"Lee Junghwan!" After a sharp smack on my , the covers were lifted off my body.

 

"Eomma!" I whined. "Let me sleep."

 

"No, get up!"

 

"Pleeease, just a little more..."

 

"You're not having breakfast then." 

 

I shot up and glared at her. What? Me, not having food? 

 

"I know exactly how to lure you, don't I?" Mom smirked.

 

I mumbled to myself as I made my way to the kitchen. 

 

"Eat fast and go to the auditions." Mom ordered. "I have high hopes. Don't disappoint me!"

 

"I'm sure I'll make it."

 

---

 

I signed up for the audition and took a seat. I took my headphones from my back pack and started playing music. 

 

"Why can't I audition?" A girl yelled loud enough for me to hear her even through my head phones.

 

I turned the music off and saw the lady who was taking the names of participants trying to talk to her.

 

I got up from my seat and walked to them.

 

"I'm sorry, miss," the lady spoke. "We can't put you in."

 

"Why not," the girl asked. "That's what I want to know!"

 

"I'm sorry, you can't. Just leave." 

 

Why was the lady being rude? Last time I remember Father speaking about the auditions he had mentioned that any one can audition.

 

"And why is that?" I asked, grabbing both their attention. The crowd around them had decreased and it was only us three.

 

"That's not of your concern." The lady replied rudely.

 

"She has the right to know why she can't audition." 

 

"Exactly!" The girl nodded.

 

"You have no right to tell her to leave just like that," I tried to speak politely, but I think I'm not doing a good job. "At least tell her why."

 

"Sir, go take a seat and mind your own business." 

 

"What if I don't?"

 

"I'll call security to drag both of you out."

 

"Let me see you try." I said, sending her the scariest glare I could master.

 

She called the security and in a bit we were both dragged out of the building.

 

"Thanks for helping me get dragged out." She smiled bitterly and walked away. 

 

"Hey, where are you going?" I followed her but she quickened her pace. 

 

I pulled her by her arms and she turned around suddenly making me stumble backwards.

 

She was crying. That was a sight I never wanted to see, but somehow the way she was looking at me, made my heart skip a beat. 

 

"Why...why are you crying?" I asked with an unexpected soft voice.

 

"I needed that audition. I need it."

 

"Don't worry, you can enter without even auditioning if you want."

 

"You make no sense," she shot. "Your talking as if you own the company."

 

"Well I do." I replied with confusion. "Not me, but my father does. No difference though, right?"

 

She stared at me as if I was some crazy guy bluffing. 

 

"Yeah, and I believe you."

 

The girl pulled her arms away and started walking. I grabbed her hand again and dialed my Father's number. 

 

"Yes, dear." Father answered.

 

"Dad, I'm sorry, are you busy?"

 

"Well, yes," he replied, trying to sound polite. I sighed sadly.

 

"I'll give you five minutes," He quickly added. "But make it fast."

 

A smiled made its way to my face. "I was supposed to audition today, but..."

 

"But?" He asked.

 

"Look, your employees are very rude and they were breaking the rules today."

 

"Really, what happened?"

 

"I'm with this girl, and they way they treated her, though."

 

"Sandeul, we'll talk while having dinner."

 

"But-" he interrupted me.

 

"I'll check the surveillance cameras later. Bye."

 

"Bye." 

 

I was about to hang up when father spoke again.

 

"Invite the girl over. We owe her an apology."

 

He ended the line before I answered. I chuckled.

 

"That was my dad," I told her. "He wants you to come over for dinner. And please stop crying."

 

"Do you honestly think I believe that your father is the Chairman?"

 

I frowned. "You don't?" 

 

"I don't."

 

"I am, I pro-" 

 

"Lee Sandeul!" a girl called from behind. 

 

I turned and saw four girls that I've never seen before. 

 

"How may I help you?" 

 

"I'm Saerah, and these are my friends." The girl in the middle introduced, motioning to her friends.

 

"Nice to meet you." I said, offering my best smile.

 

"He's so cute." One of her friends commented.

 

I looked over my shoulder to see the girl crying from earlier walking away. 

 

"Excuse me." I said before sprinting towards her and stood in front of her, blocking the way.

 

"Where are you going! I told you to come for dinner!"

 

"Is that Saenu?" Saerah asked standing by my side.

 

"Your name is Saenu?" I asked her and she smiled bitterly, a tear escaping her eyes.

 

"Please, stop." I ordered pulling her in my arms. Saenu stayed motionless and I felt her stiffen under my touch.

 

"Girls, look," Saerah called once I broke the hug. "This is already all over Chairman Lee's son."

