Today was the last day of filming. Jungsu would finally be able to head home today, well, whatever home was now.
They were all sitting by the fire again as the sun was setting down on them, casting beautiful shades of pink and orange in the sky. Jungsu brushed his hair back as the wind tickled the strands of hair brushing against his forehead. He swallowed the hot chocolate that they'd provided which was achingly sweet. Despite Jungsu liking sweets, he didn't enjoy the hot chocolate.
He was currently listening to Ae-ri belting a romantic song about love and betrayal. Her sweet voice floated over them and Jungsu had to admit that he was impressed by her tone. The only thing he didn't like about her performance was the blaring music in the background that was overtaking her voice. Jungsu didn't understand the point of karaoke if the music was going to be too loud for anyone to hear your voice. Wincing as the music once again flared during the chorus, he took a sip of the sweet hot chocolate. He was punishing himself at the moment as much as he was being punished by the karaoke machine. Sending a glare in its direction, he willed it to drop dead.
Nothing happened though. Jungsu looked away during his staring match with the karaoke machine, figuring he could only intimidate humans with his looks.
The song finally ended and Jungsu let out a sigh of relief as the noise faded out into nothing. He'd enjoyed Ae-ri's singing, just not the background noise that came with it.
"Pssttt! Jungsu!" Yeong-cheol whispered into his ear.
Jungsu leaned away from him, wondering why he needed to whisper in his ear if he was loud enough to be heard by at least three people within their radius.
"Yes, hyung?" Jungsu breathed out.
"You wanna do a song together? I'm terrible at singing, and I know you said you don't sing, but you'll probably be better than me." Yeong-cheol pointed to himself with both thumbs.
"And even if we're both bad, at least we'll be bad together!" He grinned.
Jungsu nodded his head slowly in agreement.
"You can pick the song, hyung. I don't know many songs so I'm going to have to read the lyrics in the background."
"Okay... how about Nana's Love me too far?" Yeong-cheol asked.
Jungsu squinted his eyes at the name of the song and shrugged.
"Do you not know that song?" Yeong-cheol asked in disbelief.
Jungsu shrugged again. He really didn't listen to pop songs. Some of them were familiar to him naturally, as he'd gotten to listen to a lot of music during his missions in clubs, in malls, and restaurants. Still, his piano lessons had been so deeply engrained in his mind that he even sometimes dreamt of certain pieces. That is before he would wake up in a cold sweat.
"I don't know many songs." Jungsu responded.
"What, are you from North Korea?" Yeong-cheol jokingly said.
Jungsu breathed even breaths, not responding to his joke and simply shrugged again.
"Okay... what do you know? I don't want to be the only one knowing the lyrics. That kind of defeats the whole purpose." Yeong-cheol motioned for Jungsu to list some songs.
"Promiscuous Girl, Drunk in Love, Umbrella." Jungsu listed off some songs that he'd heard repeatedly in the clubs in America. He made sure to sound Korean however, when he pronounced them. He could feel the camera on them even now.
"Um-brella? You want us to sing that?" Yeong-cheol asked in disbelief. "Either way I don't know the lyrics..."
Jungsu nodded his head as they fell deeper into thought.
"Ah. Baby shark." Jungsu snapped his fingers as he remembered the irritating song.
"Ya! What kind of songs are you thinking of? Are you serious??"
Jungsu nodded, "Why not? We're not good at singing. This is easy enough."
Yeong-cheol's eye twitched as he looked at Jungsu's serious expression. Jungsu didn't seem to realize that this would be something funny, even ridiculous. Again, Yeong-cheol wondered how Jungsu could be so oblivious to his own actions. Perhaps he didn't care enough to have any shame for what he would look like, but then Yeong-cheol thought of the many other times that Jungsu had refused to do certain things.
"O-okay Jungsu." He smiled a wobbly smile.
There was a guitar lying next to the circle they were in, so Jungsu got up to fetch it. He felt a couple of curious eyes as he started strumming to test out the strings as he sat down beside Yeong-cheol. He would make sure to keep the cords simple enough this time though. It wasn't a big deal for a guy to play a guitar, especially only a few cords. He'd seen a lot of guys who played the guitar. It seemed to be a default instrument for them.
He figured out the simple cords for the song and nodded to Yeong-cheol, indicating that he was ready.
It was a very simple song, so there was no need for Jungsu and Yeong-cheol to practice.
"Bo-mi! We would like to go next!" Yeong-cheol shouted, his hand flying up at record speed after the next contestant had finished singing their song.
"Okay, Yeong-cheol and Jungsu huh?" Bo-mi nodded, sending a warning smile at Jungsu, as if sensing he would do something wrong.
