Hi guys!! Tuesday here~

Sorry for getting this to you a day later than schedule, I hope everyone has had a very Merry Christmas! ^^

This chapter is a gift for you all, I hope you enjoy it! :D ♥

Episode 9 –  9화 – Shoe Laces

Pitter-pat! Pitter-pat! Pitter-pat!

The second-story floorboards of the Park family rang with the familiar clatter of a chaotic Monday morning. With pencil-marked sheets scattered in piles across the desk, a full rucksack waiting on the chair and several outfit combinations laying across the bed, Shin Hye brushes the final strands of her fringe into place. She was ready for class.

Andwae! Half an hour to go! With a sudden spring in her spirits, Shin Hye grabs her bag on the way out, pulling on and willing her jacket to accommodate her franticness as she stumbles across the landing and down the wooden stairs.

“I’ll be off now, Umma~!” Shin Hye calls in the midst of tackling her shoes.

Hearing a hushed mumble from the kitchen in respone, Shin Hye calls again, “Umma?”

“-dul… Ahdul, Shin will be fine. She’s a big girl now. Her lively personality may not have changed much, but she has matured. Trust her on this.”

Her… brother?

“Yes, yes… Of course… Of course she knows… yes! She knows that, Ahdul, she’s a smart kid… Now, if you’ll just listen to Um- Ahdul? Shin Won ah! Shin-!…”

Without realising it, she gulped as she continued to tug at her laces. She heard her mother let out a sigh in the kitchen. He had hung up on her. He’s mad. Her brother has always been protective of her, and just the idea of what he might be thinking of it all… Shin Hye’s stomach instinctually tightened.

She fumbled. And fumbled. But the shoe laces wouldn’t tie.

[Black Room Interviews]

[Q: So… what is the plan for today?]

Yong Hwa: (Leans forward with a grin, congressman-hands in place) I’m going to introduce Shin to my members!

Yong Hwa: I’m so excited! (Chuckles) But also kind of nervous. But I’m sure they’ll love her.

“…..Nn! Yeogi-yeyo! Kamsahamnida!!”

The taxi door props open as a short girl, both in hair and height, climbs adorably out of the back door. As she stands there by the road, looking up at the tall building that stood before her with a look of home-coming delight painted in her eyes, she beams, “It’s the FNC building!!”

The screen then cuts to the next shot, in which Shin Hye is making her way through the inside of the building, strolling through the corridors of FNC with familiarity. She stops at the elevators and presses the button with her finger, humming a tune as she waits.

“Now it’s time to find Yong~” She sings.

Whirrr… Ping!

The door opens, and as Shin Hye tilts her head upwards, the sight of Yong Hwa suddenly meets her gaze. He steps out, face in bewilderment – though clearly not unpleasantly surprised.

“Shin! Wha… What are you doing here? I was supposed to come get you,” He smiles in greeting, scratching his head with one arm and not knowing what to do with the rest of his limbs.

She grins widely up at him, “I got here early so I wanted to surprise you! Surprise!”- She giggles- “I know my way around. I was just about to go to your practice room!”

Shin Hye laughs wholeheartedly, “You’re fast, Mr Yong. Let’s go!”

“Let’s go~” Yong Hwa laughs in agreement as they board the elevator, pressing the buttons as he enters, “So how long have you been here?”

“Not long, about 10 minutes?”

“Aish, you should have let me know~” He says, ruffling her hair.

“Yah,” She glares up at him, “I’m not short.”

Yong Hwa grins at her adorable spike of self-consciousness and says with a teasing tone as he ruffles her hair some more, “I didn’t say you were.”

“This person…” She dismisses with a huff.

The door opens again and the couple is welcomed by the numbing sensations of a strong bass. For Yong Hwa, this was a familiar feel-good feeling that perked him up almost immediately, adrenaline at the ready, as though his body was gearing him up to dive into the musical fray. For Shin Hye, her excitement also built to a similar degree, except, with the anticipation of a fan’s curiosity.

As they approach CNBLUE’s usual preferred practise room, a small enclosed space tucked out of sight, the sound of a voice becomes more prominent amongst the woven metallic rhythm of guitars and drums. Shin Hye’s ears perk up. She recognised this voice. This voice…

This voice belongs to…

Although it was a medley she was unfamiliar with, she is pretty certain it’s…

Yong Hwa opens the door inwards to reveal FT ISLAND in full blast, the members jamming passionately in harmony with one another. And sure enough, standing in the centre amongst the musicians, gripping a microphone, stood their lead vocalist, the voice Shin Hye pinned down- Lee HongKi.

