YB Fanfic, Ch. 7
Previously:
Chapter 1: Hello I Love You
Chapter 2: My Brave Face
Chapter 3: Temperamental
Chapter 4: Million Dollar Smile
Chapter 5: Heart Messenger
Chapter 6: Somewhere in Between
Disclaimer: The A.N.JELL-verse belongs to the Hong sisters, creators of You're Beautiful.
Author's Notes: Thank you to dawnfarie, jaydk and lilivanilla1 for reviewing!
Chapter Seven - Still (A.N.JELL)
"When is she going to show up?" Tae-kyung griped impatiently. "This wig is making me itch."
"You should have just worn a hat, hyung," Jeremy told him, pointing to his knit cap, which hid his distinctive blond hair.
"Wool makes me itch, too."
The members of A.N.JELL were standing in the arrivals area of the Incheon International Airport, wearing disguises to escape public notice. They were there to greet Go Mi-nyeo, who was returning that day from Africa. Although she was Mi-nam's sister, all the boys were there to welcome her home, having grown close to her during the month or so that she posed as her twin brother to keep him from losing his place in the band.
"She said she's just gone through customs," Mi-nam reported, putting his cell phone in his pocket. "I wish she'd hurry up and get here already."
"Jeremy," Tae-kyung said, "please get those flowers away from me; my eyes are starting to water."
"Tae-kyung hyung, I think I'll get you a plastic bubble to live in for Christmas."
It may have been due to some kind of twin telepathy, but Mi-nam saw her first. A grin broke over his face and he waved wildly at a soberly-garbed figure coming towards them, trundling a wheeled suitcase behind her. Spotting them, the figure began to run.
"Doesn't this feel like the ending of our last video?" Jeremy remarked.
Shin-woo chuckled briefly. "Only this time we know who the girl's going to run to first."
"Of course we do," Mi-nam said with a cocky smirk.
"Sorry, Mi-nam, but her brother doesn't count."
Instead of running to that particular guy, though, Mi-nyeo stopped short. It was Tae-kyung who stumbled forward, wig teetering precariously, thanks to a shove from Mi-nam. The vocalist shot him an uncharacteristically bashful look before throwing dignity to the wind and enveloping Mi-nyeo in a hug. "Welcome home. I've missed you."
"I've missed you, too, hyungnim," she answered, hugging him back.
"I can't believe you're still calling me that," he said, stroking Mi-nyeo's hair, which was past her shoulders now.
Though her face was half-hidden by the curve of Tae-kyung's arm, Shin-woo could see that Mi-nyeo was smiling, happy to finally be back where she belonged. "I've become used to addressing you as a guy."
"I hope you haven't lost your star."
"I'm wearing it right now."
"All right, that's enough; it's my turn." Coming forward, Mi-nam yanked the pair apart and gave his sister a bear hug that lifted her off her feet. "Welcome home, Mi-nyeo."
"Welcome back," Shin-woo echoed.
She smiled at him as her twin put her down again. Shin-woo had had a year to come to terms with the reality that Mi-nyeo was never going to be his girl, but the smile that she gave him was still every bit as sweet as when he had believed it was possible. "Thank you, Shin-woo hyung; thank you, Jeremy," she said when the blond boy offered her the flowers.
"We should probably get going," Tae-kyung reminded everyone then. "We don't want to risk staying here too long and being recognized."
Nodding, Mi-nam took charge of his sister's suitcase and the small group made its way to the parking lot. "I've been following A.N.JELL on the Internet," Mi-nyeo said as they walked. "You've been very busy."
"We had a big concert tour this summer," Mi-nam replied, "but that's over now. There's still the new album to record, and other promotional stuff to do, but it's going to be a bit more relaxed for a while."
"That's good; I was worrying that you might be working too hard. Oh, and I loved your new video!" She smiled fondly at her twin. "You looked so cool, oppa."
"Hey, what about me?" Jeremy whined, bounding alongside her like an overgrown puppy.
"You were very cool, too, Jeremy," Mi-nyeo assured him. "You and Jolie. And you, too, hyungnim," she added when Tae-kyung cleared his throat.
Shin-woo, bringing up the rear, smiled as he watched his bandmates vie for Mi-nyeo's attention. She had been part of A.N.JELL only briefly, but in that short time she had become close to the rest of the band. "It feels as though we're complete again, doesn't it?" he remarked.
Mi-nam grinned at him over his shoulder. "It sure does."
To welcome Mi-nyeo home, Jeremy had organized a party at the A.N.JELL mansion, where she would be staying for a few days before returning to her old teaching job at the convent. He had pored over the details for days but, being Jeremy, still managed to forget some important things.
"Of all the things he could have forgotten, it had to be the beer," Ha-neul observed wryly as she and Shin-woo drove to the 24-hour supermarket on an emergency run. "I thought that's the first thing a guy would buy."
"He thought we still had some back at the house," Shin-woo said in defense of his bandmate.
"I also don't understand why Jeremy and Su-jin couldn't do the grocery shopping," she went on. "It's not as though we're-" She cut herself off. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."
He glanced at her and said nothing. However, instead of forgetting what Ha-neul had said, he began to wonder if she was onto something. Rather than jump at the chance to take his girlfriend grocery shopping, Jeremy had been really eager to push them out the door...
For her part, Ha-neul was glad that she had managed to shut up before mentioning boyfriends and girlfriends. She pounced on the first distraction that appeared. "Hey, you're playing the Doors!"
"Yes, I am," he said. "They're cool, aren't they? I looked up the Doors on the Internet and they were pretty wild for their time."
"They were, but I hope you're just appreciating their artistry and not thinking of copying the crazier things that they did," she cautioned, having read about them, too.
"I like the idea of pushing limits, but within reason," Shin-woo assured her.
"That's good." Reaching out, she skipped the CD to "Hello I Love You."
"Is that your favorite song?" he asked as the distinctive intro came on over the speakers.
"Yeah, it's my all-time favorite. I listen to it a lot, especially before modeling assignments," she admitted. "It gives me confidence."
Shin-woo paused, listening to the lyrics. "Because it helps you imagine everyone looking at you?"
"Oh, my God, no!" Ha-neul said with a mock shudder. "To be honest, that idea still scares me to death.
