Ch. 3: Like A Deer Caught In The Headlights
The dim lights sheltered the refugee and her captor. The man silently removed his hand from the girl’s mouth. The girl’s chocolate brown eyes were wide with shock.
‘Oh my god… Is this who I think it is?’ she wondered
But before she could voice out her question, he placed his index finger to his lips, urging her to keep quiet. This puzzled her, until she heard the voices coming from the main hall. With each passing second, the voices grew closer and closer. The girl held her breath, her heart beating faster from the fear of being caught. The guy risked a glimpse from the side of the vending machine, and the girl followed suit, placing her hands on his shoulders for support.
Three little children, two boys and one girl, were animatedly chatting. A little girl, about 6, was wearing a cute yellow sundress, with white flowers stitched at the hem and at the collar. The little girl held on tightly to the taller one of the boys, who held an uncanny resemblance to her. It was clear that the two were siblings. On her other hand, she held onto a bright red balloon. The other boy was shorter than the brother. He had black ruffled hair that stuck out, as if he had a permanent pillow head hair. They intended to buy peppero from the vending machine. Standing a few feet away from the two adults, the little girl walked up to ChoMin and YooChun.
“Unnie, Oppa? What are you doing?” She asked, looking up at the two with her big brown eyes.
ChoMin and YooChun sprang apart from each other. ChoMin could feel the intense heat rising to her ears. Anyone would be embarrassed being caught in a compromising situation; especially by little kids. She gave a nervous chuckle. YooChun coughed into his hand, undeniably embarrassed as well.
“Erm… Unnie and Oppa were buying peppero for friends.” was his excuse, and it was said with an angelic smile on his face.
“No you weren’t Hyung!” The little boy with unruly hair countered. “You and Nuna were sucking face!” He jeered.
ChoMin gave him a dead pan look. ‘The nerve! What are they teaching kids in school these days?’ Trying to do some damage control, she leaned close to the little boy and with a strained sweet smile she asked, “Weren’t you going to buy something from the vending machine?”
Now reminded of their previous job, the three children disregarded the earlier accusation. All three reached into their pockets, searching deep within their folds to find enough money to buy from the machine. Not finding money in her right pocket, the little girl began to search her left one. In doing so, she accidentally let go of the bright red balloon.
“Wah! My balloon!” She tried jumping to reach it, but her little hands missed the receding string. ChoMin jumped into the air, her feet a few inches off the ground, trying to reach the retreating tail of the balloon. Narrowly missing it, her hands curled around the string, and yanked it back down with her.
“Good catch!” The little girl’s brother excitedly exclaimed.
ChoMin knelt down to the girl’s eye level. “Here you go,” she smiled warmly, and handed the girl her balloon. “Be careful next time. You should tie it like this.”
ChoMin tied the balloon around the little girl’s wrist, all the while; a gentle smile graced her face. Grateful, the little girl gave ChoMin a big hug.
“Thank you, Unnie!” The little girl said with the most adorable voice. She pulled away from ChoMin, but reached for her hand instead. She then began to drag ChoMin to the vending machine, talking animatedly about the different flavors of peppero.
All this while, YooChun had on a gentle smile as he watched ChoMin interact with the little kids. But he couldn’t shake a thought out of his mind; she looked so familiar. As if he already met her or something. But YooChun was sure that he would never forget a pretty face like hers. He was so caught up in his thoughts; he didn’t notice ChoMin walking towards him.
The red box of peppero was waved in front of his face. He looked up to see ChoMin with one in her mouth. Taking another one of the box, she then offered some to YooChun. Not eating breakfast before coming down, he was more than a bit famished.
“Thanks.”
“No problem.” She said with the cutest smile she could muster.
‘This is definitely Micky YooChun. I remember him. >-<’ The little girl once again came towards the two, the red balloon tied securely at her wrist, and a box of peppero in her hand. She bowed in gratitude and respect. A toothy smile shined up at them as came back up.
“Thank you, Unnie.” She said
“You’re welcome…erm –” ChoMin paused, realizing that she didn’t know the little girl’s name, nor the names of the two boys following her.
“YunHee,” the girl replied, “Song YunHee. That’s my oppa, KangWoo” she said, pointing to the tall boy resembling her, she then pointed to the other boy, the one with the ruffled hair. “And that’s my friend Yim TaeHyun. We all live on floor on the bottom of this one…um… level 9? In room numbaw 906.”
ChoMin couldn’t help but smile! The little girl was just so adorable. She decided then and there that she wanted YunHee to be her little sister and to glomp her. The boy named TaeHyun was aghast by what YunHee revealed.
“YunHee! Why’d you tell her your name?! She’s a stranger!” he pointed to ChoMin angrily. “You’re not suppos’ta give out where you live to strangers either!”
The little girl shook her head. “No, Unnie isn’t a stranger! She saved my balloon.” She turned back to ChoMin and said, “Unnie, come play with me again. Next time, I’ll bring my pretty oppa too!” She waved bye to ChoMin and YooChun, and skipped back to where her brother and TaeHyun were. Before rounding the corner, she turned around, and waved back at ChoMin once more, smiling her big toothy grin. She then skipped back to the elevators with the little boys.
ChoMin sighed in content. She always loved little kids. Her face scrounged in annoyance. ‘Except that little brat.’ She then remembered where she was and searched for her luggage. ChoMin found them carelessly left on the other side of the vending machine. She went to retrieve them, and walked up to YooChun. ChoMin bowed in thanks.
