Onyx: Truth Read online

  “And I’m Jiwon, main vocalist and dancer.”

  I turned my attention to the tallest member of Onyx. Xiao had the palest skin in the group; it was paler than mine. By comparison, Jiwon had the most glorious golden skin. He was also sporting a pair of muscular arms, but his overall body shape was much thinner than the Chinese member. He was in a muscle tank with open sides and I caught a tattoo poking out, wrapping around him. I couldn’t see it properly, but it looked like a Samurai. He was also sporting bright orange hair. He looked like a walking promotion for Fanta.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” he said, or at least, that’s what I thought he said. Whatever he spoke in Korean, he had the thickest accent I’d ever heard.

  “It’s nice to meet you too,” I returned, hoping I’d understood him correctly. He gave me a grin and I was almost dazzled by the perfectly straight, white smile. It was… beautiful. Behind his glasses, his eyes had almost disappeared as he smiled.

  “And then we get to the last member of the rap line,” Holly said, moving us along. The next member was hidden behind a towel as he rubbed at his hair. He lowered the towel and I was greeted by a handsome face which had me questioning who the youngest member of the group was. He looked so innocent, especially with his sandy hair fluffed up at every angle…

  And then he gave me a flirty smile and that innocence evaporated with the smolder he sent me.

  “JongB,” he said, in English, with the same accent as Holly.

  “Chicago?” I questioned.

  JongB shrugged. “It’s JongB, but you can call me Chicago if you want to. And if you give me your number, I’ll call you too.”

  I blinked at him, then chuckled. “I’ll give you points for originality,” I told him. “Though I’m not sure you’re getting my number.”

  “Aw,” JongB pouted. “What’s a guy gotta do to get that?”

  “Do?” Holly repeated in disbelief before I could answer. “How about I tell you what you shouldn’t do? Like, not flirt in front of your company’s Vice Chairwoman?” Holly suggested. “JongB is our main rapper,” Holly continued. Behind her, JongB lowered his head, giving Holly a look she missed but I didn’t.

  “And last but not least, Onyx’s leader and our final vocalist, Youngbin.”

  I tore my attention away from JongB and instantly regretted it. Fuck me, I was doomed.

  “Nice to meet you,” I said, unable to take my eyes off him. He was about my height, with a build somewhere between JongB and Jiwon. His hair was being kept out of his eyes with a bandana. Eyes which, when focused on me, had a slight squint in one of them. Like Jiwon, they were hidden behind glasses. He had a long face, and a long nose.

  And yet, my attention was focused on a bead of sweat that was running down the side of his neck into the rivet caused by his shoulder blade… and all I wanted to do was lick it.

  I licked my lips instead.

  I could tell he didn’t miss that action.

  Holly glanced at the clock on the wall. “You guys have about an hour before you need to wrap it up and get showered,” she told them. She, apparently, was oblivious to the eye-fucking which was now going on.

  I glanced down the line. Every single member of Onyx had their eyes fixed on me, and not their boss. This… this was not going to end well.

  Or maybe it would…

  제 2 장

  Snapshot

  While Onyx showered, I checked into my hotel. I’d come straight from the airport to Atlantis. While I had met with Onyx, Holly had arranged for my two cases to be sent to my room. Currently, they were on the bed, open in front of me, as I stared in disappointment at the contents of them.

  The truth was, most of my clothes were in those two cases, with the exception of my camera and laptop which I had refused to check in with the hold luggage – they were far too precious for that – in front of me was pretty much all that was left of my worldly possessions.

  Holly’s call couldn’t have come at a better time. After returning from Seoul, from the second photoshoot I had done with H3RO, I had gone to the apartment I had shared with my boyfriend, Damien, to find the locks had been changed. After hammering on the door for several minutes, I had called Damien.

  He’d rejected the call, and then almost instantly, I got a text message.

  I can’t be in a relationship with someone who is never there. I told you that before you went to Korea. What were you expecting?

