Arrangements. (1/1)
HyunMi’s mind It’s nice to know that you have a partner in a project, but I stood corrected. Of all people—and I mean, OF ALL PEOPLE, WHY HIM? WHY? WHY? WHY?
WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?????? I tried to toss the thought away. Actually, I still didn’t know if I was dreaming or what. As I got to the dining room, they all looked at me with smiles.“Aren’t you excited?” Yu Na giggled beside me as I sat.“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” I sighed secretly. Key, my partner, took the seat in front of me. He smirked at me, and there was a gleam of sarcasm in his eyes. WHAT THE HELL IS THIS GUY UP TO?
“Good morning, everyone! So, did you like your morning surprise, painters?” Miss Lee spoke up, like it was no big deal that we were disturbed from our sleep. For all I know, I could see some people in the table looking like they’re about to bite the head off of someone if they were approached.
Grumbles were heard from the painters from all around the table. From, “Oh, I don’t know,”, “Yes, I was surprised,” to “Yeah, I even fell off the bed”.Miss Lee asked, “What about the artists?”“My partner screamed,” one girl said, then smiled at Shin Ye who was just across the table. I was quite sure that she was Seohyun.“A pillow was thrown at me,” Key stated, and everyone laughed. I bowed my head in second-hand embarrassment. It would’ve been a relief to throw my chair at him.Miss Lee clapped her hands once. “Before we eat, I’d like you guys to introduce yourselves. Painter, then partner. Let’s count backwards; let’s start from the seventh. Miss Choi?”Yu Na stood up. I tilted a little away from her so I wouldn’t be noticed. “Ne, Annyeonghasseyo, Choi Yu Na imnida. Nice meeting you. And my partner is—““--Lee Donghae, here as a rep for Super Juni-or!” a guy rose from his seat, and held his hand out in a five at the last syllable of his sentence. Everyone in the table smiled.So yeah, the introductions went on, and I made a mental note of everything. 1st- Park So Eul : Gikwang (BEAST)3rd – Kim Ji Won : Nicole (KARA)4th- Bang Seongjin : Max Changmin (TVXQ)5th- Lee Shin Ye : Seohyun (SNSD)6th- Geum Hye Sun : Ji Yeon (T-ara)7th- Choi Yu Na : Donghae (Super Junior) My heart was hammering against my chest when I knew I was next. I didn’t stand up just yet.“Second place?”Yu Na elbowed me and gave me an imploring look. I timidly rose from my seat. Before I introduced myself, I took a one last glance at my partner’s awe-stricken face. I think he couldn’t believe that his partner was second place—and I had the feeling I made an impression.“A-annyeonghasseyo, the name’s Moon Hyun Mi…and my partner would be…”“Key. The Almighty Key. Here to represent SHINee!” he rose from his seat, too, and cut me off like that Donghae guy did. Only difference, this guy’s overloading with confidence.Everyone in the table was delighted, like they were used to his nature which was like this. I felt kind of left out—I seemed to be the only one not amused with the idea. So fast forward. Dinner was held, talks happened, and everyone was full. At around 7, Miss Lee announced that we use two hours of some sort of bonding, because they were to go back after so for their schedules. I saw Key talking to BEAST’s Gikwang. Taking the chance, I hastily went up to my room. “Surely he won’t have the guts to climb up here again, he must be really thick if he does,” I said to myself, arranging the bed. As I said that, the door swung open, and a demanding voice entered, saying, “HEY WHY’D YOU LEAVE ME THERE ALONE ALL OF A SUDDEN?” “WHAT DO YOU WANT?” I yelled back. “I’m your partner, remember?” he said in a smaller voice, and his eye caught the bag of my brushes lying on the table. “Besides, you still haven’t thanked me for this,” he said, taking out the brushes. I went to him and snatched my things. “Thank you, then. But listen, Key—wait, what’s your name?” “Key.” “No, really.” “Key.” “I meant the REAL ONE!” “Kim Kibum,” “Listen, Kibum—“ “Wait! WTF? WHO ARE YOU TO CALL ME KIBUM?” “JUST LET ME CALL YOU THAT!” I yelled back so loud, I was afraid it was heard all over the house. He then fell silent. This is probably the first time he’s seen a girl boss him around. “Kibum—“
“Aren’t you even gonna address me with ‘oppa’? at least call me that!” “Ki--wait what? ‘oppa’? EWW! HELL NO. Just—““But why?”“Because it’s creepy! NOW SHUT UP! Listen, Kibum—can we just pretend this is a normal meeting between two normal people?”He rolled his eyes. “Fine. But wait, how old are you?”“You don’t care,”“I need to know it.”“Tch. It’s a secret.”“No fair!”
