Sneak Peeks for both Expectations and Bed of Roses.......
If you guys don't like these little sneak peeks, just don't reply. I will get the hint.
Bed of Roses Chapter 12
“Why isn’t SungGyu here yet?” SungYeol asked as he sat on the black leather couch waiting for SungGyu to arrive. SungJong, DongWoo, and Hoya were all crammed on the couch with him. WooHyun and L were going over their vocals.
Hoya just shrugged from beside SungYeol. “He and Hyung Geonam probably stopped to eat dinner without us.”
DongWoo, who was sitting beside Hoya, frowned. “No way, I’m starving.”
“I just want to go home,” SungJong moaned from SungYeol’s other side.
“Well, that isn’t going to be happening for a long while. We will be lucky to get home before midnight,” SungYeol answered. “Remember when we weren’t popular and we never had any activities?”
“May those days never return,” Hoya said quickly. “I’d much rather be busy.”
“I like being busy,” SungJong agreed. “I just want WooHyun and SungGyu to be able to talk.”
“Maybe we could find a way for them to talk privately between our activities,” DongWoo suggested.
“No,” SungYeol immediately told his hyung. “We are talking too much as it is. We have to be careful. Very careful. This doesn’t just affect them, but all of us.”
“But I thought you supported them?” Hoya asked as he turned to give SungYeol a perplexed look.
“I do support them. I support them being smart. There is no reason why they can’t be together if they are smart, but sadly they aren’t all that smart,” SungYeol explained.
“Hey, Leader is smart, and so is WooHyun; they just tend to be stupid sometimes… You know what I mean!” Hoya tried to explain.
DongWoo sat down beside SungJong. “The leader isn’t stupid. He’s smarter than you are, SungYeol.”
“Please!” SungYeol spat. “He actually believes that WooHyun doesn’t love him. We probably have five year old fans that are less clueless than him.”
“It wasn’t that he believed him…he didn’t, but I think his hurt feelings made him doubt the truth,” DongWoo reasoned. “If he hadn’t been so insecure, he’d never have believed him.”
“A fool for love,” SungJong said, trying his best to sound wise.
Hoya rolled his eyes and asked SungJong, “What do you know of love?”
SungJong spitefully lifted up his legs and stuck a brand new pair of pink high-tops in Hoya’s face and told him, “I know I love these shoes! Aren’t they cute?”
Hoya swatted the offending shoes away from his face, and was about to swat SungJong when Manager Geonam walked into the break room.
“Behave,” the manager warned.
The boys immediately straightened up. The absence of SungGyu was immediately noticed. SungYeol couldn’t keep from asking, “Where is SungGyu?”
“I have good news for you,” the manager told them with a big, bright smile.
SungJong asked, “Where is Leader?”
“Don’t you want to know what the good news is?” the manager asked, ignoring both SungYeol and SungJong.
“I do,” DongWoo said with a smile. He was always ready for good news.
“I am glad someone does,” Geonam told them. “You have the rest of the day off.”
“We do?” SungJong squealed as he clapped his hands together.
“We do?” Hoya repeated, completely surprised. “All night, too?”
The manager nodded his head. “Yes, you have no activities scheduled until tomorrow.”
“It’s only five,” DongWoo said in amazement as he looked at his watch. Was it a dream? Were they really getting so much free time?
“You have to stick together though. Decide what you want to do, and if it’s within reason we will be agreeable to it. Try to pick something to do that won’t get you mauled by rabid fans,” the manager told them.
“The amusement park!” DongWoo shouted.
“No!” SungYeol responded. “You will get us killed.”
“We can wear disguises!” Hoya told SungYeol, also excited at the idea of going to an amusement park.
“We could go shopping!” SungJong offered.
The manager just grinned at them. “You all decide. I’m going to go discuss something with the sound engineers.”
“Wait, Hyung.” SungYeol spoke up and asked the manager as he started to leave the room, “Where is SungGyu?”
The manager turned around to face the boys, his face grim. “He has other plans for tonight. He won’t be back until the morning,” Manager Geonam told them. “Whatever you plan, it will have to be without your leader.”
“With who?” WooHyun, who was now standing in the doorway with L, asked the manager. “Who does he have plans with?”
The manager turned back around to face WooHyun. He looked at WooHyun sympathetically, reached out and squeezed his shoulder and told him, “That’s his private business, Kiddo.”
“Private?” WooHyun asked, his eyes growing larger.
The manager just let go of WooHyun’s shoulder and walked out of the room, not saying another word.
“Private!” WooHyun repeated, feeling the panic setting in. “Private!” WooHyun repeated again and hurried to DongWoo, pulling the other man’s phone from his pocket and calling SungGyu.
The other five members just took turns staring at each other as they tried to figure out what was going on in the main vocal’s head.
