Chapter 7: Pad Thai
Nara's POV
The concert was sold out. The concert was a success. The concert was...amazing.
It's tiring, exhausting, and all the practice, nervousness, the blinding lights and blasting music....everything just sucks the life out of you.
I love concerts.
The truth makes me feel bitter, really. The fact that I only like it because of the attention. It makes me feel all of the names that Lizzy calls me when I forget to turn off the stove. But it's okay as long I don't think too much about it. The concert was over, we changed out of the glam tops and leather tights and were wrapping it up. I wasn't doing anything, just watching everyone pack everything. Aoi was fast asleep on my lap. I was absentmindedly caressing her hair as I thought about the number of concerts that would follow. We had already performed numerous times at melon, mnet and the like. We were a big hit too, winning on every single one of them. But it wouldn't just end there, I knew. We have yet to set foot in Japan and tons of variety shows have sent us invitations.
The other members are also asleep except for Fengh who is tapping away on her phone. Lizzy is asleep too, right next to me in fact and I can't help but huff in slight irritation when she snores. It's been three days since I shamelessly crashed RM's studio in my uncomprehending state. I haven't seen him since that day (thank heavens) but made a mental note to never step out of my room when I'm not in the right state of mind. The managers start waking everyone up when it's time to leave. We reach the dorm at two am and leave at ten the next morning for Japan. A week passes by in a blur and it's our last day before leaving for Korea.
I made the bed in my hotel room after Sunhee ended the vlive and left me by myself. I always have a room to myself. Everyone thinks it's because I'm selfish or that I can't stand the other members' sleeping habits. In actuality it's because I don't sleep very much. There were times in the beginning when we all slept together. The members don't know till today that I used to sneak out of the room and sleep in the kitchen after they were all asleep and return to our shared room before they woke up. There was one time I fell asleep before the others and they all had to witness me waking up in the middle of the night screaming and crying till I ran out of breath. I managed to convince them that it's never happened before and requested a separate room when our dorm upgraded. The nightmares stopped eventually as I started to become an insomniac. I don't remember the last time I had one. Must've been a good four years. I still have a separate room, though. No one needs to know my sleep schedule. I was trying my best to sleep when my phone buzzed on the bedside table. I glanced at the caller ID and couldn't help the smile forming on my face. I immediately sat up, accepting the call.
"LEE NARAAAAA...."
I distanced the phone from my ears, waiting for her to calm down. "Yah! Ji-eun. I need my ears"
"I SAW YOUR PERFORMANCE! IT WAS DAEBAKKK!"
I flinched, "pipe down, you're making my ears bleed"
"WHAT?"
"Lower your volume", I hissed.
"Oh! Soorrryyyyy...."
"Why can't you be more like Jiwoo unnie? She's as quiet as a mouse"
"About that, that's the reason I called you"
"What?"
"You got the internship!"
"I did?", my words gave nothing away but I was genuinely happy to hear that.
"Yup. We're going to be fellow interns~", she squealed. I cracked a smile.
"That's good to hear. Tell unnie I said thanks"
"I already did"
"So when do I start?"
"Right away! Or, you know, as soon as you can. Unnie's cool with anything"
"Jung Jieun, you are a life saver, you know that?", I said after a pause.
"Did something happen?"
"I was just about to die of boredom"
"Oh yeah? Tell you what-I don't believe you"
I frowned, "what?"
"Don't you have a special someone to think about all day long?"
I gasped, faking hurt, "what utter nonsense are you talking about? You know my heart only belongs to you", I finished dramatically.
"You can't bullshit with me, Nara. Oppa told me all about your midnight rendezvous"
I gasped for real this time. "What the hell?"
"What the hell is right you traitor! Shouldn't I be the first one to know if my best friend is getting laid?"
I felt the heat rising in my cheeks, "no one is getting lai-"
"Shouldn't I be the one you turn to for comfort when your iggly-jiggly hormones are all over the place and you find it difficult to keep it in your pants?"
Iggly-jiggly?,
"What on earth-"
"Did you think you could actually go around hooking up behind my back and I would never find out? You can't just start a forbidden inter-group romance and think that you can keep it under wraps. Did you have a crush on him? Why didn't I know about this? Someone just plucked your flower and you did not feel the need to hit up your best friend? You never even dated before. What happened to you?"
I took deep breaths. "....are you done?"
"One more. Did it hurt?"
"JUNG JIEUN!"
"Don't yell at me", she had the gall to sound hurt, "I genuinely want to know"
I exhaled loudly.
"I.Did.Not.Have.Sex", I spat through gritted teeth.
"You didn't? But oppa said...."
"Remind me to kill your oppa next time I see him"
"You're really mad aren't you?"
I huffed in response.
"So.....", she prodded, "what's next? Are you coming home?"
"Yeah, for eighteen hours. Then we leave for Thailand"
"Thailand, huh?"
"....yeah"
"You sooo have a crush"
"No I don't", I rolled my eyes.
"You have nice taste. I give you my blessings"
"Shut up"
"No, I'm serious. It was wise of you to chose an idol instead of some rich professional"
"What are you talking about?"
"Professional people are boring. If you married a lawyer or a doctor, you would have to spend the rest of your life dolled up for no reason. Now, if you do get married to Rapmon....."
"I'm not getting married to anyone"
"Of course you are! But let me speak, will you? So when you get married to Rapmon....", what does she mean, when?, ".....you will be mentally satisfied because he's basically your first crush and also physically because, well, where is he going to release all that pent up energy? All professionals ever do is sit at a desk all day long. Idols are always working out, dancing...can you imagine the level of stamina he has? .........Nara? Hello? Nara, can you hear me?"
"...why do I even talk to you?", I pinched the bridge of my nose.
"Because you love me"
"I am beginning to doubt that", I sighed.
"You know what you sound like right now?"
"What?"
"Like you need to get laid"
"For the love of God, Jieun...."
Another three days and our activities in Thailand were over too. We had two days to enjoy before returning back to Korea. The members all broke into groups of twos to go sightseeing. I hummed a tune as I jogged my way downtown, pausing every now and then to get a better look at something that would catch my eye. All the brightly lit shops were hurting my eyes but there was nothing that could dampen my mood. Thailand was just so aesthetically pleasing. A cherry on top was that two of my buddies were back in town right when I had time to spare.
"Yo!", comes the voice from the other end when I press the phone to my ear.
"Yo!", I greet back, "where you at?"
"Just come on in. I'm looking right at ya"
I look up at the second floor of the cafe and she waves at me from the glass. I wave back and step inside, immediately making my way upstairs. Two hands block my vision when I round the corner after the last step.
"Leave it Bambam....", I smile at his flabbergasted expression when he removes his hands.
"This isn't fair....", he whines, "it could've been Lisa!"
"I already saw her at the window"
"Yeah, well, you don't know if she left her spot!"
I flick his forehead, "are you going to whine all night?"
Lisa giggles at our exchange and holds up her hand for a high-five. I can feel it in my bones that Bambam is making faces at my back but I ignore him.
"Are you here alone?", she asks as I take a seat across from her and Bambam settles in beside me.
"I did say I was coming alone, right?", I say, a little confused at her behaviour.
"Don't tell me....", Bambam looks at me a little surprised, "...Jungkook bailed out last minute?"
"Jungkook....?"
"No I didn't"
I turned my head in the direction of the voice just in time to witness the golden maknae emerge from around the corner of the second floor.
"Hey, Noona!", he flashes his bunny teeth, making his way to our table. And all I can think of is,
What the fudge?
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