Clarissa

[10:29am]: Hey, I’m changing your contact name on my phone. >_<

[10:36am]: Why? I think ‘The Dancer ㅎㅎ’ is pretty cool.

[10:40am]: LOL it’s not. Minus points for lack of originality, dude.

[10:41am]: Fine. I dare you to come up with something more creative. :P

[10:42am]: KIM. JONG. IN. Creative, huh?

[10:42am]: Wow. Hands down the most creative name of the decade.

[10:43am]: Aw. Hahahaha Disappointed? Who told you to anticipate anything in the first place? :P

Truth was, she’s wanted to change the name ever since their first conversation—something about Kim Jongin just sounded more fitting. When she texted him, he wasn’t the person she saw on stage. He wasn’t Kai, the dancer, the performer, the artist. He was Jongin, the sarcastic man-boy, the playful kid, the easy-going friend. Texting him made her laugh, and although she wasn’t willing to admit it, it made her want to talk to him face-to-face, so she could see his facial expressions. Emoticons just couldn’t cut it, when she knew (based on her online stalking) that his beautiful, beautiful face could show much more nuanced reactions.

Perhaps it was a turn-off to see Kai—Jongin—act like a normal human being. He was supposed to be untouchable, flawless, an alien being from Exoplanet. (Clarissa couldn’t help but scoff at the thought. Who comes up with such lame concepts? The boys look good, granted, but that’s because they’d still look gorgeous in a potato sack.) But somehow, Jongin’s flaws made him approachable. It’s as if the barrier between his stardom and her…peasantry, for lack of a better word, was penetrable.

She’s started looking forward to their texting sessions. Sometimes he replied very quickly, and other times, it took hours to squeeze out a text message from him. Those other times were slowly becoming more excruciating.

“Looking forward to a text?” Boyoung-unni asked.

“N-no. Not at all,” Clarissa’s always been a bad liar, but she felt bad for the unni. She grew to love her job and her co-workers, and she didn’t mean any disrespect.

“It’s okay,” the unni chuckled. “We’re telling you guys to work, not to be celibate.” Boyoung liked Clarissa. She was a hard worker, and she was efficient in what she does.

“Unni!” Clarissa blushed. Koreans can be so forward.

“문자왔숑~!” *A message is here~* (A/N: Secret Garden reference, anyone?)

Clarissa fumbled with her phone. Finally. It took all her willpower not to check the message. Be professional, Reese. Now’s not the time to check messages. You’re working. Clarissa nodded affirmatively. Besides, you’ve waited four hours for that message. Let him get a taste of his own medicine. Clarissa still wanted to check it. She wanted to reply so badly.

“문자왔숑~!” She started. Another one?

“문자왔숑~!” Boyoung-unni looked up from her work pile.

“문자왔숑~!” Please stop being obnoxious, Kai. You’re embarrassing me.

“문자왔숑~!” Ugh. Clarissa was about to turn off her phone.

“Hey, better check that. It might be an emergency, you know?” Boyoung gave her an understanding look; Clarissa caved in. So much for self-control.

[2:30pm]: Sorry for replying so late!  We had practice again. T.T

[2:34pm]: Are you mad???? Don’t be, please? Guess where we are? :D

[2:36pm]: You’re not gonna guess? Fine. I’m not gonna tell you.

[2:36pm]: Argh. We’re in the SBS building! Wanna see me?

[2:37pm]: You know you wanna. ;) I’ll be in the 3^rd floor. Hurry! Kai is a limited-edition action figure. 

“Unni… can I take my break right now?”

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Short update, but an update still :D I've thought about giving up this whole thing, to be honest. But whenever even just one of you comments, it really encourages me. You guys don't even know. Hahaha Sorry for being cheesy. But yeah. You guys keep me going <3