Brazen Love [Chapter 3]

 

Chapter 3:

Hyun Joong left Hwang Bo’s apartment feeling more elated than he knew he should have been, but he couldn’t help it that it made him happy to hear she wanted him to come back. He checked the time on his car radio, he was halfway to the photo shoot, and he still had more than half an hour to spare. He smiled and pumped his fist in the air, almost missing the light turning green. He kept his eyes on the road as he pulled his phone from his pocket and turned it on again; two missed calls.

“Hmm?” They were both from his manager. He picked up the phone and called back.

“Hyung-nim, anyeonghaseyo,” he murmured through the phone. “Is there anything important?”

“Ah, yeah…” The manager said. “I was just calling to tell you of a change in our scheduling. We may have to stay later today. We’re going to be participating in a photoshoot with F(x). I think this will help to show the image of a caring senior/junior relationship.”

Hyun Joong sighed inwardly. If they were going to shoot with another group, it would take them at least twice as long to finish. “Arasayo,” Hyun Joong said. They ended the call right before Hyun Joong got to the photo studio and he had only gotten a mild warning for disappearing again without first informing his Manager. Hyun Joong pulled into the parking lot and stared with dissatisfaction at the building before him, he sighed heavily again. ‘Aigoo, I hope this shoot doesn’t go on for too long.’

A smile touched his lips as he remembered the soft kiss Hwang Bo had placed on him before. He walked inside, determined to keep this short. It was imperative for him to get back early today. ‘Aish! Why F(x) anyway?’ he thought. ‘They’re not even in the same company.’ He found it a bit strange but decided to banish the thoughts, knowing that they would keep him from performing his best and showing the correct image.

He walked into the studio space, his donseangs were already dressed and were just sitting around so they wouldn’t disturb their make up and hair styles. They informed him that the F(x) girls were still getting dressed, although he hadn’t asked. He bowed to the photographer before making his own way back to the dressing room. He noticed that there were boxes and boxes of energy drinks laying around. ‘Is this from our fans?’ He pushed away the trivial thought as he tried to get his mind back to the job. The less mistakes he made today, the better.

After ten minutes had passed, Hyun Joong sighed loudly and checked the time on his phone. His members looked over, wondering why he was sighing so loudly. They were going to ask, but the members of F(x) finally arrived, ready for the photoshoot. Hyun Joong stood up immediately, ready to get started. His sudden standing position startled the young members a bit, and they bowed and greeted him hurriedly, thinking that was why he had stood so suddenly. Hyun Joong offered back polite nods. ‘Okay, let’s get on with it,’ he thought.

They were each given a partner for individual shoots and handed a box of energy drinks. Hyun Joong grabbed one end of his box, and his partner, Amber grabbed the other. They were wearing very similar outfits. She kept glancing over at him, a strange expression on her face. She looked like she was doing her best to hold back a laugh. She finally broke the silence between them. “I look like your little brother or something trying to dress like my Hyung.” She plucked at the baggy jersey she was wearing and touched the brim of her hat. Hyun Joong finally took his mind off of getting back to Hwang Bo to look at what he was actually wearing. ‘Hm, he thought… they did dress us the same.’

He found that slightly amusing. His lips formed into a small smile as he looked at Amber. She had always made him curious when he watched their videos. He thought her persona was very intriguing. “Maybe that’s the concept,” he said. He wagged his finger at her. “Listen well to your hyung-nim,” he said, jokingly. As she laughed he finished, “I seriously did think you were a boy the first time I saw you. I thought…’Ah, a mixed group.’”

Amber laughed ready to retort, but she saw that he was once again staring off into space. He had went from smiling to blank in less than five seconds. They carefully placed the box of energy drinks off to the side of their set. Amber went over to listen to the photographer’s instructions, but was surprised to find that Hyun Joong hadn’t come over with her. She looked around to find him. He was carefully reading the nutrition and ingredient label of the energy drinks. Her eyebrows nearly climbed to her hairline. ‘He’s really as strange as he seems on t.v.’