“Thanks for trying to rescue me…from little kids?” She laughed.
YooChun couldn’t help but also laugh. “No problem.” He replied back.
An awkward silence filled the air around the two. ChoMin desperately wanted to ask if he recognized her. But she figured that he didn’t, since he hasn’t mentioned anything to her. She knew he was Park YooChun from Dong Bang Shin Ki, but she hated the idea that she recognized a person, but they didn’t recognize her. It always irked her when people forget who she was. It was then that she heard YooChun clearing his throat. ChoMin looked expectantly at him, hoping he’ll say something; but to her disappointment, he didn’t utter a word. Tired of the silence, ChoMin built up the courage to break the awkwardness.
“Um, by any chance… Do you remember me?” She eyed him carefully, hoping that he did remember her. But she lowered her gaze to her shoes, when YooChun began to look intensely at her face. He suddenly tore his gaze away from her, and she let out the breath she didn’t even realized she was holding.
“I’m sorry,” YooChun began, apologetically, “You look vaguely familiar, but I just can’t remember from where.”
Inside, ChoMin was crushed. She really wanted him to recognize her; after all, she spent a whole day with him and the others at Disney Land. Surely, he should’ve recognized her. Wasn’t she important enough to be at least remembered? YooChun noticed her pained expression and quickly issued another apology.
“I’m sorry,” he stated again.
“No, it’s ok. I’m Jung ChoMin. Jung YunHo’s cousin?” She said, trying hard to get him to remember her. “I was with you when you guys went to Disney Land in California.”
It was then that it hit YooChun…
‘YunHo’s cousin’. That’s why she looked so familiar to him. She was YunHo’s cousin! She was that girl that went with them and his brother to Disney Land, and had the guts to ride all the major rollercoasters. She sure looked very different from what he remembered. There was no sign of the pasty skin or the braces that he remembered her wearing. He eyed her from head to toe, she really grew up – and in all the right places, he noted.
“Oh yeah! I remember. Disney Land! Hyung mentioned you were gonna stay here for vacation, right?”
“So… erm, is my cousin home?” ChoMin blurted out in fast English.
“Muh?” YooChun couldn’t understand what she was saying for she talked too fast with her nervousness.
“Oh, sorry,” ChoMin replied in informal Korean. “I meant, is my cousin’s apartment nearby?”
‘And here I thought Micky could speak English.’ She thought
‘But still! I can’t believe I’m talking to Micky YooChun from DBSK!!!’ While she seemed calm and cool on the outside, her inner fangirl squealed with utter happiness.
“Oh, sorry…” He remembered his manners, and offered to carry her luggage. “I’ll take you there.”
Their hands briefly touched. On impulse, ChoMin quickly retracted her hand, and held it close to her heart. The moment their hands touched, ChoMin felt a very small jolt running up her arm then traveled throughout her body. She glanced at YooChun, wondering if he felt it too. But YooChun just carried on as if nothing happened. He pulled up the handle, and tugged the luggage behind him. He began to walk around the corner, when he noticed that ChoMin wasn’t following him.
“Are you coming?” he asked over his shoulders.
Snapping out of her trance, ChoMin nodded, and bounded after him. They made their way to the elevator shafts, and patiently waited for it to come. A soft ding was heard, and the metallic elevator door slid open. It was the same elevator ChoMin rode on a few minutes ago. YooChun, being the gentleman he is, motioned for ChoMin to go before him.
“Ladies first,” he said, and flashed the most gorgeous smile ChoMin ever saw. It took all her willpower not to melt and become putty on the floor at the sight of it. She fought down her inner fangirl, but she could not repress the small squeal as she entered. YooChun couldn’t help but be amused at this girl before him.
The elevator door shut after him. YooChun pressed the button numbered 11 and waited patiently. Throughout the small ride, ChoMin snuck fleeting glances at YooChun from the corner of her eye; a goofy smile graced her lips. It had been a while since she last saw Park YooChun in person, and she couldn’t even begin to describe how she was feeling. It was as if a Greek god was standing to her right, surrounded by warm golden light. She snuck another glance at him, but quickly looked away, for he was staring closely at her. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. ChoMin pretended to be interested in the metal carvings on the walls, just to avert his eyes. She glanced once more, but he was still looking at her.
‘Or maybe I’m just in his line of sight.’ She thought, trying to come up with an excuse as to why he was still staring at her.
The ding of the bell was enough to shift his eyes from her face, to straight ahead. The doors opened shortly, and YooChun stepped out before ChoMin.
ChoMin noticed how different this level was. In comparison to the previous floor, the one she was on was small and narrow, with only a few doors gracing its walls. She wondered if it had to do with the size of the apartments. ChoMin followed YooChun until he stopped at a door that had the number 1103 on it. Pulling her suitcase to a stop, he reached into his left side pocket and extracted a silver key. The key easily fitted inside the keyhole and turned with ease, unlocking the door.
“Welcome to DongBanggol.”
YooChun stuck his head in, then his whole body. It was then that he remembered the dirty dishes left on the table, and the mess in the living room.
“Aish!” he swore under his breath. To ChoMin’s surprise, he shut the door in her face.
ChoMin stepped back in bewilderment.
‘Why’d he do that?’ she wondered.
