by J. S. Lee
“Then I guess they’re guests.”
Sungmin sighed again. “It happens occasionally: there are only so many hotels, and eventually a fan is going to check into the same place as us. All it takes is one to tweet and we’ve got a crowd outside.”
“What do we do?”
“There’s not much we can do. If they’re in the hotel without being a guest, they can be removed for trespassing, but as soon as they’re on the sidewalk, it’s fair game.”
I moved further into the room so I could look out of the window. I’d not looked from my room, assuming they would have long since given up. But there was, as Sungmin had said, a large group waiting outside. “Do we cancel our plans to go sightseeing?”
“I have asked the hotel to allow us to exit through their delivery area at the back. I’ve booked cars to take us to the Sacré-Cœur and the Eiffel Tower as we’re short on time anyway. Hopefully, they will stay here, and if not, hopefully, they will be respectful of Onyx and keep their distance. I know the younger members wanted to do some shopping too.”
“Managing a group is really hard, isn’t it?” I asked, suddenly realizing I was getting a glimpse into Holly’s life.
Sungmin nodded. “As far as groups go, Onyx aren’t too bad. They’re good guys and they work hard. They just get…” he trailed off and gestured to me.
I could feel my cheeks flame. “I have no idea how it happened, either.”
“On the plus side, no one would believe it,” Sungmin muttered, rubbing at his temples. “But they deserve to be happy. This life is hard. It’s non-stop, it’s demanding, and it’s constantly being watched and judged. So, who am I to judge what makes them happy. But Kate?”
I was chewing at my lip, trying to stop myself from hugging Sungmin. At the end of the day, it was obvious he really cared about Onyx and he only wanted what was best for them.
“Please, please, be careful.”
I was about to tell him he had nothing to worry about, but I decided against it. Not because I was going to do anything to hurt any of them intentionally, but I hadn’t been expecting Damien the Dick to reappear in my life… so why tempt fate. Instead I nodded.
I went downstairs to wait in the foyer. There were comfortable chairs to sit in which gave a view of the crowd outside. It was a clear day and the sun was out, but I could feel the chill in the air with the draft that came into the building every time the automatic doors opened.
They had to be freezing!
Not that I had any sympathy for them. They had chosen to stand there.
Slowly, the team filtered downstairs and Ina waved me away from the window. Just off to one side, Onyx were waiting, ready to explore Paris. Regardless of the situation, excitement settled over me. I was looking forward to seeing the city, especially as we had been gifted with a clear day.
With little chatter, we were led to the back entrance where several cars were waiting for us. I ended up in the back of one with Jiwon and Xiao, with Assistant Taeyoon in the front.
Miraculously, the cars left the hotel without a crowd and we drove across the city to the Sacré-Cœur Basilica. As it was the middle of the day, it was quietish. There were school groups around, as well as obvious tourists, but none of them had a clue who we were. For now, at least.
I stared up at the building in awe, marveling at the architecture. It wasn’t that I had a fascination with buildings, but the white stone was beautiful, with such intricate details; that was incredible.
I’d come armed with my camera and was already lost in my own world, taking photographs of the beautiful cathedral. Someone came up behind me and cleared their throat. I looked up and found Xiao and JongB. “Yes?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be taking photos of us?” JongB pouted.
Without facing him, I held the camera to him, took a quick snap, and then continued taking photographs of the Sacré-Cœur.
“Oh, come on!” Xiao sighed. I turned, blinking innocently as I waited expectantly. “We’re more photogenic.”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “It’s pretty big.”
“I’m pretty big,” Xiao shot back, a small smirk appearing on his face.
JongB looked at the older member, then to me. “I’ve seen it. I can’t argue with that.”
I’d felt it. I wasn’t going to argue with that either.
“I just wanted some shots where its beauty wasn’t overpowered.”
The two shared a look, then JongB looked at me with narrowed eyes. “That was smooth, but we’ll give you that.”
“Of course, that means we need photographs now.” Xiao held his hand out. I eyed it suspiciously. “Camera.”
I continued to stare at him. “You know that this thing is why I’m on this tour, right?”
“Relax,” he scoffed, taking hold of my prized possession and lifting the strap over my neck so he could drape it over his. Then he ushered me towards JongB.
“What are you doing?”
“Considering you take our pictures all the time, we don’t have any with each other,” JongB said, pulling me to him. He gave Xiao a goofy grin as he took our photograph.
“Guys, we can’t be doing this in public. What if someone sees?”
Xiao lowered the camera and gestured around. “Kate, for once, nobody here knows who we are.”
My mouth settled into a thin line. “Except your own team,” I pointed out, suddenly appreciating Sungmin a lot more. “What are you going to do if they look over and see us dicking about?”
“Why is my dick coming out?” Xiao frowned, looking down at his crotch, then back up to me. “I don’t mind putting on a show for JongB, but I think the rest of Paris might have something to say about it. “
I looked at Xiao and sighed. “That’s not what I meant.”
“We planned for that,” JongB piped up. “That’s why the others are busy doing the same thing with the rest of the team. It would be nice to have photographs with everyone anyway, but we decided if we all do it, we won’t look suspicious – to them, or anyone who recognizes us.”
