IBS*Chap. 7, Seoul March ‘ 09 : Welcome Back

[Who 's the best match for Nisshi-ssi?]

Who 's the best match for Nisshi-ssi?

Jaebeom

Jiyong

SeungHyun a.k.a TOP

Another idol.

[onlineloveauthor]

Idol Big Show: Debut Stage

Foreword:


In a world unknown to many, there exists a place where perfectly fashioned individuals co-habitates in hopes of giving great joy and entertainment to the rest of the human race.
While many of these individuals have bled sweat and tears to be part of this world, few are aware that once you get in, getting out unscathed is an impossibility. Masked behind the beautiful exterior of music and entertainment, scandals and controversy arise almost everyday.

To fanboys and fangirls, the world of Idols is a world they could only dream of and theirs screams echoes of anticipation and longing. But as the MC's que out and the curtains fall on this big Idol stage, what happens on the now covered stage?

This is not a story of a girl who falls in love with a famous Idol and overcomes all obstacles. This is a story of a girl, who no matter how far she ran, found herself in the middle of this blackened stage of pretentiousness and deceit only to find that, just like in any world, love is just one big show; comedic, intense,  heart racing, sad,but altogether highly entertaining


*The story's time-line is based on factual events that were taken from various blogs and news articles on the entertainment industry of Korea.

Poster:
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/6668/posterpa.jpg


Jaeni Couple Pic:
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/3126/jaeni.jpg

Jini Couple Pic:
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/6825/jini.jpg

Hyuni Couple Pic:
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/2727/hyuni.jpg

*I apologize for the crappy editing...I tried my best...Photoshop Beginner my friends...

[onlineloveauthor]

Prologue: Seattle '04

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“So...” She said almost inaudibly.
“So...” He replied as if mimicking the sadness in her voice.
They both sat in the empty park bench and with the gray skies hovering above them, had set the mood that they both were in.

“!@#$!!!...Argh...” She said as she clenched her fist. “ If you only listened to me...or to your mom...this wouldn't be happening... Why do you have to be stubborn, huh?? College is the right thing to do.” She was now trembling hard, looking up so that her tears won't fall.

But her tears were just as stubborn as he was.

“Not for me...”

He said somewhat emotionless and remained still and calm. He was usually good with his words, sugar coating them every time she would get mad at him. But today, he was speechless. He knew there was no use saying those sweet words, when they were such in a bitter situation.

“I..I..” He stuttered, something he had never done before.“It's not like were breaking up you know?”

She suddenly turned towards him, her eyes red and her nose runny. She was now filled with anger or sadness that was masked by her impulsive rage. “ And that makes it ok? You're going to live a thousand  miles away to god knows where damn it!!!! We might as well effing break up!”

He held her cheeks with both his hands,trying to calm her down. “You don't mean that do you?” He said as he let out his adorable pout. “I would die if you do”

“Of course not!!!! Do you think I'd be this upset if I wanted to?”She said almost shouting now. Even the innocent passer-bys was startled by the sound of her voice.

 “Stop shouting at me!” He said, startled by the sudden rise in his voice. “Look babe. I'm sorry....College  isn't for everyone, and its certainly not for me....”

“And what singing is?.. C'mon Jay...since when have you been so good at carrying a tune...”
But she knew this wasn't true. He was good.... No, he was great! But for some reason, she wanted to be selfish, she wanted him here...with her... even if it meant giving up his dream. “Dream???” She thought to herself as he tried to explain himself further. “Was this even his dream? Sure, he was always excited during their karaoke weekends and friday night clubbing. But.....”

“...do you really have to go to Korea to be the next justin timberlake?” She finally said out loud “I mean do you even know how to speak...Korean?”


“Look babe... That's why I'm going there. I know I'm not as good a singer as you, but that’s what the training is for..”

“ You know that's not what I meant” She said guiltily. “It's just that...”

“Aww babe... why don't you just say it..”

“Say what???”

“hmmmmm...That you'll...miss me?”
He said as he tried to tickle her. But then suddenly out of nowhere....

TOINK!
“Idiot!!!! Of course I'll miss you! That's the whole point of this conversation! Aisshhh!”
Suddenly, silence fell upon them once again. She nervously bit on her nails while he reached for something in his pocket.

“Babe... This is not me breaking up with you. But for the mean time, hold on to this” He pulled out his silver dog tag with both their names engraved on it.
“What's this?” She said
“Its a promise...”
“Promise? A promise that you won't look at anyone else but me?” 
“Ahmmm...not exactly” He said with a teasing grin followed by a nervous laugh. “Its just a promise... a promise That... I wont lose you and.... you won't lose me.” He handed her the chain and tag and said “its a done deal Nisshi...this might be the cheesiest thing you'll here from me, but Nis...no matter what happens, even though were ocean's apart, we'll still love each other. No matter how we express it, through myspace, IM's or long distance phone calls, I dont care, just promise me...that I won't lose you”

She could not get herself to say anything at that moment. Her lips were shaking and her throat was dry. This was it. This was the last day that they'll be with each other. She tried to get a grip...just enough to say something comparable to what he just said. But all she could come with was
“Y...ee..s...You.... won't lose me.”
And like a scene straight out of a movie, they kissed in the unexplainable coldness of that summer in Seattle.

[onlineloveauthor]

Chapter I: Seoul September '08

“Ick!!!!AHHHHHHHHH!!! Hoooot!!!”
The steam from the pot was enough to burn her face. She's been slaving in her kitchen apartment since that morning trying to cook something authentic. But alas! All she can come with was Ramyun and fried fishcakes. It wasn't that she wasn't a good cook, her anxiousness and anticipation was just getting in the way.


“Aishhh!!!” She said more loudly this time. Stomping her feet and almost cryingat the sight of her “supposed” masterpiece dinner.

“Beep Beep...”
The sound of the incoming text message was enough to bring her back to her senses.

“Yeobo¹...
I'm about to go on stage..
So nervous! :s
Plzzz Give me a kiss..:*”

“Yeobo?” She said out loud. “What does that stand for again?”

She scratched her head unknowingly as she texted him back with a good luck and a kiss. Though he's been here for four years now, its just been a few months since she arrived in this foreign land and she hasn't gotten used to the language. But  she knew it was meant to be sweet and she felt all giddy inside nonetheless. He has been so stressed about his debut that she hasn't seen him in weeks and eventually thought of preparing a scrumptious meal for him.

“Scrumptious? Yeah right?” She said as she looked at the dinner table that she had just prepared. “ I think I'm better off with TAKE-OUT...” And then with a sudden stroke of genius, she knew exactly what her plan B would be.

***

“Goodluck Babe! :*
I know you'll do good...
Saranghae²?....hehehe
did I do it right?
PS. There's a surprise
waiting for you at my place....”

He read her text message and suddenly all the worries seemed to disappear.

“Hyung!³ Who was that?” Chansung, the maknae⁴ of the group asked him.

“Huh?” He replied, suddenly surprised by the question. “What do you mean?”

“C'mon Hyung, you were smiling ear to ear after reading a text message. There's something definitely going on!” Chansung persistently insisted, annoying his hyung even more. Having her girlfriend here was great and it made Korea seem more like home than it has been in the past few years. But...

“Of Course there's a but” he thought to himself.
“Hyuuuuuuuuuung!!! Are you okay?” This time Junsu joined his dongseang⁵ with the teasing. “Is she here? Where? Where?” Trying desperately to look among the sea of female admirers.

“Its not..I mean... I don't have a girlfriend...Aigoo!⁶ It was my mom!” He said defensively. He frowned at himself for lying. It wasn't that she was ashamed of her, in fact besides 2PM⁷, being with her has been the proudest moments of his life. But with these circumstances, all he could do was deny her.

“Aisssshhh... You liar!” Nichkhun, another member of the group, tried to get him to confess.

“Stop fooling around you guys... Aren't you even concerned with what were about to do?" He said trying hard to change the topic. 
“Of course we do!” Wooyoung added “That's why were picking on you hyung, to take the nervousness out.” They all started laughing and high fives were suddenly flung into the air.

“Ha...Ha...Ha...” he laughed sarcastically. Just then, Park Jin Young⁸, famed idol producer, peeked through their dressing room door.

“What's with the commotion?”

“Nothing!” He said rather defensively which made his dongseangs doubt him even more.

“Just calming down our nerves hyung.” Taecyeon, his closest dongseang suddenly said. “Where just trying to get this hyung to loosen up.”
They all started laughing again at his expense. But at least it got them off topic. Taecyeon was good enough to understand the situation and rescued him again from everyone uncovering his secret. He never intended to tell him though. But when he caught him with her in his dorm room bed, he didn't see the point in lying anymore. Luckily, he wasn't immature like his other dongseangs.

“Well, whatever it is you're doing, you better hurry up 'cause you guys are up in 5.” And just like clockwork, JYP's commanding tone was enough for each one  of them to stand up from where they were sitting and instantaneously looked at themselves in the mirror.

As they gathered themselves in the middle of the room, he found himself pep-talking. “This is it guys. This our time. All our hard work and training all comes down to this. Although it may sound very intimidating and pressuring, just remember, this is our dream. Let's try to have fun with it!”

“Nice!!!” His donseangs all said in unison.

He held the door's handle and was about to leave when Taecyeon came over and whispered “You should be a little more careful with your emotions. Its a good thing JYP didn't see that little twitterpated look of yours. You know his rule on girlfriends.”

