4 – Silence Before the Storm

After the music ended, Stephanie plopped onto the ground of the rehearsal room’s floor. Pain was all she felt right now. She was cupping her hand over her shoulder, pushing into her sore muscles. The awkward position she was working in was not helping at all. Frustrated, she threw down a towel she was carrying and started stretching.

“I really wish Micky was here so he could give me a massage…” She thought.

Micky was with the rest of TVXQ in Japan right now, promoting a new single. Although it wasn’t far and she knew he’d be back soon, it was a little saddening because she was starting to grow attached to him. Every night they would talk on the phone until they were close to falling asleep. Every day they would go have lunch together in the cafeteria of the practice building. They would even send each other cute little text messages. She was starting to really like him…

Stephanie thought about it for a while until the pain shot her back into “reality”.

“Ah! This hurrrttssss~” she whined.

Just as she said that, Kibum poked his head into the room. He saw Stephanie sitting on the ground, her arm wrapped in front of her as she tried to massage her own shoulders.

“You know…that never, ever works.” Kibum laughed as he walked in.

Stephanie glared at him. She was going to throw her towel, but then she got an idea.

“Kibum ~~~~” She said in a cutesy voice. “Will you give me a massage?”

His eyes seemed to widen a bit as he thought it over. He figured it would be a good chance to get to talk to her, since Micky wasn’t around, but in his mind it was feeling a little awkward.

Stephanie kept trying to massage it as Kibum just stood there, blankly.

“…Or not.” She seemed to whisper, feeling a little disappointed.

“Oh…uh…sorry. Sure.” He said awkwardly, walking behind her.

Kibum sat down behind her and gently moved her hair out of the way. He slowly started pushing his thumbs into the exposed skin on her upper back, making circular motions into her muscles. Her skin was cool to the touch, something refreshing that he hadn’t experienced often outside of dramas and photo shoots.

Stephanie instantly felt relief. She closed her eyes and relaxed her body, allowing Kibum to work out the kinks. Every so often, he would hit one spot that made her wince. The massage continued for about 15 minutes until Kibum gave up.

“My fingers….hurt….” He said painfully as he rubbed the joint of his thumb.

Stephanie lifted her legs and used her hands to spin around on her bum. She faced him and smiled.

“Thank you! That was good. I feel a lot better now.” She said, leaning over and giving him a hug. She stood up again and stretched her legs a little. She smiled as she looked back over to him. He was getting up to leave, so she ran over and grabbed onto his arm playfully.

“Stay here! I want to show you a new dance I’ve been working on.” She said, pulling him.

Kibum took a seat up against the mirrors in the front of the room and watched.

Stephanie went over to the boom box and turned the dance track on. She walked into place and then started dancing. Even though Kibum had seen her dance many times before, she never ceased to amaze him. Every time he saw her dance, she always seemed to have a new flame burning inside of her. Kibum could do nothing because he was entranced by the way she was moving her body around. It was so rhythmically fluid and she made it look so easy. As the song wrapped up, he started clapping.

“You never fail to amaze me!” He said, getting up from the ground.

Stephanie patted the towel on her face, wiping off the sweat that accumulated from her dancing. She smiled as Kibum praised her and thanked him endlessly. The chatted for a little bit, just talking about irrelevant things and stories of their past when Stephanie’s stomach growled loudly. She realized that she hadn’t eaten anything since dinner last night and it was nearing 4PM. She laughed it off but Kibum took this as another opportunity to spend more time with her.

“Do you want to go grab something to eat? We can go to that beef shop a couple blocks down. Or anywhere, I don’t care.” He smiled.

Stephanie thought about it. She smiled at him and nodded. “Sure. Can I go take a shower first though? I don’t want to smell nasty while we’re out.” She laughed.

Kibum nodded. “Sure. I’ll meet you in the lobby in…30 minutes?” He questioned.

“Sounds good.” She replied.

Stephanie grabbed all of her belongings and headed to her room. When she got there, Dana and Sunday were sprawled out Dana’s bed, watching a movie on Sunday’s portable DVD player. Stephanie set her stuff down on her bed and grabbed some clothes and a towel from her closet.

“Where’s Lina?” Stephanie asked as she walked towards the bathroom. She hadn’t seen her in a while.

“Her and Kang In are off on another date. It seems like they really hit it off after we went to Noraebang. They’re even worse than you and Micky.” Dana replied. “I just wish my Kibummie would take me out somewhere.” She said, daydreaming of the relationship that she’d gotten the wrong idea about.

