet during the ride that I was wondering..."
"No, no!" So that's what he was thinking about? "That's because I was looking at you--" He raised an eyebrow. "I mean, I was looking at where you were taking me. I was surprised you'd come here."
But he had heard what I had said first and smiled a smile of relief. "Ah. So you weren't looking at me then?"
I could feel my face getting hot so I turned away. Almost immediately, a waitress came to our table and laid down some menus; I recognized her as my lab partner from the year before. We had had a bit of a falling out earlier, but she was all smiles now as she waited with her notepad for our order.
Bang looked through the plastic lined pages. "I'd like kimchi ramen and some water, please."
I glanced up at her out of the corner of my eye. All our students knew for a fact that they no longer served kimchi ramen but were too lazy to reprint the menu. Yet the waitress smiled warmly at him, not a hint of panic in her eyes.
"What about you, Minnie-unnie?" she inquired, scribbling on her notepad.
I scoffed softly under the cover of a chuckle. "Just a cheeseburger."
She bobbed her head once and disappeared. Calling me 'Minnie' like she was so close with me when I couldn't even remember her name.
"So, how old are you?"
I turned to Bang's question. "I'm 20. You're my oppa."
He seemed pleased at the sound of that. "And you're in your second year of college?" I nodded. "That's good. What are you studying? Do you like it?"
"I'm studying medicine. I'm not entirely sure what I want to specialize in, but I know I enjoy helping people this way." I rubbed my hands along the sides of the cup. "My little sister got into an accident and the doctors said that it wasn't rocket science--just standard procedure and all that. But somebody messed up during surgery and now a few of the fingers in her right hand are paralyzed."
I didn't mean to drop such a mood bomb during our very first date, but it just came out. Something about Yongguk's presence made me comfortable in talking.
"That's a noble reason." His tone was reassuring and I was glad that his mood wasn't completely ruined. "I think you'll do well."
Thankfully the food came out before I said any other damaging things. I always thought that if I really met any of the performers I liked I'd turn into an incoherent mess but conversation flowed naturally with him. He was a bit shy too at first, but by the time we were ready to leave he was talking and laughing a whole lot more.
When we headed back into the van, the air between us was light and pleasant. The instant the doors closed, I heard the ever so familiar 'Dun duh duuuuuun duh duh dun duh duuuun' of my phone.
"Warrior is back," it chimed with Yongguk's voice.
I had managed to dig it up out of my bag right in the middle of Zelo's "We gonna rock this!".
"Hello?" I couldn't face Bang while my face burned in embarrassment so I stared out the window instead. "Is that you Daddy?"
"It's me, dear," my mom replied. "How are you?"
"Mom," I said in Korean rather than in English as I had the first time. "I'm kind of in the middle of something right now."
"Something like what? Is Moon Nana there? Let me ask her how her mother is."
"No, Eomma, I'm not with Nan. I'm out....I'm..." I glanced at Bang then cupped my hand around the receiver as I whispered, "I'm on a date."
That seemed to set her off into a frenzy. "A date? Is he your boyfriend? When are you going to bring him over so I can make him a meal? Has your father met him? How long have you been together?"
"Mother!" I whined, with the knowledge that I was being taped.
"Let me have a word with him."
I knew better than to argue against my mother's imperial demands so I straightened up and cleared my throat. My companion was pretty much grinning when I turned to him.
"My mom wants to talk to you," I informed him.
"Right now?" I was happy to see that the phone call hadn't only thrown me off my game.
I nodded and pressed the speaker button.
He blinked at me then swallowed. "Yoboseyo?"
"Oh, your voice sort of surprised me," my mom gasped. "Are you Minnie's new boyfriend? "
"Uh, ne. My name is Bang Yongguk, ma'am."
"Bang Yongguk? I remember hearing Min talking about a Bang Yongguk before."
"Eomma!" I groaned over another of his grins.
"How old are you?" she went on, ignoring my protests.
"22 this year."
"That's a good, strong age. You had better make sure you keep my daughter safe and happy. If I find her crying because of you, you really won't like it."
"Yes, ma'am," he replied with an obedient nod even though she couldn't see him. "I will do my best."
"And don't you keep her out all night."
