A/N: Conversations in Japanese will be in bold text.

The office was much bigger than she had expected but Hyomin had little time to take in her surrondings. Sajangnim was walking briskly, introducing to the various staff members and making his way to the conference room where more staff were waiting. As soon as he stepped in, all eyes were on him and Hyomin stood back while everyone bowed and greeted him loudly in Hangul.

When sajangnim introduced Hyomin, she stepped forward and bowed. She cleared nervously; the last time she had spoken Japanese was back in school but she was going to try her best to complete her self-introduction in Japanese.

"Hajimemae, I am Lee Hyomin and I will be working in YGEX starting today. I am looking forward to working closely with everyone here to continue producing great stages for the YG Family." Hyomin finally sat down and exchanged quiet greetings with the staff seated in her immediate vicinity.

Everyone in the room had been specially selected for Big Bang's comeback in Japan. The team consisted of managers--translators (proficient in both Hangul and Japanese), publicists, coordinators and the team leader was a bespectacled man in his mid-thirties. 'Takagi-san' was how everyone addressed him and Hyomin was surprised to hear him speak Hangul so well.

"He's a second-generation Korean - his father is Japanese though," the young manager beside her whispered in Hangul. Hyomin turned to face him properly. He was slim and looked nothing like the manager oppas in Seoul. How is he going to protect the Big Bang members if he looks almost as slender as them?

He caught Hyomin staring at him and he smiled. "I'm Ryuji," he said as he wrote his name in Chinese characters for Hyomin. She noticed that the characters for his first name were the same as Jiyong, just flipped over. “Let’s be good friends, noona!” Hyomin was amused but conversation between them ceased as the meeting was called to order by Takagi-san.

THREE MONTHS LATER…

Jiyong stared out the window, letting his head hang upside down over the edge of his sofa. He could see the beach from where he was. He had escaped to Dolce Vita for some quiet time. Papers were strewn all over the floor; some crumpled up, some full of notes and scribbles. He sighed and went out to the balcony for a smoke.

Has she settled yet?

He had come out in just a T-shirt and lounging pants, not minding the cold wind that blew and ruffled his blonde hair.

Why can’t I let her go? What will become of us? Hyomin, Seunghyun hyung and I.

He stepped back into the room and stared at the mess he had created. As he shuffled around, sifting through the papers to see what was good enough to keep, he found Hyomin’s old notebook. Flipping through it again, he ran his finger over the delicate words she had handwritten.

It’s been three months with no news. How are you? Do you know that Youngbae is having his comeback next week? On a stage that you didn’t create. I guess it’s my fault that he can’t have your support on this one.  

No one had heard from Hyomin after she left – not even Seungri even though he was her project. It seemed like Hyomin was still laying the groundwork with the YGEX staff and sajangnim will only update them when schedules were fixed.

Hyomin ah, I’m so sorry.

Seunghyun stared at the ceiling, sprawled across the sofa. He had just finished filming all the retakes last night and had somehow found his way back to Hyomin’s apartment. Their apartment.

Why did I come here? One last time before I wipe her cleanly off my mind?

The sense of relief he felt when the key slid easily into the lock was replaced by a feeling of emptiness when he saw the darkened hallway. As he ventured deeper into the apartment, he could still smell the faint scent of her lingering within. The floors were cold as everything had been shut off.

He had been tempted to snuggle up in her bed but somehow, he felt that it would be a great invasion of her privacy. Seunghyun had only allowed himself the small luxury of stripping her bed of the blanket and wrapping himself up in it on her sofa. It was now morning and he would have to leave.

How could she be so cruel? Or did she not love me enough to begin with?

The bed was made again, returning it to its original state and Seunghyun looked back at the room once more before leaving. He noticed that he had forgotten to arrange the cushions back but Seunghyun couldn’t bring himself to put them back. He smiled sadly to himself – even if it was something small like this, he wanted to leave some evidence that he had mattered to Hyomin; that he had been special enough to be allowed entry into her own private space.

How are you? Are the people there treating you well? Why don’t you call?

When Seunghyun had mustered the courage to call her a month after she left, there was only a mechanical voice telling him that the number was no longer in use. She had terminated her line, presumably because she had gotten a new one in Japan. But she had never bothered to tell any of them. Not even Seungri.

Gina had been hard to catch hold of too, bogged down with Youngbae’s comeback and Anri was equally secretive. Seungri had tried to whittle information from her but the sharp girl had remained tight-lipped about Hyomin. For one thing, Seunghyun was sure Hyomin had kept in touch with her girlfriends. Anri had visited her just last month and there had been an Instagram selca of them. Hyomin had been smiling with a pair of huge shades on but she looked like she had lost some weight again.

You can’t have forgotten about us already, right? Hyomin ah, I miss you.

Seungri emerged from sajangnim’s office with a thumping heart. He was to prepare for the Japan activities starting winter – to coincide with the Christmas and New Year’s season. Knowing how delicate his hyungs were right now, sajangnim had chosen to withhold all information on YGEX until absolutely necessary. Seungri will leave for Japan in two days’ time for a meeting with the YGEX team and receive all the orientation he will need.

