INDIE LOVE

“Hey, babe!”

     Sabrina squirmed when a pair of arms embraced her from behind.

     “Not in public, Heechul!” she hissed, urging for him to hush up. Both of them were in the library, so that was another reason to zip his loud mouth.

     The librarian put a finger to her lips as she scowled at the couple. At least, to others, that’s what they looked like.

     “I swear, you’re so giddy like a little girl on her first day of preschool,” Sabrina said as she cleared the seat beside her, making room for him. “We’re not kids anymore, remember? People might start getting weird ideas.”

     “People are already getting weird ideas,” he said smugly.

     Sabrina was about to retort, when across the room stood someone too familiar to her eyes.

     “Oh, shoot,” she said, hurrying to grab her algebra textbook to cover her face.

     Heechul raised an eyebrow. “What is wrong with you? Why, too blinded by my intense beauty?”

     She ignored him and peeked from the corner of the book. The guy in black had passed through the aisles, and Sabrina slowly put the book down. She recognized that bleached blond hair, the guitar practically glued to his back. Oh, why oh why must that be a weakness to her? Guys with guitars, guys with headphones. She needed to get a grip of her inner teenage self before she’d start losing her senses.

     “Oh?” Heechul perked up. “Was that Hongki?”

     Sabrina squealed at the mention of the name that escaped her best friend’s mouth. She sighed as she watched the silhouette move about the shelves.

     “That’s Lee Hongki,” she said, “Seoul university’s top vocalist of the local indie band FT Island.” She ended her sentence with a dreamy giggle as she continued to stare like an obsessed fanatic.

     Heechul blinked. “Duh,” he said. “I know who he is. We go to the same U together. Plus, he’s my cigarette buddy.”

     “WHAT?” She spun her head around too fast, her neck hurt.

     “Well, he doesn’t really smoke. He just joins the gang sometimes.”

     “No, not that. You know him?”

     “Of course. We’ve hung out since college.”

     “Uh, ever thought of telling me? Your best friend since forever?”

     “Hey, how would I know you had the hots for him?”

     “I-I do not ‘have the hots’ for him! I’m a fan! J-Just a fan!”

     “Uh-huh. Yes. Right. Fan.” He played along. “Anyways, just forget about him.”

     Sabrina frowned. “Excuse me?”

     “He only has his eyes on the girls on campus, particularly seniors.” He patted her head, as if he were petting his cat. “Sorry, little girl.”

     ”I-I’m not that young.”

     “You’re still in high school. In college years, that’s like a decade apart. And why would you care? You said you didn’t have the hots for him,” he said, smirking.

     “I-I don’t!”

     “Aww, my little baby’s blushing. So cute.”

     “I’m not blushing!” she growled, causing the whole library to stare at her. She slouched in her seat, cheeks flushed.

     He laughed as softly as he could. “Anyways, let’s get to work. You said you needed help with your algebra homework.”

     Sabrina bit her lower lip as her gaze was somewhere else rather than on her textbook. She couldn’t help being overly distracted by the overly huge distraction. She could see Lee Hongki’s turned back as he browsed a particular shelf.

     “You know,” Heechul whispered, “if you want, just go up and talk to him.”

     “And, what, make a fool out of myself? Like you said, I’m high school material, not a Seventeen magazine cover girl.”

     “You could be. I think you’re pretty enough.”

     “Pretty enough,” she quoted. “Huh.”

     “I’m serious. If you’d just let go of your hair—”

     “Hey!” she shouted when he pulled her hair tie free, causing the long, dark locks to fall down her shoulders.

     “Now,” he said, “that’s a bit better.”

     She groaned and stole her hair tie back from him. “For the last time, I am not going to model for a magazine shoot, Kim Heechul.”

     “Why not?” he asked, almost in a tiny baby whine.

     “I don’t like it. Models are bigheaded.”

     “I model, too, you know. Well, part-time.”

     “Exactly my point.”

---------

Heechul had to leave early for a shoot. Apparently he’d been getting more jobs than he expected what would come out of a small deal.

     Before he left, he had asked, “Party in campus tomorrow at eight. Come?”

     “Why are you asking a high schooler that?” Sabrina said, rolling her eyes.

     “Nobody’ll think you’re a high schooler. They’ll probably think you have this adorable baby face and pinchable cheeks. You’d fit right in.”

     “Even if I wanted to, can’t. Need to cram up for an exam.”

