The Guitarman

I have always been partial to guys who play guitars. That explains why I love Jason Mraz, Kim Hyun Joong, JGS (he does know how to play the instrument, too, right?) and of course, Yong Hwa. I've been meaning to write him a fic of his own but just didn't hear his voice yet until now. So, my friends, here's 'Yoong'. (With apologies to SeoHyun)

The Guitarman

The first time Shin Hye saw Jung Yong Hwa played his guitar, she thought he reminded her of her own brother. The way he caressed his guitar, the way his fingers glided through the strings, the surreal-almost-reverent expression playing on his face as he strummed each note… He looked like Oppa with his guitar, she caught herself saying.

He was the newbie actor in the cast and it took him forever to overcome that ‘stigma’. Always timid, always shy around his sunbaes, always nervous before every take as he struggles to memorize his lines, he played the part of the greenhorn actor quite well that it amused Shin Hye to see him transform into something else whenever they performed onstage as the fictional band, ANJELL.

With his guitar, he sheds the cloak of insecurities of being the inexperienced actor and turns into the consummate musician that he really is. With a microphone, he spews words as fast as lightning, his voice loud and clear, his accent impeccable. Seeing him perform onstage was always a delight and a revelation for her and the rest of the crew. It was like seeing the ugly duckling turning into a beautiful swan each time he takes the platform. With his guitar, Jung Yong Hwa can do anything, she often heard the make-up artists and stylists unnies exclaimed dreamily in the background.

And Shin Hye couldn’t agree more. If Jang Keun Suk can turn every girl’s knees into jelly with his smile, if Lee Hong Ki can steal every noona’s heart with his voice, Jung Yong Hwa can do both with his guitar.

On their first meeting as a cast, he smiled to her first, introducing himself. He kept on calling her sunbae which made her blush in embarrassment. “I’m younger so please just let me call you Oppa and you can drop the sunbae,” she has proposed but Yong Hwa said he would be uncomfortable doing that. In the end, they entered into a compromise, they would just address each other like equals, dropping the honorifics altogether. “We were born just months apart anyway, so just call me Yong Hwa and I call you Shin Hye,” he suggested which Shin Hye liked, thinking it would make them become fast friends if they could address each other comfortably.

Yong Hwa soon did really become friends with her quickly. He sought her advice often as the drama progresses, asking for pointers from her. He was determined to do well in his acting debut, he told her which made her like him more. Since they were shooting a lot of scenes together, their closeness grew and soon Shin Hye was discovering a side of the real Yong Hwa off-screen – a natural prankster, a passionate musician and a really honest guy. Unlike Keun Suk whose charm speaks to you in volumes the minute he steps into a room, Yong Hwa’s quiet charm is in his awkward, timid smiles plastered on a very attractive face. His antics are as boisterous as Hong Ki’s but while Hong Ki has the tendency to be snobbish at first sight, Yong Hwa evokes a calm but mysterious aura.

That’s why she started calling him Bolmae-Jung. He is attractive without even trying. A nickname which leaves him cringing to no end. But being the good sport that he is, he just let her be, and the nickname stuck with him.

He always indulges her own pranks, even if it means he would always end up being the victim. At first she thought he was just being polite and friendly when he seemed to never get annoyed at her jokes. But she soon found out that he is really like that with girls. With the boys, especially with Hong Ki, he has no qualms being rowdy and even raunchy at times. But with her, his jokes are always kept at a respectable limit. He never crossed the line, not even when he teases her as being one of the guys. He knows how to treat girls well, not only her, but also the other women on set. He knows how to be a real gentleman, to not sacrifice courtesy over familiarity, which prompted the PD to refer to him as the gentleman from Busan.

~0o0~

Yong Hwa has always said this in interviews -- he is not Kang Shin Woo, never will be. For one, Shin Woo is not real, just a product of the Hong sisters' creative mind. Two, Yong Hwa will never be caught dead reciting those cheesy Shin Woo lines to any girl he likes. And three, he is not the type of guy who would be content to watch the girl he likes from the sidelines like Shin Woo did for Mi Nam.

When it comes to girls, he has never been the passive admirer. He is someone who takes actions on his feelings. When he likes a girl, he tells her right away and sees how it goes. He doesn't think much about rejection, he just wants to get his feelings across while it lasts. Because he believes that life is not always about making the right choices. It's all about taking risks. He has always been that sort of guy. He may not always play by the rules, but he plays fair.

There are only two things he shares in common with Shin Woo - the love for guitar and Go Mi Nam, or in Yong Hwa's case, Park Shin Hye.

He liked her instantly when he met her for the first time. The minute she walked in the conference room at their first script reading, he thought she was beautiful. And it didn’t hurt that she was also friendly. She was shy and a little innocent at first but as she interacted with him more, she started to loosen up around him. When she noticed his stiffness and nervousness, she offered to help him overcome his jitters about acting. She gave him tips, she made him comfortable during their scenes together and he found himself drawn to her more and more.

