Petals of Success

Ch.5: Talk to Me

Kris was the first to arrive at the SM building during a cold December day. Exo had just flown back from the MAMA awards and actually won one of the honors as well. It wasn’t bad for a rookie group. When they flew back to Korea from Hong Kong, the acts from SM were told to take the next few days off to rest but that was excluding Kris. His new boss wanted to talk with him bright and early about something. It was probably more along the lines of modifying his contract. RM had been around for a good month now and every SM individual was satisfied with the fairness of their contracts but he still felt a pang of nervousness bubble within him.

The dragon walked into the building and trudged up to the third floor. He wanted to mentally prepare himself for what he might have to go through. He refused to be blindsided if something went wrong. He finally made it to the third floor and walked down the hall. He almost made it to the office when he saw the girls of f(x) were there. He was confused until he remembered that they didn’t have the opportunity to attend the awards show so it was a normal day for them. What he didn’t expect was for some of them to be crying, it was alarming but before he could say or ask about anything he noticed something else. They were smiling. Yeah, he was confused once again but at least he didn’t have to worry. He saw Amber comforting a weeping Krystal while laughing.

"Amber." he called out getting the female rapper's attention. Amber looked up and smiled at her fellow China-liner.

"Hey, Kris! Beautiful day, don't you think?" she smiled dazzlingly. He felt like he was in an anime because he could practically see the rainbows and bunnies aura floating around the tomboy.

"Umm, its freezing outside and around 20 degrees. What type of beautiful are you talking about?" Kris asked and the five ladies laughed. "What's got you all so happy to the point of tears?"

"We're getting a concert!" Sunyoung squealed.

Kris was shocked. "Seriously?!"

Jinri nodded. "Yeah! Hadya-sajangnim said she was planning it for about a month so far. She said the RM team started planning for it since they started handling things here. She just needed to reserve venues and get a few sponsorships but today was the day she felt comfortable enough to tell us about it. The big announcement would be the end of this year.”

“That’s really great!” Kris smiled to them. As his sunbaes, they deserved it. He bet it was hard to see all the other members get to be in their own headlining concerts. They’ve been in the Kpop game for over three years when most get the opportunity at 2 years. “I’ll be there for the first show!” he stated and the girls chuckled.

“We’ll hold you to your word.” Victoria said. “By the way, what brings you here? I thought MAMA attendees didn’t have to show up for work today?”

“The boss called me in to see her.”

“Ooh someone’s in trouble~!” Amber teased. “May the llama overlords watch over you.”

“Stop that.” Kris frowned. “I’m already nervous enough.” he said and the girls laughed.

“Well, I wish you the same good fortune that we have.” Krystal smiled and Kris returned it. He then bowed to them before passing by. He didn’t want to be late, no matter what the meeting was called for. Once he made it to the meeting room, he paused to take a few breaths before he firmly knocked on the white door.

“Come in.” said a feminine voice that belonged to Hadya in Korean. Kris then proceeded to enter and saw she was busy looking over files in front of her while tapping on her tablet. Hadya looked up and offered the male a kind smile. “Hey, Kris, please have a seat.” she said switching to English and Kris nodded before sitting down. She then placed her tablet down and crossed her hands, smiling at the younger male. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Kris smiled, though still a little nervous.

"Did you enjoy the awards show?"

"Yeah, it was my first time going and it was great being a part of it." Kris smiled and Hadya chuckled.

"Well, that's great. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." Hadya said honestly. "Now I bet you're wondering why I called you in after telling every other MAMA attendee to take the day off." she asked, noticing him tense up which made her laugh. "Don't worry, its nothing bad so you can relax." she teased.

"Oh." Kris laughed awkwardly, though he did relax a little.

"I just want to know if you have any idea of how popular you are in China?" she asked and he shook his head. "Well, I'm getting a lot of calls about casting you in movie productions and making show appearances. The same has been with Luhan but not to this extent. Yun explained that while Luhan may have a higher fan base among Asian Kpop fans, you have a huge casual fan base among regular citizens. That’s really insane and I commend you, newbie.” she nodded and Kris laughed, happy with her congrats and the fact he had such a fan base. “Now, I have another question to ask you.”

“Umm, okay, go ahead.” Kris said still slightly nervous.

“Are you up for doing solo activities, such as guest starring on shows?”

