_{Credit to: http://kaleidoscopek...s.blogspot.com/ | Made By: Orphey}

Chapter 3 - Running His Direction

A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be. 

~Douglas Pagels

 Her first day on the job was different than expected. She wasn’t working with the Hallyu stars, instead she was having a meeting with their manager, song writer, the director for their new music video and their company manager.

It was only a little nerve-wracking. The only benefit was Maiko was next to her the entire time, grinning like a fool, come to think of it Maiko hadn’t stopped grinning like a fool since she got runners up and Midori agreed to go live with her in the small but neat apartment.

‘First of all, we’d like to play you Tohoshinki’s new song so you have an idea of the style and then Eleyne here, the songwriter, will go through with you why she wrote it and the desired effect she wishes. After that Yoosu, the music video director, will go through the setting of the video and the style he’s looking for.

After that, they’re all yours to create an image that works and then you can explore around that image until they need a new one and so on. Sound good?’
Midori sat almost stunned, still unable to take it all in but Maiko nodded happily, squeezing the hand of her friend.

They watched the pretty foreigner stand, an almost timid approach about her as she walked over to turn on the music. The melodic strong voices of the five Hallyu stars weaved through the room and Midori found herself swept into the song. It certainly showcased their singing voices especially in the beginning until the beat came in with an acoustic guitar and strong drum beat.

She couldn’t put a face to the voices; she’d never head of them before. All she knew was they were apparently big in Korea but that wouldn’t get them anywhere in Japan. She did, however, pick out the lines of English in the song and the perfect harmonies. It was almost as if their voices were designed to go together and she could tell the blond across the room was thinking the same thing.

Then there was a voice that stood out to her, smooth but not as smooth as the others. The voice of a bass singer yet that same voice reached up and hit higher notes. That same voice appeared again in what wasn’t exactly a rap more a fill in. For some reason that voice was more appealing than the honey-covered voice or the one that hit the highest notes and made them sound easy, or the husky voice that reminded her or the man with long dark hair who looked like a flirt.

No, there was definitely something about that voice that stood out to her. Eventually though, the song came to a clean cut end and she found herself facing the blond again.

She was surprised to hear perfect Japanese spill from , ‘I want an almost romantic feel, that’s what I tried to show with the song. As if they’re in a beautiful manor in suits waiting for the person they’re supposably singing to.’

The director, Yoosu, peeped up, ‘That’s actually how I wanted to place it, in a large decorative house. In suits,’

Maiko suddenly clapped, ‘White suits, with the longer backing, like in the manga. That would look really good on them; they all have the right body figures.’

And idea started to form in Midori’s head, ‘And hats, the ones with black ribbons, if you get them to look almost like they are from a romantic novel or an manga they might capture a bit more attention, they certainly have the looks,’

‘They need to be able to dance,’ Midori waved away Yoosu’s concern, ‘easy,’ she said happily.

Just like that they started the planning and two days later Midori and Maiko found themselves with the other staff members ready to film, ‘Stay with me tonight,’

Their boss came to them early, all seriousness, ‘Midori you need to look after Yunho, Changmin and Yoochun. Maiko, you’re in charge of Jaejoong and Junsu, the clothes are all ready over on the racks, the designers followed your plans especially and they’re fitted to their member. Shows us why you won,’

Midori and Maiko flashed each other nervous looks before the later rushed over to the two boys she was in charge of. The previous nights the two had stayed up late memorizing faces, names, ages and voices. Though painstaking it had been worth it to be able to greet them each by name and see the smiles on their faces.

It was obvious they were nervous and scared to be in Japan, if nothing else they wanted to welcome them gently.

The blond, Eleyne, was always around chatting to them easily switching between languages and helping to explain situations to them. Midori was about halfway through Changmin’s make-up when she realized she probably needed to start studying Korean. Actually it wouldn’t be a bad idea since she became friends with a Korean girl on her last quick stop of at Korea when her father was making a business meeting. They’d only been there for 3 days but she’d run into a fiery Korean with long curly deep brown hair.

They’d be sending each other letters since, at the time she’d wanted to learn Korean but her father had refused, instead the letters were translated for her and she’d write a letter back in Japanese which was again translated and sent to the girl called Taeyeon.

Midori turned her attention back to the boy in front of her, Changmin. The kid was young yet held himself with a confidence and gosh but he had perfect skin. Scrape that, so did Yoochun. She envied them for that simple fact but she wanted to cut Yoochun’s hair, for some reason she felt he’d look better if it was shorter.

Still the make-up and hair was done quickly enough, even though a hat was about to ruin Yoochun’s it didn’t matter. Midori quickly glanced over at Maiko who was half-way through Junsu; she needed to pick up the pace.

She’d been ready to find Yunho when he suddenly appeared next to her, flashing a bright smile he said hello and a few other basic sentences in Japanese. The leader of the group, strong tall Jung Yunho, she wondered if he was fragile under that cover.

For now she put on her own smile, nerves creeping through her body as she began to style his hair and place make-up over his face. She noticed a scar that ran along his cheek but didn’t say anything, nor pointed it out. That wasn’t her place.

After all, everyone had scars. Some were visible, others not.

Not long after that they were dancing, the white suits they’d designed for them looks almost a little big but that was the style. They’d managed to get the longer backs they wanted to create a more, ‘prince’ feel and she had to admit they looked a lot like princes dancing with their song in the background.

At least it was having the desired effect.

Somewhere along the way the ‘manor’ turned into an airport. She didn’t quite understand how that happened but it worked. In the end she was pretty sure the fans would be looking at their faces rather than the almost cheap look the music video already seemed to be giving off.

For such talented artist you’d think the company would spend a little more money to promote them.

