Topic: IBS*Chap. 7, Seoul March ‘ 09 : Welcome Back (Read 626 times)

`until whenever · « **Reply #30 on:** November 28, 2009, 02:40:08 pm »

HAHAHA. Amfufu talaga ni Jiyoong.
Ang samaaa. Pero ankyuut padin~
NEEXT NA

onlineloveauthor · « **Reply #31 on:** November 28, 2009, 08:06:08 pm »

***

“What exactly are we looking for?” She said for the third time that afternoon. Ever since Hyun Suk¹ asked her to join his team as the company's publicist, Minsul had avoided her calls to the tee. That's why it came as a surprise when she called her that morning.

Although Minsul's voice was still a bit cold over the phone, she wasn't about to complain when she asked her to go to Apgujeong-dong² with her. But for the the two hours since they met at the COEX Mall³, there has been nothing but cold awkward silence between them. She had been trying to get her to speak or at least look at her but nothing seemed to work.

“Minsul...” Minsul continued to browse through the rack of clothes without even looking back at her. “Look Min... I don't want anything to be weird between us just because...”

“Here...Try these on...” It was the first words she said to her in days, but it wasn't quite the words she was expecting. Minsul pushed a heap of clothes toward her and gave her an even more intimidating look. Even though she didn't know what she was up to, she unknowingly followed her orders and went straight towards the dressing room. Going through the layers of dresses Minsul had picked for her, she thought that although it all looked trendy and stylish, it also looked very expensive. Noticing her apprehension through her feet, Minsul whispered through the door. “ Don't worry... Its on the tab..”

“Whose tab?” Although Minsul works for one of the most successful entertainment companies in the industry, she doubts if she made that much money to buy her a whole closet of designer duds.

“My tab...” A strangely familiar voice came on the other side of the door. And without even thinking twice, and as well as being half-naked, she peeped through the door.

“Jiyong-sshi, What..what are you doing here?”

With a serious and confused stare, Jiyong turned to look at Minsul and completely dismissed her. “Didn't you tell her she seriously needed to change the way she dresses.” Talking as if she wasn't there, Jiyong headed towards the racks and started picking out dresses randomly.

“Is this really necessary?” She held out a piece of glittery fabric through the door and said, “Its just too...too flashy..”

Without the slightest warning, Minsul went inside the dressing room with her and pushed the door shut behind them.

“Look...” She started to say as she picked up one of the dresses scattered on the floor and held up against her. “You could either do what he says or you could give me this job”

“Ok...then...Its yours!” She pushed the dress back to Minsul and crossed her arms in disagreement. Minsul was usually mild-mannered and always had a playful expression painted on her face. But she was being really mean to her and it made her feel more guilty than she already was.

“Aigoo! If I could... I WOULD!” She was surprised at how hurt Minsul was with the issue. “YG wants you OK?!? And if he doesn't get what he wants, its my freaking ass on the line!!!”

Although she never dreamt of working at a company such as YG entertainment, considering her past experiences and frustrations with the industry, even she knew it was an opportunity that was too precious to turn down.

“I'm not mad at you Ok...Let's face it...You were the brain's behind the project...And I guess Hyun Suk saw that too... I guess I just need time to get over it..” And just as the fire was starting to fan down with Minsul apologetic expressions, Jiyong passed on a new pile of clothes for her to try on. “But in the mean time...could you just try these on and make my life a little less harder?

Feeling more and more guilty, but also slightly relieved to clear the air, she finally yielded to her and tried the dresses on one by one.

“ Too pink..."

"Too revealing..."

"It has too much fur..."

"Nah, the back's too flat...”

Every dress she wore was worse than the next in Jiyong's eyes. Like one of those gruesome judges from Project Runway⁴, he sat on the stores couch criticizing her every time she went out of the dressing room. To him, it was either too this or too that. But his choice of words made it extremely clear that it wasn't any of the dresses' faults.

“Jiyong-sshi...” Finally gathering the courage to speak up after the 15th dress that afternoon. “I don't mean to be rude or anything... But...you're not dressing me up as an Idol you know...”

“Of all the things that irritates me, it's being mediocre...If you're doing something might as well do your best... You don't have to be an idol to have that kind of thinking..Don't you think?

Although the kid made sense, she thought differently. “Well..I just want to be normal I guess... It's not really about being the best, I just don't want to bite off more than I can chew...”

Jiyung, who had obviously gotten more irritated with her remark, grabbed a white origami-inspired Andre Kim⁵ dress and headed towards the counter.

“She'll wear this one...” He said in to no one in particular. “It's no use... She'll have to change more than her wardrobe to suit any style...”

“What the?!?!?!” She was about to take Jiyong head on when Minsul nudged her and asked to change back to her clothes. “If it wasn't for you..That kid's going to get a beating.”

“Come on...” Jiyong said as soon as she got out in her normal clothes. “Well' have to do something about this”

Although she still despised the way he treated he, she tried to be more positive and friendlier towards him by livening the mood with a little chuckle. “ You're not going to get me Plastic surgery are you?”

“Of course not! You said so yourself...You're not an Idol.. That's a privilege reserved only for them.” She looked at Minsul, stunned by her revelation. Although she had only meant it as a joke, her expression was serious. She was unable to move an inch. She was scared that if she did she might totally lose herself in this world. She might have been overreacting, it was after all just her wardrobe and sense of style, but she felt as if something was about to go horribly wrong and she wasn't liking it. Jiyong had already disappeared and Minsul was heading towards the door. She thought that if she made a run for it, by the time they noticed she was gone, she was probably halfway back to her apartment. But just as she was planning for her escape, Minsul turned around and looked at her, more excitedly now, “What are you so worried about? We're just visiting the salon...Nothing too drastic.”

"Salon?” She thought to herself as Minsul dragged along the crowded corridors of the underground mall. She hadn't been in a salon since she left Seattle and it actually sounded like a good idea.

“Here we are” Jiyoung, who looked more relaxed than he normally was when she was around , took her by the hand. Although she was not the type to shy away easily, her hand froze as soon as he clasped on to it. It felt really weird. The last boy she had hold hands with was Jay. And although it was not as familiar as it was it was with Jay, it wasn't bad either.

“Noona!” Jiyong called out as soon as she had her seated. A lady with extremely tight curls came to his attention. “ Chop it off...Up to her chin...”

She wasn't sure if she heard him right. But cutting her hair short was out of the conversation. Ever since she was 18, she had worn her hair the way she always have, long, wavy and with her natural brown highlights visible. She remembered how Jay used to call it her bombshell hair. She always felt proud of her crowning glory. Whether she wore it up or down her shinning hazel brown hair always made her feel pretty. And hearing Jiyong say that he was chopping it off so recklessly didn't seem like a good idea. But despite her horror-induced look, Jiyong was on a roll.

“And make it pin straight...Color it really dark..like..Black!”

“Oh hell no!!!!” She finally said, in a tone reminiscent of a ghetto woman's whose weave has been touched.

“Look..I'll wear that freakishly white dress you just picked or whatever else you want me to do...But there is no way you're going to make me look like a freaking horror show...”
She threw her tantrum as best as she cold hoping that he would let this one slide.

“You're right..That won't work.”

She was about to let out a big sigh of relief when Jiyong looked at Minsul and said, “Blonde would look better wouldn't it?”

She rose from her sit refusing to believe what he had just said. She crossed her arms and looked at him with disbelief. Looking like she was finally going to punch him, Minsul rushed to calm her down. But not even halfway there, Jiyong surprisingly sat her down and knelt before her. She froze again as soon as he held both her hands and looked at her tenderly

“Look...” His eyes, his smile...She had never seen this side of him before. Usually he would seem to be deep in thought and unconcerned of others.

“Just trust Oppa... You'll look beautiful no matter what.” This was a welcoming sight for her, who he always spent much time criticizing, and it made her knees weak. If she was standing up she would completely have fallen over him, literally. And even though she was a year older than him, she didn't mind calling him oppa⁶. She nodded her head in complete surrender.

Jiyong looked at Minsul, who observed them both from afar, “I have to go, I'm late for a schedule... Take care of my Noona for me okay?...I'll see you both tomorrow.”

After much silence, Minsul noticed that she was in some kind of trance and she felt obligated to bring her back to reality.
“Great Sweet talker huh?... He even sweet talked me once into buying him a 300,000 won⁷ pair of shoes....Don't read too much into it okay?”

“Who..says I was?” Flustered and embarrassed, she took one last look at the mirror before letting it all lie on the hands of the hairdresser touching her hair.

Footnotes:
¹also known as Yang Goon, YG and Yang Ssa, is a South Korean record producer and hip-hop singer. Yang debuted as part of the legendary Korean group Seo Taiji & Boys. He is also the founder and CEO of YG Entertainment, who have produced popular acts such as Big Bang and 2ne1 and managed actors such as Goo Hye Sun.
²a residential, fashion and shopping district in the Gangnam district of Seoul.
³an underground shopping mall located in Gangnam-gu Seoul, South Korea It is the largest shopping centre in Seoul.
⁴an American reality television series on Lifetime Television, previously on the Bravo network, which focuses on fashion design and is hosted by model Heidi Klum. A Korean Version was then licensed in 2009 and is hosted by korean supermodel Lee Sora.
⁵a Korean fashion designer based in Seoul, South Korea. He is known predominantly for his evening and wedding gown collections.
⁶aside from a girl's older brother, Oppa is also used as a term of endearment for closed boy friends
⁷ around $300

onlineloveauthor · « **Reply #32 on:** November 30, 2009, 04:15:32 am »

The room fell silent.. It wasn’t that no one dared to speak. But the once chaotic background of the five idol’s dressing room at that year’s SBS Gayo Daejeon¹ was now filled with awe-inducing silence. Everyone was looking at her, amazed by the sudden transformation from her sweat clad innocence to designer sophistication. But he was especially smitten.

***

“I don’t get it... It’s so unfair.” Seunghyun protested as he got his hair done. It was only a few minutes away from the SBS Gayo Daejeon, but instead of feeling any kind of pressure from being on stage all he could think about was how his dongseangs have already spent so much time with her, while he still remained in the sidelines. “I’ve already met her twice... but Daesung already has her number while Jiyong had already seen her naked”

“Correction” Jiyong was fixated on his hair and was trying hard to keep it in place. “... I didn’t see her naked... It’s not like I went in with her while she was changing clothes.” Although he hasn’t paid much attention to her in the past, today he was feeling especially anxious to see her. He had spent the whole night last night wondering how she would look with her new hair and dress and it was mostly because he had picked those himself. But the excitement of seeing her was getting too uncomfortable for him and he was starting to hate waiting for her to show up.

“Yah!!” Seunghyun threw a pillow at his dongseang, Daesung, who was getting extremely nervous to even care about his his hyung’s problems. “And how did you end up with her number huh?”
“Aissshh.. Hyung...”[/color] Daesung flickered through his que cards carefully. He was bothered with his Mcing duties already and his hyung’s pestering jealousy weren’t helping at all. “... If you like her so much... Take her number and stop it already...” He threw his phone to Seunghyun without even thinking about the consequences of his actions.

“Why you...” Seunghyun had already leaped from his chair and was chasing after his dongseang around the waiting room, forgetting completely the thrown phone that has now landed on the floor. It wasn’t jealousy that was boiling in his blood at that moment. It had more to do with the fact that his manly pride was crushed mercilessly. Ever since meeting her at the hospital a few weeks ago he had done ever possible way to get her attention. First, he had begged her noona, Minsul, for her number. But then it turned out that she had a boyfriend at that time. Then again when she showed up , newly single, he couldn’t even make his move because everyone else was trying to get to know her. And although he didn’t know much about her, there was something that gravitated him towards that girl. The most ironic part of it all was that those who didn’t even care, like Jiyong and Daesung, have already spent so much time with her. He was feeling so inadequate and it only fueled in him the competitive drive to win the girl over.

“Hyung!..Stop it...” Jiyong stood in his way, with Daesung taking cover behind their leader. “Don’t worry... You’ll have all the time in world to see her...”
But even with Jiyong’s cryptic statements, Seunghyun refused to give up and tried to reach for the Daesung. But just when he was about to grab a hold of his scared dongseang’s collar,the creaking sound of the door opening put them all in attention.

“Annyeong”² She said as she entered the room. Seunghyun couldn’t believe his eyes. The voice belonged to her, but she looked so much different from how he remembered her, more radiant because of her pin straight blond bob. He never thought that she could look more beautiful than the day he first saw her. But standing there, with his jaw dropping, he was clearly wrong. He tried to say something clever and charming, but his words choked up to his throat. He scanned the room to see if anyone else had noticed and felt the same. Sure enough every person in the room was staring at her, obviously mesmerized with the difference. He still wasn’t sure what she was doing here and whether her noona invited her or not.
She, on the other hand, stood uncomfortably by the door. Although she had meet these boys before, twice for Jiyong and Daesung and three times for Seunghyun, their stares were not a good sign for the first day of work.
“Should I have worn the white one?” She thought to herself. It was hard enough for her to look at the mirror without cringing at the sight of her blonde hair. But she didn’t know that having five gorgeous and snappy boys look at her with a variety of unexplained looks would intimidate her. Although she was flattered by Youngbae’s impressed ogle or Seunghyun's droll induced stare, what worried her more was Jiyong’s obvious disappointment. At the very last minute, she had decided to forego the white Andre Kim exaggerated dress for the Christian Siriano³ number she had been hiding at the back of her closet. She thought that it was more fitting for the event and as well as her style. She was not the type to go over the top with what she wore, but by the look on his face he seemed to think otherwise.

“Annyeong...” She managed to say again, trying to clear the air of any first day jitters. But just as she was about to with work and briefing them of the press, Jiyong decided to break the news.

“ I guess Hyung forgot to send everyone a memo...Nisshi-ssi will be working with us our publicist from now on...” He turned to face his members, talking about her like she wasn’t there. “..and just like what I said Hyung... You’ll be seeing more of her from now on...”

She had wished for at least a compliment from him, especially when he was responsible for her makeover. She was starting to regret the decision of wearing that dress, even though everyone else was clearly impressed with it. She knew she should be more outgoing, especially being a publicist and all. But all she could do was feel uncomfortable and deeply concerned with Jiyong’s reactions.

Finally, Jiyong walked towards her slowly.

“ This is it.” She thought to herself she let out a small smile for him. “He’s going to say I’m beautiful.”

Just inches away, Jiyong lightly touched her shoulder, leaned towards her and whispered in her ear. “I took the time out yesterday to help you get dressed....The least you could do is wear it..”

She froze in disbelief as he walked passed her and headed out the door. And just like the leader he was, everyone one else started to follow him out. And although each member complimented her new look, all she could think about was how humiliated she felt and how much she hated him for making her feel that way. She was about to ruin her mascara when suddenly Seunghyun , on his way out, slightly brushed her hand. He stopped a second and without even looking at her he said “ For what it’s worth... I think you look really pretty tonight."

