Chapter 4: First Craze

“Sierra-shi… were you late today?” Karyn’s voice grated like nails on a blackboard.

“No, Karyn. I was on time.”

“Good. We wouldn’t want to be late on our first day as an editor.”

“Is there anything else, Karyn? I have a meeting in 10 minutes.”

“Yes, your first huge assignment,” she said as she dumped a thick file in front of me. “It’s an upcoming concert to be held on Sentosa. We expect you to cover it. You’re allowed to bring a partner.”

I flipped through the file and scanned through the artistes invited. Wang Lee Hom, Guang Liang, Wu Yue Tian, Edison Chen, Eru, Bada… and my heart stopped in my chest… TVXQ! I struggled to maintain my composure. “Erm… I’ll be sure to do a good job. Can I go now?”

“Yes,” she said and immediately turned to face her laptop.

I dashed out of her room to my cubicle. I sat down and I started to flip though the file again. Were my eyes deceiving me? Lee Hom, Guang Liang, Wu Yue Tian… I chanted in my mind as I flipped through. And there they were again, right after Bada. TVXQ! I stared at their photo; it was the one on the Version B of their 3rd album, the one where they all looked dangerous and manly. Can I scream? I want to scream with joy! And I did. Immediately, Skye’s head popped up from his cubicle.

“What’s wrong?” he asked with a shocked expression. “Did you get your period or something?”

“No!” I said, apalled. Sometimes Skye could be really crude.

“Then what is it? People are going to think you’re nuts.”

“TVXQ’s coming!!” I squealed in excitement.

“Where? Here? Our office?”

“No, silly. I’m covering the concert they’re gonna perform in.”

“Concert? Can I come? Who else is on the list of performers?”

“Your favourite, Bada,” I said and mischievously added, “I’m allowed a partner, and I’m not bringing you with me.”

“Sierra-yah…” Skye said as he came over to my cubicle. “Please take me with you! Chebal!!” he wailed and he shook my arm.

“We’ll have to see if you behave yourself for the rest of the week,” I winked.

“Aaahhh… Sierra-yah… You’re so evil.”

“What’s going on?” Shoei said he walked over.

“This girl…” Skye started.

“What about me?” I said as I batted my eyelashes.

“What’s with the screaming just now?” Shoei asked.

Just in case I’ve not described the two of them, they’re both tall and have great figures, but I’m not interested. Shoei’s a little darker than Skye since he loved to surf. Shoei reminds me of Hyde from L’arc en Ciel, the Japanese band with a hint of Takeshi Kaneshiro going on. He wears a pair of thick framed glasses to work. He’s serious to the point of being able to have a straight face, a deathly serious face, even when he was obviously cracking a joke. We’d laugh our heads off after he was done and he’d just smile. He had a mysterious smile, so it’s no wonder that he was one of the most revered guys in the office, apart from Lee Min Woo sonbae. Skye? Skye’s like part Won Bin with those eyes of his and the rest of his face fulfills the prerequisites of being a Korean pretty boy; the nose, the bone structure down to the jaw line. However, because he didn’t maintain an air of mystery about him and was almost too approachable, he wasn’t the most popular, but he still had his fair share of fans.

“Her idols are coming to town,” Skye sniffed. “So is Bada…”

“I’m going to cover a concert and TVXQ are performing in it.”

“Your dream come true,” Shoei smiled. Everyone knew about my obsession with TVXQ.

“Can you believe it?” I beamed at Shoei.

“Right, great, calm down… you’re gonna get a stroke,” he laughed.

During lunch, Jeong Hoon called while I was happily eating my pasta.

“What do you want?” I said in a surly tone as soon as I flipped the phone open.

“Sierra-yah,” he drawled sweetly, obviously trying to be cute. “You’re not still upset, are you?”

“That’s an understatement,” I said. “What do you want? I’m in the middle of lunch.”

“Will I see you tonight?” he asked.

“I thought you were busy with your fiancée from Korea,” I replied.

“She’s not my fiancée,” he said. “Stop acting like that.”

“Then who is she?” I half yelled into the phone. Several people in the restaurant started looking at me.

“Pipe down,” Shoei hissed at me and I rolled my eyes at him.

“I’ll tell you everything tonight, I just wanted to know if you had time to meet me tonight,” he said. He was starting to sound a little impatient, but I didn’t care. I was still hurt.

“Whatever,” I said and I flipped my phone shut before he could say anything.

“Can you not do that in public?” Shoei said as soon as I’d hung up on Jeong Hoon.

“Do what?” I said innocently.

“Make a scene,” Shoei said sternly. He was the kind of guy who liked to be inconspicuous and yet he possessed an aura which demanded everyone to look at him. It was truly ironic.

“I’m not making a scene,” I defended myself.

“No, you’re just making noise,” Skye snorted.

“Shuddup, Skye,” I said and made a face at him.

We were back at the office within the hour and bumped into Lee sonbae on our way up. I just keep bumping into him all day.

“Where did you guys go?” Lee sonbae asked.

“This Italian place nearby,” Skye replied.

“The one beside the Vietnamese restaurant about a block away?”

“That’s the one,” Skye smiled.

“I was there yesterday, they served great appetizers,” Lee sonbae said.

“We didn’t really have time for appetizers,” I said.

“Has Karyn been on your cases for having long lunches again?” he asked.

“Nah… we just prefer not to aggravate her,” Shoei replied.

“She’s a capable woman. She just doesn’t know how to be nice, that’s all,” Lee sonbae laughed.

“See ya, Lee sonbae,” Skye said as the elevator doors opened on our floor.

“See ya,” Shoei and I said as we waved at Lee sonbae and walked out.

It was 7pm. There was so much to do today that I’d been glued to my laptop ever since we came back from lunch.

“You’re not leaving yet?” Shoei stood beside my desk. He’d his laptop bag slung over his shoulders, ready to leave.

“In a moment,” I said as I continued to reply a mail.

“Do you want me to wait for you? I’ll walk you to your bus stop,” he offered.

“I’ll be fine. You go on ahead,” I looked up and smiled at him.

“If you say so,” he said and turned to walk off.

“Bye,” I called after him, and he raised an arm in response, without turning back.

I continued to type for another half hour, and my mobile phone rang. It was Jeong Hoon. I scowled at his caller ID before I answered.

“Wae?” I said, grumpily.

“Open up!” he said.

“What?”

“I’m at your door and I’ve been ringing the bell for ages. Are you in the shower?” he asked.

“No, I’m still at work,” I said.

“What?” he yelled and added some expletives.

“Hey! Don’t use that sort of language on me!” I yelled back at him. “You didn’t tell me what time you planned to go to my house and you didn’t bother to call before going to my house either.”

“Are you coming back?” he asked me, and he still sounded pissed.

“I’m leaving in a moment,” I replied.

“I’ll come pick you up,” he said.

“It’s gonna take you like half an hour to get here,” I complained.

“Fine! Get home yourself!” he yelled and hung up on me.

I stared at the phone. What was up with him? Was he going through hormonal changes?

I packed up and left within the next 15 minutes. It was a bit past 9pm by the time I’d gotten my takeaway dinner and reached home. As I walked out the elevator, I saw a figure crouched in front of my apartment’s door.