Hi guys!! Thanks to readonly I managed to retrieve chapters 29 and 30, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! 
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“Do you want to go to the place where we train?” Kris asks, his tone hopeful.

It doesn’t matter where the both of you will head to, as long as he can get to spend more time with you.
You hesitate. “The place where you train?”
Kris nods. Oh. Should you? He sighs, “I won’t do anything to you, I assure.”
His heart sinks, knowing that it is his own mistake that led to your hesitation.
You give a slight nod, to Kris’ surprise. Nevertheless, Kris is a friend that you don’t want to lose.

“Let’s go,” he grins.

Kris’ phone rings while you and him walk towards the building that has a huge ‘S.M Academy’ plastered infront of it.
“Hello?... … Oh, president. Yes… Okay… … Now?” He throws a brief glance over at you before continuing. “Okay. Bye.”
“Who’s that?” You ask.
“The president. He wants to meet me to discuss about some stuff.”  Kris states matter-of-factly.
Oh. “Should I go? I mean, it’s going to be rather awkward with me around.”
He gives a reassuring smile, “I’m sure it’s fine.”

Instead of stopping at S.M Academy, Kris walks on further down to the building that says ‘S.M Entertainment’, and you follow quietly without probing.
The thought of Kris becoming a celebrity is tantalizing. He’d probably make many girls swoon over him, just like how you once used to.
You see a hoard of fans loitering outside of the building, as though expecting someone to appear.
They carefully watch you and Kris enter the building.
“Is he a new trainee?... ….I heard S.M is planning to have a new boy group… ….He’s good looking!... ….Should we ask for his name?... …Why is there a school girl with him?” The fans chatter amongst themselves, rather loudly in fact.

Of course. Kris will have that effect on any girl in a right mind. The building looks very sophisticated inside, with glass windows and sky-high ceilings.
There are a few guards at the entrance, probably to keep the fans out.
“She’s with me,” Kris says to them. They nod rigidly, and the both of you proceed to the elevator.
Just then, you see a group of girls, plus a guy. They are heading for you and Kris.
Their expressions are mixed with confusion and a bit of wonder – you can’t tell actually.
But it makes you feel uncomfortable as one of them eyes you from top to toe. Oh no. This is scary.

“Kris oppa. Who is she?” One of them snaps coldly.
“Krystal,” Kris greets. “She’s my classmate. I was about to take her along for practice when the president called.”
“Classmate? Is that even allowed?” The girl named Krystal is scrutinizing you again.
Kris shrugs as he gives an uneasy smile. “Hm. I don’t really care.”
He senses the tense atmosphere. “I’ll see you girls around, bye.”

You finally relax when you and Kris are in the elevator.
“Don’t worry. She’s a nice girl if you get to know her.” Kris assures, placing his palm on your shoulder.
You instinctively shun his hand. The moment Kris touches you, it just reminds you of the encounter that day in China.
And you don’t want to be reminded, now that you’ve decided to overlook it.
Kris slowly retracts his hand, his jaw clenched tight.
“Who is she?” You ask, trying to divert the topic away.
He looks at you, his eyes wide in surprise. “You don’t know her?”
Are you supposed to know her? You shake your head.

“Those girls earlier are f(x).” Kris stares at you, gauging your reaction. He was expecting you to have some sort of outburst.
You your head to the side, “f(x)?”
“They debuted a few years ago, and we are under the same company.” Kris says, his gaze impassive.
Oh. So that makes them celebrities? No wonder, they had this aura around them that you couldn’t put a finger to.
“You said they are girls… but there was a guy with them,” you blurt. That guy earlier had left a rather deep impression on you.
Kris chuckles, “She’s Amber.”

She? Kris shakes his head, still chuckling, as the elevator door opens with a ping.
“We’re here. The president’s office.” Kris leads you out of the elevator door. Kris doesn’t seem bothered by the fact that he’s meeting his president.
Infront of a door was written, ‘Lee Soo Man, President of S.M Entertainment’.
“I think I should wait outside.” You start to feel nervous as you fiddle with your fingers.
Kris says nothing but shakes his head and pulls you into the office with him, and you stumble your way in.
A middle aged man with harsh wrinkles around his eyes beckons Kris to take a seat. “You brought a guest?”
Kris nods fervently, pulling out a seat for you before taking a seat himself. “President Lee,” He greets. “She’s my classmate. She won’t be of a threat to our privacy, that you can rest assure.”
Oh. There’s Kris’ businessman-like tone again.

