It was the day of Claire's meeting, and she was finishing up her minimalistic makeup look. In Na was wandering around Claire's flat, almost more excited than Claire herself.

 

"On days when we have work at the YG building, we can drive there together!" In Na told Claire.

 

Claire raised her eyebrows. "You're acting like I've already signed with YG! Remember, I haven't even had my meeting yet."

 

In Na grabbed Claire's shoulders and shook her. "There is no way that this meeting won't go well. Don't even worry about it."

 

"Yes Sir!" Claire saluted her friend.

 

"You know, I still get star-struck when I see artists like Big Bang and CL around the building. Although, they're usually very friendly to everyone. You're always sociable with everyone so I'm sure you'll make a lot of friends. And getting star-struck is never a problem for you…"

 

Claire nodded. "I mean, it'll be awesome to meet them, but it's more like I have a lot of admiration and respect for them. Despite being a fan, I don't have fangirl tendencies when it comes to anyone. Except for you, Ms Yoo In Na!" She engulfed her friend in a massive hug.

 

"Get off me!" In Na laughed. "Well, I need to head to my drama filming location now, so I won't be able to come with you today."

 

"That's alright, I should leave soon as well." Claire responded.

 

"I'm pretty sure Seungyoon is going to be just as excited as me. He might be waiting right outside the CEO's door after your meeting, since I told him to give me live updates." In Na told her.

 

Claire covered her face in embarrassment. "I swear, you guys are so extra. I'm going to dropkick Seungyoon when I see him. But thanks for your support In Na!"

 

The two friends left their apartment building and drove off to their destinations. As Claire pulled into the parking lot near YG entertainment, she slipped on her sunglasses and let her brown hair fall around her face. At this stage, it was probably best to make sure the media didn't get photos of her visiting the YG building. She pressed the buzzer near the front door and removed her sunglasses, so that the camera near the door could capture her image. The people regulating the doors must have recognised Claire, because the front door opened for her.

 

The moment she took a step into the building, she got a glimpse of why people were always raving about it. She walked further into the building, realising that the place was massive, and it was stunningly constructed. White lights flooded the rooms, reflecting off the polished wooden surfaces that were abundant throughout the building. A few trainees and employees were walking around, but none of them seemed to have noticed who Claire was. They probably saw so many different people at their agency that they didn't give a mysterious figure a second look.

 

Claire walked towards where she assumed the elevator was, since she could see people emerging from that direction. However, the moment she turned a corner she was left in an empty hallway.

 

Then it struck her. The YG employees had texted her yesterday, telling her that there would be a sign with directions as soon as she entered the building. Claire had probably just been too caught up in the beauty of the building that she totally ignored the sign. She would just have to go back and have a look at it.

 

But before she could turn around and go back, a voice interrupted her train of thought.

 

"Here to steal our cafeteria food?" A male voice spoke up from somewhere behind Claire. The scent of fresh cologne rushed over her as she turned around, surprised by the sudden appearance of another person.

 

She recognised the man instantly. Although, she might have had to give up her Korean citizenship if she didn't. After all, who wouldn't recognise one of the country's most famous artists, both nationally and internationally? As she looked up to meet his eyes, she noticed that he was taller than her, but much not by a large amount.

 

 "G Dragon." Claire titled her head in surprise. "I guess I can't really say 'fancy seeing you here', seeing as I'm the intruder, but you came out of nowhere." She looked around, unsure where the man emerged from.

 

"I've been coming to this place since I was a child, so I think I know my way around well enough to sneak up on people, Ms Kim." He smiled mischievously, his currently blonde hair peeking out of his beanie. "Were you looking for someone?"

 

"Yeah, I was trying to find the elevator that goes up to the CEO's office. I'm here for a meeting with him, actually. I might be changing my entertainment label." Claire brushed a few strands of hair out of her face, now imagining how awkward it would be if YG proceeded to reject her. "So no, I wasn't planning on snatching your cafeteria food. Although I have heard a lot about how delicious it is, so I might put that on my to-do list."

 

G Dragon nodded his head slowly, now understanding why the actress was at their building. He wondered why she was changing entertainment labels, but seeing as she was meant to meet YG, it probably wasn't the best time to ask. He let his voice drop a bit lower. "Well, I'll let you in on a secret."

 

Claire quirked an eyebrow, encouraging him to go on.

 

"The food…" G Dragon started, a serious expression on his face. "It's not that amazing."

 

Claire gave him a suspicious look. "Are you trying to use reverse psychology just to get me away from your food?"

 

The corners of his mouth lifted as he looked away from her and chuckled. "Interesting theory." He glanced at the clock on the wall behind Claire. "I should probably show you where the elevator is, right?"

 

Claire checked the time on her phone, finding it just shy of 10am. "That would be great, thank you!" She said, grateful of his offer.

 

G Dragon walked the actress to the elevator, which happened to be in the opposite direction to the place Claire had gone to.

