Chapter 5

13 March 2014, 11am
WGM Recording 1 Part 1
Halmae Korean BBQ Restaurant

Jiyong had waited impatiently for this day to arrive so he could have a proper meal and conversation with Chaerin. While she did reply to his messages occasionally, he had not been able to talk to her on the phone. Every time he called her, she would pick up the call only to inform him it was not a good time to call her since she was busy. Knowing that Chaerin was picky about the restaurants, he told the PD to consult Chaerin about the venue.

Looking around, Jiyong was mildly surprised. He didn’t expect Chaerin to pick a very normal family restaurant. Even more surprising, it was a Korean BBQ restaurant. As they were filming, the restaurant had given them a private dining room. Jiyong had gone out early to the salon to make sure he looked good for the recording. Just as his co-ordi was touching up his make-up, the assistant PD came to him.

“Mr. Kwon, Miss Lee’s personal assistant just informed us that she’s going to be late as she’s caught up in a meeting. She told us to go ahead and have lunch first. Do you want to eat with us?”

Jiyong frowned. He looked at his watch and realized that it was already 15 minutes past the call time for the recording. Instead of being annoyed, he was more worried about what was holding Chaerin up.

“Did Miss Lee’s PA say why she would be late?”

“We do not know for sure but since she’s bound for fashion week in London next week, it’s probably got to do with her new collection.”

“Oh, I see. She’s a really busy woman. Don’t worry, I’d wait for her to have lunch.”

The assistant PD nodded and went off. Jiyong dismissed his manager and co-ordi, asking them to go ahead and eat with the crew members. He took out his phone and sent a message to Chaerin.

TO: CHAERINNIE
Hi, I know you are probably busy and won’t be able to reply. Just wanna let you know I’m waiting for you to have lunch.

Although he wasn’t expecting a reply, when the beep went off on his phone, he quickly checked to see if it were Chaerin. He was a little disappointed when he realized that it was Youngbae.

FROM: YOUNGBAE
Where are you? Let’s have lunch together!

TO: YOUNGBAE
I can’t. I have WGM recording and I’m having lunch with Chaerin.

FROM:  YOUNGBAE
Ahh I see. Where are you? I wanna come watch the recording!

TO: YOUNGBAE
Don’t you have something to be busy with?

FROM: YOUNGBAE
I do, but watching you with Chaerin would definitely be more entertaining.

TO: YOUNGBAE
It’s CL to you. Don’t come. I want her to focus only on me!

FROM: YOUNGBAE
O.M.G. G-Dragon is insecure of his charms? All the more I’ve got to see this. See you in a bit~!

TO: YOUNGBAE
YA!! Don’t you dare show up here!!

There was no further reply. Jiyong sent a quick message to his manager, asking him not to tell Youngbae their whereabouts. He said ‘Ok’. But what Jiyong didn’t know was Youngbae’s manager just ask him where they were and he had given the address of the restaurant without second thoughts. He shrugged and reasoned that he was under orders not to tell Youngbae. His manager didn’t count.

Jiyong decided to use the time to finish up the song he had written for him and Chaerin. He had one of his female colleagues, Lydia, do a demo of the female voice. He envisioned Chaerin singing the song, and he smiled as he pieced the music and the vocals together, mixed it up, adding different elements into the song.

Without him realizing it, it was an hour past call time. Chaerin had arrived 15 minutes ago. After greeting the PD and telling the restaurant owner that she would pay for the food of all the staff members, she walked into the room where Jiyong was working. She saw the smile on his face and seeing that he’s working on his music, she didn’t disturb him until he put his headphones down.

“All done with the song?”

Jiyong turned to see Chaerin already in the room. She looked spectacular. She was wearing a white off-shoulders top with loose-fitting black pants and red stilettos. She had pulled up her blonde tresses into a high ponytail and finished the look with limited edition Hermes bag. She looked every part the powerful executive.

“How did you know I was working on a song? How long have you been here?”

“I arrived 15 minutes ago. Your back was to me and I can see the music software on your laptop. And you had your headphones on, so that was a giveaway too.”

“Aren’t you curious about the song?”

“I’m saving it for our conversation later.”

“Are you feeling alright? I’m really sorry about the other day.”

“I’m fine. Soo Hyuk oppa likes to over-react, so does Xin oppa.”

“Am I still on their hit list?”

At this, Chaerin laughed then gave him a sharp look.

“You will always be on their hit list as long as you are breathing the same air as me. These oppas need a lesson in personal space.”

“Aren’t you going to protect me from them?”

“Do you need my protection?”

The PD came in just then, giving Jiyong no chance to reply. They were briefed about the recording and given some ideas on where to take the conversation. The restaurant owner came in then to take their orders for food. When Chaerin saw the elderly lady dressed elegantly in Hanbok, she got up and went to give her a hug.

“Wow~ Halmae!~ You look so pretty today!”

