First Night
The Romantic & Idol : 90's line!Saemi's POV
I stretched my arms in front of me as I leaned back in the soft airplane seat. I glanced out the window and watched the city lights slowly shrink and disappear beneath the clouds.
"Sleepy?" Daehyun asked beside me. I gave him a small smile and said, "No, just tired. It's been a long day."
I looked at the other idols. In front of us, Dasom and Hyunseong were having a quiet chat, and I couldn't hear what they were talking about. Glancing at my side, Eunji had fallen asleep against the window and looked uncomfortable, and I watched as Ilhoon put her head on a pillow between them. I couldn't see what Suzy was doing from where I was, but I could tell that Myungsoo had fallen asleep. I guess I wasn't the only one who was tired.
Still, I couldn't sleep. I was either too conscious of Daehyun sitting close to me, or wondering what kind of trouble I might get into the next few days. It was sort of stressing, and I knew that this was supposed to be sort of a fun vacation. I needed to loosen up.
"Hey, wanna listen to music?" I asked Daehyun, pulling out my iPod from my bag. Music always helped me relax. I offered him an earbud and handed him the mp3 player after I opened the list of songs. My skin tingled when it touched his.
"Oops I pressed the hom— wait!" he said suddenly.
"I'm your wallpaper?" he chuckled.
"AISH!" I buried my face in my hands. KILL ME. KILL ME NOOOWWW. Of all the things I had to forget! Why couldn't I just forget my toothbrush or something less embarrassing??
He patted my arm reassuredly. "It's okay, it's okay." he went back to scrolling through my songs while I sat back, dying in embarrassment. "Wahh I like your taste in music," he said, leaning over to show me the screen. I leaned closer to him, too, because the cabin lights were too bright for me to see the dim screen clearly. He was showing me that he discovered that I had every single BAP song ever. What? I'm a big fan.
Unable to decide what song to play first, he tapped shuffle and I smiled as B1A4's Sunshine came on. Feeling the tenseness melt away, I leaned back in my seat. I closed my eyes, hoping for sleep to come along, while tapping my leg and occasionally singing along. That sleep would never come, however, as the next song that came on was No Mercy.
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At the grocery, I was tasked with finding the eggs for dinner, so I went off alone in the large supermarket. I soon found the egg section, and picked out the freshest dozen I could find. Then I went down the aisles in search of everybody, running into Dasom and Hyunseong with their own cart. Since I didn't have a basket or anything, they let me put the box of eggs into their cart. I went with them to the vegetable aisle, laughing as we heard Eunji and Ilhoon arguing as usual. Daehyun led us to the instant rice and we took a while picking which brand to get.
Eunji came over, asking about foods that made my stomach grumble. "Hey guys, is this alright? I don't know what everyone likes, so I got some beef, chicken, kimchi, seafood--" I suddenly remembered the moment in the restaurant, and looked over at Daehyun to find that he was looking at me, too, and we shared a laugh.
"Did I miss something?" Dasom asked, confused. I explained to them that neither of us liked seafood, but I wouldn't let unni return the seafood she found, because I was sure that the others would eat it, anyway. I don't like being a burden to others.
We had to squeeze eight tired teenagers into a cold van to get to the guesthouse. The friendly atmosphere from the guesthouse disappeared, and the quiet, exhausted atmosphere of the plane ride here returned. I started to regret not sleeping on the plane, instead, choosing to sing along to the songs on my ipod. Back then, I was tired; now I was running on low battery.
Suddenly, from the front seat, I heard the radio turn on, just in time for the beginning of Loving U (which, in my opinion, is the most addicting song ever), and soon everyone was singing along at the top of our lungs.
"Ilhoon, get down!" Hyunseong called. Ilhoon was standing up in the moving van, and hilariously trying to dance to the song, almost knocking over the camera in front of him. We were all doubled over in laughter. My cheeks were hurting like crazy, and Dasom's face was turning red as well. This is going to be a good vacation.
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"Aish!" I reflexively pulled my hand back. Damn, that hurts. I was so distracted that the back of my hand accidentally touched the rim of the scalding pot. I turned it over, seeing a pink line form.
“Eh? What happened?” Daehyun asked. When did he get here?
“Nothing. Just a little burn.” I clutched the burnt hand, willing the pain to subside.
“You’re so accident prone." his voice was scolding, but his touch was gentle as he pulled my hand and ran cold water over it. I admit, it felt good. The water, I mean.
After a minute or so, I pulled my hand back to inspect the damage. It didn't hurt as much, but it still felt sensitive. I'll just have to be careful with it for a while. “Better?" he asked, concerned. I smiled and nodded back thankfully.
“You better let me do this.” he grabbed the wooden spoon I was using. ”No way! I heard you got all your members sick with your cooking!” I teased, remembering something I read in an article before. “That was one time.” He nudges my shoulder, and we laughed as Hyunseong oppa told us to break it up and stirred the stew himself.
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After a minute or so, I pulled my hand back to inspect the damage. It didn't hurt as much, but it still felt sensitive. I'll just have to be careful with it for a while. “Better?" he asked, concerned. I smiled and nodded back thankfully.
“You better let me do this.” he grabbed the wooden spoon I was using. ”No way! I heard you got all your members sick with your cooking!” I teased, remembering something I read in an article before. “That was one time.” He nudges my shoulder, and we laughed as Hyunseong oppa told us to break it up and stirred the stew himself.
At dinnertime, I was whisked away by crew members to for an interview. As soon as I sat down, they asked me questions about the day. I was tired and at the same time, I was nervous again, since I was still uncomfortable with cameras. I glanced at my manager, who had accompanied us on the trip. He was standing behind the camera and gave me a thumbs up.
