Revealing Her Bias - Ch. 7!

Chapter 7: Idols' Idle Talk

JENNA’S point of view

“Oh Jenna Unnie, I forgot to mention that I’m going to be on Immortal Song 2 in a few months. You should come watch me sometime!” Hyorin said to me at dinner that night.

“Really! That would be so amazing! I would love to!” I said to her.

She was about to say something else but she stopped when someone put her hands on my shoulders and leaned over me.

“Ah! You girls did so well tonight!” GaEul said overenthusiastically.

I was bit disappointed to see her, but I turned to her and thanked her for training me on the routine. She left us soon after.

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CHANGE IN POINT OF VIEW

GaEul was walking back to her table when she heard Taemin speaking loudly. She casually walked in his direction and started speaking to someone at a table nearby.

“You think she likes girls?!” the boy’s voice became hushed, but not enough for GaEul to miss it.

I wonder who they could be talking about, she thought.

“Yah! I didn’t say that… I’m just saying it could be possible. Just… just don’t get your hopes up,” Amber said.

“Aww. What should I do? I really like her,” Taemin looked over at Jenna. Hyorin was finally getting ready to leave and she hugged Jenna goodbye. “OH! Now’s my chance! Wish me luck!” the boy got up and quickly headed towards Jenna.

Amber rested her head in her hands and sighed. “His attention span is really too much sometimes.”

“You mean too little?” he laughed, “you shouldn’t have told him that it’s only a possibility. That’s as good as telling him to forget what you said completely.”

“Ahh, I know, I know!” Amber grinned “as long he doesn’t get hurt, I don’t care.”

“Who did you hear that rumor from anyway?” Jonghyun asked.  

Amber didn’t want to give Heechul away so she lied and said it was just something she suspected on her own.

Jonghyun laughed “Really? Awww our poor Amber… trying to make up rumors to get Taemin all to herself…”

“Hey! Don’t be like that! I told you I don’t like him!” she exclaimed.

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GaEul caught every bit of their conversation. It didn’t matter whether it was true or not, this was her chance to ruin Jenna. She casually scanned the room for the table that had the most drunken idols. The rumor would spread itself from there.

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Heechul was socializing at his own table. He had decided not to drink that night. He grinned at some his friends, at the way they were behaving.

He glanced over at Jenna who was now talking to Taemin. He couldn’t quite pin-point what he liked about her. It was like she was the complete package. The soft light above Jenna was reflected by her earring as she moved a bit. Her dark hair was tied up, the way he liked it. His eyes were then led down her neck and shoulders. He wasn’t fond of the color of her dress, but he couldn’t deny that it looked like it was made for her. His eyes made their way down her body and stopped at her heels. He wondered if she liked foot massages as much as he does.

Aish! Kim Heechul-sshi! What kinds of thoughts are these? He shook his head and tried to focus on his friends.

It wasn’t long, however, before he was looking at Jenna again. This time she was angled so that he could see more of her face. It wasn’t her earrings which sparkled now, it was her eyes. He blinked at her. He felt as though there was something caught in his throat. If someone had tried to speak to him then, he wouldn’t have been able to answer. He leaned back in his chair, the whole scene seeming cloudy.

It’s hard to believe it was so easy to get her to go out with me… maybe too easy?, he thought.

Just then Jenna caught his gaze and smiled at him. He looked down and smiled. He was starting to get nervous. He took a moment to collect himself and decided it was time to approach her.

Heechul was about five yards from her, but he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard what someone was saying about Jenna at a nearby table. A chill of embarrassment and fear ran down his body as he realized that he was undoubtedly responsible for the words he heard.

Heechul turned sharply to the table and said “Yah! How can you talk about someone like that when you don’t even know them!”

“Sorry, hyung!” someone said from the table.

“Oh no, you will be sorry if I find out that your drunken talk has turned into a rumor!” he said.

“Aww hyung! It wasn’t us who started it! We heard it from them!” the person said.

Heechul’s expression whitened with the same fear from before, but he maintained the fire in his eyes. “You’re telling me this has already become a rumor?!” he said a little above a whisper.

He began scanning the whole room. He had to find Amber and get to the bottom of this.

