Chapter 12: It's A Dream

“Jae Joong-shi,” I said; my voice quivered.

“Annyeong,” he smiled briefly, then turned to face the sea.

“Your band,” I said. “They’re not with you?”

“Ani… they’re having drinks at the bar. I wanted to take a quiet stroll.”

“I see.”

“So do you feel better now?”

“Huh?”

“You were screaming. People usually want to scream when they’re stressed.”

“Haha…” I laughed nervously.

“Something private?” he said.

“Not so,” I replied.

“But you’re not willing to tell me.”

“Anieyo…” I said. “I just…”

“If it’s too embarrassing, you don’t need to tell me.”

He was speaking slowly in Korean, with a smattering of English. It was actually nice of him for making the effort to ensure that I could understand what he was saying.

“Ani… it’s not a big deal,” I said.

“Really? So I’m gonna get to hear the story?”

This was Kim Jae Joong I was talking to. The Hero Jae Joong that every Jae Joong fan had ever drooled about. Here I was, having this odd conversation with him, when any self-respecting fan would’ve gotten an autograph and groped him a little by now.

“Hyung!” I heard a Jun Su call out. You can’t mistake that voice.

Jae Joong turned and waited for Jun Su to amble close enough to speak.

“We’re leaving,” he said. “Come on…” then he noticed me, “Hello Sierra-shi!”

“Hi,” I smiled.

“Ppalli…” he reminded Jae Joong, who waved him off. “Bye Sierra-shi!” he called out and waved as he walked off towards the group that was waiting at the entrance of the bar, some distance away.

“I’ll see you tonight?” Jae Joong said.

“Tonight?”

“There’s a small party at our apartment. We’d like you to come,” he said.

“We?”

“TVXQ and Eru hyung,” he said.

“Am I the only reporter invited?”

“Ne…” he said.

“Really? Why?”

“Cos we like you?” he smiled.

“Ah…” I smiled back.

“I trust it’ll be off the record?”

“Of course,” I smiled.

“Choa. Our assistant will send the address to your room. See you then,” he said, and started walking off.

I often heard of and seen Jae Joong being silly and shooting his mouth off on shows, but never once did he act like that today. Perhaps it was because he was on foreign soil. Then again, it was refreshing to see that he actually had a serious side to him.

I’d been so engrossed with talking to Jae Joong that I hadn’t even noticed that the sun had set.

“Shit…” I muttered to myself as I rush to the restaurant I was meeting Jeong Hoon for dinner.

“Right on time,” Jeong Hoon teased, as soon as I sat down.

“I got caught up…” I explained.

“By TVXQ?” he said, and obviously meant it as a joke.

“Erm… yea…” I replied, and he stared at me.

“You’re joking…” he said.

“Nope,” I said smugly as the waiter laid the napkin on my lap for me.

“How were you caught up by TVXQ?” he asked.

“I was talking to Jae Joong,” I started.

“Jae Joong!” he said, his voice went one pitch higher than the norm.

“He came to me after the interviews and asked me to join them at their private party tonight,” I elaborated as I read the menu.

“You don’t even know them,” he pointed out.

“Erm… I know them, they don’t know me,” I said.

“Your order, madam?” the waiter prompted.

“I’ll have the grilled salmon,” I informed the waiter and he nodded before leaving.

“You know their TV personalities. Not their real personalities,” Jeong Hoon said, continuing the debate.

“Is there a problem with that?”

“You’re going to attend a party at the room of a whole bunch of guys you hardly know,” he attempted to reason.

“I’m sure there are girls there… like the assistants, or even Bada.”

“And if there aren’t?” he asked. “You’re taking me with you.”

“I can’t do that,” I said.

“Wae?”

“They didn’t say I could bring a partner, and I have no way of asking.”

“I don’t think 1 person extra will make a difference,” he argued.

“No… it’s rude.”

“So you’re going to run off to a private party and chuck me at the hotel room for the rest of the night?”

“No… how can you say that? I’ll just pop by, linger, then leave.”

“Hah!” he exclaimed. “You speak as if you’re visiting your relatives or something. This is TVXQ, remember? Your loves… you’re hardly going to spend 15 minutes there and run.”

“You’re being paranoid, Kim Jeong Hoon.”

“No, I’m not,” he said.

Just then, my salmon arrived.

“I’d like to eat now. Can we continue this conversation after I’ve refueled?” I said, as I looked at him expectantly.

He sighed, looked at me, looked at his plate, then back at me, and finally, he just shut up and ate.

