At the cafeteria, as well as almost everywhere else in the building, the warm and sweet smell of freshly baked cakes was luring most of the employees here, where a pretty long queue had formed. Waiting in this line, we find Bom and T.O.P, each of them having a slightly different state of mind. Bommie, as calm as never before, was forever texting, without being too affected by what was happening in the surroundings.  Right behind her, completely uneasy and kind of annoyed, Seunghyun was desperately trying to find out more about the ongoing conversation that glued Bom’s finger to her phone.

What the heck can they be talking about that’s so interesting? It takes too long and I can’t see anything from here! When is the next date going to take place? I have to find this out! Only if I could see the screen...

T.O.P stealthily moved closer and closer to Bom, but when he was on the verge of reaching her, the queue would move a little bit further, and with it, drawing the girl and her phone away from his field of view. After a couple of failed attempts, Seunghyun was starting to get really irritated. He made a big step to get as close as he could to Bom, and leaning forward on his tiptoes, he struggled to peek over the girls shoulder and get a glimpse of her phone's screen.

UGGHHH THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE. I can’t see anything because of her huge . . . Why on earth are they so big anyway? It must be hard to find bras this size. . . C’mon Bom, can you lift the phone a little bit more?!

As T.O.P was toiling hard to see anything, he didn’t notice that they were now right in front of the queue, near the display cases. The cashier thanked the client she had just finished with, and lifting her eyes to greet the next client, she was horrified to see Seunghyun seemingly peeping at Bom's cleavage from behind:

“MISTER CHOI SEUNGHYUN WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?” the lady cashier screamed at him completely outraged by the situation.

This drowned everybody’s attention, including Bom, who turned around in a second, only to find T.O.P in a very inappropriate position, way too close to her, let’s say, chest area.

“WHAAT THE HADES ARE YOU LOOKING AT? OH MY GOD I KNEW YOU WERE A ERT! I FEEL ASSAULTED! AND YOU ARE DOING IT IN PUBLIC?!” Bom quickly lifted her blouse and covered her ‘assaulted’ area.

“WHAT? NO! WHAT THE HECK WOMEN?!” Seunghyun, taken aback by all the screaming and the judgmental looks on everyone’s faces, he tried to plead innocence. “I SWEAR I wasn’t looking at your . . . chest! I was just . . .Uhm . . . ADMIRING YOUR SHOES!”

“FROM BEHIND MY BACK?”

“Well yeah . . . you know, I didn’t want to bother you . . . But I WASN’T LOOKING AT YOUR ! THEY JUST GOT BEETWEEN MY VISUAL FIELD, I SWEAR! THEY ARE SO HUGE I COULDN’T AVOID THEM”

Although the explanation T.O.P provided could’ve, more or less,  been plausible, the last affirmation didn’t really improved the situation.

“YOU ARE COMPLETELY CRAZY.” Bom didn’t wait for another stupid excuse to rush out of there, leaving Seunghyun surrounded by a speechless audience, which witnessed the entire shocking scene.

Finding himself alone and confused, followed by a never-ending queue right behind him, T.O.P proceeded to the ‘still in shock’ cashier and almost whispered his order in embarrassment:

“Two cups of coffee please”

As soon as he received them, he ‘teleported’ away from there, determined to find Bom and finished what he came here for. Of course, after he apologizes and convinces her that he is not a .

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­____________________________________________________

“Here is the coffee you wanted.” Seunghyun eventually found Bom hidden away in a corner, sitting alone at a table. She was, of course, texting, or at least that's what everyone would think she was doing, because both of her hands were under the table, obviously holding her phone.  T.O.P quietly placed the cup next to Bom, but the girl didn’t even lift up her eyes, partly because she was looking at her phone, but mostly because the embarrassment she was felling in his presence. She mumbled a ‘thank you’, but her worst nightmare came true: Seunghyun dragged a chair and took a sit at the table with her.

“Uhm . . . I’m sorry about what happened, but I swear it was not what everyone thought. I am not that kind of man, you know . . .”

Hearing his honest apology, Bom’s uptight mood started to decrease, and she managed lift her gaze and look into T.O.P’s eyes.

“It’s ok . . . but please don't ever let anything like this happen again, even if it was only a misunderstanding.”

