23 December 2010
D-2 (Part 4)
7pmWhen IU arrived at the full dress rehearsal, everyone congratulated her for her win on M!Countdown. If she wins the one on Music Bank the next day, she would have won the entire week's music shows' ranking chart and that's an achievement for a solo artiste.
Everyone was around except for the man she wanted to see most. Although she was a little disappointed but she hid it and went to prepare for the full-dress rehearsal. But before that she had to look for Jin Woon to go through the dance again.
She found him in 2AM's dressing room and seems like he's on the phone with someone. She was about to step out of the dressing room when she felt someone holding her waist. She turned around really quickly only to find Seul Ong smiling at her.
“Oppa~ Let go of me, there are many people around."
"Does it matter? I want to tell everyone you are mine in case they behave like sneaky Jin Woon over there."
IU could not be bothered with answering him but continued to wiggle her way out of his embrace. Knowing that she was simply embarrassed, he let go of her only to hold her hand and pulled her into the dressing room. He closed the door behind them and simply hugged her
"Since Busybody over there already knows about us, you have no reason to refuse my hug anymore. I missed you. And congratulation on getting #1 on M!CD!!"
IU looked up at Seul Ong and smiled. She was truly glad to win on M!CD.
But my best present is being loved by this man. "Oppa~ Thank you. Without you singing 'Nagging' with me, I probably won't have so many more fans. So thank you."
"Silly girl, I also benefitted a lot from doing the duet with you. But the most important part is getting to work with you, and knowing you more. That period of time was my happiest. But I know from now on, I'd be happier because I have your love."
"Me too."
Seul Ong released IU after giving her one last tight squeeze.
"I have something for you."
Seul Ong went to the dressing table where his bag was and brought over a medium-sized bag and a big bag. IU was shocked to see two bags and the brand names on them.
Taking out a pretty white wrap with fur trimmings, he passed it over to her.
“This is for you when you go on stage wearing Jin Woon’s dress. We should probably get you a nice floral hair band too but it might mean you would need more time for the costume change. So, I just bought you this.”
“This is so pretty~ And it suits the white dress perfectly! Oppa! You are really good at picking out the right clothes!”
IU happily put the wrap on and turned to look in the mirror. It was plain on her face the delight she felt at receiving the gift.
“And this is for after the dance.”
Seul Ong took out a ¾ long black coat that didn’t look too serious. The slight puff at the bottom of the coat and the bow tie in front made it look fashionable. He helped IU take off the white wrap and helped her put on the black coat.
“WOW! That’s a very pretty coat! Ji-Eun, who bought you the coat?”
Ga-In and the rest of the BEG members just arrived at the performance venue and saw IU trying on the black coat. Narsha was the first one to remark on the pretty black coat.
“Unnie~ It’s a gift from Seul Ong oppa~ And this too!”
IU showed off the white fur wrap as well.
“Ji-Eun ah, turn around and look at the camera here. Nicole wants to see your presents!”
“Jin Woon oppa~ So you were on the phone with Nicole unnie! Unnie, look! Aren’t these pretty?”
“Wow~ Ji-Eun~ Those are really pretty! Seul Ong oppa bought them for you? You lucky girl! Ok, I think I shall hang up now. You guys should be getting ready for the full-dress rehearsal right? All the best for the concert!! Jung Jin Woon, you’d better do well! I’d see you when I get back!”
“So you are really not coming for the concert?”
“I don’t think I can make it in time. Maybe I’d go to the ones in other cities. We’ll talk again.”
“Alright, you take care of yourself in Japan.”
“Yup! I will!”
Jin Woon put down the phone and was shocked to see 6 pairs of eyes looking at him.
“JeA noona, Narsha noona, MiRyo noona, Ga-In noona~ Hello! How are all of you today?”
“Jin Woon ah, exactly how often do you and Nicole talk on the phone? The two of you sound very close.”
JeA, being the eldest loved to tease the maknae.
“Aigoo~ JeA noona, we are just friends, even though we do talk on the phone quite a bit, but yeah, we are just friends. Ji-Eun, are you ready to go through the dance steps? Let’s go to your dressing room with the BEG noonas.”
“Alright~ Jin Woon oppa~ Let’s go! Seul Ong oppa, thank you for the gifts~ See you later!”
“Let’s go and see the dance!”
Narsha said excitedly. The BEG members had heard from Ga-In what had happened the night before and had been dying to find out exactly how sexy the dance is that it managed to provoke Seul Ong to the point of violence. So everyone was surprised when Seul Ong didn’t follow them out of the dressing room.
“Ya~ Im Seul Ong, aren’t you coming along? Not going to guard over your precious princess today?”
“I need to get something done first. I’d see all of you later.”
“What do you need to do? Are you planning some special event? Ya~ You are not going to announce that the two of you are together at your concert right? Jo Kwon will have a fit.”
“No, I will not do that. Ji-Eun is at the height of her popularity now. Announcing that we are together is not the best thing for her. No, it’s something else. I know what I’m doing.”