She presumed to knock on the door, her face clearly held the look of confusion. The door opened a smidge and YooChun stuck out his beautiful head between the gap.
He laughed nervously and ChoMin raised an eyebrow in suspicion. “Uh, sorry about this, but could you wait a second?”
“Erm…ok?” she said, dumfounded.
“Thanks!”
His head popped back inside, and the soft thud of the closing door was the last thing ChoMin heard. She stood next to the entry way, and leaned against the white walls of the hallway. Trying to keep herself busy, she extracted her pocket mirror from her purse. She began to fix her hair and reapply her lip-gloss. She took a moment to admire reflection. ChoMin broke out into a haughty grin. She looked damn good today! She had to admit, she was a bit of a narcissist. Ever since she had her braces removed and her skin fixed, she was more confident about her appearance.
She was putting away her fun size mirror, when she heard the elevator ding. ChoMin craned her neck to see who it was. The two security guards she saw earlier were coming out from the elevator! The smaller of the two had his back turned, and walked out the elevator walking backwards. It seemed like he was talking to someone important, for he was speaking in formal Korean, which he did not do when shouting after her.
Panicking, ChoMin knocked urgently at the apartment door. She pounded three times before she heard a muffled voice reply to her pounding.
“Just a minute!” YooChun said, quickly carrying the dirty dishes to the sink. The dishes clanged as they were dropped into the soapy suds. YooChun earnestly walked into the living room, picking up any items that were lying around, or did not belong. He was completely unaware of the predicament ChoMin was currently in outside the door.
The pounding of the door alerted the guards, and they followed the noise to ChoMin.
“Hey!” the shorter guard exclaimed. ChoMin had her back turned away from the guard, trying to cover her face with her hand, hoping she won’t be seen.
“It’s that girl!” she heard the guard say, their footsteps were growing closer and closer
‘Game over…’ ChoMin thought sadly.
“Ajumma,” the shorter of the guards started speaking to ChoMin’s back, “You are not supposed to be here without permission. Please cooperate and come with us.”
ChoMin sighed in defeat. “De…” she mumbled. She could make a run for it, but what was the point? She knew she had a reason to be here, and she didn’t lie when she told the old guard that she was Jung YunHo’s cousin, so there was no reason to be in trouble.
‘Except you ran away when you weren’t supposed to.’ Her rational side scolded her.
‘Only if you just went with the old man, then you wouldn’t be in so much trouble.’Having no choice, she squatted down, careful not to show her underwear, to lift up her carry-on bag. She used the wall as a support, as the weight of the bag seem to weigh more to her.
“What’s going on here?” A husky voice demanded. The voice sent shivers up ChoMin’s spine. She recognized it all too well – that voice that was sent from above. The voice she fantasized about for the last three years. That voice could only belong to one person.
ChoMin turned her head to confirm if her suspicions were true. They were.
Kim JaeJoong, sex symbol of Dong Bang Shin Ki, stood only a few meters away from where she was standing. His beautiful eyes held a questioning look. His pretty face contrasted the well-toned body he hid under his white wife-beater shirt and the black button-up top above it. A black gothic cross necklace sat between his collar bones. In his hands were white plastic bags, filled to the brim with groceries.
ChoMin’s knees buckled. If it weren’t for the wall supporting her, she would have crashed down onto the floor with awe at the Adonis before her. If Micky YooChun was a Greek god, then YoungWoong JaeJoong was the god of the gods.
“Officers?” JaeJoong directed to the security guards.
“YoongWoong-sshi, this girl is the girl we were telling you about. She was the one who snuck in without a valid pass,” The guard continued, “She claimed that she was a relative to U-know YunHo.” He said, motioning to ChoMin.
“I see…” JaeJoong replied coolly. He then shifted his attention to ChoMin, who in turn, was paralyzed by his gaze. ChoMin recalled reading once, that JaeJoong didn’t know how to “electrocute” girls with his eyes. Boy was that article wrong! JaeJoong’s eye seemed like it could see right through her; right to where her very soul lay.
The guard took his words as green light to take ChoMin away. He stepped closer to ChoMin, who took a step back.
“Come now Miss,” He said, getting a hold of ChoMin’s elbow. He made to drag her, but ChoMin began to protest.
“Hey!” She screamed, trying to pry free from the guard’s grasp. “Let go of me!” But her struggle was futile, for the larger of the two guards grabbed a hold of her other elbow. She pleadingly looked to JaeJoong.
“Officers,” JaeJoong started. “Um, she’s telling the truth. She is YunHo’s cousin. So please release her.”
The smaller of the two security guards eyed JaeJoong, debating whether to believe him or not. He looked over to the larger guard for some answers, but he too didn’t know.
“I’m sorry, but our orders were to seize the girl, and take her to the chief.” He finally stated. He proceeded to drag ChoMin away from the door, towards the elevator. At this, ChoMin began to struggle even more.
“Let go of me! I wasn’t lying, so let go of me!” she struggled to pry free from their grasps, but they were just too strong for her.
“What is it with all this commotion?” A voice demanded. It was the old guard from the front of the lobby. He had a tired look to his face, but he did not pay much heed to it. The two guards on both sides of ChoMin halted their actions. JaeJoong turned around to see who spoke. Recognizing who it was, JaeJoong made his way to the old guard.
“Han ChungHo-sshi!” He bowed in greeting. “Ahnnyunghasehyo.”
