Brazen Love [Chapter 6]

 

Chapter 6:

Hwang Bo sighed when she returned home. Her phone had buzzed constantly on her way back with messages from her...boyfriend. She settled on her couch and stared at the phone debating whether to reply. It was barely three hours since she had parted with him at the maze entrance and now... thirty messages. ‘Not replying to the first one immediately was probably a mistake,’ Hwang Bo thought reading the messages that got more frantic the longer it took her to respond. ‘It probably made him insecure.’ The minute she received two more exactly five minutes apart, she responded, trying to keep the smile off of her face, pretending it was bothering her that Hyun Joong obviously cared so much about whether she was upset for some reason or not just because she didn’t respond to a text in a while.

Hyun Joong had holed himself up in his room immediately when he came back so that he could text his girlfriend. His mouth spread with a grin at the title he could now associate with Hwang Bo. He had started to think she was second guessing herself when he didn’t receive a reply for about twenty of his texts, then he wondered if maybe he was texting too much. But he still couldn’t stop. He needed assurance. When a reply finally came in, his heart jumped with the vibration of the phone and he smiled crazily. He opened his phone hurriedly to read, “Yah! Did you send a text every minute I didn’t answer? Exactly thirty-two messages in thirty-two minutes...”

Hyun Joong rubbed a frustrated hand through his hair then smiled, sending back; 'Well, you didn’t respond. What were you doing that it took you so long?’ He stared at his phone waiting for another message to appear, this one came a lot faster. “Driving myself home! That’s what took me so long and I have an event in the morning so I’m going to have to sleep soon.” 'Is her house really that far away from the party?’ Hyun Joong wondered. Well, it had taken his group over an hour to actually get back because of traffic. His phone vibrated with another text, he eagerly pressed view. “What are you doing? <3“

He smiled with the sudden change of tone. He laid back on his bed and texted back. “Texting my girlfriend.”

A grin spread across Hwang Bo’s face and she fell sideways on the couch, laughing at how mushy the kid could get when he was happy. Her phone vibrated with another text. “What about you?” Hwang Bo laughed again, knowing what he expected her to respond, so didn’t. Instead she said. “Are you going to be really busy the next few days?”

“What is this?” Hyun Joong asked himself when he saw the text she sent back. He sighed and sent an angry text back, wondering how she would react. “Yeah! I’m busy for the next week or so, so I probably won’t be able to meet up with you for a while.” After he sent the text, he wondered if he had been a bit too reckless.

Hwang Bo laughed when she got the text back. 'It’s so cute that he’s showing his temper more, even though he’s probably worried it’ll make me angry. Maybe I shouldn’t reply back for a while.’ Even though she considered it, she immediately said. “Oh, that’s too bad. I was hoping we could spend a few hours together on the weekend. Guess I’ll just have to find something else to keep me busy.” She got a response almost the minute she pressed send. “I actually only have one event.”

As Hwang Bo laughed on one end, Hyun Joong lay frustrated and defeated on the other. 'Why didn’t she seem upset that I wouldn’t be able to meet!?’ he wondered. His phone soon signaled another message. “Okay. So we’ll meet this weekend at my place. Let’s go to sleep now. I want to be well rested for my boyfriend when he comes.” She expected the last sentence to smooth over all of his distress and frustration from the earlier conversation...and she was right. Hyun Joong couldn’t stop the wide smile that spread across his face. “Okay. Sleep.” He texted back.

Hwang Bo’s brow furrowed in irritation and she texted back furiously. “It’s: Good night, Buin! Good Night, Shillang.” She turned off her phone so she would n’t get his response and hurried to get ready for bed.

Hyun Joong read the text and hurriedly corrected his mistake. He waited for twenty minutes before he was sure that he wasn’t going to get a reply, and then went in to get ready for bed. After he had taken a shower, he laid down and checked his phone one last time before cutting the light off and going to bed. He had placed the phone by his ear on the bed just in case.

Hwang Bo tried to fall asleep, but she lay tossing and turning. Not replying to Hyun Joong was bothering her more than she thought. She pulled her phone from underneath her pillow and waited impatiently for it to turn on and saw that she had a text. “Good night, Buin <3.” Hwang Bo smiled and replied. “Good night, Shillang. Don’t forget again or you won’t get any hearts from me.”

