Chapter 25: Music To My Ears...CPOV
Meeting Each Other
“Hyung! What are you back so early?” Seungri jumps off the couch and greets us.
“There’s something I want to do with Charlotte here.” Jiyong replies.
“Oh. Is there something I can help with?” Seungri turns hopeful.
Jiyong shakes his head. “Nope. You already had your day with her.” He leads me down the hall and into his room. Before he closes the door, I see him stick his tongue out at Seungri.
“So, what are we going to do?” I ask as I look around his room. It’s clean. Of course, his closet is overflowing with clothes. Then I see a computer and his bed. My eyes catch something resting on the bedside table. It looks like a CD. I walk over to it. “Heartbreaker…” I whisper. I straighten up. “Is this your album?” I ask Jiyong as I point to it.
Jiyong follows my gaze and his face lights up. “Yes. My very first solo album.” He looks at it with a sparkle in his eyes. I smile. He must be very proud and happy with it. Then he claps. “Ah! Now, that’s what I want you to do.”
“What?”
He plops down on his desk chair and starts clicking and typing away on his computer. Once he finds what he’s looking for, he waves me over. I look over his shoulder. He shows me a video.
“Isn’t that you guys?” I ask as I point to the group performing.
“Neh.” Jiyong says. “This was one of our performances. You haven’t heard any of our songs before?”
I think over it. I did hear one of their songs before. But, I don’t remember the title. It was pretty catchy. Once I kept listening to it, I started singing it, too. Agh! What was the song? Then I hear music playing. I look back to the screen and see the boys performing. That’s when I hear the chorus.
“That’s it!” I jump up and point to the screen. Jiyong stares at me, startled. “That’s the song I heard from you guys!”
“Haru Haru?” He guesses.
I nod eagerly. Now, that I hear the song again, it’s definitely this song. “What does ‘haru haru’ mean?”
“Day by day.” He answers. “I wrote this song. Just like the other songs we sang.” He says proudly.
“You’re awesome.” I laugh.
He continues to show me their performances and music videos. I’m surprised to see how much the boys changed, from their hip-hop days to mature-looking days. Either way, they pretty much rock all the concepts. Sunset Glow, La-la-la, Always, We Belong Together, Lies, Last Farewell, Haru Haru, Lollipop, Number 1, With U, I pretty much love them all. I can see why girls fall in love with these boys. They’re all so talented and they can practically sing any kind of song.
These boys are too amazing. Jiyong then lets me listen to each of their solos. Look At Me Gwisoon, Try Smiling, Strong Baby, Next Day, Act Like Nothing’s Wrong, Big Boy won me over in an instant. Then with a big smile, Jiyong happily shows me his solo album.
“Which one is your favorite on my album?” He asks me curiously.
I think it through and look at the list again. “A Boy, Hello, The Leaders, and Korean Dream.” He smiles brightly. He then shows me some of his performances. I gasp in surprise as I see a Jiyong with a head full of blond hair.
“This is you?” I point to the screen.
He nods. “I changed for my album. I changed back though.”
“It’s cute. A big shocker, but I like it already. I like your hair brown, though.” I ruffle his hair. He smiles and clicks on a music video.
“We’re promoting in Japan right now. But, we only came back here because…” He rubs the back of his head. “Because of that search for that girl in our MV and we’re shooting the MV in Korea instead of Japan.”
I slap my forehead. I completely forgot why I’m here in the first place. Japan? Wait. I turn my head to Jiyong.
“So, after the MV is done, you guys will head back to Japan?” I ask.
Jiyong nods. I felt my shoulders slump. Well, we were supposed to separate again someday. That day will kill me once it comes. I shake my head and push away those thoughts. Jiyong plays the video: My Heaven.
“Is this in Japanese?” I narrow my eyes and strain to hear what they’re saying. “This doesn’t sound Korean.”
“You’re right. This is in Japanese.” He smiles.
I ruffle his hair again. “Your hair is longer there.”
He waves my hand off. “I know, I know.”
“Such a fashionista.” I laugh.
Jiyong proceeds on showing me their other Japanese music videos. Let Me Hear Your Voice and Gara Gara Go are so catchy. I was right; the boys do know how to pull anything off.
