Recovery

Despite his fever, Ji had a good night’s sleep. He woke up to a breakfast with everyone. The girls had cooked and his brothers had set-up the table.They helped him over the table and without further ado, he once again attacked Dara’s soup. She looked happy about that but he worried if she was going to over it. He just shrugged it off though. That was unlikely to happen, he thought.The Manager had picked him up a little after breakfast to take him to the hospital.“You’re looking better” the doctor commented.“I am feeling better” he answered.“What you got was a virus. You could have gotten it while you were at Happy Land. It’s a good thing that you have a strong stamina and that it didn’t do much damage to you. There have been a lot of cases like this over the past month and some aren’t so lucky.”The doctor injected another shot and Ji grimaced through the pain.“You rest up more ok? You’ll get back on your feet in four hours.”He nodded. “Thanks doctor.”“You’re welcome.”Now, back at his apartment, he saw that everybody had cleaned up. Even Gaho was resting on his basket nicely. The lucky dog. “I’m getting all those guys something they really want.”He turned towards the kitchen and saw that somebody had left a pot on the stove. He looked in and saw that it was Dara’s soup.In spite of himself, he smiled. “Well… I could do with some of these” he spoke aloud and grabbed a bowl.“How did she know about Mama’s recipe?” he asked himself as he sat down and began eating.

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THE Name

It was different now. Like a sword had been put right above their heads, ready to fall down should they be deemed unworthy.“You have all worked hard. But no matter how hard you pushed, it will only be up to you to make it worth it” Teddy told them “Now… I’ve thought about it for so long, I’ve asked advise from other people, I’ve discussed and re-discussed and re-discussed it, and I’ve asked for signs about it until I can proudly and finally give you the name your group will - forevermore - be known.”They held their breaths - an imaginary drum roll playing itself inside their heads.“Everyone will call you 2NE1 - a group who will bring in a new evolution to music for the 21st Century” The Manager announced, a sting of pride in his voice.“2NE1…” they whispered under their breaths, rolling around the name in their mouths, familiarizing themselves with it, greeting it gleefully and making friends with it.“2NE1” Chaerin said aloud to herself.“2 - 2NE1 - One” Minji replied.“2NE1 - One!” Dara chimed in.“2NE1!” Bom answered.They were all smiling. It sounded right. It sounded… great!“It sounds like THE NAME!” Chaerin announced and they all laughed.“I’m glad you liked it” Teddy answered.“What do you mean Manager?” Dara asked “WE LOVE IT!!!!”They all laughed at that.“Give the first of your best performances tonight, ok? Have fun on stage and GO GO PARTY!”

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Ready to FIGHT!

They’ve rehearsed the routine a thousand times but Ji couldn’t help but feel nervous. The girls were going to come out of cages that were suspended above the stage. Teddy wanted it to feel like they were unleashing new animals to reign the kingdom so he had them do that.Ji loved the concept and believed at how fierce it’s going to look like for the audience. He knew the girls could do it. He’d seen them do it.But with a crowd as packed as this, with their sunbae - Se7en - watching on the side line, with legions of reporters excitedly inundating the crowd… he crossed his fingers for them.“ABOUT LOVE!!!” they ended their last song to the cheers and screams of the audiences.Suddenly, his senses felt like they were going on hyper alert. Above him, he heard a click indicating that the girls were now inside their cages.He faced the audience with a smile.“For the past months, you have asked about the group we have deemed worthy to inherit the title as our “Female Version”… we launched their poster and you hustled… we launched a video of their training and you clamored… we showed you a peek of who they are and you couldn’t get enough… now… prepare to SCREAMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!”All the lights went off and the audience went WILD.“This is giving me goosebumps” YB whispered to him as they positioned themselves on stage.The heavy beat of tribal drums boomed from the speakers and the audience paused from their screaming and watched in awe as four wooden cages landed on stage - each one emblazed with a “dangerous” and “beware” sign.The beat of drums got louder, like a pacemaker slowly going on hyper mode until it engulfed the whole club. Then it stopped and Ji thought how much longer the audience could keep on screaming like that.An explosion racked the stage as the cages detached from their lower portions and ever so slowly… the cages were lifted up… showing off little by little… the girls’ feet… their legs… their hips… their stomachs… The audience just kept on screaming until they were all revealed.“OH MY GOD!!!!” he heard someone gasp beside Se7en - he had no doubt that was Han.He had totally forgotten that those two would be seeing that one of the girls was Dara. His minds had forgotten all about it. “Oh my God” he mimicked, feeling like he had been hit in the face by that realization.None of his brothers, thankfully, had noticed that. They were, like everyone else, enchanted by what was happening on stage - despite having already seen this.“2NE1!” Chaerin had shouted.“2NE1!” the audience had shouted back.“2 - 2NE1 - 1!!! 2 - 2NE1 - 1!!! 2 - 2NE1 - 1!!! We’re 2NE1 - 1!!!”The stage lights went off again and the audience screamed louder - making Ji feel more goosebumps - out of tension, out of guilt, out of excitement. He didn’t know anymore.“BIG BANG!!!” they screamed as the lights flared up and jumped from right behind the girls, standing side by side them - earning them another ear-piercing scream from the spectators.“Lolli - lolli - oh - lollipop… Lolli - lolli - oh - lolli - lolli…” Dara began.“Nah! That’s not how we do it” Ji rapped.“This is going to be crazy” Teddy had told them before hitting the stage and so it was.

