Chapter 2 - A Friend or Two
Just as Siyeon-sunbae promised, she woke me up in twenty minutes. I nodded my head groggily as she took a seat beside me.
"Earlier in the morning, before I took a picture of you and Ren snuggling," she ignored my 'so you did take a picture' remark and continued. "Kwangmin agreed to the operation, so long as it doesn't interrupt his shopping this evening. Hyori happened to be awake while you two were sleeping." Why does everything happen when I'm asleep, I thought inwardly.
"Why prolong the surgery when he should have done it earlier?"
She sighed. "Friends are important, especially when you're a famous celebrity. They either fawn over you or use you for popularity, money and the such. So having time with people who don't see you as a celebrity, but as a person is treasured like gold. Spending most of your time with your bandmates can only be fun for so long."
"I understand then, but this is precious time he's wasting, just so you know. I care about his entire well-being and as a friend, I am concerned for his health. Moving away from such matters, I'm going to wake everyone up. You may continue your rounds, I assume." She poked my forehead, just like Hyori but not as powerful.
"Now don't go ordering your seniors around! If you need anything, you know where to find me!" She walked over to the door to leave.
As she was exiting, I called out to her. "Siyeon-sunbae!" She glanced over to me. "True friends never stop smiling or laughing. Just being with them will make you happy, so no matter how much time passes, everyday will be so much fun, your heart will burst!"
She smiled at me. "I'll keep that in mind. Have fun shopping today." After she finally closed the door, I began to wake up Ren and the others. Walking down to the clinic below the hospital, we were picked up by Woohyun and driven to my house. Hyori and I immediately went into my room to freshen up and change our outfits into something my comfortable and easy to slip out of.
We both showered at the same time, since my bathroom had a tub and a shower and the hot water won't be affected. I picked out a trasnparent loose top made specifically for me. The top was entirely gray tencel and for the bottom I wore white denim shorts with frayed edges and a pink button. Along with the clothes, I wore a brown pair of suede, platformed lace-up booties, a couple of bracelets and a pinky ring with a beautiful diamond, given to me courtesy of Woohyun as a sign of friendship.
I saw Hyori wearing a ruched lace tubetop in ivory and a leather skinny belt with a mesh bow buckle. Topping it off, she wore a pair of nude leather platform pumps. I tossed her a necklace from my jewelry box, which she thankfully caught. She pouted, "at least tell me when you're throwing something at me!"
"Reflex practice."
She shook her head and looked down at my heels. "How do you even walk in those six inches? They look painful!"
"You know what they say, 'heels are pleasure in pain'." I winked playfully at her. "Or at least I think. But they're not six inches, they're almost."
She rolled her eyes. She just never learns..
"Let's go downstairs already, everyone's probably waiting." She started tapping her foot impatiently.
"Gotta share our gorgeousness with others, huh?" We hooked our arms onto each other and walked down the steps, feeling like prom. I saw the look in the guys' eyes and they literally had excitement and awe in them. Their surprised and happy looks was one just like in a wedding photo, where the groom finally sees the bride walking down the aisle in her beautiful white dress.
Stunning was probably the only thought that had registered in their minds.
"May we have the honor of walking you two beautiful ladies to the car?" We both blushed at Ren's choice of words, and separated our arms to latch onto the men in front of us. They both wore casuals; Ren wearing a black leather jacket over a bright blue shirt, hot pink skinny jeans and even fiercer colored studded gloves and high top sneakers. Kwangmin was wearing a plain white t-shirt with black jeans and a pair of converse. We walked down the steps and stopped in front of my driveway, where the garage was.
"We'll have to split up," Hyori pointed out.
I twirled the car keys around my finger as the garage gates opened. "My car is a two-seater so I'll take Ren and Kwangmin will go with Hyori, good?" They all nodded in agreement to my arrangements. I walked over to my Lamborghini Aventador, painted in metallic silver, giving it a sleek and clean look, while my matte orange Miercialgo was parked in the corner beside Hyori's Prius, which was now backing out. Unlocking the doors for us, I saw Ren look confused when it didn't budge. I smiled and walked over to his side. "Need help before you break my car?" He nodded in a miserable way that was too cute not to giggle at. "They're scissor doors, so they open vertical. You have to pull the handle out, then lift up. You don't need much strength since after the first few seconds, it goes up automatically." He nodded and looked surprised when it rose up into the air.