***

Footnotes:
¹ an annual award show/music festival hosted by Seoul Brodcasting System or SBS, one of four major national South Korean television and radio networks.
² informal form of hello or goodbye
³n American fashion designer and the winner of the fourth season of American reality show Project Runway.

onlineloveauthor · « **Reply #33 on:** December 01, 2009, 01:01:39 am »

Chapter 5: Seoul January ‘09

The ambience at the coffee shop was a welcome change from the hectic schedules of the Idol world. Although it has only been a week since she started working with YG entertainment, the sleepless nights and the even more tiring days were enough to make her go insane.

“Jay’s right...” She told Aaron, her new found friend from the university, as he sat patiently listening on the other side of the wooden table. “You just can’t help but get suck in.”

Aaron was always a refreshing escape for her. At days like these, days when she was with him, she felt like she was just another college girl out with her boyfriend for lunch. Of course Aaron was yet to be his boyfriend, since they’ve only been out together a couple of times, mostly thanks to her demanding work. But it was a new year and for it felt like it was finally time for a new love.

“It’s amazing though...” He finally said. After babbling about her work, life and anything else that concerned her, she was happy that he was finally going to share his thoughts about it. “It seems like you’re living the good life.

“Good life?!?!” She exclaimed sarcastically. It was true that fame, or at least her connection to it, has its perks. But after her not so good encounters,first with Jay and more recently with Jiyong, she was seriously reconsidering if the benefits outweighed the costs.

“It’s not?...I mean... I’d think being friends with people in industry like Jaebeom and now Big Bang is...you have to admit... pretty great...And besides, doesn’t it get you a lot of free stuff?”
Aaron was well aware of her dealings in the world of Idols, except for Jay being his ex-boyfriend of course, and it was comforting that he did. It was good for her to have someone to talk to about this from an entirely different and detached perspective and she really liked him for that. Every time she was with him, she could make fun of the cruel fashion sense of these kids or the pitiful pairings of Idol stars without being judged for it. She felt relaxed whenever he was with him. Aaron was the one thing she knew would keep her grounded and be able to keep her sense of self amidst this highly publicized world that she was in.

“Aigoo... I guess you’re right...”

“See...just try to look at the positive side of things and you’ll find yourself hating it less and less...”
Aaron looked at her and smiled. Although it wasn’t a knee melting or a shy yet seductive smile, it was enough to make her feel warm. To her it was enough reason to flirt with him before she had to get back to work.

“So...should I find something negative about you?”
Aaron didn’t seem to get what she meant and gave her a confused and slightly nervous look. “You know...so I could stop liking you more and more...” She thought that by letting out her feelings in the open, she’d feel more confident about it. But it backfired as her whole face turned red and her shaking hands made it hard to hold her coffee steadily. It wasn’t a complete lost however when he placed his hand on hers to stop it from shaking.

“ Should I do the same for you?” He retorted confidently.

“BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ”
Her phone vibrated violently, almost dropping to the floor and killed the cheesy mood they’ve created.

“Where are you?
Briefing for Seungri Solo @ 2”

She read out loud, mimicking his boss’s, Hung Syuk, overly nasal voice. They both laughed at her measly impression.

[color=]“Looks like work’s calling you...”[/color]Aaron let go of her hand and started to packing his things up, getting ready to leave.

“Omo!¹ You’re getting rid of me already?!”

“Huh? Aniii!!!... But don’t you have to get that?” Aaron said pointing to her phone. Although she felt disappointed for his indifference to the whole situation, she couldn’t help but admire how understanding he was.

“Don’t worry...It’s okay...”
She smiled at him and started packing as well.

“Hey...” Aaron reached for her wrist just about she was to leave her seat. “Lets do this again sometime soon...And then we can talk about your fancy shmancy press conference more...”

“Is that a date?” She wanted to sound flirtatious to make up for her failed attempt at being boldly charming.

“Uhmmmm..Yeah?...just like the last two dinners and this lunch?”

“Oh..right...” Her voice trailed off as she waved goodbye. And as she left to go to her appointment with the press and Big Bang, she suddenly felt a surge of embarrassment. She covered her face with both hands, realizing how rusty her flirting skills have become.

***

“Really?” She said laughing. She had spent almost the entire day with Seunghyun, Youngbae, Seungri and Daesung at their dorm swapping stories of misfits and “oops” moments. Although she was an uninvited guest, she decided to invade their space in hopes of getting to know them better. And by the looks of their bright faces, it seems that her plan was working

The topic of the hour was Big Bang’s failed getaway. After shooting a commercial for Hite² beer, the intoxicated environment of that day flowed into reality and was bringing out their rebellious side. Youngbae, who was usually shy around her, animatedly described each event, each moment of that fateful day, looking intently at her. Seunghyun did the same even though he barely spoke.

“It was actually Seunghyun hyung’s idea.” Youngbae added.

“HUH? It wasn’t MY idea!” Seunghyun replied defensively and tried to deny everything, but the more he did, together with his worried look, gave him away. “ It was a unanimous decision.”

“Yeah right... a unanimous decision that YOU initiated...” Youngbae insisted. The aura of the dorm’s living room was far from the usual busy scenes of events and recordings. She suddenly felt sorry for them. Being robbed of their teen years was hard enough as it it is. But being robbed of it and still having to put up appearance was a feat for these kids. But most of all, she was amazed at their focus and perseverance to achieve a dream that enabled them to endure such a travesty.

“So..what happened?”

“Well...someone ratted us out!”
Seunghyun didn’t name any names. But the way he starred at little Seunghyun felt as if he was trying to get a confession out of him.

“Why???” Seungri exclaimed as he felt the heavy stares of his hyungs. “It’s not my fault hyungs are so bad at sneaking out...”

The rowdiness of the bunch continued as the older boys started ganging up on their maknae. She watched them intently and was feeling rather satisfied as the night deepened. But there was still something bothering her.

“Noona...” Daeseung said, noticing her deep expressions. “Are you okay?”

“Huh..Ahmmm yeah... I’m fine..” She staggered to say. She was feeling fine, but she couldn't help but notice how in one way or another, Jiyong had made sure that they didn’t cross paths. Although she had been working with the band for exactly 2 weeks now, she has yet to talk and spend time with Jiyong the way she was doing right now with the other four boys.

“Ah....By the way..Where’s Jiyong-ssi?” The last time Jiyong had acknowledged her was at Gayo Daejeun, and that was not a fun memory to be left with.

Seunghyun and Youngbae both looked at her when she asked, both were sitting on top of a whimpering Seungri.
"Why...Aren’t we enough for you?” Seunghyun said with a hint of jealousy. Although he had obviously meant his green-tinted tone, she shrugged it off as a joke.

“ Well... You ARE boring me...” She jokingly rolled her eyes and started gathering her hair in a bun.She thought of doing something nice for them, especially since they were all being so nice to her. But mostly, she just wanted to take her mind off Jiyong.

“There are four other guys here who don’t mind receiving attention from me, what do I need him for?” And without a word she stood up and eyed all four boys suggestively. They needed a nice treat and she was just the one to give it to them. She walked towards the door, while each boy’s gaze followed her suspiciously.

“So...”She finally said to no one in particular “If you want ice cream... you better come with me.”

But as soon as she reached the doorway she bumped into something that was cold and hard, or rather...someone.

“Jiyong-a!” She said, surprised.

“Speaking of the devil...” Youngbae said with a smile for his friend, he helped Seungri up from the floor. Jiyong was just as surprise as she was. He stood by the doorway, trying hard to figure out why everyone was gathered around his and Seungri’s dorm room, including their Publicist Noona. He looked at Youngbae, trying to get an explanation.

“What are you doing here...talking about me?” Jiyong then shifted his gaze to his still surprise noona.

“Noona’s been looking for you hyung!” But even with Daeseung’s teasing, she remained still and did not say a word in her defense. Jiyong noticed her face getting red and the sudden change in the atmosphere. Before he came in, he was pretty sure that the mood was relaxing and enjoyable. But now there was a stiff and unwelcoming aura in the room. And even though it was partly his dorm room, he felt like an alien amidst them.

“You were looking for me Noona?” He asked so formally that it gave the other four boys a hearty laugh. Seunghyun, who tried hard to conceal his jealousy over his coy façade whenever Jiyong was around, walked towards her and slid his hand on her waist.

“It’s late...” He said as she led her outside. “We better get going if we want those ice creams...”

She looked at Seunghyun thankfully. And although he wasn't sure why he did it, whether it was to save her from embarrassment of to save himself from seeing their uncharacteristic interaction towards each other, he was glad he did it. He shut the door behind them and thought “This is my chance”

Surprisingly, The conversation between thee two of them, as they walked side by side to the store, flowed naturally. To her, it felt like they were two old friends catching up on each other’s lives. To him, it felt like a date that was going extremely well. They both laughed at the same little things on the way down down the building and on their way to the nearest open convenience store. They even picked the same flavour of icicles as they reached in inside the store’s freezer. He was about to mark that moment as on of his best "date-type" moments when without warning she asked

“What kind does Jiyong like?” She looked through the freezer with her bare hands scrutinizing each ice cream bar as if picking the best one out of the bunch. She was putting so much thought into it that his irritation finally surfaced.

“He probably won’t care what it is.” He started unwrapping one of the icicles and took a huge bite out of it. “Ow...” A sudden rush of freeze stung him and made him lose his balance. He leaned towards the freezer as he gritted his teeth and clinched his head. He had expected her to sympathetically crouch down to ask if he was fine or maybe laugh at his gluttonous greed. But instead her face looked sad as she closed the freezer door.

“You’re right” She said with a sigh and dunked an ice lolly into the basket he was holding. “He’s probably asleep by the time we get home.” She unwrapped the icicle she had picked and started to lick the surface gently. He looked at her for answers to her unnecessary concern over Jiyong’s thoughts. He refused to admit to himself that the answer he didn’t want to see was written all over her face.

“Do you...” He started to say. He furiously licked on his icicle once more to relieve the dryness of his mouth. “Do you...like him?” His voice trailing towards the end.

“Of course I like him" His lips started to curve downward from her lack of hesitation He knew the awkwardness between his dongseang and her was already her interest showing but he had expected that she would at least try to deny it. He was about to change the topic to something lighter and less depressing for him when she suddenly faced him and asked.

“Don’t you?” She had caught him off guard.

“And why would I?” He blurted out in disbelief. Even though Jiyong had an eclectic androgynous style and looked a little more feminine than his other dongseangs, he would never look at him in that way. But as he glanced at her face, her somewhat angry expression confused him even more.

“Does she think I’m gay?” He thought to himself. “Is that why she never showed interest in me?”

“I’m surprised!!!” She suddenly slapped his arm and looked him straight in the eye, her expression getting fiercer than usual. “You should be ashamed of yourself! How could you not like your dongseang and still act cheerful towards him! If you’ve got a problem with him, tell it to his face! Don’t go around backstab....”

“Oh!” He interrupted finally realizing his mistake. “No...No... I like Jiyong-ie... I was asking if you like...like...LIKE him... you know... the kind where 'first comes love then comes marriage'”

“OH! My bad!” She rubbed the arm she had just slapped, feeling sorry for hurting him for no reason at all. But her apologetic expression quickly change to that of embarrassment. She let her fingers play through her hair as she looked for words to his question.

“ I like all of you...” She started to say with much caution. “...as my dongseangs...and in your case...as my Oppa... I don’t like anyone more or less than the other. I like you ALL in the same way.”

“Then why are you so bothered over Jiyong?” He finally gathered the courage to ask. But he was so dazed with what she had said earlier that he started to care less and less of what he thought of Jiyong. “At least I’m an Oppa...” he grinned inside at the thought of it.

“Of course I’ll be bothered... You, Seunghyun, Youngbae and Daesung have been so warm to me and if I’m going to be working for you, I at least need to be in speaking terms with everyone.”

After paying for their midnight treats, she and Seunghyun walked back to their dorm silently. A direct contrast from how that night started, they both felt unexplainably grim. Although he knew exactly why she was upset, he couldn’t understand why he felt the same. In fact he thought he should be happy that Jiyong showed no interest in her but her sad face was just as infectious as her cheerfulness.

“I’m sure he doesn’t hate you or anything like that.” He said trying to cheer her up. They walked through the corridors of the building, uncomfortable with the mood. “He’s just a VERY busy guy...”

“I hope so...” She said under her breath. He could feel that she was already close to tears and he knew he had no other choice but to give her advice on how to get closer to Jiyong. He jumped infront of her just as they reached their dorm’s door.

“If you want to get close to him...How ‘bout find something that interests him and work your way from there.” He smiled at her and cupped her chin lightly. “Try starting with clothes and shoes... That should loosen him up...”

She gave him a faint smile for his gallant efforts. And although he had expected something brighter than that smile, he was contented. But as soon as he thought of her and Jiyong getting closer than was necessary , he felt a tinge of jealousy crawl through his back. Jiyong’s success and experience never bothered him before but this time he felt inferior to his dongseang.

“This girl’s trouble...”[/color]He told himself as he opened the door. “But for some reason....” turning to face her smiling face, “I can’t help myself."

Footnotes:
¹ "Oh my god!"
² Hite Brewery Company Limited; a South Korean brewery company head-quartered in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Its main products are beer, rice wine, and mineral water.

onlineloveauthor · « **Reply #34 on:** December 01, 2009, 04:55:49 pm »

“Find something that interests you both.” She recalled Seunghyun say. She had been trying to decode what her oppa advised the other day and was following it to the tee. She was determined to get closer to Jiyong and finally be able to work with him comfortably. But so far her efforts have been unfruitful.

”Efforts?” She whispered t herself. She couldn’t really call them “efforts” since that would require her to actually carry them out. But so far, she had failed to talk or to even look him in the eye. She tried to understand his kind of fashion and try it on for herself. But before she could even show him, Minsul already gave her the heads up by confusing her for a circus act. She also tried customizing some her old clothes. But after 3 tor t-shirts, one of which was permanently glued to her apartment floor, she was finally on the verge of giving up.

“This is my last chance” She was standing in front of the president’s door, contemplating whether or not she should go through her plan. She had noticed the other day how close Jiyong was to his dongseangs at YG, more specifically his dongseangs from the female group YG entertainment was set to debut. And she knew no other chance would come that was as good as this.

“Stop hovering at my door Nissh-ssi...” YG called from the inside of his room. Startled, she hadn’t notice that the door she stood by was half-open and that her boss had seen her walk back and forth, hesitating to approach him.

“Omo! CEO-nim” She entered the room and bowed formally. She was looking for the perfect introduction to her proposition, but her dilly-dallying prompted YG to break the silence.

“ How are the boys? Doing well I assume?”

“Besides the fact that its leader totally hates me...” She thought to herself. But she wasn’t about to rat him out and cause her even more trouble. “They’re doing great... were you able to go through the report on Seungri’s events?”

“Yes...very impressive..good work!” She wasn’t sure whether he was cueing her to leave him to his busy schedule and that the conversation was over.
“This is your last chance” She repeated in her head for the last time, enough to gather up the courage to finally speak up.

“President...” Even though he failed to notice the sudden seriousness in her voice, she continued otherwise. “... I heard you were going to debut a female group by this year”

Hang Syuk, at the mention of his new project, turned to her with a stiffened expression she couldn’t decipher. She suddenly panicked at the sight of it and started to talk at a faster pace, hoping that she could finish her speech before he could cut her off.

