E p i s o d e 1 3

25th June 2013 01:19 PM

Ding dong.

“Oh, why am I so nervous all of the sudden?” Jieun muttered to herself but Junhyung chuckled at her adorably, gazing down at her. One of the things that Junhyung liked so much about Jieun was how fashionable she always is and her style fits him perfectly. She quickly fixes her ponytail, while Junhyung pressed the button again, yearning to put down all the plastic bags he had in his hand. The couple had come to the village where all the other program couples stay as their couple house under the instructions of the staff. “You must really tired.” She tried to take some of the plastic bags off of him but he kindly rejected the offer, shrugging her off.

“Is it that obvious?” He groaned out. Him and the other members of his group have been practicing all day and all night for the upcoming concert in Malaysia. It was no wonder he was exhausted. She nodded up at him, slightly pouting her lips. Chuckling, he turned to the door that was slowly being opened to reveal them to the owners.

Taemin peeped out, standing close behind the door, before realizing who was standing in front of him. “Oh! Hyung! Noona! Come in.” He pulled the door wider for them to enter. Junhyung, being the gentleman he is, let Jieun enter the house to slip out of her heels first before following behind her and step out of his sneakers. The two greeted the young idol in return and sauntered in to meet the rest of the couples. Everyone stood in the living room to welcome them warmly with hello’s and bows to which they returned shily. Taemin naturally took the bags from Junhyung and placed it by the other presents belonging to the respective owners as told by Junhyung.

“What are those?” Jungin inquired, suddenly interested.

“Presents.” Junhyung and Jieun responded uniformly. “For all of you.” They clamored and thanked the newly seen couple and apologized for not getting them anything. “It’s okay, I don’t really mind.” Jieun timidly giggles away the awkwardness while Junhyung nodded along.

“Well, we were just about to start the mission. Naeun, Jungchi-hyungnim and I are gardening and Taemin, Junhee, and Jungin-noonim are cooking.” Jinwoon expounded further. “Two of you will have to split and one joins one group.”

Jieun glanced up at Junhyung, silently questioning him as to what he wanted to do. “Do you want to cook?” He asked.

“Not really. Kind of want to be outside.” She muttered, suddenly feeling the eyes of the three couples, standing in front of them, on them watching their every move.

“Alright, go on.” He hands her the gloves that Naeun had given him while Jieun was making up her mind. Taemin passes him another apron for him to use in the kitchen as everyone left to go to their sites.

♔♕♖♗♘♙

First time meeting the Juneun couple.

Jungchi: They match very well, anyone can see that. Jieun-ssi is very pretty. She’s pretty onscreen but she’s prettier in real, especially when you get really close. Junhyung is very good-looking as well.

Taemin: They seem really natural with each other. I’m...jealous of that.

Jinwoon: Those two- Ah...Jieun-noona and Seulong-hyung always teases me. It’s going to be worse now.

♔♕♖♗♘♙

“It feels like Naeun brought a servant.” Jinwoon retorted, as the four of them made their way to the garden. Jungchi had carried an umbrella in attempt to block out the bright sun but more than half of that umbrella stood above Naeun. Jieun, strolling beside Jinwoon, chortled and slapped Jinwoon playfully out of habit.

Though Naeun offered to carry it, Jungchi brought up another remark. “Have you been in direct sunlight?” To such a ridiculous question, Naeun confidently answered yes before Jinwoon made another sarcastic question.

“Do you know what that is?”

Jungchi followed along and replied, “For me, it’s my first.” They finally reached the garden to see all the tools and vegetation laid out, waiting to be used and planted. All the things that are displayed included lettuce, pepper, sweet potato, corn, and pumpkin. Immediately, once they were ready, Jinwoon went straight to demonstrating on how to plant each verdure. “Ah but when I saw the broadcast, saying that you two never dated before.”

“I’m curious about this too!”

