For all ChangU shippers out there :) Enjoy!
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Thump, thump. Thump, thump.
IU buried her head under the pillow. She’d been tossing here and there on her bed for almost an hour.
She sighed. She had used up her precious resting time, which she rarely got to spend by sleeping in her comfortable small room, by flooding her mind with things she shouldn’t think about. Things that even though she thought about until her head exploded wouldn’t earn her more resting time between her astoundingly extra tight schedules nowadays. Things that… oh, why should she thought about that?
IU stretched her body, opened up one of her eyes. Her sight fell to her cell phone out sticking out under her pillow. ‘Maybe some music will distract me,’ she thought, but she was wrong. As soon as she touched the display, the petite gadget flashed the picture of her and that person from that occasion.
00—FLASHBACK—00
MC Lee Hwijae positioned Changmin and IU so they stood facing each other. The other Heroes casts couldn’t stop praising them.
“Oh, how pretty…”
“Totally cute!”
“They really match each other, don’t they?”
Lee Hwijae took the bouquet from IU’s hand, and positioned it between IU’s and Changmin’s faces. IU held her smile, waiting for the moment the eyes met.
“One, two, three!”
In instant, as Lee Hwijae moved the bouquet, Changmin gazed straight into IU’s eyes. Still maintaining her smile, IU also locked her eyes on his, looked into his eyes deeper. The corner of Changmin’s lips curled up, his eyes started creating his well-known mismatched formation. In less than five seconds, he cut the eye contact and hung his head low, laughing nervously. IU couldn’t forget the way he looked at that time. Also the one when the photo shoot began. One of the poses inquired Changmin to clutch IU’s hand and pretend as if he’s going to kiss it.
“Changmin-ah, the way you do it, it looks like you’re going to smell it.” the photographer in charge commented.
His grip began to loosen as his whole body shook as result of restraining laughter. For a moment, his feather-like grip felt like being a conductor for some electrical currents poking IU’s nerves. IU swore for a split of second, she saw those mismatched eyes reappeared. For that split of second too, the muscles of her heart seemed like forgetting how to beat.
00—END OF FLASHBACK—00
IU let out heavy breath. It’s not the first time she involved in such situation with male idols. Changmin wasn’t the first. Seulong, Wooyoung, and Lee Joon had been her partners. She had through the phases of jumping up and down when a girl gets too close to a handsome young man idolized by the whole country.
The first time Seulong threw his arms around her in their Nagging performance, IU thought she was spelled the Petreficus Totalus as Hermione once spelled to Neville in Harry Potter—she couldn’t remember the volume. Her vocal cord was almost unable to reach the correct tone without any trembles after in a performance in December Seulong out of blue pulled her into his embrace.
She was almost being immune with the delay of oxygen supply to the earth or any other organs because her heart dropped in nearly all of her Dream High scenes with Wooyoung. She was about to be convinced her legs were made of plastics when she had to do the kissing scene with Wooyoung.
She could described in detail how the heart of a girl would pound crazily when being caught staring a young man, only in wife beater, exercising. About how she’s touched because the young man used her name in a unique way while confessing to her. Though they were all parts of My Heart Beating’s scenes, she had to admit she was totally captivated by his always shining eyes during the shooting. His comical expressions often made him looked like a muscle idiot, but those foolish smiles had never missed to make IU’s heart wanted to escape from its place.
But those men had never made IU lost her beautiful sleeps for weeks. None of them had ever continously filled her head and pushed her to surf the internet only to find her pictures with that man.
Except the tall man with the mismatched smile, who is adored by hundred thousands fans of a boyband with the biggest number of official fanclub members in the world.
00000
“Jieun-ah, don’t forget, all the casts need to gather at the conference room on half hour to go. There’s briefing before the first shooting. Hey, Jieun-ah, you’re listening, aren’t you?”
IU felt her cheeks were poked. She opened her left eyes and saw her coordi Onni shaking her head. “Uh? Yes, Onni?”