All he could respond with was a nod and half a smile. Taecyeon was right. He had to be more discreet.
But right now, there should be only one thing to worry about. The countdown was starting and the MCs at M! Countdown⁹ started with their lines. His heart was beating fast. This was it, the moment he trained four years for.

***

“Oh... my... God!” She said with half-panting breaths.
“He's on! He's on!” She excitedly watch him preform on stage. He looked so different from the Seattle boyfriend she knew. He looked...
“SO COOL!” She finally said out loud.  It might have seemed like the worst decision that they had made a couple of years back, but finally seeing him on TV like this, she knew the time apart was all worth it.
“My Boyfriend looks soooooo coooolll!!!!!” She started shouting at the top of her lungs. She wanted everyone to know. But of course, a wonderful 2 bedroom flat, awesome cooking skills, and a cool singer boyfriend to boot, you really can't have everything. Spreading the good news and boyfriend flaunting would have to wait.
Although a lot of their close friends back in Seattle were well aware of their relationship with each other, right now, as far as everyone knew, what they had together was just a thing of the past. And it might as well be since she had barely seen him ever since she came to Korea 7 months ago. The situation was too frustrating for her, but at times like these, when he was just minutes away from knocking at his door, she couldn't stay....

“Buzz...Buzz”
The sound of her phone vibrating on the coffee table interrupted her thought.

“Babe...”

She read the four lettered text message out loud and from the looks of it, it seemed like it was a prologue to bad news.

“You better tell me your on your way? Recording just finished right?”

She replied harshly but later feeling a little guilty of her message’s tone.

“Their probably going to celebrate their debut first, won't they?” She started talking to herself. “Aisshhh! I shouldn't have been to inconsiderate, I mean... possessive much? Of course he'd like to celebrate  with the group...that's just natural... I mean..what kind of girlfriend would I be if I whined and threw a temper at something so...natural...riiiigghht??”

“Ring Ring Ring”

The sound of her home phone ringing was enough to cut her off from her scorned woman monologue.
“Ahhmm... Yoboseyo?¹⁰” She  answered with less confidence.


“Wow...I see you're Korean's getting a lot better now” He said to her through the phone. He had hoped to calm her done with his light teasing. Her last reply seemed a bit off and was too insensitive, even for her.

“Who's this?” She said coldly

“What do you mean who's this? Are you expecting someone else's call??” He acted angrily this time. He knew how much she liked it when he got jealous and irrational.

“I just might, if you say that you won't make it.”

“Awww.. How can you say such things? You know I don't like keeping my boo waiting”

“So, is it safe to say that...you're on your way?”
“Ahmmm..weeellll...” He paused for awhile. He was already uncomfortable with having her wait, did she really have to make a big deal about it. But before he could say anything, she said with a somewhat heart-warming tone and with slight giggles in between

“Babe... What are you so afraid of? Im not your mom...If your going to be late just say so...” 

“So its okay if I join the guys for just a little while?” He said, quite unsure. “Cause if not... I could go straight there....”

“And what?... make me the bad guy? Of course its Ok, silly! Just be sure to be sober when you come here, I baked your favorite low-fat, low sugar, and totally “blah” blueberry cheesecake”

“Ahhhh... You just made my tummy hurt...I feel like hurrying over there now...”

“Nah.. Enjoy yourself first... You can enjoy me later”

He suddenly felt lighter after talking to her. It even made him miss her more. But it was rude to not join his hyungs and dongseangs on such a successful night.

“Ok Babe.. I'll see you in a little while.... Love you, Bye”

“Hmmmphh..You really in a hurry huh?” She tried to reply, but too her surprise he had already hung up.
“Aissshhh” She said out loud once again. “What do I do know?” Now sure that he was going to be late, she took the barbecued ribs and mashed potatoes she had cooked earlier aside in the kitchen. He was going to be late, this she was sure of. But at least it gave her enough time to take out the smell of rib marinade and smoke on her hair.
 
A few long hours later, she found herself bored with nothing to do.

“Text him...Don't Bother...Text Him... Don't Bother...” She said as she picked out each petal from the plastic flower she had lying around in the bedroom. It was a quarter past twelve and he was taking forever to finish celebrating.
“ Aisssshhh! DON'T BOTHER??? What do you mean don't bother? I tried so hard cooking all day and even pimpin myself up...and you tell me to DON'T BOTHER???” She screamed at the green plastic stem.

“ I'm really going crazy!!!!! I should have known this was going to happen.” In her anger, she threw herself hard in the empty sofa and carelessly fell to the floor.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” She said as she buried her head in the fallen throw pillows, crying. And in her aggravation, sadness, and fatigue, she fell asleep on the wooden floor.

***

Footnotes:
¹Term of endearment used by couples in Korea. It roughly translates to Honey or Darling
²I love you
³romanized form of 형(Hyeong), what Korean males call their big brothers or other males that are older than them
⁴ youngest
⁵someone who is younger than you
⁶commonly used as an expression similar to "Oh my god"
⁷ a South Korean boy band, originally a seven-member group managed by JYP entertainment. Debuted in late 2008, they've popularized hits such as 10점 만점에 10점 and Again & Again. The current members are Junsu, Junho, Nichkhun, Taecyeon, Wooyoung, Chansung, and leader JaeBeom.
⁸founder of South Korean talent agency JYP Entertainment who have produced stars such as Rain and Wonder Girls. He is also a prominent producer in the United States, producing songs for Will Smith, Mase, and Cassie. He is commonly known as J.Y. Park (or simply JYP)
⁹South Korean music show
¹⁰ Hello (When answering the phone)

[`until whenever]

Woah~ 2pm? COOOL.
Haha! Next na po.
Ang exciting ee~ 

Lea pala~ ^^

[onlineloveauthor]

***

“Bro..You're too wasted to drive... Come on give me the keys” JYP ordered him.

“No, Hyung... I'm good. I'm all gooood! You know? It's G-Double-O-D, good?” He said laughing hysterically inside the bathroom stall. “Besides I still have somewhere to go to...”

Without realizing his slip, JYP reprimanded him. “Where the heck are you going at this ungodly hour?”
“Going to see my beautiful girlfriend.” He said to himself and smiled until he finally realized who he was talking to. “Ahmmmm...I needed to go to....ahmmm...the convenience store...Yep.. the store...to buy some...ahmmm. Ramyun! Yeah that's right Ramyun!” He said nervously, hoping that JYP wouldn't suspect anything.

“Man you're really drunk...Come on lets take you home” The easiest thing to do in this situation was to give in to his Hyung, but it meant disappointing her. He needed an excuse, any excuse to get him out of this situation. He knew it was inconsiderate of him to drag someone else into his own problems, especially when everyone counted on him to be the most responsible in the group. But he was running out of options and getting her disappointed was not one of them. However it might have been too late already.
“Hyung!"  JYP turned to him, startled by the sudden soberness in his voice. “I just remembered! Taec didn't bring a car with him, he can drive mine. The dorm is out of way to were your house is. We could go home together. Wait...here..I'll call him...”

“Don't bother...looks like he's coming out of the club already.” He didn't know what it was but it seemed like his dongseang already sensed that he was in danger.
“Bro!!!” He suddenly shouted out of relief. “Your sober right?? Come on! Lets go home.. You can drive...”
He rushed to his dongseang side, hoping to give him a hint on what was going on before he could react. 
“Huh...But...” Sensing the worry in his hyung's eyes, Taec quickly played along. “Ahmm yeah...you're right... Hyung, its better if I drive for him. The dorms a bit out of the way for you.” Taecyeon said to their chief.

“Bingo! Thank God for this dongseang” He thought to himself.

Inside the car, He had already regained his soberness. “Turn a right here...”  He instructed his now confused dongseang

“Wait..aren't we going home yet? Is this a short-cut?”

“Why'd you think I let you drive the car instead of JYP-nim¹. My girlfriend's been waiting for almost 3 hours for me. You're my excuse” He said without stopping for breath.

“Aisssh! I knew it...Oh Well...at least I get to meet your mystery girl face to face,unlike last time.”

“I feel so guilty...She even said there was a surprise for me...And here I am...LATE...AIssh! So frustrating.” Not even bothering to respond to his comment. He already knew that he had a lot of explaining to do and was already making them up on the way there.

“Hey hyung..you know you should never keep a girl waiting right?”

“Aiggooo. You're really...Aisshhh! DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT!!!!”

“Hyung! Chill!!! That's why spies don't fall in love.. Living a double life is hard!”

He suddenly fell quite. “Living the double life? Why can I just have both” He thought to himself. He knew Taec was right. But how can he say such thing so easily, when he's never been in a situation like his.

As they both walked along the corridors leading to her apartment, Taecyeon tried to break the long silence. “Hey, Hyung, sorry about what I said awhile back. I was out of line”

He nodded, trying to make him feel more guilty and as well as trying to deny the fact that he was being selfish, to his work, donseangs and to his girlfriend.
“Oh! Why do I suddenly feel nervous...Hyung” Taec said as he put his hand on his shoulder. “What's she like?”

Unexpectedly, he started to laugh at his pitiful expression. “What's wrong?” His dongseang asked.

“You're not meeting your long lost mother or whatever. She's just my girlfriend. And besides, you've met her before, right?"

“Met her? No...hyung... I saw her... or should I say caught her? Caught you two red handed... you didn't even introduce us.”

“We're here” He said as he  completely shrugged of his remark.

“Ding Dong”

They waited for a decent 10 seconds outside the door. But when no one responded he took out a key from his pocket. “She probably fell asleep already”
 As they went into the room, they immediately saw her body lying face down on the floor.

