EPISODE 8

28 February 2014
Chaerin’s House, 5.30am KST

Jiyong turned towards the door and frowned, wondering who it could be this early in the morning.

“Jiyong oppa, can you get the door for me?”

Jiyong walked to the door and opened it. He thought his mood couldn’t get any worse but it did because Jonghyun was standing right in front of him.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to take Chaerin to the filming location of her commercial.”

“Since when did you become her manager?”

“Jonghyun oppa? What are you doing here?”

Jonghyun’s eyes shifted from Jiyong to Chaerin but he frowned a little when he realized that Chaerin was still on Youngbae’s back. Seeing his frown, Chaerin quickly got off Youngbae and then walked to Jonghyun and gave him a hug.

“I came to take you to work. That’s what hubbies do no, send their wives to work?”

“Silly oppa~ Is it really ok? Don’t you have any schedule?”

“My filming location today is quite near to yours, so it’s no bother. Shall we go? Jiyong hyung and Youngbae hyung, thanks for bringing Chaerin back just now. We will leave now.”

“Oppas, thanks! I’d go with Jonghyun oppa now. Do you guys want to stay here till I get back then we can have late lunch together before I go to the concert venue? Or are you leaving now?”

“I think it’s better for the hyungs to leave now, together with us. It would be weird if they were seen coming out of your house, with or without you.”

“But they are tired.”

“So if I’m tired after our WGM filming here, I can stay over too?”

Youngbae was quite sure Chaerin would answer with a ‘yes’ and he didn’t want her to say it out loud because it would cause the already fuming Jiyong to explode. So he stepped in.

“Chaerin ah, it’s ok, we are used to this kind of hours. We will go back directly to our dorm now and rest.”

“Ok, Bae oppa, send me a message when you arrive?”

“Of course I will. Let’s go.”

Youngbae pulled Jiyong out of the house while Chaerin locked up her place. When they looked behind, they saw that Jonghyun was holding Chaerin’s bag in one hand and both of them were standing close though they were not touching each other.

“Jonghyun oppa, you are sending me directly to the filming location? I have to let my manager know then, otherwise they would be waiting for me.”

“They already know. I told Seungho hyung to let them know, so they would meet you at the location itself, then prepare you on-site.”

“Chaerin ah, didn’t you mention that there were going to be media present? Won’t they be suspicious if they see Jonghyun with you? Won’t it be better if you meet the rest at the company?”

“Ji oppa, the media is unlikely to be around at this time. The shoot will start at 9am, it’s 5.30am now. And Jonghyun oppa is not staying so they won’t see him at all.”

“But it’s better to be safe than sorry. If word gets out, Boss won’t be pleased.”

“Actually, I have informed your boss that I was going to send Chaerin to her schedule today. I asked after getting off the phone with her last night. I wanted to go pick her up after her rehearsal but I fell asleep.”

“Alright then, it’s settled. Bae oppa, drive safe, and I will see you guys soon.”

Jiyong and Youngbae watched as Jonghyun settled Chaerin in the car and before getting into the car himself, he waved goodbye to Jiyong and Youngbae. Chaerin did the same but when Jonghyun got into the car, her attention turned to him.

“No, he’s getting a little too close for comfort. I think we need to talk to Boss about it. It’s fine that they are on the show but if he keeps showing up around Chaerin, the media is bound to catch on at some point in time. I don’t want her name to be associated with Jonghyun’s that way.”

“But just as we have the ‘YG Family Love’ label to cover the closeness we share, I’m quite sure that they would have the ‘WGM Effect’ label for this one.”

“Bae, you do know that if there is a label, it’s usually to cover something more. If we do not use ‘YG Family Love’ as a cover, Chaerin’s closeness to us would be highly suspicious. We’re seeing Jonghyun way too often and I do not like it one bit.”

“I don’t know how to feel about it right now. Because I think Chaerin is really happy when she’s with him. Yet, it’s irritating that the reason for her happiness is him. Anyway, let’s head home first. I’m tired and we have stuff to do in the afternoon.”

Jiyong nodded. He didn’t like how Chaerin reasoned that the media won’t be at the filming location so it was alright for Jonghyun to send her, when she refused his request to tag along for the filming. While he knew that her reasons are valid, it made him feel like she didn’t want to be associated with him. Suddenly, Jiyong lost a measure of the confidence he had in winning Chaerin’s heart. He knew that he would meet opposition from his friends and the hyungs in the company but he knew that he could eventually win them over. What he wasn’t so sure about is Chaerin’s heart.

Jiyong broke the uncomfortable silence in the car.