“I want in...” She burst out confidently. “I mean... I want to be involve..and hopefully in charge, of their PR campaign. In line with this, I think it could be good for Big Bang’s image if we have them invovle in this project as well”

“How is that so?” His eyes suddenly gleaming at the mention of the company’s cash cow.

“We could sell them off as the 'Female Big Bang,' having a similar style and hopefully have the same reception as their Sunbae’s. We can even feature their close relationship with each other””

She had practised this speech all night on the phone with Aaron and it had all paid off. YG’s contented smile convinced her that he was almost up for it.
“So I was thinking...” She continued to explain. “ It would be good publicity for Big Bang and as well as for the group you’re planning to debut to...” She paused to bask in the glory of her PR genius.

“...to what?” YG asked, obviously caught in the suspense she had weaved.

“ to have some of the BigBang members to be involve in their...ahmmm.. production...”

“Production?”

“Yeah...like..lets say...” She was trying to give the impression that she was searching for an example at the top of her head. But, in reality, she had already picked the perfect one.

“Like say..AH!...Jiyong-ie...He’s a good lyricist....why not have him write a few songs for the album?”

“That's...” YG said as he massaged his chin. She was impressed at how well her plan was working out. She had YG by the hook and she knew this was the only way to fix the rift she had made with Big Bang’s leader. And with that, she tried hard to be more persuasive and persistent. YG drummed his fingers on the shiny oak desk table. It wasn’t going to be easy to convince him to hand over a project this to a newbie like her. But her prepared speech already had a rebuttal to this foreseen argument with the CEO.

“It might be too soon, I know. But I hope you could at least give me a chance to prove myself.”

“OK...” YG leaned over the table and his face was now literally in hers.

“Then...what do you have?”

“Huh?” Her speech, no matter how extensive it was, did not cover the actual idea for the proposal. She had initially thought that YG would at least give her time to create an official presentation to the board. But then again, in this company, YG WAS the board. And that little detail was something she left out.

“Well...” Ideas started racing through her head, none of which was good enough. She tried her best to improvise, but every time she came up with one it was either too amateur or too difficult to produce.

“You came empty handed??” YG could read her challenged face. But instead of getting angry at her unprofessional behaviour, he merely gave out a hearty laugh. It made her more uneasy and she kept fidgeting in her seat, feeling stupid for just barging in his office with her half-baked plan.

“Is it really this hard to get on that boy’s side?” She thought to herself. No matter how popular Jiyong was, he was still just his talent and she should be the one with the upper hand. But as she stood at YG’s expansive office, her work ethics debated with her. She wanted to work WITH them and not FOR them. She wanted a friendlier relationship with these kids rather than an over-bearing figure in their close-knit family. She needed to endure this.

“ Honestly...” As she was searching for her words desperately, it finally dawned upon her why she was doing this in the first place and this came as the perfect opportunity and also the perfect excuse.

“I was hoping that some of the members would be involve with me on the planning. So in that case, we could GENUINELY say that THESE boys are more than just singers, dancers, or rappers. And, I guess,.... finally reach the level of recognition...that... YOU are now in.” She thought a dash of compliment would be enough to reel him in and make him realize the sense in what she was suggesting. Although she had meant to work with one Big Bang-er in particular, it wouldn’t be so bad if the rest of them joined in the fun as well.

But YG, as if reading her mind, had already caught her drift. “How about Jiyong then?”
Her plan was unfolding perfectly that it was almost too scary.

“That boy’s bound to go places...” YG stood up from his chair and into a nearby bookshelf. He fingered his way through the stack of framed pictures and memorabilia. He pulled out a fairly old and worn down school notebook. And with utmost care, like it was gold-plated or something, he handed it over to her.

“What’s this?” She flipped over the pages of the old notebook. She was expecting something of great value inserted between the pages. She viciously turned each page but all she saw were illegible scribbles which resembled the writings of either a grade-schooler or a drunken driver.

“ Jiyong-ie’s old school notebook.” He’s been writing lyrics even before he could learn his multiplication tables.” She looked at the scribbles more carefully this time. He was right. Although at first glance, the scribbles didn’t make a lot of sense. When she read through them with him in mind, she found herself agreeing with their CEO.

“This...He’s...He’s always been this good?”’

“Yeah...and this idea of yours ...this is the perfect opportunity to show the world what I just showed you.”

onlineloveauthor · « **Reply #35 on:** December 01, 2009, 10:05:02 pm »

"Yeah.. like I said... seems like I’m taking on a new project.” She told Aaron through the phone. Although she was surrounded by Korea’s most beautiful Idols 24/7, she still preferred talking to him. He was the only sense of normalcy she had going in her life. Another good thing about Aaron was that he never failed to show interest in her and he patiently listened to her endless complaints. She found it hard to believe that someone in this mess up world was taking the time to genuinely get to know her.

“Nah... I might bore you.” She was walking along the corridors of the 15th floor of the YG office building and although it was still dawn, Aaron still picked up his phone as soon as she called. Her heart fluttered at the thought of the attention she was showering her.

“No, You won’t...” He heard him say on the other end. “ And besides... It sounds like you’re about to burst trying to spare me from boredom....Seriously Nisshi... Since it interests you so much, I want to hear it.”

It was true. She was trying hard to keep it all in when in fact she was dying to boast of all she had achieved with Big Bang so far. But still, that had to wait. From afar, she could already see the door to the room she was heading to. However, the darkness of the dawn made it impossible to see anything else.

“Aww...That’s sweet Aaron...But I’m actually about to get busy.. I’ll call you when I’m done...and tell you ALL about it...I promise...Bye...”
Without waiting for him to say his goodbye, she hung up and slid the phone into her pocket. But the light that came from the phone’s screen was the only thing that kept her from stumbling into the darkness of the corridor. The hallway was now pitch dark but her mood stayed the same. She was still as excited as she had been when she woke up that morning. The events lined up for that day had her fully awake as she led herself blindly through the corridor. she let her palm feel through the walls and as soon as she felt the smoothness of the door’s surface her hands started to find its way through the wooden surface and into its knob. Like most door knobs in that building, she was expecting to feel a tinge of coldness from its iron surface. But to her surprise, the knob was slightly deformed and soft.

“ Huh?.. That's...Super soft...” She said out loud.

“Thanks, I can’t say the same for you though.”

“Wooow...a talking...wait...WHAT THE!!???” She lifted her frozen hands to her mouth. She knew that if there was someone else nearby she would at least notice it. She thought she was either dreaming or that this was a scene straight from one of those horror movies.

“What are you doing here?” She was about to scream when the voice’s arrogance triggered a familiar face in her mind.

“ Jiyong-ie!!! God! You scared me!”

“What are you doing here?” He insisted coldly without even bothering to console her from her fright.

“Well...what are you doing here so early yourself?” She asked with the same coldness. She was expecting him to react violently to her tone, or at least give out a reaction. But instead he opened the door and went right in.

“Oh..riiight..I asked YG to...” She mumbled to herself as she followed him inside. It was still a bit dark and she was starting to look for the light’s switch. But instead of finding it, it was Jiyong’s still body which she found and bumped into.

“Ouch!”

“You mean... you personally requested... ME?” He placed much emphasis towards the end as the lights went on, implying his distaste over her persistence to win him over. He looked around the empty practice room and then at her, with a look of both disgust and confusion.

“What are you planning to do to me Noona? He stepped back and crossed his arms. She wasn’t sure where he was getting his ideas from Although she had dragged him out into this empty practice room, through YG’s help of course, it was still all for work’s sake.

“Noona...” He came closer to her and was now only a few inches away from her. “Do you... possibly...like me? He raised his eyebrows, trying to get some confession out of her. But she was too stunned by his spontaneity to even deflect his almost baseless assumptions. She saw this coming, ever since SeungHyun had asked him the same thing a few days back. But she still didn’t know how to respond now that it was HIM who was asking her.

“Huh?” She had managed to say. He spread his arms wide to better emphasize the expanse of the room. “An empty room...No one else ere...but us...at this hou...” But he was suddenly distracted by the door’s creaking sound as it opened to two young kids.

“Nisshi Unni... Jiyong Oppa...Annyeong...” Hi face turned blood red at the sight of Chaerin and Minji, his dongseangs and trainees from YG. He couldn’t look at her and was obviously wishing to take back what he had just said.

All she could do was smile at her victory for this round. She towards the two girls by the door, who both stood confused of Jiyong’s embarrassed expression and totally clueless of the power struggle that had just occurred between them.

“Oh! Chaerin, Minji... Where’s Bom Unnie?”

Minji, whose shoulder length hair made her look even younger, fidgeted with her jacket’s zipper as she spoke. “Ahmm... Bom Unnie is a bit sick today...”

“She told us to ask you if she could be excused for today..." Chaerin said. Chaerin was Minji’s opposite. She looked livelier and more confident than her dongseang and even though it was still the break of dawn, she was flowing with energy.

“Oh...that’s okay...” Jiyong still stood motionless as she talked to the girls. And although he had already stepped back from her and had already realized his mistake, he was still confused as to why he, her Noona, Chaerin and Minji were there.

She wanted to keep the suspense a little longer . But seeing their confused faces and Jiyong’s still red face, she couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“As I was telling Jiyong...” She said as she returned his once confident eyebrow racing with a smirk. “As you all know, you’ll be debuting, together with Bom Unnie, as a groupe soon. And we’re here all here to get a head start on the your image.”

“At 5 in the morning?” Jiyong asked, still trying hard to regain his lost composure bu being a smart aleck.

“You’re all booked with schedules today... Jiyong-ie, you have like 3 today on top of all your recordings... remember?”

“At a practice room?” Chaerin rebutted. She hasn’t spent much time with the girl. But she knew well enough to know that she’ll always be on his oppa’s side no matter what. And today was no different.

“Well.. I don’t have an office yet...” She llooked at her hoping that her pitiful situation could win her over.

“But I don’t get why you’re here... With all due respect Noona...”

“Respect?” She thought that what Jiyong had just said was not one out of respect but of spite. Although her plan that day was to finally get more acquainted with this kid, she was beginning to have second thoughts and was on the verge of turning the tables around and give these kids a hard time. But just like a naughty school boy, Jiyong’s unpretentious expression and some what mischievous smile, reminded her of her mission and how important it was for her..

“Well.. Do you have the lyrics?” With her suggestion, YG has asked jiyong to write a song for the new group. And from there, she thought creating an image would be roughly be based from that song. Jiyong reached in through his pocket and handed a crumpled piece of paper to her. She read through the lyrics Jiyong had written. It had a lot of crossed out lines and little notes. She found her penmanship cute and the drawings on the sides was a plus.

“He is good...a musical prodigy...” She further thought once she finished reading through his lyrics.

“YG entrusted me to create an image for these girls based on your lyrics. But too make sure the image I...or We..would have in mind suits them...we need them to be here as well.”

“Well... I could have done that on my own you know...and at a more convenient time I might add.” Jiyong remained stubborn and resistant as he usually was towards her. She was nearly reaching her boiling point. When he did that in front of Big Bang, she didn’t mind. When he undermined her presence during meetings with Teddy¹, Choice27², and YG, she was patient about it. But as she saw her pride and ego made fun of in front of these girls, who were a lot younger than her, Jiyong triggered her to burst. If there’s such a thing a male ego, for her there was what she called PMS and at that moment he had just crossed the line. She grabbed him by his scrawny arm and forcefully dragged him to one corner of the room. He tried to resist while looking at the mixed expressions of his dongseangs. She, on the other hand, didn’t mind if she looked like a scorned woman out for revenge. She didn’t care either if Jiyong was buffing himself up in front of these girls.

“Look...” She held her grip more firmly to his arm that his face let out a painful expression. “I know you’ve never been a 100% on me working with you.. But I’ve already screwed over my best friend for this job, could you at least give me the chance to do it right."

Jiyong nodded instantly and said something under his breath. It might have been an apology or maybe he had just cursed her. But she was getting fed up with his immaturity, that she simply didn’t care anymore.

Jiyong followed her as she walked towards another door which led to an adjacent room. Chaerin and Minji, still dazed, followed her as well.

She had wanted that morning to be less gloomy than it was right now,especially when she prepared something she knew Jiyong would be excited about. But thinking about what had just happened,she was now regretting putting too much effort into it.

“Ahmmm...Noona-nim...What’s....this?” Jiyong said formally as she opened the door to the adjacent room. It looked like an old stock room with its lights off. And as they went in, the scattered things on the floor further strengthened the kid’s stock room theory.

“Well...” She said as she opened the lights. She looked at the 3 faces that glittered with so much excitement. Their jaws dropped as they found themselves surrounded with racks and rack of local and international designer clothing, tables of accessories, and even more boxes of shoes. It was a stock room alright, one that rivals that of Vogue’s or Elle’s.

“Noooooo...na” Jiyong managed to say. Although he was the only guy in the room, he was the most excited of them and even started going through the pile of Philip Lim vests and jackets.

“Well... I was thinking...the best way to create an image is to dress you guys up to the feel of the song and see which one would fit you the most...so basically...”

“We’re playing dress up!” Jiyong’s mixed expression of embarrassment, disappointment, and pride was all washed away.

“Seunghyun Oppa was right.” She said to herself. “ I really should have started with clothes.”

While Chaerin and Minji were stuffing their soles with Lanvins and Choos, she finally decided to join in the fun and took a customized necklace from the table near her. She was about to put it on Chaerin, when suddenly an unexpected warmth enveloped her whole body. At first, she thought she was hallucinating. But the lanky arms that wrapped around her were too real.

“Noona!!! Thank youuuuu! You’re the best!”

She stiffened at Jiyongs unexpected hug and although this looked like a kid thanking his mom for an early Christmas present, her whole face became red. She wanted to push him away but all she could do was loosen her joints, letting the gold chain loose and fell to the floor.

“Yah!! Noona!! Be careful.. it’s a sacrilege to drop something so precious!” Jiyong instinctly pulled away from her to pick up the fallen piece of jewelry and tried it on for himself.

***

Footnotes
¹real name Park Hong Jun, was the leader and main rapper of the hip hop group 1TYM, produced by YG entertainment. He is currently a music producer for the company producing hits for both 2NE1 and Big Bang.
²a music producer for YG entertainment

onlineloveauthor · « **Reply #36 on:** December 02, 2009, 06:06:53 pm »

***

They found themselves alone in the dorm room. Seunghyun felt touched when she came to him that afternoon to thank him for helping out with her Jiyong dilemma. She had just told him, in much detail, the great time she had with his dongseang the other day and it was all thanks to him. But somehow, hearing the news of Jiyong getting closer to her made him unexplainably possessive.

“He even hugged me.” These words echoed in his ears the most. And even though she had already shifted to talking about Chaerin and Minji, all he could think about was the image of Jiyong and her hugging .