“Nisshi!!!” He ran towards her worriedly

“!@#$ Hyung! Is she...”
He flipped her over and was relieved as she heard her soft snores.

“Aigooo! You're girlfriends weird...Why does she sleep on the floor like that” Taecyeon headed towards the kitchen to get something to drink when he smelled something nice. He lifted the covered plates and was very much enticed by what he saw.
“Hmmmmmm... How sweet...Look Hyung, she made you dinner...And it certainly smells go...” But before he could finish what he was saying, he dropped the dish cover from being startled by a sudden scream.

***

“Yah!!!! Don't you dare touch that!!!!” She sounded like an ahjumma² scolding little school children. It was the first thing she saw when she woke up, not even noticing him carrying her through the bedroom door.

“What the... Babe?” He said as she looked at her funny.

“And you...You!...Put..me..down...!!!” She said as she slapped his chest, pleading to put her down. “Don't you Babe Babe me.... Aigoo!!” She leaped out from his strong arms and went straight to her room, slamming the door hard, startling him and Taec.

“Your girlfriends scary.. Dude! Really” Taecyeon said laughing. But he, on the other hand, remained worried over her actions. Shrugging of the remark again, he softly threw his forehead to the slammed door. “Babe...Come on...can't we talk about this for just a moment.”

“Don't think that just because you brought backup with you , I'll let this slide!!!!..”  She shouted mercilessly from inside the bedroom.

“Whoa... Fine Fine... I can take a hint...” Taec said as he looked at him with his seriously pleading eyes. "Hyung, Will I pick you up here before going to rehearsals?”
He simply nodded in response not noticing that Taecyeon was already halfway out the door.

***

She knew she was being too hard on him, especially when he had just brought company, a 2pm dongseang nonetheless. “But he was late..." She thought to herself. “God! Jay!...Do you even know what time it is already?” Suddenly surprised by the fact that he wasn't just late, but he could might as well have forgotten that she was waiting for her in that empty apartment.
“I bet he just remembered it at the very last minute, just when he was about to go to sleep.” This thought surprisingly made her feel less angry at him, thinking that he might have drove all the way here when he was already set to sleep. Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by his ramblings in the kitchen.
“Wow! Wife cooked good for me tonight. Aishh! I'm such a bad husband!”
She hated him when he acted all cute and pretended that they were like a new couple. But what she hated most was the fact that even without looking at his pitiful expressions she could easily forgive him by the sound of his crooning voice. “No wonder he became so popular here”

“Aissh! I really don't like eating alone.” He continued to say suggestively. "If only wife was here ...Aisshhh...But I guess its the punishment I get for being such a lousy husband... Aisshhh Jay! Your such a workaholic... But... don't you think... wife should have been more understanding?”

Upon hearing this, all the irrationality of her anger started resurfacing. “Understanding?” She swung the door open and hurriedly walked to the kitchen stool where he was seated. “Understanding of what? Of WORK? Since when have booze and partying been work huh??? Your back to your own bad boy ways and you think I should be more.....”
Before she could even say another word he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards him, forcing her now to uncomfortably rest on his lap. She stayed still for several seconds, savoring the movie-worthy scene that had just happened. She was feeling rather good until he annoyingly exclaimed. “Is my wife waiting for a kiss now? Is that enough to shut her up and eat with me?”
She wanted to get mad, but how could she when she'd already missed him too much. “Shiro³! I don't want any of your kisses, but for both our sakes. I'll shut up.”

Although both of them felt good that they were already talking in moderate pitches, they both knew the elephant was still in the room. “Babe...I'm....Mianhaeyo⁴...” He said sincerely as she reached for her hand and caressed them softly. It would've been a  perfectly heart melting apology. But just as she was to accept it, he inaudibly sighed and said, “...But....”

Being caught off guard, she immediately felt defensive and replied in a harsh tone “ BUT?”

“I just think... you shouldn't have reacted like that. I mean...don't you think that was a bit... over the top?...”

"Then how did you want me to react huh?” She said sarcastically

“Hold up babe...don't get mad at me again... I'm just saying... Taecyeon was here... You could've been more...ahmmm... I guess what I was trying to say is.... I've been wanting to formally introduce you to him, since he's the only one who knows about us... and...i just wanted you to make a good impressions I guess” He tried to explain in one breath, trying to avoid her line of sight from the fear of her already heavy glare.

She was furious. But at this point, she new there was no point in trying to debate with him. Besides he's probably still ecstatic from their debut performance, arguing with him will just make her the villain. So with her heavy heart, she faked a smile, kissed him lightly, and said “ I understand. I guess... I'm sorry too..”

“Aniyo⁵..don't say sorry.. I'm the one at fault here... And to make up for it...How would you like to see your dashing boyfriend perform on stage live?”
He handed her a VIP pass to his show. Although she still felt scorned, she knew she wanted to please him, even at this late hour.
“Really? Are you serious? She said trying hard to sound excited. “ Can I really go?” From his satisfied smile, she knew she had already fooled him.
“I could give in for today. Just understand” She repeatedly told herself.

“Of course. I wouldn't want it any other way” He said with a wink

Footnotes:
¹ Honorofic stem
² old lady
³ "I don't like" or "I don't want"
⁴"I'm sorry"
⁵ "No," "It's nothing," or "It's not that"

[onlineloveauthor]

Woah~ 2pm? COOOL.
Haha! Next na po.
Ang exciting ee~ 

Lea pala~ ^^

WOW!!! someone is actually reading this! Thank god! hehehe
 

[onlineloveauthor]

***

The deafening scream of the crowd from the M!net Studio was intimidating. She knew that Korean fan-girls tend to be overly supportive of their idols and shows like these are a good way to show their love, and not to mention a chance for studio executives to capitalize on this love and obsession. But wandering around the corridors of that famed studio, she started doubting if gathering all these girls together was a good idea.

“Just imagine the amount of noise pollution these girls are making... Its ridiculous” She mumbled to no one in particular.  Her nervousness and anticipation in being there to cheer her boyfriend on was enough for her to criticize every little thing she sees.

“ICK! Why do I feel like I'm in a hospital?”

The busy corridors were now filled with studio interns with flowers and idol assistants with clothe racks running around like medical staff. She felt a bit lost and out of place, but the fact that she had finally seen him perform live was enough to overcome her immature fears. He had texted her that they were back in their dressing rooms just cooling down. They had to stay on until the finale and have decided to wait it out backstage. She didn't care about the other performers and her delayed joy and pride from his boyfriend prompted her to go look for him and finally meet his dongseangs. Although she knew very well that their company's single rule on girlfriends was not to have one, it wouldn't be a big deal if she just showed up as one of his “friends.”

“Ahmmm Excuse me.. do you happen to know where 2...2PM's dressing room might be?” She said as she looked for the right Korean words.

“its the door that says 2PM” A girl  spruced up in  outrageous clothing said sarcastically. All she could muster up was a polite thank you to her rude remark.

“Aisshhh... I guess I'll have to look for it myself”

She had passed by about a thousand doors already. And yet there was no sign of a room that marked his band's name. She was about to give up when she overheard someone.

"Flower delivery for 2PM?” The door a couple of meters away from her opened to familiar faces. 

“Oh! Was that Taec?” She said to herself. She walked quite confidently now towards that door. Although she was too far to be seen, she was sure that was where he and his donseangs were staying. She combed her hair and tried to straighten her dress. She was half-excited and half-nervous when she finally knocked on the 2PM marked door.

***

“Woooooooooooooooooooooh!!!!” 2PM said in unison. They had just finished performing on stage and they were well received. But to him, he saw no one else but her in the overjoyed crowd of fans. She was smiling from ear to ear and she knew she was proud of him. He felt like all his hardships for the past years, most especially being away from her, finally paid of.

“We looked cool!” Chansung said.

“I looked cool most especially!” Wooyung emphasized as he started passing off water bottles.

“Whatever Man! Didn't you see how much they liked it when I did this?” Taecyeon started dancing to the choreography once again.

“What the hell? They weren't screaming for you. They were screaming at me.” Nichkhun charismatically protested.

He felt really proud of his group, and as well of himself for being their leader. “Man! They screamed throughout the whole performance...It just proves that we were ALL good.” He finally said and high fives and applauses suddenly filled the room.

“Knock..Knock..Flower Delivery for 2PM” They heard a familiar voice coming from the door. They all knew who it was and suddenly everyone fled to the door to open it.
“JYP hyung!!!!” They all said ecstatic.
“Good job Guys! I swear I could barely hear you singing because of the screaming.”

“Thanks Hyung!” He said proudly. After teasing around for a little bit, they were surprised by the almost inaudible knock by the door. Although he was nearer, Wooyoung rushed to open the door as he continued to talk to JYP.

“Hi...Ahmmm..”  He was startled by the familiar sound of his voice and as he turned around his assumptions was confirmed. All kinds of thoughts ran through his head. “What the hell was she doing here? How did she even know were their room was?” And then finally hitting him, he remembered JYP's girlfriend rule and without thinking he ran towards the door and closed it.

“What the....” Wooyoung exclaimed. “Hyung?”

He quickly gave Taec a pleading look but he was also too shocked to realize the gravity of what was happening. The whole room fell silent, waiting for him to explain his actions. Finally, JYP decided to break the silence and went towards the door.