“Yeah, of course! You wouldn’t imagine how embarrassing this was for me too.”

Bom relaxed a little, and smelling the sweet scent of the coffee, she reached for the steamy mug in front of her. She was more careful this time, knowing her previous experience, she actually looked at what she was doing. With her right hand, she took the mug and drunk some coffee. With the other hand, she cautiously put her cell on the table, leaving her fingers slightly covering the screen.

This caught Seunghyun’s attention, who was now staring intensely at the little electronic device lying underneath Bom’s left hand, with an enormous urge to snatch it and read at least one of the many messages that have been written on this poor phone.

*BEEP*

 Just then, the screen lit up and he knew precisely what happened: a new message. As soon as Bommie realized that her phone beeped, she picked it up with the intention of reading the new text she has just received. However, she didn't even get to unlock the screen, when her wrist was abruptly grabbed, and before she even knew it, Seunghyun was holding her left hand, between his palms. He then gently opened her fist, and snatched the phone from Bom’s fingers. To make sure she didn’t notice anything, he then started to slowly caress her hand.

“You have a nice hand. I like your long fingers.”

Bom was so thrown off guard, that she didn’t realized what T.O.P started doing right away: tapping her phone under the table like a maniac.

“Uuuhm . . . Thank you? . . .” The girl was nervously staring at Seunghyun’s hand, hers like it was the most normal thing that could happen.

Meanwhile T.O.P was swiping and swiping the endless conversation displayed on the screen, searching for a clear date and hour for their next date.

“Seunghyun? . . .” Bom tried to move her hand but he tightened the grip, still caught in his quest. “You do know you are holding my hand, right?”

“Yeah, of course I do. . .” C’mon, it has to be here somewhere!

“O . . . key . . . And you do know that we are in a public space, where people see us, right?”

“Mhm . . .” Still concentrated on reading the messages, he stopped to examine a longer one, which seemed to be what he was looking for.

FINALLY, HERE IT IS! NEXT TUESDAY, 8PM, GULDARI STREET, NO 19! A RESTAURANT, OF COURSE! What other typicall place for a date can there be?!

*BEEP*

Before Bommie could ask anything else, her cell beeped once again. Seunghyun was brought back to reality, he retracted his hand and replaced it with the device he smuggled from under the table. The phone returned to its owner.

“Here is your phone, I think you have a new message.” And with that, he simply stood up and left, taking his coffee with him.

Bom was left there alone, disillusioned as never before. Only a few moments passed befpre her cell beeped yet again, and having nothing else better to do, she naturally checked to see what it was.

That was strange, even for him. The pills he took at the hospital must be something with a long term effect . . . At least I have Ji Seok with whom I can have a normal conversation. Oh, but this is not a message from him. This isn’t a message at all! It’s a reminder! Our schedules are finally fixed!

Bom received the program for tomorrow: 2NE1 will appear as MCs on the first emmision of a new kind of music show: SBS’s “Idol-Rookie Challenge”. As the title reveals, the show presents two kpop acts, one of them being the Idols, while the other one are newly debuted rookies. The Idol group also hosts the show. And 2NE1 and Akdong Musicians were the once choosen for the first eisode.

____________________________________________

- 24 (more or less) hours later –

“Daesung, can you please pass me the remote control?”

“Sorry, Youngbae, but it’s not here . . .”

“So where is it then? The show is going to start in short time, we should find it” Taeyang started to look for the remote around the lounge room.

“Oh gosh, I can’t get used to this crutches, I still find it hard to move around here.” GD just entered the room, jumping on his healthy foot. As soon as he spotted him, Tae asked:

“Have you seen the remote control? I saw it right here early today!”

“I just arrived, how am I supposed to know anything about it? I’m not even good with remote controls anyway . . .” Jiyong biterly recalled a recent incident.

“Is everybody here? The show starts in 2 minutes, I don’t want to miss it.” Seungri took a sit on the sofa next to Daesung:

“I can’t wait to see how the girls are going to do on live television!”

“Wait, what? What show? Live television?” Seunghyun joined in, as clueless as always.

“Come on, hyung, you must know! We're taking about the new music show, airing live on SBS tonight? 2NE1 are the MC’s . . . We decided from yesterday that we were going to watch it here, together . . .”

