[September 4th: Tokyo, Japan 09:00 AM]

 

“Hold on a minute,” called out Jaejoong as he shuffled quickly to the hotel room door.

 

After a long flight, and very few hours of sleep, he was already slightly irritated and now someone was beating on his door at an ungodly hour.

 

“I’m coming!” yelled Jaejoong frustratingly as the knocking continued.

 

Reaching the door in almost a state of pure anger, he grabbed the door handle and snatched it open to find a very young Japanese man –dressed in a dark blue suit and gold-rimmed glasses- smiling back at him.

 

“Can I help you?” grumbled Jaejoong.

 

“Mr. Kim?” questioned the man with a smile. “Good Morning. I’m Watanabe Akio.”

 

“And?” questioned Jaejoong, sounding ruder than he really wanted to.

 

“So to disturb you, Sir,” apologized the young man. “But the Director assigned me to be your liaison while you’re in Japan.”

 

“This isn’t my first time in Japan, you know?” scoffed Jaejoong unbelievingly.

 

“We are very aware of that, Sir,” replied Akio. “But our Founder prefers that all guest of the company have a personal liaison during any negotiations.”

 

“May I come in?” he questioned curiously as he flashed his company badge.

 

“Yeah, sure,” replied Jaejoong as he stepped aside and let the young man enter.

 

“So what exactly are your duties?” questioned Jaejoong, his mood finally calming, as he closed the door behind him.

 

“Translator, tour guide, gopher, driver, legal council, personal assistant, manager, work-out partner, bodyguard…” rattled off Akio as he walked further and further into Jaejoong’s hotel room. “Anything you need.”

 

“Bodyguard?” scoffed Jaejoong amusedly as he looked at Akio’s thin, lithe frame “Really?”

 

“Don’t let my looks fool you,” chuckled Akio. “I’m pretty tough.”

 

“So,” sighed Jaejoong as he walked to the small kitchenette and started to make a pot of coffee. “Since you’re here, I assume that I have some sort of schedule?”

 

“Well…” answered Akio. “Yes, and no.”

 

“Meaning?” prompted Jaejoong as he the tap and filled the decanter.

 

“I was instructed to take you sightseeing this morning,” he informed. “At the Founder’s behest.”

 

“Sightseeing?” laughed Jaejoong. “Why sightseeing?”

 

“Our Lady believes that no matter how many times a client has visited Japan, that they’ve never seen all there is to offer here,” he explained with a smile. “She loves Japan and wants to share it with the world one person at a time.”

 

“Your Founder sounds very idealistic,” scoffed Jaejoong as he flipped the switch on the coffee maker.

 

“I guess you could say she is…” countered Akio. “But she’s also a realist too.”

 

“How so?” prompted Jaejoong, turning towards Akio and shaking an empty coffee cup at him –silently asking him if he wanted some too.

 

“Yes, please,” nodded Akio with a smile before he continued. “Our Founder has spent the last fifteen years working with artists one on one. She has seen and experienced both sides of the music industry, the good and the bad, and knows how tedious this industry can be for people on an individual level –on a personal level."

 

"So, when she founded Haze media in 2009 she adopted and implemented a personal growth aspect to her business strategy.”

 

“When you are a guest of Haze Media, you are not only expected to work hard but play hard as well,” he concluded with a smile. “It’s not all about boring meetings, business dinners, and contract negotiations. She wants all our clients to have a great experience while in Japan and have some fun along the way.”

 

“That’s a very unique perspective to have in the music business,” observed Jaejoong nonchalantly as the coffee maker finally stopped gurgling. “Not many companies care for something other than their bottom line.”

 

“Our bottom line is important, of course,” replied Akio. “But, for her, it’s not our priority. It’s about building long-lasting and trustworthy professional and personal relationships with our clients. We want them to feel like family because to us that’s what they are. Family.”

 

She sounds like Noona. thought Jaejoong with a smile.

 

“Your founder sounds like a very lovely and good-hearted person,” said Jaejoong with an almost unbelieving smile as he poured two cups of coffee. “Do you want cream and sugar?”

 

“Just sugar,” replied Akio.

 

A few minutes passed, and after finishing with the coffee, Jaejoong strolled into the living area. Handing Akio his cup, he sat down on the plush sofa with a smile.

 

“So,” he prompted after taking a sip. “When will I get to meet such a great lady?”