“Wait.” I stop him from closing the window. “You never showed me YoungBae’s songs.”
Jiyong smiles. “I thought you forgot about him.”
I blush as he finds YoungBae’s songs. Jiyong shows me his most recent music videos. Wedding Dress and Where U At: so beautiful! Chills went up and down my spine from just hearing his silky voice. He can also pull off something so simple. It’s unbelievable. I never took my eyes off the screen and I know Jiyong was looking at me the whole time. He’s teasing me so much.
“Here’s one that got really famous.” Jiyong clicks on the video.
“Look Only At Me…” I read. I felt my heart skip a beat as I see him in his trademark caps. Seeing him dance makes my throat go dry. I can’t stand it.
“You know, the girl in the video reminds me of you.” He says once the video ends. I look at him, waiting for him to continue. “You like YoungBae and he likes you. But you’re also with us a lot. And we’re always holding your hand or putting our arms around you. Even if this girl goes with Seunghyun hyung, you still end up with YoungBae.”
I blink at him. This video fits in perfectly with my life right now. But, something about the girl going with Seunghyun screams in my mind. I push the thought away for now while Jiyong clicks on another video.
“Prayer.” I read it off again. I hear Jiyong chuckle beside me. “What?” He bites his bottom lip and shakes his head. Why is he smiling so much? He looks like he’s about to burst.
The music starting catches my attention. I felt my eyes go wide as I see YoungBae in a white tank top and black jeans. After a few minutes in the video, I swear my jaw drops all the way down to the floor. I go in a daze as I see YoungBae…shirtless. Oh. My. God. I’m sure I’m going to pass out soon. I stay looking like an idiot when the rap part comes in. Then the video shows scenes of YoungBae dancing without a shirt. Is there a way my jaw can drop any lower? After a few more minutes, the video ends. And Jiyong’s hysterical laughter begins.
I slap his arm. “Yah! What’s so funny?”
He points his finger at me and wipes his eyes. “Your…face!” He breathes.
I could feel myself blush furiously. “What’s wrong with my face?” I ask, noticing defensiveness in my voice.
“The way your mouth…” He tries to inhale a deep breath while laughing. “drops all the way to the floor! How big your eyes went! It’s so cute!” He snorts.
Ah! I should’ve researched all their songs by myself, so I wouldn’t have to be in this position! Jiyong continues laughing and clicks replay on the video. At the corner of my eyes, I see YoungBae dancing. I use all my strength and move my eyes far away from the screen. Apparently this makes Jiyong howl with even more laughter. I scrunch up my nose and push him away. He rolls on the floor and manages to get on his bed.
“Jiyong hyung! Why are you so loud?” Daesung burst into the room. I quickly stand up and block the sight of the screen.
Jiyong points his finger at me again and has another round of laughter. Heat rushes up to my cheeks again. Daesung looks over to me and raises his eyebrow. “What’s with hyung?”
“He wants to die laughing.” I mutter darkly.
“What was that, noona?” Daesung comes closer to me.
“Ani!” I burst. “Stay right where you are.”
“What are you hiding?” Daesung narrows his eyes. I rapidly shake my head. Daesung moves closer to me in a flash. He tries to peer over my shoulders. I move around and block his views. “Noona!” He whines. “What are you hiding?”
“It’s nothing important!” I laugh nervously. I hear Jiyong fall off his bed, laughing his head off.
Daesung stops. “Nothing important? Well, then let me see it.” He places his hands on my shoulders and tries to look around me. Despite the weight he’s putting down on my shoulders, I still block his view. I notice Jiyong stand up from the floor; he seems to calm down a bit.
“Ah! Daesung! Look at Jiyong! His face is all red!” I tell him. I’m not telling a lie, though, because it is true. Jiyong’s face is red as a tomato. That’s probably from laughing too much.
“Aish! I don’t care about, Jiyong hyung!” Daesung burst from frustration.
“Yah!” Jiyong shouts behind him. Daesung stops and widens his eyes. He quickly turns around and bows to his hyung. I take this opportunity and swiftly close the window and turn back around. A little too late to realize, Daesung was already looking at me.