     “ being in high school.”

     “You said it, brother.”

     Sabrina was left to study on her own. She was browsing through the shelves, trying to make out the understandable. If she doesn’t make it anywhere near college, all will be doomed. There was no way her parents were going to let her off the hook.

     She began by piling up as many books on algebra she could find, and the first pile was already towering up to her nose. With a graceful balance, she tried to move past a couple of aisles, back to her seat. And little more and—

     BAM.

     It was raining books. One landed on her head, and in an instant she tumbled to the floor, her pile falling down with her. Stars began to appear. She held onto her head with both hands to stop it from spinning.

     “Oh my gosh, are you okay?” a panicky voice asked, obviously in alarm. He jumped down from the stairs on the bookshelf and made his way over. “I am so sorry. H-How do you feel? Anything broken?”

     “Oh, my head…” she whimpered.

     He panicked even more. “Oh my gosh, I broke her head.”

     After a minute, when her head had stopped spinning and the stars had disappeared, she blinked a few times to get back her focus.

     The question was asked again, “Are you okay?” followed by endless apologies.

     Sabrina was about say she was fine when she stopped short. She took in the bleached blond hair, the familiarity, and the guitar.

     “It was an accident. Honest. I-I didn’t mean to, the books just slipped—”

     Sabrina couldn’t pay attention to a word at all. Maybe the hit had taken a toll on her and her mind was suddenly seeing things. She was starstruck.

     Lee Hongki crouched in front of her, his face only an inch apart from hers, and she swore their nose touched for a split second. If this was a dream and she was actually in a coma after being hit by a pile of books, she wouldn’t really mind.

     “Hey, come on. Say something,” he begged.

     She blinked again and all came to focus. “I’m…fine. Just fine.”

     He sighed in relief. “Oh, thank goodness. I thought I might’ve killed someone. Luckily it wasn’t my guitar that fell. Or me. You’re okay, right? Right?”

     She could only nod. She touched her forehead and winced. A bruise was probably going to show sooner or later.

     Without realizing, Hongki immediately lifted her up, pulling her hand and helping her to a seat. The apologies hadn’t ended yet.

     “Does it hurt? Anywhere?” he asked. “Gosh, I’m so clumsy.”

     “No, no, I’m okay, really,” she assured him after finally managing to find her voice.

     He was about to get on with the apologies again, when he stopped and stared. It took him a long while. He was practically staring right at her, as if something had just struck him. Kind of like the way Sabrina was hit a moment ago.

     He tilted his head to the side as he continued to stare at her. It was getting uncomfortably, but oddly she didn’t mind it at all. Who wouldn’t want a face to face with the Lee Hongki?

     “Wait,” he said. “Aren’t you—”

     He was saying something. Oh gosh, he was saying something. He was speaking with that melodious voice. Heaven, help the poor girl before she faints.

     “Aren’t you Sabrina?”

     Lee Hongki knew her name. He knew her name.

     “Heechul’s girlfriend, right?” he said for conformation.

     Bam. That was it. A struck that sent lightning flickering.

     “What?” She blinked, and before she knew it she went into a fit. “EW, GOSH, NO.”

     “Oh, sorry. Then…his sister? I’ve seen you a few times with him.”

     “Sister?” She thought about it. “Well, that’s a little better. Yeah, let’s go with that.”

     “He’s going to kill me after he finds out what I did.”

     She laughed. “Don’t worry about it. No harm done, right?”

     He nodded sullenly. There was a moment of silence where neither of them knew what to say next. Hongki was probably buried deep beneath his clumsy act. And Sabrina…well, let’s say she was having a hard to even move.

     Hongki was looking at the carpet instead. Then he raised his head up and extended a hand. “Um, I’m not sure you know me,” he said. “Hongki. I’m a friend of Heechul’s, actually.”

     She stared at his hand, then gave it a light shake. She swore she was burning like a hot tomato.

     “I know,” she said.

     “You do?”

     “W-Well, Heechul talks about you. Um, yeah. Actually, he was here just now, too, but he had to leave early.” She stopped to take a deep breath. “Uh, I’m Sabrina.”

     He smiled. “I know.”

     She flushed a shade darker. “Uh, right.”

     More silence.

     “So, um, real sorry about…that,” he said, trying hard to find the right words.

     “No, no, really, it’s okay.” She stopped herself before sounding a little too eager.

     “Well, on the bright side, it’s nice to meet you at last. Hope to see you again.”