“Hyung...” He said wanting to distract him from the unexpected visitor behind the door. But he was already too late, JYP swung the door open . He looked at her from head to foot, trying to analyze who had made him act so irrational. And without even saying a word to the girl by the door, he turned to him and said “Jay, you know her?”

He was suddenly frozen and so was she. Looking at her, he expected her to give a glaring stare for how he acted, but instead her almost teary eyes looked down on the floor.

“I'm..” she started to say. But out of fear that she might say something wrong, he blurted out “Hyung..I think she's a fan...” He tried to say with a straight face, examining his hyung-nim's reaction. He started to walk towards her. He knew this would be humiliating for her, but deep inside of him he had hoped that she'll understand.  As he reached the door, she stepped a back and said “Yeah...I...I'm sorry...I guess I just wanted to see 2PM.” The heavy tone of her voice was enough to pierce his heart through and through. But there was nothing he can do now.

“Awww..How sweet...And she looks so cuuuttte” Wooyoung said as he pinched her cheeks. He suddenly felt very protective and wanted to put his dongseang in place. But he couldn't. Not when his career as an idol was on the line. But right now, his career as boyfriend was hanging by a weak thread.

“Again..I'm sorry for bothering you..I'll be on my way then” But before she could even walk away, JYP exclaimed, as if somewhat doubtful,
“Well, since your here, wouldn't you want an autograph? Come on boys... Give this pretty lady an autograph, she came all this way for you right?”
She simply nodded. One by one the boys signed her VIP ID. Taec approached her and pretended to write something as he mouthed the words "I'm sorry." But he, on the other hand stayed put.

***

She felt so humiliated. She knew she had looked pitiful. Here she was, hoping to share this moment with his boyfriend but instead his dongseangs looked at her like a deranged stalker. But all she could do was smile on the outside. She never wanted to barge in there and reveal anything. She was in fact just going to introduce herself as an old friend. However, if shutting the door to her face wasn't enough, he had to further humiliate her by denouncing her existence. She wanted to get mad, but this wasn't the right time or place. And because of this, she instead to blame herself for coming to see him unannounced.
“Next time Miss, don't scare us by just showing up. You showed wait in line like all of the others.” JYP then noticed that the ID only had 6 signatures. “Jay, aren't you going to give your autograph too?”

She could barely look at him. She knew that once she did, the tears would just force themselves out of her tear ducts. Se could feel him walked towards him slowly. And just as he would do with any other fan, he extended his arm and bowed in greeting. She avoided any physical contact with him, since the emotional one was already too much to bear. She instead handed him the ID and pen. She knew it looked pitiful to just look at the floor while she was there. But at this point, she knew that whatever she did, she already was pathetic in their and, as well as, her eyes.
As he gave her back the autographed ID all she could muster up was a simple thank you and good luck.

“Oh!!!CutE” Wooyoung exclaimed once again as he mistook her embarrassment for childlike innocence. And without hesitation she left and finally heard the door close from behind.

The once busy corridors seemed empty to her now. She felt like everything around her was still and she was moving at a slow pace. Her heart has now sunk to the bottom of her chest, which made her knees extremely weak. She was purposely walking slowly, hoping that in few seconds he would ran after her, beg for her forgiveness, and they could just forget about the whole incident. But to her it seemed like he was taking forever and at that time she had no other choice but to collapse to the side and calm herself down.

He looked at the autographed ID and finally read what he wrote. “I'm Sorry. Please don't be mad, I'll call you later.”
His writing was cold, emotionless, like a student asking for forgiveness from his teacher. It felt like she had done something wrong.
"But if I did, then why does my heart wreaks of pain and not of guilt. If I made a mistake... then why do I feel like i'm the one who has been wronged.” These thoughts flooded her as she sat on the corner like a hobo begging for food.
She tried to be strong and not to look more pitiful than she already was. She tried hard to hold back the tears. But then an unexpected voice suddenly asked her

“Hi! Are you okay?” But she remained still, her voice all chocked up from trying to conceal the pain.

“Here..." The helpful stranger said full of concern as he handed her something. "I don't like seeing girl's cry” . She wanted to look up, to see who he was. But upon seeing the white handkerchief he offered, her tears unknowingly flowed. She couldn't stop them any longer. The stranger stayed for a little while trying to console her. But to no avail, she just continued sobing like a baby in pain.

 “Hyung! What are you doing? We need to go onstage...NOW!” She heard someone yell from a far.

“Hold on to this for a while” the stranger said. “But i'll be coming back for it ok? So Don't you dare go anywhere.”

At this time, all she could do was nod. As the stranger walked away, she outlined his lanky silhouette and noticed his spiky haircut. It made her smile for awhile, enough to write something on the kerchief she had in her hand. She needed to get away from this place. She kept rewinding the events that led to where she was sitting, and the atmosphere of the corridors and the screaming fans did not help. And without hesitation, she stood up and headed for the nearest exit, leaving behind the kind stranger's handkerchief.

[`until whenever]

Siyempre, I`m reading this. KPOOP e~! 
Whooo. Next na~ Sino yung nagbigay? HAHA

[onlineloveauthor]

Chapter II: Seoul October '08

[/b]

She finally rests her chin down on her forearm at the sight of the newly delivered bouquet of flowers. If it was any other day, she would've been flustered by the assortment of flowers that has gotten more elaborate with each delivery.  And for the last 2 weeks, her doorstep looked more like a Florist's deathbed than her apartment's entry way.
But today, the gestures represented by the flowers frustrated her even more. After getting ditched, slammed at by a door, and finally being refuted by his on and off boyfriend of 5 years, the flowers became mere accessories to his crime. Though they were all beautiful, each bouquet proved to her how much a coward he is for not saying apologizing to her face and how less and less important she was becoming to him.

“It's not your fault.” She said as she tuck the flowers into her arm and headed towards the kitchen. “I really don't want to do this, especially to you guys.”

She now stood in front of the waste bin, contemplating whether to throw them out or not. Initially, she felt mad over his inability to please her with the little things, like showing up on her doorstep with the same flowers she had in her hand, and she had wanted to get rid of the flowers just as she had gotten rid of the last 23 bouquets and 1 candy basket that he had sent. But right now, she really felt like it was a waste to just discard them.

“ It's really not your fault, so I guess I should just keep you huh?” She said sweetly as she examined the arrangement more meticulously this time. “You sure are pretty!”

Although the flowers had finally brighten her mood, enough to put them on vase, the craziness of talking to a bunch of flowers was enough to make her realize how she had spent the last two weeks locked up in her apartment, with nothing to do and no one to talk to.

 “Ahhhhh! I'm going craaaazzzzyy!! She finally exclaimed out loud as she marched to her sofa. She quickly turned on the television, switching through channels like a mad woman.  She needed something to do, but she didn't know what.

“I need to get a life!” She couldn't go out since she really didn't have any other friends, unless you count the ahjussi¹ at the local convenience store. She couldn't get a job since she only has a student visa.

“Of course!” She finally realized. She had applied for an MBA program at the Kaist Graduate School² with the hopes of getting accepted and finally be eligible for a student visa. It was a very prestigious school, so they say. But after imagining all the nice friends and parties that came with an uber popular boyfriend, she had decided to defer that decision for at least a semester.

But obviously, none of those things were happening. And by the looks of it she was so close to poking her eye out of boredom it seemed liked it was the only logical option for her now.

“Aisssshhh!!! I can't believe I was going to pass up the opportunity of going to this kind of school because of a boy.” She said as she browsed through the school's official web page.

“A boy” She repeated to herself.  The mere thought of him flooded her with memories of both the good and the bad and made her eyes a bit watery.

“Get a grip...You're doing this...with or without him.” She finally said. She was determined, now more than ever, to bring some sanity back to her life and stop living in the fantasies anchored around him. She quickly rushed to her phone and dialled the admission's office, hoping with everything, that it wasn't too late.

***

The crisp weather of Autumn was now settling on her cheek. “It was a good day to be in school” She thought to herself.

She was relieved when she had called the admission's office and found out that they would still accept her as a student for the fall.  The campus of KAIST was a very welcoming scenery to her. It felt that she was back at Duke University, only less rowdy and had nicer air.

“This is nice” She said as she breathe in the cool October air. Though Duke was far more bigger and had more students running around, this was exactly the atmosphere she needed, a mature atmosphere where she could focus on her future for once.

“Bzzzzzzzzz” The sudden vibration from her phone  startled her and caused her to drop her books.

“!@#$!” she said in a whisper. She was desperately searching for her phone inside her pockets, forgetting all about the books on the floor. But when she finally found it and saw who was calling her, it felt like Changma³ all over again.

“Damn it! Can't he stop calling me even just for a day.”
 
She felt liberated from saying those words. Finally she wasn't the one hanging around all day waiting for him to call.

“If you want someone to stop calling you, you can just have their calls barred you know.” A lithe young woman wearing a maroon cardigan said as she handed her fallen books   

“Oops. I'm sorry... I meant to pick those up.”

“Its Ok...I was glad to help and I also can't help but notice that you had this book, so...”

“Oh yeah,  I have it for my Media Marketing class, a professor Kim...” she said as she read off her class schedule.

“Oh! You have Kim Pak-nim too!” The girl suddenly exploded with enthusiasm

“Yeah... I guess so...I'm Nisshi by the way.”

“Oh my...how  rude of me not to introduce myself. My Names Min Sul.”

“Its ok. I'm really glad you approached me first. It would probably take me a week before I can carry out a proper conversation with someone.” And with her apparent innocence to the situation, they both laughed heartily.