“WHATEVER.” I sat on the chair and pointed the one in front, urging him to sit. “Now let’s get this over with,” I smiled with a hint of sarcasm.He looked at me with something in his eyes that was between a stare and a glare, that for a moment I got scared, but tossed the thought away.I was clearly having the upper hand. But I knew this was not going to last long, because I had the feeling that at the back of his mind he was already plotting my death..er, defeat.How to describe us on the first meeting: archenemies. Key's mindI sat down on the couch separate from where she was sitting. At the same time, I was already planning how to triumph over her.“So,” she started, crossing her legs. “How do you do?”“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?” I replied promptly.She thought about this for a while. “Oh. Okay,”Silence.Then a spark came, I thought of a plan. “Since when did you get into painting?”She grinned, like she was happy that I asked. “Since childhood,”“How?”“Hmm… when I was six years old? As far as my memory serves me, one day, we were going to repaint the house. Then I asked Appa if I could borrow the brush. Then he scolded me for putting murals on the wall,” she laughed a little, but it quickly faded. For a moment, I saw that a shadow passed across her face.I ignored it and nodded, smiling.Then the next thing she said surprised me.“Well, I think that’s the story. I could only see fragments of the scene in my mind. Either way, it’s altogether a good memory for me.” She said in English, fluently.“Oh, so you speak English well,” I said, in the same language, blankly.“I DID?” she gasped, and widened her eyes.“Why?”She bit her lip before answering, “I’ve been training myself not to. But it slips out every now and then,”“You’ve studied abroad. Correct?”She nodded a little. “Yes. And as a matter of fact, I live there,”“Where?”
“Los Angeles,”“OH?” I gasped, quite incredulously.“Why?”
“I’ve studied there before!”She smiled. “Really?”Then we talked about things after that. Places, sights, people. I got drawn to her, because the way she talked alone, felt friendly, like we were old friends.Then I remembered the plan I made a while ago.I slowly brought her to the trap. “How many siblings do you have?”She was arranging something in the tube of her paintbrushes. “Two. An older sister named HyunJi, and a little brother,”“Why are you here in Korea?”She was answering without looking at me. Perfect. “Actually, I’m here for a vacation, but a vacation in an enhancing way of course. I’m here to learn things, and develop my painting skills. It’s been a long time since I last visited here, you know,”“You’re alone?”“Yeah. I’ll be back as soon as this is over,”“where were you born? Here or there?”“Here. I was born in Incheon,”“When?”“December 30, nineteen ninety—“ and there she stopped, stopped tinkering her brushes, then looked up and glared at me.I smiled innocently. “What? Nineteen ninety--?”“Why you… there is NO WAY I am going to tell you!” she growled at me.Lost chance, but I was too busy laughing at her ugly face. But at the back of my mind, I sensed some similarities between her and me. “You know, I have a nickname for you,”She raised a brow. “What?”“Noodle-head.”She frowned, but it didn’t really agitate her, like she was used to it.Someone knocked on the door. “Um, Miss Moon? Key? I’m sorry to interrupt, but the service is here,” and Miss Lee’s head popped in.As she looked at Miss Lee, I took a peek at her features in a split-second. Curly brown locks (yes they look like ready-made noodles) that the limit was just up to the end of her ears, bangs that were up to the middle of her forehead. Ugly. But at least I admired a good feature about her. Her eyes. They were of hazel brown, more like golden brown, really.I stood up and offered my hand. “Well,”She rose from her seat. “It was nice meeting you, mister Kim Kibum,” she smiled as shook hands with me.“Same here. I’ll see you soon,” I got a bit giddy inside since she suddenly became formal.So that was how the hand of a painter felt like. It was soft, like the type you could squish, but its surface was rough. The idea was exciting, and I wondered how this hand did wonders with a paintbrush.Miss Lee smiled as I went to her. Before I closed the door, I saw HyunMi standing there, smiling at my direction. 5pm.We were relaxing in the dorm when Onew-hyung asked, “By the way, Kibum. How did the meeting go?”Taemin popped out of nowhere. Like what mushrooms do. “yeah, hyung. I forgot to ask you about that. Who’s your partner?”I smiled, very much amused. “You wouldn’t believe me if I tell you who it is,”“Why?”
Taemin thought with his hand on his chin. “Don’t tell me it’s—““The girl who owned the bag.” I snapped. “the name’s Moon HyunMi,”“OH?” they gasped altogether. Then followed by “Wow, nice name,”, “How did she look like, hyung?”, and “Can we see her?”“WAIT. Can you just, like, CHILL for a sec?” I held out my hand to stop their bombarding of questions. “How she looks like? Well, curly brown hair, shorter than Jjong-hyung, talks informally. She would have been pretty if she had her hair cut properly.”They suddenly became interested.I narrowed my eyes. “You guys…”“Tell us more, hyung!” Taemin insisted. Forever the kid.“What do you want to know?” I asked them.Then night came and Moon HyunMi was all we talked about.