“What is it?” Junwoo asked, pulling the door closed behind him.
“Would you guys...I mean, do you guys need an English teacher maybe?” Changho asked awkwardly.
“Huh?” Junwoo was a little surprised by the question.
“I don’t even know if I should be asking you,” Changho let out a sigh. “I don’t even know if you could do anything if you even wanted to.”
“I’m lost,” Junwoo blinked at him. “Let’s start over.”
“Claire, you know her now,” Changho began again. “After our tour is done, she is going to need another job, the company isn’t keeping her on. We...I just want to make sure she has something afterwards. I thought, I mean I know your English is bad, it was never something we really cared about--”
“Okay, ouch,” Junwoo gave him a look that said you didn’t have to bring me into this like that. “But even if that is true, could she really help us with that?”
“She actually is good at what she does,” He told his friend. “It’s weird but, she finds a way to make it more fun and makes you care. It’s like your parents, sure they can ground you or punish you if you do something wrong, but the worst feeling is when they just make it clear that you disappointed them. Look, she’d probably be a big help if you were looking for it, but I don’t even know if it’s something your company would care about.”
“They care,” Junwoo confirmed, thinking over the mind-numbing hours he had been asked to spend studying English over the last couple of years. “But you would think they would just realize most of us are bad at it at some point.”
“Then maybe you can give her a chance,” Changho pressed. “At least maybe bring it up with the company, she would come with good references. Our company is happy with her, you saw how much we like her…”
“Yeah, it’s possible at least,” His friend nodded. “You should really talk to Yejun about this more than me. The company listens to him more than they do the rest of us, really.”
“Tell him I’d like to talk to him,” Changho requested. “If he is the one to talk to, then I should talk to him.”
“Sure, let me see if he’s free,” Junwoo gestured over his shoulder towards the dressing room.
“If not,” Changho interjected. “Tell him tomorrow is fine or whatever.”
“Sure,” He nodded and went back into the room. A few minutes later the other group’s leader appeared, coming out into the hall with a somewhat quizzical look on his face.
“Junwoo said you had something to discuss with me about the English teacher,” Yejun sounded somewhere between confused and suspicious. Clearly Junwoo had not done well explaining just what he wanted to talk to him about, Changho thought to himself. Starting from the beginning again, he told him what he had explained before about her job ending and her skills and that he hoped that they would find her something before her job with them ended. Yejun looked intrigued as he listened, trying to judge the other guy’s motives. He had half jokingly brought up the idea of her working with them and she had seemed...he wasn’t sure really. It could have been that she didn’t think he meant it, it could have been outright disinterest, he didn’t know her well enough to say.
“Why are you looking for a new job for her?” Yejun asked. “If she found the job working with you, she must be able to find jobs for herself.”
“Because if I can find her something that keeps her here in Seoul, she’ll be happy, we’ll be happy, everyone wins,” He shrugged. “Even if she isn’t working with us...we want her around.”
“If she wants the job,” Yejun decided. “Have her come talk to me, give me something I can sell to the company and I’ll do that. It isn’t my decision but if she is good and has a way to get through to someone like Daejeong and Junwoo, then the company would be happy. They are selling us to the overseas market and as funny as it is to have them butcher English on interviews now and again, I think they wish we were all better at it.”
“I’ll try and talk to her about it tonight,” Changho nodded.
“She doesn’t know you asked, does she?” Yejun asked, already knowing the answer.
“No,” He grumbled. “And I am not sure she will be happy with me for doing this. She seems to think it’s all on her even if…”
“What?” The other man asked when Changho petered out without ever finishing his sentence.
“She’s still acting like the only one who is going to be affected if she disappears,” Changho didn’t try to hide the annoyance in his voice.
“Is she wrong on that?” Yejun was trying to judge just what the whole picture was, sure that he didn’t have the whole story somehow.
“Yes,” Changho snapped, seemingly insulted by the implication that it wouldn’t matter to him.
“Why?” He questioned, eyes sharp as he waited for the answer.
“Is it not enough that she is our friend?” Changho rejoined.
“If it’s enough for you,” Yejun backed off. “Tell her to come by when she can. And here is my number, if she needs it.”
“Alright,” He nodded as he accepted the small piece of paper Yejun offered. “Thanks.”
The leader of TEENz watched as the other man walked away, pocketing the paper as he headed down the hall. He shook his head as he headed back into the room with all of his other band members, unable to keep himself from having a dozen questions bubble up in the back of his mind. He could only hope that Claire would be willing and able to answer them herself, if she ever came by.
***
“Just go talk to him,” Changho pressed later that evening when he got a moment to speak to Claire alone back at the dorms. “It could be a good opportunity.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Claire hissed back at him, trying to keep the conversation private in the few minutes he could find.
“Why not?” Changho asked impatiently.
“Because it’s a hard job,” She stated. “Because it’s another job I could lose if there is a scandal. Because it’s adding a whole new group of people I have to hide things from.”