  I’d stared at the message, dumbfounded. He’d never once said anything, and I’d only been gone for a couple of weeks. I saw less of him when we were together because we were working opposite shifts.

  I’d graduated college but had been unable to get a full-time job anywhere unless it had involved moving to Japan, and I’d not done that because of Damien. Instead, I was working part-time in Walmart, in the deli section. A zero hour contract and minimum wage didn’t really lean towards living on your own, and the money I’d earned from the photoshoots had gone toward a new MacBook Air, a new Canon SLR and zoom, and the rest towards paying off as much of my student loans as I could.

  With no money left, my only other option was moving back in with my mom.

  I’d moved out from my mom’s as soon as I had gone to college. My mom was a selfish woman who had always cared about her appearance more than anything else. She was a showgirl. Actually, she was an ex-showgirl, but in her head, she was still that twenty-year-old performing on a stage.

  The last thing I had wanted to do was move back in with her, especially when she had idolized Damien. As far as she was concerned, I’d had it coming.

  It had taken me a week to find out that Damien had stacked all of my belongings outside of our apartment while I’d been in Seoul and they were no longer there. When I’d called the police, they’d said there was nothing that could be done about it because it was his place and his name on the lease. Which was also when I discovered Damien had already moved a new girlfriend in.

  Bastard.

  Of course, according to my mother, that was also my fault.

  After being home for less than a month, Holly’s call was nothing short of a blessing. I hadn’t told Holly what had been going on back home; she had been busy with H3RO, her new job, her family… I didn’t want to bother her. I survived Christmas by taking on all the extra shifts I could get my hands on, then mid-January, I got my ass to the airport and flew out to South Korea.

  And now I was staring at a selection of clothes more suited to a Las Vegas winter (it had been fifty degrees when I had left), than the Seoul winter (half that fifty and add in the snow outside). I didn’t even have a pair of gloves with me, though, to be fair, I didn’t have a pair of gloves to bring with me.

  The room phone shrilled into life, making me jump out of my thoughts and back to reality. I hurried over. “Hello?”

  “Your car is here.”

  I thanked the woman before turning back to the suitcases. I had a few sweaters, but after meeting Onyx, I also wanted to look cute. Sue me, they were hot. I was well aware that nothing was going to happen between us, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to look my best.

  Of course, with no winter coat, I would have to balance looking good with being warm, which was hard with a limited wardrobe.

  I glanced at the digital clock on the TV and frowned. So much for being able to go out and buy a coat before the shoot. Oh well, it was going to be six hours, tops. I’d just have to get busy enough that I wouldn’t notice the cold.

  I regretted my decision in not pulling on the extra sweater, exactly eighteen seconds after getting out of the car at the location, when an arctic breeze managed to find its way through all the holes in my clothes. That would also teach me not to wear ripped jeans.

  The shoot was taking place on the north east edge of Seoul at a place called Yongma Land. Yongma Land was a theme park. An abandoned theme park. It was creepy as hell and I loved it.

  Before I’d flown out, Holly had sent me the photographs that had already been taken for Ony
x. When I’d met her a few hours ago, she’d explained they needed redoing because of a member leaving and another replacing him. If it wasn’t for the fact it was linked to the branding for the world tour, she said she would have left it, but it was also going to affect the merch.

  The focus was solo shots for CX and the group shots. The member who had left, Oh Bohyun, had had his photographs taken in front of the derelict pirate ship ride, but I walked straight past it, ignoring the people who were there setting up. There was something about that which felt wrong to me. CX needed to be treated as CX, and not as Bohyun’s replacement.

  It wasn’t a big theme park. It was more like a fair ground, in all honesty, but it was still neat. Off to one side, dying silently in the undergrowth that was beginning to consume it, was a Sailor Moon car from whatever ride it had once been a part of. I stared at it, then looked around, growing more confused.