“Ah! Kim JaeJoong-sshi.” The older guard bowed as well. He glanced at the guards and the girl between them. His eyes narrowed slightly at ChoMin. “Is there a problem here?”
“Please tell them to let go of her. She is telling the truth.” JaeJoong said, pointing at the restrained girl. The old guard called Han ChungHo, looked over at the situation. Looking at the frightened girl’s face, he motioned with a nod to let her go. The two security guards obeyed, and released her. ChoMin rubbed the area of her arm where they pressed down on it.
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience we have caused you.” Han ChungHo said, and bowed in apology to ChoMin. Feeling uncomfortable that an elder bowed down to her, she bowed lower, accepting his apology.
“I’m sorry too,” She said softly, keeping her head down in shame. “– for running away and making you look for me. I – I didn’t mean to make trouble.” She once again bowed to the old guard and to his subordinates.
Han ChungHo smiled gently towards the girl, and kindly accepted her apology. All the while, JaeJoong let a small smile escaped; it being directed to the girl with good manners.
After a quick word with JaeJoong, Han ChungHo and the two other guards bided their farewell, and left for the elevators. A soft ding and the opening and closing of the elevator door were heard. A few seconds passed when ChoMin realized something. She was alone…in an empty hallway…with YoungWoong JaeJoong. Her inner fangirl roared back to life, squealing with excitement. She could have fainted then and there, but the risk of making her self look like a fool was enough to not. It took all the strength and will power she had to not scream ‘I love you’ and jump him.
‘Oh my freaking god! I am defiantly THE luckiest girl in the world!’ she mentally squealed in excitement.
‘Ok, now think of something to say. But don’t say anything stupid – say something clever and intelligent!’ “Thanks for –” ChoMin began, but before she could finish, JaeJoong walked pass her, carrying his heavy plastic bags with him.
‘That was rude!’ her rational part said, but her fangirl side replied,
‘but who cares? He’s so hot!’ChoMin turned around, and followed him towards the door. JaeJoong shifted all the bags to his right hand, freeing his left one. He searched his pocket and retrieved a key, an exact duplicate of the one YooChun had. Before the key even touched the key whole, the door knob twisted, and door opened inwards, revealing a slightly out of breath YooChun.
“Ah, JaeJoong hyung?” YooChun said in a surprised tone. JaeJoong pushed open the door more, and hefted the heavy plastic bags inside the small area for the shoes. He placed the bags of groceries then removed his black and white striped Chuck Norris converse. He slid open the compartments that lined the wall, and placed his shoes within them. JaeJoong then proceeded passed an arch way, and turned right, carrying the groceries with him. ChoMin cautiously entered the threshold, dragging her luggage with her.
“We have a guest,” JaeJoong said over his shoulder “You cleaned up right?”
YooChun smiled brightly at ChoMin, helping her with her bags.
“Yeah.” He replied to JaeJoong, who was already three-fourths his way to the kitchen.
ChoMin began to untie the pink laces from her cork sandals, and removing them, she placed them off to a corner, so no one will trip and stumble. Straight ahead of her, maybe 6 meters ahead, was a big poster. It was an enlarged version of the album cover of ‘Rising Sun’. She stood in front of it for a moment, captivated. The last person to her right was none other than her cousin. She had to admit, he was very handsome, but any further thoughts would be considered incest. Her eyes wondered to the man in the center. JaeJoong looked back at her from the poster.
“ChoMin-sshi?”
ChoMin snapped out of her revere, and bounded after YooChun. YooChun led her to the right, the opposite from where JaeJoong went. The walls were ivory white, but it was far from being bland. The angle of the lighting and the dim light reflecting off of it, gave it a warm glow. The hallway curved left. As she turned the corner, there were three doors before her. A door to her left, her right, and straight in front of her. YooChun stopped at the center of the hallway and turned to face ChoMin. He pointed to the door to his right, which was her left.
“This is our room,” he indicated at the closed door. “It’s a bit messy, so I’ll show you later.” He then pointed to the door behind him. “This is the restroom. You can use it while you’re here, since its closer. We’ll use the other one.”
“Oh, no it’s ok!” ChoMin argued, feeling slightly embarrassed for taking their restroom. “You guys don’t have to switch bathrooms for me. I’ll use the other one.”
“Are you sure?” YooChun asked, giving her an opportunity to take his offer. “The other bathroom is near the kitchen. You can have this one, I insist.”
“I couldn’t possibly. It’s no problem at all!” ChoMin smiled, reassuring him.
“Nonsense,” He countered, “This one is bigger, and don’t girls’ like big restrooms?”
“Well, we do, but not all the time! You guys can have it. I’ll be fine with the other restroom.”
“Aish, just take this restroom, it’s bigger and cleaner.” YooChun scratched his head, “Aish, girls’ are so complicated.” He said with a teasing smile.
His smile was contagious, and she found herself smiling then began to chuckle.
“What’s so funny?” YooChun asked her, intrigued as to why the girl was laughing,
ChoMin immediately stopped laughing, but still had a hint the lingering smile.
“We just debated over bathrooms.”
YooChun just looked at her not really understanding what was so funny, which made ChoMin blush so much that she could feel the heat rising to her ears. Yet, YooChun couldn’t keep the tugging smile on his face. ‘This girl is really amusing.’ He thought to himself.