He was never the touchy-feely guy that Jiyong was. In fact, it was his ultimate pet peeve. When someone who he hasn’t known for a long time touches him too much, it irritates him. It was Jiyong’s favourite on the other hand. And he knew that that hug, just like all the other hugs he had given, meant nothing to him.

“Oppa..are you okay?” His train of thought was distracted by the waving hand in front of his face. He nodded and strategically grabbed her hand to stop. He looked at her now and noticed she was letting out an adorable pout.

“You weren’t even listening” She looked really upset and thought that he might not have been interested in her dealings after all.

“Fine...I get it...You’re not interested...” But she knew that even if Seunghyun could care less about her day, unlike Jiyong, he was kind and less rude and stingy to just ignore her completely. She knew that once she turned her back on him, he’d instantly grab her arm and insist that he was listening to her. So just like the drama queen that she was, she turned her back expecting the arm-grabbing scene. But to her surprise, Seunghyun didn’t grab her arm. He held her waist with two hands and started tickling her.

“Aissshh... You’re so sensitive...”

“Ah...Oppa...STOP IIITTT!!” She pleaded and tried to break free from him.. But he was about a foot taller than her and he had a grip of an iron clamp.

This was a first for Seunghyun, a very uncomfortable first. But losing to Jiyong was something he couldn’t bear, especially when he did it so effortlessly. However, the longer he was playing around with her, the less apprehensive he was and the more he enjoyed it.

“Tell me...” He said as he pinned her to the floor and continued to tickle her.

“Whose your favourite from Big Bang?” Her eyes went wide with his question. Neither Seunghyun or her expected to be put on the spot and pick favourites. But the spontaneity of Seunghyun’s actions were just as unexpected that she was starting to think this was the Seunghyun she failed to get to know, the Seunghyun in his natural habitat.

“All ...of... you!!!” She shouted exhaustively between breaths. But Seunghyun was persistent in getting an answer from her, one specific answer in particular.

“No!! Pick one!” He wasn’t about to give up until he heard her say his name. But more importantly, he was enjoying teasing her and finally be so close to as he was now. “Who’s your favourite!?!? Tell me!”

Stop it Oppa!!! Fiiine!..It’s..Youuuuu”

He finally heard it, but for his sale he continued to tickel her which sent them both rolling to the floor “Who?”

“Oppa!! Oppa’s my favorite!” He wanted all afternoon to pass by just like that. But as he slowly put his guard down , Nisshi threw her whole body at him and sat on top of his stomach as soon as she had him pinned down. She started to tickle him and give him a taste of his own medicine. But no matter how hard she tried to get a squirm from him, but it was no use now as he was in a complete daze.

“Oppa is my favourite” Her words echoed again through his head. “Yes...I’m her favourite.” He said to himself and smiled. They were both enjoying themselves that they didn’t even notice the door to the apartment open.

“Noona?” Jiyong said casually at the sight of Seunghyun’s body splattered on the floor with Nisshi sitting on top of it.

“We were just...” Nisshi instantly stood up when he saw Jiyong standing by the door and started to straighten her crumpled jeans. Her faced turned red from both the exhaustion of Seunghyun’s horseplay and the embarrassment from Jiyong’s expression.

“Whatever it is... I really don’t wanna know.”

Seunghyun was still sprawled on the floor, observing the two of them go at it like cats and dogs.
“Hmm..They still seem awkward...” He thought to himself.

She, on the other hand, thought that just when Jiyong and her were getting along, he had to see her and Seunghyun in such an appropriate position. She knew for sure that she finally blown it when suddenly Jiyong grabbed her arm.

“Noona.. I actually need a favor..”

“A favor?” Seunghyun asked suspiciously.

“ Aisssh...Hyung! Don’t be too greasy...” Jiyong said with a disgusted look on his face. He still hadn’t let go of her arm and with his pending request, he wasn’t about to.

“You see... Noona...it’s about Chaerin’s group...”

“What about them?” It was a good sign, she had thought. Jiyong was becoming more open to the idea of working together peacefully and it clearly seemed that her initial plan was working. She shot an i-told-you-you-were-right look at Seunghyun. But his facial expression and body language was kind of hard to read at that moment.

Seunghyun couldn’t feel more out of place as she and Jiyong talked about their little project. If it was any other pair, she could have just left and got himself a bottle of soju than wait around and be excluded from the conversation. But the fact was, they weren’t just any other pair.

“I want to make an addition to the group.” Jiyong said as he finally let go of her and sat on a spot on the floor near the couch.

“Finally... I was starting think if he’d ever let go...” Seunghyun thought to himself, feeling both jealous and inferior.

"What do you mean “addition”? Like...another concept?”

“No...no... I like our concept...”

“Pssshh..’Our’? Since when did they start using ‘OUR’” Seunghyun looked over at her, who was now seated beside him in the sofa. He was hoping that if he starred long enough, she’d notice and include him in the conversation. But to no avail, all her attention was focused on just one person in the room.

“I was thinking of adding...Ahmmm... Dara Noona to the group...”

“Dara??” Seunghyun and Nisshi said in unison, completely surprise. He looked at them with a confused look, finally remembering that Seunghyun was still there with them.

“But...she isn’t a singer...” Seunghyun added as she looked at Jiyong and then at her.
[color=]
“Exactly”[/color] Her voice lacked the confidence she had earlier . Everyone knew Dara trained at YG as an actress and not as a singer. But what confused her even more was why Jiyong would go on a limb for that girl. “Did he like her?” She taught to herself.

Sandara Park, Dara as she was commonly known at YG, had had a string of bad luck in her career. After a brief stint in the Philippines as a teen actress, she came to Korea and eventually signed with YG. One time, she came across her in the hallways and she remembered Minsul saying that Dara had worked hard once on a gig only to have it cancelled at the last minute. She was and have always been groomed to be an actress and it didn’t make any sense why Jiyong would want to involve her.

“She doesn’t have a good voice... And training her would take months or even years, with her lack of experience.”

But Jiyong wasn’t giving up and it just infuriated her more. He crossed his arms just like he always did when things weren’t going his way.

“If you want her so much...then why don’t you take you case to YG?” But she knew perfectly that YG and her would share the same thoughts on the matter and perhaps he could talk some sense in to this boy. “This is business...” She thought to herself. “Not some kind of excuse for a love den.”

Both Jiyong and Seunghyun looked at her with overwhelmed stares, both unsure of why she was acting too stingy. Seunghyun was even more confused for he had known that she was trying to sway him. And acting like a merciless and business minded PR man was not the way to do so.

Jiyong, on the other hand, was used to this side of her. In fact it was the only side of her he had seen. He recalled the events of the other day where she practically crushed his ego by impressing her authority over him. But still, Jiyong thought that she was over-reacting, even calling Dara a half-baked trainee. Apparently, his overbearing approach hasn’t been working.

In most cases, his star status earned him respect from his colleagues, both young and old, and he soon found out that his intimidating stature helped him get away with just about anything. Often coined as a musical genius, Sunbaes¹ and Hoobaes² thought that whatever came out of him was gold. He could !@#$ in his pants and he could buy a new pair of shoes with them. But this Noona wasn’t into this kind of thing and he thought of using a more conventional approach.

He rose from where he sat and walked over to her and Seunghyun. He had done this tactic before and judging by her hair’s still blondish hue, it was the most effective in dealing with her.

“Noona...” He said just like he did before, kneeling in front of her and holding both her hands.

“I already asked Hyung, but he said the same thing. But maybe, I thought, if you convinced him, he’ll see that what I’m trying to do is actually good for this project.”

Seunghyun couldn’t feel more uneasy as he looked on the scene that was unfolding right before his eyes. “He’s really too much...” He thought of getting between them and stop him with his nonsense. But his pride stopped him. If there was one thing in this world he always regret feeling was his insecurity.

Jiyong, continued his speech and soon enough his aegyo convinced her.

"Fine...fine... I’ll talk to YG...” Seunghyun wasn’t sure what kind of conversation had just transpired between them. He was more concerned with the two’s body language. He had blocked all the sounds in his head and was over analysing each and every detail of the signals they were both sending each other.

“Could it be that... she likes him?”He thought. “NAH...She already said she didn't...And besides...I’m her favorite...I’m her oppa...” But he still couldn’t believe how the events of that afternoon had just turned a complete 180. From him getting the upper hand to know losing her full attention to Jiyong.

“Now?” He heard Nisshi exclaim.
“Yah... I mean the earlier you convince hyung, the faster we could start.” Jiyong jumped from his seat and was now dragging her towards the door and she looked more and more like the willing victim.
Before Seunghyun could even protest, he was left, unaware of what had just happened, in his dorm room’s couch. He sulked back into his chair and closed his eyes.

“I’m her Oppa... I’m her Oppa...” He said repeatedly hoping that the words that she had said weren’t as empty as his dorm, where they had just left him.

***

Footnotes:
¹someone who is older than you and/or is one's senior in a school, organization, or industry
²junior classmate or colleague. A less intimate and/or more professional term than dongsaeng. But, because hoobae is a term used for a younger person, you don’t address them as “hoobae” — you would just use their name.

onlineloveauthor · « **Reply #37 on:** December 04, 2009, 11:30:42 pm »

***

“Hmmmm...Hmmmm...Hmm...”

Nisshi hummed as she walked the corridors leading to Big Bang’s practice room. She was feeling lighter than she usually did. And with Seungri’s solo promotions coming to an end, she had every reason to relax. At one point she even thought of taking the day off and reward herself with her much needed vacation. But for some reason, she was missing the boys more often than usual, Seunghyun’s teasing, Youngbae’s shy smile, Maknae’s over confidence, Daesung’s body gags, and yes even Jiyong’s aloofness. When she first started working at YG, waking up early in the morning every day was a long and troublesome process. But now, it surprised her how much she looked forward to go to work everyday.

BAM!

As she walked blindly into the hallway, she didn’t notice the group of people converging along the corridors.

“Owww!” The sudden impact of bodily collision hurt her head so much that she became a little disoriented. A young man in a grey sweatshirt stood before her, smiling.

“Are you OK, Nisshi-ssi?

Teddy, the once famed Idol and currently the most in demand producer, asked her.

“Oppa... I’m sorry...”” She was about to excuse herself when she noticed the familiar face of the young lady Teddy was with.

“Minsul-ah!” She said almost screaming. She was about to give her old friend a hug, but she hesitated. Although Minsul insisted that nothing has changed between them, they haven’t been able to go back to the way things were ever since she had gotten this PR job over her.

“Nisshi-ssi! Seems like you’re really busy nowadays...You don’t even look at where your going anymore” Teddy said with a laugh. Although he meant to lighten the mood, the mere mention of her working made the unplanned meeting more uncomfortable. She looked at Minsul hoping to get at least a stare down from her. But to her surprise, Minsul’s somber expression changed to that excitement.

“Yah! Is that why you haven’t called me?!?!” Minsul said in a slightly jealous, but still playful, tone. [color=green"]Aigoo! Don’t think that just because you’re working with the boys, you can easily get rid of me!” [/color]Teddy and Minsul laughed at her old friend’s remark. But no matter how much Minsul smiled, she still felt guilty.

“Guys already got you worked up huh? They’re really a handful I tell you.” Teddy added.

She was about to excuse herself when Minsul linked her arm around hers and said “Oppa...Do you mind if I walk Nisshi to the practice room? I’ll just catch up with you later.” Minsul said smiling from ear to ear.

She wasn’t sure what to make up for her actions. She also wasn’t sure if her friendly demeanour was genuine or just because somebody else was around.
As soon as Teddy said his goodbyes, She and Minsul stood in the Middle of that corridor, speechless with their arms still linked together.

Meanwhile a few meters away from where these two girls were standing, 5 extremely energetic boys where waiting for practice to start.

While Daesung, Youngbae and Seungri were busy kidding around with the popular dance steps of the idol world, Seunghyun and Jiyong were having those one-on-one talks they aren’t used to having.

“You’re sure you don’t like her?” Seunghyun asked a surprised Jiyong.

“I already told you Hyung...” Jiyong was irritated at his hyung. Ever since Nisshi and him started working together his hyung had been greatly bothered and has been checking every other day, if she still wasn’t his type. “She’s not my type...” He repeated for umptenth time.

“I’m curious though...why isn’t she your type?” Seunghyun thought Nisshi was very fun, kind, smart and not to mention beautiful. Even his 3 other dongseangs thought so too and it came as a shocker why Jiyong would just waive someone like her when he was the known Casanova of the bunch.

“She’s just not...I mean..do I need to have a reason?” Sure, Jiyong saw the confident, fun-loving and moderately stylish Noona every time she was with her. But aside from being their publicist, he didn’t... No, he shouldn’t see her as a girl to flirt with. Love in the workplace is a very dangerous road to travel and neither he or his hyung should be taking it. “Hyung...she works with us you know?”

“So what?...” Seunghyun saw where this conversation was going. He was well aware that Nisshi was off limits and , although never made explicit, having a girlfriend was still out of the question as long as he was an idol. But the rebel in him was fighting to get free and he was wanting to break every single rule for Nisshi.

“It’s cute that you like her and all... But I’m just saying...Don’t let it get too serious and complicate things.”

Seunghyun was annoyed at how stoic Jiyong was when it came to matters of the heart. And at some point he pitied him for not being able to experience it having started in the business so young. “Aissshh...Jiyong-ie...I do hope someday you’ll find someone to love for your own and you’ll understand how I feel...”

“I’m telling you...that boy is in love with you” Minsul said as she walked her to Big Bang’s practice room. After finally clearing the air of any misunderstanding between them, Minsul had begun teasing her all over again.

“I highly doubt that...” She said still trying to avert her gaze. She was embarrassed by the notion of her oppa having a crush on her. She had always thought of him as a sweet oppa and he could always make her blush anytime of the day. But no matter how many times Seunghyun tickled her or compliment her hair, she always reminded herself that work should come first.

“Come on Nisshi... I know you’re not that dense” Minsul insisted as she stopped walking and forced her to face her. She was still smiling and it made her feel like everything was really back to normal.

“But Min..He’s...He’s...an idol...” She finally said. But Minsul was being surprisingly supportive of Seunghyun’s crush over her. The Minsul she knew would shot down the idea before the news even reached her.

“Yah..He’s an Idol...But he is just a guy too...”

“I appreciate your sudden interest in my love life Min...but the last time I thought of an idol as just a guy... I got my heartbroken... So I don’t think that’s happening anytime soon.” Minsul suddenly started walking again leaving her behind. It seemed like she was dead on with fixing her up with someone. And although it was a sweet gesture, she was starting to get suspicious of her actions.

“Riiighht...Still hung up over thar 2PM boy huh?”

“Of course not...” She said defensively. “I’m actually...I'm dating someone...”

“Riiight again...that Aaron guy... who I’m supposed to know...Seriously Nis... I don’t remember anyone named Aaron...are you sure he’s not some kind of imaginary boy you’ve conjured up to supress the loneliness??”

Minsul was acting really weird and she wanted to get to the bottom of it.But Minsul continued walking and as they finally reached the door to the practice room Minsul turned to face her, her eyes a bit watery.

“Minsul....” Her heart pounded. She’d never seen her with a sad expression on her face. Something was definitely up, and judging by Minsul's tears it wasn’t good.

