Fic : Who Will I Be
Title : Who Will I Be
Author : peaxhie
Characters : OC and mostly BB members
Rating : G
A/N : Totally my first time ever writing a fic =P. A little messy here and there, but i proof-read it so there shouldn't be too many mistakes. Feel free to comment
Chapter 1 - Megan Clark
Okay, definitely not what one would expect when taking a vacation, especially in Korea. But then again, getting sent to Korea because a certain CEO of an enormously respected entertainment company decided that the new choreographer for a certain band's upcoming concert was not up to par and went on a completely unorthodox road and hired some amateur dancer (although you can hardly call dancing-in-the-studio-when-you-think-no-one-is-watching amateur dancing) to replace him a vacation (oh, I'm sorry, did I lose you there? Because you're going to have to start understanding my drabbles once you start reading them, if you want to carry on finding out what exactly I'm talking about, that is). So here's the scoop, my annoyingly over-achieving president of some record company shithole of a brother decided that prior to me releasing an album but then again refusing to be a part of any meet-and-greet sessions/interviews (radio and TV)/live performances and my utmost refusal to hold a concert (which was not my idea in the first place, so I shouldn't really be blamed for the loss of profits of the company, profits may i remind you that I brought about in the first place). But no, it doesn't end there, because my entire family is together in this massive plan on actually making me do something that i don't want to do (parents, really). To add to that, he had already promised (PROMISED, mind you) that no matter how the album performed, that I would only have to do things my way and didn't have to attend any interviews/shows that I did not feel fit to participate in. Unfortunately, he did not mean that i could just skip any and all of the offers passed on to me. But I feel I have a right to do so if i feel fit, i mean, my album sold 1 000 000 copies in the opening week itself, and if that doesn't count as an accomplishment for anyone, I don't know what does. So basically, now i have to spend my entire holidays choreographing for some famous Korean boyband, whom frankly, since I have not heard of them before, can't be all that famous, can they?
Oh, man, what have I gotten myself into.
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"So, have you seen the new choreographer yet?" Seungri asked as he bent down to tie his shoelace.
"Nope, but knowing YG, he probably hired some useless douchebag like the last one," Seunghyun replied, now standing up and preparing for practice.
"Yeah, and we'll probably be left with choreography so bad that we'll have to re-do the entire thing, just so it turns out right," answered Daesung who just so happened to step in the room, "Meh, what do you think, Yongbae?"
"Hnn~" replied Yongbae, as uninterested as ever. Honestly, he didn't really care, because he knew whoever it was they would just have to deal with him, or else complain to YG later on.
The next few seconds struck Yongbae, and he wasn't sure why either. Maybe because a certain brunette had just walked into the room. The same brunette who was working with him whilst choreographing dance steps for his solo concert. The same brunette whom he had fallen for, during that time, but never quite had the courage to move forward. The same brunette who made him promise never to fall in love with her, because she genuinely liked being friends with him, and didn't want trivial things such as crushes interfering with their close relationship. The same brunette who broke his heart when she went back to the States, and never called back, not even once.
Of course, that was all over a year ago, maybe things have changed?
Question were running through Yongbae's mind at the moment. What was she doing here? What would he say to her? How would he react? Did she come back for him realising she made a horrible mistake and wanted to confess her love for him at that very moment? (Okay, fine, that last thought was a little over the top, in fact impossible)
"Megan!" he called out, not even assure of why he did so. At that moment, that girl turned her head to face him. "Oh my god !!!! Yongbae???" and instantly dashed forwards, and leaped into his arms, embracing him in a bearhug.
"What are you doing here???" he gasped, now letting her down on her feet. He glanced at that perfect face that he once knew, and gazed into her dark, mud-coloured eyes. She was as perfect as he had remembered.
Right before Megan could even reply, YG had walked into the room. "Okay everyone, now that our choreographer is here, we can begin."
"Oh, finally, who is it?" Seunghyun asked curiously.
"Megan, care to introduce yourself?" asked YG.
"Wait...." Yongbae spoke, "You mean?"
"Meet your new choreographer, Megan"
Chapter 2 - Dong Yongbae
So this could either turn out really well, or horribly disastrous (no exaggeration there) Well, what DOES one do when the love of his life (or else, used-to-be love of his life) shows up in a dance studio and, surprise surprise, you find out that you and her would be spending a whole lot more time together (one month and 10 days, exactly) Not to mention the fact that despite having this undying love for her (which possibly faded, like, 6 months ago) she wants to remain 'just friends' because she believes being together will only ruin this great friendship we share (or that could just be a nicer way of telling someone that she wasn't interested.....at all, not even a little bit, damn, I knew I shouldn't have started working out so young, well how was I supposed to know working out at an early age will demote growth rates????) but then again, I don't think bigger height difference would particularly change anything, especially the way she feels towards me. Well, what do you want me to do? I'm in love with a girl (or used to be in love) who doesn't want me, to put it bluntly. And now I have to spend 8 hours (or more) in the dance studio with her and four other guys who know nothing of my history with her. Perfect, just perfect.
Stop staring at her !! She'll think that you're still into her and quit straight away.
But then again...maybe it's better that way.
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"Take a 5 minute break," said Megan. Frankly, she was exhausted, and these 5 guys can really run your legs. Moreover, she was much more interested in talking to Yongbae, finding out what she had missed all this time, and just catching up on things.
"So, what are you doing here exactly?" said Yongbae as he joined Megan in the corner of the dance studio.
"Why, do you want me to leave?" replied Megan apathetically.
Yongbae shot her an I'm-being-serious-here-and-would-appreciate-if-you-were-too glare.
"Fine, YG needed a choreographer, and I was forced to accept against my own will," answered Megan, as she proceeded to take a drink.
"You could have said no, you know."
"Heck, I didnt even know that you would be here. I thought I was choreographing for some lowly boyband newcomer who didnt know shit about the industry."
"....thanks alot."
"Hey, you know I didnt mean that," and she gave him the I'm-sorry-for-that-remark look, which, of course, Yongbae was always helpless against.
"Ms. Clark, I don't think I pay you to just sit around in the corner doing nothing," announced YG as he stepped into the studio.
"Apologies, YG, getting to it. Everyone on the dance floor!" shouted Megan, and everybody instantly jumped from their seats and practically ran to the middle of the dance studio.
"Hey...." Yongbae whispered as they were taking their positions. Megan looked back. "Dinner tonight? To catch up?"
"If you're not too tired by then," replied Megan.
Chapter 3 - A Year Ago
[FLASHBACK]
Don’t worry, this is totally normal….right? I mean, it’s totally normal for someone to sleep with their best friend, right???? And you were really drunk then so he probably doesn’t remember….much….
Fine, straight to the point, I slept with Yongbae….but it doesn’t have to mean anything. I mean, I’m sure people go around sleeping with their best friend’s all the time…right?
God, I am so dead.
Damn, damn damn damn damn, why the hell did I drink so much last night? Sure, it was an ‘open’ bar and everything was free, but it didn’t mean I had to drink practically half the bar!!! In fact, why did I even agree to go to that stupid party anyway??? Oh right, because Yongbae invited me and I can never resist his perfect pouty expression whenever he begs me to do something.
Shit shit shit shit!!! Stop thinking about his perfect lips damnit!!!
Wait, did I just say his ‘perfect lips’? Man, this hangover is definitely getting the best of me. Note to self, never drink, EVER again (I mean it this time)
And get your ass out of his bed, damnit!!! In fact, get out of his apartment before he wakes up and totally realizes what happened last night.
Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, I am SO going to hell for this.
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As the sunrays peek through the window, Yongbae awakens.
“Man….” he says to himself,”I should NOT have drunk so much last night.”
As he glances across the room, he couldn’t help but notice a certain feeling about it. No, it definitely wasn’t a ‘bad’ feeling, more of a totally alien feeling, something he could not make out. Yeap, he definitely had too much to drink last night.
Yongbae struggled to get out of bed, as the aftereffects of alcohol overload started to kick in. He made his way to the kitchen, where he proceeded to make himself a nice, steaming cup of aspirin.
Whilst flipping through the contents of yesterday’s newspaper, he couldn’t help but notice something flickering on the kitchen counter. Some spare change that he forgot to sort out, maybe? He walked towards the kitchen counter and picked up the foreign object, only to realize that is was not, in fact, pocket change.
In fact, it was far from pocket change. It looked more like an earring, diamond-studded, and it had this sort of familiarity to Yongbae.
“Oh…my…..god…” he gasped, as the events of the night before began to unfold in his mind.
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He made his way into the dance studio, unsure of what he was going to say once he saw ‘her’ because he had made a promise just a week before, and he practically had it etched in his memory.
“You have to promise me something,” Megan said, with a serious tone to her voice.
“Yes?” Yongbae asked curiously.
“You can never fall in love with me,” said Megan with clarity,” EVER,” to emphasize her point.
And it was hard for him to promise that, taking in the fact that he had already sort of fallen in love with her. But, he figured, if that was what she had wanted, and then he had no choice but to comply, no matter how ridiculous it seemed to him.
As he looked around, he couldn’t help noticing the absence of a certain someone.
“Hey,” he asked someone in the room,”Have you seen Megan?”
“Oh, didn’t you hear?” one of the dancers present replied,” She’s going back to the states, since your concert is done and over with.”
“Oh…..” was the only reply he managed to voice out. Well, maybe this was all for the better, he kept telling herself. Maybe with her gone, I can focus on my career, and won’t keep thinking about her all the time.
But it was still hard for him to take in. Well, I guess having a best friend who just leaves without a word would be considerably hard to take in, but it wasn’t like he half-expected it or anything.
But then again….it wouldn’t be too late to stop her…..
The next thing he knew, he was in a cab, on the way to the airport.
And he kept replaying in his mind, over and over, what he would say to her. But then, playing the scene in your head and doing it face to face was completely different.
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Once the cab came to a halt, Yongbae started running. Unsure what for, exactly. He highly doubted showing up at the airport really make Megan change her mind? Still, it wouldn’t hurt to try, would it? Either way, he could manage to convince her to stay, at least for another day or so and maybe gather up enough courage to tell her exactly how he felt about her. Then again, he could just be left at the airport, heartbroken and totally worthless. Still, he would regret it more if he didn’t at least try.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t make it past airport security. Not because he was carrying anything lethal in particular, but apparently the metal detectors were not in his favor. And since he had absolutely no patience whatsoever to deal with the guards, he made a run for it. “Heck, YG will settle the bail anyway,” he thought to himself as he ran aimlessly, leaving a trail of destruction in his path.
