#fmdstarter

It was getting late and Malee was tired. Although she felt elated after the fan meets , she had to come back to reality now. The reality where she couldn't go home because those sasaengs might be waiting for her, ready to throw anything they could because she was 'prying on their oppa'.

It wasn't always like this. Things had changed crazily since the We Got Married since people starting pointing that perhaps they were too close to be on that show. And no matter how many times she said it, people - mostly, his crazy ass fans - kept saying that she was lying whenever she said that they were just good friends. And then there was the scandal. It was so unexpected that she didn't know what to do. She had to stop going to med school, had to stop seeing her friends because of what happened. She promised herself she wasn't going to involve herself with him again yet pictures of her leaving the actor apartment surfaced.  They were old, from two years ago, yet it wasn't enough to dismiss the fact that she wasn't getting involved with a married man.

Now she couldn't even get her family's framed photograph that had always been on top of her table. Malee knew there was no point in crying since it wouldn't change anything so she took a deep breath and turned on the bedside lamp when she heard a knock on the door. "- Oh, Namjoon-ssi..." she smiled, weakly. She was immensely thankful for Namjoon offering his place for her to hide from the sasaengs that were waiting angrily in front of her building, she knew that tomorrow they would leave because it was mostly enraged 16 years old, and teenagers have school to attend. "- Thanks... again," she probably said thank you at least 23 times already. Even if the other Lipstick members offered her a place, it was in the same building so it wasn't going to change much. Actually, she was scared of harming the other girls instead so she decided to rely on something she promised herself to only rely on very strict situations: her lost puppy face. And poor Namjoon was there when she left a pout and looked misplaced in the company, almost letting out a sob. She felt guilty. Almost. She could feel more guilty if it wasn't a really hard situation, but she was scared of sasaengs and their extreme attitudes. She still can't forget the day one of them slapped Nara just because she stood in front of one of the Knight's members. "- If you're checking me again, I'll repeat: I'm fine. It's not like the rumors are getting on me anyway," she said."besides they're all lies. I'm not going out with him...again. I learned my lesson the last time, no more getting involved with married guys." The redhead shifted her eyes from him to glance at the ceiling.

“I wish I was home", She said miserably. She tried so hard to be brave, to be fierce as a wolverine and all, but some times she felt she was a little girl.

Maybe none of the people judging and criticizing her realized that even if she was in the kpop scenario for more then five years ,  she was still only 20, she was bounded to make mistakes - she's still learning how to be a grown up.

It was faded to be a strange encounter, he thought. When he received the proposition of being one of the MC's for the latest award show, he knew something was wrong when the staff asked him to meet his female counterpart prior the award show in order to create some sort of bounding or chemistry.

What they thought they were? That they would perform some sort of sexy dance while announcing the winners? Maybe... very likely. The reason they picked him, according to his manager, was his popularity among the female audience, so perhaps this person was also popular but among the male audience?

His thoughts were cut short when a cup filled with overly sweet americano and a slice of toast along some strawberries were brought to the table.Bowing towards the waitress, he smiled."

“-Gomabseubnida." The air was thick with the scent of coffee and although he drinks in the aroma like everyone else before taking a sip, his vice was yelling for him to cut the crap and just drink the damn coffee all at once,'.He was too entertained with his food to notice the exact moment the girl sat in front of him, but the moment he lay his eyes upon her he simply opened a gallant smile.

"- Hwan-yeong...Eunhee-ssi?" he was pretty awful with names."-Mannaseo bangabseubnida, I'm Mark. I believe we are going to work together for the next couple of days. "

           Beyond the horizon, the sun illuminated the shimmering haze of pollution. In the far distance, the silhouette of the skyline pierced through the warm glow like a jagged mountain ridge. Millions of lights caused the dense mass of skyscrapers glitter. People were needle points and cars were blood cells flowing through the veins of the city. Despite the time, the hustle and bustle never came to a halt. They were all tired, almost nine hours spent working, rehearsing lines, changing clothes and of course, bearing with the shivering cold.

"-And it's a wrap for today everybody, good job on the set." A collective sigh of relief made it's presence, Mark could see the make up and styling coordinators stretching their long bodies and his co-worker happily followed him trough the building. Mark couldn't Help but notice how much the shorter girl bounced with a smile on her face.

"- What? You're hooping like a bunny since we sat on the chair for the makeup. It's making me a bit worried that my co-lead is an airhead." He raised one eyebrow towards the girl that only bit her lip with joy.

"-Mark-ssi, do you have any plans for tonight?" His ears were listening to her words but his eyes fixated on the mobile on his hand, a chuckle escaped from his lips when he saw the headlines.

ORIGIN: LIVE TOUR   Today, 8:00 pm at the Memorial Hall.

"-Mark-ssi?" the boy blinked a few times, realizing that he was too lost on the prospects of what could happen instead on the girl next to him.

"-I'm sorry," He opened a smile that just seems so genuinely sweet with just the right touch of shyness, filled with unexpected warmth and daring, the typical smile that made hearts flutter and cheeks blush. Good thing that his co-lead was so used to that smile from their romantic scenes, or else she would be smitten by it, like the majority of the people."I admit I wasn't listening to your sayings before, my mind was elsewhere. What were you saying?"

"-I was asking if you want to keep me company today? I know it doesn't mean much for you but I was invited to attend an event but my date has some nasty diarrhea, so that means that I'll have to go alone and I really don't want that!" She pouted and he smirked.

"-What kind of event it is?"