"I am carrying her home right now, ma'am."
"Oh, alright." She sounded pleased. "Well then, I'm hanging up. I'll have your father call you later, Minnie."
My hand was over my eyes. "Yes, mother."
"Have a nice time dear."
With that she was gone. I wanted to die after I had placed my phone back into my bag. Why did she choose then to call? Couldn't she have waited another half hour? Another twenty minutes would've been fine even.
But she didn't and all of that had totally just happened to me. I sighed.
"You had said earlier that your father was a foreigner?" Bang had gone back on track. "I guess that's why you answered the phone in English?"
"Yeah. She was on my Dad's cell phone so I thought it was him. Me and my dad always talk to each other in English. It's a habit, I guess."
"Where is he from? The United States?"
"He lives there now, but he was born in The Caribbean, actually." I looked at my hands around the stems of my flowers. "That's how I got my little tinge of brown. I visit my family there every now and then."
Yongguk nodded, his eyes running over my skin briefly as well; I could feel it. I didn't lift my eyes until I saw him turn his head from the corner of my eye. "I think it looks pretty."
My ears perked at those words. I knew I wouldn't have a super visible blush but my face was burning up. He allowed room for silence between us and finally gave directions to my home in Sodaemun-gu to the driver so he could stop driving in circles.
"Ah!" I glanced over to Bang, who was reaching into the pouch behind his manager's seat. "There's one more thing for me to give you."
I had completely forgotten about the couple cell phones, to tell you the truth. It was surprisingly easy to lose track of things with him. The phones themselves weren't anything too fancy--simple flips with cameras--but remembering that they were exclusively for us made them so much more valuable. I took the one meant to be mine and went into the contact list to look at the only saved number under the ID 'Bang Yongguk'.
"You guys don't really keep phones though do you?" I inquired absently.
"No, not really. We all share one phone," he replied, still looking at what I assumed to be my name in his contact list.
I smiled. "Well, now you have one just for calling me. I don't know if you'll have time to do it much, but I would really like it if you did."
His gaze rose to meet mine . "I will definitely make time to call."
'Dang,' I groaned inwardly. He couldn't be doing stuff like that. It wasn't fair. I grew up in the West so I wasn't averse to displaying affection, but I knew that if I just grabbed him and put a kiss on his lips for making that face at me, he would probably die and the entire viewing audience would see me as a . I sighed. Sometimes it to be in Korea....
"Um." I, in an attempt to get my mind out of the gutter, tried to find something else think about. "I want to change your contact name. You are my boyfriend, after all. I want to see something other than just your name come up."
Thumbs on the buttons, he wondered, "Should I do it too? What do you want me to put?"
I pouted in thought. "Well, what's your impression of me after today? What do you think when you see me now? You should put that."
My suggestion had him humming as the gears in his head turned. We both sat like that for a few seconds until we both finally came to an answer. There were so many things that I could call him, but eventually, I picked something. Once done, we switched phones.
My brows furrowed. "Baby Min?"
"Uh...yeah..." he began. "Because your face is round like a baby's and...very cute."
I was content with that. Believe me I was loving even that small observation.
He couldn't hold his smile back after he saw what I had entered. "My boo," Bang read sounding super shy.
That one was self explanatory as far as we were concerned. I didn't look at him when we switched phones again, but he held his phone up to take a picture as soon as he got it back. Until I got home all his manager could hear was "Maybe, one more?" followed by the shutter of one of our cameras. If all the photos I took of him when he and his hyung shared a few short words bothered him, the side smirk on my screen sure didn't say so.
By the time I got home, it was colder than it was before. Yongguk hopped out first, helping me out of the van and walking me to the front gate of my apartment complex. I lived on the second floor so I'd have to go up some stairs but I figured he wouldn't want to walk all the way up there.
"To here is good."
"Which floor do you live on? Which door?" He was craning his neck to look as if my name was written on the door post or something.
"Number 7," I replied, pointing up.
He spotted the door and seemed to be putting himself in motion to walk me up but I shook my head. "To here is good," I repeated. "I don't want you to get in trouble."
Bang sighed as he understood. "Ok. Be careful."
"You, too. Text me or something when you make it home so I know you're safe."
