Eva  sighed into the phone pressed between her ear and shoulder, pushing a stack of papers off of the desk and slamming down the notepad that was in her hands. Her eye gave a twitch and from the side of the room she could hear Father Sebastian rummaging through things he no doubt shouldn’t have been. After having accepted CL’s request to make the secret gown for the surprise at the award show she had taken over the entire wardrobe department at YG Headquarters as well as having the three adjacent rooms cleared out and had commandeered a small army of minions. 

 

She had been met with resistance at first, the CEO even taking time out of his day to come talk to the small white woman that was taking over his building, but with a few stiff words from her as well as CL’s pleading he had conceded to anything she needed. A mistake he would no doubt regret when he saw the final price of the gown that she had begun to plan in her mind and on paper, but that wasn’t her problem. 

 

“What do you mean it won’t arrive for three weeks!” She ground her teeth together trying to not bite the head off of her supplier who was on the other end of the call. 

 

“South Korean customs is a royal to get  through and average time for delivery is three weeks.” His clipped English voice bit back at her, no doubt as frustrated as she was. 

 

“I don’t have three weeks, I barely have one week! I have ten days to make a miracle dress and I need this fabric yesterday!” She dragged one hand through her hair and turned to point at a few of her workers that were bringing in different types of fabrics and a mannequin, directing them on where to place things wordlessly. 

 

A sigh sounded from the other side of the line and she heard the clacking of a keyboard. “I might be able to get it down to a week.” There was a heavy emphasis on might and she still let out a groan. 

 

“I can’t make this thing in three days! I need that fabric here in no more than five days! For the love of god Peter there has got to be some string you can pull to push this through for me!” She was frustrated to the edge of wanting to throw something. After Chaerin had explained the concept for her song and allowed Eva to listen to it, she instantly had begun to fantasize about what she would make. 

 

The gown would have to be not only fitting of the high title that Chaerin wore as Queen of Kpop, but the song itself was a complex balance of a ballad and rapping. The dress would have to be regal but soft, edgy, but still respectful, it would have to be current, but have ties to traditional Korean dress. She had begun sketching idea after idea, throwing out papers left and right, leaving a trail wherever she went, all while being on the phone trying to find supplies that she would need to make this creation come to life. 

 

“You do realize that you aren’t my only customer!” Peter bit back at her annoyed and she rolled her eyes. She may not be his only customer but she on average ordered more than double all of the others. 

 

“You do realize that if I can make this dress that you will be so slammed for orders for this fabric that you will be increasing your salary by at least one more zero?” Eva sighed, if she had to wait the week to get the fabric she would, but she wanted as much time as possible to make this fit like a glove. She had made many dresses for many people in her short life, but this one was a dress she was prepared to stake her reputation on completely. 

 

A ragged sigh came through the phone. “I will do my best, okay? I guarantee nothing, but I will get it to you as fast as I can.” She knew that was the best she would get out of him and without another word she hung up. The main fabric of the dress was now on its way and there was nothing more she could do for that. 

 

“You look like you could use a drink or four.” Father Sebastian sat on the edge of the table she was hunched over, amusement written all over his face. 

 

“I’ll take an entire bottle if you have one.” Eva muttered back dryly and glared up at him. “Go get Chaerin for me will you? I’m almost done with what I think the final design will be I just need to get measurements from her.” He nodded and quickly left the room, leaving her alone with her silently scurrying assistants. 

 

“You there.” She pointed over at a small girl that was half buried under a stack of fabric bolts that she was carrying in. The girl looked alarmed at being pointed out but sped over to her instantly. 

 

“Yes?” She asked hesitantly but Eva didn’t reply only taking three bolts from within the girls grasp and dropping them on the table. 

 

“Bring me two others one that is labeled black satin dupion and another that is a grey terry cloth.” It felt weird saying the words that she so commonly had to say in English, French, Spanish, or any other European language in Korean, but she hoped that if this gown went over well enough she would be getting more and more commissions coming out of Asian countries. The girl looked unsure but hurried away no doubt going to struggle for a few minutes to try and find the fabrics that she had requested out of the large pile that she had ordered brought to her studio. 