“We really haven’t.” Naeun reassured and though everyone acknowledges it, no one really bought it. It was rare of someone nowadays to not have dated throughout high school or even middle school. Hence with someone at the age of Naeun saying they’ve never dated, it was hard to believe.

“Truthfully, you’ve dated before, right?” Jinwoon whispered, but just loud enough for the camera audio. Jieun snickered at Jinwoon’s attempt of being subtle while she continues working on her gardening and only listens to the conversation at hand. Despite Naeun’s refusals, Jinwoon kept poking at it. “Let’s just say it between us.” But Naeun stood her ground and continues her with her denials. “Ay, I was like that at the beginning of my debut too!”

Jieun bursted into laughter hearing Jinwoon’s retort along with Jungchi. Even then, Naeun still tried to convince him that she hasn’t dated anyone. “But isn’t Taemin really popular?” Jungchi commented, bringing laughter once again. “Jieunie, aren’t you close with Taemin?”

Her head perked up to meet the glare of Naeun’s. Though she knew she meant to be intimidating, it didn’t get to Jieun at all. “Not at all, I’m only close with Jonghyun because we’re both ‘90s.” She reasoned honestly, watching Naeun nod slowly as she took in the information, her jealousy fading away.

“Naeunie, didn’t you want to do this with your husband?” Jinwoon further questioned her, continuously teasing her in any possible way.

“Yes, of course. I don’t even know why I’m here.” Naeun muttered out loud sincerely, while Jieun being the first one to burst into laughter. “Jieun-...” She stopped herself, not knowing how to address her. Jieun instantly tells her to call her unni to make it much more comfortable for the two before she finally continued with her previous sentence. “Jieun-unni, don’t you want to be with your husband to do this?”

“No.” Jieun plainly replied, causing another commotion of laughter amongst the group.

♔♕♖♗♘♙

The other group of four makes their way into the kitchen awkwardly. Even though Junhyung has seen Taemin a few times at music broadcasts, but he never really talk to him too much. “Junhyung-ssi, use an apron here.” She hands him an apron that Taemin had given her as extra before. She puts in every cuteness she had in herself into her words to attract the idol in front of her. “Are you good at cooking?”

He appreciatively receives it from her and puts it on himself. “I’m decent.” He humbly replies. He wasn’t that good and he knows it but compared to the rest of the members in his group, he’s most probably the best only because he uses his brain while cooking.

“Let’s do the rice!” Jungin excitingly announced, putting her hands together once. Taemin shows Junhee the refrigerator located behind the neon green door where the pot of rice was placed.

After taking it out, Junhee gasped audibly as she lifted the lid of the red pot and revealed the contents. “What is this? Is this all beans?”

“Yes.” Jungin retorted, gazing back at the three pairs of eyes that looked at her in bewilderment.

Once Junhee put in the pot into the rice steamer to make the bean rice, they moved on to the pineapples that were taken out by Taemin and placed on the counter. Despite the little things, so far the two men stayed back and simply watched. “Then, here. Pineapple. We’re going to make pancakes.”

“Pineapple pancakes?” Junhee reiterated in another surprised state.

Taemin finally blurts out the question he’s been keeping in. “Have you tried it before?”

“Pineapple pancake? Nope, never had it before.” She immediately answers almost placidly while nervous laughter erupted from the young men. As they all continued to converse and as the three younger one’s worry steadily grows, Taemin and Junhyung handled cutting their own pineapple while the women handled one together.

Though everyone was concentrated on what they had in hand, Junhee still tried to initiate a conversation. “All of us have cooked once.” She stated, starting to somewhat feel confident in carving out the pineapple.

“I haven’t.” Junhyung muttered, slicing the skin on the pineapple quite skillfully. Taemin peered at the older man curiously. “Not for or with Jieunie, but I have cooked for the members.”

“How is she? Is she good at cooking, your wife?” Jungin asked, taking a slice of pineapple into to taste the sweetness of the fruit. Everyone suddenly took interest, awaiting for his response.