When Hyun Joong felt his phone vibrate again, he immediately grabbed it and opened it to see what the text said. He grinned when he saw that it really was a text from Hwang Bo. He hurriedly texted back. “I won’t. If I do, I’ll tattoo the words inside my eyelids. Good night, Buin. ”

Hwang Bo laughed and shut her phone even though her fingers itched to respond. If they kept responding to each other all night, neither one of them was going to get sleep. She put the phone under her pillow where it rested beside five carefully flattened paper cranes, and closed her eyes to sleep.

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The next morning the members of SS501 were attempting to wake up their leader for an event that they had to be at in an hour. When they shook him for the fifth time and he still didn’t wake up, Jung Min decided to entertain himself by looking through Hyun Joong’s phone. Kyu Jong turned toward the mischievous Jung Min. “What are you doing?” he asked. “You know Hyung will kill you if he wakes up and sees you looking through his phone. Jung Min scoffed and waved off his statement as if that theory wasn’t possible to happen on any levels.

Jung Min went to the out box and scrolled through the messages opening some at random. “I’m going to be there soon, Hyung-nim,” Jung Min read aloud. “Maknae is bothering me, Kyu Jong.” He scrolled though more trying to find more interesting ones. “Okay. Sleep.” Jung Min read. 'Wait a minute... he wouldn’t send that to any of us.’ He scrolled though the ones that were near that out-going text. “I actually only have one event.” 'Oh, this is getting interesting,’ he thought as more members crowded around. “Well you didn’t respond, what took you so long!” “Where are you? Why aren’t you replying?” “Did I make you angry when I didn’t let you go?” “Texting my girlfriend.” The phone was suddenly snatched from his hand.

Hyun Joong had woken up to hear familiar dialogue. His eyes had hurriedly snapped open and he snatched the phone from Jung Min’s hand. “Yah!” he yelled. “Get out!” His members looked at him with a mixture of curiosity and amusement. He forcibly ushered them out regardless of the many questions they had started to ask.

He sighed and put his head in his hands. 'If anyone finds out me and Hwang Bo are dating, it’ll be bad. We may have to break up.’ He couldn’t tell his friends because even though he knew he could trust them, they might accidentally let it out somewhere. ‘Who could I say I was texting though. I could say they’re old messages.’ He looked at his phone. ‘Oh yeah, all of the messages have time and dates on them. Good thing they didn’t check who they were being sent to.’ He got dressed and prepared to face the guys. He could just tell them he was joking around with someone, or pretend it was nothing important by not reacting to their teasing and questioning.

While Hyun Joong was trying to figure out a believable lie, the rest of the members were busy discussing their suspicions. “Yeah. He’s definitely got a girlfriend,” Young Saeng was saying. “He’s been showing all the signs. But who is it?”

“We don’t know any women that closely,” Jung Min said, his arms folded, a carrot forgotten in one hand. “There is one that he spent a lot of time with.” He stated, giving the other members a significant nod as he met each of their eyes.

Understanding dawned on each of the member’s faces. “Hwang Bo noona?” Hyung Joon asked, gasping. “Do you guys really think it’s her!?” The other members tried to shush the loud speaking maknae as they saw Hyun Joong coming up.

Jung Min put a finger to his lips then walked over to their leader and placed a firm hand on his shoulder. With humor in his eyes he bit into his carrot and stared at Hyun Joong. ‘What’s this guy doing?’ Hyun Joong wondered, knocking Jung Min’s hand away. He walked further into the living room only to be surrounded by the rest of the curious group. “You got something you want to tell us, Hyung?” Kyu Jong asked. Jung Min came up behind him, making him feel surrounded on all sides. “Even if you don’t tell us, we already know.” Yong Seang nodded and delicately moved a smooth piece of hair from his eyes. “You managed to snag Hwang Bo noona? I’m impressed.” Maknae pouted at him and scuffed a socked foot across the wooden floor. “You could have told us, Hyung. Don’t you trust us?” He asked with round eyes.

Hyun Joong tried to act uninterested and ignore them. “What are you guys talking about?” he asked, as he moved through the room. “Get ready for the event.” But they hurriedly told him that they were already ready and to not change the subject. It wasn’t long before Hyun Joong knew that they really had already figured it out and he wasn’t going to be able to dissuade them with anything he had come up with. So he just ended up saying, “If you don’t keep your mouths shut, you’re dead.”