“ Come on...You don't have class right now do you? You want to grab a cup of coffee? If your taking Kim Pak-nim for Media Marketing, you'll probably need all the tips that I know.”

Without any hesitations she quickly followed her. She was right, and not just about their professor. If she was going to make friends without even being fluent in Korean, she needed all the the help she could get.

Even before they could sit down at the cafe, He had been calling non stop. “Why don't you just turn it off?” Minsul said with a serious tone. “Not to be rude or anything, but it seems to me its not the calling that your avoiding...its the talking part.”

She smiled at her, realizing that she was right. “Who is it anyway, if you don't mind me asking you, boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend"...hmmm...more like...a bad habit.” She said as she she sipped through her hot cappuccino.

***

“!@#$!” He said as he heard his call cut off by the other line. He had been trying hard to win her back and had even sent flowers every 12 hours to her apartment. But the only reply she got from her was an angry emoticon. Although he had been in dance practice all day, his mind wandered off to somewhere else and eventually ended messing up his steps all day. In fact, he has been messing up in practice for 3 straight weeks now and today doesn't seem to be an exception for him. He knew that what he did at their debut was unforgivable. But he thought that after all they've been through, couldn't she at least talk to her about it.

“Man..you're messing up bad. Come on... get it together.” Taecyeon, concerned about him, said. “ She just needs time... you did slam the door to her face you know”

“!@#$ you! I know what I did so stop !@#$ reminding me OK!!!!???” He furiously took Taec by his shirt and pushed him against the wall. Everyone was looking at them now. Chansung,Junho, Junsu, and Wooyoung looked like scared kids gathered on one side. No one dared to go near their two fighting hyungs. Nichkhun was about to intervene when Taec finally brought him back to his senses.

“Everyone's looking, get a grip” He said in a very soft whisper. “Just relax. I know its a hard dance step, but we just have to keep on practicing Okay???” Taecyeon said emphasizing every word so as not to arouse suspicion from their spectators.

He finally let go of him. “Sorry man....Its just that....” They both sat down on the floor. Taec gave Khun the hand and signals him to stay put while he talks to their hyung.

“Didn't the flowers work?” Taec asked

“No..”

“Well have you said your sorry?”

“About a thousand times!”

“Personally?...” Taec's voice trailed off, somewhat foreseeing his answer.

'I tried too. But practice has been so hectic lately and....”

“Look hyung, not to make you mad or anything...but if you could make time for your late night bootie calls while practicing before...you can certainly make time for this... don't you think your just avoiding the eventual conversation?”

He knew Taecyeon was wrong. “I'm not avoiding the conversation, I'm just merely hoping that she would understand.”

“Understand what exactly?”

“I don't know...That's its...its different now...”

He didn't exactly know what he meant by what he had just said and he guessed Taecyeon didn't as well, since he only nodded in response.
“But you're right. I do have to be a man and talk to her. I'll do it tonight...Yeah..Tonight.” He finally said. He stood up from where he was sitting and lend a hand to Taecyeon.

“Come on. Lets start from the top guys!” He said as he regained his ,much needed confidence

***

It was almost midnight and what was surprising was she wasn't even home. He came to her apartment that afternoon to prepare her dinner and surprise her in his big cute bunny costume. But he has been wearing it since 8 that evening and she was still no where in sight.

“Aiggooo! If this is your way of letting me feel how you've felt for the past month, OK! I GET IT KNOW!” He shouted and scolded himself in frustration. He has been trying to call her, but as expected she just kept cutting the line off.

“ What time is it? Where the hell could she be?” He asked himself. But just then he heard noises outside the door. He prepared himself making sure he looked extremely cute for her.

“3...2...1” He slowly counted in his head. And as the door swung open, with arms stretched up to the sky he shouted “Mianhae! Saranghea Buin⁴!”

“ Mwo-Yaa⁵! Sheeba!⁶ What are you doing he...what are you wear....what is all this?” She said incoherently.

“Wow! We haven't seen each other in three weeks and now your learning cuss words in Korean, You must be really mad at me huh?” He said still trying to look cute.

She went towards him, examining hi effort. But instead of praising him she then bursted into laughter as the whole idea of the surprise started coming into focus.

“Whaaat???” He said with a hint of satisfaction in his voice. “Don't you think its cute.” He started dancing cute novelty dances.
She, on the other hand, finally fell down on the sofa and was laughing harder than she was before. Her laughs gave him so much joy that he,even with her non-stop laugh parade, hugged her tightly. And finally, just as he hugged her, tears started pouring down his cheeks.

“Hey...” She said after calming down her laughter.
“I'm so sorry babe! I really am!” He said in between hiccups
“See... If you did this right away.. then we wouldn't have spent 3 weeks like complete losers.”

“I know... I'm really sorry, but...”

But before he could even say anything, she interrupted him “No! No!...No buts this time babe..Let me at least savor the moment.”

“Of course Babe...I'm just glad were okay...I thought you already...wait a minute...” Realizing that she went home unusually late, his tone suddenly changed “ Where the hell were you? I've been waiting here since 5... You're not out on a date are you?”

“Hmmmm..what do you think?”
“Don't tease me now... You came home really late... So don't you dare think you can get away...”

“I was at school...” She said as she headed off to the dinner table. “Oh! Great! You made dinner! Smells good enough...” She started setting the table without realizing that he was running towards her, mad, confused.... and still wearing his bunny suit.

“Since when do you go to school? Come on Nis..if you're going to lie, at least make it a good one.” He then grabbed on to her arm and forced her to look at her.

“Mwo-Yaa! What are you taking about?" She said with her mouthful from the piece of meat he had cooked earlier. “ Isn't that what I went here for?"

“But I thought you went here for me?” He said still very serious and not letting go of her arm.

“Well.. Initially that was the plan...But since your TOO BUSY... I thought of finally having a life instead of living off yours. That way... you want have to go slamming doors at my face”

“Look, if your doing this to punish me....”

“Aiggooo! Not everything is about you jay! Stop being such a narcissistic baby for Christ sake!”

He was stunned. For the past month that she has been in Seoul, she never once heard her shout at her over the littlest things. Of course she used to do a lot of it back in Seattle, but here, this was the first time. And for some weird reason, it feel good. He felt that they were once again the old couple that both left back in Seattle.

“Fine Fine! I'm sorry! I believe you!”

“I needed to get a lot of books from the library. Since I enrolled a little late, I've already missed a couple of classes and catching up to them can be a !@#$.” She said alternating with getting food into her mouth.

“Slow down babe..” He said as she looked at her intently. She looked happier and he knew this was  the best for both of them. It was the good balance that they needed.

“That;s really great...Is that the reason you haven't been answering my calls?”

“Nope... I was just mad you” She said with a straight face still chugging down on the grilled beef.

“But you're not mad now are you?” 

After a long silence she finally said, deliberately ignoring the question “How are you going home?”
He was a bit disappointed at her ungratefulness towards his surprise, but he had guessed that with everything he had put her through, he deserved it.
“I'm not...” He looked straight into her eyes and gave her a slight wink and a pat on the head. “ I'm sleeping over”

***

“I forgot how good he looked sleeping. Just like a baby.” She thought to herself as he traced the outline of his ears. “A baby elf.” She wanted to stay in bed a little longer, just to snuggle close to him. But sadly she had a paper due tomorrow for class. She forced herself out of her bed after kissing him softly on his pointed ears. She was touched by what he just did but at the same time she was worried. She kept thinking about what would happen in the morning, when the reality of him being an idol star set in. Would JYP come knocking at their door or maybe one of his members will come to take his prince away again. These and other thoughts keep running through her head as she sat, staring into her laptop's blank screen. The reflection of him asleep behind her gave her a flood of mixed emotions.
She was touched by his efforts and him being here tonight, but at the back of her head she can't help but think that something bad was coming, she just wasn't quite sure what it was just yet. She looked back at him and smiled. It had been a long time since they've slept together but looking at him now, she had never seen him so tired. Suddenly, guilt started to fill her thoughts. From his endless promotions to battling negative comments from anti-fans, she still had to burden him with her tantrums and little demands. “But what about me?” She said to herself. She knew she was being selfish when she said that, but she didn't come all the way here to become a mere cheerer to his accomplishments.  She let out a big sigh. Her life has gotten a lot complicated ever since coming here. A lot has changed, the language, the culture, and now, whether she admits it or not, even her boyfriend.

“Stop it...Stop it...” She scolded her thoughts for being too melodramatic. She decided to concentrate more on writing her paper than on her love problems. She started typing her introductory paragraph when suddenly her IM window popped out.

Min_sul34: BUZZ
Min_sul34: You Busy?

Of course she needed a distraction but this wasn't the distraction she was looking for.

Ni_06: Yup...
Ni_06: U should b 2!
Ni_06: Rn't u doing the paper for class?
Min_sul34: Nerd!
Min_sul34: I just finished..hehehe
Ni_06: who's the nerd now??KEKEKE
Min_sul34: Whatever...Just b sure to kip ur sched open next weekend..
Ni_06: Y? Whats up?
Min_sul34: U said u nid to get a life ryt?
Min_sul34: Well... I just myt hve got u 1!

She was very curious at what was in store for her. Although she'd only known her for a couple of weeks, Minsul was being extra friendly and she was thankful for that. And even though she was uneasy with the fact that they were already on “gimmicks-outside-of-school” terms, she was even more excited by the uncertainty of it all. She thought for awhile longer before responding.
“Its not like I'm cheating on him” She said to herself. “ I don't even know what she has in store, for all I know I could be going with her on a pottery class.”