 

“Tomorrow night,” answered Akio. “After your meeting with the Director.”

 

“I won’t be meeting them both at the same time?” questioned Jaejoong a little confused. President Baek made their meeting sound like a big affair with company investors and stockholders.

 

“You will have a preliminary meeting with Director Choi first,” informed the young man. “And afterward you will have a private meeting, one on one, with our Lady N.”

 

“Lady N?” slightly scoffed Jaejoong with a tinge of disappointment lacing his words.

 

“What?” questioned Akio, knowing full well Jaejoong’s frustration without him really needing to ask.

 

“What’s her deal?” questioned Jaejoong. “Why does she go by Lady N? How come no one, not even her closest associates, knows her real name? Is it true that no one has ever seen her face?”

 

“Been doing some research on her, I see?” chuckled Akio, slightly amused.

 

“A little,” admitted Jaejoong.

 

“Well…I can’t dare to say why she does the things she does,” answered Akio. “I’m sure she has her reasons for being so mysterious, but even so that doesn’t have anything to do –or affect- how she treats others both professionally and personally.”

 

“So you don’t know why she never shows her face in public, or why no one knows her real name?” questioned Jaejoong disbelievingly.

 

“Once you meet her,” Akio advised dismissively. “Those questions swimming around in your head will no longer matter.”

 

“How do you know that?” asked Jaejoong suspiciously.

 

“You’ll see,” chuckled Akio as he took another sip of his coffee.

 

 

 

 

[September 4th: Tokyo Japan 10:15 AM]

 

“He’s late,” grumbled Yunho as he turned to look at the young Japanese man sitting beside him.

 

“Director Choi will be here any minute,” reassured his personal assistant and liaison, Nagata Daisuke, as he glanced down at the text message on his phone. “His earlier meeting ran a bit long.”

 

“Tell me again why I have to do this preliminary meeting again?” questioned Yunho. “I mean… if these primary meetings are just for vetting us before I meet the Founder, haven’t I done enough already?”

 

“Your past meetings have all been about your upcoming promotions and more focused on the group’s PR issues,” informed Daisuke.  “This meeting is for something completely different.”

 

“Just look at it as,” he advised. “A pep-talk of sorts. There are a few things you just need to know before you meet her in person.”

 

“I still don’t understand why Nini couldn’t come to these meetings with me,” sighed Yunho. “I mean, why was the company so adamant that I come to Japan alone?”

 

“She has her work as do you,” replied Daisuke as the sound of the office door opening echoed through the room.

 

Immediately standing and bowing in respect to the Director, Yunho smiled as the man that he had come to trust over the last few months walked into the room, dressed in a black Armani suit and matching wingtips.

 

“Director,” bowed Daisuke. “Good morning.”

 

“Good morning,” replied Director Choi as he walked to his desk and turned to Yunho. “I do apologize for my lateness, Yunho. We had a rather vigorous debate over a particularly new marketing strategy and the meeting ran long. I hope you weren’t too put out.”

 

“It’s alright,” replied Yunho with a smile. “It happens.”

 

“So,” started Director Choi as he motioned for the two men to have a seat and he took his own behind his large, very tidy, desk. “We’re here to discuss our Founder and prep you for your meeting with her.”

 

“You must be quite excited to be meeting her for the first time?” the Director prompted.

 

“Sort of,” answered Yunho hesitantly. “To be honest, all this cloak and dagger stuff regarding her is a little intimidating.”

 

“Cloak and Dagger?” chuckled Director Choi, amused at Yunho’s choice of words. “Well…I’m afraid it’s quite necessary.”

 

“Why?” questioned Yunho curiously.

 

“Our Lady, while a legend in the music industry, it really a very private person,” answered the Director. “And not one to trust just anyone.”

 

“So, I take it that you, at least, she trust then?” questioned Yunho suspiciously.

 

“I am one of a very few,” he admitted. “That’s why it’s my responsibility to, for lack of a better word, screen anyone wanting or needing to meet with her in person.”

 

“Why is she so secretive, though?” questioned Yunho. “I mean, she lives her professional life around celebrities and idols, yet she practically hides from the public world.”

 

“Well…” sighed the Director before suddenly looking at Daisuke and dismissing him with a wave.

