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]

“God I’ve missed her...” Seunghyun thought to himself when he saw her in his dorm’s kitchen. Ever since she came to YG entertainment and up before shooting for their parody, Nisshi always showed up at 9 in the morning to wake him up with a good smelling breakfast. But thanks to his immaturity and jealousy, it had been a while since this same scene played out in his kitchen.

“OH! Oppa!! Good Morning...” Said Nisshi in a rather good mood. She was holding a Teflon pan in one hand and was clad in a colourful apron that she had bought from Japan.

“Come on..Let’s have breakfast...” She said as she started setting the table. Away from the guarding eyes of Jiyong, this was the first time in weeks she had been alone with her oppa. In Jiyong’s defense though, they had agreed on restraining her from Seunghyun. “But its just breakfast...” She told herself as she looked at Seunghyun’s bare and sleepy face.

“Wow!..It’s been a while huh? I was starting to think I’d have to live on crackers for breakfast for the rest of my life.” Seunghyun sat himself in the table and started to stuff himself with the breakfast she prepared.

“And who’s fault was that?” Nisshi sat beside him and  smiled. She poured him a fresh cup of brewed coffee and he looked at her tenderly in response. He felt like one of those old married couples who had just made up the night before and was back to their normal in love selves the morning after. But the fact was, he was the only one in love and up to this day, Nisshi was still kind of unsure of how she really felt for him.

“What did I do?” He eyed her playfully and actedinnocent.

“You’ve been such a grump lately that I’ve had to content myself with Jiyong...”

“Again with Jiyong...” He thought to himself. Although he vowed not to get jealous anymore, she always had to include Jiyong in their conversation in one way or another. "You guy’s are getting pretty close huh?”

“Yeah..And I have you to thank for that...”

He frowned at the thought. It was true, if it wasn’t for him and the advices that she had been giving her, Jiyong would still be as cold as he was the first day they met her. “Well..Its my pleasure....” Seunghyun lied as he stuffed himself with a spoonful of rice and bacon. “I even heard you’ve got a project going together...”

“Project?” Nisshi asked unknowingly until finally realizing that it was her and Jiyong’s secret code for their little arrangement. “..oh...that?...its nothing really...”

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

“Oh! Jiyong-a!” She excitedly answered the phone. Seunghyun almost spitted out what he was chewing from surprise.

“Good Morning Noona!!! Where are you?” He heard him say on the other line. He chewed quiter and more slowly just to hear hi dongseang clearly.

“Ahmmm...I’m..I’m...” She was searching for the perfect lie to tell Jiyong. If he found out that she was alone with Seunghyun, and prepared him breakfast nonetheless, he would probably drag her out of there himself. “I’m at the dorm..having breakfast...”

“Oh!Good...I’m starving..”

“Wait...what?”

“I’m on my way to your room right now...”

“But I’m not in my room...”

“Oh...I thought you said you’re at the dorm?”

Seunghyun couldn’t help himself. He wanted to have a quiet breakfast with Nisshi... Alone... and he just can’t seem to take a hint.

“Jiyong-a!!! She’s with me..so go get yourself your own breakfast!” Seunghyun shouted over her ear. Nisshi covered her oppa’s mouth as quickly as she could, but the damage has been done and there was no point in lying anymore.

“I’m at Seunghyun oppa’s room, I just cooked breakfast for...hello? Hello? Jiyong-a?...” The line went dead just as she was explaining. She didn’t know Jiyong would take their agreement so seriously and cooking breakfast for her oppa shouldn't be a big deal . But judging by the beeping sound coming from  the other end of the line, Jiyong was already beyond furious.

“What’s up with him?” Seunghyun asked. But while her oppa doubted Jiyong’s actions, she knew exactly what ticked him off. They made a promise, and she wasn’t being good at keeping it.

“It was nothing he probably ran out of signal...Want some fruit?”
She went back to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. She pulled out a few apples, which he’d never seen before, and was about to cut it when suddenly the door swung open.

“Like I said...I’m starving!!!” Jiyong shouted even when he was clearly running out of breath. He had just sprinted his way to Seunghyun’s dorm from the three floors above to where her noona’s apartment was.


“So what’s cooking?” He eyed Nisshi and sat right beside Seunghyun to block any kind of interaction between the two. And while his hyung offered him a flaming gaze, he continued to stare at Nisshi hoping that she’d feel his “what-the-hell-are-you-doing” look

“Not much...I’m cutting up some apples if you want some.” She looked down and avoided Jiyong as much as possible. She knew she committed some sort of breech in the agreement they both have made with each other back in Japan.

Seunghyun, on the other hand, could not believe his eyes. Not only did Jiyong deliberately ignored his plea to leave them alone, but Nisshi was acting all cool about. Sure, he had no right to oblige her since they weren’t together, but somehow he had thought that she meant to cook breakfast only for him and any other unexpected guest weren’t welcome, especially the one that was sitting beside him.

Nisshi brought the plate of apples to the table and sat on the opposite end of the table. She continued to look down and quietly chewed on a slice

Jiyong grabbed a piece and stuff his mouth with it. He was first of all disappointed at her noona. “So much for not wanting to fall in love with him..” He managed to say while chewing and kept his voice as muffled as possible.

“What?” Seunghyun asked, but Nisshi didn’t have to hear it twice to understand what he meant. She sulked lower to her chair and continued to avoid Jiyong’s snide comments.

“I said....so much for.... staying in Seoul...”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I just had a talk with Hyung... He said I’m going to the States with Teddy Hyung to meet a couple of producers...you know for the album...” Jiyong explained. It was one of those good opportunities that so often came to him and when he received YG’s call that morning, he couldn’t be more excited. But after going through his closet for things to bring to LA, he suddenly remembered the promise he made to his Noona. And so, he thought of relaying the news to her first and foremost, and check if she would be able to keep their project going even without him overseeing her every action.

Nisshi knew all about Jiyong’s field trip with Teddy Oppa. Her boss have already discussed the details with her and agreed that it was the perfect time to do so. With Seungri and Seunghyun busy with their acting careers and Youngbae with his second solo project, Jiyong pursuing his own music after Japan promotions came at an opportune time. She knew it would be hard once Jiyong was gone, to stay away from Seunghyun, especially now without Aaron, Jay or any other guy to distract her. But she intended to keep her promise... as soon as they were done with breakfast.

At first Jiyong thought It wouldn’t be such a big deal. Her noona was a big girl and didn’t need constant supervision just to follow through. But he thought wrong, “They’ll be lovey dovey even before I come back...” He thought to himself and knew he had to do soemthing to keep them away from each other, “not for anything but to keep my promise...”

“Oh....and there’s one more thing...” Jiyong cleared his throat and put down the half-eaten piece of apple to his plate. “Noona....”

Nisshi reluctantly looked at her and had guilt written all over her face. But before she could even respond to Jiyong, he looked at Seunghyun and finally said.

“Noona’s coming with me...to LA”

***

He blinked his eyes twice in disbelief. Although the apartment looked homey and was exactly his hyung’s style, it was just too...small. He always looked up to Teddy and imagined how he was living it up in  LA and coming to his apartment, he could say he was a bit disappointment. He still had his bags on both hands since he wasn’t really sure where to put it. Teddy’s apartment was definitely posh, with its plush sofa and black and white interior. But as he looked around, he noticed that there was only one room and there were three of them.

Nisshi noticed the sudden change in his face as soon as they arrived. When they got off the plane in LAX, Jiyong was all smiles. During the ride to Teddy’s apartment he couldn’t contain himself and even stuck his head out of the car’s window. Although she didn’t mind the size of the apartment, he was a bit apprehensive.

“Make yourself at home...” Teddy shouted as he brought in the rest of Jiyong’s luggage.

“Oh oppa! Let me help you with that...” She rushed to his oppa’s side after nudging Jiyong from his shock.

“Oh...right...let me get that...” Jiyong said, still a bit confused.

Teddy was having a hard time moving every piece of luggage Jiyong brought into his tiny apartment. “Seriously Jiyong..do you need this much? There’s no space for all your things...” Teddy mocked, trying to stay steady even with big bags in tow.

“..obviously...” Jiyong mumbled. Nisshi nudged him again and raised her eyebrow to restrain him.

“Fine..” He mouthed and started helping his hyung out. “...But hyung...we’re should I put this... I mean..where will I be sleeping?”

She looked at him and shook her head. Even though they’ve already crossed that line from perennial enemies to friends, it seemed that she still had a long way to go before Jiyong would care for her welfare.