“I just...” Minsul tried to hold back the tears. “ I just want to make sure you’ll be well taken care of...one...once I’m gone.”

“Gone?” She thought to herself, she had been so caught up with work that she didn’t know what’s been happening in Minsul’s life. She kept asking herself what Minsul meant by “Once I’m gone..."

“My mom wants me to go back to Australia...for good...”
Minsul had her hand on the door’s knob when she pushed the door close before it could open.

“What do you mean for good?.. Minsul...is this...is this because of the PR job? ...cause if you want I can still talk to YG and...”

“Nonsense... you totally desrve this!! And lets face it Nish...” Minsul said as she finally got the door open. “Can you honestly leave these boys now?”

She stared at the five boys who were happily chatting away with each other. Minsul was right, she was starting to get more attached to these boys with each passing day.

“Don’t worry Nis... this isn’t about you... My life in the Idol world is past its expiry date. I’ll never be more than an assistant... you, on the other hand... you’re bound to teach these boys something...I don’t know what exactly... but I have a feeling you’ll be teaching them something they’ll never forget.” Minsul smiled at her and give her a peck on the cheek. And as soon as Minsul entered the room, her cheerfulness came back to her and started spreading it around the room.

onlineloveauthor · « **Reply #38 on:** December 05, 2009, 01:13:37 pm »

The set was busy with all kinds of people. Everyone from hairdressers to PD¹s, props men to camera men were all in a rush trying to get everything done within the day. This was one of the last projects Minsul had to finish before leaving for Australia next month. Although she wished that she and Minsul could spend their last few weeks together having fun and catching up, there was still a lot of work to do before Big Bang’s Big Show concert at the end of that week. And one of these so called “work” was the short skit they were planning to show to promote the concert. But with just 2 days of filming and 5 worn out idols, nothing was on their side and they had to put in as much as extra effort as they can to get it done on time.

She was on her third cup of coffee and it was still just 7 in the morning. Minsul was on her fourth and her hands were already shaking as she re-checked the boys’ scripts.

“Everything good Min?” She asked her without meaning to sound impatient. Minsul merely nodded and was already reaching for the coffee pot to get a refill.

She decided to let Minsul be, especially since she was dangerously getting herself high on coffee. She didn’t want coffee stains on her dress or on their relationship. She walked over to the waiting room where the boys were getting themselves ready with hair, make-up and costumes. But to her surprise, she only counted 4 heads instead of the usual five.

“Where’s Jiyong?” She asked to no one in particular. It was still very chaotic backstage and everyone was busy doing there own thing. Seungri and Youngbae were sleeping on their dressing chairs as the coordinators fixed their make -up. Daesung and Seunghyun were practising their lines together so seriously it was impossible to get their attention. When she couldn’t find find him anywhere inside the room, she was starting to panic and decided to look for him herself. “I don’t need a wandering Big Banger to cause any kind of scene right now.” She said to herself as she roamed around the whole set looking for him.

She might have looked like the character straight out of the parody they were shooting as she checked out each and every set they were shooting at. She was lucky that the parody they were shooting, Boys Over Flowers, had a limited number of important scenes and she only had to check first 3 sets. But to no avail she saw no Jiyong.

“Where the hell did he go?” She asked herself as she went up the stairs found at the last set. The balcony scene was one of the few famous scenes from the popular manga-slash-drama and she was amazed at how standing at a similar set made her feel the feeling she had when watching that scene alone in her living room. And for a moment she forgot about everything, the lost Jiyong, Minsul leaving, and Work. All she saw as she ascended the stairs, was the beautiful and musky scenery of dawn. The sun had just risen and the sky was now a string of orange hues. She inhaled the clear winter air as soon as she reached the top, but to her surprise a faint voice called out to her from the corner.

“Noona...”

“Jiyong-a!!!!! Where have you been?!! I’ve been looking all over for you!” She was still petrified by his unexpected reappearance.

“Why?” Jiyong asked

“What do you mean why?”

Jiyong was still seating on the corner and had no intention of standing up. “ I was told that I’ll be the last to shoot”

“Oh...” She suddenly remembered overhearing the schedule Minsul had read the staff that morning. He was right, he had a lot of time to wander off since he wasn’t shooting till this late afternoon. But for some reason, she had became extremely worried when she couldn’t find him with his usual herd. She was about to ask him to come down with her to get his make -up done and get him out off his sweats. But he noticed Jiyong’s expression was a little out of the ordinary and when he wasn’t moving an inch, despite her presence, she decide to sit beside him.

“Hey...Have you eaten? You look a little pale...”

“Ahmmm... yeah... I’ll be down in a minute...” He said rather unconvincingly. She thought that maybe this was some sort of pre-game ritual to get him pumped up for his role as the great Jiyong and that he should just let him be. But just as she was about to get up, she noticed his hand shaking uncontrollably.

“Noona...Can you keep a secret?” She was more nervous now than she had been when she thought he was missing. She was scared that Jiyong might have done something incredibly stupid and as their publicist , she had to help him cover it up. “ Anything but getting someone pregnant” She thought to herself as she nodded half-heartedly.

"Seriously Noona... Its a secret... You can’t tell ANYONE....”

She was getting ready for the big reveal as she faced him and nodded more sincerely this time.

“Ahmmm...” He started to say and her heart started to beat even faster. “...I’m nervous...”

“It’s okay...you can tell noona...whatever it is”
She let out a sympathetic expression to calm him down. But instead Jiyong answered with a confused look plastered to his face.

“I already did...”

“Huh?” She was sure she was listening attentively to him and she couldn’t recall him telling him his career altering secret.

“I said..I’m nervous...nervous of..” Jiyong looked at her and admired how worried she was for a second. She was even thinking of kidding around and tell her he was gay. But seeing her gullibility, she would probably believe him.

“Oh!!! Of doing the skit!” She exclaimed. She let out sigh of relief. Her heart was thumping the whole time, bracing herself with what he was about to say. But surprisingly, she had thought of countless secrets that he could possibly reveal, and this was definitely not one of them. “ You...nervous?... I find that hard to believe...”

“I know...I can’t believe it either...” Jiyong smiled and said confidently. It was true, Jiyong was not one to shy away from the camera. On the contrary, he was always the confident one. But from the time he stepped into the empty set till now, he couldn't stop his jitters. “I’m not usually like this...”

“But haven’t you done these kind of acting before?”

“Yeah! Countless of times!! I don't even get why I’m so worried and nervous...” He crumpled the pieces of paper in his hand tightly in his fist. Nisshi was glad she was seeing this side of him. He never would have guessed tHat beneath that tough and self-assured exterior was an overwhelmed ad scared little boy. She was tempted to leave him alone so that he’ll stay like that forever, but they had a shooting day they had to finish and at the end of the day work comes first.

“Here...” She took his script from his hands and straightened them out on the cemented floor they were sitting in.

“Noona...that’s not the problem... I know the lines...”

“Aishhh...Jiyong-a! Do you want me to help you or not?”
Although the cute act was endearing to Seunghyun and the other boys, when it came to Jiyong, it seemed that it was better to act just as stubborn and bossy as he was to get him to do what she wants. She stood up and with a domineering stance extended her hand and helped him up.

“Aisshh..Noona... You’ve only been with us for a week and now you’re being pushy! Tsk..Tsk...”

“Fine then..I’ll just be cute... and then I’ll drag my cute little butt downstairs and tell everyone that your nervous.”

“I was kidding Noona...Aish! Why is it when you’re with hyung and the others you like joking around so much..but with me...you just bully me around all the time...”

It felt like they were in this continuous power struggle. While she was being stubborn to get him to take her seriously, his acting all charming to get her to loosen up.
There was an awkward air between the two of them, but then suddenly instead of acting aloof and shrugging them off they unexpectedly laugh. Whether it was at each other or at the situation, it was a welcoming change between the two of them. And to Jiyong’s surprise, he suddenly felt lighter, more at ease, and the nervousness he had just felt was suddenly gone.

“I think I’ll be able to do this now Noona...”

“Good... you sure you don’t want to practice? I mean it would be pretty hard to act when you’re acting alongside Daesung. He’s face is pretty funny.”

A few hours later, Jiyong finally saw what Nisshi meant. Daesung’s face was just so hilarious that he couldn’t go through the scene without laughing.

“PD-nim!!!! This is impossible...” He bursted out laughing after seeing his dongseang's facial expression. He hit Daesung lightly on his arm. “Stop doing that!”

“Doing what hyung? I’m not doing anything.” They were back in that same balcony that they both sat in just hours ago. But unlike the calm it possessed that morning, it was now filled with blinding lights, rolling cameras and busy staff. She looked at them and started laughing. She had warned him about this already, but she had guessed he wouldn’t believe him without seeing it for himself.

“Come on Jiyong!!” Seunghyun, who had been waiting for his cue at the back of the staircase’s door, shouted to bring his dongseangs to attention. Although he sounded urgent about Jiyong’s countless takes, he was actually enjoying how much Jiyong was suffering. Ever since that morning he had to deal with Daesung’s effortless comedy and laugh till his stomach ached. “Since you were off wandering the whole day... you get this as punishment...” He thought to himself as he eyed Jiyong from his side of the set.

“I really can’t do it hyung... PD-nim help..”

She, on the other hand, was just happy to watch it from a far. But here peace was suddenly interrupted when Minsul pushed her from behind. "PD...Here’s a stand in...we need to rap this up quick! It’s getting late...”

She still wasn’t sure what was happening. She thought that a stand in was a good idea but she saw no reason for Minsul to push her so forcefully. But as she looked around at the faces staring expectantly at her, she felt goosebumps in her back.

“Yah!!! Noona!!! You can’t do that!!!...She’s...she’s..she’s not the same built as Daesung... it would look weird in camera!” Seunghyun, who had step out of the door and into the limelight, said defensively.

“Yeah, Noona...Hyung’s right...” Jiyong added. Seunghyun felt relieved that Jiyong still stayed true to his word when he said he didn’t like her. But just as he was about to feel safe, he saw Jiyong hold Nisshi’s hand. “But...since you’re here noona...can we practice this scene one last time?”

And just like the willing victim she was when she was with him, they went through the scene together, giggling all the way through. It was a sickening scene for Seunghyun, he felt his heart well up from jealousy long after Jiyong and Daesung finished with their scene. She couldn’t get the image of him and Nisshi as they practised the scene and how much they both liked it. It was all acting, and not a very good one, as they laughed while practising. But the way Jiyong held her hand or attempted to kiss her forehead was enough to get his blood boiling and awaken the green monster inside of him.

“Seunghyun..Seunghyun...” The PD repeatedly called for his attention.

“Huh..Oh..PD-nim..I’m sorry...” He said as he tore his sight from Nisshi and Jiyong, who were still talking to each other happily as they packed up.

“Like I said... The feeling that we need to capture is intense jealousy...” The director said, not bothering whether he was listening to him or not. “Just imagine.. you saw someone you really really like with another guy.. I need anger, jealousy, confusion and...”

“Despair? Helplessness? Vengeance?” He enumerated cutting the directors speech. He turned around to get one last look at Nisshi and Jiyong’s happy faces, “I’ve got it PD-nim...I know the feeling all too well...”

Footnotes:
¹ producer/director

onlineloveauthor · « **Reply #39 on:** December 06, 2009, 12:34:19 pm »

For the very first time since she took the job at YG entertainment, she felt like she was the luckiest employee around. Being a publicist, unlike being an assistant or coordinator, allowed her to just sit back and enjoy the show, the Big Show in particular, Big Bang’s 6th major concert. While everyone was running around fetching Vitamin Water and RedBull for the boys and proping up the stage for last minuter preparations, she was sitting pretty inside Jiyong’s dressing room.

It was a first for her. If the concert were scheduled a week before, she would be spending the remaining hours before the start of the show at the room at the other end, Seunghyun’s room. But oddly enough ever since the shooting for the BOF parody ended, it seemed that her oppa had avoided her at every possible instance. At first she thought that the awkward silence whenever she was doing her rounds with the dorms was just the fatigue from his preparations for his upcoming drama. But then as the weeks passed, he was getting unusually cold towards her. He even deliberately left the practice room one day as soon as she came in.

“Noona... do you think this is too tight?” She heard Jiyong said as he flashed his bright smile and modeled his all white outfit. It amazed her how her world has done a complete turnover in just a matter of days. With Seunghyun's still questionable behaviour towards her, She and Jiyong had become extremely close, or at the very least forced him to be close with her. . Although, it was what she always wanted, she still missed her oppa.

“Noona?” Jiyong repeated as he went closer to her.

“Oh...no.. it looks good...” She said without even looking at him.

“Aisshhh.. Come on Noona... You’re supposed to hype us up before the show...What kind of a publicist are you?” Even though Jiyong talked more informally to her now, his tone still remained sarcastic and icy as it was before.

“Its just...” She was feeling a little sorry for Jiyong for having to put up with her. And he was not too shy about expressing his disappointment for that either.

“Aigoo! Yah!! WERE GOING ON STAGE IN A MATTER OF MINUTES... whose got the bigger problem me or you? Hyung’s just..I don’t know...he’s just weird right now...so get over it! Jeeezzz!” She had gotten used to Jiyong’s shouting everytime she would come to him over her problems. She didn’t really mean to. But after talking to him, for a good 30 minutes or so during the shooting last week, she had thought that they finally made a connection. But apparently, Jiyong didn’t feel the same.

“I apologize...” She mumbled as she was about to get up from her seat and take her self-pity somewhere else.

“Aissshhh!!! Fine...Fine...I’ll talk to him...happy?”

She was surprised. She hadn’t even ask him for anything. She smiled at his hidden concern for her before finally leaving the room. She found herself smiling again as she closed the door and thought “We’ve finally gotten close after all...”

The stage, the lighting, the 5 boys, and the whole ambiance of the Seoul Bangidong Olympic Park¹ changed only after a few hours of the crew’s hard work. She watched each and every number backstage, inscribing mental notes on anything press worthy. But while she was busy “working,” all Jiyong could think about during outfit changes and make – up touch ups was how he was going to talk to his hyung, like he had promised his noona. “It’s not for her benefit of course...” He thought to himself as he changed for the second time that night. “ It’s so I can finally get her of my back...she’s ALWAYS around lately...” But as he recalled the times he had spent with her, from her coming to her dorm asking if he had seen his hyung to cracking jokes while at the practice room, being with her was not half as bad as he thought it would be. Besides that, her style has also improved a lot and it made more bearable to be seen in public with her now. “Well... that’s all thanks to me...Aissshh...why i’m I even thinking about her...Jeezz... I need to find hyung to finally put an end to this...”

With his unmade face he went out of his dressing room to go to his hyung's room, but he noticed a bunch of people, staff and stars alike, gathered at the end of the left rear entrance to the stage. “What’s happening?” He asked as he decided to take a peak as well. His jaw dropped as he saw his close dongseang, Youngbae, perform on stage by himself.

“Wow..He’s really good!” He exclaimed as he tapped the shoulder of the guy who was in front of him. He initially thought it was one of the crew, but to his surprise, as the guy in front of him turn around to meet his gaze, it was exactly the hyung he was looking for.

