Onyx: Love

by J. S. Lee

  That wasn’t on the flight to Russia.

  Although we didn’t have a show in Russia, there were no direct flights between Athens and Seoul, which meant a pitstop in Moscow. It was only supposed to be a short layover. Just enough time to grab some food then get on the second plane.

  If that had gone to plan…

  The moment we got close to Moscow, the pilot was announcing something with a thick Russian accent I was really struggling to follow. I could see Sungmin, who I had been seated across the aisle from, waiting expectantly for me to translate, but I was lost.

  An air stewardess put me out of my misery. “Mister Sang?”

  I tapped her on the shoulder. “Please could you speak to me? I can translate for him.” I hoped. I could understand her, but an air steward delivering news possibly meant this was out of my translation. I looked briefly at JongB and waved him over.

  “I am sorry to say that a fault was discovered on your connecting plane and your flight has been cancelled.”

  “OK,” I said slowly. “What does that mean?”

  “In Russia, this is a problem. You have no travel visa.”

  I frowned, then translated the conversation for Sungmin. Before Sungmin could comment, I turned back to her, pulling a face. “We don’t want to visit Russia, no offence. We’re heading back to South Korea.”

  “Yes, but in order for you to be placed together on the next available flight to Seoul, you will need to be in the airport for thirty-two hours.”

  “Does the airport have a hotel?” I asked.

  “Yes, but that is still not the issue,” she continued. “To be in Russia for longer than twenty-four hours, you need a transit visa.”

  Again, I quickly translated this to Sungmin. “How much will that cost, and what will they need?” Sungmin asked me with a frown.

  When I asked the question, the air steward shook her head at me. “You cannot obtain a transit visa while you’re in the country. You must have it before you arrive.”

  “Then what do you expect us to do?”

  Thankfully, JongB had navigated around a drinks cart and was now translating the conversation for me.

  “Leave the country.”

  “We’d like to,” I agreed. “But we need to go to Seoul.”

  “In order to do that, we can get you on the next flights.”

  “Do that,” I agreed, after a quick glance at Sungmin. “We need to get to Seoul.”

  “Unfortunately, there are not enough spare seats on the flights to Seoul for your party to travel together, nor in first class,” she explained, apologetically as the captain turned on the fasten seatbelts sign and announced our approach to Sheremetyevo International Airport.

  I turned to Sungmin. “What do you want to do?”

  “I don’t think we have a choice,” he said, rubbing at his temples. “I’d rather we were all heading to Seoul rather than dealing with issues in other countries. Tell her to let me know how many people per flights and I will split the group up as needed.”

  I quickly relayed the information, and the air steward nodded. “I will inform the team on the ground to collect your luggage and hold the seats for the connecting flights. A representative will meet you at the gate.” She waited for JongB to translate the message, and then asked him to return to his seat.

  I settled into mine, buckling my seatbelt. Across the aisle, Sungmin was muttering to himself about his desperate need for his honeymoon and a break. I couldn’t say I blamed him.

  “What’s happening?” Ina asked. She and Eunhae had been seated beside me, trying to follow the conversation.

  “It looks like we’re heading back to Seoul in smaller groups,” I quickly explained. At least this time, thankfully, Onyx didn’t have a concert immediately after our arrival.

  No, that wasn’t true. Onyx did have a concert. It was the welcome-home-end-of-tour-last-performance concert back at the Gocheok Sky Dome again, to another sold out audience. Only this time, we had three days before that concert.

  Sungmin wasn’t the only one who needed a vacation.

  We were greeted at the gate by a representative, as the air steward had said…

  And an armed guard.

  Because that wasn’t terrifying!

  I had no idea what they expected us to do. Even if we wanted to leave the airport, we would have needed to get through immigration.

  They escorted us to a room, asking the group to wait outside. Sungmin, as the one inside, requested myself and JongB join him to help with the translations. We followed him to where a stern man was seated behind a desk, glowering at a computer.

  “You have no visa,” he stated.