“That’s…” I arched an eyebrow. “That’s pretty impressive.”
“Thank CX.”
I relaxed after that. Not completely: I was still keeping an eye on my surroundings in case a passing Black Gem spotted us. However, as JongB had said, they all switched around as we moved around the area in front of the basilica, and then when we were inside. Or at least, they spent time with me inside. It wasn’t appropriate to take photographs with each other in there, but it didn’t feel right for me to do so anyway.
Side note: the inside of the Sacré-Cœur was just as incredible as the outside. I stared up at beautiful mural on the ceiling, wishing I could take a photograph of it from where I was, but it was right by the front pews where people were praying, so I didn’t.
We didn’t get to go up the cathedral’s tower. According to Sungmin, we needed to leave to get to the Eiffel Tower for our trip up. I was almost bouncing with excitement as we drove further across the city.
The Eiffel Tower was slightly busier than the Sacré-Cœur had been, but as Sungmin had pre-booked tickets, it wasn’t an issue. We rode the various elevators to the top of the tower, and I couldn’t keep the grin from my face.
“Anyone would think you were excited to be here,” Youngbin muttered in amusement.
I turned to him, grinning like an idiot. “I have always wanted to see the view from up here. This is honestly on my bucket list.”
Surrounded by people who were busy looking at everything but us, he slipped his hand into mine. “Me too.”
He let go the moment the doors pinged open but stayed by my side as I moved over to a window. I stared out of the window in a happy haze before finally putting my camera up to my eye to take some shots. When I lowered it, I found Youngbin with his phone out, taking photographs of me. “Subtle.”
“I have never seen you so excited.”
The look he gave me turned my insides to mush as heat rushed through m
e. Not for the first time did I find myself wishing he was just an ordinary guy.
Apparently, he thought the same too. With a quick glance around, his hand grabbed mine and he tugged me back, out of the way into a small recess, pressing my back up against the wall, while he pressed up into me. The next thing I knew, I was being French kissed at the top of the Eiffel Tower.
And it was fucking mind blowing.
Until the scream.
제 13 장
Rumor
Youngbin leaped away from me like I was on fire, and we both turned, wide-eyed, trying to locate the source of the scream. It wasn’t a scream of terror, but one of excitement, and I wasn’t sure what was worse.
I quickly established that it wasn’t aimed at us.
Thank fuck!
But it did put a distance between us as we walked around to see what had caused it. As I had suspected, Onyx had finally been spotted. Two girls had seen Xiao and CX and were in the process of having a meltdown. CX looked uncomfortable; unsure of how to react to them. Xiao, on the other hand, was taking it calmly, in his stride. He gave the two girls a bright smile.
We weren’t close enough to hear what was said, but as it involved one of them holding up her phone, I guessed it was that she was asking if she could have a photograph.
“I think that’s going to be our cue to leave,” I muttered.
Youngbin narrowed his eyes as he watched them, and then shook his head. “They’re Xiao stans.”
It took me a moment to translate that into hardcore Xiao fans, meaning that he would be the focus of their attention. “Isn’t Xiao going to get irritated by them?”
“It depends on how they act. If they keep their distance, he’ll cope for a while. He knows how much you want to be up here.”
My eyes went wide and I shook my head. “Not at the expense of his privacy.”
“I’m not saying he’s going to be happy staying up here for the rest of the day, but he likes his fans enough, and he loves you enough, for you to look around.”
I stared up at him, speechless.
This… lifestyle. Being on the road… being around each other all the time… not much time had passed at all; not in the grand scheme of things, at least. But this environment seemed to have intensified everything so much. I was grateful for it. I was experiencing something new and incredible and powerful. And not with just one person, but all of them. So when I heard – when I felt – what the others were feeling, it made me both happy and relieved that they were feeling the same way as I did.
But to hear someone voice how one of the others was feeling. To hear them say it so matter-of-factly, and with such ease… it made my heart swell as much as it completely knocked me sideways.
They had a bond. More so with the original members, but it was still there with CX. Either way, what they had was special and unique.
And I was a part of it in a major way.
If death was in my immediate future, I was going to die happy.
“While I appreciate that I’m hard to take your eyes off, I’m still going to be here with you in twenty minutes time. Being up here and the views; they won’t be.” Youngbin pointed to the window. “Go fulfill your bucket list.”
I turned, slightly dazed, with a heart of mush, and did exactly as he said.
Call me sappy, but that made my time at the top of the Eiffel Tower even more special.
I was still walking around on cloud nine when Ina found me to tell me it was time to go. Xiao had reached his limit. Even though they had backed off, the fans hadn’t left. We’d spent almost the full time Sungmin had allocated to being there anyway, so it wasn’t the end of the world.
The next stop was near the Arc de Triumph. We weren’t going to visit it. Instead, we were going to go shopping down the Champs-Élysées. MinMin and CX wanted to go shopping.
I wasn’t bothered about that. Designer stores had never been my thing, and if I was going to spend my money on something, it was going to be on more than a bookmark from Gucci.