Ni_06: I won't ask...jst count me in!:))

***

Footnotes:
¹Old or middle-aged man
²Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, most prestigious science and technology institution; Also offers MBAs
³means "the rainy season"
⁴a term of endearment used by old couples; literally means "wife"
⁵similar to the English expression"What the hell...?"
⁶ !@#$ or Poop, Korean swear word

[onlineloveauthor]

***

“What the...” She said at the sight of a classroom full of middle school kids. When Minsul invited her for a weekend together, she had hoped for a night out of town or something. But now standing there, at her wits end, this was nothing like the hot dancing district she was hoping for. She even had her haircut in layers just to make sure that it matched Minsul's so-called “new life” for her well. “I didn't sign up for this” She whispered to Minsul, but she was already busy introducing her to the class.

“Kids! Settle down... I want you to meet your new teacher.” Minsul announced to the class and quickly turned to her “ Yes you did...You said to just count you in remember?"

“I did..but I was thinking something more...exciting...”
But Minsul ignored her and went on with the introduction. “Why don't you introduce yourself Agasshi?¹”

It was too late for her to back out now. And even though she didn't exactly know what Minsul had  planned for her to do that day, she accepted the fact that this was now her fate. “Besides these kids don't look half as bad.” She said to herself. But before she could introduce herself, a mischievous looking kid stood up from his seat and said “Noona²...Is your name Beautiful...'Cause you are so pretty!”

Even though she hardly understood what he said putting the words "Noona" and "Yeobbeon³" in one sentence was enough to make her blush.
“Ani..But I bet your name is Playboy huh?” She replied teasing. But just as she felt good about herself for making such a witty remark, Minsul nudged her and whispered “I know you've been locked away from civilization for a long time now, but in case you didn't know its considered illegal to take advantage of a minor. So please...Stop flirting with the boy!”
***


“Idol Army's....She's Arrived!!” As soon as Lee Hongki and the other members of FT Island introduced 2PM, he had thought that it would feel different, that it there would be a certain air of excitement and anticipation. But instead he was feeling a bit worried and uninterested. She texted him that morning saying that she and her friend from school were going out. But other than that she gave no other details. Although he felt relieved that she was finally meeting new people, somehow those feelings had change through the course of the day and was now feeling more protective of her. He was starting to regret being rational and was wishing she had asked her about some important details. One of which was who exactly she was going out with. He occasionally admits of his jealous streaks, but for some weird reason he was green with jealousy now more than every.
“Here she goes again, not replying to any of my messages” He thought to himself while the cameras were still rolling. He was unusually quite and unparticipative and this finally caught the eye of Taecyeon. His dongseang tapped him once on his shoulder and brought him back from his spaced out look. The other hosts were asking them their ideal type of girl and it was a good thing Taec had nudged him. If he didn't he wouldn't know what they were talking about when it was his turn. And that would have been good comedy for them.
“I look first at the face” He finally said as he envisioned her in a white cotton dress. Although his answer made him look superficial, especially with Wooyoung contradicting him by saying he looks at her heart, he didn't care. It was always the first thing he noticed whenever she came by to see her. It was even the first thing he noticed when he saw her walk in his class the beginning of senior year.
Her face was always a sight to behold and for him, she was the ideal. But at this point, the image of her ideal woman was being slowly shattered by images of drunken cheating or some other malicious act she could be engaged in as he was recording. “Recording.. Right, I'm recording right now...Should ...Focus” He told himself. But no matter what he did, he couldn't help but look at his phone every 10 seconds and check if she had replied.

“Hyung” Taecyeon approached him and said during one of the breaks of the show. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah..why wouldn't I be?”
“Well..for one, you've been checking your phone every chance you get. And I don't think you're going to get a lot of airtime for that.” Taec said as he put his arm around his shoulder.
“Its just....” He continue to say as he pulled him to the corner. “See, my girlfriend's out and...i don't know... she just made new friends at the university...and well..”

“Man...stop stuttering... you can admit that you're getting possessive. It's just nor...”

But before Taec can even finish his sentence he interrupted him. “It's not about being possessive... I'm just...worried... She hasn't even introduced me to them!!”

“Yeah...” His dongseanG started to say with a hint of sarcasm “Cause you've introduce your friends to her. Right?”

He punched him lightly on his arm. “Come on... thats different...”

“Well actually, if you look at it... its kind of the same thing... I mean... imagine how hard it is to say...'Oh you know the leader of the hottest idol group in the country?  Yeah...He's my boyfriend'...”
He looked at him, amazed by how much more mature Taec was  compared to him.

“Come on man! She flew thousand miles from her home to be with you... And you think she's going to cheat on you?... She could've done that in Seattle, she didn't have to go to Korea to do just that...”

***

“This put me through college you know” Minsul said to her, still trying to convince her that tutoring middle school kids English was fun.
“Oh...I see” She replied with lack luster enthusiasm.
“Come on...It's not that bad...And besides...before you can even have a proper night out in Seoul...you better get your Korean straighten out first.”

“So...This is like what...Training?”

“Yeah.. I guess...Social Training...You've been locked up from the world for so long...who knows what you might do if left alone.”

They both started laughing at the course their conversation was taking. Although she initially thought that tutoring would be lame, she finally realized that it was fun and it did do her Korean good.
“So you said this put you through college?” Her interest finally surfaced as she checked her students work.
“Yeah” Minsul replied. “Although, the bulk of the bucks don't come from these kids.”

“Don't tell me you teach english to drug dealers too...” She said with a hearty laugh. She couldn't contain her joy with being surround by people and having someone to talk to. Minsul was not just being a friend to her, she was her saviour. And this she was utterly grateful for.
“Ani... Private tutoring...That's where the money AT...” Minsul said with much gusto that she looked like a scene from a rap video.
“What's with that..” She said, laughing again.
“Say..Nis..do you know any korean pop icons..” Minsul said out of nowhere.
“Ahmmm. Yeah! Of course...” Truthfully, she only knew one and its just because her boyfriend's the leader of it. Although she wasn't just about to divulge this information to someone she just met, she wanted to keep the conversation going.
“I'm a big fan of those male idol groups, like 2PM and the others” She said confidently, successfully masking her ignorance to Korean pop culture.
“Oh...” Minsul said, somewhat disappointed.
“Why'd you ask?” She was positive that there was nothing wrong with what she said and yet Minsul had suddenly changed her tone and abruptly change the topic.
“Nothing..was just curious” Minsul said with an uncomfortable smile as she continued to work with her students.

***

Footnotes
¹ Young lady
² what korean males call their older sisters or older female friends and acquaintances.
³ Pretty

[onlineloveauthor]

***

Recording for the variety show had just finished and everyone was now on their way back to the dorms. They still had a lot of energy leftover from the excitement of filming their first variety appearance, but he,on the other hand, was still very distracted. And as his dongseangs fooled around inside the van, he tried calling her one last time.

“The number you have dialled is unreachable” The operator's voice echoed through his ears. “Damn” he exclaimed to himself. “What the hell could she be possibly doing.” At that moment, the van suddenly halted and before he knew it his phone went flying straight to the dashboard.

“What the?” He shouted but apparently everyone else inside the van seemed unconcerned. “What happened? Why'd you stop the car?" He said to no one in particular, shouting his words as he spoke. Every single person inside the car turned and looked in his direction, all of them shared the same confused look.
“Man, What do you mean? Were picking up the girls and JYP hyung.” Khun said  while pointing outside the window, where JYP, accompanied by 5 young girls, stood on the side walk. 
“Hyung asked us to pick them up, remember?” Junsu added.
“Oh right...” He finally said. He felt embarrassed for reacting the way he did. “ I forgot about that..”

Wooyoung took his phone from where it had flown off and handed it to him. “You've been forgetting about a lot of things lately. You should get your brain checked man.” Wooyoung, although was always the gagster of the group, sounded serious this time and it made him suspicious.
“Do you think they know anything?” He mouthed to Taec, who sat right beside him.

“Well...” Taec moved closer to him now. “ If you keep acting like that they just might. Seriously man...You have to relax.”
He nodded, pretending to take his advice. But deep inside, he felt uneasy and just wanted to get news from her, any kind of news. He was worried and a bit suspicious. And the fact that she still hasn't answered any of his messages was not helping.
“Maybe Taec's right...” He thought to himself. “I just need to relax."
At that moment, just like clockwork, JYP, along with his girly entourage, slid the door open and said with much excitement “Who's up for a party?”

“Woooooooooohooooooo! Partaaaaaay!!!” Before anyone else, he started dancing to the tune in his head.
“Excited much?” A small and distinct voice called out. Although she remained unseen, everyone knew who she was.

“Hey Sohee” Wooyoung peeped out of the front seat. “You guys coming with us?”
“Coming with you?..." Sun Ye climbed up and sat beside Chansung making him fluster.
“We're the reason for this party!” They all laughed out loud as the rest of the Wonder Girls and JYP squeezed there way in to the van. Everyone was feeling ecstatic and for once... so was he.
“Nice pants” Sohee said as she confidently sat beside him. He noticed her small eyes piercing through his and how different it looked from his girlfriend's deep set ones. Although he felt guilty to even compare Sohee with her, at this point he didn't care. “If she was having fun with god knows who...then why shouldn't I?” He thought to himself. “And besides, just like what Taec said...Stop worrying Jay...just RELAX.”