 

Eva had only ever worked with the fabric she was so direly needing now once before as part of her masters graduate project and it had only been in a small quantity, no where near the amount of a full dress. The fabric not only took a delicate touch to sew together but the help of a computer programer. She was trying to make a complete gown for Lee Chaerin out of animatronic fiberoptic fabric. The fabric itself was woven out of thousands of strands of clear or slightly tinted fiberoptic threads, much like those on christmas decorations, but so closely woven that they would behave like a medium stiffness fabric. 

 

The fiberoptic fabric was temperamental and difficult to work with, but well worth the illusion it created of a glowing gown that would be able to be controlled in what color it was. The next step of difficulty was in the animatronics, something that Eva had seen a few colleagues do with their high fashion items but she had never played with herself, and she knew many sleepless nights of tutoring were in her future. 

 

In her eyes Eva saw the gown flowing on Chaerin as she walked down the red carpet, a simple white ballgown that was off of the shoulders and belled out large around the pop queens feet. It would be completely out of character for the street fashion icon but that was the beauty of what Eva was making, she wanted her dress to transform from what a queen usually looked like into what kind of queen Chaerin was. 

 

Only once the performance started would the true potential of the gown be revealed, something Eva felt her pulse increase at the thought of. She would shock everyone, no one except for her and as many people as she could count on one hand would see what the dress would truly transform into before the night of the performance. 

 

Eva was pulled out of her excited thoughts by a knock on the door, looking up she saw Chaerin, Father Sabastian, and that same man from earlier that they had passed when leaving the elevator. She kept her eyes trained on him, analyzing what he was wearing, picking apart what fashion and character the company had given him. His hair was a flaming red and his eyes were darkly rimmed with eyeliner. He wore only a black shirt with a leather jacket and tight jeans, a pair of high tops on his feet. She put his fashion very similar to the one that YG had placed Chaerin with for her image and approved, it suited him well. 

 

“I hope you don’t mind Eva, this is my best friend and co-artists Jiyong, or GDragon.” Chaerin explained as she pulled the man into the room, his eyes looking up and down Eva much like she had just done to him. Behind them Father Sebastian rolled his eyes and excused himself to a corner, staying out of the way until you started to bark orders again. 

 

“Not at all, so long as he stays out of the way.” Eva replied and held out her hand to him as they got close. “Eva Miragon, high fashion designer.” His grip slid into hers into a firm but gentle shake. 

 

“Kwon Jiyong, leader of Big Bang.” He replied still appraising her, but she didn’t have time for googling at boys right now. 

 

“Right,” She turned to Chaerin. “Take off your clothes, bra as well, I’ll be giving you a different one, and go stand on that podium.” She pointed over at the circular podium that was raised off of the ground about a foot, enough that Eva wouldn’t have to crawl on her hands and knees to do alterations at the bottom of the dress, but not so much that she would need a stool to work on the neckline of it either. 

 

Chaerin gave a small smile and walked over to where she was directed, stripping as she went, GD rolling his eyes at her as he found a seat over next to Father Sebastian. Eva grabbed a bra that she had previously had brought to her in Chaerin’s size, but was strapless and would go well under the dress, and tossed it at her. Eva grabbed a fabric measuring tape from the table and laid it over her shoulders, next grabbing a pen and her note pad she shoved it into the hands of a waiting assistant, handing another a bolt of a black cotton fabric, another a pair of scissors and a piece of white tailors chalk. 

 

Taking a deep breath she tied her hair back into a ponytail before descending on Chaerin, determined that in these next few hours she would not only have perfect measurements but as well a mock up of how the different hems and necklines would hang against her model’s body. The more she did now the more play time she would have later, and judging by what was sitting in the corner, she was hoping for some play time. 

