Chapter 4: Date

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I tried to convince myself that there was some dignity in what I was doing. I tried to convince myself that there was nothing humiliating about being here.

I failed, naturally.

After all, standing next to Hye Rin in front of J.Tune Camp, while she had a date and I hadn’t, was kind of weird.

But… how else could I meet him, and how on earth was I supposed to make him like me if I couldn’t even see him?

Aishh…

The things I do because of my stupid pride.

So, there I was.

Hye Rin was going on a date with G.O today (yeah, we hadn’t seen that one coming…), and, since she didn’t have a ride, I had kindly offered to take her in front of the J. Tune Camp building.

Of course, I wasn’t fooling anyone: It was obvious I was here because I wanted to see Lee Joon. Otherwise why was I still here, on my day off?

Teasing Hye Rin, however, was absolutely fun, and it kind of gave me a reason to stay here for some more.

“So, tell me more about your boyfriend, Hye Rin-ah…”

Hye Rin blushed profusely, stuttering: “H-he’s not my b-boyfriend, okay?” To this statement, I could only laugh.

Hye Rin was a really nice girl, I had decided. She was funny, kind, and I’d really like to be her friend. In general, the girls in the store were fun: Myu Ri was my best friend, who had helped me a lot during my adjustment to Korean culture (an effort which was still going on, by the way…), and Yong Yee, even though she was y at times, was a decent person.

I was about to go back to teasing Hye Rin, when a wild G.O appeared in front of us. “Hey, Hye Rin-ah! How are you? Ready to go?” He nodded towards me, and I waved back absent-mindedly. Where was Lee Joon, anyway?

I had decided to win his heart, after all.

…Oh, there he was, running towards us, scared to death.

Why was he scared like that?

“G.O!” he screamed. “Help me! Seungho wants to kill me!” He reached us in no time, trying to catch his breath. G.O simply looked at him, unfazed.

“Why, what did you do?”

I knew very little about Yang Seungho, MBLAQ’s leader. I knew that he was immensely talented in a number of things, and that he could be utterly terrifying, if he wanted to.

“I… kind of ate a pizza he had ordered. I thought it was Mir’s order, I had no idea it was his!” Lee Joon said, and G.O’s eyes opened wide.

Oh, and one more thing I knew about the Yang leader: don’t mess with him and his food.

“Please, G.O, take me with you! Save me! I’ll do anything, so please… save me!”

“Yah! I’m going on a date, Joon-ah!” G.O was fuming by then. “I can’t take you with me!”

Joon soon began sulking. Jeez, what a baby.

…Not that this situation wasn’t serving my purpose perfectly.

“Do you need a ride?” I offered.

“Say yes, say yes, say yes…” I chanted inside of my head.

“I’m not sure…”

What an idiot. I was really starting to dislike him now.

Thank God G.O was a logical man.

“You should go, Joon. I don’t want to stress you or anything, but Seungho just spotted you, and he’s coming over here.”

It was true.

The person who appeared to be the Yang leader was on his way, and he looked very, very menacing.

“Let’s go!” Lee Joon suddenly exclaimed, and I reminded myself to thank Yang Seungho sometime.

 I gave a spare helmet to Lee Joon, I wore mine, and made my way towards my motorcycle.

I swiftly climbed on it and waited for Lee Joon to do the same.

…He didn’t.

“What now?” I said annoyed, as I turned to face him.

“I…” he gulped “I have never…”

Oh. He hadn’t ridden a motorcycle before. “Don’t worry, it’s okay. I’m really careful when it comes to driving.”

The offended and embarrassed face of Lee Joon was hilarious. “Yah! Yah! That’s so not it! I’m not scared or anything! I’m just worried you will lose your focus because of me being besides you since I’m so good looking and all.” He blurted out so fast, that it was like he was LTE-rapping.

By then I was laughing like a maniac.

“Breathe, Lee Joon. And don’t worry about my concentration. You’re cute, but not that cute.”

He seemed ready to give me a piece of his mind, but an angry voice stopped him. “Yah! Joon, I swear you’re dead if I catch you!”

“That must be Seungho” I thought.

Before I knew it, Lee Joon was seated behind me, trying not to touch me too much. He really was shy, in the end.

I didn’t spare him, though.

I immediately started the engine and launched forward.

Soon, Lee Joon was gripping me in a tight embrace to save his life, while he was squealing like a wild fangirl.

And I absolutely loved it.

…

“I don’t feel that well…” lee Joon said. He had his eyes tightly shut, and, even though we had stopped for a fair amount of time, he was still holding my waist. He looked ridiculous.

I tried to keep the amusement away from my voice, but it was just too damn hard. “You know, we stopped, so you can get off now in complete safety.”