     He got on his feet, and if Sabrina was in her right mind he would’ve caught that little wink, just before he disappeared.

     She was in the library alone. Everything else was going around her like normal. She breathed in slowly as if she’d just woken from a dream.

     “No way that just happened.”

---------

By three o’clock Sabrina left the library and arrived at her tiny apartment. As soon as she unlocked the door and went inside, she was taken by surprise at how bright the place is, and also the fact there was a male figure lying down on her couch.

     “Kim Heechul!” she exclaimed loudly. Then she closed , afraid she might disturb the neighbours. She turned back to her friend who was busy watching television while munching on a pack of chips. Her chips. “What are you doing here?”

     “Waiting for you to get home,” he replied, eyes glued to the television. One hand was holding a chip, the other holding the remote.

     “I gave you the extra key to my apartment for emergencies only. Not for you to sneak around and steal my chips.” She grabbed the packet from him, causing him to whine like a little kid.

     “It is an emergency. I just got back from the shoot, then I stopped by your parents’ house.” He stood from the couch and headed into the kitchen. He then returned with a large plastic bag. “Your mom told me to drop this off for you.”

     Inside the bag contained Sabrina’s favourite Kimchi fried rice.

     “Thanks,” she said. “But really, why did mom pack it in a plastic bag? I told her to use the recycled tote!”

     While Heechul had a don’t-care attitude, Sabrina was a neat-freak, Earth-loving girl. Definitely the opposite of the other’s personality. If you looked right outside her balcony, you could see the tulips and carnations she grew herself during her free time.

     “Come and eat with me,” she said.

     “Hm?”

     “You think I don’t know the reason you waited for me to come back, you bokumbab freak?”

     He grinned sheepishly. “Can’t help that your mom makes the best fried rice.”

     As the two ate, Sabrina asked simple question. How was Mom doing? And Dad? Is he still stuck in front of the TV?

     “If you want to know,” Heechul said, “you could just come back and see for yourself. It’s not like they’re a continent away.”

     Sabrina stayed silent.

     Heechul chewed and then swallowed.

     “Why don’t you come home?” he suggested.

     She didn’t answer.

     “They miss you, you know,” he said.

     “I just want a little independence.”

     “You’ll have plenty of that after high school. How are you even able to pay all this, anyway?”

     “I work. That’s what independence is called.”

     Heechul rolled his eyes and swallowed another spoonful. But then he caught something.

     “What happened to your forehead?” he asked. Obviously the bruise had started to show up at last.

---------

When Sabrina arrived at school the next day, she was greeted by a bright and cheery Mimi.

     “Sabrina!” her friend called, waving enthusiastically.

     Sabrina was busy closing her umbrella. It had rained all the way, and she was just about to put aside the umbrella when Mimi rushed over before she could even get to her.

     “Did you hear?” Mimi said.

     “Hear what?”

     “The school’s hosting a festival for the Children’s hospital. Let’s sign up!”

     “What—”

     “Please, please, please! It’ll be fun! There’s going to be games, music! And I know you love volunteering.”

     “And since when did I say that?”

     “Oh, come on. For the kids?”

     Sabrina chuckled. “Yes, okay, all right.”

     Mimi wasn’t going to wait anymore, and she was about to drag her with her to retrieve the Sign-up sheets, when Sabrina’s name was called. It was so loud, the entire school turned to stare. Sabrina turned around and cringed.

     “Yo, baby!”

     Oh, brother, Sabrina thought. Not here, you big doofus.

     Heechul was skipping towards her direction, and he stopped just as he neared.

     “You left your lunch bag on the table,” he said as he shoved it to her.

     She sighed. “I thought I told you not to call me—”

     He didn’t listen and turned to Mimi. “Hey, sweetheart,” he winked.

     Mimi rolled her eyes. “What up, Diva.”

     Heechul just smirked. He then turned back to Sabrina.

     “Listen, I gotta head over to another shoot. I’ll drop by your apartment later, okay?” He was about to leave when he noticed something distracting. “Hey, who told you to wear short skirts!”

     Sabrina sighed. “It’s not that short. And cut me some slack, it’s not like I wear them every day.”

     “In this type of weather? Put on a pair of leggings tomorrow. Or get a pair of jeans.”

     He his heel and left without a goodbye.

     Mimi shook her head and crossed her arms across her chest. “Man, for a male model he sure is strict.”