After she got the instructions, she went back to Hyun Joong. She was amused to find out that the concept actually was what they were joking about. “Aish,” she said, as she came up, distracting Hyun Joong from his contemplating the ingredients in the drink. “Sometimes I think they really confuse me for a boy. I guess I’ll be acting as your brother today.” She bowed again. “I’ll listen well, Hyung-nim.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Hwang Bo sat on her couch staring at her cell phone. She had been to two marriage meetings at the lunch, having sent each candidate off after less than five minutes in their company. ’Maybe my mother doesn’t know me very well,’ Hwang Bo thought, frowning down at the list of names on the cushion beside her where Hyun Joong had sat hardly an hour earlier. She looked at her phone and scrolled through the numbers, her fingers hesitating when ‘Walking Statue’ appeared on the screen. ‘Maybe she knows me better than I know myself.’

She pressed his name, deciding to send him a text. She had thought about him all throughout her marriage meetings. Had he done the same? “Are you working hard, shillang? I‘ll fix you some good food so you can relax when you come back.” she texted in, and then sent it with a smile.

She expected an immediate text, so was disappointed when thirty minutes later she was still staring down happily at a blank screen. She frowned and texted him again, folding her legs underneath her. “Are you so busy that you’ve forgotten about your Buin?” Hwang Bo added a sad faced emoticon after the text, then waited happily for his reply. Again, nothing. She frowned and checked the signal bars on her phone. Active. She sent a text to her friend Andy just to make sure her phone was still working and when she got a reply from him two minutes later she wanted to break the cursed device. ‘Why isn’t he replying!?’

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hyun Joong’s cell phone lay unattended in the seat he had vacated in his haste to get work started and over with. Hyun Joong was just finishing up with his photoshoot with Amber. He was pleased because they were actually getting things done quite quickly. He found it very easy and comfortable to work with Amber, unlike with most of his female co-workers. And in the short breaks they had, he had found it very satisfactory to boss her around a bit because he could tell that she didn’t want to do things like fetch him a bottle of water, but she was trying to be respectful to her sunbae and newly found “hyung.” In their last photo, he was told to show the brotherly affection of ruffling a younger brother’s hair. “Don’t worry about messing her hair up,” the photographer said. “Since it’s the last shot, it doesn’t matter.”

Hyun Joong smiled and walked toward Amber who looked like she was trying to burrow her head in her shoulders like a turtle. He reached out a hand to ruffle her hair and let out a full laugh when she put up a hand to block him. The photographer snapped shots of their interaction; it was even better than hair ruffling. Hyun Joong didn’t mind, she was even more fun to tease than Baby.

Amber let out a small laugh when Hyun Joong laughed. She hadn’t meant to block him; she had just needed a bit more time to get ready. She didn’t particularly like her hair being ruffled. But since neither Hyun Joong or the photographer seemed to mind her slip-up, she guessed it was okay. When the photographer yelled that they were done, Amber sighed in relief. She turned to Hyun Joong to bow farewell to him. She had enjoyed working with him today. She stood after bowing. “I enjoyed working with you today hyung. I really like SS501. You guys are jjang!” She didn’t even seem to realize that she had just called him “hyung” when they weren’t even working anymore.

Hyun Joong smiled down at her. “Looks like I’ve got myself a little brother,” Hyun Joong said. She frowned then slapped herself in the forehead for not realizing she had called him Hyung. It was too late to take it back now. He looked over his shoulder, then checked the time with the photographer for what seemed like the hundredth time. “Let’s go see if the rest are finished.”

She followed him to where they had met up. No one else was there yet. He didn’t really seem to notice, though. He just went up to his phone that was lying on the chair. “Ah!” He exclaimed, as he noticed the two texts. Smiling from ear to ear, he hurriedly texted back.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Hwang Bo was slumped on her couch, her feet pointed upward and slung over the back of the couch, her ponytail brushing the floor. She had been like that for an hour waiting for a response and she was starting to get lightheaded, and angry. She was about to give up on ever getting a text from him when the screen of her phone flashed and emitted a beep. She quickly opened the digital letter to see what Hyun Joong had written.

