CHAPTER FIVE

It was around 10pm In South Korea. Sara had just arrived at her apartment. She had been given a cell phone and keys as soon as she had met up with a guide from her agency. He told her that she would be given a week to rest, and then she would be picked up to begin her modeling career with photo shoots for the trial run. She spent the next hour looking around her apartment.

Things had turned out better than she had expected. She was living on the 12^th floor of an apartment building. Her kitchen opened up into a spacious lounge, and her bedroom was even better than the one she had at home, with an adjoining bathroom.

But the best thing about her apartment was the windows. The entire wall at the far side of the lounge was made of glass. There wasn’t much to see, as her view was blocked by a huge black tinted building, but she could still see the sky, and the road below. It gave her a feeling of openness and freedom which she really liked.

Her drive to Seoul had made her tired, so she decided to sleep for awhile. Before she did though, she made sure to mail Siwon and send him her new cell phone number.

“I’m doing fine Siwon-ah, I just got here, and everything is so beautiful! I’m still jet lagged though. Its still day time in London. It will take awhile for me to get used to things here. Take care of yourself, and keep in touch! Love from Sara”.

“There, that should do it”. She lay back on her enormous bed and flexed her body like a cat. Then she snuggled up to a pillow and instantly fell asleep.

She woke up with a shock a few hours later when her phone rang. She quickly answered it and then immediately regretted doing so once she heard her mother shouting on the other line.

“SARA! HOW COULD YOU NOT CALL YOUR MOTHER AFTER TRAVELING SO FAR?! WHERE ARE YOU? WE’VE BEEN SICK WITH WORRY!”

“I’m fine mom, I just got here”…Sara looked over at the clock on her wall. It was almost 2am. She sighed. She should have remembered to call her parents first. But the only person she had thought about contacting was Siwon. “I miss you already mum”…she said rather guiltily into the phone. After assuring her mother that everything was fine, and that she was locked away safely in her new apartment, she managed to put down the phone.

 She was wide awake now, so she decided to do some exercise. Exercise for Sara meant dancing. She wasn’t the best dancer, at least, she didn’t think so, but dancing made her happy. She felt the most confidence after a good work out. So she put on a pair of tights, a sleeveless vest, and socks. She made her way to the lounge, as it had the most space, and the windows at this hour of the night showed her own reflection. “Look, I have a full length mirror”, she chuckled to herself. She put on her earphones and danced to a track from “Howls Moving Castle”. It was a slow song, meant to put her at ease, so she danced abit of ballet.

“Everything is going to be fine” she told herself as she did her routine. She was now in her own world. Nothing else mattered once she started moving. Her body was synchronized with the music.  She smiled as she lifted her arms into the air. “Things are only going to get better Sara, now is the time for you to live and be happy”, she assured herself once more while dancing into the night.

Heechul was out of it tonight. Completely out of it. He couldn’t even remember what he had been drinking. “Hongki…you idiot”…he muttered to himself. WHY did he let his dongsaengs talk him into a drinking match? They knew that he was trying to take it easy with the soju these days. “Aish…my head hurts…”. He made his way as quietly as he could into the dorm. The others were probably asleep. He didn’t even know what time it was. He spotted the couch and decided to pass out on it. As he sat down , he noticed that a light was shining from a space in the curtain. With an irritated sigh, he got up and went towards it. But as he pulled the curtain to close it, his eyes went towards the source of the light.

 All of a sudden, he was wide awake. It was a girl, in the apartment across from him. He could see directly into her living room…and she was dancing. Heechul quickly looked around to see if he was alone, then he sat down on the floor, leaned his aching head against the glass window, and grinned. He glanced at his watch. 02.15 am.

‘Waahh…so pretty”, he thought.

“Wait a second, did I just think that this girl is pretty?” he asked himself in confusion. “It can’t be, I’m the only pretty one.” He reassured himself.

Just then, he watched her do a pirouette. Her movements were so graceful that it took his breath away. “Ah, my ballerina, I think I love you”…he mumbled to himself. He knew that if he fell asleep now, he probably wouldn’t remember anything in the morning. “Maybe I’m already dreaming”…he mused. “Either way, it’s a very pretty dream”, he smiled to himself as he made himself comfortable on the floor.

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“AHAAHAAHAAHAAHAA!”

Ryeowook and Kyuhyun looked up at the ceiling while slurping the ramen that Ryeowook had cooked.

