Hae Jae-Woo lay the bottle down and crossed his arms. Cass jerked up in shock and gasped in anger. He shook his head like a wet dog drying off. "Why you little," Cass began to threaten.
Hae Jae-Woo stood his ground. "If you don't want to end up unconscious like Jiho, I suggest you sit back down."
"Cass, you should have known better; just because he lost his memory, does not mean he lost his personality. Sit down," Rhee Min-Jun stated with a sigh. Hae Mina almost said something about Hae Jae-Woo acting like her, but knew to keep her mouth shut, so she continued to stand firm. However, the fact that Hae Jae-Woo had ever acted in the way she had, just now, upset her. He had better control of his temper than she did, and he knew doing such a stupid thing could get him in trouble. At least she had the excuse of a memory loss, what had he had?
They must really like him, if he did something like I just did, and I didn't have to bail him out of jail or rescue him from the hospital.
Cass puffed up but dropped back onto the couch muttering something unintelligible. Hae Jae-Woo had no time to relax as Cass dropped his guard, for Kyung Jiho began to mutter as he escalated into consciousness. Hae Jae-Woo's, and everyone else's, attention diverted from Cass to Kyung Jiho within seconds.
Kyung Jiho's dark brown eyes slid open but remained half shut. "Turn off the light," he demanded. Yang Dae-Su lowered the light beams to dull. The room now had an eerie feel that drained Hae Jae-Woo's comfort, but he would still hold his ground. "I feel like the metal door in the gym slammed into my face," Kyung Jiho stated; "What hit me?" Kyung Jiho held his hand to his jaw.
"I did," Hae Jae-Woo replied. Kyung Jiho's eyes jumped to Hae Jae-Woo and narrowed. He went to stand, but found he was not quite conscious enough to do that and lost his balance. He dropped back to the chair.
"Jiho, let me fill you in," Cass stated; "Jae-Woo got in a car accident, returned today, hung out with the low-class brat—Chang Minsu—interfered with your fight, knocked you out, doused me with a bottle of water, and he's lost all memory of Nightide and our music."
"Why would you disobey your…Did you say he forgot?" Kyung Jiho's eyes widened in panic. He jerked from the couch, snatched Hae Jae-Woo's wrist and pulled him into the recording room. Before anyone could stop him, he shut the door and locked it. Kyung Jiho then faced Hae Jae-Woo. "Listen to me, Jae-Woo," he stepped closer. Hae Jae-Woo stepped back; "If you can't sing for the next performance…"
"I can sing!" Hae Jae-Woo declared but wanted to bite his tongue. I can't sing! What am I doing? If I sing and they see I'm a girl…Of course they are going to want me to sing! Why didn't we think about this before? I'm in so much trouble.
"Alright, then do it. Just like before you have to prove it to me. If you can sing like before, then I'll let this incident slide, but if you can't, your life is going to be a living nightmare."
I can't do this! Mr. Kyong is going to kill me! Why didn't he think this through?
Kyung Jiho backed up and glared. Hae Jae-Woo remained frozen. His fear was far too great to argue. Kyung Jiho was one thing, but Mr. Kyong's wrath was another. A shiver crept up Hae Mina's spine. If Kyung Jiho thought he could make her life miserable, then he thought wrong, only Mr.Kyong could destroy her and Hae Jae-Woo. Although Kyung Jiho and his family were a force to tremor before, they could not compete with the villainous thoughts belonging to Mr. Kyong. Only he knew of the truth of their past and he had made it quite clear in the last three weeks what he intended to do if she were caught and Kyung Jiho fired them.
Music started in the background. An unfamiliar melody danced into the room, but when the words joined, Hae Mina knew them by heart. Hae Jae-Woo had written this song down for her, and told her it was the most important song that belonged to Nightide. This song she could sing, but, if she did her problem remained.
At least, if they catch me now, I can explain and have it over with. Perhaps, the others will understand enough to outdo Jiho. Perhaps Mr. Kyong will be happy that they will wait. And if they don't… She could not delay anymore. She knew time was out because Kyung Jiho had turned to leave. With a quick gulp, Hae Mina swallowed her fear and forced herself to sing the song as Hae Jae-Woo. She forced her voice to remain as close to baritone and tenor as she could manage as she filled the words with the emotions she knew was necessary for the song.
Hae Jae-Woo's softly sung words echoed in the room. His melodious voice lulled the others into attention. Jeremy stood mouth agape, gum missing, and wide eyed before the glass. Yang Dae-Su's eyebrows were raised in amazement and he stood, much like Jeremy in front of the glass. Duskin perched forward on a stool with a pleased smiled plastered to his young features. Cass had his arms crossed, but he could not fight the admiration in his eyes. Rhee Min-Jun leaned against the wall with his eyes closed and listened to the tune that seemed to be filled with a massive amount of grief.
Hae Jae-Woo stopped as the song came to its end. Kyung Jiho opened the door and stalked out. Hae Jae-Woo made his way to the lobby area, expecting this to be the end of the ruse. Before anyone could comment, Duskin spoke, "Jae-Woo, how is it possible that, even though you were in a car accident and you lost your memory, you improved your singing? Your voice seems softer and holds more emotion than before. Before you were fantastic--a little rough in places--but now you are perfect."
