It was morning again. Onew and Yonghwa had woken up earlier than usual. The moment they stepped out of their rooms, they were shocked to see each other. Both were freshly showered, neatly shaven, smartly dressed and almost ready for work. They eyed each other curiously.
“What are you doing?” Yonghwa finally asked his friend as he closed the door to his room, not wanting to let Onew see how messy it was with clothes which he had tried on and took off again when he felt it was not suitable. He just left them sprawled all over his bed and some carelessly thrown on the floor.
“You’re asking me? What about yourself?” Onew asked in return as he continued to eye Yonghwa from head to toe.
“Well, I’m going to work.” Yonghwa replied with a shrug.
“And I’m going to work too.” Onew said before heading towards the kitchen with Yonghwa following closely behind.
“But you’re earlier than usual today!” Yonghwa eyed Onew suspiciously.
“Speak for yourself.” Onew retorted, not wanting to make any eye contact with Yonghwa. He knew sooner or later, Yonghwa would be able to tell that something was amidst.
“Yah! Don’t you have anything to tell me?” Yonghwa asked again as he leaned his body against the kitchen counter. He watched as Onew poured himself a glass of orange juice before taking a sip from it.
“What? I have nothing to tell you!” Onew said. “Why did you ask me that for?”
“Of course I have to ask you! Have you taken a look at yourself?”
“Yah! What’s wrong with the way I look?”
“You’re not wearing your usual style!” Yonghwa pointed out.
“What? I’m still with my jeans and shirt.”
“Yes, it’s still jeans and shirt but what the hell is the blazer for? Are you going to interview someone formally today?”
“Well, I’m just accessorizing myself. Is it wrong?” Onew shrugged, not wanting to admit anything. But the fact was, he himself was not sure why was he dressing this way as it was so unlike him.
“You got a girlfriend.” Yonghwa accused with a slight smirk.
“Bo?”
“Admit it.” Yonghwa glared at Onew. “I know you better than anyone else. The reason for the almighty Onew to change is because of a girl!”
“Nonsense.” Onew said nervously.
“You’re blushing right now you punk!” Yonghwa grinned.
“You’re mad. I don’t know what the hell you are talking about now.” Onew tried to ignore Yonghwa, but he knew he was not able to hide anything from this friend of his.
“Just admit it.” Yonghwa said as he folded his arms across his chest, staring straight ahead towards Onew.
“Okay! There’s this girl okay! You happy now?” Onew exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.
“Damn! I’m good!” Yonghwa praised himself.
“And you, what the hell is wrong with you? With the perfume, wait, did you pour the whole bottle on yourself or what?” Onew teased.
“You better stop with the teasing, if not I won’t update you on my love life anymore!” Yonghwa threatened.
“Ahrasso, ahrasso. Just tell me okay.”
Yonghwa smiled victoriously. “Well, I think, me and Seo Joohyun are dating.”
“Huh? You think?”
“Well, we decided to go out together, isn’t that the same as dating?”
“Ah, I see.” Onew grinned. “Finally, after all these time! Congrats bro!”
“Thanks!” Yonghwa replied. “Anyway, who is she?”
“Who’s who?”
“The girl who changed you.”
“Ah, her. Well, we’re nothing actually. Just that I am starting to think that she may be different than I thought she is, that’s all.”
“Don’t tell me it’s the transferred girl in your office!” Yonghwa gaped.
“Aish! How come you’re able to foresee all these things?” Onew groaned, unable to believe that Yonghwa was able to read him so well.
“Sinchia? It’s that girl! Aigoo! Daebak!”
“Don’t get too excited.” Onew said quickly. “There’s nothing between us yet.”
“So basically, there’s nothing serious yet?”
“You can say it that way.” Onew shrugged.
“Good luck then!” Yonghwa grinned before making himself useful in making the breakfast that morning. He decided to just make some simple sandwiches for him and Onew.
“Ah, I need to inform Tony hyung that I can’t drive him to work today. I left my car at the office.” Onew said suddenly.
“Wow! That’s the first. You never leave your car alone before.”
“It’s partly because of her too.” Onew winked before running up towards Tony’s room. As it was an all men’s house, it was normal for them to just walk in the other’s rooms without knocking. And that was what Onew did, turning on the door knob, pushing the door opened and straight away walking in without any hesitation at all.