He smiled at that. "Sure. Hurry and go on up. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, oppa."
We stared at each other for a couple seconds before I finally went through the gate and up the stairs. I peeked over to the railing and saw him still watching. I waved at him with my flowers and went to unlock my door.
Heejin was walking by the end of the hallway carrying a glass of juice. "Oh, Unnie! Welcome home."
I took of my shoes and locked the door. "What's up, Jinnie?"
She shook her hand vaguely and I walked with her into the living room where I was not surprised to see Nana with her laptop, sprawled across my couch.
She shot up when she saw me. "Yah!" she called. "You must've had such a good night that you couldn't think straight." I shrugged and Nana scowled. "Don't you shrug at me. Why in the world did you go to the cafeteria?"
"Why?" The sting to her tone was no joke. "What's wrong?" I asked, placing my bouquet on the coffee table.
She motioned for me to come and sit beside her. Jin sat on her other side and we all looked at the screen. It was Nan's Twitter feed. Apparently, someone had taken a picture of me and Bang and now everyone was throwing speculations. Many assumed we were dating. Others figured there was some other outrageous explanation but a lot of people were not happy about it and expected my best friend to provide answers.
I sighed. I really wasn't thinking to not have anticipated this. But had I gone somewhere out of the way there still would've been someone taking photos and posting them since the bottom line was that Bang was actually out in public.
"Unnie..." Jin sounded confused. "I mean, I see the pictures and I heard Nana-unnie's explanation of how this happened, but--" She scoffed, her entire demeanor suddenly changing. "Not one phone call? Not one text? 'Hey, Jin, I'm with Bang Yong-freaking-guk. Wanna hang?' Way to look out, big sis."
I rolled my eyes. As adorable and innocent as she looked, my little sister's mouth was nothing to take lightly. Although she grew up in Seoul, unlike me, she was a real Daddy's girl and thus took after my Dad's crass way of talking when she was with close friends and family.
"Oh, chill your fangirl bones. I wasn't exactly focused as you can tell."
She scoffed again. "You are so not going with me to Music Core tomorrow!"
"Sorry to interrupt this....touching sibling moment ," Nan cut in, leaning so I couldn't easily see that brat. "But, what are your plans for tomorrow? Are you guys going on another date?"
That was a good question. My phone hadn't rung as yet, so he didn't message or call me. It wasn't like I couldn't just do those things myself, but I had just left him. I didn't want him to think I was going to be checking his every move for the next week.
"I don't know about tomorrow," I honestly. "We didn't talk about it."
Nan raised an eyebrow. "What the hell did you talk about? What were you doing all the way home when you could've been planning?"
A bit shyly, I pulled my couple phone from my bag. Heejin snatched it from me like a hawk would pull a fish from water. I thought she was going to slit both my wrists. As she and Nana went through my photos, I took my bouquet into the kitchen to find some water for them.
"I hate you so much right now," my little sister said softly.
"Thank Nan. If she didn't use her magical Kai-bai-bo powers and made me lose that bet, I never would've signed up."
That made her shoot the one beside her a dirty look as if to say, "It was you, then". I couldn't help but reminisce on the night. The flowers were beautiful in the vase our mom had brought over the last time she visited. Since Jin and I never buy them, it was always empty, but it just seemed to suit so well that I began to question my mother's ability of foresight.
Finally at the end of her rope, Heejin stormed into her room with a huff of jealousy. It was so good to see her like that instead of constantly trying to rub her social advances in my face when she knew for a fact that I couldn't care any less. Nana was staring at the screen until I returned to her side and took a curious glance. I smiled to find that it was one of our more comfortable pictures: he had put his arm on the back of the chair, so he wasn't touching me, but gave me room to lean in closer so our heads almost collided. I didn't argue when she set it as my wallpaper.
She pat me on the shoulder. "Don't make me have you kill you after this week is over. You better make the most of this opportunity."
With a heavy sigh, I scratched my head." My 'making the most of this' and the commonly thought, acceptable version of 'making the most of this' is vastly different, I assure you. You would not believe how hard I had to reign myself in when it was just in the van." I groaned and covered my face with my hands just thinking about it. "Aish! I swear he was made just to make women sin."
