Curtain Call

Taking a deep breath you look up at the formidable glass building of FNC Entertainment. Today is the day, you can do this. The sky is bright, it’s a little chilly but it usually was in the mornings, especially in Seoul’s autumn. You had come to realise that over the past couple of months, being a foreigner from across the seas and used to different climates. The chill was taking some getting used to, but today you could barely feel it as you were a bag of nerves. You adjusted your leather jacket, ran your sweating palms across the top thighs of your super tight leather pants. You felt ridiculous in what you were wearing, while it was warm at least, the black leather clung to your skin like it was your second skin, leaving you feeling and exposed. There was nothing amiss in your figure, it hugged your cheeks, pinched into your front and stuck to your thighs and calves. If you had tried wearing something like this two months ago, you would have ran back inside screaming and sticking a bag over your head. But today you had a brave face, you felt good about yourself, mostly. The training you had undergone from your manager up til now may have been short but gruelling, and it covered everything from your fitness, your toning, to your dance, acting, singing and guitar skills. You know you looked the part. But were you ready to walk the part? Before all this started, you were, after all, one of the best drama students of your university. That was why you had been chosen for this very part. Your talent had already been recognised in the crowd. And It was time now to slip into character. Another breath came from your lips, long and shuddering, almost choking.... But this was your biggest performance yet. This character was one you had to live out, not cast away as soon as you step of the stage. Now the very ground you walked on, the dirty city streets, the restaurants, offices, hotels, everything had become your stage and the curtain was now lifting. Your audience awaits. Within this very building. Are you really ready for this?

The man beside you was older than you by a few years. He was dressed in the very best, a French suit and polished Italian shoes. He was quite handsome for an older guy, and he certainly had a lot of charm. It was probably due to that which he was able to talk you into doing this in the first place. You still wondered how he had managed to do it. He looked down at you and noticed you picking at your attire, scuffing your heeled boots on the pavement as you gazed anxiously ahead, taking those deep shuddering breaths. He flashed his ridiculously white teeth and gave you a squeeze on the elbow, catching your eye and you gave him a nervous smile in return. “You’ve got this. Just remember everything we rehearsed. You’re a budding rock goddess, not a drama student fresh out of university anymore. You didn’t travel to Seoul just to do some disregarded acts in trashy bars for foreign audiences, you were made for this instead. To lead the K Pop industry in a new direction of y rock and roll. You’re bringing that rocking Western flair into this uptight bouncing popping little party and you’re mixing things up like nobody has ever seen before. Are you ready to show them your attitude, ______? C’mon, you look like you stepped right off a raving billboard concert and you’re ready to rebel against the world! Look at you! y rocker is the word! That’s who you are now. Your new identity. Push that shy stage girl away and show me your show-woman face!” He smacked you lightly on the back after his pep talk and you pushed back your shoulders, stuck out your chest, flicking your leather jacket slightly open to show you weren’t ashamed of those womanly curves, your teeth and nodding in satisfaction. You looked him up and down now, with these actions, you had been pulled into character. Already you could feel your old self slipping to the sidelines, taking a bench as you let this new person take hold. Miss attitude. Face of y rock and roll in South Korea’s music industry. Yes, you could feel her. You could do it. She was here and she was ready. She was you, and you were going to own.

“Phwah,” your self-proclaimed manager exclaimed, “You are ready. That’s my girl. Shall we?” he stepped back and gestured to the front glass doors of the building, allowing you to take the lead. Now you were a girl that had to always take the lead, like a dog with a bone you were not going to give others any power over you. That’s who you were now, and it felt good for a change. Adjusting your face into one of brooding nonchalance and jutting your chin out defiantly, you pushed past your manager as he chuckled, holding the door for you. He had to act just as much as you did.

Entering the building you noticed how huge it was, it looked so professional, so modern and clean. You reached into your pocket to find some gum as your manager did all the talking at the front desk, carelessly dropping the wrapper on the pristine polished white tiles of the company floors. You would never have done something so bold, so disrespectful when you were being yourself. But this was who you had to be now, and once again, you felt a refreshing feeling flood through you as your usual inabitions were broken down inside you. Nobody challenged your actions. Your manager looked apologetically at the receptionist who simply smiled and bowed, letting you know the cleaner was coming to sweep the floors within the next few minutes anyway. You wondered if the staff here were always so hospitable, and you also wondered how much they had to put up with from other clients, other musicians. You were sure there was a lot worse out there. Although, littering was not quite so good either. You felt a little guilty but didn’t let it show as an elderly woman came around the corner with a dustpan, bowing at you and sweeping up your wrapper. Against your usual instincts you rolled your eyes and chewed your gum noisily.

