The Call
Seonghoon looked adoringly at his girlfriend, Mina, and smiled. She was talking to Brian and Hwanhee by the window.
He sighed. He was bored and looked around him.
Jaejin was reading a comic book. Jaeduk was poking Soowon and Jiyong was on his cell phone. Jiwon was out macking on some girl. Everybody else was just as busy and his eyes wandered over to Mina again.
He was bored.
She threw her head back and laughed as Brian slapped his kneed and joined Mina, both of them laughed gleefully.
Then an idea sparked in his mind. He grabbed the closest person by him and whispered something into his ear.
Baekkyung pulled away and laughed. “Man! You must be bored shitless!”
Seonghoon scowled at Baekkyung but his short friend’s chuckle deepened and ran off to pass the message to Jinhwan, who went on and delivered it to Danny who in turn passed it to Teddy, which led him to turn to his good friends, Jinu and Sean.
Sean tapped on Sungmo’s shoulder and whispered the ongoing message. Seonghoon watched with curiosity. Why does everybody find it so funny?! Sungmo had this weird look on his face but shrugged it off as Hyori walked past him. He motioned for her to come closer and he murmured softly into her ear.
Hyori threw him a strange look before walking off to her friends, where Juhyun then approached Shoo and told her Hyori’s message.
Shoo regarded Juhyun queerly and surveyed the room. “Boy, are these people retarded!”She found Eugene and Sea, and together the three of them pushed Boa to her feet.
“What’s the big deal?!” Boa yelled, glaring at the girls.
“Gotta tell you this,” Eugene stated and quietly whispered the intended message.
Boa’s eyes grew wide and burst with laughter. “You’re all michuh!” But she goes to Eric and Andy, spreading the word.
Soon Junjin joins the trio and his hooting and hollering drew Minwoo and Dongwan’s attention, who then grabbed Hyesung and dragged the thin boy to join the foursome. All seven of them cackled as Minwoo crashes to the floor with tears streaking his face.
Hyesung blushed as Minwoo ushered him over to Hwanhee, now reading comics with Jaejin. Both readers looked up, surprised. Hyesung leaned forward and softly gave them the memo before disappearing off to regroup with his friends. Hwanhee frowned, no understanding the context of Hyesung’s message. He turned to Jaejin.
“It’s a game. You’re supposed to pass it on,” Jaejin explained, his eyes glued to the source of his interest.
“Oh,” was Hwanhee’s response. He searched for Jaeduk and Soowon. “Hyung!”
The duo was too busy wrestling to realize Hwanhee was calling them. When he appeared before them, they stopped short.
“Hee Hee!” Jaeduk greeted in his squeaky voice. “Wanna play?”
“Uhhh…no. Gotta tell you this though.” The three guys huddled together and Hwanhee secretly revealed the absurd message. “Pass it on.”
Jaeduk sat up, his brows knotted in confusion. “What? How does any of this make sense?”
Hwanhee shrugged. “I’m reading my comics. Laters.”
Jaeduk glanced over to Jiwon who had just entered the lounge and ran over to him. “Hyung!”
Jiwon drew to a halt and stared at Jaeduk. “No instigating. Please.”
Jaeduk ignored the older male and informed him of the crazy message. He smiled and quickly scampered off.
The latter male looked after his hyper friend who went on to pick on Lee Jin and Yuri. Jiwon scoffed and slowly went over to Jiyong who was playing games on his cell phone.
“What’s up, hyung?” Jiyong mumbled, not looking up.
“Nothing much. What’s new?”
“Hmm…”
Then there was silence.
“Hey.”
“Hmm?”
“Did anybody give you a message?” Jiwon inquired, realizing what Jaeduk had passed onto him was part of a game. The wording was weird, but he understood it. To some extent.
“Message? I just checked my voicemail. Did you leave me one?”
Jiwon looked over to Seonghoon. It had to be him. Only he’s silly and bored enough to start dumb little ‘I Love You’ games.
Seonghoon’s eyes met Jiwon’s and realized it didn’t get all around the room. He watched Jiwon nudge Jiyong, which caused him to look up and around. Then Jiwon said something that caused the both of them to laugh. Seonghoon frowned.
Jiyong threw a glance at Mina. “I don’t think she got it yet.”
“Nope, I think we’re the last ones,” Jiwon said. “Haven’t played this shit since kindergarten.”
