Chapter Fourteen
Just Be Yourself
JBY - 14: Fan-signing
The Unflawless girls, Bella and Benny arrived at Beaverton shopping mall early in the morning. Already, they could see and hear the crowd of fangirls that had gathered.
"So many people!" Claustrophobic Ellie complained as she tugged her hoodie around her face.
Scarlett placed a hand on Ellie's shoulder and she jumped slightly. "Everything will be okay," the older reassured.
The younger could only smile weakly back.
"Over there!" Bella yelled pointing towards the door that said, 'Staff Only'.
The girls did a double take. "That's only for staff!" Gigi shouted over the annoying squeals of the crowd.
"What are you talking about?" Bella smirked as she and Benny pulled out identification cards. "We are staff."
"H-How did you?" Jennifer gaped.
Bella explained, "Benny's a martial artist who can speak both Korean and English. Who'd make a better bodyguard?"
"Ah..." The girls nodded in understanding.
"And I... Why do you think that Teen Top would come here on such short notice?" asked Bella.
"Oh my god, you did not!" Wendy stared in amazement.
Bella flipped her hair to the side. "Oh yes, I did."
-
The ten of them was ushered into the staff rooms and Bella took in a deep breath. "Are you guys ready?" The girls nodded and Benny led Scarlett and Patricia away.
"Amy and Gigi, follow me," Bella instructed. "The rest of you...you know what to do."
-
Scarlett and Patricia stood in line with hundreds of other fangirls, waiting to meet Teen Top. They could see Benny wearily asking the girls which member they wanted to meet and telling them to either wait or go ahead. It looked like a boring job.
-
Wendy and Jennifer huffed as the hauled the massive gift into the room.
"My back, my back," Jennifer whined as she rubbed her sore backside.
Wendy sighed. "I know right. I thought we were only pretending to work."
"You know Bella. Everything has to be believable."
"Wendy, get some water!" another staff member yelled.
The young girl quickly yelled back a "Okay!" before scurrying off. The two were currently in the makeshift tent of Teen Top's fansigning because Bella had gotten them to work there.
Jennifer sighed. "This better be worth it."
-
Bella led the two girls into a room. "Where are we?" Amy asked.
Bella replied, "In the main sound system room."
"Why?" Amy asked again.
"Who do you think will play the song?" Bella retorted.
Gigi nodded. "Oh, okay."
Bella passed the MP3 Player to the girls. "Keep your phone on standby. As soon as I call, play the song then run down. Understand?"
The two girls saluted. "Understood!"
The older girl laughed and rolled out of the room. "Oh."
"Yeah?" Gigi said while fiddling with the MP3 Player.
"Good luck."
Amy laughed. "Luck is my middle name."
"Not it isn't," Gigi deadpanned. "It's Diana."
-
Scarlett and Patricia reached the end of the line.
Benny's eyes brightened. "You girls ready?" He wriggled his eyebrows.
Bella, who had just arrived, lightly slapped him. "Benny, act your job!"
"Right, right." He cleared his throat and asked, "Which of the Teen Top members do you want to meet?"
"Who do you think we should meet?" Scarlett asked Bella, leaning forward slightly.
"Attack the centre...so Ricky and L.Joe," the older girl analysed and replied.
The two dancers nodded. "I'll go with L.Joe then!" Patricia squealed.
"Ricky for me." Scarlett smiled slightly.
"Okay, uh..." Benny looked back at the idols and found L.Joe busy. "Scar, you can go to Ricky first. Pat, you'll have to wait. As soon as that fan is gone, you can go."
"I'll call Amy and Gigi," Bella announced.
Scarlett nodded and did a 'fighting' sign with her fist before walking up to Ricky. Ricky looked up at smiled at Scarlett and she smiled back. Surprising him, she spoke in Korean albeit rusty. "Oppa, sign this for me, yes?"
"Sure! What is your name?" he responded.
"Scarlett. Seu-kah-rye-teu," she sounded out phonetically.
Ricky nodded. "Ah. Thank you."
Scarlett waited while Ricky signed the album.
"Are you thirsty?" Ricky suddenly asked.
Scarlett shook her head. "No..."
"Your voice is croaky. I'll get you some," the boy insisted. "The new recruits aren't doing much anyway."
"Here's the water you asked for before, sunbae. Sorry for the delay." A small girl scurried up to him and handed the bottle.
Ricky smiled. "Thank you..."
"Wendy," the girl offered.
"Thank you Wendy, but could you get one for my fan here?"
"Of course," she chirped and looked up to see Scarlett, who looked like she was going to burst into laughter any moment now.
Wendy disappeared behind the curtains and came back a while after. "Here you go," she said in English as she handed Scarlett the bottle. "He's right, your voice is a bit croaky. Don't practice too hard."
Scarlett scoffed. "Thanks for the drink, Wendy."
"No problem Scar."
Ricky, who couldn't understand English, was puzzled at their exchange. "What did Wendy-sshi say?" he asked after Scarlett took a swig of the water.
"Oh, she just said that speaking in English was easier for her."
L.Joe raised a brow. He was sitting next to Ricky and heard what the two girls had said. Though he was only just barely able to comprehend it, he knew that it wasn't whatever Scarlett had said it was about.
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