Midori let out a short sigh, guess not. But damn if Yunho didn’t catch her eye when he was dancing. Something about the long legs maybe or the way the suit seemed to just accent everything perfectly.

Yeah, Jung Yunho was getting under her skin and she didn’t like it. As soon as the dance sequence was finished she found herself redoing hair, placing the new outfits properly, helping Maiko with a slight wardrobe malfunction and then watching them shot the next part. Every time cut was called she and Midori would hurry up, dab away the sweet with clothes, reapply any make-up needed and do touch-ups on hair.

By the end she was drained and miserably tired but happy.

They’d bid there farewells, Yunho and the group had bowed deeply to them and, touched, she’d returned the gesture of respect. They certainly had the talent, the looks, the personalities and the friendship to become a big group, it just depended if the Japanese market would accept them.

Until then she’d be stuck with the strange feeling of butterflies in her stomach every time she stood close to Yunho or did his makeup. She’d probably have to keep facing the cute freckle on the upper left side of his lip and the steely gaze that put her ten feet underwater and sinking.

‘Hey girls, the staff are all going out for drinks for a job well done, you two free?’

Midori’s eyes lit up, she’d never been out for drinks, never even had alcohol other than a light wine or rice wine, her father’s favourite. She turned eager eyes to Maiko who was thinking about it. The older girl turned when she saw the flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye, confusion ran over her face.

‘What?’ she said with a small smile on her face, ‘You look like a kitten, so cute,’ a hand reached out a pinched Midori’s cheek.

‘I’ve never been drinking,’

Maiko stared at her for a moment before laughter escaped, ‘never? Not one?’ Midori shook her head regretfully, ‘Ok we’ll go, I need to watch you, if you’re any cuter than you already are drunk the boys will be doomed,’

Midori practically squealed, wrapping her friend into a hug. The director chucked beside them, ‘must be hard being rich,’ he muttered as he walked away.

The mood fell instantely, Midori pulling back to straighten her hair into place before reaching down to pick up her oversized bag, ‘Ignore him, he’s jealous you gave me a hug instead of him,’ Maiko joked, poking Midori in the side, ‘Listen sweety, you only have one life and sometimes even that’s too short. If I’m correct in my thinking that father of yours will only have given you a set amount of time so stay positive though the entire thing ok? Otherwise you’ll regret it when it’s all snatched back from you again,’

Shock shifted through Midori, was she that readable? Maiko smiled in sympathy and grabbed her friend’s hand, ‘Let’s go get drunk,’

‘Right,’ the pretty Japanese whispered, followed her friend. They were put into the second van and followed the boys to van until they arrived at a slightly secluded restaurant. Not many people knew them yet so they weren’t really concerned with fans or autographs. Midori suddenly wondered how it felt to be so famous just across the ocean but so normal here.

Midori’s eyes slipped to the almost upset looks of the boys, it probably . Yunho suddenly turned, eyes clashing with hers. A smile slowly slid over his face, one hand lifting to wave at her.

His face fell when she didn’t return it, but it wasn’t because she didn’t like him. She didn’t wave back because her heart had just scrambled to a much faster pace, her stomach had begun to flutter and she was sure an electric shock from the ground had travelled up and down her spine.

The only thing that shocked her back into existence was the whack on her back, ‘Wave back idiot, he’s hot,’ Maiko whispered.

By the time Midori turned back to Yunho he’d turned away and was settling down with s, a slight down tilt to the wide shoulders.

Somehow she found herself next to Yunho and feeling very awkward. The five members were chatting in Korean; Eleyne sitting across from her would say something every now and then.

There was something about the way the blond looked at Yoochun that made her curious but it wasn’t her business. That didn’t mean she couldn’t look at them sharing shy smiles and think they’d be adorable together though.

Suddenly the blond turned her attention to Midori, Maiko was currently flirting with a cute lights assistant. ‘It was your first day today wasn’t it?’

Midori blinked but nodded, trying to ignore the eyes on her. Eleyne said something in Korean that made her eyes widen even more, was she suppose to know what that meant?

Eleyne chuckled, ‘It means congratulations,’ Eleyne said, holding up a short of alcohol. Midori smiled softly, lifting her own class to clink with the blonds.

‘Thanks, I love the song,’

A huge smile slipped over Eleyne’s face and she quickly gushed something in Korean to the boys who were suddenly saying thank you in awkward Japanese to her.

She figured Eleyne had relayed the message and quickly stopped their thanks, a happy smile over her face that they were looking a bit more uplifted. Yunho’s arm was suddenly moving, his hand reaching out for the alcohol as he poured another dose in her glass, said something to Eleyne and held up his own glass, eyes sparkling at her.

‘He wants to be friends,’ Eleyne said, a small smile playing over her lips, ‘he said if you accept to down the shot with him.’

‘Oh,’ nervous her eyes flashed back to him. Did she want to be friends? Did she want to set herself up for heartbreak when the sand time of her freedom tinkled to an end?

No, but when she looked into those eyes full of nervous hope and a tenderness she wouldn’t have expected in someone who held himself so perfectly she was willing to let this chance in her life appear, willing to let herself ignore the fear in her heart.

Even if it meant that one day in the distance future she’d lose his friendship. She’d risk it to be able to see this complete stranger smiling and happy, to have this complete stranger near her.

Because, even though it scared her, he made her comfortable by just sitting next to her and when he smiled, even though it gave her butterflies and made her heart beat too fast and her head flush she felt like nothing else mattered.

She lifted her glass and with a smile she hadn’t been able to give anyone in so many years, she clinked glasses with him and downed the shot.

And even though fear bubbled in her stomach the smile he flashed her made everything ok.

Replies;

kprincess1995;
Aww I'm so glad. :] I hope you continue to enjoy it!! Expert? Me? haha, never, wannabe maybe :P Thanks for all the support!