The Bound-Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Ugh…Huh…Hurry…up!”

“Waaaait! I think I forgot my purse!”

Jaelyn stopped in the middle of the road with an angry expression stuck on her face. Phoebe gasped as she was heading towards Jaelyn, looking at her curiously.

“Come on, just leave it. We’re gonna be so late!”

“But what am I going to do without my phone and my money?”

“That’s a good chance to pick up a nice boy, if you know what I mean.” Phoebe responded with a grin.

After hearing her friend’s words, Jaelyn stopped worrying  about her purse, and the girls started to run.

It was the first day of their new job, and they were already 15 minutes late. To be recruited by TSEntertainment was the chance of their lives. They have been training for almost 3 years and they didn’t want to mess it up as soon as they have started.

After running for about half an hour, they arrived at the company where Young Mi and So Young were waiting for them. They were all in the same group, named G4, who was about to debut this summer, along with B.A.P’s comeback.

Jaelyn and Phoebe were actually best friends ever since they were 12. Their parents weren't Korean, but traveled with work to South Korea. Both of the girls were born there and raised in the middle of the Korean culture. Even though they were different from others, they were accepted to join a k-pop band, and even if their excitement has reached a high level, the members of Secret and B.A.P weren’t so glad and receptive about this idea.

At the company, a lot of people were waiting for them. The owner of the company,  Kim Tae-sung, was really angry, along with Bang Yong Guk. They thought that being late in the first day was a really lack of respect. And so it was.

“Crap! Do you think they’ve noticed?” Jaelyn asked.

“No, not at all. Of course they have, Sherlock!”

The leader of B.A.P was disappointed seeing the four girls outside the window, crossing the street in a hurry and causing traffic jams. As they entered the building, So Young, the maknae, tripped and hit the ground. A huge “BOOM” made the members of B.A.P and Secret burst into laughter, but only Phoebe helped So Young to get back on her feet and shouted with anger:

“Stop laughing, you jerks! You could have been in her place.”

“Ya! How dare you speak like that to your sunbaenims?” Yong Guk said, with a mad expression on his face.

Hearing his husky voice, Phoebe just continued to stare at him, without saying a thing. “He’s kind of handsome” she mumbled to herself. Suddenly, the boss came to them and said:

“Welcome girls! I’m happy to have you here. I hope we will work well together.”

The girls smiled with a bow.

“I can see that you have already met the superstars of our company.”

In that moment, Yong Guk stepped forward and smiled nicely to Young Mi:

“You’re the leader, right?”

“Neh…” she answered shyly.

“I’m pretty sure you’ll do a good job, Young Mi.”

Everyone stared at those two amazed as they were so close to each other, but the silence was interrupted by Kim Tae-sung’s loud voice.

“O.K. everyone, let’s get ready for tonight’s party!”

“I hope that the girls won’t be late for the party, at least.”Himchan remarked, smiling deeply.

---

Later that day, the girls were taken to their dorms, and as the sun was slowly fading, they began to prepare themselves for the party. So Young was wearing a tight pink mini-dress with high heels, Young Mi had a long red dress with golden accessories, Jaelyn a pair of skinny black jeans with high waist, a top without straps and high heels, and Phoebe was wearing a black mini-skirt, a black leather jacket and a pair of Louboutines with spikes. Her wrist was covered by a classical gold bracelet, given to her by her mother. They all looked beautiful and the clothes reflected their personalities.

“Are you seriously going to wear that?” Phoebe asked So Young. “I can almost see everything.”

“Really? Then my goal is reached.”, she replied with a sexy wink.

“I like the way you think, girl!” Jaelyn said.

They left the room laughing and smiling as they were heading downstairs. When they were about to get out the building, they bumped into  Himchan and Yong Guk who were both smoking, and  Zelo, who was smiling towards Phoebe, suddenly said:

“We were waiting for you so we could take you to the club.”

Right after seeing Young Mi, Yong Guk’s face has genuinely brightened up.

“Hí.” he said. “You all look beautiful.”

She didn’t know why, but after hearing his words, Phoebe’s heart trembled. For some reason, she started to like him more, not just for his looks.