***

“Thanks for helping me today Nis...” Minsul said as she parked the car in front of her apartment building. But she was too distracted to hear her... or even noticed that the car had stopped and that she was already home. She didn't have any chance to check her phone that day since she and Minsul were too busy. He had flooded her inbox with so much messages that her phone had already went dead. She didn't notice it at first, mostly because she liked how he was being attentive to her, but lately he has become uncharacteristically possessive and it worried her.

“Hey!” Minsul pushed her lightly hoping to take her out of her daze.
“Wha...” But just as she was going to ask her, she noticed the familiar doorman opening her the car's door. “Oh sorry..Thanks for the ride Minsul...I'll see you at school” She hurriedly went out the car and rushed to her apartment. Although she later realized that it was rude of her to just take off like that, she needed to call him just to make sure he hasn't fractured his finger from sending all those messages.

“Pick up...Pick up...” She panted as she paced through her living. It was her third call but he still hasn't picked up. Although she knew she shouldn't get worried,  she couldn't help but wonder why he hasn't picked up when he had left some very pitiful messages on her phone. She was about to  quit and finally get some sleep when suddenly...

“Ring Ring” She quickly picked up her phone without even looking at the caller id.

“Hey..its me...”

“Of course its you... I called you didn't i”
His voice was kind of husky, the kind she had only heard once. It was the after tone of his B-boy competitions when he and his friends, the so-called “Art of Movement,” choose to celebrate by breaking in all the vices that they haven't touched on. His was drinking.

“Have you've been drinking?” At this point, he mumbled incoherently and the only words he understood were “wonder” and “girls” though she had no idea what they were and what it had to do  with him drinking it really didn't concern her.

“okay..okay...Have fun”

“Wait...wait..wait a minute..You don't get to give me that tone.”

“Huh?...” She didn't know if his hearing had been impaired by the alcohol but she was sure that what she said was sincere and that there was no other tone than concern.

“I mean you've been out all day with god knows where and with god knows who. And to top it all of, you weren't answering any of my calls!”

She didn't understand what was wrong and why he was acting so weird. “ If you must know, Minsul took me out to help her with her part time job as a tutor. She said she was giving me a fa....”
But before she could explain herself, he had already started with his tyraid.
“Aigoo!!! You think you can fool me with your excuses... Then what's with the unanswered phone calls?”

“I was b...”

“Aishhh!!! Excuses! And so what if i'm drinking? Are you the only one aloud to have fun? Huh?”

“What are you talking about? I didn't even say anything  about that...”

“Then why are you so mad at me huh?”

“Mad?” She said as she started to laugh even with her irritation towards his drunken ramblings.

“Stop Mocking me!”

“Well stop acting like a girl! Look..look babe...I'm not going to win over a drunk...so..just call me when your sober ok...”

She waited for a while for a response, but instead a female voice started coming from the speaker.
“Hello...Who's this?

“What do you mean who's this?....Who's THIS?” She said with much emphasis. She wanted to sound as intimidating as possible in order to scare her off, whoever she was. But to her surprised it backfired.

“Are you Jay's girlfriend?”
She was caught off guard. She wanted to say she was and that she better !@#$ off and keep her hands off her man. But if she did, she would surely get him in trouble.

“Ok..let me rephrase the question...Is this Nisshi?
Her heart was thumping now. Surely she knew by looking at the caller id on the screen but why does she felt like something was out of place or that something was bound to go horribly wrong. Suddenly she heard noises from the background, as if the phone was being passed around the room. She even heard him demand to give the phone back. Her instincts told her to hang up before trouble comes to her. But it was too late.

“Hi.” A familiar voice came and her worst fears were confirmed. “Nisshi..Am I right?”

“Yes?..This is her.”

“You're a friend of Jay's?”

“Ahmm..Yes sir..”

“From Seattle?”
Her heart thumped harder and pounded her chest.
“Ahmmm..No..I mean.. Yes.. But I'm in Seoul currently..”

“Oh... I see...So nissy..do you know who you're talking to?”

“Ahmmm... I think I do...Jin Young-ssi?”

“Ah!Yes! How nice of you to know me well enough to recognize my voice. Its too bad I can't say the same for you..”

“Well..Jay's a very busy man and I know you are too..so...”

“Nonsense! I'm never too busy for any FRIENDS of Jay...It would be nice if I could meet you though”

“yES...it certainly would” She said knowing that she hadn't meant it.
“Well... I'm going to give the phone back to Jay now..but i'll take your word on us meeting soon okay?"
She heard the shuffling noises made by the passing of his phone from one person to the next but before she could hear his voice she hung up.

***

[onlineloveauthor]

Chapter III Seoul November '08

“Stoooop iiiitt!!!!!”
She said pleading as he tickled her mercilessly. They had spent the whole night, morning after, and now, the whole afternoon in her bedroom. And for the longest time, they finally felt a sense of normalcy in their relationship. It was just like being in Seattle again, being together without all the worries in the world.

“Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!” He continued to tickle her despite her resistance. They wrestled and her bed was now noticeably disgruntled.

“Aisssh! You..you... midget!”

“What did you call me?” He pushed her down on the bed and climbed on top of her as he held both her wrists to the bed posts.

“ Ahmmm..Midget?” She said teasingly. But then he started to tickle her tummy, a very dangerous tickle spot for her. “What am I?” he asked her in between breaths.

“Ahhhh..midget...midget..midget!” She refused to lose to him and instead continued teasing even with his pleasant torturing. He continued to tickle her as she threw her whole body at him causing them to roll off the bed.

“Aww!” He said as he massaged his head. She looked at him as she lay on top of him and started to laugh. 

“Why are you laughing? Can't you see I'm hurt?” You're mean.” He pouted and tried to look cute for her. But she laughed even harder as her cheeks blushed red. She buried her head in his well formed chest.

“Remember Prom?” Her voice sounded excited and nervous and she could barely look at him.

“Ahhh! Prom...”

“You do remember right?” She suddenly sat, still on top of him, and looked at him, keeping a straight face.

“Of course I do...and I see you haven't change...Still the one who makes the first move eh?” He held her by her waist and winked at her.  How could he forget his first kiss. He had asked her to the prom hoping that he could at least get her phone number or a second date. But they somehow ended up in her couch at her apartment. And what started out as her tripping and landing on him ended with their first kiss and the start of something none of them ever imagined.

“You dirty...” She punched him lightly on his arm. “Its not like I threw myself at you.” She lay down on the floor and was know beside him. They both stared at the empty ceiling as they recalled that night.

“On the contrary, you did...and if I know you purposely put that stack of books on the floor for you to trip on... I saw how neatly it was positioned.

“Yeah...so it was all planned out eh?.. My plan to seduce Mr. Jay Park... Come to think of it...I was pretty smooth huh?”

“Yep! Like whisky.” He turned to his side in order to face her.
“You don't even know what whisky tastes like.” 
He looked at her and examined her features. He remembered how her lips curved to the sides so distinctly when she smiles. He wanted to stay just like this forever, in their own little world free from any kind of worries. He kissed her lightly on the cheek and she was caught off guard. She turned to him and stretched her arms across him. He thought he was going to hug her but then she suddenly reached out for something from thee bedside table.

“So...What do we do with this?” She said as she waved a white Manila envelope in his face.

“You just had to ruin the moment didn't you” He said as he pushed her arm away from her and stood up. He sat on the bed and she did the same.

“Well.. we have to face it eventually...I know you're not the worrying type... But I am... I just...” Her voice trailed her as she noticed the disappointed look on his face.

“Its an invitation...that's all there is to it.” He opened the envelope that contained a backstage pass JYP gave to her.
She nodded, stood up and headed outside the bedroom. “Aren't you hungry? I think I still have ramyun in the cupboard”

“He wants to meet my friends, that's all. Think of it as a blessing at least you can meet all of them now.” He said as she grabbed her arm to stop her from ending the conversation just like that. “it's going to be all right... I mean...we always have been...”

“I know...”

“Then whats wrong?” He still held on to her arm as he spoke but she suddenly shook it off.


“Nothing... I just have a feeling that... this time...it won't be..” He watched her as she disappeared into the kitchen. He knew there was no point in arguing because, whether he admits it or not, he felt exactly the same.
***.

[`until whenever]

WOOOOOAH.
Big Bang~~!? OMOOOO.
I`ll support this na talaga.
Next na~ Cool neto eh. KPOP~ 

[onlineloveauthor]

***

“!@#$..!@#$..!@#$..” She cursed as she jumped up and down trying to put on her jeans. A few minutes ago, while getting ready for school  Minsul had sent a very disturbing text messaged. She was in the hospital, for reasons she still didn't know, and will not be able to see her that day. She tried calling her but she guessed that her phone was already turned off since she could not get through. She had already imagined the worst and was doing her best to get herself and attend to Minsul as quickly as possibly. Although she had only meet Minsul a couple of months ago, she was the only friend she had in Korea and she had been so nice to her in those past months.

“She texted me and said that she was in hospital.. and she not replying to any of my messages or answering my calls...so I just...I'm on my where there.”
She was already walking through the corridors of the hospital when she called him. Her fast breathing was audible through the phone and she was very worried of Minsul. She needed someone to calm her nerves down and she knew he was the best person to do it.

“Look babe...I'm sure its nothing serious. The fact that she was even able to text you means she's just fine. Don't worry too much... I'm sorry babe...but I really have to go...were shooting an MV right now...I'll try to call you later ok?”
“oK...ok..thanks babe..take care..bye”
 She was approaching the nurse's station as she put her phone back into her pocket. She was about to ask where Minsul's room but as soon as she placed her elbows on the counter she remembered one thing.
“!@#$...some friend...Why don't I even know her surname?” She said to herself.

