January 22 2013

“Yoona-ya!! Your phone has been ringing off the hook non-stop!!” Yuri shouted as she banged on the toilet door. “Cham!! I just stepped inside the toilet. It can’t have been more than 30 seconds! Just let it ring. I’ll be out in a sec!” Yoona shouted back, annoyed. The moment she stepped out of the toilet, Yuri handed her phone to her, “It’s ringing again! Must be loverboy Jong Hyun who can’t wait to speak to you!” she teased. “Unnie!!” Yoona whined before picking up the phone. “Hello? Yoona-ya, it’s Jong Hyun. I’m sory.. Are you busy?” she heard the familiar voice. “Oh Jong Hyun-ah, no no, I’m not busy. What’s up?” Yoona replied as she smiled. She was definitely attracted to this guy but he was very shy. He hadn’t really made any move on her yet except just calling and texting and she was getting a bit frustrated.

“Oh actually, Yong Hwa hyung needs to speak to you. Can you find a private place where you can talk?” Jong Hyun asked shyly. “Oh sure.. I’ll sit at the other corner away from everyone. They’re all getting their hair and make up done” Yoona replied, a little disappointed that he hadn’t called to speak to her. “Okay.. Good, I’ll pass the phone over to Yong Hwa hyung now. Please hold on a moment” Jong Hyun said. “Hello? Yoona-ya, so sorry to have to go through Jong Hyun. I needed to make sure nobody heard our conversation” Yong Hwa said as he took the phone. “No worries Jung seobang, what’s up?” Yoona asked curiously. She was sure it had something to do with Seo Hyun. Yong Hwa hardly asked for favours but when it did, it was always related to Seo Hyun. “Yoona-ya, have you heard about SM allowing idols to get married?” Yong Hwa asked cautiously. He kinda didn’t know where to start. “Ne? Oh.. Yeah, Sunny unnie did mention it a few weeks back. Seems like Lee Soo Man sajangnim is open to the idea of SM idols getting married. The girls were excited about it as it means there’s hope for their relationships, although it’s not like anybody’s getting married anytime soon” Yoona chuckled.

“Ah.. I see I see.. Good, so you girls know about this too” Yong Hwa said quietly. “Jung seobang, how did you know about this? I’m guessing you didn’t hear it from Seo Hyun since you’re asking me” Yoona guessed. “You’re right. I was informed by Han Seung Ho sunbaenim actually” Yong Hwa explained. “Ne? Why??” Yoona was puzzled. Why would FNC CEO need to inform Yong Hwa about SM company decision? “Yoona-ya, I’m planning to ask Hyunnie to marry me. But as a formality, I know I need to seek the approval of her unnies first. You’re the first one I’m asking” Yong Hwa blurted. “Ne??!?! Oppa! Are you serious??” Yoona exclaimed. Luckily for her, the room was noisy with chatter and music and the girls tended to speak on the phone loudly anyways so nobody really thought it was unusual for Yoona’s sudden outburst. “Yoona-ya!! Keep it down!!!” Yong Hwa hissed over the phone. “Ahh oppa, don’t worry, we usually talk loudly on the phone and have sudden outbursts as well so nobody paid any attention to me” Yoona said casually.

“But oppa, are you serious? Are you gonna…you know….*cough* get married *cough*.. soon??” Yoona focused her attention to the matter at hand. “Yes, I am serious but no, I don’t plan to get married soon. Maybe another couple of years, when we’re both ready to settle down, when our careers have stabilized, if there ever will be a stabil point. But I want to propose first so that she knows I’m dead serious about being with her. I want to be able to give her some sense of security, you know” Yong Hwa explained. “Oppa, have you asked her parents yet? Have you asked YOUR parents yet?” Yoona was curious. “Erm.. I already have her parents’ implied permission. They’ve been saying it from the start but no, I haven’t actually asked them officially. I know I will get it so I’m not so worried. As for my parents, I’ve been telling my mom for the last year or so, that I want to marry Seo Hyun. They already gave their blessings since then so yeah, no worries from them too. I’m more worried with SNSD, that’s why I’m asking you girls first. Well, actually just you first cos I need your help later. I’ll drop by with the pretense I need Tiffany to help me with some English pronunciation and I need you to take Joo Hyun out so that I can speak with the rest of the girls about this. That’s why I’m calling you first so that you won’t be left out of the news” Yong Hwa said.

