*For anyone who has ever read John Green (like I have) the fact that even the slightest comparison of my little fanfic was made to any one of his books, particularly the newest one, is a HUGE compliment to me!  If John Green is the writer I'm second to in enjoyment, then I am dang sure doing something right! :P*

 

Chapter One Excerpt:

 

Caden stood there for a moment, staring down the unfamiliar street, trying not to freak out.  The street was particularly deserted at this time of day (at least on this particular day) but unbeknownst to her, a few window shades twitched as several of the street's inhabitants gazed down at the frozen Westerner in confusion.  They weren't used to tourists wandering this far from the downtown area, though it wasn't unheard of.  They were mostly concerned about the fact that she appeared frozen - staring down the street for what felt like ages.  When the girl finally ran her hand through her hair and looked around, they decided that she didn't seem to require any worry and promptly lost interest.

Caden finally snapped back to reality with a firm determination not to panic.  She ran her hand through her hair, gazing around the area.  She decided that the most reasonable way out of this was to get a cab and have them take her back to the hotel.  It was slightly more expensive than using public transit, but still cost much less than in Japan, plus it would be much faster and easier.

She glanced up and down the street once again and, although there were a few cars passing by at irregular intervals, there didn't seem to be any taxis.  Caden paused, thinking again.  She didn't want to walk around looking for one and risk getting more lost.  Then it dawned on her.  She had the phone number for her hotel programmed into her phone - an entirely intelligent decision on her part.  She would call and ask for the phone number of a cab company.

Unbeknownst to Caden, as she was contemplating this plan someone came out of the convenience store a few doors up, just behind where she was standing.  He was tall, at least compared to her, with shortish dark hair- a lackluster description which made him sound like most average guys walking around, but then there was his face.  He was unusually attractive by any country's standards (although he didn't necessarily see it that way).

Caden had just pulled out her cell phone with the intention of calling her hotel right as he walked past her.  She probably wouldn't have even looked twice at him (considering she could only see the back of his head), except that he was the first person to walk by on that street since she had realized that she was lost.  Without really thinking, Caden looked up just in time to catch the side of his face as he turned down an alley about 50 feet in front of her.

In that split second, Caden felt a rush of recognition.  Usually, there would be nothing particularly odd about this, but it was always an unexpected- and therefore strange- sensation when in a foreign country.  She couldn't quite put her finger on how she knew him, but she couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity.  Before she even realized what she was doing she dashed after him, phone still in hand poised to dial.

By the time she reached the mouth of the alley he was nearly out the other side.  Still not exactly sure who she was chasing after, Caden couldn't decide whether or not she should bring attention to herself.  She had settled on a brisk walk rather than run, in order to seem slightly less like a crazy person if it turned out that she didn't know him, all the while staring intently at the back of his head, determined not to lose sight of him before she figured out why he seemed so familiar.

By now he had reached the other side of the alley, turning right, allowing Caden another quick glimpse of his face - again a wave of recognition that she wasn't quite able to put her finger on- but he didn't seem to notice her presence at all.  As he slipped out of sight, Caden promptly dropped all pretense of being a normal person and broke into a run.  She dashed down the alley, skidding around the corner before screeching to a halt.  She glanced around, finding herself in a slightly wider, cobbled back alley between the backs of two rows of buildings.  She spotted her target, already some distance away- his long stride propelling him much faster than her short little legs ever could, even with her awkward running.  She took a deep breath and resumed her fast walking.

She quickly realized that she had no hope of catching him if he continued to walk for much longer.  She cleared and called out in polite Korean,

"Excuse me?"

When she got no noticeable response, she cleared once again and repeated - slightly louder this time,

"Um, excuse me? I'm sorry for bothering you, but..."

Again no response.  Caden furrowed her brow, feeling slightly annoyed at being ignored.  He must realize that she was addressing him - there was no one else around who she could be talking to.  Finally, in her annoyance, she reverted to English and simply called out,

"Hey! I was talking to you..."

At that moment, he stopped and stood with his back to her.  Taking this as having earned his attention, Caden sighed uneasily before walking over to him.  She assumed it was the English that had finally caught his attention.

 

What she didn't know was that the real reason he had not answered when she first called out was that he had been listening to loud music with earbuds.  Likewise, the reason he had eventually stopped walking was simply because he had reached his destination.  He paused, fiddling with his music player, finally removing the headphones from his ears.  It was only then that he heard footsteps approaching from behind him and turned to see a tiny, pinkish-yellow foreigner who was looking at him with a rather strange expression.