“Well...you could put your things in my room...” Teddy started to say, “but you’ll be sleeping in the couch...both of you...”

“Both of us?” Jiyong dropped his bags in shock and disbelief.

“Well.. I didn’t know Nisshi-ssi was coming with us...and with the last minute addition...I didn’t really have time to book anyone a hotel...”


She gave Jiyong a look. She wasn’t really needed here and by the looks of the small couch that stood in the living room it seemed that Teddy wasn’t expecting her to be there either.
Teddy had already headed towards his room to unpack his own things.  Jiyong had already dropped his bags on the floor and flopped on the couch. “What?" He said as he noticed his noona staring at her, displeased.  "I call dibs on the couch...you can have hyung’s air bed...” Jiyong said, feeling guilty of his insensitivity.

“Why did you even bring me along?” She crossed her arms and started tapping her feet. “...you don’t need a chaperone you know...”

“You know exactly why I brought you here...” Jiyong reached for the remote and turned on the television, which was for a small apartment was about 27 inches and had a pretty decent surround sound system.

She sat down on her luggage and started massaging her legs. It had been a long trip and having to carry a fourth of Jiyong’s luggage to the apartment was giving her the cramps. “If this is about Oppa and me having breakfast....”

“Can’t you see how many wrongs there where in that sentence....” Jiyong was still flipping through the channels for a show he could finally settle on and watched, but just like how Nisshi had always been, she was distracting him. He turned the TV to mute and faced her. “Oppa...breakfast...next thing you know you’ll be adding bed into the mix...Trust me..none of us wants that...”

“He’s right...I’m the one who needs chaperoning...” She thought to herself. She decided to at least give Jiyong credit for helping her and went straight to the kitchen to find something to whip up for lunch.

“And by the way Noona...” Jiyong finally turned off the TV and laid down on the soft couch, fluffing the throw pillow to his head. “You’re the one who needs a baby sitter not me...” He was feeling unusually tired of having her around, but to some extent he felt that having her here in LA was kind of nice. He closed his eyes, smiled, and said, “I might as well be your oppa because of your childish ways...”

[onlineloveauthor]

“Would that be all Ma’am?” The charming young boy on the 7-Eleven counter asked. Hearing a local boy speak in english was something she’d been longing for quiet sometime now. His distinct California accent and the cool winter rains of LA was enough to make her feel right at home. Although Seattle was still a couple of miles away from where she was, being in the same continent was consolation enough.

“Yeah...” She handed the boy  2 cans of iced coffee and a carton of milk. “How much?”

“That would be 4 dollars ma’am...” The boy smiled happily and it reminded her of a certain lanky pale faced idol that she hadN'T seen all day.

With Jiyong and Teddy busy working on his solo album, she was given a free pass to roam around the city for awhile, on the condition that she had to be back at the studio by 10 and that she won’t comeback empty handed. She stepped out of the the store with a brown paper bag in hand and started to take in the busy lights of Hollywood Boulevard on his way to where Jiyong and Teddy were.

Not further down from where she was, two YG artists had just finished with a day's work “Hyung...this is the !@#$!” He told Teddy as they were getting ready to pack up and leave. He just spent the whole day in the studio, working and all the creative juices were still flowing in him that he needed an outlet to let it all loose. He started thinking about all the parties and clubs that were waiting for him outside Hollywood and Vine and how it was the perfect opportunity to unwind in his second day at LA.

“Hyung! Aren’t we doing anything tonight?” Jiyong asked his hyung.


Teddy smiled and was satisfied that his dongseang seemed like he was up for anything “Hollywood” so to speak.

“It’s a friday night isn’t it?” Teddy teased with a wink. He wanted to give his dongseang his hard-earned night out and with everything he had put out for that day’s session, Jiyong deserved the star treatment.

“So what if its a friday?” Nisshi said as she walked through the door of the small studio room. Not Jiyong nor Teddy heard her came in, but as soon as they saw her standing by the door, they had no choice but to take notice. Back in Seoul, her fair skin was white and pasty and she often looked like a new born baby, but with the California sun her skin glistened  a perfect tan.

“Whoa!” Teddy said as he stepped back a bit. “Looks like someone had a little too much sun...in the winter...”

Jiyong looked at Teddy and was trying to get some explanation to what seemed to be an inside joke. Nisshi laughed and shyly tucked her hair in her ear.

“I just had a little tanning done... sue me...” Nisshi propped her self on the leather couch and pulled to coffee cans from the paper bag she had brought. She threw one at Teddy and starrted opening the oother for herself.

“Yah!!  Noona! Where’s mine?”  Jiyong said as he rushed and threw himself in the same couch beside her. He was about to snatch the paper bag away from her when she started teasing him by extending her arm and placing the bag over head.

“You don’t get to drink coffee...it stunts your growth....” Jiyong continued to reach for the bag, but her outstretched arm was longer than his. “And  with the Child Star curse of you not growing any taller...you shoouldn’t be drinking any of this...”

Nisshi leaped out of the couch and was now hiding behind Teddy. “What curse?” Jiyong demanded as he chased her around his hyung. Teddy, on the other hand, was not about to break up their fight since he was enjoying it too much.

“You know...Seth Green... Sirley temple...”

“The drink?”  Teddy said, meaning to add fuel to the fire,

“NO! He gets Milk!’ She said as she reached for the milk carton in the bag and threw it at him.

Jiyong caught the carton with his two hands and stared at his noona. Realizing that Nisshi was actually serious, he punched a hole through the carton and drank it in one gulp. Nisshi and Teddy couldn’t help themselves and started to laugh at Jiyong’s aegyo,

“Oh well... I guess he can’t go to the clubs with us now can he Nisshi-ssi?” Teddy was already half-way out the door when he asked.

“What? Of course not... I can come...right noona?” Jiyong looked at her hopefully, expecting her to be on his side. But today was just not his day.

“As a noona... I’ll say you can...” Nisshi said smiling. “ But....since i’m still on duty as your publicists... it wouldn’t be good to have you roaming the streets of Los Angeles intoxicataed and..underage...”

Jiyong smiled turned upside down when he heard her noona’s way of saying no. He was already starting to regret bringing her with him here.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS? you’re seriously not going to let me have fun? Seriously?

“Oh come on Jiyong... don’t be such a drama queen..” Teddy said through the hallway. “..besides...your noona’s right...” Teddy turned to Nisshi to give him a reassuring smle that he was on her side on this. “ So..i’ll be seeing both of you at home...don’t wait up...”

“Hyung! Hyung! Wait...” Jiyong shouted as he ran to the door and into the hallway.

“Jiyong-a..don’t worry..” Nisshi calmly said as she went after him."... we’re going somewhere else...Somewhere more fun than Hyde or any hotspot in LA..” Nisshi comfortably took his hand and was swinging it happily as she led him through the hallway.

***.


“YAH!!!! MWO YAH!! NOOONA!” Jiyong shouted. On the way to his Noona’s “surprise” he was actually looking forward to it. And Nisshi being born, raised and probably had spring break in the States, she was not one to disappoint when it came to having a good time. But as he stood in the middle of the happiest place on earth in Anaheim¹, he was beyond disappointed.

“Noona!!” He shouted again, but Nisshi was not hearing any of it and already had her eyes wide from the playful lights of the place.

“Yah...Noona... I might be under-age...but I’m not 6! Yah!!!” Jiyong ran after her and was about to drag her out of that overly chirped up place when she suddenly turned around with a an overarching smile and 2 huge ice cream cones on each hand.

“Jiyong-ie...”She started to say. But Jiyong was just too distracted with both her smile and the ice cream she was holding to realize he was no longer mad. “Can you just let noona have her fun first? I’ve always wanted to go to Disneyland...But..i just....i didn’t want to look suicidal and go alone...”

Jiyong smiled. It was amazing how little it took to make her smile. Just a few weeks before, she had been sulking over some still unknown problem but now here she was smiling gently back at him. It was a shame to say no to one of the most irresistible request he had ever encountered in his life.

“Fine..fine...” He started to say, noticing instantly how her eyes widened in delight. He raised his arm slightly suggesting to slide hers in his. “But after this...We’re going to where I want to go..”

Without even thinking twice, she quilcky linked her arms with his, letting the warmth of Jiyong  settle in with her. “I’ve always wanted to do this...” Nisshi said.

