24 December 2010
D-1 (Part 3)After everyone calmed down a little, Seul Ong looked around and was surprised to see the IU was not around. He walked towards the dressing room and she was nowhere to be found. He went back to his own dressing room to get his phone to call her, only to see the message that she had sent to him.
“Oppa, sorry for leaving without saying goodbye. I had to go for my drama filming. I’ll see you tomorrow! Great performance tonight!”
He sent her a reply immediately.
“Where are you filming?”
When he didn’t get a reply immediately, he called her and still she didn’t pick up the call. He called the other person he knew would be at the filming location and prayed that he would pick up his call. When the call was connected, he didn’t bother with the pleasantries and simply asked what he wanted to know.
“Taec, where are you filming tonight?”
“Why? Are you coming to visit me?”
That was when Seul Ong realised other than 2AM and BEG members, no one knew he was together with IU. And it’s better if they kept it under wraps for now.
“Yes, since you won’t be able to come to the concert and I won’t be able to celebrate your birthday with you. So I thought I’d come by later.”
“Oh~ That’s so sweet. We are filming outdoors today at the school. You know which one right? What time would you be here?”
“I’d call when I’m near the area.”
“Alright then, see you later!”
Seul Ong went to look for the others and after the de-brief given by the stage manager, everyone went off. The boys decided that they would rest for the night and go into the venue early the next day to practice the areas they weren’t satisfied with.
“Where did Ji-Eun disappear to after the concert?”
“She had to go for her drama series filming.”
“Hyung, you must be really disappointed to have not seen her after the concert.”
“A little, but it’s fine. I can understand since she had to go for another schedule. Anyway, I’m going to go see her at the location. Taec’s there so it’s perfect cover.”
“Are you going to tell Taec about you and Ji-Eun?”
This time it was Chang Min who asked. He was a little worried that if more people knew, it might become complicated and put IU in a difficult position since she’s in the drama with Taec and Woo Young. Not to mention their CEO is one of the producers.
“No. Today, I’m going on the pretext that Taec won’t be coming to the concert and it’s his birthday soon but he would be busy with the drama promotion conference that day. So, it’s good timing.”
“Do you want us to come along so it won’t look too deliberate?”
Jo Kwon had heard the discussion and understood Chang Min’s concerns even though he didn’t voice them out.
“Kwon ah, you’d better go back and rest. Your schedue AFTER the concert is no joke. I’d go with Seul Ong.”
“I’d go too! I’ve always wanted to see what it is like to shoot a drama.”
“We’ll go together. We won’t stay long right, Seul Ong hyung?”
“No, we could go, spend some time there then leave. I just want to see Ji-Eun for a bit, that’s all.”
“Then let’s go! But let’s go and get some snacks. We can’t possibly go empty-handed especially since you are supposedly going to visit a birthday boy.”
“Let’s get some pocket warmers for the actors and crew. That sounds more practical.”
“Alright, let’s go to the convenience store since it’s rather late, get the pocket warmers, and set off for the location.”
So the 4 boys told their manager to drive them to a convenience store and then back to the dorm. They would go in Seul Ong’s family car. The boys wasted no time at the convenience store. They bought the things they needed and set off for the location once they see their manager leave the area.
Even though Seul Ong told Taec that he was visiting, he was shocked to see all the members. After exchanging greetings and passing out the pocket warmers, Seul Ong started looking for sign of IU.
Seeing his anxious looks, Jo Kwon decided to help him out.
“How come we don’t see Ji-Eun? I want to thank her properly for doing such a great job at the concert today.”
“Ji-Eun? Oh, you mean IU? Strange, she was here a minute ago…”
Hearing this, Seul Ong walked away from the group and called IU immediately. When she didn’t pick up his call, he started getting worried. He dialled her number again, this time walking towards the nanny van that he recognised to be her manager’s. As he got nearer to the van, he heard a familiar ringtone and knew that IU was probably inside the van. He ran the last few steps towards it.
When he reached the van and looked inside, he found IU sleeping. The worry that he had was finally lifted. But it pained him to see her so tired as well. Seeing that she was safe, he started to walk away. He was a little disappointed that he couldn’t talk to her but it was alright.
“Seul Ong-ssi! You are here! Are you here to see Taec Yeon?”
It was IU’s manager. She saw him looking into the nanny van just a minute ago and was curious.
“Yes, I’m here to visit Taec.”
“Were you also looking for Ji-Eun?”
“Partly, because we wanted to thank her for doing so well at the concert today.”
“Let me wake her up so she can greet all of you properly.”
“No, it’s alright. We are about to leave anyway. We’ll see her tomorrow.”
“Well, she’s supposed to get ready for her next scene so I was going to wake her up.”
“Oh, then I’d wait here while you wake her up then.”
