You would never truly understand the meaning of the expression dead silence, unless you happened to be walking along the halls of the prestigious Seoul Arts Academy on this meaningful day. Many people would classify this day as a once a year miracle, since not even a single soul could be seen lurking the corridors or any of the numerous rooms. The usual clamor that would fill the school had become only a distant memory, as at the moment the school was enveloped entirely in peace and quiet.

Taking the liberty to quote a certain person, who goes by the name of Kwon Jiyong - Today was a special day.  However, it was not special only because the school could be found in this quite rare state, but because this was a day that the whole body of students had been looking forward to, a day which carried a certain significance to it. Endless hours of practicing, skipped meals and buckets of sweat were what preceded this very day. The day of the Annual Talent Show.

The Talent Show had always been and still is a well-known and respected tradition at the academy. Taking place only once a year, this event serves the purpose of bringing out the spirit of competition in each undergraduate, as well as giving them the chance to prove what they’ve got to offer to the world once they are done with their studies. Every year, a countless number of students grace the stage with their talent, without regard of their major and needless to say, the show always proves to be worthy of your time.

 As always, the contest was held in the school’s auditorium which was filled to the brim. All the seats were occupied by the excited people in the audience who were animatedly sharing their opinions on who might be the winner, or casually stating their expectations on each contestant.

Suddenly, the sharp noise of a microphone roared through the speakers causing the chatter to abruptly come to an end. The audience’s attention was caught by the two men who were coolly making their way on the stage, one from each side.

“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to this year’s edition of the Talents Show. We are very pleased to have you here.” One of them cheerfully greeted once they were settled in the center of the stage.

“Indeed we are.” The other man smiled charmingly at the crowd. “But, you know what should we do first? Introduce ourselves. Ladies and gentlemen, we are your hosts for today’s event. My name is Ahn Jae Hyun.”

“If any of you mess this up, I swear you will not live to see the day of tomorrow.” Jiyong spoke threateningly as he stood before his four friends.

As the crucial moment that marked the beginning of the show was getting nearer and nearer, a nervous atmosphere settled in the backstage area. The ticking clock was constantly reminding of how much time was left, causing the contestants to become even more restless, Jiyong not being an exception, of course. The leader was pacing back and forth in front of his group members, stopping randomly only to threaten the four men.

“Do not ruin this for me. This is my chance to shine.” Jiyong stopped again in his tracks and then proceeded to continue his task, but froze in place at the sound of the loud voices of the MCs who had just got on stage.

As Jiyong was completely unmoving, the four other members started throwing curious glances at each other, having no clue on what to do. But then, as if it was an unspoken agreement, Seunghyun, Daesung and Youngbae slowly turned their heads simultaneously to face the maknae. Realizing what was happening, Seungri let out a short laugh of disbelief and slightly shook his head at his hyungs’ behavior, but nevertheless he walked towards the still inert leader.

“Hyung are you okay?” Seungri tapped Jiyong’s shoulder, making him jerk back in surprise.

“Yes I am.” Jiyong curtly answered. “Thank you for your concern.”

“Ji, what happened?” Youngbae stepped forward, worry evident in his tone.

The boy in question directed his gaze downwards, letting a deep sigh pass though his lips.

“Nothing, I just . . . I am very nervous.” He began, still looking at the floor. “This . . . this is very important to me, so . . . please take it seriously and do your best, if not for you then . . . for me.” He finished in a small voice and finally raised his head to throw a glance at the other men. He anxiously ran a hand through his hair, waiting for their reactions.  

All there is to say is that the four men were left speechless. It was so unusual to see Jiyong like this, that all they could do at the moment was stare in shock. It was no secret how stressed Jiyong was from all the preparations and the whole contest itself, but still - such a sincere confession was most probably the last thing on their list of expected things. Especially when just few seconds ago, the leader was literally a threat to their precious lives.