 

Eva wrapped her measuring tape around every inch of Chaerin’s body, telling the numbers to the girl she had handed the notebook to. As soon as she had finished measuring things she took to the other girl with the cotton in her hands. She pulled out yards at a time, cutting a rough length from the amount before holding it up to Chaerin’s body. Holding a rectangle against’s her chest Eva turned, looking around and blinking. 

 

“Forget about these darling?” Father Sebastian questioned standing up and offering out in his hand a magnetic pin holder that was loaded with the small pins she had been looking for. Giving him a small smile of thanks she grabbed a few, holding them in her lips as she continued to work, cutting strips and pinning them against her model’s body until she had encased her entire body from neck to ankles in pinned fabric. 

 

Chaerin shifted on  her feet, her discomfort at having been on her feet for hours standing in the same position showing through her tough work ethic. But she didn’t say a word as Eva worked around her, asking her to move a limp, exhale and inhale, the mistaken slight poke from a pin, nothing, as she let the designer work her magic. 

 

“Aish.” She moaned as she finished pinning the dress on Chaerin and looked around for yet another thing she had forgotten to grab. She spotted the piece of white tailor’s chalk sitting in a large box on the table Jiyong was sitting on. 

 

“JIyong?” She questioned looking at him and his attention snapped to her from where it had been, making faces at his best friend. 

 

“Yes?” He straightened under her gaze. 

 

“Would you mind handing me that piece of white chalk behind you?” She pointed and he turned, his thin fingers grabbing it as he hopped off the table. “Thank you.” She murmured as he slid it into her hand, his finger tips grazing her palm in a deliberate gesture. She smirked up at him before turning back to Chaerin once again all business. 

 

Using the white piece of chalk in her hands she made rough sketches on the dress, outlining the details of the final dress’ neckline, placement on the shoulder, where down the center front the skirt would be parting, and any other little detail she could think of at the moment. 

 

Finally Eva pulled the pair of scissors from her assistants hands and with long snips cut the fabric dress she had just made on Chaerin’s body down the back, all of the pins holding their place in the fabric as it fell from the pop star’s body and into the designer’s arms. She quickly whisked it over to the mannequin and began to use more pins to stab it against the frame, keeping the dresses shape. 

 

With a sigh she stepped back and looked at the black mess of fabric and chalk markings, to many it would look like nothing, but Eva was extremely pleased with what she had accomplished in a single day alone. Beside her Chaerin stepped up, once again wearing her clothes from earlier, and she cocked her head to the side. 

 

“Please tell me it’s going to look better than that.” Chaerin finally spoke and Eva let out a loud laugh, smiling up at her friend. 

 

“Don’t worry dear, you are going to wreck all worlds of fashion with what I am making for you.” Eva assured her and turned placing a hand on her friends arm. “We are done for the day.” Through the windows she could see that the sun was low, almost having completely set on their first day in Korea. 

 

“Let me treat you to dinner, you and Father Sebastian.” Chaerin offered, linking arms with Jiyong and waiting for the two foreigners. Eva looked at her travel companion who just shrugged, never one to turn down a free meal. 

 

“Give us some time to go to the hotel and freshen up, send me the name of the restaurant and we’ll meet you there.” Eva complied as she slid her arms into her leather jacket and pulled her hair down from the pony tail it had been in for hours, shaking her head against the ache in her scalp. 

 

“Okay!” Chaerin waved and pulled Jiyong from the room, his eyes linking and lingering with Eva’s before he fully faced forward and followed his friend out of the room. Father Sebastian slid up next to her against the table, looking after them. 

 

“It’s obvious you’re going to go after Jiyong, but can I-“

 

“No.” Eva cut him off, giving him a firm look. 

 

“Oh come on, she stood almost in front of me all day, I know I like what I see.” He whined following her out of the room and towards the elevator. 

 

“No, you can’t sleep with Chaerin.” Her voice was final as she pressed the button for the elevator which happily dinged open and they stepped inside. “But you are welcome to try after I have finished this commission.” She finished as the doors slid close, the mirrored doors reflecting back the large grin on her friends face.