A short, round faced and highly cheerful looking man rounded the opposite corner to where the cleaner had appeared and disappeared around. He was dressed in a suit and looked like someone important, so you resisted the urge to straighten up and adjust yourself. y rocker girl wouldn’t do that, she’s too aloof, too good for that. You then had to mask your surprise as four attractive men followed closely behind him, one stepped ahead and caught in step with the cheerful professional man, looking as if he was in deep discussion about something and gesturing his hands animatedly. You knew who he was instantly, you knew who all four of those young men were. And as much as you had thought about it, you had pushed the thought aside that you would even be able to set eyes on them just because your manager had chosen this company. Yes, it was CN BLUE. Jung YongHwa was explaining something of seemingly great importance to the guy which you assumed was his manager. He (YongHwa) was dressed casually but stylishly, his sneakers bright and new looking, his clothes light in colour, crisp and absolutely wrinkle free. His dark grey sports jacket hung about his masculine frame, giving him more of a boyish kind of look, making him look more casual and comfortable. His band members joked around together behind him and their manager. JungShin pushed JongHyun playfully as MinHyuk laughed at the both of them and pouted as he remarked on something they were joking about. All three of them looked over at you and your manager as you stood to the side of the waiting lounge pointedly.

You checked yourself and remembered your role, moving to lean against the nearest couch in a carefree manner and checking your nails disinterestedly. Your manager shuffled awkwardly beside you and fixed a patient smile on his face, looking as if he was overly concerned about you and touching your shoulder attentively. You shrugged him off and leaned away, looking up through your thick bangs in time to catch the five men approaching you slowly.

YongHwa had noticed you, well of course it was hard not to since you were right in front of them and sticking out like a sore thumb in any case. His hands were frozen mid-conversation, stuck in their animated reverie, as his dark eyes went rounder than usual, bigger than usual as he took you in. They moved from your face down to your tight leather pants and pointed black boots, and slowly up again to your almost too-low top (by Korean standards anyway) and studded collar around your neck, back to your face again. His mouth had popped open slightly. His face mirrored those of the boys coming up and stopping behind him. He seemed to remember himself and dropped his hands to his sides as his manager began talking, shifting his gaze to your manager and scratching the side of his face distractedly. His band members nudged each other and continued to look you over curiously, not giving your manager much of their attention. You knew what you must of looked like. It only made sense that they were surprised to find you here. Feeling a little heated under their stares you straightened your shoulders and met their gaze squarely. No, this girl doesn’t feel the heat.

“Ah Park Jong Lee! A pleasure to finally meet you in person!” CN BLUE’s manager had extended his hand to your own manager’s and shook it vigorously. “I trust you made a pleasant trip. And this is our new point of interest I trust?” he turned to smile at you, “This is the very own _______ that I have heard so much about! Yes! And a pleasure to meet you too! I look forward to working with you!” He reached out his hand to you and you stood up from your slouching position against the couch to take his outstretched hand. A rocker still knew when to shake hands with their staff, that much was known.

All eyes were on you as you shook the manager’s hand coolly. “Kind of you to say,” you drawl pleasantly enough, regarding him lazily through heavy lidded eyes. “Please take care of me.” This was the standard response in such a situation, you couldn’t overlook it.

Your gazed moved over the CN BLUE boys as their manager laughed a little too much at your words. He was already falling under your spell. You wondered if it would work on your favourite music group of South Korea. That much hadn’t been in your plans, and you wondered if they would see right through you, if they had some kind of fan girl sixth sense. That had to be impossible. You just had to make sure your act was utterly flawless, you could never let it drop. Not even around them. Especially around YongHwa, that was going to be extremely difficult. As your eyes met with his you felt your heart pounding in your chest, but you fought against that feeling. You were seeing him through different eyes. Through the y rock chick eyes. She didn’t know nor care who CN BLUE were, and she didn’t have time or the patience to moon over some front man of a band she had no previous associations with. So what if it’s YongHwa. So what if it’s CN BLUE. Miss attitude had no time for that. How were they important in the grand scheme of things? You felt your lip curl as your mind worked through this particular concept, you were a girl of two minds. You were enjoying the feeling of this careless, confident goddess leading you through your motions like nothing but you mattered. With these new eyes you regarded the boy closest to you. Somewhere faintly in the back of your mind you admitted he was still pretty cute, his eyes large and curious, his hair softly swept across this brows. His face was more on the handsome side however, angular, a strong jaw, masculine cheekbones and full lips that seemed to sit funny over his bottom lip. He had an overbite, but that was fine, so did you. It made him look a little pouty. His lips seemed to be clamped together intentionally, and you noticed his jaw flex. Surprised you looked up to meet his eyes, you held them there a moment, searching boldly, lazily. He begins to look uncomfortable and his eyes flicker elsewhere when you grin, realising you seemed to be having some effect on him. Of course you were. You were this girl... this girl will always get a reaction. No matter who it is. She demanded it.

CN BLUE’s manager was talking with yours when he suddenly realised he had not yet introduced you to his star clients. “Ah! Forgive me, _______. You have not yet CN BLUE! My mistake, my head is all over the place today. CN BLUE will be your sunbaes in this company, you will find them to be particularly enthusiastic and helpful, especially in all things rock and roll, like yourself. CN BLUE, formally great _______ please.”

CN BLUE bowed together in unison, as if someone where directing them that I could not see, as if it had been pre-prepared. You guessed they did this a lot. “Annyeonghaseo ______, we are CN BLUE!” All four of them gave you beautiful smiles and you felt yourself falter for a moment. Your pulse quickened and you checked yourself. That’s not you now, you can’t be affected like that.

The three boys that had been slightly back from YongHwa and their manager stepped in line with them now, so you could see them better. MinHyuk was first to introduce himself “I am MinHyuk, I am the drummer of CN BLUE. Let’s get along well together, _______!”

You grinned cheekily at him, his adorably young and joyous face moving you regardless. His dimples were endearing and you immediately felt a fondness for him growing.

Next bowed JongHyun, his voice was lower than MinHyuk’s, and his smile was a bit more sophisticated and a bit more shy. “I am JongHyun, the lead guitarist. I also do much of the singing and help with composing.”

“Hyung, don’t take away too much of the limelight, our YongHwa does most of the work!” JungShin nudged JongHyun playfully.

“Yah! I do my fair share! You know I take my guitar solos very seriously!” JongHyun rebutted. “Of course nobody does as much work as YongHwa-hyung,” he added with a sweet smile.

You grinned indulgently at their antics. They were so cute when they were playing around together. Ahem. Not that you cared much. They were just mildly entertaining as you didn’t see this every day.

JungShin then turned back to you and bowed, it looked exaggerated along with his exceptionally tall slim figure. “I am JungShin, the bass player for CN BLUE. Probably the coolest guy in CN BLUE.”

“Shin-ah!” exclaimed MinHyuk in protest, but smiling along with his band mates.

JongHyun simply shook his head at his band mate’s statement. He caught your eye and his eyes twinkled. “Not really,” he mouthed secretly. You grinned.

YongHwa was looking over his mischievous band mates with a mock stern expression. He cleared his throat, eyeing them this way, his mouth gaping at their behaviour. “Now now, Shin-ah, we all know who the real coolest guy of CN BLUE is,” he said, jabbing a thumb at his chest. “You can’t take that away from your leader. I’ll work you harder later.” He turned his stern gaze on JongHyun, though it was all in jest he did it so well. His powerful personality was radiating from him even when he was pretending to take charge. It gave you a funny feeling deep down, a tickle at the bottom of your stomach. His stern gaze, his stern voice. His strong, powerful personality, so masculine to you... “And yah, JongHyun. You help out sometimes but you’re mostly lazy. All the hard work and overtime credit is for me, arraso?”

His band mates snickered, though they hung their heads a little. This was all joking around but you guessed there was some truth in their bickering, to some extent at least. It was still all very entertaining, you could get used to this.

YongHwa turned to you and you felt yourself start. The intensity in his eyes, after exercising his authority over his band members, was still blaring like fire in his eyes. But it softened a little; it became more like dwindling embers as he now regarded you. His narrowed eyes shaped more into that larger, rounder shape that they had been before. His plump lips moved and you tried not to stare at them, entranced. He bowed slightly, “I am YongHwa, guitarist and singer of CN BLUE. Excuse my band members, I think they must be showing off to you. I guess I have to work harder as their leader so that they can better remember their manners. I’m the only one that can show off around here.” He finished off with what you swore was a wink, but it was too quick, too subtle for you to be sure.

“Yah, hyung!” three voices exclaimed.

Their manager laughed and patted YongHwa on the back. “Charming introductions, boys! Now remember to be especially nice to _______ when ever you see her around the company. I think she could do with a little bit of your care, especially as she is a foreign artist making her debut here for the first time in Korea.”

The four boys nodded at these words, then looked at you curiously. You had not spoken much as yet, but you were glad of this. You supposed you were still something of a great mystery to the CN BLUE boys, and this brought you a sense of hidden satisfaction. They could wait. Your role was only just beginning. There will be some very fun times ahead.

“Well I think it’s time for us to sign the contract and start getting on with the exciting stuff!” said your manager cheerfully. The two managers chatted a bit about what was to be expected, filling you in on a few things, and the contract was signed. CN BLUE looked over the entire exchange, but mostly they were watching you. Something so different and something so new that had just entered their company, things were certainly about to get interesting around here.

YONGHWA P.O.V.

The front man of CN BLUE looked on with careful interest as you signed the papers to join their company. For the hundredth time his eyes flickered from your soft delicate fingers as they clutched the pen gracefully, to your incredible image. You were total rock, everything he admired. Your attire broke the usual boundaries of the Korean music industry, but only just a little, merely a suggestion, a hint of what was to come and what you were really capable of. Dark y rock and roll, this was something YongHwa loved, it was a side to his own music he wish he could bask in more often but the company wouldn’t allow it. The life of a rock star could not yet be achieved for him, he had to wait a bit longer, please the masses, get his name as far across the world as he could, so then he could break all constraints. But here you were, pre-debut, and already pushing at the boundaries, challenging the constraints that were ready to try and trap you, as they were dictated in that contract you were now signing at this very minute. You must be brave. Or were you stupid? YongHwa’s lips twitched as he realised you hadn’t even taken the time to properly read through the contract. You seemed so carefree, at least for now. The company hadn’t properly had a hold of you yet, it hadn’t exercised its power over you, released its wrath as soon as you step a toe out of line. You hadn’t met the pressures, the long working nights, the rabid fans, the rumours, the demands. Here you were, chewing your gum and running your hand through your hair like you had everything under control. For now, he thought bitterly. He looked away from you momentarily, not wanting to stare. But it was difficult, anywhere else was boring, and his eyes snapped back to you too quickly, like a magnet. Again his eyes roamed over your seductive outfit, the skin-tight leather which clung to your curvaceously feminine figure which not many Korean girls were blessed with. You really were something else. Do you think you will get away with it so easily? Part of him wished you did. Part of him was entranced by you, the other part of him bitter. Though mostly, he didn’t know you well enough yet, and through force of habit, he wished the best for you. He didn’t want you to get into any trouble, though looking at you now, your demeanour, your appearance. He knew better than to assume it was going to be smooth sailing. At the end of the day, he and the rest of CN BLUE were your sunbaes. Although you had many in the company, you had been introduced on the first day, and he knew there was a certain amount of responsibility attached to this. If you slipped, and if he and CN BLUE had more to do with you from this day, you’d all be slipping on your butts together.

YongHwa glanced at his band members; they seemed to be watching you just as closely, just as tentatively as he was sure he had been himself. He realised what it actually looked like and scolded himself internally. Gawking at a girl like that, that’s something teenagers do. “Yah!” he called to get the attention of his band members, annoyed at their flippant interest in you. He knew you were interesting, he knew you were rock and roll and all things CN BLUE strived to achieve, strived to explore. But that was no reason to be gawking like that. CN BLUE was a successful band! Right now they looked like they were the ones star struck by an idol. That was no way for them to behave. He was also slightly irked that maybe they weren’t just staring at you because of your essence of rock and roll. Maybe they were staring at you for more than that.... The muscle in his jaw twitched as his band members glanced at him in surprise. He cleared his throat, not knowing exactly why he wanted to get their attention and how to follow up. “After this I think we should get back to work on our new song. It’s only half finished, we should have it done by midnight tomorrow if we put some serious effort in after lunch.”

“Neh,” came the response from his band members half-heartedly. Their attention snapped immediately back to you. YongHwa cleared his throat again, indignantly. He glared over his band members for a moment then reluctantly, but magnetically, his eyes came back to you. You were looking at him, and he started. His hand jumped to his hair reflexively, checking his fringe was in place. He didn’t even know that he did it. The normally cool and unfazed dark beauty that was Jung YongHwa, seemed to finally have something which was already getting under his skin.

End Chapter One.