Then, he spotted her, just as she was about to board the gate.
“Megan!” he shouted out, obvious signs of desperation in his voice.
But she didn’t look back, heck; it was as if she didn’t hear him or something.
“MEGAN!” he shouted again, but to no avail. It was too late, she had boarded the plane, and no way in hell were they about to let some airport-security-offender board the plane, were they?
So he just sank to his knees, a single tear rolling down his cheek, and let go of the object he was grasping tightly in his right hand ; her earring.
Chapter 4 -Now
Okay, fine, maybe I WAS too tired after all that dancing. And maybe I shouldn’t have drunk so much. But, heck, it was Megan, and we were in a bar, so what else is there to drink in a bar, right? (fine, maybe I should’ve opted for gin instead)
So basically, I woke up (still dressed, thank god for that) in the middle of the dance studio, and guess who was right next to me? (or rather, right on top of me, well not particularly, but her head WAS on top of my stomach) and I have absolutely no idea how we ended up back in the studio, or even how we managed to walk all the way here from the bar, considering we were both pretty drunk as far as I remembered.
What’s weirder, I couldn’t bring myself to wake her. Well, she wouldn’t have woken up even if I tried, but….it just seemed…so right, having her here with me (corny, much?) so basically I just continued (pretending to sleep) That was, of course, until the other four amigos decided that we should start dance practice early and totally walked into the studio, only imagine their surprised faces when they caught us in that rather compromising situation, no?
Well, their snickers were enough to wake Megan up, and she punched me for not waking her up sooner (seeing as I was already awake by the time she was) So now, all these questions are running being tossed at me, and I have absolutely no reason to answer them.
Then again, their questioning is really starting to bug me, so I might as well comply.
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“Well, you mind telling us why we caught you sleeping in the middle of the dance studio,” asked our dutiful leader,”with a girl, mind you?” he said, pointing to Megan who, by now, was in the other room trying to fix her hair, although I’ve already told her a million times that it looks fine. It doesn’t really bother me much that he was being all ‘leadery’ and questioning about it, but it would really help if he dropped the joking-tone of his.
Well, then they all proceeded to laugh…again.
“Gosh, why do I even bother,” I said, trying to get them off my backs.
“Oh, come on,” said, once again, our dutiful leader ,”I’ve known you for half my life and this is the first time I’ve seen you with a girl….ever.”
And I knew that was true, because I’ve never really dated anyone before. Plus Jiyong wasn’t there when I was rehearsing with Megan.
“All I can say is,” started Seunghyun,”Way to go, man! She’s a hot catch.”
“Yeah, we should probably get on to the practicing, since YG will probably be here to check up on us any minute now,” came Megan, my life saver.
And so the rehearsing began.
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YG liked how the preparations were going. Heck, he even complimented Megan for getting the five of them to work together. But Megan remembered the one rule YG especially stressed on before she stepped onto that very studio.
“No fooling around with the guys,” his voice was clear in her head, “I mean it. I’ve seen what being with Yongbae had done to him, he practically couldn’t think straight for a week. So please, if you DO get involved with one of the guys, don’t break their hearts all of a sudden and run back to the States.”
Megan protested to this rule.
In the first place, she wasn’t particularly planning to hook up with any one of the guys anytime soon. And she wasn’t even ‘with’ Yongbae in the first place because technically it was just a one-night-stand….unless YG found out about that. And the only reason she went back to US was because she didn’t want Yongbae and her to get any further and thus ruin his career.
But she made the promise anyhow.
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As Megan proceeded rehearsing with the guys, she began noticing some of the other guys other than Yongbae. Turns out, some of them were pretty hot. In fact, ALL of them were pretty good-looking. Man, keeping this promise WOULD be hard.
At first, she noticed Seunghyun, mostly because of his stiffness. She practically had to move him like a puppet in order to get him to do the dance steps correctly.
And then there was Jiyong, the so-called ‘leader’. Not much of a talker though, since he rarely interacted with her.
And, of course, there was Seungri - the maknae, as everyone would call him. Megan thought he had a rather charming quality to him, being the youngest and all.
And for some reason, whenever Megan glanced at Daesung, he always seemed to be smiling. At first she thought this was rather creepy, but she got used to it….eventually.
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Megan got along well with the other members, but maybe because the other members were actually trying to get along with her as well, seeing as Megan could quite possibly be Yongbae’s future (and first ever) girlfriend. She didn’t really mind it all, actually, because she had already gotten used to the idea that people thought that she and Yongbae were a couple, seeing as how close they were.
But don’t get any ideas, now, because Megan and Yongbae were strictly best friends, nothing more.
Or at least that’s what Megan thought.
“Hey….” Yongbae came up to her one day after practice was done and over with.
“Yeap?” she replied, as normally as ever.
“Do you wanna, maybe, go out for dinner tonight?” he asked casually.
And when has Megan ever said ‘no’ to Yongbae?.
Chapter 5 - Jiyong
Fine, maybe it wasn’t fair of me to get mad at Yongbae like that (although he probably didn’t notice I was mad or anything, so…)
But even so, sure, I’m supposed to be glad that he’s found someone (although he claims he and her aren’t going out) but then again, what is this feeling inside me that I can’t seem to ignore.
It isn’t jealousy, definitely, because, don’t get me wrong, Megan’s pretty and all that but it’s not like we even actually had an entire conversation together. Plus, I’ve sworn of dating until…well, never. But why is it I can’t stop looking at her?
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Dinner last night - BAD IDEA
Not only did it worsen our already fragile friendship with each other, but I cant believe I was actually that close to revealing ‘it’.
Note to self : NEVER listen to YongBae ever again
And stop drinking, definitely.
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So…practice was…awkward. We didn’t even say a word to each other the entire time, and (apart from the whole 1 year break thing) this is probably the longest we’ve ever gone not talking to each other. I guess dinner was a bad idea. And thinking that she was going to be all right after I admitted that I still had feelings for her (not that I actually got to that point) was totally bullshit. What was seriously weird was how she just walked out of the restaurant - just like that, as if it was something I said.
She began talking to Jiyong today. Well, looks like Jiyong’s ready to get back in the game. The question is, why aren’t I doing anything about it?
Maybe it’s because I actually need to listen to what the damned psychiatrist said and ‘let her go’. Or maybe because I’m already used to the whole idea of watching her slip right through my fingers.
Darn, Jiyong’s really trying hard. And from the looks of it, they’re going out for dinner….tonight.
And Jiyong’s never had a good rep with dates. Man, he must really like her.
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“I’m SO sorry about this,” Jiyong apologized fervently. The restaurant totally screwed up his reservation and gave away his table to someone else , “I should’ve called and confirmed it earlier.”
“It’s fine, really,” Megan said, and she did really mean it. How many dates had she had that ended up in a stuffy restaurant and overpriced food, really, “But we can still have fun tonight, I mean, how about we just walk around in the park?”
“Really? You don’t mind that sort of thing?” Jiyong asked, clearly surprised by her statement.
“Well, it definitely would be better than all the other typical dates I’ve had.”
“Okay then. Lets walk,” he said, as he took her arm and led the way.
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She was startled, clearly.
How many times in her life had she actually seen stars in the sky?
And this was definitely one of the more memorable times.
He had brought her to the roof of a building.
So there she was, laying on the ground, with Jiyong beside her.
“So,” he began to say, “Is this date getting any better yet?”
“Honestly,” she replied, “It’s one of the best I’ve been on so far.”
Jiyong unconsciously moved his right arm closer to hers, and their hands brushed against each other.
Megan could only stare up to the sky, a smile now forming on her lips.
They stayed up until the morning, stargazing. When they got bored of that, they started talking, about, well, everything. From which school they went to, to dogs, to how many children they wanted (if they even wanted children that is). Megan just felt so comfortable talking to Jiyong, like she could practically tell him anything. She just had this feeling that she could trust him completely. Like he was the type of person you could blurt out your innermost feelings to and not feel insecure about it. He was no Yongbae, that was true, because no one could be a more trustworthy friend than Yongbae, but he was almost there.
“I should probably be getting you back,” Jiyong said all of a sudden, “We wouldn’t want the others to worry, would we?”
And just like that, they headed back to the dance studio.
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“So…” Yongbae asked as soon as Megan stepped into the studio, “How was the date?”
“It was…..” she replied, “pleasant…..”
“Tell me everything, don’t spare any details,” he said excitedly.
This is what Megan loved so much about Yongbae. He knew exactly when to care about what she was talking about.
Megan spared no details. From the point where Jiyong brought her to the restaurant to this morning where they were laying on the rooftop of the building. She recalled every word they said to each other perfectly, as she had the entire event etched in her memory.
Yongbae pretended to listen attentively as she continued on and on. He was just waiting for the moment when she said the word that he was really interested in.
“And…that was it,” she ended.
“Really? That’s all?” he asked curiously. Surely their ‘date’ couldn’t have ended just like that. Not even a small peck on the forehead? (which he found completely appalling)
“Yeah…..” she replied, “And what’s weird is that….I actually sort of enjoyed it.”
Yongbae took a moment to think. “Wait…” he asked, “Are you….falling for him?”
Megan took awhile to respond to that question. “Yeah…” she finally said, “I think I am….”
That struck Yongbae harder than it should have.
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Okay, so Megan might (possibly) like Jiyong. No big deal, right? I mean, something like this shouldn’t bother me, right? My best friend and my band-mate, I mean, this is great…really…really great.
This is good…..
In fact, this is great…..
I bet Jiyong must be feeling over the moon right now.
But then again…..
Why is it….I cant seem to shake this feeling off….
Do I really…..like her more than I should?
This, quite frankly, was not a hard question to answer.
Chapter 6 - Allies
So Jiyong and I have been going out for quite a few times now, and, honestly, I think this is one of the relationships that can actually last. Jiyong is a great guy, I really like him…a lot, plus Yongbae is fully supportive of us being together (as are the other members of Big Bang)
We’re going out again tonight, maybe this will finally be it.