Ren taking a seat next to me, I shut my door and reversed out of my driveway and onto the pavement. The music was the only thing filling the otherwise silent car. "Was this car imported? I don't see any car dealers around selling these types of cars." I nodded my head to his question.
"I went over to Italy for this specific car. I've seen pictures throughout the internet and couldn't resist the good looks and speed. But the downside is that it's high maintenance and expensive to pay for gas by the gallon, so I try not to drive it as much as my other cars. They're just for light cruising around the city or racing when I fly over to Japan and Europe."
"Wow." He was silent for a few seconds, "you're amazing." I stole a glance at his face as he smiled over to me. I felt my face heat up as I shifted into third gear, the transmission being smooth, as always. "You can manage you're expenses and you've been overseas with your own money."
"I'm not anything special, really. To me, you're the amazing one."
"Oh? And how so?" Glancing at the interior mirror, I saw him look at me curiously.
"For one, you have such a smooth voice, you sing with your heart and soul into each and every song and your fan girls love that, and you're so much more beautiful than me that I'm jealous." He looked surprised at the last bit of my rambling. My breath was slightly labored, but hardly noticeable. I pulled in the parking lot and parked my car, which was thankfully not far from the entrance.
Ren and I both walked to the front to wait for the other two when I felt his arms wrap around my waist. What came next surprised me. He lifted me up so high, my head was higher than his.
"Chagiya, you're the most stunning person I've ever laid eyes on. You are a flawless being and you should know that, I love you!" Stunned by his actions, I let out a warm smile. Everywhere on my body was warm and I was literally overwhelmed with good feelings, which were undescribable.
"Yes. I love you too, Ren-oppa." Happy with my reply, he set me down back on the ground. Silence was once again welcomed albeit it was more comfortable. He intertwined our fingers together and I let him.
"I just noticed, chagiya." I looked up to his face and he smiled really big. "You're pretty short for a sixteen year old!" He pat my head, teasingly.
"Hey! Don't mention my height! It may be meager, but it'll be enough to silence whoever questions it!" I crossed my arms and pouted. He chuckled at my antics.
"You're even wearing high heels!" I growled, and he seemed to notice the subtle hint of playfulness. He bent down his face closer to mine, noses almost toughing. "One day, you'll marry me okay, chagiya?" I could only look surprised and nod my head slowly.My head was getting slightly dizzy and I could hear Hyori's distant laugh far away.
We turned our heads simultaneously to the laughing duo.
"I see you two are enjoying yourselves without us," Kwangmin said, smiling.
Hyori then jumped in, saying "you two were about to kiss!" A finger was pointed at my face in accusation.
I blushed and waved my hands in front of my face in defense. "It's not what you think! He was just..." I can't just say he -
Ren broke my thoughts up, quickly stating "I was just proposing to chagiya." I literally wanted to facepalm at his sheer bluntness,but I should have expected that with his straight-foward personality.
The both of them looked shocked at his answer but just shook it off as a rather serious joke from Ren.
Breaking them out of their daze, I led them to the main doors of the mall, where tons of stores lined the walls in a splash of colors and assortments. Everyone was eager to go shopping, or more like Hyori and I while the guys followed closely behind carrying every bag obediently without hesitation. Or so I had planned. It turns out that the guys had fangirls lurking around everywhere and we all ended up running around just to avoid being seen.
Kwangmin luckily spotted a costume store which sold tons of crazy wigs. Since Hyori and I didn't have any fangirls (so we hoped), no disguise was necessary while the other two grabbed whatever they could get their hands on. Ren incidently picked out a wig with unruly, brown hair that came together to make it look like a side sweep, similar to his pre-debut days as just another normal boy. Even if it was fake hair, it suited him so well I couldn't help but raise my hand to stroke his face.
"So pretty." I whispered faintly. Kwangmin was making Hyori struggle to put his hair in a bald cap, having both her hands literally jamming his head inside, completely ignoring the stray hair strands that peeked out from the sides. Ren, being comepletely oblivious to their actions, lowered his face closer to mine, his soft breaths tickling my neck, sending chills down my spine.