“Bae, what if she doesn’t love me? Because I feel like I would lose to Jonghyun at this moment.”

“Ji, she loves all of us as her oppas. If you want her to think of you as a potential boyfriend, you are going to have to work really hard. You heard what she said, she had never seen us as potential boyfriend. It must be frustrating for her to be always getting hate from those crazy couple fans.”

“This is going to be tough but it’s going to be worth it. I really can’t see anyone beside Chaerin except me.”

“You need all the energy you can get for this. It’s going to be tiring, physically and emotionally. Do you think you are up for it?”

“Do I look like I have a choice?”

“Just know that if you give up halfway, I’d punch you real hard then take her away from you.”

“Where do I start?”

“From the beginning. You have to get rid of the idea that you know everything about her. You might know her as her oppa but you don’t know her as a man. Of course, mainly because she doesn’t see us as man, so you need to change her perspective of you.”

“How do you know so much?”

“We talked a lot last year. She was really worried that she was scaring off guys. I had to constantly reassure her that she is very attractive.”

“You seemed to have gotten very close to her over the last year. I’m incredibly jealous. Like how she asked you for a piggy-back ride and how she would hug you longer than when she hugged me, I never really noticed or minded before but I really do not like it.”

“Then you are in for a lot of frustrations because she’s not only like that with me. Even though TOP hyung wasn’t with us often, Chaerin actually does make time to meet him for meals and all. Same thing with Daesung and Seungri. So you are the one who had missed out. Piggy-back rides happen every time Chaerin sees TOP hyung. She doesn’t even need to ask.”

“She doesn’t even come and see when I rehearsed for my concerts! Why?”

“Actually, that’s just bad timing. She always wanted to go but something will always come up. That’s why she could only send messages.”

“She could have made a little more effort, I mean, if she could make the effort to see TOP hyung, she could try harder to come for my rehearsals.”

“Well, most of the time, she has other schedules. You know her, she’s not exactly the type to sit around and wait for something to happen.”

“You are right. But that doesn’t erase the fact that I feel like the last 2 years of my life didn’t have much of her in it.”

“You have other people in your life. Anyway, we would have to get used to the idea that she’s going to be very close to Jonghyun. Another word of advice, for Boss to allow her to go on the show, he obviously knew who she was going on the show with. Jonghyun had gotten his seal of approval. So, when you talk to him about this whole situation, you have to be rational and not let your emotions take over. Just observe what is happening and have a good case before you go to Boss.”

“It shouldn’t be this complicated. I like her, I want to be with her, that should be all.”

“It’s always complicated. You think that covering up every one of your previous relationships was easy? In fact, now that Chaerin is involved in WGM, you probably just lost one of your best cover-ups.”

“I don’t need her to be my cover-up. I want her to be my real girlfriend!”

“But I do agree with Teddy hyung. You have to get your act together first. All those previous relationships, real or fictional, please clear them up before you go after Chaerin.”

“I will. I don’t want to be part of all those make-believes or casual, open relationships anymore. It’s scary that I actually want to settle down with Chaerin and looking forward to it too.”

“If it’s Chaerin, I want to settle down too. But I want her to be successful in her solo career first. That is the other thing you need to keep in mind. She still has a long way to go when it comes to her career.”

“That I’m aware of. She has so much potential inside her that she has not shown yet. I don’t want her to stop or need her to stop.”

By this time, they had arrived at their dorm. Jiyong sent a message to Chaerin to tell her that they have arrived. When he didn’t receive a reply after 5 minutes, he called her. But he didn’t get her on the phone as well. He looked over at Youngbae.

“Chaerin is not replying my message or answering my phone call.”

“Maybe she’s in the midst of preparation right now? They should have arr… wait, where’s the location again?”

Jiyong was already calling Xin.

“Jiyong, what’s up? Why are you up at this time?”

“Seungho, are you with Chae right now?”

“No, we are just arriving at the venue. Jonghyun went to pick her up right?”

“Yes, where is the filming location?”

“Near Gangnam.”

“So they should have arrived at the venue…Why is she not answering my calls? Can you send me Jonghyun’s number?”

“Hold on… It’s 010-... Chaerin is calling me, give me a minute…”

Xin put Jiyong on hold to answer Chaerin’s call. After a while, he switched back to his conversation with Jiyong.

“What did she say?”

“She called to say that she had just arrived at the venue but going to the nearby cafe to get coffee for everyone with Jonghyun.”

“But won’t people see them together? Isn’t she being a little too relaxed about what people might think about the 2 of them? And why is she not answering my call?”