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Jiyong and Megan sat across the table from each other, both placing one hand each on the table, within centimeters of each other. They were talking, as usual, but this time it seemed more…intimate, as you might call it. They no longer talked about trivial things, such as likes/dislikes, but more towards what they wanted to do in the future, how they saw themselves.
And, with much hesitation, Jiyong finally took her hand.
“Megan…..” he started off slowly.
Megan could only wait patiently as Jiyong fought hard to put his words in a sentence.
“Will you…..go out with me? As in….on a permanent basis?” he asked slowly, now a trail of sweat visibly falling from his brow.
At that moment Megan was confused. True, she had prepared for this very moment all week long, and she had already prepared what she had wanted to say to him (which, of course, was basically a ‘Yes, yes, oh my god, yes !!!!’) but at that very moment, her cellphone (on the table btw) rang furiously, indicating a text message received. Then, Megan saw it, the picture of her and Yongbae, used as a wallpaper on the screen, and this very picture brought her back to the year before, to the night where Yongbae had confessed everything to her. And although both of them were slurring in their speeches, she managed to catch a part of what he was saying.
“Megan…..” Yongbae slurred as he looked at her, “I love you….”
At that moment, they kissed. And it wasn’t one of those quick-chaste kisses, it was passionate, feeling, the signs of desperation being released all at once.
And as that very moment played through over and over again in Megan’s head, she began to reconsider. Was this what she really wanted? Was Jiyong really ‘the one’? If there was someone else, someone else she had this feeling for….was it….Yongbae?
“Megan?” Jiyong asked as he noticed the too-long period of silence between the two.
“Excuse me,” Megan blurted out. She quickly stood and made her way for the door.
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Megan banged repeatedly on the door, although unsure of what she would say once it was answered.
“Okay, okay, I’m coming,” she heard through the other end.
As the door opened, she was greeted by a groggy and partially confused Yongbae.
“Megan?” he asked groggily, obvious signs that he was in dreamland before he was ever so rudely interrupted.
“Those three words,” she asked, “The very three words you said to me the night before I left.”
“What about them?” a very confused Yongbae asked.
“Did you mean them?” she asked, her voice now trailing quietly instead of demandingly as before.
He waited awhile before answering.
“How could I have not?” he finally replied.
“Do you still?” she asked, a single tear now forming in her left eye.
Yongbae considered all the possibilities. Here was a girl whom he was totally and utterly smitten by, standing at his very doorstep, questioning him about the past. But then again, what would happen to Jiyong if he told her the truth? Would Jiyong feel betrayed? Would Jiyong blame Yongbae and perhaps never speak to him ever again? No…it was too much to risk.
“No….” he replied slowly, “You asked me to forget about you……and I did what you told me to.”
“Oh…….” she then replied.
There was a moment of silence between the two, and neither could tell whether it was a good silence or a bad silence.
“Excuse me…..” she broke the silence.
The next thing Yongbae knew, he was back in his bed, laying on his back.
Nope, he was definitely not going to get any sleep tonight.
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As Megan made her way down the stairs from Yongbae’s apartment, she couldn’t help but wonder if the answer she had gotten really was the answer that she wanted.
Then, she couldn’t help noticing the figure that stood leaning against the lamp post as she reached the ground floor.
“Jiyong….” was all she managed to voice out.
Silence…I hear it’s a wonderful thing.
“How did you…..” she continued.
“I figured this would be the first place you’d be headed.”
At that moment, she no longer cared. Her feelings towards Yongbae were completely forgotten, as she ran towards Jiyong and leaped into his waiting arms.
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ then?” Jiyong stated, half-jokingly.
Megan answered, her voice muffled by Jiyong’s shoulder.
Chapter 7 - Then again…
Yongbae couldn’t help but feel he made a horrible mistake. But then, it was too late to admit it now. Megan was happy, and, by the looks of it, so was Jiyong.
But with every laughter that Megan and Jiyong shared, with every touch, and the looks that they gave one another, Yongbae couldn’t help but think. Was this really what he and Megan looked liked a year ago to others? He noted that sense of familiarity whenever he was in the same room as Megan and Jiyong. And they weren’t flirting either, they were talking, just talking to one another. In fact, if you didn’t know them, you wouldn’t even suspect that they were going out in the first place.
It was true, Yongbae had left the past behind him. He did his best to forget everything that had happened between Megan and him over the year. Heck, he even resorted to secret therapy sessions with Dr. Phyllis to forget about her. And he did. One day, he woke up to find that Megan was no longer the center of attention in his mind.
That all changed, of course, when Megan mysteriously reappeared right in front of his eyes. From that moment on, it had been like the way it had always been when he was around Megan. Always flirting, always joking around, but in the end it all seemed like a cruel joke to him, because he knew that she would never feel the same way.
“Hey…” he approached her when Jiyong was out of the way, “Lets go out tonight.”
“Erm…okay…” answered a clearly startled Megan, “What’s the occasion?”
“I don’t know…it just feels,” he said with much hesitation, “like we haven’t talked a whole lot lately.”
And it was true. Megan had spent most of her week with Jiyong (day and night). They would always show up for practice together, and always leave together. Whatever they did when they weren’t in the studio was pretty much a mystery to the rest of the guys.
“Oh…sure,” she suddenly exclaimed, “I’ll just, erm, cancel my plans with Jiyong then.”
”Erm, wait, if it’s that much trouble,” he said hesitantly, “Then don’t bother. I don’t want to ruin your evening.”
“It’s fine, he’ll understand,” she said, a much-needed smile now appearing on her face, “Feels like I haven’t seen a whole lot of you lately either.”
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Yongbae took Megan out to dinner that night, and it seemed like old times again. Their half-flirting half-joking manner continued on and on, but Yongbae couldn’t help but notice the stares the both of them got from the people at the restaurant.
It was a good thing that camera’s weren’t allowed in the restaurant, and as soon as one of the waiters saw you so much as taking out your handphone, they would immediately rush to your side, as if to ‘monitor’ you. Besides, Yongbae thought to himself, YG would flip if he found out he was dating, or in this case, having dinner with a girl that everyone automatically thought he was dating.
Well, that didn’t stop the people from the restaurant from talking of course. Every now and then a “Hey, isn’t that Yongbae from BB?” would interrupt their ongoing conversation. Honestly, Yongbae felt annoyed. Was it SUCH a headline that he was at a restaurant eating out with a friend? Everytime he heard someone giving off some comment about Megan, he felt like marching right up to them and telling them to shut up. But that would’ve ruined the entire mood of the evening now, wouldn’t it?
Fortunately for Megan, she was used to being the ‘Jane Doe’ whom went out with all the A-listers, mainly because of the many dinner sessions she and her big-fancy-record-label-owner brother shared before she debuted. She learned eventually to block out any unnecessary conversations that she did not want to hear.
Megan spent the entire night talking about Jiyong. How she felt about him, how he greeted her in the mornings, how he would escort her back to her apartment after dinner etc.. She just wanted to talk about him, and nothing else, because he was all that mattered to her.
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“So,” Yongbae said, starting off one of their familiar conversations, “Do you love him?”
“Well….” she answered hesitantly, as if choosing her words, “He’s a nice guy…and is the perfect gentleman everytime we go out.”
“That doesn’t answer the question,” he retorted.
“Whats with the 21 questions?” she answered back, obvious hints of annoyance in her tone, “It’s not like I’m running off with him to Vegas first thing in the morning or something.”
“It’s a simple yes or no question.”
“And you of all people should know that it’s not that easy to answer that question,” she quickly answered back, irritated.
“I just…” he started off again, “don’t want you to be with some guy just to get back at me.”
“Since when did me dating Jiyong become about getting back at you?”
“Since you’re dating a guy that you don’t know whether you love or not,” he said.
Megan was crushed. She didn’t think that of all people, Yongbae would be the one to tell it straight to her face. It was as if he thought Jiyong was just another guy like the ones she used to pick up a year back.
“I just….” he tried to reason, “Don’t want it to end up like it did with you and Jungmin.”
Megan was crushed. She couldn’t believe that Yongbae would bring up Jungmin right here, right now.
“Jiyong is nothing like Jungmin,” she retorted, her eyes now wet with tears as the memories of Jungmin proceeded to fill her mind, “You of all people should know that.”
“Well, then maybe I just don’t trust Jiyong like I should,” he said, “Maybe, I just don’t trust you like I should. Maybe, I think that either way you’re going to end up destroying the relationship.”
Megan was hurt by Yongbae’s words. And it hurt not because of the ‘mean’ things he was saying to her, but mainly because she knew that those words were true. Her eyes were now wet with tears, and before she knew it, tears were streaming down her cheeks.
“Megan….I..”
But before he could finish his sentence, Megan has already gotten up and made her way to the door. She couldn’t bear it any longer, and she might as well save Yongbae some credibility.
Chapter 8 - Hurt
[FLASHBACK]
It was the summer of 07’ and, frankly, Megan was the first to be in the mood for summer love. Sure, she had a few kickoffs with a few guys in the past, but those relationships were far from serious as far as she was concerned. She was ready for an actual relationship, with an actual guy with actual boyfriend potential, not another one night stand as a result of overdrinking the night before.
Then she met Jungmin.
And so they dated. Sure, they had a couple of flings but then any couple would have their share of fights amongst each other.
So to Megan, they were a perfectly normal healthy couple.
Sure they were.
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“Mmmph, what do you want?” said a groggy Jiyong as he opened the door only to find none other that Yongbae at the other end.
“Geez,” continues Jiyong, “If you were Megan, I wouldn’t have minded so much.”
“Yeah….” Yongbae replied, “Speaking of, she wouldn’t have happened to call you, did she?”
“No…..not that I’ve heard anyways,” Jiyong answered, “You know, some people ACTUALLY like to enjoy their sleep.”
“Yeah….sorry about this..but we need to talk,” said Yongbae.
Jiyong gave him a questioning look.
“Look, if it wasn’t important, I wouldn’t have come here in the middle of the night.”
“You live right across the street; I don’t think that was much of an effort on your part.”
“Can we just..get to the talking part…please,” Yongbae said, with a sense of urgency in his voice.
Jiyong hesitated for awhile, then said, “Fine,” and let Yongbae in.
“What is SO important that you couldn’t wait until the next morning to tell me?”
Yongbae took a seat on the couch. Jiyong followed.
“It’s…about Megan,” Yongbae started.
“Yeah, I figured.”
“Look, we had a little….argument…over dinner, and it was regarding you.”
