Page 53 of When Worlds Collide
The world always seemed a nicer, kinder place when you shared a drink with friends. And after the impromptu ‘tree up’ – as my mum called the event of decorating the tree – I was starting to feel like that’s what Sungmin and Seokmin were. Or, at least, that’s what we were on the way to becoming.
Although, I struggled somewhat with which name to settle on. I alternated between their stage names, and their given names. Calling them ‘Lee’ and ‘Ace’ had started to feel too much like a fan thing, and wanting to prove that I could pronounce their names correctly, I’d started using their real names. But because I had a clumsy tongue, my pronunciation often mixed them up, aproblem made worse after a couple beers. I was mortified when, for the third time, I tried to say something to Seokmin, but both fair-haired heads shot up to look at me.
“I’m so sorry,” I groaned, holding my hands over my face in shame, even as my shoulders shook with embarrassed laughter.
They laughed along with me – well, Seokmin laughed, while Sungmin feigned outrage.
“The middle sounds are close,” Jihoon said to me, kindly, rubbing my arm to get me to lower my hands from my face.
“This is why we picked Lee and Ace.” Sungmin said, nodding at me with an understanding expression.
“English is even harder,” Seokmin lamented. “Sounds are not right.”
“You struggle because you do not practice,” Jihoon chastised the maknae. “Sungmin is much better than you because he practices.”
“I am better at knowing the words, he is better at saying them,” Seokmin countered, looking pleased with himself, while Sungmin nodded gamely.
“He is a rapper. He needs to say them.” Jihoon smirked, lifting the long-necked bottle to his lips and taking a deep pull.
“I am better at everything,” Sungmin said matter-of-factly.
“You are a terrible–” Seokmin paused, then turned to Jihoon, a question on his face as he said something in Korean.
“Hmm, roommate.” Jihoon supplied. “But he is not a bad roommate; he is just bad at cleaning up.”
“That is bad!” Seokmin cried, earning a laugh from all of us.
“I keep forgetting you all live together.” I put my empty bottle on the table, leaning back on my hands, my buzz tingling nicely on the edges of my brain.
“You should come upstairs!” The youngest member lightly smacked the table before pointing at the ceiling.
I frowned, trying to make sense of his words, before looking over at Jihoon for help. To my surprise, he wore a sheepish expression.
“You did not tell her, hyung?”
“Tell me what, ‘hyung’?” I challenged, enjoying the way he winced.
“We live upstairs!” Sungmin laughed.
I turned to him in surprise, but he only nodded in confirmation. I looked back at Jihoon.
“You didn’t say you lived in the same building!”
He hesitated before replying. “I didn’t want you to feel weird about it. It’s just… easier to be in the same building.”
Sungmin cleared his throat, and I turned to him. “Fans know we live here,” he said, nodding at me.
Holy shit.
“They know where you live?” I couldn’t keep the horror out of my voice, but all three of them wore similar expressions of disinterest and Jihoon shrugged.
“Not this exact building,” he clarified. “They know we live in this complex.”
I thought of the similar buildings surrounding us, and the massive car park I’d seen as we drove in. I hadn’t noticed, but it must be for this cluster, and driving underground was a good way to make sure no one spotted them going into specific buildings.
“But how do they know?” The idea that they were followed…
“They always know,” Jihoon said simply. “But if we stay here, they don’t know I’m in a different apartment. They won’t follow us.”
