Chapter 4 - "Growl"
February 15th, 2014 - Saturday - 9:15AM

“Appa, I’m leaving for work now!” I hollered as I walked out of the kitchen. He looked up from the register and nodded, “Arraso.” He calmly replied back.
Trying to be as sneaky as I could, I remained calm so that I could leave the shop without having my father notice my bandaged hand. If he had seen that I was injured, then he would definitely have a word with me about how I should be more careful, and how I don’t need this job, and blah blah blah- just a bunch of talk that I didn’t want to hear again. I know he cares about me a lot, but sometimes I feel as though he cares too much and it can get irritating at times. I just want him to realize that I am becoming a grown woman of age, and that I can take care of myself. In my opinion, I’ve been doing fine growing up without a mother figure my whole life, so what’s the difference now? It’s not like I needed a ‘woman’ talk, so there was no need to baby me anymore.
“Yah. Nam Na Young.” His voice was so strongly projected across the restaurant that it was frightening to turn away from it. My father is usually the type of parent that is laid back and always smiling, but when it comes to his beliefs and something that he cares about, it’s serious. “이리와. ( ili-hwa ; come here/come on )”
I groaned and rolled my eyes, knowing that he had already seen it. “아빠~ ( appa ; Dad )” I whined, “It’s nothing serious, okay? 난 괜찮아. ( nan gwaenchanha ; I’m fine )” I tried to convince him as I made my way over to his side.
Not a single word came out of his mouth as he simply picked up my right hand and inspected it all around. His old face became even more wrinkled as he squinted his eyes to examine it properly. “Did you clean it up well? Did you disinfect it properly? How did this happen? Was it while you were working? Did you get help when it happened?” The questions came rolling off his tongue as fast as a cheetah that was running. I sighed and pulled my hand away, “예 ( ye ; yes ), now if you will allow me to go to work now, I will be on my way-”
“아니, 앉아. ( ani, anja ; no, sit down )” He demanded as he pulled out one of the chairs from the table. I heavily sighed once again, and plopped myself onto the chair showing no interest in the conversation at all. “아빠( appa ; Dad ), it really isn’t a big deal.”
“Did someone at that damn music place at least have the heart to help you out when it happened?” He asked as he took a seat across from me. He also had the same hatred towards SM Ent. because he always reads news articles about  how the company treats their artists and trainees, and also how the idols are always full of themselves and think that they’re better than normal civilians. In fact, he thinks that all the entertainment companies are a bad influence in the society due to all the rumors and articles that get spread around in the newspapers and TV.
Except for one. - YG Entertainment.
The only reason why, is because my father is a die-hard fan-boy of G-Dragon. He’s always talking about how he’s such an inspirational person to the young people in our country for being independent and doing things outside of the box, and he admires the fact that he’s a true artist and not an idol. I guess I could agree with him, but I’m not much of a fan-girl myself, so having my father talk about him more than me is quite embarrassing especially when he talks about him with my friends.
“예 ( ye ; yes ), okay? Are we done here?” I asked.
His eyebrows perked up in surprise, “정말? ( jeongmal ; really? ) 누구? ( nugu ; who?)”
“No one, just someone else that works there.” I lied. I didn’t want to tell him that it was actually one of the idols from the company, because then he would just say something like ‘Aishh... it’s just an act, don’t talk to people like him. He’s doing it for his image.’ or ‘Eh? Idol? No way..’ and then he would continue on ranting about how he despises the company, etc. etc. etc.
“Did they help you get proper first-aid?” He continued to ask the questions.
“예 ( ye ; yes ), he disinfected it and wrapped it for me right after it happened.” I replied with a dull tone, but then instantly regretted it because I realized that I had let the word ‘he’ slip out of my mouth.
“He? 남자? ( namja ; man/men? )” His voice of tone suddenly changed to an excited and surprised 10-year-old boy.
“Aish...” I mumbled to myself as I pinched the bridge of my nose with regret.
“Was he handsome? Was he a gentleman? Did he treat you well? Did he assure your comfort? Did he-” Here we go again with the questions rolling off his tongue.
“아빠! ( appa ; Dad! )” I yelled to cut off his never-ending questions.
“What? I was just wondering. You know, you’ll become a woman soon, and you’re going to have to get married and-”
“난 떠날거야! (nan tteon-al-geoya! ; I’m leaving!)” I waved to him as I got up and left the shop without answering any of his questions.
How can a father be so interested in getting his only daughter a husband already?!
 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After having to escape my father’s war-of-questions, I finally arrived to work just in time. As I checked in and changed into my uniform, I immediately jumped into action with my work. It was the usual taking out the trash and sweeping hallways type of job, which was an easy task for me to do so I didn’t complain.