Kyuhyun grinned at Ryeowook. “Leeteukkie Hyung is back” they both said in unison.

It was Friday, and they had both woken up to eat after sleeping for almost the entire day. They quickly wolfed down their noodles and hurried up to the 12^th floor to meet their hyungs.

When they entered the dorm upstairs, they walked in on an odd scene. Leeteuk and Shindong were carrying a sleeping Hee-nim onto a couch. Leeteuk noticed his dongsaengs walk in and almost dropped Heechul in shock.

“Ryeoowookie! Kyuhyunnie! When did you get here? You’re supposed to be in Taiwan!” Leeteuk unceremoniously dropped Heechul onto the couch without a second thought and rushed over to greet the boys.

“What are you two doing here?” Leeteuk asked them in-between hugs.  “We came for the KRY concert this weekend. Didn’t Yesung hyung tell you about it?”

“Ah, the KRY concert…” Leeteuk exclaimed. “Nope, I don’t remember Yesung telling me anything…”

“He told us a week ago hyung, you must have forgotten”, Shindong said with a chuckle.

“Well, that tends to happen when I’m talking to Yesung…” Leeteuk muttered to himself. “If I had known you were coming, then we would have thrown you a party! It’s been weeks since we’ve seen you! How long will you stay?”

“We’re leaving tonight for Busan hyung, after that its back to Taiwan”, Ryeowook said sadly. He was really homesick. Seeing the members again made him realize how much he had missed them. Teukkie hyung looked really thin.

Kyuhyun walked over to Hee-nim. “What happened to Heechul hyung?” he asked. Shindong walked over with Ryeowook and Leeteuk.

“He’s setting a very bad example for you two; you shouldn’t have been here for this.” Leeteuk couldn’t contain his laughter.

“We found him like this; he was fast asleep near the window. He must have been out drinking.” Shindong said, laughing at his unconscious hyung.

“Ahhh…Ottoke hyung?” Ryeowook bent down and cupped Heechul’s face with his hands. “Hyung, wake up” Ryeowook said, patting his cheeks.

Heechul’s eyes slowly opened once he heard the voice. “Ryeowook-ah…!

I missed you…! Heechul said while grabbing Ryeowook and almost suffocating him.

“Aish, this child, leave him, He’ll be fine, I’ve got to get ready for a meeting now, I’ll see you both before you leave in the afternoon”, Leeteuk shook his head at Heechul and then made his way to his bedroom. Kyuhyun began to follow him.

“It’s ok hyung, we’ll take care of him” Ryeowook gasped while still in Heechul’s drunken clutches. “Kyuhyun-ah! Help me make soup for sobering up!” Ryeowook called.

Kyuhyun stopped in his tracks. “I don’t want to! It’s his fault for getting that way!”

“Cho Kyuhyun! I made breakfast for you!” Ryeowook reminded him.

“Come on Kyu, I’ll help too. We can persuade Wookie to making us a second breakfast while we’re at it” Shindong whispered to Kyuhyun. They both grinned and made their way to the kitchen.

Ryeowook helped Heechul up and half-dragged him to the bathroom. “Hyung, are you ok? What happened last night?” Ryeowook asked in concern.

“Hmmm? Oh, I was dancing”…Heechul began, then he gasped and staggered to the window.

“Hyung! What’s wrong?” Ryeowook asked while following him.

Heechul looked into the apartment across from him, but couldn’t see anything. The windows across from him shone silver in the daylight. “Maybe I can only see her at night, when her light is on...” he said to himself. “I’ll have to wait and see tonight, let’s just hope the dorm is empty. I can’t let Jung Soo see her, the ert, he’ll try and steal her from me…”

Heechul looked over at Ryeowook, who was staring at him as if he had gone mad. “Hyung, are you really ok? Should we take you to see the doctor?”

Heechul grinned at Ryeowook and put an arm around him. “Come on Wookie, I missed your cooking.” Heechul said while walking back to the kitchen.

Ryeowook smiled at him. “Really? Then I’ll make something for you and Teukkie hyung before we leave today!” Ryeowook was happy to cook for them, and he was still abit worried about Heechul. “Maybe he’ll be fine after he eats”, he said to himself.

Kyuhyun and Shindong watched all of this while sitting at the kitchen counter. Then they grinned as Ryeowook put on an apron and switched on the stove. “Jackpot” they both whispered in victory.