“Well, that’s what I figured. But I guess you showing up at my house at 1 in the morning totally gives it off right?”
“I just…need to know something.”
Yongbae paused. He was suddenly reconsidering the idea of paying this visit to Jiyong.
“Are you….in love with Megan?” Yongbae said.
“Very much so, why?”
“How much in love are you with her?”
“Erm…a whole lot, I guess. Where is all this coming from?” Jiyong asked hesitantly.
“Look…Megan used to date this….guy. And he was everything to her. In fact, he pretty much controlled her whole life.”
“But Megan would never let anyone do that to her,” Jiyong interrupted.
“Look, just hear the whole story first okay?”
Jiyong nodded, and proceeded to listen attentively.
“He would always bring her stuff, and always gave her anything she wanted. And I guess at that point, that was what she would’ve called ‘true love’. Anyways, she immediately fell head over heels for him. And as time passed, I don’t think she noticed, but, he began to be the one more in control of the relationship, if you know what I mean.”
“Wait, so Megan just surrendered to this…guy?” Jiyong interrupted again, “That…doesn’t sound much like her.”
“So Megan became more submissive,” Yongbae continued, ignoring Jiyong’s comment, “She became the one buying gifts for him. She became the one who would drop everything whenever he called, because I think she truly believed that deep down inside he was a good person at heart.”
“Okay…..” Jiyong spoke, “How long did this go on?”
“For about a month and a half. Then, I guess, she just got tired of catering to all his needs. She broke it off with him in the end.”
“Well, that’s good, I guess, I still don’t see how…..”
“It didn’t end there,” Yongbae interrupted, “He would call her at least twenty times a day, and when she never picked up, he started showing up at dance practices, demanding to be let in. He would stand at her doorstep all night long, to the point where she was even afraid of going out of the house.”
“He finally reached her, of course,” Yongbae continued, “and practically got on his knees and begged her to take him back. And she didn’t refuse. They started going out again, only it was on her terms this time. But over time, he started becoming more and more possessive. He would practically make her wear the couple ring that he’d gotten her, although she didn’t want to. In the end, she came to me for help. She wanted to break things off with him, but she didn’t know how.”
“So….” Jiyong asked curiously, “What did you do?”
“Beat the guy up, roughen him up a little, told him to never set foot within a 10 mile radius near her again,” he answered.
“Well, that was a nice story and all,” replied Jiyong, “But what does this have to do with me exactly? You know I would never do such a thing to Megan.”
“It’s just….” Yongbae started, “Megan swore from that day on that she would never go out with anyone ever again.”
Jiyong chuckled.
“And she did live up to it…for awhile, then..of course….that thing happened.”
“Wait….” asked Jiyong, “What is ‘that thing’ exactly?”
“Oh,” exclaimed Yongbae when he just remembered that Jiyong did not exactly know of his and Megan’s past, “It’s..nothing really.”
This earned a rather questioning look from Jiyong.
“Look, back to the point,” Yongbae said, desperate to end the silence, “If you’re going to ‘be’ with Megan, and you’re pretty much sure that she’s the one, then go for it.”
Jiyong nodded.
“But,” he started again, “If you ever hurt her, I swear, no brotherly bond between us is going to stop me from hurting you as much as you hurt her.”
“Look, I appreciate the effort,” said a rather calm Jiyong, “But the last thing in the world I would ever do is hurt Megan. So, you can be pretty sure that I won’t do a thing to hurt her in any way.”
“Good….” said Yongbae after a long moment of silence, “At least we’re on the same page here.”
At that point, Yongbae proceeded for the door. His watch read 2 a.m. and he was worried sick over how he was going to get up for tomorrow’s early practice.
“Oh, just so you know,” said Jiyong, “I know about you and Megan. That you two were together in the past.”
“Oh…..you do…” said a rather startled Yongbae.
“Yeah, the maknae sort of blurted it out to me the other day. And, look, I’m totally fine by it, how you used to date my girlfriend and all,” he continued, “But, if I ever catch you trying to take her away from me, well, then you’re in for hell.”
“Good to know,” answered Yongbae, and he closed the door behind him.
Well, thought Yongbae, obviously he doesn’t know that all Megan and I ever had was a one night stand. Thank god for the maknae’s poor understanding skills.
And Yongbae made his way to his apartment, for a good night’s sleep.
Chapter 9 - Senseless
Megan did not get a wink of sleep that night. The ghost from her past, namely Jungmin, lingered in her memory, refusing to go away. Every time Megan closed her eyes; there he was, his demented eyes staring at her, following her every move. She couldn’t take it. She desperately tried to get her mind off him; reading, cooking, ironing, none of it was helping. Even once she was done sorting out her oversized wardrobe, she could still see his face, and it gave her no comfort knowing that he was still somewhere out there.
She grabbed her mobile phone and dialed the first number that came to her mind.
“Megan?” the voice at the other end of the line spoke.
Megan could not bring herself to talk. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
“Megan? Is everything all right?” the worried voice spoke again.
“Michael…..” Megan finally spoke.
“What’s wrong?” said the voice.
“Everything,” she choked out, tears not filling up her eyes, flowing down her cheeks.
“Where are you? I’ll send someone to get you,” said the voice again.
“No, don’t,” Megan said in between sobs, “I just..really need someone to talk to. Do you have time?”
“Of course.”
Megan then proceeded to explain everything that happened. From the incident a year ago right up till the events that occurred that very day. Michael listened to every word on the other line, non-judgingly.
“Well….I can’t really help you there,” he said when Megan had finished; “I’m not exactly an expert on relationship problems.”
“It’s okay,” Megan said, her eyes now swollen from the crying, “I just needed someone to listen.”
“Do you want me to book a flight for you? Back to the States? It’s about time you came back,” Michael said on the other line.
“No, it’s fine,” said Megan, her eyes now dry. The last thing she would want to do was to leave abruptly like the last time without any explanations. She couldn’t do that to Yongbae again, no matter how much he hurt her.
“Okay then…” Michael said.
Megan hung up the phone.
She always felt comforted after talking to Michael. He was her brother after all. He was her go-to guy whenever she was feeling down or having problems.
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It was 8 am in the morning. Likewise, Megan had been up the whole night. She was afraid that if she fell asleep, Jungmin would appear in her sleep. At least now she could ‘control’ Jungmin’s presence in her mind.
The phone rang, and Megan, in desperate need of human interaction, did not hesitate to answer.
“Hey,” said a voice at the other end, which Megan recognized as Jiyong’s, “Did I wake you?”
“No, it’s fine,” she answered, her mood automatically revived once she heard his voice, “I got up awhile ago.”
“So, I was wondering….” Jiyong’s voice trailed off, “Whether we could meet for breakfast or something.”
At that moment, Megan caught her reflection on the refrigerator door. She noticed the dark circles formed at her lower eyelid, as a result of zero-sleep the night before. She thanked god that today was a Sunday, and she didn’t have to go to work with eye bags.
“Err….,” said Megan, now reconsidering Jiyong’s offer, “I’m actually pretty swamped today, have to settle some things with my agency etc.”
“Oh….”
“Sorry…” Megan said, her tone full of regret.
“It’s okay…” said Jiyong, “Some other time then.”
Megan hung up.
She felt awful that she had just lied to Jiyong. But she didn’t want Jiyong to worry.
She then grabbed her purse, and headed for the door.
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Outside Megan’s apartment, Jiyong was dumbfounded. He had hoped for a nice breakfast with Megan, to straighten some things out in regard to the events that took place the night before.
Jiyong signaled for a cab, and went back to his apartment.
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Megan knocked relentlessly on the door.
“Coming,” said a rather irritated voice on the other end.
The door opened, and there stood Seunghyun on the other end.
“Well….this is a surprise….” he said, rubbing his eyes, obviously awakened by the relentless banging of the door.
“Let’s go shopping,” said Megan, obviously aloof to Seunghyun’s current condition.
“Wha?” said a clearly startled Seunghyun, “Don’t you have, like, a boyfriend or something?”
Clearly, Seunghyun would do anything to go back to sleep.
“Yeah, I sort of lied to him about something, so going shopping with him is out of the way,” Megan explained.
Seunghyun raised an eyebrow, clueless over the entire situation.
“Pleasee????” Megan said, in a pleading tone. Her lower lip now stuck out.
Seunghyun stared at the now pouting Megan, and finally gave in.
“10 minutes,” he said, and let Megan in.
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Seunghyun had obviously no idea what he had gotten himself into. For one, Megan was a crazy compulsive shopping addict. And two, Megan had brought him to a boulevard, where all the high end brands were located. Seunghyun was clearly dumbstruck when he saw Megan shop. Whenever she entered a shop, she became a blur, and clothes would mysteriously disappear off the rack.
They were at a Louis Vuitton store when Seunghyun managed a glance at Megan’s purchases. As far as he could tell, she had gotten close to 3 pairs of shoes. The cashier rung up the purchases, and the bill came up to a total staggering 2 million won.
“I think you are officially insane,” Seunghyun stated as Megan paid for her shoes using a credit card.
“Do not question a girl’s form of therapy,” Megan stated, “Besides, you haven’t even seen me shop for jewelry yet.”
“This may sound mean,” said Seunghyun half-jokingly, “But I pity your future husband.”
Megan could only laugh at his statement.
After Megan signed the delivery form, they proceeded to the next store.
Seunghyun watched helplessly as Megan paraded around the Elie Tahari boutique. He couldn’t help but wonder how Megan could afford doing this on a daily basis.
“Are your parents, like, major billionaires or something?” he asked when they continued their walk.
“Not exactly, they’re rich and all that, but my brother is the one who brings in the big bucks.”
“Your brother?” Seunghyun asked questionably.
“Yeah, he’s the president of some fancy record label,” she explained.
“Oh, so he pays for all of your purchases?”
“I guess,” she trailed off, “It’s his bank account, right?”
“You’re using..your brother’s bank account.”
“Well, he noticed that everytime I shop my bank account gets completely emptied, meaning I wont be able to shop anymore. So he created a joint account so that once my account gets emptied, money is automatically transferred into my account.”
“Well, you have a very good-willed brother, that’s all I can say.”
And it was true, Megan’s brother was the best one could possibly find.
Then again, it WAS Michael who had pushed Megan into choreographing for Big Bang.