Befuddled at the sudden intrusion of guests, the band members gradually came to a halt with one bass note sustained in the air with suspense as their eyes widened at the cameras that just came into the room as well as their noona.

“Shin Hye Noona!!” One of the guys shouted.

“Sorry, did we interrupt?”

“What are you guys doing in here?”

At this moment, the bewildered HongKi reacted, throwing one fist into the air in greeting as he called out in an American accent, “Yo! Mister and Mrs Jung!”

The pair blush.

Hongki. Lee Hongki, everyone.

“BLU went out for a bit. We traded rooms because Min-hwan wanted to use the drum kit in this room.” Seunghyun replied as he tunes his guitar. Min-hwan, scratches his head shyly at the mention.

“What are you guys doing here?” HongKi asks as he hops over.

“I wanted to officially introduce Shin Hye to the rest of my members today, but it looks like they ran out on me,” Yong Hwa laughs with a hint of embarrassment.

HongKi looks at them curiously before cracking into a mischievous smile, “Introducing Mrs Jung to the brother-in-laws, huh? What about us?” -he demands- “We’re also technically brother-in-laws!!”

The guys in the back jeered in unison as Jong Hoon runs over to greet Shin Hye with a fist bump and a side hug. Yong Hwa watches.

“But what’s the song you guys were playing just now? I’ve never heard of it before, sounds catchy,” Shin Hye asks.

“Top secret!” Hongki winks smoothly.

“We’re just practising what could be the title song of our next album, Noona,” Won Bin smiles, setting down his guitar and peering over with interest.

“Hey, should we go get some snacks, guys?” Jong Hoon asks with excitement, sensing that it would be appropriate to leave so that the newly wed can get some more screen time.

The rest of the guys gathered together in a huddle by the door, happy at the prospect of getting snacks, some stretching on the way out, others exchanging brief and playful banter.

“Coming, HongKi?” Jong Hoon asks.

“Nah, I’ll stay here for a bit. Get me a banana milk.”

“Kay,” He directs a light salute at Hongki before nodding farewell at the couple, “We’ll be back soon, Shin… Yong…”

“Jal-ga~” Shin Hye waves as Yong Hwa takes out his phone.

HongKi grabs a chair and straddles it, sitting backwards, leaning his chin on the backrest, peering up at Shin Hye as she, herself, goes to grab two chairs for her and Yong Hwa.

Meanwhilst, Yong Hwa, presumably having sent a text to s to check up on their whereabouts, walks towards the other side of the room to where a table is stood. Shin Hye, catching onto Yong Hwa’s aim rushes over to help him with the table. HongKi watches from his chair, scratching his chin as he muses over the act.

MC Seulong: (Perks up and realises) Yes… it has the same kind of feeling as…

MC Kim JungMin: (Finishes his sentence) Meeting the family-in-law!

Shin Hye’s POV

“So…” Hongki slurs with his eyes fixed suspiciously on us and then settling on Yong Hwa, his voice uncharacteristically deep, “Are you going to take care of our Shin Hye well, son-in-law?”

We paused for a second then burst into laughter as the ice broke. Trust HongStar to make things so comfortable!

“Yah!” He scolds, voice deepening still, “That was a serious question, son-in-law.” He addresses me through side glances, “Daughter, keep still, how am I supposed to marry you off if you are so unladylike?”

I pull an offended face. Me? Unladylike?

“Yah, what do you mean son-in-law?” Yong Hwa retorts. “What happened to being a brother-in-law?”

“I… of course, I can be both! I am your father-brother-in-law!!” Hongki taunts in defiance, chin-up, “In short, I am almighty and you listen to me. Answer the question, son-in-law!”

“So petty!” I laughed.

“Shhh!”

*MC Panel breaks out in mass hysteria*

Hongki flusters, clearly not expecting such a serious answer, “Y-Yah…” -He clears his throat- “You better!”

At this very moment, the door opens and in pours the FT ISLAND members along with the rest of CNBLUE bearing rustling bags and the aroma of street food.