Did Gucci sell bookmarks?
Either way, I was more interested in the Eiffel Tower in the Disney Store. Even though I was sorely tempted by a llama from The Emperor’s New Groove (the best Disney movie: Boom, yeah!), I refrained, happily window shopping.
We had a late lunch at Five Guys (and yes, my mind went there… once I’d finished being amused at how excited Onyx were at eating there: they even insisted on Instagramming that one).
Word must have spread about being out and sightseeing because there were definitely more fans about. There was a table across the way and all six of the girls and two guys were doing nothing to hide the fact they were staring over at our table.
I sat back, dunking a fry into ketchup, watching them. This was the first time I’d really been out with Onyx as a group, being a tourist. Because we’d had very little time in each of the other locations, I had opted to stay at the hotel and work. When we’d been out to eat before now, we’d always gone from a hotel, to a car, to a restaurant.
This was the first time I’d really been out in public with them and experienced this. “What’s up?” JongB asked.
I used my fry to gesture to the fans. “Is that normal?”
Without looking, JongB nodded. “Don’t you remember the airport?”
“But that’s an airport. We’re out having a meal.”
“You get used to it after a while,” Jiwon chimed in.
MinMin, on the other side of him, nodded. “They’re usually respectful when we’re eating.”
I let the fry drop to the plate. They all seemed so chilled about it, but JongB’s reminder of the airport told me they weren’t cool with it all the time. It was an inevitable catch-22: they would always be eternally grateful to their fans for supporting them, but sometimes, they just wanted to be normal. Or at least, be able to spend some time alone.
The price of fame…
I looked up and found Jiwon, opposite me, studying my face. “You have some sauce on your face,” I told him, trying to be discreet. If eyes were always on them, there was no harm in giving them the heads up when something was out of place.
Jiwon reached for a napkin, wiping his face in the wrong place. “Gone?”
I shook my head, reaching for a napkin, and then I stopped myself. That probably wasn’t a good idea. “Let me,” MinMin offered, as though reading my mind. He took the napkin from me, as though I had been offering it to him all along. He reached up, turning Jiwon’s face for a better angle, tilting his own head, and then, spotting the blob, wiped it away.
“Thanks,” Jiwon said, to both of us.
From across the way came a burst of giggles. It could have been about absolutely anything in the whole universe, but I saw the moment Jiwon went rigid.
I met his gaze and arched an eyebrow. That laughter could have been about anything, but I was almost certain his reaction was to MinMin – after the laughter, and if he was suddenly being awkward because of that, I wasn’t going to be impressed.
“What’s wrong, hyungnim?”
I glanced at Xiao, who had asked the question, and then to Sungmin who the question had been directed at. He was looking at MinMin too, with a frown. “Will you all please stop dying your hair.” It wasn’t a request. “You have a photoshoot in Athens.”
My head snapped around to look at the manager. “We do?”
Sungmin glanced at me and then shook his head. “It was prearranged for a sponsorship Onyx have. They’re providing everything.”
That was a relief. I was in no way prepared for a photoshoot. That required a whole lot of preparation and equipment I didn’t have with me.
The next stop was Amsterdam. After a very short flight, we arrived at a reasonable time in the evening. Everyone was given free time, but I turned down various offers to explore. I really needed to fix those London photographs.
After everyone dispersed, with Sungmin saying no one needed to be back until eleven (I swear, he was in desperate need for some al
one time if he was letting everyone loose in Amsterdam by themselves), I retreated to my room.
I left it only around dinner time to get a sandwich from a bakery across the street, anxious not to lose my rhythm. It was tough going, getting the color and lighting balance right, and I still wasn’t happy with the end product, but I really couldn’t improve them any further, unless I worked out how to perform magic.
It was about ten when my phone bleeped at me.
MinMin: Are you still busy? Can we come to your room?
MinMin: Please.
That had me frowning. I quickly tapped out a yes, then I saved my work. I’d just finished with the London photographs – finally – and it was a perfect time for a break. I set them uploading and then I got up and walked toward the door.
When someone hammered at the door, I hurried over and opened it. I was nearly knocked over as JongB barreled into the room. “I fucking hate him!” he snarled.
I looked at MinMin who had been just behind him, my eyes wide. “Who?” I quickly shut the door behind them. “What’s happened?”
“Jiwon is a fucking dick and he can go drown himself in a canal.”
My mouth fell open. “What?” I demanded.
“There were some photographs,” MinMin sighed. He pulled out his phone, opened up something, and handed it over. I flicked through them, confused. They had clearly been taken in Paris by the fans who had seen us in Five Guys. It wasn’t until I looked at them for a second time that I realized the angle they had been taken from had made it look like MinMin and Jiwon were flirting with each other. In fact, the last picture almost looked like they were kissing.
I was still confused. “Why is JongB so angry?” I asked MinMin.
It was JongB who answered. “Because, the moment Jiwon saw it, he started yelling at MinMin!”
“OK, but can we not yell at me?” I requested. I moved to the bed and sat down, watching JongB pace.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered. “But I want to knock him out. What he said was awful.”
I looked at MinMin. “What did he say to you?”