Heechul tried to stay calm as he walked around. To his astonishment, he found the rumor everywhere he went. But he couldn’t find Amber. He figured she might be in the restroom so he went towards that direction. As he did, he almost bumped into Taeyang.

“Hyung, how are you?” he bowed, showing his charming eye-smile.

“Good, good. How are you?” Heechul replied while he still looked around.

Taeyang didn’t answer for a moment. Heechul still seemed preoccupied. “Is everything alright?” he asked.

“Yeah, but can you help me find Amber?” he asked.

Taeyang went searching for her immediately.

-----

Amber and Heechul stood facing each other with Taeyang and Minzy next them.

“Ahh. Amber this is awful. It’s just a matter of time before this rumor reaches Jenna, if it hasn’t already,” Heechul said calmly, but something about him still seemed very cold, his eyes were as wide as Siwon’s usually are.

“Oppa, I’m sorry. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I only told Jonghyun and Taemin about it… And that was only because Taemin…” Amber didn’t want to elaborate.

“Because Taemin what?” Heechul said, his attention became laser-like.

“Because he wanted to know more about her…” Amber said.

“Ah! Really?! Those aren’t the kinds of things you casually tell people, Amber!” He raised his voice a little and rubbed his forehead.

“Hyung,” Taeyang said firmly “if you could get Jenna out of here, I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

Heechul looked at them; Minzy nodded. He wasn’t particularly close to Taeyang, but he was willingly to trust him.

“Ok Taeyang-ah, give it your best shot,” Heechul said finally.

“Oppa…” Amber said as Heechul had started to walk away.

“I’m not mad at you. I know it’s not your fault,” Heechul said without turning around.

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JENNA’S point of view

It was hard to miss it, the way people had started to look at me.

At first I thought it was because Taemin was spending too much time with me. I politely tried to excuse myself, but he just wouldn’t quit. It was always “Noona, wait!” or “Noona, what about…?” I started to wonder if he had a crush on me or if he was just really lonely or even just really polite… so I stayed where I was.

The next people to approach me were Heechul and Donghae.

“Jenna, we’re going to get foot massages,” Heechul said as he casually held his  phone in one hand, and hastily reached for me with another.

“What? Now? What happened to socializing and getting to know the idols?” I asked.

“You aren’t going to get any good impressions of people when they’re drunk. Come on, we’ll have more fun together,” Heechul whined as he gently pulled me off my stool.

“Hyung, can I come too?” Taemin asked.

Heechul smiled and ruffled his hair.
“No,” he said simply.

Taemin frowned but didn’t question him.

“Jonghyun is looking for you by the way,” Heechul added before pulling me towards the door. Taemin quickly got up and looked for his hyung.

I got the sense that Heechul was trying to hide whatever was going on here. I thought my leaving like this would make whatever the situation was worse…

“Heechul-sshi, I don’t want to go,” I said. I tried to make sure my physical gestures looked calm to anyone who could be watching.

“Why not?” Heechul asked quickly.

“This is my first time being at a gathering with idols. I think it might help if I stayed,” I said.

“There will be other times, Jenna! Let’s just go,” Heechul said as he started to put his arm around me and lead me towards the exist. I wasn’t going to fight it further. Donghae was about to follow us, when a drunk guy seated closely to us spoke.

“Heechul-ah! I don’t think you should be flirting with the foreign girl! I hear she doesn‘t even like men. You’re wasting your time-” he said.

So this is what everyone has been thinking this whole time? I thought. I looked past the man at everyone else who had heard. Everything seemed to be in slow motion. I got a bad feeling when I looked at Heechul.

“Heechul-ah?!” Heechul repeated with fire in his eyes. “You don’t know me! And you sure as hell don’t know Jenna!” He grabbed the guy’s collar.

Donghae pulled Heechul back “Hyung, don’t be like this.”

Even though the drunk guy looked intimated by the enraged superstar, Heechul didn’t seem like he would back down. Donghae’s actions didn’t have an impact either.

I stood dumbfounded for a second… just the whole situation was unexpected.

I admired the way Heechul was defending me.
But there has to be a way to stop him from doing something rash, I thought.