He nodded enthusiastically, his eyes glued on the knife cutting into the pineapple. “She’s seriously good.”

Taemin glanced at him enviously, knowing Naeun isn’t that good with cooking. Junhee also covetously watched him, noticing his skill in peeling the fruit and keeping in mind that Jieun’s a good cook. “Wah, how nice. My dream was to be a good housewife.”

“When? When you were in elementary?” Jungin plainly replied with not much interest.

Junhee smiled at her frank remark but instead of answering, she replied with another question. “Don’t you want to be a good housewife?”

“I probably won’t be.” She retorted with no hesitation, making the men chuckle at her directness. “I don’t have the genes to be a good housewife.”

From there, Junhee continued the conversation but changed the topic. “It feels like I’m being alienated a little.” The ears of the other three perked up, hearing her feelings and questioned why. “With Jieunie, it’s a bit better because she’s the only model while I’m the only actress. The others are in broadcasting, and you must see each other during music programs.”

“We don’t see each other that often.” Jungin contradicted. “No, it’s hard to get closer.” Taemin put in his two cents, agreeing with the eldest woman who also then agreed with him too.

“Aren’t you close with Girls’ Generation?” She asked him, containing her curiosity.

“I’m not close.” Taemin countered, before receiving all the ‘why’s from the two women. Junhyung who already knows this, stayed silent once again. “Because I’m a little reserved so I can’t follow up.”

Junhee gasped and retorted, “Jinwoon is close with Wonder Girls and Miss A because they’re from the same company. Junhyungie, aren’t you close with the female groups in the same company?” Junhyung who had kept silent the whole time was finally being questioned by Junhee.

He cleared his throat before carefully responding to her. “Yes, 4minute and G.na-noona, I’m close with them.” Hearing this, Taemin tried to reason himself, ignoring Jungin’s question who was persistent on getting an answer for her question.

“I’m asking if you see Girls’ Generation as women.” She repeated herself with a slightly higher voice however instead of Taemin answered directly, he prevailed on the topic with different words.

“Because I like to be comfortable and be able to communicate well with people-” But before he could finished, Jungin interrupted him.

“You can’t communicate well with Girls’ Generation?” Her straightforward interrogation made the men laugh, Junhyung harder than Taemin. “We’ll take it that you can’t communicate well with them.” Junhee concluded as he put the knife down and turned to the older man with pleady eyes.

“Hyung~”, he whimpered to Junhyung, making him laugh louder.

“But I heard you guys meet outside often?” Jungin mentioned, towards Junhee to which she could only smile to. Taemin could only look at her enviously. “You too, Junhyungie, I heard?” Once he heard his name, he giggled behind the back of his hand, holding the knife. From Junhee, Taemin averted his jealous eyes to Junhyung, looking at him the same way.

“Ah, but I don’t even know Naeun’s phone number yet.” Taemin muttered, surprising the older ones. Even though Junhee had offered asking for him, he declined and went on about how he had prepared on asking and how he was actually going to ask using a calculator.

“Ya, dude, why don’t you just ask her for it?” Junhyung asked him frankly, hearing enough of the calculations he was blabbering on about. When asked how he got Jieun’s number, he tried to remember it before explaining. “After third or fourth time meeting for filming, I took her phone without her knowing and put in my number. Later she texted me, asking why she has my number and that’s how I got hers.” The women woo-ed at his method, impressed while Taemin chuckled.

After a long conversation between the four of them, Taemin asked for permission whether or not he could go outside for a bit. “Why? Where are you going?” Jungin and Junhee inquired, almost protectively.

“Just for five minutes.” He convinced but the women weren’t falling for it until Junhee finally decided to follow Taemin along, the two of them ignoring the protests coming from the eldest. “Junhyungie, come with us.” Junhee invited him along, adorably. With a few hesitations, he still wasn’t sure until Junhee grabbed his arm and pulled him along.

