Jade,

Wait, what happened? Were you drunk when you wrote this? Your grammar, spelling and neat writing totally flew out of the window. Look, I’ll resend you what you sent me to prove it. I’m very worried right now, so please send me a coherent reply ASAP?

I wish you’d allow us to meet or something. Then I wouldn’t have to worry and wait a day or two for your reply.

Yours only,
Dan

 

 

Ugh, I grunted slightly as I popped two painkillers into my mouth and downed it with water. My head pounded like someone was slamming down on it and at this moment, I couldn’t forgive myself for drinking so recklessly last night.

 

“You’re not a kid anymore,” I muttered, reprimanding myself, “Drinking the night before work? So not responsible”

 

“You look dead,” Minyeon chirped as I walked past her.

 

“Shut up,” I whined. “I was upset, okay?”

 

“You won’t look half as bad if you try to look cheerful.”

 

I plastered a smile on my face. “Like this?”

 

She smirked, “Much better.”

 

“Okay, whatever. I desperately need someone to talk to and you’re the only one who gets it, so can we go grab lunch or something in a bit together?”

 

She looked at her watch and shrugged, “Sure, why not? My boy friend isn’t free anyways.”

 

“See you in ten minutes then.” I raised the bag of takeout food and coffee in my hands and said, “I need to drop these off for Jack-oppa and Leeteuk before I go”

 

The elevator was usually slower at lunch hour, so I leaned against the wall to calm my pounding head. There was no sleep for me last night - every time I closed my eyes, my head would swim around thoughts about jealous assistants and lost documents. It wasn’t pleasant picturing the jeering faces of those girls. What bothered me the most was Yang-seun. Could I still confide in her or is she on their side?

 

There was a ping, as the elevator doors slid open. I pressed the seventh floor before I returned to absently thinking, ignoring those who shuffled in and out from different floors. As I approached the practice room, I knocked on the door before entering.

 

Inside, the room was bright and clean. Whereas it used to smell like wood, it now smelt like a mixture of deodorant, cologne and sweat. The Super Junior members were practicing the dance for their new song and the music was blasting, so none of them had heard my knock. I went and sat down at a corner to wait and smiled as I watched them working hard. They looked so good like this, I thought.

 

It took a while, but after practicing two more times, they decided to take a break. Donghae looked shocked when he saw me.

 

“When did you come in?”

 

Kyuhyun shook his head and teased, “She’s been here for a while. Hyung, are you blind or what?”

 

“Yah,” Kangin complained as he smacked Kyuhyun at the back of his head, “So rude”

 

I laughed and motioned for Leeteuk to come.

 

“How are you feeling,” he asked immediately, relating to yesterday’s incident, and I felt the smile leaving my face.

 

“Fine,” I replied simply and pointed to the brown bag next to me, “your lunch.”

 

“Thanks,” he said, looking at me suspiciously.

 

To divert his attention, I handed him a bottle of water and a clean towel, which he immediately accepted as he was still out of breath and sweaty. As he chucked the water down to quench his thirst, I saw that the other members were eyeing him jealously.

 

“It’s not fair!” Eunhyuk was the first to complain. “Why is Jia-eun so nice to you?”

 

“Because she’s my manager’s assistant,” Leeteuk retorted, rolling his eyes.

 

Kangin pulled me towards him, “I want her as my manager’s assistant too!”

 

“I want water and a towel too!” Donghae complained, pulling me towards him.

 

“Hey,” I feigned a frown and pulled my arms out of both Kangin and Donghae’s grasp. “I only work for him.”

 

“But I’m your oppa!” Donghae whined.

 

“He’s my oppa too,” I pointed at Leeteuk.

 

“Since when?”

 

“Since –“

 

Ryeowook clapped his hands and said loudly, “Guys! Stop fooling around and let’s start practicing again okay? We don’t have a lot of time left.”

 

Everyone looked at him, grumbled and started getting into their positions again. Ryeowook seemed satisfied and went over to the speakers to play the music.

 

Knowing that I interrupted their practice, I quickly moved towards the side of the room. However, I remembered why I stayed to wait for Leeteuk, so I quickly walked over to him and asked, “Wait, where’s Jack oppa?”