 

Understanding his boss’s order instinctively, Daisuke stood up and bowed in respect before immediately excusing himself and leaving the room.

 

“N,” he began again as the office door closed with a gentle click. “Believes too strongly that the world will think less of her, the more they find out about her. She believes, as many of her nationality does, that there is no place in Asia for a person like her. And, because of it, she hides the way she looks. Better safe than sorry, I guess you could say.”

 

“So, you’re saying…” prompted Yunho curiously “That she’s not Asian?”

 

“She is not,” replied Director Choi. “She’s, in fact, American.”

 

“Really?” questioned Yunho, slightly disbelieving. “But, how can that be? Everything I’ve read about her…her beliefs…her religion…the way she runs her company…her friends, and associates in the business…everything makes her sound like she’s, at least, Japanese. I mean…she even speaks six Asian languages…”

 

“Eight,” corrected Director Choi. “Japanese, Mandarin, Filipino, Hindi, Indonesian, Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese…Along with three European languages.”

 

“See, that’s my point,” countered Yunho. “Just by that feat alone, she’s an amazing woman. Why on earth would she think that she would be treated differently simply because she’s not of Asian descent?”

 

“Experience,” answered Director Choi. “But this discussion is a moot point…something that shouldn’t be so readily discussed…and not why you is here today.”

 

“It’s my job to explain to you how your meeting with the Founder will go,” he continued. “How you should act, what questions to avoid and ask, how to address her, and what you are expected to do.”

 

“All…right,” hesitated Yunho.

 

“As you are well aware,” started Director Choi as he glanced down at the paperwork lying on his desk. “Your group has been selected to be the final, surprise, performers at our company’s Kpop Mega Con in Los Angeles.”

 

“While I’m sure your management has given you some of the particulars,” he continued. “I wanted to run by you what we have set up so far and what you’re responsibilities will be. However, that particular discussion will need to be had after you meet with our Founder.”

 

“Why can’t you just tell me what the company wants?” questioned Yunho curiously.

 

“The Founder has ordered that none but herself be the one to tell you the details about your participation,” answered the Director. “However… there is something I think you should know before your meeting with her… something that may help you understand that which she will be asking of you.”

 

“What then?” Yunho prompted.

 

“This,” replied the Director as he opened the folder on his desk, removed a large photograph, and handed it to Yunho.

 

Taking the photo from the Director with a deep sigh, he flipped it over and looked at it. To his surprise, the photo wasn’t anything he expected. As he stared at the photo for a few moments, he suddenly began to feel his heart fall heavy as a memory of the past flickered across his mind.

 

“What’s your point?” he questions frustratingly as he instantly tossed the old photo of him and Jaejoong sitting side by side in a long-forgotten dressing room on the Director’s desk with disdain.

 

“Your reaction,” replied Director Choi with an understanding smile. “Is my point, Yunho.”

 

“If our Lady can do one thing, well, above all others, it’s that she can feel another’s pain instantly,” the Director offered caringly. “She is well aware of what has happened to you, to all of you, in the past. How you really feel about your former bandmates… the pain, animosity, regret, and guilt you carry…And is quite aware of what your company has continued to do to you since then.”

 

“Nini,” sighed Yunho, slightly disgruntled. “She’s been spying for the Founder hasn’t she?”

 

“Not at all,” he defended. “The Founder has known about your past for a very long time and Nini has always refused to divulge any information to us out of respect and loyalty to you and brothers.”

 

“Nini has always stood by you five, since long before you ever met her,” the Director reiterated. “She is a fan, first and foremost, Yunho. She would never betray your confidence, even if her life was at stake. That character trait and her fan expertise regarding the entirety of the group, in all honesty, is why she was ultimately assigned to TVXQ in the first place.”

 

“She is loyal, even to a fault,” he stated respectfully. “And that is what you needed the most, loyalty.”

 

“Someone who would have your back, no matter what,” he smiled. “So please don’t suspect her a bit of any wrongdoing.”

 

“I could threaten her with losing her job and never working in this industry ever again. If she didn’t tell us what we wanted to know,” he added with a soft chuckle. “Not that we would ever do such a thing.  And she still would never betray you or your brothers.”

 

“You know this to be true,” nodded the Director knowingly. “Don’t you?”

 

“Yeah,” replied Yunho with a gentle smile.