     “Trust me. When it comes to my fashion, I can barely wear any skirt above my ankles.”

---------

The two girls arrived in front of Sabrina’s apartment right after school. And as predicted, Heechul was already there lying on the couch watching television.

     “Oh, you’re here,” Sabrina said as she went in after Mimi.

     “What took you so long? You’re usually punctual. You’re ten minutes late,” he lectured, pointing at the time.

     “A little busy, Diva,” said Mimi.

     “What’s so busy?”

     “We’re in charge of the school’s festival this year,” said Sabrina as she slumped down on the space beside him.

     “What festival?” he asked, head tilted in curiosity.

     “It’s for the Children’s hospital,” Mimi began to explain.

     Sabrina turned to Mimi who’d just come out from the kitchen with a banana.

     “Speaking of which,” she said, “what are we going to do?”

     “Hmmm.” Mimi stared at her banana. “No clue.”

     “Are you girls serious?” Heechul said.

     “We’ll need to get an idea for the main attraction asap,” said Sabrina. “Ideas?”

     “None,” said Heechul. “But, if you girls need some muscle, just give me a call.”

     Mimi practically snorted into her banana and almost choked for laughing abruptly. “Muscle. Hah. Funny.”

     Heechul rolled his eyes.

     Suddenly a thought popped inside Sabrina’s head, and she shot up from the couch, pulling Heechul along with her. “Well, it’s getting late, you should head back now!”

     “H-Hey—”

     “Sorry, Chullie, time for you to go home. It’s a girls’ sleepover night today.”

     He straightened and slipped into his shoes. “Yeah, yeah, got it. I’ll see you girls tomorrow.” He walked over to the door as Sabrina opened it for him. “See ya,” he waved.

     “See ya, Diva,” Mimi said with a mouthful of banana. 

     Once Heechul was out, Sabrina closed the door as quick as she could and locked it.

     “Now, Sabrina, what do you have going up in that head of yours?” said Mimi, noticing that look on her friend’s face.

     Sabrina grinned. “I know what we should do for the festival.”

     “Ooh, do tell.”

     She nervously played with her fingers. “I was…you know, sort of thought that we could, uh, well… What if FT Island came?”

     She said the last words in a heartbeat and afterwards clamped shut while waiting for a reply.

     “Ew, those guys?”

     Sabrina’s heart fell at the reaction.

     “Why not?” she said. “They’re pretty good. And popular.”

     “Yeah, but—” Mimi thought about it. “I mean, like hell they’d want to come.”

     “They might.”

     “Do you really think a bunch of university guys would want to come to something hosted by high school students?”

     “We can give it a shot. Try talking to him about it. You can find him at the library.”

     “Wait, what? Me? Ohoho, no. You go.”

     “No way.” She thought for a moment. “We could try persuading Heechul. Apparently, they go to the same U.”

     “They do? Wow.”

     Sabrina sighed. She was definitely in a slump. “Though I doubt he’d want to do it. He obviously said to my face that Hongki doesn’t look at high school girls.”

     “No shocker there. He’s a U student, Sabrina. It’s so obvious. Plus, he’s practically a town celebrity.”

     Sabrina shrugged. “Worth a shot.”

---------

The next morning, Sabrina woke before her alarm clock, which meant waking up a cranky Mimi. She shook her so hard, the girl bolted from the floor and hit her head on a nearby drawer.

     An hour later they were at the library, hiding behind a shelf.

     “I don’t get why you woke me up so early,” Mimi whined. She yawned and covered like a lady.      

     “Well, coming early means I’ll get to spend more time with Hongki—I mean, we’ll get to negotiate the festival’s contract in detail. Yeah.”

     “Uh-huh.” Mimi rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re obsessed over the guy like all the other girls now.”

     “I-I’m not obsessing,” she said, cheeks flushed. “It’s for the Children’s hospital, remember?”

     “Really.”

     “Having FT Island to play at the festival would be a hit, won’t it? Everybody’ll come, and every girl wouldn’t want to miss it.”

     “That’s pretty true. And it’ll definitely help raise more money for the foundation.”

     Sabrina grinned. “See?”

     “Oh, hey, there he is!”

     Mimi pointed out at the entrance of the library where a group of guys were seen entering one by one. It was too early in the morning. Not many people spent their time in the library. You could count just how many were there.

     “Go on, Sabrina!” said Mimi.

     “Wait, no, I can’t,” she decided all of a sudden.

