Onyx: Truth

by J. S. Lee

  JongB folded his arms and gave me a disapproving look. “Spoken like a girl who has never had a Chicago-style, deep dish, pepperoni pizza.” His lips twitched again. “I’m just going to have to take you for some when we get to Chicago.”

  “Chicago’s on the schedule?” I asked. There were seventeen cities spread out over nearly a month, and I hadn’t gotten further than remembering the first three: Seoul, Osaka, and Shanghai. I shrugged. “I’m sure I will leave saying it’s the best thing to come out of Chicago,” I said, dryly. I took a bite of my pizza. “But it’s got competition.”

  JongB pulled the rest of my pizza from my hands and deposited it in a rather expensive looking vase. “Let’s get two things straight: firstly, Chicago pizza is great. Do not disrespect Chicago pizza. Secondly, you are very much mistaken if you think pizza is the best thing to come from Chicago.”

  “I can’t believe you just put that in there,” I said, half scolding him, half amused.

  “That’s what she said.”

  I stared at him. Did he really…?

  “What who said?”

  Both JongB and I snapped out of the semi-flirty haze we were falling into and found Jiwon looking at us like we were mad. “Your mom,” JongB told him, walking over to him and draping his arm around his neck.

  It took a moment, probably for Jiwon to translate it in his head, and then the penny dropped. Jiwon turned, punching JongB in the gut – just hard enough for an ‘oomph’ to escape him. His next words were in Korean and I only caught the word ‘mom’.

  I laughed, then started to walk back to the main area to get more pizza, when both JongB and Jiwon took an arm each, turning me around and leading me into another room.

  For a second, my heartrate soared in a combination of excitement and panic as I thought they were leading me to a bedroom, until I discovered it was a slightly less formal sitting area.

  I needed a cold shower. Being surrounded by all these good-looking guys was not good for me. I wondered how tight the ‘no relationships’ rule was?

  I shook my head at myself. I needed the paycheck from this more than I needed to get laid.

  “You want to play?”

  I blinked, bringing myself into the present and out of my thoughts, finding JongB holding a ping pong ball in front of my face. “This place has a ping pong table?”

  “It does, but Beer Pong is way more fun.” JongB tilted his head, sending his hair into his eyes, which he then shook out of the way. “You weren’t listening, were you?” When I shook my head, he pointed to the table behind me. On one side was MinMin and Jiwon, both looking expectantly at me. “These heathens have never played Beer Pong before.”

  “Well, we need to rectify that,” I declared, taking the ball from JongB’s hand.

  Despite his bravado, JongB was not great at Beer Pong. MinMin, on the other hand, was like a ninja. He barely said anything but every shot he took resulted in JongB drinking… or maybe that was why he was doing so badly.

  Pizza and beer… OK, mainly beer… was doing a great job of getting us to relax. I’d even gotten the camera out and taken a few candid shots. Only, the purpose had been to get CX to join in, hadn’t it? I looked around the room with a frown. He wasn’t here. Neither was Xiao. Youngbin and Holly hadn’t appeared either.

  My stomach grumbled and I set the drink I had been nursing down on the side. “I need pizza,” I told the three.

  JongB looked at me like I was cursing. “It will be cold. It was bad enough when it was warm, and now you want to eat it cold?”

  “I would have eaten it warm if someone would have let me,” I pointed out. That earned me a sly grin, the tip of JongB’s tongue poking out from between his teeth. Aw, hell no. I was not dealing with that one when tipsy.

  I waved him away and set off back towards the other area, hoping the pizza was still there. On the way, I passed a door which had been closed earlier, and peered in. CX was in the middle of the room, dancing. He had his headphones on, and I couldn’t tell what he was dancing to, but every so often, he would shake his head, touch his phone and repeat the moves.

  And the moves involved a body roll.

  I stood staring, caught in a trance. Yesterday he had been a book worm. Today he was… was there such a thing as a sexy worm?

