Chapter 22: Drunk on love...
"At last the meeting's over!!! Shall we all go out for dinner together to get to know each other better?" the korean producer said.
"Yeh... That's a good idea!!!" TVXQ's manager Lee said.
All five of us turned and looked at my team leader anxiously. If he said 'Yes', there goes my dinner with Jaejoong... But it would seem to be rude for him to reject though...
"Yes please... Let's have dinner together... Then you guys can introduce us to some proper Korean cuisine... We haven't got time to eat any since we were here..." my team leader replied.
My heart fell. I couldn't help but show some disappointment on my face, I looked down to avoid anyone seeing my facial expression. Including Jaejoong.
"So I take it that everyone's going?" the producer asked.
"Yeh..." TVXQ's manager replied, then he turned to TVXQ, "You guys are okay for dinner right?"
"Yeh... Hyung..." they replied in unison.
"It's settled then... Shall we?" the producer stood up, and everyone started streaming out of the meeting room.
I stood up slowly and watched as the producer, TVXQ's manager and my team leader left the room first, followed by the korean team, my team, and then TVXQ... As I watched them stream out, I realised that the guys were purposely slowing down their pace so that they were walking with me. Max scooted alongside me.
"Nuna... What's happening? So are you going to work with us from now on for this project's filming" Max whispered to me softly.
"I guess so..."
"How come you didn't tell us earlier?"
"I didn't even know until just now..."
"Oh..."
Max looked at me sympathetically.
"Do we have to carry on pretending that we don't know each other?"
"Yes... I think we have to act like new acquaintances... So please don't call me nuna in front of them... Just call me by my name... Like how you address the others in my team..."
"But..."
"You can still call me nuna when we're not in public... It's okay..."
"Okay... But what about Jaejoong-hyung? Won't it be very difficult for him to..."
I looked at Max in despair and looked down as I walked. Frankly speaking, I didn't know what to do about Jaejoong. I think it would be very tough for him. Cos he tends to speak his mind, and act his own way. It'll be hard to force him to carry on the white lie for so many months. I don't know for how long would he be able to take it...
"Max, don't bother Kiki anymore... I think she's already quite flexed over this... Give her some space, okay?" Micky's whisper interupted our conversation. He had slowed down to walk alongside me and Max.
"Okay..." Max replied.
I looked down at the feet in front of me. And noticed Jaejoong was walking directly in front of me, with U-Know and Xiah beside him. My eyes moved up from his feet to his back. U-Know and Xiah had their arms over his shoulders and were whispering something to him.
"Hyung... You have to stay focused okay... Don't let this get to you... We'll be behind you... But you need to keep Kiki a secret for now... We can't let our manager know about her now... Or else we'll all get in trouble... Including her... And her team..." U-Know said, as he patted Jaejoong on his shoulder.
"Yeh hyung... You know our manager... He'll just pull out from the project, or worse... make things difficult for her on-set... To make her leave the project by herself..." Xiah added.
"I know what I need to do... But it's hard..."
"We all know it's hard for you... We're not having a good time pretending not to know her at all too... But it's all for the greater good..."
"I know..."
Jaejoong turned back and looked at me. His face had a look of despair and pain. I looked at him and gave a forced smile. He turned back and walked on with U-Know and Xiah.
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At the restaurant...
The table was a long rectangular table, and we all sat in pairs opposite each other. Jaejoong had conveniently sat himself down opposite me, Max and Micky said beside me, while Xiah and U-Know said beside Jaejoong. The producer, TVXQ's manager and my team leader sat together with the other team members, since they went into the restaurant first.
Being typical Koreans, they ordered a lot of alcohol during the dinner. And everyone were getting drunk. Except me, cos I was spared as I was the only female in the entire team. Even TVXQ were not spared.
As the team were almost all drunk, I was the only one still conscious in the dining room. I was a bit worried about how I was going to get so many people back home in their drunken stupor. I shook Micky and Max who had fallen face down onto the table from drinking all the alcohol.