“Oh. We’re watching it now? Here? On what? There is no TV here.”

Taking a small break to process what their hyung said, Seungri and Daesung could not understand the oldest's questions. The maknae eventually talked:

“Hyung, what do you mean? . . . there is a huge plasma TV right on the wall in front of you. It has been there for more than 2 years . . .”

Seunghyun had a confused look on his face.

“You mean that?” He pointed at the OBVIOUSLY HUGE BLACK TV mounted on the wall. “I thought that’s how the wall’s pattern is. Black and shiny . . . I never knew this is an actual TV.”

“You got to be kidding me.” Daesung was still staring at his hyung, amazed by his professional observation skills.

“MAKNAE! Did you hide the remote control?! Stop with these bad jokes, it’s not the right time.”

“Hyung, what the heck? I want to see this show as much as you do! I’m innocent!”

“Gosh, just go and press the switch on button on the TV”

Youngbae was not pleased with the alternative solution Jiyong suggested, so he continued with his search.

“Do you think AKMU are nervous? They might be, although it’s not their first performance at a music show.”

“I wouldn’t worry about them, Daesung. Those kids are as right as rain on a stage. They are naturals. The girls are probably in a bigger flap than them.”

“Jiyong is right. 2NE1 gets kind of nervous when it comes to this kind of things. Do you remember Music Bank last year? Bom was so nervous that she completely forgot about her microphone. She went all the way up on the stage and she only realized it was missing the moment she lifted up her bare hand. The look on her face was priceless!” Seungri laughed as he remembered that moment. “They were lucky that it was a pre-recording, and they just shoot it once more.”

“HA HA HA how could we forget?!”

With bright smiles on their faces and in a very good mood, the four guys chilling on the couch were minding their own business while the fifth one was frenetically searching for the mysteriously missing object. Checking his phone as usual, Daesung saw how quickly time passed:

“OH god it’s already time it started! Why isn’t anybody turning the TV on?”

Without realizing the impact of his words, he was surprised by Taeyang’s mini mental breakdown:

 “I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO TURN IT ON TOO AND I WILL KINDLY OFFER MYSELF TO DO IT IF I KNEW WHERE THE FREAKING REMOTE CONTROL IS! GET YOUR FREAKING ASSES OF THE SOFA AND HELP. ME. FIND. IT.”

Everybody instantly stood up, even GD managed to snatch his crutches as quickly as never. Once the couch was unoccupied again, the little black rectangular thing that caused this much fuss reappeared miraculously on its surface. Taeyang was so happy to finally find it that he hardly managed to restrain himself from hugging and kissing it, even though he knew it spent some time under someone’s .

“Look hyung, here you are.” Seungri passed the remote to Taeyang. “Are you ok now?”

“Yeah, of course, I am great. Let’s watch the show! It has just started!”

Everybody took their seat and Youngbae switched the TV on. Seunghyun let out a silent “whoa", enlightened to see the ‘shiny black wall’ functioning for the first time. An add was just ending and now the intro logo spelling: “Idol-Rookie Challenge” started glowing on the screen. It quickly disappeared and was replaced instead by a few seconds of black screen, right before transitioning to a new impressive image: four dark silhouettes apperead on the screen, outlined by a dazzling light that was brightly shining from behind. Next, the sound of a familiar beat pierced through the boys’ ears, who were now frozen in time, eyes glued on the screen, hypnotized by the breathtaking performance that was unveiling in front of them.

One by one, each of the girls revealed themselves when their turn on the camera came, building up till the moment the chorus was blasting through the speakers. The boys were silently watching every moment, like it was their first time they saw 2NE1 perform.

“If they ever felt nervous before the performance, it sure as hell doesn’t show . . .” Daesung stated, completely bewildered. Next to him was the leader, equally impressed as everybody else:

“Do you remember a long time ago, when they were just some trainees, and these girls were terrified to perform on a big stage? Because I totally don’t. I am now the one terrified by their fierce charisma.”

“Minzy looks flawless with this hairstyle.” Taeyang admired the redheaded girl. “She should wear extensions more often.”

“I don’t really get why Bom needs to exercise at the gym. She has a pretty damn nice body . . .” Seunghyun silently mumbled to himself.

“Wow, look at Dara! Her dance moves are profesional!”