 

He shrugged. “I don’t know, why?”

 

“His lunch is in the bag too.”

 

He nodded, expecting me to continue.

 

“I need to find him.”

 

“Okay, so call him or something. Hyung never turns his phone off.”

 

I heaved a sigh and stared at the ground.

 

“What?” he stared at me curiously.

 

“I-I don’t… dare to…”

 

It’s true. After yesterday’s incident, I haven’t spoke to Jack once. He said he’d talk to me later about it, but he never did. Even this morning, he seemed to be avoiding me. I tried to approach him, but he just walked right off. I didn’t have the courage to even attempt to talk to him after that.

 

“Is he not talking to you?” asked Leeteuk, looking into my eyes.

 

“Yeah,” I replied, suddenly hating how pathetic I sounded. Maybe it was a bad idea to appear so useless in front of Leeteuk. After all, it was my job to contact Jack, so why should I burden him? I’d just seem like the stupid and careless employee they all think I am.

 

“He-“ he began, but I cut him off.

 

“Actually, I have a lunch date with Minyeon, and I’m probably late, so I’ll just drop this off at his office to avoid trouble.” I grabbed the paper bag and attempted to leave quickly.

 

He grabbed my wrist. “I’ll give it to him.”

 

I stared at him defiantly and insisted, “It’s okay, I’ll drop it off at his office.”

 

“You know he won’t be there.”

 

I didn’t reply, but was making attempts to yank my wrist out of his grasp.

 

He held onto it tightly and said authoritatively, in a tone much too similar to my father’s, “Give the bag to me.”

 

“Hyung, what are you guys doing? We’re starting now!” Ryeowook sounded annoyed while the rest of the members were staring at us curiously.

 

“Fine!” I shoved the bag into his hands and wrung my arm free. Without looking back, I walked to the door and left.

 

“What’s wrong with you?” I heard Leeteuk calling. He sounded more concerned than angry.

 

“Hyung, she’s probably just upset about yesterday…” That was Sungmin.

 

---

 

Ten minutes later, I was sitting in the cafe down the street with Minyeon in front of me, happily eating.

 

“You better pay for this meal,” Minyeon looked at me with a cunning smile and wagged her finger at my face, “You asked me to have lunch with you after all.”

 

“Yah unnie,” I chuckled, “You are so shameless.”

 

“What? The stuff here is expensive!”

 

I waved my hands dismissively and began speaking about the many thoughts that had been crashing and turning in my mind. I was so desperate. If I didn’t get them out of my mind at that point, I think I would’ve gone crazy. Minyeon nodded while eating forkfuls of salmon carbonara, asking questions every once in a while.

 

“Okay wow,” mused Minyeon, wiping with her napkin. “I didn’t know things were that bad. I thought it was just the concept photos.”

 

I grumbled, “You wish”

 

“Well, one thing’s for sure. Yang-seun couldn’t have been involved with this.”

 

“Thank god,” I breathed a sigh of relief. “But how are you so sure?”

 

“I’m sure, because…” She paused, checking how she looked at a small compact mirror. “Yang-seun is the sweetest person I’ve ever met and will never commit an act of evil.”

 

I nodded in complete agreement.

 

“But why are they ganging up on me now? Why now? Why not before? It’s not like I’ve somehow gotten more threatening…”

 

Minyeon flipped her hair. “But it’s obvious enough, isn’t it?”

 

“What’s obvious?”

 

“That you’ve gotten a lot closer with Super Junior.”

 

I rolled my eyes, exasperated. “Yeah so? So are those es!”

 

She shook her head and explained, “It’s not the same. They’re close with Super Junior, because they’ve been working for them for quite a while, but you’re close with Super Junior, because they actually want to be friends with you.”

 

I raised my eyebrows. “Uh…okay?”

 

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you… Those girls get jealous really easily.”

 

It doesn’t make sense. So what if Super Junior wanted to be friends with me? They’re friends with the other assistants too. Aren’t they? I just don’t see what’s so special about me.

 

“Wait,” I raised my hand. “I still don’t get it. Why do they hate me?”

 

Minyeon sighed. “Can’t you see how some of the boys care so much more about you in comparison? They treat you like you’re their baby sister while it’s simply a professional, working relationship with the others.”

