ebruary 2013Milan, 2.30amFrom: Seun

ebruary 2013
Milan, 2.30am

From: SeungRat >.<
YA!! LEE CHAERIN!! HOW DARE YOU!! HOW DARE YOU NOT INCLUDE ME IN YOUR VIDEO TO THE GIRLS? HUH HUH HUH!!! I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS!! HOW CAN YOU IGNORE ME LIKE THAT? I CAN UNDERSTAND IF YOU DON’T INCLUDE JI HYUNG BUT HOW CAN YOU FORGET ABOUT ME? WE HAVE THE SAME SURNAME!!!!! I DON’T CARE!! IF YOU GET THIS MESSAGE, YOU HAD BETTER SEND ME A REPLY!!!! IF NOT I WILL HATE YOU!! NO WAIT, I ALREADY HATE YOU! QUICK, REPLY ME!!!!

Chaerin snorted.

As if I would actually send you a reply. You would probably go to your darling Ji hyung and tell him about it!

But the message did put a smile on Chaerin’s face. Much as they have a cat-dog relationship, she was actually most comfortable with Seungri after Jiyong.

But wait, I did leave him a letter. Maybe the other members have not given it to him yet. Or they are waiting for a good time to pass to him when Jiyong is not around.

SeungRat, you will get your letter soon.

She smirked before breaking into a grin when she remembered the contents of her letter to him. Since she was already awake, she decided to start looking for an apartment near Istituto Marangoni, the famous fashion design school that she had enrolled herself in for their Masters course and internship and got accepted to. While looking through the classifieds, her stomach started growling.

Oh right, the last meal I had was on the plane. I had better order room service. I don’t want to get gastric in a foreign land.

She picked up the phone and ordered a simple breakfast set. She was glad that she could use either English or French in Italy. She decided not to go to France because that would have been anyone’s first guess of where she would be heading. Not to mention, she was really interested in the works of Italian fashion houses. When she got the approval for her course application, she was delighted. She continued searching for an apartment and was really happy when she saw an ad posted by a Korean who’s staying in Italy. She quickly took down the number and sent the person an email, expressing her interest in the apartment.

After that, she got up to stretch and check the time. It was already 3.30am. She made sure that her phone was switched on and had enough battery to last the meeting. Knowing her boss, it’s going to be a while before the meeting ends.

Seoul, 11am
Big Bang Dorm

Big Bang’s manager came with their nanny van to pick the boys up. When he arrived, Jiyong gave him the keys to his Bentley and told him to drive his car to the company first and they would drive the van and meet him at YGE. The manager was a little shocked with the request but he could guess that the boys were going to pick up the 2NE1 girls and didn’t want to attract attention by driving their own cars.

Since Youngbae was the best driver among them, he was nominated as the driver while Jiyong took to the passenger seat. Within 10 minutes, they arrived at 2NE1 dorm. The boys had called when they left their dorm so the girls were already waiting for them to arrive. TOP opened the door of the van to allow the girls to enter. Youngbae went to the back, Jiyong took over as the driver and Seungri took to the passenger seat.

TOP and Bom settled down in the last row of the seats, Youngbae and Dara took up the middle row and Daesung and Minzy were in the first row. The moment the girls came on board, the boys held their hands and gave them a peck on the cheeks. The girls smiled and blushed daintily.

Jiyong observed his members from the rearview mirror and was envious. He wondered if he would ever be able to share such moments with Chaerin.

“Ji hyung, don’t be envious, you will get your turn when Chaerin comes back.”

Jiyong turned to look at Seungri who was grinning at him.

“Who said I’m envious of them?”

“Your eyes and the drool that was flowing out of the side of your lips?”

Jiyong gave him a knock on the head and started the van.

“Hey lovebirds, we are off. Please check and make sure all the curtains are drawn. We don’t want a scandal at this moment in time. Oh yes, YG sajangnim did mention that we would have to think about whether we want to go public with your relationships. So give it a thought as well.”

The couples looked at each other and know that this was something that they have never really talked about. Much as they would like to go public, they were all too aware of the repercussions. Bom and Dara were worried that people might think they are too old for TOP and Youngbae while Minzy is too young to be in a relationship yet. The girls looked at their boyfriends with a worried look on their face but the guys just smile reassuringly at them.

TOP placed his lips on Bom’s forehead and then whispered in her ears.