“Yes!” Kris all but shouted before he covered his mouth and looked away from Hadya’s eyes which danced with amusement.

“Well, geez, Kris. You don’t have to sound so bummed.” she joked and noticed how the tips of his ears started to redden which made her chuckle heartily. “I feel it’s only fair since Joonmyeon, Baekhyun, Kyungsoo, and Chanyeol will be having solo activities to partake in which I discussed with them. But in your contract it says that you want to limit yourself to only Exo activities but that clearly doesn’t match your answer. As a matter of fact, it says that for everyone in your subgroup.” Hadya said with her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at the documentation. “For some odd reason Exo-M has miniscule solo activities but I refuse to believe SM was turning down jobs because that reaches a whole new level of stupidity.” she ended pinching the bridge of her nose while Kris sighed.

“You’d be surprise.” Kris sighed.

“So their goal is to try to expand to the Chinese market but not thoroughly promote in China. Okay, yeah, that makes a whole lot of sense.” Hadya deduced in a very sarcastic manner which amused the young dragon. “My goal is to let you have a few walk on roles over in the Chinese industry, promoting as Exo’s Kris. You can’t do anything big right now or next year because of big comeback preparations but we’ll work something out after that, I promise. Are we in agreement?” Hadya asked her amber brown eyes boring straight into his being. He stared back at her, still a bit wary of trusting a higher up but he felt she would keep her word. He had to give it another shot.

“Okay.” Kris said with a swift nod of his head.

“Excellent! You’ll be on to bigger things, bigger personal growths as well, I can guarantee.” Hadya smiled as she marked down a note in her tablet. “The second part of this meeting is to discuss your talent-”

“If you’re going to tell me I’m a talentless pile of crap and only have good looks, save it. I’ve been told that over and over again for close to six years.” Kris huffed rather defensively and it took Hadya by surprise.

“Is that what they’ve been telling you?” Hadya asked feeling empathetic towards the young man. “I do feel you aren’t the best rapper in the bunch and your dancing is improving, though it still needs some work but your singing voice is really nice. It doesn’t have Kyungsoo’s soulfulness or Jongdae’s range but I really like your tonality. This is why I’m offering you to train with the best vocal coach I happen to know quite well.” Hadya said, speaking quite fondly which made Kris curious.

“Who?”

“My beautiful, wonderful, amazing daughter Logan!” Hadya gushed and it made Kris chuckle. “I know I’m very biased towards my Logey-bear but she has the credentials to back up her talent. Having been trained with many classical vocalists and musicians and taking part in multiple music productions since she was four, I’m absolutely certain she knows how the human voice and musical instrument should sound. She’s really good at polishing up voices and I have faith in her. Plus it doesn’t hurt to have that added help since you will most likely start singing OST once you get further into an acting career.”

“I’m all for it!” he smiled. Kris thought Logan was really cool and he respected the younger girl a lot, so he couldn’t think of a better teacher.

“Great. Now it’s on to the final part of this meeting.” Hadya said as she brought up a PowerPoint which projected onto the screen where Kris was able to see it. “I’m going to go through every clause and agreement in this contract. I'm not fond of this underhanded, dirty scheming that corrupts businesses so I’m going to be upfront with you. If something needs to be changed, I will discuss it with you. This just ensures that in the off chance that you decide to leave SM and RM, it will be because of your own feelings and not my fault. I don’t like being wrong.” Hadya informed honestly and Kris nodded before they proceeded to go over the contract.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Can I have a strawberry-banana smoothie, a mango bubble tea, a caramel Frappuccino, three caramel cappuccinos, a mocha latte, a chai tea latte, and an iced mocha latte?” Cece asked as she ordered from the barista.

“Can I also have a dozen chocolate cookies and a dozen bagels? Everything here is to go.” Milan asked from beside her.

“Okay!” said the barista as she went to get started on the drinks. Cece and Milan went to sit down at one of the tables while they waited. The two newly appointed interns for Jellyfish Entertainment were on a quick coffee run to Starbucks. The six guys they were responsible for were practicing a new dance routine for their upcoming comeback which was going to be epic! Vixx was really branching out and experimenting with new, hardcore concepts that strayed from their cutesy debut and it was fantastic. Cece and Milan could totally vouch for it. They decided to reward them for their hard work and branching creativity.