  OK, that was a crappy metaphor. I knew that. But damnit, watching him dance somehow managed to turn off anything resembling normal thought.

  “Kate!”

  I jumped, my face flushing at being caught, and turned to find Holly hurrying towards me. She looked stressed. “What’s the matter?” I asked her.

  “I need to talk to the guys.”

  “Do you want me to go?” I offered.

  “Yes and no,” she sighed. “Something’s come up, and I need to speak to Onyx, but we’re going to have to cut this short. I’m sorry.”

  “That’s cool,” I assured her. “I get it. I’ll go. Just let me know what time you need me at the venue tomorrow…. And maybe where the venue is,” I added.

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “I mean, go join Youngbin, Xiao, and Sungmin in the other room while I grab the others. You might as well hear the news while you’re here, seeing as it’s going to affect you.”

  I reached out and grabbed my friend by her shoulders. “Dude, chill. Whatever it is, we can work it out.”

  She gave me a grateful smile. “Sadly, the ‘it’ is running a K-Pop company. I thought I wasn’t managing a group anymore, but instead I’m looking after all of them, and let me tell you, there’s always something.”

  “You’d rather be managing H3RO again?” I asked.

  “Always,” she sighed, and then she looked at me with eyes wide. “I just mean one group is easier than all of them.”

  Uh-huh…

  She had absolutely, most definitely, hooked up with one of them.

  “They certainly have their charming points,” I agreed, enjoying watching her squirm. “I’ll meet you in the other room.”

  I left her there and returned to the first room. Youngbin was standing in front of the window, where I had left him with Holly, only Holly had been replaced with Xiao. Neither of them looked happy. Standing in front of the television was another person. When he turned, noticing me, I recognized him from the photoshoot. Sungmin… That’s what Holly had called him. “Onyx’s manager,” I blurted out.

  He nodded at me and gave me a wide smile.

  I was going to kill Holly. Even the managers were hot. Although Youngbin was the leader of Onyx, I’d done my research. Xiao was a year older. This guy didn’t look that much older than the two of them. I’d be surprised if he was older than thirty. “I’m sorry,” I sighed, joining him in front of the television. “I’m Kate.”

  “Sungmin,” he returned with a friendly smile. “Welcome.”

  As I was chatting with him, the remaining members of Onyx filed into the room, all looking concerned. I couldn’t help but notice the furtive glances Jiwon and JongB were sending in CX’s direction.

  Holly waited for them to sit on the enormous couch before taking in another long breath. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to come out with it: it’s highly likely that Xiao won’t be joining you in China, and I’m including Hong Kong in that.”

  “Why?” JongB demanded.

  “Visa issues,” Holly explained.

  I glanced over at her, frowning. “Do I have a problem?” I had given her my passport when I had signed all the paperwork for the tour so Atlantis could add it to the pile of documents which needed obtaining. As a US citizen, I would need a visa for China. I didn’t think I needed one for Hong Kong though. I frowned. “Isn’t Xiao Chinese?”

  Holly ran a hand over her face, wearily. “It’s not the getting in, it’s the getting out,” she said. “To put it simply, when Xiao moved here, instead of obtaining dual citizenship, the paperwork was completed for Korea only. We discovered this after we had committed to the tour and had to apply for the visas. We’ve been in the
process of applying for dual nationality for Xiao, but it’s taking time. Our legal team has advised that it would be unwise for Xiao to enter China for now.

  CX held his hand up and said something I didn’t understand. Sungmin quickly translated it in my ear. “I don’t understand why Xiao can’t join us in Hong Kong.”

  That was a good point.

  “Shanghai is almost a week away,” JongB pointed out. “Can’t we put a rush on it?” The conversation had switched to Korean, and I was following a lot of it, but Sungmin was whispering translations behind me. I flashed him a grateful smile.

  “It’s not as simple as that,” Holly said with a shake of her head. “When Xiao joined the company, his paperwork wasn’t completed properly.” Her expression grew dark. I glanced over at Xiao and Youngbin. Neither looked happy either. “I have the legal team on it, but they’ve advised me this is something which is going to take a while and may have longer running implications for Xiao. We’re going to try, but there’s a reason why we’re telling you this now.”