  “No, sir,” I responded, keeping the sarcasm at bay.

  “The next flight is in three hours for five people.” He reached forward and picked up the first five passports.

  “Wait!” Sungmin cried.

  It earned him a glower from the Russian man. “I don’t think… We need to check who is on what flight,” I offered, all bravery disappearing. Beside me, even JongB was frozen in place.

  “These five,” the man barked.

  “Those five,” I told Sungmin, praying he wouldn’t ask me to stop him again. I had no idea about Russian customs or laws, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t take much to be put into a Russian prison, especially not with visa restrictions as strict as they were. Sungmin, thankfully, just nodded at me.

  “These six leave in six hours,” the man said. He pushed the first five passports back with the newly issued boarding cards. Moments later, a pile of the other six were stacked beside them. “The luggage will be on the second flight.” When he stood, we did too. “You will be escorted to your gates.”

  “May we have a few minutes to explain to our group and split up appropriately?” JongB asked, translating Sungmin’s question when I failed. My brain had gone blank thanks to the fact I was honestly terrified.

  The man nodded.

  We stepped out of the room, still escorted by the armed guard. “What is happening?” Youngbin asked.

  “We’re on separate flights out of the country.”

  Xiao looked at JongB. “What the fuck did you do?”

  “Why do you think I did something?” he protested.

  Xiao shrugged, nodding his head at the armed guard next to him.

  “Visa issues,” I explained. “Our flight got cancelled, and we don’t have the right visa, so they’re getting us out on the next available planes. So, it wasn’t JongB’s fault.”

  “Thank you!” JongB exclaimed, shooting Xiao a dark glare.

  “This time,” I added.

  JongB turned on me. “You’re supposed to be on my side!”

  “Enough,” Sungmin declared. “It looks like Kate, Jiwon, MinMin, Ina, and I are on the first flight. Youngbin, Xiao, Taeyoon, Eunhae, CX, and JongB are following us four hours later.” He handed out the passports as the group split into two. “Listen to Taeyoon, and behave yourselves. I don’t want to land in Incheon only to have to turn back around and bail one of you out of prison. JongB,” he added, looking at the member in question.

  JongB’s mouth fell open. “Why does everyone assume I’m the one who’s going to get in trouble. Isn’t that the maknae’s job?”

  “The maknae is more responsible than you are,” Jiwon snorted.

  “Just behave,” Sungmin repeated. He turned to our group. “I suggest we move before they start getting irritated.”

  I was inclined to agree. We said a brief goodbye, and then were escorted through security. Once we had passed, we went in separate directions. Because we had such a short window, we walked almost straight onto the plane. It wasn’t until then that I discovered I was seated next to Jiwon.

  Perfect.

  We’d also lucked out on it being a plane with a row of two seats instead of three like it had been on the previous flight. Unfortunately, the eight-hour night flight would be spent in economy. MinMin and Ina had somehow scored first class seats. Oh well. At least we
were together, unlike Sungmin who was at the back of the plane.

  We were in the air not long after, but I waited until they had cleared our evening meal and dimmed the lights for the night flight, before talking properly to Jiwon. I turned to him with my determination set, to be greeted by a long sigh. “I knew you’d want to talk.”

  “Are you going to answer? Because I have questions.”

  “Yes, but only if your phone will load up a translation app, because I heard what happened with Youngbin and I don’t want the same thing to happen here.”

  That was fair. I’d almost put an end to a relationship before it had even begun because the translation of a conversation had been off. I pulled out my phone, turned on the Wi-Fi and connected to the extortionately priced plane internet.

  Feeling like I’d prepped more for an exam than a conversation, I set the phone down on the tray and turned to Jiwon. “You’ve been messaging Anita?”

  “Yes.”

  I could feel the disappointment settle in the pit of my stomach. I don’t know why: he’d already admitted that. I guess I was hoping that he was going to deny it – and prove it wasn’t true.

  Before I could put that into words, he produced his phone, opening up an app, and pushing it in front of me: KaKao Talk, the Korean equivalent of WeChat or Whatsapp.