“Ah, since I told her I was on the phone with you, she wanted me to tell you that she got your message and that you should go to bed now. The same goes for Youngbae.”

“Why can’t she just send the message herself?”

“Well, she’s with Jonghyun and it’s rude to be on the phone all the time.”

“How long does sending a message take? She just doesn’t care about me anymore now that she has Jonghyun!”

“Oh gosh, listen to you! If there’s nothing else, I’m going to hang up now. Go to bed.”

Without waiting for an answer from Jiyong, Xin ended the call.

“Bae…”

“Ji, let it go. At least she told Seungho to pass a message to you. If you are going to go after her every single time, she is just going to alienate you.”

Just then, Youngbae’s phone beeped and when he saw who was the sender, he smiled then showed the message to Jiyong and stuck out his tongue at him.

“WHY?! Why does she send you a message and not send one to me?? WHY?!!”

Youngbae shrugged then made his way to his room while tapping furiously on his phone, sending a reply to Chaerin. He didn’t realize that Jiyong was behind him and looking over his shoulders to see what he was sending to Chaerin.

“YA! Why are you telling Chaerin to ignore me?!”

“Because it’s funny to see you sulking~”

“And she’s going along with it? Does she like to see me sulk too?”

“No, she just thinks that you are being ridiculous. She cannot understand why you are being so possessive as an oppa.”

“She doesn’t understand anything, which is why it is so frustrating.”

“To be honest, from her viewpoint, your behaviour is quite ridiculous. If I didn’t know your intentions, I would think it’s ridiculous too.”

“Do you think Jonghyun knows, about my intentions towards Chaerin?”

“I think he does, otherwise he won’t have objected that strongly to her suggestion for us to stay at her house to wait for her. Guess that’s his way of ‘looking out for her’ and strangely, Chaerin might not even think that it’s too much for him to be doing that since he’s her ‘hubby’.”

“It’s so unfair…”

“Anyway, Chae said that she would message us when she’s done and if there’s time, we could have lunch together. But the condition is we go to bed right now.”

“It is time to go to bed. Ask her to call both of us when she’s finishing so we will have time to prepare.”

“Aren’t you going to message her?”

“Maybe me not messaging her might her attention.”

“Maybe. Goodnight then~ See you in a bit.”

Youngbae went into his room, while Jiyong walked back to his own room. He decided that he should just try not sending Chaerin any messages or call her. It might work in making her take notice of him. It worked on his past conquests.

With that thought, he drifted off to dreamland.

28 FEBRUARY 2014

1PM KST

10 CORSO COMO

It didn’t work.

Chaerin called Youngbae at 11.30am, telling him that they could meet for lunch at 1pm. She asked Youngbae to wake Jiyong up and to tell him the plan for lunch. She also added that Jonghyun was joining them for lunch. If he’s not going to behave like a good oppa of hers, then he should just stay in bed or do whatever he was going to do. When Jiyong got the message from Youngbae, he was furious and upset. He went to Youngbae’s room huffing and puffing.

“YA!! Why is that brat telling me to behave because Jonghyun is going to be there? Is he more important than us now? What is this bull?! ARGH!!”

Youngbae looked at the raging Jiyong and all he could do was laugh.

“DONG YOUNGBAE, ARE YOU LAUGHING AT ME?!!!”

“Yes. You are reacting in the way that she knows you would act. If I didn’t know better, I would think she’s trying to bait you. But knowing her, it was just her way of protecting Jonghyun from your stupid behaviour. So are you coming? Because I’m leaving in 30 minutes.”

“Of course I’m going! If I don’t turn up, I’m pretty sure I would be excluded in any gathering that Jonghyun is part of.”

“And you are going to behave like a good oppa?”

“Exactly what that means, I’m not too sure. But if it means not punching or verbally insulting Jonghyun, I’m quite sure I can do that.”

“We’ll see, we’ll see.”

However, once they arrived at the cafe, Jiyong’s patience was tested every nano-second. It started the moment their conversation with Chaerin was interrupted when Jonghyun arrived. Chaerin’s attention shifted over to Jonghyun immediately. It didn’t help that after the initial greeting, Jonghyun’s full attention was on Chaerin too. Finally, it felt like Jiyong was about to blow up, when Xin got everyone’s attention.

“Chae, I heard you talk to Travis just now about some changes for the concert tomorrow. What are they?”

“Oh, nothing really. It doesn’t affect anything at all.”

“Then why do you need to inform Travis?”

“So he can make the arrangements.”

“What are the changes then?”