“Damn! It went straight to voice mail!” WooHyun cursed, handing DongWoo his phone back. He immediately pulled out his own phone and called the leader. “Call me. Please. I know I have been driving you crazy, but please call me.”
“What’s happening,” SungJong whispered.
SungYeol, who had been carefully assessing the situation, answered, “It appears we have the night off, and while we have to stay together, SungGyu gets to do what he wants.”
“Which is totally unfair,” L pouted. “I could go home and eat mom’s home-cooking. Hey, do you guys want to go to my house?”
“No,” Hoya answered.
WooHyun sat down directly on the floor as twelve words repeated in his head.
“I don’t want to go to an amusement park,” SungJong whined. “We aren’t kids…well, I am but you guys aren’t! We should do something more mature…like shopping.”
“Why are you freaking out?” SungYeol asked WooHyun.
WooHyun looked up at SungYeol and said the words that were repeating themselves over and over in his head. “I just stopped by for a little snack, before my smorgasbord tonight.”
Expectations: Adventures in Baby Making, Part 3
Changmin was walking down the corridor of the ship toward his science lab, hoping the events from earlier in the day would not lower his staff’s opinion of him. Changmin inwardly cringed as he remembered the very affectionate Jaejoong bursting into his lab and embracing him. His feelings toward Jaejoong had increased greatly, but such a public show of affection still left him feeling terribly uncomfortable.
Changmin stepped into the lab and was immediately greeted with a warm smile by Ensign Choi. Changmin was about to reply to the young ensign when his entire plane of existence shifted and he was no longer on the Expectations.
He found himself seated among thousands of people in an enormous stadium. Those thousands of people were totally fixated on a stage, where to his great surprise he saw versions of himself and Yunho singing to the highly receptive crowd. Changmin turned around frantically in his chair looking through the crowd of mostly females, who were riveted by the performance going on.
Changmin turned his focus back to the stage and watched as the other version of himself sang along with Yunho, wearing long coats of silvery blue. In the ancient Japanese language of Earth they sang of a tomorrow they hoped would shine on them.
Changmin began to get up from his seat, when a voice in his head stopped him,
“Not wise, unless, you want to be attacked by thousands of women.”
Changmin turned quickly to see a very old man that was now sitting beside him…but no, Changmin corrected his assumption immediately; this was not a man…this was a Joong.
“Can a Joong not be a man?” the voice inside Changmin’s head asked, proving Changmin right instantly. The Joong looked to be at least 150 human years old. He was wearing a long white robe, and had long white hair, wrinkled skin, and crystal blue eyes.
Changmin reached up and touched the necklace around his neck, instantly curious as to why the necklace was not blocking the old Joong’s telepathy. As soon as he had been informed that Jaejoong and Yunho were leaving the ship, he had put it on.
“Having it on will not hinder our conversation.”
“Who are you?”
The old Joong ignored Changmin’s question. His eyes were glued to the stage, and he sang along telepathically with the music, "No matter how windy the day is, No matter how dark the road is I’ll never let your smile fade away.”
“Am I hallucinating?”
“No, this is real.”
“Why have you taken me?”
The old man smiled at Changmin’s question, but continued to stare at the stage. “Although Jaejoong and Yunho have a timeless love, in more realities than not, you are the constant presence in Yunho’s life.”
Changmin looked around the crowd, the crowd that was now waving red lights along to the music. “Are we in another reality?”
“Yes, your parents also visited this reality…it’s a powerful reality. In this reality there was so much love between them…too much love…just too much. It carried the burden of being such a powerful, magnetic love…it inspired and attracted countless souls to it, but in the end it was a tragic love that crumbled under its own immeasurable weight. Such a sad reality…but, so much love…so much love, but it was just too much.”
“Who are you?” Changmin demanded again, not liking the tone the conversation had taken. In his own reality, his parents also faced a tragic ending. “Have you kidnapped me?”
“No; not at all.”
“How can you say that? You have brought me here against my will.”
The old man laughed and shook his head. “You couldn’t be more wrong.”
“I am not wrong; you have taken me against my will. I will be missed immediately.”
The old man continued to shake his head. “You will never be missed, you will be returned in the same instant that you were taken…without your great Expectations ever missing you. You will walk through the doors to your lab and greet one of your precious Chois without any memory of our meeting.”
“One of my precious Chois?” .
“Yes, you have three of them, don’t you?”
“Have them?”
“Well…know them. You know three of them don’t you?”
“I know of many by that name; it is a popular surname.”
The old man laughed, and turned to grin knowingly at Changmin. “True, but the three I am talking about are all related, and they each play important roles in your life.”
Changmin gulped nervously. “What roles do they play in my life?”
“Hmmm…” the old man paused as if he was considering what he would allow Changmin to know. “Well, some serve more than one role, but for arguments sake let’s describe them like this…one would be your friend, one would be your protégée, and one would be your lover.”