“I see.. Well, Jung seobang, you have my permission. Congratulations!!” Yoona squealed quietly into the phone. Yong Hwa smiled, “Thank you Yoona-ya.” “So Jung seobang, what is the plan? What time are you gonna drop by and where do you want me to take Seo Hyun and how long do you need?” Yoona questioned. “Erm.. I’ll drop by once Seo Hyun’s done with her hair and make up. I need you to let me know when that is. And where to take her? I was hoping you’d be able to come up with something. I will probably need half an hour? I don’t know.. How long do you think it’s gonna take with your unnies??” Yong Hwa asked, suddenly nervous of what’s ahead. “Okay, I’ll let you know once she’s done with hair and make up and I think half an hour will be good. See you later!” Yoona chirped as she hung up.

An hour later, Yong Hwa saunters into SNSD changing room. “Jung seobang!!!” the girls greeted him loudly. “Hello girls! Hyu~n… I came to ask Tiffany for some help” Yong Hwa said as he moved to where Tiffany was seated, rollers still in her hair. “Ne? How may I help you?” Tiffany asked. “I wrote a new song for our new Japanese album, the title is Greedy Man. The whole song is in English and we’ll be recording it soon. I just wanted to make sure my pronunciation is ok. So I was hoping if I could record you narrating the words in English so that I can practice my pronunciation before the recording” Yong Hwa said as he held out the sheet of lyrics to Tiffany. “Am I supposed to sing it??” Tiffany asked as she looked through the lyrics. “No no.. just read it normally would be fine” Yong Hwa clarified. “Jung seobang! Is this song about Joo Hyun again?” Tae Yeon asked as she inched closer to Tiffany to peek at the lyrics. “Ahh… Yeah, it was that time when all her fanboys were speaking up about Seo Hyun being their ideal type” Yong Hwa admitted sheepishly as he caught Seo Hyun’s eye. She had heard the song before. He always let her listen to the songs he composed before he submitted them to the management.

“Yong oppa, Yoona unnie asked me to go help her with something. I’ll be back soon ok. Sorry oppa” Seo Hyun said to Yong Hwa as she left the room with Yoona. “No worries, I’ll wait for you” Yong Hwa said nervously. As soon they left, Yong Hwa beckoned for the rest of the girls to come closer “SNSD, I need to talk to you girls. Can you all come with me to CNBLUE changing room? There’s less people there” Yong Hwa whispered as the girls huddle around him. “Now? But we need to get ready” Sunny protested. “Just thirty minutes.. Please. Hurry!” Yong Hwa said as he headed straight for the door with the girls right behind him.

As Yong Hwa said, there was nobody except CNBLUE members in their changing room as they had asked their hairdressers and make up artists and cordis to leave for 30 minutes. “Jung seobang… What is this about? Why the secrecy??” Soo Young asked, suspicious. “SNSD, I have something I need your help with. I…. I…. I know you’ve said this before, that if anybody wanted to marry any SNSD member, they’ll need to get the permission from the other eight members first. So, here I am, asking for your permission. I am here to officially seek SNSD’s permission to marry the maknae, Seo Joo Hyun. I already spoke to Yoona earlier so I got hers already. Sorry, I needed her to help me distract Hyunnie” Yong Hwa said quickly. He was worried they’d interrupt him before he could finish what he wanted to say. The girls looked shocked as they gaped from Yong Hwa to each other without a word. Finally Jessica spoke “Jung seobang… Are you serious?” Yong Hwa nodded, “Dead serious.”