 

“You asked me a few moments ago if I was one of the people that the Lady N trusted above all others,” prompted the Director, smiling when he saw Yunho nod is an agreement. “Well, I’m not the only one in that very small, very elite group. Nini is one as well.”

 

“She holds Nini’s opinions and beliefs in high regard,” he continued. “And Nini is the sole reason why you and Changmin have been selected for this project. Up until Nini came forward, suggesting that TVXQ be the final performers of our con two years ago, we had settled with ending it with the comeback performance of SS501.”

 

“That is, ultimately, why you’re here,” concluded the Director with another gentle smile.

 

“I owe her a thank you then,” sighed Yunho with a smile, knowing even more so now that his Noona has always been looking out for him and Changmin.

 

“Maybe,” replied the Director “Maybe not.”

 

“What do you mean?” questioned Yunho curiously, he didn’t like the Director’s tone.

 

“Whether Nini deserves your gratitude or your ire, remains to be seen,” he explained. “Which one she will receive, however, depends solely on how you react to the Founder’s offer.”

 

“I won’t lie to you, Yunho,” he added honestly. “What will happen in her office this afternoon, you won’t like. BUT, I want you to do me a personal favor –as someone that you know, that respects you wholeheartedly, and would never do anything to hurt you.”

 

“What?” questioned Yunho, slightly confused and thoroughly suspicious, as he looked curiously at the man before him.

 

“Hear her out, and don’t jump to any conclusions,” he advised. “Because, trust me when I say this, the Lady only has the best intentions for you and your future.”

 

“Your happiness is all that matters to her,” he added with knowing nod.

 

 

 

[September 4th: Tokyo, Japan 12:01 PM]

 

“How did it go?” questioned Nini into the phone.

 

“I don’t know,” replied Yunho with a deep sigh as he settled into a very plush chair in one of the company’s private waiting rooms.

 

“What’s wrong Yunnie?” Nini asked worried “Did something happen?”

 

“No, not really,” sighed Yunho. “It’s just, I have a bad feeling about this. I mean, that photo…”

 

“Do you trust me, Yunho?” she immediately interrupted lovingly.

 

“Always,” he answered, feeling slightly guilty about mistrusting the whole situation.

 

“Then don’t worry about that photo and believe me when I say that all of it is completely on the level,” she advised kindly. “I would never have suggested any of this if I didn’t truly trust our Founder.”

 

“Give her a chance, hear her out, and I promise that you will find what you seek,” she added with a deep love lacing her every word. “The only thing we all truly want for you is for you to be free and happy.”

 

“Free?” thought Yunho curiously.

 

“Are you sure that this is the right path for us?” he stammered slightly.

 

“I’ve never been more; sure of anything in my entire life, Yunnie,” she answered sweetly. “Have faith.”

 

 

 

[September 4th: Tokyo, Japan 12:40 PM]

 

“How’s your trip so far?” questioned Nikki into the phone.

 

“It’s,” laughed Jaejoong as he absentmindedly stabbed at the salad on the table before him. “been interesting.”

 

“Really?” she prompted. “How so?”

 

“The first order from the company’s Founder was for me to go sightseeing!” chuckled Jaejoong, a little louder than he wanted, garnering curious glances from the other diners scattered around the fairly quiet little café in the Shibuya district. “Sightseeing, can you believe it?”

 

“What’s so funny about going sightseeing, Jae?” smiled Nikki. “To me, it makes perfect sense. You’ve never really got to actually experience Japan like a tourist, right?”

 

“Well, yeah,” admitted Jaejoong with a smile.

 

“See,” she laughed gently. “And now you can.”

 

“I never looked at it like that,” admitted Jaejoong. “I guess it’s like a mini-vacation.”

 

“Exactly,” she confirmed. “I just wish they would have let me go with you…”

 

“We can always come back,” reassured Jaejoong.

 

“True enough,” she laughed.

 

“How are the boys?” questioned Jaejoong a second later. “Everything good?”

 

“They’re good,” she answered a little hesitantly. “At least, I assume…”

 

“What do you mean?” pried Jaejoong curiously.

 

“Oh…nothing,” Nikki dismissed nonchalantly. “It’s just…I haven’t seen them for two days. After you left for Japan, the Prez gave everyone a week off. They’re around, I’m sure.”

 

“A week off?” mused Jaejoong softly. “What are you up to, then?”