“You should be really tired. Go have some more sleeps. But don’t forget the briefing on the next half an hour at the conference room, okay?” she patted IU’s shoulders after packing her things, getting ready to leave IU’s dressing room.
“Uh… where is it, Onni?” she asked, half unconscious.
“At the end of the corridor, on the right. Don’t forget, okay?” Coordi Onni showed the directions.
IU’s left eyes, which was unable to catch coordi Onni’s hand gesture, closed immediately as coordi Onni’s footsteps weren’t heard. ‘Briefing, half an hour to go, at the end of the corridor, on the right,’ she repeated in her head. She managed to set her cell phone alarm to ring twenty minutes later before fell into deep slumber.
Twenty minutes later, her cell phone rang so loudly. IU yawned and stretched her body. She resisted the urge to rub her eyes because she had makeup earlier. She switched off the alarm. After tidying herself, she headed out. She had only reached the door when her cell phone rang again.
“Oh, Onni, I was about to go.”
“You don’t have to, Jieun. The shooting is delayed for an hour, so the briefing is delayed as well.”
“Really? What’s the matter?” IU walked back to the sofa.
“I don’t know, either. Well, it’s good for you since you can continue your rest.”
IU heaved a sigh. Waiting without anything to do make her sleepy again. To get rid of it, she took out her cell phone she put in the hidden pocket on her skirt. As she touched the display, the picture of her and him greeted her.
Thump, thump. Thump, thump.
“Aaargh…” IU growled and rested her head on the sofa. She closed her eyes. “Why do you have to appear in such circumstances?” she said weakly. She silently cursed herself for making it her cell phone wallpaper. She went through her gallery, finding other more appropriate photos as her wallpaper; however, her feelings got even more complicated since she found photos of Yunho, Jiyeon, and Inna in various poses. Yunho picked Jiyeon bridal style, Jiyeon hugged back Yunho, Yunho hugged Inna oh so intimately, and the pose which burnt her heart the most: Yunho and Inna glanced each other like long-time lovers who had just got married, in the position which made them looked as if they’re lying down on the bed, faces only centimeters apart. IU threw her right arm away, trying to discard her cell phone from her sight. She closed her eyes again.
“Changmin Seonbae, um, no, Changmin… Oppa. Can I call you that?” she muttered.
Although they both had the title idol, IU knew exactly they belong to different classes. She was only newly raising young idol. Her album studios hadn’t even reached the number three. While Changmin... A maknae of the group who holds Guinness record as the most photographed people in the world. Having a very good stable career in both Korea and Japan, very famous in almost every part of Asia… Changmin was completely totally different from her. Unreachable.
“Jiyeon was lucky…” she grunted. “Being able to be that close with Yunho Seonbae, throwing arms around him, even he picked her up! Bridal style!” her lips coned. “Why didn’t we get poses as good as them, Oppa?”
IU groaned. It didn’t come to her senses why she couldn’t throw Changmin out of her mind. Could she possibly fall in love with him?
IU shook his head with all her might. How can she? Their closest interaction was only at the photo shoot. Besides that, they did meet when TVXQ performed at Inkigayo, but there were no significance interaction happened.
It would be easier to understand if she fell in love with Seulong. Thanks to Nagging promotion, she became close with Seulong and the other 2AM members. The members treated her as a little sister who needs protection all the time, and there were times when Seulong spoiled her like a princess. If she fell in love with Wooyoung, it wouldn’t surprise anyone, either. The Jason-Pilsuk shippers had always accused that things between Jason and Pilsuk in the script were also existed in real life, and IU had to admit, at times, she could feel Wooyoung treated her the way Jason treated Pilsuk.
‘So, do you fall in love with him?’
IU heard Cheondung’s voice asked her in curious, annoying tone. That best friend of her had been throwing her that question, and the intensity was increasing as she got paired with more male idols more often. Because Cheondung almost regularly called her many times in a week just to shot the question, which had been part of ‘Things which will Make Lee Jieun Lose Temper’ by Park Cheondung, that 8 words-question often chime automatically in her head.