“Me too...” He said under his breath.Jiyong looked at her and smiled. With all the events, recordings and other work related things, he had missed out a lot on his childhood. And as he stood there side by side her energetic noona, he felt, for the first time in years, that aside from winning awards and earning fame and fortune, there were those simple things in life which could make one happy. And as he looked at her smile once more, as she pointed carelessly at every pretty thing she sees, he realized these were just one of those things.  “I guess the happiest place on earth...  depends on who your with...” He thought as he took a lick from his ice cream and finally settled on having some fun with her Noona beside him

“Noona...look! Rollercoaster!”

Footnotes:
¹a city in Orange County, California. It is  the 10th most-populated city in California; it is also known for its theme parks, such as Disneyland, sports teams, and convention center.

[onlineloveauthor]

They walked side by side once again under the morning sun. It had been almost a week since they arrived and each morning she had managed to take Jiyong to a different place for a walk. She thought it was a good idea to have him, and as well as her, experience LA like how it was meant to be experience.  Not with parties, booze and the occasional DUI¹, but with the free sights and sounds the county had to offer. From  walking along sunset boulevard² to look at the Hollywood Walk of Fame to eating a Big Mac across the street from The Ivy³, she had wanted Jiyong to feel like a tourist on  vacation rather than an overworked kid meeting with a bunch of adults twice his age. At first Jiyong was hesitant and even despised her for not allowing him to have fun with Teddy, but she had guessed he finally realized that she only wanted him go back to the childhood he had missed growing up.

“Noona...” Jiyong said after a long silence. “I’m hungry...”

They have been walking down the famed Venice Beach Boardwalk⁴ since 8 in the morning and the only thing they ate were the two pop tarts they bought on the way there.

“Lets go over there...” She started leading him to string of food carts and street vendors to find something to eat.
“Noona...I don’t get why you have to bring me here...” Even with his wavering comments, he was still very thankful of what his noona was doing. Whether it was to make sure he stayed out of trouble or she really meant to have him enjoy LA differently, he was very happy that she did so.

“Look how pale you are... Some sun would do you good...”

“Then why can’t I have those tanning salon thingies you do...”She frowned and looked at him. She was starting to think that maybe she was forcing him too much to do the things she likes and not the things he actually wants to do. But Jiyong was being strangely supportive and, not too mention, extremely touchy as he placed his arm around her.

“Aisshhh Noona... I was just playing with you... I love the sun!...Even though  I look like a piece of bland white meat...” Jiyong said as he eyed the streetballers across the street and the muscle-shirt-wearing Hulk man walking pass them. It felt weird for him, but lately whenever his noona smiled it made him smile as well, and today was no exception.

“I actually like the feeling...”

“Feeling? What kind of feeling?” She asked curiously.

“Being..you know...insignificant..” She looked at Jiyong and was starting to think this wasn’t the Jiyong she had come to know, just someone who looked like him. The Jiyong she knew loved the attention. “I mean...it actually feels good...here..no one knows who I am...and I can just walk around and not worry about looking at me or asking me for pictures...It’s like a break from the real world...You know...my version of the real world.’

She was surprised and, to some extent, glad that Jiyong was enjoying himself and was slowly opening up to her. “Work would be so much easier from now on...” She thought to herself.

“Does your version of the real world have Corn Dogs⁵?’ Nisshi dragged him towards a nearby snack stand. 

“Corn Dogs?”

“2 please...” Nisshi ordered as Jiyong  stood beside her, still not knowing what his noona was up to now. But it was that same spontaneity that made him feel secure, and at that moment he was proud to say that he trusted her. He stepped back a couple of meters to admire her.

“Ji..Jiyong-a?” Suddenly a stranger from behind him tapped his shoulder llightly He was stunned, aside from Teddy, who was still asleep at their apartment, he knew no one from here. He was starting to think that maybe Big Bang have finally broke through the American market way ahead of their plans. But as he turned around to give his so called “fan” a camera ready smile, a familiar face greeted him.

“Junsu Hyung!!” He said surprised, feeling like he was transported back to Seoul upon seeing his old friend. He gave him a hug almost instantly and was just too happy to see him, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m with Jin Young⁶ hyung..for his tour and everything...” Junsu said as hugged him back tightly. It has been a long time since he’d seen his old friend and ironically they had met on foreign land. “And what are YOU doing here?” Junsu asked.

Jiyong tore away from his old friend and smiled. It was comforting to see a friend's face after being in LA for a week. “I’m on vacation...actually a working vacation... I’m meeting with a couple of people for the album....”

“Oh yeah! I heard about that...Congrats...”

Jiyong looked over to Nisshi to come introduce her, but she was still busy  piccking out flavors for the snow cones she was buying he decided to let her come to them in her own time.

“Hyung!” Junsu shouted to his friends and signalled them to come over. He didn’t mind meeting 2pm and with Nisshi being such a good noona to her, he thought it would be a treat to introduce his ultimate idol to her. But as the other 2PM members huddled over him, Nisshi, with 2 snow cones, emerged from the background her eyes and mouth open wide.

“Nisshi-ssi!” 2pm said in perfect harmony, except for one, who was still obviously too stunned to react.

“Hey...”She managed to say. She wasn’t expecting any of this. When she dragged Jiyong out of the couch that morning she had thought that it was going to be another delightful day strolling down the beach. But staring into the fiery eyes of a certain elfin-like boy, her confidence in that day was quickly fading away.

Jiyong stood there confused. First of all, he would have thought her noona would be ecstatic to meet 2PM, especially since she was a fan. Secondly, he would have also thought that this would be her first time meeting them. But as he observed the staggered looks of everyone around him, he realized he had been wrong on both accounts. “Wait...you know each...”

But before Jiyong could even finish, she decided to butt in and at the very least do damage control. “Jay and I were... friends..back in Seattle.”

“Friends?” Jay said defensively. Both Taecyeon and Wooyoung looked at him, scared of what there scorned hyung might do to the poor pasty white boy. Even though they haven’t been together for quite some time now, their hyung never failed to mention her in passing at least once every two days. "So that’s how you introduce me now?” Jay wanted to punch the dude in the face as soon as he saw him together, remembering how Jiyong also accompanied her to Chungnam awhile back. No matter what anyone said, or no matter whatever had happened... “She’s still MY girl” He thought to himself.

Jiyong was still oblivious to what was going on but Jay took his ignorance to the whole situation as guilt, the guilt of dating someone when he shouldn’t. Jay turned him, eyed from head to his foot and extended a hand “I’m his Ex...”

Jiyong, still in a daze, asked, “EX what?”

Junsu couldn’t take the heated exchange, mostly from Jay, that was going on, he leaned closer to Jiyong and whispered, “they used to date...you know...girlfriend-boyfriiend kind of thing...” Jiyong could not believe his ears, “She’s dated an idol before...” He told himself. Suddenly all the facts that rushed through his head were all starting to make sense; crying over the Idol Army show, not wanting to fall for an Idol, the immense amount of knowledge she had on their world, and even the fact that she was from Seattle. Everything was starting to explain itself to him.

“I’m surprised she didn’t tell you...” Jay said confidently as he lowered his unshaken hand. “I mean...you guy’s ARE dating right?’ Jay assumed.

“No..No...” Nisshi wanted to say that they were, just to shove it to her ex’s face. But it was obvious that Jiyong couldn’t believe that she had just lied to him and she was starting to fear that she might just have lost his hard-to-earn trust. “I’m working with Big Bang now..” She started to say, her voice shaking "...I’m their publicist...” She gave out an embarrassed smile.

Jiyong noticed how uncomfortable she was. And if Jaebeom was really her ex this would’ve been an embarrassing situation for her. And although it was true she had lied, he had guessed that she had good reason to do SO and it was wrong to just let her take a fall, especially when she had been so good to her.

“Yeah!...” Jiyong said changing his tone from surprised and unsuspecting to entirely confident and cocky. He put his arm around her once again and pulled her closer this time... “But hey,..You can’t blame me for mixing a little pleasure with business now do you...” He looked directly at Jaebeom and let out a wink. He knew that  THAT Hoobae’s blood was boiling from jealousy and it felt good to show off his overbearing presence back at him.

“Well...It was nice to meet you all...Nice seeing you Junsu...But we have to go..” He looked at Nisshi and smiled at her re-asssuringly “Come on Nisshi...” Calling her name informally for the first time, He took both snow cones from her hand and continued to say “Oppa’s paying for those Corn dogs...”