“Ok then,” he said, getting back on track. He then ushered her to the remaining door. He turned the knob, and pushed the door open. “This is your room.” He stepped inside, dragging her suitcase with him and placed it off to the side. He then turned the light switch on and leaned against the door frame. Immediately, the bright light lit the dark room, showering every corner with its rays. It was the extra bedroom where they kept all their clothing and junk.
ChoMin entered the room. She had to admit, it was pretty small compared to her own room back home, and less colorful, and stuffy, but she won’t complain. So what if it wasn’t like her room? She was still staying at the Dong Bang Household! She set down her carry-on with her suitcase, and walked forward, examining her temporary room. She was intrigued with all the dressers and the clothes rack. ChoMin turned to face YooChun, who was still posing hotly at the door frame.
“What’s with all these?” she asked, running her hand against the top of the white-washed wooden dresser that next to the bed.
“Oh, we have our clothes in there. Even if our apartment is big, we don’t have that many places to put our stuff in.” He chuckled slightly, “We even have drawers in the dinning room.”
“Coolness…” replied ChoMin trying to act cool and nonchalant. She sat down at the edge of the bed, the mattress squeaked as the weight descended upon it. Silence filled the room.
“Uh, I’ll leave you to settle in.” YooChun said after awhile and made to leave. ChoMin rose from the bed, and nodded her head in gratitude.
“Thanks for showing me to my room YooChun oppa.” She smiled sweetly at YooChun.
YooChun looked at her strangely. He just got reacquainted with her, yet she spoke to him as if they have known each other for years. It was considered very rude to speak informally to someone you just met, or to someone who is older. But YooChun didn’t pay much mind ChoMin’s lack of formality. After all, she wasn’t raised in Korea.
“ChoMin ah,” YooChun replied, also dropping all formality, “If you need anything, I’ll be outside.” He winked at her and retreated out the door, closing it behind him.
ChoMin stared at the place where YooChun was a few seconds ago, her eyes wide with pleasant surprise. She squealed, and began to jump up and down with enthusiasm. She covered her mouth to muffle the quiet scream.
‘Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my freaking god!’ her mind whirled with many thoughts.
‘He just winked at me! Mickey YooChun just winked at me!’ She dove into her bed, and sighed in pure bliss. With a big smile, she rolled onto her stomach and squealed in her pillow. Lifting her head out of the pillow, she closed her eyes, taking in everything that had happen in the last few hours.
“Yah! BooJae! Where are you?” A voice yelled out.
ChoMin perked up, straining to hear what was going on outside her door. She was curious to whose voice it was. She heard a low thud, and someone laughing.
“Aigo!” a new girlish voice howled, “Yah! Don’t laugh at your Hyung!” the laughter lessened. “What did I trip – whose shoes are these?” The girlish voice questioned.
ChoMin lifted herself off the bed, making it squeak. She hurriedly, but quietly walked to her door, opening it just a smidge, so she could listen better.
“Maybe JaeJoong hyung brought a girl home.” Another new voiced joked. This one was sort of high pitched.
“Yah! I can hear you two from over here!” JaeJoong yelled from where he was. “YunHo-yah, what took you so long?”
‘YunHo!’ ChoMin’s eyes widen in surprise. She opened the door wide enough so she could slip out. She cursed under her breathe, as its hinges squeaked. She wanted to surprise her older cousin, but the stupid door made too much noise. ChoMin managed to squeeze out, and tiptoed around the corner. She kept on walking, and looked to the right where the shoes area was, the big poster to her left.
In addition to her and YooChun’s shoes, there were three new ones. One pair was neatly out of the way, and the remaining shoes were sprawled on the floor. She stealthy tiptoed straight ahead, where JaeJoong went earlier. Ahead of her, the hallway continued, but it branched off to the left, only 3 meters from where she was. She could hear voice coming from the left, so she turned there.
To her left, ChangMin and JunSu sat on the couch, the former reading a book, and the latter watching TV. YooChun was leaning against the counter in the kitchen farther to her right, and JaeJoong was placing the groceries in their proper places. ChoMin didn’t pay attention to them though. Her eyes were set on the man standing near the table, holding a glass of orange liquid in his right hand, and a piece of bread in his mouth.
“YunHo?” ChoMin whispered, taking a few steps towards him.
YunHo’s eyes and mouth grew wide with surprise; the piece of bread falling on the floor. He placed the glass of orange juice on the table to his right.
“ChoMin?” he asked in disbelief, paralyzed from where he stood.
“YunHo oppa!” ChoMin squealed, and raced to him, with a huge smile on her face and her arms stretched out. She pounced on him, like a lioness pouncing to catch her prey. YunHo’s muscular arms engulfed his cousin in a big bear hug, and spun her around. Both cousins had an oh-so similar big toothy smile plastered on their faces. YunHo set her down, his hands placed gently on her shoulders.
“ChoMin-ah! I thought you weren’t coming until tomorrow!” YunHo said, truly surprised.
ChoMin looked at him strangely. She came right on time. Did he forget?
“No, it was today. June 23rd 2006, Friday –”
“Friday?” It was YunHo’s turn to look at her strangely. He swore today was Thursday, not Friday. “But today’s Thursday.”
The other members became more interested in their conversation. JaeJoong finished stashing away the groceries, and leaned over the counter, opposite to YooChun. ChangMin rose from his position on the cushiony couch and headed to the cousins. He pulled up a chair, and sat down. JunSu, not wanting to be the only left out of the conversation, walked over to the table, pulled out a chair, and straddled it.