“I don’t know!” IU stomped her feet and hands, creating local noise. “Moreover, who will really know how does it feel to fall in love? In this young of age…” she muttered.
‘But you can’t kick him out of your mind.’
IU nodded, her lips coned again. “Even though I managed to kick him away for a second, the next second his mismatched eyes appeared again in front of me.”
In this world, there are people who easily go to deep slumber once they close their eyes. There are also people who are able to chat with in their sleep talks. They are even able to answer questions as if they’re conscious. IU is one who belonged to both types of people.
00000
Changmin fixed his hat. As the door of the lift opened, someone greeted him.
“Oh, Changmin! What are you doing here? You had shooting or filming here today?”
”Yoon PD.” Changmin bowed. “No. I’m bringing this to Yunho Hyung.” He showed the tiny bag he was carrying. “Do you by any chance know where Hyung is?”
“Fifth floor, room 501. Why doesn’t your manager bring this to him?”
“Ah, actually I volunteered to bring this to him. I happened to have no schedule today, so instead of stuck inside the apartment with nothing to do, maybe it’ll be better if I bring this here.”
“Wow, Yunho and your manager are very lucky to have you.” Yoon PD patted Changmin’s shoulder. Changmin smiled a little.
In fact, Yunho had never asked Changmin to deliver anything. Changmin was frustrated to death being alone in the apartment with no one to disturb. Yunho will not come back before midnight. Minho and other SHINee members were busy with their individual schedules. Kyuhyun was still sick. Changmin had been fed up with all electronic games in the apartment. ‘No fun playing against computer,’ he thought, and he was not in the mood to surf the internet. So, he decided to annoy Yunho before his filming began. He knew his sudden visit would absolutely ruin Yunho’s mood. Yunho is a very organized man; he organizes everything and he dislikes anything out of the plan. Changmin grinned wildly imagining how long Yunho’s speech would be when he reached apartment later. ‘Maybe I need to buy some earplugs before going home.’
Changmin approached a wooden door slowly. After few seconds staring metal plate with numbers next to the door, he turned the knob silently and pushed it carefully.
“Oppa…”
Grin on Changmin’s face vanished completely without any traces. His face transformed into NDI agent mode as in Before U Go music video. He tiptoed to the large sofa which back was facing him. It looked like someone was indeed sleeping, and judging from the posture and hair, it’s absolutely not Yunho. Changmin approached the front of the sofa. He choked realizing who’s sleeping on it. ‘The little girl. How can—‘ He went back to the door and checking the number of the room. He slapped his forehead hard, remembered that the number Yoon PD told him was 501, not 502. ‘What the heck, this is too embarrassing! The Changmin cannot differ 1 and 2!’
“I want to be Inna Onni.” IU’s mumble froze Changmin for a second. He stared at IU who still hadn’t wake up. ‘Does she—‘
“Being Inna Onni has many benefits…” IU continued muttering.
Changmin smirked. This entire time people had been saying they can chat with him because he replies in his sleep talks, but he couldn’t find out how such thing could happen. How can one answer questions if he or she isn’t conscious? And how can someone sleep while being conscious?
Slowly, without making any noise, Changmin sat on the table, exactly facing IU. ‘Maybe this is time for a little experiment.’ He threw away his idea to annoy Yunho. Changmin watched IU carefully. She looked very tired even in her sleeps. Faintly, Changmin could see black circles around IU’s round eyes. He didn’t know why IU slept with coned lips, but for him, that made her looked cuter. His gaze shifted to IU’s cell phone which was going to fall. Her right hand was hanging from the bed, and the tiny, same-cute-as-its -owner gadget was ready to kiss the floor.
“So you are Inna Nuna’s fans?” Changmin started his so called experiment.
“No.” IU shook her head.
Changmin raised one of his brows. “You said earlier you want to be Inna Nuna?” IU nodded continuously. Changmin furrowed; he clearly looked confused. “Why?”
“Because Inna Onni can get hug from Yunho Seonbae.”
Changmin’s heart dropped. ‘Y-Y-Yunho Hyung?’ He looked at her intently, and then heaved a sigh. He lost his interest to experiment further.
