Soeun glared hard at the security guard who had now turned back to the variety show playing on his portable video player. She could feel the judging stares boring into the back of her head from the girls that were loitering outside the entrance of the building with her hand-made signboards and basketful of presents for their idols.

“I’m telling you, she works here!”

“And I’m telling you, you’re not allowed into the building unless your friend,” At this, the overweight security guard sent a raging Soeun a patronizing smile, causing her to scowl in reply. “Gives you the appropriate pass or is here personally to walk you in.”

Soeun huffed as the security guard eyed her suspiciously. She was cold and tired and all she wanted to do was to show Jimin the altered dress as soon as possible so she could go back home and take a good rest. She was still slightly woozy from the loss of blood earlier this morning, when she had woken up to see that she had experienced another case of her frequent nosebleeds in the middle of the night.

It was certainly a sight for Soeun when the first thing she saw in the mirror that morning was a pale, pallid face caked with dried up blood looking back at her behind a curtain of disheveled brown hair. She had yelped rather ungracefully then and nearly tripped herself in the process with her mind still befuddled by sleep. Nosebleeds may be a common occurrence for her, but that did not lessen the shock of seeing a bloodied face in the mirror when she woke up.

Soeun’s scowl deepened. The security glared right back at the frustrating woman and let out an annoyed sigh. He was about to tell her to buzz off and find a better excuse of trying to get near to her ‘oppas’ when someone called out her name loudly.

“Soeun!”

Jimin came running up to the security post, looking as disheveled and flustered as someone who had just escaped from the chaos of a departmental store sale. (Have you ever been dragged into one? They’re no fun. At all.)

“I’m so sorry! Ajusshi, she’s with me!”

She then turned to the security guard, bowed and pulled Soeun down the corridor of the broadcasting building. The latter of the two turned back and stuck her tongue out at the beefy man smugly, before turning back to the front with a satisfied smile.

“Did you wait very long?”

Soeun shook her head as she followed Jimin into a sleek elevator. “I just got here about 5 minutes ago.”

“I’m so sorry. There was a slight wardrobe malfunction with one of the boys, so I had to stay behind and help for awhile.” The older woman explained. “Anyway, I must apologize for the impromptu change in our meeting place. The group’s schedules are pretty messed up nowadays.”

Soeun shook her head and reassured her that it was all right as the elevator reached their level and the doors slid open to reveal an almost empty corridor that was lined with three rooms on each side. Jimin led them down the hallway, smiling and bowing politely to the few passersby who were coming out of some of the rooms before stopping in front of the second door on the left. She opened the door and stepped aside for Soeun, who thanked her quietly, entered the room and was instantly greeted by two women inside.

“Oh, hello!”

“Nice to meet you,” Soeun returned as she bowed to the shorter of the two when she moved forward and offered her a seat almost immediately.

The room was fairly spacious with the typical brightly lit dressing tables filled with pots and pots of expensive cosmetics. Racks of clothes were pushed against the wall neatly while shoes of every design, colours and sizes rested at the bottom of the racks. Soeun was mildly impressed by the amount of work that was put into helping craft the images of these idol groups.

“Girls, she’s the designer of my wedding dress, Yoon Soeun-ssi.” Jimin introduced. “Soeun-ah, this is Hyona and Inmi. They’re also stylists and are going to be the bridesmaids in my wedding.”

Soeun bowed once more, although awkwardly, as she has yet to fully adjust to the customs in her native land. Traditions of her father’s culture has been instilled in her since she was a little girl, and she fully understood why she had to bow or call strangers a certain way. However, knowing and understanding a culture does not mean that Soeun was used to or would be able to carry out the actions without feeling awkward and unfamiliar. Having been brought up in America, there was no need for her to greet others with a bow, seeing as the culture there was more liberal as compared to Korea.

“So!” Hyona, the friendly stylist who had offered Soeun the seat, spoke up, breaking the silence. “May we see the dress? Inmi and I have yet to get our bridesmaid dresses because this fickle woman here kept making changes to your design.”

“Yah!” Jimin scowled. “I just wanted my dress to be perfect, okay?”

