The Fifth Member

Chapter 3: The Celebration

Their song became number 1 on the hitlist for 3 weeks, when they released their new album, they used the song they had me help them with as the last song on the tracklist. The album became number one for a month, and it sold over 1 million physical copies within that month. The boys wanted to celebrate, not because it was something unusual but because they wanted to celebrate with me since I was with them on one of the songs. They had a photoshoot together which was going to be used at a magazine and they would use the photos on their private Instagram to say thank you to their fans. "Emilia, you seem nervous. If you want, I can call our driver and tell him to pick you up" Said Hyun. "No I'm fine, I'm not getting photographed. But I'll do my best to help you if you need it" I said and smiled. "You can just sit down and wait. We have done this before, don't you worry" Kang said and put his hand on my head and smiled at me. I nodded and when we got into the building, we got guided to a big garden filled with flowers in a lot of different colors, a big patio made from concrete and even a water fountain. The photographer started to speak Korean and the boys and Ash pointed to a bench for me. The weather was nice, so I didn't mind sitting outside. I looked at the boys doing their thing. They were all sitting together on the water fountain, looking at the camera and then after at each other. They looked so professional and mature. After some time at the water fountain together, the others left and then Kang was there alone. The others came up to me, "are you okay?" Jiho asked, I nodded. "Why did you leave?" I asked. "After we have done the group photo we do single photos, they can be used as photocards if we want to, but we already have photocards and such, we made them before we started on the album" Hyun said and smiled proudly. "Oh you did that the day I was home alone?" I asked and the boys nodded. "So, you did all this on that day, and now you do it again?" I tilted my head. "We do this a lot, whenever a magazine wants to talk with us, a song or an album or whatever comes out, we do this" Jiho smiled and looked at Kang. "Does this take long?" I looked at them. "Why? Are you bored?" Ash asked, I shook my head, "I was just wondering how long it normally takes". Ash nodded. "Depends on how many they want and how many we want. But since we only need our photos for Instagram, we just take some selfies ourselves. I think maybe three hours or so" he said. "Okay, tell me if you need anything" I say and smile. "Jiho, it's your turn" Kang said, he had come over to us, Jiho nodded and went over to the water fountain. "Are you all going to have to same pictures?" I looked as Jiho walked over to the water fountain. "We are going to take the same pictures, but I don't think they are going to use all the same, they just take the best ones and use those" Ash said and sat down beside me. He looked at me with a calm expression and smiled a bit. "If you are thinking about the journalist, don't worry, he can't come in here and since only our manager knows we are here there shouldn't be anything to worry about" he said and touched my arm lightly, "thanks, to be honest, It did cross my mind, but now I feel a bit more calm" I smiled at him and he smiled back. "And even if he comes, we'll protect you" Kang said and messed my hair up a bit. "Kang, be nice" Hyun said and helped me fix my hair. "Thanks guys" I said and laughed a bit. Jiho came back and switched with Ash, then after some time It was Hyun's turn. After Hyun was done it was the same again but over by the flower bushes, they sat down in front of it, stood in front of it, Hyun even laid down on the grass by it and looked up at the flowers. Every time they did a pose, smiled, looked away or just tilted their head I got more and more amazed at how professional they were, they could go from cute to serious and even to sexy. "Miss, can I please ask you to move? I would like the take photos of the boys on the bench" The photographer said and bowed apologetically. "Of course" I said and got up, moving out of their way. This time they were shooting photos of them sitting two and two on the bench. Jiho and Hyun sitting together back-to-back with their feet on the bench, Hyun was looking up at the sky and Jiho was looking at the camera, then they changed positions and Jiho sat on the bench the proper way while Hyun has his head in Jiho's lap, they looked at each other and smiled. I knew they were close, but the scenery just made them seem close, like brothers, or even lovers. They switched with Kang and Ash who sat in totally different positions. Kang had one leg up and had his arm resting on it, sitting upright while smiling slyly at the camera and Ash was sitting, legs spread slightly, he was resting his arms on his knees, leaning forward, smirking at the camera. Then after