After 5 minutes, IU stepped out of the nanny van, looking sleepy. The smile that comes about very naturally whenever Seul Ong sees her was there again. He walked towards her and she was surprised to see that he was there.
“Seul Ong oppa! Why are you here?”
Since her manager was still within earshot, Seul Ong had to say the ‘official’ reason.
“We came to see Taec Yeon since he’s not coming to the concert and he would be busy on his birthday. Also, Kwon wanted to thank you personally for doing well at the concert, since you went off immediately.”
“I see. Did Chang Min oppa and Jin Woon oppa come along too?”
When Seul Ong nodded, she started to walk a little faster towards the main filming area. Seeing that her manager had gone off to speak to the director of the show, he stopped her.
“Ya~ Where do you think you are going?”
“To go and greet the other 2AM members, where else would I be going?”
“They are here as a cover. They thought it would look too deliberate if I came alone to see you.”
“See me? I thought you were here to see Taec oppa?”
“Ya~ I like Taec but I won’t sacrifice sleep just to come and see him. You are the reason why I’m here, silly girl.”
“Aish~ Who’s the silly one? It’s not like we won’t see each other later. You should have gone back and rest instead of running out here with your other members in the cold.”
“Have you been hanging out with Ga-In and Narsha too much that you don’t know how to be a sweet 18-year-old? If your boyfriend does something like this for you, you should just be thankful about it instead of criticising.”
“I’m thankful but thinking about how tired all of you must be worries me. Come, let’s go and do the greeting then all of you can go back and rest.”
When Seul Ong refused to move, IU linked her arm in his and pulled him along. When he still refused to move, she turned to look at him. Seeing his hurt expression, she finally gave in and hugged him.
“Thank you for coming. I really wanted to stay and talk to you after the concert. I saw you crying and I was shocked because you never cry even when you guys won an award for the first time. I’m very happy to be part of your first concert.”
“I’m very happy that you are part of the concert too. I have so many things to be thankful about when it comes to this concert but being able to say I love you was the best part of it.”
Now that they had their moment, Seul Ong felt better. He gave IU a tight hug then released her and linked arms with her and walked back to where the others were.
“Look what I found? Sleepyhead here was sleeping in the nanny van.”
“Chang Min oppa, Kwonnie oppa, Jin Woon oppa, hello! This is a surprise! By the way, GREAT concert!! I was watching backstage, it was fantastic!!”
“Ji-Eun ah, you must be tired from the concert and now you have to be here filming. You have to take care of yourself ok? I don’t want my dance partner to fall sick!”
“Jin Woon oppa, you too. We did great today, didn’t we? What time do you end here? What schedules do you have tomorrow other than our concert?”
“Well, we are supposed to end here before daybreak since this part is about us practicing throughout the night. Tomorrow, I think I have Music Core recording that would happen in the morning. After that, there’s filming again so I can only be at the concert venue at about 5pm.”
“Oh my! Your schedule is almost as bad as Kwonnie hyung’s! So you won’t have time to sleep at all?”
“I will nap in between my schedule. Speaking of sleep, I think it’s time for all of you to go back and rest. Don’t want to sound like I’m chasing all of you away but you do need all the rest you can get for the next two days. Thank you for coming really!”
“We should make a move. Taec, Ji-Eun, FIGHTING for the drama!!”
“You guys too! FIGHTING for the concert! It’s such a pity that I can’t be at the concert.”
With that, the 2AM members walked back to Seul Ong’s car. IU walked with Seul Ong at the back.
“Oppa~ Drive carefully. Send me a message when you are back at the dorm.”
“You’d better take care of yourself. Hearing your schedule just now made me more worried.”
“I’d be alright. Don’t worry ok? I’d see you tomorrow then.”
So the four waved at IU and Seul Ong drove them all back to the dorm. The moment he arrived at the dorm, he sent IU a message. Then he went straight to his computer to look for food that would be good for the body. He was really beginning to worry if IU could handle the busy schedule that she has now.
His phone signalled an incoming message.
“Oppa~ Are you sitting in front of your computer again? Go to bed NOW!! See you tomorrow! ♡”
“A-ra-so!! You keep yourself warm. Call me when you are done with filming.”
“I’d call you when I’m done at Music Core. Otherwise you won’t get any sleep. Go and sleep now. I’m not replying to your messages anymore.”
“If you don’t call, I’d just stay up till dawn.”
No answer. Even after waiting for 15 minutes, there was still no reply from IU. Seul Ong knew he had met his match.
“Alright, call me when you are done with Music Core. And we need to talk about this stubborn streak of yours.”
Seul Ong finally went to bed after another 45 minutes but beside him was a list of things he needed to get for IU the next day.
Author's Note: Finally I'm done with this day. the next one would be the ending to this part of their story. Let's call this Christmas episode. I would continue with this story of sorts so that it will lead to Jin Woon's story. Look upon it like a trilogy i guess.