Episode 10 – 10화 – Love Light

“So, how’s everything going with uni, Go Mi Nam? You settlin’ in well?”

“Yeah!” Shin Hye replies, turning her head to face Hongki, “Going fine, the workload isn’t as much as I anticipated so-”

“Oh! Shin Hye got into uni?”

“What kinda question is that?” Hongki defends, “Our hyung-soo is smart!”

Yong Hwa passes a napkin to Shin Hye.

“Congratulations, noona!!”

“Yah, can we just sort somethin’ out,” Hongki clears his throat in thought, “‘Mrs. Jung’… ‘hyung-soo-nim’… all seem a bit bland. Now that you’re a married woman, Shin Hye-yah, we need to get you a new nickname, ‘Go Mi Nam’ is no longer appropriate; relationships have been re-established.”

She rolls her eyes.

“‘Mrs. Jung’… ‘hyung-soo-nim’… ‘Jung hyung-soo-nim’…”

“‘Mrs. Jjang!’” Jong Hoon throws in playfully to the jeers of the other guys and a thrown chopstick wrapper from Hongki.

“Be serious, yah-”

“Guys, please-” Shin Hye began but is cut off by an offer of food from Yong Hwa and a gentle smile and shake of a head indicating her attempts were probably futile.

“How about ‘Jung-soo-nim’??” Hongki suggests, wide-eyed at every member, “‘Jung-soo’ for short!!”

“Yah! I swear- do not call me that!” -The jury cracks up, some members giving the thumbs-up of approval- “Why do you have to make me sound like a guy??”

Hongki leans forward to pinch a rice cake from Shin Hye before steering it to his mouth with a tooth pick, “You hang out with us so much you’re already spiritually one-”

Plop! A gust of ‘OOOOH’s swept the floor followed by laughter and playful elbow-ings as Shin Hye leans on Yong Hwa in resignation.

He her hair comfortingly, before addressing his brothers with a knowing smile, “Yah, all of you are too much-”

With a few teasing squints from s, everyone settles down to a blissful murmur as the final bites are finished. Jong Hoon asks a few questions about what CNBLUE were working on whilst JungShin softly plays a few notes on his bass, and somehow, one thing lead to another and everyone ended up petitioning for a live performance of A.N.JELL.

“What can we do? The crowds are calling our name,” Hongki sighs with the dramatic sigh of a diva.

Yong Hwa springs up, pumping his fists in enthusiasm, “Let’s do this!”

Shin Hye’s POV

I’m so proud of myself! Even though it’s been a while, I can still remember most of the chords and notes to ‘Still’ and I didn’t mess up playing alongside Yong and HongStar. For a moment it felt like we were back in that stuffy yet exhilarating concert hall with the name of A.N.JELL flanking us in flashing neon colours. If it wasn’t for our little audience of adorable guys waving their hands to and fro beneath us in a dazed bliss, I would have thought we were immersed in that low-clinging fog once again- the closest aesthetic sensation I’ve ever had to being in heaven.

How can such sublime highs be felt at the same time as the joyous thrill of a friendly karaoke?

I guess it must be the power of friendship.

And I guess it must also be the power of friendship that convinced HongStar to follow up the performance with another audience-requested number: SNSD’s Genie.

His face was blank with distaste at the suggestion to which the guys made no attempt to hide their devilish horns, tails and grins.

“I’ll get to you later” were the famous last words of the masculinity of FTISLAND’s leader and main vocalist.

Yong and I just grinned at each other, this really was like old times.

“For Tae Kyung-hyung who isn’t here today!” Yong Hwa announced into the sensitive mic as we got into formation.

“He’s LUCKY!” HongStar sulked.

Alongside the impromptu acapella orchestra that is FTISLAND and CNBLUE- some humming, others singing and a few adding a refreshing twist of beat-boxing- HongStar, Yong and I retraced the poses, footwork, hip twirls and hand movements we had practised over and over again nearly a year ago. Trying to keep in sync with one another, we clammed our mouths shut as though the risk of collapsing into a bundle of laughter was somehow dependent on the straightness of our lips.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Minhyuk peeking over Jong Hoon’s shoulder curiously, watching him and Seung-hyun attempt to record us dancing.

“YAH! I’ll sue!!” HongStar shouted in the midst of a line, causing everyone to crack up.

“Keep going, leader! You’re doing great!!” Seung-hyun called back with a thumbs-up.

[Black Room Interviews]

Shin Hye: (Smiles brightly) I really liked it… ne… (Thoughtfully) I feel that having the guys there really helped to ease the atmosphere between Yong and I. Even though [WGM] and… situations made us flustered, to be called a “couple”- hanging out with everyone reminded me that at the heart of things, Yong and I are really close friends, so we shouldn’t be so awkward with each other.

As time passed and the atmosphere softened, every member gradually settled down to a more peaceful lull of conversation with an odd burst of excitement here and there amongst the groups seated on the floor.

Still situated in the same spot as where they had danced previously was Yong Hwa, on a chair, cradling a guitar, and next to him on another chair, a content Shin Hye who watched him as he lured soft notes from the instrument.

“Do you play without a pick often?” Shin Hye murmurs with a tilt of a head.

He looks up at her, “Not usually… when I’m practising with the guys I use a pick. But when it’s casual, like this, or I’m just playing around for a tune, yes… it’s more convenient.”

She watches him as he fixes his concentration on the guitar pegs, “Ah! So that’s why you have odd nails…” -She chuckles- “I should have known. My brother is the same... he’s a guitarist too.”