"-It's a press conference for the new St.Laurent's shop. Anyway, I was wandering if you want to join me? Sucks to be alone."

Mark's grin softened the room, as if his pleasing lips could make the building more brighter. She could be his noona but that didn't stop him to stroke her head as if she was some sort of lost puppy."-I'm truly sorry but I think you have to relay on yourself this time. I have some last hour plans to do."

"-Really?" she had a long face but knowing her personality from all these days working together, he knew she wouldn't try to pry more. One of the things he enjoyed about working with her was how much she respected the silence. He nodded and waved before saying goodbye, leaving the building and heading towards his car. A man driving was sure manly, but he preferred the comfort of the backseat while someone else drove for him.

"-Hyung, in our way back can you stop on that chocolate shop we saw earlier?" The driver nodded and turned the radio on, the music fading the lights from the city reflected on his window, his eyes taking in every single moment of it.

             A long overcoat in the a navy blue color, the rich fabric already making it very clear that it wasn't some ordinary piece of clothing: the shade of blue that could only fit a few and luckily, Mark was among them. The place was crowded and he knew very well the feeling: the screaming teenagers, the crying girls and their mothers, the crazy fans yelling 'Oppa!Oppa!'. It was annoying - of course, he would never think that way when the subject were his Supernovas whom he dearly cared about,but attending someone else concert was a big - and excuse the language - pain in the ass. Even the backstage was a crazyness of sasaengs trying to pass trough the security while Mark tried to survive by walking smoothly on the floor, his best to prevent the chocolate box from falling.

For his own safety, the staff requested him to wear a dark mask and a cap - it was demented enough without a Hallyu Star meddling with the crowd, the moment they found out whom he was it would be chaos.

"- Mark-ssi!" he turned his head to see a very pretty face, adorned with some red lipstic and thick framed glasses. "- Annyeon! I'm Park Gal Eh, we talked on the phone." she smiled towards him and gently helped him to understand what was going on."- I apologize, we had some problems before and things got a bit out of control here, I hope you aren't afraid of the situation."

"- Not at all Gal Eh-ssi! Don't forget that I know these things too well."

"- Mark-ssi, you're as charming as the rumors surrounding you. The VIP section is that way and..." she searched something on the box near them, grabbing the dark blue lightstick, earning a muffled chuckle from the young man."-It's filled with fans there, if you don't appear with one of these they might try to shove you away."

              He looked ridiculous with that lighstick, waving it back and forth, but he couldn’t help but laugh at his own wacky reactions. Yes, he yelled like a little girl when the curtains fell down and during MJ’s solo,  the corners of his mouth turned up in a shallow smirk. Ah! It had been a while since he saw Minjae-yah! Their friendship was very unlikable to happen but somehow they made it work. He was tough and chic on the outside but whenever they were alone, Minjae became a fluffy cat that needed lots of cuddles, at least under Mark’s light brown eyes.  And damn, he missed those cuddles! He didn’t saw the younger boy since the year’s end festivals, too absorbed with his first lead role in a drama and worried of eventually messing everything up.  But destiny played it tools right sometimes, and their encounter was so near he could almost sense his smell. He probably couldn’t see Mark, but it was alright, that didn’t stop him to sing from the top of his lungs the next song.

                                The show ended, fans were crying, the staff was exhausted and Mark was on the backstage once again. He could see the younger boy with his back turned to him and using his best aegyo voice, just said.

“-Oppa! Please sign my lightstick for me!!Saranghae oppa!”  That bastard, he thought. ‘That bastard is better to be nice to me’.  When he finally turned, he put his empty hand around the boy’s neck and gave a small peak on his forehead, the other other holding tightly both the box filled with chocolates and the heavy lightstick.”- You did well, son.” It didn’t matter that Minjae’s body was full of sweat and exhausted, it just felt right to be there with his friend once again. 

Was there anything better than sitting on a Saturday night, alone, with all the lights off, a huge bowl of buttered popcorn on her lap and Star Wars just about to start? Well, for Malee that was the epic of all sort of epic Saturday nights. The maknae has two moods, just two. Today her button is set to "good." That means nothing can go wrong, everyone is lovely and only the most optimistic of forecasts will do. It is irritating, but the alternative is so bad she'd want to donate her ears to charity. She’d bite the edge of a smile when she got a funny idea in her head, a vain attempt to keep her creeping grin at bay. The intention behind her perking lips wasn’t something that could easily be ensured. It was rather better to be insured and hope for the best and even if her apartment was a mess - the marble walls covered with colorful post its with random words, her self-writing showing on its pink, blue, yellow and neon green papers - and she didn't had more than a few beers in the fridge along with some cat food, water and a few chips, but she didn't need much to entertain her guest, did she?

"- What?" she raised one eyebrow when she noticed the other one in the middle of her big living room. “- You're thinking about something, and it makes you forget to talk..Oh...it's big, isn't it?" she referred to her apartment." Guess CEO-nim realized how much of a shitty person he was back with us when we debuted and he gave me this as some sort of consolation prize. Don't worry, you'll get yours too soon. But I must warn that living alone is...well...lonely." and that's why she invited Elias to watch a few movies with her. Because it was a lonely place - too big, too dark, too quiet.

"-Nara almost lives here but I don't want to annoy her and force her to watch Star Wars with me, y'know? I mean...I have you to do that."  Walking towards the fridge she grabbed one bottle of beer for herself and one coke for the younger boy.”- I should probably be the bad influence type of sunbae but I don’t want to get you in trouble so I’m lucky I have some of these here.”.

@fmdeli