“Who was that sending you off? Boyfriend?”

“OMG! Eww no! That was my brother!”

“Oh oops my bad. The both of you don’t look alike.”

“Yeah he looks like my dad and me, like mum”

“So erm you’re single?”

“Mmhmm. Why?”

“No reason, just curious”

“Why are you curious about my love life.. wait you should have turned right! The office isn’t this way!”

“Haha relax Unnie. I know the way to the office. I just need to grab my usual coffee and we can head to the office. The coffee at this place is really good. You should give it a try.”

“Just as long as we get there on time”

“Don’t worry about it, I will get us to the office on time. The shop is just around the corner. You’ll just have to wait in the car and I’ll grab our coffees. Just help me look out for a place to park.”

“Hmm.. I see one up ahead… Yeah this one.”

“Perfect. The shop is right across. What would you like me to get you?”

“Iced Latte”

“Hel..”

“OUR VIDEO WAS A HIT! YOUR IDEA TO FILM IT IN JEJU WAS PERFECT! AND THE FANS LOVED OUR DUET AT THE END. THAT’S THE HIGHEST VIEWS MY VIDEO HAS EVER GOTTEN”

“Woah slow down! I’m driving.. so you’re on speaker and my manager unnie is right here next to me.”

“Oh erm hi manager unnie”

“Ahaha you’re embarrassed right now aren’t you, Hyemi?”

“Hyemi-shi there’s no need to feel embarrassed, and you can call me Sooyoung Unnie”

“I erm well yeah.. just wanted to let you know. I’ll talk to you later and all the best with training. I’m gonna dig myself a hole to hide in right now. Bye.”

“You’re such a dra.. haha I think she already hung up.. Hyemi is such a drama queen.”

“I saw the video too you know, last night. It was beautiful, especially your duet with her. But what did she mean about it being your idea?”

“Ah it was just that I had invited her to spend my birthday with me this year. It had been 8 years since I last celebrated it and I booked us a trip to Jeju. She had to cancel one of her dance filming for me so I decided to surprise her by inviting her film crew there as well.”

“Why was it 8 years since you.. oh no wait forget I asked that question. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay Unnie, you didn’t bring it up on purpose. Don’t worry about it.”

“I’m still sorr..”

“We’re here! So stop apologising and let’s get going to my first training session shall we?”

“We’re bouncing up and down again?!”

“Yes we are”

“But we’ve been doing it for days!”

“It’s just been 2 days Ellie-shi! Don’t exaggerate”

“Yeah but still”

“No buts! You of all people should know that getting the basics right is more important than anything else. Besides, the lead dance instructor will be here today and if he approves of your bouncing we will move on to something else.”

“And so when will he get here?”

“At the end of the day”

“…”

“Yes you still have a whole day of bouncing ahead of you. So stop pouting and hurry up and get changed. We’re going to start with upward bounces today”

“No we’re not”

Sometime during my petty argument with the assistant instructor, the lead instructor had made his way into the dance studio and was standing right behind me. I did a slow turn to face him but just before I could apologise for being a brat, he spoke.

“She’ll be moving on to other basics today and I will be taking on her training from now on. Thank you very much for your help so far.”

He spoke to the assistant for a little more before she left the studio. Then it was just the two of us. The silence was deafening. I did notice that he was considering something. He kept his focus entirely on me although not looking me in the eyes. Just as I was about to try to break the silence, he looked up.

“Listen and listen carefully. This is the first time you are going to hear this from me and probably the last. And if you ever let it get to your head, you can expect hell from me.  Understood?”

“Erm.. Yes Sir!”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah”

“Why are you making weird sounds into the phone?”

“There’s a strike!”

“A strike?”

“Yes, every single muscle in my body has gone on strike and is refusing to work”

“Stop being whiny! You knew what you signed up for!”

“Yeah but they're working me like a slave”

“All trainees go through this”

“15  hours of training?! Sometimes I just sleep in the dance studio”

“I thought it was 10 hrs?”

“That was when it was only dancing. They reduced dance hours to 5 hours but I have 10 hrs of vocal and stamina training.. singing and dancing both at the same time.. Yeah, ain’t an easy feat.”

“Why does it feel like they are rushing it?”

“They are. My manager unnie gave it away after getting sick and tired of my whining! Hahaha! You should have seen her face when she realised that she just let it slip”

“Why are they rushing it then?”

“Something about the fact that I’ve already appeared on TV and that I already have a growing fanbase. I guess they want me to keep riding the wave or something”

“Now that makes sense, so do you have a song ready for them? They said they’d pick the better song for your debut right?”

“Yeah after I realised that they are planning my debut real soon, I tried to write a song, but nothing came to me. None of the music I have feels appropriate either.”

“You’ll be inspired soon enough, or you’ll never know, you might love the song they write and compose for you.”

“Yeah, hopefully”

“You should go to sleep now.. you have another long day ahead of you!”

“It’ll all be worth it right, Hyemi?”

“You bet it will! Now go to sleep! I’ll talk to you soon! Goodnight!”

“Can we please take a break? Just 5 mins, I don’t think I can feel my arms anymore”

“Stop exaggerating but yes 5mins starting now.”

I collapsed to the floor and just lay flat looking up at the ceiling. I could see Sooyoung Unnie standing at the corner of the room sneaking glances at me while the instructor was talking to her. Just then, my phone rang. I let out a loud groan which was followed by Sooyoung Unnie’s laughter as she moved to get my phone for me. Instead of taking my phone, I reached up to grab her arm and pulled her to sit before manoeuvring myself to lay my head on her lap.

“My saviour! Thank you for taking my phone for me!”

“And now I’m your head rest too?”

“Yes. Okay, hold on let me just answer this! Hello? Yeah… Okay… Mmhmm… Yes, that should be fine.. Please send me the details... Thank you.. Alright bye”

“Who was that?”

“The executive director of my company”

“What was it about?”

“I have to be overseas for 3-4days sometime next week. The board members are having a meeting and I have to be there. So you will need to make some changes to my training schedule next week”

“Okay once you get the details, make sure you send it to me so that I can inform the boss and the trainers”

“Right got it!”

“So where is the meeting going to be held?”

“Dubai”

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N: In Dubai~ ;)