Jungsu ignored her look and started strumming once everything had gone quiet.
Then their voices rose together after Jungsu looked at Yeong-cheol to start.
"Baby shark, dudududududu," They sang the korean version of the song together causing the contestants to fall over in laughter. Yuri even choked on her hot chocolate as she tried swallowing back a laugh.
"Mommy shark, dudududududu, mommy shark..." They continued singing. Once the contestants got over the ridiculousness of the song, they leaned in closer to catch Jungsu's quieter voice that was being swallowed by Yeong-cheol's loud singing.
Frowning in irritation, Bo-mi leaned forward in her seat trying to catch Jungsu's voice.
Finally, they were able to catch it once Jungsu took over for one part of the song.
"Daddy shark dudududududu, daddy shark..." Jungsu quietly sang. The contestants listened quietly as they took in Jungsu's smooth voice. Though he was singing without embellishments and in one continuous tone, he had a nice voice, so it made the song sound better than it actually was.
Yeong-cheol glanced beside him at Jungsu, narrowing his eyes in disbelief and shaking his head. He should have known better than to trust Jungsu when he said he didn't sing. That could have various meanings. Almost everything he said did.
Once Yeong-cheol took over for his solo, causing more laughter to follow, they finally ended the song. Everyone clapped for them as they bowed their heads.
"Jungsu, you have a nice voice! Do you want to sing with me ne-" Min-ji was cut off by Jungsu abruptly standing up and coughing.
"Or... maybe not?..." She trailed off as he continued to cough.
Placing the guitar down, Jungsu listened and clapped along to more songs. Some acapella, while others were with the karaoke machine.
As the night drew to a close, everyone finally said their final farewells to each other.
"Jungsu! It was nice getting to know you! I have no doubt you'll star in many movies and dramas after this. Maybe we can even star in one together someday." Seung-gyu smiled while they shook hands.
"Seung-gyu, why are you acting like we'll never meet again?" Na-yeon said as she grabbed onto his neck.
"Right? That's what I was thinking. This is sounding too sad." Ae-ri wiped away imaginary tears as Yuri held onto her shoulders to offer sympathy.
"Jungsu! Here's my number! Contact me if you need anything. I do mean anything. Anytime." Min-ji smiled sweetly, however the calculating look in her eyes did not go past Jungsu.
Jungsu exchanged more numbers, even Dong-ha's, as it would've felt odd had they not done so.
Then finally, he was in a cab waving goodbye to Yuri as she smiled back shyly.
Sinking against the seat of the cab, he realized that he had somehow sat down in the backseat.
Jungsu furrowed his brows as he thought that he'd never done that before, but something had led him there at that moment, so he kept there. He felt his eyes drooping as the exhaustion of the show finally sank into him. He was not physically tired. Rather, he was mentally drained from the constant socialization he'd had to do. Now, in the peace of the cab with no cameras, he felt as if he could finally relax.
They were now crossing a bridge as the sky had turned the water near black through the windows.
Jungsu closed his eyes for a moment as he'd already deemed the driver was not a threat to him. He'd already checked the man's gait, his hands, and done a quick scan of his car for any oddities. He'd found none.
That's when he suddenly felt his body slam against the door of the car. They were airborne for a moment as Jungsu's eyes locked on the car that had bumped into them. His blood ran cold as for a split of a second, his eyes connected with her. Then they were tumbling into the water.
The car went flying into the water and Jungsu braced for impact. He heard a snap as a flash of pain hit him. He'd dislocated his shoulder. Quickly reaching over to the side, he pressed down onto the button to lower the window while simultaneously unbuckling the car belt. The window was only able to lower a fraction of an inch before it stopped. Cursing, he watched with dread as the water started filling the car. Jungsu glanced around to the front and saw that the driver was unconsicous at the wheel, blood steadily flowing from his head down onto the steering wheel. The sound of the rushing water was nearly as suffocating to Jungsu as the feeling of being trapped inside the car with the darkness of the water surrounding him from all angles.
He was breathing too quickly now as the cold water reached his calves. He was wasting time. Quickly looking around the car for something, he unbuckled the driver. There was nothing in the car that could break the window. There was no point in opening the door as the pressure of the water dragging them deeper down would be far too great.
Jungsu screamed in that moment, punching the car seat as he released whatever he felt in the moment. Anger, irritation, fear.
Then he threw his elbow into the car repeatedly, holding himself against the front of the car seat as the car slowly began tilting further into the water. Closing his eyes, he let go of the fear in the moment, letting his instincts take over as the cold began to numb his senses.