"I thought you sounded awesome before, but now...just wow," Jeremy stated with a bright grin.
"You managed to lose your gum again," Cass chuckled.
"Again?" Hae Jae-Woo gave them a confused expression.
"Yeah, he did the same thing when you sung the first time," Yang Dae-Su replied with a shrug.
"At least I didn't fall off the stool," Jeremy shot at Yang Dae-Su with a grin. Yang Dae-Su frowned and a tinge of red touched his ears.
Jae-Woo ignored their comments and faced Kyung Jiho. As the leader, he was the one who needed to do the accepting. "Good enough," he muttered, "you can stay, but if you don't practice…" Kyung Jiho let the sentence float as he walked out of the room.
"Woo hoo! This is more exciting than the first time! Come on let's head out to our rooms!" Dae-Su exclaimed.
Hae Jae-Woo followed the group out of the practice room but Hae Mina's mind fought to grasp with the fact that she managed to fool them. Either Hae Jae-Woo sounded similar to an alto or she did an excellent job of pretending to be a baritone. Before now, she had never thought she possessed any artistic abilities, let alone the ability to sing well. But with their comments fresh in her mind, a warm feeling settled in her chest and she found herself smiling. I guess I sing well, she admitted to herself.
As the group ventured through the halls, Jeremy chatted excitedly about Hae Jae-Woo's improvement, the upcoming concert, and how amazed their fans were going to be. He paused his rambling as he pulled out his room key, a thin white card with a bar code on it. "What room do you have?" he asked Hae Jae-Woo.
Hae Jae-Woo dug in his pockets until he found the small platic card. He examined the number then slid the card back into his pocket. "402."
"Awe, man. We don't get the same room. Who has room 402?" Duskin, Cass and Kyung Jiho raised their cards in the air without looking back.
Great, I'm dead! her stomach dropped then she realized fully what those words meant. Wait, we share rooms! The group stopped before a dark brown door with the number 402 on it.
"So what's the plan?" Duskin questioned, his words were directed to everyone, but his eyes rested on Hae Jae-Woo.
Why is he asking me? she wondered.
"How about a game of soccer?" Yang Dae-Su suggested.
"Sounds great. How about it, Jae-Woo?" Kyung Jiho gave Hae Jae-Woo a dark look.
"Uh, maybe next time. I want to make sure my things are put where I want them."
"Afraid to lose?" Kyung Jiho challenged with a smirk.
"Not a chance," Hae Jae-Woo scuffed even though, in truth, Hae Mina had no idea how to play soccer.
"Rematch will have to wait, anyway. I need to go to Hawaii for the next few days," Rhee Min-Jun input.
"Again?" Kyung Jiho asked.
"You go to your girl more often than Cass changes them," Yang Dae-Su complained, his voice a whine but he was smiling.
"Well, that's a drastic comparison," Cass laughed, "I change girls every couple of days."
"Don't we know it," Kyung Jiho stated rolling his eyes, "The rest of us can practice so the next time we play against Jae-Woo and Min-Jun, we at least have a chance."
"Sounds good," Cass agreed.
The group parted, and Hae Jae-Woo entered the room. There were three identical wooden beds located downstairs only a few feet separating them. The white wall, near the stairs had two closets on it. The wall to the left had a door and a closet. Hae Jae-Woo opened the door to find a bathroom complete with sink, shower and toilet. He then commenced to searching for his bags. With a sigh of relief Hae Jae-Woo found them upstairs. At least I get some privacy. I'd hate if I was down there with them. Hae Jae-Woo collapsed onto the bed and stared at the pale white ceiling. Before he knew it, he was sleeping.
