Cause

(Twelve years ago…)

Teddy was literally running for his life.
Breathing as hard as a lion cub on the run from hyenas, he pushed himself to go faster when he heard gun shots coming from behind him.

“You’re not going to escape us kidd’o!!!”

“That’s what you think”, he thought to himself as he turned at an alleyway. He was sure he was way ahead of those gangsters. Hell. He could be a mile away for sure.

As soon as he felt that a fight was going to come on, he broke into a run and threw away all the stash Dave “The Big One” had asked for. He wasn’t going to risk his life for a few hundred dollars.

But the alley was a dead stop. “Oh !” he cursed out loud. The alley ended with a tall brick wall that was double his height. There were no stairs, no windows, and no way to go up that brick wall at all.

“Oh !” he said again, his palms sweating. He looked back and calculated the odds. If he went out the alleyway, he was going to clash with Dave’s group. He was sure they’d be right on his heels.

Another gun shot rang throughout the night air and he felt himself start to shake. “Think! Think! Think! You’ve got to get out of here”, he thought, pacing the alleyway and looking for an escape route.

“That’s a dead end Teddy!” Dave screamed, laughing maniacally, letting Teddy know that he was soon going to be minced meat.

As he stood rooted to the spot, waiting for hell to come, he was grabbed from behind and darkness engulfed him. “What the?!?!? – “ he wasn’t able to continue as a hand clamped on his mouth.

“Where the f*@$ did he go?” he heard one of Dave’s goons ask.

“He scaled this wall?!?!?”

“Gunfire ratted at the wall. “F*@$!!!!! F*@$!!!!”, he heard Dave scream, “That Son-of-a-Bi*@$!!!”

“What are we gonna’ do now boss?!?”

Dave growled, “What else could we do?!? That lucky bastard escaped coz you were all too slow!” another set of gunfire ratted “It’s his lucky day now but he can’t escape us forever! Let’s go back! I’m sure he’s going to go to Danny. We get Danny and make sure those two don’t go anywhere!”

Footsteps left and Teddy, afraid to even breathe hard, felt tension leave his body. The hand that clamped his mouth relaxed as his eyes finally got accustomed to the darkness.

“Are you ok?” a girl’s voice asked him and he scrambled to stand up.

“Who are you?” he asked in the darkness, trying to make out who his savior was.

Light went out and Teddy had to cover his eyes. “I should be the one to ask you that”, the girl replied and Teddy felt his jaw almost drop.The girl was none other than Lee Mai Goo, the princess of underground rap in Diamond Hill. “So? Who are you?”

-----------------------------------------------------------

Do you know who I am?

Mai looked at the stranger and shook her head. His shirt had been torn and there was blood in his hands. He must have climbed one of the steel rails and got himself scratches.

“Why is Dave running after you?” she asked “Did you throw away his stash?”

The stranger did not immediately answer but his eyes widened at her question. “A newbie”, she thought to herself.

“I did” the stranger whispered in reply, feet scuffling at the linoleumed floor.

She turned her back from him and went to wet a towel. “Give me your hand” she commanded the stranger.

Hesitantly, the guy walked towards her and gave her his right hand.

“I’m going out. You can ride in my car and wear another hoodie. I’ll take you where you need to go” she told him.

“Why?”

“Coz you can’t stay here. Dave’s not going to believe you scaled that wall and he’ll look for your rabbit hole. When he discovers this place, my friend who owns this isn’t going to be happy.”

“You don’t live here?!?”

“No. I just crashed for the night. I was about to leave when I heard you.” His hands were cleaned of the grime but she saw that the wounds were actually deeper. She looked around for her bag and took out cotton, alcohol, and bandages. She noticed how the stranger looked at her weirdly. “I get hurt a lot” she explained.

“Ow” the guy replied, controlling himself from showing any signs of pain at the contact of alcohol to his fresh wounds, “I know you do.”

It was her turn to look weirdly at him “You know what?”

The stranger turned red, surprising her. “I know you get hurt a lot.”