Bed of Roses Chapter 12
“Why isn’t SungGyu here yet?” SungYeol asked as he sat on the black leather couch waiting for SungGyu to arrive. SungJong, DongWoo, and Hoya were all crammed on the couch with him. WooHyun and L were going over their vocals.
Hoya just shrugged from beside SungYeol. “He and Hyung Geonam probably stopped to eat dinner without us.”
DongWoo, who was sitting beside Hoya, frowned. “No way, I’m starving.”
“I just want to go home,” SungJong moaned from SungYeol’s other side.
“Well, that isn’t going to be happening for a long while. We will be lucky to get home before midnight,” SungYeol answered. “Remember when we weren’t popular and we never had any activities?”
“May those days never return,” Hoya said quickly. “I’d much rather be busy.”
“I like being busy,” SungJong agreed. “I just want WooHyun and SungGyu to be able to talk.”
“Maybe we could find a way for them to talk privately between our activities,” DongWoo suggested.
“No,” SungYeol immediately told his hyung. “We are talking too much as it is. We have to be careful. Very careful. This doesn’t just affect them, but all of us.”
“But I thought you supported them?” Hoya asked as he turned to give SungYeol a perplexed look.
“I do support them. I support them being smart. There is no reason why they can’t be together if they are smart, but sadly they aren’t all that smart,” SungYeol explained.
“Hey, Leader is smart, and so is WooHyun; they just tend to be stupid sometimes… You know what I mean!” Hoya tried to explain.
DongWoo sat down beside SungJong. “The leader isn’t stupid. He’s smarter than you are, SungYeol.”
“Please!” SungYeol spat. “He actually believes that WooHyun doesn’t love him. We probably have five year old fans that are less clueless than him.”
“It wasn’t that he believed him…he didn’t, but I think his hurt feelings made him doubt the truth,” DongWoo reasoned. “If he hadn’t been so insecure, he’d never have believed him.”
“A fool for love,” SungJong said, trying his best to sound wise.
Hoya rolled his eyes and asked SungJong, “What do you know of love?”
SungJong spitefully lifted up his legs and stuck a brand new pair of pink high-tops in Hoya’s face and told him, “I know I love these shoes! Aren’t they cute?”
Hoya swatted the offending shoes away from his face, and was about to swat SungJong when Manager Geonam walked into the break room.
“Behave,” the manager warned.
The boys immediately straightened up. The absence of SungGyu was immediately noticed. SungYeol couldn’t keep from asking, “Where is SungGyu?”
“I have good news for you,” the manager told them with a big, bright smile.
SungJong asked, “Where is Leader?”
“Don’t you want to know what the good news is?” the manager asked, ignoring both SungYeol and SungJong.
“I do,” DongWoo said with a smile. He was always ready for good news.
“I am glad someone does,” Geonam told them. “You have the rest of the day off.”
“We do?” SungJong squealed as he clapped his hands together.
“We do?” Hoya repeated, completely surprised. “All night, too?”
The manager nodded his head. “Yes, you have no activities scheduled until tomorrow.”
“It’s only five,” DongWoo said in amazement as he looked at his watch. Was it a dream? Were they really getting so much free time?
“You have to stick together though. Decide what you want to do, and if it’s within reason we will be agreeable to it. Try to pick something to do that won’t get you mauled by rabid fans,” the manager told them.
“The amusement park!” DongWoo shouted.
“No!” SungYeol responded. “You will get us killed.”
“We can wear disguises!” Hoya told SungYeol, also excited at the idea of going to an amusement park.
“We could go shopping!” SungJong offered.
The manager just grinned at them. “You all decide. I’m going to go discuss something with the sound engineers.”
“Wait, Hyung.” SungYeol spoke up and asked the manager as he started to leave the room, “Where is SungGyu?”
The manager turned around to face the boys, his face grim. “He has other plans for tonight. He won’t be back until the morning,” Manager Geonam told them. “Whatever you plan, it will have to be without your leader.”
“With who?” WooHyun, who was now standing in the doorway with L, asked the manager. “Who does he have plans with?”
The manager turned back around to face WooHyun. He looked at WooHyun sympathetically, reached out and squeezed his shoulder and told him, “That’s his private business, Kiddo.”
“Private?” WooHyun asked, his eyes growing larger.
The manager just let go of WooHyun’s shoulder and walked out of the room, not saying another word.
“Private!” WooHyun repeated, feeling the panic setting in. “Private!” WooHyun repeated again and hurried to DongWoo, pulling the other man’s phone from his pocket and calling SungGyu.
The other five members just took turns staring at each other as they tried to figure out what was going on in the main vocal’s head.