‘As usual, everybody always choose Yunho Hyung at the end.’Changmin hung his head low, hurt. Yunho had always been the winner of any pollings about ‘Who is the TVXQ member you want as husband?’ ever since, while Changmin would always be the last rank. However, Changmin didn’t expect IU likes Yunho as well. ‘She did stand behind me at that photo shoot, not behind Hyung. I thought she likes me more than Hyung…’ Changmin recalled what happened at the photo shoot. IU smiled brightly and seemed to enjoy every poses with Changmin. ‘Maybe they were only my illusion.’
“I also want to be photographed like that.” IU grumbled. “But why my poses with Oppa were… so plain?”
Changmin lifted his face, staring at her again. His brows furrowed.
“I want to get hug from Changmin Oppa, too…” she almost whispered, but Changmin’s sharp ears didn’t miss it. As his brain finished translating IU’s words, his body stiffened. His round eyes widened. ‘Why—what—no way—but—‘
“IU,” he called carefully. Before Changmin could continue, IU cut him.
“Jieun.” Her lips coned again. “Why suddenly call me IU? You sounded like stranger, while you practically text me almost every day.”
Changmin startled. ‘Why—oh right, she isn’t conscious. She must have thought I’m someone else. Oh, well…’ Changmin smirked.
“Jieun-ah,” Changmin took a deep breath. “You like Changmin?”
Thump, thump. Thump, thump.
IU silenced for a moment. “Yah, I told you earlier, I don’t know.” IU mumbled.
Curious got Changmin even more. “There’s no way you don’t know… What do you think about Changmin? Is he… your ideal type?” Changmin bit his lip.
IU frowned, thinking hard. “Changmin Oppa… he’s nice and sweet.”
Changmin was slightly disappointed with her standard answer. “Do you often think about him? Nowadays?” he asked further. ‘Oh my goodness, this is pathetically embarrassing!’ He wanted to squeeze his face as he couldn’t stand this discomfiture.
“Mm.” IU nodded in instant. She budged a bit, causing her grip on her cell phone became loose so that tiny gadget must have successfully kissed the floor if Changmin was late a second. Accidentally, he touched the display. He was surprised looking at the picture IU put as wallpaper. He took out his own cell phone and then compared the wallpapers of the two cell phones. They were identically the same. In that picture, Changmin sat on a table, leaned to her as if he was whispering something to IU who was holding a bouquet of flowers. Both of them beamed shyly.
Suddenly Changmin felt his stomach went topsy-turvy. He shifted his gaze to the sleeping figure in front of him. ‘Jieun-ah…’
00000
Voice of gayagum suddenly filled the air, followed by loud, pounding music. IU extended her arms. ‘It sounds like there’s a call.’ Her hands were roaming everywhere, looking for her cell phone. After searching for a while with her hands, which resulted nothing, she decided to open her eyes. As she opened her eyes, she was startled seeing a man sat in front of him, gazing her intently while flashing his sweetest smile. “S-s-seonbae…”
Changmin pulled out IU’s cell phone. “It seems like your Coordi is calling.”
IU accepted her cell phone confusedly. ‘How can he has my—‘ IU went pale in a second. ‘He didn’t see my wallpaper, did he? But there’s no way he didn’t—aaaah, what should I do?’ The little girl panicked. She was so panic that she only stared at her display and let it rang continuously.
“Jieun-ah,” Changmin called softly.
IU lifted her face.
“You are so beautiful. Especially in this photo.” Changmin showed his cell phone display.
IU’s round eyes widened. ‘That picture!’
Changmin patted her cheeks tenderly with both his hands. “Thus, please don’t lose this photo. This photo is a very precious one.” He stood, poked her nose jokingly, and then walked away. Before closing the door, Changmin flashed his trademark mismatched smile to IU.
“Your wallpaper is really remarkable, don’t change it, okay? Because I have the same one.”
Thump, thump. Thump, thump. Thump, thump. Thump, thump.
‘So, do you fall in love with him?’
“Yeah, I think so.”
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