Yang CEO summoned me as soon as I arrive at YG building from school a week after that incident.

He resolved the matter with the relevant press by claiming that I’m actually one of their stylists. The story then continues by saying that Hanbin was accompanying me to buy some medicine for myself that morning. Thank goodness Jackson’s oversized hoodie hid my school uniform so well that they didn’t even second guess Yang CEO’s claim that I am a stylist.

They’re not entirely convinced though but they will drop the matter if they can get a special interview with one of YG’s famous stars.

I heave a sigh of relief.

“Thank you and sorry about what happened,” I tell Yang CEO, truly apologetic about the mess we made. “I’ll work harder from now on to repay your hard work.”

“Well, that’s good because now you have an additional role to play,” he says, pointing out a paper he has placed on his table.

I walk up to his desk and skim over the contents of the paper.

Friday, 4am – makeup

Saturday, 10.30am – uniform campaign photoshoot

Tuesday, 8pm – special dance training

“What’s…this?” This is just one month worth of schedule. Am I being forced into the idol industry like this?

“It’s iKon’s schedule,” he replies, watching me carefully.

I glance up at him in surprise. My breathing rate increases. Wait, why is he passing me their schedule?

“If we’re going to lie to the press that you’re their stylist, we have to make it realistic.”

My legs weaken and I drop to a chair in front of his desk.

“You’re going to have to attend the ones that you can out of school hours,” he continues, ignoring my initial shocked reaction. “It’s best if you try to make yourself obvious so that they’ll believe that you’re actually their stylist.”

There is no other option, is there? I have to ride this wave out until it dies down.

----

Will I be able to make it in time? I turn a corner, checking the street sign I passed by. I’m on the correct road!

After school ended today, I immediately changed into casual clothes and ran to catch the next iKon schedule available. I promised Yang CEO I’ll attend as many as I can, although he was considerate enough to allow me to attend a minimum of three per week. He said I can attend one schedule during weekdays and be fully available for them on the weekends.

Despite his allowance, I will attempt to be a valuable member of their crew and constantly try to be present. I’ve nearly ruined iKon’s chances and damage YG’s new boy group reputation. This is the least I can do to fix my mistake.

“I’m sorry I’m late!” I shout, opening the door to the photoshoot set. It’s in a warehouse and the whole set is located at the far end of the warehouse so barely anyone heard me.

I sprint inside.

Okay. Where do I start? I don’t know anybody. Some of the iKon members pass by me without recognizing. I follow behind them.

They walk into a room full of people, from makeup artists to directors as well as cameramen.

Which one of these people are the ones in charge of iKon full time? I glance around, looking for familiar faces. I must have seen some of them in the YG building.

An arm hangs around my shoulders. I turn around to see a toothy grin.

“Hey hottie,” Bobby greets me, dropping a wink. I push his arm off my shoulders. “What brings a hottie here?”

“I’m here to work.” I brush off imaginary dust off my shoulders. “Can you introduce me to your crew? I’m supposed to be the new stylist…”

He raises his eyebrow questioningly and takes in my outfit. “Stylist huh…” he says, judgemental. He erases the look off his face in a matter of seconds. “Here, meet Ah Reum nuna, lead stylist.”

“Hi, I’m newbie stylist, Jang Youngmi.” I bow respectfully.

Ah Reum, a woman around mid-twenties, glances up. Her blonde hair is striking with purple highlights. Is this what a stylist should look like? I feel a surge of humility after looking at her.

“Ya,” she says, pointing her perfectly manicured nails at me. “I heard about you. Can you bring me a cup of Americano? Ask the others what they want.” She passes me YG’s credit card.

Bobby immediately adds, “I’ll take a cup of hazelnut latte with whip cream on it.” He ponders about it for a moment. “Oh reduced milk and reduced sugar.”

I write it down diligently.

I go around the room, asking people for their orders.

Some of the iKon members are doing their photoshoot so I ask Bobby what they would like.

“Just buy them what I ordered,” he suggests offhandedly.

I’m about to leave the room when I bump into someone.

“Youngmi…?” Hanbin says, wide-eyed. He pulls me aside. “Are you—”

“Didn’t Yang CEO tell you about the reporter?”

An understanding look crosses his face. “Oh, right.” Yang CEO must have informed him too.

“Hey, so I’m taking coffee orders. What would you like?” I prepare to write on my notepad.

He looks down at my list of orders. The page is full with various orders.

“You don’t need to get me anything,” he finally says. He brushes past me.

“Hanbin, come on,” I urge him. I know what he’s thinking! He doesn’t want to burden me by adding to the list of orders I already have. “Don’t worry about it. Just tell me what you want.”

He blatantly ignores me.

I block him with my arms but it doesn’t even faze him.

“Your loss,” I state, striding out.

“Wait a second!” Bobby jumps in front of me. “Oh, look at that list! I think you might need help carrying all that. I’ll go with you.”

Hanbin pulls his collar to prevent him from going out. “We’ve got a shoot next. You need to stay.”

“Ya, rookie,” Ah Reum walks to me with loud taps coming from her heels. “Is my Americano here yet?”

