~Beginning of Chapter One~

Stepping inside the church where she was raised, Choi Hana never realized her original reason for leaving the people who loved her dearly.  She arrived before anyone else had, sitting down in the farthest pew from the front of the building.  Hana sat down, folding her hands in her lap as she bowed her head slightly in a form of prayer.  After a moment or two, the young woman stood to leave Gongseri Catholic church.  Hana couldn’t take the images flooding her thoughts.  She was now a bodyguard to an all-male group that was probably the most popular boy band in South Korea!  Hana took in a deep breath as she left, having forgotten that the group had a performance in the next hour.

~Half an Hour Later~

Hana was dressed in a white tank top and black slacks, matching black tennis shoes to go with her attire.  She was listening to thousands of girls’ screams and A.N. Jell’s ‘Promise’ as the group was performing at the moment.  Hana sighed with relief as the screaming died down when the three boys came off stage.  “It’s about time…  I was starting to get a headache!” she chuckled, guiding them through the back exit to leave, seeing as they didn’t have anything to do, like autographs and meet-n-greets, for once.  Hana slipped into the band van after everyone else was safely closed in.

“Is your throat okay?” the President of the company, Ahn, asked the lead vocalist, Hwang Tae Kyung.  Ahn watched as the boy unconsciously rubbed his throat some.  “This is why the doctor said not to sing and just to lip sync.

The male sitting across from Tae Kyung spoke, “But didn’t it end perfectly fine?  Well, in the end, his voice did shake a little, but I’m sure nobody noticed it.” Kang Shin Woo taunted the vocalist.

The blonde haired boy in the back, Jeremy, piped in, “Was there a squeak?  Where?  I didn’t notice it…”

“Hwang Tae Kyung, you’re not allowed to do lives from now on.”

Tae Kyung replied, “What else should a singer do but sing?”

“Because you took part in the project, I think you already know that singing in the sixth album can strain your vocal cords.  You don’t have the capability of singing those songs.”  He paused for a moment as Jeremy glanced at Shin Woo and Tae Kyung.  “We’ll have one more vocalist as planned.”

“You know, my song can’t be sung easily by just anyone.”

“It’s not just ‘anyone’.  I found a good voice.  You guys will meet that person soon.”

“Let’s just wait and see who it is, President.”  Tae Kyung was irritated.

“Wait, why would you add another vocalist?  Can’t Shin Woo and Jeremy sing just as great as this stuck up guy over here?” Hana asked, knowing she hit a nerve.  She was sat beside Jeremy, in the very back of the van.  “That’s kind of harsh, don’t you think?  You have three great vocalists, and unless his throat actually hurts, then he should keep singing as he wants!”

“Hana?” President Ahn spoke calmly.  “Speak to me like that again, and you’re out of a job.”

“Yes, Sir!”  Hana quieted down as she had been told to shut up.  She had only been trying to help the President see reason within his own actions.

~That Afternoon~

Hana was listening to President Ahn’s proposal to the other members of the company.  The members whom held the largest number of stocks in the company.  After thirty minutes, the President, an employee, and Hana were waiting in the meeting room for this new guy to sign the contract with them.  She wasn’t sure what his name was, and hoped to learn it soon.  She couldn’t take Shin Woo’s and Tae Kyung’s attitudes recently, though they hadn’t been like that from the start three years before.

“Go Mi Nam!  His name is Go Mi Nam!”  President Ahn’s voice rang through her ears.

It couldn’t be the same Mi Nam that she grew up with, could it?

“Handsome Flower Guy!  Isn’t it good?”  Ahn beamed from ear to ear, unable to help himself.

“I’ll be outside.  The boys are returning soon, aren’t they?” Hana stated, excusing herself as she exited the room.  She couldn’t take it, being in the same room as the older men.  Hana made her way to the front entrance of the building, going to stand near the fangirls as she waited for the familiar van to arrive.  As she walked, a girl in a strange cosplay went past Hana, making the young woman look at the Sister cosplay to make sure she wasn’t imagining things.