15 minutes of silence later, I’d finished eating. Jeong Hoon had finished eating awhile ago and was nursing a glass of wine as he sulked.

“Ya…” I said affectionately as I reached across the table to hold his free hand. “Waegeurae?”

“Waegeurae?!” he exclaimed as he stared at me. “You asked me to shut up and leave you alone, and you’re asking me this?”

“I was in a good mood, and you were nagging and nagging and nagging…” I said.

“That’s because you’re about to do something idiotic,” he said.

“What is so idiotic about going to a party?”

“You don’t know them!” he said in exasperation.

“I’ll get to know them,” I said.

“You know… this is so typical of you,” he said, wiping his mouth with his napkin and throwing it on the table. “I take the day off for you, and end up spending the entire day alone.”

“I won’t be long…”

“Sure… keep telling yourself that,” he said, then he stood up and left the table.

I was shocked speechless by Jeong Hoon’s sudden outburst. I didn’t know what to do, and I couldn’t find my voice to call him back. I can’t imagine why he’d been so unreasonable lately; first with Min Woo, and now with TVXQ.

I went back to the hotel room after dinner. Good thing Jeong Hoon had requested to leave an extra key at the counter for me when he’d checked in earlier. I got up to the room, and I wasn’t surprised to find it empty. He knew I would come to the room to shower, and made sure he wasn’t there when I came back.

I stripped off cardigan and tank top, and walked into the bathroom. I stared at the mirror for a moment. My makeup was almost melting off from the tropical heat, and my hair was a little out of place. I sighed and started removing my makeup. After I was done, I went into the shower.

It was almost 9pm when I’d finished putting on my makeup. I surveyed myself in the mirror. The blue summer dress I wore complemented my fair skin, and I had a pair of white 2-inch high wedges to complement the whole outfit. I wrote Jeong Hoon a short note, picked up my white clutch, and left the room.

By the time I got there, the party was already in full swing. As I had expected, it was a mix of men and women, unlike what Jeong Hoon had imagined. Chang Min opened the door for me, and grinned broadly as I walked in.

“Shoes,” he said, and I was almost fooled into taking off my shoes had I not first looked at his feet.

“Nice try,” I smiled.

“Haha… been trying this the whole night,” he laughed.

“So this is the most happening spot on Sentosa tonight?” I asked as he lead me into the spacious suite.

“Could be,” he shrugged.

“Everyone’s here,” I said.

“Yea…” he said.

“Over here,” Eru waved us over as we neared the group.

“Annyeong,” I greeted as I got near them.

“Sierra-shi,” Yoo Chun said. “Are you sure you’re not Korean?”

“Yoo Chun-shi… stop buttering me up,” I giggled.

“Yea…” Jun Su said. “She’s much better than most of the Korean girls we’ve met around here.”

“I heard that!” Bada said as she walked up to our little group which consisted of Eru, Jun Su, Yoo Chun and Chang Min.

Jun Su and Yoo Chun pretended to be afraid and hid behind me when Bada came.

“You two…” she said as she pointed at the both of them. “You’d bad mouth your countrymen just to score with a foreigner?”

“Ani… we’re just telling the truth,” Yoo Chun said.

“Are you saying I’m no better then?” she asked.

“Nuna… we simply can’t compare you with any girl around here… you are the Princess of the Sea… how can we compare you to any earthling,” Chang Min said.

“Really…” she raised an eyebrow at him.

“The only one comparable to you is the Prince of the Sea,” Jun Su chuckled, and then he and Chang Min high-fived.

“You brats…” she said, pretending to be livid.

I stood there, trying very hard not to laugh at their exchange.

“And who might your lady friend here be?” she asked.

“Sierra-imnida,” I said, and held out my hand.

“Bada-imnida,” she said and shook my hand. “Didn’t you interview me this afternoon?”

“Yes I did,” I said.

“Nice to see you again. I didn’t think anyone from the press would be here tonight.”

“We invited her,” Eru said.

“I see,” she smiled.

“There you are,” someone suddenly said, and grabbed my arm. “I’m borrowing Sierra-shi,” he added as he dragged me off.

I was hauled a good 10 feet away from the group before I realized who it was.

“Jae Joong-shi,” I called out his name. “Where are you taking me?”

“Don’t you feel it’s noisy in here?” he said as he brought me into one of the rooms, and then opened the door to its balcony.

“Ah… chot’a…” he said as he inhaled the sea breeze.

It was 2nd time today, alone with Jae Joong. Why does it seem as if he has some profound interest in me?