As I was sweeping up the hallway to the practice rooms, I noticed a simple silver bracelet on the ground. Being the curious cat that I was, I picked it up and held it towards the light. Tilting my head, my mouth gaped open and my eyes widened. It was so simple, yet so beautiful to admire. It would take me forever to save up money to buy a simple sparkling bracelet like this one.

“야아! 당신은 뭐하는거야? (Yah! dangsin-eun mwo-haneun-geoya? ; Yah! What are you doing?)”
Turning my head to the end of the hall, there was an angry female stomping her way over in my direction. Once she got closer, I noticed her facial features and it was none other than f(x)’s Krystal Jung. Once she was right in front of me, the first thing she did was snatch the silver band out of my hand, and it was followed by a unpleasant glare. Her eyes then scanned my figure and she looked back into my eyes with burning fire.
“No wonder why you took my bracelet.” she scoffed and rolled her eyes.
I blinked and looked right back at her, “Excuse me?”
“It’s obvious to why you took my bracelet, right? Just because you needed money, doesn’t mean you can go around stealing things from people- especially in a place like this.” she kept the tone of her voice strong and confident, “Who do you think you are? Did you think that if you got a job here you would be able to go around and take things from the idols, so that you could sell the things online? 미쳤어?! (michyeoss-so?! ; Are you crazy?!)”
I was appalled by the fact that she was framing me for ‘stealing’, but after her assumptions of to why I was working here made me want to do violent things to her. She had no idea who I was, yet here she is judging me right on the spot.
“Excuse me, but you should be thankful that I found your bracelet on the ground instead of someone else.” I calmly replied to her rude words.
“Yah!--”
She was cut off by the sound of one of the practice room’s door opening. Both of our heads turned to the side to see who it was, and we were surprised to whom was there.
“Oh! Krystal Sunbae-nim.” He bowed with a grin smeared on his face. My eyes widened, and I looked away trying to avoid as much eye contact as I could.
Her persona suddenly changed in a split second and she let out a laugh, “Chanyeol oppa, how many times do I have to tell you? There’s no need with the formalities.” She waved her hand.
He shyly chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, “Sorry. I just thought I should use them because your friend was here..”
“I am definitely NOT friends with this girl.” She crossed her arms and glared at me from the side. I rolled my eyes and looked away from her and Chanyeol so that I could avoid as much socialization as possible.
But it looks like it didn’t work.
“Oh! I remember you! Na Young-shhi!” He happily cheered as he craned his head around to get a good look at my face. My eyes almost popped out of my sockets when his face came dangerously close to mine, and so I took two steps back and away from him.
“You know her?” Krystal asked him with disgust.
“Yeah, I met her the other day before the party for EXO. She works here in this building, you know.” He boldly smiled, and I just stood there awkwardly as they continued to talk about me.
“Well, I would be careful are her. She’s dangerous.” She dirtily spat as she looked away.
He was surprised by her actions and asked calmly, “Yah.. Soojung-ah. Why are you saying such things?”
“Because.” She simply answered. “그건 그냥... (geugeon geun-yang ; It’s just...) nevermind. 난 떠날거야. (nan tteonal-geoya ; I’m leaving.)”
Her sneakers squeaked as she turned and walked away, and I heard Chanyeol whisper something to himself by the side.
I watched as she walked away, with her chin up high and her tight grip on the shiny silver bracelet in her hand. I secretly envied her because she had everything a girl could possibly want. A perfect body, a strong personality, and confidence- which was nothing near from what I had. If anything, I had everything opposite of what she had.
“I’m sorry about that.” His deep voice loudly rang in my ear, and I forgot that he was standing next to me. “Sometimes Krystal can get a little cranky and mean when she’s had a tiring day.” He tried to explain to me.
I raised my eyebrows and shook my head, “I’m guessing today was one of them..” I mumbled.
As I continued to sweep the remaining dust that was left on the floor from before the while bracelet incident, I was stopped by his hand. His large hand was wrapped around mine, which was wrapped around the small broom stick. The size difference was unbelievable, but I wasn’t shocked by that. I was shocked by the sudden skinship, and so I looked up into his eyes with surprise written all over my face. He just continued smiling, without even thinking about the skinship and I saw excitement run through him. “Na Young-shhi, I just wanted to say something to you from yesterday, but I forgot it at the time.”
I just continued to look at him as a sign for him to continue on with his sentence, but we just ended up staring at each other. “Well?” I finally broke the silence after being tired of waiting.
“Oh! Uh....uh... thank..you?” His statement ended up sounding more like a question and I just gave him a look. He nervously laughed and scratched the back of his head, “For taking care of our building. I really appreciate it.” He let out a nervous chuckle and his voice was disappearing into thin air.
“It is my job, but you’re welcome?” I quietly responded.
“Aishh.. this isn’t working.” He slapped himself on the forehead.