And of course, Yong Hwa knew this, but she thought it would be helpful for the audience if she mentioned it. Yong Hwa smiled at this.

“Hey, do you wanna hear something?”

Shin Hye perks up with interest, “Hear what?”

“There’s a song I’m working on at the moment…”

“Sure!” She smiles, eyes sparkling.

“I haven’t finished it yet though…”

“It’s alright, go ahead~”

He smiles and proceeds to play a series of cheerfully pitch-increasing chords at a quick yet soothing pace. It gave off the kind of feeling that reminded Shin Hye of sunshine at the beach on a cloudless day and with this she swayed, giving her close friend a sweet eye-smile of encouragement as the lull of the timbre in his voice danced with a playful tune, courting his audience in a sweet acoustic heaven:

“When I look at you, my face gets red

When I see you, my heart goes thump thump

I talk with shyness… Like a kid…

When I look at you, I just smile without a reason

Like a fool, I keep doing that…

It seems… like love came to me”

She couldn’t help the pink hue that was appearing on her cheeks, thankfully, before she needed to hide it, the tone of the tune changed from a sweet melody to a charming rap which Yong Hwa’s rich voice embodied with justice. Noticing her cheeks, he looked at her playfully as he rapped with the charismatic glint of mischief in his eyes that no doubt makes so many of his fans swoon.

“You’re the president of my heart

You lay out the stars in my heart

I’m Genie for you, girl

You make me hold my breath

Whatever you want

Because I love you

There’s no reason for my love, you know…”

As though trying to smoothen out the abruptness, Yong Hwa plays a beautiful splay of notes in indication of an end (temporarily). A small collection of ‘woot’s and jeers of appreciation echoed from the other side of the room as Shin Hye claps on cue, “Jalhaessou! Jinjja!”

“Really? You think so?”

“Yeah! It’s so beautiful! It’ll get an all-kill for sure!” She smiled as her whole face glowed as though alight with warmth, eyes carving into sweet crescents that released butterflies into Yong’s stomach, “You did well, Yong!!”

He blushed as he stared at her, smiling.

“Thanks… I know what to call it now.”

“Really?? What?”

“It’s a secret.”

“Hey~ Yong Hwa!”

He grins, turning his attention back on his guitar.

A call comes from across the room, “He’s been working on that for a while now, noona!” It was Minhyuk, grinning cheekily.

She turns back to him, shifting into a more comfortable position, “Yah- not fair... you’re really not going to tell me?”

He nods.

“Suite yourself…” She pouts and then lets out a sigh, “I wish I knew how to play like that…”

“Do you wanna learn? I can teach you”

“You will?”

He hands the guitar he has been cradling over to a surprised Shin Hye, “Of course! I would love for my wife to know how to play the guitar, or any instrument- we could jam together.”

She could tell from his toothy grin that he really meant it so she accepted the instrument with a warm feeling in her stomach, “My brother showed me a few chords before, but we never got round to him teaching me any more.” -She says as she tried to recall them- “Does this sound right? Ani- This?”

“…It’s better if you position your wrist like this…” He demonstrates, placing his hand next to hers on the fretboard, “Yeah, just like that! Now try it… See?”

She smiled, ecstatic to have learnt something new, and seeing this enthusiasm made her teacher’s heart fawn for her.

He teaches her a few more basic chords- A Major, D Major, E Minor and A Minor-, guiding her with how she should position her wrist for each chord. Then, to his satisfaction, he tests her and though she stumbled a few times, she managed to remember every one of them.

“Hey… you know, you and this guitar make a great team together.”

“Really?” Shin Hye laughs, amused at the idea of a personified guitar.

“Yeah. I’ll give you some homework, Shin-Hye-ssi.”

She sits there, stunned for a second at the sudden seriousness. “But I don’t have a guitar to practise at home…”

“You have one now.” Yong smiles, gesturing at the beautiful tanned instrument on her lap, “Take good care of it!”

“Jeonmal??”

At this moment, JungShin trots over with interest, “Hyung, jinjja?? You’re giving away your guitar? Noona! You have no idea what a moment this is, Hyung never lets us touch his guitars”-Yong prepares himself for a rugby tackle-“Yah! Minhyuk! Jonghyun! Hyung is giving away hisMMF---!”

Jonghyun sidles up to them with a grin, “What is this favouritism, hyung?”

“Shush~”

After being rescued from his debtor’s iron clutches, JungShin immediately flees like a fish that has escaped the net, “Hyung-deul!!”

Jonghyun peers over YongHwa’s shoulders eyeing the guitar as Shin Hye practised her chords a few more times, delighted, “Are you sure?”

Yong Hwa grins, the slight flush which resulted from bear-hugging JungShin still present on his cheeks, “Yeah, practise hard!”

“Yah, Jung-soo!” Hongki calls, strolling over with the rest of the herd, “you better study hard- you know, you got yourself the 2^nd best guitarist in FNC to be your teacher! 2^nd after yours truly, of course.” He eyes YongHwa with eyes of defiance before petting his junior’s head, “I’m only kidding. You’re the best~ And so is Jonghyun~”

“Just ask any of us if you need any help at all,” Jonghyun smiles rosily.

Being at the epicentre of the guys huddled around her, Shin Hye has never felt so much warmth. Not even that time when she stood tall on the stage of heavenly-aesthetics with lights blaring down at her from all directions, perspiration glistening on her forehead, smile gleaming on her face, the chant of crowds rushing through her veins and the bass resounding on her ear drums.

“You can do it, noona!”