 

Once they were standing in front of the elevator, Claire turned to face the YG artist again. "Thanks for showing me to the elevator! I'll be sure to check out the cafeteria on my way out."

 

G dragon extended his arm, leaning across her to press the 'call' button on the elevator. His eyes skimmed over Claire's face while in closer proximity to her than before. She was even more beautiful in person than she appeared on TV. "I'm sure your meeting will be fine, YG is really nice. To new people." He joked.

 

Claire's eyes crinkled with laughter. As the elevator made a 'ding' noise, and opened, she looked at the man next to her one more time. "See you around, G dragon."

 

He shook his head. "Seeing as we're probably going to be label-mates, you should call me Jiyong."

 

Claire flushed slightly at his blind confidence that YG would sign her on. "Then you should call me Claire." She told him, walking into the elevator. 

 

He nodded at her request, giving her an open smile as the elevator closed. She noticed that he had a slightly gummy smile. Cute.

 

---

 

"Claire Kim. Nice to meet you." Claire introduced herself to the CEO of YG entertainment himself.

 

YG shook her hand and gestured at her to take a seat. "Ms Kim, we are honoured to have you come to YG entertainment, but I was wondering why you've decided to leave your current label and why you think YG is a good fit for you…"

 

"Please, call me Claire." She begun. "I have actually been having some problems with Eclipse Entertainment. I haven't had much choice about the projects I want to work on, and they have been quite demanding and controlling . I guess I want to join YG because I hear a lot about how individuals in YG entertainment have a lot more freedom in terms of the work they want to do. With respect to acting, I would hope that means that I would have more choice in the dramas and movies that I want to do. My contract with Eclipse ends at the end of next week."

 

YG slowly nodded, thinking about her words. "Yes…I do allow my artists to have more choice in what they do, especially those who have already proved to me that they can be successful. Obviously, you fit into that category. But at the same time, I also have an image to uphold. You will still have managers and publicists at YG that you will be required to consult, but the final decision on most projects is likely to be yours. You will be allowed to do what you want, within a sensible region. As a CEO I must still ensure that my artists and actors are not doing things that will ruin both their image and the image of this company."

 

"I totally understand that. I don't plan on doing anything so risky that it will endanger my image. All I hope for is that I will be able to choose the work I want to do."

 

YG smiled approvingly. "Then I think we have an agreement. We would be very happy to take you Claire!"

 

Claire gave a small bow. "Thank you Sir."

 

"Since I had anticipated that you would impress me, I already have a contract ready for you. Have a look at it and let me know if there's anything you want to change." He handed her a folder.

 

Claire looked over the contract and found it to be very similar to what she was looking for. She could choose her dramas and films, and then could get them approved by her managers and YG himself. When she looked at YG's profit margin from her work, she saw that it was a great improvement from how much money Eclipse was taking from her.

 

"I'm very happy with this." She told YG.

 

YG was glad that the deal was working out from both ends. "Also, my company has always had the concept of a 'YG family'. We often have events together with the actors and artists of this company. At some times, you may be asked to participate in some of these events."

 

Claire had no qualms about this. "That isn't a problem! I know that my friend In Na sometimes emcees YG family events. I'll do my best to get along with the other YG actors and artists."

 

"I knew that you and In Na were quite close. That's why I was actually surprised that you called our company on our public number rather than asking In Na to set up a meeting." YG pondered.

 

"I actually wanted to organise it myself. I didn't really want to receive any special treatment." Claire explained.

 

YG was impressed by her integrity. "All right, well that's nice to hear! Did you want more time to review the contract or are you happy with it? He asked.

 

Claire had another look through the document and was convinced that she was happy with it. She had previously seen In Na's contract at her house as well, and it was almost the same as the one she had received. Claire signed the contract and gave it to YG.

 

"Welcome to YG Entertainment Claire! Since you said your contract with Eclipse ends next week, you will become an official member of YG Entertainment at that time." YG gave her a genuine smile and shook her hand again. He looked through the pieces of paper on his desk. "Oh…there's one more document we'll both need to sign. I think I've left it in the accounts office downstairs. I'll walk you down and we can settle that as well."

 

Claire and her new CEO took the elevator back down to the ground floor, and quickly made their way to the accounts office to sign the form. Once this formality was over, YG and Claire left the accounts room and stepped back into the corridor. Ruckus could be heard a few rooms down the hall.

 

"Hmm…I think Big Bang is in that room, going over some song ideas. I guess I might as well introduce them to you." YG said.

 

Claire looked down the hall towards the door. "I actually met GD just before I came upstairs. He helped me find the elevator! But yeah, I would love to meet the rest of them too, I think Big Bang's music is amazing." 

 

"Oh…Jiyong would have told them, so they must already know that you are here." YG walked through the hallway and opened the door to the room, Claire right behind him.