“Hyomin will be bringing you around to meet all the producers. Just be warned – they do a lot of entertaining and drinking there. Steel your gut for it,” sajangnim had warned him.

Two days later, Seungri arrived in Japan quietly with his manager and stylist. A young man by the name of Ryuji had met with them at the airport and was now driving them to YGEX. He led them to the conference room where the team led by Takagi-san was waiting to welcome him. As excited as he was, Seungri soon noticed that Hyomin wasn’t in the room.

The meeting itself wasn’t until another 30 minutes and all the team members were eager to chat with Seungri. Having worked so hard in promoting Big Bang, they were naturally excited to see one of their “babies” in the flesh.

“We’ve just returned!” a cheery voice announced as the meeting room door burst opened. Seungri looked up to see a young dapper man stride in confidently. He held the door open for a lady to enter before shutting it behind her. “We got cakes for everyone! Saki-san, please get tea for everyone,” the lady said in a very familiar voice. Her Japanese was a little clipped – that was how Seungri confirmed that this was Hyomin. But he couldn’t get past the fact that she was all dressed up prettily and her voice had a far cuter ring to it than before.

“Hi Hyomin,” Seungri said as he went up to her. She smiled widely and he was glad to see that her facial expression was more relaxed and natural now. Her eyes betrayed some fatigue and she had lost weight but she looked more polished; too polished in fact. She had veiled herself.

“Hi Seungri, have you been well?” Seungri smiled softly to hear her speak comfortably in Hangul again. He thought he saw her lower lip tremble but he could have just imagined it.

“I have, can’t say the same for the hyungs,” he said deliberately. Hyomin pretended not to hear and he nudged her with his elbow. “Glad to see you’re doing well. Even your voice is younger and cuter when you speak in Japanese. Is there something in the water here that transformed you?”

Seungri felt bad when he saw Hyomin’s face threaten to crumble, but again, she was composed once again. My eyes need to be checked…

After the meeting, Seungri quickly went through his own mental notes on what he had observed:

• Ryuji is Hyomin’s personal manager--translator. He is younger than Hyomin and calls her “noona” when speaking in Hangul but calls her “Min-chan” like all the other guys in the team when conversing in Japanese. He was proficient in Japanese, Hangul and English – must be careful not to discuss personal things within his hearing range.
• Takagi-san, the team leader, seems to like engaging Hyomin in discussions to bounce off ideas. They may have differing opinions but they seem to be able to iron things out respectfully in the end. And they bicker/banter/argue in front of everyone on the team.
• All the other ladies either call Hyomin “Min-chan” – probably those older than her, while the rest will call her “Hyomin-san” – those younger than her probably. So those who call her “Hyomin-san” are also younger than me. Hmm…
• Scrape that last thought – I can already see Anri’s angry face!

Seungri snapped out from his little mental monologue when his manager tapped him on his shoulder. It was almost dinner time and he was going to meet some important people for dinner. The YGEX team was aiming to have Big Bang feature in a CF and they were meeting the company’s CEO and his team.

“Min-chan,” Takagi-san turned to Hyomin as they headed out to the waiting cars. “Call your mama-san, I think we’ll need their help tonight.” Seungri was proficient enough to understand what had just been said. He stared at Hyomin in surprise even as she pulled her phone out and started dialing.

All through dinner, Seungri noticed the changes in Hyomin:

• She never says no to alcohol – she is drinking far more than I had ever seen her drink back in Seoul.
• She flirts way too much and way too smoothly.  But I have to admit that she does it so subtly that only a person with the trained-eye, someone like me, can see through her little actions and choice of words.
• She has not adopted the cutesy tone that I hear many girls in Japan use – thank goodness!
• Seunghyun hyung and Jiyong hyung won’t like to see her this way. I’m sure.

Seungri pasted on his stage-smile as the dinner conversation flowed and alcohol kept getting poured down throats. As dinner came to an end, Takagi-san turned to Seungri. “We’re going for Round 2 but I know you must be really tired so go on back to the hotel. Min-chan and I can handle them.”

“Where will you be heading to?” Seungri asked, earning a quizzical look from Takagi-san. “We’re going to visit Min-chan’s friend’s shop.”

Seungri immediately guessed that it was the mamasan from their earlier conversation. He managed to get an OK to tag along, citing curiosity to see what the nightclubs in Japan were like. He was also taken aback when Takagi-san said the nightclub they were visiting was Hyomin’s “second home”. Although he had said it with a friendly laugh, Seungri could only guess what he was trying to say with that comment.

Seungri got even more worried when he saw Hyomin tottering unsteadily on her heels while playfully bantering with a red-faced CEO. Seungri wanted to follow Hyomin in the CEO’s car but Takagi-san was already bundling Seungri and his manager into their own car.

Hyomin ah, are you okay? What have you become?