“Oh really?”

“Other than the bandages on your ribs showing through that top, I know you do a lot of stunts during your performances.”

Now, she was really surprised. “You watch underground?”

The guy nodded. “My man, Rocco, he got me into it. He performs there too.”

She smiled, the first time since meeting him. “I know Rocco but I haven’t seen him for a while.”

“He had to run” the guy answered, his face twitching a little as the sting of alcohol got stronger “He got involved in a heist and the cops have been hunting for him ever since.”

Mai breathed deeply… another talent gone to waste. She had seen how kids her age got to so much trouble these days – it was as though they were tempting death to take hold of them. This guy was just another example. “Do you have news of him?”

“None.”

“I hope he does something good for himself” she wrapped up his right hand and took in the left one.

“Why are you here alone?”

“I like to be alone when I write.”

“You’re writing new material?”

“For a friend” she answered “He wants to listen to my brand of music… reckons he might earn money from it.”

“Toney Moley?”

She laughed. Toney Moley was one of her guys, notorious for being a money grubber. “No. It’s for Mr. YG.”

“That a new rapper?”

She shook her head. “Not at all” she smiled “He’s a producer.”

-----------------------------------------------------------

When the end begins

(Present day…)

That had been the first time he had heard of Mr. YG, producer extraordinaire from Korea. He didn’t know then that the man was going to change his life – a life that now included these wonderfully talented kids.

“You look so serious Teddy-oppa” CL commented, shaking him from his reverie.

“Not really” he replied with a smile at the young girl. They didn’t look alike but sometimes, CL’s will reminded him of Mai’s. It was weird, actually, Mai had CL’s spirit, Bom’s humor, Minji’s humility, and Dara’s energy. The four girls embodied the one person in the world he loved the most.

“There you go again Manager!” CL complained and he laughed at her.

“So, what can you say about your Ji-sunbae and Dara-unnie’s performance?”

“They have great chemistry on stage!”

“They do” he agreed “Danny kept asking me if they were an item.”

CL just smiled at that comment and stood up from seating beside him “Do you want something from the bar Manager?”

He shook his head “Thank you but I’m ok.”

Daesung and Seung-ri, then, sat on both of his sides. He knew the two were up to something.

“Are you going on a partnership with Mr. YG?” Daesung asked “Danny-hyung keeps talking about him.”

“Well, that’s because he produced Danny and Gummy, for one thing” Teddy answered.

“Woah!” Seung-ri reacted “That’s cool! He produced Danny-hyung in L.A.??? Is that why Danny is here Manager? You’re adding his act for the club in L.A.?”

“Maybe” Teddy answered, not ready to give away anything to the ragrats.

“That’ll be cool!” Daesung commented “If Danny-hyung gets to perform for us, he might also be able to get my idol, Lee Mai Goo, to perform for you Manager!”

Teddy laughed. “That’s impossible.”

“Why would it be?” Seung-ri injected “I never thought Ji-hyung and Dara-noona will do a collaboration and be so good doing it. A lot of impossible things happen Manager! You just never know!”

Teddy didn’t react to that and slowly downed the tonic he was holding. He didn’t want to elaborate and talk anymore about Mr. YG and Mai. There would be time enough for that when Danny finally begins negotiations for him.

Thinking deeply, G Dragon and Dara coming in the V.I.P. room caught his eye. “Congratulations you two!” he shouted above the blaring sounds and joked “If I only allowed it, you two could be a great-looking couple! Your chemistry on stage was crazy!”

The two smiled shyly as the whole room seemed to stop all activity – a thing he and Danny, who was at the other side of the room talking to Bom and Minji, was oblivious of.

“Thank you Manager” Dara responded, bowing respectfully to him.

“Thank you hyung” Ji told him, imitating Dara’s gesture.

Teddy smiled genuinely at the two “You guys even look alike with that apple-like hair” he told them. The two looked at one another and smiled tmidly at his comments. “Well, go ahead and have a drink! Tonight is a good night to party!”