Crossroads : Chapter 3 - In their minds
Five pairs of eyes stared at her with excitement as Hyomin stepped into their apartment.
"Did you enjoy yourself?" Eunjung stared at her with an evil grin, with a pink bunny hat in her hands.
"Why are you holding that?" Hyomin snatched it away, worried that it might get stained.
"Wow, wow, look at you all protective over something your new seobang gave you!" Soyeon teased. "How cute!"
"I don't know what you're talking about. It was just another recording." She looked away. "I'm exhausted. Please release me or I'll look like a zombie in tomorrow's performance." She begged.
"Okay, okay. You better go wash up. I'll be waiting for you to go to bed!" Jiyeon called out. She shared the same room as Hyomin.
Hyomin grabbed a towel and went off to shower. She finally had some time alone. It'd been a while since she'd soaked in the bathtub. She poured her favourite peach-flavoured bath gel and relaxed herself in the tub. Her mind started to wander as she thought about a lot of things.
Hyomin had always been a sensitive girl. She cared a lot about what other people thought of her. She knew this would make it a lot harder for her, especially now that she was a celebrity. She had to face positive and negative comments everywhere she went. She'd always been afraid to face rejection. But she was always curious to find out what impression others had on her.
Her on-screen one-on-one date with Joon led to her first scandal ever since her debut. And being the target of many jealous fangirls, she was truly traumatised by this experience. She had thousands of comments in her blog in a matter of minutes after that episode aired. Some were positive, but most had been negative. The most unpleasant comment wanted her to die.
She couldn't digest all of that at once at the time because it was a completely new experience for her. She couldn't talk to any male celebrity at all for weeks. She was paranoid that the paparazzi would smell another potential scandal. She couldn't take all the hurt that she had gone through. She didn't want her members to suffer from the aftermath as well. She may have seemed bubbly in variety shows and on stage. She'd also acted like nothing happened in front of her family. But she couldn't hide behind the facade in front of her own members.
She didn't think she would be this worried when she signed the contract for the show at first. But now when she finally found out that it was with Joon, her worries swamped her all over again.
"Unnie, are you alright?" Jiyeon caught Hyomin zoning out as she looked out the window, brushing her wet hair with a towel.
"I'm fine. I'm just..." Would this turn into something worse? It wasn't just another date this time. It was marriage. Even if it wasn't real, if fans couldn't handle a harmless, scripted, one-time date, how would they react to a make-believe marriage between their favourite idols? She didn't have the energy to continue thinking about it anymore.
"Are you worried about the netizens?" Jiyeon knew what was in her mind.
Hyomin was quiet. Jiyeon had never seen Hyomin so serious before.
"Don't worry unnie, everything will be fine. They'll realise sooner or later that it is just a show. The other couples on the show got through it just fine. So don?t worry!" Jiyeon gave her a light hug.
Jiyeon was right. Past couples on the show had nothing to worry about. So why should she worry? Everything was scripted anyway. What you see is what you get. If his fans couldn?t handle watching him marry another girl as an ACT, how would they handle his real marriage in the future?
Deal with it.
All these thoughts slowly drifted away from Hyomin's mind as she fell asleep.
***
"WHO IS IT??? WHO IS IT???!!!" Mir jumped onto Joon's back screaming his lungs away the moment Joon opened the door. Joon was so exhausted he plopped down to the floor the moment he stepped into their apartment.
"Hyuuuung!!!" Mir shouted, pulling his hair and biting on his collar. He started stepping on Joon's back. "Please tell me!!!"
Seungho and G.O walked out of their room after a game of Star Craft. "Would you stop screaming at this hour?" Seungho snapped. "Do you want to get curses from the neighbours again?"
All G.O could think of was how Joon's date went. "Are you going to tell us or not? You know you won't be sleeping tonight if you don't." G.O threatened.
Joon tossed his iPhone showing a picture of his new wife to G.O as he dragged his tired body into his room, counting down to the moment his members started screaming.
"WHAT?! HYOMIN???" G.O shouted in astonishment.
Joon threw himself on the bed as his members continued to scream. He was too exhausted mentally and physically to entertain them at the time.
He shut the door behind him and was at the brink of falling asleep the moment his head touched his pillow. He didn't bother washing up before turning in since he could do it in the morning.
Right before his mind drifted away into dream land, it went back to the scene that happened right before he came home.
***
Joon stared at the text message, contemplating whether or not he should meet her. After sitting in his car for almost fifteen minutes, he couldn't get it off his mind. He finally decided to drive to an apartment building twenty minutes away from MBLAQ's place.
He'd regretted his decision the moment he arrived at the apartment gate and wanted to turn back. He didn't want any unnecessary stress. He shouldn't have gone.
Suddenly, he saw a familiar figure sitting alone on a swing in the park nearby. Something tugged his heart. He let out a long sigh. He couldn't tell if he was happy or sad to see her silhouette. He parked his manager's van at the entrance and walked towards the girl.
Her ears picked up his footsteps as he closed in towards her. She quickly finished the ice-cream cone in her hand. She took a deep breath before she turned around.
Her heart stopped for a few moments as soon as she laid eyes on him.