  “How can we not have our Chinese member in China?” Jiwon asked, incredulous. “There has to be something we can do?”

  “There is,” Youngbin said, stepping forward. “We prepare for Xiao not being there, redistribute the lines and rework our routines, and make sure our Chinese fans are given the best show we can give them.”

  CX’s head shot up, alarm evident in his eyes. “What?”

  Silently, MinMin moved beside CX, grabbing his hand. “Hwaiting, CX.”

  He looked so worried, I wanted to sit beside CX and hold his other hand. Hadn’t Holly said he’d been brought into the group only a week or two previously? He was still learning the original routines and lyrics – never mind changing it up for the sake of two performances.

  “We will give Xiao’s lines to myself and Jiwon,” Youngbin told the maknae. “Jiwon and MinMin will work with you on the dance. We had to rework a lot of the routines last year when Xiao was doing a solo promotion. You’ll be fine. We can do this.”

  CX raised his hands, running them both through his hair. “Yeah,” he agreed, although he looked anything but convinced.

  “Not to be all ‘me, me, me’,” I piped up. “But was there a special reason why I am here?”

  “You’re a part of the Onyx team now,” Holly told me. “We’re going to share this information with the rest of the team tomorrow, but it made sense to tell you while you were here. Plus, the best time to tell them will probably be either when they’re sound-checking or performing.”

  That made sense. The rest – I wasn’t so sure. I knew nothing about the law or visas, but I knew Holly, and once again, I thought she was hiding something. But she was hiding it from half of Onyx too.

  “We should get to the studio,” Jiwon declared, standing.

  It didn’t take long for the room to be left with just myself and Holly in it. “What are you hiding?” I asked her.

  Holly rubbed at her temples and let out one of the longest sighs I’d heard. “Thirty-six years ago, Hell spat out a demon in the shape of Lee Sejin, then he somehow got put in charge of people, and even though he’s now in China, he’s still fucking everything up.”

  I stared at her, half amused, half concerned. She wasn’t one for cussing – that was usually me. “You need me to send out a hit squad?” I offered.

  She looked at me, her expression dark. “That would be too easy for him. I am going to work out how to exorcise him though.” She shook her head, the dark look evaporating. “There’s a lot going on in this company, and I can’t tell you. I probably shouldn’t have told you that.”

  I walked over and patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. You’re not the only one with the dysfunctional family. I’ll swap a demon brother for a selfish and narcissistic mother?” I glanced back at the table. “Where did all the pizza go?”

  “Housekeeping came and cleared it away,” Holly replied. “Didn’t you get some earlier?”

  I pulled a face, remembering where it was currently located. “Not enough,” I told her, vaguely.

  “I’d grab something to eat with you, but I have to get going. Just order room service. I’ll have a car pick you up to take you to the Gocheok Sky Dome tomorrow.” She hurried off, looking distracted once more.

  제 5 장

  Sorry

  By the time the car came to collect me the following day, I had finally adjusted to the correct time zone. More than that, I was thrumming with excitement. One of the things which had gotten me into concert photography was that live music made me feel alive. The previous summer had been spent on tour with a pop princess, and while I wasn’t all that taken with her music (I preferred the more hip-hop side of the music spectrum to the pure pop), her shows were incredible. She was a full-on diva off stage, but on stage, she was like a goddess.

  I was escorted into the building after being given my AAA pass and found the venue still in the process of being set up. The stage was done, as were the lighting rigs, but now seating and standing sections were being lined up. I walked past them all, right down to the stage where Onyx was already doing a soundcheck.

  I pulled out my camera and started taking some shots. The houselights were still on, so it wouldn’t give me a good feel for the lights, but positions and angles could be worked out now.