“Of course I didn’t forget my Buin,” he had texted. “I was working hard so that I could finish early and hurry back. I’ll be anticipating the good food, Buin.” He had placed a smiley emoticon after the message.

Hwang Bo rolled around on the couch smiling and nearly rolled off, then quickly composed herself to text back. “If you’re not here at exactly seven I’ll feed all of your food to someone else, and don’t even think of being let inside.” She snapped the phone shut when he immediately replied he would be there by six thirty. She flipped off of the couch and ran to the kitchen searching through the cabinets for something healthy to cook him. Not finding anything she decided to order out; he would forgive her.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At six twenty, Hyun Joong rang the doorbell excitedly. Hwang Bo rushed from the newly prepared table and to the door. “Shillang!” she exclaimed as she opened the door wide. “You’re early.”

Hyun Joong was so happy to still hear her calling him Shillang that he completely lost his senses and grabbed her in a fierce hug as if she were really his wife and that she was greeting him after he had been working hard all day. He dropped her inside the threshold and closed the door behind them and made his way to the small dinner table, Hwang Bo right behind him. “Buin,” he said, looking at the spread of food before him on the table, “you prepared a lot. Come on, sit down so we can eat.”

Hwang Bo was startled with his sudden affectionate greeting, but she let it pass. She opened her mouth to tell him that she hadn’t been able to prepare dinner but decided against it. He looked so impressed. She walked over. “First, tell me what you think of my outfit,” she said, spreading her arms wide to let him see the whole of it.

She had decided to dress sexily, all of those marriage meetings had started to make her feel like proving something, even if it was just to herself. She knew how Hyun Joong felt about obviously sexy outfits though, so had made sure there was innocence in it as well. She had chosen a pure white dress that hugged her neck and fell to her knees, cinched at the waist by a thin silver belt. The fabric was almost shear though, the only thing keeping it from being indecent was a thin sheath of white silk that formed an under dress that hugged her every curve. She was rewarded with a slanted smile. The young idol stood up from his seat and walked over to her to put an arm around her waist, pulling her to him. Her actions today were making him feel braver today in her presence than he had from the first moment he had met her two years ago on WGM. “You look beautiful, Buin.”

Hwang Bo’s eyes widened at his sudden bravado. She pushed away from him and smiled awkwardly. Had he already forgotten what she had told him the last time about acting like her husband? Did he need reminding? She decided to ignore it at the moment because she didn’t want to ruin the moment. “L-let’s eat,” she said, swallowing hard.

Hyun Joong smiled at her nervousness, her cheeks were pink and her eyes were wide. She looked so innocent and cute in her white dress, her dark hair hung down to her back and framed her face. He walked around her to the table, waiting for her to sit down before he started eating. He kept his eyes on her with every bite he took noticing that her eyes kept roaming to his mouth, she would quickly look away every time she realized he noticed. ‘What’s the matter with me? He’s not supposed to be able to affect me like this.’ They finished their meal in almost complete silence because of the heaviness of the atmosphere. After the dishes were washed, they awkwardly sat down beside each other on the couch. Hyun Joong stared at the wall opposite them. “This kind of feels like the drive out to our hotel on our honeymoon.”

Hwang Bo had been feeling the awkwardness too until it was overcome with another feeling. Anxiety. Her eyes had widened as she spotted the list of names of seemingly endless marriage meetings she had yet to attend that she had gotten from her mother lying at Hyun Joong‘s feet. ‘I must have knocked it off when I went to look for something to cook,’ she thought. She glanced at Hyun Joong, who was still looking around the room at anything but her. She had to get it and hide it before he noticed it.

Hwang Bo quietly shifted her position and stood. Before Hyun Joong could say anything, she dropped into his lap while agilely pushing the paper under the couch with a swift motion of her barefoot. She got back on her feet as quickly as she could. “Ah, bian. I must have stood up too fast. I was heading to the kitchen. Want something to drink?”