"Micky-ssi... Max-ssi... Wake up... Guys.... Wake up..."
They were dead to the world. I looked up at Jaejoong. He was still drinking.
"Jaejoong-ssi, you'd better stop drinking already... You're going to get drunk too..."
I reached my hand over to grab the cup from him. He flung my hand away.
"Let me drink..."
"Jaejoong-ssi!!!"
He carried on drinking. I got up from my seat and walked over to his side of the table. I tried to grab the cup from him again. But again, he flung away my hand.
"Jaejoong-ssi, you'd better stop drinking..."
"Just let me drink..."
I was infuriated. I didn't like the Jaejoong that was drinking himself to a drunken stupor.
"If you carry on drinking, I'm going to leave all of you here by yourselves... I don't care anymore..."
He was still drinking. So I stormed out from the dining room, all the way out of the restaurant.
"Why is it that men always have to drink themselves until such a horrible state? They know they'll get a blasting headache from the hangover tomorrow. And it's so bad for health..." I thought to myself, as I paced up and down the entrance of the restaurant.
The door of the restaurant opened noisily, and a drunk Jaejoong staggered as he struggled to walk out of the restaurant. I looked at him as he walked towards me. Angry with the way he had gotten himself so drunk, I turned my back and started walking away from him.
"Kiki... Kiki... Wait for me..."
I ignored him and continued walking away from him. Jaejoong was annoyed, he struggled to give chase to catch up with me, but his limps were not listening to him in his drunken state, and he tripped and fell.
I carried on walking for a while, until I stopped hearing Jaejoong's calls, and I felt strange and turned back to take a look. Then I saw that he had collapsed onto the ground. I ran back to him and tried to pull him up from the ground.
"Jaejoong, are you okay? Are you hurt? Can you get up?"
He looked at me in his drunken state. And he tried to pull himself up from the ground with my help, but ended up pulling me down together with him onto the ground.
I landed on him, so immediately I tried to pull myself up and to help him back up.
"Jaejoong... Can you get up? Are you okay?" I asked worriedly.
He looked at me as I attempted with all my might to pull him up again. His hand reached for my face. When his hand touched my face, I looked at him in surprise. I was too engrossed with helping him up to realise that he was looking at me.
"Jaejoong? Are you conscious? Or are you drunk?"
He looked at me and smiled, "I'm drunk... But not from alcohol..."
"Huh?" I asked blurly.
"I'm drunk... from loving you..."
He leaned nearer to me. I backed away.
"Jaejoong... We're out in the public... You can't..."
"CAN'T CAN'T CAN'T!!!! WHAT CAN WE DO IN PUBLIC?!!!" He shouted and waved his hands around drunkenly.
"Jaejoong... Lower your voice... you don't want everyone to look at us..."
"LET THEM LOOK IF THEY WANT!!! I DON'T CARE!!!"
"Jaejoong!!! If you continue like this, I'm going to walk off and leave you here by yourself..."
I got up.
"KAJIMA!!! DON'T LEAVE!!! Don't leave me..."
He grabbed my arm and pushed himself up with all his might to a standing position behind me. He struggled to stand in front of me, and grabbed me by my shoulders.
"Kajima... Don't... leave.... me... please... I can't..."
He stared at me with a pleading look in his watery eyes.
"Jaejoong... I'm only saying that I'm leaving the drunken you here... I'm not..." I tried to explain to him.
And he collapsed into my arms from his drunken stupor. I struggled, as I could hardly hold him up in a standing position. I struggled to help him to a nearby bench and after I sat down, he lied his head onto my lap.
"Jaejoong... You can't do this... We're in public!!! Jaejoong!!!"
I tried to pull him to sit upright. But he turned and grabbed me around my waist instead.
"Kajima... Don't.... leave.... me... I... can't... live.... without... you..." he murmured in his drunken stupor.
When I heard what he murmured, I released my hands from his, and tears started building in my eyes.