“Maknae is right, she moves really well for a bunch of skinny bones.” GD meant to be a little mean, but it came out sounding more like a sincere compliment.

“Chaerin is rocking these shorts. Her legs look amazi . . .” Youngbae didn’t even finish the sentence when Seungri intervened appalled:

“WHAT? NO WAY! NO they don’t! And those pants are extremely short and revealing! It’s not decent!”

“What the heck, maknae?” Daesung cracked up. “Since when do you care if a piece of clothing is decent or not? As far as I know you, the less it covers the better it looks!”

“Well, yeah, but not when it comes to CL. What I mean is . . . it doesn’t look good on her!” Seungri tried to argue to no avail.

The song was rapidly coming to an end, and once the performance was over, the lights went off again for a few moments. When they came back on, the camera was focused on the girls, each of them holding their microphone with a charming smile on their faces. CL was the first to talk, quickly followed by Bom:

“Anyohaseyo and welcome to ‘Idol-Rookie Challenge’! Whassup we’re 2NE1!”

“We are so happy to be here tonight as your MCs for this new and exciting music show!  Although we are replacing BIGBANG, who unfortunately couldn’t be here tonight because of Jiyong’s minor accident. But we are relieved to inform you that he is just fine now, taking a break for a short while. But let’s get back to our show.  Dara-yah, can you introduce us to the show’s rules?”

“Of course, I’ll love to do it!” The girl cheerfully replied. “So, as it is the very first episode, it would only be fair from me to explain you a little bit how this show works. No worries, Dara is here to help you! So every Sunday night, here on SBS, one Idol group and a rookie group will keep you entertained. The seniors will have the honor to be the hosts of the show for one night, presenting and introducing the recently newbies. Easy, right? Both of them are going to perform for you and, of course, like in any other music shows, there are some prizes involved as well! Each month, a winner for the best new act is going to be awarded, and this rookie group will come back and perform once again, only this time, the script is different! The roles will switch! The  group comesback as the MCs this time, accumulating some well needed stage experience as well as the very rare occasion to show off on national television once again. Sounds great, doesn’t it?!”

“So, tonight we are starting the first edition of ‘Idol-Rookie Challenge’.“ Minzy spoke to the camera. “As you probably already figured it out, we are the Idol group of this episode, so we’ll need a rookie group as well. We are proud to present one of YG Family’s younger members, the siblings-duo that will melt your heart with their fresh and original style: Akdong Musicians!”

The four MCs moved away, leaving the stage clear for the next performance. The camera was filming AKMU now, who were sitting on two chairs in the middle of the studio, waiting for the first chords of their song to begin.

_______________________________________________________

“Come on girls, let’s exit in the back” CL showed everyone the way off the stage, leading them along the edge of the platform.

The lights and camera were focused on the two siblings, casually singing their hearts out in front of thousands of people, leaving the four girls to find their way out in  pretty much complete darkness.

Whoa, this was really great! I missed MC-ing so much! Dara thought to herself, as she walked behind the others. When I’m talking to the camera, instead of becoming nervous or worried, I start to act all natural and comfortable. Strange, huh? Aigoo, I’ve been so stressed for the past few days, by MC-ing I can finally relax and disconnect. YAH, I should to this more often! Dara-yah, what’s wrong with you? I don’t even recognize myself lately. I’m so itchy and angry and I’m always screaming at Jiyong. OH RIGHT! Jiyong! That guy makes me so furious I can’t even . . .

 “AAAAAAAAA!!!”  Lost in her thoughts, Dara didn’t notice that the stage was ending and a couple of stairs were suddenly replacing it. She inevitably tripped and was on the verge of meeting the floor with her face, when fortunately, Yong Deuk, I mean, Yong Don, was there to catch her. And by catching I mean serving as a soft surface where Dara landed.

“OMO, OMO, OMO I’m sorry I am so clumsy! Biahnae Donnie! ” She apologized as the boy helped her to get back on her feet.

“It’s all right, just, be careful next time noona, or else you’re going to hurt yourself.”

“Thanks Don, I was lucky you were here . . .”

It wasn’t really luck, as Deuk didn’t just happened to be there. After all the dancers left the stage, he stuck around waiting for Minzy. Not like he was going to talk to her or anything. He just wanted to see her. But instead of Minzy he got Dara. All over him. Literally.