  The conversation window was between him and ‘AnitaYoon90’. I took the phone off him and scrolled up and down the message window. It scrolled for a while, but most of the messages came from Anita, not Jiwon. “You don’t mind me reading this?”

  Jiwon shrugged. “I have nothing to hide.”

  I pursed my lips, wondering if this was some reverse psychology trick. In the end, I scrolled to the top of the message and the first message from Anita.

  AnitaYoon90: I hope you don’t mind me messaging you, but you are the most important person in my life. You & your music has gotten me through so much & I wanted to say thank you for that.

  0809xxOJ: Thanks.

  I turned and looked at Jiwon, arching an eyebrow. “Really?”

  “Kate, my KaKao account is private. I didn’t want to just ignore the message as it was nice, but I didn’t want to engage in a conversation, especially when my English is bad.”

  “I guess,” I muttered, turning my attention back to the message. I probably would have done the same, had I thought about it first. To be fair, that first message wasn’t bad.

  AnitaYoon90: I’ll be attending the World Tour. I can’t wait to meet you in person!

  AnitaYoon90: D-100

  AnitaYoon90: D-99

  AnitaYoon90: D-98

  AnitaYoon90: D-97 – Are you excited to see me?

  AnitaYoon90: D-96

  The countdown went for the full 100 days… I was secretly relieved to see that Jiwon hadn’t responded to any of the messages though.

  And then I had a surprise.

  AnitaYoon90: You can have this after the show. It was followed by a full-frontal nude pic. I looked at Jiwon in shock. “Really?”

  Jiwon let out a long sigh, tilting the phone’s screen more towards him, and less towards the aisle. “It’s not the first time that’s happened. We all get them – female and male.”

  “And people think it’s OK?”

  Jiwon shrugged. “They must do. We don’t respond to them.”

  “But you did to this one?” I glanced down, and then read the message.

  0809xxOJ: Thanks for your support, but do not send pictures like that. It is inappropriate.

  AnitaYoon90: I’m just letting you know this is all ready & waiting for you.

  0809xxOJ: I don’t think this conversation is appropriate. This account is personal.

  AnitaYoon90: You want me to send it on IG?

  0809xxOJ: I don’t want you to send at all.

  That was the end of the conversation. “I thought you said you had messaged her recently?”

  Jiwon reached over, taking the phone back off me so he could open another conversation window. He handed it back to me.

  MrsAnitaYoon: Your opening concert was phenomenal.

  MrsAnitaYoon: You came alive in Osaka!

  MrsAnitaYoon: Holy shit! You’ve been working out. Your abs are to die for!

  MrsAnitaYoon: I’m here to see you, but where is Xiao, really? You can tell me!

  MrsAnitaYoon: Don’t you trust me?

  MrsAnitaYoon: I have the most incredible pictures of you.

  A flood of photographs came flooding in from all the stops in Asia. To give her her dues, she was good. They were all focused on him, and she’d gotten some good shots I’d not as my attention had been split between the six of them. There was a link and my finger hovered over it. “It goes to her fan site for more of them,” Jiwon told me.

  I glanced at him. “It pains me to say it because I don’t like her on principle, but she’s good.”

  “I know what you mean.”

  I turned back to the messages, scrolling through them, irritated in my admiration for them, until I came to the next message.

  0809xxOJ: Thanks. They are good.

  MrsAnitaYoon: I have more you’d like.

  The next message was in Polish.

  MrsAnitaYoon: Moja mokra cipka chce tylko ci kutasa do środka.

  It was followed by another nude picture. “Do I want to know what that message says?”

  Jiwon shrugged. “I put it into Naver translate. It means something like, ‘my wet pussy wants your dick in it’.”

  I glanced at Jiwon’s response – much like the last time, he had told her that wasn’t appropriate – then looked at Jiwon. “I get the picture here, but what about the last messages?”

  Jiwon leaned over and opened another chat.

  752087469: I stood up for you

  752087469: I told the world you weren’t gay

  752087469: Why did you treat me like trash???