President Lee nods wisely. He looks like someone who has a lot of great ideas.
Somehow, you feel much more at ease seeing him in person, despite the fact that he has been keeping a grim face throughout.
“I called you here to brief you on the plans we have for you and the others.” President Lee says in the same stiff tone.
Sounds like very private stuff. Uh oh. You shouldn’t be here, you lament yourself. Kris leans forward, seemingly interested.
President Lee glances down at you for a bit, before continuing the briefing.
“We are planning for you, along with the others, Lay, Chen, Xiumin, Tao and Luhan, to debut in 3 months time. That is if everything goes well.”

“In the same group?” Kris tries to affirm. President Lee nods, “Usually trainees requires years of training before they get to debut. But because the six of you work so well together, we are confident that letting all of you debut together will be the best choice.”
You are starting to lose track. So, Kris and the others will debut as a group, together?
“And you will be the leader, Kris.” President Lee says. That is not a surprise to you. Kris is naturally a leader.
President Lee passes Kris a file containing some papers. “Inside are all of your positions in the group. I’ve decided your positions after assessing it with the instructors. If there will be any change in the next three months, I will inform you.”

Kris quietly skims through the content in the file.
“Oh,” President Lee continues. “Inside are all of your celebrity images too. It’s the kind of image we will expect each and every one of you to portray after debuting. This is very important, and it won’t change.”
You feel Kris stiffen up a little. He’s uncomfortable about it, obviously.
Why would they have to act according to how people tell them to act? This is absurd. Is he serious about it? Making them portray a certain image that he wants?
This is beyond ridiculous.
“I don’t think that celebrity image thing is needed.” You murmur, gazing up at the now perplexed looking President Lee.
“What?” He responds. Kris turns you to face him, and shakes his head cautiously, as though warning you to not say anything further.

You break free from Kris’ tight grip, looking up at President Lee once more.
He’s furrowing his brows.
“Why do you have to make them act according to the way you want them to? I don’t get it.” You purse your lips into a tight line as you wait for his reply.
President Lee looks unhappy. “We have been doing this ever since we started debuting groups, young lady.”
“Why? Aren’t they like puppets, then?” You question.
Whatever that’s making you courageous enough to stand up to this stranger here is definitely overpowering.
He shakes his head. “Fans will prefer it if each of their idols have a specific type of character, miss. You wouldn’t understand this.”
“Let them be themselves, then. Let them be who they truly are, instead of imposing something on them.” You rebut. “I’m sure the fans will still like them.”

President Lee rolls his eyes. He is not here to argue with an ignorant girl on what to do about his own artistes.
“I’d prefer it if you won’t comment about my style of management. I will do it the way I want to.”
Oh, what a stubborn person. To think you find him wise.
“No, President Lee. You cannot do that. Do you think they will be happy?” You snatch the file from Kris. “’Kris – happy-go-lucky leader’?”
You can’t read further to where his ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ are.
You throw the file onto his wide office desk, and it slides to the edge. This is infuriating. How can Kris agree to this?
“Do you even know what sort of person Kris really is? Or the others?” You shake your head, “You’re doing it all wrongly, President Lee.”
He picks up the file and clenches it tight in his hand. “Who are you to tell me that I am doing this wrongly? I have been doing this on all of my other artistes, and nothing ever went wrong.”

“Wen.” Kris warns softly. “Stop it.”
Wen? President Lee arches a brow. Isn’t Wen the name of his.. daughter? …No, it’s impossible; he quickly shakes off the thought.
You ignore Kris flippantly. “If you are going to make them act the way you want them to, don’t expect them to be happy working for you.” You say to President Lee, who looks at you with a solemn gaze.
What?
He sighs, surprisingly. “I’ll review this again. You can go now.”
Kris gives an apologetic nod to him and hurriedly takes you out of the office.
“All the celebrities will have to go through that, Wen.” He says in the elevator. “We don’t have a choice.”
“But I don’t want to see you being forced into being someone you aren’t. The others, too.” You mumble. Did you go a bit too overboard?

Kris ruffles your head as he gives a sincere smile. “Thank you.”
You frown. “What for?”
“Speaking up for us.” He removes his hand from your head gingerly. “Anyway, I’ll be heading for practice soon. Do you want to join me?”
You hold up your wrist to look at the time on your watch. “I guess not. It’s rather late, and I still have school tomorrow.”
Kris’ expression falls as he hears your answer. The both of you exit the elevator and Kris leads you to a cab stand outside the building.
“I’ll see you around.” Kris passes some cash notes to the cab driver.
“Bye, Kris. Thanks for the meal.” You wave at him. The cab drives off, leaving Kris standing alone.
The time he had spent with you today makes him contented already. At least you don’t hate him after what he had done.
Kris smiles, knowing that he’s a step nearer to your heart.