 

“Really?”

 

“That’s what they tell me. They said that almost all Super Junior members have mentioned how pretty and friendly you are and that they are sure both Donghae and Sungmin are interested in you.”

 

“That’s just bull,” I huffed, “I can’t help it if they like me.”

 

“But that’s not what they think.”

 

Minyeon, I thought, seems to know a lot about what those people think. She must be on friendly terms with them if she was able to get so much information out of them. However, the question is why is she siding with me when it proves so much more advantageous to be on their side? Why is she somehow so loyal to me?

 

“Actually,” I asked, clearing my throat and speaking my mind. “If you’re so close with them, why are you helping me? Why aren’t you on their side?”

 

“What?” She looked so taken back and offended by my question that I wished I hadn’t asked it on the first place.

 

“I just had to ask.”

 

She shook her head and said firmly, “There is no way that I can be okay with the things they do. Yeah, I am friendly with them, but that doesn’t mean I tolerate their bullying. Last time they were jealous of a girl, things ended up terrible for her. I don’t want to see the same thing happen to you.”

 

I looked into her eyes and saw that she was truthful – the mischievous twinkle was gone.

 

“Why don’t you stop them then?”

 

She looked down at her empty plate of pasta uncomfortably. “I can’t,” she coughed softly before speaking once more, “I’m not that brave.”

 

I pursed my lips and stared at her. She had always seemed resourceful, cunning and sisterly, but now, she just look weak and helpless – like her lips wiped of its bright, pink shield. I suddenly felt bad about exposing her in such a stark way.

 

“Fine,” I sighed. At least she was telling me everything.

 

She put her hands on mine apologetically, “I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s fine,” I took a deep breath and tried to be positive, “It’s not like I haven’t dealt with irrational, A-grade, high school es before. How different could they be?”

 

“Just be careful, okay?”

 

I smiled slightly at her and asked, “Well, you’re going to have my back, yeah?”

 

She nodded, smiling.

 

“Then I guess it’s all good.”

 

“Is it worth it though?” she asked suddenly. “Having to deal with all of this drama for just a job? I mean, your father could probably find you a nicer job somewhere else.”

 

I rolled my eyes at the mention of the word father.

 

“It’s worth it. It’s here or nothing.”

 

She bit her lips and asked, “Why? I thought you just wanted to be independent?”

 

I sighed and checked my iPhone for the time. It read 2:10pm. “My lunch break ends in 5 minutes, so l’ll tell you some other time, okay?”

 

She shrugged, as I waved my hand to pay for the check. She put her arm around mine, as we walked out into the disgusting summer heat. I felt sweat beginning to form and grumbled slightly. I hate this weather, just like how I hate going back to that building, where I have to face those es, Jack oppa and… Leeteuk.

 

“Unnie,” I suddenly said.

 

“Hmm?”

 

“What is Leeteuk like when he’s mad?”

 

“Silent,” she laughed and looked at me suspiciously, “Why?”

 

“I might have pissed him off…” I muttered, rolling my eyes. The thing about me is that I have always been impulsive. The result of that is that I have to regret every time I did something stupid – like now.

 

“Omo,” Minyeon laughed again, flicking my arm, “You are a handful, aren’t you?”

 

“Yah!”

 

“Oh wait,” she stopped me before we could take another step.

 

I looked at her curiously.

 

“I have something for you,” she said giddily, as she scrambled to take something out of her bag. With an “aha!” she took an interesting looking card with a black background and cool graphics on it.

 

“An invitation?”

 

“Yep, to the best party ever!” Minyeon jumped up and down happily, which made her suddenly look like a reckless teen instead of 25.

 

“Jackie’s birthday party…” I read the card. Jackie the choreographer?

 

“Yeah, it’s at an exclusive club next Saturday and everyone’s invited, so you should come too. I asked him for an extra invitation just for you!” She flipped her hair proudly.

 

“Who’s everyone?”
 

“Everyone from SM Entertainment, of course!”

 

Seems like a big deal, I thought.

 

“You must come!” She grabbed me and nodded. “It’ll take your mind off things. I bet you haven’t attended a single party since you came to Seoul.”

 

I looked at the card again. A party? Well, I guess it’ll be fun.