“Aigooo~ Jiyong oppa, stop asking. You are not coming for the concert tomorrow right?”

“Why? Should I be there or should I not be there?”

“Up to you. But Jonghyun oppa definitely needs to be there.”

“Why? Does the change involve me?”

To that, Chaerin just smiled cheekily and shrugged.

“Maybe~”

Jonghyun couldn’t resist pinching Chaerin’s cheeks. Chaerin reached up to hit his hand away, only to have her hand caught by Jonghyun. Even though it was brief, but Jonghyun held Chaerin’s hand for a brief second, then brought their joined hands to his lips and gave it a kiss.

“I seriously think the two of you shouldn’t meet outside on your own if you can’t keep your hands off each other.”

“Jiyong oppa, why are you being so serious? We do that all the time too.”

Although Chaerin did let go of Jonghyun’s hand when she said that, it still irritated Jiyong that she defended Jonghyun’s action.

“Yes we do but we don’t do it in public. And we have the ‘YG Family Love’ cover. What’s yours?”

Jonghyun looked at Xin, then Youngbae and lastly he looked at Jiyong straight in the eyes.

“Do we need a cover? Maybe we don’t if I announce that I have the intention of courting Chaerin.”

“Oppa! What are you saying?! Don’t be silly! It’s not that serious. Don’t listen to Jiyong oppa. He’s just behaving this way because he’s being an over-protective oppa.”

“I’m serious though. If I need to make my intentions clear, I would. I would go talk to your boss soon.”

“Oppa…”

“Don’t worry, no pressure on you. I just want you to know I’m serious and not just caught in the moment. You just concentrate on your concerts right now, ok?”

“How do you expect her to concentrate on her concerts when you just announce that you are going to our boss about your intention to pursue a real relationship with her?”

“She already knows that I am falling in love with her. Going to your boss and telling him my intentions is my way of saying that I’m serious about it. At least she doesn’t have to keep wondering if what I’m saying is true or not. That should help her focus better, don’t you think?”

“Wh…”

“Jonghyun ah, it’s getting late. We have to be at the concert venue at 3pm.”

Again, Xin had to act before Jiyong caused a scene. Sensing that the tension was a little too high, Jonghyun got up too.

“I’ve got to go to my next schedule too. Chaerin, I’d see you tomorrow then.”

Chaerin got up and Jiyong was about to get up when she turned and glared at him.

“Jiyong oppa, please sit down. We need to talk. I’d be back after I’ve sent Jonghyun oppa off.”

“Good, I need to talk to you too.”

Chaerin looked like she was about to answer back when Jonghyun put his arm around her shoulders.

“Let’s go, Chaerin. We had better let Jiyong hyung calm down a little first. It must be a shock for him to hear that I’m in love with you.”

Without another word, Chaerin went off with Jonghyun. After sending Jonghyun off with a hug, Chaerin walked back to her three oppas. She sat down and looked at the three of them.

“Lee Chaerin, are you really going to accept Jonghyun’s proposal to date him?”

“Jiyong oppa, why are you reacting in this manner. Whether I accept him or date him or not, it’s my decision. Why are you so anxious about it? If I’m happy, shouldn’t you be happy for me? You are my oppa, aren’t you?”

“ARGH!! LEE CHAERIN!! WHY ARE YOU SO DUMB?!!!

“YA!! OPPA!! WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME DUMB?!!! YOU ARE THE DUMB ONE!!”

Chaerin picked up her bag and stormed off. Xin got up to go after her but not before one last word to Jiyong.

“Kwon Jiyong, don’t come near her the next few days. I don’t want her mood to be affected by your presence.”

“Ya, ya, ya! Who are you to ask me to stay away from her?”

“I’m your friend and hers. Trust me, you come anywhere near her, you are going to be pissed off because she’s going to ignore you. Not to mention, Jonghyun’s going to be there tomorrow. Don’t ruin her mood. She needs to focus, like you said.”

Xin’s phone rang at that moment when Jiyong was going to say more. Seeing that it was Chaerin who was calling, he walked off with a wave, leaving behind a fuming mad Jiyong and shocked Youngbae.

Youngbae said nothing and just let Jiyong calm down on his own first. He was a little shocked at how Jonghyun didn’t hesitate to state his intentions towards Chaerin openly and was willing to go to YG about it. That, on its own, would score high with Chaerin. And Chaerin seemed to really like him too.

“Should I really stay away from Chaerin?”

“Seungho has a point. She’s going to ignore you, and you are going to throw a fit. It would probably end up in a shouting match like today. I already said, right now all you can do is not let her walk further away from you.”