"It's more like the girl in the song doesn't care that everyone's looking at her," she explained. "I know it's not nice to be a snob, but sometimes you just need to pretend you're strong and untouchable. Like a goddess," she finished, smiling again as she remembered what Nang Eun-hee had said.
"You mean you're not like that?"
"No." She paused and stole a glance at him, but he was busy watching the road. "Do I seem that way?"
"A little bit," he said. "And it's not just now; even back in elementary school, I thought you were like that. It wasn't a bad thing, though," he clarified. "In fact, it was even kind of cool."
"Really?" She bit her lip to hide her smile at the compliment. "That's funny. I used to think the same thing about you back then."
"I hate to disappoint you, but I didn't think I was cool at all." Shin-woo gave a self-deprecating chuckle. "I was pretty shy in those days."
"Me, too," she admitted. "But look at us now - you're a member of Korea's most popular band and I have my picture taken for a living."
"Life has a way of turning around on you sometimes."
"It certainly does."
He glanced at her again, but she was looking out the window. "So... you don't feel the same about me anymore?"
"What?"
"You said you thought I was pretty cool in elementary school," he reminded her. "You don't think I'm cool now?"
It took her several moments to respond. "It was hard to know what to think of you in those days," she said finally. "You barely spoke to anyone."
"So now that I'm talking to you, the mystery is gone?"
"That's not what I meant!" Ha-neul said indignantly, then changed her mind. "No, actually, you could say that. Now that we've interacted with each other a bit more, you're not as mysterious as you once were."
"And not as cool now, either?"
Shin-woo wasn't looking at her, needing to concentrate on driving, but he could sense her groping for an answer. She found it looming on the right side of the road. "Oh! Here we are at the supermarket!" she exclaimed, relief evident in her voice. "Go in through there and find a parking space while I get out that shopping list Jeremy made us."
He grinned at the obvious cop-out. Part of him was touched that she had been aware of his existence back then when hardly anyone else had. Touched... and curious. Not only did she remember him from school, all these years later, but she had also cared enough to try and form an opinion about him. Why?
That part, however, was a small one, he told himself firmly. The rest of him just thought it would be fun to tease her. Ha-neul was funny when she was flustered.
That was close. How did the conversation turn so personal? Ha-neul shook her head as she followed him across the parking lot. We should stick to talking about business, or at least superficial things. What's past is past.
"What did you say?" Shin-woo asked, looking at her over his shoulder.
She blinked, taking a while to realize that she had said part of her thoughts out loud. "N-nothing!" she managed to say. "I was just repeating the things on the shopping list!"
He smiled at her. "That's not 'nothing,'" he teased.
Refusing to lose her nerve in the face of that smile, she drew herself up and gave him a severe look. "We can discuss philosophy later," she declared, striding past him on her way into the supermarket. "Right now, we need to shop."
Ha-neul charged into the building like a housewife on a bargain sale day. "We need beer, ice cream and some snacks," she said briskly. "I should bring back some fruit, too, as my contribution to the party."
"You're acting like there's absolutely no food at the house," Shin-woo chuckled as he strolled in behind her. "Relax. They can survive for a few hours without us."
"But..." She blinked. Did he want to be alone with her on an outing like this? "We can't stay here for too long. If people recognize you, there will be a riot."
"You're kind of hard to miss yourself," he replied, looking her over and giving her a smile that said he clearly liked what he saw.
Ha-neul blushed. It was a good thing she knew that Shin-woo just happened to be a very nice guy; otherwise, she would have thought he was flirting with her. Still, she thought, would it hurt to pretend that he was flirting with her... and to flirt back, just for a little while?
They secured a shopping cart and set out to fill Jeremy's shopping list. "Do you want to ride inside?" he asked with a grin.
"No, thanks; there won't be enough space in there for me and everything we need to buy." She laughed. "And you might not be able to push the cart after a while."
"Hey!" Shin-woo protested, the picture of wounded masculine pride. "I'm stronger than I look."
"Really?" she teased. "Then why was I able to take you down with just one elbow?"
"You took me by surprise then." They found the beer stacked in cartons near the back of the supermarket and he loaded several into the cart. "If you ever try that again, we'll see who takes who down."
Feeling rather reckless, Ha-neul looked him over the way he had her just a while ago. "Maybe I will try it again sometime," she said with a flippant little smile.
She resisted the temptation to duck her head as her moment of recklessness passed, and started pushing the cart towards the freezer section with her head held high. Maybe it was more provocative than she would have initially liked, but at least she had come up with a witty reply for once!
Shin-woo felt almost disappointed when they had found everything on their shopping list and were ready to check out. Of course Ha-neul had to bring up the elbowing incident again, but it had been fun doing things like this, like a normal person, and with her.
Briefly, he wondered how she would react if he asked her out on a real date... and then wondered why he was thinking such things. Despite his best efforts, he had been rejected too many times in the past; he didn't need to be turned down yet again. He believed that he was a nice guy, but he still had his pride.
Still, a little voice inside him said as he stole a look at her, walking beside him, Ha-neul doesn't look like she would say no...
They passed through the bath products section on their way to the checkout counter, where an advertisement caught Shin-woo's eye. "Ha-neul!" he exclaimed. "It's you!"
"What?" She looked around until she saw the facial wash ad to which he was pointing. "Oh, that. Yes, it was one of the first modeling jobs I ever had. I'm surprised they're still using it now, though."
"Maybe the company decided to keep it because you're more famous now." He pulled out his cell phone and told her, "Stand next to it. I want to take your picture."
Ha-neul looked embarrassed. "You want to take a picture of me with myself?"
"Sure! It'll be like your ad came to life. Please?"
He seldom used his "winning" smile because he rarely had to work to persuade anyone to do anything, but it looked like it still worked, because her eyes narrowed and she stomped over to stand next to her advertisement. "Fine," she said, then arched an eyebrow. "But you know, I hardly ever have my picture taken for free. In exchange, you have to do me one little favor."
Shin-woo eyed her suspiciously. "Is it going to hurt?"
"No," she promised, and smiled. "You won't have to spend any money, either. And I'll even let you do it when we're alone. Do we have a deal?"
He smiled, too. He still had no idea what she wanted from him, but it sounded harmless enough. "OK, we have a deal."
He snapped a couple of pictures of Ha-neul holding a tube of facial wash and copying the pose in the advertisement. When he had one that was satisfactory, he put his phone back in his pocket. "Your hair is different," he observed.