 

“Oh,” she stammered gently. “Well, I’m actually on my way to go see my sister. She called me a few days ago and asked if I wanted to come for a visit. So…”

 

“Well that sounds like fun,” smiled Jaejoong. “Give her our best, will you?”

 

“Of course,” she replied before gasping softly and suddenly talking a mile a minute. “Jae, I got to go. It’s time for my flight. Talk to later, Love ya, Bye!”

 

As the line suddenly went dead, all Jaejoong could do was shake his head and laugh. He doesn’t know when it started, but more and more as time had gone by she had become accustomed to telling him and his brothers that she loved them.  It wasn’t unusual for Nikki to be so forthcoming, but even Jaejoong began to feel a little awkward sometimes. The way she would say it, the sadness in her voice sometimes, made him wonder if something was wrong.

 

“Who was that?” questioned Akio as he nibbled on a French fry.

 

“A friend,” replied Jaejoong as he laid his phone on the table next to his plate.

 

“Not a girlfriend,” he retorted. “I assume?”

 

“And why would you assume that?” questioned Jaejoong sarcastically.

 

“I meant no offense,” defended Akio, raising his hands up in mock terror. “I just didn’t get that vibe from you while you two were talking is all.”

 

“She might have been,” smiled Jaejoong. “In another life.”

 

“But not this one?” Akio questioned to clarify.

 

“No,” answered Jaejoong.

 

“Well, is she cute? Is she single?” smiled Akio curiously. “Because I’m cute and I’m single.”

 

“She’s spoken for,” answered Jaejoong bluntly as Junsu’s face flickered in his mind’s eye. It wasn’t completely true, but there was no way in hell he’d ever let his Noona date a guy like Akio –too pushy.

 

“Oh? Ok,” he replied before changing the subject like it was nothing. “So what would like to do next?”

 

“I was thinking about doing a little shopping and then maybe going to the company later on this afternoon,” mused Jaejoong thoughtfully. “After all, if we’re going to be working with them and I’m going to be spending the next few days there, I really should take a tour and familiarize myself with the place.”

 

 “I,” stammered Akio as he instantly checked the time on his watch and frowned a bit. “I suppose it will be alright to go to the company around five or so.”

 

“I mean,” he added hesitantly. “If you really want to.”

 

“Yeah, I really want to,” confirmed Jaejoong with a resounding nod.

 

 

 

[September 4th: Tokyo, Japan 1:59 PM]

 

“How is this even possible?” gasped Yunho in unbelievable bewilderment as he sat with his elbows resting on a large oak conference table, his face cradled in his hands, and stared down at the files, paperwork, and contracts laying before him. “This can’t be real.”

 

“I assure you, Yunho,” replied Lady N, dressed in a sleek black dress and her signature veiled black hat, as she leaned back in the office chair aside Yunho and smiled lovingly. “It is all quite possible and very real.”

 

“It can’t be,” argued Yunho as he scanned the files before him and his eyes landed on the folder marked SM Ent. Artist Contractual Buyout and then the file marked Appropriated DBSK Copyrights. “They would never…”

 

“They would never let us go,” he reiterated, dropping his hands from his face and looking up at the woman who had quite literally just destroyed everything he had ever thought true in a matter of minutes. “How…ever did you manage it?”

 

“It’s what I do,” answered Lady N with a slightly amused chuckle.

 

“But why?” he countered, still unbelieving and a bit shell-shocked from the news Haze Media’s founder just so succinctly dropped in his lap. “I mean, after everything, they’ve done to keep us…the lies, the manipulation, the abuse, the corporate backstabbing, the laws broke, the death threats, the blackmail…everything. Why would they agree to this, now? Why?”

 

“And, my God,” he gasped as his mind continued to reel against the news he had just heard and he started to panic. “The money, how could they give it up? How could they just throw us away?”

 

“!” he exasperated, dropping his face into his hands once more and rubbing frantically.

 

“Yunho,” came the Lady N’s soft voice as she reached out and gently touched the man’s nearly trembling arm. “Calm down. Everything will be alright.”

 

“Alright?!” grumbled Yunho, instantly pulling away from the Lady’s comforting touch and leaning away from her in disbelief. “How can everything be alright? Ever?”

 

“I mean look at all of this!” he continued as he motioned to all the files in front of him.