“Annyeonghaseyo! Annyeonghaseyo!” The BLU boys bow politely towards the camera as well as Shin Hye, who quickly stands up to greet them.

“Annyeonghaseyo!”

“You guys came back fast,” Yong Hwa says.

A dramatic HongKi ejects himself from his chair and throws himself onto the returning Jong Hoon, mock-crying, “Jong Hoon-ah, help! Yong Hwa is being all serious and ew~ -Feelmygoosebumps-”

“Yah!”

“He’s changed~ He’s changed~!”

“What are you insinuating? I’m always serious!” Yong Hwa cries in defence.

This earned a few chuckles and scoffs around the room, Shin Hye shakes her head with a smile.

Meanwhile, the FT ISLAND members happily set up camp on the floor, opening up and distributing the bags of food that they bought from (what seems to be) a convenience store and a street vendor. The BLU boys, on the other hand, stand timidly around them. You can sense who are the sunbaes and who are the hoobaes.

Jong Hoon passes HongKi his banana milk and Shin Hye a portion of ddeokbokki and fish cakes as Yong Hwa goes over to s.

“Shin Hye, these are the rest of my band members: Jong Hyun, the guitarist, Minhyuk, our drummer, and our maknae, the bassist, JungShin~ Greet her, guys,” Yong Hwa presents like a proud father, his sons all adopting his polite congressman-hands, “This is my wife, Shin Hye.”

MC Kim JungMin: (Nods in agreement)

Shin Hye’s POV

“Individual introductions!” Jae Jin suggested with an arm raised in the midst of eating before adding, “Funny ones!”

I laughed, feeling a weird sense of déjà vu creep upon me. The BLU boys looked back at me with a bewildered expression and for a second, I was sure they were feeling the same sensation, yet they made no hesitation to begin the act.

Minhyuk, being on the far left took the intuitive to go first, “Kang Minhyuk-imnida!” He looked around blankly for comedic-inspiration before quickly bursting out- “I’m a loner! I’m a loner!”

“Daridiridara du~!!” We all echoed back, almost perfectly in sync, to which Minhyuk smiled with satisfaction.

Daebak!

Next it was the shy guitarist, “Lee Jong Hyun-imnida………… ne!” He nods, cheeks blushing, hands clasped orderly.

“Yahhh~” “Aish~~” “Not good enough, Jong Hyun-ah!” The audience grumbled with dissatisfaction.

He sniffs, clearing his throat for a second attempt, I don’t think any one of us expected Jong Hyun to whip out his Busan accent, “How’s everyone? The name’s Lee. Jong. Hyun.”

This sent HongKi and Seung Hyun, in particular, toppling over with laughter whilst earning a bro-fist from Yong, a fellow Busan-ian.

I giggled, bowing in response, “Nice to meet you too, Jong Hyun-ssi. The name’s Park. Shin. Hye~”

I turned to the last member, whom I had only met recently, smiling as the words came to me again. I pulled a surprised expression, “You must be JungShin, the bassist! It’s nice to finally meet you!”

JungShin’s eyes shined, recognising the words I had said to him when we first met, he smiles widely, bowing back, “Aniyo, aniyo! It is my pleasure to meet you! CNBLUE Bassist Lee JungShin-imnida!”

Everybody looked at him expectantly for a punchline.

“...And I… I know all of hyung’s embarrassing secrets!!”

In an instant, all of us burst into roars and laughter, with Yong quickly covering JungShin in the most sinister embrace before any of his sunbaes could dig for the details.

And it was with merriment that we started to settle down to indulge in the humble feast the guys had brought back with them.

With the warmth of ddeokbokki in my stomach and the sheer buzz of the chaotically-perfect atmosphere, I let myself relax and submerge in the presence of these precious people.

[Black Room Interviews]

Shin Hye: I really enjoyed myself... The atmosphere was great, the food was great, the company was great- it was just so warm. I have always been close to FTISLAND and CNBLUE, but this time, being together, felt a little different... It was like family... and I have a feeling... I will get attached to my new-found family... (smiles and nods)

A/N: And this ends the 9th episode~ ^^ So... it's been a while since I've written a piece this long, so I'm not too confident about my writing. >< Please let me know in the comments below if there are any shortcomings or parts that you think are okay; your feedback would be greatly appreciated! ^^ Hope everyone has a brilliant winter holiday! ♥

Thank you always, for your support and love~  - T