"What?... Oh, yes, it is." She ran a hand through it self-consciously. "Su-jin convinced me to have it cut after we finished making the music video."
"Really? I hadn't noticed it before."
"I understand it takes a while for boys to notice things like this."
"Ha ha." He reached over to nudge a lock of hair out of her eyes. "It looks really nice."
"Thank you," Ha-neul said shyly. "Um... we should probably finish paying for all of this stuff before the ice cream melts."
They paid for their purchases and loaded the bags into the car. Shin-woo waited until they were on their way back to the house before bringing up the second part of their deal. "So, what's this favor you wanted?"
"I want you to answer one question."
He smiled. That sounded easy. "All right, what is it?"
"What's the real story behind that 'legend' of yours that Jeremy mentioned some time ago?"
Shin-woo hesitated. OK, it wasn't going to be as easy as he thought.
"We had a deal," Ha-neul reminded him. "And I promise, I won't tell anyone. Did you really take down 17 gangsters at once, all by yourself?"
"I suppose you could say that," he said evasively, hoping that would be a good enough answer.
Of course, it wasn't. "Well, what happened?" she persisted.
"Didn't you say I had to answer only one question?"
"You didn't answer the one I asked." She folded her arms. "We had a deal, Shin-woo, and if I remember right, you're the type who always keeps his word."
He was, and it got him into trouble sometimes. Like now. Shin-woo sighed heavily. "Do you remember Han Suk-chul, from our old school?" he asked after several moments.
Ha-neul rounded on him, her eyes wide. Suk-chul had been one of the biggest and meanest kids in their class. "You beat him up?"
"Not exactly," he admitted, his cheeks beginning to grow warm. "During our last year in middle school, he and his gang were hanging out near the main stairwell." He cleared his throat. "I... I didn't know that when someone dared me to slide down the banister."
She gasped. "Did you hit them when you went down the banister?"
"In bowling terms, it was a perfect strike." He shook his head at the memory. "When I saw who I'd hit, I ran out of there as fast as I could. I don't think Suk-chul ever found out that it was me."
Ha-neul fell silent. When he glanced at her, he saw that her shoulders were shaking with suppressed laughter. "You said you wouldn't laugh," Shin-woo said, his face red.
A laugh finally bubbled out of her. "No," she said, "I promised I wouldn't tell anyone. I didn't say anything about not laughing."
He had the pleasure of listening to her giggle all the way home, even if it was at his own expense.
Upon their return to the A.N.JELL mansion, Ha-neul discovered that Stylist Wang and Manager Ma had also been invited the party.
The plump little man looked surprised when she walked in the door in Shin-woo's wake, then eyed her suspiciously. "What are you doing here?" he asked her.
"What a thing to say!" Stylist Wang admonished. "And it's not even your house!"
Ha-neul agreed that it was a pretty rude question, but knew she had to be polite to an elder. "I was invited," she replied.
"Jeremy wanted Su-jin to meet Mi-nam's sister," Shin-woo explained to the band's handler. "We thought Ha-neul should come, too, so Mi-nyeo could meet another girl her age."
"You're not here to challenge my boys to another basketball game and injure them again?" Manager Ma asked, narrowing his eyes at Ha-neul.
"Of course she isn't, you idiot!" the stylist snapped, whacking the back of his head. "Take a good look at her - she's dressed to attend a party, not to play basketball! You look great, by the way," she added, smiling at Ha-neul. "Pink is an amazing color on you!"
She smiled back at the older woman. "Thanks. It's nice to see you here. Are you friends with Go Mi-nyeo, too?"
"Uh... yeah!" Stylist Wang nodded enthusiastically.
"They got to know her when she used to visit Mi-nam," Shin-woo told her.
"Before she went to Africa," the manager added.
"Well, that's nice!" Ha-neul said, and laughed. "For a while I thought you two were here to chaperone the party and keep us all out of trouble."
"There is that, too," Stylist Wang joked.
Shin-woo had to balk at that. "Hey, we're good guys! Have we ever gotten into trouble? At least in the past couple of years?" he added when skeptical looks crossed both staffers' faces. "Ha-ha! Come, Ha-neul," he added quickly, "we should probably put these things in the kitchen. We don't want that ice cream to melt."
"Something tells me I should get Su-jin out of here instead," Ha-neul teased as she followed him through the living room. "Who knows what kind of scandal may erupt before the evening is through?"
"There won't be any scandal," he told her. "Coordi-noona and Manager Ma were just exagerrating."
"At least about the past couple of years?"
"I just meant that we hadn't done anything crazy during that time," Shin-woo said, rolling his eyes. "And before that, we were just kids. The worst trouble we ever got into was making a big mess, which we then had to clean up."
"I'm sure that taught you not to get into trouble anymore." She laughed. "Or, at least, not to get caught."
"I'm a genius!" Jeremy gloated to Su-jin later that evening. They were standing together on the mansion's front deck, away from the rest of the party, on the pretense of wanting some private time. (For the sake of propriety, they had a chaperone along, but their chaperone was currently busy gobbling up some doggie treats.) "Did you see the way Ha-neul and Shin-woo hyung looked when they came back from the supermarket?"
"It looked like she was laughing at him for some reason," she pointed out.
"But he didn't mind!"
"Of course he wouldn't mind! Shin-woo is a gentleman, unlike some others I could name," she added pointedly, "who just grab people by the wrist and drag them away like he was a caveman or something."
"We must think of other ways to get them together," Jeremy said, too absorbed in his plotting to pick up on the insult. Jolie, finished with her snack, looked up hopefully, wanting more. "Maybe I should just go ahead and lock them in a closet."
"I don't think there's a closet anywhere in this house that's big enough for the two of them."
"That's OK," he said with an evil grin, shuffling as his dog nuzzled his feet. "The smaller the closet, the better."
"All right, stop right there," Su-jin ordered. "Although I'm supporting this hare-brained scheme of yours because you think our friends like each other, that's going a bit too far. What if people found out? Or what if one of them got hurt accidentally?"
"I guess it would be hard to explain Shin-woo hyung's broken nose if Ha-neul elbows him in the face again," he admitted.
"When did she ever do that?" She rolled her eyes, too annoyed to pay any attention to Jolie, who was nudging her legs. "Anyway, that's not the point. The point is locking them in a closet is a bad idea."
