A sudden, unwelcome noise dared to destroy Mi Nyeo's sweet dream. 'Mmm… Hyungnim, did you hear that?'
'Whaaat?', Tae Kyung moaned half asleep, as she leapt over him to find out where the thud had come from.
Subtle whimper led her to the steps, where manager Ma was lying helpless. 'Omo! Manager, why are you on the floor? Did you fall down the stairs?', she took in most of his weight, propping him up towards the kitchen.
'Yah, where is my water?',an angry voice cried out from above. 'Did you fall asleep creeping to the kitchen?'
'Take a rest, I'll bring her water.', Mi Nyeo took a bottle from the fridge and scuttled off to the upper floor.
Left alone, the flabbergasted manager leaned his head onto the table and let go of his imagination again. 'What exactly were these two doing on the sofa during the entire night… ', he uttered to himself. 'Was it this way?'
"Go Mi Nyeo, you are already my girlfriend. Hwang Tae Kyung's girlfriend! Do you realize what honor it is?"
"Yeah, hyungnim! I'm utterly flattered you let me be your girlfriend. Thank you!", she bowed in gratefulness.
"You should be!", he pointed at her, clearing his throat. "Therefore, as such, you have some obligations, right?"
The innocent sister blinked in bewilderment, as she stepped back. "W-what kind of obligations, hyungnim?"
"What kind of obligations?", Tae Kyung hissed with wrath. "Lie down and don't dare complain! Otherwise, you are out!", the ravenous vulture pushed his prey down onto the couch in one fell swoop and lunged over her.
'No… no way! No matter how malignant he is, he wouldn't force her to do such a thing. Then… was it this way?'
"Hyungnim, I'm already your girlfriend, right?", Mi Nyeo slithered her hand down his cheek with a lewd gaze.
"Y-yes, I think so…", the leader stuttered perplexed, as he moved three spans away from her on the couch.
"Then, shouldn't we do something that people in love do?", her hand kept traveling along the line of his neck.
Scared and frustrated, Tae Kyung grabbed her wrist and beat her off. "You, lustful woman! Get out of here!"
"Hyungnim, you're such a stump! I'll go and ask Shin Woo hyung or Jeremy then.", she rumpled her piggy nose.
"Aish… ok. Come here!", he finally gave up.
'Aigooo, how can I come up with such ridiculous thoughts? She used to be a nun until a month ago. Forgive me, God!', manager Ma crossed three times. 'However, I should give her that electric machine again, just in case…'
'Manager, are you praying?', Shin Woo taunted him from the opposite seat. 'I didn't know you're religious.'
'And what electric machine were you talking about? You don't plan to kill noona, do you?', Jeremy gasped out.
The daydreamer stumbled along in his chair which fell backward, landing him on the floor. 'You've been here?'
'Of course!', Jeremy took a gulp of his orange juice from the carton. 'How can we sleep with all these screams?'
'I think you should take better care of noona, manager.', Shin Woo recommended. 'In this state women are more irritable and have more needs, so you should try to facilitate her pangs as much as possible. Besides, why don't you take on some course for future parents? I've heard they pursue various programs there, it will be funny…'
'Her pangs? Who cares about my pangs?', he hardly managed to stand upright. 'I'm not good at such things...'
Tae Kyung walked in. 'Are you only good at making children and then leaving the responsibility to the others?'
At a time manager Ma found himself surrounded by three glares. 'Why are you called angels instead of devils?'
A stilted voice spread out from the living room in the direction of the kitchen. President Ahn arose at the door.
'Oh, you're here!', he bloomed with his usual 24-karat smile. 'Good morning! Have you already had breakfast?'
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Meanwhile in Tae Kyung's room coordinator Wang sprang out of bed as if been launched by a plunge board.
'Oh, my goodness! Was that President's voice?', hurry-scurry she popped herself in the clothes from yesterday.
'Yeah, I think it sounded like him... But what is he doing here so early? Ah, maybe he has come to greet you…'
'What? He should find out I am here under no circumstances!', the expectant mother strode around the room nervously. 'Aish, if that fool Hoon Yi messes up something… Mi Nyeo, go downstairs and try to distract them!'
'Me? But onnie, I don't know how to distract them...', she scratched her head.
'Come on, you'll make up something anyhow. You could tell them about Japan – how you spent the week there…'
'A-alright. That's a good idea...'
'Ok, hurry up!', Wang jerked her towards the door. 'I'll go wash myself in the bathroom. Call me when he's left.'
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Whole-hearted as ever, president Ahn did not save any superlatives regarding ANJELL's last night performance.
'Jackpot! I have no words about the concert yesterday. It was spectacular! Hilarious! Apocalyptic! I'm so proud of you, my idols! Especially of Tae Kyung – little have I expected from you to do something like this, boy. The public was screaming your name madly all the time! I bet if the girl you hugged wasn't Mi Nam's sister, the fans would go crazy with jealousy. Jesus, it was like an explosion! Unbelievable miracle! Surprise! Your performance made everyone stand on the nails of their tiptoes up to the end. How did you become such a great actor?'
He let the flow of his emotions deluge the air. So awestruck did he look, as if the concert had just finished up.
Tae Kyung rolled his eyes as he dropped out a lame sigh. 'It wasn't acting. I really love her and she loves me too.'
'What? But I thought she was Shin Woo's girlfriend. Why would he confess that in front of so many celebrities, if it wasn't true? Reporter Kim was going to interview them this Thursday... ', the president frowned confused.
'It's complicated…', Shin Woo hastened to close off the entrance to his painful memories from the recent past.
