“Ouch, why are you using so much?!”

“Don’t be such a baby!”

                Min Jee was helping Gi with a wound she had gotten on her knee earlier. They had just gotten back to their apartment after a failed attempt at getting some good shots of Bi Rain at a red carpet event. While trying to push through the crowd, Gi got knocked down by the other paparazzi. If it wasn’t for Min Jee, she probably would have gotten much worse than just a scratch on the knee.

“I don’t understand why you have to buck* at people all the time,” Min Jee lectured, “you need to stop acting like you’re 6’5 and not 5’1.”

“Please! I would have kicked that guy’s if you had let me.”

“Whether you would have or not, we missed a chance for some quick cash.” Min Jee sighed as she bandaged her friends knee.

“Yeah….that event was tough.” Gi agreed.

                Gi got up and headed for her bedroom to change into another pair of baggy jeans. After a few experiences, the girls found that it was a lot easier to do these things dressed in boyish clothes. The two both wore their hair in short pixie cuts and usually went out with just baggy jeans and heavy jackets topped with fitted caps. Just who were they supposed to be looking good for, anyway? They had rent and groceries to worry about. However, they knew it would just be a matter of time when it was all worth it. Websites and other sources paid big money for good shots of celebrities.

“Do you know if anything else is going on tonight?” Gi called out from her bedroom.

“Nah,” Min Jee replied from the living room, “But my boy Tim said he’d hit me up* if he found out about something.”

                Gi came back out with some baggy jeans on and headed to the kitchen and towards the refrigerator.

“Don’t eat that left over cheesecake!” Min Jee predicted what her friend was about to do.

“Whyyy?!” Gi whined as she slammed the refrigerator door closed.

“If you eat it and we get a tip then your isn’t gonna be able to run.” Min Jee laughed.

“Man, whatever.” Gi came back to the living room and plopped on the couch.

                Gi and Min Jee sat there in silence. Gi was checking the emails on her phone and Min Jee had her laptop out trying to find out about any events that were going on that weekend.

“Peanut,” Gi called Min Jee by her childhood nickname, “….have you talked to your folks?”

                Min Jee stopped what she was doing. She wasn’t really the ‘emotional’ type but it was hard to hide that a nerve was struck. After gathering her feelings she was able to answer.

“Nah,” she said nonchalantly, “They won’t return my calls.”

                As much as Gi was concerned, she knew better than to dig deeper than she already had. Family was always a touchy subject for Min Jee.

                Just then Min Jee’s phone started ringing. Immediately she picked it up from the top of her laptop and answered. It was Tim.

“Hey……yeah…..are you serious?!......You’re already outside, right? Alright cool give us a minute we’re coming out.”

                With that, Min Jee hung up the cell phone and stuffed it into her sweatpants pocket. Gi didn’t need to be told anything. Tim found something and obviously he found something good. Min Jee slammed her laptop shut and grabbed her and Gi’s apartment keys. Gi grabbed their bag of equipment as they both made their way out of the door.

“What did Tim find out?” Gi asked excitedly as they headed for the stairway.

“I don’t know. He got the tip that some idols were at Incheon’s Airport. He didn’t say which ones.”

“Ugh, by the time we get there it’s gonna be a freakin’ mob over there!” Gi calculated the time and distance in her head.

“Yeah, well, maybe I’ll let you kick somebody’s so we can work our way to the front.” She laughed.

                The two made it downstairs to see Tim’s car waiting by the curb, still running and ready to go. The passenger side and back door were wide opened. The two climbed in, slammed the doors, and Tim drove them off. Tim was a Korean-American, but he spent his teen years in South Korea where he met Gi and Min Jee during their freshman year of high school. After they graduated, Tim began doing odd jobs for different press/media companies. As far as a “tipper” goes, he wasn’t exactly the best but they were the only real connection that the girls had with the music industry.

“Alright, Tim, what’s all this?” Min Jee inquired.

“I told you, already, we’re going to the airport.”

“She meant did you find out who’s gonna be there?” Gi corrected.

“Yeah and do you think we’ll get there in good time?”

“We should get there if I can book it*. And I’ve heard something but I’m not quite sure-“

“Oh my God, just tell us!” Gi pushed Tim’s shoulder from the back seat.

“Alright. Well I heard that B.A.P. might be-“

“B.A.P?!” The two girls squealed in disbelief.

“Oh my God, Min Jee! Do you know how much one good shot of them could get us?!” Gi said excitedly.

“Them? Shoot, a shot of ONE of them could get as much as 600 bones. Maybe even a grand.” Min Jee said.