“Can’t you just talk to him, see what they would want? Please?” He requested, putting a hand on her arm. “If it’s something that can’t work, then you turn it down or he won’t take it up with management. But what do you lose by just trying?”
“I don’t know,” She sighed, leaning up against the wall. “Maybe nothing.”
“Here,” He handed her Yejun’s phone number. “Just call or text. See where it goes.”
“Alright, I will,” Claire agreed, looking too hard at the phone number. She jumped as Cheol put his hand on her shoulder from behind.
“Hey, sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” He apologized, gently rubbing her back. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah it’s fine, you just startled me,” She put an arm around his waist. “It’s probably time for me to go home for tonight.”
“I feel like I barely got to see you today,” Cheol sighed.
“It’s kind of true,” She admitted, with a sad laugh. “But I am so glad I got to see you perform. It was such a treat. Did I remember to tell you I’m proud of you?”
“You did, but I love hearing it,” He told her happily.
“All of you are amazing and I am so glad I got to know you all,” She gave him a kiss before starting to step towards the door.
“Do you have to go already?” He questioned, in his impatient, young voice. “It’s only 11.”
“Yes, you have to get up in the morning,” She reminded him, wiggling out of his arms. “You even have to be social on the live cast in the morning. And that means waking up early to look all cute and pretty for the cameras.”
“Aww does that mean you don’t think I’m cute now?” He pretended to pout, anything to keep her here for a few more minutes.
“Ha!” She gave him a dry amused look. “On your scale or the normal human scale?”
“Oh, are they different?” He pressed with a grin.
“Yes, they barely
overlap,” She joked. “See us regular humans can go from a scale of ‘ew’ to ‘ooo’ and we are quite pleased when we manage a day that is ‘good,’ then we have you and all your friends here who go from ‘ooo’ to ‘hot damn.’ Tomorrow you have to be on at ‘hot damn’ but you’re still ‘ooo’ even when you wake up with bedhead and so tired you can barely open your eyes. It’s completely unfair and I hate you a little for it.”
“Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful,” He barely got the words out before succumbing to hysterical laughter.
“How could I?” She joked back, a sliver of truth hiding in her joke. “I get the bonus of getting to see it all the time. You should be the disappointed one, you have to look at me.”
“Hey, I love your face,” He stopped her by the door, capturing her face in his hands. “I love your everything, but I love looking into your beautiful face.”
“As long as it makes you happy,” She allowed him to kiss her before she pulled away to put her shoes and her coat on. Saying goodbye to him and then all the other members in the room, she left the dorm and headed towards her apartment. When she got about a block away, she pulled out the number again, deciding to message Yejun and get it done with, still unsure about the idea.
Claire was surprised by the question momentarily, as it was indeed late, but she had to remember who it was she was dealing with. It wasn’t all that late by the standards of most of the boys and she would be more surprised if she found out that the members of TEENz were somehow followers of the old Ben Franklin maxim of early to bed and all that.
Claire had no problem grabbing a cab and arrived at the block of apartments in even less time than she had expected. She texted Yejun as she walked up the path to the front door of the building, carefully avoiding the small patches of ice which dotted the sidewalks throughout the city now. She waited at the door, stomping her feet to warm up as she waited. The door opened and Yejun’s smiling face appeared around the heavy ornate door. She followed him inside and up into the elevator at the back of the entry hall while they made polite small talk. They got off on the top floor and headed into a door at the end of the small hallway which lead into their shared dorm.
“Welcome,” He said, letting her inside and helping her to take off her coat, scarf, and boots. “Did you want some coffee or tea?”
“Uh, well,” She paused, feeling like she was imposing on him, especially as she wasn’t planning on staying terribly long.
“How about some water,” Yejun offered in the face of her reluctance. “We can talk at the table in the kitchen.”
“Sure,” Claire nodded as they headed through the empty living room.
“Everyone else is hanging out in their rooms,” He explained. “Most of them are watching something or playing a game back in the bedrooms. I thought you might be more comfortable if it wasn’t all of us at once.”
“Ah,” She had thought it a little odd that none of them seemed to be out in the main part of the apartment. He escorted her to the table in the kitchen and pulled out a chair for her before pulling a bottle of water out of the fridge for her and a glass.
“So Changho said you’ll be needing a job sometime soon,” Yejun began, sitting across from her.
“Sort of,” She squirmed slightly, not sure how to address the topic of looking for a job and her situation in general. “I mean, yes I need a new job, but…”
“You don’t want a job working with us?” He put out there, testing the waters to see what exactly was below the surface of her reluctance.
“It isn’t that I don’t want to work with you,” She corrected firmly but kindly. “Everything I have seen of you has told me that you are lovely and sweet people.”
“Do you not want to stay here in Korea then?” He asked, leaning forward on his elbows. “I know how hard it can be to move someplace that is so different from where you grew up.”
“That’s right,” She gave a half laugh and smiled at him. “You spent a year or more living in the US learning choreography, didn’t you? So you would know what that’s like. But it isn’t that either.”
“Okay, then can I ask what it is exactly?” He solicited plainly
“I don’t want to take another job where it’s a scandal to be a human being,” A weary bitterness that she hadn’t known had been inside her slipped out in her tone.
