"Hey, what's up?" asked Amber plonking herself on the sofa beside Eric who was on computer. He looked like he always did, except his hair stood up in an untidy mess; dark bags framed his listless eye and early signs of a beard appeared on his chin.
"A present," she chimed cheerfully. She had frozen, vacuum-packed and carried him a packet of his favourite spicy pork ribs all the way from a special stall in Korea.
Eric flashed her a fake smile and typed in his answer into his computer. A synthesized voice answered, "Just hanging....by a thin thread that is. Nah, I'm joking I'm good."
She scanned the room and said, "I see you've unpacked."
"Yup," said the emotionless voice from his computer, "My PTS counselor said that I should say close to home until my voice returned. Good thing my lease in Seoul was coming to an end anyway." He slurped up the juices dripping off the ribs with relish.
She picked up the Thank-you cards on his writing desk. The first one was for being an honorary ambassador for the 2018 Pyeong Chang Winter Olympics. He had loved the Olympics ever since I was little. Whenever the Olympics came along, he would gather with friends in front of the TV every day and watch every competition. The next card was from the "Dream With Ensemble" which is the first clarinet ensemble in Korea whose members are all youths with developmental disabilities. Eric watched them when they appeared in the KBS documentary "Mom and Clarinet" and requested a collaboration.
Eric watched her from the corner of is eye while eating. His eyes gestured that she pick up the card on his sideboard. She recognized Jame's writing immediately. Reading the two page letter in it, one paragraph moved her deeply. James wrote, "When I first started in K-pop the huge amount of make up we had to wear threw me, I'm sure you know what I mean. Then the whole androgyny, synthesized music and sharp choreography were all pretty alien to me. I learnt adjusted and got through it as the Royal Pirates gained fans. Think of your recovery in the same terms--doing stuff that throws you and feels alien at first will pay off in the end. Just like it takes different skills and new mindsets to succeed in America and Korea, it will take a new approach to living without your most treasured part of your identity. I've learnt the hard way that life has a way of throwing a wrench in all our plans but we find new dreams in the process. If I can come out the other side so can you my friend." The deep, deep love that they shared was turning her insides into mush.
Amber blinked away the tears and smiled into Eric's watchful gaze. After nearly ten years of being in the industry and people still said in articles about her, "She's hard, she's strong, she's so brave." The reality was she was really scared of everything and very, very emotional and extremely soft. At this moment, she was really scared he would fall under the same grey cloud she did when she was younger. Eric wiped his mouth and fingers and pushed away the empty takeaway container. He typed into his computer
"Yes, I've watched the video link you sent me and it hasn't help. Spare me motivational speech, every one has had a go –Kevin, Brad, Ailee, Henry and even Peniel. Blah, blah...you could have died. Be thankful you're alive. You're more than a voice. I've heard it all in a few languages so how about let's not go there today, okay?"
"Fine be like that. So what do you think about the Rising Sun scandal with BIG BANG's Seungri, the allegations of sexual assault and corruption? How do you respond as a man?" asked Amber.
A couple of days before the shooting, the Kpop world had been caught up in a sweeping scandal where kpop stars were facing accusations of arranging illegal sexual services for wealthy investors, filming explicit videos of women without their consent, and sharing those videos with each other in a chat room. The story spiraled dramatically from there, with several male celebrities announcing their retirement from their groups.
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Honestly, Beautiful -- Amber Liu and Eric Nam FF
FanfictionIf they had stayed put in the cities where they were born, they probably would have never met... Instead, first Amber then Eric journeyed across the sky to a land where cabbage was pickled in chilli paste and steak was sliced super thin and wrapped...