Jeremy brightened as another idea occurred to him. "Maybe we should make something happen on my birthday! It's three weeks away, you know," he added casually.
"Am I supposed to throw you a parade or something?" she asked sarcastically.
"If you want!" The blond boy stroked his chin thoughtfully, grinning and ignoring Jolie's plaintive whine. "I'm going to have a party. There should be lots of opportunities to throw Shin-woo hyung and Ha-neul together. We can get them to dance with each other... or they can do a duet! Does Ha-neul sing? No, wait - let's get them drunk and admit that they like each other! And capture it on video so they can't ever take it back!"
"You haven't heard a single thing I said!" Su-jin poked him in the ribs in frustration, then jumped into Jeremy's arms when Jolie barked and tried to nip at her ankles.
"Jolie!" the dog's master half-scolded, half-laughed. "What's the matter with you?"
"I think she wants to eat me!" Su-jin accused.
"Don't be silly. Jolie knows you're poisonous."
"Very funny. Don't you dare drop me," she warned, clinging to his neck. "If I fall, I'm taking you down with me!"
If Su-jin hadn't been so distracted with Jolie trying to bite her, and Jeremy with making fun of Su-jin, they might have noticed that they were being watched. Fortunately for Ha-neul and Shin-woo, who were standing at the only window looking out into the deck, the pair was too engrossed in bickering.
"I wonder how Jeremy got Jolie to scare Su-jin," Shin-woo remarked, keeping his voice low even though they were out of earshot. "That was a pretty slick move... for Jeremy."
"I hope he's not complaining that she's fat," Ha-neul said, peering at the couple outside and trying to read the blond boy's lips.
"I don't think he's doing that. He's not even staggering." He turned away from the window in time to see Tae-kyung standing across the living room, watching them with mild amusement.
At first, Shin-woo thought that his bandmate was also watching the action on the deck, but then the vocalist pointed to Ha-neul and gave him an approving nod. Shin-woo mustered a casual smile and shook his head, trying to indicate that it wasn't at all what Tae-kyung thought, but the other guy only raised a skeptical eyebrow and exited in silence.
"This is embarrassing," Ha-neul said. Fearful that she had witnessed his exchange with Tae-kyung, Shin-woo turned back to her and was relieved to see that she was still intent on her spying and had been referring to Jeremy and Su-jin. "Why hasn't she come down from there yet?"
"She's probably still scared that Jolie will bite her." The dog was still there, circling the couple, as if inspecting her handiwork. "Or," he suggested, "she just likes having an excuse to have Jeremy hold her."
"And I'm sure he's happy to have a chance to show her how strong he is."
Shin-woo chuckled. "That, too."
She glanced at him, but he was busy watching to see what would happen next. Just then, Stylist Wang strutted down the corridor and, spying the pair at the window, stopped and peered at them curiously. Her jaw dropped when she recognized them and she shot Ha-neul a wide-eyed look that seemed to demand, When did all of this happen?
Blushing, Ha-neul replied with a tiny shake of her head and a discreet point to the window, trying to indicate that the real action was outside, but the older woman didn't seem to understand. Instead, she gave Ha-neul a double thumbs-up and started doing a dance of joy. Stylist Wang was wearing house slippers, so she wasn't making much noise, but Ha-neul frantically signaled for her to get lost, lest Shin-woo realize that they weren't alone and things become really awkward. The older woman gave her an exagerrated wink and danced her way out of sight.
"Is something wrong?" Shin-woo asked, turning away from the window just as Stylist Wang disappeared.
"Um... I...." Ha-neul racked her brain for an answer. "I was just trying to hear what was going on in the kitchen!" she managed to say. "You know, we should probably leave Jeremy and Su-jin alone, and join the others. I wouldn't want Go Mi-nyeo to think we're ignoring her."
"Oh! Yeah, that's a good idea." He smiled. "She's very nice, isn't she?"
It was clear to Ha-neul that Mi-nyeo was Tae-kyung's girlfriend, but she still felt something inside her deflate when Shin-woo smiled and spoke of the other girl in such a warm tone. "Very nice," she agreed, managing a smile of her own. "Come on, let's go."
Unlike her twin, Go Mi-nyeo was shy and exceedingly polite. As if that wasn't bad enough, she was delicately pretty and not too tall for a girl. She was Ha-neul's middle school deportment lesson come to life, and Ha-neul would probably have hated her if Mi-nyeo wasn't so down-to-earth and genuinely interested in her new friends.
"You mentioned something about playing in a basketball game next weekend?" Mi-nyeo asked later that night, when they were all hanging out in the kitchen, having some snacks while cleaning up.
Ha-neul smiled and nodded. Talking about the game should be a good diversion from the sinking feeling in her stomach that wasn't supposed to be there. "One of our former teammates works for a foundation that helps needy children, and she's organizing a fundraising fair with an exhibition game between our team and last year's college basketball champions."
"That sounds like a lot of fun," Mi-nyeo said. "And it's for a great cause."
"That's why practically everyone said yes. That, and we thought it would be great to play together, as a team, again." She exchanged grins with Su-jin. "It's only for fun, but we're training and scrimmaging just like we did before. You should all come."
"Will they have to play?" Manager Ma demanded.
"Don't worry, they won't have to play," Su-jin assured him, then shot the band a mischievous grin. "You'll have to cheer for us, though."
"In that case..." Jeremy wrinkled his nose. "I don't know..."
"Way to support your girlfriend, Jeremy!" Mi-nam laughed.
Su-jin gave the blond boy a kick. "Yeah, oppa," she said pointedly. "I do things for you all the time, and when I ask you to do just one little thing for me-"
"Hey, when have I ever asked you to do anything for me?" Jeremy asked, rubbing his leg.
"Do you want me to list them all down?"
Tae-kyung sighed loudly. "Why don't you just kiss her and get it over with?" he asked. Mi-nyeo giggled as Jeremy and Su-jin subsided, their cheeks red, behind stacks of dirty dishes to be carried to the dishwasher.
"I think what Jeremy means to say," Shin-woo broke in gently, "is that even though we're not touring right now, we are still working, so we might have business appointments on that day. We'll try our best to come, but we can't make any promises, all right?"
Su-jin, still looking annoyed, smacked Jeremy's shoulder on their way back from the dishwasher. "If that was what you meant, you could have said it that way."
"Trying your best is enough for us," Ha-neul said good-naturedly. "We hope you can make it."
