The third ballad (Kingdom's Louis Fanficiton)

12 - Talks about tongues

Charlie sent me that "Are you kidding me?"-look as she spotted me. She sighed, shook her head and whispered to me: "We're gonna talk later", before she grabbed Yunho's arm and dragged him to the styling chairs. She had everything under perfect control. Her team knew exactly what they had to do, who was in charge for which member etc. She had made clear that she wanted to take care of Yunho personally since his styling would take the most detail. I shrugged, dropped myself on the couch and watched them with droppy eyes. Not long after, Miri came in, walking straight towards me, a box in her hand. "You really are something", she sighed instead of a greeting. "Morning", I sniffed. "Charlie told me you look like crap – her words, not mine, but I agree – and I got a bit of stuff before coming here. You owe us", she concluded and started to unpack. Only five minutes later, I was tucked into a fluffy blanket, a pillow rested under my head and my hands held a cup of hot soup. I couldn't even protest. "Thank you", I mumbled. "You shouldn't come to work when you're sick", she scolded me. I raised an eyebrow. "Do I look like I am working?", I asked sarcastically. She gave me a firm look. "Sorry", I mumbled, "I just didn't want to be alone the whole day." Miri sighed. "Okay, I get that", she gave in, "But don't you dare doing only one productive thing today. You need to rest, understood?" I nodded plainly and took a sip from the soup. "Good, I'll keep an eye on you", she said before hurrying over to the manager.

I was dozing off as I felt someone sitting down next to me. I opened one eye and spotted Charlie. "So", she said, realizing I wasn't asleep, "Was it at least worth it?" I sat up and raised an eyebrow. She chuckled. "You are tired, suddenly sick when you weren't yesterday, you had been out with your neighbours as far as I remember and it rained at night. Come on, I am not dumb. Was the night worth getting sick?", she asked again. "Oh that", I answered and yawned, "It was worth it." She grinned teasingly and I shook my head. "Not that kind of worth it", I explained, "More like... I had a long talk and finally resolved something that was bothering me." Charlie tilted her head. "I see", she then said, "That's also important." While leaning back, she added: "People should talk more." I nodded. "How come Dongsik isn't sick? Didn't he give you his jacket?" I looked at her in surprise, making her laugh softly. "Not stupid, remember? There is no person who will see idols that up close regularly as their stylist and he is quite tired too", she smiled at me. I blushed. "Oh, don't worry, I won't tell anyone. It was obvious you two were being tense around each other, so I guess that's the thing settled now. Nothing else is important, is it?", she said and nudged me. "Thanks", I mumbled, "For everything." "Don't mention it", she answered.

We watched the shooting go on as I suddenly had to laugh. She looked at me confused. "You know", I said, "I always knew my cousin had this, but lately I came to find Yunho does the same. Do you realize that they both have a real problem with keeping their tongues in their mouths?" Charlie grinned. "It's not like it wouldn't fit in there, is it?", I went on. "Well, if that would be case Yunho could also keep his tongue in my mouth", she suddenly mumbled and I looked at her surprised before a big grin spread on my face. "So, you like Yunho, huh?", I asked her. "What if?", she gave back casually. I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess I'd be happy for you", I answered honestly. She grinned. "That's good", she said, "After all, Yunho and you are quite close. I wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable or anything about it." "About what?", we heard another voice next to us. Yunho. Of course. "Uhm...", I stuttered. Charlie sent me a short, nervous look. "About...", I tried to find a good reason. It was clear that Charlie wasn't of any help right now. She must be really into him, being so unsure all of a sudden. From the first meeting on I felt that she was rather confident. And now she was a nervous mess. Somehow, I found it pretty cute. And it helped me deciding. "Yunho, I think you need a touch-up for your make-up", I smiled innocently. Charlie's eyes grew bigger. "Come on, Charlie, go and take care of it", I went on. She shook her head slightly. I guess we both knew that Yunho wouldn't stop asking. "Go ahead", I whispered to her, "It won't get any better like this. And after all, weren't you the one telling me that people should talk to each other more often?" She glared at me. "Maybe I indeed need a touch-up", Yunho intervened and gently put his hand on Charlie's back. "Would you help me?", he asked and Charlie blushed. However, she got herself back together and almost jumped up, making Yunho flinch. "Okay, let's go then", she said and rushed towards the styling room. Yunho sent me a last confused look, but I rushed him to follow her. Then I leaned back and watched them leave with a big grin. I was dying to know how the discussion would go. I trusted Charlie enough to not talk about it if she wasn't ready yet. She was quite firm when needed and not even Yunho could persuade her otherwise. But on the other hand... Yunho was unusually obedient around her.