Floor 10, Vogue Girl Korea

3:45 PM

Seoul

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“Okay, 5 minute break, everyone, and then we’ll shoot the last outfit,” I called, clapping. The crew cheered, and started migrating towards the table of snacks set up in the back and to the bathroom. I sat down behind the computer screen hooked onto the camera, and started going through the shots taken in the past 3 hours.

“How do I look?” G-Dragon asked, coming up behind me. He was dressed in a red letterman jacket, and he pulled off such a casual piece of clothing so fashionably. He tilted his head,  and studyed his own image with a small forrow of the eyebrows. I had to admit that working with experienced and attractive idols made my job as the photographer a lot easier. They knew their best angles and their best expressions.  

“Sleek and Chic,” I replied, quoting the concept for the photoshoot with a laugh. GD returned the laugh easily, looking me over.

“Photographer-nim, sorry if this seems rude, but aren’t you a little young to be the head photographer instead of an assistant? We rarely get female photographers as it is, and never so young. Or are you just a young looking ajumma?”

“Ajumma?” I scoffed,  starting to change lenses in my camera. “As if. I was born in 1988.”

“Oh same as me! What month?” he asked.

Feeling uncomfortable with his invasive question, I answered succinctly. “April.”

“Ah, so you’re just a few months older than me, so I don’t need to call you noona.” He looked at me sideways, and pulled the infamous sly grin. “But you should still call me oppa, because I’m an idol.”

Just then, my phone rang, and I sighed. It was Minhye, and I knew what she wanted from me.

“Yah, I’m your photographer, and therefore your boss for today, so go get me a bottle of iced tea,” I said, pushing GD away. He gave me another grin, then headed off with little complaint as I answered the phone.

 Minhye was barely comprehensible.  

“Is he as cool as he looks on tv?!” Her voice was an octave higher than normal, and she seemed to be very excited.

“Cooler,” I replied with a laugh. GD walked back with two bottles of iced lemon tea, and handed one to me. I thanked him silently, accepting it.

“Nana, you have GOT to let me talk to him. Or like…get me an autograph.”

I gave GD a sideways glance, and rolled my eyes. He took a seat next to me and observed me closesly again.

“I can’t do that, it’s unprofessional no matter how big of a fan you are.”

Minhye huffed, and replied crossly. “While this might be a regular occurance for you, Cho Haena, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me.”

“Well I, Cho Haena, am also in the middle of work that I need to get back to. Sorry, girl. We’re still on for dinner tomorrow night, okay?”

I hung up admist Minhye's arguments, and sighed as I put my phone away slowly. Finally, I turned to GD, and said the thing I most certainly did not want to have to say. “May I have your autograph?” I asked. “My friend is a big fan of you, and she’d kill me if I just let you go without asking.”

G-Dragon smirked, and raised an eyebrow. “Sure, Cho Haena, if you agree to call me oppa.”

Oh god, what had I gotten myself into? “Fine, Oppa,” I replied with a glare. Did this count as blackmail?

GD picked up a pen from the table, and pulled a notepad over. He aksed for Minhye‘s name, and started on a message. “Are you sure it’s not you that wants my autograph?” he teased, glancing over. “Because I can get you one too. Or you can let me take you out for a meal sometime and I’ll give it to you then.”

“Sorry,” I replied, surprised that an idol had so casually asked me out. But really, the last thing I wanted were secret dates and scandals. “I don’t mix my private life and work.”

“What a shame.”

Ssun Korean Barbeque Shop

7:02 PM

Seoul, South Korea

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Ssun Korean Barbeque Shop had been here since I was in elementary school, and it had not changed one bit. If possible, the food only gor more delicious, or maybe it was just because I missed it dearly. In the two weeks that I had returned from New York, this restaurant immediately became my favorite, and the best hang-out spot for Minhye, Sam, Junho, and me.   

We met for dinner on Friday nights, just to relieve some stress and share stories about the week.

“-coach is really liking my game in practice,” Junho was saying, “I think I’m definitely going to be playing first string.”

“Don’t exhaust yourself too much,” Minhye advised before turned to Sam. “And you…you need to get out more and excersize.”

“You sound like Nana’s mother, bossing me around like that,” Sam mumbled, and I burst out laughing.

“That was low,” I choked out, reaching into my purse for Minhye’s present. “But Hye-ah, I have something for you.”

With a flourish, I handed her the Vogue Girl writing pad that GD had signed two days before. In surprisingly neat handwriting, it said:

Seo Minhye,

Never stop believing and always listen to your heart.

