Of Sunbaes and Maknaes

While rehearsing for their performance for the coming Friday - a back-to-back special with 2NE1, Teddy dropped by with Se7en to watch them practice.“You’ve got to extend that arm more” Teddy pointed out to Chaerin “You’re making a statement Chaerin. You’re the leader… They have to all know that. Ok?”Chaerin nodded and shook out her whole body - prepping herself. “Maybe we could change Chaerin’s stage name Teddy” Se7en suggested, lounging on a bean bag “Chaerin’s way too cute for someone who we want to be fierce.”Teddy acknowledged this with a nod. “I think you’re right Se7en. I have, in fact, been thinking about doing something like that.”Both men faced the leader “Have you thought up off a stage name you’d like to use?” Se7en asked.Chaerin smiled widely “Actually… I was thinking of asking Manager to allow me to use CL instead.”“That sounds cool” Daesung commented.“I like it too” T.O.P. added.“We should have her use it” Ji said in a final note.Se7en nodded. “I think it’ll fit well. We call Ji Yong - GD for G Dragon. It fits that their female counterpart’s leader should follow suit - CL sounds great to me.”“How about the other girls, do we think up names for them too?” Seung-ri asked excitedly.“I think we should ask them about that” Teddy replied and faced the other three ladies “How about it? Do you want to be known by another name?”All three looked at one another.“We haven’t really thought of that, Manager” Bom answered for the trio.“I think it would be cool if we could think of stage names for you as well” Seung-ri pushed, oblivious to the looks Se7en gave him. The maknae has become over-excited again. “Bom-noona has the most powerful vocals. She’s also very pretty and funny. I think your stage names should be patterned after your characters. Like, whenever we perform in Japan, I get to pick the name Victory!”Ji Yong rolled his eyes at him “They don’t need stage names Seung-ri. And I think they don’t really want to have stage names. Their names already fit them well if you just listen to it… like Bom for example. Her name sounds like an explosion and that’s what she is on stage - she explodes with her powerful voice.”“Minji’s name sounds cool too” Young Bae inserted “It sounds like she’s going to turn anyone daring to battle her on stage to minced meat.”“And Dara’s name justifies her child-like tendencies” Ji continued “She’s quirky and funny like a child but she can be quite serious and focused too - when the need arises - which isn’t quite often, mind you.”Dara crunched up her nose at Ji’s description.“Wow” Teddy exclaimed “You have gotten to know them quite well. You guys have only been together for six months but I see that you have seriously taken your titles as sunbaes for our girls to heart.”“They’re inheriting a title we’ve worked very hard to achieve Manager. We have to fully know them to make sure that they become worthy of it and to create names for themselves too, when the day comes” Ji answered.“I’m glad… not only because you have given your all to do as I wanted but because you have justified the amount of faith I have given you. You both worked more than anyone else I have handled and you are yet to give me problems” Teddy smiled at this “on the personal side…”They understood what he meant.Chaerin - who will be called CL from now on - laughed. “We’re family Manager. We look at one another as brothers and sisters. How can you have a problem with that?”Teddy’s fingertips touched CL’s face. “I know. That’s why I’m happy.”Everybody smiled at that but SE7en angled to look at Ji Yong. His teeth were showing but his eyes wouldn’t follow that smile. “Brother, brother” he thought to himself “how much more can you take?”

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Stage explosions

It was the most exhilarating experience of Dara’s life. Every time she went up on stage, pocketfuls of energy pumped into her and she couldn’t stop herself from spilling it all over those who were watching.The audience loved them so much and she noted that LED banners with their names kept flashing up, brought by fans who pronounced themselves as Blackjacks.“Wow” she thought to herself “They’re like BIG BANG oppas’ V.I.P.s”After their set, they whooped into the dressing room. “Did you see? Did you see?” CL asked breathlessly “We have fans!!! They call themselves Blackjacks! Isn’t that cool?”“I saw! I saw!” Minji replied, as exhilarated as CL “They even had our name up in blings!”Dara laughed. “I couldn’t stop smiling when I saw that!”“You smiled too much actually” Ji Yong suddenly popped out of nowhere “Great performance girls! We all couldn’t stop smiling too.”“Oppa!” CL announced “It was crazy out there. They loved us!”“They should” Daesung answered. He also popped out of nowhere that Bom began to look around, expecting another one of the Big Bang-sunbaes to pop out.“Thank you sunbaes” Minji replied to that and as if on cue, 2NE1 aligned and bowed to give their thanks to the two Big Bang members who snuck in their dressing rooms.Both guys seemed very touch by the gesture. “The others watched you up in the V.I.P. room and we’re all waiting for you up there. Dress quickly ok? Let’s celebrate your very successful solo stage debut” Daesung told them.They all nodded as the guys left the dressing room.“I thought T.O.P. was also with them” Bom told them.“Maybe they just had Ji-oppa and Daesung-oppa come down for us” Minji explained “I’m sure they’re all up at the V.I.P. room. Let’s go! I’m excited!!!”“Haissssh” Dara suddenly turned to Minji “You can’t drink a lot ok?”“Wah!!! Bom-unnie!” Minji sought out the other girl but was met with a stern face.“No Minji” Bom answered “We’re going to celebrate but you musn’t drink much. You and CL, actually, shouldn’t drink at all.”“We’re drinking!” CL contradicted but closed her lips when she saw the reaction that both Unnies had on “Ow… ok ok… we’re drinking but not much.”“Good!” Both Dara and Bom announced.“But it’s still unfair” CL lashed back “I bet Seung-ri wouldn’t agree at all.”That earned her a raised eyebrow from Bom. “And since when did you and Seung-ri get along?”CL turned a shade of red that made Dara and Minji’s brows rise as well. “We don’t get along at all” CL clarified “I just know he’s a brat and he’ll surely not like being restricted.”The three others exchanged looks as if to say “We think otherwise” but CL turned her back from them and began undressing.“Come on! Why are you still standing there?!?” CL snarled at them when they hadn’t moved for a full minute.“Awwwww” Bom declared “You’re such a ‘brat’ like Seung-ri…”The two others laughed and CL scowled at them. “I don’t like him, ok? Stop thinking that way! Who I like is Manager Teddy!”It was as if lightning had struck the room. “WHAT?!?!?!?!” all three girls screamed.CL looked as though she had just been caught red-handedly stealing from a grocery store. “Ooooops” was all she was able to say.