Which wasn’t all that bad, now that she thought about it.
Author : peaxhie
Characters : OC and mostly BB members
Rating : G
A/N : Totally my first time ever writing a fic =P. A little messy here and there, but i proof-read it so there shouldn't be too many mistakes. Feel free to comment
Chapter 1 - Megan Clark
Okay, definitely not what one would expect when taking a vacation, especially in Korea. But then again, getting sent to Korea because a certain CEO of an enormously respected entertainment company decided that the new choreographer for a certain band's upcoming concert was not up to par and went on a completely unorthodox road and hired some amateur dancer (although you can hardly call dancing-in-the-studio-when-you-think-no-one-is-watching amateur dancing) to replace him a vacation (oh, I'm sorry, did I lose you there? Because you're going to have to start understanding my drabbles once you start reading them, if you want to carry on finding out what exactly I'm talking about, that is). So here's the scoop, my annoyingly over-achieving president of some record company shithole of a brother decided that prior to me releasing an album but then again refusing to be a part of any meet-and-greet sessions/interviews (radio and TV)/live performances and my utmost refusal to hold a concert (which was not my idea in the first place, so I shouldn't really be blamed for the loss of profits of the company, profits may i remind you that I brought about in the first place). But no, it doesn't end there, because my entire family is together in this massive plan on actually making me do something that i don't want to do (parents, really). To add to that, he had already promised (PROMISED, mind you) that no matter how the album performed, that I would only have to do things my way and didn't have to attend any interviews/shows that I did not feel fit to participate in. Unfortunately, he did not mean that i could just skip any and all of the offers passed on to me. But I feel I have a right to do so if i feel fit, i mean, my album sold 1 000 000 copies in the opening week itself, and if that doesn't count as an accomplishment for anyone, I don't know what does. So basically, now i have to spend my entire holidays choreographing for some famous Korean boyband, whom frankly, since I have not heard of them before, can't be all that famous, can they?
Oh, man, what have I gotten myself into.
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"So, have you seen the new choreographer yet?" Seungri asked as he bent down to tie his shoelace.
"Nope, but knowing YG, he probably hired some useless douchebag like the last one," Seunghyun replied, now standing up and preparing for practice.
"Yeah, and we'll probably be left with choreography so bad that we'll have to re-do the entire thing, just so it turns out right," answered Daesung who just so happened to step in the room, "Meh, what do you think, Yongbae?"
"Hnn~" replied Yongbae, as uninterested as ever. Honestly, he didn't really care, because he knew whoever it was they would just have to deal with him, or else complain to YG later on.
The next few seconds struck Yongbae, and he wasn't sure why either. Maybe because a certain brunette had just walked into the room. The same brunette who was working with him whilst choreographing dance steps for his solo concert. The same brunette whom he had fallen for, during that time, but never quite had the courage to move forward. The same brunette who made him promise never to fall in love with her, because she genuinely liked being friends with him, and didn't want trivial things such as crushes interfering with their close relationship. The same brunette who broke his heart when she went back to the States, and never called back, not even once.
Of course, that was all over a year ago, maybe things have changed?
Question were running through Yongbae's mind at the moment. What was she doing here? What would he say to her? How would he react? Did she come back for him realising she made a horrible mistake and wanted to confess her love for him at that very moment? (Okay, fine, that last thought was a little over the top, in fact impossible)
"Megan!" he called out, not even assure of why he did so. At that moment, that girl turned her head to face him. "Oh my god !!!! Yongbae???" and instantly dashed forwards, and leaped into his arms, embracing him in a bearhug.
"What are you doing here???" he gasped, now letting her down on her feet. He glanced at that perfect face that he once knew, and gazed into her dark, mud-coloured eyes. She was as perfect as he had remembered.
Right before Megan could even reply, YG had walked into the room. "Okay everyone, now that our choreographer is here, we can begin."
"Oh, finally, who is it?" Seunghyun asked curiously.
"Megan, care to introduce yourself?" asked YG.
"Wait...." Yongbae spoke, "You mean?"
"Meet your new choreographer, Megan"
Chapter 2 - Dong Yongbae
So this could either turn out really well, or horribly disastrous (no exaggeration there) Well, what DOES one do when the love of his life (or else, used-to-be love of his life) shows up in a dance studio and, surprise surprise, you find out that you and her would be spending a whole lot more time together (one month and 10 days, exactly) Not to mention the fact that despite having this undying love for her (which possibly faded, like, 6 months ago) she wants to remain 'just friends' because she believes being together will only ruin this great friendship we share (or that could just be a nicer way of telling someone that she wasn't interested.....at all, not even a little bit, damn, I knew I shouldn't have started working out so young, well how was I supposed to know working out at an early age will demote growth rates????) but then again, I don't think bigger height difference would particularly change anything, especially the way she feels towards me. Well, what do you want me to do? I'm in love with a girl (or used to be in love) who doesn't want me, to put it bluntly. And now I have to spend 8 hours (or more) in the dance studio with her and four other guys who know nothing of my history with her. Perfect, just perfect.
Stop staring at her !! She'll think that you're still into her and quit straight away.
But then again...maybe it's better that way.
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"Take a 5 minute break," said Megan. Frankly, she was exhausted, and these 5 guys can really run your legs. Moreover, she was much more interested in talking to Yongbae, finding out what she had missed all this time, and just catching up on things.
"So, what are you doing here exactly?" said Yongbae as he joined Megan in the corner of the dance studio.
"Why, do you want me to leave?" replied Megan apathetically.
Yongbae shot her an I'm-being-serious-here-and-would-appreciate-if-you-were-too glare.
"Fine, YG needed a choreographer, and I was forced to accept against my own will," answered Megan, as she proceeded to take a drink.
"You could have said no, you know."
"Heck, I didnt even know that you would be here. I thought I was choreographing for some lowly boyband newcomer who didnt know shit about the industry."
"....thanks alot."
"Hey, you know I didnt mean that," and she gave him the I'm-sorry-for-that-remark look, which, of course, Yongbae was always helpless against.
"Ms. Clark, I don't think I pay you to just sit around in the corner doing nothing," announced YG as he stepped into the studio.
"Apologies, YG, getting to it. Everyone on the dance floor!" shouted Megan, and everybody instantly jumped from their seats and practically ran to the middle of the dance studio.
"Hey...." Yongbae whispered as they were taking their positions. Megan looked back. "Dinner tonight? To catch up?"
"If you're not too tired by then," replied Megan.
Chapter 3 - A Year Ago
[FLASHBACK]
Don’t worry, this is totally normal….right? I mean, it’s totally normal for someone to sleep with their best friend, right???? And you were really drunk then so he probably doesn’t remember….much….
Fine, straight to the point, I slept with Yongbae….but it doesn’t have to mean anything. I mean, I’m sure people go around sleeping with their best friend’s all the time…right?
God, I am so dead.
Damn, damn damn damn damn, why the hell did I drink so much last night? Sure, it was an ‘open’ bar and everything was free, but it didn’t mean I had to drink practically half the bar!!! In fact, why did I even agree to go to that stupid party anyway??? Oh right, because Yongbae invited me and I can never resist his perfect pouty expression whenever he begs me to do something.
Shit shit shit shit!!! Stop thinking about his perfect lips damnit!!!
Wait, did I just say his ‘perfect lips’? Man, this hangover is definitely getting the best of me. Note to self, never drink, EVER again (I mean it this time)
And get your ass out of his bed, damnit!!! In fact, get out of his apartment before he wakes up and totally realizes what happened last night.
Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, I am SO going to hell for this.
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As the sunrays peek through the window, Yongbae awakens.
“Man….” he says to himself,”I should NOT have drunk so much last night.”
As he glances across the room, he couldn’t help but notice a certain feeling about it. No, it definitely wasn’t a ‘bad’ feeling, more of a totally alien feeling, something he could not make out. Yeap, he definitely had too much to drink last night.
Yongbae struggled to get out of bed, as the aftereffects of alcohol overload started to kick in. He made his way to the kitchen, where he proceeded to make himself a nice, steaming cup of aspirin.
Whilst flipping through the contents of yesterday’s newspaper, he couldn’t help but notice something flickering on the kitchen counter. Some spare change that he forgot to sort out, maybe? He walked towards the kitchen counter and picked up the foreign object, only to realize that is was not, in fact, pocket change.
In fact, it was far from pocket change. It looked more like an earring, diamond-studded, and it had this sort of familiarity to Yongbae.
“Oh…my…..god…” he gasped, as the events of the night before began to unfold in his mind.
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He made his way into the dance studio, unsure of what he was going to say once he saw ‘her’ because he had made a promise just a week before, and he practically had it etched in his memory.
“You have to promise me something,” Megan said, with a serious tone to her voice.
“Yes?” Yongbae asked curiously.
“You can never fall in love with me,” said Megan with clarity,” EVER,” to emphasize her point.
And it was hard for him to promise that, taking in the fact that he had already sort of fallen in love with her. But, he figured, if that was what she had wanted, and then he had no choice but to comply, no matter how ridiculous it seemed to him.
As he looked around, he couldn’t help noticing the absence of a certain someone.
“Hey,” he asked someone in the room,”Have you seen Megan?”
“Oh, didn’t you hear?” one of the dancers present replied,” She’s going back to the states, since your concert is done and over with.”
“Oh…..” was the only reply he managed to voice out. Well, maybe this was all for the better, he kept telling herself. Maybe with her gone, I can focus on my career, and won’t keep thinking about her all the time.
But it was still hard for him to take in. Well, I guess having a best friend who just leaves without a word would be considerably hard to take in, but it wasn’t like he half-expected it or anything.
But then again….it wouldn’t be too late to stop her…..
The next thing he knew, he was in a cab, on the way to the airport.
And he kept replaying in his mind, over and over, what he would say to her. But then, playing the scene in your head and doing it face to face was completely different.
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Once the cab came to a halt, Yongbae started running. Unsure what for, exactly. He highly doubted showing up at the airport really make Megan change her mind? Still, it wouldn’t hurt to try, would it? Either way, he could manage to convince her to stay, at least for another day or so and maybe gather up enough courage to tell her exactly how he felt about her. Then again, he could just be left at the airport, heartbroken and totally worthless. Still, he would regret it more if he didn’t at least try.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t make it past airport security. Not because he was carrying anything lethal in particular, but apparently the metal detectors were not in his favor. And since he had absolutely no patience whatsoever to deal with the guards, he made a run for it. “Heck, YG will settle the bail anyway,” he thought to himself as he ran aimlessly, leaving a trail of destruction in his path.