  I moved around the edge of the stage. It was a T-shape which came out into the audience. Right up by it, despite the section barriers, there was also a crush barrier at the front. Later, it would have security in it, but for now, I moved around inside it, unseen. That was my gift. I was quite a loud and confident person, but when it came to taking photos, I could be a ninja when needed.

  I paused taking the photos to watch. If I remembered correctly, they were doing the routine for their last single, ‘Truth or Love’. It was a little hard to tell without the music. They were all wearing the same clothing as they had the day before. They also looked tired. I was willing to bet they had been practicing all night long.

  Then Youngbin waved his arms, calling something and they all stopped. He brought one hand to above his eyes to shade it from the dozens of lights illuminating them, and with the other, brought the arm of the mic on his headset to his mouth. The next thing I knew, his voice was booming around the stadium as he requested the music be played.

  Moments later, the opening bars to ‘Truth or Love’ started and the six of them began performing for real. I probably should have been taking pictures, but I was sure there would be plenty of other opportunities, so I opted to lean back against the crush barrier and watch.

  Damn, they were good.

  Even CX. It was hard to believe he had only been brought in a few weeks ago and learned everything recently. In fact, I could tell he was one of the stronger dancers in the group. The song came to an end and I noticed Sungmin on the other side, also watching. He caught my eye, and then I walked over to join him. “They’re good,” I informed him. “And CX has learned the dances well.”

  “With five other members, yes. It’s when they have to take Xiao out of it that’s the problem,” he told me.

  “He seems talented enough to be able to cope.” My eyes were back on CX. The others had broken off to rest, but he was still in his part of the stage, going over the dance again. “Isn’t he going to burn himself out if he doesn’t rest?”

  “He wants to do well for Onyx, and their fans.”

  “How has the news gone about the previous member leaving?”

  Sungmin shook his head. “Not great. He was a fan favorite. CX has some pretty big boots to fill. It doesn’t help that he’s coming in off the back of his previous group’s scandal.”

  He wandered off, leaving me alone. While Onyx moved onto another song, I decided to explore the venue. I would need to know where to go to get around easily later.

  The Gocheok Sky Dome was a baseball stadium, but like many other football stadiums and arenas I had been in previously, they were all very much the same. There seems to be a roma
ntic illusion that the backstage area of a venue is exciting, but the reality is that they’re usually warrens, like this one. The green room – another big let-down – was usually just a room with a couple of seats. Some venues had chairs, others had sofas. Some had fridges, others had tables lined with food. It depended on the size and the artist’s rider.

  The thing this one didn’t seem to have in common was that it was cold. Maybe it was because the previous tour I had been on had been in the middle of the summer and stadiums like this didn’t usually waste time and money on air conditioning the corridors, so they were usually warm and humid. This one was icy.

  I walked a little further and found the loading bay, wide open… or maybe that was a factor. I sat down on the edge, bringing my knees up into Xiao’s coat. I probably should have returned it by now, but I still hadn’t had a chance to buy my own. I set my camera down safely beside me and then I pulled out my phone and did some internet digging.

  Google informed me that CX, aka Ren Yongsik, had previously been in the now disbanded group, Bright Boys. According to one news site, the group had disbanded when the leader had attacked a member of the public, with several members of Bright Boys present. To top it off, all but CX had been inside the nightclub before the attack had taken place outside of it.

  Of course, from the comments I was reading about him replacing Oh Bohyun, I would never have guessed that. Sungmin had been right – Bohyun had been a popular member. I was dying to know why he was no longer a member of Onyx, only, the statement Atlantis had released was vague as hell: Oh Bohyun, the Korean stage name of Zhen Ming, has chosen to leave Onyx and return to his home in Tianjin, China. He will be replaced by CX, formerly Ren Yongsik of Bright Boys…

  Someone sat down beside me, dangling their legs off the edge of the loading bay, asking me something. I looked up at Jiwon, struggling with his accent. “I’m sorry,” I told him. “Could you repeat that?”

  He looked at me, scratching at the inside of his ear, then shook his head. “Follow me.”