Two Hearts- Maknae, Saranghaeyo (Chapter 3)
Chapter 3
Sunny hummed a bit to herself as she flitted around her room, trying to find her cellphone. This was going to be such a fun year, she thought to herself as she finally found it behind Taeyeon’s nightstand (how in the world did it get there?). Sunny glanced at the mirror one last time, checked to see that her outfit and hair were totally in place and left the room, flicking the light switch off.
When she walked into the lounge, she found Sooyoung pacing around, on the phone. “Oppa you’re so girly…Haha, no you! Aish, don’t worry so much, the girls and I are gonna come over in fifteen minutes to meet up with you guys. Alright, alright, you hang up first. Bye, love you oppa!”
Sunny’s heart constricted and she began to take little shallow breaths as Sooyoung hung up the phone and noticed her. “Unnie! Are you ready to go now?” Fast as the speed of light, Sunny smiled her trademark “aegyo” smile and said cheerily, “Yup! We just got to wait for Seohyun to arrange her stuff in Hyoyeon’s room and for Tiffany to hurry up in the bathroom.” Sooyoung smiled back at her and sat down on the couch to resume texting her boyfriend.
If Sooyoung had looked closer, she would have noticed that Sunny’s smile wasn’t as cheerful as usual. Sunny sighed to herself and tried to force herself to calm down. She loved Sooyoung just as much as the other girls, but damn it, jealousy and heartbreak were two things that she had no control over- no matter how much she would have liked to tell herself to get over it.
At least, she reminded herself, he’s happy. He’s so ridiculously happy, like an innocent child. And Sunny wanted nothing more than for him to keep his happiness, even if it meant she had to suffer on her own.
And it wasn’t like Sungmin really knew who she was anyway.
The first thing Seohyun felt was the blast of air conditioning that pummeled her face as she stepped into the somewhat high class café/restaurant known to her new dorm mates as Tony’s. A man clad in a simple but elegant waiter outfit approached them and gave them a wide, boyish smile. It was hard to tell whether he was in his late twenties or early thirties because of his overall youthful appearance and mussy hair- the other girls seemed to be quite familiar with him.
The girls greeted him: “Hi Tony-sunbaenim!” and he said back with ease, “Hey ladies- welcome back on campus. How were your summers?” Varied responses came from the girls while they complimented on the well-being of the restaurant and Tony. Seohyun stood there silently until Tony noticed her and said, “Oh, well here’s a face I haven’t seen before. Hey there sweetheart, you friends with these girls?” Seohyun, taken a bit by surprise by his query, blushed bright pink and was about to stammer back an answer to him when Sunny thankfully saved her and said, “Omo sunbae, it’s even better! This is Seohyun, the new maknae. So Nyuh Shi Dae has finally been established!” Sunny lead Seohyun to Tony and introduced her to him. “Seohyun, this is Tony-sunbaenim. He’s an alumni of SM and used to be a member of the popular guy group H.O.T. back in prehistoric times.” Tony chuckled and said, “Running this place is something of a hobby.” Seohyun giggled as well and bowed a deep 90 degrees to him.
“We come here to eat ‘cause we can get special rates out of him,” Heechul joked, coming down the upstairs dining floor. Seohyun thought she vaguely recognized him and said, “Kim Heechul-ssi?” Heechul turned to her and said, “Oh, hello, hello! Sungmin- your cousin, I believe?- told me you were coming today. You’re the Seo family’s only daughter right? Well congrats on becoming maknae- I wish you luck in dealing with the Ice Princess in the morning. A real monster at times.” Jessica sent him a scathing glare. “Well come on everyone! Let’s PARTY!” “In Heechul-speak, that mean’s let’s get drunk,” Tony cut in and Heechul stuck his tongue out at him.
His phone vibrated again and he flipped open his phone, the brightness of the screen blinding him for a millisecond. He groaned to himself when it was the same pleading message from Sungmin again. He totally would have come, if he wasn’t absolutely certain she was going to be there- and undoubtedly seduce him again.
Sighing, he gracefully slipped out of the tree that had been his hiding place for a while and walked around campus some more. No way was he going to let her get to him. He had a promise to keep.
They entered a room with two huge tables put together where eleven other guys sat. “Everyone! So Nyuh Shi Dae has their final member!” All the boys stood up and cheered and the girls laughed and bowed to their male sunbaes. Tony left the room to put their orders in (the guys had ordered for everyone already.) Conversations began to swell in the room and Seohyun found herself being approached by the very different and unique members of the band Super Junior.
The leader, Park Jungsu (he had insisted she call him Leeteuk-oppa), had brown-blond dyed hair and was quite the cheery and sociable persona. He seemed to get along with everyone (Seohyun couldn’t help but notice how frequently he hung with Taeyeon-unnie and how whenever he touched her, his hand lingered for just a second longer).
Seohyun had met Heechul on several occasions before when she accompanied her parents to banquets and parties and had seen him there- but she didn’t really know him that well. He came off as a joker and loved to play little pranks on everyone.
Han Geng, the only Chinese member in the group who was here by special foreign transfer student scholarship, came off as quiet, sensible and probably the only person in the room with any means of controlling Heechul. Seohyun was actually quite amazed the true power he really exerted when Heechul became too rowdy. Han Geng seemed very nice though and he kindly answered her questions about campus.
Kim Jongwoon, or Yesung as he told her to address him as, was truly an enigmatic person. “Yesung-oppa’s vocals are truly amazing- but no one really knows anything about him,” Hyoyeon-unnie told her. He didn’t seem to converse or mingle with the girls much, except for maybe a word or two with Yuri or Taeyeon. Seohyun occasionally saw him throw longing glances at someone and she couldn’t quite determine who it was.