“Tony hyung, I have no car today so…” Onew stared at the figures on the bed ahead of him. And he was sure he was seeing double; two heads looking at him from under the blanket. Then he felt a pillow being thrown towards him
“YAH! DON”T YOU KNOW HOW TO KNOCK?!” Tony shouted as he continued to throw a couple more pillows towards the man in front of him.
Onew jumped before running out of the room quickly. He ran straight towards the kitchen, towards Yonghwa who was looking at him with a confused expression.
“What’s wrong?” Yonghwa asked quizzically. He had heard the commotion earlier and was dying to find out the cause of it.
Onew was panting hard as he tried to compose himself after the shock he just had. “Hyung! He’s in bed with a woman!”
“BO?! Are you sure?” Yonghwa gaped.
“Of course I’m sure! I’m not blind you know!”
Just then, Wooyoung descended down the stairs sleepily. He was still in his pajamas and it did not look like he was ready for work yet. He walked towards Onew and Yonghwa before settling himself down on the chair at the dining area. He shot an annoyed look at both men in front of him.
“How come people are shouting early in the morning?” Wooyoung asked, stifling a yawn.
“Tony hyung brought a woman home!” Onew exclaimed in a hushed whisper.
“I know. I heard them last night.” Wooyoung answered coolly.
“Sinchia?! You mean you heard them, you know…” Yonghwa rubbed his neck nervously.
“Ani. I just heard them talking.” Wooyoung said with a raised eyebrow. “What were you thinking hyung?”
“Uh, nothing.” Yonghwa shrugged causing Onew to grin nervously.
******
The next minute Yonghwa, Onew and Wooyoung knew was that, they were forced to sit on the sofa in the living room by Tony. Tony glared at each one of the younger men in front of him before letting out a long sigh. On the opposite side of the sofa, a woman in her late twenties was seated down with an embarrassed expression plastered across her face. Soon Tony settled himself on the seat beside her, naturally wrapping his arm around her waist.
“Kids, I know you may think that I might be lying, but the truth is, we did not do anything last night.” Tony started saying. He kept his eyes focused on the three men in front of him. What Tony received was just knowing smiles and snickers from his three dongsaengs,
“I swear!” Tony stood up and exclaimed.
“Ahrasso hyung, we understand.” Yonghwa grinned mischievously.
“Aish! This kid!”
“Let them be.” Joori finally said as she pulled Tony down to sit beside her again. “There’s no point of you being angry at them.”
“But they don’t believe us!” Tony whined.
“What would you think if you were to see a man and a girl in a room, together in bed, buried under a blanket?” Joori asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Ahrasso, I get what you mean.” Tony pouted, causing Joori to smile at his obedience.
“Anyway hyung, care for introductions?” Wooyoung who was sitting in between Onew and Yonghwa finally spoke up.
“Ah, ne, this is Joori, my um girlfriend.” Tony introduced, his face turning an instant color of red.
“Ne, anniyohaesayo!” Yonghwa, Onew and Wooyoung instantly stood up as they greeted the guest in front of them. Joori did the same with a nervous smile.
“Joori-ya, Yonghwa is my brother. Onew and Wooyoung are our friends, each of them renting a room here.” Tony explained.
“Ah, I see. I thought Onew’s your brother yesterday.” Joori said.
“Oh yeah! We met each other yesterday! From the almost accident.” Onew mentioned causing Yonghwa and Wooyoung to give him a surprised look.
“Ne, I was with a housemate of mine yesterday. You know Hara right? I believe you two are working together now.”
“Hara?” Yonghwa asked questioningly. Wooyoung gave a strange look at Onew as well.
Onew smiled awkwardly. “Ne, we’re working together now. We’re partners.”
“Ah, so her name is Hara…” Yonghwa nodded his head in understanding with a teasing grin spreading across his face.
“Um, I want to stay and chat longer but it’s getting late and I really must go now.” Onew said suddenly as he stood up. Yonghwa peeked at his watch and stood up as well.
“I need to go too.” Yonghwa said as he followed Onew towards the door.
“Yah! Let’s have some breakfast first!” Tony shouted, trying to hold them back.