  752087469: YOU ARE A DISCRAGE TO ONYX!

  752087469: FUCK YOU, YOON JIWON

  752087469: I know your secret.

  752087469: It’s not MinMin your fucking

  752087469: It’s that skank kurwa.

  I was going to assume, in this instance, I was the ‘skank kurwa’. I checked the dates. They corresponded with the Amsterdam stop.

  752087469: You can ignore me, but I have proof.

  752087469: Talk to me, or I release the pictures!

  0809xxOJ: Anita?

  752087469: You know it’s me? <3

  0809xxOJ: Just stop now. This is enough.

  752087469: FUCK YOU! I’m going to make you hurt like you hurt me. I used to be your biggest fan and you treated me like shit.

  0809xxOJ: Stop it.

  “We need to tell Sungmin,” I told him. She was crazier than I thought. She was going to go to the press regardless of what was said. “We need to find out what she has.”

  “Sungmin knows about the messages. I took a screen shot of them and sent them to him a while back. Atlantis wants to keep on top of that,” Jiwon told me. “The photos are from Amsterdam. She has you and me entering your room holding hands. The next picture is of me leaving alone, about half an hour later.”

  “Oh fuck,” I muttered, grateful I was sitting down. “We’re screwed.”

  “I guess,” he shrugged, causing me to look at him in disbelief.

  “Why are you not more upset about this?” I demanded. Jiwon gave me another shrug. “And actually, how do you know what pictures she has?”

  “I spoke to her in Athens. We had ten minutes while everyone was getting their things together. I called her.”

  “Why?” I demanded, louder than necessary, especially considering everyone around us was asleep.

  “I thought I could help. I wanted to know what she had and what she wanted.”

  I folded my arms. “What does she want?”

  Jiwon shook his head. “Nothing we can give her. She’s probably going to upload those photographs onto her site. Maybe send them to Dispatch.” He gave me another shrug. “What’
s done is done.”

  “What did she want, Jiwon?” I asked again.

  He rolled his eyes. “She wanted to replace you as our photographer. There is nothing on this planet that is going to make me do that, even if I had that power.”

  I slumped back into my chair feeling like I wanted to cry. I unfastened my belt and slipped out of the chair, heading to the nearest toilet at the rear of the plane. Safely inside, I sat down on the lid and put my head in my hands.

  Holly, Sungmin, Onyx – I’d promised them all that I wouldn’t let our relationship ruin the group. I’d seen enough of how some fans reacted to idols who dated and there were going to be plenty of people who wouldn’t agree with it. Onyx’s popularity, their career, was going to be affected by this, and there was nothing I could do about it.

  I burst into tears then. Not so much because I was upset, although I was, but because I felt so helpless. There was nothing I could do at thirty-five thousand feet in the air, and there would be nothing I could do about it when we were back on the ground.

  Crying was going to do nothing to help either. I brushed the tears away, then stood, checking my appearance in the mirror. I had puffy red eyes with a suitcase under each of them. I grabbed a piece of tissue and dampened it so I could wipe away the few smudges of mascara.

  “Get it together, Kate. There’s going to be an obvious answer to this.”

  The problem was, there was an obvious answer to this: I needed to distance myself from Onyx. I couldn’t be seen with them after the tour. Things were going to get crazy back in Seoul when they had to return to being an idol group. Not that they weren’t now, but back home, they would be getting ready for their next comeback, then would come the promotions…

  I leaned forward, gripping at the edge of the sink as I rested my forehead against the cool glass. The others wouldn’t go for it. I’d tried it once before and they had been adamant that there was no need to end things. Jiwon, in particular, had been most vocal about it. Only now, Jiwon was the one who was going to suffer the most if I didn’t do anything.

  I cared too much about him – about all of them – to not do something. Even if that something was going to be painful.

  I stood, sucked in a deep breath, and left the toilet… walking straight into Jiwon. His hands gripped my shoulders, tugging me back to the gap in front of the emergency exit.