Chapter 16

“Here goes,” I said as I released the brakes on Hee Chul’s car.

We’d had the ignition on for about 10 minutes while he showed me the signal lever, the gears, the brakes and stuff since I wasn’t used to driving on the left.

“Okay? Can we move?” he asked me.

“Yea, yea, sure…” I said absently.

I felt pretty disoriented and nervous since this will be the first time I take a car out onto the road, and without a license. I applied slight pressure to the gas pedal and the car lurched a little. Just then, another car moved past us, and I screamed as I slammed on the breaks.

“Yaah!” Hee Chul screamed at me. “Concentrate. Don’t panic.”

“I didn’t see the car coming,” I said as I covered my face. “This is a bad idea. Can we just stay at home?”

“I don’t care. I’m sick of being stuck at home. I wanna go somewhere.”

“Can we ask one of the PAs to come pick us up?”

“No… I don’t wanna meet any of the staffs today. Can’t we just go somewhere, the two of us?” he said, and he was starting to sound a little desperate.

“Araso… araso…” I sighed. “Let’s try this again.”

I released my foot from the brakes and shifted it onto the gas pedal, then applied pressure on it again. This time the car went smoothly into motion.

“Okay,” Hee Chul said. “Ease out of the lot slowly. Yep… signal… we’re turning onto the main road,” he instructed as I drove.

I smiled as I realized I was starting to get the hang of it, and it wasn’t as scary as I thought.

“I’m driving,” I said softly.

“Yes you are,” he laughed.

“I’m driving!” I shouted.

“Yes! Now try to stay on the right side of the road,” he smiled.

“Ye,” I replied as we cruised on towards our destination for the day.

That was the last time I went anywhere with Hee Chul, with me driving. I was pretty relieved when the guys finally came back.

“Guess what I did?” I asked Han Kyung as soon as they walked through the door.

“What? Stay home? Watch TV?”

“I drove Hee Chul’s car; we went out!” I exclaimed, and Hee Chul laughed at my enthusiasm.

“That’s the last time,” Hee Chul said.

“Are you crazy?” Si Won said to Hee Chul. “You guys could’ve gone to prison for that. Or worse… Sierra could get deported.”

“What difference does it make?” I sighed as soon as Si Won said the word ‘deported’.

“Zen me le? You look troubled,” Han Kyung said as he came to sit beside me and put an arm around me.

“We need to do something about manager hyung,” Hee Chul said.

“Which one?” Si Won asked, since they had a few.

“The crazy one,” I said.

“What did he do now?” Han Kyung asked.

“Remember… he thinks I have relationship with Hee Chul,” I said.

“Yea… but wasn’t that over?” Han Kyung said.

“Well, apparently he has it in his mind that I’m still with Hee Chul. Because of this, my contract ends as soon as you guys are ready for the MKMF, and I’m to leave Korea immediately after that.”

“What?” Si Won and Han Kyung exclaimed together.

“This is absurd,” Hee Chul said as he shook his head.

“He can’t do this,” Si Won said.

“It’s done. Forget it,” I said.

“Then you should get a new job, quickly,” Si Won said.

“I’m trying. But I will need to leave the country for awhile before I come back again.”

“Why do you need to do that?” Han Kyung asked.

“Cos they’re not gonna renew my work permit,” I said.

Just then, Ki Bum came in through the door and dumped his bag on the floor.

“Waegeurae?” he said as he surveyed our serious expressions.

“Sierra’s gonna get deported,” Si Won said.

“Mworago?” Ki Bum replied.

“Let’s drop it guys,” I said as I took a deep breath. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore. We can’t do anything about it.”

“I’m not letting this go,” Han Kyung said.

“Ni xiang gan shen me?” I asked him.

“Hello… no speak Mandarin,” Ki Bum said.

“Wo bu neng rang ta men zhe yang dui ni,” Han Kyung continued, ignoring Ki Bum.

“What did he say?” Ki Bum said as he looked at Si Won, since he was the only one who understood, other than me.

“He said he can’t let them treat her this way,” Si Won translated.

“Wo men you xuan ze ma?” I asked him.

“Ni jiu zhe yang fang qi?” Han Kyung said with his fists clenched.

“Ya… Han Kyung,” Hee Chul said as he stood up to pull Han Kyung back. “Calm down.”

“We can’t do a thing, Han Kyung. Let it go,” I said as I picked up my bag.

“Where are you going?” Hee Chul asked.

“Home,” I said.

“I’ll take you,” Si Won said as he picked up his keys.

“I’m okay,” I said. “I’ll get home myself.”

“Take her home,” Hee Chul said, and Si Won nodded.

By then, Han Kyung was sitting on the couch, fuming.

“Bye,” I said as I walked out, and Si Won followed behind me.

“This way,” Si Won said as the elevator reached the parking lot floor.

“I’ll get home on my own,” I said.

“I’m going home too,” he said. “Just come with me, okay?” he added as he grabbed me by the arm.

Si Won didn’t live with the guys. He didn’t have to since he could afford his own place with his family’s money. We’ve been to his place a few times, and it was a cozy and classy apartment.

Half of the journey back to my place was in silence, until Si Won finally spoke.

“He loves you a lot, you know,” he said.

“Huh?”

“Do I need to say it in Chinese? Ta zhen de hen ai ni!”

“And your point is?”

“He would do anything to keep you here in Seoul. He lost you once. Do you think he will allow you to leave again?”

“But this is not within our control. And if he fights for me, the management will know about our relationship. I don’t want to jeopardize his career.”

“I know… but that’s the last thing on his mind when he thinks about you.”

“He’s being selfish. What would you guys do without him? The band isn’t complete if one person goes.”

“We’ll all help. Going public with your relationship isn’t going to help. We’ll just need to convince the management.”

“You think that would work?” I asked.

“We don’t know for sure…”

“If it did… this wouldn’t even be happening now. The company is intent on protecting you guys. They won’t allow someone like me to jeopardize your images.”

“I know this first year is critical for us, but this is going too far.

“And the MKMF and all those huge awards are coming. They will never allow a rumor or news like this to get out,” I reminded him.

“Some mess this has become,” Si Won sighed.

“I don’t know what we can do.”

“We’ll talk to Han Kyung, and keep him in control, then we’ll find a way to settle this with the managemet. In the meantime, just make sure you start looking for a new job in Seoul.”

“I will,” I sighed. “Komawo…”

“For what?” he asked.

“Keunyang ta…” I said.

“I’ve not done much for you. It’s Han Kyung who wants everything for you.”

And sometimes I wished he didn’t…

Chinese Notes

Zen me le?
What happened?

Ni xiang gan shen me?
What are you going to do?

Wo bu neng rang ta men zhe yang dui ni.
I can’t let them treat you this way.

Wo men you xuan ze ma?
Do we have a choice?

Ni jiu zhe yang fang qi?
You’re giving up just like that?

Ta zhen de hen ai ni.
He loves you a lot.