Seungri and Daesung, being the first ones who managed to snap out the daze, ran almost in tears to the frail looking man and wrapped their arms around him, ready to offer him all the comfort in the world.

“We will win first place. Don’t you worry hyung.” Daesung whispered when they retreated their arms, while Seungri just nodded in confirmation.

“They are right.” Youngbae took his turn in giving the man a reassuring hug.

“Jiyong, calm down. It’s going to be okay.” Seunghyun’s deep voice reached the leader’s ears. The boy swiftly turned his head to the side and smiled warmly at the sight of his hyung squeezing his shoulder to make him feel better.

Just when the leader opened his mouth to mutter a few words of thanks, the voice of a teacher echoed throughout the backstage area, bringing the beautiful moment between the members to an abrupt end:

“SUNSHINE GIRLS TAKE YOUR PLACES!” The voice spoke, immediately followed by few high pitched exclamations. However, the boys’ attention was caught by the figure of a girl who was rushing in their direction. It looked like she was really intent on arriving at her destination, because she wasn’t looking at her surroundings and just kept on moving forward.

Just as she was about to pass our group of boys, she suddenly tripped on a loose wire and almost fell to the ground if it wasn’t for Youngbae. He didn’t catch her like in one of those dramas if that’s what you’re thinking – she actually landed with her face in his chest.

The next few moments could easily win an award for the most awkward interaction between two people ever, because as soon as the girl realized what happened and straightened herself, Youngbae turned his head the other way. Then when she muttered a thank you, he turned to face her, but quickly went back to his original position, but not before he mumbled some unintelligible words. Defeated, the girl waved goodbye and went on her way.

“WHAT THE WAS THAT?” Seungri yelled scandalized.

“He can’t talk to girls.” The other three answered in unison robotically.

“WHAT?” The maknae’s eyes became wide as saucers.

“He just can’t. He is shy as hell around them.” Jiyong answered as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“WAIT! SO THAT MEANS YOU NEVER HAD A GIRLFRIEND?”

“Not really.” 

“OH MY GOD! THIS CAN’T BE TRUE!” The youngster pinched himself, to check if he was dreaming or not. “I TRULY BELIEVE THIS IS THE MOMENT I SHALL STEP IN. I SHALL FULFIL MY DUTY AS A DONGSAENG! So, hyung, tell me now: what do you seek in a girl? How would you like her to be?” He took out a pen from god knows where and put it next to his other palm, ready to write on it at any moment.

“I don’t understand –“

“You don’t have to understand anything, you just have to tell me what do you like at girls?”

Youngbae opened his mouth and then closed it as if he wanted to say something and then decided against it.

“Okay then. I will just get whatever I find.” The maknae smirked and threw the pen somewhere behind him.

“Seungri, what are you going to do?” Daesung questioned in the name of all the confused people. Which means the rest of the group.

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m going to find Youngbae hyung a girlfriend.” He stated matter of factly and then turned to Youngbae again. “Tomorrow, you will be presented with a wide variety of girls to choose from and by the end of the day you will have a girlfriend. They don’t call me ‘The King of Relationships’ for nothing.” He grinned, very proud of himself.

“Who calls you that?” Seunghyun not-so-innocently asked, making everyone laugh.

===

Not even half an hour later, the group ‘Jiyong and the Boys’ was being called to their places. As the MCs were doing a little introduction like they did to the contestants who went before them, all five members gathered in a small circle and put their hands in the middle, one over each other.

“HWAITING!” They shouted together and then went to ascend on the stage.

Their performance was over, sooner than Jiyong had expected. It seemed as if those 3 minutes he got to be on stage were only a few seconds, but few seconds of pure fun. It was as if all his nervousness and worry from before vanished and he just went on with the flow, only wanting to feel the moment as much as he can.

When the last beat of the melody - of their rendition of “This Love” by Maroon 5, rewritten by Jiyong himself - faded away and the audience started clapping and cheering for them, Jiyong knew that this was what he wanted, that he made the right choice. He felt as if all his efforts paid off, that everyone appreciated what he did. What THEY did.  