I took a deep breath and tried to answer the questions as well as I could. That wasn't easy, because some of them were really embarrassing. I even earned the nickname "interview turtle" because I kept bending to hide my face in my arms and legs. It was additionally difficult because even I was cofused about my own feelings.
"At first," I said in one time in the interview, "I thought 'Wow, he's a really nice guy.' And I was telling myself that what I felt was admiration, from a fan to an idol, right? But this is the real thing!? I wasn't prepared for this!" I laughed. It wasn't possible to actually have feelings for someone in such a short amount of time, after all.
Besides, I was pretty sure no one would ever feel that way about someone like me. Someone like the cold-hearted songbird. The fact that I had never dated was proof, right?
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That night, I sat nervously on the bed, alone in the room. Well, I wasn't really alone; I was with a few crew members, and my manager had managed to sneak in to see me to give me a hwaiting! pose for encouragement.
The PD breaks the silence by asking, "Saemi, what type of music do you want to hear?"
"Me? I prefer ballads and acoustic songs… I hope someone here has that."
"Do you think Daehyun will pick a song like that?" The question caught me off guard, and I had to stop to recollect myself. I smiled as I remembered the plane ride. "On the plane, he was scrolling through my songs in my mp3 player. So maybe he has an idea of what songs I like. But then again, maybe he wants to play according to his own taste, which may be different from mine," I decided.
I quieted as I heard the first song start to play, recognizing Jay Park sunbae's song. I started to sway to the rhythm, but I didn't really get into it. As it ended, I decided to wait to hear the other songs.
Then I heard the second song, which was It Was You by Brother Su. I immediately felt my heart skip a beat. "Wait! I thought nobody else knew this song! This is my favorite song!!" I said, shocked. "Who is this? This is so daebak!" It oculdn't be Daehyun, could it? I don't think I had it on my iPod.
"Do you know who it is?" PD asked, giving me a suspicious smile. What? Was I missing something here?
"No, I have no idea! I didn't think anyone else would know it, it's not popular…" But I couldn't help singing along to the lyrics I knew by heart.
"This is it, isn't it? This is my song. I have to go, right?" I said softly, trying to gather the courage to stand up, but failing. I hid my face in my hands. "Ahh...Ottoke??"
Finally, up all the courage I had, and forced my legs to stand. I opened the door before i could change my mind, and leaned over to peek out the glass door.
Daehyun??
Even before I could get outside, my legs weakened and I crouched down on the floor, laughing on surprise. Of course, I couldn't stay there forever, so the PD had to whisper form behind me to tell me to get up and go outside.
I stepped out into the cool night and waved to Daehyun, feeling strangely giddy. His smile melted me, making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. As I stood beside him, I felt the need to know. "How did you know this song?" I whispered, but the mic caught it anyway. "I knew this song a long time ago." he said, obviously as surprised as I was.
But then I heard the creak of another door, and i was surprised to see Eunji unni stepping out of her room. Then I knew. I was going to be disqualified.
"Annyeong!" she greeted cheerfully, and I waved back, greeting, "Annyeong, unnie!" I didn't feel bad, actually, because Eunji was a friend and I couldn't bring myself to hating her or anything. It was like I already accepted my fate.
"Daehyun-ssi, please select who you want to walk with." the PD instructed after the song ended.
"Wae?? Wait wait wait, this is so cruel!" Eunji laughed and I couldn't help but laugh at that, because everyone had agreed before that the crew was somehow out to get us."Why me??" Daehyun said. had to cover my mouth with my hand and face the other way to hide my laughter.
"I…2…3..." With each count, I felt my heart droop a little, trying to calm me down. I wasn't going to get chosen anyway.
"Eunji-ssi." Daehyun said after the countdown. See? I knew it.
"Mianhe." he grabbed my hand and walks away from the house. I felt my face form into a wide O as he pulled me away, and I glanced back at Eunji, still unable to process everything. This was so not what I expected. Not that I'm complaining.
When we had gone quite a distance from the house, we became a bit more comfortable, walking slower.
"How did you know that song?" I tried to break the awkwardness.
"A friend let me listen to it a long time ago." he said, looking forward.
"It's my favorite song!"
Daehyun turns, surprised. "Jinjja? I didn't know. But the song fits you."
I was confused by what he said. "What do you mean?"
"It's a sort of warm and quiet song. It suits you."
I just nodded, sort of understanding but not completely. Trying to understand him hurt my head. I already had a hard enough time trying ot understand myself. We continued talking quietly as we walked who knows where with the camera crew following us around. I was glad my manager didn't follow.
Time passed quickly and before we knew it, we were walking on some beach. Daehyun's phone beeped with a new message and I looked at it over his shoulder. "Eh? I didn't know it was that late. We're supposed to go back."
"Arasseo." I said. The both of us needed sleep, anyway.
"We shouldn't have gone so far. Is your leg already healed?" I smiled at his concern. Luckily, the dark disguised my blush. "I'm fine now, oppa, thanks." Nevertheless, he held my hand, helping me climb up the sand wall that led back to the street above the beach.
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Later, it was time for the final selections. Which was extremely nerve-wracking. "I picked… My first date, Daehyun. He made a really good first impression. I haven't really had the chance to get to know the others, so I can't say that I like them." I said in my interview. It wouldn't be fair for the others if I picked someone else even though I didn't date the others as well, right? How could I make a fair decision? I was convinced that in the end, no one would pick me anyway, so I might as well try to spend some time with everyone.
That night, as I settled into my bed beneath Suzy's, I tried to sleep the stress away, wondering if I would wake up and this whole day was just a dream.
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