Page 32 of A World Apart (Between Worlds #1)
“Thank you, love. Anyway, sorry to cut our call short, but I must dash. I’ve got an appointment, and your dad’s driving me.”
“What appointment?” Since moving away from home, I’d become weirdly nosy about my parents’ comings and goings.
“Oh, never you mind,” she said cryptically.
As my mum moved from the kitchen through the hallway to the front door, flashes of my childhood home appeared in the background, stirring a strange sense of nostalgia.
“Love, have you got your referral letter?” my dad’s voice called in the background.
“What referral?” I said loudly, trying to get my mum’s attention. She waved a hand at me impatiently.
“I’ll call you later, love. Kisses!”
She was still blowing kisses as the line dropped, leaving me staring at her WhatsApp profile picture.
Jihoon and I barely talked at all over the week GVibes was recording.
They were so busy between vocal training and the actual studio time that our schedules rarely aligned, but we sent messages to each other through the day.
Jihoon was especially guilty of sending multiple selfies a day, which never failed to cheer me up, or make me laugh, or more often, make me swoon, especially that one he sent from the makeup chair when GVibes was having a style consultation for the music video.
He’d clearly been bare from the neck down, and while the photo he’d sent was a head shot, there had been enough revealed that sent my pulse skyrocketing.
K-pop companies had such a tight leash on their idols that even when they filmed content of the groups in pools, or beaches, they almost always covered them up entirely.
This photo was a reminder that Jihoon wasn’t just an idol, he was a man.
Not that I had needed the reminder, but I had needed to sit down afterwards.
One afternoon, a week after they’d wrapped recording, I was lying in bed, sick as a dog and having taken the day off. I was feeling a little miserable, when my phone buzzed with a text message from Jihoon.
Joon
I hope you’re feeling better.
[sent 15:12]
He must have just woken up. I’d texted him early this morning, when he would have been asleep.
Me
Not dead yet
Joon
Please don’t die. Watch this.
[sent 15:14]
The next thing he sent was a link, which I saw was a link to VLive. I’d watched the group’s lives before, but they normally filmed them in the evening, Korea time, so I’d watched the playbacks, once some clever iViber had put captions on, but it was still difficult to keep up with.
I clicked on the link, and it took me to a page that said, ‘loading,’ until a few moments later, Jihoon’s face appeared on the screen.
He was sat at his studio desk, by the looks of the surroundings, with all his carefully-chosen anime figurines and the different coloured light strips along the back wall.
“Annyeonghaseyo!” he cheerfully greeted, waving a hand. Already the chat was filling up as people joined, having received the notification that Jihoon was going live.
“Annyeonghaseyo, good morning, everyone. I thought it would be nice to come on early to see you all before work or school. I hope you don’t mind!”
I smiled. Would it be big headed of me to assume this live was timed for my convenience ?
Comments on the live were pouring in, the diversity of the languages being typed was immense, I recognised Korean, English, Spanish, French, and so many others I didn’t know. People from all over the world were tuning in to watch, even if they couldn’t speak the same languages. It blew my mind.
“What have you guys been curious about recently? Let me see…” Jihoon peered closer at the screen. I guessed he was reading through some of the comments.
He said something in Korean, and then in English. “We have just finished the new song, so please look forward to it, it’ll be out soon.”
Again, he peered at the screen, it was so cute the way he squinted, although I had no idea how he could read anything when the text flew by so fast. Maybe he had a way of pausing it?
“I promise I’m getting enough sleep!” He laughed, and then spoke again in Korean.
I guessed that he was repeating what he was saying in Korean and English.
His comments were flooded with people saying how good he was at English, and demands for him to speak in other languages, and bizarrely, several people claiming to be his wife. I laughed at those ones.
The rest of the Live followed in the same pattern, he’d pick up on some comment in the chat and answer the question in both languages.
Watching him speak Korean was oddly soothing, his manner of speaking was very different.
He used his face more, his expressions conveying much of his words, in a way he didn’t when he spoke English.
I was tempted to comment in the chat, but something held me back. Even the thought felt weird, somehow. Like it would break some kind of barrier between being a fan and being… whatever it was we were.
So, I just watched in peace, enjoying the sound of his voice as he described his plans for the day, that he was eating well, thanking the fans for all the support and wrapping up by reminding us all that the new song is coming soon and to please support it.
Barely a minute after the Live ended, my phone buzzed with a message.
Joon
Did you watch?
[sent 15:42]
Me
Watch what? I was in the shower.
Joon
…
[sent 15:43]
Me
Kidding! Hahaha
Joon
Ky! I was about to put my head on the desk!
[sent 15:45]
Me
Aww, I’m sorry. Ofc I watched it! I loved it, thank you for including me. I think you blew everyone’s minds with your epic English.
Joon
I have a very good reason to keep practicing ;)
[sent 15:47]
Me
Appearing on American talk shows?
Joon
Exactly.
[sent 15:48]
I laughed.
Joon
I have to go; we’re doing one last fitting for the MV. Don’t die today, ok?
[sent 15:49]
Me
I’ll do my best. Fighting!
I’d learnt that one from watching K-dramas.
Joon
You’re such a nerd.
[sent 15:51]
Later that afternoon, a delivery arrived that I had to go downstairs to collect. I wasn’t too happy about getting out of bed, but I trudged to the front door, assuming it was something for Becka since I never ordered anything online.
Back upstairs, I placed the package on the counter and only then noticed the name on the brown paper bag—mine. Curiously, I peered inside and found a couple of takeaway containers, a small jar, and two drink bottles. Pulling them out one by one, I lined them up on the counter for inspection.