Yong Saeng smirked and put on a random pair of shades that Hyun Joong swore he kept near by for such a purpose. “Let’s go.”

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Later that night, Hyun Joong sent another text to Hwang Bo. He had been tired out by his members with endless questions and knowing smiles. He didn’t think it was the best idea to let her know that his members had found out about them because he didn’t know how she would react. “Buin...I’m tired,” he texted.

When Hwang Bo heard her phone receive a text message, her eyes flew to the clock on the far wall of the restaurant. Seven o’clock and she hadn’t heard from Hyun Joong all day, so it was probably him. She looked at the handsome restaurant owner across from her, who’s restaurant they were having their marriage meeting in. He had been in the middle of telling her how he had managed to receive this place from his father instead of having it given to his older brother. She held up her hand to politely stop his story. “I’m sorry, I was expecting an important reply. Is it okay if I check my message? I’ll turn off my phone afterwards.”

The man indicated that it was okay. This one did seem more polite than the others, but he seemed a bit too into his restaurant business. Hwang Bo checked her message and read it. Her brows knitted in worry. She hurriedly texted back. “I’m busy so I can’t talk right now, shillang. But I hope you rest well for our date on Saturday. Don’t let things stress you out, okay?” She sighed after she sent the message and reluctantly turned off her phone. “What were you saying?” she asked, looking back at her date.

Hyun Joong sent back a text immediately, telling her that he would try his best to rest and was wondering what she had been doing all day. He got no reply. He sighed and held on to the phone as he unwillingly fell into a deep sleep, the day had just been too stressful for him. ‘Maybe she’ll text me in a bit,’ he thought as dreams descended upon him. ‘I want to know how her day was.’

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A vibration from Hyun Joong’s phone woke him up from a strange dream where he had been a puppet and Hwang Bo had been the puppeteer. He groggily lifted his head, and then realizing that Hwang Bo must be texting him back, he immediately woke up and opened the phone to read the message. Disappointment hit him when he saw that it was Amber who texted him and not Hwang Bo. He checked to see if he had any missed messages just in case, but there were not. With a resigned sigh, he read what Amber had sent. “We’re supposed to be back at our dorm, but I snuck away for a few hours. Wanna hang out?” Hyun Joong squinted at his phone to check the time. It was 10:15! ‘Wah, this girl must have no fear,’ he thought. It had taken him a while to start sneaking out. He never knew anyone to do it this soon into their debut. “Where are you?” he texted back.

*Open Air. It was supposed to be awesome tonight with DJ Koo, but apparently the owner lied just to attract a lot of people. It has ice for the soda, though.* Amber texted in reply.

‘She went to a club by herself!?’ Hyun Joong wondered, but he smiled at the last sentence which displayed innocence through her boldness. “Okay, I’ll be there in a minute,” Hyun Joong texted back.

Amber flipped her hat around to the back in excitement when she received the reply. It was her seventeenth birthday and she hadn’t been able to convince anyone else to sneak out with her to celebrate. There wasn’t really much she could do as an idol out at night when she was supposed to be back at her dorm, but since Hyun Joong had been an idol longer, maybe he could help her figure out something fun to do before her birthday was over in a few hours.

Hwang Bo squinted across the room. ‘Is that Amber from f(x)?’ she wondered to herself. Hwang Bo had come here for the opening of this new club with her marriage meeting partner. She thought it would loosen him up, and she also thought she could get some help from her friend DJ Koo to maybe make the date shorter, but the man continued to talk about his business and DJ Koo was nowhere to be seen. She took this chance to excuse herself for a minute. She remembered how Hyun Joong had been talking openly with Amber, so curiosity drew her over to the young girl’s side.

“Ahnyeonghaseyo,”Hwang Bo said, bowing slightly as she neared the table, her partner not far behind her, hoping to be introduced. “Don’t young idols have curfews? What are you doing out this late, and at a club?”

Amber stood up immediately and bowed. She really respected this unni. She had seen her on television and liked her cool image. She gave a nervous smile. ‘She’s not going to lecture me is she? Or tell my manager?’ “Oh, I was just...” she couldn’t really come up with anything to say. She couldn’t say she snuck out, and she didn’t want to lie. “I just...wanted to have fun,” she said.