Chapter 1: Hello I Love You
Chapter 2: My Brave Face
Chapter 3: Temperamental
Chapter 4: Million Dollar Smile
Chapter 5: Heart Messenger
Chapter 6: Somewhere in Between
Disclaimer: The A.N.JELL-verse belongs to the Hong sisters, creators of You're Beautiful.
Author's Notes: Thank you to dawnfarie, jaydk and lilivanilla1 for reviewing!
Chapter Seven - Still (A.N.JELL)
"When is she going to show up?" Tae-kyung griped impatiently. "This wig is making me itch."
"You should have just worn a hat, hyung," Jeremy told him, pointing to his knit cap, which hid his distinctive blond hair.
"Wool makes me itch, too."
The members of A.N.JELL were standing in the arrivals area of the Incheon International Airport, wearing disguises to escape public notice. They were there to greet Go Mi-nyeo, who was returning that day from Africa. Although she was Mi-nam's sister, all the boys were there to welcome her home, having grown close to her during the month or so that she posed as her twin brother to keep him from losing his place in the band.
"She said she's just gone through customs," Mi-nam reported, putting his cell phone in his pocket. "I wish she'd hurry up and get here already."
"Jeremy," Tae-kyung said, "please get those flowers away from me; my eyes are starting to water."
"Tae-kyung hyung, I think I'll get you a plastic bubble to live in for Christmas."
It may have been due to some kind of twin telepathy, but Mi-nam saw her first. A grin broke over his face and he waved wildly at a soberly-garbed figure coming towards them, trundling a wheeled suitcase behind her. Spotting them, the figure began to run.
"Doesn't this feel like the ending of our last video?" Jeremy remarked.
Shin-woo chuckled briefly. "Only this time we know who the girl's going to run to first."
"Of course we do," Mi-nam said with a cocky smirk.
"Sorry, Mi-nam, but her brother doesn't count."
Instead of running to that particular guy, though, Mi-nyeo stopped short. It was Tae-kyung who stumbled forward, wig teetering precariously, thanks to a shove from Mi-nam. The vocalist shot him an uncharacteristically bashful look before throwing dignity to the wind and enveloping Mi-nyeo in a hug. "Welcome home. I've missed you."
"I've missed you, too, hyungnim," she answered, hugging him back.
"I can't believe you're still calling me that," he said, stroking Mi-nyeo's hair, which was past her shoulders now.
Though her face was half-hidden by the curve of Tae-kyung's arm, Shin-woo could see that Mi-nyeo was smiling, happy to finally be back where she belonged. "I've become used to addressing you as a guy."
"I hope you haven't lost your star."
"I'm wearing it right now."
"All right, that's enough; it's my turn." Coming forward, Mi-nam yanked the pair apart and gave his sister a bear hug that lifted her off her feet. "Welcome home, Mi-nyeo."
"Welcome back," Shin-woo echoed.
She smiled at him as her twin put her down again. Shin-woo had had a year to come to terms with the reality that Mi-nyeo was never going to be his girl, but the smile that she gave him was still every bit as sweet as when he had believed it was possible. "Thank you, Shin-woo hyung; thank you, Jeremy," she said when the blond boy offered her the flowers.
"We should probably get going," Tae-kyung reminded everyone then. "We don't want to risk staying here too long and being recognized."
Nodding, Mi-nam took charge of his sister's suitcase and the small group made its way to the parking lot. "I've been following A.N.JELL on the Internet," Mi-nyeo said as they walked. "You've been very busy."
"We had a big concert tour this summer," Mi-nam replied, "but that's over now. There's still the new album to record, and other promotional stuff to do, but it's going to be a bit more relaxed for a while."
"That's good; I was worrying that you might be working too hard. Oh, and I loved your new video!" She smiled fondly at her twin. "You looked so cool, oppa."
"Hey, what about me?" Jeremy whined, bounding alongside her like an overgrown puppy.
"You were very cool, too, Jeremy," Mi-nyeo assured him. "You and Jolie. And you, too, hyungnim," she added when Tae-kyung cleared his throat.
Shin-woo, bringing up the rear, smiled as he watched his bandmates vie for Mi-nyeo's attention. She had been part of A.N.JELL only briefly, but in that short time she had become close to the rest of the band. "It feels as though we're complete again, doesn't it?" he remarked.
Mi-nam grinned at him over his shoulder. "It sure does."
To welcome Mi-nyeo home, Jeremy had organized a party at the A.N.JELL mansion, where she would be staying for a few days before returning to her old teaching job at the convent. He had pored over the details for days but, being Jeremy, still managed to forget some important things.
"Of all the things he could have forgotten, it had to be the beer," Ha-neul observed wryly as she and Shin-woo drove to the 24-hour supermarket on an emergency run. "I thought that's the first thing a guy would buy."
"He thought we still had some back at the house," Shin-woo said in defense of his bandmate.
"I also don't understand why Jeremy and Su-jin couldn't do the grocery shopping," she went on. "It's not as though we're-" She cut herself off. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."
He glanced at her and said nothing. However, instead of forgetting what Ha-neul had said, he began to wonder if she was onto something. Rather than jump at the chance to take his girlfriend grocery shopping, Jeremy had been really eager to push them out the door...
For her part, Ha-neul was glad that she had managed to shut up before mentioning boyfriends and girlfriends. She pounced on the first distraction that appeared. "Hey, you're playing the Doors!"
"Yes, I am," he said. "They're cool, aren't they? I looked up the Doors on the Internet and they were pretty wild for their time."
"They were, but I hope you're just appreciating their artistry and not thinking of copying the crazier things that they did," she cautioned, having read about them, too.
"I like the idea of pushing limits, but within reason," Shin-woo assured her.
"That's good." Reaching out, she skipped the CD to "Hello I Love You."
"Is that your favorite song?" he asked as the distinctive intro came on over the speakers.
"Yeah, it's my all-time favorite. I listen to it a lot, especially before modeling assignments," she admitted. "It gives me confidence."
Shin-woo paused, listening to the lyrics. "Because it helps you imagine everyone looking at you?"
"Oh, my God, no!" Ha-neul said with a mock shudder. "To be honest, that idea still scares me to death.
"It's more like the girl in the song doesn't care that everyone's looking at her," she explained. "I know it's not nice to be a snob, but sometimes you just need to pretend you're strong and untouchable. Like a goddess," she finished, smiling again as she remembered what Nang Eun-hee had said.