***

It was already 3 in the morning and she still couldn’t sleep. Although Teddy said she just might be jet lagged when she bumped into her in the kitchen a couple of hours before, she knew that it wasn’t the case. She usually fell asleep to Jiyong’s raves and rants regarding their trips, but tonight was different. After his meeting with the producers ended, he went back to the apartment and went to bed right away. She was starting to worry whether Jiyong was mad over the events of that morning’s stroll by Venice beach. Surely she didn’t mean that to happen, but after thinking it through it was still her fault for lying to him about it. She made him look like an idiot in front of his hoobaes, and knowing Jiyong that was the sort of thing that was just unforgivable.

She tossed and turned around in her rock hard air bed. She thought that maybe if she tossed and turned hard enough she’ll be able to spin herself so hard she’d just fall unconscious. But to no avail the thought of Jiyong hating her was too much to bare.

Then suddenly out of nowhere Jiyong spoke. “Noona...”

“Yeah?...”She almost jumped for joy when he heard him call her. She didn’t care what it was he wanted to say just as long as he talked to her, he could tell her to just shut up and she still wouldn’t mind.


“Is that why...why you cried in Japan?” Jiyong asked. He had been trying to piece everything together after seeing Junsu and his friends. From the day they first met up until today, everything about his Noona was a blur,  Aside from her innate ability to infect everyone of her mood and her penchant for the simple things, she didn’t now anything about her...until now. He had waited all day for her to explain everything but when she didn’t, he was itching with curiousity.

“Huh?” She sat up on her bed and now eyed Jiyong in the darkness. He faced her and saw two very expressive eyes staring back at him.

“In Japan...you cried when you were watching Idol Army...” He recalled that faithful night. At first he thought she was just a fan who was taking it too far and that her tears were superficial, but now, knowing her past with Jay, he felt like he might have taken her problem too lightly.

“Yes...and … No...After breaking up with Jay... I thought it would’ve been wise to just date non-idols from then on... But when the guy I was dating turned out to be a complete douche bag of reporter who was just after me for you...”

“For me?”

“you know Big Bang... scandals and stuff... I guess it just  bottled up...” There was a long silence. She didn’t think she’d be able to open up to him the way she did, considering he was an Idol. But it felt good not to hide anything anymore.

“I’m...I’m sorry noona...”

“Sorry for what?”

“I never thought you had it hard...I mean with an idol breaking your heart...it must’ve been hard working with us 24/7...and I made it even harder by picking on you all the time...”

“Picking on me? I hardly noticed...”She said sarcastically but Jiyong still continued to talked to her in a serious tone.

“When you’re an Idol you should never let your guard down...and I guess you know this from that douche bag of a reporter...its hard to trust some one...you never know who's using you...so yeah...I’m sorry Noona...”

“so you thought I was just some crazed fan trying to steal some of your underwear?”

They both laughed and suddenly the room felt lighter than it was a few moments ago. She laid back down in the bed to get herself some shut eye. It was a good feeling that Jiyong was now not just an Idol or an unlikely alliance, but was now her friend.

“But Noona...I am sorry” Jiyong suddenly said without bothering to get up from the couch. “ In my defence though... It would have gone a lot easier if you just wore the white dress like I asked you too...”


Footnotes:
¹Driving under the influence of alcohol; many hollywood stars have been charged with DUI, therefore making it a new found trend in LA
²Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades. The street is an icon of Hollywood celebrity culture and the phrase "Sunset Boulevard" is an enduring shorthand for the glamor associated with Tinseltown.
³The Ivy is one of L.A.'s leading celebrity hangouts, attracting a virtual Who's Who of Hollywood stars and moguls. Since it is an open, patio restaurant, there are often papparazzi camped out across the street, hoping for photos of arriving celebrities.
⁴Venice is a district in western Los Angeles, California, United States. It is known for its canals, beaches and circus-like Ocean Front Walk, which features performers, fortune-tellers and vendors.[1] Throughout the summer months, the boardwalk is actively entertaining, and this tradition continues on weekends in the winter.[2] It is an important tourist attraction in Southern California,[3] and has retained its popularity in part because it is an attractive location for walking and bicycling.
⁵Corn Dog is a well known snack food in the US, it is hot dog coated in cornbread batter and deep fried in hot oil, although some are baked. Almost all corn dogs are served on wooden sticks
⁶JYP's real name

[onlineloveauthor]

“Yah! Jiyong-a! You can’t do that?” She said looking at the scrabble board and pieces that were scattered on the floor. Teddy’s undersized apartment   looked more like a children’s playroom than the ritzy quarters of Korea’s top producer. Monopoly¹ money, Clue² game cards and UNO Stacko³ blocks made up what used to be the apartment’s carpeted flooring.

“Wae?⁴” Jiyong laughed and went ahead putting the letters across.
“U... L... Z... Z... A... N... G⁵... that’s 26 points” He said loud and clear. He was about to write his score down when his Noona’s squeal made him laugh even more.

“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!! That’s not fair!!! Yah!” She lunged towards him trying to grab the pen away from Jiyong. Although it looked like she was mad at him for cheating, she was actually enjoying the level of comfort she was now sharing with the boy. She chased him around the tiny apartment  but his thin legs leaped faster than hers and she was feeling like she was chasing after a grasshopper.

Jiyong was also having fun. Staying in for the day was one of the best ideas his noona had had so far. And when she suggested to play Scrabble⁶ to past the time, and as well as sharpen his english, he felt like he was a kid again. In fact, ever since he came to LA with her, it always felt like he was back in his school days - he could act like a normal teenager, go to an amusement park without getting recognized and just lay at home all day playing board games.   “Noona’s such a sore loser!” Jiyong shouted as he ducked behind the kitchen counter.
 Nisshi ran after him. But with him being cornered under the counter, all he could do was just smile at her jokingly. He giggled and pulled her noona beside her. They breathed heavily and laughed alternately, they tried saying something but every time they tried to do so they just ended up laughing.

“Stop that” Nisshi managed to say in between giggles.

“You stop it..." Jiyong replied in the same way and turned to face her. He didn’t know what it was, but lately his noona no longer seemed like the uptight guardian and annoying publicist she usually was. She looked sweeter, more innocent and her eyes shined more than they usually did.

“What?” Nisshi said, noticing Jiyong’s stare. Their eyes meet and for the first time ever, they didn’t even tried to look away from each other. Back in Japan, Jiyong remembered seeing her in the balcony of their hotel room and admiring her beauty in her sadness. But now, looking at her - her cheeks flushed and looking like a kid high on snickers -  she saw how much prettier she was when she’s happy and grinning. Nisshi, on the other hand, always thought of him as the little kid she was responsible for. But looking into his smiling eyes, behind all his aegyo, was someone mature, more mature than her even.

“Honey! We’re home!!!” They didn’t even notice the door open and as they looked overhead, Teddy’s face, still UV deprived, greeted them from the opposite side of the counter. “What are you guys doing? The place’s a mess!” Teddy cocked his eyebrows suggestively.

They were still in there happy trance and just snickered in response. But to their surprise another head peeped in.

“You didn’t even bother to clean the place before I arrived.” Hyun Suk, still jet lagged, said.

Instantly both Nisshi and Jiyong stood upright and looked like they’ve just seen a ghost.

"Hyung-nim?” Nisshi was beyond words, she wasn’t expecting to see her boss in another week. Hell, she wasn't even expecting to see her anywhere near the same continent she was in. She was still in her pajamas and she still stunk of yesterdays Indian dinner.

Jiyong was just as surprised as his noona was. “What are you doing here hyung?” He knew that he had done nothing wrong, but YG’s over-imposing stance was making him think twice and was feeling guilty about something he still wasn’t sure of.

“Aigoo...aren’t I the one who brought you guys here...why are you acting so surprise?”YG said with a laugh. But even with their CEO’s attempt to lighten the mood, both Nisshi and Jiyong stood frozen behind the counter.

“Oh! CEO-nim...”  Nisshi rushed to her boss's side, expecting to help him with his luggage and make him feel welcome. But as she walked over to where they stood, she noticed that YG came empty handed.  She look at him confused, but her boss only smiled back at her.

“Jiyong-a...How’s the album coming along...” YG said as he signalled his dongseang to come over. Nisshi could only watch as Jiyong followed his hyung to the dirty living room. “It’s...coming along...” She heard the boy say.

Everything that had happened was still a blur. She didn’t know what his boss was doing there and why she had a feeling that she had just done something wrong. She was also confused at why YG would take the time off  his busy schedule and the spend that much money when she assumed he wasn’t staying long.“He’ll be here for the rest of the trip ...He’s staying at the Hilton...”