 

“You just sat there and told me that the company I have been working with for over thirteen years just sold us to the highest bidder!” yelled Yunho in frustration. “How the hell is that alright?”

 

“Because, now,” she smiled reassuringly. “You’re free.”

 

“Free…” echoed Nini’s voice inside Yunho’s head.

 

“Free? What the hell do you mean by free?” argued Yunho angrily, standing up in a flash and knocking over his chair in the process. “This isn’t freedom! This is ing slavery! They sold our contracts and copyrights to another company, a new master, without even consulting us! We are nothing but ing property to be handed off when we are no longer useful!”

 

“Yunho,” sighed the Lady N disappointingly. “Is that what you really think of us, of me? Do you honestly believe that my company and I did all of this just to ruin and rule your life?”

 

“For what other reason, if not your damn bottom line…would you do all this, then?” countered Yunho as his anger and rage began to boil over and he started to pace back and forth waving his arms about in frustration. “No one; and I mean NO ONE; would go through all of this just to save us from SM! No one would pay the ungodly amount they would definitely demand, just to set us free!”

 

“NO ONE IS THAT CHARITABLE!” he screamed as he turned to her and glared.

 

“This isn’t charity, Yunho,” she said calmly as she elegantly stood up from her chair and walked up to him standing on the other side of the conference table. “It’s gratitude.”

 

“What?” questioned Yunho as his confusion flickered across his face.

 

“It’s gratitude,” she reiterated, turning to look at the conference table, as she reached down and grabbed a thick folder.

 

“What are you talking about?” he grumbled.

 

“You said that no one is that charitable, but you’re wrong Yunho,” she continued as she laid the file marked Haze Media INC. Primary Staff MAS Contracts Vol. 1 (A-D) on the table before them. “Take a look.”

 

“What is this?” questioned Yunho, his curiosity diminishing his anger by the second, as he reached out and flipped open the file.

 

“Read them,” she answered.

 

Grabbing the first contract on top, Yunho scanned the identification card with a photo of pretty Asian woman, with her hair styled in a tight bun and dressed in a light pink blouse, stapled to the top and began to read aloud.

 

 

 Aadams, Akiko
 Born: 14 April 1985
 Age: 29
 City/Country of Origin: Okinawa, Japan
 Education: M.B.A in Business Administration and Marketing: Georgetown University
 Contract Date: 22 July 2010
 Assignment: Marketing Strategies and Implementation Dept.
 Supervisor: Dr. Lee Seungwoon, Vice-President of Marketing

 

 

“What is this?” reiterated Yunho as he looked up at the Lady completely confused “Why am I looking at employee records?”

 

“Turn the page,” she prompted with a smile.

 

Flipping the identification card over, Yunho looked down at the first page of the contract in his hand. At the very top, written in bold lettering, read Music Appreciation Survey.

 

“Music Appreciation Survey?” questioned Yunho as he glanced at the woman standing beside him.

 

“Keep reading,” she smiled before walking back around the conference table and sitting back down in her chair.

 

 

As an employee of Haze Media INC, you will from time to time come in contact with and/or be required to work with artists of reputable skill and standing in the global community. As Haze Media INC primary business ventures are centered within the Korean, Japanese, and Mandarin music industries, each potential employee is required by Statute 245, Section 104, Subsection 9, Paragraph 6 of the company’s bylaws to remit a completed copy of this form, form number MAS-141, to human resources before your official employment can be confirmed. Under Statute 245, Section 104, Subsection 10, Paragraph 2 of the company’s bylaws, employs are required to resubmit an updated copy of form number MAS-141 every six months thereafter. Any violation of this requirement will be met with a disciplinary action in accordance with Statute 301, Section 10, Subsection 9, Paragraph 3 of the disciplinary code and may lead to termination of your employment contract.

 

“Every employee is required to fill this out?” questioned Yunho softly, not really understanding why he would really care.

 

“Yes,” she answered, leaning back in her chair and placing her hands gently in her lap.

 

As Yunho continued to scan the document, sentence by sentence, he slowly began to understand the significance of what he was holding. The more and more he read, the questions their employees were required to answer, he slowly began to realize that Haze Media was some much more than just a simple entertainment company.  With questions like “What, if any, would you do to make the music industry better?” “What direction would you like to see each music market go?” and “What, if any, suggestions do you have to better improve the stability of the worldwide fan population?” the contract read like that of a marketing strategy and business planning questionnaire but completely different.