"You mean you're not like that?"
"No." She paused and stole a glance at him, but he was busy watching the road. "Do I seem that way?"
"A little bit," he said. "And it's not just now; even back in elementary school, I thought you were like that. It wasn't a bad thing, though," he clarified. "In fact, it was even kind of cool."
"Really?" She bit her lip to hide her smile at the compliment. "That's funny. I used to think the same thing about you back then."
"I hate to disappoint you, but I didn't think I was cool at all." Shin-woo gave a self-deprecating chuckle. "I was pretty shy in those days."
"Me, too," she admitted. "But look at us now - you're a member of Korea's most popular band and I have my picture taken for a living."
"Life has a way of turning around on you sometimes."
"It certainly does."
He glanced at her again, but she was looking out the window. "So... you don't feel the same about me anymore?"
"What?"
"You said you thought I was pretty cool in elementary school," he reminded her. "You don't think I'm cool now?"
It took her several moments to respond. "It was hard to know what to think of you in those days," she said finally. "You barely spoke to anyone."
"So now that I'm talking to you, the mystery is gone?"
"That's not what I meant!" Ha-neul said indignantly, then changed her mind. "No, actually, you could say that. Now that we've interacted with each other a bit more, you're not as mysterious as you once were."
"And not as cool now, either?"
Shin-woo wasn't looking at her, needing to concentrate on driving, but he could sense her groping for an answer. She found it looming on the right side of the road. "Oh! Here we are at the supermarket!" she exclaimed, relief evident in her voice. "Go in through there and find a parking space while I get out that shopping list Jeremy made us."
He grinned at the obvious cop-out. Part of him was touched that she had been aware of his existence back then when hardly anyone else had. Touched... and curious. Not only did she remember him from school, all these years later, but she had also cared enough to try and form an opinion about him. Why?
That part, however, was a small one, he told himself firmly. The rest of him just thought it would be fun to tease her. Ha-neul was funny when she was flustered.
That was close. How did the conversation turn so personal? Ha-neul shook her head as she followed him across the parking lot. We should stick to talking about business, or at least superficial things. What's past is past.
"What did you say?" Shin-woo asked, looking at her over his shoulder.
She blinked, taking a while to realize that she had said part of her thoughts out loud. "N-nothing!" she managed to say. "I was just repeating the things on the shopping list!"
He smiled at her. "That's not 'nothing,'" he teased.
Refusing to lose her nerve in the face of that smile, she drew herself up and gave him a severe look. "We can discuss philosophy later," she declared, striding past him on her way into the supermarket. "Right now, we need to shop."
Ha-neul charged into the building like a housewife on a bargain sale day. "We need beer, ice cream and some snacks," she said briskly. "I should bring back some fruit, too, as my contribution to the party."
"You're acting like there's absolutely no food at the house," Shin-woo chuckled as he strolled in behind her. "Relax. They can survive for a few hours without us."
"But..." She blinked. Did he want to be alone with her on an outing like this? "We can't stay here for too long. If people recognize you, there will be a riot."
"You're kind of hard to miss yourself," he replied, looking her over and giving her a smile that said he clearly liked what he saw.
Ha-neul blushed. It was a good thing she knew that Shin-woo just happened to be a very nice guy; otherwise, she would have thought he was flirting with her. Still, she thought, would it hurt to pretend that he was flirting with her... and to flirt back, just for a little while?
They secured a shopping cart and set out to fill Jeremy's shopping list. "Do you want to ride inside?" he asked with a grin.
"No, thanks; there won't be enough space in there for me and everything we need to buy." She laughed. "And you might not be able to push the cart after a while."
"Hey!" Shin-woo protested, the picture of wounded masculine pride. "I'm stronger than I look."
"Really?" she teased. "Then why was I able to take you down with just one elbow?"
"You took me by surprise then." They found the beer stacked in cartons near the back of the supermarket and he loaded several into the cart. "If you ever try that again, we'll see who takes who down."
Feeling rather reckless, Ha-neul looked him over the way he had her just a while ago. "Maybe I will try it again sometime," she said with a flippant little smile.
She resisted the temptation to duck her head as her moment of recklessness passed, and started pushing the cart towards the freezer section with her head held high. Maybe it was more provocative than she would have initially liked, but at least she had come up with a witty reply for once!
Shin-woo felt almost disappointed when they had found everything on their shopping list and were ready to check out. Of course Ha-neul had to bring up the elbowing incident again, but it had been fun doing things like this, like a normal person, and with her.
Briefly, he wondered how she would react if he asked her out on a real date... and then wondered why he was thinking such things. Despite his best efforts, he had been rejected too many times in the past; he didn't need to be turned down yet again. He believed that he was a nice guy, but he still had his pride.
Still, a little voice inside him said as he stole a look at her, walking beside him, Ha-neul doesn't look like she would say no...
They passed through the bath products section on their way to the checkout counter, where an advertisement caught Shin-woo's eye. "Ha-neul!" he exclaimed. "It's you!"
"What?" She looked around until she saw the facial wash ad to which he was pointing. "Oh, that. Yes, it was one of the first modeling jobs I ever had. I'm surprised they're still using it now, though."
"Maybe the company decided to keep it because you're more famous now." He pulled out his cell phone and told her, "Stand next to it. I want to take your picture."
Ha-neul looked embarrassed. "You want to take a picture of me with myself?"
"Sure! It'll be like your ad came to life. Please?"
He seldom used his "winning" smile because he rarely had to work to persuade anyone to do anything, but it looked like it still worked, because her eyes narrowed and she stomped over to stand next to her advertisement. "Fine," she said, then arched an eyebrow. "But you know, I hardly ever have my picture taken for free. In exchange, you have to do me one little favor."
Shin-woo eyed her suspiciously. "Is it going to hurt?"
"No," she promised, and smiled. "You won't have to spend any money, either. And I'll even let you do it when we're alone. Do we have a deal?"
He smiled, too. He still had no idea what she wanted from him, but it sounded harmless enough. "OK, we have a deal."
He snapped a couple of pictures of Ha-neul holding a tube of facial wash and copying the pose in the advertisement. When he had one that was satisfactory, he put his phone back in his pocket. "Your hair is different," he observed.