 

"Excuse me?" I asked. "Who are you calling a ? 'Cause right now the only I can see here is you."

 

"What did you just say?" Saerah scoffed. "I'll soon be the rising star of your entertainment, the face you'll all be proud to have in your entertainment."

 

"I see now." Saenu spoke for the first time after Saera came.

 

"Huh?" I asked looking confused.

 

"What does this see?"

 

"Watch your atitu-"

 

"I just see a little spoilt, badly raised human, and that's you, Saerah. You had to stoop that low?" Saenu interrupted me.

 

"What do you mean?" Saerah asked.

 

"You bribed that lady at the audition today, didn't you?" 

 

"How dare you say that!" Saera scoffed, her face turning bright pink.

 

"Did you pass the audition?" I asked Saera, ignoring the fuss she was making with her friends.

 

"Of course I did," she replied with her chin held high. "My training start in two days."

 

"In that case, don't even bother coming to training," I smirked. "We don't need people like you in our company. If you started your way by cheating, how are you going to continue your way?" 

 

"By bribing more and more people, of course." Saenu answered instead.

 

"Thought so," I looked at Saenu. "Let's go. Mom and Dad are probably waiting for use, Saenu. We'll talk about your training there."

 

"What!" Saera yelled.

 

We all looked at her. "Are you guys telling me that, this little brat is going to be a trainee, and I won't?"

 

I smirked at how jealous she got.

 

"Nah, that's not what I meant. Saenu here, will debut within these two months."

 

"You'll see what I'll do to both of you. Not you Junghwan, but you!" She pointed at Saenu.

 

"What are you going to do to her? Let me guess, bribe the CEO of the company, why, because he's the one who personally wanted her to be the new face of our entertainment."

 

Saera's friends started giggling, which made her lose her confidence even more. She glared at them and they all stopped laughing. 

 

Without saying anything further, I put an arm over Saenu's shoulder and pulled her away with me. She slowly moved my arms away from her.

 

"Uh--" Saenu spoke hesitantly. "Um... I'm sorry for not believing you."

 

"What?" I asked .

 

"You know...that you're the Chairman's son."

 

"Ah, that," I laughed. "Don't worry, I'm used to it. No one believes it at first."

 

"So, when are you debuting?" She asked.

 

"Haven't auditioned yet."

 

"What! You don't need to audition, it's your father's company."

 

"That's what everyone says....but damn, y'all are so wrong. My dad wants me to take all the procedures. He didn't even want me to be a trainee in his company."

 

"Oh, I like your Dad. He seems to be a very fair person." 

 

"Yeah. That's true. But not to me."

 

"But it's really okay, I don't have to meet up with him. Please apologise on my behalf."

 

"What?" I raised an eyebrow. "You are coming with me whether you like it or not." 

 

I dragged her by the arm until we reached a bus stop. Surprisingly, she just followed me, not complaining a bit.

 

"The bus will arrive in ten minutes." I told her.

 

"Yeah, I know." 

 

"May I ask why you needed to pass the audition badly?"

 

"I have a family to support... actually, just my grandmother, and I also have to pay my college fees."

 

"If you become a trainee in our company, we'll provide all the education you might need."

 

"That's also why I wanted to start my career in this company."

 

"I think you'll make a good singer." I said.

 

"You haven't even heard me sing."

 

"What's your full name?" I asked trying to change the subject as I had no reply to what she said.

 

"Lee Saenu."

 

"That's kinda cool...you know, Lee Sandeul and Lee Saenu." I laughed.

 

What am I saying!

 

I felt my body tighten up and my heart beating faster. I looked at her and saw that she wasn't upset anymore. She was smiling. That smile. It was beautiful. I felt like there were thousands of rats running through my vessels. Is that what people call 'butterflies'? Whatever it is called, all I know is that it made me excited and nervous at the same time...and all because of that smile. That one, simple smile she offered.

 

"Aigoo." I sighed. 

 

"What?" Saenu asked.

 

"Dad isn't home yet..." I replied, noticing that his car wasn't parked in front of our house. 

 

"How did you know?" 

 

"I can't see his car." I answered, pointing towards our house across the street. 

 

"What- wait- that's your house?" 

 

"Um, yeah?" That came out more like a question.

 

"I expected a bigger house, you know, something like a mansion." She replied with a goofy smile.

 

"Oh, my dad want to lead a simple life. You know, modesty and all." I rolled my eyes.

 

"That's nice." 

 

We crossed the street and just as I was about to ring the door bell. I heard a car parking behind me.

 

"Hi, Dad."

 

"Hello, Sir." Saenu bowed a full 90°.