 

Turning the page, Yunho began to read again and this time he saw a set of questions that seemed almost out of place for corporate documentation.

 

“Of the current music markets (Korean, Japanese, Mandarin), which group or artists do you feel are the most influential, ones that you would like to see Haze Media INC working with or helping?”

 

Piquing Yunho interest instantly, he focused on the answers written in very neat and tidy handwriting. Some of the listed artists were not a shock to him. Some even being some of his closest business associates and friends, but it was the final group on the list that truly shocked him.

 

“Dong Bang Shin Ki (DBSK),” breathed out Yunho softly.

 

Lady N just smiled.

 

Surprised that the woman had referred to him and his brothers, and used their old moniker, Yunho looked at the paper suspiciously before eyeing the stack of contracts still sitting in the open folder. Reaching down with his other hand he grabbed the next contract and read the identification card.

 

 

Ahn, Sun Hi
Born: 22 January 1990
Age: 24
City/Country of Origin: Busan, South Korea
Education: B.A in Communications: University of Southern California Berkley
Contract Date: 05 March 2013
Assignment: Public and Artist Relations Dept.
Supervisor: Song Eun Young, Head of Public Relations (Korea)

 

Dropping the first contract on the table, he flipped to the second page of Ms. Ahn’s contract and scanned her answers to the same question.

 

“Dong Bang Shin Ki (DBSK),”

 

“It’s a fluke,” Yunho dismissed quietly and he dropped the second contract on the table and grabbed a third, while all the while Lady N sat in her chair and smiled knowingly.

 

 

Ames, Erica K
Born: 28 October 1978
Age: 36
City/Country of Origin: Tampa Bay, Florida USA
Education: AAS in Digital Media Communications, MBA in Communications, MBA in Journalism: Florida State University
Contract Date: 01 January 2011
Assignment: Director of Communications (USA)
Supervisor: Choi Jin Sang, CEO, and Director of General Operations

 

 

“Dong Bang Shin Ki (DBSK),”

 

“Again,” breathed out Yunho in disbelief as he glanced down at the stack of papers again.

 

Frustrated and determined that the papers he was reading were some simplistic ploy of the company’s founder to make some absurd point, he continued to flip through the stack of contracts. The more and more he searched for an answer not that of him and his former bandmates, the more and more times he saw it. Making it halfway down the stack, he grabbed one last file.

 

 

Choi Jin Sang
Born: 11 January 1980
Age: 34
City/Country of Origin: New York, NY USA
Education: MBA in Music: Julliard; MBA Management, MBA Marketing, MBA Strategy: Harvard University
Contract Date: 18 July 2009
Assignment: Chief Executive Officer, Director of General Operations; President of Marketing; Vice President of Musical Operations; Co-President Haze Media Board of Directors; Founding Member.
Supervisor: Lady N, President & Founder; Co-President Haze Media Board of Directors

 

“No matter how many times you look,” spoke Lady N gently. “The answers will always be the same.”

 

“How can that be?” he questioned as he looked up at woman smiling at him with a loving smile.

 

“My employees are fans,” she answered. “And, fans are my employees.”

 

“Huh?” he questioned, not understanding what she meant.

 

“Being a fan of music,” she replied. “Is one of the requirements to work for my company. Each potential employee must have a deep respect for the industry and its artists.”

 

“Wait,” exasperated Yunho, as he put his hand up and rudely motioned her to stop. “Are you saying that everyone, every employee here, listed Dong Bang Shin Ki as a group they wanted the company to help?”

 

“What do you think?” she quipped. “Doesn’t it make perfect sense?”

 

“Think about the entire time we have been working with you, how you have been treated, how Changmin has been treated…everything we have done for you,” prompted the Lady N as she leaned forward a bit and looked at the confused Popstar in front of her. “Have you ever known an entertainment company to go so far, and do so much, for a temporary Public Relations contract?”

 

“No,” whispered Yunho in disbelief.

 

“This,” she informed with a smile as she pointed to the folders containing the buyout of the TXVQ brand, copyrights, and artist contracts with one long, slender, well-manicured finger. “Has always been our end goal.” 

 

“But why?” questioned Yunho, still unbelieving of everything he had learned so far.