As if on cue, the girls erupted into screams. And as if knowing it would happen, the four CNBLUE members immediately got up and hushed the SNSD girls. “Shhh…. Keep it down!!!” Yong Hwa practically begged.  “Jung seobang!! Oh my God!!!” Hyo Yeon squealed quietly. “OMG OMG OMG!!!” Soo Young and Yuri was whispered over and over again. “Have you gotten her a ring yet??” Tiffany asked. “What are your plans??” Tae Yeon asked. “Are you gonna get married like right away?” Sunny asked. Yong Hwa held up both his hands to silent the girls, “No, I haven’t gotten the ring yet. And no, we won’t get married right away. I just wanted to propose to her first to give her some sense of security and to let her know I’m ready to commit to her. My plans are… To propose first and then maybe in a year or two, announce that we’re dating and then a year or two after that, we’ll get married. Han Seung Ho sunbaenim said FNC and SM will work together to help us with the announcements and all that PR stuff” Yong Hwa explained.

The girls nodded, they knew it would happen some day but they didn’t expect it to be so soon. “Jung seobang, although I’m the leader of SNSD, I won’t speak for the rest of the girls. As for myself, you have my blessings! Both of you deserve to be happy together” Tae Yeon said, smiling warmly at Yong Hwa. “Thank you Tae Yeon.. Thank you!” Yong Hwa gushed with gratitude. “Jung seobang, you have my blessings too” Yuri quipped. “Jung seobang, fighting!! Congratulations!” Sunny added. Soon, the rest of the girls were nodding in agreement, Yong Hwa had managed to get their permission. “Okay, thank you girls, we can continue this conversation another time when I’ve gotten more details and all. Right now, we need to get you girls back to SNSD changing room. I don’t know where Yoona took Seo Hyun. I hope she managed to stall her long enough. Let’s go!” Yong Hwa said as he ushered the girls out the door.

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“Unnie, where are we going?” Seo Hyun asked as she clutched Yoona’s arm. Yoona had lured Seo Hyun out with the pretense that she needed a favour from her. Yoona really didn’t know where to go. She only knew she had to get Seo Hyun as far away from the changing rooms as possible. Because they kept bumping into people, Yoona led Seo Hyun further and further away until they found themselves at an empty stairwell at the other end of the building. “Unnie… It’s scary here” Seo Hyun said as she looked around nervously. “No no no.. It’s perfect. We can talk freely here” Yoona said looking around, in awe at herself for being able to find a far enough place to distract Seo Hyun.

“Unnie, let’s sit down” Seo Hyun said to Yoona as she set down the blanket she was carrying onto the steps. “Ooo.. Lucky you brought your blanket. Else we would have to stand!” Yoona said thankfully as she sat down and pulled Seo Hyun down with her. “So….. What’s up, unnie?” Seo Hyun said as she turned to look at Yoona. Yoona froze for a moment. She hadn’t thought that far, she just thought of distracting Seo Hyun and trusted her witty self to come up with something. And now that they’re here, she needed to come up with something. Fast! “Erm… Joo Hyun-ah….” Yoona said, stalling time while trying to think. “Ne, unnie?” Seo Hyun looked at Yoona expectantly while Yoona was racking herbrain. What did I get myself into?? Yoona berated herself as her face scrunched up in despair. “Unnie!! What’s wrong?” Seo Hyun panicked as she saw Yoona’s horrible facial expression.

Without thinking, Yoona blurted, “It’s about Jong Hyun-ssi.” That caught Seo Hyun by surprise, “Ne??” Yoona knew she couldn’t get out of it so she just went along with it. “Ahh… I wanted to talk to you about Jong Hyun-ssi..And I didn’t want the other girls to hear as nobody knows.. And, you know him well… So… You know….” Yoona was grasping at straws here. “Do you love him, Unnie?” Seo Hyun asked straight to the point. That caught Yoona off guard. She knew she was attracted to him, but she wasn’t sure if she loved him and Seo Hyun’s question got her thinking. “I…I don’t… know? I don’t….think so?” Yoona replied honestly but uncertainly. “Unnie, I think all of us in SNSD know you like him. But I think, you have fallen for him. Am I right?” Seo Hyun asked confidently. “Eyyy… How is that possible??” Yoona said as she shook her head. She couldn’t possible be in love with Jong Hyun, right? Or could she?