“Mianhe hyung. Sinchia! See you later!” Onew waved his hand before racing out of the door.
“Me too hyung! See you!” Yonghwa exclaimed as he chased after Onew out the door as well.
***
“So her name’s Hara?” Yonghwa teased as he jumped onto Onew’s back for a piggyback ride.
“Yah! Get off me!” Onew tried to shrug Yonghwa off.
“Andwae! Until you admit it!”
“You already know it yet you are still asking me!”
“Ah! So it is true then!” Yonghwa laughed before jumping off.
“Aish! Just keep it low will you.” Onew said, feeling a bit embarrassed.
“Sinchia! Let’s go, I’ll give you a ride to work.” Yonghwa pulled Onew by the shoulder to head towards his car. “But, I’m fetching Joohyun first, ahrasso?”
Onew stiffened. “Um, actually I already have a ride to work today.” Onew gulped, feeling so unsure on how to explain the situation to Yonghwa.
“Eh? A ride? With who?”
Just then, a red Hyundai Tuscani suddenly stopped just beside the two men. They were too engrossed in their conversation that they did not notice it making its appearance. A woman, dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a red sweatshirt came out from the car. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun and a pair of red rimmed glasses to accessorize her small and flawless face. She was wearing a light tinge of make up and to complete her unique look was the red stilettos she was wearing on her feet. She grinned as she continued to approach them while she kept her eyes fixed on one of the men in front of her.
“Anniyohaesayo Onew-ssi.” The woman greeted, causing Yonghwa and Onew to stop talking. Both men looked up with frowned faces.
“Anniyohaesayo.” Onew greeted back with a slight nod. He stared at the woman a while longer before allowing his gaze to travel towards the car behind her. Then he suddenly realized who the woman in front of him was. “H-Hara-ssi?”
“Ne. It’s me.” Hara replied with a shy smile.
“Ommo! Are you sure it’s you?” Onew asked with raised eyebrows. “You look different.”
“Different?” Hara grinned. “To tell you the truth, this is how I usually dress up if I’m not going to work.”
“Ah, sinchia? Well, it looks good on you actually!” Onew praised as he took a look at Hara from head to toe. He gave an approving smile. He thought she looked better this way rather than she wearing those flashy outfits which may cause unwanted incidents just like the day before.
“Ehem! Ehem! Introductions please.” Yonghwa suddenly voiced out impatiently. Both Onew and Hara turned to look at him.
“Ne, anniyohaesayo, I am Hara, Onew’s colleague.” Hara introduced herself to Yonghwa as she held out a hand to shake his.
“I’m Yonghwa, Onew’s housemate.” Yonghwa replied with a knowing smile. He took another look at Hara again and this time he frowned. “You look familiar. Have I seen you before?”
“Oh, I live a few houses away.”
“Ah, I remember now!” Yonghwa exclaimed. “Are you friends with Seo Joohyun by any chance? I just realized you look exactly like her friend who goes jogging with her every Saturday!”
“Seohyun? You know Seohyun?” Hara raised an eyebrow.
“Ne! We just got to know each other recently.” Yonghwa explained. “Aigoo! Why am I so dumb! So you, Joohyun and Joori noona are housemates! You’re the ones we always see every Saturday, jogging together!”
“Bo? You mean…” Onew gaped, not wanting to believe what Yonghwa had just said. He turned to look at Hara who looked as if she was trying to digest Yonghwa’s words slowly.
“I’m right aren’t I?” Yonghwa asked again to make sure.
“N-Ne. But how come you know that we go jogging every Saturday?” Hara frowned, looking more confused than ever.
“I just know.” Yonghwa grinned shyly.
“Yeah, he knows very well, and dragged me in with him.” Onew accused. Then he glanced at Hara. “But I didn’t know you were one of them! Sinchia!”
“Oh! So you’ve been watching me all along.” Hara smiled wickedly towards Onew.
“Ani. Ani. You don’t understand!”
“Ahrasso. Get in the car. We’ll talk more later!” Hara said before turning around to head for her car. She managed a quick farewell towards Yonghwa who replied gratefully.
“Treat her well Onew-yah! She’s cute!” Yonghwa teased.
“Shut up!” Onew retorted before entering the car.