But Yong Hwa is a guy who chooses his own battles. He knows when it is worth his while to fight; he knows when it is not. There were two reasons why he stopped himself from falling for her. First, his dream to be the musician he always wanted to be. A girl, no matter how pretty or talented or charming, will only deter him from reaching that dream, for now, at least. Second, someone has already made his claim on her long before Yong Hwa even realized he was starting to like her, for real.

So he let her go. Just as Shin Woo did, minus the toe-curling mushy lines, of course.

~0o0~

"Have you ever liked a girl you are not supposed to like, Bolmae-Jung?" Shin Hye asks, her face serious, her voice whispering the question that Yong Hwa has to lean towards her to catch it.

They are in between rehearsals for the SBS Gayo Daejun. Taking a break, they sit huddled together on the stairs at the fire exit near the stage, reviewing their scripts. Shin Hye stares at the blank wall in front of them, waiting for his answer.

"Huh?" he asks, trying to focus his thoughts on her question. He has been trying to memorize a spiel he would deliver with Hee Chul later in the awards which involves a reference to an artist and a song he is not quite familiar when Shin Hye spoke. Making a mental note to search for it later online, he turns to Shin Hye. "No."

Shin Hye sighs. "Lucky you."

He catches the long, drawn sigh and the worried look in her eyes. Putting down his cue cards, he nudges her gently, his face closing on hers. "That loud sigh just put a hole on that wall, Shin Hye," he points to the wall. "What's wrong?"

She shakes her head vigorously, then burying her face on her hands, she gives a muffled scream. "I don't know what to do."

"Do you like someone else's boyfriend or husband?" Yong Hwa asks.

She laughs despite her confusion. "What?" she hits his thigh with her balled fists, "Of course not!"

He gives her a concerned look. "Well, those are the only reasons I know why you are not supposed to like someone else."

"You think so?" Her voice is uncertain.

"Uh-huh," he takes a drink from his water bottle.

Shin Hye sighs again. "He told me he wants us to date."

He carefully caps the bottle while digesting her words. "Keun Suk-hyung," he says. It is not a question. He is merely reaffirming a fact he already knows.

She carefully nods, getting shy all of a sudden.

Yong Hwa smiles knowingly at her, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Hmm... so it is true. People really do find love on set, huh?"

She covers his mouth with her hand, glancing nervously at the door and at the stairs. "Sssh..."

He pries her hand away. "But you're not supposed to like him back?" He asks, creasing his forehead and lowering his voice. "Why so?"

Shin Hye’s eyes radiate the turmoil brewing within her. But he does not understand. “Wae?”

“Oppa,” she starts to speak and Yong Hwa listens carefully, noting how she calls him oppa. Shin Hye only addresses him that when she is embarrassed or flustered. “When you are acting out a character, sometimes reality and fiction gets blurry and your emotions follow suit. I don’t know if you have felt it since it is just your first drama…but when you get too deep into your character, you…you tend to…” she gropes around with the words.

“Fall in love for real?” Yong Hwa helps her out.

She bites her lower lip and nods.

He ponders for a moment, tilting his head to one side. “So you think he likes you because he is still in character as Hwang Tae Kyung?” he asks carefully.

Her head slowly moves down, then up.

“But what about you? Do you like him?” It sounds like a rhetorical question for him but he just wants to be sure before he can help her out with her silly predicament.

Her lips twist into a smile for a second. “Yes. But I am not sure if that’s the real me feeling it or just Go Mi Nam.”

Yong Hwa gives her a dubious look. Then he laughs. “I can’t believe this,” he tells her, his eyes full of mirth. “Is this how actors date, for real? Because it feels so much like a job, the way you look so confused right now. Hyung wants to date you. If you like him, too, then what’s stopping you? ”

Shin Hye pouts, a little wounded that he is treating her problem like a joke. “You really don’t understand, do you?”

“No,” he answers her bluntly. “But I know where you are coming from,” he says, looking at her eyes steadily. “You are afraid that whatever feelings you both have right now might not be real. Am I right?” he pauses, waiting for her response.

She gives him a slight nod.

“You think you like him as Go Mi Nam and he likes you as Hwang Tae Kyung?”

She purses her lips. Now that he is saying out loud what she thinks, Shin Hye understands how he laughed at her earlier. It does sound absurd, doesn’t it?

Yong Hwa grins at her silly. “Shin Hye,” he pats her head affectionately, “I don’t know that much about girls and stuff but I’m a guy and I know how this thing between our ears works.” He points at his temple.

She sits up straight; her curiosity getting pricked by the sound of his voice. Whenever he gets serious, Yong Hwa unconsciously reverts back to his Busan Saturi accent and right now, Shin Hye can barely make out the words he speaks as his accent thickens his speech.  She suppresses her smile as she listens to him.