Hyun Joong was so startled. He looked at Hwang Bo who was rushing to the kitchen hurriedly. ’Is she doing this on purpose?’ he asked himself, feeling his blood rush through his veins. ’She’s driving me crazy.’ He licked his lips. “A-are you okay?” he asked simply, from the couch.
Hwang Bo rushed back with two drinks and settled beside him again, trying to become her usual confident self again. “I-I’m fine,” Hwang Bo said, handing him a cup of water. He was so busy staring at her that it slipped through his fingers and landed in his lap. He jumped up from the couch to get away from Hwang Bo who was trying to dry it with the hem of her filmy dress. “Aish!” She said in frustration.

Hyun Joong shared the sentiment. “I-I’ll take care of it,” he said, turning away from her. He rushed to the bathroom to dry off. He closed the door behind him as if he was being tempted by the devil. ‘Really…is she trying to do this?’ he wondered. He smiled at the thought. It seemed as if she was finally willing to return some of the feelings that he had been giving lately. He turned to the mirror, when something in the garbage can beneath the sink caught his eye. It was a container. A restaurant container. When he took it out to inspect it, he confirmed his suspicion that it had just previously held the contents of what they had just eaten. A pang of sadness went through him. ‘She wasn’t sincere in cooking me a relaxing meal,’ he thought. ‘What else is she not sincere in?’

Hwang Bo was sort of glad she had accidentally spilled the water on Hyun Joong. It would give her the opportunity to give him the present she had bought for him after the failed marriage meetings as a sort of apology for the way she had treated him the day before. She pulled the black suit out of the gift bag and looked over it before she placed it back inside along with the charcoal gray turtle neck she had picked out. She carried it over to the door and gently tapped on the door. “Shillang.” Hyun Joong winced. “Shillang, I have something for you. I’ll leave it at the door. I hope you like it.” Hwang Bo went back to the living room couch to wait for Hyun Joong to step out of the bathroom wearing the suit, a bright smile illuminating his face for having gotten a gift from his Buin. She wasn’t expecting the cold youth who stood before her ten minutes later, dressed in the outfit that only heightened the affect. “Shi-Shillang. Do you like it? Does it not fit?”

He sighed. “It fits…but it’s uncomfortable,” he said quietly, talking about much more than the suit.

Hwang Bo stood so she could straighten his collar. She ran her hands down the lapels of his jacket then wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him. “Is it really uncomfortable?” She was taken aback when he just looked at her silently, like he was measuring her actions.

She jerkily let her arms drop. She had tried to bring the expression back onto his face that he had worn when he first came in. When she started to step back, he caught her by the shoulders so she couldn’t move any further. “Buin…” He hesitated, wondering if he should ask. He didn’t want to lose her completely, and he was afraid that his next words could cause just that to happen.

Hwang Bo suddenly realized that she had forgotten she had thrown the take-out boxes into the bathroom trash. She could have drop kicked herself, if that were possible. He hadn’t changed until he went into the bathroom, and she didn’t just mean his clothes. “Could this be about the take out boxes?” She asked. She saw his face tense when he nodded, not looking at her. She sighed and put her arms around him again. “I’m sorry about that. I was just so excited about seeing you tonight, and there was nothing in the fridge. I didn’t want to have to go all the way to the mart and possibly be late feeding you when I know you probably haven’t eaten until now.” She could tell that he was still suspicious, but she could feel some of his back become less knotted. She ran a hand up his back and felt even more of the tension ease. “I really just wanted to see you today, Hyun Joong,” she said honestly. She looked up into his eyes then laid her forehead against his chest. “I really needed to see you today.”

Hyun Joong’s guarded eyes warmed as she leaned her head against his chest. He let his arms slide around her. “Why?” he asked. “Are you sad? Tired? Do you want energy drinks? I have a lot in my car.”

Hwang Bo laughed and decided not to ask him why he had a lot of energy drinks in his car. It seemed like something he would do just for fun, or it was probably a sponsored product. She snuggled even closer to him, the marriage meetings a distant and fading memory in the arms of this kid who brought her more happiness than she wanted to admit to. “Shillang,” she murmured, almost a whisper against his chest. “Want to spend the night?”