----- A week later; June 10 -----

"1 and 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, 7, 8." Minji's dance instructor, Ms. Kwon, counted and her body moved to the beat. "Now, get ready for the hard part," Ms. Kwon warned.

Minji took a deep breath and tried her best. She completed the move gracefully which earned an applause from Ms. Kwon.

"Wow, amazing, Minji-ah! I can't believe you learned the entire dance in less than a week." Ms. Kwon handed Minji a water bottle. "If you can perfect it by next week, we might have enough time to learn a completely new dance you can perform to wow the CEO even more!" She tossed Minji a towel. "Great job, class is over."

Minji bowed. "Thank you. See you tomorrow."

She fell onto the dance floor once her instructor left the room, tired and sweating. "Woah, being a trainee is tough! Ugh. So tired. It's only 11:30am... Vocal lessons, next..." She wiped her sweat away before she staggered her way up the stairs and to her bedroom.

~~~~~

"Hello?" Mrs. Kwon answered her phone.

"Hi, Aunty," her 17-year-old niece greeted on the other line. "How's the new trainee?"

"She's amazing. She's going to be a big hit in the K-Pop industry. She learned the entire dance in five days. She's amazing."

"Pft. I bet she ."

"Don't say that, how rude. What would your mom say if I told her that you were being disrespectful?" Ms. Kwon scolded her niece.

"Mommy doesn't care. In fact, she told me a story about when you broke my mom's leg when you were little." Her niece sounded snobby.

"It was by accident. We were only ten."

"Well, she had to give up on her dream of becoming a dancer."

"I said I was sorry. What more does she want?" Ms. Kwon started getting irritated.

"Now that I think about it, I want to be a trainee at Starship. I love Jo Kwangmin."

Ms. Kwon snickered. "You're mom used to be an amazing dancer. Too bad you didn't inherit her talent."

"Ya!"

"Don't talk like that to your Aunty!"

"I don't care. Get me into Starship Entertainment or I'll call the police on you." Her niece threatened.

"Why would you call the police?" Ms. Kwon shook her head at her horrible niece.

"I know that you stole that diamond necklace from that store to get where you are today."

"You blackmailing little punk..."

-----

Minji laid down on her floor after taking a long hot shower because she was too tired to get onto her bed. She was taking a nap when Kwangmin barged in. "Oh! Minji-ah, what are you doing on the floor?"

Minji mumbled. "I'm tired..."

Kwangmin laughed and pulled her up. "Come on. Let's go grab some lunch."

"No." She stood up and fell onto her bed. "I'm too tired... My body hurts..."

He sat on her bed. "Sit up," he pulled her into a sitting position. "I'll massage you." Kwangmin started massaging her shoulders.

She didn't say complain so he moved down to her back. "Ah!" She fell forward in pain. "It hurts..."

He laughed at her accent. "I'll go down to the market and get some pain relievers for you." He offered. "Your vocal lessons are in an hour right?"

"Yes," she said into the pillow.

Kwangmin patted her head and left to go to the market down the street.

-

"Kwangmin, where are you going?" Minwoo asked from the lounge. He was in the middle of surfing the internet.

"I'm going to the market." Kwangmin walked over to Minwoo and peeked at the computer screen. "Are you watching Minji's audition tape again?"

Minwoo nodded. "She's amazing. Why can't we watch her practice live? I want to see if I can pick up any dance moves from her." He pressed the replay button and they watched her sing and dance for the full three minutes. Once the video finished, Minwoo slumped in his chair. "I want to see her live... So, what are you going to buy at the market?"

"Oh!" Kwangmin looked at his watch. "I'm going to buy Minji lunch and some pain relieving patches. She said that her back hurts." He walked over to the door.

"Kwangmin!" Minwoo called out to him. "What is Minji to you?"

Kwangmin thought for a second. "She's my best friend." He smiled and left.

Minwoo snickered. "Pft, she's just your 'best friend'? Liar~" He clicked the replay button for the twentieth time and tried to copy Minji's dance moves.

-

"Minji-ah!" Kwangmin yelled as he barged into her room with a grocery bag from the market. "Time to eat!" He walked over to her and pushed her bangs back to check if she asleep. He shook her awake. "Minji-ah, it's not good to sleep with your contacts on."