The drink bottles had labels in both Hangul and English, announcing themselves as Ginger and Cinnamon Tea and Ginseng Tea.
I picked up the small jar to read its label. “Yuja Cha,” I croaked, spinning it around. Apparently, I was supposed to mix a spoonful into hot water.
Raising my eyebrows, I realized I’d been sent a very specific bag of groceries.
Next, I examined the food containers. The first one, labelled rice porridge, caught my attention ? it was something I’d heard of in K-dramas but had never seen in real life.
Tentatively, I lifted the lid and inhaled.
The warm steam managed to cut through my blocked nose, and the smell was surprisingly delicious .
The second container made me a bit more cautious after reading it was fermented soybean soup, but even that smelled appetizing.
Smiling, I snapped a picture of my haul and sent it to Jihoon with a single question mark.
He responded almost immediately:
Joon
I’m happy it arrived so quickly! Eat the soup before it gets cold! And drink the Yuja cha first, it’ll help.
[Sent 17:12]
Me
Yes, Doctor. Thank you for my prescription.
Joon
I wish I was there to nurse you back to health.
[Sent 17:14]
Me
Me too. You’d make a wonderful nurse.
Joon
I have an excellent bedside manner.
[Sent 17:18]
I choked on a sip of Ginseng tea.
When the music video and the song dropped for ‘Work Harder,’ it seemed like the whole world flipped out, or at least, the online sphere I was plugged into.
It was edgy, it was catchy, and once I’d looked up a translation of the lyrics, it was as meaningful as any of the other songs .
A song about never giving up, always reaching further, always working harder for the thing you want.
The music video concept was visually striking, featuring solo work and dances from each member, as well as ensemble. The way they moved didn’t seem human, especially from Sungmin, the group’s best dancer.
Where Sungmin was the dancer and Woojin was the best rapper, Jihoon was the main vocalist and also known as ‘the visual,’ which he had told me he still found strange.
In the music video, they’d dressed the members in all black ? money-men suits and slicked back hair, heavy emphasis on their eyes.
I could see why he was called the visual, because damn, I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
The group were in full promo-mode now, Jihoon had said.
So, at the end of the month, they were flying to Japan for three days to attend the TMA awards show.
It was a star-studded, annual show where they, along with a host of other groups and soloists would perform and potentially bring home yet more awards to add to the stockpile they’d been collecting since their debut.
Jihoon had already told me he probably wouldn’t be able to speak with me during the trip, even if only because they were being filmed the whole time by their staff for content.
They also had to be at the actual awards venue nearly the entire day, from blocking rehearsals in the morning, going back to the hotel for food and to change, back to the venue for the red carpet and interviews, and then the ceremony itself would take hours.
It sounded exhausting, and not at all the fun, glamorous event it seemed on tv.
I also wouldn’t be able to live stream it because it wasn’t available in the US, so I’d have to be content with watching whatever footage was published after the event, which bummed me out a bit.
GVibes flew out early on the Wednesday morning, which was Tuesday afternoon for me.
I’d snuck into the ladies’ room to take his call as he was heading to the airport, which earned me a couple of disapproving looks from the people who’d come in to actually use the bathroom.
The flight was only a couple of hours from Seoul to Tokyo, so he’d called again as the group shuttled from the airport to their hotel, since I was at home by that time .
He’d shown me the view from their hotel; it seemed like they were staying in the clouds, they were up so high. I didn’t mention it, but it felt weird that he was there ? in Japan ? where my mum had spent so much time and where she’d met my father. I didn’t even know if he was still alive.
Normally the thought of my biological father didn’t even cross my mind, but I supposed it was a normal reaction to Jihoon being there.
But it did put me in a weird funk for the rest of the day.
I tried to talk to Becka about it later, and while she sympathised, I could tell she hadn’t really known what to say to me.
I’d been getting a bit testy recently, my temper fraying a little more easily than normal, though I couldn’t put my finger on why.
Becka seemed to think it was the combination of having such a high-profile ‘situationship,’ but it felt like a bit of a cop out to put it down to that. I’d been feeling… restless.
Work had continued to stagnate. I hadn’t minded doing the grunt work at first, but now I’d finished everything Jeremy needed me to do.
I think I’d outlasted my usefulness, and it was becoming increasingly clear that my employment had always been more of a favour for a family friend than a real opportunity.
While I appreciated the work experience, the situation had started to feel awkward.
I enjoyed my time with the different departments, but lately, there just hadn’t been much demand for an apprentice or helpful intern.
It left me feeling useless. A feeling I did not enjoy.
It didn’t help that while I was stuck in this rut, Jihoon was off having the time of his life.
Japan was on the same time as South Korea, so I woke up to plenty of cute selfies.
Photos of Jihoon eating a circular cake with a hole in the middle, kind of like a bundt cake, Jihoon posing in front of the view from his room, Jihoon buying a can of hot coffee from a vending machine, Jihoon posing in front of a red building with the SEGA logo on it.
I laughed at the one he’d sent where he was wearing a fluffy, yellow hat with a cutesy creature face on it. He was grinning so wide that his nose was scrunched, and he didn’t look like an idol ? he just looked like a young guy having fun .
I was happy for him, but if I was honest with myself, I was jealous ? jealous of the time he was having, and jealous that I wasn’t there to share it with him.
I didn’t know what to do with this snarl of negative emotions, it was starting to get exhausting.