Then, he spotted her, just as she was about to board the gate.
“Megan!” he shouted out, obvious signs of desperation in his voice.
But she didn’t look back, heck; it was as if she didn’t hear him or something.
“MEGAN!” he shouted again, but to no avail. It was too late, she had boarded the plane, and no way in hell were they about to let some airport-security-offender board the plane, were they?
So he just sank to his knees, a single tear rolling down his cheek, and let go of the object he was grasping tightly in his right hand ; her earring.
Chapter 4 -Now
Okay, fine, maybe I WAS too tired after all that dancing. And maybe I shouldn’t have drunk so much. But, heck, it was Megan, and we were in a bar, so what else is there to drink in a bar, right? (fine, maybe I should’ve opted for gin instead)
So basically, I woke up (still dressed, thank god for that) in the middle of the dance studio, and guess who was right next to me? (or rather, right on top of me, well not particularly, but her head WAS on top of my stomach) and I have absolutely no idea how we ended up back in the studio, or even how we managed to walk all the way here from the bar, considering we were both pretty drunk as far as I remembered.
What’s weirder, I couldn’t bring myself to wake her. Well, she wouldn’t have woken up even if I tried, but….it just seemed…so right, having her here with me (corny, much?) so basically I just continued (pretending to sleep) That was, of course, until the other four amigos decided that we should start dance practice early and totally walked into the studio, only imagine their surprised faces when they caught us in that rather compromising situation, no?
Well, their snickers were enough to wake Megan up, and she punched me for not waking her up sooner (seeing as I was already awake by the time she was) So now, all these questions are running being tossed at me, and I have absolutely no reason to answer them.
Then again, their questioning is really starting to bug me, so I might as well comply.
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“Well, you mind telling us why we caught you sleeping in the middle of the dance studio,” asked our dutiful leader,”with a girl, mind you?” he said, pointing to Megan who, by now, was in the other room trying to fix her hair, although I’ve already told her a million times that it looks fine. It doesn’t really bother me much that he was being all ‘leadery’ and questioning about it, but it would really help if he dropped the joking-tone of his.
Well, then they all proceeded to laugh…again.
“Gosh, why do I even bother,” I said, trying to get them off my backs.
“Oh, come on,” said, once again, our dutiful leader ,”I’ve known you for half my life and this is the first time I’ve seen you with a girl….ever.”
And I knew that was true, because I’ve never really dated anyone before. Plus Jiyong wasn’t there when I was rehearsing with Megan.
“All I can say is,” started Seunghyun,”Way to go, man! She’s a hot catch.”
“Yeah, we should probably get on to the practicing, since YG will probably be here to check up on us any minute now,” came Megan, my life saver.
And so the rehearsing began.
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YG liked how the preparations were going. Heck, he even complimented Megan for getting the five of them to work together. But Megan remembered the one rule YG especially stressed on before she stepped onto that very studio.
“No fooling around with the guys,” his voice was clear in her head, “I mean it. I’ve seen what being with Yongbae had done to him, he practically couldn’t think straight for a week. So please, if you DO get involved with one of the guys, don’t break their hearts all of a sudden and run back to the States.”
Megan protested to this rule.
In the first place, she wasn’t particularly planning to hook up with any one of the guys anytime soon. And she wasn’t even ‘with’ Yongbae in the first place because technically it was just a one-night-stand….unless YG found out about that. And the only reason she went back to US was because she didn’t want Yongbae and her to get any further and thus ruin his career.
But she made the promise anyhow.
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As Megan proceeded rehearsing with the guys, she began noticing some of the other guys other than Yongbae. Turns out, some of them were pretty hot. In fact, ALL of them were pretty good-looking. Man, keeping this promise WOULD be hard.
At first, she noticed Seunghyun, mostly because of his stiffness. She practically had to move him like a puppet in order to get him to do the dance steps correctly.
And then there was Jiyong, the so-called ‘leader’. Not much of a talker though, since he rarely interacted with her.
And, of course, there was Seungri - the maknae, as everyone would call him. Megan thought he had a rather charming quality to him, being the youngest and all.
And for some reason, whenever Megan glanced at Daesung, he always seemed to be smiling. At first she thought this was rather creepy, but she got used to it….eventually.
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Megan got along well with the other members, but maybe because the other members were actually trying to get along with her as well, seeing as Megan could quite possibly be Yongbae’s future (and first ever) girlfriend. She didn’t really mind it all, actually, because she had already gotten used to the idea that people thought that she and Yongbae were a couple, seeing as how close they were.
But don’t get any ideas, now, because Megan and Yongbae were strictly best friends, nothing more.
Or at least that’s what Megan thought.
“Hey….” Yongbae came up to her one day after practice was done and over with.
“Yeap?” she replied, as normally as ever.
“Do you wanna, maybe, go out for dinner tonight?” he asked casually.
And when has Megan ever said ‘no’ to Yongbae?.
Chapter 5 - Jiyong
Fine, maybe it wasn’t fair of me to get mad at Yongbae like that (although he probably didn’t notice I was mad or anything, so…)
But even so, sure, I’m supposed to be glad that he’s found someone (although he claims he and her aren’t going out) but then again, what is this feeling inside me that I can’t seem to ignore.
It isn’t jealousy, definitely, because, don’t get me wrong, Megan’s pretty and all that but it’s not like we even actually had an entire conversation together. Plus, I’ve sworn of dating until…well, never. But why is it I can’t stop looking at her?
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Dinner last night - BAD IDEA
Not only did it worsen our already fragile friendship with each other, but I cant believe I was actually that close to revealing ‘it’.
Note to self : NEVER listen to YongBae ever again
And stop drinking, definitely.
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So…practice was…awkward. We didn’t even say a word to each other the entire time, and (apart from the whole 1 year break thing) this is probably the longest we’ve ever gone not talking to each other. I guess dinner was a bad idea. And thinking that she was going to be all right after I admitted that I still had feelings for her (not that I actually got to that point) was totally bullshit. What was seriously weird was how she just walked out of the restaurant - just like that, as if it was something I said.
She began talking to Jiyong today. Well, looks like Jiyong’s ready to get back in the game. The question is, why aren’t I doing anything about it?
Maybe it’s because I actually need to listen to what the damned psychiatrist said and ‘let her go’. Or maybe because I’m already used to the whole idea of watching her slip right through my fingers.
Darn, Jiyong’s really trying hard. And from the looks of it, they’re going out for dinner….tonight.
And Jiyong’s never had a good rep with dates. Man, he must really like her.
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“I’m SO sorry about this,” Jiyong apologized fervently. The restaurant totally screwed up his reservation and gave away his table to someone else , “I should’ve called and confirmed it earlier.”
“It’s fine, really,” Megan said, and she did really mean it. How many dates had she had that ended up in a stuffy restaurant and overpriced food, really, “But we can still have fun tonight, I mean, how about we just walk around in the park?”
“Really? You don’t mind that sort of thing?” Jiyong asked, clearly surprised by her statement.
“Well, it definitely would be better than all the other typical dates I’ve had.”
“Okay then. Lets walk,” he said, as he took her arm and led the way.
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She was startled, clearly.
How many times in her life had she actually seen stars in the sky?
And this was definitely one of the more memorable times.
He had brought her to the roof of a building.
So there she was, laying on the ground, with Jiyong beside her.
“So,” he began to say, “Is this date getting any better yet?”
“Honestly,” she replied, “It’s one of the best I’ve been on so far.”
Jiyong unconsciously moved his right arm closer to hers, and their hands brushed against each other.
Megan could only stare up to the sky, a smile now forming on her lips.
They stayed up until the morning, stargazing. When they got bored of that, they started talking, about, well, everything. From which school they went to, to dogs, to how many children they wanted (if they even wanted children that is). Megan just felt so comfortable talking to Jiyong, like she could practically tell him anything. She just had this feeling that she could trust him completely. Like he was the type of person you could blurt out your innermost feelings to and not feel insecure about it. He was no Yongbae, that was true, because no one could be a more trustworthy friend than Yongbae, but he was almost there.
“I should probably be getting you back,” Jiyong said all of a sudden, “We wouldn’t want the others to worry, would we?”
And just like that, they headed back to the dance studio.
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“So…” Yongbae asked as soon as Megan stepped into the studio, “How was the date?”
“It was…..” she replied, “pleasant…..”
“Tell me everything, don’t spare any details,” he said excitedly.
This is what Megan loved so much about Yongbae. He knew exactly when to care about what she was talking about.
Megan spared no details. From the point where Jiyong brought her to the restaurant to this morning where they were laying on the rooftop of the building. She recalled every word they said to each other perfectly, as she had the entire event etched in her memory.
Yongbae pretended to listen attentively as she continued on and on. He was just waiting for the moment when she said the word that he was really interested in.
“And…that was it,” she ended.
“Really? That’s all?” he asked curiously. Surely their ‘date’ couldn’t have ended just like that. Not even a small peck on the forehead? (which he found completely appalling)
“Yeah…..” she replied, “And what’s weird is that….I actually sort of enjoyed it.”
Yongbae took a moment to think. “Wait…” he asked, “Are you….falling for him?”
Megan took awhile to respond to that question. “Yeah…” she finally said, “I think I am….”
That struck Yongbae harder than it should have.
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Okay, so Megan might (possibly) like Jiyong. No big deal, right? I mean, something like this shouldn’t bother me, right? My best friend and my band-mate, I mean, this is great…really…really great.
This is good…..
In fact, this is great…..
I bet Jiyong must be feeling over the moon right now.
But then again…..
Why is it….I cant seem to shake this feeling off….
Do I really…..like her more than I should?
This, quite frankly, was not a hard question to answer.
Chapter 6 - Allies
So Jiyong and I have been going out for quite a few times now, and, honestly, I think this is one of the relationships that can actually last. Jiyong is a great guy, I really like him…a lot, plus Yongbae is fully supportive of us being together (as are the other members of Big Bang)
We’re going out again tonight, maybe this will finally be it.
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Jiyong and Megan sat across the table from each other, both placing one hand each on the table, within centimeters of each other. They were talking, as usual, but this time it seemed more…intimate, as you might call it. They no longer talked about trivial things, such as likes/dislikes, but more towards what they wanted to do in the future, how they saw themselves.
