To Love Again | Sequel to Saranghae
Chapter 10
Lipstick stains
Only a couple of days now. I'll be back on a huge stage again. This will probably be the biggest preformance Dae and I will take part in. Biggest performance since JinHai.
I brought my eyes down and began slipping on my shoes. I'm going to meet my family at the airport. They wanted to come to see the award show.
I felt a hand touch my shoulder. "Are you ready?" I looked up to see Leo. He smiled and I nodded. I stood up and grabbed my bag. I pulled it over my shoulder.
"You up for the whole day though? I know how my sister can be." I said worried. He laughed and brushed it off.
"I know how to deal with your sister." He said laughing. We're planning to go out for lunch and then shopping. Hailey is even coming. I honestly don't know anymore.
Before in SM, I wasn't making much money, but now I can proudly say I'm an idol and is making money. I don't make as much as Big Bang, but as a solo artist along with J&D, I make more than most idols. Big numbers too. My debut as a solo with Notice me and my other title From Me to You gave me VIP status.
Notice me is one of the most watched kpop videos on YouTube along with gangnam style.
"Want to bring Hongbin to sacrifice him?" I asked with a chuckle. He hitched up an eyebrow.
"You'll let me?" He asked in suprise. "Last time you said that was an inhumane way of dealing with people. " he said and I laughed.
"Its not like we're going to kill him. " I laughed.
He chuckled and stepped back. "Do you know your sister? We bring Hongbin and he's long gone. " he said with a laugh. I punched his upper arm lightly.
"My sister isn't that bad. " I said. We started walking out of the apartment.
"You say that, but remember the time in America when we were napping and she came into the room to get all the idols numbers off our phones? She is Satan I'm sure. " he said.
I closed the door with a chuckle. "You're such a fool." I laughed.
"A fool?" He asked chuckling.
"Yes, a fool," I said and turned to him while walking down the hallway. "A pabo, an idiot, baka, every name in the book." I said teasing him.
He held a hand to his heart. "Aish," he squished his eyes shut briefly. "You're breaking my heart. " he said and I shrugged it off. He blew out a puff of air in frustration. "Really?" He asked.
I shrugged and turned. I kept walking. Not long after I felt his arms encircle my waist. I stopped. I felt his head in the crook of my neck. His nose skimming my neck.
I felt his hands fold together on my stomach. I leant back into him. It was silent in the hallway. It felt like it should be. I kept my eyes down on our hands. I felt warm inside. I placed my hand ontop of his.
Is this what love feels like?
"I'm really glad. " he whispered. His arms tightened slightly. I felt his breath fan my neck. I moved my palm gently over the back of his hands. "I thought you would never see me this way. "
I remember when he first kissed me. It was before I announced that I was separating from SM. He wanted me to give him a chance and I said I would. I would and I am.
Leo loves me. I was a fool to not see it.
I slowly held onto his hands. "I see you now. " I whispered. My voice hanging lightly in the air. I turned slowly. My eyes meeting his.
He leant in, I could feel blush filling my cheeks, he tilted his head to the side. My eyes went to his lips. I tilted my head to the side as he closed the distance.
He'll be here for me. I won't have to worry about other lipstick stains, or the smell of a perfume different from my own. I won't have to worry like that.
His hands moved from under mine to my hip. He slowly turned me to him. He pressed his forehead to mine. "Jessie Lee," he said with a pause. "You make me so happy. " he whispered.
I smiled lightly. My hand reaching up and touching the side of his face. "I really need you, Taekwoon." I said softly. I've always needed him.
His features froze in surprise. I said his name. Without waiting, I pulled my arms around his torso. I pressed my head to his chest. I kept my eyes down.
After a moment, his arms wove around me. I felt him sigh. I smiled softly. "I need you too. " he whispered.
We stayed in the hallway for a little while. His arms holding me. He's always held me up.
When we got to the restaurant, I of course gave my sister a hug. She looked like she grew again. Her hair was a dark brown that was pulled to the back. Her bangs fluffy, she's even wearing makeup.
I looked at her stunned. I placed my hands on her cheeks. "Aiyah, what are you doing? You're too young for makeup, I thought we went over this. " I said. She pouted.
"Unni," she said in Korean. I didn't notice I was speaking Korean to her until she said that word. I just got so used to it. "I'm old enough," she said. She looked over to Leo. She squinted her eyes and smirked. "Leo Oppa. " she said.
His features must have dropped quicker than a ball hitting the ground.
"Ne, Krissy. " he said and tried to smile. I moved to the side for them to talk while I addressed the others. I turned to Brian, who I hugged tightly. He's in a suit again.
"Bro. " I said in English. Its weird using English, for the past year I used Korean with everyone, sung in Mandarin and spoke in Cantonese to Dae. My English was getting rusty.
He wrapped his arms around me tightly. He pulled away and flicked my hair. "God, dyed your hair again?" He mused.
I smiled and pulled at a strain. The red curls bounced. I smoothed my index finger over them. "I had to. The MAMA awards are so close." I said.
He tilted his head to the side and nodded. "I know all about those awards. " he said. "We'll be there, but if you do anything inappropriate on stage..." He led off. Then a smirk took hold of his features. "I'm posting it on Facebook. " he said.
I laughed and patted his arm. "Bro, I would post it myself. " I laughed.
Then I felt a pull on my arm. "Enough, enough," I heard my mom. She turned me and pulled me into a hug.
"Hi Mom," I said and hugged her back. She pulled away and flicked my head. "Don't you ever call anymore?" She asked. I shrugged and wrinkled my nose.
"Mom," I said sighing. "I'm busy. " I said.
She hitched an eyebrow up. "Too busy for your mother?" She asked and I sighed.