“Especially Zelo, I know he’s a big favorite. Those websites pay big for him.” Gi agreed.

“Calm down,” Tim let out an annoyed sigh, “I said they might be there. Don’t get your hopes up.”

                Min Jee and Gi just waved off their friend’s comment and continued discussing the matter.

“Gi, don’t worry if we don’t get any shots. We’re covered for rent anyway this month.” Min Jee tried to assure her friend.

“What kind of attitude is that? We’re getting good shots tonight.” Gi rebutted.

                The three continued to drive into the night. As they got closer to the area of the airport, they noticed different cars and vans wizzing by.

“,” Min Jee realized what was going on, “Tim you need to drive faster!”

“For what?”

“, drive faster! The other paps are ahead of us!” Gi gave Tim a bop on the head.

“I don’t know why I deal with this.” Tim shook his head.

                Min Jee started to say something, but decided against it. She knew very well why Tim was always willing to deal with Gi and her attitude. Only she knew that Tim has had a crush on Gi sense the three friends first met. It kind of irked her that he never told Gi about his feelings, but she knew it wasn’t her business to tell. Min Jee decided that the car had driven far enough.

“Tim, let us out. We can make the rest on foot.” Min Jee was already on the verge of opening the door of the moving car.

“What,” Tim was a little shocked, “Are you sure?”

“Don’t worry,” Gi opened her door as well when Tim was slowing down, “We can handle ourselves.”

“Make sure you stay close by, though. In case we need to follow them.”

                Tim had finally came to a stop, allowing Min Jee and Gi to hop out and begin running with their cameras. They noticed other people coming across the street and catching up behind them.

“, there’s no way B.A.P isn’t there!” Gi couldn’t help but look around at the bodies around them.

                The two finally reached the side exit of the airport….or as close as they could get to it. Along with the crowd of fangirls greeting the idols there were quite a few groups of paparazzi. Gi and Min Jee reached the back of the crowd.

“Ugh, this . Tim’s slow-driving .” Min Jee looked through gaps in the crowd, trying to figure out how to maneuver through them. Obviously ,the idols hadn’t come out yet so they had some time to figure something out. As Min Jee was doing this Gi spotted a nearby light post.

“Ay, Peanut,” She nudged Min Jee, “Look.”

                Min Jee looked up to see the light post and instantly knew what Gi was thinking.

“No!” She turned to her friend.

“Come on, please?!” Gi begged.

“What am I supposed to do when I get up there, huh?” Min Jee complained.

“I don’t know, I just need you to distract everybody.”

“Distract them?”

“Yeah, just long enough so I can work my way to the front of the crowd!”

                Min Jee thought about it again.

“Will I even be able to sit up there, I mean it looks kind of flimsy.”

“Of course you will! Just climb up there and sit on the lamp part, it’s big enough to sit on!”

“And how do you suggest I get down when I’m done ‘distracting’?” Min Jee replied.

                Gi looked around and couldn’t quite figure out a good escape strategy.

“Well….I guess you’ll just have to climb back down.” Gi answered hesitantly.

“Dude, do you think that’s even gonna work? I’m gonna get trampled like that.”

                Gi thought it over again but then realized the crowd was getting louder. The group must have been in sight.

“Don’t worry about it, when the time comes you’ll know what to do. Just get up there!”

                Without another word, Gi began to aggressively push her way through the crowd, ignoring the rude comments. No matter how hard the girls disguised themselves, it was still clear to a lot of people that they were women. At least this way they didn’t have to worry about any erts trying to get to them. Min Jee hesitantly made her way towards the light post. Luckily no one was paying much attention to her just yet. She put her camera around her neck and swung it so that it was hanging on her back and commenced her climbing. When Min Jee and Gi were kids she was known for being sort of reckless. She was always climbing trees and just doing dangerous things. Honestly, climbing the light post was nothing. What Min Jee didn’t like was making a spectacle out of herself. All the while she was climbing she kept thinking to herself. What am I supposed to do anyway? If I just scream like an idiot everyone’s just gonna ignore me and think I’m a crazy fan. What’s supposed to get everyone’s attention?

                At the same time Gi was struggling to get to the front, but she found that she kept getting pushed away by the other paparazzi. All of a sudden she heard a great commotion coming from the fangirls on the side.

“ZELO! SARANGHAE!”

“OH MY GOD, YONGGUK!”

“OPPAAA!!!”