***
They rode the car in a sudden awkward silence. Hara continued to drive without initiating much of a conversation. The truth was, she was not sure what to start off with. Onew on the other hand decided to just play dumb and continued staring out of the window. Once in a while he would try to steal glances at Hara who was being oblivious to everything that Onew did.
Finally after several minutes of continued silence, Hara let out a sigh, loud enough to attract Onew’s attention. Onew looked up and tried to hide a smile.
“Um, so, um, your friend earlier, Yonghwa, he looked like a good person.” Hara said.
“Well, he is.” Onew answered, keeping his eyes now focused on Hara.
“He’ll fit well with Seohyun.”
“Ah sinchia? He would be so happy to hear that from you.” Onew grinned. “He’s been having that silly crush on her since forever!”
“Ah really? Wow!”
“He even sent a cheesy letter over to her a few days ago.”
“Ommo! So that letter was from Yonghwa?!” Hara gasped in astonishment.
“What? Did you by any chance read the letter?” Onew gaped.
“Oh yeah I did. And like you said, it is a bit cheesy, but otherwise romantic! I totally love it!” Hara grinned.
“Sinchia? So if I were to send a letter similar to that, do you think you would love it as well?”
“Aigoo! You’re impossible Onew-ssi!” Hara laughed as her hand were fast enough to hit Onew playfully on his lap.
“So, what made you dress up differently today?” Onew asked as he continued eyeing Hara.
“Somebody suggested to me to wear appropriately yesterday. I’m just heeding his advice.” Hara shrugged.
“Hm, that person is quite sensible I believe.’ Onew chuckled.
“Yeah, I guess he is.” Hara added while smiling shyly. “And sweet too.”
******
Yonghwa stepped on the brake pedal just outside of Seohyun’s house. He watched as Seohyun walked out of her house gate with a forlorn expression. Yonghwa frowned as he wondered if he had unconditionally upset her by any chance. His eyes followed Seohyun’s every movement until she entered his car and closed the door shut.
“Hi?” Yonghwa greeted, hoping to lighten up the mood in the car.
“Hm.” Seohyun replied with a sigh. Yonghwa bit his lips. He was not sure how to react in that situation.
“Is something wrong?” Yonghwa asked timidly. “Is it me?”
Seohyun sighed. “Ani. I’m sorry. I’m just feeling a bit worried.”
“Worried? About?”
“Joori unnie. I found out this morning from Jieun that she didn’t come home at all last night.” Seohyun sighed again. “I called her phone, but I was unable to get through. I’m so worried Yonghwa-ya.”
Yonghwa gaped at the woman in front of him before giving a sly smirk. “I think I know where she went. And she’s more than safe, I assure you that.”
“Ne? You know where she is then? How?”
“She’s at my house now. Long story.” Yonghwa shrugged before he started driving.
“Eh? How come she’s at your house? Aigoo. This is confusing!”
“Well, she spent the night over at our house with my hyung. I bet she didn’t tell you that right?”
“Ah? Sinchia? Ommo!” Seohyun exclaimed.
“Why?”
“They’re not married yet!”
“Ah sinchia. They didn’t do anything inappropriate.”
“How do you know that?”
“Well, they told us themselves.” Yonghwa said with a smile.
“Oh, thank god!” Seohyun sighed, this time round with a smile.
“But, I don’t believe them though.” Yonghwa grinned wider causing Seohyun to slap his arm playfully.
“Joori unnie won’t be that careless. I know her.”
“Ne, whatever you say Joohyun-ssi.”
Seohyun smiled as she looked at the moving road ahead. “I like this.”
“Ne? You like this? What do you mean?” Yonghwa asked with a frown. He sneaked a glance at her. She had a sincere smile playing on her lips.
“I like the casualness of us talking. It feels natural and comfortable. I like it so much.” Seohyun said.
“Ah. Don’t you get this comfortable with other guys?”
“Ani. Not this comfortable. With you, I feel relaxed. I don’t need to force myself.”
“Hm, I’m glad.” Yonghwa grinned. “I feel the same way too.”
Seohyun blushed. “This is a good start for us.”
“I know.” Yonghwa said as his right hand slowly took hold of her left hand before placing it to his lips and kissed her knuckles gently.
Morning was fine once again.