Hae Mina jerked awake and although the nightmare faded, the fear remained. It was a fear that crept slowly until it devoured her heart. It sunk deeply into her skin and made her want to scrub it away, so she ventured down the steps and entered the bathroom. A shower was what she needed, so a shower she took. Meanwhile, out in the University's soccer field, Jeremy and the others finished their game. "Well, I'm exhausted," Jeremy said, before dropping to the grass. He slid a piece of gum from his pocket and began to chew it. "We should shower," Duskin suggested, "then we can practice our music for a little while." "A shower sounds great, and practice sounds good, too, especially since Hae Jae-Woo doesn't remember anything," Jeremy pointed out. "A shower does sou—" a repeating beep interrupted Cass. He fished out his touch phone
Jeremy grabbed his bags then continued inside the room. He shut the door with his foot. When he lifted his eyes, Hae Jae-Woo stood before him in nothing but a knee length white towel. But to Jeremy's shock, Hae Jae-Woo was obviously not a boy. Her long wet russet hair hung down the front of her body. He jumped back at Hae Jae-Woo's short girlish scream, tripped over his bag, which burst and sent his clothes sprawling about the floor, and landed on the ground trying to hide his eyes. Since when was Hae Jae-Woo a girl? He heard the bathroom door slam shut. He stood slowly and gaped at the dark brown door. If this Hae Jae-Woo is a girl, what happened to the real Jae-Woo? And who is this this? Jeremy stood and began to debate on whether he should leave and tell the others or if he should stay. As he stood there, he heard a sob. He stepped to the door but paused when her breathing caught. He couldn't tell the others. If sh
Cass led Jeremy and Hae Jae-Woo to the parking lot while complaining about his sister Chin-Sun. "I really wish she would stop calling me to babysit Hae-Won. I mean the kid is cute, but it's getting irritating." He paused by an extremely expensive looking red vehicle and Yang Dae-Su's voice called out. "Hey, who is driving Jae-Woo to the restaurant?" Cass paused, "Ah, that's right, you totaled yours, Jae-Woo." He shook his head. "I'll drive him," Jeremy offered. Hae Mina was not sure why, but the fact that Jeremy owned a car was a bit of a surprise. Most of the rich families she knew of had chauffeurs. Cass liked to be flashy so for him to own one made sense, but Jeremy seemed to be gentle and causal. "Fine by me," Cass shrugged. "You want a ride?" he asked Yang Dae-Su. "No, thanks. I'll drive mine. Your driving i
Later that evening Hae Jae-Woo changed upstairs relieved that the day was over. His loose clothes floated about him as he dropped onto the bed and stared at the white ceiling. Moments later, Jeremy appeared at the top of the steps. He paused and frowned as his eyes scanned over Hae Jae-Woo. "I wouldn't wear that if I was you," Jeremy whispered pointed to Hae Jae-Woo's white shirt. "Why not?" Hae Jae-Woo sat up and gave a puzzled look. "It's white," Jeremy muttered, but the statement didn't seem to phase Hae Jae-Woo, so Jeremy continued. "Cass and Jiho want revenge on you and knowing them, you'll end up drenched by morning. That top is white and somewhat thin. If it gets wet..." a blush touched his cheeks. Hae Jae-Woo crossed his arms over his torso. "I'll change," he whispered. Jeremy stood up and sat on the top step. "I'll stay here and ma
Hae Mina bit her lip. She wanted to march back into that room and slam her fist into his jaw. No one speaks to me like that! She mocked as she made her way through the maze-like halls. Ooh, if my brother's hospital bill didn't rely on you, I'd knock you out again, you conceited jerk! Hae Mina unlocked her room, tossed the door open and stormed inside. She kicked Kyung Jiho's bed then grabbed her foot in pain. "You okay, Jae-Woo?" Jeremy asked as he entered the room and shut the door with a soft click. "Yeah," she took in a sharp breath through her teeth. "I'm fine," She cleared her throat then sat on the edge of Kyung Jiho's bed, holding her foot. "Is it wrong for me to want to choke him out?" she asked as she examined her foot. "Yes," Jeremy chuckled. "It's understandable, but still wrong," he smiled. She closed her eyes and dropped back o
Hae Mina looked forward with narrow eyes. How was she supposed to get away without him noticing who she was? She continued to walk toward the diner. Cass's car pulled beside her. "Hey, babe, can I ask you a question?" Cass's smooth voice called. Hae Mina stood straighter and continued to walk. Cass's car stopped, but she continued. A few silent minutes passed before she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. She spun around and stomped on the person's foot. She grinned when she saw Cass's shocked face. She then turned and hurried past the building. Cass didn't follow her. She sighed in relief when she rounded the corner and slid down the side of the wall. The rough surface caused a gasp of pain to slip from her lips, but relief flooded her. Cass hadn't followed her, nor had he taken the time to recognized her. "Hey, hon, why'd you do something like that? I only want
Hae-Won re-entered the room. "Does it hurt?" she asked looking at Hae Mina's bandaged back. "I'll be okay. Do you want to help me find a good dress to wear?" "Okay." The girl smiled and hurried to the pile of dresses. She began to throw them about before she found a green dress and pulled it from the pile then handed it to Hae Mina. "I like this one. Try it." Hae-Won darted from the room. Hae Mina closed her eyes in relief. The girl moved like a buzzing bee. While she changed, she could hear Hae-Won talking to Cass. "Unni's nice, Uncle Cass, and she pretty," Hae-Won laughed. "Just watch the movie, Hae-Won," he chuckled. "Are you going to keep her?" She asked honestly. "Hae-Won," he began to scold. "Okay, okay, no need to get sewious," she
As Cass and Hae Mina approached the table, his parents rose to their feet. Hae Mina gave them a gentle bow and introduced herself, "Good evening, I'm Hae Mina. I'm pleased to meet you." "Hmm," Cass's father muttered then motioned at the table. "sit." The group took their seats. "Good evening, Hae Mina, I'm Taeyang Su-Ji and this is my husband Taeyang Hong-Jin. We are pleased to meet you." After a moment of awkward silence, the waitress came to take their orders. Hae Mina's stomach knotted up as she waited for the interrogation to begin. She had no idea how she and Cass were going to trick his parents but she hoped this went by fast. She leaned against the back of the chair and had to hide a flinch. Not a smart idea. Her side may have had medicine on it, but that did not prevent it from hurting. "Appa, you called us here when we had plans.