“Oh...that explains a lot..." She told Teddy, who was now standing beside her.  "...I mean...I doubt if there’s even room... I mean with Jiyong and ...”

“He’s taking Jiyong with him...” Teddy interrupted.

She let out an insincere sigh of relief.“Oh...yeah..that makes sense”  She was getting used to her and Jiyong sleeping in the same room that it never occurred to her that at some extent it was still inappropriate.

Teddy headed towards his refrigerator and pulled out a couple of fruits to serve his guest. Nisshi followed suit, as she handed him the knife and cutting board.“I think he’s worried...” Teddy said.

She looked at him surprised. “About Jjiyong? Does he think I'm not taking care of him?”If there was anything that she did the entire trip, it was making sure that Jiyong was both focused on work, but still had fun. In fact, for the whole trip she only thought about him and his welfare.

“On the contrary...he’s worried you might be taking care of him too much... I think He overheard Seunghyun say that you were getting extremely close these days...and you seem inseparable...”

“Oh..that...its nothing...” She tried to conceal the fact that she couldn’t even be professional and keep her relationship with Big Bang as impersonal as possible. But as she looked at Teddy, his eyes pierce through her, as if waiting for further explanation.  “Its just...see..I like..Seunghyun oppa...and Jiyong thinks he likes me too... so i guess he’s helping me and oppa...not develop feelings for each other more than is necessary...”

Teddy merely grunted in response.

“Why?” She asked his oppa, who was now peeling a pear.

“Nothing...” Teddy started to say. He didn’t seem like the oppa she knew, the oppa who was always loose and a bit happy-go-lucky. His voice, his tone, everything about him today was serious. “So... you mean...Jiyong’s helping you and seunghyun not fall for each other?...”

She looked at him, more confused and a bit intimidated. Although her little “project” with Jiyong was not that big of a deal, it felt like Teddy was grinding her for answers. “Yeah..something like that..I guess”

Teddy put down the fruit knife and picked up the plate. She felt relieve that Teddy was going to let the topic go, she wasn't exactly comfortable talking about her immature way of handling things.  But before he walked away, Teddy turned around and asked “If that's case then...who’s helping Jiyong not fall in love with you?”

Footnotes
¹Monopoly is a board game published by Parker Brothers, a subsidiary of Hasbro. The game is named after the economic concept of monopoly, the domination of a market by a single entity. Monopoly is the most commercially-successful board game in United States history, with 485 million players worldwide
²is a deduction board game originally published by Waddingtons in Leeds, United Kingdom in 1949. The object of the basic game is for players to strategically move around the game board, in the guise of one of the game's characters, collecting clues from which to deduce which suspect murdered the game's perpetual victim: Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy in North American versions), and with which weapon and in what room.
³UNO Stacko is one of the many variations of the card game Uno. This game is a block-stacking tower game which combines the gameplay of Uno and that of Jenga.
⁴"Why?"
⁵Ulzzang means "best face" in Korean. Basically, an ulzzang is someone who has a very attractive face, but most people use the term to describe people who have become popular for their looks.
⁶Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a game board marked with a 15-by-15 grid. The words are formed across and down in crossword fashion and must appear in a standard dictionary.

[mS.pRexUz]

yowh sis precious hir..
will support this one 

[onlineloveauthor]

Only one more week left before they return to Seoul. But instead of feeling excited to see the faces of the idols she missed the most, she felt right at home as soon as she walked in the room and saw Jiyong’s delighted face.

“Noona!!!!!” Jiyong exclaimed as he swiftly ran towards her and gave her a hug. They only haven’t seen each other for the last 10 hours, but he was already missing her. Ever since YG booked them this room in the Hyatt¹, his noona had been spending more time doing errands for his CEO that he had to call her over just to see her. Although it was still hard to admit to himself, as he better understood his noona’s past, he was feeling closer to her as he had ever been.

Nisshi blushed at her dongseangs embrace. She wanted to hug him back, but again, she felt it was inappropriate, especially when YG had gone out of his way to make sure that he kept her busy enough to not see the little boy. Although YG never expressed such feelings, after what Teddy said a couple of days ago, it was clear that her boss were taking safety precautions regarding this issue. “Who’s helping Jiyong not fall in love with you?” She recalled Teddy say as Jiyong pulled her to the bed to sit and turned the TV on. At first, her mission to get closer to Jiyong was purely for her own convenience. She never liked having conflict in the workplace and Jiyong was threatening her peaceful way of life. But after awhile, she had to admit that the time she had spent with Jiyong had her smiling. “who’s helping Jiyong not fall in love with you?” She thought to herself again. She was well aware that her Seunghyun oppa had shown interest in her, but Jiyong was a whole different story. She knew that the boy sitting next to her would never be interested in her in any way.

“Shouldn’t you be working or something?” She asked.

“Nah...Hyung ask me to stay behind while he takes care of business...Just following orders...” Jiyong cocked his shoulder blades trying to look as innocent as he could. It was true, YG was scheduled for a meeting that day. But what he failed to mention was the fact that he had to fake a stomach ache just to stay behind. On any other day he would have conjured up some other reason why he wanted to stay at home, but today his reasons were clear...he wanted to spend time with her noona.

Nisshi looked at him, doubtful of his intentions. She had a lot of work to do that day. And even though it was as simple as getting Han Syuk his dose of Frappucino from Starbucks, she intends to impress her boss and  get on his good side. “So..what’s so important that I have to come here?” She asked Jiyong, who was still sitting comfortably by the edge of the bed.
 
Jiyong didn’t even try to look at her, instead he felt that something was out of place. When he texted her that morning and invited her over, he was expecting her exuberant noona to come and visit him. Instead he was getting, not that noona, but... his publicist. He just wanted to hang out with her, after all it seemed like she was the only one he could rely on to let loose and feel like himself again.

Nisshi stood there with her arms crossed, waiting for his answer. After being so friendly  and warm for the past few days, she was feeling guilty for acting so stingy towards him. It wasn’t like she intended for this to happen. As she looked at Jiyong’s disappointment she was starting to think that she should just ditch her whole “impress-YG” plan.

“Are you hungry?” She suddenly asked as she left the spot next to her dongseang and stood in front of the television.

“Yah!... What are you doing? I was watching!!!” Jiyong said as he tried to push her away from his view.

“OH...so we’re back to calling me Yah instead of Noona eh?” She moved aside and sat next to him in the couch.

“If your going to be my prissy publicist then yah...” Jiyong responded smiling.  But she knew that she had to stick to the plan and disappoint her  now favourite dongseang.

“Well...I am your publicist...so I guess we just both have to live with that huh?” Both their moods sunk upon hearing the reality out-loud. She knew that even though she was pretty sure she wasn’t Jiyong’s type, it was better to be safe than sorry and not let herself get to attached, not to Seunghyun and not with Jiyong.

Jiyong was not just disappointed, he was baffled. He didn’t know what it was  he did to make his noona act differently from before. She had always been the one chasing after him, doing things just to get him on her side. And if it wasn’t for their trip to Japan, and now finally knowing one of her biggest secret, they’re relationship had changed drastically. He tried fiddling with the tassels of the throw pillow beside him, but he couldn’t distract himself from the fact that he now cared what his Noona was thinking at that very moment. But still , as  he took stolen glances of his Noona standing beside him, he didn’t want to lose his pride. He just pretended to not care as much as his noona wasn’t caring now.

“Yah..I’m hungry...” He said without even looking at her. “I want some Ddukbokkie²”

“Ddukbokkie ... where do you expect to get Ddukbokkie in LA?” She asked, surprised.

“Figure it out..I mean like you said...you're my publicist...” Jiyong sounded like a spoiled brat, but if her noona was going to continue acting like the nagging noona she was now, then he might as well join her along for the ride.

“So you want us to go outside and find ddukbokkie? In LA?”

“No..I don’t want to go...but you should...after all..like you said...you're my publicist.”

“Aissh! Fine I’m going...is there anything else you want to make your stay more comfortable...sir?” Nisshi asked sarcastically as she started walking towards the door.

Jiyong didn’t think she’d take it seriously. Usually, she would give him a daunting stare and refuse to yield to him. But this time she did and it made a bit restless. He just shook his head in reaction.   