“Asking a girl out is never easy. You think we just blurt it out to you out of nowhere? Like the idea just pops up while drinking soju?” he asks, then seeing how Shin Hye is creasing her forehead while listening to him, he consciously shifts back his speech to normal Seoul accent. “Hyung probably thought about it a lot before he asked you about it.”

“You think so?”

Yong Hwa studies her innocent expression and laughs quietly. “Did you know that at the start of the drama I had this crush on you?” he blurts out, catching Shin Hye off-guard.

She blushes, he laughs. “Oppa!” she feigns annoyance to cover up her embarrassment.

“Ne. It’s true. And I’m not telling you this to hit on you, okay? I had a crush on you. I’m using the past tense, see? No need to get embarrassed,” he teases her, laughing at her reaction. “I’m trying to make a point so just listen up.”

She bows down her head, still embarrassed. “It better be good,” she warns in a small voice.

“When a guy likes a girl, he weighs his options. Will he act on his attraction? Or will he just treat it like it’s just a passing fancy that will go away in a day or two? I did that,” he continues. “I told myself, ‘Okay, she is cute and wouldn’t it be great to see if I stand a chance on her? Afterall, we will be working together for a few months. Plenty of time to get to know her and charm my way towards her heart…’ You know, those kinds of thoughts,” he takes a pause to check her reaction.

She smiles, shaking her head in disbelief.

“But you know what changed my mind? It’s not because I wanted to preserve our friendship and all that crap. It’s not because I’m scared you’ll reject me or anything. I’m way too confident when it comes to girls, I tell you,” he jokes.

“It’s because of this,” he does an air guitar. “I love my music. It was the reason why I moved to Seoul. It was the reason why I got into that drama in the first place. I am on my way to realize that dream and nothing can stop me. No one can distract me from it,” his face is beaming as he talks about his passion, Shin Hye notes. “Not even a pretty little thing who can cry buckets of tears in just a snap.”

“My point is -- if I could turn back on the chance to act on my attraction to you because of something more important, then it might just have been a passing fancy, right? It was just a simple crush, my first ever celebrity crush, if you have it. But for Keun Suk-hyung…” he trails on, wanting to drive home the point. “It looks like his is not just a simple crush, Shin Hye.”

She hangs her head, deep in thought. She keeps her silence for a minute. Then, she asks in a little whisper, “Ottoke?”

“Shin Hye, we are young. It’s the perfect time to make beautiful mistakes. So what if it will not turn out the way you expected it? At least you tried. And hyung is a good guy. Heck, even Hong Ki is in love with him. Go get him before that punk beats you to it!”

She giggles. He grins back and starts to count, “Hana, dul, set…”

“Fighting!” they shout in unison.

~0o0~

Shin Hye races back to the university’s parking lot as soon as she receives Yong Hwa’s message. I’m already here at the parking lot. Black van with this plate number…”

She spots the van right away as she emerges from her building. Yong Hwa has informed her two days ago that he could finally meet her now that CN Blue’s promotions for their album has ended. He would have a few days off before they start preparations for their Japan gigs, he told her. She last saw him in their debut showcase two months ago and she is just more than ecstatic to meet him again. He offered to pick her up after her school.

“You look better on TV,” she jokes as she sits herself beside him inside the car.

He touches his face self-consciously at her remark. “Someone from SNSD told me exactly the same thing on national TV. Do I really look that bad in person?”

She laughs, suddenly realizing how she missed his out of this world gullibility and witty one-liners. “Did you miss me?” she playfully asks.

He gives her his best idol-smile. “Of course. You missed me, too?”

“Aniya,” she shakes her head. “How could I when you are all over the place? I turn on the TV, you’re there. I scan a magazine, I see your face. I turn on the radio in the car, you are still there singing, rapping! No, I didn’t have the chance to miss you, Bolmae-jung.”

He chuckles. “Well, I missed you. And hyung,” he adds, his voice dropping into a whisper, aware that their agency’s driver is just within earshot.

Shin Hye smiles coyly, a tiny flush of pink tinting her cheeks.

A naughty smirk appears on Yong Hwa’s face. “Hong Ki told me something. I didn’t know if he was just pulling a prank on me but…is it true? You and hyung?”

She glares at him, motioning him to shut up. “You were right. Making beautiful mistakes can be fun.”

He leans back his head on the seat and clutches his heart. “Aigoo, she is now taken,” he mumbles in his Busan accent.

She grabs his left hand and lifts it to show his ringed finger. “Aigoo, you just got married,” she mimics his accent.

He touches the infamous 2000-won ring with his thumb and laughs. “She actually reminds me of you sometimes. You have the same innocent view about guys,” he leers. “It’s actually fun to be with her, you know,” he adds, almost to himself.

But Shin Hye is quick to catch his last remark. “Aha!” she snaps her finger. “You like her for real, don’t you?” she teases.

His eyes try to evade hers while he smiles broadly to some private joke only he can understand. “Enjoy your own mistake, Shin Hye,” he snaps at her happily.