  Since the first photoshoot with H3RO, I had been paying more attention to K-Pop from a visual perspective, trying to figure out shoots and concepts. Holly had mentioned she would happily have me back, and I wanted to be ready. The more videos I’d watched, the more I’d grown confused. Some groups would have a concept and it would be obvious and fit the song. Then you would have groups with nothing related. Then there were the groups whose themes seemed random, but once you had acquired your PhD in K-Pop you would learn that the seemingly innocuous inclusion of a spoon meant that one of the members who had been killed in a previous video was really alive and well.

  “Here you are,” Holly called. I looked over, and found her hurrying towards me, a phone in one hand and a coffee in the other. She handed the drink to me. “What are you doing here?”

  “Just looking,” I said. I wrapped my hands around the paper cup, appreciating the warmth. “Holly, why is this photoshoot here?”

  She shrugged. “In all honesty, I don’t know. This was all agreed to by my asshole brother-by-blood-only before I took over.” She looked around. “Youngbin!” she yelled before I could stop her. From by the minivans where Onyx were waiting, wrapped up in big duffle coats that had me feeling jealous, Youngbin looked up. Holly waved him over. As he started to walk over, her phone rang. “Inhye…? No! Damnit, we booked this out before Christmas… Well, where is the Earth unit going to film now?” She let out a long sigh. “No, I’m coming to you. Just keep at them. We have a signed contract. Get Park Yongdae and the rest of the legal team on it if you need to.”

  “Everything OK?” I asked as she hung up.

  She turned to me looking stressed. “Why is the music industry so damn complicated? I need to go, I’m sorry,” she said as Youngbin appeared. “Youngbin, Kate has some questions about the concept which, honestly, I can’t answer. Can you help?” She didn’t give him the chance to respond before she was running off, already on the phone to someone else.

  I turned to him and gave him a cheesy grin. “I have questions.”

  Youngbin nodded. “I gathered.”

  “Why is this photoshoot in an amusement park? An abandoned one, at that? I mean, the album is called ‘Onyx: Truth’, the title song is called ‘Truth or Love’, and your tour is the ‘Our Truth World Tour’.” I tilted my head, using a finger to tap at my chin. “I watched the video, and I found a translation of the song… neither of which include any reference to a theme park.”

  Youngbin crossed his arms, watching me in amusement. “We’ve had fans trying to work this out for the last six weeks. What makes you think I’m going to tell you?”

  “Yeah, I read their theories too, and if you want, I will pick one of them,” I grinned. “I’ll go for serial killers.”

  “Serial killers?” Youngbin repeated. “Wait, is that really a thing? They think we’re serial killers?!”

  My arms bent, while one hand continued to clutch the coffee, the other had my palm pointing up to the sky. “Well, y’all have killer looks, so there is that. And I suppose you don’t have to tell me,” I shrugged. “I was just trying to understand the concept.”

  Youngbin stepped forward, closing the distance between us. I could smell the sandalwood scent of his soap, “What will you give me if I tell you?” he asked in a low voice.

  Oh, this was not OK. I didn’t flinch. Instead, I looked him dead in the eyes. I leaned forward, bringing my mouth close to his ear. “You don’t know me well enough yet, but trust me, whatever you are thinking, you need to work on your exchange rate because my body is worth a lot more than a fan theory.”

  Youngbin turned his head, in the process bringing his mouth close to mine. “Life moves too fast, and if you don’t slow down once in a while, you’ll miss the fun.”

  I had no idea how I was staying so calm considering my heart was pounding in my chest. He was far too close to me and I didn’t exactly dislike it. I was, however, a professional, and the flirting would need to wait, or I would get distracted. “That concept makes sense overall, I guess,” I agreed. “I suppose I should see if the others are ready.”

  Youngbin, still entirely too close to me arched an eyebrow. “Eager to get away from me?”

  “I suppose I should slow down and enjoy myself?” I suggested.

  He leaned in even closer. “That depends on how much fun you think you can handle.”

  Oh. Fuck. Me.

  Literally.