"Go away..." She said sleepily.

Kwangmin puffed his cheeks and flipped her onto her stomach. "If you don't wake up, I'm going to put this pain relieving patch onto your back."

"I don't care - go ahead." She didn't budge.

"Really? Well," he grabbed the edge of her t shirt, threatening her. "I'm going to have to take your shirt off."

"Ah!" She sat up quickly. "ert!"

"Good, you're up." He smirked and handed her a cup of noodles. "Now eat."

She rubbed her eyes. "Darn, I'm wearing my contacts again." She grabbed the mirror that was on her desk. "I think I lost one."

He looked at her, worried. "Did it pop out?"

She shook her head and continued to look into the mirror. "I can feel it, but I can't find it."

"Let me help you." Kwangmin leaned close to her. Her heart started beating quickly because their faces were only a few centimeters apart. "Roll your eyes." She did as he said. "I see it!" He informed her and she took it out.

"Thank you, Kwangmin." She ran to the bathroom and took off her contacts, putting on her glasses instead. She sat back on her bed and began to eat her noodles. "Sorry you have to see me in my ugly glasses."

"Don't say that. You look beautiful with or without glasses!" He blurted out. He bit his lip when he realized what he said.

She blinked and continued to eat her noodles. "These taste good." He opened his noodles and slurped it up so quickly that the juice splattered all over his face. She laughed and grabbed a napkin to wipe it off. "You're so silly."

After they finished their noodles, she peaked into the grocery bag to see what else he bought. She pulled out the pain relieving patches and a pair of rings. She placed the patches on her desk, mentally noting that she'd put them on before vocal training. She took out the rings and stared at them. She didn't know how to read Korean so she handed it to him. "What's this?"

"These are couple rings that I found on the way to the market." Kwangmin bluntly said and handed one to her, keeping one for himself.

"For me? But we're not a couple..." She put the ring on her pointer finger and he did the same. "What does it say?"

"Oh, nothing special. It just says 'Yeongwonhi'."

"Forever?"

"Yes, we're going to be best friends forever, right?" Kwangmin batted his eyes at her.

She laughed. "Of course." Huh, I didn't know Koreans bought couple rings for just friends. Sometimes I get the feeling that Kwangmin likes me but I guess this friendship ring shows that he doesn't... She thought sadly.

Why did I say that? Kwangmin-pabo. Don't you like her? Blargh. Kwangmin scolded himself. "You should get ready for vocal lessons." He pointed at Minji's watch, breaking the awkward silence.

She gasped. "I have five minutes! Oh, no!"

"Good luck with your lessons!" He said before she left the room.

-

Kwangmin walked into his dorm and found Jeongmin and Youngmin watching t.v. A Lotte World commercial was playing. "Aw! I miss Lotte World already. Time goes by so fast." Jeongmin said sadly.

"Yeah, I can't believe we went last week. It feels like just yesterday." Kwangmin agreed.

"What happened last week with you and Minji at Lotte World, anyways?" Jeongmin asked.

"Nothing." Kwangmin shrugged. "We just went on rides. That's all."

"Then why did you two come into the restaurant while holding hands?" Jeongmin interrogated Kwangmin.

"Holding hands?!" Youngmin looked at his brother. "I didn't see them holding hands."

"They let go as soon as I saw them."

"Kwangminnie." Youngmin pouted. "You didn't even tell me."

"There was nothing to tell." Kwangmin said bluntly. "Well, we had a lot of fun." He smiled. "We rode a boat ride -"

"The romantic couple boat ride?!" Jeongmin interrupted.

Kwangmin nodded. "I told her that I liked her."

"You confessed?!" Jeongmin raised his voice.

"What did she say?" Youngmin asked.

"She just said that she liked me, too."

Jeongmin and Youngmin dropped their jaws.

"Then she said that I'm a great friend." Kwangmin played with his fingers. "She thought I meant that I liked her as just a friend."

"Wow," Youngmin said. "What are you going to do?"

Kwangmin shrugged. "I'm not too sure whether I like her or not. I guess it's a sign that we're destined to be just friends." He laughed, sadly.