“Damn! It went straight to voice mail!” WooHyun cursed, handing DongWoo his phone back. He immediately pulled out his own phone and called the leader. “Call me. Please. I know I have been driving you crazy, but please call me.”
“What’s happening,” SungJong whispered.
SungYeol, who had been carefully assessing the situation, answered, “It appears we have the night off, and while we have to stay together, SungGyu gets to do what he wants.”
“Which is totally unfair,” L pouted. “I could go home and eat mom’s home-cooking. Hey, do you guys want to go to my house?”
“No,” Hoya answered.
WooHyun sat down directly on the floor as twelve words repeated in his head.
“I don’t want to go to an amusement park,” SungJong whined. “We aren’t kids…well, I am but you guys aren’t! We should do something more mature…like shopping.”
“Why are you freaking out?” SungYeol asked WooHyun.
WooHyun looked up at SungYeol and said the words that were repeating themselves over and over in his head. “I just stopped by for a little snack, before my smorgasbord tonight.”
Expectations: Adventures in Baby Making, Part 3
Changmin was walking down the corridor of the ship toward his science lab, hoping the events from earlier in the day would not lower his staff’s opinion of him. Changmin inwardly cringed as he remembered the very affectionate Jaejoong bursting into his lab and embracing him. His feelings toward Jaejoong had increased greatly, but such a public show of affection still left him feeling terribly uncomfortable.
Changmin stepped into the lab and was immediately greeted with a warm smile by Ensign Choi. Changmin was about to reply to the young ensign when his entire plane of existence shifted and he was no longer on the Expectations.
He found himself seated among thousands of people in an enormous stadium. Those thousands of people were totally fixated on a stage, where to his great surprise he saw versions of himself and Yunho singing to the highly receptive crowd. Changmin turned around frantically in his chair looking through the crowd of mostly females, who were riveted by the performance going on.
Changmin turned his focus back to the stage and watched as the other version of himself sang along with Yunho, wearing long coats of silvery blue. In the ancient Japanese language of Earth they sang of a tomorrow they hoped would shine on them.
Changmin began to get up from his seat, when a voice in his head stopped him,
“Not wise, unless, you want to be attacked by thousands of women.”
Changmin turned quickly to see a very old man that was now sitting beside him…but no, Changmin corrected his assumption immediately; this was not a man…this was a Joong.
“Can a Joong not be a man?” the voice inside Changmin’s head asked, proving Changmin right instantly. The Joong looked to be at least 150 human years old. He was wearing a long white robe, and had long white hair, wrinkled skin, and crystal blue eyes.
Changmin reached up and touched the necklace around his neck, instantly curious as to why the necklace was not blocking the old Joong’s telepathy. As soon as he had been informed that Jaejoong and Yunho were leaving the ship, he had put it on.
“Having it on will not hinder our conversation.”
“Who are you?”
The old Joong ignored Changmin’s question. His eyes were glued to the stage, and he sang along telepathically with the music, "No matter how windy the day is, No matter how dark the road is I’ll never let your smile fade away.”
“Am I hallucinating?”
“No, this is real.”
“Why have you taken me?”
The old man smiled at Changmin’s question, but continued to stare at the stage. “Although Jaejoong and Yunho have a timeless love, in more realities than not, you are the constant presence in Yunho’s life.”
Changmin looked around the crowd, the crowd that was now waving red lights along to the music. “Are we in another reality?”
“Yes, your parents also visited this reality…it’s a powerful reality. In this reality there was so much love between them…too much love…just too much. It carried the burden of being such a powerful, magnetic love…it inspired and attracted countless souls to it, but in the end it was a tragic love that crumbled under its own immeasurable weight. Such a sad reality…but, so much love…so much love, but it was just too much.”
“Who are you?” Changmin demanded again, not liking the tone the conversation had taken. In his own reality, his parents also faced a tragic ending. “Have you kidnapped me?”
“No; not at all.”
“How can you say that? You have brought me here against my will.”
The old man laughed and shook his head. “You couldn’t be more wrong.”
“I am not wrong; you have taken me against my will. I will be missed immediately.”
The old man continued to shake his head. “You will never be missed, you will be returned in the same instant that you were taken…without your great Expectations ever missing you. You will walk through the doors to your lab and greet one of your precious Chois without any memory of our meeting.”
“One of my precious Chois?” .
“Yes, you have three of them, don’t you?”
“Have them?”
“Well…know them. You know three of them don’t you?”
“I know of many by that name; it is a popular surname.”
The old man laughed, and turned to grin knowingly at Changmin. “True, but the three I am talking about are all related, and they each play important roles in your life.”
Changmin gulped nervously. “What roles do they play in my life?”
“Hmmm…” the old man paused as if he was considering what he would allow Changmin to know. “Well, some serve more than one role, but for arguments sake let’s describe them like this…one would be your friend, one would be your protégée, and one would be your lover.”