     “Why not?”

     “H-He’s with the guys! They’re all here!”

     “Yeah? So?”

     “I can’t. Nu-uh. Mimi, you go.”

     They watched as Hongki and the others parked themselves at a table.

     “There he is!” Mimi exclaimed. “Go on!”

     “And say what?”

     “Oh, just ask him about the festival! Is it that hard?”

     “Yes?”

     Mimi sighed, exasperated. Without warning she pushed her friend out from hiding. Sabrina came tumbling out, crashing into one of the tables and howling as her leg hit a chair. The librarian shushed her, not caring whether she was in pain.

     Mimi groaned. “This is going nowhere.” She came after Sabrina, pulling her upright.

     Sabrina looked at her friend with a pout. “I can’t do it.”

     At last, Mimi gave in. She put Sabrina aside and marched (like a soldier) towards the boys’ table. Well, they couldn’t be considered as boys anymore. She cleared as she reached behind one of them, the one named Minhwan in charge of drums. He had his drum sticks with him wherever he went. In fact, he was holding onto them right then.

     “Yeah, uh, hi,” Mimi said. “Mind if I borrow a pencil?” She asked so sweetly, there was no reason for them not to give her something so simple. At least it was one way to break the ice.

     “Sure, no prob.” The leader of the band, Jonghoon, dug in his case for a freshly sharpened one.

     She took it in her two hands. “Thanks.”

     “Anything for the pretty lady.” He winked.

     Sabrina could’ve sworn Mimi blushed.

     Mimi nodded, gazing at the floor awkwardly. “Uh, yeah. Thank you. Again.”

     Sabrina waited for Mimi to keep going.

     “You guys are FT Island, correct?” Mimi began as casually as she could.

     Their bassist, Jaejin, nodded. “Why, yes, yes we are. Would you like an autograph?”

     “Uh, yeah, maybe next time.”

     Snickers came from the other guys at Jaejin’s failed attempt at flirting.

     “It’s just that, you see, I have this friend,” she said. “And she is in love with you guys.” Her gaze turned towards Hongki. “Like, love love.”

     Hongki laughed softly. “Really?”

     “In fact, she’s right over—”

     Before Mimi could finish, she was tackled to the floor. Sabrina lay on top of her, her weight trapping her. She had her hands taped to Mimi’s mouth.

     Mimi wriggled beneath her. “Mphm! Mphm!”

     All the guys blinked. And then there was the guitarist, Seunghyun, who stared in amazement. “Wow, she’s pretty tough.”

     Hongki looked over. “Sabrina…?”

     Hearing that oh-so familiar voice, Sabrina froze. She clenched her eyes shut and exhaled as all eyes were on her. She quickly stood, freeing Mimi from her grasps. Mimi stood upright, gasping as much air as possible.

     Hongki blinked. “It is you.”

     Sabrina gathered all her strength and pride. She was about to speak up when a loud smack on the table halted the situation. The librarian stomped over.

     “That is it! Young ladies, you are banned from here for a month!”

---------

The next thing Sabrina knew she was sitting outside on the library steps.

     “I hate you,” she mumbled.

     Mimi was aghast. “Hey, what’re you mad at me for? You’re the one who attacked me and caused the havoc! Thanks to you I’m banned from the library, too.”

     “Right, as if you’ve ever been to the library before.”

     Mimi stood. “Well, that went well. I’m heading home now. We’ll just have to think of something else for the festival, I guess.”

     Now Sabrina was alone. She didn’t even notice when Mimi had left. She whimpered silently as she stayed like that for a while.

     “Hey, sorry about that,” a voice appeared from beside her. She raised her head and spun around. Hongki came over with a slight apologetic look.

     “H-Hongki!” She quickly stood. “Uh, hi,”

     “You okay?”

     “I’m fine. I just— Well, my friend and I, we were— I was— Gah, I was just trying to talk to you! Gosh, why is it so hard?” She sank back to the floor and crouched on the steps.

     “You were trying to talk? To me?” he asked with a slight surprise in his tone.

     She looked at him a little from the corner of her eye and nodded.

     She heard the sound of his squeaky shoes, and the next second he was sitting right beside her. “Well, I’m here now.” He smiled. It was comforting, and for the first time all of the nerves fluttered away. “What is it that you wanted to talk about?”

     “I just…I kind of feel bad. I mean, I don’t want you to think I’m trying to use you, honest.”