Fan Fiction 1: I LIKE YOU, KWON! – Chapter 5

Title: I Like You, Kwon!

CHAPTER 5

3 DAYS AFTER WGM FILMING AT 2AM’S DORM

M BROADCASTING STATION

The activity for BEG on this day was relatively relaxed – they were having their goodbye stage for their latest single “Sign”. Because it’s going to be some time before their fans would see them perform again on stage, the performance was extremely important. All 4 members came to the studio early to rehearse. There was no room for any mistakes.

The moment they got back to their waiting room, leader JeA gave all the members pointers on parts that could be improved upon. Just as she was about to start on Ga In’s evaluation, there was a soft knock on the door. The door opened to reveal a member of the new girl group, After School. If Ga In didn’t remember wrongly, her name should be Raina.

“Unnies, hello! I am Raina from After School. I’m here to look for Ga In unnie.” Raina called out politely. After all, BEG is her senior and it was important for her to leave a favourable impression on the unnies.

Ga In was puzzled as to what this girl would want with her. She had never had much contact with After School, and was sure she has never met Raina before. Taking a closer look at the girl standing at the doorway, Ga In couldn’t help but noticed her big, bright and shiny eyes, small face, skinny frame… Could she be…? As if remembering something important, Ga In was jolted from her own thoughts. She quickly stood up.

“Oh, Raina ah, what is the matter? Ga In said that in a hurried manner, but she couldn’t quite decipher what she was feeling inside. Curiosity entangled with Apprehension. Her stomach started churning.

Raina saw that all the BEG unnies’ attention was now on her. “Ga In unnie, can we speak in private?” Raina was a little intimidated by the protective aura that the other unnies were exuding and knew what she was going to say to Ga In had to be said in private.

“What is it you want to tell Ga In that we can’t hear?” Narsha stared hard at the seemingly innocent face that was peering into their sanctuary. She could feel that this girl was not as innocent as she’s trying to make everyone believe.

Ga In could feel her other unnies slowly getting up and moving towards them. She knew she had to step in and stop their actions lest they be said to be too scary and intimidating towards their juniors.

“Narsha unnie, it’s ok, I will go out with Raina. Don’t worry, it won’t take long and I will be back before we are due to be on stage.” Ga In quickly walked towards the door and signaled for Raina to move from her position. Both of them went to an empty waiting room.

“Ga In unnie, I know this is very abrupt, coming to see you out of the blue. But I’m really scared and I believe the only way to settle my mind is to speak to you.”

Raina’s words made her visit even more puzzling. “Why? What did I do to make you feel scared?” Ga In was already puzzled by Raina’s visit since they have only greeted each other whenever they met at broadcasting stations. What Raina just revealed added more confusion to her bewilderment.

“Unnie, you might not know me well, but you must have heard of Oh Bang Sil right? Raina looked at Ga In in the eye and deliberately emphasized each of the three words. She could see the shock registering on Ga In’s face. She continued with her attack. “That’s right. I am Oh Bang Sil! And I’m not just Kwonnie oppa’s crush. He was lying on the show. We are actually dating right now! Kwonnie oppa is my boyfriend!”

The shock that Ga In felt as she stared at the girl in front of her paralyzed her entire being, even her thoughts. For a minute, her mind was a total blank. She blinked once and shook her head once to get rid of the paralyzing effect of the shock.

“What… What do you mean?” Ga In said, with some difficulty. Even as she tried to regain her composure, Raina had seen what damage the revelation had done to Ga In. She was right that there was something going on between Ga In and Kwonnie oppa. A hint of hatred flashed in Raina’s eyes.

“Now for part 2…” Raina thought to herself. “I’m very scared, unnie… I’m very scared that Kwonnie oppa will fall in love with you. He had not been sending me any text messages or called me. And when I tried to contact him, he would be very abrupt. To make matters worse, news articles about the two of you being a real couple have been appearing non-stop. I could not ask Kwonnie oppa directly so I have no choice but to come look for you, unnie…” Raina squeezed tears out of the corner of her eyes and said in a pitiful voice.