“I know it can be hard dealing with the celebrity culture here,” He agreed. “But as a teacher or a tutor, you aren’t the focus of attention really.”
“You’re right, I’m not,” She smiled tightly.
“You can’t tell me what this is about, or you won’t?” He sat back and folded his hands in his lap.
“If it was just me,” She trailed off, shrugging and opening her hands in a gesture of apology. “But it isn’t. I can say that whatever it is, it would only be a problem for me and not reflect on any of you...even in the worst case. Still, I’m pretty sure your company won’t want to work with me if...”
“If something comes out?” He finished for her. “Okay, I get it. Aside from that, if it wasn’t a problem, tell me about your work. Tell me what you have done with YTHTonic.”
“Strangely enough, I guess I became their friend,” She told him after thinking for a minute. “I know how much work all of you put into what you do and the last thing that is going to help is adding some other chore everyone hates. I don’t think what I do could work if someone hasn’t got a foundation in the language but...my goal is to make it something integrated into what you already do. Music, reading, interview and travel preparations, writing, and daily life.”
“That sounds nice,” He admitted. “But how do you get that to work?”
“Time and by making it fun,” She explained. “I know how competitive you tend to be with each other, so, for example, make it a competition between all of you. I know Taehyun basically can’t be asked to sit still, so asking him to sit and study would be a challenge. Why not make it something that gets him up and moving anyway? Move the lesson into the dance studio, give him rewards for getting things right and make him speak English more in general.”
“Is that how you got some of the other group to learn?” Yejun asked.
“There were other ways I worked with them.” Claire shook her head. “Lyric writing in English was something I used, singing practice and lyric translation, reading. But I spent a lot of time with everyone listening to everyone talk about their day, tell me things they were doing or were excited about. We watched movies and series. We cook and share meals. I arranged reward activities.”
“Sounds like fun,” He chuckled. “And a lot nicer than workbooks and writing practice.”
“There is a bit of that in one on one lessons if there is something that is just missing,” She admitted. “But it seems to help, not doing it alone.”
“Yeah,” Yejun agreed. “And it worked? It helped?”
“It seems so,” Claire nodded. “The members I worked with seem to think I was the biggest part of it. Just spending time with them, giving them lots of time and opportunities to practice.”
“It all sounds great and I think it would be worth talking to the company about trying the same thing,” He decided, offering her a confident and charming smile. “If you want me to, of course.”
“I…” She paused, biting her lip and giving a hard swallow. “Give me a day to think about it. You have my number now and maybe we will run across each other at the event tomorrow. Ask me again then.”
“Deal,” He reached across the table to shake her hand. She took it with a smile and nod. They headed back to the door to let her out of the apartment. Once she was redressed in all of her warm layers, she gave him thanks and headed downstairs. It was a great opportunity she shouldn’t let pass her by, but… she didn’t want to get her hopes up. Even if they wanted her, one breath of scandal and it would be gone. It was also going to be another intense job and she didn’t feel right taking it without talking to Cheol at least a little. Though it was her choice
to make, she didn’t want to leave out the people who it would affect the most. Her hand went to her phone, then paused. She could talk to him in the morning, hopefully he was already sleeping. There would be time tomorrow.
Chapter 17
In the morning on Sunday, she messaged Cheol asking for him to find a little time to slip away to have a few words with her when he could. He messaged her back saying he would, of course, and asking if something was wrong. She assured him nothing was wrong, she just had something she wanted to talk to him about when he could. The morning was busy for all of the members, starting with make-up and hair when they first arrived so that they could make it down to participate in the backstage arcade and games that would be cast on a livestream. It was somewhere between work and fun. They were looking forward to playing the games and hanging out with the other idols who were scheduled to be there, as well. Over the five hours they would be there before the awards ceremony they could come and go, mixing and mingling with the dozens of other idols and groups that were there.
There were other small events that were happening throughout the day, but YTHTonic wasn’t participating in anything aside from the backstage and awards, leaving them flexible on their schedule, if not free for the day. The members arrived at 10 and Cheol was anxious to be done with all his hair, make-up, and wardrobe so he could find a time and place to slip off and have a word with Claire. Even though she insisted that there was nothing wrong, he had a knot in the pit of his stomach which wouldn’t go away until he had gotten to talk to her.
The backstage area was in a large area towards the back of the arena they had performed in last night and was the same place the award ceremony would take place later in the day. There were dozens of little nooks and hidden corners in the place and the backstage was a downright maze in some areas. It wouldn’t be hard to find a little privacy at least for a few moments if he could slip away. The whole group made their way back to the arena, playing around on the various arcade machines with each other and with members from other groups. Cheol noticed that TEENz also arrived around the same time, much to the pleasure of Junwoo, Changho, and the mutual fans both groups shared, if the comments on the livestream were anything to go by. He played a few games, mostly with FX and Wonjung, who was far too good at all of them, before he slipped out of the view of the cameras to text Claire to come and meet him.
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