Wednesday 18 June 2008

Chapter 11: Closing In

It was the morning before the concert on Siloso Beach. I’d hardly slept the night before, and when I woke up that morning, I could’ve been a bit paranoid, but I believe that dark circles were actually forming under my eyes.

“Danae…” I called out to my sister as I knocked on her door.

“What?” came her muffled reply.

“I need to borrow your concealer,” I said.

I stood there tapping my feet impatiently for almost a minute before she finally opened the door. Her long hair was disheveled, and her eyes were practically glued shut.

“Can you please get your own makeup?” she grumbled as she tossed the concealer at me and closed her door.

I put my makeup on in a hurry. Jeong Hoon was picking me and taking me to Sentosa. He’d taken the day off.

“Chunbihae?” he said as I put on my seatbelt.

“Ne!” I said happily, as I put on my sunglasses. “Let’s go!”

I was actually surprised that Jeong Hoon would be so supportive. I thought that he would refuse to have anything to do with me meeting TVXQ, and here he is, driving me to Sentosa where they are.

“What are you going to while I’m meeting my boyfriends?” I teased.

“I could meet up with my girlfriends,” he turned to face me, and gave me a cheeky smile.

“You do that,” I said, and crossed my arms.

I looked straight on at the road ahead, and stayed silent for awhile.

“Ya…” he finally broke the silence.

I pretended not to hear him.

“Ya…” he said and grabbed my hand.

“Mwo?”

“I won’t meet them,” he said.

“Who?”

“My girlfriends,” he said, and squeezed my hand.

I laughed, and smacked his thigh.

“You’re still insisting they exist then?” I said.

“Mind you,” he said. “They do…”

“Araso…” I said.

We got there, and I had to rush to Coastes, near Siloso Beach. They’d sectioned off an area at the bar, since it was still daytime. Reporters would be brought in one by one to interview the different singers who were performing tonight.

I was in such a rush so as to not miss my first interview; I ran face first into some guy’s shoulder.

“Sorry, sorry,” I said quickly, and moved back.

“Kwaen…” he started. “It’s okay,” he said with heavily accented English.

I looked up to see who it was, and nearly fainted from shock.

“Are you okay?” he asked me.

“Yes,” I quickly recovered. “Yes,” I repeated.

“Reporter?” he said, and pointed at my badge.

“Yes,” I said. “Kija.”

“You speak Korean?” he asked

“Very little,” I smiled.

“Okay…” he laughed. “I’m Eru.”

“Yes, I know,” I smiled.

“You know?” he said, in astonishment.

“I should,” I said. “Since I’m here to interview you.”

“Ah, yes… the interview,” he smiled. “Shall we?” he said and gestured towards the entrance of the bar.

“Okay,” I smiled. And we walked in together.

We walked in and the place was overrun with reporters and singers. Some of the singers were already being interviewed. There were some doing video interviews in a much more secluded corner. After the bouncer verified my pass, he let me in and walked towards the coordinator.

“I’m from ‘Hot!’. May I know who I’m interviewing now?” I asked.

“Sierra… you’re interviewing Eru,” she said. “He just arrived.”

She gestured to the corner where he was already seated. There was someone beside him, which I presumed was the translator.

“Thanks,” I said, and went over.

“Annyeong haseyo,” I said when I got to the table.

“Annyeong haseyo,” he stood up and held out his hand.

“I’m Sierra,” I said.

“Ah… I knew I forgot something,” he said. “I forgot to ask for your name earlier.”

“You won’t remember it for long,” I smiled. “You’re going to meet dozens of reporters in the next few hours, and you won’t be able to remember my name by the end of the day.”

“Trust me,” he said. “I would remember.”

He turned to speak to the translator briefly. She nodded and left the table.

“And here I was wondering why you needed a translator,” I said. “You’ve lived and studied in America, haven’t you?”

“Yes,” he smiled. “I suppose the organizers didn’t know.”

“I guess,” I smiled.

“Shall we begin?” he said.

“Sure,” I said.

We spoke for a good 20 minutes before it was time for the next reporter to take over.

“Thank you for your time, Eru-shi,” I said.

“No problem,” he smiled. “I’ll see you around?” he said.

“I’ll be around,” I said.

“Hyung!” a couple of familiar voices called out just as I was leaving the table.

“You guys are late,” Eru said in Korean.

“There was a jam,” a very familiar voice said.

I turned around and there they were, TVXQ.

“Looks like you got the good one before us,” Yoo Chun joked.

“Sierra-shi,” Eru said. “I supposed you know who these guys are,” he said.

“Yes,” I smiled. “Annyeong haseyo,” I said, and gave a little bow.

“Oh! She speaks Korean?” Chang Min exclaimed.

“A little,” Eru said.

“Are you interviewing us?” Jun Su asked, his voice filled with interest.

“Ne,” I replied.

“Now?” Chang Min asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I need to check my schedule,” I said as I looked at the sheet the coordinator had given me.

“Which magazine are you from?” Yun Ho asked.

“Hot!” I said.

“Ah…” they all said together.

“Your table’s this way,” their assistant came up to inform them.

“And I’ll see you in a few hours,” I said, as I gestured to my schedule.

“Great,” Yoo Chun said.

“See you later,” Yun Ho added.

Jae Joong didn’t speak the whole time, but he did smile as they were leaving.

About 2 hours later, I finally came to TVXQ’s table.

“Annyeong haseyo,” I bowed.

“Hey…” Yoo Chun said. “Sit down.”

“How’s everybody?” I asked as I took out my notebook.

“Fine,” the 5 of them chorused.

“Ah, you’re speaking now,” I smiled at Yun Ho & Jae Joong.

“Me?” Yun Ho said.

He’s as adorable as I’d always imagined him to be.

“Jae Joong shi,” I smiled and gestured toward him and Jae Joong.

“They are shy,” Jun Su said.

Their English may be a bit limited, but they definitely didn’t have a problem making small conversations.

“I bet they are,” I said, and I flipped my notebook to the page where I had written down the questions I’d wanted to ask them.

In 20 minutes, it was over. I’d managed to control myself and not drool over TVXQ while getting them to answer my questions.

“Will we see you again, Sierra-shi?” Chang Min asked.

“Probably at the concert. Why?” I replied.

“You’re the only reporter today who seems to know some Korean. We’re feeling a bit left out around here with everyone speaking English and Chinese.”

“But don’t you speak some Chinese?” I asked him.

“We speak very little Chinese,” Jun Su said. “If you know we speak Chinese, you probably know how good we are at it,” he grinned.

“Your English is passable,” I smiled. “I can understand you.”

“Ahem,” the next reporter cleared her throat.

“Shillaehamnida,” I said. “I’ll speak to you again when I have the chance since the next reporter is waiting.”

“Okay,” Yoo Chun said, and they bowed. I bowed back and moved away from their table.

I was at breaking point by the time I ended my interview with Wang Lee Hom, who was the last on my list. I was hyperventilating when I walked out of the bar. I had just met TVXQ, and I wasn’t even allowed to scream. I took a brisk walk towards the beach, and as soon as I neared the surf, I screamed as loud as I could.

“Feel better now?” I heard someone say.

I turned around, and there stood a very good reason for me to scream again.