                Jackpot! It really was B.A.P at the airport. Gi was fighting even more to work her way to the front. She was getting pretty close; she could even see a glimpse of the boys in some moments. It looked like they were still waiting by the entrance, however. Maybe they’re waiting on a body guard or something, Gi thought to herself. Just then, a taller gentleman pushed Gi aside and worked his way in front of her.

“Hey, what the hell?!”

“Don’t get your thong in a bunch, princess.” The man had a condescending tone. Gi could not stand it when someone talked down to her in such a way. She was so close to finding a hole to the front but this guy was definitely going to be a problem. Gi wasn’t sure if she could really do anything about it…not in a discreet manner, at least. That is until someone spotted something ‘in the sky’.

“What the hell is she doing?!”

“Damn! She’s crazy….nice though.”

                Gi turned to see what the fuss was about and her jaw instantly dropped as she resisted the urge to smile.

“Jesus, Peanut.” She was barely able to mumble.

                Min Jee was sitting on the post with her shirt-and bra- plastered over her face. Gi had asked for a distraction and Min Jee gave her a pretty good one. That’s when Gi realized the man who had pushed her was too busy gawking at Min Jee’s chest.  She took advantage of the situation and kneed the man directly in the crotch.

“Ah! What the ?!” The man went down to his knees doubled over in pain. Gi saw that he was drawing attention and immediately brushed past him before anyone was the wiser. That’s when Gi realized that she didn’t have Min Jee with her to tell her to ‘calm down’ or ‘refrain’. Gi cracked a smile as she continued to aggressively push people out of her way, not paying any attention to the snide remarks and threats that followed. Before she knew it, she was at the front and B.A.P was headed out! Gi made a desperate leap into an opening between two people. She made it, but not without bumping hard into another pap.

“Hey, watch it!” The man whined, making sure he had a firm grip on his camera.

“Ah, stop being a little .” Gi ignored him as she positioned her camera. Despite all the pushing that was going on around her, she was able to steady herself and get a couple of shots of one of the members. She and Min Jee weren’t exactly fans, but they had to know who these idols were in order to do their job efficiently. Gi didn’t have enough time to check how they came out, she needed to continue. As the boys moved, she found herself inching closer and closer.

 

“Ma’am, stay behind the bar!”

                Gi was too fixated on getting the perfect shot to hear the security guard’s warning. She was pressing herself against the bar. She was lucky people weren’t going berserk behind her. A move like that could’ve seriously hurt her. Gi grinned as she got a couple of shots of the other member Zelo. However, her work was interrupted when a strong hand firmly grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around. Her eyes widened as she saw the rude man she had kicked in the gonads earlier.

“Oh .” Gi’s voice shook.

“You’re gonna wish you never did that, you little .”

                Gi did what she thought to be the most logical thing to do. She hopped the bar to get away.

 

“SECURITY! SECURITY! Catch that pap!”

                Why did I just do that?! Gi thought to herself. But there wasn’t enough time to beat herself up. She needed to act fast. There were two, big security guards headed Gi’s way so she headed the opposite direction.

“Peanut!” She called desperately through the crowd. “Peanut, code blue!”

                The security guards were tailing her so she had no choice but to dive back into the crowd just hoping that Rude Man wasn’t waiting for her. Gi pushed through the disgruntled crowd in search of her best friend.  Gi pushed through the crowd until she was able to get a view of the streets. She looked behind her and noticed that no one was chasing her anymore. They must have thought she was trying to bombard the boys. Gi had it in her mind to check the pictures she had taken to see how well they turned out when she heard tires screeching, making her look to the end of the road. Tim had showed up! Gi ran over to his car to see that Min Jee was seated in her spot in the front seat. She climbed into the backseat and they were off.

“Holy , Min Jee, I can’t believe you did that!” Gi was grinning from ear to ear.

“Did what?” Tim inquired.

“Don’t worry about it.” Min Jee leaned her head against the window, obviously regretting her distraction tactic.

“Min Jee, I got some good shots!” Gi exclaimed excitedly as she looked through the pictures she took of the idols.

“Oh really?” Min Jee asked in a sing-song voice. “How fortunate for you.”

                Gi’s eyes began to widen.

“Min Jee…..did you get good shots too?”

                Min Jee said nothing, but instead flashed a photo of Yongguk in Gi’s face. The two looked at each other, grinning from ear to ear.

“How much did you say a good shot of the boys could get us?”

“One shot? Up to a grand.” Min Jee’s shimmered. They were on their way. 

 

 

 

 

*buck: (slang) to prepare onself to fight through pressing and intimidation. 

*hit up: (slang) to contact someone. 

*book it: (slang) to travel at a high speed.