For Jiyong, this was no longer a way to help his hyung pass or just a simple thing that he was determined to do – no, it was a peek of what he hoped would be his future someday.

To end their performance, the five of them grabbed their hands and took a bow before leaving the stage.

Backstage again, they all eyed each other and broke into huge idiotic grins and that was enough proof for Jiyong that they also felt the same way as him.

===

Now that they were done, the time went by excruciatingly slow. At least that was what it seemed like. After what seemed like endless hours of waiting – which were in fact only 45 minutes or so – all contestants were called on stage, as the grand moment of the announcement of the winner was about to take place.

As they were all gathered on stage, Jiyong casted an eye over the other people and came to the conclusion that he didn’t actually need the trophy to be a winner, because he already felt like one.

“So, ladies and gentlemen we have already come to an end and all we have to do now is announce the winners. We will start with third place.” Kwang Hee spoke into his microphone. 

“In third place we have none other than Lee Ji Hyun, our very talented actress. Congratulations!” Jae Hyun announced and the crowd started clapping, while a few guys at the back whistled.

 “Now, for both first and second place we have two groups, both music groups. I will first name them randomly: WINNER and Jiyong and the Boys.”

At the sound of his name being in the first two, Jiyong threw all his thoughts about not needing to win out the window. He looked at his friends who were all sporting confused and surprised expressions and then back at the MCs, practically waiting for his group to be declared the winner.

Sadly, that was not the case.

“And the winner of this year’s edition of the Talent Show is the group called WINNER! We can truly say that they earned themselves their name once again, because if you didn’t know, they also won last year!”

“But, let’s not forget our second place: Jiyong and the Boys! “ Kwang Hee continued and started walking towards them.

While everyone was happy and celebrating, Jiyong was beyond stupefied. He watched the performance of those WINNER guys’ and it didn’t even compare to theirs. What did they have that he and the rest didn’t? Nothing!

‘’And what kind of name is WINNER?! UGH, I HATE SNOBS!” He continued ranting to himself while glaring at the boys who were holding the trophy. If looks could kill, the WINNER members would have been dead by now.

And then he saw him: that kid with long hair, who was holding the trophy at the moment. As if his bare face triggered something in him, Jiyong dashed through all the people and went straight to that man. He stopped abruptly in front of him, eyed him from head to toe and then did the unthinkable: STOLE THE TROPHY FROM HIS HANDS. However, he didn’t stop there: he went and also stole Kwang Hee’s microphone and proudly declared:

“I AM THE TRUE WINNER!” before leaving the stage and auditorium with the trophy, of course.

Silence ensued for a bit after Jiyong’s departure. Everyone stood rooted to their spots as in shock, this being something unprecedented. Nobody was able to utter a word until a man from the crowd yelled something about how crazy that guy was.

And that was when the chaos started, allowing Seunghyun, Youngbae, Daesung and Seungri to slowly and cautiously get out of that place.

“I can’t believe this. He actually stole their trophy.” Youngbae said disapprovingly as he looked left and right before pushing open the door and stepping into the adjacent corridor followed by the other members.

“Let’s not forget about letting the world know who the real winner is.” Seungri added between hysterical chuckles.

Hearing his words, Youngbae stopped in his tracks and turned immediately to face him:

“This is not funny at all.” He glared at the maknae. “Jiyong really crossed the line this time. What was that? What the hell was he thinking? Nothing, I tell you. Nothing. And if I may ask, where exactly did he go?” He continued rambling, eyeing each guy as if searching for an answer to all his questions.

“I think we should find him?” Daesung suggested, but it came out more like a question.

“Why should we? They will show him on TV when he gets put in a mental facility or gets arrested, anyway. We don’t need to go look for him.” Seunghyun tried to explain, but all he got in return were glares and if he wasn’t the oldest, he probably would’ve gotten hit by now. 