______________________________________________

Back in the YG lounge, the boys were still glued in front of the screen. Watching the two siblings perform, Seunghyun couldn’t help his admiration:

“These kids are unbelievably good! I am so glad to know there are such talented generations to follow.”

“I know!” Taeyang agreed. “They are so young, yet it is clear they already found their path.  Just look how well they are doing!”

While everybody was enjoying AKMU’s sweet voices and brilliant song, GD’s eyes happened to be wandering in the dark background, where 4 shadows seemed to be walking on the edges, towards the exit. Just before he lost sight of them, the last one oddly disappeared, as if the person owning it was about to collapse. He could've even swear he heard someone screaming, and as if this wasn’t enough, Jiyong's instinct was telling him that that person must have been Dara. Fearing for the worst, he involuntarily started screaming to the others:  

“HAVE YOU SEEN THAT?! OH MY GOD DARA FELL OFF THE STAGE! GUYS, TELL ME YOU SAW IT TOO!”

As expected, nobody knew what the panicked leader was talking about. Everybody was paying attention to the performance, why would they be looking in the background? Despite the lack of interest showed by the others, Jiyong continued worrying:

“I am telling you, Dara fell while she was exiting the stage! I saw her tripping! WHAT IF SHE GOT HURT? You know how thin and fragile she is!”

“Jiyong, calm down, I am sure that someone would have stopped the performance if somebody got injured, especially Dara. Besides, nobody noticed anything except you.” T.O.P tried to calm the leader down.

“BUT I DID! I saw everything with my eyes! I saw her falling! . . .” He tried to convince them. GD examined each of his fellow members, desperately trying to find anyone who can help “. . . MAKNAE! Who are you texting?”

Seungri, who was holding his cell, writing a message, was surprised to hear the sudden question.

“I was just chatting with C . . . uhm . . . checking with the girls, you know . . .”

“You are checking to see if Dara is ok? FINALLY SOMEBODY WHO CARES! Gimme that phone, I want to talk with her right now!” in half a tick, he seized the maknae’s cell and pressed the “call” icon, without even looking at the screen. Seungri instantly got pale and dumbed, as if he had lost his tongue. After a couple of seconds, the person who GD was calling picked up, and the boy started babbling uncontrollably:

“Yeoboseyo? DARA-YAH? I THOUGHT YOU WOULDN’T PICK UP BECAUSE YOU ARE HURT! I thought you fell and injured yourself! BE MORE CAREFUL NEXT TIME! How can you be so distracted! You’re always tripping over something! Wasn’t it enough that I broke my leg for you? You don’t have to break anything else, I did the entire job for you! SO NOW PLEASE TAKE CARE OF THAT BONES OF YOURS because I am not using this stupid crutches for nothing! GET BACK ON THE STAGE AND LEARN HOW TO USE THOSE LONG SKINNY LEGS YOU HAVE! GOOD BYE!”

Just like nothing ever happened, Jiyong hung up and gave Seungri his phone back, going back to calmly watch the show. The maknae was relieved that the conversation was such a short one.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­________________________________________________

“Who was that Chaerin-ah?” Bom asked CL, who was staring at her phone in confusion, after a very loud and, let’s say, interesting phone-call.

“This has to be the creepiest call I’ve ever received.” She explained: “I was texting with someone and then this person called me. But when I answered, it was completely someone else, yelling something about falling and breaking a leg, calling me Dara. If I get to think about it, it sounded a lot like Jiyong.”

“Jiyong?! But he is at the HQ, watching the show at TV with the others.” The other girl wondered. “There’s no way he could have seen Dara tripping off stage.”

“I know, right? I told you, it was creepy. . .”

_________________________________________________

Close to the other two girls, in the vast back-stage area, Dara and Minzy were sitting next to each other, getting their make-up fixed. Sora, the make-up artist assistant, was running around, helping everyone and making herself useful, like anybody else was. Shyly approaching from the entrance was Deuk (Don for everybody else), who wanted to stop by and salute. He walked until he got pretty close to Dara, so that he could see Minzy, who was kind of hidden behind her unnie. The boy leaned forward to greet her, and then he politely saluted Sandara as well, so that he won’t raise any suspicions.

