High Key Stressed {Choi Yeonjun Series}

Chapter 4

Taehyun watched as Yeonjun dumped a full plate of food down the garbage disposal. It was a very uncharacteristic move for a guy who is known to his friends as "Yeonttomeak," or "He continues to eat again."

"Dude, what's up with you?" Taehyun questioned. "You never throw away food."

Yeonjun shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe I have a stomach bug," he theorized.

"Mm," said Taehyun, unconvinced that his friend was physically sick.

Later, the guys went to the studio to practice with Luz again. This time they were together as a group. Luz appeared to be in good spirits, but she refused to make eye contact with Yeonjun. She teased and laughed with all the other members, but she didn't say a word to Yeonjun.

Yesterday, after Luz had thrown the gimbap in the river, she had taken a long walk. She came to the conclusion that Yeonjun had every right to choose whomever he wanted to, but that didn't mean that she had to be OK with his choice. Luz was not terribly acquainted with rejection because she had never put herself out there before. People say, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained," but she was pretty sure the saying should go "Nothing ventured, nothing lost either." Guarding her heart had become a life goal for her since her break-up with her long-time boyfriend, Enrique. It was a goal she regretted having set aside momentarily. All she could do was claim temporary insanity.

Yeonjun watched Luz as she went down the line, giving pointers and encouragement. He tried to catch her eye, but to no avail. She was locked down like Alcatraz. It occurred to him that perhaps he had been too strict in setting his boundary. After all, lots of people who are happily in relationships met at work. And there was nothing in his contract particularly forbidding him from having a relationship. It was common knowledge, though, that any such relationships should be kept under wraps. He unconsciously touched his cheek, which still pained him somewhat after his unfortunate meeting with Luz' braid-whip. The bruise on his face had gone from purple to a yellowish-green color. Yeonjun had been vague when the guys had asked him about it. He made up some tale about hitting his face against a door. Even he had to admit, his story sounded rather unplausible, but the guys didn't continue to question him.

As the rehearsal progressed, Yeonjun noticed that Luz' phone, which was lying on the floor in the corner of the room, was beeping incessantly. Every few seconds a new notification would cause it to buzz and vibrate. Luz appeared unaware of the inordinate amount of activity on her phone. When she was stressed, she tended to focus in even harder on the task at hand.

"Guys, you're dragging the chorus! It's 1,2,3,4 --- 1,2,3,4," she yelled above the backing track. "We're talking about a tempo of 100 beats per minute. So, think of the Bee Gees' song, 'Staying Alive.' That's the beat you should be feeling in your chest. "1,2,3,4 staying alive, staying alive. Ah, ah, ah, ah, staying ali-i-i-ive," she sang as she clapped out the rhythm.*

"Hey that sounded really good," Huening Kai commented. "We should do a mashup of that song with this one," he suggested. The other members nodded in agreement.

Seeing that they had come to a natural pause, Yeonjun decided to bring Luz' buzzing phone to her attention.

"Luz, you might want to take a look at your phone. It's been buzzing off the hook for like 10 minutes now," he said.

Without looking up at him, Luz yelled, "Let's take five, guys." "Make sure to get a drink," she added.

The guys filed out of the room, all except for Yeonjun. He was hoping to get the chance to apologize for not accepting the gimbap she had so kindly prepared for him. He watched her as she slid her back down the wall and sat down on the floor. She grabbed her phone and began to scroll through the texts.

Yeonjun pretended to be rifling through his tote bag, but he had one eye on Luz the whole time. She held her phone tightly, typing away frenetically. Her wide, hazel eyes were looking a bit red. When he heard her sniffle, Yeonjun jumped into action.

"Hey, is everything OK?" he asked, sliding down the wall to sit beside her.

Luz had every intention of answering him with her all-business voice, but the voice that came out was much more tremulous than she had hoped. "My Ito broke his hip," she said, choking back a sob.

Yeonjun nodded compassionately, even though he didn't know what an "Ito" might be. "Oh, I see," he said, touching her arm tentatively. "How can I help?" he asked, his eyes melting into gentle pools of brown when he looked at her.

"I don't know. Do you know how to send money to Mexico from here?" she asked. "When I'm in the U.S., it's easy. I just send a MoneyGram, but I have no idea how the system works here," she said, resting her head in her hands.

"Well, usually, we send money directly to someone's bank account from our phone, but I'm not sure how it works out of the country," he admitted. "Let's go find out," he said, standing and holding out a hand to help Luz up. "Let's wrap practice for today and get to a bank and get this taken care of."

Luz nodded, looking much more exhausted than she had just a few minutes ago. "Do you send money to Mexico often?" he asked.

Luz nodded as she pulled her hair out of her face and into a loose topknot. "My grandpa is sick, and he can't go to the public health clinic down there because it's terrible. The care is so lacking that he ends up having to go to a private doctor and a private hospital. It's a whole thing," she said, shaking her head.

They found a bank branch only three blocks away and gave all the information to the teller. As he processed the money transfer, Luz hopped from one leg to the other. Sometimes she would put her nails in her mouth and then quickly drop them again, as if remembering not to bite them. When the transaction was complete, Yeonjun told Luz he had to use the bathroom.

"Just wait for me outside," he said. "I'll be right there."

When Luz was safely out the door, he turned to the teller. "I want you to send $5,000 to the account we just sent to," Yeonjun whispered, even though Luz was well out of earshot. "I'll be sending it from my account," he said, handing the man his bankbook. He looked around furtively, hoping Luz would stay with her back turned to him. He grabbed his bankbook when the man handed it back. He rushed outside to meet Luz.

"Let me get you a cab," Yeonjun offered as he put one foot into the street and waved his arm. The cab stopped and he helped her in, holding one hand over her head to make sure she didn't bump it on the way in. "Text me when you get home, OK?" he said before closing the door carefully. Luz nodded and the taxi sped off.

When she walked into her apartment, her phone buzzed as she hung up her jacket on a metal hook.

"Wait, what?" she asked aloud. Her grandma had written that she had received two deposits, one for $200 and another for $5,000! "What the actual hell?" Luz said, rubbing her eyes to assure her that she wasn't seeing things.

"That little turd!" she exclaimed with a smile. She couldn't help but wonder if Yeonjun's generosity meant something. Was he just being nice, or did he share the feelings she had for him? Luz couldn't be sure, but this turn of events had sparked a bit of hope in her that she had not dared to entertain before.

"Well, whether he likes me or not," she thought, "my Ito is going to be sick in style." She laughed and shook her head. "What am I going to do with him?" she pretended to grouse. As she threw herself across her bed, a few thoughts came to her about what she could do with Yeonjun. As the thoughts became R-rated, she shook her head briskly.

"No, don't get ahead of yourself, girl," she cautioned her enthusiastic heart.