“Can I help you miss?

“Ahmm...yes...could you tell me which room is...ahmm...Minsul staying?

“Do you know her surname miss?”

“Ahmmm... this is funny...but...i kind of forgot”
She stuttered in embarrassment. “She's a friend from school so...”

“This might take a while Miss...”[/color] The nurse's tone had hints of irritation. But  considering her stupidity and carelessness, she had to endure it.

“Ok...Thank you...I'll just wait here.” She sat herself on the chair beside the vending machine. It was rude of her to not even ask for her surname when they met and more rude of her to not remember the times when their professor called out her name. After  5 minutes the nurse in charge came up to her, scolded her for not knowing the patient's complete name, and finally told her that Minsul was staying at room 549.

“Am I her only friend?” She thought to herself as she peeked through the slightly opened door. She was shocked by lack of visitors. Even thought they've been hanging around lately, Minsul surely had other friends who would be worried about her health. But judging by the empty room, it wasn't the case. She let herself in without knocking, for fear of waking her up.
“She really must be sick” She thought when she saw her completely wrapped with layers of white blankets. She couldn't even see her face, or any part of her body for that matter. She placed the basket of flowers she had bought on the bedside table and sat on the empty couch. She wanted to see if Minsul was feeling better or if she was missing a leg or something. She approached the bed carefully. She placed her hand on her arm and noticed how it was slightly bulging.
“Oh my god! She's in a cast!” She exclaimed. Not being to contain her curiosity and concern for her friends well being, she leaned towards her.
“Min.........What the!!!!!!!!!!!???”

She screamed at the top of her lungs and the shock of the situation caused her to fall to the floor. Instead of seeing her lithe and sickly friend lying on the hospital bed, she was greeted by a pair of big eyebrows and piercing eyes, which looked just as puzzled as she was.

“Who..who..who are you?” She tried to regain her sanity as she stood frozen beside the stranger's bedside.
 
“Shouldn't I be asking you that? What are you doing here?”

“Wait...wait...” She said, finally realizing that this patient was definitely not Minsul. “I think I'm in the wrong room... I'm really sorry...please go back to sleep...” She was about to leave the room, and hopefully all her embarrassment from the situation,  but the patient called out to her.

“Wait....ahmmmm...could you help me first before you leave?”

“Ahmmm..sure!” She said without hesitating. She felt sorry for barging into his room and  suddenly felt obligated to help him.

“I need to go to the bathroom....”

“Oh sure!... Here give me your hand.” She rushed to his side and put his arm around her shoulder. As they walked side by side, with him leaning towards her, she could see his face more closely and noticed how perfectly chiseled it was. He looked pale but it made him look even more handsome, like a brooding vampire.
"Thanks...My name's...ahmmm Seung Hyun...and you're?”

He had caught her staring at him intently and although she didn't really mean to. She couldn't help but admire the perfect symmetry of his face. “Its....Nissy...About what happened... I really am sorry. I guess the nurse gave me the wrong room number. You see my friend...Min...”

“What the hell??? Nisshi???” A familiar voice cried out from the door.

“Minsul?” She said a bit dazed as she turned around to see her friend staring at the them, shocked by the sight.
“What are you doing? Wait...why aren't you in your bed?”
“What are YOU doing?” Minsul, still obviously distracted, reverted her question back to her.

“I'm just...”

“I wasn't talking to you...Yah! SeungHyun! What the hell? You just fainted for god sakes, its not like you have a broken leg or something. Stop giving my friend a hard time...”

“Sorry Noona...” Seung hyun looked at her and gave her a shy smile.
Upon realizing the predicament she was in, she intended to break away from Seunghyun. But for some reason, he had a hold on her she hadn't felt in years.

“Yah!! Get off her...” Minsul pushed herself between them.
“oK...Now I'm confused...”

“Come here...” Minsul grabbed her by the arm and gave Seunghyun a darting look. “And you! Go back to bed...YG just called and he's on his way...Aissh!”

“I thought something bad had happened” She started to explain over coffee from the vending machine. “I tried calling but your phone was off...so I guess.. I just assumed the worst.”

“Nis...This all very touching...” Minsul said sincerely. But her voice quickly turned into worrisome expression. “But...I hope...You can just keep this whole incident to yourself and i'm dead serious about this.”
She didn't understand why she was acting the way she was. She knew it was embarrassing to see her friend get pick up by another one  of her friends but she was making such a big deal out of it that she was feeling uncomfortable.

“Of course I do...is he your boyfriend?” She was fishing out for some kind of explanation to her erratic behaviour.

“Bo...boyfriend??” Minsul looked at her in disbelief and finally smiled at her. “Boyfriend?” She repeated with much sarcasm. “How the hell would I have an Idol for a boyfriend?”
“Idol?" She scratched her head and thought about what she said. Although his face seemed very appealing, she would never had taken him for an idol. He lacked presence and an air of forcefulness. On the contrary, he was like a puppy, a  cute puppy that you would just like to bring wherever you go. He was nothing compared to his boyfriend, who to her was more like ravaging bulldog with chocolate abs than a sweet puppy.

Minsul, unaware of her ignorance towards the situation, knelt before her as she grabbed her hand.
“You have to promise me...promise me you won't tell anyone about this...Please promise me... Its hard enough to keep my working for YG a secret, please tell me I don't have to worry about you leaking it out to psychotic fangirls, reporters or worst, neitzens¹.”
“Of course...you can trust me... so you work for who exactly?”
Minsul straightened her pants as she stood up. “I just said it you silly...YG entertainment, I used to be an english tutor for Big Bang², until YG offered me to be the company's executive assistant. I told you tutoring paid good.”
“Big Bang?” She asked Minsul unknowingly. She was supposed to know them, especially since she had lied about being so immersed in Korean pop culture. But aT that moment she was drawing a blank.

“I can't believe it. How could you possibly know about 2PM and know nothing about BIGBANG?”

Minsul used her hands while talking and emphasized her words through gestures.The answer was obvious to her, it was because 2PM was the only band she really knew.

“Of course I know Big Bang... I was just surprised that you worked for them and never bothered to tell me... I'm such a fan of their music.” she lied again.
“Well... I was afraid you'd act all frantic and faint or worst tell someone else about this or something"

“Seriously Minsul..How would I do that when your the only one I talk to in this whole city...no this whole country! ”

They both started laughing, one from the nature of the situation and the other from hiding the fear of getting caught up in her lies.

“Come on... Lets go inside... I'll introduce you to TOP.”

“TOP? Who  the hell was that?” she thought to herself but judging from the situation she thought it would be best to keep her mouth shut and just follow Minsul's lead.

“I'm surprised you didn't recognize him. He doesn't look that different without make-up”

Finally realizing that TOP was actually, first of all a person and not a prehistoric toy and second was Seunghyun, the patient that she had startled earlier, she started to feel enlightened the more Minsul explained herself.

“But I don't get it. I asked the person for YOU... and she even gave me your room number. How come he's the patient and not you?”

“Crazy neitzens....they tend to blow things out of proportion before we even get to release a statement. Its just a precaution. If we admitted Seunghyun under his name, the next thing you know everyone's talking about how he had overdosed or had contracted a life threatening disease. These neitzens are even worst than paparazzi, we try extra hard to watch their backs, that's all.”

“I guess that makes sense.” She followed her back to Seunghyun's, a.k.a. TOP, room. Although she had her taste of the idol world through his boyfriend, she never thought how complicated it all was until now.
If the health risks weren't enough, Idols, like his boyfriend and this TOP guy, has to live life by the book, with no room for spontaneity. And with this in my mind, she finally understood what he had been going through the past years and she wasn't making it any easier by coming here.

“Seunghyun...this is Nisshi, she's a friend of mine from the university.” Minsul said as soon as she entered the room. Seunghyun sat up and nodded, trying hard to avoid eye contact with her.

“YAH! What the? You weren't this shy when you asked her to help you, what's with the act?” Minsul said as she whipped the pillow beside him to his face. “And besides, she's a dongseang, so no need for formalities.”

“Really?” She and Seunghyun said in unison as they exchanged glances.

“So...” Seunghyun began to say as he bent his body a lot closer to have a better look. “I guess you should call me Oppa then...” He winked at her and was instantly caught off guard by his undeniable charm.
 Although she didn't want to give away her bemused feeling towards the circumstances, she couldn't help but blush. Minsul gave her a dirty look, as if asking her to regain her composure and not act like 12 year old fan.

“Oppa??? Don't you think Ahjussi is more appropriate?” She teased Seunghyun back hoping to give him a dose of his own medicine. But to her surprise it seemed like he was already giving away his charm for free.

“Ok then...I'll just call you My Noona...I can never have too many Noonas, right?” Seunghyun winked at Minsul before turning to her to give his most charming smile.

***.

Footnotes:
¹ Internet Citizens
² Korean boyband made up of five Korean singers. Although their debut was somewhat successful, it was not until the release of "거짓말" ("Lies") that the group gained mainstream success.

[onlineloveauthor]

WOOOOOAH.
Big Bang~~!? OMOOOO.
I`ll support this na talaga.
Next na~ Cool neto eh. KPOP~ 

KPOP OVERDOSE TALAGA TO! hehe
thanks sa support..hehe

  really appreciate it...