 

TOP was napping, Seungri was dancing, Daesung was singing, Jiyong was writing in a notebook and Youngbae was stretching, with his shirt off. When YG and Claire walked in, they all turned to look at the duo, except TOP, who continued to nap.

 

Seungri looked stunned momentarily, and Youngbae and Daesung immediately bowed. Youngbae then put his shirt back on, apologising. 

 

"You know what, I really should have knocked." YG said, immediate regret washing over his face. He turned to Claire, "So sorry about these idiots…" 

 

Claire found the entire situation quite hilarious, and wasn't really shaken at all. She couldn't help but burst out into laughter. "No problem!"

 

Jiyong laughed along with her, getting up and shaking TOP awake. The five members then stood together and bowed to Claire. "Hello, we are Big Bang!"

 

YG quickly explained to the boys that Claire was going to be joining YG entertainment from the next week.

 

Seungri introduced himself first. "Hello Ms Claire, I'm Big Bang's maknae, Seungri!"

 

"I'm Daesung!"

 

"My name is Seunghyun." TOP said, still trying to shake his slumber off.

 

"Hi, I'm Taeyang, but you can call me Youngbae. Sorry about that earlier." Youngbae gestured to where he had been stretching.

 

This made Claire laugh all over again, and she waved her hand dismissively. "Don't even worry about it."

 

Finally, Jiyong re-introduced himself. "We already met, Claire, but it's nice to see you as an official new member of the YG family now." He held out his hand for a handshake.

 

When Claire extended her arm for the handshake, he grabbed it, lifted it higher, and then randomly kissed the back of his own hand.

 

This caused everyone in the room to start laughing, including Claire, who found him pretty adorable.

 

Seungri slapped TOP's arm in hysterics, inadvertently jolting him awake a bit more. "Jiyong hyung, why did you kiss your own hand?" 

 

Jiyong let go of her hand and leaned into Youngbae's shoulder on his left, feeling slightly shy because of his embarrassing actions.

 

At this point Claire realised that she should probably introduce herself too. "I'm Claire Kim. It's so nice to meet you all, you guys make some really awesome music!" 

 

"I should probably call you noona, right?" Seungri asked.

 

Claire nodded. "I'm 88' born."

 

"Same as me and Youngbae." Jiyong pointed out.

 

"Right, so the only one I need to call oppa is Seunghyun oppa." She made a finger gun with her hand and pointed in TOP's direction.

 

Jiyong felt a bit of disappointment. For some reason, he really liked being called oppa.

 

Suddenly, a dark-haired, slender figure rushed through the open door and attacked Claire, wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug.

 

"Hey, Kang Seungyoon! What do you think you're doing?" YG's raised his voice.

 

But Claire hugged the boy back, just as tightly, and they laughed at the confused look that came across their CEO's face.

 

"Seungyoon is my little cousin! My dad and his mother are siblings." She informed the people in the room.

 

Neither Big Bang nor YG himself knew this fact, and they were all pretty surprised.

 

Seungyoon spoke up. "Hey, Claire noona, remember that I'm not so little anymore. Our isn't that big…"

 

Claire ruffled his hair. "You'll always be a child in our family Seungyoon!"

 

"Claire, you didn't tell me that Seungyoon is your cousin." YG said.

 

She quirked an eyebrow. "Can you blame me? It's not like I want to be associated with this kid!" 

 

Seungyoon feigned a hurt expression.

 

"Nah, like I said earlier, I didn't want to use my connections to get into this company."

 

This statement impressed the Big Bang members, but they also marvelled in the fact that they didn't know that Claire and Seungyoon were cousins.

 

Daesung brought up another thing he was curious about. "By the way, Claire, I was wondering how you came to have a western name? I think I heard something about you being born overseas."

 

"Yes, I was actually born in Australia! I stayed there until I was 12, so I am fluent in English as well as Korean. My family was in Australia because of my dad's work. We moved back to Korea once his work there was done, and I've been here since! My parents really liked the name 'Claire', and decided to name me that rather than a traditional Korean name." She explained.

 

"You're going to have to help me improve my English then." Jiyong grinned.

 

Claire smiled back at him. "Anytime!"

 

"When she came to Seoul, she met her favourite cousin." Seungyoon posed smugly with a peace sign. "Her Korean was SO bad, honestly I deserve royalties from your movies, since I'm responsible for you learning Korean like a native."

 

Claire laughed. "HAH! My Korean was still better than your English! Plus, even overseas I always spoke Korean with my mum and dad, ever since I was little."

 

She received a text from her Eclipse manager, about one of the last projects she had. She had to go film a commercial for a makeup brand. Claire realised that she probably had to leave the YG building right now, in order to get there on time.

 

"Alright guys, I have to go film a commercial now. I'll see you all pretty frequently starting from next week, so make sure to keep an eye out for me!" She winked.

 

On her way out, she bowed to YG and thanked him again. The Big Bang members gave her a loud cheer of support as she left the room, and Seungyoon walked her out to her car.