“It’s on its way!” I yell, panicking.

----

They’ve been shooting for hours now.

My head droops to the side, watching the iKon members posing on set. It’s just a simple black set with glossy details here and there. The focus of this shoot is on their clothes which are apparently under the Nonagon label – a fashion label under YG.

I have my shift in three hours. Where can I slip in my beauty sleep?

I go to a corner in the changing room. There’s space under the hanging clothes so I sit under them, grabbing a jacket to put over me. This should be fine.

Rough material scratches my face uncomfortably, waking me up.

“Ow,” I whine as a bunch more clothes gets hanged and they rub my face. “Stop!”

Somebody pushes the clothes aside to reveal me sitting behind them.

“Sick nuna?” the boy with a serious face exclaims. Junhoe, right? I groan from the sudden brightness.

Hanbin comes around, taking a peek at what Junhoe is looking at.

“Ya, what are you doing?” Hanbin gives out his hand to help me up. I check my watch. I still have time to sleep. I shove the clothes back in its place to cover myself. Hanbin slides it open again and grabs my wrist. “We’re leaving. Come on.”

He pulls me up and I hear a crack in my shoulders.

“Aah,” I rub the area that cracked.

“Hanbin, why are you so rough?” the petite one reprimands him. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I reply, stretching my shoulder. “Is the photoshoot over?”

“Yeah, it ended quite a while ago. We’re about to leave now,” Junhoe points out. The room is empty. Most of the workers have packed up and left. “

“If you’re not careful, you could have been locked in the warehouse,” Hanbin mutters angrily.

“There’s no need to be so angry,” the petite one says to Hanbin, eyeing his behaviour.

“Ah Jinhwan hyung.” Hanbin rubs his neck after being scolded by the petite one who I now can identify as Jinhwan.

I walk out with them, constantly avoiding Bobby’s skinship attempts.

“Well, okay, bye,” I tell them quietly as they start entering their van. They don’t notice when I walk away.

I start walking down the street, putting on Jackson’s hoodie. I should really return this to him soon but I haven’t gotten the chance to. Which is technically a lie.

I see him every night but I grow to like this hoodie so much that I don’t want to return it.

I am thinking of Jackson…

How his kindness wins me over time…

His—

SLAP!

Ow! I tumble backwards from the forehead slap I receive.

“That’s what happens when you don’t pay attention to your surroundings,” Hanbin mutters, putting his hands into his pockets. “It’s really dangerous out here.”

“You’re not even going to help me up?” I complain, lifting my off the ground. “Was that even necessary?”

Hanbin sighs. “Why don’t you quit this job?” he asks, warily glancing around.

“I gave him my resignation letter. I just need to wait at least three months to give my boss time to find replacement.” I kick a pebble out of my way.

“Was this the only job you can find?”

“It was the most practical one with good pay,” I admit sadly. “Every midnight I’ll have my meal of the day – ramen. I can sleep because there’s so little customers who come by. I can study…”

“Where did you live before YG?” he asks. His steps slow down to match mine.

“Anywhere that had a roof and a floor…” I give him a delicate smile. He clenches his jaws, turning away to look at something in the far distance. “Don’t be too sad for me. I’m fine.”

His eyes are watery as he looks down at his feet. “I wouldn’t have forgiven myself if my family had to go through that.”

“I know.” I pat his arm.

He stares at my comforting hand.

“If you ever need help, just tell me,” he says, resolute.

I roll my eyes at the appearance of superman Hanbin. I let out a big breath of exhalation.

“Hanbin, don’t act like such a hero.” I punch his muscular arm.

“Hero? I’m just being a responsible big brother!” He grabs me by the neck and messes up my hair by rubbing it really roughly. Goodness! Is this what having a big brother feels like? I wriggle myself free from his grasp. “Okay, dongsaeng?”

“Sure, big brother.” I give him a wide grin.

----

Hanbin left even before my shift started because he was getting sleepy.

Jackson is here again, accompanying as usual. He appears more tired than other days, but he still works hard to please me.

“What did you do today?” I ask, concerned about his welfare.

“Um…nothing,” he states.

Why won’t he tell me?

When will he ever open up to me about his life? Why is he so secretive about it?

“When we first met…” I start. “Why were you bleeding?”

“I don’t remember,” he replies without a bother.

If he doesn’t open up, when will I get the bravery to tell him my story? Any type of relationship is a two-way street.

“Jackson, tell me everything you did today,” I pressed, persistent.

He clicks his tongue in annoyance. “Will you stop asking me?” he snaps out in anger.

Completely taken aback by his reply, I throw his hoodie back to him. “Here, you can take it back.”

“I’m sorry, Youngmi ah,” he replies after seeing my reaction. “It’s been a tough day.”

He starts making the typical jokes he likes to share but I can’t bring myself to laugh.

He never tells me anything that matters. I start to realize that all his stories are things that are just empty.

All I know is that he is kind and funny. He likes to eat curry noodles.

He rolls his eyes a lot because he’s legally blind.

He is extremely athletic too.

Are those facts enough though? Why won’t he tell me more?