I see his eyes dart over to the screen and narrow his eyes. “Aishh!” Daesung exclaims. As fast as lightning, Daesung crouches down and grabs my legs. He lifts me up and throws me over his shoulder. “Hyung, I want to see what you were looking at.” He tells Jiyong. I lift my head up and turn my head to look at Daesung. Aish! He’s smiling. Jiyong gives me a teasing smile and starts clicking away on his computer.
“Daesung! Put me down now!” I yell.
“Sorry, noona. But I want to see what’s making you blush like crazy.” Daesung laughs. I could feel my eyebrows go up as I stare at Daesung in horror.
“Jiyongie~” I scream. “Don’t you dare show him!”
Daesung starts walking out the door. Before Daesung closes the door behind us, I see Jiyong shot another smile. I start hitting Daesung’s back.
“Yah! Noona!” Daesung grunts.
“Daesung? What are you doing?” I hear someone say. I stop and look around Daesung. Seunghyun was standing in front of us, blocking Daesung’s way.
“Hyung~ Can you carry Charlotte and bring her to YoungBae’s room? She’s killing me.” Daesung pleads as I feel his shoulders slump.
“I’ll just take her to my room. YoungBae is taking a shower.” Seunghyun says. I felt my eyes widen. I don’t know about being alone with Seunghyun in his room. After what’s been happening… No. I shouldn’t be thinking like that. Seunghyun is really nice. Just as nice as YoungBae, so I shouldn’t worry…right?
“Um.” Daesung hesitates. I meet his eyes and looks back at Seunghyun. Then he looks behind us and eyes Jiyong’s door.
“I’m not going to do anything to her. Aigoo! Why do you guys think I’m always going to do something bad?” Seunghyun says as he rolls his eyes.
“Here.” I hear Daesung mumble. I feel someone’s—I think Seunghyun’s— hands hold my waist and lift me up. Daesung lets go of my legs. Seunghyun puts one arm under my knees and the other around my waist. I don’t know why, but my arms instantly go around his neck.
Seunghyun grins as I look down at my lap. At the corner of my eyes, I see Daesung give me a perplexed look. “I’ll go now.” Seunghyun says as he walks towards his room without another glance at Daesung.
“There’s something I want to do with Charlotte here.” Jiyong replies.
“Oh. Is there something I can help with?” Seungri turns hopeful.
Jiyong shakes his head. “Nope. You already had your day with her.” He leads me down the hall and into his room. Before he closes the door, I see him stick his tongue out at Seungri.
“So, what are we going to do?” I ask as I look around his room. It’s clean. Of course, his closet is overflowing with clothes. Then I see a computer and his bed. My eyes catch something resting on the bedside table. It looks like a CD. I walk over to it. “Heartbreaker…” I whisper. I straighten up. “Is this your album?” I ask Jiyong as I point to it.
Jiyong follows my gaze and his face lights up. “Yes. My very first solo album.” He looks at it with a sparkle in his eyes. I smile. He must be very proud and happy with it. Then he claps. “Ah! Now, that’s what I want you to do.”
“What?”
He plops down on his desk chair and starts clicking and typing away on his computer. Once he finds what he’s looking for, he waves me over. I look over his shoulder. He shows me a video.
“Isn’t that you guys?” I ask as I point to the group performing.
“Neh.” Jiyong says. “This was one of our performances. You haven’t heard any of our songs before?”
I think over it. I did hear one of their songs before. But, I don’t remember the title. It was pretty catchy. Once I kept listening to it, I started singing it, too. Agh! What was the song? Then I hear music playing. I look back to the screen and see the boys performing. That’s when I hear the chorus.
“That’s it!” I jump up and point to the screen. Jiyong stares at me, startled. “That’s the song I heard from you guys!”
“Haru Haru?” He guesses.
I nod eagerly. Now, that I hear the song again, it’s definitely this song. “What does ‘haru haru’ mean?”
“Day by day.” He answers. “I wrote this song. Just like the other songs we sang.” He says proudly.
“You’re awesome.” I laugh.