Hwang Bo laughed heartily and looked around the nearly empty room. “Here?”

Amber looked around and laughed too. “Yeah. I believed the false advertisements. I was waiting for someone just now because I realized it’s not much fun.”

Hwang Bo ignored her partner tugging on her arm, silently begging her to introduce him to the young idol. “Oh, who are you waiting for?”

“Hyu-Oh! Here he is now!” Hwang Bo let her eyes follow in the direction that Amber was pointing. When she saw Hyun Joong sauntering through the door, her eyes widened and she wasted no time in picking up a menu from the table and opening it to cover her face. Her heart thudded in her chest, and her stomach dropped down to her feet. ‘Why here!? Why now!? He can‘t know I‘m here on a marriage meeting.’ her mind screamed. “Unni, what are you doing?” Amber asked.

Hyun Joong walked into the club, and didn’t have to look hard to find Amber. He reached the table and noticed two others sitting with her; a good-looking, but older man, and a woman holing a large menu strangely high. “Hi. ...Ah, who are they?”

“Uhh...” Amber glanced over at Hwang Bo. She assumed the strange behavior was because she didn’t want to be seen. She watched as the man Hwang Bo came with tried to lower her menu and how she shrugged him off. “They’re just...friends. I guess she’s really shy,” Amber said.

“Ah,” Hwang Bo heard Hyun Joong say as she tried to fend Do Goon off with her elbow. When he still kept hissing for her to introduce him to the idols, she planted a fist in his side and shoved him from the seat with her hip then slid out of the booth behind him, keeping the menu in front of her face. ‘What’s he doing here with her in the middle of the night?’ Hwang Bo thought fiercely, stepping over the stunned Do Goon who was still lying on the floor in shock. ‘He only texted me once today, but he has time to meet up with other women at night. I thought he was tired. I thought he was resting! Well he can rest forever!!’

She hurried off to the bathroom, almost running into multiple people in her haste to get away. When she got inside, she closed the menu and leaned against the door to breathe. She pulled out her cell phone and turned it on. After reading the last message Hyun Joong had left her asking her how her day was, she scoffed. She had a sudden urge to break her phone. But when she raised it up to do so, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her eyes looked wild with rage. ‘No,’ she thought. She took a deep breath, trying to stay in control. There had to be a reasonable explanation why Hyun Joong was here with her. As Hwang Bo was in the bathroom, trying to recover from anger and embarrassment, Hyun Joong and Amber sat in shock at the spectacle they had just witnessed in front of them. When Amber turned and looked at Hyun Joong’s blinking eyes, she let out a loud laugh. Hyun Joong turned to her with a questioning look, thought back over what he just saw, and also let out a laugh. “I guess she really is shy,” Hyun Joong said.

Amber and Hyun Joong both jerked around when they realized the man was still on the floor. He got up hurriedly and bowed to both of them, too embarrassed to mention his name and ran out of the club hoping they wouldn’t remember his face. Hyun Joong tilted his head then looked back at Amber. “Are...are you sure those were your friends? They both just left.”

Amber let out an unsure laugh. What was she supposed to do with what had just happened? “The shy one was. I didn’t know the guy. He was just her date I guess,” she said hurriedly. She looked toward the bathroom where she had seen Hwang Bo disappear to. ‘I wonder if I should go check up on her,’ she thought.

Hyun Joong nodded and looked around the club. There was practically no one there, he had seen a few people stream out of the bathroom earlier, but that was about it. ‘There’s... no music,’ he realized. He stared at all of the empty tables. “What kind of club is this?” He said out loud. “You snuck out to come to a place like this. Once you saw this, you should have just snuck right back. That would have been more exciting.”

Amber broke from her thoughts and laughed at what Hyun Joong had just said. Hwang Bo peeked out of the bathroom to see Amber throwing her head back in laughter. Her stomach clenched because it looked so much like a date. Hwang Bo closed the door again. ‘I have to do something,’ she thought. She suddenly had an idea. Pulling out her cell phone she texted, “Hyun Joong, I need you now. Come to my house.”

She got an immediate reply. *I’ll be there in thirty minutes.* She peeked out of the bathroom again and saw him walking out of the club, Amber beside him chatting excitedly. Hwang Bo smiled to herself, glad that Hyun Joong was going to be at her place soon. ‘Wait...how am I going to be there before him to let him in?’

