Rouge

It was all over the news.

He had been sitting in front of his bowl of rice, staring at an unfocused spot on the wall. Until Joon walked in and insisted they watched the news. So they did. It wasn’t the national news, no. Idols as them had little to no concern over that kind of news. They needed to watch idol obsessed programs and gossip channels that were always in the loop of what was happening. And no matter which channel they flipped to, it was there. It was everywhere.

“Lead singer, Yong Junhyung, has been caught cheating on his two year girlfriend Hara, according to local reports.” The woman on screen had that show smile on; the one they reserved for interviews and photoshoots. It was terribly tacky compared to their caliber, however.

“I knew it was going to happen.” Joon seemed to be more than pleased with himself. He was running his hand through his long hair. “He was acting funny when I last saw him.” Seungho grinned with amusement at his friend’s excitement of being right. But the smile faltered. In fact, it fell off his face completely.

The woman on screen disappeared and in place a photo with terrible pixels showed up. “This is, so far, the only picture we have of the woman in question, last seen near a residential area in Seoul.” Her face had been blurred, the camera grabbing her from an uncomfortable angle. She looked as if she were glancing behind her. Too bad she didn’t know they were, in fact, above her.

“Yah, Seungho-hyung, you there?” Joon looked from the screen to his friend, to his food to the fridge. “Aish, forget it.” He stood up and hurried for the fridge. “We have to leave in an hour, and Thunder isn’t even awake.” Seungho looked at his friend and mumbled back a dismissive ‘ne’, before turning his full attention to the t.v. screen.

The photo returned again, this time, capturing the woman from behind. There was no mistaking it. He could recognize that red hair anywhere. It was dull in the photo, and much longer. In fact, the girl he saw outside had shoulder length hair, while the one in the picture had it mid-back.

He put his chopsticks down. “Joon, do you recognize that woman?” For emphasize, he aimed a chopstick at the screen. “The redhead one.”

The younger boy stared at the screen. “No, not really. Do you?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “I heard they were together for almost a month, behind Hara’s back. The nerve of that man.” He served himself left over kimpap. “They say she’s a western. A pretty one.”

There was no mistaking it now. It was most definitely her.

Seungho didn’t know what to make of this. The news wasn’t demanding the girl’s location, or information on her. Joon had only been excited because he had assumed something like this was bound to happen, and the only people that were hunting down the streets were the fans themselves. Nobody needed to know, he supposed. He didn’t know her, and what others didn’t know wouldn’t harm them.

Besides, if he kept being distracted, they’d be late for their interview.



One way or another, she found her way into his thoughts.

Not because of him, though. “What’s your opinion on B2ST’s most recent scandal?” He wanted to glare at the reporter, tell them to stop going through the lives of people who just wanted to be left alone. But he couldn’t do that. He could never, in his whole career, ever do that. So he just smiled.

“I feel terrible for all of Junhyung’s fans, and I believe everything was just a terrible misunderstanding.” But that was a lie, because Hara’s and Junhyung’s breakup had been official. The same day the mysterious western woman left her apartment. The same day he and the rest of MBLAQ’s members got back from the concert.

Much to his relief, Joon commented on his prediction and went on about how he’d suspected this was going to happen. Seungho kept to himself, knowing when to smile and laugh, but not quite thinking over it. He had seen the woman. The redhead that looked tired and carried her things into the apartment. But now that he remembered, she didn’t look tired at all. She looked incredibly sad.

“Seungho-ssi, does any of the MBLAQ members have a girlfriend?” The reporter gave them a well rehearsed grin, but he didn’t seem to acknowledge it either way, expertly giving in return his rehearsed smile.

“We try to keep all our focus on the progress of MBLAQ.” He really was sick of answering questions. He wanted to get in the van and nap, or drop by that delicious café Thunder discovered by accident when he came back alone from a personal photoshoot. Seungho noticed, with great chagrin, that he wanted to be anywhere but there.

He smiled again.

“Is it true that MBLAQ has moved to another apartment complex?” He wondered when the question was going to be brought up.

“We have, actually.” He was treading on thin ice now. “We moved because our schedules demanded us to travel too far, and it was more convenient to move than to drive so far.” But now it was the other way around. He didn’t comment on it any further. The reporter didn’t ask again. From then on, the reporter simply conversed about their concert and what a spectacular show they put on, also commenting on the ‘brilliant comeback of your old hot-hit monalisa.’ They all had to smile at that.

“Thank you for your time.” The reporter bowed quite low. “This is KTV bringing to your home, MBLAQ!” And that was it. The reporter stopped smiling, the boys stopped grinning, and everybody stood up, ready to leave. They had rehearsal in an hour, and after that, they needed to meet up with one of the producers to offer a new album idea. Work, work, work. That was all Seungho was thinking about. But he still couldn’t forget that little trail of red hair he saw that same morning.

“Let’s go, ne?” Thunder and Mir were conversing over something, while the manager herded them out. Seungho suddenly felt heavy inside, but followed regardless. He couldn’t stop thinking of the news and the redheaded girl.

He wondered when the feeling would go away.