“Let’s add a little modern touch to it,” Jiyong suggested with a mischievous smile. He dialed Brian’s number and waited.
Brian, still stalking to Mina, was startled to find his cell phone ringing loudly. He took it out of his pocket and inspected the number that showed up on the display. Jiyong? He caught a glimpse of the tall figure with Jiwon that stood against the wall behind Mina. The two of them were eyeing him like hawks.
“What?” he mouthed.
But the pair didn’t make a move. They kept their eyes on Brian and Mina.
“Brian, your phone’s ringing,” Mina said, peering at Brian. “What’s wrong?”
“Huh? Oh…” Brian flipped his phone open. “What?!”
“Listen carefully. Repeat exactly what I say to you to Minana,” Jiyong commanded. He waited and repeated after Jiwon. “Yo! My Love, How Deep is Your Love? Let me Feel Your Love. Nul Rul Sarang Hae (I Love You) For Your Soul, it’s all Good Love. We Fly high to the Sky, Always Together, it’s a Confession, baby. Get up and dance ’cause we’re a Couple!”
Brian’s brows scrunched together as he accepted the retarded jumbo. “Okay…” he exhaled slowly. “There’s a message for you.”
Mina’s eyes drew a question mark. “For me?”
Brian nodded.
“Who is it?”
“I dunno…dunno who’s it from. They said: Yo! My Love, How Deep is Your Love? Let me Feel Your Love! Nul Rul Saranghae For Your Soul, it’s all Good Love. We Fly high to the Sky, Always Together, it’s a Confession, baby. Get up and dance ’cause we’re a Couple!” Brian recited. It was hard but he did it. He quietly waited for Mina’s reaction.
Mina gradually digested the words Brian hurled at her and kept her eyes on him. She tried to make sense of what was said but gave up two seconds into consideration. She shook her head violently. “Gimme that!” She snatched Brian’s phone from him and browsed through his phone records. She tossed the phone back upon recognizing Jiyong’s number. She stormed to the source of her bewilderment. “That was the most fucking retarded shit I’ve ever heard! Just what are you trying to say?!”
All conversations came to a halt as heads turned to Mina’s loud demand.
“I dunno. Blame the retarded shit on him,” Jiyong stated, pointing at Jiwon.
Jiwon looked away immediately and pointed at Jaeduk, who quickly ducked away from the accusing acknowledgement and screamed Hwanhee’s name. then Hwanhee hid behind Jaejin’s comic book as Hyesung and his crew, along with SES and FinKL toppled over in their chairs with laughter. Jo Sungmo glanced around and shrugged. He resumed his thoughts as he turned back to stare out the window while Jinusean smiled at Mina.
Seonghoon wanted to sink to the bottom of the ocean. “You morons! How hard is it to say, ‘Honey, I love you. Happy Birthday’??! Huh?!”
Mina turned to her boyfriend and giggled. “Oh, Hoonie, you’re just too cute to be true.”
Seonghoon growled and dropped into a nearby chair. Mina skipped over to him and draped her arms around his shoulders. She kissed his ears and rested her chin on his big fluff of hair.
“You’re so cute, weird…but cute.”
Seonghoon rolled his eyes and puckered his lips.
“Know what else? This is the funniest, sweetest, and cutest birthday present you ever came up with. Thanks,” Mina said, hugging him tight. “Oh, yeah. You look adorable when you’re mad. Please don’t smile. I prefer you this way.” With that, she skipped away.
Seonghoon sat by himself and looked into a mirror on the wall. Then his phone rang. He took it out and stared at the display.
One new voice message.
He flipped open his cell phone and entered his password.
“Hey, Come On! Don’t Start Now, it’s called Shy Love. I’ll Fly to the Sky with you Now. Don’t be Shy Boy, Say…I Feel Your Love. It’s One Love fueled by Gasoline. No doubt we’re a Couple. Let’s Talchool (Run Away) To Heaven. What I feel for you is Yun Jung (Passionate Love). Four words, honey: Pom Saeng Pom Sa (Live in Form, Die in Form). ’Cause we’re Road Righters, fighting through Reckless Love (Mumo han Sarang). Let’s Celebrate Tonight, Come to Me. Together Forever, you’re my Only One,”
Seonghoon laughed as Mina’s message came to an end and turned to her on the opposite end of the room. She was staring back at him, her eyes twinkling.
She was right. He was weird, but she’s weirder. And all it took was one call from her to make him feel better.
Happy Birthday, Minana.