Nisshi walked out of the room hating herself. She had spent so much time getting close to her dongseang and she just ruined it in a matter of minutes. “I guess we’re not really that close.” She uttered to herself. She walked through the lobby of the Hyatt, feeling defeated not only because of her unfortunate situation with Jiyong but as well as for the fact that she had to look for Ddukbokkie in the middle of LA. She walked over the concierge hoping to ask them for directions. But she suddenly stopped half-way. “How the hell would they know where I could get ddukbokkie... I doubt they don’t even know what that is?”

She walked around the lobby like a confused tourist.Not only did she paced around the great expanse of the hotel entrance, but she had also asked for a small map of LA and was starting to look through it. But to no avail, she still had no idea where to buy what Jiyong was craving for. “Damn it!” She continued to walk around the entrance of the Hyatt dazed, confused and helpless. Suddenly she realized, that she wasn’t the only one in LA at that very moment.

She took out her phone as she started heading out the gold crested doors of the hotel. She was hoping that even though it been awkward between them, he’d still be willing to help her.

“Hey...ahmm..hi..its...” She said through the phone, hesitating for awhile.

But Jay recognized her voice almost immediately. “Nis! Hey!” She would have thought that after their breakup, and all the awkward moments that followed, it would be hard for him to recognize her voice. But instead he greeted it warmly, just like he did when they were still together.

“Hey jay...” She felt pain as her heart was beating so fast for no apparent reason. “ahmmm are you still here in LA?”

Jay, on the opposite end, felt relieved. “Yeah...why? Want to meet up? I mean...I’m free 'till this afternoon...” Ever since he found out that they were in the same county at the same time, he’d been wanting to phone her and at the very least catch up. But the image of her and that pesky dongseang of hers kept him from doing so. He thought that  calling her up and inviting her would mean having to bring along Jiyong, and that wasn’t such a good idea for him, especially when he still was certain there was something going on between the two. 

“Ahmmm I actually have a lot of stuff to do... I just need to ask something?"

Jay frowned. “So...you just need something?why else would you phone me...why would you even miss me....” He said to himself. It was so typical of her to be so insensitive. But then again, he expected this. She’s somehow changed. “Oh..i see..sure go ahead...”


Nisshi smiled. She “Do you know where I can get ddukbokkie around here?”

“You're craving for korean cuisine...that's a first...” Jay let out a teasing laugh.

“Yeah...I don’t know why...” She lied and it came as a shock to her, as she spotted her rented car parked on the side of the road. If there was one person she could never lie to, it would be Jay. It wasn’t just because Jay knew her so well, but also because she never felt the need to. They had such an honest relationship that it just came naturally to tell the truth. But, for the first time ever, she was scared that if she told him the truth, that Jiyong was the one craving for ddukbokkie and not her, he would hang up the phone and decide to leave her on her own. The business had changed their relationship just as much as it changed her. She went inside her car and fired up the ignition.

“I don’t really know where you can buy ddukbokkie...but LA has one of the biggest Koreatown³, you could probably find one there..you want me to come check it out with you?"Jay hopefully said.


“Oh! That would be great” She said through the pone as she reved up her car. She knew it was a punishable offense to use your phone while you drive. But he thought that just one more minute wouldn’t make much difference, she after all needed directions. “So how do I get....oh !@#$...” She dropped her phone as soon as she got on the road. With one hand on the wheel, the tried fingering for her phone under her seat. She tried to keep her eyes on traffic, just to avoid crashing into something. She was hearing Jay’s choppy voice through the speakers of the phone. She pulled her head down slightly, just enough to see where her phone went. Suddenly, without any warning, she saw at the corner of her eye a black sedan swiftly cut her off. Instinctively, she pulled the breaks not realizing that her hand was still caught in under her chair.


Screeeeeeech! Snap!

‘Nisshi..nisshi..are you ok? Nisshi what happened?” She heard Jay say repeatedly demanded over the phone. She palmed her right shoulder, hoping that the pain was just some over-stretched muscle. She winced as she tried mercilessly to park the car to a nearby sidewalk. As she came to a stop, with her good hand, she reached for her phone.“Hey jay...” Her voice roily because of the pain and shock

“What the !@#$...are you ok? what happened..?” Jay almost shouted. A few minutes ago he though she was just listening carefully to him giving instructions. But as he heard rumbling sounds instead of her voice, he panicked

“I dropped my phone...and...where are you now?” She asked. She knew she was in no condition to drive.

“I’m at the Crowne Plaza⁴ why? are you ok?” Jay was already out the door even before she could even tell him where she was. All he knew that the nervousness in her voice signalled trouble.

“I’m at The Grove⁵ now... and I think I broke my arm...I’m sorry but could you come get me? I don’t think I can drive” She tried to sit up straight in her seat, but her arm and shoulder was not cooperating and it caused her to moan a bit.

“Damn right you can’t...just stay where you are...I’m on my way...what the !@#$ happened? Jay hopped on to a cab and was panicking for her safety. “To the grove...make it quick...” He said to the innocent cab driver rather harshly. “You know what..never mind...just don’t move... I’ll be right there..”

[onlineloveauthor]

***

The emergency room of Ballnick Denise Community Hospital⁶ was almost empty, aside from their usual nurses and patient’s sick with the flu, Nisshi and Jay were the only ones there.

“You do know its illegal to drive while your on the phone right?” Jay said as he lightly held her hand. He was feeling guilty. He never dreamed of her being hurt, but as she lay there with beside him, he was unexplainably winsome. It was good to be her knight in shinning armour once again. “And all this for ddukbokkie...” Jay said laughing.

She smiled with him and nodded in response. She didn’t want to look ungrateful for Jay’s heroic acts. But at the mention of ddukbokkie, she suddenly felt worried over her dongseang who was still probably waiting for his food.

“Aisssh...you still want some huh?” Jay asked, mistaking her concern for Jiyong as her disappointment over her lost ddukbokkie. “Wait here...”

“Wait..what? Where are you going?” But Jay had already let go of her hand and was now running to the nearest exit.

She smiled and rested her eyes. A few minutes later she heard a familiar voice screaming through her ear and was shaking her profusely.

“Noona! Noona!!! Are you ok? What happened? I came as soon as the hospital called.” When she opened her eyes, Jiyong’s sweating face and heavy breaths greeted her.

“Jiyong-a! How did you get here?” She sat up straight and with one hand pushed her to the chair beside her.

Jiyong put his palms together “Thank god she’s alright” He said to himself. After she had left his hotel room, all he could think about was how he was going to spend the day with her noona. But not long after she left, a call from a stranger came, saying his beloved noona was bed ridden in Ballnick Denise. He looked at her and felt relieved to see that, although she was still very incorrigible, she was ok. “Cab... I just gave the directions the hospitla gave me.... and I came..” He said finally realizing that it would have been dangerous for her to drive herself to the hospital. He looked around, looking for the stranger who had called him, but no one else was in sight. “How did YOU get here?


“Ahmmm...” She wanted to lie to him and say she got there by herself. But as she looked into Jiyong’s innocent and concerned eyes, it came as another shocker that she couldn’t lie to him.

However, it seemed that she didn’t have to when out of nowhere, Jay appeared in the foot of her bed, with a small Styrofoam box in hand.

“What is HE doing here?” Jiyong looked at him from head to foot, as if trying to engage him in a stare down. But Jay was unexpectedly composed and only smiled at him.

“I believe that’s “hyung” to you?” Jay let out a cocky smile, admiring his witty comeback.

But Jiyong was not one to back down. He rose from the chair he was sitting and sat on the bed where she lay and took her hand to gently caress it. “Well if we’re using honorifics....then I guess that’s Sunbae-nim to you, isn’t it?”⁷

She lay there, on her white hospital bed, confused and taken a back. “What the hell is happening?” She asked as she looked at Jay’s flaring nostrils and Jiyong’s protective hold on her hand. It was flattering that Jiyong was protecting her, but she was starting to think he was going to far. After all, if it wasn’t for Jay, she might have just drove her way here. But she also couldn’t believe how threatened Jay was of her dongseang. Not only was he more muscular than him, but there was nothing Jiyong had that he didn’t have. They were both idols, both gorgeous and both successful. “What is there to fight over?”She asked herself again as she observed the animal-like behaviour of the two.

“Well... if you must know...if it wasn’t for me, she’d still be on the road...with a limping shoulder... and an unsatisfied craving for ddukbokie.” Jay lifted the lid of the container to unveil a steaming hot serving of the famous street food. He smiled at the frown that was now forming on Jiyong’s face. “Top that!” Jay confidently told himself.