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Another try

The V.I.P. room was full of a lot of Teddy’s high-profile guests and they were all clamoring for their attention. Se7en was fairly popular as he had once performed at the club before moving on to become Teddy’s partner for projects out of the country.Signing autographs left and right and having his picture taken, he searched for Ji Yong.He knew it wasn’t the right location but he at least wanted the guy to know that he meant to talk to him.He had trying to catch up with Ji but the man was always busy with training, with 2NE1, with Big Bang, with a solo project that Teddy had pitched in to him, with helping Teddy look for other talents - He was, basically, being groomed to become Se7en. He had done all those before with Teddy.Now, at this party, he meant to really talk to Ji.He wasn’t cupid. He wasn’t into those kinds of things at all but he understood one thing… Ji, deep inside, was suffering.Something had happened all those years ago. Something that Ji had never spoken to him about.He had known that when Ji came to his party in the arms of another girl (who looked tacky as hell - which he told Ji Yong about) just barely weeks after Dara left for the Philippines. He’s improved on his choice of girls after that but Se7en saw that Ji was covering something up.When YB returned, he and Han had been questioned as YB had also felt the same as Se7en felt but he was reluctant to talk. If Ji had not yet opened it to YB, he was sure it wasn’t a matter he was supposed to speak to YB about just yet.But he worried about Ji a lot. Heartbreak wasn’t something he wished for anyone and though, oblivious to everyone else, he knew Ji was a walking “heartbreak”. So much more now after that Dara had come back.Ji hadn’t even mentioned in his e-mails that Dara had been working for a year with Teddy’s and had become a protégé of Big Bang.That - he knew - was absolutely worth mentioning but NO! Ji had remained mum about it.“Dara did something” Se7en had told Han this morning “She did something she didn’t know she did that broke Ji’s heart. A man with a broken heart is an ihaveabigbutt. But I can see that Ji’s struggling with that - if you open your eyes Han - you’ll see that he couldn’t keep himself from caring about Dara still. Remember their on-stage performance? He took great care to make sure that he didn’t overshadow Dara. He kept showing her off on-stage. And the food he had brought in for the girls after the performance… those are all Dara’s favorites if I remember correctly. He did that sublimely but I heard enough from his conversation with one of the waiters.”He still cares for her - loves her still perhaps. And Se7en wanted to find out why Ji keeps on torturing himself.“G - G - G Dragon!” he shouted as he spotted the other guy.“Hyung!” Ji shouted back - amidst the blaring sounds.Se7en walked towards him. “I need to talk to you.”“Sure” Ji answered “but we can’t talk here. Do you want to go outside?”“It’s something we need to sit down and talk about” Se7en explained “Do you have the time?”Ji’s expression became solemn “I think I know what you want to talk about hyung and we do need to sit down about that… but my time’s not going to allow it. Me and the guys are leaving for Japan in a while.”“You’re what?!?!”“We got a gig in Japan for about two weeks. The girls will be holding the fortress down here as Teddy and the rest of us go to JP. He’s talking about an expansion there too. You know we’ve been there time and again over the past months.”“But you’re leaving now???”“Yep. The flight’s at six am and I need to pack.”“You’re making this as an excuse” Se7en told Ji firmly.“I am” Ji agreed “Coz I don’t want to talk about this… not yet.”Se7en breathed in deeply. He had to do this. “Dara LOVES you… you know that right?”Ji looked at him most earnestly. While the stereos played with angry pumping and the LED lights almost blinded them both, Ji said with conviction “I know hyung. She loves me as a brother. That is all it ever was.”