“But that is between the two of you. What has it got to do with me? What can I do?” To say that Ga In was unsettled by the confrontation would have been the greatest understatement of the year. The different emotions that she was feeling totally overwhelmed her – disbelief, confusion, doubts and above all of that, betrayal. She had believed that Kwonnie felt something for her. It seemed real during the hospital visit. What’s happening?

Raina looked at Ga In and she could see all the emotions that were bubbling inside Ga In on her face. “She thinks she’s so chic and no one can read what she was thinking. Chet! She’s no match for me.” Raina got ready for the final blow she was going to deal.

“I want, no, I need unnie to promise me one thing.” Ga In looked at Raina, confusion was written all over her face. “Unnie, didn’t you say you don’t like men who are younger than you? Then can you promise that you will not like Kwonnie oppa for real?

“What… What do you mean?” This was the second time that Ga In said the same thing. Her mind was still in too much chaos to be able to form a more forceful answer.

Raina went on, gaining more confidence from the confusion she saw on Ga In’s face and voice, “As long as unnie does not like Kwonnie oppa, his heart and feelings…” Raina paused to take a deep breath, like what she was about to say next caused her so much pain that she could not even bear the thought of it. “…his heart and feelings for me will never change. Unnie… please…”

Looking at the young face in front of her, her face twisted with pain, unshed tears that had began to gather in her eyes, Ga In saw how she had put down her pride just so she could save her relationship with the person she loved. Ga In thought of her first love and remembered how silly she was when she was Raina’s age and being so much in love with that man. Ga In’s heart softened and she comforted herself by saying that while she does like Kwonnie, it was nothing compared to the love that Raina obviously has for him.

“Alright, I promise you.”

“Thank you unnie! Thank you so much!” Raina smiled broadly, as if she has gotten the greatest treasure of all when she got Ga In’s promise.

“However, I can’t stop WGM. That’s work. I hope you can understand.” Ga In seemed to have regained her composure. It was like when she made the promise to Raina, something inside her switched off. Or she had to, otherwise she might be consumed by the hurt she was feeling inside.

“That is not a problem. As long as unnie does not like Kwonnie oppa beyond the show, it’s fine.” Raina replied quickly.

“I will keep my promise, don’t worry about this anymore. If that’s all, I have to go back to my waiting room to prepare for my performance.” With that, Ga In stood up and walked out of the waiting room without a second glance at Raina. It was as if she could not bear to be in the same room with her. Even as she reminded herself that Kwonnie was not THAT important to her, she couldn’t stop the hurt that was slowly creeping through her body. She almost stumbled when she remembered the last thing that Kwonnie said to her at the hospital before she fell asleep again.

“Sleep my dear, I will always be by your side.”

She saw that she was about to reach the BEG waiting room. She took a deep breath and the sudden intake of air caused her chest to hurt. She had to put her hand on her chest and pressed hard, as if that motion would stop the pain from spreading. She closed her eyes for a second.

“Son Ga In, you are a strong woman. Jo Kwon is just your fake husband, a partner at work. The moment you enter the room, you will forget that episode in the hospital, forget all the words that he said to you when he was alone with you, understand?”

After repeating the self-hypnotizing message to herself three times, she took a deep breath, recomposed herself, checked her outfit, fixed a smile on her face and walked into the waiting room. When her teammates tried to ask her what did Raina say to her, she brushed off their concerned questions with a simple “nothing” and got back to preparing for the performance. JeA and MiRyo did not press her further, knowing how stubborn Ga In was. Narsha took one look at Ga In and thought to herself, “That girl… She’s doing it again… Putting on the ‘I’m strong’ mask to hide what she’s really feeling… I wonder what Raina said to her…”

Just then, the stage manager came to their room and asked them to go to their standby position backstage. They were up next. Narsha put aside her worry for now but could not help but sigh after taking one last glance at the forced smile that Ga In had pasted on her face.

Raina walked out of the empty waiting room right after Ga In exited. She turned to look in Ga In’s direction and caught the stumble, the deep intake of breath. She also saw Ga In putting her hand on her chest. Seeing the sight before her, a cold, malicious smile appeared on her face.