“if I hadn’t asked her...her arm would still be okay...” He looked at her apologetically and backed down from Jay’s taunting gaze. His heart sunk as he went back to his chair.. He couldn’t look at her noona and he felt like crying when he saw her cast peeking through the sheets. “Its my fault....” He thought to himself. “She’s in a cast because of me...because of my stubbornness...” He buried his head in his hands and kept quiet.

Nisshi noticed Jiyong’s sincere concern over her health. She felt so touched and her heart was about to fall off from her chest. She didn’t expect him to care so much and it made her happy that he did. “Jiyong-ie...I’m not dying you know...It’s just a cast...it’ll be out before you know it!”She said with much optimism to cheer him up.

“What the? His playing the pity card!” Jay looked at them and was both shock and infuriated. “Calling this kid was a mistake” He thought that someone should know what happened to her. But since Jay knew that she would literally kill him if he called Nisshi’s mom, the only other person she knew she was with was Jiyong. So on the way there, he had asked Junsu for Jiyong’s number and gave him a call. But as he put his unnoticed ddukbokkie aside on top of the table, whatever he did was no much for this kid’s attention grabbing aegyo and self-pity act.
 
“I have to go...I need to go to practice...” He finally announced, just to get  reason a to get out of there. Although he didn’t want to admit it, and as much as he didn’t want to surrender, he lost this round to his sunbae. “Jiyong’s here... he’ll take care of you....”


Footnotes:
¹The Continental Hyatt Hotel was in the movie Almost Famous starring Kate Hudson (2000), and its pool has featured in several films including This is Spinal Tap (1984), and the Park Hyatt Hotel in Century City was the scene of the famous "6th floor into swimming pool" scene in the 1989 movie Lethal Weapon 2 starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover.
²Hot and spicy rice cake
³Koreatown (often abbreviated K-town) is a neighborhood in the Mid-Wilshire district of the city of Los Angeles, California. Home to a population of 340,000 and covering just under 5-square-mile (13 km2),[1] it has the highest population density of all neighborhoods in Los Angeles
⁴Crowne Plaza is a chain of full service, upscale hotels catering to business travelers and to the meetings and conventions market. The brand is owned by the InterContinental Hotels Group. The hotels are usually located in city centres, resorts, or near major airports
⁵The Grove is a retail and entertainment complex in Los Angeles, California, built by the real estate firm Caruso Affiliated on parts of the Farmers Market.
⁶Local hospital near The Grove
⁷Means “senior” and is often used with the suffix “nim” which makes it polite: “sunbae-nim."; “Sunbae” is for both male and female, and usually seen in school, working environment when the other has more experience in school years, in their job,.. not necessarily be older.

[onlineloveauthor]

“Noona! Yah! Stop trying to get out of bed!” Jiyong shouted upon seeing her trying to get to the bathroom. It amazed her how a broken arm could mkke someone as proud as Jiyong act like a personal slave. Although it wasn’t a big deal for her, Jiyong was making such a fuss on her behalf that she was starting to enjoy le bon vivre. She smiled to herself and went back to Teddy’s bed. Ever since yesterday’s accident everyone had been so good to her. Teddy offered her his bed while he slept on the couch and YG gave Jiyong the time off work to attend to her. And as she went back to Teddy’s meticulously clean sheets and pillows, she couldn’t help but wish her arm would never heal.

Jiyong started rushing to his noona’s aid. “Noona, what do you want?...You want shikye²? Or maybe persimmon tea? Or maybe...”

“Jiyong-ie!’ She giggled at how he looked so cute, trying hard to make her feel better. “Noona’s okay....I just...I...I need to pee...”

Jiyong’s cheeks flushed pink, not knowing what to do. “He’s so adorable when he’s like this” She thought to herself. Absorbed by his admiration of Jiyong’s charm, she didn’t notice that Jiyong had already tuck in his arms, one under her knees and the other under her head.

“What the! What do you think you’re doing?” He looked back at her confused while Nisshi push him away with one hand. Her body stiffened as she was almost at the edge of the bed.

Jiyong looked at her playfully this time. He was happy to be at her noona’s beck and call for once. Her eyes always expressed sincere gratitude even over the littlest things. And it was that same smiling eyes he had only started seeing after their trip to Japan. And for that same reason, he felt some sort of entitlement to it. “Those eyes and that smile are meant only for me” He told himself selfishly.  But yesterday, they seemed to have glowed brighter at the sight of 2PM’s leader and he suddenly felt protective and reacted right away.

“Move over” Nisshi said as she started getting out of bed again. “I’m going to pee...by myself....whether you like it or not...” He followed her with an amazed gaze. He couldn’t imagine her ever being with someone like 2PM’s arrogant leader. “First of all...he’s too small for his age...” He analysed, recalling the first time he met him face to face at Venice beach. “And... how dare he break her heart...sure, she still doesn’t know how to pick an outfit out or could barely cook korean cuisine, but other than that.... I’d imagine she’d be the perfect girlfriend." He remembered the times he had spent with her and he was starting to see her in a different light. The time she brought her to Disneyland was no longer her deliberate plan to ruin his life but a much appreciated attempt to bring back a sense of innocence and normalcy in him. Her incessant nagging to drink milk  was no longer her bid to mock his age but her concern over his health. And back in Japan, how she insisted he liked Dara, was no longer her getting him in trouble but …. “Was she jealous?” He said out-loud without even meaning to. He took a glance back at the bathroom door to see if she had come out yet. “So? So what if she’s jealous? Besides she likes hyung.” His train of thought was interrupted upon seeing the bathroom door swing open.

“Don’t you have anything else better to do than just stare at everything I do all day?" Nisshi, embarrassed, fixed her bed-tangled hair and her crumpled pajamas. But Jiyong merely smiled and started fixing the bed she had laid on. She was on her way to the kitchen when out of the blue Jiyong asked...

“Is that Jay fella bothering you again?”

“Huh? No? Why would you say he was?” She stopped and looked at him, forgetting all about her craving for apple juice.

“Nothing..he was there in the hospital yesterday..so I thought maybe he was stalking you or something...unless, you ACTUALLY wanted him to be there...” He emphasized sounding more jealous than concerned.

She sat on the bed even before Jiyong could finish folding the sheets. She was trying to search for a clue as to why he would care so much about her feelings with Jay. it wasn’t like he was part of Big Bang. Her feelings for him, if ever she still had any,  wouldn’t be jeopardizing his group, like with Seunghyun. But he remained silent.

“What’s so good about him?” Jiyong thought to himself as he continued straightening out the sheets and fluffing the pillows. Besides the iron pumped body and superb dancing skills, Jiyong saw nothing in 2PM’s leader that was worthy of her Noona.

“What’s so good about him anyway?” He finally asked her as he sat at the same sloppily made bed.

Nisshi wasn’t sure what Jiyong meant by asking that question. But then again she thought that, even though it has been long over between her and jay, Jiyong had only found out about it recently and he had every right to be curious.

“Well...his funny...” She started to say.

“And?”

“he’s fun to be with... he gets jealous easiily...and well.. he’s cute...in his own way...and he’s a very responsibly and protective oppa.”

“So that’s your type huh? Older guys?” Jiyong felt his heart sink. He still didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt like he had just lost something.

“Not really... I just like being the irresponsible and immature one...” She giggled and looked at him to get a response.

“Aigoo... “ He turned to face her. “That figures... I act more like an oppa to you than a dongseang... I even had to save you the other day when we saw him...and now I’m even the one taking care of you...I’m definitely an oppa!”

She nodded in response. It was true. Although she was older than him,  the way he acts and thinks are way beyond his years.

Jiyong admired her for her honesty. There are only a few women who would actually admit to their flaws, especially one that concerned their level of maturity. And in the past few days that he had her alone, he was starting to admire her more and more over her little quirky things, like crying over Idol Army or causing him trouble. “Why don’t we try it...?” He then asked excitedly.

“try what?”

“Calling me oppa...come on just once..call me oppa...”

"ahmm..oppa?" She did as she was told, but was still unsure of the reason why she was doing it.

Come on noona... try sounding more...sincere.......”

“Oppa?”

“Aigooo...come on! Yah! Nisshi-a!”

“Oppa..Oppa...” He could hear her repeatedly call him oppa, but for somehow the sound of her voice was faint and muffled. He looked at her and was starting to feel confuse. Everytime her mouth moved, he felt an urge inside of him. He didn’t know what it was exactly but it made his heart beat faster and faster. His hands were starting to sweat and it was starting to lift itself up.  “Oppa...Oppa..Oppa..” She was obviously teasing him, but he was feeling like his body was taking over him. His mind was telling him not to do it, but as he recalled the events of the weeks that he had spent in LA with her, it wasn’t as much as what he thought but what he wanted. And at the moment the only thing he wanted was her.