They all got into a car and arrived at the club, where the others were waiting for them. The place was really crowded, full of young people, great dancers and great drinkers as well. Right after they got into the club, Jaelyn and Phoebe went to the bar and ordered their favorite drink. A few minutes later, 2  hot guys invited them to dance, but Phoebe refused as she wasn’t feeling very confident.

“Oh, come on! Let’s have fun, at least for tonight.” Jaelyn said.

“Yeah, maybe later, right now I’m feeling a little bit sick…”

“I see. Then make sure you won’t drink too much.”

She got up the chair and hit the dance floor. As she was dancing crazily, she felt two hands running down her waist. When she turned around, she saw Himchan’s face 1 inch away from hers. She gasped in surprise and made him smile, amazed by her cuteness.

“You really know how to move.” he said, pulling her closer to him.

“Umm…Ahh…Thanks…I guess.” Jaelyn said starstrucked.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed about that in front of me…”

She slightly blushed as she was looking at his mischievous smile. She felt like he was only fooling around, trying to catch her attention, but for some reason, she kind of liked it.

”Anyway, why is a girl like you all by yourself on the dancefloor?” he asked.

“Phoebe feels sick right now, so I can’t drag her here, get it?”

“I guess you have just found your partner for tonight, then…”

“Ehh? What do you mean? Partner?” she asked, looking at him curiously.

He didn’t even let her finish when he suddenly grabbed her wrist and dragged her in the middle of the dancefloor. He started to move like a freak, following the powerful beats of the music. Feeling shy as she had nowhere to hide, Jaelyn started to dance slowly. Her eyes were set only on him: though she was embarrassed, she had to admit that he was hot.

“Come on, I know you can do better than this…” he said, smiling at her.

Before she knew it, they were moving on the crazy rhythm as a couple—pulling each other closer, touching his chest, slowly going down. Maybe it was just her imagination, but as she got closer to his neck, she could feel a very sweet scent of cologne.

___________________

Phoebe was sitting all by herself sipping from her Cosmopolitan and thinking how will she be able to keep up the work with G4…There were so many choreographies to learn, so many lyrics and so many shows that they had to be on…She didn’t want to disappoint anyone anymore, especially Yong Guk.

“Hey, noona! What are you thinking about? Are you sad about something?”

She turned around and she saw Zelo right behind her with a big smile on his face.

“Uh…Nothing, just work. I just realized how much we still have to practice until we debut…”

“Don’t worry. Everything is going to be fine. A girl like you will manage to handle the entire situation.”

“I hope so…”

“So, noona… I can see that your drink is almost finished? Would you like another one?”

The smile on his face grew bigger. She had finally understood that she needed to be more friendly and stop worrying about all those stuff. In the end, only once in a lifetime you are a rookie, and only once in a lifetime you have a welcome-party.

“Umm…yes. Sure. I would love another drink.” Phoebe responded with a high tone full of excitement.

“Hey, bartender. Two shots of tequila right here.”

“Aren’t you a little too young for these kind of drinks?” Phoebe asked Zelo.

“When you are famous, everybody does as you wish. Don’t worry, no one will find out about this. It’s going to be our little secret” he shouted, then gave her a wink.

Their little secret? What was wrong with him? After all, what would have happened if anyone found out about this? She was going to be a celebrity known by a lot of people in a couple of weeks…

“Here you go!” the bartender said handing Zelo the drinks.

“Noona, here’s your drink!”

Phoebe didn’t even wait for him and drank the entire glass in one shot.

“One more here, please!” she yelled at the bartender.

“Noona, I didn’t know you can handle alcohol so well!” Zelo whispered in Phoebe’s ear because of the loud music.

“That’s because you don’t know me that well ”she whispered back to him, smiling playfully.

“Yet. I don’t know you that well, yet!”

She smirked and took the second shot.

“Since when have you been drinking, Noona?”

“I really can’t remember… Maybe 13, 14…” Phoebe responded.

“Whoa…That’s a small age for a girl to start drinking.”

“Maybe… Maybe it is, but sometimes it’s fun to do” she said starting to laugh.

“Then I guess we should have a little more…” Zelo shouted, then burst into laughter.

“You’re right! 4 more here, please!”Phoebe ordered to the bartender.

Zelo and Phoebe started drinking and laughing together.. They didn’t realize that Yong Guk was watching them from across the room.