“What-”
“Look, I just wanted another reason to talk to you so... I made that up.” He honestly answered with a dumb expression and I couldn’t help but find his stupid-ness funny.
I let out a soft giggle and his head snapped over to look at me with surprise, “W-what? Is it that stupid?”
“아니, 아니! (Ani, ani! ; No, no!)” I waved my hand as I spoke in between my soft laughs. “그것은했다 귀여운. (geugeos-eunhaessda gwiyeoun; It was cute.)”
“정말?! (Jeong-mal ; Really?!) Ahh, that’s a relief.” He chuckled. “Looking at the staff here, I just thought I should try to become friends with you because you seemed so young, and you must be tired of working around people who are a lot older than you.” He seemed genuine, and I was honestly surprised by this warmth and attempt to try to be nice. I thought that all of the artists here only cared about themselves, but I guess there was some actual humanity in this building. But I couldn’t just let my guard down so easily just yet.
I slowly nodded, “Ah..고마워. (Gomawo ; Thanks)” I played a small smile on my lips to show my gratitude.
“Soo.. you wouldn’t mind trying to become friends, right? I love making new friends!” He happily grinned. I hesitated at first, but then nodded my head, “I don’t really like meeting new people since I’m awkward about it.. but I guess it wouldn't hurt..”
He loudly clapped with his hands, which made an echoing sound travel down the halls. “O.K! 가자, 새로운 친구! (Gaja, saeloun chingu! ; Let’s go, new friend!) I want you to meet a few friends of my own.” He grabbed my wrist before I could reject, and I dropped the broom in the middle of the hallway.
He dragged me into the room he previously just exited out of and inside was a random song playing while the room was full of other guys. A few guys were dancing, a few were playing a game, two people were on their phones, and one guy was just relaxing on the couch with his legs spread out as he was taking a nap.
“요, 얘들 아! (yo, yaedeul-a! ; Yo, guys!)”  Chanyeol’s voice was deep and loud enough to hear over all of the ruckus that was going on in the room, and everyone stopped at different times.
I wanted to leave the room because I wasn’t very good with meeting new people, but Chanyeol’s grip on my wrist was so tight that I could almost feel the circulation of my blood clotting up. I tried yanking out my hand from his grasp before everyone walked over, but he just wouldn’t budge.
“Yah!” I silently cursed up at him. He looked down at me and just continued smiling that stupid smile of his. “Don’t worry, they’re really nice. Everything will be fine.” He whispered back to me.
And just before I knew it, there were 11 boys standing in front of me, giving me awkward looks because they didn’t have a single clue to who I was. Here we go again with the whole ‘staring at me like I’m some newborn-panda-lizard-alien.’ situation.
“Everyone, I would just like to introduce to you my new friend. Her name is Nam Na Young, and she actually works here in the SM building! She doesn't have anyone to talk to here, so be nice!”
‘Thank you Chanyeol, for making me sound like a complete loser.’
I took a quick scan of all their faces from right to left, and one face in particular came into sight.

My eyes slightly widened to the soft stare that was being given to me, and I felt like I wanted to run and hide into the darkest pathways of the tropic jungles. It had slipped out of my mind about how I had ran into another EXO member yesterday, and how he saw me in tears because I let some stupid girl take advantage of me. He had saw me at one of my breaking points, and I didn’t like it when people saw the weak side of me.

“It’s nice to see you again, Na Young-shhi.” He smiled as he stepped forward.
Tao snapped his fingers together and pointed one at me, “Oh! I remember you!” Sehun smacked his hand down and whispered in his ear, “Yah! It’s not polite to point.”
“Oh- 죄송합니다. (joesonghabnida ; Sorry.)” He bowed politely.
“Sorry about that. Some of our members are Chinese, so they aren’t used to the manners used here.” Kris stepped over next to Tao.
I shook my head, “아니, 괜찮아. (Ani, gwenchana; No, it’s okay.)”
“You’ve heard of EXO before, right Na Young?” Chanyeol turned his head to look at me.
I could feel all 12 stares looking straight into my soul, and it was quite nerve-wrecking to be honest.
“예. (Ye ; Yes) My dongsaeng really loves you guys.” I shook my head, as I tried to sound as stable as possible.
It’s not that I was nervous around them because they were a famous idol group- I was nervous because I don’t do very well when I’m meeting new people, and also when the attention is on me I tend to get a little shaky and lost with words. Remembering that they were idols that worked at SM, I didn’t want to become associated with them at all. But here I am in a room with all 12 members, and with questions being thrown at me. I hated all of the attention, and I just wanted to get out as soon as possible. Plus- I have to admit that they were slightly good looking, and I didn’t want those thoughts to wander around in my head for any longer.
“So that means you’ve listened to our music before?” Baekhyun cheerfully perked up.