He was somewhat surprised to see an unfamiliar foreigner in the area.  He would have been surprised to see anyone outside the company, to be honest.  Even the neighboring residents rarely spent time there.  He watched curiously as she approached.  The girl was still studying him in an odd manner when she stopped several feet away.  For a moment he wondered if she was some kind of fan.  Then she started speaking very quickly in English.

He tried to follow, but his understanding of the language was still fairly basic and whatever she was talking about was beyond the casual conversational skills he possessed.

When the guy she was chasing finally turned around and gave her a full view of his face for the first time, Caden had to do her very best not to be overwhelmed by his overall drop-dead gorgeousness.  This confused her because, although he was still irritatingly familiar, she was sure that she didn't know anyone this fantastically blessed gene-wise.  She stared hard at him, willing her brain to make the connection and figure out where she knew him from.

When she realized that he could now see her staring frighteningly, she immediately stopped.  She took a deep breath, addressing him in English,

"Sorry to bother you... I just... I was...  That is..."  She paused, trying to figure out how to word her thoughts.  She began again, this time at a million miles an hour, attempting to just get it all out without stopping to second-guess herself.

"I'm really sorry to bother you - I didn't mean to follow you into an alley.  I know it seems really creepy, but I'm not creepy, I swear!  Or crazy - although I'm clearly giving you a lot of evidence to the contrary at the moment... Anyway!  It's just... have we met?  I'm sure I've seen you before, but I just can't seem to put my finger on where... You aren't American, are you?  Did we maybe go to college together?  I'd ask if you're Japanese, but it's pretty obvious that you're Korean, so that can't be it-"

Just then he held his hand up to stop her, causing Caden to choke slightly on her next sentence, but manage to finally shut up.  He was looking down at her with a strange expression, but he didn't seem as alarmed by her as she was (unintentionally) giving him reason to be.  He hesitated for a moment.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand everything you said," he began in English.  He paused again with a frown.

 

The moment he spoke, Caden felt the connection rush through her brain.  Even in English, she would recognize his voice anywhere.  It was almost unbelievable that this could truly be someone's voice- so deep and smooth that as he spoke, she could swear she almost felt it vibrating the air between them despite the distance.  T.O.P., Big Bang's resident deep-voiced rapper and attractive man extraordinaire.  Caden stood in complete shock-  she couldn't believe she hadn't realized who he was before, but at the same time couldn't quite believe it was actually him.  She stood very still now, trying not to betray her thoughts.

"Do you speak Korean?" he asked after a moment - his voice seeming all the more familiar in his native language.

"Um, a little bit," Caden replied weakly, also in Korean.

There was a pause and she wasn't quite sure what to say next.  She started to apologize, closing the gap between them slightly by taking a couple quick steps forward.  Then, all in an instant, her foot caught on one of the cobbles and she started to fall.  She floundered for something to stop her- dropping her phone and all of her bags in the process. 

Suddenly she felt hands grabbing her under her arms as she threw them around his waist, smacking face first into his chest- ultimately preventing her from landing smack on the ground.  In that same instant, the door to the building beside them opened and they heard a loud sing-song voice croon,

"The official pimp T.O.P."

This shorter, but equally familiar boy emerged from the building, looking around for his bandmate.  It didn't take him long to spot his friend, standing with a strange girl in an awkward position.

"Now what do we have here?" G-Dragon queried, smirking widely at this interesting development.

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I hope you enjoyed that selection from the 1st chapter!  Keep reading to find out what happens next!

I started this story (on this site) in 2011, my last post up until recently was in 2012. Keeping that in mind, for all those old-school Big Bang fans - this is pretty much a snapshot of the group as they were in around 2010, and then they grow in the direction of my preference from there, haha.  Remember a younger, perhaps more innocent Big Band.  A Big Bang with notably fewer scandals (not that I think they're angels, don't get me wrong ^^ No judgment!), more often together with their band members, more involved in the group than their solo activities.

Oh - and this is crucial - in my world, 2NE1 never breaks up *sob T_T*

*Edit 10/6/2016 - Since it's been such a big gap from the time I started writing this story to the writing I'm doing now, my writing style has developed somewhat, which makes me want to go back and heavily edit some of my older chapters, but since that would take sooooo long and since the story has already been up in this form for so long, I will resist.  Just keep in mind that my knowledge of Korea has grown quite a bit since the beginning, as well as my taste in K-pop, and especially my own understanding of the characters and plot.  Hopefully, everything still gels together well over time!  And just keep that in mind if anything in the early chapters seems lacking or dated ^^ *

Please enjoy!

:)