“Let’s just think rationally. Where would he go?” Youngbae questioned, while rubbing his temples.

In the auditorium, chaos was at home: people were running around, talking and screaming at the same time. It is impressive that people were not even thinking of just going home and enjoy their free day, instead they were just acting crazy for no apparent reason. It was not like they were planning on finding Jiyong or something, they were just running around and yelling.

However, it seemed as another person beside the four remaining members was smart enough to actually get out of the large room. Somewhere in the last rows of the seats, a quite tall man was fixing his clothes, preparing for his departure. Being more than ready, he headed towards the door that the boys had walked through mere minutes ago.

When he opened the door, he had the surprise to come face to face with the exact guys he had come to know a bit too well in the past few days. The man bowed slightly in greeting and walked away too fast for the boys to even have time to respond.  They quickly went back to their conversation, not being bothered with the stranger.  If they only knew his reason for being at the talent show.

Once he arrived at the main gate, the man jumped into his car and drove towards his destination.

===

 He finally stopped the car’s engine when he arrived at a huge building that most people would recognize as the YG Building. He parked his car at the back entrance and took out his phone to send a quick text.

Not long after he pressed send, the back door opened to reveal the two ladies that the man had been waiting for: Park Bom and Dara.

“Good afternoon Mr. Kim.” The two girls greeted politely.

“Good day, ladies.”

“Did everything go well?” Bom worriedly asked.

“Yes, of course. Here is what I filmed.” He handed Dara a memory stick.  “I only filmed them, I didn’t find it necessary to record anyone else. Still, I got to film the moment when they gave away the awards. That was quite eventful.” Mr. Kim chuckled at the memory of the incident on stage.

“Is Jiyong still alive?” Bom suddenly questioned.

“He is. Don’t worry.” He laughed again. “I believe I’ve already told you there is nothing to worry about. Mr. Lee is completely harmless, there is no way he would hurt Mr. Kwon.”

“But . . . he was so scary . . .”

“Miss Park, it was all just a misunderstanding. But, since you wanted me to continue until what Mr. Lee called The Big Day, I went and attended the show. At least, it was fun to watch.”

“Well, thank you for your help, Mr. Kim. We appreciate it.” Dara stepped forward to shake the man’s hand.

“My pleasure.” He bowed and went back to his car.

“So we did all of this for nothing?” Dara pouted slightly.

By all of this, Dara was referring to none other than the plan they conceived some days ago. What the two women did, was hire a private investigator to help them with finding out Mafia Man’s plans. Mr. Kim had the job to follow Seungri and he did that for the past few days. One day, Seungri mentioned something about A Big Day and the girls thought right away that he was talking about the day when he will kill Kwon Jiyong. In fact, it was just the day when a mere talent show took place, but they still thought it was dangerous and told Mr. Kim to go and record the show.

Mr. Kim knew from the moment he started this job that the girls’ ideas were more than far-fetched, but he still did what he was told to. He even tried to make them realize how ridiculous it all sounded, that Seungri was not even close to being a mobster, but they wouldn’t have it, especially Bom – she was set on the fact that the maknae was going to hurt Kwon Jiyong.

However, there was only one thing that Mr. Kim did not know: that Bom and Dara thought that Kwon Jiyong was actually Seunghyun.

“No. This can’t be all in vain. Let’s watch what’s on the memory stick. There needs to be something on it.” Bom declared.

Helloooo . . . How you doing? I am good.(not that you asked)

I am so happy that I finally got to use my new poster. Did you see it? Isn't it awesome? Because I think it is. The one and only SSIGGA used her mad skills to make it for me. THANK YOU SSIGGA. YOU ARE THE BEST!

Also, I am sorry for taking so long to update lately, but I've kind of experienced a pretty bad writer's block. But a few days ago, it was like inspiration hit me in the face. So, here it is. Whooo!

Anyway, thank you so much for taking the time to read this story of mine. I am forever thankful. *bows*