Hana shook her head at the girls’ conversation and stood at the end of the pathway now.  “These boys sure do take forever to get here…”  Her head shot up as she heard footsteps from the other security members.  She placed her hand on Shin Woo’s upper arm to lead him through the crowd, barely having to push the fans aside to get the group through.  Hana glanced up to see the nun cosplay standing with one of the other girls’ fans and staring at the group.  As the boys did their greetings to their fans, she watched as the boys walked ahead, Jeremy being the last in the group and grinning like an idiot.

“Oh!” Jeremy pulled the top off his pen, signing the fan that the nun was holding and bowed at the girl, winking at her, and saying, “Bye!” before running off.

Hana sighed at the blonde’s slowness, following after the group to go inside once more.  It really hadn’t taken them long to arrive at the main office like the girl would have thought, but she instead ran past them, bowing to them, before making her way to the meeting room where she had been before helping the members of the group inside the building.

Hana stepped into the office just as President Ahn started speaking and clapping.

“Oh, Go Mi Nam!  Good, good.  Right, right, our Go Mi Nam.  You seem nervous.” Ahn stated as he placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder.  “Have you read the copy of the contract?”

The older man beside Go Mi Nam spoke, “Oh, yes…  Of course he has.  It’s wonderful…”

“Let’s sign it then.” Ahn smiled, bringing the boy to the table where the contract lay.

Hana moved closer to the group of men, unnerved by the name ‘Go Mi Nam’ which resounded in her head.  She had yet to see the boy’s face, keeping quiet in the room until the doors she had been leaning against were pulled open.  “Tae Kyung!” she scolded, her hitting the floor.  Hard.

“Is that him?  Go Mi Nam?  The angelic voice?” Tae Kyung questioned.

Ahn stood up, “Good thing you came, I was going to introduce you anyway.  What about Shin Woo and Jeremy?”

Tae Kyung advanced toward the desk as Ahn pulled his jacket onto his body.  The vocalist placed his hands on the desk as he inspected the nervous boy carefully.  “Are you really that good?”  Receiving a nod from the boy, Tae Kyung straightened up and took the contract into his hands.  “Instead of a contract, there’s something I want to confirm…”  He walked around the table, wrapping his hand around Mi Nam’s wrist and pulling him up from the table.  Tae Kyung then proceeded to walk out of the room, regardless of everyone’s protests.

Hana chased after Tae Kyung into the recording room, knowing it was useless for her to protest like the President and Mi Nam’s manager had.  She knew what Tae Kyung was planning, slamming the door shut and locking it, placing her key in her pocket.  “Go on.” She insisted.  “I have to ask him something when you are finished.”

“Are you…  Go Mi Nam?”  Shin Woo asked, his hand placed on Mi Nam’s shoulder in a friendly way.  Mi Nam freaked and back away, and into Jeremy, Jeremy comparing their height difference.

“He’s shorter than I expected.” Jeremy spoke.

Tae Kyung watched the male for a moment before Ahn and the manager found them.

“Hey!  Open the door!”  One moment later, “I said open the door!”  Ahn’s voice continued ringing through the silence, knocking on the door and window.

Tae Kyung snatched a piece of sheet music off a stand, handing it to Mi Nam.  “Sing it.”  The boy only looked at him.  “I have to see for myself if you’re worthy of being in our group.  If I can’t accept you, even if you sign a hundred times, there is no way I can accept you in our team… “

“President Ahn praised you A LOT…  I’m really curious.” Shin Woo grinned.

“I heard you have a sweet voice.  Let’s hear it, one song.” Jeremy smiled.

“If that song isn’t to your liking, just sing any song.” Tae Kyung told him.

Mi Nam hesitated as his name was being called constantly.

“You can’t?” Tae Kyung taunted, crossing his arms.  Mi Nam continued hesitating.  “Forget it, you can’t do it.”  He unfolded his arms, dangling the contract between his thumbs and index fingers, but stopped as he heard a soft voice begin singing:

“Panis angelicus,

fit panis hominum,

dat panis coelicus,

figuris terminum,

O res mirabilis,

manducat Dominum,

Pauper, pauper, servus, et humilis,

Pauper, pauper, servus et humilis.”

Hana had quietly begun singing along after the second line, tears filling the bodyguard’s eyes.  “MI NAM!”  She tackled the boy, pulling him into a giant hug as the others stood, staring at Mi Nam.  “You are the Mi Nam from Gongseri Orphanage!” Hana cheered as Tae Kyung smacked the contract into President Ahn’s chest.