"What?... Oh, yes, it is." She ran a hand through it self-consciously. "Su-jin convinced me to have it cut after we finished making the music video."
"Really? I hadn't noticed it before."
"I understand it takes a while for boys to notice things like this."
"Ha ha." He reached over to nudge a lock of hair out of her eyes. "It looks really nice."
"Thank you," Ha-neul said shyly. "Um... we should probably finish paying for all of this stuff before the ice cream melts."
They paid for their purchases and loaded the bags into the car. Shin-woo waited until they were on their way back to the house before bringing up the second part of their deal. "So, what's this favor you wanted?"
"I want you to answer one question."
He smiled. That sounded easy. "All right, what is it?"
"What's the real story behind that 'legend' of yours that Jeremy mentioned some time ago?"
Shin-woo hesitated. OK, it wasn't going to be as easy as he thought.
"We had a deal," Ha-neul reminded him. "And I promise, I won't tell anyone. Did you really take down 17 gangsters at once, all by yourself?"
"I suppose you could say that," he said evasively, hoping that would be a good enough answer.
Of course, it wasn't. "Well, what happened?" she persisted.
"Didn't you say I had to answer only one question?"
"You didn't answer the one I asked." She folded her arms. "We had a deal, Shin-woo, and if I remember right, you're the type who always keeps his word."
He was, and it got him into trouble sometimes. Like now. Shin-woo sighed heavily. "Do you remember Han Suk-chul, from our old school?" he asked after several moments.
Ha-neul rounded on him, her eyes wide. Suk-chul had been one of the biggest and meanest kids in their class. "You beat him up?"
"Not exactly," he admitted, his cheeks beginning to grow warm. "During our last year in middle school, he and his gang were hanging out near the main stairwell." He cleared his throat. "I... I didn't know that when someone dared me to slide down the banister."
She gasped. "Did you hit them when you went down the banister?"
"In bowling terms, it was a perfect strike." He shook his head at the memory. "When I saw who I'd hit, I ran out of there as fast as I could. I don't think Suk-chul ever found out that it was me."
Ha-neul fell silent. When he glanced at her, he saw that her shoulders were shaking with suppressed laughter. "You said you wouldn't laugh," Shin-woo said, his face red.
A laugh finally bubbled out of her. "No," she said, "I promised I wouldn't tell anyone. I didn't say anything about not laughing."
He had the pleasure of listening to her giggle all the way home, even if it was at his own expense.
Upon their return to the A.N.JELL mansion, Ha-neul discovered that Stylist Wang and Manager Ma had also been invited the party.
The plump little man looked surprised when she walked in the door in Shin-woo's wake, then eyed her suspiciously. "What are you doing here?" he asked her.
"What a thing to say!" Stylist Wang admonished. "And it's not even your house!"
Ha-neul agreed that it was a pretty rude question, but knew she had to be polite to an elder. "I was invited," she replied.
"Jeremy wanted Su-jin to meet Mi-nam's sister," Shin-woo explained to the band's handler. "We thought Ha-neul should come, too, so Mi-nyeo could meet another girl her age."
"You're not here to challenge my boys to another basketball game and injure them again?" Manager Ma asked, narrowing his eyes at Ha-neul.
"Of course she isn't, you idiot!" the stylist snapped, whacking the back of his head. "Take a good look at her - she's dressed to attend a party, not to play basketball! You look great, by the way," she added, smiling at Ha-neul. "Pink is an amazing color on you!"
She smiled back at the older woman. "Thanks. It's nice to see you here. Are you friends with Go Mi-nyeo, too?"
"Uh... yeah!" Stylist Wang nodded enthusiastically.
"They got to know her when she used to visit Mi-nam," Shin-woo told her.
"Before she went to Africa," the manager added.
"Well, that's nice!" Ha-neul said, and laughed. "For a while I thought you two were here to chaperone the party and keep us all out of trouble."
"There is that, too," Stylist Wang joked.
Shin-woo had to balk at that. "Hey, we're good guys! Have we ever gotten into trouble? At least in the past couple of years?" he added when skeptical looks crossed both staffers' faces. "Ha-ha! Come, Ha-neul," he added quickly, "we should probably put these things in the kitchen. We don't want that ice cream to melt."
"Something tells me I should get Su-jin out of here instead," Ha-neul teased as she followed him through the living room. "Who knows what kind of scandal may erupt before the evening is through?"
"There won't be any scandal," he told her. "Coordi-noona and Manager Ma were just exagerrating."
"At least about the past couple of years?"
"I just meant that we hadn't done anything crazy during that time," Shin-woo said, rolling his eyes. "And before that, we were just kids. The worst trouble we ever got into was making a big mess, which we then had to clean up."
"I'm sure that taught you not to get into trouble anymore." She laughed. "Or, at least, not to get caught."
"I'm a genius!" Jeremy gloated to Su-jin later that evening. They were standing together on the mansion's front deck, away from the rest of the party, on the pretense of wanting some private time. (For the sake of propriety, they had a chaperone along, but their chaperone was currently busy gobbling up some doggie treats.) "Did you see the way Ha-neul and Shin-woo hyung looked when they came back from the supermarket?"
"It looked like she was laughing at him for some reason," she pointed out.
"But he didn't mind!"
"Of course he wouldn't mind! Shin-woo is a gentleman, unlike some others I could name," she added pointedly, "who just grab people by the wrist and drag them away like he was a caveman or something."
"We must think of other ways to get them together," Jeremy said, too absorbed in his plotting to pick up on the insult. Jolie, finished with her snack, looked up hopefully, wanting more. "Maybe I should just go ahead and lock them in a closet."
"I don't think there's a closet anywhere in this house that's big enough for the two of them."
"That's OK," he said with an evil grin, shuffling as his dog nuzzled his feet. "The smaller the closet, the better."
"All right, stop right there," Su-jin ordered. "Although I'm supporting this hare-brained scheme of yours because you think our friends like each other, that's going a bit too far. What if people found out? Or what if one of them got hurt accidentally?"
"I guess it would be hard to explain Shin-woo hyung's broken nose if Ha-neul elbows him in the face again," he admitted.
"When did she ever do that?" She rolled her eyes, too annoyed to pay any attention to Jolie, who was nudging her legs. "Anyway, that's not the point. The point is locking them in a closet is a bad idea."
Jeremy brightened as another idea occurred to him. "Maybe we should make something happen on my birthday! It's three weeks away, you know," he added casually.
