Friday, January 17, 2014

Chapter 19 : Secret No More

“Okay, Minho ssi! You’re going to go to the left side of the stage and start walking to the middle and then, step inside the circle. After the chorus comes, it’s going to lift you up. Don’t jump around too high, just stand quietly since the song you’re singing is a ballad song” The director gave the instructions clearly and it seems that Minho understands them very well. I just watched him from afar while having a conversation with Sulli. As soon as it was SHINee’s turn, everyone’s attentions were focused onto them. Even my eyes were lock onto Minho the whole time. Slow music being played in the background and they started to sing one by one. Then, they have to go to their respective places where the stage would ‘lift’ them up into the air. Minho went to the middle, Jonghyun and Onew on the left and Taemin and Key on the right. The stage goes up and Minho starts singing his rapping part. As soon as his part was finished, he smiled and winked at me. Suddenly, there was a cracking sound being heard from the stage. I looked around, why isn’t anyone noticing that? The next thing I saw, the crane that was supposed to support Minho in the air, broke in half and…

“MINHO!!” I screamed and found Amber by my bed with a toothbrush in her mouth. “Are you okay? I heard you panting from the bathroom and was about to wake you up… Are you okay?” she patted my back and I just nodded. Why did I dream about that? I got out of bed and went into the shower right after Amber was finished. Before going to the stadium where the concert would be, I decided to eat some breakfast at the restaurant by the lobby. There were a lot of delicious food and I thought I could eat everything but then, something came into my mind. The dream. Suddenly someone tugged me from behind waking me up from gazing into outer space. It was Taemin. “Hurry up if you don’t want anyone scolding you for standing in line for almost fifteen minutes now” he whispered. I quickly took everything and placed them onto my plate. Then, he led me to a table. “Where are the others?” I asked. “They’re still asleep. Jonghyun just woke up and would be arriving in five… four… three…” Taemin counted while looking behind me. “two… one!” Then, Jonghyun appeared from behind wearing a pair of huge black spectacles and a coat on his shoulders. He definitely is a fashionista even when going for breakfast or is he? “Hyung, why are you wearing a coat and what’s up with the geeky glasses? I’ve never seen them before” Taemin commented as soon as Jonghyun sat down. “Oh, I accidently showered with cold water this morning instead of a hot and relaxing shower which Taemin over here forgot to turn on the knob to the right direction” he narrowed his eyes pointing to Taemin. “Mianhe (sorry)” he apologizes. “Anyway, are your visions blurry by any chance?” I asked him. “Oh, that? I was in a rush because I didn’t want to miss breakfast and forgot to put on my contacts” Jonghyun stood up and went to the buffet area with a hungry expression stamped across his face. “Taemin ssi… has there been… any severe accidents during rehearsal or on the day of the concert?” I asked Taemin as he was busy filling his mouth with food. I guess he didn’t have enough midnight snack from the trip to China Town last night. “Why did you ask?” Taemin said back after swallowing his food down the throat. “Er… nothing. Let’s just eat” I didn’t feel like talking about it. Maybe I’m just nervous for them but they’ve been doing this job for what it seems like a thousand times now. I’m sure they’ll be fine. I know.