 

“I told you already,” she smiled. “It’s gratitude. Gratitude for everything that you all have done for the fans, everything that you have had to endure because of your desire to make us happy and have a long-lasting career. All the joy, all happiness, all the heartbreak, all the sadness, and all the blood, sweat, and tears. Everything.”

 

“You five have given so much of yourselves, done so much, all for the joy and happiness of the fans,” she concluded gently. “And now we have a way to give you back all you have given us, and so much more. It’s the greatest gift we could ever hope to give you, and the only one fitting enough. ”

 

“Our freedom,” whispered Yunho softly as he looked up at the woman before him that had done so much.

 

“Your freedom,” she nodded with a loving smile.

 

 

[September 4th: Tokyo Japan 5:28 PM]
 

“We’re here Mr. Kim,” informed Akio as he reached over to the passenger side and shook Jaejoong’s shoulder.

 

“Where?” mumbled Jaejoong sleepily.

 

“The company,” he answered. “You said you wanted to take a look around.”

 

“Oh yeah,” yawned Jaejoong as he took a stretch and then peered out the window towards the building’s main doors.

 

“What’s going on?” he questioned as his eyes settled on a large black limousine parked in front of the company steps.

 

“Oh?” questioned Akio, glancing in that direction as he grabbed the car’s door handle. “I’m not sure.”

 

Climbing out of the car and taking another deep stretch, Jaejoong watched the front doors of the building curiously.

 

“Oh,” smiled Akio. “That’s the Lady’s car.”

 

“She must be going out for the evening,” he added as he watched the front doors open and four bodyguards dressed in black suits, dark sunglasses, and earpieces step out.

 

“Security detail?” questioned Jaejoong, looking over at Akio. “She travels with a security detail?”

 

“Sometimes,” he nodded as he looked over the roof of the car at Jaejoong. “Though only usually when she’s entertaining clients. She must be treating someone important for dinner.”

 

“Oh,” acknowledge Jaejoong with a nod. “I wonder who it is?”

 

“Well it looks like you're about to find out,” answered Akio a few moments later as the company’s main doors, solid sheets of crystal clear glass etched with the company logo, opened and a couple stepped out followed by Director Choi.

 

“I take it, that’s Lady N?” questioned Jaejoong as his eyes settled on the woman, in a stunning black dress and black veiled hat, slowly walking down the stairs towards the awaiting limousine with her arm linked with another man just out of view.

 

“That’s her,” nodded Akio with a smile. “Exquisite beauty, don’t you think?”

 

“She’s pretty, I’ll give you that much,” smiled Jaejoong with a quick, confirming, nod. “So who’s that with her? Some affluent businessman with way too much money to count?”

 

“I’m not sure,” replied Akio slowly, suddenly worried, as a thought flickered across his mind and he tried to get a better glimpse of the man by stepping closer to the front of the car.

 

… thought Akio as quickly looked down at his watch and noticed the time. It can’t be…

 

Jaejoong continued to watch the events unfold before him, his curiosity thoroughly peaked in genuine fascination. He had heard so much about the Lady N –her kind heart, indomitable spirit, her keen business sense, her unmistakable elegance – and had been beyond curious about the woman from the moment he came to know of her. And, now, there she was; a few hundred yards from where he stood and he was practically in awe.

 

“Jaejoong,” stammered Akio nervously as the Director came alongside Lady N, obscuring her from view for a moment, and began to speak with her. “Why don’t we just go and do this tomorrow?”

 

“Why?” questioned Jaejoong curiously. “When we’re already here?”

 

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” sighed Akio as he closed his eyes and prayed that the Lady’s companion was not who he thought it was.

 

A few moments passed and when it looked as if the Director had finished telling the Lady what he needed to tell her, he stepped back behind the couple and bowed respectfully. As they came to the bottom of the stairs, the limousine’s driver immediately opened up the car door for the Lady and her guest. She turned to the man beside her and gave a gentle nod before turning her back completely towards Jaejoong’s direction and climbing into the awaiting car. As she sat down, and her body slowly began to reveal the man beside her, Akio closed his eyes.

 

“I’m so ing fired.” he breathed out, defeated.

 

 

For what felt like eons, there was nothing but silence until one word rang out like a thunderous whisper.

 

“Yunho,”

 

 

A/N: weeeeeeeeee!