“Anyong Minzy-ah! Hello Dara noona, are you feeling OK after your little accident?”

“I am fine, thank you Donnie . . .”

Is it just me or Donnie is invading my personal space? Dara was on to something. He is leaning uncomfortably close to me right now. And why did he come here anyway? We just were together on the stage, while we performed, and after that I had a of bad luck and fell on him. Hmmm, I think we saw enough of each other for one day, maybe even too much. Actually, I now realize that lately we have excessively crossed paths. He’s always greeting me first, but not long ago he didn’t even use to respond when I saluted. He offered to help me when I was carrying those heavy sugar boxes and he even visited me at the hospital. And now, you are telling me it was just a coincidence that HE caught me when I was about to fall? IS THIS WHAT I THINK IT IS?! IS HE THE ONE I KISSED?! I am afraid so. HE MOST SURELY WAS PRESENT AT THE PARTY. Maybe he thinks that I kissed him intentionally and now he believes I like him or something. MAYBE HE LIKES ME BACK! OH NO BUT THIS IS SO WRONG HE IS TOO YOUNG! I’m so going to die of embarrassment.

“Yong Don.” Dara solemnly spoke, making sure she drawn the boy’s full attention. “I am so sorry for you, but I realized the reason why you are here.”

Deuk’s pulse suddenly dropped, making him look like he was about to faint. Before he could say anything, Dara continued her speech:

“I want to let you know that this has to stop. I know what you’ve been aiming for lately, but it is all just a mistake. It’s completely wrong for someone as young as you to lose their precious time with liking somebody like me. I know it’s hard but you can . . .”

“Wait, what?” The boy asked, completely perplexed by his nonna’s words. This was not what he expected to hear. “You think I like you?”

“Yeah, it’s obvious you do. You’re always around me and you always greet me cheerfully. You are there <> when I need help. You even saved me from an ugly accident! Everything is clear: you are in love with me. And I know it’s because what happened at the party, but I swear I did not mean to ki . . .”

“Noona, what are you talking about? I do not mean to insult you, but I don’t like you more than just a friend, I’m sorry . . .”

“YOU DON’T?” Dara was genuinely astonished. “THIS MEANS I DIDN’T KIs . . . uhm, nothing this means nothing.” She calmed down, knowing she avoided a disaster. However, the boy’s odd behavior was still a mystery. “But then, if it’s not me, who is it? You’re clearly having a crush on somebody, the signs are obvious. Who is it? Who do you like?”

Curiosity was in the air but everything Deuk could feel was pressure. His heartbeats were increasing again as his mind, heart and soul were all saying together the same name: Minzy.

“I . . . I like . . . uhm, I . . .” he mumbled incoherently. But fortunately for him, he remembered in time that he had a card up his sleeve. He caught a glimpse of Sora wondering in the back and he then realized that this was his escape. He was not Deuk today, he was Don. Salvation came. “I . . . I guess I like Sora!”

Minzy listened carefully to the whole conversation, but it was only now when she intervened, kind of revolted:

“YOU LIKE SORA? Are you kidding me? Really?!?"

"Well, yes . . . I do . . ."

"And that’s how you show someone you like them? By not talking to them at all? I have barely seen you even say hello! Oh, boy, you have a lot to learn. Luckily I am here to help you! Don’t worry, Minzy will show you how to behave around your crush! It’s time to let Sora know you actually like her! Because if you continue the same way, she will never ever know.”

“Wow. Thank you, Minzy. I don't know what to say. You are very thoughtful.” Deukkie answered, terrified to see Minzy so excited about the whole situation.

OH I PROMISE I WILL KILL YOU DONNIE, WHEREVER YOU ARE, I WILL FIND YOU AND KILL YOU! I now have to pretend that I am in love with a girl I barely know!? OH, and guess what? I have somebody to help me with that as well. And of course, that person is my actual crush to whom I can barely say a word. I hate my life . . . I mean, Don’s life. I can’t even hate my own life now, BECAUSE I DON’T EVEN HAVE ONE ANYMORE.

________________________________

 Thanks again for reading and I am really sorry it takes me so long to update. I feel really guilty so I'll try to write more offten. You can never know how hard something is until you try it. But for now I managed to finish a longer chapter, so we are cool guys, alright? Thanks again!

-Ssigga-