“Oppa..Oppa...Op..” And with both hands, she took her by her cheeks and kissed her on the lips.

“What is this?” Nisshi thought to herself as Jiyong’s lips were pressed against hers. She knew exactly what to do at situations like these. But the more she thought of pulling away, the more she didn’t want to do it. Jiyong’s aggressiveness was something she had never seen before and she finally understood what people meant when they say that when Jiyong wants something, he gets it. But she never imagined in her wildest dreams that it was her he wanted all along. This thought, along with his kiss, was sending goosebumps all through her body.

There eyes met as they suddenly pulled away from each other. Nisshi was baffled could not even talk. “Why?” She wanted to ask, but she was scared that if she did she won’t get the answer she wanted to hear. And just like how he wanted to delude herself with the fantasy that this boy was the same boy at the Mnet studio corridors, she just wanted to enjoy that moment in ignorance. She looked at him awaiting his next move.

Jiyong looked at her and never saw her as beautiful as she was now. Her eyes were wide from shock and her expression made her look innocent. He had just kissed a goddess and saying something cheesy or inappropriate would just ruin the moment. And besides, it was just not his style to explain himself or his actions. So he smiled secretly as he turned away from her and started walking back to the kitchen.


Footnotes:
¹ "the good life"
² A korean rice dessert drink

[onlineloveauthor]

She almost dropped her Caramel Macchiato from the ruckus the boys have created. Not only did they put up a huge banner, which reads “Welcome Home Noona”, in their practice room, but they even doned funny looking birthday hats. It was a very thoughtful gesture and it showed her how special she has become to these boys. But she was still at a daze over the events in LA the week before. And while everyone hovered over her in excitement, she couldn’t take the image of her dongseang kissing her.

“Noona!!!! We missed you!!!” Seungri shrieked as he grappled her tightly. 

She smiled at her cute dongseang. “What’s with all this?” She asked while Seungri was still refusing to let go. It was nice and all but she thought it was unnecessary for them to do so. They had other staff members who would go in and out of the country to work for them, but what made her so special that they had to throw her this surprise and even miss her in the two weeks that she was gone.

"What do you mean?” Seungri started to say as he let go of her noona and starred at her with disappointment. “You don’t like it?”

“Ani...of course... I like it...I just...” She said as she starred down at her hands and began to play with her fingers.

“Aisshhh...She just feels guilty!” Youngbae took off his pointy party hat and wore it on her. “ We threw her all this, but Jiyong went home to an empty dorm room....Thanks to our maknae.”

“How was I supposed to know I had to plan his welcome home party?” Seungri said defensively.

However at Youngbae’s mention of her dongseang's name she stiffened and unexpectedly started to smile. She imagined Jiyong coming home last night, propping himself on the couch and recalling the time he had kissed her. But then suddenly, it surely wouldn’t be the scene she had played out. Ever since Jiyong kissed her, he had avoided any mention of it as much as he had avoided her. The flight back was a very quiet one, with Jiyong and Yang Syuk sitting together in First class and her all alone at economy.She really didn’t mind the small leg room or the crappy food at coach, but what did bother her was why Jiyong kissed her in the first place and why he was pretending like it never happened. He was starting to think that maybe she had just imagined the whole thing. And from mixture of chocolate and morphine she had taken after the accident, it was highly probable that she did.

“Aisshh...Come on guyss....you should be practising...not wasting your time on me” She removed the hat from her head and smiled sincerely. “But...thanks for the gesture...” She approached each Big Banger and gave each one a hug. Daesung, Seungri, Youngbae, and Seunghyun, blushed as she approached each one, but as she finished with all four she couldn’t help but feel incomplete.

“Ahmmm....where’s...” Nisshi said trying hard not to sound like she was favouring one more than the other four.

But Seunghyun could see right through her.“Jiyong?” He said irritably. He snatched the party hat from her hand, and everyone in the room saw his obvious frustration in her. He didn’t know exactly what happened in LA, but knowing that they spent the whole week together, he was imagining the worst. Nisshi looked at him apologetically as soon as she realized her mistake. She had been so caught up with the kiss incident with Jiyong that she forgot all about her oppa. She slapped him on his shoulder just to lighten his mood.

“Ouch!” Seunghyun exclaimed

She quickly was taken a back. “Does it hurt?” She didn’t really intend to hurt him, she just wanted to play with him and act cute. She didn’t think that her wrists were that strong.

“Hurt? Why would I get hurt? Its not like Jiyong and you are together or anything..” Seunghyun said defensively.

“I meant... the shoulder oppa...” She never thought he’d bluntly say how he felt, in front of his dongseangs nonetheless. She felt guilty. Before leaving for LA she had been to suggestive of her actions towards him. She was sure he had already hinted the interest she had with him. But again with everything that has happened, that interest was slowly being replaced with confusion.

“Aissshh...” She said with her cutest expression possible. “Is oppa jealous?” Normally, she would feel embarrassed when she addressed Seunghyun as her oppa and acted all cute to get in front of him, but surprisingly this time she didn’t. She felt as if she was merely teasing a friend who she knew liked her.

“Huh?...No...that’s not it...I just...” Seunghyun stuttered and was now sweating profusely.

“Give it up hyung you’ve been caught by noona!” Daesung said as he was getting ready to lead in to sprint for the expected temper tantrum by of his hyung.

But Seunghyun, out of frustration, did the unexpected. He held on to her hand and gently said. “Yes...I am jealous...the question is..what’s it to you?”

Everyone was caught off guard by his bold confession. Daesung and Youngbae looked at each other, trying to figure out whether he was going along for the ride or if he was serious. But no one was more shocked than her. She knew very well that her oppa liked her, but she never thought he would go as far as announce it to everyone.
“Ah, Jjinja¹!” Acting quickly, she needed to assure everyone that her relationship with Seunghyun was purely professional or at the most platonic. “Oppa sure likes to joke around...”

“Well..if hyung’s jealous...I’m jealous too!!” Their cute maknae screeched in response.

“I’m Jealous too!! I missed Noona!” Daesung joined in and started to hug his noona as tight as he could. Youngbae, not content with just watching from the table, patted her noona’s head as if she was a mere donseang. “Ok..I’ll admit... I’m jealous...Jiyong did have you for a full week...”

“Phew” She thought to herself in relief. Although she didn’t want to hurt Seunghyun’s feelings, she also didn’t want to get fired from her job due to seducing an asset.
“Fine! Noona’s been a player...So..To make it up to you guys...I’m going to treat everyone...except Jiyong...to...CHINESE TAKEOUT!!!”

“Yahooooo!!!!” Both maknaes shouted and began jumping around. She stole a glance at Seunghyun and was surprised that he was also celebrating the free food along with Youngbae. “I guess he really didn’t mean it...” She suddenly felt a bit disappointed and confused. She liked the idea of her oppa liking her. But with the recent string of events, she also found it extremely appealing when a certain dongseang unexpectedly kissed her.

“Ok then! I’m calling the restaurant...any requests?” She said as she waved the phone in the air to calm the commotion.

“Jjangmyeon!!” Seunghyun announced and everyone nodded in approval.

“Jjangmyeon then...” She was about to walk out when she felt a heavy breath in her ear. She suddenly felt a tingle through her neck. “!@#$...is he going to say something cheesy again?” She thought to herself as Seunghyun placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Nisshi...Oppa..” Seunghyun started to say in her softly in her ear that it tickled. She was about to panic and hold back any more daring confessions he had, when he continued and said, “ wants extra pickled radish and complimentary Jiaozi²..please ask them for some...”

All she could do was nod in response. She hurriedly went out the room and into the corridors, attempting to control her embarrassment.

“Aissssh!!! Nisshi stop assuming too much..” She said as she tried to breath more slowly. She tried dialling the number to the restaurant when a text message came through and almost caused her to collapse

“Noona...
I’m sorry...I can’t meet you for practice today.
Hyung told me to rest...Hope you understand...

-Jiyong-ie”

***

¹ Seriously?
² pot stickers or Chinese dumplings

[onlineloveauthor]

yowh sis precious hir..
will support this one 

thanks!
 
Hope you're still reading though.. I haven't updated in awhile...But thanks anyway!