“Oh! Hyung!” Instead of greeting him back, Seunghyun looked at him for a good 2 seconds and returned to watching Youngbae on stage. His face was expressionless and that made Jiyong worried. It was only then that he realized that aside from his Noona, Seunghyun hasn’t been talking to him as well. He backed off a bit with his realization. But just as he was about to ask him if he was as mad at him as he was with Nisshi, Seunghyun pulled him to the side, away from the gathered crowd.

“She’s still not your type right?”

“Is that what all this is about?” Jiyong said out loud without even thinking.

“What do you mean?” Seunghyun expression had changed from still to confused.

“Look hyung... Nisshi-ssi has been bothered by you not talking to her... She doesn’t even know why you’re mad at her...and neither do I...” But Jiyong now knew exactly why. His hyung was jealous and it would have been obvious if not for the simple fact that he was the one he was jealous of.

“You didn’t answer my ques...wait a minute..she’s been talking to you?

Yes, Jiyong could see the jealousy clearly on his face now. “Yep!! and if you don’t make up with her now... she’s going to keep talking to me...and frankly its getting annoying...so do as all a favor and just talk to her..ok?” He tapped Seunghyun on his arm and left. It was clear what his answer was to his first question. But to him all that mattered was to fulfil his promise and finally get her off his back. But as he walked away, he felt an unexpected pinch in his heart as the feelings of sadness and loneliness that he hadn’t been feeling for a week, resurfaced one by one.

Footnotes:
¹shortly Olpark is an Olympic Park built to host the 1988 Summer Olympics. Olympic Park is located in Songpa-gu, Bangi-dong.

onlineloveauthor · « **Reply #40 on:** December 07, 2009, 04:20:57 pm »

Chapter 6: USA February ‘09 / Japan February ‘ 09

“Agasshi! I hired you for the same reason that I don’t need to have to deal with this!!” Hang Syuk, her boss of 1 month, was yelling at her trough the speakers of her new phone. Minsul, who had to go the university to take care of her papers, walked side by side with her along the corridors of KAIST and gave out a face to make her feel less worried of the situation

“I know sir...but I took care of it...I don’t understand how it got out.” She looked back at Minsul and flashed a smile to reassure her that she had everything under control, even if she didn’t.

“Jeez! Nisshi-ssi!! Well...Don’t I pay you to find these things out...Aissh!Agasshi!” She had never seen YG this mad at her before and she was starting to fear for the lifespan of her carreer.

“Yes...Sir...I’ll be on it right away..”

“You better...Do damage control as soon as possible and don’t let this happened again...”

Even though it was a relief to no longer hear YG’s urgent and pushy tone. She couldn’t help but hear his words over and over again in her head.

“I just don’t know how these kinds of things leak out...” She said after recovering from the tidal wave that was YG’s temper.

“What happened?” Minsul asked curiously.

“ VIP¹’s bought off tickets from the DBSK² tour, only not to attend...but to have those poor boys perform to an empty audience... I had already talked to the fanclubs' President before anything leaked out to the Cassiopeias³ and start World War III... But before we could even execute it... someone had already spilled the beans to the other side...”

Minsul looked at her blankly. After filling for her official resignation from the company, Minsul has been kept out of the loop from anything that concerned YG entertainment. Although she submitted her resignation with smiles, her expressions everytime she talked about work were a bit regretful.

[color=]"And this isn't the first time...” [/color]She continued to say “Ever since I took on the project for the girl group...everything I do seemed to leak off to the press...” She was starting to think it was bad karma from having to take the job away from her best friend, who was now just days away from being shipped off to Australia. “Has this ever happened to you?”

“Ahmmm...Not really...” Minsul tried not to sound as insensitive as possible. Although Nisshi had been doing a good job at YG, she can’t help but agree with her that ever since she took the job, information was being leaked at an alarming rate.

“There!” She exclaimed, trying to escape the mounting awkwardness of the conversation. “Another reason for you no to go!!!.. YG needs you too much!”

“Nisshi...We’ve been through this...” Minsul smiled at her and gave her a light hug as they approached the school’s coffee shop, to commemorate the first time they met. “But... I’ll surely miss you...” Minsul said.

Suddenly ,just a few meters away, she recognized someone sitting in one of the shop’s terrace tables.

“oh! What great timing...” She was walking towards the shop more hurriedly now. “ You’ll be able to meet Aaron before you leave after all!” She pointed at the messy haired boy that was inside the shop, sipping on his cappuccino. She had thought that Minsul would be excited to meet Aaron, since she was always worried of her dwindling social life outside of her work. But instead, Minsul stopped in her tracks and looked at her in horror.

“What the!!?!?!” She could read MInsul's expression clearly, but what she could not understand was why she reacted with such a stern face. Suddenly, to jer surprise, Minsul pulled her to the side.

“Listen carefully to what I’m about to say...and please...try to understand and assess the situation fully..”

Her face became dead serious and it scared the hell out of her. She tried to loosen her up and get her to calm down. “Can’t it wait..I want you to meet...”

“That’s not Aaron!” Minsul whispered but her voice was as powerful as it has ever been.

“How would you know? You said...you didn’t know who he is?” Her hands were sweating from the tension of that moment. She started thinking that maybe she had made a mistake by going out with Aaron. “Maybe..He’s Minsul’s ex or worst...his current boyfriend..”

“Well.. I don’t know who Aaron is... but that’s definitely not him.”

“Crap” She said to herself. “What are you saying...”

“That’s not Aaron... that’s Julien Chien...”

“Julien who?”

“Oh god!!!...” Minsul exclaimed as she tried to search for words to explain the situation to her. "He’s a reporter for Newsen Media... When he found out that I was working for YG... He’s been bugging me for scoops... I guess he thought that by befriending a friend of mine... It would be easier for him to get a story...but...” Minsul paused for a minute. She finally realized the gravity of the situation when she recalled the phone conversation Nisshi had earlier. “..But with you working as the company’s publicist... He never imagine he’d hit the jackpot...And this explains all the leaked information...”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. What started as her quest for a sense of normalcy, was now backfiring in the form of Aaron... or whoever that guy was.

“Min...what are you talking about?” She said as she tried to free herself from her friends tight grip. “That’s impossible...he’s..he’s..a normal guy...he won’t do that...”

“Honey...He’s a reporter... He’ll do just about anything for a scoop...” Minsul chose her word carefully to cushion her fall. But even if she did, it was no use. She still refused to believe her. “You trust me right?”

“Of course...but... I mean..there should be some kind of explanation to all of this...” She knew she was being naïve by lobbying for his innocence in this situation. "He's just a normal guy..." She continued to say to herself

Minsul, on the other hand, was not as forgiving as she was. She grabbed her hand and started to drag her towards the coffee shop. They walked past each table successfully without getting his attention. When they were just a few inches away from him, with his back turned away from them, Minsul said “ Hey Julien, I’ve got something for you...”

“Aaron” continued to sip through his coffee confidently, and without even looking back he recognized the voice almost instantly.

“ Min...Min...” He started to say “ Why would I need you now...When I’ve got a pub...” He turned around to face Minsul, and to his surprise he failed to finish what he was saying.

“Nisshi-ssi!” He exclaimed and quickly stood up. She was hoping for some kind of explanation from him as Aaron looked her in the eye. He was obviously caught and the only thing left to do was for him to his sorry and that she's more than just a stupid pawn in his game. But what surprised her was how he didn’t even try to deny anything.

“ Well... the cat’s out of the bag huh? I’m a reporter.”

“You half-assed Mother !@#$...” All kinds of emotions ran through her system and the only logical thing to do was slap the life out of his cheeks.

SLAP!

But before she could even raise her hand up, Minsul had already done her the honour of slapping the reporter’s pompous face, and by the surprised look of their audience in the coffee shop, as well as his ego.

She wanted to give her a slap on the other cheek just to make sure she got the message through, but the deception was already too much for her that she just decided to leave with her dignity on.

Minsul gave the reporter a last look of disgust before running after her, who had just stormed out of the shop and was heading towards the corridors.

“Don’t you hate it when that happens?” The reporter said confidently at the startled onlookers before going back to his seat to finish his cup of coffee.

***.

Footnotes:
¹Big Bang's Official fan club; named after the band's second single "Big Bang Is V.I.P"
² also known asTVXQ , an acronym for Tong Vfang Xien Qi[, is a South Korean boy band quintet formed under SM Entertainment in 2003. In South Korea they are known as Dong Bang Shin Gi; they were later introduced in Japan as Tohoshinki under the Avex sub-label Rhythm Zone in 2005. Their name translates as "The Rising Gods of the East". Also dubbed by the Guinness Book Records as the most photographed celebrity in the world.
³DBSK's official fanclub; they were named by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest fanclub in the world with more than 800,000 official members just in Korea.

onlineloveauthor · « **Reply #41 on:** December 08, 2009, 12:38:00 pm »

The Incheon International Airport¹ was buzzing with the sounds of jet engines and busy men in business suits even at 3 in the morning. Everyone was going along their own ways, trying to get to their flights as quickly as they can. This was the best thing about flying at unsuspecting hour, everyone was too busy to catch their delayed flights or looking at the sights of this foreign land's airport to even notice that somewhere between the flight boards and snack bar were 4 seemingly ordinary pop idols, and 2 very sad girls.

“Yah! Jiyong-ie! Stop causing any trouble for your noona!" Minsul was trying to hide the sadness from having to leave her best friend of 4 months in an industry that she still hadn’t grasped fully. Although she was leaving because of what that same girl took away from her, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for all the bad karma she’s been receiving. From her painful breakup with her childhood sweetheart who coincidentally is one of the most sought after Idol stars, to the painful realization that her rebound guy was using her, it seemed inhumane to ignore and hate her.

“What trouble?... I’ve always been good to noona...right Noona?” Jiyong looked at Nisshi, hoping that she would at least fake a smile, which she eventually did with a nod.

“Will you be okay?” Minsul asked sensing her friend’s still uneasy demeanour.

“I’m fine...” She was trying her best to keep up appearances and smile for the sake of her best friend and the 4 worried boys that surrounded her. She didn’t want to be a burden, especially with Minsul leaving for Australia and them for Japan. The boys' debut in the country was well on the way and they had to fly there to promote it. And her being a party pooper was not helping anyone get rid of any apprehension to their success in an overseas market. She tried to smile once more just to make them feel less worried, but she wasn’t as good an actor as these boys were.

“Are you sure?” Minsul asked again.

“Jeez Min... If you don’t stop asking you’ll miss your flight!” Everyone laughed and her attempt at cracking up a joke finally made them feel more at ease.

“Araseoyo²! God! I’ll surely miss you.” Minsul said grabbing her with both hands and kissed her lightly on the forehead before hugging her tight. The 4 boys, Daesung, Youngbae, Seunghyun, and Jiyong all stood by watching them get over their sappy moment.

“Aww...don’t worry boys I’ll miss you too!” She was about to let go of Nisshi and started hugging the boys themselves when Jiyong suddenly stretched out his hands and headed towards the couple.

“GROUP HUUUUUUUUUUUUUG!!!!”

Everyone else joined in as soon as Jiyong reached his two noonas. He wouldn’t go as far as say that he had already warmed up and gotten close to her, but for some apparent reason he just wanted to see her smile.

Seunghyun wanted the same and reached in. But he still couldn’t shake the fact that he was jealous of Jiyong. He even noticed that Jiyong’s arms were already wrapped tight around her even before he could come. But this time he partly blamed himself. If he hadn’t thrown his jealous tantrum the week before, Nisshi and him would still be as close. But instead, with him detaching himself from the picture, Jiyong had already warmed up to her and vice versa.

After saying their goodbyes and wiping their tears, Nisshi, together with his boys, headed to their boarding areas.

“I thought I told you to talk to her already.” Jiyong whispered to his hyung as they trailed behind. Nisshi had Daesung and Youngbae by her side, who were also oddly quite because of their lack of sleep.

“I have...I did...” Even though he had started talking to her after Gayo Daejeon, things never got back to how it was before.

“Then why is she still bummed...” Jiyong pointed at her as if to emphasize his point. “..and why is she still hanging out in our room, instead of yours...”

“She goes to your room?” Seunghyun was hardly controlling his jealous rage when he suddenly stopped walking and grabbed Jiyong’s arm to face him.

“Yeah...but she doesn’t even talks to me...usually when she ‘s there she keeps annoying me with all the little stuff... But now...she just....stays there...”

“Have you tried asking her what’s wrong?” Seunghyun was glad to hear that he wasn’t the only one Nisshi was ignoring. But as he started walking again, his dongseang following close by, he was beginning to get worried. “Maybe she’s just sad about Minsul” He thought to himself.

“Yeah...” Jiyong, who was now huffing from catching up with his hyung, said. “just about a thousand times... but she just keeps saying She’s fine or she’s ok...have you?”

“Yeah...and I get the same thing...” Both of them looked at each other puzzled as they approached the boarding area.

Nisshi, Daesung,and Youngbae were already in line, having their passports and tickets checked. “Noona... is anything wrong?” Youngbae asked when he saw his Noona’s somber face. Seunghyun and Jiyong overhearing Youngbae’s question looked at each other and then at her, anticipating her answer.

“I’m fine...I’m Ok” She said with another fake smile as she boarded the plane.

Footnotes:
¹the largest airport in South Korea, and one of the largest and busiest in the world. Since 2005, it has been consecutively rated as the best airport in the world by the Airports Council International and received the full 5-star ranking by Skytrax, the prestigious recognition shared only by Hong Kong International Airport and Singapore Changi Airport; Located 70 km (43 mi) from Seoul, the capital and largest city of South Korea.
² "I understand"

onlineloveauthor · « **Reply #42 on:** December 09, 2009, 06:29:22 pm »

“I found it!!!” Daesung said as he came out of his room. He’s been searching for his collection of pre-recorded Korean variety shows to watch with the converge group of idols and her noona. With all the events Big Bang have been booking, the boys have missed out on a lot of things they wanted to do. And with the Japanese market waiting for them to debut, their schedules were just about to get even busier and their first night in Tokyo will be the last free night for them. With that said, that trip’s maknae, Daesung, decided to catch up on his dose of korean television.

On the other hand, both Seunghyun and Jiyong sa the couch each doing their own thing, but both still very worried over the girl who was sandwiched between the two of them.

She was still awfully quiet without meaning to. During the initial press interviews with the Japanese media she had been all hyped up, cheering on the activities of the group. But as soon as work was over, and with nothing distracting her, she had sulked back into her depressed self. Seunghyun had been trying to change her mood by being extra caring, offering her just about anything. At first she felt very special, like a princess with her own personal knight in shinning armour. But after awhile, Seunghyun repeatedly asking her if she was okay was starting to bug her.

