Lady Spring

For the following week, Saeun was able to lead a quiet life. The apartment was mostly used by Jaejun, aka Jay, anyway. He was supposedly working on writing songs, but she never heard any instruments from his room. The second oldest, Sehyun, practically lived in the dance studio because he was busy working on the group’s choreography, while Sangone spent much of his time with their manager working on their schedules. 

Wooyoung apparently was shooting a movie nowadays. He told Saeun that this was an investment for his future as well as an expansion of his career. She asked him the title of the movie, but he refused to tell her. 

Besides, it wasn’t like she got to see him often enough to get an answer anyway. Wooyoung frequently stayed out all night, and even when he was home, he looked so tired that Saeun couldn’t prod him for an answer. Whenever he arrived home late, he would go to her room and fall asleep in her arms within seconds. He told her that on the nights he had to work very late, he just went to his parents’ home to sleep because it was closer. 

Was he going to come home tonight? She was told the whole group was shooting something for a TV show together, so maybe they were all going to come home early. When the stew she was making began to boil, she dumped the chopped vegetables into it and continued to daydream.

The rice was all cooked and the stew was almost done. She went to her room to change and when she came out, she heard the front door unlocking. Saeun peeked at the door. She didn’t hear any bustling noises, which must’ve meant that not all the members were returning home together. 

And she was right. It was just Jaejun who walked in quietly. His expression was grumpy, making Saeun wonder how there could be a fan club for such a mean guy. To her, Jaejun looked like a member of the mafia or just a plain killer.  

Jaejun twitched his nose. When he noticed Saeun, he frowned. This was basically his resting “Saeun” face nowadays. 

“You cooked again, didn’t you? I told you to stop, didn’t I? Your food sucks.”

But she didn’t make it for him! She cooked for Wooyoung!

Saeun wanted to scream these thoughts at him, but instead, she just rolled her eyes and looked up and down at him. If Strawberry Fields filmed something for TV, it had to be some kind of a music show or a talk show, but Jaejun was wearing a simple shirt and a pair of loose jeans. Perhaps he changed before returning home.

“Isn’t Wooyoung coming home tonight?”

“He’s busy with some girl.”

When Saeun paled suddenly, Jaejun gave her a mean look.

“Didn’t you know? This is the life of a celebrity. Did you think he wasn’t going to fool around with other girls just because he got one parked here? If you can’t handle something like that, you shouldn’t be dating him.”

She had to listen to this man’s sarcastic comments all week. Every time he saw her, it seemed that Jaejun couldn’t wait to upset her. He wasn’t some immature school boy anymore but a fully grown man, so why did he have to act this way? Just because she was living here for free, did he think he had the right to abuse her like this?! What a joke! Saeun put her hands on her waist and glared at him.

“Wooyoung would never do something like that! If he did, why would he have brought me here in the first place? And even if he was fooling around with other girls, shouldn’t you not talk about him like this behind his back? After all, haven’t you guys been in this same group for the past 10 years? He should be like a brother to you, shouldn’t he? Even if he stabbed someone, a normal loving friend would try to cover for him. So why do you keep making him sound like a bad guy? What’s wrong with you? I can understand that you hate me, but why do you keep doing this to Wooyoung too? You’re over 30 years old now, so why can’t you just grow up?” 1

Jaejun stared at her in shock for a moment before leering. 

“Ha! I thought you’re just a cowardly mouse, but I guess you got some grit. Well, it makes sense. I mean what quiet ‘nice’ girl would ever barge into a house full of men like this?”

“If I had anywhere else to go, I wouldn’t have come here!”

She glared at him and screamed, but Jaejun just shrugged and headed towards his room as he murmured loudly,

“Who knows if you really got hit by your brother? And even if you did, why is that my problem?”

Gosh! If she knew taekwondo, she would’ve kicked him by now. But she was less than half his size, so all Saeun could do was clench her jaws and glare at his back. She felt like she was about to cry.

“I don’t have to explain myself to you… I… It’s not like I want to be here…”

Did he think she wanted to be here? But then… Perhaps she did. If Saeun was in her own home, it was true that her brother was going to show up. But there were ways she could deal with him. She could lock the door and pretend she wasn’t home even if he made a scene. In a way, she might have felt more comfortable in her own home.

But… this was the only place she could see Wooyoung. If she stayed here, Wooyoung would show up from time to time. Besides… Wooyoung told her to stay here. 

Saeun was here because she wanted to be here. So… she supposed she couldn’t argue with Jaejun even if he called her a “crazy fan girl”.

By the way, why wasn’t Wooyoung here? Was he busy? Was… was he really meeting with some other girl?

When she became quiet suddenly, Jaejun turned around to look at her suspiciously. He frowned and asked, 

“What is it? You got something to say to me? Then say it already!”