“That’s too much! Way too much! How can a girl drink like that? A normal one would fell down from the second shot, but right now she’s at her 6th. I really have to stop them. It’s becoming embarrassing…I don’t want to carry both of them on my back.” Yong Guk said to himself.

“Hyung, you should really go stop your robot, otherwise he is going to electrocute himself from so many liquids!” Daehyun said to Yong Guk.

He got up furiously and went straight to the bar.

“Yah… Phoebe-sshi, Zelo, stop it already! You had enough!” he yelled.

“Hyung, don’t be so mean! Join us!” Zelo said to his hyung. Everyone could have noticed that he was completely drunk, but Phoebe… She wasn’t drunk, she was only annoyed and frustrated about the fact that Yong Guk didn’t give her the attention she wanted.

“Yong Guk, leave Zelo alone! He’s a big boy now!” Phoebe addressed to Yong Guk while tapping Zelo on his shoulder.

“Yaa!, what kind of girl are you? Aren’t you embarrassed of yourself? You are buying drinks to a child who is even younger than you.”

“Hyung, she’s not….” Zelo started to say something but Yong Guk interrupted him.

“Enough… You two had enough! It’s time to go home!” he said and grabbed Zelo’s wrist.

“Good bye, Zelo! I promise I will keep drinking for you, too!” Phoebe said to Zelo while giving Yong Guk a look full of hatred and disconsideration.

“You too, miss! You are coming with me, too!” the leader shouted at her.

“Yaa… You don’t have any authority upon me! You can’t just…”But she didn’t even finished, because Yong Guk grabbed her wrist, too. She couldn’t get away from that. He was way too strong for her to fight with… And right now, she was just so weak…Too weak…

She finally obeyed and she followed him to the car.

“You two stay here without doing anything! I’m bringing the others, too” Yong Guk yelled.

“Oh, come on” Phoebe said. “At least let them have fun! You destroyed our night, why do you want to destroy theirs too?”

“What did you just say?”

“You heard me. Stop playing the badass. Sometimes it’s just better to ignore whatever happens around you…”

He smiled amused by her insolence, and suddenly let go of her hand, but his sleeve hooked the gold bracelet and as he brusquely moved his hand, the bracelet was torn in two pieces, then fell to the ground. Yong Guk turned his head immediately and cramped as he saw the damage he had done and Phoebe’s shocked face.

“I…I didn’t think it would…I’m sorry…”

Phoebe sniffed while looking at the bracelet. It was now destroyed, and all because of that Bang Yong Guk. Without saying a word, she threw the two pieces at him and said with a dark expression on her face:

“Just so you know, that was from my mother.”

“Look, I’m sorry!”

But it didn’t matter to her. She got into the car, followed by Zelo, who silently took part at the whole scene. Yong Guk shook his head while standing still right next to the car. He was mad, but mad at himself because of the clumsy accident. It seemed like nothing of what he did was right.

“I’m sorry, Noona. I didn’t want it to be like that” Zelo said.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry.” She responded while smiling at him.

---

Meanwhile, as Jaelyn was dancing with Himchan, she spotted an interesting guy across the room.

“I’m going to the bathroom” she said to her partner, and left the dance floor.

She was moving quickly among the people, having her eyes focused only on him, but right before she reached him, the guy disappeared with a group of girls. It was silly of her to return to Himchan like this, so she decided to go to the bathroom and keep it up like this as if that really was her destination.

Her make-up was a bit wiped, and she felt sweaty and tired. It was enough for that night. She just wanted to have a drink and go home, but as she was washing her hands, she felt the same cologne tickling her nostrils. She looked in the mirror and saw Himchan slowly running his hands down her body and resting his head on her shoulder.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I just didn’t get enough…”

His perverted way of talking and him touching her butt made Jaelyn tremble. She was attracted to him and because of that she wanted him to stop—getting involved with a player wasn’t her biggest wish.

“Please stop…” she whispered. “What if someone comes in here and sees us like this?”

“That’s why we have to go somewhere else…A hotel, maybe?”

Jaelyn turned around and wanted to slap him, but he blocked her hand and leant against her as trying to kiss her, but she pushed him away and said:

“What the hell are you doing? I want to go home. Now. ”

___________________

Yong Guk entered the club and went straight to Himchan and Jaelyn. They weren’t having a conversation, but rather looking sneaky at each other.