"Oppa..."
"Hyuna... How are you?"
"Did you enjoy yourself?" Eunjung stared at her with an evil grin, with a pink bunny hat in her hands.
"Why are you holding that?" Hyomin snatched it away, worried that it might get stained.
"Wow, wow, look at you all protective over something your new seobang gave you!" Soyeon teased. "How cute!"
"I don't know what you're talking about. It was just another recording." She looked away. "I'm exhausted. Please release me or I'll look like a zombie in tomorrow's performance." She begged.
"Okay, okay. You better go wash up. I'll be waiting for you to go to bed!" Jiyeon called out. She shared the same room as Hyomin.
Hyomin grabbed a towel and went off to shower. She finally had some time alone. It'd been a while since she'd soaked in the bathtub. She poured her favourite peach-flavoured bath gel and relaxed herself in the tub. Her mind started to wander as she thought about a lot of things.
Hyomin had always been a sensitive girl. She cared a lot about what other people thought of her. She knew this would make it a lot harder for her, especially now that she was a celebrity. She had to face positive and negative comments everywhere she went. She'd always been afraid to face rejection. But she was always curious to find out what impression others had on her.
Her on-screen one-on-one date with Joon led to her first scandal ever since her debut. And being the target of many jealous fangirls, she was truly traumatised by this experience. She had thousands of comments in her blog in a matter of minutes after that episode aired. Some were positive, but most had been negative. The most unpleasant comment wanted her to die.
She couldn't digest all of that at once at the time because it was a completely new experience for her. She couldn't talk to any male celebrity at all for weeks. She was paranoid that the paparazzi would smell another potential scandal. She couldn't take all the hurt that she had gone through. She didn't want her members to suffer from the aftermath as well. She may have seemed bubbly in variety shows and on stage. She'd also acted like nothing happened in front of her family. But she couldn't hide behind the facade in front of her own members.
She didn't think she would be this worried when she signed the contract for the show at first. But now when she finally found out that it was with Joon, her worries swamped her all over again.
"Unnie, are you alright?" Jiyeon caught Hyomin zoning out as she looked out the window, brushing her wet hair with a towel.
"I'm fine. I'm just..." Would this turn into something worse? It wasn't just another date this time. It was marriage. Even if it wasn't real, if fans couldn't handle a harmless, scripted, one-time date, how would they react to a make-believe marriage between their favourite idols? She didn't have the energy to continue thinking about it anymore.
"Are you worried about the netizens?" Jiyeon knew what was in her mind.
Hyomin was quiet. Jiyeon had never seen Hyomin so serious before.
"Don't worry unnie, everything will be fine. They'll realise sooner or later that it is just a show. The other couples on the show got through it just fine. So don?t worry!" Jiyeon gave her a light hug.
Jiyeon was right. Past couples on the show had nothing to worry about. So why should she worry? Everything was scripted anyway. What you see is what you get. If his fans couldn?t handle watching him marry another girl as an ACT, how would they handle his real marriage in the future?
Deal with it.
All these thoughts slowly drifted away from Hyomin's mind as she fell asleep.
***
"WHO IS IT??? WHO IS IT???!!!" Mir jumped onto Joon's back screaming his lungs away the moment Joon opened the door. Joon was so exhausted he plopped down to the floor the moment he stepped into their apartment.
"Hyuuuung!!!" Mir shouted, pulling his hair and biting on his collar. He started stepping on Joon's back. "Please tell me!!!"
Seungho and G.O walked out of their room after a game of Star Craft. "Would you stop screaming at this hour?" Seungho snapped. "Do you want to get curses from the neighbours again?"
All G.O could think of was how Joon's date went. "Are you going to tell us or not? You know you won't be sleeping tonight if you don't." G.O threatened.
Joon tossed his iPhone showing a picture of his new wife to G.O as he dragged his tired body into his room, counting down to the moment his members started screaming.
"WHAT?! HYOMIN???" G.O shouted in astonishment.
Joon threw himself on the bed as his members continued to scream. He was too exhausted mentally and physically to entertain them at the time.
He shut the door behind him and was at the brink of falling asleep the moment his head touched his pillow. He didn't bother washing up before turning in since he could do it in the morning.
Right before his mind drifted away into dream land, it went back to the scene that happened right before he came home.
***
Joon stared at the text message, contemplating whether or not he should meet her. After sitting in his car for almost fifteen minutes, he couldn't get it off his mind. He finally decided to drive to an apartment building twenty minutes away from MBLAQ's place.
He'd regretted his decision the moment he arrived at the apartment gate and wanted to turn back. He didn't want any unnecessary stress. He shouldn't have gone.
Suddenly, he saw a familiar figure sitting alone on a swing in the park nearby. Something tugged his heart. He let out a long sigh. He couldn't tell if he was happy or sad to see her silhouette. He parked his manager's van at the entrance and walked towards the girl.
Her ears picked up his footsteps as he closed in towards her. She quickly finished the ice-cream cone in her hand. She took a deep breath before she turned around.
Her heart stopped for a few moments as soon as she laid eyes on him.
"Oppa..."
"Hyuna... How are you?"