Before I could give it another thought, I stormed out of the room. “Jenna-sshi!” Donghae called after me.

“Yah!” I heard Heechul a second later.

When I got outside, a security guard looked at me seriously and  began to approach me. He seemed to wonder if I spoke Korean. I was about to open my mouth to speak first, but was turned around by Heechul who put his arms around me.

“Are you ok?” I felt his breath hot close to my ear - he was immediately close to me. How did he always manage to make my heart skip a beat with just one gesture?

At that moment, I sighed in relief. Heechul had left the drunk guy to come after me, just as I had hoped.

“Yes, I’m ok. Are you ok?” I pulled away and looked at him.

He didn’t speak.

“Heechul. I really appreciate the way you stood up for me… but… you didn’t need to get physical with the guy. It’s not worth the trouble.”

“Jenna you don’t understand. You’re going to be in the public’s eye all the time. How can we let these kinds of rumors get spread before you’ve even shown your face on television?”

I smirked. This was coming from a guy who had danced on stage in a dress and kissed more men than I had.

“Why aren’t you taking this seriously?!”

“Isn’t it a little hypocritical for other idols to spread rumors like this? I mean they have to worry about scandals all the time, but when a little rumor pops up about someone else, they’re all up on it. Is it always like this?”

“It’s the alcohol. It’s playing a role tonight, but even then, someone people just don’t realize what they’re doing… But for an idol to spread a rumor… it really depends on the person…,” he looked down.

I poked his arm “How about treating me to a massage now?” I asked.

“Aish,  now this kid listens to me!” He said looking up at the night sky.

“How can you call your girlfriend a ‘kid?!’” I laughed.

“Hyung!” we heard someone calling from the building’s entrance. When Heechul saw Taeyang coming towards us, he quickly pulled out his car keys and told me to wait for him.

It felt like he was a parent and I was the child who was too young to hear a conversation. Despite that, I took the keys and left. I figured he knew more about fame and how to handle these types of things... and at least I knew what was going on now.

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CHANGE IN POINT OF VIEW

“Did you find out anything?” Heechul asked.

“Hyung… the rumor, GaEul started it,” Taeyang said a little out of breath. He had run after Heechul when he had heard about the scene.

“GaEul? … Are you sure?” He asked. Heechul’s thoughts began to surge through his brain even faster as he remembered Donghae once saying GaEul isn’t what she seems.

“Does Donghae know?” Heechul asked.

“You’re the only person I’ve told,” he replied.

“Taeyang-ah, I don’t know how you found this out so quickly, but I owe you one,” Heechul said as Donghae and Amber approached them.

“I don’t know where the rumor will go from here. But thanks to Taeyang, we now know where it started.” Heechul looked at Donghae, “Taeyang says he is sure GaEul started the rumor.”

Now it was time for Donghae’s eyes to widen.

“Oh hyung, that’s right!” he started, “GaEul was rude to Jenna on the first day of practice.”

“What?! Why didn’t you tell me before?” Heechul exclaimed.

“Sorry Hyung, you know we’ve only gotten together today after a long time,” he replied.

Heechul was disturbed by this. Donghae is the kind of member who tells everyone and their mom about every little detail of their lives (literally every member’s mother receives a call from Donghae every week). So how could he have neglected to tell him something like this?

Donghae leaned closer towards Heechul and said, “I didn’t really think too much of it though, because it seemed like Jenna scared GaEul away.”

“Really? How?” everyone said in unison.

“Jenna told GaEul off without even hesitating.”

Yah… the girl really is perfect, Heechul thought.

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When Heechul and Donghae got to his car, Jenna was sleeping in the passenger seat. She didn’t awaken when the two got in because she was wearing earphones. Heechul looked at her for a moment before putting the car into drive.  Something about her looked very pure and it made Heechul restless as he continued to drive.

“Hyung! Stop!” Donghae yelled from the backseat and Heechul stopped the car abruptly. He hadn’t noticed that the stoplight had turned red. He turned to Jenna and found her awake but not alarmed. She blinked and then looked up at Heechul sleepily and smiled.