“Am I this replaceable? Am I really just another oppa or colleague to her?”

“Ji, I hate to say this, but you treated her like she was replaceable too. Whenever you get into a new relationship, she backs off because she knows your girls felt insecure with her hanging out with you. So she has to be just a dongsaeng and colleague to you.”

“I never told her to back off though.”

“You never told her to stay either. In what capacity do you think she can stick around then? Which is why she expects you to back off because you are supposed to be just an oppa and colleague. Since she has no say in your private life, you have no right to stick your nose into her private life either.”

“But she has no idea how I am feeling right now, that’s why she is reacting in this manner. And now that Jonghyun had come out right and say that he is in love with her and willing to go to YG about it, she won’t believe me if I say that I feel the same way. She would probably think I’m selfish.”

“You are right. I’m glad you are still thinking straight.”

“Doesn’t help that I feel like crap right now because I wasn’t fast enough or courageous enough to be true to my feelings.”

“It’s complicated for us since we have this sense of security that we have each other like a family, without realizing that other people can enter into this circle and be part of it. In some ways, even when you were in all your previous relationships, the girls involved were never quite a part of this family. It’s like we know of their existence but that’s about it. This time round, Jonghyun broke the walls and it looks like he’s here to stay.”

“With our princess, with MY queen.”

“Can’t say she’s yours when she might belong to him.”

“Not going to happen.”

“Ji, I think you need to take a step back and ask yourself if you are being possessive because it has never happened before and you are scared that you might lose her. The two of you need to talk over this calmly.”

Youngbae’s phone beeped and he saw that it was a message from Chaerin.

FROM: AGI RIN

Bae oppa, sorry for causing a scene just now. Please make sure that Ji oppa goes back to the company or dorm safely. I know this might be too much to ask, but please don’t let him come to the concert tomorrow. I don’t know why he’s behaving this way but I have a surprise planned for Jonghyun oppa and I don’t need him going crazy on me, ok?

TO: AGI RIN

Let me guess, the y dance sequence? Ok, I would keep him away from the concert. But you do know that the media is still going to make an issue out of it and he’s still going to be reading news about it.

FROM: AGI RIN

I know but well, at least I don’t have to deal with him being nonsensical in front of Jonghyun oppa. If he has a problem with me, we can talk about it after the two concerts, I just don’t want Jonghyun oppa to be caught in the middle of this madness.

TO: AGI RIN

Alright, don’t overdo it. And you take care of yourself during rehearsal. Don’t exhaust yourself.

FROM: AGI RIN

Arraseo~ You have a good day too, oppa~

“Chaerin?”

Youngbae nodded.

“What does she want?”

“She wants me to make sure that you get back to the company or dorm safely. Then she hopes that I would keep you away from the concert tomorrow. But she did mention talking to you after the concerts. So, be a good oppa and not go for the concert tomorrow, ok?”

“Alright, I won’t go for the concert tomorrow. I don’t want to get into a shouting anything with her. And I feel that I need to accumulate good karma points for the talk after the concerts. I’m going to Dolce Vita, you want to come with me?”

“Sure. Are we staying the night? If we are, we should go and pack a bag. Let’s ask the other members if they want to go too?”

“Sure, let’s do it. You drive, while I call them.”

“Well, since we came in my car, I’d have to drive right?”

Jiyong looked at Youngbae and finally a smile crept up his face. He realized that he’s going to have to sort out his thoughts and maybe talking with s might be good. He called each one of s and since he’s really not the type to ask them to meet up, they figured that he had something to talk about. All of them agreed to meet at the dorm first then go to Dolce Vita together. Jiyong then called YG to let him know that Big Bang members would be out of Seoul for the night. YG told him to get their managers to be with them and Jiyong refused and reassured him that they would behave. YG finally relented and told Jiyong to get Youngbae to call him.

“Boss wants you to call him. He probably has a set of instructions for you. Have I become someone who can’t be trusted?”

“No, I’m just the more careful one. Anyway, don’t think too much right now, just take it easy, Maybe talking to the others, you can get a better perspective on this situation.”

“Maybe.”

Both Youngbae and Jiyong were quiet on their trip back to their dorm. After they met up with the other members, they split up in 2 cars: Jiyong, Youngbae and TOP in Youngbae’s car, Daesung and Seungri in Seungri’s car. They went to the supermarket to get food and drinks. Youngbae was under strict instructions not to let any of the members drink outside of Dolce Vita. They were perfectly fine with that. They had no intention of leaving Dolce Vita anyway and just wanted to spend time with each other.