“Yes, my Queen. Of course.”

Soeun chuckled at their interaction and stood up from her seat, straightening the black package she had brought along with her. She ped the outer protective cover before pulling out the altered dress, to which the other three women let out gasps of awe and surprise.

“Omo, it’s beautiful!” Inmi praised.

“Wah, you’re really talented, Soeun-ssi!” Hyona exclaimed as her wide eyes scanned the dress. “This is stunning!”

“Are you sure you can’t design the bridesmaid dress too?” Jimin asked as she took the dress from Soeun and placed it against her body. “I really want them to match my dress.”

Soeun smiled apologetically although a prick of annoyance rose in her when Jimin had grabbed her dress from her. “I’m sorry. But your dress is the only one on sale in my store right now.”

Inmi frowned. “But I thought you own a bridal-wear store?”

“I own a bridal accessories place, to be more accurate.” Soeun explained. “I only design wedding dresses once in a while. When I’m inspired, mostly. The store’s mainly selling wedding accessories and paper crafts.”

“Pity.” Inmi said. She sauntered up to Jimin and the fabric of the dress gently. “It’s such lovely workmansh – ”

The door of the dressing room opened with a loud creak, breaking Inmi’s words off abruptly as a group of young men flooded into the room one by one. Soeun’s eyes lit up in recognition at the man who led the line and the puppy that he cradled in his arms, watching as the same spark of surprise glittered in his charmingly small eyes.

“Oh! Hello!” He said and bowed to her politely. Soeun returned his greeting and watched as Thick-lips and Owl-boy both let out shouts of surprise at her presence.

“Eh? Aren’t you the lady whose wedding dress Dubu bit into?” Thick-lips blurted out loudly, bringing with him a bout of tensed silence.

Soeun flinched. Small-eyes slapped his friend on the back of his head at the look of discomfort on her face while the others looked on in confusion at the exchange.

Soeun had expected Thick-lips to recognize her. But she did not expect him to give away what had happened to Jimin’s dress on their first fateful encounter. She cast a weary glance at the bride-to-be, only to flinch once more when she met Jimin’s sharp eyes.

“Is he talking about my dress?” Jimin demanded, her eyes flashing in anger at the young woman. “He is, isn’t he? You just said my dress is the only one in your store.”

Soeun sighed before nodding meekly. “It is. But the puppy bit into the part of the dress that was going to be altered anyway, so I didn’t mention it to you. I’m sorry, Jimin-ssi.”

The stylist was having none of that, obviously as glared hard at Soeun. The band, Inmi and Hyona watched on in uncomfortable silence as Jimin started reprimanding the designer. “How could you be so irresponsible? Don’t you know how important wedding dresses are to a bride? How could you let that happen?”

“I – I’m really sorry.” Soeun bowed to emphasize her point. “I’ve already altered the dress to your specifications, there’s no remnants of the damage done.”

“Sorry isn’t going to make the fact that a dog bit into my dress go away. Aish! This is so frustrating!” Jimin sighed loudly.

“Ah, noona. It’s really not her fault.” Small-eyes finally spoke up, looking as uncomfortable as the rest of his friends. Dubu squirmed in his arms. “If anything, it’s my fault. Dubu ran away when I wasn’t paying attention.”

Jimin merely shot him a dirty look in response, causing him to flinch back in fear.

“Aigoo, Jimin noona! Even hyung already said it’s his fault, shouldn’t that say something? I mean, Gyu hyung’s admitting his mistakes! We should be rejoicing!” The man who held the black puppy in his arms appeased, sending the furious stylist an adorable smile. He ignored the dirty look Small-eyes sent him and sauntered up to her, gasping dramatically at the dress in her hands. “And look, the dress is beautiful! Why don’t you go try it on and model for us? I’m sure it’ll look even prettier on you.”

A young man with a blank, stony expression scoffed. “You really are a grease ball, hyung.”

Soeun had to praise the powers above for the young man when a light blush crept up Jimin’s cheeks. Without a single word of reply, she her heels and stalked towards the door that was built into the side of the room, leaving a relieved air in her wake.