He continues to show me their performances and music videos. I’m surprised to see how much the boys changed, from their hip-hop days to mature-looking days. Either way, they pretty much rock all the concepts. Sunset Glow, La-la-la, Always, We Belong Together, Lies, Last Farewell, Haru Haru, Lollipop, Number 1, With U, I pretty much love them all. I can see why girls fall in love with these boys. They’re all so talented and they can practically sing any kind of song.
These boys are too amazing. Jiyong then lets me listen to each of their solos. Look At Me Gwisoon, Try Smiling, Strong Baby, Next Day, Act Like Nothing’s Wrong, Big Boy won me over in an instant. Then with a big smile, Jiyong happily shows me his solo album.
“Which one is your favorite on my album?” He asks me curiously.
I think it through and look at the list again. “A Boy, Hello, The Leaders, and Korean Dream.” He smiles brightly. He then shows me some of his performances. I gasp in surprise as I see a Jiyong with a head full of blond hair.
“This is you?” I point to the screen.
He nods. “I changed for my album. I changed back though.”
“It’s cute. A big shocker, but I like it already. I like your hair brown, though.” I ruffle his hair. He smiles and clicks on a music video.
“We’re promoting in Japan right now. But, we only came back here because…” He rubs the back of his head. “Because of that search for that girl in our MV and we’re shooting the MV in Korea instead of Japan.”
I slap my forehead. I completely forgot why I’m here in the first place. Japan? Wait. I turn my head to Jiyong.
“So, after the MV is done, you guys will head back to Japan?” I ask.
Jiyong nods. I felt my shoulders slump. Well, we were supposed to separate again someday. That day will kill me once it comes. I shake my head and push away those thoughts. Jiyong plays the video: My Heaven.
“Is this in Japanese?” I narrow my eyes and strain to hear what they’re saying. “This doesn’t sound Korean.”
“You’re right. This is in Japanese.” He smiles.
I ruffle his hair again. “Your hair is longer there.”
He waves my hand off. “I know, I know.”
“Such a fashionista.” I laugh.
Jiyong proceeds on showing me their other Japanese music videos. Let Me Hear Your Voice and Gara Gara Go are so catchy. I was right; the boys do know how to pull anything off.
“Wait.” I stop him from closing the window. “You never showed me YoungBae’s songs.”
Jiyong smiles. “I thought you forgot about him.”
I blush as he finds YoungBae’s songs. Jiyong shows me his most recent music videos. Wedding Dress and Where U At: so beautiful! Chills went up and down my spine from just hearing his silky voice. He can also pull off something so simple. It’s unbelievable. I never took my eyes off the screen and I know Jiyong was looking at me the whole time. He’s teasing me so much.
“Here’s one that got really famous.” Jiyong clicks on the video.
“Look Only At Me…” I read. I felt my heart skip a beat as I see him in his trademark caps. Seeing him dance makes my throat go dry. I can’t stand it.
“You know, the girl in the video reminds me of you.” He says once the video ends. I look at him, waiting for him to continue. “You like YoungBae and he likes you. But you’re also with us a lot. And we’re always holding your hand or putting our arms around you. Even if this girl goes with Seunghyun hyung, you still end up with YoungBae.”
I blink at him. This video fits in perfectly with my life right now. But, something about the girl going with Seunghyun screams in my mind. I push the thought away for now while Jiyong clicks on another video.
“Prayer.” I read it off again. I hear Jiyong chuckle beside me. “What?” He bites his bottom lip and shakes his head. Why is he smiling so much? He looks like he’s about to burst.
The music starting catches my attention. I felt my eyes go wide as I see YoungBae in a white tank top and black jeans. After a few minutes in the video, I swear my jaw drops all the way down to the floor. I go in a daze as I see YoungBae…shirtless. Oh. My. God. I’m sure I’m going to pass out soon. I stay looking like an idiot when the rap part comes in. Then the video shows scenes of YoungBae dancing without a shirt. Is there a way my jaw can drop any lower? After a few more minutes, the video ends. And Jiyong’s hysterical laughter begins.
I slap his arm. “Yah! What’s so funny?”
He points his finger at me and wipes his eyes. “Your…face!” He breathes.
I could feel myself blush furiously. “What’s wrong with my face?” I ask, noticing defensiveness in my voice.