“Alright, as long as you don’t do anything silly.”
“I won’t. Both 2AM and Ji-Eun are very important to me. I won’t do anything to lose both of them.”
Ga-In nodded and left the room. Seul Ong walked towards the stage and talked to the stage manager about a slight change that he wanted to have but only on Christmas. Since it doesn’t affect the rest, he was agreeable to the change.
After going through the changes with the staff, he went backstage and went straight to BEG and IU’s dressing room. He could hear ‘Esperando’ blasting through the door and knew that the dance practice was not over. He slowly opened the door and just stood there watching the entire dance. He had to admit the dance was fantastic, with the right amount of flirtation and desire.
Maybe one day, I’d get to do the dance with her.“Seul Ong ah~ Why don’t you try the dance with Ji-Eun once?”
Narsha suggested very innocently. But actually she did see the longing look on Seul Ong’s face and could guess what he was thinking.
“Ohh~ That would be interesting!”
The whole room turned to see Jo Kwon and Chang Min standing at the door. It was Chang Min who made the statement and he grinned broadly at Narsha, giving her a thumbs up for the suggestion. Kwon just walked straight to Ga-In and stood beside her.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Everyone turned towards IU, visibly shocked that she refused. IU looked at Seul Ong and in that instant, he understood why she said that.
“Yes, I don’t think it’s a good idea either.”
“Why?”
“It just isn’t a good idea.”
“But…”
Jin Woon was stopped from continuing by the assistant stage manager. She told them that they were to have a light snack and then get ready to do a technical rehearsal before they changed for the full dress rehearsal. The AM boys decided that they would just stay in BEG and IU’s dressing room until time for the technical run.
Seul Ong walked over to where IU was sitting and sat down beside her. She leaned against him very naturally and Seul Ong held her hand. Both of them just sat there quietly. IU eventually nodded off since she was really tired from all her schedules.
Kwon and Ga-In were going through their special stage, so was Chang Min, MiRyo and Narsha. Jin Woon was busy sending text messages, most probably to Nicole. Seul Ong turned to look at the girl who was sleeping in his arms.
All my favourite people gathered together in one place, what more can a man ask for?5 minutes before the technical run was scheduled to start, Seul Ong woke IU up gently. But instead of waking up, she just snuggled deeper into his embrace.
“Ji-Eun baby, I know you are tired but you need to wake up now, alright?”
“Oppa… You know why I don’t want to do the dance with you right?”
“Probably for the same reason why I don’t want to do the dance with you. With Jin Woon, it’s a performance… If I were to do it, I can’t promise it won’t be more than one. Let’s go get something hot to drink before starting.”
IU got up and went to the pantry area with Seul Ong. In front of staff, it would seem like the two of them were behaving like they usually would. It’s well-known in the industry that both of them are very close, so no one suspected more was going on.
The technical rehearsal and full-dress were completed successfully with a minor delay due to IU stunning the staff members who have not seen her in the dance outfit. They decided that Seul Ong would be the one to bring her the black coat after her dance performance with Jin Woon.
After the rehearsal, 2AM, BEG and IU went for a quick supper before going back to their respective dorms. Seul Ong couldn’t send IU back since he had to go back for a quick practice with the 2AM members. But since she was going back in the BEG nanny van, he wasn’t too worried about it.
“Call me when you arrive home.”
“You’d be at practice. I’d send you a message alright? I’d see you tomorrow! Rest well tonight! Tomorrow’s going to be DAEBAK!!!”
“Ji-Eun ah, let’s go. Ya~ Im Seul Ong, you’d see her tomorrow, stop looking so lovesick!”
“Son Ga-In, tell that to Jo Kwon over there!”
Turning back to IU, Seul Ong gave her a quick hug and then walked her to the nanny van. He stood there watching the nanny van drive off.
“It’s always difficult to say goodbye isn’t it?”
Kwon was beside Seul Ong and since they were the coupled up members within the group, they could understand how the other felt at having to send their loved one off.
“Well, at least I’d see her tomorrow. But I really don’t know how it would be like when the concert is over. It’s going to be hell.”
“I’m sure you’d manage. You can always go visit her on Dream High set on the pretext of going to see Taec.”
“Now, that’s an idea.”
Both laughed. The two single men shouted for them to hurry up so they could finish up their practice for the day then go back to the dorm to rest. The four brothers eventually walked together in a line and walked into the concert venue once again for their practice. They still could not believe that this was going to happen.
Author's Note: Decided that I needed a Part 4 to bring us back to 23 Dec and also to tie up what Seul Ong got for IU and introduce the final event on Christmas from Seul Ong.
In case you are wondering what's the difference between a technical rehearsal, basically this is where they go thru all the technical cues for lighting and sound, vid, effects, etc. The performers do not need to do the full song, just cue to cue positioning, etc.
Here are the photos of IU's white dress (she wore this on last wk's chocolate), the white wrap and the black coat. I'm not good at describing clothes. So i'd let the pictures do the talking.