Once outside, with a loud voice, Taemin asked his wife how it’s going here as Junhee inquired the same towards her husband with more affection. When Junhyung approached Jieun, she looked at him questioningly. “Are you okay?” He asked caringly, observing what’s done of the garden.

She nodded adorably, beaming up at him to which he returned as his eyes falls on her. “Is it okay in there? Go back in and help unni.” The two ignored the presences of the other couples and the older man, focusing on each other.

“I just wanted to check on you.” She assures him that she’s alright before patting his arm adoringly.

“Jungin-unni is too busy cooking.” Junhee explained to everyone. “It’s a meal that comes from a blog we don’t know about.” As they continued their conversation, Jieun patted Junhyung’s arm once again, harder than before to attract his attention. She cocked her head towards the house but he only looked down to her.

Once she nodded reassuringly, he then spoken aloud. “I’m going back in to help noona.” With that, Junhee joined him and pulled Taemin along behind her.

As the three walked back towards the house with Junhee in the middle of the two men, Naeun and Jinwoon watched the backs of the three people as they got further and further away. “Junhee match well with Taemin and Junhyung.” The stare of two on the three grew intense as Jieun giggled the statement by Jungchi away. “What are you two doing, staring like that?” Jungchi exploded with laughter on the tip of his tongue.

“I feel weird somehow...” Naeun mumbled with Jinwoon on her side.

“Are you a jealous person?” Jungchi started the conversation as the four returned to their work on the garden.

“I think...I am.” Naeun replied before getting into a story about how jealous she once got over Taemin being in a drama with a girl.

“What about a kiss scene?” Jinwoon fueled up the fire, “And you didn’t know about it.” She remained silent and suddenly, her hands stopped working. “It would really be heol-worthy, wouldn’t it?” From there, her actions became violent but it only made her cuter as the three others laughed at her.

“Unni, wouldn’t you be jealous or mad?” Naeun questioned, trying to have someone understand her feelings.

Before she could answer, she tried to think whether or not she’ll actually be jealous. “I’m not the type to be jealous though.” Jinwoon nodded his head along with the rest. “And with the drama, he’s already told me there will be a kiss scene so...” Her words slowly turned quieter and quieter as her concentration on the gardening increased. Naeun watched her impressed and with much envy.

“Should we go in there? To spy on them.” Jinwoon suggested, but Jungchi decided on not going and so Jieun would rather stay to keep the elder company. Thus the two younger ones made their way to the house.

While the people in the house were working hard on the cooking, the two from the outside entered calmly. “Hyung, Jieun-noona didn’t want to come because she didn’t want to disturb.”

He shrugged, not really caring if she had come or not since he wasn’t really expecting her after he had already went to go see her. When the two realizes what was happening on the counter, their faces turned blank and only awkward laughs could come out. “Naeun-ah, come here.” Jinwoon emphasizes his word more than usual. From just hearing that sentence and seeing Junhee’s reaction, Junhyung knew what was up his sleeves. So he put down the knife and shuffled his feet to be behind everyone to watch.

The two continued to say things that made the other two jealous while Jungin was entirely focused on cooking and Junhyung was snickering to himself, hearing everything that was being said. He could see the anger and jealousy rise in Junhee’s and Taemin’s eyes. He shook his head with a grin on his face before returning to help out with the cooking. Sooner or later, the two left after mentioning how much fun they’ll be having while Junhee and Taemin countered by saying they’ll be having a lot of fun as well.

On the other hand, outside, Jieun and Jungchi continued working on planting each root properly. She would laugh as he voiced each plant as he sow them down. The other half of the group eventually came back after accomplishing their mission. “We made the atmosphere a bit vague and returned. Ah, and also about the pineapple, they’re frying it.” Jinwoon stated.

“They’re frying pineapples?” Jieun repeated in somewhat of a shock.