She looked in the mirror. ‘And I have to change! He would probably recognize this outfit. Shoot! What am I going to do!?’ She rushed out of the bathroom, trying to fight the feeling of impending doom.

Hyun Joong climbed into his car, then spoke out of the window to Amber who looked a bit upset, but he needed to leave quickly if he was going to make it to Hwang Bo’s place before half an hour was up. “I called Hyung Joonie to come hang out with you since it’s your birthday. You shouldn’t have to celebrate it alone, and that Maknae can make playing 369 just between two people fun. Young Seang also said he would tell Joonie a few exciting places to take you where you won’t be recognized.” He looked her outfit up and down, then at her short unruly hair peeking out from the brim of her cap. “Although, if they put a dress and a wig on you, your mother probably wouldn’t even know you. You might want to suggest that to those two before they pull out ahjussi glasses and afro.”

Amber laughed, even though she was a bit let down that Hyun Joong was leaving. “Okay,” she said, as she waved Hyun Joong off. Hwang Bo watched the exchange from her spot at the doorway, waiting for Hyun Joong to leave. When she saw him drive off, she ran to her vehicle and took a different route from Hyun Joong, trying to make it back before him.

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Hyun Joong knocked on Hwang Bo’s door, a wide smile on his face when she opened it before he could knock again. But something was strange about her; there was a thin sheen of sweat coating her face, and she seemed slightly out of breath. ‘Why is she like this so late at night?’ “Buin,” he said worriedly, reaching out a hand to touch her forehead. “You don’t look so good, are you sick?”

Hwang Bo avoided his hand by turning her face away. “Maybe...a little bit,” she said. She could use this as the reason why she suddenly texted him. She had thrown a blanket over her shoulders and held it around herself because she hadn’t had time to change. So she knew she must look like she had a fever right now. “Come in,” she said, giving a small cough. “Can you wait out here for me?” she asked as Hyun Joong closed the door. She wanted to change her clothes just in case.

Hyun Joong wanted to stay near Hwang Bo to make sure she didn’t collapse. He placed a steadying hand under her elbow. “What is it you want, Buin? I can get it for you.” He guided her toward the couch, though she struggled to resist without loosening the blanket. “Sit right here and I’ll get it.” He stood waiting for her to tell him what she needed.

Hwang Bo sighed. ‘Why does he have to be like this!?’ she thought to herself. But she felt a little pleased when she saw the worried look on his face. ‘That’s what you get for going out with other girls in the middle of the night.’ She furiously wracked her brain for a way to get away from him and change. Her eyes widened at a sudden thought. “I have to go to the bathroom!” she said, glad to have found a reason to leave his eyesight for a few minutes.

Hyun Joong’s expression became even more worried. “Do you have to vomit? Is it diarrhea?”

Hwang Bo let out a shocked laugh at the things his mind had jumped to. With her face flushing in embarrassment, she rushed to explain. “What!? N-no...Well...wh-why does it matter!? If I need to go, I need to go!” She stood up so that she could rush to the bathroom.

Hyun Joong reached out to grab her. ‘She shouldn’t be running around when she’s this sick,’ he thought trying to catch her elbow. His hand snagged uselessly on the blanket that was draped tightly around her. It caused Hwang Bo to spring back into the young idol, her hands loosening in shock. The blanket came away and Hyun Joong’s hands and Hwang Bo was left standing in a shimmering evening gown, her motions frozen in disbelief and a nameless fear. Hyun Joong’s eyes narrowed when he caught sight of what his Buin was wearing. “Why...why are you dressed like that?” Hyun Joong asked coming up behind her. He threw the blanket to the ground and swung Hwang Bo around by her elbow. “Why are you wearing a dress this late at night?”

Hwang Bo looked up into Hyun Joong’s suspicious eyes, her heart beating irregularly. ‘What can I say? What can I say!?’ she wondered frantically. “I...I was just trying it on before I felt...” The excuse died on her lips when she saw Hyun Joong’s disbelieving gaze. With no excuses coming to mind and no way out, Hwang Bo let her eyes drift shut and her body slump. In one last desperate attempt, she pretended to fall unconscious.