"But not as pretty as you." He whispered back, as he grabbed my shoulders to pull me closer, his soft lips capturing mine. It was a warm feeling that made my heart flutter and I couldn't help but love him more. I felt his tongue lick my lip for entrance, which I obliged, and could only let out a gasp as his tongue explored my mouth with so much hunger and lust, as if he was starved of love and was desperately seeking for it. I felt his body slide down one of the empty walls in the back of the store as I rested on his lap, both of our tongues battling for dominance. My body grew hot at all his attention as he used his hands to pull me closer. Instinctively, I started moving my hips on him and I heard a groan from inside my mouth. All this turned me on even more as I pulled my fingers through his hair and let them roam all around his chest.
We both pulled apart for air, only to find that we had attracted a rather embarassed crowd of fangirls. Everyone was blushing or averting their line of vision away from our eyes. Did I just make out with Ren in public?! I spotted Hyori in front of everyone, along with Kwangmin who was holding up a camera.
I looked back at Ren, whose wig had fallen off onto the floor during our little excitement, as he ran his long fingers through his blonde hair, looking just as disheveled and out of breath as I did. I struggled to get up from his lap, the weak feeling in my knees slowly vanishing as the excitement died down, although my heart was still racing. Having overetimated my strength, I just sat back down comfortably.
"I guess we got caught, right chagiya?" I could only bury my face in the crook of his neck. I heard everyone gasp and whisper around us, rumors having been confirmed. Hyori and Kwangmin both tried to shoo people out of the store that weren't shopping, while the shopkeeper was persuading them to buy something or leave. I felt a pair of strong arms lift me up from under my arms and place me back on my feet. I looked back to see a familiar face of NU'EST.
"Oh hey Ren.." He turned to look at me casually. "And may I know who this young lady is?"
"Annyeong-haseyo, Baekho-ah. I am Miyoung and that's Ren-oppa..."
We both glanced at the male sitting down on the floor. "I can see that. Anyway, you two probably burned a lot of... calories during that so how about I take the four of you out to eat?"
Hyori answered for all of us, quickly agreeing as Kwangmin helped Ren off the floor. The five of us walked over to the food court and agreed on a small noodle shop tucked away in the corner. Right when we walked through the doors, immediately all the eyes of the waiters glued themselves onto the males. One of the braver girls walked right over, flipping her (rather unhealthy and nearly dead) hair in a poor attempt to appeal to them as she came over.
"Hello boys." She blinked her eyes, false lashes practically falling off from the cheap glue that was applied. She came closer to Ren, her hand grabbing his as she pushed her chest onto his. "And how may I be of assistance to you men?" Fuck off my man, bitch. Anger filled my body as I thought of all the subtle ways to kill somebody without getting caught.
Ren practically glared at her, colder than any Hyori could give to me. "How about by getting off my chest for starters. I was under the impression that this was a restaraunt but apparently your actions tell me otherwise. Maybe we should leave for another place, as you have blatantly ignored both of our girlfriends' presense and have just focused on us men." She looked shocked at his words.
"And I agree with you too, young man." We all looked at the old man before us. He was smiling, eyes twinkling in happiness and the sides of his face crinkling as he pushed his glasses up from the tip of his nose. His back was slightly hunched from years of gravity pushing down on his spine and his forehead was wide with numerous lines. He was an adorable little man and looked as if a puff of wind could knock him down. At his arrival, the waiter ripped her body away as if he burned and focused her gaze on the ground, like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
He stepped forward to us. "I apologise for my worker's actions. I've been scolding her for her behaviour torwards our more attractive customers, and others as well but to no avail. All my talks and lectures to them have gone from one ear out the other. If anything, I wish to serve you a meal free of costs for repurcussion."
I looked around to the others, everyone agreeing on one thing. That the man in front of us was good-intentioned and we should be forgiving. As if cued, all five of us bowed to the man. I stood up straight as I saw his face grow surprised. Baekho stepped up on everyone's behalf. "We appreciate the offer, but eating a free meal of five just for one person's ignorance is much too generous, even if it did offend some of us. We would just like to have a nice meal in a friendly environment, a spot where the workers don't stare at us like a piece of meat would be preferable."
He nodded his head and lead us to a booth to the side of the restaraunt. There were tall plants placed on the back of the seats that hid our bodies from prying eyes.
"Would this seat do? I have served many celebrities and have hidden booths for such purposes." We nodded as we took in the view after settling the issue with people ogling. The whole floor was nice, cozy but definety not crowded. In the center, there was a cylindrical fish tank where bright coral reefs and fish dwelled. There was a divider straight down the diameter that seperated some of the various fishes from touching. Nodding and taking our seats, he smiled and handed us all menus. "Please take your time." He left the table to go back to greet the other customers. Looking over the menu, the noodles were what caught my eye. They had a lot great specials and the udons were practically calling for me. He came back, holding a piece of paper to write down our orders. "Drinks?"