“I’m fine...” She told herself and the boys repeatedly. But no matter how many times she said it out loud, she wasn’t feeling any better. She wasn’t sure what brought about this somber attitude towards everything. Maybe it was the betrayal of Aaron, the reporter-slash-bastard who had con-ed her into unconsciously giving him everything and anything new and old with Big Bang. Or maybe it was a delayed reaction to Jay’s choosing the idol world, which she was now a part of, over her. Perhaps it was the wedged that had been placed on her relationship with Minsul, who was now probably halfway to Australia, or maybe still it was a combination of everything. But no matter what it was it would take more than Seunghyun’s chivalrous acts or Jiyong’s aegyo to cure it.

“Noona!” Youngbae shouted from the kitchen. He had just finished whipping up some buttered microwave popcorn and was now slicing a fresh watermelon. “...this should cheer you up...”

“Yeah Noona...and I’m sure these shows will just crack you up!”

She looked over her shoulder to where Daesung was and his straight forward approach made her smile. Unlike his older hyungs, the maknae’s efforts where more simple and required less talk. Whenever Seunghyun and Jiyong approached her she felt pressured to open upabout her problems and she wasn’t ready for that, she didn't even know what her problem was herself. But Daesung, and his childlike approach to things, enabled her to appreciate it more freely.

“Thanks...”She said sincerely.
“Go ahead...put it in....”

Ironically the first show to come up was Idol Army Show...featuring none other than Jay’s boyband, 2PM.

“Hey!!! 2pm! These guys are hilarious!” Youngbae said as he sat down on the floor and scooped himself a handful of popcorn.

“I can get through this...” She said to herself rather unsure. With Minsul gone, no one else knew of her past with 2PM’s leader and having them skip to the next show would just send the curious boys non each of her side into q&a frenzy. “Who’s their guest?”

“Great Noona!” Daesung said. He bite off a huge chunk of the watermelon and his face was now smeared with pinkish residue. “...you’re on board!”

She smiled again to hide her fear of bursting into tears.

“Idol Army...She’s arrived...” 2PM started off in unison and the first few minutes had her laughing. She almost forgot how adorably funny Jay could be and although it sent a sharp pain through her cheer, she was glad to see him do well without her. She looked at Jiyong and saw him laughing as well. She then shifted her gaze to Seunghyun. She expected him to be laughing as well, but instead she was staring at her. They both blushed as their gazes met and smiled as they looked away.

She continued to watch her ex-boyfriend’s funny antics and was slowly getting used to it. Besides that the boys' laughs that surrounded her was too infectious to resist. But just when she thought the worst part was over, the next few clips reminded him that she was not just watching a bunch of idols make a scandal out of themselves, but she was also watching her ex-boyfriend flirting with as much girls as he could.

“They all watch porn...except for me” He heard jay say through the television. And although everyone else in the room was exchanging laughs and hilarious comments, all she could hear was the sound of heart beating fast. “That was quick...” She thought to herself as she pertained to Jay’s new found confidence with his charm.

All the memories of being with him started doing flashbacks in the back of her mind. How he used to dance only for her. How he used to serenade only her. And how on that faithful day a few months ago it all had ended.

As Jay continued to flaunt his self to two the girls from BEG¹, she couldn't help herself and a tear flowed from her sad eyes. Not intending to cry, she wiped them off as soon as it touched her cheek. “I can get through this.” She told herself again.

“I think Ga-In noona’s pretty cute too...” Jiyong said unaware of how bad she was already feeling.

“!@#$...” She said almost inaudibly. But to her surprise everyone in the room, especially the boys who sat beside her, heard her very well and gave her worried stares.

“There’s something in my eye...” She had lied after scratching her eyes hard. She thought that it would stop the tears from falling, but it did the exact opposite. She didn’t want them to see her cry and find out her secret, so thinking quickly she rose up from her chair and went to the bathroom.

Daesung panicked and put what they were watching on pause and as she rushed towards the bathroom the pause scene of Jay laughing and embarrassed just made her heart ache ad her tears explode.

“What happened?” Youngbae asked as he stood up and sat on the now empty couch. Seunghyun and Jiyong had rushed to their noona’s aid and were now waiting by the bathroom door like Halloween "trick-or-treat"-ers.

“Did I do something wrong?” Daesung said as he finally stopped the paused CD. “I just wanted to make her laugh.”

The two exchanged confused looks and turned to observe their hyungs, who were still crowded over the closed door.

“Nisshi...” Seunghyun said as he knocked.

“Let’s just leave her alone...” Jiyong suggested.

“Yah! How could you say that?” Seunghyun lightly slapped his dongseang on the back of his head.

Jiyong didn’t mean to sound too cold. But he felt that whatever it was that was bothering her, she had to either cry it all out or whatever it was she was doing inside those closed doors, before she could talk about it.

“Why don’t you buy her some ice cream or whatever...Comfort food when she comes out...”
Jiyong suggested sincerely as he stepped away from door and sat in between Daesung and Youngbae on the couch.

“Hyung!!!...” Daesung suddenly shouted as he ran to his room to grab his coat. “If it’s for Noona! I’ll come with you to the store.”

Seunghyun didn’t want to leave her side. He still didn't know what it was that bothered her and he wanted to be the first one to be there when she unlocked the doors. But it seemed like it might take a while before she settles down and ice cream would be a good gesture.

“Fine...” Seunghyun said as he headed outside with Daesung.

Meanwhile the two other boys couldn’t help but be silent at what had just happened. “What could be wrong?” Youngbae asked. “Come to think of it...She’s been really quiet for the past week...”

“And you noticed that just NOW?” Jiyong asked sarcastically. He was amazed at how Youngbae, who was usually perceptive of other people’s feelings, didn’t seem to notice their Noona’s personality change as much as he did.

Suddenly as they talked about her and how to get her back to normal, the sound of the door unlocking caught their attention and all of them jumped off the couch.

“Noona...” Youngbae called out to her, but she continued walking and headed to the room’s terrace. They looked at each other,dumbfounded by their noona’s livid disposition. Youngbae was about to run after her when Jiyong tapped his shoulder to stop him

“Let me do it...” Jiyong said confidently as she followed her to the terrace. She was leaning over the railings when he got to her. She was looking out at the bright Tokyo sky, but no matter how beautiful the skyline looked, he couldn’t take her eyes of her. It was the first time she saw her in this light, all serious and serene a direct contrast to her usual playful personality. And even though she looked sad, it was that sadness that made her so beautiful at that moment.

“Hyung’s right...She’s is pretty...” He thought to himself but he defensively took it back before approaching her, “but she still not my type.”

She still hadn’t notice that she observing her quite intently. She let out a big sigh and buried her head in her hands.

He wasn’t sure why she was acting that way. But he was sure that what triggered it was that certain clip from Idol Army and he was pretty sure that she had that look, the same look Seunghyun always had whenever he came too close. “Could it be?” He thought to himself as he leaned over the railing the same way she did.

“Oh..Jiyong-a!” She quickly wiped her tears upon seeing she had company.

“You don’t have to worry...I can keep a secret...” He faced her and smiled. “..I mean.. you kept one of mine...its the least I could do...”

Her eyes widened with what he just said. “He knows Jay’s my boyfriend?” She thought as she searched for words to deny the truth. “But how? Did Minsul tell him?”

“...Ahmmm. I meant to tell you..Its just... I didn’t think...”

“So what?” Jiyong said as he looked afar. “I mean its kind of unconventional...but not entirely unheard of...”

“Really?” She was feeling like a fool as she listened to Jiyong. “but not entirely unheard of” She repeated in her head. It was painful enough to remind herself of the reason for their break up. But with Jiyong saying that its not as impossible as Jay had thought, she finally felt like she was tricked.

“YEAH...and it’s only natural to get jealous...

Jiyong was being more mature than Jay was, and she found herself admiring him for being open to the thought of having love beyond the Idol world... or so she thought.

“And I’m fine with it... Just because you work with Big Bang doesn’t mean you can’t be a fan of 2pm...”

“What?”

“You’re a fan girl of Jaebeom, right? You like him?... I mean that’s why you cried... from jealousy...I’ve seen it before..Fans crying over us and stuff... Although I never thought you were one of those...

Her disappointment caused her to feel sadder and more lonely than she already was. She looked up hoping that tears that were forming in the corner of her eyes would not reveal themselves

“Well..here...” He said as he reached for his a tissue in his pocket and give it to her. “I don’t like seeing girls cry...”

She had heard that line before,back when Jay had caused her to cry and that same line comforted her know as it did before. “ if you want I can introduce you to him..I’m friends with Jun..” Jiyong continued to say, but she was more interested in that particular line he just gave

“What did you just say?” She still wasn’t sure if Jiyong was the same guy who had given her an handkerchief that day on the corridors of the M!net studio.

“”I said...I probably could introduce you to Jaebeom...”JIyong looked at her weirdly. “She’s THAT kind of fan” He said to himself amazed that he would actually take him up on that offer.

“No..before that...”

“Ahmmm... I don’t like seeing girl’s cry???”

For sure any kind of guy could have said that. But it was weird how she was hoping that somehow he was. "Why...why did you say that?”

He felt relieved that he wasn’t going to call on Junsu to set her up with Jaebeom. Admitting that 2PM, especially Jaebeom as their leader, was more popular than him that their own publicist is fangirl was like admitting defeat to a bunch of amateurs. "I don’t know... I just remembered something I guess...WHY?”

“Really...I just remembered something too.” She wanted to fish for something more. In fact she wanted to ask him directly if they were remembering the same event. But his oppa had impeccable timing.

“Ice Cream’s here!” Seunghyun shouted as he banged on the door.

Nisshi took the tissue that Jiyong offered and wiped her tears. Although all her problems were still there, somehow the thought of Jiyong being the mystery guy of M!net was making her feel much lighter. And although she was dying to ask him, she thought that the shroud of mystery surrounding that event was meant to stay that way...and besides she didn’t want another embarrassing disappointment if it turns out that it wasn’t him after all.

Footnotes:

¹are a South Korean girl group managed by NegaNetwork. The group consists of four members: Jea, Ga-in, Narsha and Miryo. Since debuting in 2006, the group has risen to popularity through a number of hit singles, beginning with 2008's "L.O.V.E."

onlineloveauthor · « **Reply #43 on:** December 10, 2009, 05:02:20 pm »

He walked more slowly than the others did. He was taking in the air of the Harajuku District seriously and didn’t want to stoop to his friends shallow understanding of the what the district stood for. Just like Paris’s Champs Elysée or London’s Oxford St., the Harajuku district was one of the most exciting fashion capital’s in the world and he wasn’t going to pass this one out by playing around and acting like a bunch of tourist. But no matter how much he tried to get himself distracted over the district’s outrageous street fashion, his eyes always stole a glimpse of Seunghyun walking side by side Nisshi, trying hard to cheer her up.

“Look at her over there...” Jiyong overheard his hyung say, pointing at a strangely clad teenager. He laughed persistently and looked like he was hoping that she would laugh with him. But, as Nisshi has been for the past few weeks, she just smiled.

“Aissh” He said under his breath. “Why is he trying so hard any way? And what’s still with her?”

“What’s that Bro?” Youngbae asked Jiyong as he hurriedly caught up to him.

“Huh?..OH..nothing...What’s that?” Jiyong pointed at the circular balls his friend was eating.

“Takoyaki¹...I think...want some?” Jiyong wasn’t sure what Takoyaki was or what it was made of, his eyes were still very much fixed on the couple walking in front of him. And eventually the hungry Youngbae noticed.

“They look cute don’t they?” Youngbae said as he munched on a whole takoyaki.

“Cute?” He thought to himself. “Cute is a puppy sleeping...cute is a little kid playing with his toys...THAT is not cute. It’s pathetic...”

He nodded insincerely to Youngbae’s remark. He refused to get sucked in the the pathetic world that was “HYUNI,” Seunghyun and Nisshi. He wanted so bad to just forget about them entirrely and sample the cool Japanese air for once. So without even thinking, he went inside a nearby store.

“Hyung!” Youngbae called out, but there was no stopping him.

At first glance, the store looked harmless. He looked around and saw various novelty items like pillows, mugs, and key-chains. It was a quaint little store and it looked like the perfect place to buy some knick knacks as souvenirs to give away when he came back home.

“あなたのガールフレンドのためにありますか？"² The sales clerk asked as he took a small mug from the display case to better examine it. Unlike his dongseangs, he had never learned Japanese and just completely sucked at it.Even though he didn’t understand a word she she said, He nodded in response. The mug’s design featured a stick drawn man with a broken heart and he instantly thought that it would be a perfect give for one of his friends back home. “How much for this?” he managed to asked with the few words he knew in Japanese.

He was waiting for the petite sales lady to answer when a tap on his shoulder prompted him to look back.

“So...who’s the lucky girl?" Seunghyun asked, smiling from ear to ear.

“Hyung!!! Why you little rascal?...” Daesung said as he took the mug from his hand. The sales lady squirmed in laughter.

“What are you talking about?” He didn’t know what the big deal was in buying souvenirs. And he also didn’t understand why his hyung would think that he was buying souvenirs for a girl. He looked at them still confuse over their excited faces.

“Dara will like it...” A faint voice said behind the towering boys in front of him. Nisshi smiled as soon as he saw her.

“So...that’s your type?” Seunghyun exclaimed and moved closer to him and whispered “no wonder...Dara and Nisshi are too different!” His hyung nudged him gently.

“What the hell are these guys talking about?” He thought to himself. He looked at Youngbae to get an explanation of some sort but his dongseang just starred to the floor, looking a lot less estatic as before they all came in.

“Come on hyung...You’ve been caught red handed!” Daesung teased him and started picking random things from the shelves and handed it to him. “Give her a couple ring, pillow, and cellphone strap too!”

“Couple? Dara?” He thought to himself, when suddenly he finally noticed how each item, whether it was the mug he was holding or the shirts that hung from the rack, were all sold in pairs.

“!@#$!” He said under his breath. “Its a couple shop!”

“Yeah right..Like you didn’t know that.” Youngbae said sarcastically and headed towards the door.

“Wait...what... I really didn’t!” He started to protest, but no one was buying it. Everyone started going through the merchandises separately. Seunghyun quickly went to the counter to but what looked like a pair of cellphone straps.

Jiyong hurriedly went to Nisshi, who was busy looking through the racks of shirts.
“Why did you have to say this was for Dara?” Jiyong whispered as he held her arm.

“Well..it is for her isn’t it?” Nisshi saw how much closer Jiyong and Dara really were during the last days that they were at Seoul. Jiyong even convinced her and YG to take the girl in the group, she knew there was no other girl that boy had eyes on.

“IT’S NOT!” I didn’t even know this was a couple store.” He glanced at the door and sighed.

“ Now he thinks I like Dara...” Jiyong shook his head in frustration.

“Who does...and wait you do like Dara?” Nisshi said, confused, as her hand still went through the rack but her eyes fixed on his expressions.

“No I don’t...Youngbae likes Dara...” He looked her deeply in the eye and was starting to shake her furiously.

“Yah!!” Seunghyun shouted as soon as he saw her being harassed by Jiyong. “What the hell are you...” But before he could go after his dongseang, Jiyong already fled out of the store, hoping to catch up to his emotional injured friend.

***.

“So they still aren’t talking to each other.” She told herself as observed the Jiyong and Youngbae sitting on opposite ends of the couch, not acknowledging each other’s presence.