“Thank you,” Soeun sighed in relief as she sagged back into her chair once the door was shut close. “Thank you so, so much.”

The guys along with their stylists chuckled at her response as they began to settle down around the dressing room. Small-eyes took a seat in front of one of the vanities and yelped when Dubu bit him on the hand lightly, causing him to let go of her leash. The white furred puppy immediately hopped down from her perch on the man’s lap and bounded towards Soeun immediately.

“Yah! Yah!”

Everyone watched, amused – although Small-eyes was a little disgruntled over the fact that he got bitten, as Dubu starting pawing at Soeun’s knees. Her white, curled tail wagged fervently as she whined and nudged her nose into Soeun’s hands.

“She must really like you to do that again,” Owl-boy commented.

“She’s very sweet,” Soeun said, patting the puppy on the head gently. Her slender fingers scratched Dubu on the spot behind her ears and earned a satisfied whine in return. “Oh! Where are my manners?” She mumbled to herself and quickly stood up from her seat to begin bowing to the guys. “I’m Yoon Soeun, nice to meet you.”

Almost simultaneously, the boys stood up from their various spots of rest and returned her greeting in unison as they introduced themselves one by one.

Small-eyes was Sunggyu. Thick-lips and Owl-boy were called Dongwoo and Sungyeol respectively. The boy who helped placated Jimin was called Woohyun. Then there was L, the quiet boy who seemed to always have a lost and stony expression on his face all the time and whose name Soeun found easiest to remember (seeing as it was just an alphabet). Lastly, there was Hoya (who introduced himself as a king of multi-talents much to the chagrin of his friends) and Sungjong, whose looks Soeun felt could rival that of other girl idols.

Soeun was never good with names, not to mention Korean ones. As such, she was left slightly winded by the sudden onslaught of names being directed towards her as she tried to carve them into her memories permanently.

“And we’re Inpiniteu!” Dongwoo announced with the proud air of someone who had accomplished something outstanding.

Soeun could only blink in confusion as Dubu curled into her lap. “Uh… huh?”

“Inpiniteu!” He repeated, making a face. “Do you not know who we are?”

‘Inpiniteu… what?’ Soeun thought. She could almost feel the insulted stares directed at her when a word she had seen on one of the fangirls’ placard flashed across her mind. “Oh! Uhm, Infinite?”

Dongwoo nodded his head frantically. “Yes! Wow, I’m surprised you don’t know who we are. We’re quite the trend now.”

“Yah!” Sunggyu slapped the younger man across the back of his head, prompting Dongwoo to let out a loud whine. “We’re not as famous as you think, stop being so cocky.”

“But hyung!”

“It’s probably just me. I’ve just settled down here, so I’m not really familiar with the entertainment industry.” Soeun said. “Besides, I saw quite a large group of girls outside carrying signs and presents with your band name on it, so you guys must be pretty popular and well-loved.”

“Really?” Woohyun piped up with a bright grin. “Should I go do some fan service? I’m sure the fans –”

Before he could get another word out however, the band (and even Hyona and Inmi) had drowned out his voice with their chorused exclamations of a firm no, leaving him frowning and grumbling to himself.

“Soeun-ssi, I’m guessing you’re American?” Sungyeol asked, to which the young woman nodded her head. “I knew it, you had this weird accent when you spoke.”

“Half, actually. The other half’s Korean.”

The band nodded in understanding.

“No wonder your language’s so strong.” Dongwoo noted. The door of the changing room opened then as Jimin stepped out in her newly altered wedding dress. The band, Hyona and Inmi let out soft gasps of awe and wonder while Soeun could only frown as she compared the current dress to her original design. The frown disappeared quickly, but it was still noticed by the quiet leader of the band when he glanced to see her reaction.

y, y, y. Been facing a humongous wall of writer's block lately OTL
When I finally manage to get down and complete this much-needed chapter, I am so annoyed by the ending.

I haven't abandoned this story, not at all. I've got a long plan for this and I hope to complete it. But writing does take time, so readers and subbers I do hope you won't lose interest in this :)

hugs and kisses and rainbows and unicorns for all of you!