  “Maybe we’ll both find out.” I gave him a grin, then walked away, resisting the urge to fan myself. The cold wasn’t a problem anymore.

  Despite the thin layers and the cold weather, I managed to stay warm for the group shoot. Rather than having the whole group there all day, we were doing their shots first, then they could go home. CX and I would finish up and head back later.

  Actually, I think I was cold, but I was just too focused on the shoot to notice my fingers getting a blue tint to them. That and the fact Onyx seemed to have this ability to look like they were ready for sex with every shot. Honestly, just them staring at me through a camera lens was enough to keep me warm.

  Holly had originally suggested getting a graphic designer to photoshop CX into the group shots, but I had vetoed that idea for her the moment it had left her mouth. The lighting wouldn’t be the same, and the feel wouldn’t be the same.

  Seeing them all together like this was reassuring because I knew I had made the right decision. Holly might know the ins and outs of K-Pop, but I knew photography.

  It wasn’t until I called for a break on the shooting, so Onyx could change into their second outfits that I noticed it: the fact the group wasn’t completely gelled together. CX, always seemed to be apart from the others. I couldn’t tell if it was his choice, or the group’s, but it was noticeable.

  Only, as soon as I continued with the second half, it was gone. They worked through the poses, resting on each other, hugging, arms draped over each other – looking at the images, you’d never tell that they hadn’t been the same unit since they had debuted.

  “I wonder why the other guy was replaced?” I muttered to myself, too isolated for anyone to hear me. Although the set was closed, and Holly had said everyone there could be trusted and had all signed NDAs like me, I felt like I was gossiping. Apparently, a statement was being released first thing in the morning, hence the need for the photographs.

  The sun was already starting to get lower in the sky by the time the group shots were finished. When the sun dipped below the tree line I really noticed how cold it was. I was aware of every rip in my jeans as I kneeled to change the lens on my camera. “Why couldn’t this be a photoshoot in a desert,” I grumbled, my teeth chattering. I was so cold, I was struggling to detach the lens.

  “Here,” a voice said. Before I could look up, something heavy was being draped over my shoulders.

  It was a coat. One of the thick duffle coats Onyx had been wearing when they had arrived. I let the camera strap take the weight of the camera and stood, making sure not to let the coat fall to the floor. “Thank you,” I said to Xiao. His skin was as pale as mine, only he didn’t look as cold a
s I did. Yet. “Don’t you need it?”

  He shook his head. “I’m going home. You look cold.” He bobbed his head and started walking away. I watched him as I slipped my arms into the sleeves. Halfway over to the minibus, he turned back. When he saw me watching him, he gave me a wide grin.

  I turned my attention back to my camera, moving it out of the way so I could zip the coat up. Xiao had enormous shoulders and the coat hung over me, but I was exceptionally grateful. It was like being wrapped in a duvet. It even smelled like fresh linen. When I looked up again, the minibus was driving off.

  I hurried to find the translator and got them to move the set over to the mold and snow-covered Sailor Moon car I had seen earlier. I liked it. It reminded me of being back in Japan.

  “What is that?” a voice asked. The owner of the voice was CX, his makeup now touched up.

  I gave him a sideways look. “You don’t know Sailor Moon?”

  CX shook his head. “I prefer books. I don’t read comics.”

  “You never saw the anime?”

  “I don’t really watch much TV,” he admitted. “The previous dorm didn’t have one.”

  No TV? Seriously? I kept the surprise from my face and ushered him into position, eager to get his individual shots wrapped up. The daylight had suddenly disappeared, and everything was now being lit artificially. Plus, I still had to get back to the hotel room and get the touchups done.

  Whether it was because it was colder and CX was wearing only a woolen jumper, or because this was a solo shoot, CX looked uncomfortable in all his shots. My plan to wrap up early was cancelled as we spent time trying to get anything useable.

  That wasn’t fair; there were some useable shots in there. It was just that I couldn’t connect with the expression in his eyes.