"Am I supposed to throw you a parade or something?" she asked sarcastically.
"If you want!" The blond boy stroked his chin thoughtfully, grinning and ignoring Jolie's plaintive whine. "I'm going to have a party. There should be lots of opportunities to throw Shin-woo hyung and Ha-neul together. We can get them to dance with each other... or they can do a duet! Does Ha-neul sing? No, wait - let's get them drunk and admit that they like each other! And capture it on video so they can't ever take it back!"
"You haven't heard a single thing I said!" Su-jin poked him in the ribs in frustration, then jumped into Jeremy's arms when Jolie barked and tried to nip at her ankles.
"Jolie!" the dog's master half-scolded, half-laughed. "What's the matter with you?"
"I think she wants to eat me!" Su-jin accused.
"Don't be silly. Jolie knows you're poisonous."
"Very funny. Don't you dare drop me," she warned, clinging to his neck. "If I fall, I'm taking you down with me!"
If Su-jin hadn't been so distracted with Jolie trying to bite her, and Jeremy with making fun of Su-jin, they might have noticed that they were being watched. Fortunately for Ha-neul and Shin-woo, who were standing at the only window looking out into the deck, the pair was too engrossed in bickering.
"I wonder how Jeremy got Jolie to scare Su-jin," Shin-woo remarked, keeping his voice low even though they were out of earshot. "That was a pretty slick move... for Jeremy."
"I hope he's not complaining that she's fat," Ha-neul said, peering at the couple outside and trying to read the blond boy's lips.
"I don't think he's doing that. He's not even staggering." He turned away from the window in time to see Tae-kyung standing across the living room, watching them with mild amusement.
At first, Shin-woo thought that his bandmate was also watching the action on the deck, but then the vocalist pointed to Ha-neul and gave him an approving nod. Shin-woo mustered a casual smile and shook his head, trying to indicate that it wasn't at all what Tae-kyung thought, but the other guy only raised a skeptical eyebrow and exited in silence.
"This is embarrassing," Ha-neul said. Fearful that she had witnessed his exchange with Tae-kyung, Shin-woo turned back to her and was relieved to see that she was still intent on her spying and had been referring to Jeremy and Su-jin. "Why hasn't she come down from there yet?"
"She's probably still scared that Jolie will bite her." The dog was still there, circling the couple, as if inspecting her handiwork. "Or," he suggested, "she just likes having an excuse to have Jeremy hold her."
"And I'm sure he's happy to have a chance to show her how strong he is."
Shin-woo chuckled. "That, too."
She glanced at him, but he was busy watching to see what would happen next. Just then, Stylist Wang strutted down the corridor and, spying the pair at the window, stopped and peered at them curiously. Her jaw dropped when she recognized them and she shot Ha-neul a wide-eyed look that seemed to demand, When did all of this happen?
Blushing, Ha-neul replied with a tiny shake of her head and a discreet point to the window, trying to indicate that the real action was outside, but the older woman didn't seem to understand. Instead, she gave Ha-neul a double thumbs-up and started doing a dance of joy. Stylist Wang was wearing house slippers, so she wasn't making much noise, but Ha-neul frantically signaled for her to get lost, lest Shin-woo realize that they weren't alone and things become really awkward. The older woman gave her an exagerrated wink and danced her way out of sight.
"Is something wrong?" Shin-woo asked, turning away from the window just as Stylist Wang disappeared.
"Um... I...." Ha-neul racked her brain for an answer. "I was just trying to hear what was going on in the kitchen!" she managed to say. "You know, we should probably leave Jeremy and Su-jin alone, and join the others. I wouldn't want Go Mi-nyeo to think we're ignoring her."
"Oh! Yeah, that's a good idea." He smiled. "She's very nice, isn't she?"
It was clear to Ha-neul that Mi-nyeo was Tae-kyung's girlfriend, but she still felt something inside her deflate when Shin-woo smiled and spoke of the other girl in such a warm tone. "Very nice," she agreed, managing a smile of her own. "Come on, let's go."
Unlike her twin, Go Mi-nyeo was shy and exceedingly polite. As if that wasn't bad enough, she was delicately pretty and not too tall for a girl. She was Ha-neul's middle school deportment lesson come to life, and Ha-neul would probably have hated her if Mi-nyeo wasn't so down-to-earth and genuinely interested in her new friends.
"You mentioned something about playing in a basketball game next weekend?" Mi-nyeo asked later that night, when they were all hanging out in the kitchen, having some snacks while cleaning up.
Ha-neul smiled and nodded. Talking about the game should be a good diversion from the sinking feeling in her stomach that wasn't supposed to be there. "One of our former teammates works for a foundation that helps needy children, and she's organizing a fundraising fair with an exhibition game between our team and last year's college basketball champions."
"That sounds like a lot of fun," Mi-nyeo said. "And it's for a great cause."
"That's why practically everyone said yes. That, and we thought it would be great to play together, as a team, again." She exchanged grins with Su-jin. "It's only for fun, but we're training and scrimmaging just like we did before. You should all come."
"Will they have to play?" Manager Ma demanded.
"Don't worry, they won't have to play," Su-jin assured him, then shot the band a mischievous grin. "You'll have to cheer for us, though."
"In that case..." Jeremy wrinkled his nose. "I don't know..."
"Way to support your girlfriend, Jeremy!" Mi-nam laughed.
Su-jin gave the blond boy a kick. "Yeah, oppa," she said pointedly. "I do things for you all the time, and when I ask you to do just one little thing for me-"
"Hey, when have I ever asked you to do anything for me?" Jeremy asked, rubbing his leg.
"Do you want me to list them all down?"
Tae-kyung sighed loudly. "Why don't you just kiss her and get it over with?" he asked. Mi-nyeo giggled as Jeremy and Su-jin subsided, their cheeks red, behind stacks of dirty dishes to be carried to the dishwasher.
"I think what Jeremy means to say," Shin-woo broke in gently, "is that even though we're not touring right now, we are still working, so we might have business appointments on that day. We'll try our best to come, but we can't make any promises, all right?"
Su-jin, still looking annoyed, smacked Jeremy's shoulder on their way back from the dishwasher. "If that was what you meant, you could have said it that way."
"Trying your best is enough for us," Ha-neul said good-naturedly. "We hope you can make it."