I heard my father sigh. I'm surprised they're not ripping each other's eyes out. I turned to him as he turned to my mother, "Sally, you know she has to promote." He said. My mother glared in turn and blew him off. I smiled lightly at my father.
"Hi," I said and he nodded at me. We have been keeping in contact, but its been sparce in between. He checks up occasionally to make sure I'm healing and well.
I looked to the side to see Hailey. I still don't like her. I tried to keep a smile. "Hello, are you enjoying your time in Korea?"I asked. She nodded with a stiff smile.
"Its pleasant enough. " She said.
I took a step back to stand with Leo. We looked to the table. My father gestured for all of us to sit. They all know who Leo was, they all exchanged a few short words with him in greeting.
My sister turned to Leo. "Where's Hongbin?" She asked with a smirk on her lips.
Leo turned to her. "Getting ready to see you. " he lied. He faked a smile at her. Leo and Kristen talk and text a lot. She mostly just bothers him, which I find amusing.
Some days after his practice he would tell me about how Kristen would call during their dance practice and Hongbin or Haekyeon would answer by accident and regret it immediately. Kristen had Hongbin's number for a while, but then Hongbin changed his number to get away from the crazy that she is.
"Oh you." Kristen said and punched his arm lightly. "Always lying to make me feel better. " she said smiling. He smiled back.
"That's what friends are for, boo." My jaw dropped at that. I turned to Leo in complete surprise. What the hell just happened. He glanced over. "Its impolite to stare." Where did this Leo come from?
"Jessie," I heard my name called. I turned back, still starstrucked from what Leo just did. Was that even real? I turned to my brother.
"Are you excited about the awards?" He asked. I brushed my hair over my shoulder and nodded.
"I'm really excited actually. They didn't want to do a live performance for my solo debut because of this. They thought it would be special for my first time preforming it to be at a huge ceremony." I replied and leant forward. I brushed the green fabric of my dress down.
"So this would be really special. " Hailey cut in. I turned to her and nodded curtly. Leo and Kristen were talking to the side. I kept my attention on the others.
"I really want this to go well." I said softly.
"What songs are you preforming?" Hailey asked. I turned my eyes to her. "I'm sure Brian told me, I just forgot. " she said. Is she interested?
I cleared my throat softly. "I'm preforming If I Change with Dae and then From Me to You." I said aloud.
She nodded. "That one was good. It was much softer, the other one, It was much more upbeat." She said. My eyes widened a bit. She listened to them.
"You listened to my music?" I asked in surprise. She brushed her hair behind her ear.
"Yeah, I became a fan recently. " she said and caught my eyes. "Your music is good. It helps my Korean and Mandarin a lot too." She said.
"Thank you. " I said surprise.
"This album turned out really well. " my father added. "I like that song-" he paused. "The one where it goes 'in a bottle, through a bird, my words still don't get to you. If I bottled up my tears you would see them as raindrops instead.'" My father quoted.
I smiled and nodded. My album has 11 tracks. Seven of them are ballads, one of them is Notice Me which is the pop track. The last three are collabed songs. One called "And Goodbye" that I sung with Kim Sung Kyu. It was such a nice song, the other was called "White Lies" which Taecyeon from 2pm rapped in. The last was called "Can't Stop" I did that one with Hyuna and Jimin from AOA.
"Oh, Most of Love?" I asked. That's the song he quoted. "That was good one." One of my solo ballads.
"You wrote that one didn't you?" Brian asked and I nodded.
"Have you started writing for your next album?" Hailey asked. I turned back to her.
I tilted my head to the side. "I have a few that I have done, I still have to wait a year for my next comeback. I'm working on the J&D next album right now. " I said.
"Oh, do you have a lot for it?" She asked. I kept my eyes on her.
"Well sorta. Our comeback is going to be in a couple of months. Its almost been a year. " I said. I turned my head to the side. "We have about five songs already set. The company is still deciding between an album and a mini album. " I said.
Hailey nodded. "It will still come out good. " she said. I nodded and smiled in thanks.
"Thank you, I didn't realize you listened to eastern music. " I said. She nodded.
"Its a recent thing." She said. She looked to Brian. "When Brian showed me your album, I was skeptical, but it was actually really good. " she said and I smiled and nodded.
"Thank you. " I said again. We kept the small talk as we ate. After, Leo and I took them to some of the shopping areas. Leo and I had to hide now and then from fans. Even Kristen got recognized.
Leo walked with me as I looked at jeans. Hailey stood next to me. She glanced to Leo and then back to me.
"I feel really bad about how I acted to you in the past. " she put that out. I stopped. I was unsure of how to respond to that. I looked up and over.
I nodded and smiled. "I do too. " I told her. She nodded. "Let's just consider it under the rug. " I said and she nodded.
We continued looking. "So what happened to Sehun?" She asked after a while. My hand froze on a hanger.
I dropped my eyes. I remember when he came to the stage. How he challenged Dae and how he stomped on my feelings again. I didn't want my emotions to be carried out like that.
She stopped. "Did I say something wrong?" Hailey asked concern. I shook my head lightly.
"No, no, you didn't. " I whispered. I turned to her.
"Its been over with Sehun for quite a while now." I said. I looked to Leo. He was talking with Kristen. He was making her try on hats.
She laughed as he smiled and placed another hat on her head.
"I'm with Taekwoon now." I said. I looked back. "He cares about me. " I said and she nodded.
"I see. " she said. She looked over to him. "He seems nice. " she said. "I heard about what happened with the whole Sang thing. I'm sorry. " she said.
I nodded. "Yeah, " I said sighing. I could only hope its going to work out better this way. "It is what it is."
((A//N))
Another new chapter.
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Anyway, thanks guys~ Saranghae reached four thousand reads the other day. Thank you guys.