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Walking on Egg Shells

Han was screaming right up her ear but Dara couldn’t ask her to stop - everything was still surreal. The audience had gone crazy and had shouted for their name at least up to ten minutes after their performance.“You were so great!!!” Han announced proudly and hugged all the other girls “You were all so great! Oh my God! I’m a fan!”Looking around, Dara saw that her sisters were smiling so wide their faces would break off soon.“It’s unbelievable” she said aloud.“It is” Teddy, coming from behind her, agreed. He smiled at her Palm Tree hairstyle and looked proudly at all of them. “You were all great girls. Congratulations.”“Thank you manager” they answered in chorus.Se7en came up from behind him and Dara, unable to stop herself, squealed in delight and exchanged a really tight hug with the oppa.Teddy and all the girls were surprised. Except for Han who was looking at the two happily.“You were great Dara!!!” Se7en told her, poking at her palm tree hair “And I liked your hair.”“Thank you oppa! It is so nice to see you! I was so nervous on stage!” she told him.“But it was still a great performance” he, then faced everybody else “You guys gave me goose bumps!”“Girls” Teddy called them to attention “This is Se7en. He is a very good friend of mine and was the one who helped me successfully launch Teddy’s in LA… However, I didn’t know that he already knew our Dara.”Han answered “Dara had been a friend of both of us for a long time now. I didn’t even know she was part of the group! She had been so secretive and you” she turned to Teddy “didn’t even tell us their names!”Teddy smiled “I didn’t think you’d both know one of them.”“Well, I was certainly surprised” Se7en told him “but I’m happy you gave me this opportunity Teddy. It was well worth it to travel all the way from LA and see these girls.”Teddy acknowledged that with a wider smile. “Hey! I couldn’t have done it without your boys. BIG BANG was a really really big help… speaking of them…” he called the guys (who were celebrating on the other side of the V.I.P. room) over “Ji Yong!!!”Dara noticed how well Ji hid his reluctance. At the very back of all their sunbaes, Ji was clenching and unclenching his fist in tension.“Manager” he answered as Teddy put a shoulder on him.“This man has led both these groups to greatness” he announced proudly at Se7en.“I’m sure he did” the other man answered “Ji’s talents and skills are incomparable.”“Thank you hyung, manager” he replied, a tinge of red.“Hey guys! Did you know that Dara is actually a close friend of Se7en and Han?”The Big Bang guys except for Ji yong (who was avoiding looking at her), Dara saw, were thunderstruck at that piece of information.Then LIGHTING really struck as Teddy looked at Ji and asked “Ji Yong! You’ve been Se7en and Han’s closest friend since the beginning… you didn’t know about Dara?”“No” Ji answered automatically.“He really didn’t know about Dara” Han expounded and they all looked at her “She was a friend that I didn’t want him to meet. You know how he was before… he could have just easily broken her heart.”They all laughed but Han’s look at him was anything but funny. Ji saw fire in her eyes and he wanted to shout at her “What the hell are you so angry at me about?!? I’m YOUR friend here! Break her heart?!? Why don’t you ask her about that? She’s quite good at it!”