“The way your mouth…” He tries to inhale a deep breath while laughing. “drops all the way to the floor! How big your eyes went! It’s so cute!” He snorts.
Ah! I should’ve researched all their songs by myself, so I wouldn’t have to be in this position! Jiyong continues laughing and clicks replay on the video. At the corner of my eyes, I see YoungBae dancing. I use all my strength and move my eyes far away from the screen. Apparently this makes Jiyong howl with even more laughter. I scrunch up my nose and push him away. He rolls on the floor and manages to get on his bed.
“Jiyong hyung! Why are you so loud?” Daesung burst into the room. I quickly stand up and block the sight of the screen.
Jiyong points his finger at me again and has another round of laughter. Heat rushes up to my cheeks again. Daesung looks over to me and raises his eyebrow. “What’s with hyung?”
“He wants to die laughing.” I mutter darkly.
“What was that, noona?” Daesung comes closer to me.
“Ani!” I burst. “Stay right where you are.”
“What are you hiding?” Daesung narrows his eyes. I rapidly shake my head. Daesung moves closer to me in a flash. He tries to peer over my shoulders. I move around and block his views. “Noona!” He whines. “What are you hiding?”
“It’s nothing important!” I laugh nervously. I hear Jiyong fall off his bed, laughing his head off.
Daesung stops. “Nothing important? Well, then let me see it.” He places his hands on my shoulders and tries to look around me. Despite the weight he’s putting down on my shoulders, I still block his view. I notice Jiyong stand up from the floor; he seems to calm down a bit.
“Ah! Daesung! Look at Jiyong! His face is all red!” I tell him. I’m not telling a lie, though, because it is true. Jiyong’s face is red as a tomato. That’s probably from laughing too much.
“Aish! I don’t care about, Jiyong hyung!” Daesung burst from frustration.
“Yah!” Jiyong shouts behind him. Daesung stops and widens his eyes. He quickly turns around and bows to his hyung. I take this opportunity and swiftly close the window and turn back around. A little too late to realize, Daesung was already looking at me.
I see his eyes dart over to the screen and narrow his eyes. “Aishh!” Daesung exclaims. As fast as lightning, Daesung crouches down and grabs my legs. He lifts me up and throws me over his shoulder. “Hyung, I want to see what you were looking at.” He tells Jiyong. I lift my head up and turn my head to look at Daesung. Aish! He’s smiling. Jiyong gives me a teasing smile and starts clicking away on his computer.
“Daesung! Put me down now!” I yell.
“Sorry, noona. But I want to see what’s making you blush like crazy.” Daesung laughs. I could feel my eyebrows go up as I stare at Daesung in horror.
“Jiyongie~” I scream. “Don’t you dare show him!”
Daesung starts walking out the door. Before Daesung closes the door behind us, I see Jiyong shot another smile. I start hitting Daesung’s back.
“Yah! Noona!” Daesung grunts.
“Daesung? What are you doing?” I hear someone say. I stop and look around Daesung. Seunghyun was standing in front of us, blocking Daesung’s way.
“Hyung~ Can you carry Charlotte and bring her to YoungBae’s room? She’s killing me.” Daesung pleads as I feel his shoulders slump.
“I’ll just take her to my room. YoungBae is taking a shower.” Seunghyun says. I felt my eyes widen. I don’t know about being alone with Seunghyun in his room. After what’s been happening… No. I shouldn’t be thinking like that. Seunghyun is really nice. Just as nice as YoungBae, so I shouldn’t worry…right?
“Um.” Daesung hesitates. I meet his eyes and looks back at Seunghyun. Then he looks behind us and eyes Jiyong’s door.
“I’m not going to do anything to her. Aigoo! Why do you guys think I’m always going to do something bad?” Seunghyun says as he rolls his eyes.
“Here.” I hear Daesung mumble. I feel someone’s—I think Seunghyun’s— hands hold my waist and lift me up. Daesung lets go of my legs. Seunghyun puts one arm under my knees and the other around my waist. I don’t know why, but my arms instantly go around his neck.
Seunghyun grins as I look down at my lap. At the corner of my eyes, I see Daesung give me a perplexed look. “I’ll go now.” Seunghyun says as he walks towards his room without another glance at Daesung.
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