“Hmm.. Okay. So maybe love is too strong a word right now. But you definitely like him more than the usual, right?” Seo Hyun backtracked a little. “Yeah… That is true… But, he’s… he’s so shy! All he does is reply my texts. He never calls or initiates contact much!” Yoona said frustrated with Jong Hyun’s cool behavior towards her. “Actually Unnie, he’s not that shy. In fact, when I first met the CNBLUE boys, he was the one who initiated a lot of conversation with me. He’s just quiet, that’s all. He’s not the kind that is overly friendly or loud or anything like that. Just a calm kind of friendly” Seo Hyun tried to explain. “Then maybe he’s not interested in me? I’m always the one to contact him first….” Yoona pouted, sad that maybe Jong Hyun doesn’t feel the same way.

Seo Hyun thought for a moment before speaking, “Unnie… You know the song Yong oppa was saying earlier when he came to our dressing him? The new song he wrote? The title is Greedy Man, right? Actually he said he wrote the song last year when a lot of idols were naming me as their ideal type. And as we all know, you have more fans and admirers than me even in the entertainment circle. Maybe Jong Hyun oppa also feels the same as Yong oppa and is insecure because of your popularity?” Seo Hyun guessed. “You think so?? Then what should I do? It’s not like I can stop them from liking me or admiring me right?” Yoona whined quietly. “Unnie, maybe you need to be bolder and show him more clearly that you’re interested in him? I mean, if you know a guy who has a lot of admirers, won’t you be wary of approaching him too?” Seo Hyun reasoned. “Hmm… I guess you’re right. I need to be bolder!” Yoona said as her confidence returned. “And Unnie, we need to get back, I think we’ve been gone for too long!” Seo Hyun said worriedly as she urged Yoona to get up. “Really? Have we been gone so long?” Yoona wondered. She momentarily forgot her task of distracting Seo Hyun as she was the one who ended up distracted.

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As the rest of SNSD and Yong Hwa filed back to SNSD changing room, Yong Hwa sank into the chair next to Tiffany. “Fany, quick, you need to record the lyrics for me before Hyunnie returns. I don’t want her to get suspicious” Yong Hwa said as he shoved his phone into Tiffany’s hands. Just as Tiffany finished the recording, Yoona and Seo Hyun returned. “Oppa! Unnie! Are you still recording the lyrics? Why did you take so long?” Seo Hyun asked, curious that they hadn’t finished recording the lyrics since she left them approximately 30 minutes ago. “Oo.. People kept interrupting and Fany kept messing up so we only just managed to finish this properly now” Yong Hwa bluffed. “I see… Oppa, you better practice it well! I’m sure people will marvel at your pronunciation for this song!” Seo Hyun praised. “Hyu~n! Are you saying my English is bad??” Yong Hwa pretended to be hurt. “Oppa! No!! I just mean, it’ll be better with Fany unnie’s help…” Seo Hyun said, flustered at how it was misconstrued. “I was just kidding, Hyu~n” Yong Hwa teased as he got up.

That night on stage, SNSD’s I Got A Boy and CNBLUE’s I’m Sorry were competing for the number 1 spot again. Standing on stage with SNSD, Yong Hwa didn’t feel tense anymore knowing that they had the full support of FNC and SM and plus the fact that he was going to propose to Seo Hyun soon, Yong Hwa felt relaxed. When SNSD’s I Got A Boy was announced as the winner, the CNBLUE boys were happy for SNSD. It was a very different song that only SNSD could seem to pull off and they were proud of them. Yong Hwa joined Min Hyuk in congratulating Seo Hyun from a distance which was a big change for him as he used to avoid Seo Hyun at all cost. Seo Hyun was happy to see Yong Hwa congratulate her on stage but she was puzzled by the change. At the same time, Yoona had made up her mind to be bolder with Jong Hyun so the moment SNSD was announced as the winner, she beelined for Jong Hyun and chatted him up, not caring that they were at the centre of the stage or that cameras were rolling or fans were watching. She was determined to make it loud and clear to him that she was definitely interested in him.