TRACK 06 #2
He gets back up next to Dav En before Seong Su closes his eyes with a small shake of his head and a sigh.
"We don't know anything about her, Kyung.
What if she's using you? And Dav En? What even is that?
Sounds like a scandal in the making. Sabotage right before our next comeback.
Is that what you think we need right now? "
To Kyung's credit, he doesn't back down from our leader for once. "I haven't had our team run a background check on her, but I approached her. Not the other way around. I'm certain she's not looking for fame or to ruin us. I'm a pretty good judge of character if you'll remember."
Of course, he's referring to the fact that as the second member to join our team, he helped Seong Su handpick the rest of us. Kyung has him there, too, because our team turned out to be pretty awesome.
Seong Su's lips purse as he clenches his jaw. "Invite her over for dinner. Let us meet her."
His tone leaves no room for argument, which I wouldn't do if I were them anyway. They're lucky our leader isn't choking them out right now for keeping a secret this big.
"Okay, I will," he says.
"Right now," Seong demands when Kyung doesn't immediately do as he's asked.
Kyung tries to argue, "I doubt she's awake right now."
Seong shakes his head quickly. "I'm sorry, Kyung, but I don't care. Wake her up and invite her to dinner."
He dips his chin in a nod before getting up to go back to his room.
Waiting until he passes around the corner, I turn to Dav En. "Can I see a picture of her?"
"Oh, she's pretty," In Se brags. If she'd ever have an ally in any of us based on her looks, it'd be In Se. He used to be a real brat obsessed with pretty things.
Dav En is smiling as he takes his phone back out and turns it around to show me the same picture he shared earlier. Reaching out to take it from him, I ask, "Is that the only one you have on here?"
He doesn't even bother protesting as I start flipping through his photos.
In Se scoots in next to me to look over my arm, and I can feel Minsul and Yoon Ji over my shoulders.
There are a few random things mixed in, but it's the ones with her in them that I stop on.
Dav En captured one of her at sunset that has my lips twitching up into a smile as In Se gasps.
She's standing at an overlook with her back to the city of Seoul at sunset.
Her elbows are resting behind her on the railing, the angle of her arms lifting the bottom of her shirt and exposing a few inches of her stomach.
The lighting makes her brown hair darker and her green eyes pop.
At first glance it literally looks like she just stepped out of the sunset.
The next one is her and Kyung with their arms wrapped around each other in the same spot.
In all of the more than ten years that I've known him and as many times as I've seen him smile, I don't think I've ever seen him as happy as he is in this.
Glancing down at In Se, I find him smiling with me.
His gaze turns up to mine, and I find a sheen of tears glazing his eyes over.
Things are going to change now and never be the same again, but maybe we can all be as happy as Kyung in this photo.
Throwing my arm around his shoulder, I pull him in close and squeeze tight.
No matter what, we've got each other, and that'll never change.
We scroll through the rest of Dav En's pictures before handing his phone back.
"May we see?" Yeon asks gently.
Dav En hands the phone over to him and Seong.
They scroll through them, and I know the moment they reach the one.
Seong's expression morphs immediately. The angry furrow of his eyebrows and purse of his lips disappear.
Clenching his jaw, he swallows hard. I reach down and take In Se's hand to give it a squeeze.
Our leader doesn't look as worried as I feel, but he does seem a little sad.
Quite possibly more understanding than he was before he saw it.
Yeon, on the other hand, has his finger hovering above the phone like he's afraid to touch her even through the screen.
He studies the photo with a slight shift of his head before he smiles softly at it.
Flicking his eyes to Seong, he gives our leader that same soft smile.
They're interrupted by Kyung coming back into the room, making his way back to his seat. Yeon sets Dav En's phone on his thigh and gives Kyung his undivided attention.
"I can't promise she's going to answer," Kyung warns Seong. Pressing a few buttons, he sits back as his phone starts to ring on speaker.
It only gets two rings in before it stops. There's rustling on the other end for a good few seconds before a soft, sleepy voice answers in Korean, "Hello?"
I'm as surprised as the look on In Se's face. I think we all expected her to speak English.
"Good morning, my sunshine," Kyung says softly, looking down to his lap with a smile.