Stephanie shrugged it off and walked into the bathroom. She closed the door and locked it behind her. The water sputtered as she turned it on and she stood there, holding her hand under the water until it got warm enough. She undressed and stepped in, immediately soaking her hair. She stood there, letting the warm water hit her back as she just took a second to breathe and relax. She wasn’t really stressing, it was just that things kept happening so fast and when she got alone time, all she really did was sit or stand there, letting her mind go blank. It could become a little bothersome at times, but she wasn’t going to complain because she was thoroughly enjoying herself.

Stephanie lathered her hair with shampoo and rinsed it out. She repeated with conditioner, but left it in as she grabbed her loofa and squeezed some kind of fancy named silk body wash onto it. She scrubbed down her body and then stood back under the water. After she rinsed off all the soap and conditioner, she turned off the water and grabbed her towel as she stepped out.

She dried off and wrapped the towel around her torso as she straightened out her outfit. After she brushed her teeth, Stephanie put her clothes on and began working on her hair. She ran out real fast and checked her clock as she was brushing her hair. She was still good for another 10 minutes. As she was walking back in, her foot hit some water that she had tracked from the shower and she lost her balance. Both feet flew from under her and she landed smack on her bum. She yelped as she landed. Sunday and Dana both saw it all happen and started busted up laughing. Stephanie stood up, holding her backside. She had a contorted look of pain on her face.

“Owww….” She whined. She looked in the mirror and almost felt like crying when she saw herself. Her entire backside was covered in water. She huffed as she went back into the main room and grabbed another outfit. While she was changing, she started laughing because she was thinking of how Kibum would act he she asked him to give her a massage now.

“He’d probably freak out” She joked in her head.

When she was completely finished, she walked out, said her goodbyes as she grabbed her stuff. Her heels clicked as she rushed down the hallways to meet with Kibum. As she rounded the corner, he was there, waiting patiently. Stephanie rushed up, probably looking a little flustered.

“I’m REALLY sorry! I fell in the shower and ruined my outfit and all this stuff but yeah, I ‘m still alive!” She said quickly.

Kibum laughed. “Its ok…you’re not late.” He said, pointing to the clock.

Stephanie sighed and pulled his arm, rushing him along. She just wanted to get out of the building for now.

As they walked, they talked and laughed. When they got to the restaurant, Stephanie’s stomach did the talking as she ordered her food. They talked some more as they waited for the food to arrive. During this time, they were really starting to open up to each other. Not that they hadn’t wanted to or they felt forced into it, just that everyone had seemed really busy lately. It was nice to get to know someone other than her band mates and boyfriend.

When their food arrived, Stephanie started laughing. Her food towered over Kibum’s.

“Are you…really going to eat all that?” Kibum questioned, his brain trying to compute this petite girl eating all that food.

“Haha…Maybe. I am pretty hungry~” She smiled.

Stephanie ended up only eating half of it. She got the rest to go and waited while Kibum finished his food. While he was eating, she dug threw her purse.

“Where is my money?” She thought as she kept frantically digging.

Kibum noticed that Stephanie was freaking out a little bit and he laughed a little bit.

“Are you ok?” He asked

“Yeah…I just….can’t find my money.” She said, looking rather disappointed.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll pay.” Kibum reassured her.

“What!? No! You’re not paying for me!”

“I said don’t worry about it. This place isn’t that expensive.”

“………..Fine…..” She pouted. “Thank you….”

Kibum finished his food and then paid the man behind the counter. On the way home, Kibum decided to express his curiosity.

“So…what is it about Micky that you like?” He asked.

“Why, is there something wrong with him?” Stephanie questioned, thinking of the worst.

“No no…I’m just curious.”

“Oh…well….He’s nice. He seems like a really caring guy. He is funny…and not to mention he’s pretty cute.”

“I see. That’s cool. Well…you guys look good together.”

“Really? Thanks…”

Their conversation wrapped up as they neared the SM building. When they walked inside, there were barely any people around. Kibum looked at the ground.

“Alright…well…thanks for the fun afternoon. I’ll…see ya later?”

“Sure. Thanks for dinner! It was really good.” Stephanie said cheerily.

“Ok. Bye!” Kibum waved as he walked off. Stephanie waved back and walked down her hallway.

As Kibum rounded the first corner, he bumped into Ryeowook.

“Oh, sorry!” He apologized. Not seeing anything wrong, he kept walking to his room.

Ryeowook flipped open his cell phone and his fingers flew. He was sending a text.

To: Micky
From: Ryeowook
Oh boy, have I got news for you when you get back…

Ryeowook closed his phone and smiled as he walked back down the hallway he came from.

To be continued…