“Hey, you, lovers, it’s time to go home. It seems like someone is a little bit too euphoric tonight…”

Jaelyn suddenly stopped worrying about what happened in the bathroom and looked carefully at Yong Guk.

“What? What are you talking about? Is Phoebe alright?” she panicked.

“I doubt it. She can handle way too much alcohol. But yeah, she might be a little upset now that I destroyed her mother given bracelet…”

Himchan got closer to Jaelyn listening to his leader curiously, and put his hand slightly around her waist. She moved it as soon as she felt his warm touch, and gave him a very annoyed look.

“What?” he mumbled.

“This is just going way too far” she said with a sigh. “Are the others in the car?”

“Yeah, follow me” he said, as he was heading towards the other members of B.A.P. A few minutes later, everyone was in the black SUV, driven by Yong Guk.

As he was driving, he sometimes looked over his shoulder to check on Phoebe—she was looking out the window with her lost gaze. He didn’t know why, but every time he looked at her, his eyes just slid and reached her naked legs. “What the hell is this…I’m turning into a pervert now?! I guess I’m just way too dizzy…”

“Ahem…Who wants to listen to some great music?” he asked.

He turned on the radio, and SHINee’s Sherlock filled up the atmosphere.

“Ohh! I’m curious yeaah…”

He started to sing in a low husky voice, while moving from the right to the left, shaking his head. Everyone stared at him for a few seconds, then turned away their heads. “What the hell is he doing” Phoebe thought. “Does he even know just how stupid he looks right now?”

Jaelyn giggled as she saw the scary rational Yong Guk now trying to catch everyone’s attention. He would even go as far as to humiliate himself so that the others would feel better.

“Oh, come on guys! Nobody is singing with me? Come on! Oh I’m curious yeah!”

Phoebe let out a sigh and covered her ears, so that she wouldn’t hear him anymore. “Tsch~Really, that girl…”

Yong Guk turned off the radio with an annoyed look on his face. “Seriously, just why are you all so tense?” he said to himself. One more glance at Phoebe: she wasn’t moving. Her head was still resting on the window and she had no expression on her face, but she still looked pretty.

He kept on staring at her, but then his eyes met her legs. “Oh man, those legs! Seriously, it’s killing me.”

“Phoebe-ssi.”

She responded with a quiet “neh”.

“Next time, don’t you dare to wear a skirt.”

She immediately looked at him, surprised by his guts.

“What did you just say?”

“It’s just…a tease for…for us, men.”

Her heart started to beat faster right after hearing his words. She tried to slowly cover her legs, but couldn’t. It was way too crowded in the car.

“So you admit that you, men, fall easily for our tricks, huh…” she said.

“Ha~! No, I’m not that immature.”

“No, but you’re immature enough to be so arrogant.”

“Just how am I arrogant?”

“Oh. I don’t know, maybe crawling me here and then destroying my bracelet makes you just…a little bit of an arrogant person?”

“Look, it was an accident! I already said I was sorry!”

“Just stop it, the two of you.” Youngjae shouted.

Phoebe continued to stare out the window, and Yong Guk kept on driving carefully, without saying a thing. Zelo fell asleep, the members of B.A.P were listening to music, Young Mi and So Young just ignored whatever happened around them and Jaelyn…

Well, Jaelyn paid attention at every move Yong Guk did. She saw how he was aiming for Phoebe’s attention or how he was tempted by her naked legs. “This is too weird.”

“Hey, Phoebe, are you okay?” she asked her friend.

Phoebe nodded slowly, smiling at her. Then, with a warm touch, Jaelyn’s arms wrapped around her friend’s neck.

“I’m glad you’re fine. Don’t worry, we’ll fix your bracelet.”

“Yeah, never mind, forget about that.”

“Oh damn” Himchan mumbled. “I wish I were Phoebe right now.”

“I heard you” Jaelyn said, not letting go of Phoebe’s neck.

“Yeah, I’d also like to be Jaelyn.”

Yong Guk intended to whisper, but his words reached everyone’s ears.

“Ah, don’t get me wrong, I’d like to be in her place so that she would actually listen to me when I say that I didn’t mean to break her bracelet.”