“I’d go with your decision. If you want us to go public, we will. I don’t care about what everyone has got to say, especially not your age. I already know you are older than I am when I decided to court you and have you as my girlfriend. So that is definitely not going to be an issue.”

“But you have your choice of all the pretty girls out there, why would you want to settle for me?”

“Who are all the other pretty girls? Even if there are, they are not you. Just remember that alright and trust me to protect you at all time.”

“Thank you~ We don’t have to go public unless you want to. It’s really not a problem until we are ready.”

TOP nodded and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

Dara and Youngbae overheard bits of TOPBOM’s discussion and they looked at each other.

“My worries is the same as Bommie… I’m older than you are, there are perhaps others who would fit you better…”

“You are older than me, that I already know a long time ago. My stand is the same as TOP hyung. I went into the relationship with you knowing that fact. It’s not like you kept it a secret from us. If you want us to go public, we would and I will protect you against all the opposition that would come from wherever. You have to believe in me.”

“I do.”

“That’s all I need to know. We will decide what to do when the time comes.”

Minzy and Daesung looked at each other and Minzy spoke up first.

“Oppa, I don’t want us to go public yet.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to be able to enjoy US time. Being in the spotlight and having to avoid paparazzi just to go on a date, it’s really frustrating.”

“But if we go public, then we already satisfy the readers’ curiosity and they might leave us alone.”

“Come on oppa, you are Kang Daesung of Big Bang. People don’t leave you alone.”

“And you are Minzy of 2NE1 and equally sought-after. What’s your point?”

“Oppa, I really just want to have a normal relationship. Sometimes I really get overwhelmed by all the attention given to every aspect of our lives because of who we are. While I like the idea that our hard work is being recognized, and I know full well that I have to give up some amount of privacy, I never want to use our relationship to gain more attention.”

“Alright then, we won’t go public. I want us to have some kind of normalcy as well.”

“Thank you oppa~”

“Anything for my Minzy baby~”

“Hyungs! Please take pity on 2 single dudes, one of whom just got dumped. While we are happy that you are happy, it’d be nice if you guys tone down the couple talk.”

“PandaRi, you do realize that one can only be dumped if they were in a relationship before? Or are you talking about yourself?”

“Bommie noona, you know I’m talking about Ji hyung.”

“I know but like I said, he was never in a relationship with Chaerin so you can’t say he has been dumped.”

TOP tugged at Bom’s hand, silently asking her to stop. She was about to protest when he shook his head. He bent towards her ears and whispered really softly.

“Stop. He’s hurting really bad. He cried again this morning when he saw the photo you girls took and that he was not mentioned in the video. Spare him the agony even if you think he deserves it.”

The silence was getting heavy after the conversation between Seungri and Bom. Minzy decided to apologize for what she said to Jiyong yesterday.

“Jiyong oppa, I’m sorry for shouting at you yesterday. Please forgive me. Though I must say that I mean every word I said.”

Jiyong caught Minzy’s eyes in the rearview mirror and smiled at her.

“Minzy ah, thank you so much for the scolding. I needed it. I didn’t know I was causing Chaerin so much pain with my senseless gestures. Later, oppa will buy you a meal ok?”

Next, he tried catching Bom’s eyes in the rearview mirror. When he did, he gave her a smile too.

“Bom noona, you are right. I have never been in a relationship with Chaerin and therefore cannot be said to have been dumped by her. But her departure had really affected me and I’m just beginning to realize her importance in my life.”

“Jiyong ah, you know that we are all behind you if you ever decide that you want to go after Chaerin right?”

Jiyong smiled, a rather bitter smile.

“Now, I don’t even know if she would have me if I were to go chasing after her.”

“You do know that all you need to do is show her how much you love her right? I mean she’s been waiting for the past 6 years for you to make a move. But I do agree that it might be a little difficult. We don’t really know how she felt when she left. She didn’t say anything about that in the let…”

“Dara unnie! Did you forget something?”

Minzy turned to look at Dara with a warning in her eyes. Dara then realized that she almost made the blooper.

“No.. I didn’t.”

“Hyungs, noonas and Minzy, did Chaerin leave something behind other than the video? Why do I have a feeling that there’s more in that box that Minzy found in Chaerin’s room than you guys are willing to let on?”

“Ya! Maknae! Let it go. There is nothing else in that box other than the video tape.”

Jiyong looked in the rearview mirror and saw that despite what TOP just said, everyone looked really uncomfortable whenever the bo