At first I didn’t want to follow them to the stadium and wanted to just have a rest at the hotel but they insisted me to tag along as staying in the hotel would be boring if you stay alone. So, I just followed them. The stadium indeed is big. There were so many large equipments such as the lighting, the speakers and there were a lot of people working together just to make this once in a lifetime concert for the fans here in China to enjoy. Everyone went to their respective rooms to practice their vocals and dancing. I followed Amber to their room when suddenly Minho came out of nowhere and pulled my arm. Amber saw everything and he just told her that he wanted to ‘borrow’ me for a second. Borrow? How dare he use that word on me? I thought to myself. “What do you want? Aren’t you supposed to be practicing?” I asked him with an annoying face. “Don’t get angry now, I just wanted to give you this” Then out of nowhere he just slips a ring on my finger. “What’s this?” I asked him with a mix of feelings of anger and happiness. “I just want people around you to know that you’re taken. That’s all” he said while doing an aegyo (acting cute). “What? Choi Minho! I know how to take care of myself okay?” I said and he keeps on smiling. Then, I remembered about ‘the talk’ that I wanted yesterday and took the chance to tell him at that moment. “You don’t like it?” he asked. I guess he’s mistaken my thinking face with an upset face. Maybe he thought that I was upset with his romantic gift. “No” I answered. I don’t know why but my eyes became red and soaky. I tried covering myself from him seeing me like this. “Oh, what’s wrong?” his voice sounds like he was worried now. He wiped the tears that were flowing out of my eyes. I looked down and said “I’m just afraid if…” While I was trying to stop crying, a man just came out of their room and said that rehearsal would start in another two minutes and they need to be prepared at the stage as in now. We were just a few meters away from the door and he turned into my direction after hearing what the staff had just said. “Okay, I have to go but promise me you’ll tell me all about it. Arachi (alright)?” he said and we pinky promised. I smiled and he just ran to walk with the others together to the stage. I looked back on the ring and it wasn’t actually like a diamond ring or something expensive, it’s just a toy ring which you could get at the fifty cent vending machine. I guess he knew that my fingers were small and just decided to buy a cheap one. I was practically laughing with myself in the middle of the corridor just thinking about it.

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                “Aiman ssi, can you help me with this?” Sulli calls out to me. I ran to her to help her carry the boxes of fried chicken. As I got some off of her hands I asked. “Onew ssi?” “Yeah. He ordered everything” Sulli just laughs along. Suddenly, Kris appeared out of nowhere with a bright smile on his face just as we were about to put them onto the table. “Wah~ Chicken!” he exclaimed. “Kris oppa, since when you like eating chicken?” Sulli seemed surprise seeing Kris all of a sudden. Suddenly, Kris’s expressions changed. “Chicken ne style (chicken’s not my style)” he frowned and walked away. He really is a cold guy but funny at the same time. After taking a few steps, I saw him looking back at the unopened boxes of chicken. I just laughed, seeing his attitude. Suddenly, the director calls out for SHINee to perform on stage. Everything went well. They were singing an upbeat song from their recent album. Happiness was the theme of the song and they were jumping up and down non-stop, spinning around like little kids and playing together as if there were no such things as problems in this world. The song they’re singing and the performance they made together makes the world seem at peace without war, fighting and anger. Everything was happy, at ease and beautiful. Then, they went to the middle of the stage all together and suddenly the stage lifts them up. I felt that time had stopped and flashes of images from the dream appeared bursting into my head. Suddenly I could hear the cracking sound. I was about to shout at them to stop but I was hold aback when I noticed that the sound came from behind. When I turned around, it was Kris having trouble opening a packet of chips. I just sigh of relief and went to help him open it. “Didn’t you eat the chickens?” I asked him in a high toned voice as I was a bit upset that the sound of the plastic he made almost made ME screamed from embarrassment. “How come you’re upset with me all of a sudden?” he said with a scared look on his face as he took the chips back from my hand. “Oh? Nothing. Sorry” I apologized not realizing I accidently took out the anger at him instead even though he did nothing wrong.
                 I returned to the resting room as I had nothing else to do. Just as I was reading a thick novel, Minho and the rest came bursting into the room. They seemed a little exhausted from the practice earlier. Jonghyun went to the dresser table and played with his phone while Taemin and Onew went to dig in the food that were placed on the table at the end of the room. “Hey, guys stand still. I want to take a picture and upload it on Instagram” said Key while taking out his phone from the coat pocket which was hanging by the door. Onew and Taemin turned around and they took a picture together. Minho came and sat beside me after getting a bottle of water. I still couldn’t get used to him sitting too close to me when we’re in front of the rest. So I scotched myself a bit further from him. After taking a big gulp of water down his throat, he spoke. “Why are you moving away, yeobo (dear)?” My eyes which were focused on the words inside the book automatically widen and stopped from reading the next word. I could feel that the others stopped what they’re doing and were staring at us while I was still avoiding looking at Minho and the rest.

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