a couple of pictures, Ash stopped smiling, looking slightly up at Kang and Kang raised his eyebrow and looked slightly down at Ash, while smirking. They were looking badass, as if they had a secret plan, looking like a pair of young CEOs. They looked sexy and devious or foxy. "I think I got what I needed boys, thank you so much" the photographer said and bowed. "Wait, can we take a picture with all of us on this bench?" Ash asked and smiled. "Sure!" The photographer quickly said, Jiho and Hyun sat down. Hyun sat between Ash and Kang while Jiho sat beside Kang. "Emilia, care to join us?" Ash asked. "Me? I don't know, I don't really want my face in a magazine" I said, "I just want this for myself" he then said, "I think we all would like a picture of us" Jiho said and smiled, moving a bit so there was space for me. "Please Em" Hyun said and they all moved a bit to the sides so I could sit in the middle. I sighed but couldn't help smiling. I sat down. "I don't match your clothes at all" I said. "You do actually. You see they all have relaxed but still formal clothes on and so do you. So you all match while not wearing the same" the photographer explained and I couldn't help but giggle at bit out of surprise, the guys started to laugh a bit too and the photographer started to take pictures while we were laughing and moving around. "I'll send them straight to you sir" the photographer said and bowed while we started to leave. "Thank you" the guys said and bowed, I started to bow as well, and the photographer smiled at me. "Here you go Em" Hyun said and opened the door to the car for me, "you never learn, do you?" I asked with a smile and got in the car. "Learn to stop being a gentleman? Never" Hyun said and Jiho put his hand on Hyun's shoulder smiling as the door got closed. Kang and Ash were riding the Kawasaki ninja, so we were only three in the car. Jiho drove the car and Hyun was in the front seat. We were in the range rover. Kang and Ash waved as they started driving off, we started driving behind them while talking about the shoot. "You guys were amazing, I couldn't believe my own eyes, it was as if I saw totally different people when you were taking photos" I said enthusiastically. "We really appreciate you thinking that way, we do our best" Jiho said and smiled, looking at me through the rereview mirror. "I mean it, it was so cool", Jiho and Hyun began to giggle a bit. After some time with music and relaxing while driving Hyun turned to look at me. "Have you thought about dancing again? We can get a studio for you if you want a real dancing studio to dance in" he said looking at me without smiling and with eyes full of anticipation. "You don't think me room is good enough?" I asked sarcastically with a smirk. "Oh no we love hearing you hit your leg into your desk every now and then" Hyun responded with just as much sarcasm as me. "Okay okay, I see what you are saying. But I don't want to be a burden for you guys" I said genuinely. "You will never be a burden Emilia, we asked you to come here with us, the least we can do is help you with what you want" Jiho said. "Oh... Then please help me" I said. Hyun smiled and started nodding. "We have some dance studios in the building where our studio is, they only get used like twice a week or so, we got some new once so they don't get used that much. I'll just give you my key" Hyun said. "You have a key?" I looked at them in confusion. "Yeah, we all do. We once shared the dance studio with another group so we had keys to the studio so no one other than us and them could have access to it" Jiho said. "Ah, but what about the other group then?" I asked, "they split up last year, the oldest in their group had to go to the military" Hyun said. "Had to? He didn't have a choice?" I was shocked when Hyun shook his head. "It's mandatory for every Korean man who is under 30 and is the oldest man in the family to go join the military. That means I'll have to do the same before I turn 30 since I don't have any siblings and I'm a Korean citizen. But Ash doesn't have to since he is Australian" Jiho said. "So you can choose to join when you are 29?" Jiho nodded. "I'm choosing to do so since I have the band and our fans would be sad when I leave, so I'm going to go when I can't wait any longer" he continued. Hyun nodded at his words. "I have an older brother, so I don't have to join since he is the oldest, and Kang is in the same situation" Hyun said, still looking at me, but now with a more serious gaze than before, the atmosphere in the car was a bit heavier than before and I felt a little awkward. "Oh okay, I think I get it now. But yeah, I would love to have your spear key to the studio if I can" I said to change the atmosphere and the boys started to smile again. "I'll give it to you right when we get home, then we'll show you the room tomorrow okay?" Hyun asked, smiling brightly and I nodded, smiling back at him.