“Serve you right for coming so close to Kwonnie oppa. Kwonnie oppa is mine. If I can’t have him, no one else can!” Raina whispered softly so that no one could hear the words. Even more horrifying than the words that were spoken, it was her tone, a tone that would have caused fear even in the most steadfast warrior.

30 MINUTES LATER, BEG WAITING ROOM

“Son Ga In! What was wrong with you?!! You’d better give me a good explanation! Your performance on stage just now was HORRIBLE!! Can you still call yourself a BEG?!” JeA was furious because Ga In made so many mistakes on stage during their performance.

For Ga In, the images of Raina in the waiting room, begging her to not like her Kwonnie oppa and Kwonnie in the hospital ward saying that he would always be by her side, kept finding their way into her head during the performance. She could not shake them off no matter how hard she tried. As a result, she got the dance steps wrong, forgot her lyrics and pitching. It was probably the worst performance during this round of promotions. And there was no “do better for the next one” because this was their goodbye stage. She felt terribly sorry towards the other members.

“Unnie… I’m so sorry… really sorry… I didn’t do that on purpose…” Ga In’s voice got softer and softer. Everything that had happened today finally overwhelmed her. She felt very wronged and the more she thought about what had happened, the worse she felt. Her tears started gathering in her eyes. She quickly looked away so that her unnies would not see her tears. But she was not quick enough because Narsha had been staring at her and she saw the tears roll down her cheeks just as she turned away.

“What exactly did Raina say to you just now?” Narsha voiced out the first thought that came to her mind. She knew something MUST have happened during that meeting.

“WHAT?! What does that girl want? Did she forget her place as a newbie?” Even though JeA is very critical of each member’s performance, she would never let anyone cause her members to be upset. All of them shared that idea. No one is allowed to bully any of their members. MiRyo looked like she was about to walk out of the waiting room to go confront Raina. Ga In is their youngest, so they tend to look out for her even more.

“It’s nothing, really.” Ga In didn’t want to tell her unnies what happened just now. After all, being an artiste, she knew how difficult it was to have and maintain a relationship. It was the least she could do since she had given Raina her word.

Seeing how upset and sorry Ga In was, JeA also couldn’t bear to continue scolding her and reminding her of her mistakes. The BEG quietly packed up their things and went back to their dorm in their nanny van.

Throughout the journey, the usually excited and chatty Ga In did not utter a single word. She stared out of the window the entire time. Even when her unnies tried to engage her in conversation about her favourite topic – food, she would give short answers and then turned away. The other 3 members looked at each other, all at a loss at to what to do. The moment they reached the dorm, Ga In went into her room and locked the door. Standing outside the door, they could hear Ga In sobbing. They knew she was trying to control herself so that they would not hear her. All three of them looked at each other and answered the same question that was on their mind with a shrug.

“Stop crying, Son Ga In! I said STOP CRYING!” But it didn’t work this time. The more she told herself silently to stop crying, the more her tears welled up. She had to control her sobbing so as not to alarm her unnies. She took out her phone, wanting to call her Ong oppa but remembered that he was on a schedule right now. She was about to put her phone away when her phone rang. The caller-id read: “내 남편” (My husband). She waited for the call to end, took up her phone and went to the contact list. She changed the name from “내 남편” to simply “조권”. The phone started ringing again. This time, the screen merely read “조권”. Again, she waited for the phone to stop ringing. Once it did, she sent a message to him: “I’m tired. Sleeping. Don’t call.”

His reply was almost instantaneous. “Alright, Yeo Bo. Sleep well. ^^”

She stared at his message, or more specifically, the word “Yeo Bo”. She had to close her eyes and put her hand over her heart because she wanted to suppress the pain that has been looming and once again threatened to paralyze her.

“No, from now on, you are simply Jo Kwon to me, and I should be Ga In noona to you.”

With that thought, she curled up on her bed and forced herself to sleep.

END OF CHAPTER 5

Translator’s Disclaimer: Raina of After School, though has been speculated to be Oh Bang Sil, has never been proven to be OBS. So please don’t go hating her. It’s FICTION ok peeps~ ^^