Youngbae was flipping through the channels when she arrived. Jiyong on the other hand was trying to engage him in conversation but when he miserably failed she shot her a mean look as she prepared for snacks in the kitchen.

“It’s not my fault you guys are so complicated...” She thought to herself, as she made a sour face. It was true that she had carelessly and falsely spilled the beans the erupted the whole DaraGon scandal, but how was she supposed to know that it was actually the shier and more masculine fifth of the group that had eyes on the girl. Jiyong had acted so close towards Dara that she could only assume.

He watched the two go on with their silent war as she took a huge bite out of the sandwich she had just prepared. It was intense as Youngbae pressed each button in the remote with much anger and it was entertaining to see how, for once, jiyong looked helpless.

But when she thought things couldn’t get any worse, Youngbae suddenly turned the TV off and stood up. “Aisshhh...Noona...I’ll be in my dorm if you need me...” He threw the remote to the empty couch and headed out.

“This is all your fault!” Jiyong blamed her as soon as he Youngbae closed the door behind him. She saw this coming and yet her mouth was still agape, with pieces of bread stuck between her teeth.

“My fault?” She put her sandwich down to her plate and quickly rose to eye Jiyong face to face.

“Yes your fault!” Jiyong shouted in return. “You just had to shout to the whole world that I like Dara Noona...which I by the way don’t...”

“Well..how should I know...And if you didn’t go inside that couple store then we wouldn’t have followed you in!!!” She stomped her feet and was know acting more like temper-tantrumed child than an adult talking to a kid.

“That’s your fault too!!!” Jiyong wasn’t planning on admitting that he had been watching her and his hyung do their little dance. Although he knew it was just his way of keeping his hyung focused, when said out loud it sounded like he was jealous, “which i’m not” He said to himself.

“My fault? How is that my fault for christ’s sake?” She was now shouting at the top of her lungs. She didn’t like it when people put the blame on her. She didn’t like it back when she broke her cousin’s toy in the 1st grade and she still doesn't like it now.

“If I wasn’t so distracted by your pathetic little depressed damsel act that’s got hyung wrapped around you bony little finger, then I wouldn’t have gone inside that store in the first place.” Jiyong suddenly gasped for air after explaining everything in one breath.

“Distracted?” She thought to herself, giving Jiyong a questionable stare.

“O come on Noona...Don’t pretend like you don’t know...hyung’s been following you around like a puppy, and you’re not one to complain.” He inched closer to her, imposing the very little height advantage he had over her.

“Why do you even bother calling me Noona huh?” She said completely changing the subject, “You talk to me so informally you might as well call me YAH!”

She collapsed on the empty couch, finally giving up on their heated debate. There was no way of winning that last argument. She knew very well of Seunghyun’s efforts of cheering her up and how he has been by her side ever since Minsul left. And even though it looked pitiful for Seunghyun, she welcomed the idea and felt comforted by it.
Jiyong could go all day with blaming her for the misunderstanding with Youngbae, but she flopped defeated to the couch, he knew that whatever it was that got his hyung wrapped around her finger it was the same thing that was urging him to stop arguing with her.

“If you admit it’s your fault why Youngbae’s mad at me... I’ll admit it’s my fault why you think I like Dara Noona...” Jiyong said in surrender as he sat beside her and extended a hand. “Truce?”

She smiled at him and offered her hand as well.

“He really likes you you know...” Jiyong said out of the blue. He knew he was being to hard on her. She has been feeling down the past few days and yet she still managed to do her work impeccably, and this was enough reason to cut her some slack.

“I know...” She replied with a sigh. She took out her cellphone from her pocket and started fingered the cute heart-shaped cellphone chain Seunghyun got her the other day.

“You do?” Jiyong was surprised. He had thought that by mentioning his hyungs little crush on her, she would at least be flattered. But all he could sense from his tone was that of apathy. [color=green"]You don’t like it?”

“No...I do...that’s the problem...” [/color]Just as she explained to Minsul before she left, although her oppa’s little crush on her made her blush, she didn’t want to complicate things by mixing business with pleasure. “...I mean... do you know why I always shrug off his cutesy remarks and suggestive gestures?

Jiyong merely shook his head.

“He’s an Idol...I’m scared that once I do notice him... I won’t be able to stop myself anymore...He’s totally my type you know?” She said as she looked at him. Although she could sense his disinterest in the matter, she continued to talk about it ecstatically.

“Good Choice...” Jiyong was happy that she was on the same page as he was. It was good that for once, her noona was making complete sense. “You’re right...He’s an Idol...falling for him would be a complete and utter disaster!”

They smiled at each other contently, like how business partners would usually smile after sealing a good deal. She was grateful that even with Minsul gone, she could at least talk to Jiyong about her feelings...at least the ones that concerned Seunghyun. Jiyong was just glad that she knew and understand the life of an idol and how it rarely involves a girlfriend.

Then suddenly, from some sudden stroke of genius, Jiyong held both her hands and said, “You know what Noona...You help me patch things up with Youngbae and I’ll help you...”

“Help me? With what?” As far as she was concerned, only one of them had a problem that needed to solved, and it was not her.

“I’ll help you NOT fall in love with Hyung...or any other member of Big Bang for that matter...”

She looked at him searching for some kind of dismissive expression to his proposition. But to no avail he looked as serious as he ever was. She unknowingly nodded, unsure of how Jiyong was going to help her or if she actually needed help.

“OK then lets start with this...” Jiyong snatched her phone from her clamy hands and started unfastening the accessory that dangled at the edge of her phone. And as she watched him from the end of that couch, she felt that same old pinch in her heart.

Footnotes:
¹literally fried or baked octopus, a popular Japanese dumpling made of batter, diced or whole baby octopus, tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion
² "Is it for your girlfriend?"

onlineloveauthor · « **Reply #44 on:** December 11, 2009, 09:58:15 am »

Another busy set, another busy day. Although their trip to Japan was a bit short-lived, they had already accomplished what they set out to do and was now back on Kimchi¹ smelling grounds. But the rift that started out between Youngbae and Jiyong back in Japan was still very much alive in the studio, as they prepared for the shooting of their cellphone CF with Chaerin’s new group.

“What happened in Japan?” Seungri asked his hyungs, who were all busy getting their hair and make-up done. Seungri, who had been left behind, couldn’t help but notice the non-speaking terms all their hyungs were and he was starting to think that maybe it was his fault.

“Nothing...what makes you think that something happened...” Nisshi said as soon as she stepped inside the room to check on the boys. She knew very well that something did happen, and according to Jiyong, it was all her fault. But if Jiyong was going to help her with her “Oppa Problem” like he promised, she didn’t mind collecting the blame for herself and proposing a solution to end this madness.

“But...” Seungri persisted to know the truth. His childish curiosity and the feeling of being left out was causing him to constantly shift in his chair.

“No buts...” Nisshi said she took a good look at each Idol’s style and concept. She went through each of them unbiased and professional, but as soon as she stood before Seunghyun’s chair her knees were slowly turning into unstable jelly. She was giggling all the way in her head at the sight of her oppa’s cool demeanour and slick brushed up hair.

“So...” Seunghyun started to say in a flirtatious tone, obviously amused by how smitten she was."...How does oppa look?” He gave her a wink and all her blood rushed to her cheeks.

“Noona!” Jiyong shouted almost instantly and was now rushing towards the love struck couple. “Aissh...How on earth will I help her, if she won’t help herself...”

Nisshi snapped out of her trance when she saw Jiyong give her a dissatisfied stare. “Yes Jiyong?” She said as she tore her eyes away from her beautiful oppa.

“Can you come here a minute?” Seunghyun followed her with his eyes as she attended to his dongseang. He couldn’t help but think that something really fishy was going on between the two, “since when do they talk to each other like that...” He thought to himself.

But unknown to Seunghyun, and everyone else in the room for that matter, Nisshi and Jiyong were brewing an unlikely alliance to help each other, and themselves, out.

“I’m sorry... I can’t help it...” Nisshi told Jiyong before he could even call out what she did wrong. She let out a sheepish smile and it was enough to make Jiyong feel like barfing.

“Gross much...” He whispered back as he sat on his chair. “ Spare me the cheesy details and just do your share...” She stood behind him now and was unknowingly fixing his hair for him.

“Yah!! Noona! Watch the Fro!” Nisshi let out a controlled laugh. It was a good feeling that she was finally comfortable with Jiyong and even though it was still a habit of him to shout at her over random things, it was better than being ignored in the hallways.

“Are you ready?” Nisshi whispered to Jiyong as she lowered her head as close to Jiyong’s cheeks. He unconsciously felt his face become warmer with her breath in her ear.

He nodded in response and took the cellphone straps they had bought from that store in Japan. He fingered through the pair of straps and admired at his impeccable taste for picking out the best in the bunch. “It’s nothing like what Seunghyun gave her.” He thought as he recalled the cellphone strap he had confiscated from her that day they formed their little alliance.

He was about to give one to Nisshi and finally carry out with their plan, when Youngbae noticed what he was keeping in his hand.

“I can’t believe you” Youngbae said without even looking at Jiyong and starred back at his reflection. “...You still bought it...” He was clearly still upset at Jiyong for his supposed treachery and breaking of the code of brotherhood.

Jiyong looked at him apologetically and shoot another doubtful glance at her. "You sure this will work?

“We’ve been through this...trust me...” As she grew impatient at Jiyong’s lack of confidence in their plan and in her, she snatched one of the straps in his hand and headed out the room.

“I’ll be checking out Chaerin and the others if anyone needs me...” She shouted as she disappeared into the hallway.

“What was THAT about?” Seunghyun had approached Jiyong and was not so surprised that his hyung had been keeping a close eye on him and his noona.

“Nothing...” He said as he averted his hyung’s scornful gaze.

“She’s still not your type is she?” When he had first asked Jiyong that same question, he knew exactly what his answer was and he never doubted its validity. But with each passing day, and especially with their little trip to Japan, they have gotten so close that it felt like he had been left out and that the lines that were drawn were gradually being blurred.

“Aissh hyung...how many times do I have to tell you...” Jiyong was about to redeem himself to his hyung when suddenly Youngbae stood up and interrupted their conversation.

“Yeah Hyung! How many times does he have to say it...he likes Dara Noona!” He gave his old pal a heavy pat on the shoulder and a sarcastic tone.

“Aisssh!!!” Jiyong was getting fed up with being in the middle of his friends messy love lifes. It was flattering that everyone felt inferior to him when comes to their ladies, but this was all getting ridiculous. He stood up from his chair and pushed both Youngbae and Seunghyun to the side.

“Hyung! For the last time! I don’t like Nisshi Noona...” He shouted at his Hyung before turning to face Youngbae. “and I don't ike Dara Noona either..” He shoved the cellphone strap he had been clenching on his fist to his dongseang. He couldn’t wait to just get everything over with and get everyone else off his back.

“What's this?” Youngbae asked as he examined the unique cellphone accessory his hyung handed him

“Just put it on your phone before you go on set... and you’ll believe me when I say I’m on your side” Jiyong left the dressing room abruptly, annoyed but how untrustworthy both Seunghyun and Youngbae was.

The commotion between the three older idols caused quite a stir in that crowded dressing room. Everyone exchanged hazed looks, especially Seungri who still had no idea what was happened and what was going on.

“Like I said...What happened in Japan?” The maknae asked again.

“Nothing much, just same old...same old” Nisshi explained to Minji and Chaerin who had asked about their oppas recent debut in Japan.

Unlike Big Bang’s dressing room, the girl’s room were more organized and had fewer people, which made it easier to talk in a modulated tone. She checked each member of the group one by one, but unlike with Big Bang, her intention’s of being in that room were more biased and more inclined for personal gain.
She walked towards the lithe girl whose hair stood out the most as she clenched the cellphone strap in her hands. “Ah...Unnie...” She started to say.

“Ah! Nisshi-ssi! Don’t call me Unnie anymore...Be comfortable with me...Dara’s fine...” Sandara’s playful voice made her feel at home right away and she instantly saw the qualities that made her so endearing.

“Ahmmm...Dara...Here...” She handed the same cellphone strap Jiyong handed her earlier. Dara looked a bit confused by the gesture, mainly because out of all the people in the room she was the only one which she gave a gift to.

“Thank you..” Dara said politely as she accepted the gift.

“Oh! It’s not from me...” Nisshi smiled at her, but deep inside her smiles were actually meant for herself and Jiyong, for coming up with such an igenous plan.

“Ayiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeee!!!!” Bom, Minji, Chaerin and all the other coordinators inside the room started to chant almost immediately.

“Dara’s got a secret admirer!!!!!” Bom announced to everyone, even though it was pretty obvious already. She smiled again at Dara, who was red and flustered from all the attention she was getting.

“Put it on your cellphone before you go out...He’ll be waiting with the same cellphone strap on his phone when you get there...” Nisshi explained thoroughly for everyone else to hear. Dara merely nodded in response, but her glittering eyes gave away her curiosity and happiness as she started attaching the gift to her phone.

After a few hours of painstaking styling and hairdressing, everyone emerged from their dressing rooms in their candy coloured outfits and everyone was pumped up to shoot for their CF.

Nisshi watched each idol as they waited for the PDs cue, Jiyong on the other hand was already walking towards her.

“So what happens now?” Jiyong asked.

“We wait..” But it seemed like the wait was not far behind. From across the room, they noticed Dara secretly looking at each one’s phone while Youngbae waited in the corner.

She stood side by side with Jiyong, watching their plan unfold by the second, “It’s just like watching a mo...”

“Shhhh....Look, She’s seen it!!! She’s going for Youngbae!” Jiyong exclaimed as he pointed out the obvious.

“What did I tell you?” She now shifted her gaze to the excited Jiyong. It was amazing how much he valued friendship and how he’d do anything for the ones he love. It made her want to earn his trust even more.

After a few minutes of watching his match-made friends sheepishly grin at each other, she turned to her and said, “I never really doubted you Noona...” Jiyong was about to say something else, when somwone from behind squeezed I between the two of them.

“Yeah...you sure make a good team...” Seunghyun, who had overheard their conversation, interrupted from behind.
It wasn’t an entire relief when he finally realized that the reason they’ve been inseparable for the past few days was because of Youngbae and Dara. Although it felt good that it was still purely business, the green eyed monster inside of him refused to back down and just watch from the sidelines.

“We sure do!” Jiyong said as he moved aside to give his hyung some space. He looked at Nisshi and saw the same doe eyed stares she’s been giving his hyung and remembered that with his Noona keeping her end of the bargain he had to keep his as well “And our next project is bound to be a success...” Jiyong said grabbing his noona’s hand and leading her away from Seunghyun.

Footnotes:
¹any one of numerous traditional Korean pickled dishes made of vegetables with varied seasonings. Its most common manifestation is the spicy baechu (cabbage) variety. Kimchi is the most common banchan, or side dish, in South Korea and many South Korean communities and locales.

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Author Topic: IBS*Chap. 7, Seoul March ‘ 09 : Welcome Back (Read 626 times)

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