'Yeah, I'm sure it is… Okay, then let's go out for lunch now and discuss this matter afterwards. I'm starving!'
Hardly had he turned over when someone dashed against him. 'Oh, President Ahn! I'm glad to see you again!'
'Go Mi Nyeo?', he staved off a bit in order to keep a safe distance from the danger. 'I'm… glad to see you too!'
Afraid of the possibility that she would spit out something about the baby in front of the president, manager Ma hurried to take her away. 'Mi Nyeo, let's go and wake your lazy brother up! We are going out for lunch.'
'I don't want Mi Nam to come with us!', president Ahn objected. 'I mean, he'd better have a nice sleep, as he was too energetic on the concert and should take a rest so that to be in condition for the tomorrow photo shoots.'
'Tch, what a discrimination!', Jeremy mumbled to himself. 'As if I was able to take any rest with all that noise…'
Shin Woo threw an allusive gaze at Tae Kyung, who caught Mi Nyeo's hand and took her to his room upstairs.
'Hyungnim, you should go out with president Ahn and the boys to have a talk. I'll stay at home with noona.'
'Yeah… I'm a hundred percent sure he is going to ask about that story you and Shin Woo made up and the sudden event from yesterday, but don't worry, we'll think of some reasonable explanation.', Tae Kyung assured her.
'Omo! The president is highly certain to have no good opinion of me in these circumstances. What should I do?'
'It's my fault! If I weren't so prideful and blind, I would have saved you from the reporters then, not Shin Woo.'
'Hyungnim, don't blame yourself! I am the actual root of this chaos...', she looked up at him with big sad eyes.
'If this chaos did not burst into my life, I could never see the colors of rainbow beyond the established order of my grey monotonous world. Anyways, it's too late now... We have to purify our image as much as possible.'
'Hyungnim, I…', Mi Nyeo couldn't suppress the tears of joy, shining out into her eyes like stars. 'I love you!'
'I'm leaving now. I'll pass by the studio later on, so see you tonight.', he lipped her forehead just as the pregnant woman went out of the bathroom. 'Noona, do you need some special food or vitamins from the supermarket?
'Me? Ah, t-thank you!', she stuttered in disbelief. 'I would like yoghurt and some fresh fruits, no matter what.'
Once he shut the door up behind him, coordinator Wang triggered her all-out question attack towards the poor girl. 'What was that? Was it really Hwang Tae Kyung? I can't believe! Mi Nyeo, what have you done to him?'
'Yeah… Hyungnim has changed a lot.', she let out a dreamy sigh. 'Actually, I think he's always been the same but used to hide this side of his character before. From a little child he's been growing up alone and never let anyone get close to him. That's why he doesn't trust people easily. But he's definitely the greatest person I know!'
'So, I guess you're the only one, managed to open his heart – that's so… unbelievable! I don't know what to say… I've never supposed that the cold leader is so… romantic and… sweet inside. Oh my god, you are so lucky!'
Mi Nyeo escaped into another topic. 'Noona, I'm extremely happy for you! Are you going to get married soon?'
'I don't know yet. It's complicated... Hoon Yi is not the kind of person who makes plans about the future. He always lets himself be dragged by the stream to direction unknown. You know, he's like a child. Sometimes I like the child in him – he makes me laugh and feel good, but he is too immature to be a father. I can't imagine myself marrying a man like him, neither spending my lifetime with anybody else. That's why it's so complicated.'
'So, you think he's not ready to be a father yet?'
'And never will be... The moment I found out I was pregnant, my immediate reaction was to whiz to the hospital and try to get rid of that thing growing inside me. However, the doctor said that it's too risky to make an abortion at my age, so I decided to bear it. When I told Hoon Yi, he looked as if Ahn had just threatened to cut his head, but promised to try his best for me and that child. I'm not quite sure though… He doesn't even care about my needs. Hwang Tae Kyung, who was so uneager to help us yesterday, now shows much more concern than him!'
'Noona, I believe manager Ma will become more responsible and caring once he takes the little creature in his hands. It's normal to feel scared now, as it's his first time becoming a father. He's never been through anything like this before. I can see you're worried too, but for men it's even harder, so try to be more indulgent with him.'
'It's not just that. We can't live here forever. When things spread amongst the media, I don't know what to do…'
'Do you love him?', Mi Nyeo asked innocently.
'Love?', she smirked. 'I don't know. Maybe… but love doesn't solve all the problems. It's not enough and doesn't last forever. There must be something more to hold you together. Someday you'll understand what I mean.'
'I guess... Now let's go to the kitchen to have some breakfast. You should eat a lot so as to have a strong baby!'
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'Wow, this chop is so delicious! Come to daddy!', the president surveyed his dish with unconcealed admiration.
Everyone was quiet, waiting for the storm to run amuck. Tae Kyung was eating his green salad with a portion of eels, getting ready for a counterblow; Shin Woo occasionally sipped out of his tea to avoid people's attention; Manager Ma kept staring at his watch on pins and needles, while Jeremy was somewhere lost in thoughts.
'What's the matter with you, guys?', president Ahn finally broke the awkward silence. 'Tell me about that girl! Is she fed up with Shin Woo already? Tae Kyung, did you actually break up with He Yi because of her?No doubt she's the same flirting type as her brother, so you'd better stay away from her or she is bound to destroy your image! Do you want me to kick her out of the house, if you feel uncomfortable because of your bandmate?'
That was the last water drop in Tae Kyung's glass, which spilled over the cloth as he punched the table furiously.
'Mind your words! She's my future wife!'
