Serendipity 奇缘

#13: Bound

Backstage in HMV backroom...

"AH!!!!! At last it's over... My arm is aching from all the stamping and hand shaking!!!" U-Know quipped.

"Yeah me too... Did you see what a fan did to me just now? She tried to kiss me on my cheek!!!" Xiah complained.

"Hee... hee... Yeah I saw... Lucky you..." U-Know bemused, slapping Xiah on his back.

"Jaejoong, who's the last fan who went up stage just now? You guys know her?" TVXQ's manager asked.

"You mean Kiki?... She's...." Max interupted.

"OH.... She's just a fan we met at our hotel... She's been there everyday, so we kind of recognise her..." Micky butted in, trying to prevent Max from revealing too much.

Their manager looked at Jaejoong suspiciously.

"You sure that's it? You don't know her personally?" he probed further.

Jaejoong looked down and murmured, "*deep breath* No... I don't know her personally...".

Max wanted to butt in, but Micky pulled him back.

Satisfied with Jaejoong's answer, the manager said, "Okay... Glad there's nothing more... You guys should know that you're not allowed to have open relationships when you are still bound by contract... And you have 11 more years to go... So you'd better take note of what you're doing outside... Come let's get a move on, we need to rush for that radio programme..."

"Erm.. sorry... Can I drop by the restroom first before we leave? Call of nature..." Jaejoong asked.

"Yeah we need to go too!" The rest chorused.

"Alright. I'll meet you at the minibus at the back then. Hurry up okay?"

And the manager left the guys to walk to the minibus.

"Hyung..."

"Shhhhh.... We'll talk inside the restroom..." Micky murmured to Max.

All five of them walked briskly to the restroom. Before they started to talk, U-Know checked all the cubicles to make sure there wasn't anyone around.

"Okay, we can talk now..." U-Know signalled.

"Hyung, why did you say that you don't know nuna just now?"

"Max... I... Can't..." Jaejoong was unable to answer his question.

"Didn't you hear what he said just now? We're bound by contract, we can't date anyone openly... If he knows that we went out with the girls yesterday, we'll all probably get in big trouble..." Micky replied.

"Yeah, Max... We need to keep yesterday a secret from our manager... And don't call them by name in front of the manager... He'll get suspicious... He's a very smart man..." U-Know added.

"So we need to pretend that we don't know them at all when we see them? It's kind of mean isn't it?" Max asked.

"I guess we have no choice Max... We might get them in trouble too... With so many fans and anti-fans around... If the paparazzi gets a word of this, they'll be hounded like mad too... You don't want that to happen to them right?" Xiah replied.

"Anyway, we don't have to pretend that we DON'T KNOW them AT ALL... Cos they ARE our fans after all... We just have to act naturally like how we do around fans and not show them too much acknowledgement, like we know them PERSONALLY..." Micky added.

"All right... I try my best... But I'm agreeing to this cos I don't want them to get hurt..." Max relented.

"Jaejoong-hyung, you too... Don't show too much emotions when you're with Kiki... Or our manager will get suspicious..." U-Know reminded.

"Guys, I'm sorry... I guess I wasn't thinking straight when I asked them to take us around the city... I'll take note of my own behavior from now on... Sorry to have to trouble all of you to lie with me now..." Jaejoong looked down depressingly.

"Hyung... Don't be like this... We know how you feel about Kiki, but it's just not the perfect timing right now... Since we just started our career..." Xiah tried to console Jaejoong.

"And 11 years is a LONG WAY to go without any girlfriend... Gosh what were we thinking when we signed the contract?!!! And what kind of sicko makes this kind of contract for fellow human beings??!!! ARGHHH!! And I haven't even dated anyone before I joined..." Max complained.

Everyone looked at Max in disbelief.

"ARGHHH!!!! I'm going to die old and alone..." Max sulked.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" The rest burst out laughing.

"Why are you all laughing? What's so funny?"

" Haa haa haa... Max... Even... even... in 11 years' time... You'll only be 30 years old... You're NOT going to die so soon..." U-Know said.

"..ha ha a... Yeah... And he only said we're not allowed to have OPEN relationships.... So as long as it's kept under wraps, you're safe..." Xiah added.

"..ha ha.. ha.. Yes... Just don't get photographed together... And DON"T have any PDA (public displays of affections) and you're safe... So even if you WERE photographed together, just deny, deny and deny, and say that it's just a fan you met on the street..." Micky said matter-of-factly.

"Hey Micky, how come you sound like you've done this before?" U-Know asked, nudging him repeatedly.

"Erm... cos... cos it's how ALL celebrities do it this way!!! ARGH! Let me pee in peace okay." Micky complained, and pushed his way through to the urinals.

"You guys are unbelievable, you know." Xiah commented.

"You're talking about TVXQ here you know!!! We're ALL UNBELIEVABLE!!!" Max rebutted.

They all brought out in laughter and went about their settling their calls of nature.

"Hyung... I thought you asked Kiki to wait for you at the escalator? Aren't you going to meet her?" Micky asked.

Jaejoong looked at Micky, and gave a unsettling expression on his face.

"It's okay hyung, we'll wait for you around here. We'll cover for you. Just be quick." Xiah added.

Jaejoong looked at all five of them and gave a grateful nod. He grasped Xiah's hand.

"Guys, you are the best dong saeng (siblings) a hyung (elder brother) can ever have..."

"HYUNG!!!"

They all gather for a group hug.

"Okay okay... I really got to go now... Otherwise I won't get to speak much to Kiki at all... Catch you guys in a bit okay... Give me 15 minutes..."

"15 MINUTES!!!"

"Okay okay... 10 minutes..."

"That's better... No one will believe that we're gone THAT long for a pee... Or even a shit... He must think we have constipation or something..." U-Know commented.