“We’re still getting massages, right?” she asked as she removed her earbuds and sat up straight.

“Only if you still want to,” Donghae answered from the backseat.

“Yeah… all three of us could probably use them after tonight…” she trailed off.

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During the massage, Jenna looked at Heechul who was lying next to her with his eyes closed. It was hard to believe someone with such a gentle profile could speak as roughly as he did.  

“Why don’t you seem worried about the rumor?” Heechul said without opening his eyes.

Surprised, Jenna looked away.
“I guess I don’t quite believe the damage it could cause.”

“Mhmm,” Heechul said.

“I can’t believe everyone always bothers me about my driving,” Donghae said after a long silence, “Hyung, after what you did on the way over here, I don’t think I can get in a car with you again!”

“Aish, that was nothing compared to your driving. Right, Jenna?” Heechul asked.

Jenna shrugged.
“I should have someone pick me up,” Donghae said.

“Yah! dongsaeng!” Heechul now looked at Donghae, “don’t tell me you’re trying to get Eunhyuk to pick you up.”

Donghae made a sad face.

Jenna started laughing then. All the fanfics she had heard about came to mind. It amused her, the things fans fantasize about.

“Jenna-sshi! Why are you laughing?” Donghae said seeming genuinely hurt.

“Because she thinks it’s ridiculous to call Eunhyuk to pick you up when we’re all going home after this anyway! She’s a smart girl, taking her boyfriend’s side,” Heechul laughed.

“But I’m her dance partner,” Donghae pouted.

Boys, Jenna thought to herself.

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The evening was over, and Heechul was walking  Jenna to her door. The two stopped as she looked for her keys in her purse.

“Ah, found them!” she said cheerfully. The couple stood in the stuffy, dimly light hallway.
Heechul was still surprised at how Jenna had handled all the drama of the night. He enjoyed looking at her smile at such little things. She caught his stare and raised her eyebrows; he inched closer.

“Hyung!” Donghae was suddenly lousily making his way towards them. Jenna wondered if she and Heechul would always get interrupted in such times.

“Aishh. What is it?” Heechul asked.

“I’m hungry. Can we get something to eat?” Donghae asked innocently.

“This kid! You made so much noise just to come and ask me that? You couldn’t have waited until I got back to the parking garage?”

“I got lonely waiting for you… and it’s dark in there! Does it really take that long to say goodnight?”  Donghae said with sad eyes.

“Ok, ok,” Heechul turned to Jenna who was smiling and said “get some rest! You have dance practice again tomorrow!”

Jenna nodded and gently closed the door of her apartment. She thought that both the men were excessively loud.

“Wait Jenna!” Donghae called.  After she opened the door, he handed her her cell phone. “You forgot this in the car.”

“Oh! Thank you so much Donghae-sshi,” Jenna bowed before taking the phone with both hands.

“I… might’ve looked at something on your phone…” Donghae looked down.

“YAH! How can you invade her privacy like that?!” Heechul got even louder.

“No, no! I didn’t do anything weird. I thought it might be Heechul’s phone so I just turned on the screen. I noticed the song she was listening to… it was Hyung’s song, ‘Horn,’” Donghae and Heechul both turned to her.

Jenna was caught off guard by this.

Heechul had a shy smile on his face. He tucked a bit of hair behind his ear and said roughly “Of course, I’m her boyfriend. How can she not listen to my angelic voice?!”
 
Jenna didn’t know how to react to Heechul’s response. She gave a nervous laugh, bid them goodnight, and once again closed her door.

Behind the closed door, Jenna stood for a moment smiling to herself, and trying to compose herself.

“Hyung, what are we going to do about GaEul?” Donghae asked once the men were alone in the hallway.

“I’ll think of something. We can’t let her off that easy for starting that rumor,” Heechul said quickly.

Just then the members heard a door open… they turned around to see Jenna. She had heard what they had said through the door.

“Jen-” Heechul started…

“GaEul is the one who started the rumor?!” Jenna yelled.

Heechul and Donghae didn’t know what to say. The look on Jenna’s face seemed eerie in the lighting… It was almost as if she was an entirely different person.

This time it wasn’t Heechul who had fire in his eyes.