“Ah... I’ve heard a little bit of one song, but that was it. 죄송합니다. (joesonghabnida ; Sorry.)” I replied.
Even though I don’t like most idol groups, it doesn’t mean that I live in a hole. I’ve liked most songs overall, but I usually listen to smaller and unknown groups that aren’t very popular in the industry. I also listen to western music because it has a different tone of music to the usual idol-pop music that’s popular around here these days. All those classes of English paid off because being fluent in English helps a lot.
“Bwoh?! 진짜?! (Jin-ja ; For real?!)” Baekhyun scoffed with surprise.
“So you’re telling me that you’re a Korean high school girl who has never heard a full song of EXO?” Tao crossed his arms with disbelief.
“Yah!” Tao’s arm got hit again, but this time it was by Kai. “Not everyone is the same, 바보. (Pabo ; Stupid)”
Tao gave him a dirty glare and rubbed his arm, “You’re the pabo here!” He pouted at him.
“He’s one of the Chinese members if you haven’t noticed..” Chanyeol whispered to the side.
“Yah, stop fighting you guys, we have a guest here!” Luhan scolded them, but the tone of his voice was too soft that it didn’t seem too serious.
“It’s not my fault everyone keeps on hitting m-” Tao was cut off by the leader’s powerful voice.
“ANYWAYS- you shouldn’t be sorry Na Young-sshi, we don’t expect everyone in the world to know about EXO. It’s not your fault.” Suho shrugged his shoulders as he let out a small chuckle.
“We’re also sorry that the younger members are being a bit obnoxious today at our first meeting. I hope it doesn’t affect your thoughts and opinions on our group.. they can be the most annoying brats at the worst times.” Xiumin explained as he rolled his eyes at them.
“Brats?! Yah, hyung! Who are you calling brats?! It was all Tao’s fault!” Sehun yelled from the other side of the room.
“You’re just all annoying to me...” D.O. whispered to himself, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear.
I bit the inside of my cheek to hold in my laughter at his comment as all their heads snapped to look at him.
“Yah, D.O. you’re so mean sometimes!” Chen slapped his arm as the other members just laughed.
“SO-” Chanyeol clapped his hands together, “Since Na Young has probably never seen an EXO performance, why don’t we give her an exclusive dance performance right now while we’re practicing?” He suggested as he looked at the rest of the members.
“I think that’s a good idea. We can do this one last dance, and I think we’ll be done for practice for today.” Suho agreed.
“You heard that folks? Leader said so- 가자! (gaja ; let’s go!)” Chanyeol threw a fist up in the air as he walked over to the middle of the room.
I was hesitant to the idea of staying, so I tried to find a reasonable excuse to leave. “Um, I don’t know.. I should really get back to work and-”
“Don’t worry about it. It will only take a few minutes, Na Young-sshi.” Suho placed a hand on my shoulder as he led me to a chair that was placed in front of the mirror.
“But I-”
He laughed and pushed me down into the seat, “You worry too much.” He stopped talking for a second and remained standing as he bent over to look at me straight in the eyes. I could feel his stare burning into my eyes, and I finally looked up. This was the first time we had made eye contact ever since our meeting from yesterday, and I felt that weird and unwanted feeling at the pit of my stomach again. That same exact feeling that went through me yesterday when I first looked at him.
‘Are you stupid?! STOP RIGHT NOW. Stop having weird thoughts! You’re just not feeling well right now, Na Young, that’s all.’
“I..I just don’t want to get caught not doing my job, that’s all..” I kept my eyes looking straight, which was right where Suho’s eyes were. His mouth formed a straight line, but his soft eyes glistened with curiosity and wonder. We remained like this for a few more silent seconds before he smiled once again and stood up straight.

“귀엽다. (Gwiyeobda ; Cute.)” He said aloud before walking away to the rest of the group.

I sat there with confusion as I watched them prepare for the dance. I was debating on whether or not if I should really stay and watch, or if I should just get up and leave. But I thought that it would be rude to just leave if they were already preparing, so I felt like I didn’t really have another choice but to watch. Why were they being so nice to me? I thought people like them didn't associate with people like me. We were from different worlds, we weren't supposed to be associated with each other. If my father had found out about this, he would 100% be against it (Unless it was GD).
I had mixed emotions running through my head as I kept an eye on the group as they were getting in positions (mainly Suho), but that was soon innterrupted by the loud booming sound of their latest hit, “Growl”.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Yay! Another update- FINALLY. 
Sorry I haven't been posting... again. -_- 
I just haven't had much motivation lately,
but I think this is my longest chapter so far, so I'm pretty satisfied with it! 
I'm thinking about adding other POV's again soon, so please stay tuned! 
Comment & subscribe! 
Thank you!!! xoxoxoxox