And, with much hesitation, Jiyong finally took her hand.
“Megan…..” he started off slowly.
Megan could only wait patiently as Jiyong fought hard to put his words in a sentence.
“Will you…..go out with me? As in….on a permanent basis?” he asked slowly, now a trail of sweat visibly falling from his brow.
At that moment Megan was confused. True, she had prepared for this very moment all week long, and she had already prepared what she had wanted to say to him (which, of course, was basically a ‘Yes, yes, oh my god, yes !!!!’) but at that very moment, her cellphone (on the table btw) rang furiously, indicating a text message received. Then, Megan saw it, the picture of her and Yongbae, used as a wallpaper on the screen, and this very picture brought her back to the year before, to the night where Yongbae had confessed everything to her. And although both of them were slurring in their speeches, she managed to catch a part of what he was saying.
“Megan…..” Yongbae slurred as he looked at her, “I love you….”
At that moment, they kissed. And it wasn’t one of those quick-chaste kisses, it was passionate, feeling, the signs of desperation being released all at once.
And as that very moment played through over and over again in Megan’s head, she began to reconsider. Was this what she really wanted? Was Jiyong really ‘the one’? If there was someone else, someone else she had this feeling for….was it….Yongbae?
“Megan?” Jiyong asked as he noticed the too-long period of silence between the two.
“Excuse me,” Megan blurted out. She quickly stood and made her way for the door.
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Megan banged repeatedly on the door, although unsure of what she would say once it was answered.
“Okay, okay, I’m coming,” she heard through the other end.
As the door opened, she was greeted by a groggy and partially confused Yongbae.
“Megan?” he asked groggily, obvious signs that he was in dreamland before he was ever so rudely interrupted.
“Those three words,” she asked, “The very three words you said to me the night before I left.”
“What about them?” a very confused Yongbae asked.
“Did you mean them?” she asked, her voice now trailing quietly instead of demandingly as before.
He waited awhile before answering.
“How could I have not?” he finally replied.
“Do you still?” she asked, a single tear now forming in her left eye.
Yongbae considered all the possibilities. Here was a girl whom he was totally and utterly smitten by, standing at his very doorstep, questioning him about the past. But then again, what would happen to Jiyong if he told her the truth? Would Jiyong feel betrayed? Would Jiyong blame Yongbae and perhaps never speak to him ever again? No…it was too much to risk.
“No….” he replied slowly, “You asked me to forget about you……and I did what you told me to.”
“Oh…….” she then replied.
There was a moment of silence between the two, and neither could tell whether it was a good silence or a bad silence.
“Excuse me…..” she broke the silence.
The next thing Yongbae knew, he was back in his bed, laying on his back.
Nope, he was definitely not going to get any sleep tonight.
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As Megan made her way down the stairs from Yongbae’s apartment, she couldn’t help but wonder if the answer she had gotten really was the answer that she wanted.
Then, she couldn’t help noticing the figure that stood leaning against the lamp post as she reached the ground floor.
“Jiyong….” was all she managed to voice out.
Silence…I hear it’s a wonderful thing.
“How did you…..” she continued.
“I figured this would be the first place you’d be headed.”
At that moment, she no longer cared. Her feelings towards Yongbae were completely forgotten, as she ran towards Jiyong and leaped into his waiting arms.
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ then?” Jiyong stated, half-jokingly.
Megan answered, her voice muffled by Jiyong’s shoulder.
Chapter 7 - Then again…
Yongbae couldn’t help but feel he made a horrible mistake. But then, it was too late to admit it now. Megan was happy, and, by the looks of it, so was Jiyong.
But with every laughter that Megan and Jiyong shared, with every touch, and the looks that they gave one another, Yongbae couldn’t help but think. Was this really what he and Megan looked liked a year ago to others? He noted that sense of familiarity whenever he was in the same room as Megan and Jiyong. And they weren’t flirting either, they were talking, just talking to one another. In fact, if you didn’t know them, you wouldn’t even suspect that they were going out in the first place.
It was true, Yongbae had left the past behind him. He did his best to forget everything that had happened between Megan and him over the year. Heck, he even resorted to secret therapy sessions with Dr. Phyllis to forget about her. And he did. One day, he woke up to find that Megan was no longer the center of attention in his mind.
That all changed, of course, when Megan mysteriously reappeared right in front of his eyes. From that moment on, it had been like the way it had always been when he was around Megan. Always flirting, always joking around, but in the end it all seemed like a cruel joke to him, because he knew that she would never feel the same way.
“Hey…” he approached her when Jiyong was out of the way, “Lets go out tonight.”
“Erm…okay…” answered a clearly startled Megan, “What’s the occasion?”
“I don’t know…it just feels,” he said with much hesitation, “like we haven’t talked a whole lot lately.”
And it was true. Megan had spent most of her week with Jiyong (day and night). They would always show up for practice together, and always leave together. Whatever they did when they weren’t in the studio was pretty much a mystery to the rest of the guys.
“Oh…sure,” she suddenly exclaimed, “I’ll just, erm, cancel my plans with Jiyong then.”
”Erm, wait, if it’s that much trouble,” he said hesitantly, “Then don’t bother. I don’t want to ruin your evening.”
“It’s fine, he’ll understand,” she said, a much-needed smile now appearing on her face, “Feels like I haven’t seen a whole lot of you lately either.”
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Yongbae took Megan out to dinner that night, and it seemed like old times again. Their half-flirting half-joking manner continued on and on, but Yongbae couldn’t help but notice the stares the both of them got from the people at the restaurant.
It was a good thing that camera’s weren’t allowed in the restaurant, and as soon as one of the waiters saw you so much as taking out your handphone, they would immediately rush to your side, as if to ‘monitor’ you. Besides, Yongbae thought to himself, YG would flip if he found out he was dating, or in this case, having dinner with a girl that everyone automatically thought he was dating.
Well, that didn’t stop the people from the restaurant from talking of course. Every now and then a “Hey, isn’t that Yongbae from BB?” would interrupt their ongoing conversation. Honestly, Yongbae felt annoyed. Was it SUCH a headline that he was at a restaurant eating out with a friend? Everytime he heard someone giving off some comment about Megan, he felt like marching right up to them and telling them to shut up. But that would’ve ruined the entire mood of the evening now, wouldn’t it?
Fortunately for Megan, she was used to being the ‘Jane Doe’ whom went out with all the A-listers, mainly because of the many dinner sessions she and her big-fancy-record-label-owner brother shared before she debuted. She learned eventually to block out any unnecessary conversations that she did not want to hear.
Megan spent the entire night talking about Jiyong. How she felt about him, how he greeted her in the mornings, how he would escort her back to her apartment after dinner etc.. She just wanted to talk about him, and nothing else, because he was all that mattered to her.
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“So,” Yongbae said, starting off one of their familiar conversations, “Do you love him?”
“Well….” she answered hesitantly, as if choosing her words, “He’s a nice guy…and is the perfect gentleman everytime we go out.”
“That doesn’t answer the question,” he retorted.
“Whats with the 21 questions?” she answered back, obvious hints of annoyance in her tone, “It’s not like I’m running off with him to Vegas first thing in the morning or something.”
“It’s a simple yes or no question.”
“And you of all people should know that it’s not that easy to answer that question,” she quickly answered back, irritated.
“I just…” he started off again, “don’t want you to be with some guy just to get back at me.”
“Since when did me dating Jiyong become about getting back at you?”
“Since you’re dating a guy that you don’t know whether you love or not,” he said.
Megan was crushed. She didn’t think that of all people, Yongbae would be the one to tell it straight to her face. It was as if he thought Jiyong was just another guy like the ones she used to pick up a year back.
“I just….” he tried to reason, “Don’t want it to end up like it did with you and Jungmin.”
Megan was crushed. She couldn’t believe that Yongbae would bring up Jungmin right here, right now.
“Jiyong is nothing like Jungmin,” she retorted, her eyes now wet with tears as the memories of Jungmin proceeded to fill her mind, “You of all people should know that.”
“Well, then maybe I just don’t trust Jiyong like I should,” he said, “Maybe, I just don’t trust you like I should. Maybe, I think that either way you’re going to end up destroying the relationship.”
Megan was hurt by Yongbae’s words. And it hurt not because of the ‘mean’ things he was saying to her, but mainly because she knew that those words were true. Her eyes were now wet with tears, and before she knew it, tears were streaming down her cheeks.
“Megan….I..”
But before he could finish his sentence, Megan has already gotten up and made her way to the door. She couldn’t bear it any longer, and she might as well save Yongbae some credibility.
Chapter 8 - Hurt
[FLASHBACK]
It was the summer of 07’ and, frankly, Megan was the first to be in the mood for summer love. Sure, she had a few kickoffs with a few guys in the past, but those relationships were far from serious as far as she was concerned. She was ready for an actual relationship, with an actual guy with actual boyfriend potential, not another one night stand as a result of overdrinking the night before.
Then she met Jungmin.
And so they dated. Sure, they had a couple of flings but then any couple would have their share of fights amongst each other.
So to Megan, they were a perfectly normal healthy couple.
Sure they were.
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“Mmmph, what do you want?” said a groggy Jiyong as he opened the door only to find none other that Yongbae at the other end.
“Geez,” continues Jiyong, “If you were Megan, I wouldn’t have minded so much.”
“Yeah….” Yongbae replied, “Speaking of, she wouldn’t have happened to call you, did she?”
“No…..not that I’ve heard anyways,” Jiyong answered, “You know, some people ACTUALLY like to enjoy their sleep.”
“Yeah….sorry about this..but we need to talk,” said Yongbae.
Jiyong gave him a questioning look.
“Look, if it wasn’t important, I wouldn’t have come here in the middle of the night.”
“You live right across the street; I don’t think that was much of an effort on your part.”
“Can we just..get to the talking part…please,” Yongbae said, with a sense of urgency in his voice.
Jiyong hesitated for awhile, then said, “Fine,” and let Yongbae in.
“What is SO important that you couldn’t wait until the next morning to tell me?”
Yongbae took a seat on the couch. Jiyong followed.
“It’s…about Megan,” Yongbae started.
“Yeah, I figured.”
“Look, we had a little….argument…over dinner, and it was regarding you.”