After taking a good look at ChoMin, JunSu was struck with awe. In his eyes, she looked like a goddess sent from the heavens, with her raven-black wavy hair, flowing like a river behind her. And the way she held herself up; with grace and poise fitting a swan. In truths, she didn’t look anything like that. She was pretty, but she wasn’t a ‘goddess’. It was as if JunSu was struck by Cupid’s invisible arrow of love. He was awakened from his stooper by YunHo.
“It is Thursday today, right?” YunHo asked, noticing the other members crowding around him and ChoMin.
ChangMin checked his watch, which did not only told the time, but the current date as well.
“No,” he replied, “It’s Friday today,” he looked up, and wondered, “Why didn’t you know it was Friday?”
Nobody answered him, for they themselves did not know the reason. Maybe it was due to the fact that they worked night and day that they couldn’t tell the days apart.
“Never mind. It’s not important” YunHo decided, he then focused his attention to his cousin. “Did you eat something, ChoMin ah?”
Not wanting to impose, she said she wasn’t and that she ate before coming to their apartment. That in fact was a lie, but she didn’t want him to go out of his way to prepare something for her. Though when YunHo asked if she wanted something to drink, she did not decline it, and accepted graciously. YunHo directed her to take a sit in the table, and went to the kitchen to prepare the drinks.
The other members crowded around her, and took their seats on the rectangular table; with JunSu to her right and ChangMin next to him. YooChun sat directly in front of her, with JaeJoong on his left, also sitting next o ChangMin. That left the chair to her left empty, reserved for YunHo. While they waited for their drinks, they began to ask ChoMin some questions.
“ChoMin-shi,” JunSu spoke, looking straight at her, “where was it that you lived again?”
“Uh…” ChoMin stuttered, not used to being surrounded by hot guys. “I live in Texas.”
“Is that the place with the cowboys?” inquired ChangMin
“And do you really have to wear those big funny hats?” asked JunSu
“Is it always hot and sandy, and barely rains?”
“Pabo, that’s the desert! So, do you have cars or do you ride on horses?”
ChoMin’s mind whirled with the jumble words. The hordes of questions directed towards her were making her dizzy. She understood Korean perfectly well, but the rapidness of which ChangMin and JunSu spoke left her in the dust. It was hard to keep up. A timid “umm…no?” was all she could say, before the onslaught of questions continued. Sweat trickled down her face, and she could feel the heat of her body rising. She looked at the guys situated in front of her, wondering if she was the only one uneasy.
“Yah,” JaeJoong called out with a hint of aloofness; he had noticed how uncomfortable ChoMin was getting. JunSu and ChangMin immediately stopped their inquisition to listen to what their hyung had to say. “Stop asking her questions, she’s getting uncomfortable.”
ChoMin silently thanked JaeJoong for the interruption, and offered a warm smile in his direction. JaeJoong grinned back, and looked away, finding the walls suddenly more interesting.
“Yeah, don’t get so excited.” YunHo laughed, bringing six glasses of cold Yuja-cha(*) on a silver metal tray. He placed a glass in front of ChoMin, and placed the rest in the middle of the table for the others to get.
YooChun looked closely at JaeJoong. He was acting a bit different today, being all detached and intimidating, and he didn’t even talked as much. It was true when he said that JaeJoong was one of the most talkative of the members, when he was being interviewed for the ‘Talk to You’ program. To YooChun, JaeJoong was acting like he did back when they all first met.
‘Is it because of ChoMin-ah?’ YooChun wondered, shifting his gaze to the fidgety girl.
When YunHo came with the tea, ChoMin sighed in relief. She loved that the members of DBSK were giving her attention, but the pressure to talk was getting to her. She could understand what they were saying, but she sometimes had trouble translating. She supposed it was because she ‘thought’ in English. Besides, she didn’t even know how to act towards them. She worried they might find her weird, or worse yet, annoying. All ChoMin wanted was for them to like her, even if it means toning down her personality. She didn’t want to scare them off, or else it would ruin her plan.
She took a sip of the sweet tea. Instantly, her brown eyes grew wide in delight. The sweetness was intoxicating, it excited her tastes buds. It was so good that she gulp it down, not even taking a breath of air until the last drop ran down her throat. She placed the now empty glass in front of her, and sighed in the content.
The members looked at each other, the apparent shock and amazement etched on their faces. JaeJoong was the first to crack, and covered his mouth to prevent from laughing. His rich laughter filled the room, lifting up the air of awkwardness. Soon, YunHo followed, and then the rest. ChoMin looked at them strangely.
“What’s so funny?” She asked, wondering why they were laughing.
Recovering from laughing, JunSu said, “The way you drowned your Yuja-cha. You didn’t even breathe!” JunSu started laughing again.
ChoMin eyed the rest of the glasses on the table, except for hers, all of them were full. She pouted. “I was thirsty…” Soon laughter began to overcome her as well.
“We haven’t laughed like this in a long time.” JaeJoong commented, once the laughter started to die out.
“Yeah,” agreed ChangMin. “We’ve been so busy, haven’t we?” The other four agreed in unison.
“Hey ChoMin-sshi?” ChangMin asked with a mischievous smile.
“Muh?”
“Are there any stories about you and YunHo hyung?”
ChoMin’s smile grew wider with a hint of the same mischievousness. It was always fun to embarrass her oppa, and it was just too easy to do.