"I wonder if Taekwoon likes lattes." Cece mumbled.

Milan snorted. "You won't give up on it, will you?"

"Nope, it’s not in my genetic code." the Latina replied. “Jung Taekwoon will be my best friend.”

The past month was really enjoyable and relaxing. Every staff member was really welcoming towards the young staff members. There was one member, a middle aged man by the name of Kim Sunjin who was very friendly and welcoming towards the girls, especially Cece which was borderline weird but nothing that screamed dwell worthy. The Vixx guys were cool people. The two interns were correct in their initial judgments. Jaehwan was the first one to interact with them and easily became a good friend. He really, really, took an interest in Milan which was really adorable to Cece though the Dutch girl was playing hard to get. For the past month it was a lot of back and forth between the two and, as a member of the '92liner crew, Cece had to play mediator. It really kept the bland paperwork-filled day interesting until they had their comeback.

Wonshik and Hakyeon, Milan and Cece's biases respectively were the next to be friendly. It took a few days but the flamboyant leader and charismatic rapper made sure they felt at home in Jellyfish. Sanhyuk soon acted kindly towards his newest noonas though they were well acquainted with his equally mischievous personality. It was hard to not like him and his silly antics. Next was Hongbin who despite his smiley and bubbly demeanor was really quiet and shy. The two were only recently able to hold a conversation with him and he was pleasant to be around. As Milan and Cece observed Hongbin and his interactions with the other Vixx members, they knew that he just had to get to know them a little better before he really interacted.

The only one that remained was Taekwoon.

Out of the six members of Vixx, hell the nine male artists under Jellyfish Entertainment, the second eldest main vocalist was the one they barely interacted with. He was kind of distant towards them only due to the fact that he was really awkward around new people, Hakyeon assured them of such. Milan thought it was just best to let the interaction come naturally but Cece couldn't do that. He had such an allure, a unique presence that made her want to get to know him better. She just felt herself forming an instantaneous magnetic pull towards the chic mannered idol. She deduced it as her resolve towards changing his status of being her least favorite member.

“I really do hope he likes it.” Cece added.

“This sounds an awful lot like those confessions in anime or Kdramas, but instead of a letter you’re handing out coffee. You would go up to Taekwoon and say “I bought you this coffee and paid for it with my love”. Then Taekwoon would be like “Thank you this will be the best coffee because it came from you, my dearest Cecilia!” Milan said, even making her voice deeper when it came to the male. Cece coughed, gagged, and laughed at her fellow intern’s daydreaming. “Then you guys would meet in a rose garden after he slays off the aliens trying to take over the world and while the wind blows through both of your hair, you would say “Te quiero, mi amor! Usted es mi corazón! I love you, my love! You’re my heart!” and he would reply “...Dido” then you guys would live happily ever after with your 20 babies. I can see it now!” she ended, motioning her hands to show she created an amazing visual.

“This is not some strange telenovela and I’m sorry but this factory will never produce 20 children, ever. I do commend you for the correct Spanish usage and accent, it was lovely.” Cece announced before she sighed with a headshake. “But yeah there is so much crazy in your mind, I just can’t. You and Jaehwan are perfect for each other.”

“No, we aren’t.” Milan pouted.

“Don’t fight it, honey!” Cece exclaimed and Milan was about to retort before their order was called. The girls grabbed the coffee and snacks before heading out of the establishment. They speed walked, close to ran the seven minute distance so the piping hot coffee could still have some type of heat and finally made it to their destination. Upon entering Jellyfish Entertainment, they spotted Jihae as the elder woman was walking out. “Jihae-eonni, here’s your coffee!”

“Oh, thank you so much!” Jihae smiled gratefully as she took the Frappuccino from the girl’s hand. “This will probably come in handy for all the work that lies ahead.”

“Fighting!” Milan exclaimed which made the woman laugh before she bid them farewell and exited the building. The two girls then proceeded to Cece’s office to take off their winter wear. It was so weird but awesome because their offices weren’t just some little desks in the corner, hell not even cubicles; it was legit space that was made for a big shot, business executive. It was awesome and made them feel like they had great authority. Once the two took off their hats and coats and put them in the closet before heading up to the second floor. The two then ventured towards the entrance of the dance studio.