“And they’re cooking the cabbage.” Naeun added on.

Jinwoon exclaimed, standing up from his crouched position, “Ah, after looking I’m not hungry at all!” After a while later of hard work, they were finally done with the garden and had sewed all the plantations long before the group that was cooking was done. They were about to return into the house until Jinwoon suggested something they should do before returning. “We have ramyun in our house. Are you guys agreeing? With the ramyun...”

“Should we eat one each?” Jungchi inquired, slowly starting to agree with the younger man. Even though Jieun agreed on going with them, she declined on having a cup of ramyun due to her strict diet. In the end, the four of them made their way into the Junhee couples’ house. Out of the cupboard, Jinwoon handed Naeun and Jungchi a cup and one for herself. Jieun settled herself on one of the stools and watched them all cook up their own cups.

When they were done with their cups, they cleared all traces of them eating it and finally made their way back to the maknae’s house where the other group was cooking. Just in time, when they had finished setting up the table, the four returned. The table was set up nicely and the food looked appetizing. Everybody began to take a seat around the table, each husband settled next to their wifes. Jinwoon was the first to take a bite of the pineapple pancakes, while everyone watched him waiting for a reaction, for anything. “How is it?” Junhee asked him, kindly.

After a few more chews, he finally says something. “How about we put MSG in it?” The next pair to try was the maknae couple and as soon as the piece was in their mouth, they had pulled a face instantly. “I think it’s fine.” Taemin and Naeun said together, nodding as they chew on the food before swallowing it. “It’s edible.” Junhyung and Jieun commented as they had taken a piece not too long after.

“So how do you guys feel?” Jungin asked, as everyone was eating their food and conversing at the same time.

“I feel like because it’s our house, I have to give something or prepare something but because Naeun wasn’t there to support me, I felt a little...” Taemin ranted on until his words eventually comes to an end. Jinwoon asked for Naeun’s opinion in turn. “I feel sort of the same way. Because we are always together, so when we are apart, I feel lonely.”

“It’s weird though, it’s the first time meeting altogether but it doesn’t feel that way.” Taemin continued, receiving concurrences from everyone else in the room. In the middle of their meal, the doorbell went off, alerting everyone from their plates. Taemin immediately gets up with Naeun following him and the two made their way to the front door together only to return with a familiar yellow envelope. “It’s for number 1, 2, 3 and 4. In two weeks’ time, you will be shooting a special WGM photo-shoot. From the professionals’ and viewers’ vote, the couple with the highest vote will be on the front cover of the WGM main webpage. Please start getting ready for the photo-shoot.”

“Oh, this is a really big project!”

Everyone’s greed and want to be on the front cover intensely grew as they discussed it over briefly together. “I think people will put lots of effort in as we’re all so competitive.” Jinwoon commented, reading everyone’s faces. After a while of more talking, they all finally decided to depart and separate into their own ways. As always before leaving, they snapped a group picture together with Jieun’s polaroid camera.

“Bye!” Jieun shouted as Junhyung led her to his car, carrying all the presents they had received from the other three couples. The rest returned her parting before the couple finally settled in the car. “Ah, what to do...Photo-shoot...”

“Why? Worried?” Junhyung drove the car out of the village and onto the main road.

She heaved in a breath before replying. “It’s not that. You have the Malaysia concert and the album, and I have fashion shows, and everything...” She sighed as Junhyung glanced at her quickly, worriedly.

“It’ll be okay, we’ll do fine.” He assured her, grabbing her hand on her lap lovingly.

Longer than usual to read, longer than usual to write up... Here you go, more interations with the other three couples! I giggle everytime I mention the Malaysia concert because it reminds me of when I went to it haha, it was amazing to see all of the Beast face to face. Ahh, it's already so long ago but it feels like it was just yesterday... Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. Comment anything and subscribe for more! Oh by the way, check out XIA Junsu's new album if you haven't, it's the best! Bye~ x