Dav En beside him sits slightly in the same pose, but with his hands pressed together between his thighs.
"Kyung," she groans. "Didn't you just leave?"
He huffs quietly, "Feels like it."
"Did you leave something again?" she asks.
Kyung's lips pull up into a smile again and his cheeks turn a bit pink as he tells her, "Just you."
In Se's hand squeezes mine and he wraps his other one around my leg giving it a tight hug.
She huffs like he just did and there's more rustling like she's moving around. "I told you that you didn't have to leave. This bed sure does feel empty with you guys gone."
My eyebrow lifts in surprise, and my gaze drops to my feet as I feel my own cheeks warm.
In Se bumps his shoulder into my leg, but I can't bring myself to look at him.
It's bad enough hearing how personal they are with each other.
They've been together long enough to be comfortable talking like this, and I feel like an intruder.
But imagining the both of them in bed with her has sent my brain into orbit.
"Next time, my Lizzy," Kyung promises.
"Mmm," she replies, not pressuring him like I assumed most women would.
"Do you want to have dinner with us tonight?" he asks suddenly.
She groans with the sound of more rustling, and I can imagine her stretching. "Of course, do you even need to ask? Just after I've had more sleep, okay? Dav En kept me up all night. I felt like I'd just fallen asleep when you guys got up to leave."
Dav En's hands come up to cover his grin and flaming cheeks. It does nothing to help the pink from spreading to his ears. Kyung glances at him with a quiet chuckle.
"Yes," Kyung agrees. "Sleep first and dinner later. I will meet you at your place tonight."
"You don't have to walk all the way out here," she argues. "I'll meet you."
"Okay, get some sleep, sunshine," he tells her quietly. "I'll see you tonight."
He doesn't try to fight her on it, letting her have her way. It's so out of character for him.
"Bye, Kyung," she murmurs almost like her face is buried in her pillow. There's a slight pause before she adds, "Bye, Dav En."
Dav En uncovers his face, turning to Kyung's phone as they both tell her bye at the same time. After he pushes the button to end the call, he crosses his arms on his chest and looks over to Seong. Without attitude, he says, "It's done."
"Kyung," he starts, pausing to likely consider his words, "This is serious?"
"Yes," he answers without hesitation.
Our leader sits back with a long sigh and nods. "Can't wait to meet her."
He's saying what we're all thinking. Except Yoon Ji apparently.
"I have a question," he blurts out of nowhere. "So, like when you that you're both with her. You both stayed and slept in her bed. How does that work?"
Dav En covers his face again as the rest of us laugh including Kyung. Seong simply closes his eyes and rubs the bridge of his nose.
"How about we not ask anything about that later at dinner, yeah?" Yeon suggests, patting Seong’s knee.
"What about her speaking Korean?" Minsul asks.
"There's a story behind that," Dav En starts.
Stopping him from going further, Kyung interrupts, "Why don't we let her tell them her story?"
Dav En nods in agreement.
Kyung slaps the tops of his own thighs before standing. "I'm going to go back to bed and get a little more sleep now if you guys don't mind."
He bumps Dav En's leg on the way by. "You need to go shower and change, too."
Walking away, he's mumbling about something about how he can't believe he slept on the couch. I reach out and slap the side of his leg before untangling myself from In Se and standing. "Yeah, man. I can't believe you slept on the couch."
I try not to make it obvious as I go after Kyung, pretending to casually stroll out of the room like he did.
Even though my insides feel like they're jumping around like crazy.
I reach his door just as he's about to close it.
He smirks, letting go of it and giving me the decision of closing it and walking away or coming inside.
Putting his phone on the charger on his desk, he walks over and literally crashes sideways into his bed.
Of course, I see this because I've taken the option of inviting myself in before shutting the door.
Sitting on the edge of his bed, I lean my elbows down on my knees. We sit in silence for a few minutes before he nudges my back without speaking.
"I'm just still trying to process," I tell him quietly. "Things have been weird lately, and I just assumed it's because we're busier than we normally are. I don't even see you anymore unless we're at practice or recording. Same with the others, too."
He doesn't say anything, letting me get everything off my chest at once. "I miss you guys. I don't want this to change us more than we already are."