Kangin was loud and boisterous and obviously got along quite well with Heechul. He was interested in Seohyun’s story of getting here, but his attention span was somewhat short and distracted. Kangin was also something of a heavy drinker as she could see him down large amounts of alcohol at a time every now and then.
Seohyun wouldn’t have thought Shindong to be such a talented dancer, but looks could be deceiving. He could think of amazing puns and jokes, within seconds, the whole room would be bursting with laughter and Seohyun liked his personality a lot. Only a few minutes later, she and Shindong became fast friends.
Sungmin couldn’t have been more delighted to see the cousin he hadn’t seen in a while and he and Seohyun happily embraced each other. Sungmin was the son of her aunt on her mother’s side and they grew up with each other. So far, she could tell that Sungmin hadn’t changed much- he was still boyish and full of aegyo (and she taunted him playfully on how he hadn’t grown much taller). She noted amusedly on how he couldn’t bear to stay anymore than a few minutes at a time from Sooyoung.
Eunhyuk had to be one of the best dancers ever; he was just about equal to Hyoyeon-unnie, whom he, speaking of which, couldn’t keep his hands off of. He was also ridiculously hilarious and Seohyun was giggling at his antics in no time.
Donghae was Eunhyuk’s cousin and Seohyun couldn’t have met a sweeter, more charming boy (save Kyuhyun). His dancing moves were phenomenal and his voice was quite good as well. Seohyun couldn’t help smiling at the little glances he flicked at Yoona and how her unnie blushed and grinned back at him.
Siwon, Sooyoung’s older brother and the eldest son to the infamous Chois was anything but self-absorbed with himself. Seohyun had met him once at a party the Chois hosted and was still in deep admiration of him. Siwon was polite, charming and well-mannered, the perfect gentlemen and Seohyun suspected that most girls couldn’t help coming to him all the time. Tiffany-unnie seemed enthralled in conversation with him and Taeyeon-unnie could be seen eyeing him all night long.
Ryeowook at first was somewhat shy and quiet but after talking with him for some time, he seemed to open up more to her. His cooking was rumored to be revered as the best on campus and, according to slurred ranting from Kangin, second best to Kyuhyun.
Kibum seemed reserved and paid the festivities little to no attention at all. Yuri-unnie informed her that he spent the least time with Super Junior, not that any of it was his fault- he had his acting lessons and career to balance as well, and most of the members understood that. Seohyun did take note that Yoona refused to look him in the eye. And Donghae? It was like Kibum didn’t even exist to him.
After a while, the excitement in the roomed seemed to die down and Seohyun became more and more anxious. She knew from talk amongst her unnies and sunbaes that Kyuhyun was definitely a prominent member of Super Junior- but there had been no sign of him in the room. At this point, her longing and desire to see him was expanding to when she could no longer take it anymore…
“Kangin-oppa, where is Kyuhyun-oppa? I haven’t seen him all day.” Seohyun stared at Jessica, slightly relieved that she asked the question she had been debating to ask herself…but she also was confused as to why Jessica-unnie would be so concerned as well. “GameKyu?” said Kangin. “I dunno, I haven’t seen him either. The evil maknae should be here…I bet Sungmin’s seen him, being his roommate and all…” Heechul looked pointedly at Jessica and then back at Sungmin, who flicked an unsteady glance at Jessica before saying, “Oh yeah, I met up with him…he did mention something about home…”
“Is he alright?!” Seohyun’s voice echoed in the room. Everyone was staring at her and she herself couldn’t believe she had made such an outburst. Eunhyuk stared questioningly at Seohyun and said, “Eh? Seohyun-ssi, you know Kyu?” Feeling her cheeks turn warm with embarrassment, Seohyun said, almost mumbling, “I’ve known him since we were kids…Kyuhyun’s family has never been well off…what if- what if he suddenly can’t afford to go to university…his dreams would be crushed and-and…I’ll never see him again like I promised I would...” Her voice had hitched up an octave and Taeyeon enveloped her in a hug and said soothingly, “Aww…someone’s in love.” “That’s so cute Seohyun!” Yoona cooed. Seohyun smiled sheepishly and said, “Thank you Yoona-unnie…but I don’t know if he still remembers…”
Donghae had been quiet up until now- he spoke up: “Come to think of it…he did always mention this one girl from his childhood. He wouldn’t say much about her, but from what I could tell, he was crazy about her. So much that it nearly drove me and Wookie here insane.” Ryeowook chuckled although his smile seemed reminiscent and wistful. “Ah yes, I remember now…that probably was you, Seohyun. I don’t know where he is now, but if he were here, I’d say he would be ecstatic to see you.” She went pink with embarrassment again as her sunbaes and unnies came up to her pelting her with questions of how much she and Kyuhyun loved each other and if they had ever gone all the way.
Finally, Taeyeon told everyone to back off and Seohyun requested if she could go outside for a bit for a breather. Grateful to everyone, she ran into Tony on the way, bowed to him again and gave him a tip before exiting the restaurant. The night air was cool and tranquil- Seohyun could feel her nerves ease themselves as she walked around, exploring campus on her own. Despite that she hadn’t seen Kyuhyun yet, she had not felt so alive, so happy in the past year until now.
Just then, someone that seemed to be walking quickly and not paying any attention to where he was going knocked right into Seohyun and she fell to the ground, squeaking. “Omo! I’m so sorry, are you okay, miss?” Seohyun was just about to reply hastily, “Yes, I’m fine “ and move quickly away if he was a potential pervert…but she stopped. Her heart, her mind, her body…everything stopped. She could recognize that velvety, low tone anywhere even if she had gone deaf somehow. Seohyun looked up and found the concerned and shocked face of the one she hadn’t seen in so long, the one she loved so much staring right back at her.
She whispered, her heart thumping erratically:
“Kyuhyun-oppa?”