..... The scenery in front her was steadily fading away and she could hear some voices but they were fuzzy and hard to understand as if coming from a untuned radio.

“Maybe we should try carrying her?”

“Nahh don’t you think it’s better to just wake her up already?”

“Yeah but hyung that’s gonna be a little bit harsh, don’t you think? I mean it’s been a long day for her.”

“Maybe Kevin is right but question is: if we’re gonna lift her who will do it?”

“Oh, guys never mind that- look I think she’s waking up!”

Ria slowly started to shift her body feeling a few cramps in her neck and back and lightly opened her eyes. Squinting them, not used to the bright light, she lightly pushed her body up in a more comfortable position. Around her 4 U-Kiss members had gathered: Kibum, Soohyun, Kevin and Dongho. The first one offered her a sweet smile and held out his hand. She gladly took it and stood up fixing her clothes and glancing out of the window in the process.

Ria couldn’t determine the exact time. It looked like while she was asleep the weather had severely worsened and now the only thing that could be seen outside was the mix of snow and raindrops fiercely falling down from the sky.

“Are you all right?” Kevin’s soft voice sounded and she quickly snapped her attention to the boys standing in front of her

“Yes, yes. I’m extremely sorry! Actually falling asleep while working….” She bowed down “ I guess I was a little tired and I promise it won’t happen again”

“No, no it’s not that big of a problem. It could happen to anybody no need to worry so much” Soohyunw widely smiled at her

“Noona, hyungs sorry to interrupt but we have to get back to the main office, like now” Dongho’s slightly annoyed voice chimed in as the boy held back from rolling his eyes

“Oh yes, yes we must hurry!”

And before she could comprehend what was happening several pairs of hands were already dragging her out of the café and towards the elevators. On the way they reassured her that the interview went great and that she hadn’t missed out anything too important. Once again their group boarded the same elevator but this time the ride seemed shorter, maybe because of the loud chatter sounding through-out it. When she and the 4 U-Kiss members reached their destination, Ria was, yet again, rushed out and half-dragged towards a pair of double white doors.

The spacious office she found herself in was nicely decorated and had lots of sitting places but even so most of them were occupied. The remaining members of the 2 groups were casually sprawled out on them- some reading, others playing games and third were staring intently at their phone screens.

“All right since all of you finally arrived-“the manager sent a pointed glare at Ria and the boys around her “Let me make a very important announcement. Some of you already know this but it looks like we’re having one of the worst storms Seoul’s seen in years.”

A few gasps were heard but most of the habitants of the room didn’t even bother to look at the man. He just signed and with slight annoyment evident in his eyes and pressed one of the buttons on a remote control nearby.

The black screen lit up and a news report could be seen.

“…. We advice that all people stay where they are. This is possibly the worst weather South Korea has seen in appropriately 20 years. It is not safe for netizens to go outside.”

And then the plasma TV was abruptly shut off and the manager’s voice was heard again

“And there you have it. All of you will have to stay here and possibly for the whole night. It doesn’t look like this” he briefly motioned to the window behind him “ is going to go away soon.”

A different set of emotions was on everybody’s face. Some of them, obviously already informed of this, didn’t even move at the slightest and continued their activities, others like Ria herself were rooted to the spot, shocked expression in check. Third like Dongho and a few others were already having a verbal fight with the managers loudly protesting against the decision.

And in the end it couldn’t be helped. All of them once again end up in the small café in the lobby which was this time a lot more crowded. Different sets of loud chatter could be heard from every table and theirs was no exception. People were discussing the storm, calling relatives to warn them and wondering where and how exactly they would be spending the night.

She looked around at all of the boys on her table. Most were talking among themselves, while others were just silently chewing on their food. Ria’s gaze lowered and she couldn’t help but sign. No matter how friendly all of them were she still barely knew both bands. It was going to be a long and possibly boring night -at least for her.

“A portion of club sandwiches” the waitress cheerfully announced and Ria just raised her hand smiling politely

As the plate was set in front of her she couldn’t help but grin. After all, the young journalist hadn’t really eaten anything since the morning. Her hand brought up one of the fries to and she chewed on it slowly, savoring the taste. Ria wasn’t a big fan of greasy food but at that exact moment this wasn’t really her biggest concern. She continued eating, completely focusing on her food and not paying attention to the other occupants of the table at all.

She only looked up when the last bite of her plate was gone and noticed that most of the boys had too finished up their meals. Kibum met her wandering gaze and softly smiled.

“Was that good? I’ve been thinking of ordering it but I’m still not too sure.”

“Yup, it’s great!” she answered him cheerfully, the warm atmosphere and the good food finally sinking in

The boy just sent her another kind look and waved, trying to catch the waitress’ attention while Ria scrambled off to the bathroom to wash her hands.

There she couldn’t help but notice 4minute’s Hyunah. The female idol was make-up less but still beautiful. The main rapper eyed her for a minute before returning her attention to drying her hands. Soon Ria was the only one left in the bathroom and she couldn’t help but observe her reflection in the mirror. Long, dark, brown hair flowing down her shoulders, eyes of the same color looking a bit tired and lips- still the pale peach color she had applied on them this morning.

After a minute or so she excited and headed for U-Kiss and Beast’s shared table. Junhyung looked up just as she sat down and waved a hand in her direction wanting to catch Ria’s attention.

“Hey manager-nim just called and said that all of us will be sharing a big practice room on one of the upper floors. They’re just getting some futons and other necessities laid out for us. He wanted to ask if you were comfortable with staying with us or maybe you would want to move into a room with the female staff or artists?”

“ No need, I don’t want to cause more trouble than necessary.” She simply answered

“So you’re sure about staying with us?” he once again asked eyeing her behind his shades

Ria silently nodded and fished out her cell phone from her handbag, deciding to send her boss some info about her first work-day. After finishing the short mail and sending it (Thank God for WiFi) she looked up- it looked like all of them were ready to leave.

As if one cue Dojoon cleared his throat trying to gain everybody’s attention.

“So looks like all of us are ready. Let’s head out!” he announced and stood up, followed by the table’s other occupants.

As the elevator couldn’t quite handle all of them at the same time they had to divide in groups of 6. The first ones to take off were Dongho, Dongwoon, Kevin, Kikwang, Kiseop and Yoseob. Then it was HyunSeung, Junhyung, Eli, Soohyun, Kibum and Alexander. For the last lift it was just her and Dojoon remaining.

“Ladies first.” Beast’s leader couldn’t help but act polite as the sleek metal doors opened once again

“Thanks” Ria answered with a small smile and boarded the metal box

The first few seconds between them were spend in awkward silence but then Dojoon decided to speak up.

“So how did your first day here go? I hope that we didn’t scare you too much.” He softly chuckled

“Oh no, no! I should be thanking you for guiding me around and stuff.” Ria said and lightly bowed

Dojoon put a warm hand on her shoulder straightening her up

“No need for all the formalities. All of us hope that you’ll be feeling like a part of our family soon.” He said and pulled her in for an awkward side hug

“Thank you.” Ria said and lightly squeezed his arm before pulling away

The elevator’s doors swiftly opened revealing yet another dull looking hallway before her eyes  but this time, with the tall guy walking next to her, the white neon lamps weren’t so blinding.

“A part of their family. Sounds good to me.”

A/N: So here's another chapter. I want to once again thank all that subscribed and commented and happily announce that i've already got 10 subscribers. Let me know what you think about the new update~