Chapter 10

“What’s wrong?” I asked as soon as Han Kyung walked through my door.

He looked tired and somewhat upset.

“I made a fool of myself today,” he grumbled.

“How?” I asked him, and he started to tell me everything.

He’d just come back from filming an episode of the game show, Love Letter.

“Ho Dong hyung wanted me to introduce the game in Chinese, and I flubbed it. I couldn’t remember my Chinese.”

“How?”

“He has this part where he says ‘Chunbi toessoyo?’, and he goes like ‘Chun, chun, chun, chun’ before he says it. I was thinking that the ‘chun’ was just a Korean expression.”

“Huh?”

“I didn’t think that the ‘chun’ was part of ‘chunbi’, and I just copied him when I was supposed to say it in Chinese. And he was like, ‘Say it in Chinese,’, and I told him there wasn’t such an expression in Chinese.”

Just then, I understood what his mistake was and I laughed.

“It’s not funny,” he said. “I was so embarrassed. I realized only after the show that the ‘chun’ was equivalent to the Chinese ‘zhun’ from ‘zhun bei’. Dammit!”

“So you could’ve gone like ‘zhun, zhun, zhun, zhun’?” I laughed.

“Yea,” he smiled a little.

“Show me how he did it,” I asked.

“No,”

“Come on,” I said.

“Bu yao,” he said adamantly.

“Lai ba,” I pleaded. “Bie zhe yang…”

“Bu yao…” he whined.

“Lai ba…” I pleaded again, and he gave a loud sigh.

“Chun, chun, chun, chun, chunbi toessoyo…” he went, and I fell off the bed laughing hysterically.

“Tian ya…” I exclaimed. “It’s so funny…”

“Sure… laugh at me,” he said, trying to look upset, but his lips were twitching as he tried to control his laughter.

“When will this episode be broadcasted?” I asked him. “I must watch it.”

“I’m not telling you,” he said.

“Then I’ll ask Hee Chul. He was with you, wasn’t he?” I smirked.

“Don’t ask him!” he exclaimed.

“I’m gonna ask him,” I said in a sing-song voice.

“If you ask him, wo bu hui fang guo ni,” he said in a serious tone.

“What are you gonna do to me?” I said as I planted my hands on my hips.

“This,” he said, and he rushed at me and tackled me onto my bed.

“Yah… shen jing bing!” I yelled as I giggled.

“Shi de. Wo you mao bing,” he laughed, and he kissed me lightly on the lips.

“Don’t kiss me! I don’t want to be infected.”

“You already are,” he said, and he gave an evil laugh.

“You really are sick,” I smiled.

“And it’s all your fault,” he said, and he buried his face in my neck.

“Ni zai gan ma?” I giggled as he nuzzled my neck.

“I’m gonna eat you up, chi diao ni,” he murmured.

“Aaah,” I squealed. “Bu yao…” I giggled.

“Ni mei xuan ze,” he said in his mock-sinister tone.

I sighed with pleasure, as he continued doing what he did. Times like this made all our secrecy feel that it was worth it. But there were times when the secrecy made things hard to bear.

We were training the next day, when Hee Chul made a remark to Han Kyung.

“Ya… how about that Ayumi, I think she likes you,” he said as he patted Han Kyung on the back.
“It was just for the benefit of the show,” Han Kyung replied nervously, since I was around.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Han Kyung got real cosy with Ayumi during the recording yesterday,” Hee Chul said.

“Shuddup Hee Chul,” Han Kyung said, his face turning red.

“What?” Hee Chul said, looking confused.

We’d still not told any of the guys about us. I guess it’s understandable for Hee Chul to tease Han Kyung about yesterday’s recording, but it made me wonder how close Han Kyung had gotten to Ayumi.

“There’s nothing between us,” Han Kyung said, probably for my benefit.

“But she chose you twice. Didn’t she choose you during the last recording of Love Letter as well.”

“There was no one else, I guess,” he said.

“Ya… don’t be coy now,” Hee Chul teased.

“Hyung, stop it,” Si Won cut in.

“Huh?” Hee Chul exclaimed, puzzled that now Si Won was also involved in the conversation.

“Keumanhae,” Si Won said.

“What’s with you guys today?” Hee Chul huffed, and he walked off.

Si Won looked back and forth between Han Kyung and I, sighed, and walked off.

“You’ve got some explaining to do later,” I said softly so that only Han Kyung could hear, and I too walked off.

We were training for the routine for Miracle. In huge contrast to the hard beats of TWINS, Miracle was a light and fluffy song, and the guys had lots of fun dancing to it. It was scheduled for release late 2005, and they had to juggle promoting Show Me Your Love while preparing for the release of this new MV.

During our break, Han Kyung caught up with me as I was on my way to the toilet.

“Sierra,” he said as he grabbed me by the arm.

“What?” I said, and I pulled my arm away. “Don’t do that,” I hissed. “Someone will see.”

“I don’t care,” he said as he grabbed both my arms this time, and pulled me close.

“What’s wrong with you?” I asked him as I tried to free myself from his grasp.

“You have to believe me. There’s nothing going on between Ayumi and me,” he said.

“I didn’t say I didn’t believe you.”

“Then what’s up with the ‘You’ve got some explaining to do.’ statement?” he said.

“I just wanted to know exactly what happened; what was so juicy about the whole recording that Hee Chul got so excited.”

“Then don’t talk like that,” he said.

“Talk like what?”

“Like you doubt me.”

“Ni xiang tai duo le,” I said.

“You’re making this hard for me,” he said.

“How am I doing that? I’m not doing anything but waiting for you each night. What else am I doing?”

“You’re driving me mad. This is driving me mad. I’m going to tell the guys about us. I can’t hide it anymore,” he said.

He released me and started walking back to the studio.

“Don’t, Han Kyung,” I said as I chased after him.

Damn his long legs. He just had to walk briskly and I had to run to catch up. He burst into the studio room, stunning everyone in it, and by the time I ran up next to him, he’d said what he shouldn’t have.

“Sierra and I are dating,” he announced to the whole room.

“Han Kyung, are you crazy? Don’t listen to him,” I told the guys.

“Chintcha! We’re dating,” he said.

“Are you trying to get me killed?” I asked him. “You must hate me, don’t you?”

“What are you talking about? I’m not trying to get you killed. I just want us to stop pretending.”
“What’s there to pretend when there is nothing between us in the first place?” I tried to lie convincingly to try and salvage the situation.

“Stop it, Sierra. Stop talking like that,” he said.

“Erm, hyung…” Si Won said, as he tapped on Han Kyung shoulder.

“What?” we both yelled together, startling Si Won.

Only then did I notice that the guys were staring at us, their lips twitching as if trying to control their laughter. Was the scene that Han Kyung and I just made so funny?


Chinese Notes:

Zhun bei.
Get ready.

Lai ba…
Come on…

Tian ya…
Gawd… (God…)

Bie zhe yang…
Don’t be like that…

Wo bu hui fang guo ni.
I won’t let you off.

Shen jing bing.
Crazy.

Shi de. Wo you mao bing.
Yes, that's right. I have a disease / I’m sick

Ni zai gan ma?
What are you doing?

Chi diao ni.
(I'll) Eat you up.

Ni mei xuan ze.
You have no choice.

Ni xiang tai duo le.
You think too much.