Lee Joon shook his head, eyes still closed. “Don’t wanna~”

I decided it was time for desperate measures. “Omo, is that Seungho coming towards us?!” I exclaimed all of a sudden. In seconds, Lee Joon had hopped off of the motorcycle. As he was about to run for his life, I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, before he could leave again. “I’m only kidding, relax.”

“What? Why, h-how could you?”

He kind of was adorable, stuttering like that.

…Wait, what?

Thoughts like that were not allowed in my head.

“Want some coffee?” I changed the subject, as I hopped off of the motorcycle as well, gesturing towards the coffee shop in front of us.

“When did we get here?” said Lee Joon, looking completely lost.

“When you were half-unconscious from your fear.” I . “Come on.”

 I entered the coffee shop after making sure that he was following. We ordered –caramel macchiato for me, and some sort of herbal tea for him- and took a seat.

At the beginning, we simply sat there, without exchanging a single word. The atmosphere was awkward, to say the least.

When our order arrived, we both tried to make conversation, because, well, sitting without doing anything seemed weird.

“Do you read, Lee Joon-sshi?” I asked formally.

“Please, call me Joon. And yes, of course I can read, I’m not an idiot.”

I mentally face-palmed myself. He really was stupid, after all. “No, I meant, you know, if you enjoy reading books and such…”

“Oh…” he said. “Well, no, not really. I don’t have much time.” We both fell silent after that, until he asked suddenly: “Are you a fan of our group?”

…Oops… What was I supposed to say now? I couldn’t lie, because then he would ask me about all kind of questions about MBLAQ, and I would be busted. My knowledge was limited, especially in comparison to regular fangirls that even knew what color their “oppas” underwear was.

So, I had to tell the truth. “Well, I don’t really listen to MBLAQ, sorry… But I checked out some of your songs, and they were good.” He seemed a bit disappointed by my answer, so I added: “Don’t worry; it’s nothing personal. I just don’t listen to Korean pop in general.”

Surprise painted his handsome features, as he exclaimed: “For real?!”

“Yes, it doesn’t really fit me.” I answered, but he didn’t seem to agree.

“There must be some group you’d like!” he said, and continued. “You know something? I’m pretty sure I can find you a group close to your taste. If I do, would you listen to them and give them a chance?”

Even I had to admit that his passionate efforts to convince me were cute. I actually wanted to say yes, but I couldn’t just give in so easily. Unless…

“If you read the book that I’ll propose to you, I’ll listen to the kpop group you want me to.”

“Really?” he exclaimed once more, with a huge smile plastered on his face. “Daebak!”

I smiled almost involuntarily at his actions, before stopping myself.

Damn… He actually was a very dangerous man, that Lee Joon.

…

For the next couple of hours, we simply sat there, talking about our interests, our habits, our dreams… just everything. I could only laugh at myself: I was afraid that we wouldn’t be able to communicate, and there we were now, unable to shut up.

He was an interesting man, in fact. He was funny (but not in the complete stupid way I’d thought he would be), passionate about his job, kind and devoted to his fans. He even seemed happy today, compared to the other times I’d seen him. The tiredness and disappointment he seemed to carry the previous days seemed to be gone.

A disturbing thought formed on my mind: “Was I being too judgy? He actually seems… likeable.”

But I couldn’t afford to think like that. Liking Lee Joon was certainly not an option.

“Okay, I think I know which group I’ll propose to you!” he said enthusiastically out of the blue. “FT Island!”

I was a bit surprised by that. I expected he would say his own group, or one of the most popular ones. Had he really tried to figure me out to propose it to me?

“Why FT Island?” I asked, curiosity obvious in my voice.

“Well, for one, they are a pop/rock band, which seems to suit you more than the typical kpop group style. Also… since you seem quite… uhm… dynamic, the powerful vocals and the steady accompaniment seems fitting, somehow. And, well, I just have a feeling that you’ll like them.”

I was speechless. Regardless of whether I would like FT Island or not, he had really tried to find a group I’d like. He had tried.

It had been a long time since someone had actually tried to get me.

…It was a good feeling, I decided.

“I’ll check them out.” I promised, and I added: “It’ll take a little longer for me to propose a book to you, though.”

He just smiled, saying that he wasn’t in a hurry.

We only realized it was time to go back when Lee Joon’s phone rang. It was G.O, who wanted to inform us that his date with Hye Rin was a total success, and that Seungho had vented his anger on some more pizza, therefore it was safe for Lee Joon to go home.

As we made our way out, I couldn’t help but ask Lee Joon playfully: “Lee Joon-ah, was that a date?”

He didn’t answer right away, simply reminding him that I should call him Joon.

When we rode the motorcycle though, and his hands found their way around my waist, he responded: “I’m not sure about that one, but the next one will definitely be a date.”

I smiled at his words, a smile that had nothing to do with the challenge, the bet or victory.

I smiled at his words, with a smile that only had to do with Lee Joon.

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