I need therapy

Lalalalala therapy

I need therapy

Lalalalala therapy

I need therapy

Lalalalala therapy

They came up to the dance studio to see the members in the room. One would think they were practicing but that was not the case since they were chasing each other around the space while the music played in the background. Maybe they shouldn’t have any coffee…

“Umm, hey.” Cece called out unsurely but gained the attention of the members, nonetheless.

“Ooh, coffee!” Hakyeon said as he rushed over to the girls. Milan started handing out the coffee; a bubble tea for Hyuk, three cappuccinos for Hakyeon, Wonshik and Hongbin, and a strawberry smoothie for Jaehwan. But, instead of immediately taking the drink from Milan, he placed them around the cup and her smaller hands before bowing slightly and staring into her eyes.

“Thank you for this wonderful smoothie, Milan-ah! I will drink this ceremoniously because loveliness got this for me.” Jaehwan announced in his very corny way.

“Umm, yeah, I didn’t buy the drinks, Cece did. I didn’t even know you wanted a smoothie. I got you a cookie.” Milan clarified.

“Then I will eat this cookie ceremoniously because loveliness bought this for me!” he exclaimed and Milan sighed. Cece snorted, along with the other members before she noticed someone was absent.

“Where’s Taekwoon-ssi?”

“I’m not too sure. He’s been gone all day.” Wonshik answered.

“He’s mastering the art of hiding from Cha leader.” Hyuk chimed in and said sassy leader punched him in the side. Cece just laughed at the two before her phone buzzed. She pulled it out and saw it was a timer that went off.

“Oh, I have to go check to see if some of the files were loaded.” she said with alarm as she handed the iced latte to Milan, grabbed the other treats and jogged out of the studio. When she made it down the stairs, she quickly walked into the office and opened her laptop. She saw that the large blank file documents finally downloaded to her laptop storage. She quickly messaged her aunt saying that they made it over to her safely. Now, all she had to do was fill them out. It was not fun, seeing as she had to document a year’s worth of promotional activities for the boy group but it had to be done. She cracked her neck and stretched her fingers before she started typing but paused once she saw a certain someone walk by. She quickly grabbed the latte and jogged to the door. “Ah, Taekwoon-ssi?” she called out. He paused and turned around to look at her curiously. Cece didn’t know why she felt nervous all of a sudden but she pushed it down. She smiled and held out the cup to him and he looked at it with a surprised expression. “I went to Starbucks a little while ago and bought coffee. I didn’t know what you liked or wanted but I just got you a mocha latte since I think it tastes good.” she said and after a moment Taekwoon took the drink out of her hand.

“This is my favorite.” he informed slightly and Cece smiled.

“Really? It’s mine, too! Though, I had a temporary moment of insanity and got a chai latte.” Cece shrugged and she totally didn’t expect him to laugh. It wasn’t just any old laugh it was sweet and melodious and made her insides feel all tingly. It was weird. He then...smiled her way. She felt like she had made the best joke in the world.

“I have to go now but thank you for the coffee. I really appreciate it.” Taekwoon thanked before slightly bowing in farewell. Cece felt her heart skip a beat and her breath hitch in . He had such a beautiful smile, one that could brighten up anyone’s day.

One that could bring World Peace.