Thank you for supporting Big Bang, and be sure to give us more of your love in the future

 G-Dragon BB

“He wrote…my name. Oh my god. G-Dragon knows my name?” Hye’s eyes were wide as she tried to wrap her mind around that thought.

Junho had picked up the pad, and glared at it with distain. He flipped restlessly through the other pages of the pad, and paused on the second page. “Wait, what’s this?” he asked, holding it out to me.

I had never thought to even check if he had written stuff on the other pages, and I took it from Junho and read it.

If Miss. Professional ever decides to mix private life and work, Oppa wants to be the first to know.

                                    Kwon Jiyong

Really? Oh, the nerve. Who knew that G-Dragon was that big of a flirt?

“Nothing,” I said quickly,  tearing that page out and sticking it hastily in my purse.

Junho gave me a weird look, but didn’t question it.

“Nana, thank you! I love you so much, you have no idea what this means to me,” Minhye said, hugging me quickly and snatching the pad back. 

I felt a kick from under the table, and I looked up and found Sam looking at me. He caught my eye, and tilted his head towards Junho, who was now pouting. He mouthed the word jealous at me, and I agreed vehemently. It definitely seemed as if Junho was extra fond of Minhye.

I was just surprised that Sam out of all people had noticed. He lived in his books and didn’t even know who Kara was, yet he was able to catch on to little signs like this.

When I first heard my phone vibrate and saw that it was my mother, I didn’t pick up at all. But then she called 3 more times, and I had no choice but to pick up. 

"Come home now,” she said, not even bothering with a hello. “I have something to tell you, so come home immediately.”

She then hung up, leaving me in bewilderment with no explanation at all. Apologizing to my friends for cutting out early, I hailed a cab, and headed home at once.

I was as cranky as hell when I got home, but that all went away as soon as I stepped through the door and was greeted by a familiar face.

“Grandma! What are you doing here?”

My grandmother was old…and just plain scary. Like a large number of Korean grandmothers, she believed in tradition and honor, and was the strictest person that I’ve ever met. Just seeing her made me want to run and hide.

“Such a disobedient girl,” she started, immediately, sideling up to me. “You, Nana, were not raised strictly enough, I say. Running away to America was enough of a shock, but then almost not coming back? Are you even Korean anymore? Are you ashamed of your country?”

For every step she took forward, I took one back until  she more or less had me cornered in the front hall. Even though Grandmother was only about 5 foot tall, I felt as if she was 7ft 8m, towering over me. My back was pressed against the wall, and I saw Mom come in and try to calm her down.

“Aniyo, it’s not-”

Grandmother shook her off, and continued. “Well, it doesn’t matter now since you are back. It was decided several months before you were even born, and it will not be changed. My granddaughter is to marry the grandson of my best friend, Shim Chaeyoung. Deh, deh. That was the deal. Now, even though Chaeyoung-ah passed away, the marriage much happen even more. You are to be married to her dear grandson.”

And other she goes again, rambling about the old times, and her best friend Chaeyoung. Grandma was always…wait….did she just say…..

“MARRIED?”

“Why, yes, child.” Her voice was so matter of fact that I suddenly wanted to punch her. Yes, I wanted to punch my scary grandmother, but she had just surpised me so suddenly.

“Why tell  me now?” I asked, numb.

“Well your mother has just informed me of your return to Korea, so I arrived as soon as I could. I was planning on travelling to you within a year to tell you anyways. There’s no need to look for suitors, Nana. You are already engaged and have a wonderful husband waiting for you.”

“No…no..no. This cannot  be happening. This is the 21^stcentury…arranged marriges don’t happen in the 21^stcentury.” I rounded on my mother, who was stranding meekly to the side. “Mom, tell her! Tell her she cant do this to me!”

Mom looked at me with only what I could describe as pity, and sighed. “I can’t….argue with your grandmother,” she said. But she never had guts like me.

“Your fiancé is waiting for you in the study,” Grandmother said, pushing me towards the door.

“I’m not going in there, and I’m not getting married,” I told her. “Grandmother, do you know how old I am? I’m only-”

“She is your grandmother, and you will listen to her,” Mom snapped. I was surprised at the tone that she had taken with me, and my mouth opened soundlessly. 

I wouldn’t believe that she was actually doing this to me. I had never hated my mother as much as I did at that moment.

Grandmother pushed opened the door to the study, and gave me another little shove from behind. There were 5 people in the room, sitting in silence, and they all stood up at my entrance. First was my father, looking grim but determined. Then there 2 women, one older, and the other in her mid 30s, a man, the husband, and then…..

“You again!”