Nana's comforting hand remained on my shoulder, but this time she was laughing. "Go for it, if you have the confidence. Let it progress naturally. For all you know, you may end up still being in contact with him after this."
"Don't say stuff just to make me hope." My heart just couldn't take it.
I actually began to feel a headache building between my temples. My fingers rose to try to soothe said pressure but it wasn't working.
"I'm going to bed," I lied, grabbing my stuff and retreating to my room.
"I'm sleeping over!" Nana called to my back as if I didn't already know that.
The minute I got to my room, I shut the door and flopped on my bed, throwing whatever was in my hand onto the mattress with me. How the hell was my head hurting so much so quickly? When my dad once told me that I'd think myself into a migraine, I never took him seriously. Guess who learned to listen?
I kicked my shoes off roughly and hugged my pillow. It would seem so stupid to other people for me to be feeling so stressed out when I was given this chance to hang with some like Bang, but I knew how I felt about him. Suppose my poor fangirling heart dared to fall even farther for him than it already had? What would I be when it was time to part? That's where my mind was at the time, and it was frustrating.
All of a sudden this annoyingly generic ringtone chimed from my side. My eyes were squinting as I looked at "My boo" flashing on the screen. It was cheesy but I almost cried.
"Yoboseyo?"
"Uh, Minhee-ah?"
"Mm-hmm?" I replied, my eyes shut.
He was quiet for a while. "I'm sorry. Were you sleeping? You don't sound too good."
"I have a headache. I was just laying down, hoping it would leave me alone." I could hear him getting ready to say something out of worry and smiled. "But, actually, the sound of your voice is making it better."
"Oh...Really?"
I nodded even though I knew he couldn't see me. "Yeah. So, just keep talking, please. Just for a little while, oppa."
"Ok." His tone had changed to a slightly lower rumble that just hummed sweetly into my ears. "Before you go to bed make sure you drink some water or something. But anyway, I was calling even though I'm not back at the dorm yet. Hyung stopped at the convenience store just around the corner, so I'll be there in a couple minutes." He paused and I acknowledged that I was still listening. "Well, about tomorrow, we've got a performance at Music Core. I was wondering if you'd want to come over. You could meet the kids and watch the show from backstage....." A little shyly, added, "Hyung had suggested it, saying it wouldn't be a problem."
My eyes shot open. "Really? What time is the recording?" I knew full well that I had classes most of the following day, but I didn't exactly want to tell him that.
"The live broadcast will be around 3, so we'll be probably be pre-recording a few hours before that. Do you have any classes tomorrow? Minhee-ah?" he called when I didn't answer.
"Yeah...I have all sorts of classes tomorrow, one at the same time as the live broadcast, to be honest."
"Chincha? (or "Really?") Well, don't miss class." Was that a bit of disappointment I thought I heard?
"But," I amended quickly, "Its only English class. I'm only required to stay the first half hour anyway."
"Are you sure? I don't want you to get in trouble or something."
"Its all good. My teacher understands I'm there out of requirement, not necessity. I..." My voice sounded smaller when I went on. "I really want to be there in person to cheer you on. I never have before."
"I see. I'll text you my manager hyung's number so you can call him when you want him to come get you. Does your head feel better now?" His voice had sank into drawl that warmed me to my very toes.
I had forgotten all about my head. "Yeah. Thank you, oppa."
"I see you tomorrow then. Sleep well."
"You, too. It may seem unlikely, but I want you to at least try to get a reasonable amount of sleep tonight."
He laughed. "OK. I'll try. Only 'cause you asked."
"Goodnight."
His text came within the next ten minutes. I wasn't surprised to see that there weren't any smileys or anything attached. I didn't expect those kinds of things from him anyway. Though, they wouldn't hurt.
Either way, my heart was calm now. All my doubts were gone. Somehow he just wiped away all my fears without even knowing what they were. That alone was reassuring. I hadn't realized that I had fallen asleep until my alarm (Secret's "Love is move") shot off from from my phone. I stretched all the kinks out of my limbs and began my morning routine. I could smell Nana cooking in the kitchen and hear Jin singing in the shower of the adjacent room.
That day there were no other options: it was Music Core or bust.
Comments