It was now her goal to see more of them.

~~~~~~~~~~

Erika was having one of those days where ideas just accumulated and flowed out of her. Being a fashion designer, this would be considered a good day for her. So, that was the reason she was carrying a load of fabric up to her quarters in the YG building on that lovely evening. She got a bunch of interesting looks from the staff members but her brocades and silks were on point and she didn’t care! She got into the elevator and ventured up to her floor only to run into somebody and if she could see that person she would’ve felt familiarity.

“Woah, fabric monster!” said a really deep voice. All Erika did was laugh but soon her load was lifted and she could finally see Mr. Deep-voiced and y, Mr. Handsome actor, Mr. Bingu T.O.P, Mr. Choi Seunghyun. He was always a really cool and great person to be around and she got nothing but good vibes from him. He was a really funny person and she missed him while she was away for 2 years.

"Fabric monster? I think not." Erika smirked. "A fashionista can never have too much fabric!" she said with a slightly failed hair flip.

Seunghyun chuckled. "If you say so." he said. They walked towards the back room and placed the fabric on her work desk. Erika then turned to the taller male and stretched out her arms to hug him which he returned happily. He then pulled back while holding her forearm gently. “Who gave you the right to leave for nearly 2 years without one visit? That’s cruel.”

“I’m sorry.” Erika giggled. “But it’s not like Mr. Big shot, movie star missed me at all.”

“I always have time to thank the little people.” Seunghyun said somewhat arrogantly.

“Oh, I’m just one of the little people now?” she asked while laughing slightly.

“No, you couldn’t be to me.” he replied honestly and they both smiled at each other. “It’s really great to see you again.”

“It’s great to see you, too.” Erika responded and they just stood there for a moment, arms still loosely wrapped around each other as they smiled. They soon heard a light knock on the door and turned to see Jiyong in the entrance.

“Hey, uh, can I have a moment with Erika, hyung?” Jiyong said trying to ignore their position. Seunghyun smiled kindly towards him while Erika...not so much.

“Sure, I’ll see you later.” Seunghyun said to Erika before walking away, ruffling Jiyong’s hair in the process. Erika then found any other way to busy herself and ignore the Big Bang leader.

“So you and Seunghyun are...close.”

“Please stop. We’ve been close since before our little arrangement or whatever the hell it was and we’ll still be close for a very long time afterwards.” Erika curtly replied as she drew a light sketch. “Don’t try to play and act like our friendship is some shocking discovery.”

“Okay, you’re still aggravated with me-”

“So that’s what you call it?” Erika interrupted releasing a mirth filled chuckle.

Jiyong sighed. “But can we atleast talk...about everything that happened?” he asked and Erika just turned to stare at him.

“Oh you mean the time when we dated and you told me we were great together but ended up cheating on me? Or how about the time I saw you kissing Kiko in one of the tabloids? Or the time we slept together but you still had your ex-girlfriend on the side when you went to Japan? Or how about the time I cried myself to sleep thinking I’m not good enough and that I never will and how much I’m going through the same heartache my mother went through?” Erika asked heatedly, somehow she ended up standing in front of him sizing up the rapper. “Take your pick.” she whispered, seething, and he gulped.

“Erika...I’m so sorry...I-”

“You keep saying that but that doesn’t change the fact that you crushed me, you betrayed my trust, and you didn’t give a damn about me! I gave you my full dedication while I was only worth half of that to you! I ing loved you with all my heart yet it didn’t mean a damn thing to you. You saw me only as your ing side chick when I am so much more than that.” Erika exclaimed. “Do you get it? You can’t fix this with one of your ing sorrys and think I’m going to feel pity towards your because that’s not going to fix anything.” she said, her voice cracking a little. Jiyong tried to touch her arm but she snatched it away.

“Then what do you want me to do?” he asked.

“Stay the hell away from me.” Erika glared before walking pass him but he grabbed her forearm.

“But Erika-”

“If you don’t get the hell off of me, I will not hesitate to slaughter your skinny .” she threatened and Jiyong let her go. “Just stay away from me.” she ended before grabbing her coat and purse before running out of the room. She quickly ran to the closest bathroom and calmed her breathing. She hated that he still had that effect on her and she couldn’t deny how much she felt hurt. But she couldn’t let him, or anyone else, see that. She quickly dug into her makeup bag and touched up her mascara and eyeliner. She approved of her now calm appearance and walked out of the bathroom. She walked out and bumped into someone, her intern Dana.

“Oh! Hey, Erika!” exclaimed the Dutch girl before she looked closely at the older woman. “Why are your eyes so red?”

“Really?” she asked playing innocent.

“Yeah, they are! Is it a sinus headache? I have some aspirin in my bag.” Dana said searching for the item in her messenger bag and Erika chuckled softly.

“It’s okay! I’m fine, really!” Erika assured. “How about we go out to lunch? I have a taste for some samgyeopsal.”

“Ooh, sounds great!” Dana smiled and the two walked arm and arm to the elevator.

“Oh, by the way, why are you so late?”

“I lost track of time while I was writing my final paper. It won’t happen again, I promise.”

“Don’t worry about it. If there’s one thing I learned, it’s always best to work on your own wellbeing before you worry about something else.” Erika smiled to the girl. “Always keep your eye on the prize and nothing will suppress you. Okay?”

Dana nodded with a grin. “Okay!”

<3