 

"You must be Saenu." Father said in a formal tone.

 

"Yes, I am."

 

He smiled and told us to follow him to the backyard.

 

Mom opened the door and greeted Saenu before heading back to the kitchen.

 

We silently followed Father to the backyard. He sat on a chair that was next to the small pool we had.

 

"I apologise on behalf my staff." Father said.

 

"It's no problem." Saenu replied.

 

"I can't just sign you up without hearing your voice, now can I?" 

 

Without any hesitation, Saenu began singing, her voice soft and soothing. There's no way he wouldn't let her join in.

 

"That's enough, dear. You can stop now." Father ordered.

 

Saenu stopped singing and stared at Father, waiting for his comments.

 

"Your training starts after two days."

 

"Mr. Lee, does this mean I'm in?" Saenu asked in disbelief.

 

"Of course you are! Aish. I'm so mad at my staff. How could they just decline people who could have the potential of becoming world stars!"

 

"Thank you, Mr. Lee."

 

"Sandeul, go check if dinner is ready." 

 

"Okay."

****

 

Here I am now, a month after I debuted as a vocalist of a boy band, staring at the dark ceiling, finding it hard to sleep. It has been a week since Seanu debuted and just as my father predicted, she became the face of our entertainment.

 

A week barely passed, but her fandom is increasing like no other and she's every magazine's talk. I'm proud of her. And I also miss her. I confessed my feelings before I debuted and she still hasn't replied. To make things even worse, she has been avoiding me. 

 

My phone suddenly rang, waking me up from my daze.

 

"Hello?" I answered.

 

"Sandeul?" I threw the blanket off me and my eyes widened.

 

"Saenu?" I immediately replied.

 

The lights were on and my room mate stared at me with a blank expression. "What wrong?" He asked.

 

"Nothing." I whispered in reply to my roommate, Baro, the main rapper of our group. He rolled his eyes and went back to sleep.

 

I left the room as quick as I could and entered the kitchen of our dorm.

 

"I can call later if you're busy..." Saenu said.

 

"No, no it's fine, sorry."

 

"I miss you, Sandeul...I miss you so much that I keep hearing you call my name even when I'm asleep."

 

What she said there took me by surprise. 

 

"I miss you too, Saenu. And I'm sorry...."

 

"Why are you apologising?"

 

"Our friendship isn't the same anymore because of me. Saenu, I ruined everything, didn't I?"

 

"No! Don't say that. It's me who's acting like a brat. Sandeul, can I see you. I'm right outside your dorm." 

 

Without even replying I hanged up and ran outside. It was only when the cold marble tiles of the stairs send shivers up my spine that I recognised I wasn't even wearing my shoes. I couldn't care less. I ran down the stairs until I was out of the building. 

 

I saw her standing next to a black van. As soon as she saw me. She ran towards me and hugged me. 

 

"I love you." She whispered.

 

I broke the hug and stared into her eyes. Those black orbs that made me know what love was. 

 

She leaned in and closed her eyes. My heart beat slowed. I felt like I was suffocating. Just as I felt her warm breath hit my lips, I moved back. 

 

Saenu opened her eyes and there was a hint of disappointment. 

 

"We wouldn't want our famous Saenu to be in a scandal in her first week, would we?" I asked, with an eyebrow raised.

 

She smiled and nodded. 

 

"It's cold. Let's go inside." I grabbed her hands and lead her to our dorm.

 

I locked the door after we entered. The moment we made eye contact, I cupped her face and kissed her with all the love I had for her. Everything around me turned pink and I forgot that we weren't the only ones in the dorm until I heard a scoff. I still ignored that and kissed her until she moved away, her lips as inviting as ever. How could she be so beautiful?

 

"In the middle of our living room? Really, Sandeul? Really?"

 

"Sorry, hyeong." I apologised to our leader.

 

"I apologise for his rude behaviour, Saenu-yah."

 

"Yah, hyeong, no flirting with my girl." I warned as I wrapped my arms around her shoulders protectively.

 

"Saenu, he's just jealous, right?" Jinyoung asked totally ignoring me.

 

"Yes." she replied, her face taking colours of her red sweater.

 

He sent her a wink and smirked teasingly at me.

 

"I'll leave you two alone, let me go and sleep." With that, Jinyoung entered his room and closed the door, leaving Saenu and I alone.

 

"Where were we?" I asked seductively as I wrap my arms around her waist. 

 

"I forgot." She replied, wrapping her arms around my neck.

 

I was grateful for that moment. I wanted to pause everything and let that moment last forever.

 

-The End

 

~JslcgBA ❤