Shin Woo placed a hand on Mi Nam’s shoulder, smiling at him.

Jeremy rubbed his arms, grinning, “You’re REALLY good.  I got goosebumps.  Where did that voice come from?  Well, Tae Kyung hyung thinks you’re alright; so I guess we’re a team now.  Let’s get along.”  He spoke, still grinning as he patted Mi Nam’s head before he left.

“You’re really supportive, Jeremy.” Hana giggled, keeping her arms wrapped around the newest member of A. N. Jell.  She couldn’t believe it.  After seven years, she was able to see one of her oldest friends again.  “I’m a bodyguard here.”

“Wait…  You’re Choi Hana?”  Mi Nam asked the girl, getting a ‘yes’ in response.  “It’s been so long!  How have you been?”

“First, you tell me how Mi Nyeo has been.”

Ahn interrupted them before they could continue their conversation, “Wow!  Everything’s going to be great!  We’re going to the top.”

~That Evening~

Hana was stuck in the past, Jeremy waving an apple slice in front of her face in an attempt to grab her attention.  The girl was the boys’ main bodyguard, and was given the extra room to sleep in and her food expenses were paid for by the company.  Needless to say, Hana led an easy life while working for the boys.

“Hana?  I have your favorite-“ Jeremy was interrupted, the apple slice being smacked out of his hand.

“Not now, On Yu!”  Hana had speaking Jeremy’s birth name, which was a big ‘no-no’ in Jeremy’s book.  “Look, I’m reminiscing about the times before I was adopted, okay?” she informed.  “Mi Nam was like my brother!  All except for the fact that he and Mi Nyeo aren’t even blood related to me.”  Hana frowned, realizing what she had done as Jeremy had unshed tears in his eyes and was pouting.  “Jeremy, I’m so sorry!  I didn’t mean to fuss at you, and I sure didn’t mean to knock food out of your hand!”

Jeremy nodded, “It’s okay…  I’m fine; it’s just kind of upsetting when you’ve never acted like that before to me.”

“Hey, we have to go to the airport tomorrow, right?  Well, I have to send you all off until Sunday because I have to move all of my things out of the dorm.  Well, the spare room, anyways.  So, do you think I could keep my stuff in your room?  You have a great amount of space in your closet compared to Tae Kyung and Shin Woo.”

“If you answer one question, I’ll let you.” Jeremy smiled.

“What is it?”

“Was it your voice I heard along with his earlier?”

“Yes, why do you ask?” Hana answered honestly.

“Nothing, I’m just curious.  You started singing from the third line and I found it odd.” Jeremy smirked evilly.  “I’m going to get President Ahn to listen to your voice!  I recorded it on my phone.  Shin Woo hyung and I were going over some things and we decided to record something to see how it sounded, and we never stopped recording.”  He jumped up from the chair, pulling out his phone.  Jeremy started playing the recorded sound, Shin Woo entering the kitchen.

“Did you record them singing earlier?” the taller, more built male asked with a grin.  He walked over to Jeremy after grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.

“Actually, I did.”  Jeremy grinned, handing his phone to the other guy as Hana reached over to swipe it from Jeremy’s hands.

“Delete it now!” Hana fussed at them, jumping onto the counter before jumping onto Shin Woo in a second attempt to grab the phone.  She face-planted into the counter on the other side of Shin Woo, the two men having avoided her weight being thrown on top of them.

Tae Kyung carefully walked down the stairs, shaking his head at the sight of the three.  He was actually disappointed in the way they were acting, watching as Hana’s head hit the counter.  Tae Kyung almost raced over to see if she was alright, but the girl had recovered quickly from her fall.

“I’m okay!  I just hit my head on the counter, it’s not like I might have a concussion or something!” She spoke, flailing her arms around like she was trying to put an emphasis on something.

Tae Kyung shook his head once more, heading back to his room to focus on his songs.

So, for the rest of the evening, Hana had chased them around in an attempt to get Jeremy’s phone and delete the recording.  No need to say that she lost the game, unable to get close to placing her hands on it.  Hana and the other two went to bed fairly late, though they had an early start the next morning, and more surprises on the way.

~End of Chapter One~