~~~~~

"I'm sorry, Minji, but the CEO has halted all of your training." Mr. Kim's assistant blocked her from entering the vocal room. "He also bought a plane ticket for your return back to America."

"What?!" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Why?! What did I do wrong?!"

Mr. Kim's assistant couldn't look at her in the eye. "Your dance instructor notified Mr. Kim that you are incapable of dancing and brought up some evidence that we might have awarded the wrong person the summer training session."

"That's absurd!" She yelled in English. "I can dance! She even said that she'd come up with another dance routine because I was so good!"

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand English," Mr. Kim's assistant pulled out a plane ticket from his pocket and handed it to her. She just stared at it. "Your flight leaves in two days at 1pm."

She grabbed it and ripped it up. "I'm not leaving. I sacrificed a lot to get here. If I go home now, my life is over. I'll prove all of you guys that I'm the right winner." Still in English.

Mr. Kim's assistant felt bad for her but he kept a poker face on because he couldn't understand what she was saying.

"You can't say anything to me, now can you?" She huffed. "Whatever. You'll be sorry you're doing this to me." She said in Korean before she stomped away.

-

"What just happened?" Mr. Kim's assistant asked himself. He shook it off and dialed Mr. Kim on his cell phone. "Hello, sir? Yes, Lee Minji came by and I informed her about the cancellation of her training... No, sir, she ripped up the ticket... Shall I her out, sir?... Let her stay? Why, sir?... She's like a daughter to you?! But, sir, she lied - Okay, sorry for yelling at you. I understand that you are the CEO and that you have the final say. Yes, sir, I'll follow your orders and wait until she leaves on her own." Mr. Kim's assistant ended the call.

~~~~~

"You can't say anything to me, now can you?" She huffed. "Whatever. You'll be sorry you're doing this to me." She said in Korean before she stomped all the way to the CEO's office. She was determined to prove to him that she can sing and dance. She knocked on the door and another one of Mr. Kim's assistants came out.

"Mr. Kim is very busy. Please come back later."

She peaked over his shoulders and saw Mr. Kim listening to music on his computer. "I can see him."

Mr. Kim looked up and waved her over. "Let her come in. I want to talk to her." His assistant bowed and allowed her to pass through.

"I heard you ripped up the plane ticket I got you," he motioned for her to sit on the chair across from him.

"Yes, sir." She looked down, guilty but not afraid. "I'm staying here until the summer's over. I can't go back home."

"Why can't you go back home?"

"I'm here to live my dream. I refuse to give up just because my dance teacher told you that I'm not talented. She actually told me at dance class that day that I was so good that she might come up with a new dance routine for me so I can impress you even more."

Mr. Kim furrowed his eyebrows. Something's not right... He thought, suspiciously. "Did Ms. Kwon really say that?"

"Yes, sir." She looked at him straight in the eye and knodded.

Her innocence and personality made Mr. Kim believe her completely. "Okay. I will look into this issue, personally. I knew we couldn't have made a mistake with awarding the winner. I also thought it was weird that Ms. Kwon only told me about a possible 'mix up' a whole week into the program." He wrote a note to himself in his calendar. "I'm still going to have to stop all of your training until everything is cleared up."

She bowed. "I understand. Thank you, sir." She bowed again and walked to the door.

"Before you go," she walked back to Mr. Kim's desk. "Do not take it personally, but, when it comes to the music industry, you can't trust everyone who tries to be nice to you. Even me, you can't completely depend on me." Mr. Kim pointed out. "The music industry is work and work is money. A lot of people would do anything to get money. You never know who's on your side or who's just waiting to drag you down. So, don't trust anyone."

She didn't know what to say.

"I'm telling you this because you seem awfully close to Jo Kwangmin. He's a kind boy but I still don't know him very well. Not saying that you should stay away from him. Just, be careful." Mr. Kim got up and stood infront of her. "There's something special about you. I know there is. Just like how I knew K.Will, Sistar, and even Boyfriend had something special about them. I want to make you into a star." He said sincerely.

"Thank you, sir." She smiled widely and left the room.

----- June 11 ----

It was 9am and Minji was at the Boyfriend dorm, playing cards with them.

"Two tens," Youngmin placed two cards onto the existing pile.

Minnji eyed him. "Bull Sh*t." She flipped the cards to reveal one two and one Jack. Youngmin lost the card game.

He growled. "Why are you so good at this game?"

She smiled brightly. "I should go now."

She got up to leave but Kwangmin grabbed her hand to stop her. "Do you have lessons soon?"

She didn't tell anyone about her cancellation of lessons yet because she didn't want them to look down on her. "No, I'm going to study."

"You don't have lessons today?"

She shook her head. "I won't be having any lessons for a while."

"Huh?" Everyone looked at her.

"I - uh - Mr. Kim thinks I need a break." She lied.

Kwangmin believed her. "That's true. Your back was really sore yesterday, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was." She played along. "Thank you for the patches though, Kwangmin-ah. It doesn't hurt anymore." She got up to leave again.

"At least one more game." Jeongmin plead.

"Oh, alright." She gave in and sat back down as Minwoo shuffled the cards.

In the middle of the game of Trumps, Mr. Kim walked into the room. Everyone bowed and greeted him. "Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Kwon Sara, our new trainee."

"New trainee?" Boyfriend mumbled among each other.

Minji stood frozen, upset and confused at the same time.

Mr. Kim stepped aside and an extremely tall 17-year-old girl with messy hair and unwashed clothes ran into the room.

"Hello! I'm Kwon Sara!" She automatically looked at Kwangmin. "Kwangmin! I'm your number one fan! Love me!"

"Oh my gosh..." Kwangmin mumbled. Kwon Sara ran up to him and hugged him tightly.

Minji remained frozen, upset, confused and now jealous. Triple whammy: summer just got much more interesting.