“Aigoo~ Chaerin ah, I’m going to be on TV, of course I have to look nice! Where’s your husband-to-be? I should greet him.”

Jiyong got up and went to them immediately.

“I should be the one greeting you. Halmoni, annyeonghaseyo. It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Kwon Jiyong. Please look upon me favorably.”

“Aigoo~ He’s so handsome, Chaerin ah!”

“Halmae, Soohyuk oppa is going to have a heartbreak if he hears you.”

“Chaerin is right. I’m heartbroken, Halmae.”

Everyone turned to see Soohyuk standing at the door of the room. Chaerin rolled her eyes but stepped forward to give Soohyuk a hug.

“I thought I said I don’t need you to come.”

“Who said I came to see you? I came to see Halmae and to eat. Don’t think so highly of yourself, Lee Chaerin-ssi.”

“Pfft, who are you eating with?”

“Us!”

Kim Woobin and Hong Jonghyun appeared beside Soohyuk and Chaerin gave out a shout of glee because she had not seen the 2 oppas for a couple of weeks. They were all busy with their own work and such.

“Woobin oppa! Jonghyun oppa! You didn’t tell me you were coming back!”

“We literally just got off the plane and when Soohyuk said you are doing a recording for WGM, we HAVE to come and check out your hubby-to-be. Where is he?”

Jiyong was overwhelmed. First, there was the elderly lady whom Chaerin seems to be close to, then Soohyuk showed up. Now, the last of Chaerin’s oppas, Woobin and Jonghyun were also here. Suddenly he wished his Big Bang members were here just to even out the numbers.

“This is Kwon Jiyong and he’s going to be my hubby on the show.”

Jiyong stepped forward and shook Woobin and Jonghyun’s hands.

“It’s nice to finally meet you. Now, I believe I have met all of Chaerin’s oppas.”

At this, Woobin and Jonghyun laughed.

“Chaerin’s oppas. Indeed, we are Chaerin’s oppas. Don’t forget that.”

“YA! Woobin oppa! Don’t embarrass me!”

“Fine, fine, we'll go eat in the next room so you can start your date~ Mr. Kwon, keep your hands where we can see it. We will be watching!”

To this, Jiyong can only smile awkwardly. Just as the oppas turned to leave, Youngbae popped his head in. He walked into the room and high-fived Soohyuk, Woobin and Jonghyun. Jiyong would never admit it, but he was actually happy to see Youngbae. When Youngbae reached him, he gave him a hug.

“Awwww, and I thought you didn’t want me to come?”

Everyone broke into laughter before realising the rest of the Big Bang members had also arrived. All of them exchanged greetings.

“So, CL-ssi-”

“TOP oppa, I can call you oppa right? Please, call me CL or Chaerin. ‘CL-ssi’ just makes me sound so old.”

“Chaerin, you will have to call all of us ‘oppa’ then since we are all older than you.”

Jiyong made a face at Seungri who just spoke up. Instead of being afraid, Seungri grinned at Jiyong.

“I don’t know, Seungri-ssi. I have it on good knowledge that you tend to mistake ‘oppa’ as a sign of affection that goes beyond friendship.”

“Don’t worry, with you, if you call me ‘oppa’, I will treat it as an honor and protect you from Jiyong.”

“Alright then, so I guess now I have 4 more oppas to deal with.”

“What about me?”

Chaerin turned to Jiyong with a puzzled face.

“What about you?”

“I should be your oppa too right?”

“Well, right now, you are my husband in this show so that kind of puts you in a different category of ‘oppa’.”

Hearing that, Jiyong broke into a big grin. The rest of Big Bang just laughed seeing that grin. It was nice because it’s been awhile since they see Jiyong behave so insecurely around a girl. Not to mention, he wanted Chaerin’s attention.

The production team had to set up a separate monitor in the room that Soo Hyuk, Woobin, Jonghyun and the Big Bang members so they could see what’s happening in Jiyong and Chaerin’s room. They also asked for permission for them to record them watching and said they might use the footage in the actual show. All of them agreed and even jokingly mentioned that they want to be there for every recording. Once the room was ready, the PD got the ‘oppa crew’ to go over to the next room. Before they left, Woobin said again, this time not so jokingly.

“Jiyong, keep your hands where we can see them. Otherwise, we will come in and stop the recording.”

“Woobin oppa!”

“I’m just looking out for you.”

“Go! I have asked Halmae to prepare your favorite food. Go go go!”

Chaerin pushed Woobin out of the room but gave him a hug when he opened his arms.

“Behave.”

“You too, oppa.”

“Chaerin-ssi, let’s start, shall we? We will have you enter the room with Jiyong-ssi already waiting inside. Jiyong-ssi, you might want to take out your computer and headphone and look like you are working on your music just as Chaerin-ssi walks in. The food is ready to be served, so we’ll give you some time to do the greeting before we send the food in.”

“Got it, let’