“Oh, I have a few.” She teased, leaning back against the chair, her arms crossed.
“Oh! Tell us! Tell us!” The four inquired, leaning in closer, as if they were being told a precious secret. It wasn’t every day that they could tease their ‘Appa’. ChoMin looked over to YunHo, and his expression begged her not to.
“ChoMin-ah! You better keep your mouth shut.” YunHo warned.
ChoMin stuck out her tongue in defiance, and if it was even possible, her smile grew wider.
“Well, there was this incident with some toothpaste…” She baited.
“Yah! If you tell them, I’ll tell them about the whole changing genders thing.” YunHo countered, leaning towards ChoMin.
At first, ChoMin didn’t know what he was talking about. It took her a few moments to think, but then, her eyes grew broad in recollection. YunHo smirked when he looked at the skeptical face of ChoMin when she finally remembered.
“You wouldn’t.” she yelled, uncrossing her arms.
The other four members grew excited and leaned even closer. YunHo just smirked at ChoMin arrogantly.
She couldn’t take his smug expression, and said, “Fine,” she leaned in closer to the other four, as if to tell them a secret.
“When we were younger, YunHo oppa was getting ready for a date; and he wanted to impresses a girl,” she said, a growing smile graced her lips. The other members and even YunHo were curious to where she was getting at. “He wanted to make sure his breath smelled good. I don’t know what in the world he was thinking, but YunHo oppa swallowed half the tube of toothpaste.” When she said this, ChangMin’s eyes grew really big in surprise. The other member’s smile grew bigger, and liked where it was going.
“Oh?!” JaeJoong, YooChun, JunSu, and ChangMin all stared at YunHo in disbelief.
“Borago? Isn’t that dangerous?” he inquired. ChoMin could only nod her head as laughter began to engulf her.
“ChoMin ah! You better not tell them the rest!” YunHo said, trying his best to sound threatening, but failed miserably, for he was laughing as well.
“There’s more?” YooChun smiled, putting his arm around YunHo’s shoulder. “Come on hyung! It can’t be that bad.”
“ChoMin-sshi, so what did YunHo do after he swallowed the toothpaste?” JaeJoong asked curiously.
Being too into the moment, ChoMin didn’t spazz out when the hottest man in Korea spoke to her. She would normally blush and maybe even faint, but she was too preoccupied laughing.
“I was waiting for him outside the bathroom, and when he came out, he was as white as a ghost. And when I asked him why, he said,” She paused for a dramatic effect. The five member boy band listened intently to what she was about to say. ChoMin took a deep breath, and tried her best to imitate an 11 year old YunHo. “
‘ChoMin-ah…” She said in a serous tone.
“… I think I’m gonna die.’ ”
All the four members, except their leader, burst out laughing at ChoMin’s horrible impersonation. JunSu laughed the most. He had to lean on ChangMin, who was laughing almost as hard as he, for support. JaeJoong also laughed, even though the butt of the joke was his YunHo; ChoMin’s expression and imitation was just priceless. YooChun patted YunHo on the shoulder while shaking his head in laughter.
“Hyung, I didn’t know you sounded like that when you were 11.” He said in between laughter.
“Yah!” YunHo exclaimed, but he couldn’t help smiling. “Jung ChoMin-ah! That’s a horrible impersonation!” His chair mad a shrill sound as YunHo stood up to give ChoMin a nuggie. “I didn’t sound like that!”
But before his knuckles could reach her head, ChoMin was able to fight them off and said,
“He was so afraid of dieing, that he didn’t brush his teeth for 3 weeks!”
The howling laughter from the rest of the guys were enough to enable YunHo to get pass ChoMin’s hands, and give her a hard nuggie. Well, not that hard – after all, she was his baby cousin.
“Aigo! Aigo!” ChoMin tried to save herself from YunHo’s really hard nuggies.
“Aish!” YunHo sighed, as he turned to his band mates. “You wanna know something funny about ChoMin-ah?”
The others happily nodded their head in anticipation. JaeJoong stared at the now blushing ChoMin. He had to admit, these two cousins were really comical. They kind of reminded him of him and his sisters back home. He could even relate to ChoMin and her desire to annoy her older cousin.
“When ChoMin was six –” YunHo began, but ChoMin jumped out of her chair and clamped her well manicured hands over his mouth. Their position was very compromising. She was practically straddling her cousin; her black skirt riding up her thigh, exposing her creamy white skin. The boys couldn’t help but ogle at her newly unconcealed thigh. What could you expect? They were four healthy young men, who hadn’t had any close contact with the opposite sex in only god knows when.
“Oppa!” ChoMin whined. “Don’t tell them!!!” She gave him the best pout she could muster.
ChangMin’s eyes wondered away from ChoMin’s exposed thigh, and shifted his gaze to her face. He was stunned to see a young lady pounce on his hyung like that. He continued to watch as YunHo tried to pry ChoMin’s hand off his mouth, and in response, ChoMin tried harder to keep it there. The others were laughing so much at their struggle. It was pretty amusing, given that it wasn’t everyday that their manly Hyung was being overpowered by a girl.
He had never seen such a girl act like that in Korea. Well, maybe the hardcore fans, but they were just crazy. It was then he began to realize that ChoMin was different from most Korean girls. He supposed it was the way she conducted herself, or they way she moved, or even the way she talked, which he noted was very informal. ChangMin noticed that she acted a bit like YooChun; a little liberal and unchained.