"I'll have the royal milk tea with green tea boba and a jasmine milk tea with regular boba for my pretty friend over there, please."
Kwangmin ordered a strawberry smoothie, Baekho a taro smoothie and Ren had the same as me.
"Are you ready to order your food yet?"
"Um, you guys can order first. I'm still deciding on whether I want the udon or the ramyun." They nodded their heads as they scanned the menu for their dish.
The old man brightened. "Oh, so you're looking for noodles? We are quite reknowned for our noodles, having many people come back, one of which I think you know. Her name wasHana. Anyways, if you're looking for noodles, then I would recommend the kitsune udon. But since this one is a japanese dish, I'll add in some dango and mochi afterwards." I could feel my face light up.
"Really? I love mochi! Then may I get the kitsune udon?" He nodded his head.
"And for you four?" Kwangmin raised his hand.
"I would like the noodle ddeokbokki. Just put as much spice as you want, I'm a big boy so I can handle all of it!" He smiled at the old man, as he looked over to Hyori.
"I'll have the..." She scanned over the menu again, "champong please." He nodded and turned to Ren expectantly.
"Can you make chagiya's udon noodles a large? I'll just share with her."
"Eh?" I could see everyone turn to him in shock at his boldness.
The old man gave out a hearty laugh. "Sure thing, kiddo!" He rubbed his head, ruffling his hair in the process. "You kids remind me of my children... Lively as ever." He was silent and slowly beginning to frown, as if remembering a bad memory from the past. He shook off the feeling, "anyways, I've got an order of a large kitsune udon noodles for the lovely couple over here, a noodle ddeokbokki for you, big guy, and a spicy champong for the young lady. Anything for you?" Baekho nodded thoughtfully.
"I'll just have a maeuntang. And like Kwangmin, don't mind the amount of spice, as long as it tastes good!" The old man let out another laugh that made me smile.
"As long as it's good, eh? What fish would you like? We have a fish tank where you can select which kind of fish, from salt and fresh water." He motioned for Baekho to walk over, which he did obediently. "You can chose from whichever you like. Popular fish for this dish are red snappers, sea bass, yellow corvina, carp and trout." That's a lot of fish to choose from.
He pointed at one of the elongated fish with a pointed head. It was bluish and gray above with some dark speckling, fading to silver below. The shop keeper nodded his head.
"I see you have a good eye for picking out fish." Baekho clapped his hands together.
"Really? What did I get?" His voice was excited, almost like a childs'. The old man chuckled.
"You got a white sea bass, a really good fish." The both of them walked back over to the table."Okay, I'll have the food done soon, so you kids wait."
After Baekho took his seat, he left to the kitchen and everyone began talking.
"So Miyoung, was it?" I nodded my head at the man who helped me stand. "I'm Baekho, a bandmate of Ren's as you already know, and I was wondering... What were you two doing sitting on each other with a big crowd that made you have no strength to stand whatsoever." My face heated up and I prayed that it wasn't noticeable, when he pointed a finger at me. "Did you perhaps, do something embarassing? Your face is growing red.." Why is he pointing it out even more?!
Kwangmin shoved his cheeks into Baekho's. "She really did get red!" Is everyone oblivious to my feelings on the subbject?! I tried to cover most of my face with my hands. Ren, having enough teasing inflicted on me, decided to step in.
"Okay, okay. Stop teasing my chagiya, her cute faces are only for my eyes and my eyes only." They sighed and sat back down. "What me and chagiya were doing.." Everyone got closer to listen, "is private." I giggled at his cliffhanger answer. They started complaining at how undescriptive his reply was. "An answer is an answer! Not my fault you didn't say to be specific." Breaking my laughter, I smelled a spicy auroma fill the air, but everyone else remained unaware to the wondrous sight. A waiter was coming over, holding a tray full of our bowls of noodles, the steam billowing up into the air and disappearing into seeminly nothingness.
"Okay, I have the..." She placed down the platter on an unoccupied table nearby, "champong." Hyori shouted out here for her to place. "This one's a spicy mauentang." Baekho raised a hand up. Setting the dish down, she continued. "And the noodle ddeokbokki is for?" Kwangmin held up a hand for her. "Enjoy your meal guys!" She smiled and walked away, the platter underneath her arms. Are you fucking kidding me? I stared at her fleeting figure. The lies... The deception woman! I'm hungry..