“Yeah, of course!”

And so, the teasing words, the laughter and the giggles made Yong Guk feel extremely embarrassed by his outcome. Just when did he start feeling attracted to that girl?

Right after hearing his words, Jaelyn suddenly turned her head and looked at Young Mi: as expected, the leader of G4 had a disappointed look on her face, as if his words were upsetting. “So there really is something going on between them, huh…”

As the car was slowly fading in the dark, a cold silence took over the young stars. It was almost the end of their first night together as coworkers, and the heat of some upcoming conflicts was already floating in the air.

---

As soon as they had arrived, Phoebe got out of the car and hurried to the dorms. Rest of the girls from G4 thanked the B.A.P members for taking care of them and they wished them a good night.

“Aishh…That girl is just so impolite. She didn’t even say GOOD BYE or GOOD NIGHT…I have to make up for this mistake somehow…” Yong Guk said to himself.

He really hated impolite people, especially girls. He knew that she was mad, but it was a bit too much, and he couldn’t stand it.

Phoebe was the first one to arrive in the apartment and she just slammed on the couch thinking about the bracelet event.

“God…What am I going to tell my mom? I’m sure she is going to be so mad. I can’t believe that I have just ruined the bracelet that was kept in our family for about 4 generations…Üfff…” she mumbled while tears kept falling from her eyes.

After 5 minutes, the rest of the girls were in the dorm, too.

“I’m going to bed. I swear I’ll never wear high heels in my entire life…I thought I will collapse!” So Young said out loud while entering her and Young Mi’s bedroom. „Good night, girls! See you tomorrow!”

“I’m going to bed, too! And you should do the same. Tomorrow we’ll start the practice so we have to be in a good shape. Good night, girlies! And Phoebe, stop worrying about that bracelet. I’m sure everything will be fine” Young Mi said.

“Ugh…Why does everybody think that this entire situation will have a happy ending? My mom is going to kill me. And she has a good reason to do it…” Phoebe replied while getting on her feet and crossing the room to the balcony.

“Phoebe, do you want anything? Are you still feeling sick?” Jaelyn asked her best friend.

“A glass of water with extra ice will be just fine.”

“O.K. I’ll bring you one in a second.”

“O.K.” Phoebe thanked Jaelyn.

As she stepped on the balcony, she saw the beautiful view of Seoul. The huge towers, the Han river. Especially the Han river. She was in love with it. When she was a little girl she used to go there and talk to Jaelyn about their future and what will happen to them. Somehow, she has always considered that place as a sacred one, where important things happened to her. Right there, on the bridge, she had her first kiss…She also hoped that someday, the right guy was going to propose her in the place that changed her life.

“Here you go” Jaelyn suddenly interrupted her thought.

“Oh…Thank you so much…I don’t know how my life would be without you…”Phoebe pointed out loud, even tough she didn’t want to. She truly wasn’t the type of person who could show her love feelings, but right now, that huge amount of alcohol pushed her to do so.

“What is wrong with you? You definitely had too many Cosmo-s….Now, first of all, how the hell did you manage to break that bracelet?” Jaelyn asked Phoebe.

She told her what happened and right after that Jaelyn spoke:

“Oh my! Your mom is so going to kill you…”

“No shit, Sherlock! I just don’t know what to tell her. That a guy grabbed my wrist and started to shake it like a possessed human being?” Phoebe asked.

“Well… I think he might like you. Didn’t you see the way he looked at you on our way home? His eyes were literally eating up your legs! That means he was attracted to you.”

“Yeah, right! He must have starred at his precious Young Mi… I don’t think he’s even sorry. Whatever, I’m done with this.” Phoebe replied.

Suddenly, the girls heard a door opening.

“Aiissh…I really feel like dying!” a husky voice said.

“Oh my God! Is our bedroom next to theirs?” Jaelyn asked after dragging Phoebe to the floor, as their heads could not be seen by anyone.

“I guess so…Since now on, we’ll have to say good-bye to our peaceful nights of sleep…” Phoebe whispered to her friend.

And they just sat there quietly, trying to hear whatever Yong Guk, Himchan or Young Jae would say.

Copyright © 2012 Acesa 

All rights reserved