‘It’s probably because she was raised in the States.’ He concluded.
ChoMin detached herself from her cousin, seeing as it was pointless. She knew YunHo was going to get back at her. She just hoped it wasn’t something REALLY embarrassing. She sulkily took her seat none the less.
^____________________^
It was approaching dinner time. Outside Jamsil Hyundai Park Apartments & Suites, the sun rested leisurely on the horizon. Warm orange and pink light slowly replaced the bright yellow rays of the sun.
ChoMin and the rest of the group had hours and hours of laughs. The Dong Bang Boys watched amusingly as the two cousins told countless crazy funny stories about each other. Not wanting to be left out of the fun, they too began telling humorous tales about one another.
The stories included: the time YunHo was caught watching porn by his mom (courtesy of ChoMin), ChangMin crying because JaeJoong stole his first kiss while trying to wake him up (when ChoMin commented that his reaction was cute, ChangMin blushed scarlet, and stared daggers at his snickering hyungs), the time JaeJoong passed out from a coke a cola drinking contest, JunSu’s peculiar incident when a fan followed him into the restroom for an autograph, and that for a while, YooChun had an unhealthy obsession for chicken.
“Oh?” YunHo gasped, noticing the hour hand of the white clock pointing to the six. Everyone’s laughter died down, but the cheerful feeling did not subside. They had just recovered from laughing at JunSu’s very cute ducky butt. “When did it get so late?”
ChoMin inwardly giggled with joy. Here she was, surrounded by the five hottest men in South Korea, sharing intimate stories with them. She was so happy that her worries of being un-liked faded by the minute. She beamed with joy; she was definitely the luckiest girl on the face of the earth.
JaeJoong also noticed the time, and stood up unexpectedly. “I better get dinner started, or else we’re ordering out again tonight. I have something special, just for you, ChoMin-ah.” He said, winking at ChoMin.
ChoMin also stood from her chair. She felt a bit uneasy having someone like JaeJoong cook for her. She had to confess, she wasn’t the best cook, but she could always help cutting up vegetables or something. “If you want, I can help you.” She offered after his retreating form.
The four seated at the table looked at each other furtively. ChoMin cocked her head to side, wondering why the air seemed to suddenly intensify. JaeJoong turned back around, his gorgeous eyes transfixed on ChoMin’s large brown ones; a smile graced his pink lips. The other four watched intently, wondering what their hyung will say to ChoMin.
“It’s ok, ChoMin-sshi, you don’t have to. You should just rest.” Before ChoMin could insist, he whipped around, and busied himself with the preparation of dinner.
ChoMin stared after JaeJoong’s retreating form and sat down slowly, unsure why there was that sudden shift in the air. She turned to JunSu, dumfounded.
“Did I do something wrong?” she asked, noticing how quiet the rest of the members were. JunSu patted ChoMin’s shoulder in sympathy.
“Don’t worry,” He reassured, “Jae hyung is always like that.”
ChoMin raised her eyebrows in question, unsure of what JunSu was talking about.
“De, don’t worry,” ChangMin interjected, “Hyung doesn’t even let us be
IN the kitchen while he’s cooking. He doesn’t like cooking with anybody.”
ChoMin glanced wistfully at JaeJoong from where she sat. He was opening cabinets and taking out ingredients he would need for their dinner. He then proceeded to the stove, and poured the ingredients into a pot of boiling water. ChoMin watched him closely; JaeJoong was engrossed in his task, a look of determination was imprinted into his delicate face. He looked serious as he began to stir the steaming pot. She sighed silently.
‘It’d be nice if he let me cook with him… pfft… as if THAT will ever happen.’ She thought sadly.
^___________________^
When JaeJoong announced that dinner was ready, the boys and ChoMin eagerly sat down around the table to eat. JaeJoong made Naengmyeo(*) and to ChoMin’s delight, Patbingsu(*). He was so proud of it; what normally took at least an hour to make, he made it in 45 minutes. He arranged it in a beautiful pattern, the colors matched and placed in a way that looked too pretty to eat. He believed that if it looked pretty, then it would taste good as well. That was why JaeJoong was so irked when YunHo came with a big spoon and mixed it all up, destroying his masterpiece.
“Aish! YunHo-ah! Do you know how hard I tried to put them in that arrangement?” JaeJoong demanded, with his hands placed on his hips, staring disbelievingly at YunHo.
“Aish, what does it matter?” he said, with a look that countered JaeJoong’s. “It’s going to the same place.”
JaeJoong rolled his eyes, but sat down next to him none the less. They passed around the food, and ate quietly at first. The serenity of the table was only for a moment, and by the end of the meal, everyone was laughing and enjoying themselves.
ChoMin looked around the table. JunSu and ChangMin were teasing each other merciless. YunHo, YooChun, and JaeJoong watched, finding their teasing funny. Her gazed stopped to the pretty boy laughing at JunSu’s and ChangMin’s antics.
‘It’s nice being around them. I feel so at home with them now.’ ChoMin thought. JaeJoong feeling a presence stopped laughing and looked up, catching ChoMin’s eyes. He smiled at her warmly, before his attention was diverted back to the others.
‘I have a feeling this week will be helluvan adventure.’ She thought, as she rejoined the others in their laughter.
Author:Kachimo {aka Asian_Innocence}
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