“Well, that’s what I figured. But I guess you showing up at my house at 1 in the morning totally gives it off right?”
“I just…need to know something.”
Yongbae paused. He was suddenly reconsidering the idea of paying this visit to Jiyong.
“Are you….in love with Megan?” Yongbae said.
“Very much so, why?”
“How much in love are you with her?”
“Erm…a whole lot, I guess. Where is all this coming from?” Jiyong asked hesitantly.
“Look…Megan used to date this….guy. And he was everything to her. In fact, he pretty much controlled her whole life.”
“But Megan would never let anyone do that to her,” Jiyong interrupted.
“Look, just hear the whole story first okay?”
Jiyong nodded, and proceeded to listen attentively.
“He would always bring her stuff, and always gave her anything she wanted. And I guess at that point, that was what she would’ve called ‘true love’. Anyways, she immediately fell head over heels for him. And as time passed, I don’t think she noticed, but, he began to be the one more in control of the relationship, if you know what I mean.”
“Wait, so Megan just surrendered to this…guy?” Jiyong interrupted again, “That…doesn’t sound much like her.”
“So Megan became more submissive,” Yongbae continued, ignoring Jiyong’s comment, “She became the one buying gifts for him. She became the one who would drop everything whenever he called, because I think she truly believed that deep down inside he was a good person at heart.”
“Okay…..” Jiyong spoke, “How long did this go on?”
“For about a month and a half. Then, I guess, she just got tired of catering to all his needs. She broke it off with him in the end.”
“Well, that’s good, I guess, I still don’t see how…..”
“It didn’t end there,” Yongbae interrupted, “He would call her at least twenty times a day, and when she never picked up, he started showing up at dance practices, demanding to be let in. He would stand at her doorstep all night long, to the point where she was even afraid of going out of the house.”
“He finally reached her, of course,” Yongbae continued, “and practically got on his knees and begged her to take him back. And she didn’t refuse. They started going out again, only it was on her terms this time. But over time, he started becoming more and more possessive. He would practically make her wear the couple ring that he’d gotten her, although she didn’t want to. In the end, she came to me for help. She wanted to break things off with him, but she didn’t know how.”
“So….” Jiyong asked curiously, “What did you do?”
“Beat the guy up, roughen him up a little, told him to never set foot within a 10 mile radius near her again,” he answered.
“Well, that was a nice story and all,” replied Jiyong, “But what does this have to do with me exactly? You know I would never do such a thing to Megan.”
“It’s just….” Yongbae started, “Megan swore from that day on that she would never go out with anyone ever again.”
Jiyong chuckled.
“And she did live up to it…for awhile, then..of course….that thing happened.”
“Wait….” asked Jiyong, “What is ‘that thing’ exactly?”
“Oh,” exclaimed Yongbae when he just remembered that Jiyong did not exactly know of his and Megan’s past, “It’s..nothing really.”
This earned a rather questioning look from Jiyong.
“Look, back to the point,” Yongbae said, desperate to end the silence, “If you’re going to ‘be’ with Megan, and you’re pretty much sure that she’s the one, then go for it.”
Jiyong nodded.
“But,” he started again, “If you ever hurt her, I swear, no brotherly bond between us is going to stop me from hurting you as much as you hurt her.”
“Look, I appreciate the effort,” said a rather calm Jiyong, “But the last thing in the world I would ever do is hurt Megan. So, you can be pretty sure that I won’t do a thing to hurt her in any way.”
“Good….” said Yongbae after a long moment of silence, “At least we’re on the same page here.”
At that point, Yongbae proceeded for the door. His watch read 2 a.m. and he was worried sick over how he was going to get up for tomorrow’s early practice.
“Oh, just so you know,” said Jiyong, “I know about you and Megan. That you two were together in the past.”
“Oh…..you do…” said a rather startled Yongbae.
“Yeah, the maknae sort of blurted it out to me the other day. And, look, I’m totally fine by it, how you used to date my girlfriend and all,” he continued, “But, if I ever catch you trying to take her away from me, well, then you’re in for hell.”
“Good to know,” answered Yongbae, and he closed the door behind him.
Well, thought Yongbae, obviously he doesn’t know that all Megan and I ever had was a one night stand. Thank god for the maknae’s poor understanding skills.
And Yongbae made his way to his apartment, for a good night’s sleep.
Chapter 9 - Senseless
Megan did not get a wink of sleep that night. The ghost from her past, namely Jungmin, lingered in her memory, refusing to go away. Every time Megan closed her eyes; there he was, his demented eyes staring at her, following her every move. She couldn’t take it. She desperately tried to get her mind off him; reading, cooking, ironing, none of it was helping. Even once she was done sorting out her oversized wardrobe, she could still see his face, and it gave her no comfort knowing that he was still somewhere out there.
She grabbed her mobile phone and dialed the first number that came to her mind.
“Megan?” the voice at the other end of the line spoke.
Megan could not bring herself to talk. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
“Megan? Is everything all right?” the worried voice spoke again.
“Michael…..” Megan finally spoke.
“What’s wrong?” said the voice.
“Everything,” she choked out, tears not filling up her eyes, flowing down her cheeks.
“Where are you? I’ll send someone to get you,” said the voice again.
“No, don’t,” Megan said in between sobs, “I just..really need someone to talk to. Do you have time?”
“Of course.”
Megan then proceeded to explain everything that happened. From the incident a year ago right up till the events that occurred that very day. Michael listened to every word on the other line, non-judgingly.
“Well….I can’t really help you there,” he said when Megan had finished; “I’m not exactly an expert on relationship problems.”
“It’s okay,” Megan said, her eyes now swollen from the crying, “I just needed someone to listen.”
“Do you want me to book a flight for you? Back to the States? It’s about time you came back,” Michael said on the other line.
“No, it’s fine,” said Megan, her eyes now dry. The last thing she would want to do was to leave abruptly like the last time without any explanations. She couldn’t do that to Yongbae again, no matter how much he hurt her.
“Okay then…” Michael said.
Megan hung up the phone.
She always felt comforted after talking to Michael. He was her brother after all. He was her go-to guy whenever she was feeling down or having problems.
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It was 8 am in the morning. Likewise, Megan had been up the whole night. She was afraid that if she fell asleep, Jungmin would appear in her sleep. At least now she could ‘control’ Jungmin’s presence in her mind.
The phone rang, and Megan, in desperate need of human interaction, did not hesitate to answer.
“Hey,” said a voice at the other end, which Megan recognized as Jiyong’s, “Did I wake you?”
“No, it’s fine,” she answered, her mood automatically revived once she heard his voice, “I got up awhile ago.”
“So, I was wondering….” Jiyong’s voice trailed off, “Whether we could meet for breakfast or something.”
At that moment, Megan caught her reflection on the refrigerator door. She noticed the dark circles formed at her lower eyelid, as a result of zero-sleep the night before. She thanked god that today was a Sunday, and she didn’t have to go to work with eye bags.
“Err….,” said Megan, now reconsidering Jiyong’s offer, “I’m actually pretty swamped today, have to settle some things with my agency etc.”
“Oh….”
“Sorry…” Megan said, her tone full of regret.
“It’s okay…” said Jiyong, “Some other time then.”
Megan hung up.
She felt awful that she had just lied to Jiyong. But she didn’t want Jiyong to worry.
She then grabbed her purse, and headed for the door.
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Outside Megan’s apartment, Jiyong was dumbfounded. He had hoped for a nice breakfast with Megan, to straighten some things out in regard to the events that took place the night before.
Jiyong signaled for a cab, and went back to his apartment.
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Megan knocked relentlessly on the door.
“Coming,” said a rather irritated voice on the other end.
The door opened, and there stood Seunghyun on the other end.
“Well….this is a surprise….” he said, rubbing his eyes, obviously awakened by the relentless banging of the door.
“Let’s go shopping,” said Megan, obviously aloof to Seunghyun’s current condition.
“Wha?” said a clearly startled Seunghyun, “Don’t you have, like, a boyfriend or something?”
Clearly, Seunghyun would do anything to go back to sleep.
“Yeah, I sort of lied to him about something, so going shopping with him is out of the way,” Megan explained.
Seunghyun raised an eyebrow, clueless over the entire situation.
“Pleasee????” Megan said, in a pleading tone. Her lower lip now stuck out.
Seunghyun stared at the now pouting Megan, and finally gave in.
“10 minutes,” he said, and let Megan in.
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Seunghyun had obviously no idea what he had gotten himself into. For one, Megan was a crazy compulsive shopping addict. And two, Megan had brought him to a boulevard, where all the high end brands were located. Seunghyun was clearly dumbstruck when he saw Megan shop. Whenever she entered a shop, she became a blur, and clothes would mysteriously disappear off the rack.
They were at a Louis Vuitton store when Seunghyun managed a glance at Megan’s purchases. As far as he could tell, she had gotten close to 3 pairs of shoes. The cashier rung up the purchases, and the bill came up to a total staggering 2 million won.
“I think you are officially insane,” Seunghyun stated as Megan paid for her shoes using a credit card.
“Do not question a girl’s form of therapy,” Megan stated, “Besides, you haven’t even seen me shop for jewelry yet.”
“This may sound mean,” said Seunghyun half-jokingly, “But I pity your future husband.”
Megan could only laugh at his statement.
After Megan signed the delivery form, they proceeded to the next store.
Seunghyun watched helplessly as Megan paraded around the Elie Tahari boutique. He couldn’t help but wonder how Megan could afford doing this on a daily basis.
“Are your parents, like, major billionaires or something?” he asked when they continued their walk.
“Not exactly, they’re rich and all that, but my brother is the one who brings in the big bucks.”
“Your brother?” Seunghyun asked questionably.
“Yeah, he’s the president of some fancy record label,” she explained.
“Oh, so he pays for all of your purchases?”
“I guess,” she trailed off, “It’s his bank account, right?”
“You’re using..your brother’s bank account.”
“Well, he noticed that everytime I shop my bank account gets completely emptied, meaning I wont be able to shop anymore. So he created a joint account so that once my account gets emptied, money is automatically transferred into my account.”
“Well, you have a very good-willed brother, that’s all I can say.”
And it was true, Megan’s brother was the best one could possibly find.
Then again, it WAS Michael who had pushed Megan into choreographing for Big Bang.
Which wasn’t all that bad, now that she thought about it.