"Eh, where's our food?" I heard Ren say.
"Right here!" The waiter came back with the old man, pushing a fancy cart with a huge bowl that could probably fit me inside (I'm only five feet!). "I couldn't carry it all in one go so I figured I'd make two trips!" She turned to me and Ren. "I assume this is for the both of you?" We nodded, dumb-founded, yet amazed at the sheer size. How did it even fit through the door?
"Move your arms and fingers or they'll get crushed." Possessing much strength that her appearance didn't show, I saw her bend her knees and lift the bowl from the cart to our table. "Luckily you guys got a spacious table! Otherwise, it would take up the whole thing." She wiped hands off with her black apron hanging around her waist. "Enjoy!"
"When you said a large bowl, I didn't think it would be a large bowl." I looked down at the dish before me. "That's a lot of noodles."
Ren gaped at the bowl. "I agree chagiya..."
"It's a little joke I used to play on my wife whenever we shared a meal together... Anyways, enjoy and call me if you're still hungry!" He left our table, presumably to serve and cook up for other hungry customers.
Ren looked up away from the bowl and wrapped an arm around my neck in a friendly way. "Time to eat some good udon! Thank you for the meal!" Everyone followed and began to dig in. Picking up the pair of chopsticks on the table, I began to eat, however each time I tried to pick up a noodle, it would slip out of the chopstick's grip. "Need help?" Did he notice my horrible chopstick skills? "Say 'ah', chagiya." He held up a chopstick full of noodles in front of my mouth. My face grew hot as I obeyed.
"Ahh.." He put his chopstick inside my mouth as I slurped up the noodles and carefully chewed on them. The moment it touched my taste buds, I wanted to cry out to the heavens at how delicious it was. When he said they made good noodles, that was clearly an understatement on his part.
The rest of us finished up eating so that we wouldn't burden the old man, but not before having dessert. Just like he had promised earlier, he brought out fresh mochi of all flavorings, including the ones filled with adzuki bean paste and ice-cream, and a plate full of various dango, stacking up like small mountains. He also brought out some hot green tea freshly brewed from the pot, pouring the drink inside a beautiful, hand-painted japanese tea set. We invited the man to eat with us, which he declined humbly, saying that he has to watch the other waiters and serve up some food. After leaving, everyone's hand reached out to the three different snacks. I grabbed a stick of mitarashi dango that was generously covered with the sweet soy sauce glaze. Plucking one off and into my mouth, I savoured the taste.
"These are good! What is it?" Baekho looked at it in amazement.
I smiled. "That's a kashiwa mochi. Basically a round shaped mochi filled with anko, which is a red bean paste, and wrapped in an oak leaf. I love all sweets so I know about most desserts, even in different countries!"
Hyori smacked my arm. "Oh, stop gloating you fat pig! Just eat!"
I glared at her lightly. "Says the one who already finished two dango sticks. I barely ate one off my stick!" We both laughed and continued eating.
Finishing up, Baekho paid the man our tab and I pitched in for a hefty tip to the man and the waiter. Walking out the door, the both of them called out to us. I turned around only to be crushed by a pair of boobs. The waiter hugged me tightly and was crying.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. You're too generous! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Please... let.. me... breathe!" She released me from her tight grip and I let in as much air as my lungs could possibly handle.
"This is my granddaughter, Sanghee. Please excuse her for accidently suffocating you..."
"Er, no problem.." I said, scratching the back of my head in a sheepish way. "Oh, but what do we call you?"
"Just call me abeoji!" He smiled. "Now, I wouldn't want to keep you from shopping so have fun and be safe! You can always come back whenever!"
We left the little shop and continued on our merrily way of buying a whole new closet for ourselves!
A/N: I was going to post this on Wednesday but then procastination crawled up from the depths of Hell and grabbed me in a chokehold.. Plus an old friend of mine actually took the time to visit me yesterday, even when she grew super popular at her school. My heart is warmed.. And so, I rushed to finish this chapter up, shoving as much details as I possibly could to make that four-thousand word mark. Although with such difficulty since my family were all bitching, fighting, threatening to kill each other and moving out and all that crazy stuff while I was trying to write. Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed!