I stood outside the room door and felt weak. Touching my cheeks, I realised I was heated up. Why did I react like this? I almost busted my own cover! Stupid Seunghoon. Stupid me.

I took a deep breath in and allowed myself just a minute of mental rest before I opened the door and entered the lair of monkeys. 

"We have to go. NOW." My voice dripping with ice. 

The cackling and giggling of the Winner boys froze immediately.  I stared at the five with cold piercing eyes and pointed to the door, "NOW." 

All four except one, scrambled over one another to get out of the room. Mino tripped over Seungyoon's leg and fell flat on the floor. Jinwo, in his panic, managed to step on the maknae's foot which resulted in a large scrowl across the diva's face. After all that tumbling, pushing and shoving, I was left once again with a thankfully not half- anymore Seunghoon. 

"You have 10 minutes to hurl your little arse to the lobby, fully dressed. We will be setting your hair and make-up at the salon." I hurriedly walked out of the room and slammed the door with a big bang. 

WHAM!

Seunghoon went into overdrive, brushing his teeth and wearing his clothes at the same time. As he washed his face, images of Byul's flushed face and rounded eyes flashed across his mind and he could feel his heart beating against his chest. "What is this?" he shouted out loud in frustration as he wiped his face with a towel. He stared hard at the reflection staring back at him. "Are you nuts? She's a guy, not a girl!" sensing how ridiculous he sounded, Seunghoon put on his favourite Adidas jacket and sprinted towards the lift. 

Somehow, after all that ruckus, we managed to all squeeze in the van and made our way to the salon. All the boys were exceptionally quiet, especially the dumb and dumber duo. Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Seungyoon attempted some menial conversation which was quickly drowned out by the iciness in the air. I took a look at the boys through my rear-view mirror and frowned. It's gonna be their fan meeting in three hours time and I couldn't have them all prissy and pouting.

"Ahem," I cleared my throat, " What would you guys like to have for lunch? I will go get it while you guys settle make-up and hair."

Food. It always works on boys.

"Tonkatsuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" Mino yelled while jumping on his seat.

"Ramen! With gyoza!" Jinwoo yelped with his fists pumping in the air.

"Aji fry! With loads of rice! And miso soup and pickles. Oh and mayo please," Leader Yoon, the one who must always sprout the longest order, said with a smile and a bow.

"Chirashi don, thanks," a cold dish for the perfect cold Nam prince. 

"Hmmm.... Lee Seunghoon?" 

Seunghoon looked at me with the coldest eyes possible and mumbled, "Anything."

Mino seemed shocked that his favourite hyung would pass up on choosing his favourite food while Nam Taehyun smirked knowingly. 

"Hyung, you crazy? Byul NEVER asks us what we want to eat. It was always the same for everyone!" Mino asked in utter disbelief.

"Yah! Song Mino! You make me sound like a bad manager," I yelled while turning into the parking lot. Mino covered his mouth and batted his eyelids in a futile attempt to appease me. 

Seunghoon shrugged his shoulders and looked out of the window. What was wrong with that boy? Seunghoon was the last to get out of the van and before I could ask him what he wanted for lunch again, he slammed the door shut. Woah, talk about being bipolar man. As the quintet made their way to the salon, I went on my way to satisfy their their culinary desires.

"XXL Tonkatsu, checked. Ramen with gyoza, checked. Long-winded Aji fry order checked. Chirashi-don, checked," I tapped my finger on my lips, wondering what to get for Seunghoon. Soon, I saw the perfect item on the menu.

Armed with my peace offerings, I huffed and puffed through my way to the boys in the waiting room. "Feeding time!" I chimed with a smile on my face. The boys seemed shocked by my entrance but were soon distracted by the food. Like I said, it was feeding time. 

"Where's Lee Seunghoon?"

"Oh he said he wanted to be alone for a while at the rooftop." Jinwoo mumbled while slurping his ramen. Ewwww.

"Yea, not sure what's up with Seunghoonie hyung today," Yoon leader added while spewing bits of pickle. Double eewwww.

Sighing, I took Seunghoon's food and went up to the rooftop, leaving the four feeding monkeys behind. The metal door creaked open and I saw Seunghoon standing at the veranda, looking out to the city below. Seriously, wassup up with emo boy today?

"Ya, Lee Seunghoon, your lunch!" I shouted and shook the packet of food in the bag.

Seunghoon turned around and started to walk at an agonisingly slow pace towards me, with an intent look in his eye. I stared for two seconds and looked away, feeling a familiar blush creeping up my cheeks. 

He took the bag of food from my hands with nary a brush against my fingers but that was enough to send my heart racing. "What did you get for me?" he asked nonchalently.

"Oyaku-don! Your favourite!" I smiled and realised in horror that I just smiled at Lee Seunghoon. I pursed my lips in a straight line and mumbled, "I'm going back to the waiting room, just in case the monkeys break something again."

"How did you know my favourite food? Udon with seaweed, Oyaku-don, Coke...?" Seunghoon asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hmmm... your profile? I'm your manager you know?" I stammered and tapered off my response with a "heh". 

"I only stated Hanshik in my profile, not Japanese food. And I don't think the boys know about these cos we never talked much about food. And you never bothered about our preferences."

Cold sweat trickled down my spine and I bit my lips as I stared at that persistent chap. I could almost hear the whirling of the clockwork in my brain and I panicked desperately for an excuse.

"Hmm, I'm a good guesser?" I shrugged my shoulders, "I gotta go back. You, too, after your lunch." and with that I scooted off to the safety of the staircase, away from Seunghoon.

OUCH!

In my hurry, I missed a step and stupidly managed to twist one of my ankles. "Damn it!" I hissed at the pain and hobbled back to the waiting room when four very full monkeys were resting on sofas, playing with their smartphones. 

"Byul! Where is Seunghoonie?" Jinwoo asked with his big-doe eyes.

"You didn't throw him off the roof right?" Seungyoon asked suspiciously.

I shook my head and sat down on a chair, "He will come down soon after lunch. That boy's being emo for some reason today. Once he's back, we will have the briefing from the organisers." All four monkeys nodded in unison while i mentally dealt with my excruciating pain. 

Seunghoon entered the room and smiled at s, ignoring my existance. "Let's have fun today!" he shouted gleefully. Talk about being bipolar man...

I got up and nearly stumbled forward but I caught myself in time by holding on to the door. "I'm gonna get the Japanese organiser, you 5 monkeys wait here."

"Monkeys? Who's the monkey?" Mino screeched while the rest pointed their fingers straight at him.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As the Japanese organiser explained the details of the fan meet to the Winner monkeys, I couldn't help but be in awe of how they managed to shed their playfulness and be professionals when it comes to work. They have really come so far since their trainee days and their cruel stint as Team A in WIN. Unknowingly, a motherly smile was on my face as I stared at the boys deep in discussion with the organiser and emcee. 

It was 1pm and everything was going on smoothly for the fan meet. Japanese fans were the most orderly lot and it was easy to manage the crowd, all 3000 of them. "Wow!" was such an understatement. The sea of people was a sight to behold for a group that hadn't even debut formally yet.

I was doing the soundcheck for their performance next to the stage while hobbling around on one good leg. The adrenaline of the whole event was what kept me going and I could almost ignore the pain in my ankle. 

At 1.50pm, the boys were ready to go.

"Alright all set. Go knock them out boys!" I shouted over the chants of Winner. Winner had determined looks and literally fired the stage and the crowd with their performance. They really did deserve their big break. 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Arigato! We are Winner!" The crowd cheered loudly as the boys made their way down the stage flanked by security to the waiting room. 

"Daebak! Did you see the crowd and that dude who cosplayed Taehyunnie?! Jinja daebak!" Mino squealed in delight. 

As the boys discussed their first fan meeting, I sat quietly in a corner, glad to be have been part of this all. "Let's go boys, good job!" I said while trying to stand up.

CRASH!

I landed on the floor with a loud thud and managed to somehow sweep the rest of the items on the dresser down with me. 

"Byul! Are you alright?" I could hear the frantic shouts from the boys but I couldn't muster up any ounce of strength to stand up. My ankle hurt too much and my palms were bleeding, thanks to the glass shattered on the floor. 

A familiar face came into my sight and his hand pet me on the head, telling me it's alright. Still in a daze, a strong pair of arms picked me up and carried me out of the room to the waiting car at the entrance of the mall. What I didn't notice were the flashes of cameras from Winner fans and their screams filled with curiosity and murderous intent. My body couldn't take it anymore and so my world went black. 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________