19

SO many things happened yesterday and all I wanna do now is just relax and stay at home all day long. I was still wearing my pyjamas when I got downstairs. Jaejijn is already in school. I actually have plans of pursuing a degree in college. But I'll still think about it since we have to save more money for Jaejin's schooling.

I was sipping my lemon juice when my phone rang. It was from an unknown number.

"Hello?"

"Ms. Soojin Han?" The person on the other line asked.

"Yes, speaking. Who's this?"

"This is Ms. Park from Pledis Entertainment. Two of our staff has gone absent today and we would like to ask you to come to our office to be one of the staff for Seventeen."

I almost choked when I heard the person say Seventeen.

"What?! Uhm, I mean, what do you mean? I thought I'll be managing the girls?" I asked.

It's true. I'll be the junior artist manager for Pledis Girlz and not for Seventeen. It's one of the deals I made with Nayoung unnie. She said she'll make sure I won't be dealing with the boys.

"Well, that's why we're asking you to be TEMPORARILY be Seventeen's manager. As soon as we have plans for Pledis Girlz to officially debut, then you'll be the one managing them." Ms. Park seemed to be serious about it.

I know all I had to do was to say,

"Okay."

It was already ten in the morning when they called me. Maybe this time, Ms. Park won't reprimand me for getting late because I was really surprised to have a schedule with them today. This will be the first day of my work in Pledis as their official employee.

And damn, I feel so nervous not because of the bosses but because of meeting Seventeen again. I am not sure whether they remember me but I hope they do.

I can't imagine how Mingyu will react if he sees me.

Would it be awkward? Will he smile? Will he frown? Will he even notice me? I really don't know.

I know for a fact that Wonwoo will remember me. He's my bestfriend for years. He might even hug me and I admit, I miss having a bestfriend like him. Living for three years being a responsible noona to Jaejin is kind of hard since I grew up not having a younger sibling. I want to tell him all that's happened to me for three years that I was away.

I was wearing a white long-sleeved polo and skinny jeans paired with my white sandals. I want to look not so formal but still with class.

Seventeen has actually already arrived at MBC building for their performance. Ms. Park is updating me through texts and she's guiding me how I should get there. I don't really need her help with MBC Studio because I was here a week before to see Seventeen as an audience. But this time, I am here as one of their managers.

I gulped as I pressed the floor inside the elevator to where Show Champion studio is.

Fans were already screaming when I entered the main door. I forgot to bring an ID but gladly, I immediately saw Ms. Park. She was holding her phone as if she's about to call me.

She glared her eyes when she saw me.

"What took you so long, Ms. Han?" There goes her question again. I made a mental note to myself to make sure to be an hour earlier wiht my job so she would not get mad at me again.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Park. I---"

"No more time for that. Let's go." She walked and I followed her. Guards and ushers did not even look for my ID when they saw me with her.

My heart beats faster than usual when we were already in the waiting room that has Seventeen posted in front of it.

"The boys are kind of tired so be quiet and just make sure they don't do anything that will ruin their image. We're having a crisis for a few days now because of Wonwoo's controversy but I want you to act normal especially around him. And, never, ever, ever ask him about that issue. Got it?" I paused for a moment when I heard her mention Wonwoo.

What? What happened to him? Is it a dating issue? A scandal? But I can't imagine Wonwoo dating anybody. He doesn't like the idea of dating.

"Ms. Han, are you still with me?" Ms. Park raised her voice when she asked me.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Park. Yes, I get what you said. I promise to be a responsible employee of Pledis."

She nodded.

"Good, let's get in then."

Chan was the first one who noticed me.

"Soojin noona?!" His voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.

Heads slowly turned at my direction. I've never felt this nervous before. My hands are trembling. I managed to smile at them.

"Noona, how are you?" Seungkwan approached me.

"Wow, you've changed a lot." Seungchelo said. I smiled even wider although deep inside me, I'm getting anxious.

Where is he? Where is Mingyu? He's not here!

"Soojin, I didn't know you know them personally." Ms. Park commented. She looked at me in a weird gaze and I just found it harder to pretend to smile. I want to pee because of this nervousness.

"Well, I, uh... I met them three years ago."

"Her brother is one of the staff of Pledis before." Soonyoung told Ms. Park.

I saw Wonwoo in one corner. He was looking at me. I smiled, a true smile, when I looked at him.

He just nodded his head and smiled back but I can tell that something's wrong with him. Like, he's sad. Oh, I remember that scandal that he's been involved in. Perhaps that's the reason why he is like this. I walked closer to him.

"Soojin, it's been a long time." He said. His voice is deeper than the sea, that's the one thing I quickly noticed. He grew taller now as well. When I went at MBC last week, I wasn't able to check them out this close. Now, seeing all of them made my heart glad. I am glad that they still remember me.

I can't help myself but to hug him. I can hear everyone gasp as they saw me hug Wonwoo. I was a bit surprised with my action as well. I don't want to act like a clingy girlfriend because I certainly am not Wonwoo's girl.

He chuckled and then hugged me, too.

"I know you, you need a hug right now." I said as I was pulling back.

He smiled, a more Wonwoo-smile this time.

"Thanks. Are you finally back for good?" He asked.

"Awww, I want a hug, too." Soonyoung commented and he went to us and hugged me. And then everybody in Seventeen hugged me, too. I was laughing as we were having a group hug.

"It didn't feel right when you were gone, noona." Seungkwan said and his eyes are starting to water.

I laughed even harder.

"You're still the same crybaby Seungkwan I know, eh?" I pat his head. I had a hard time to look at them one by one since they are all taller than me now. I remained to be as small as 162 centimeters and they're all like 5'10 and taller now.

I also got to meet Jeonghan. The8, the newest member isn't here for some reason. They joined Seventeen when I was already gone.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" I was taken aback when Jeonghan asked me that question. Everybody paused and waited for my answer as if they're anticipating it to.

"Uh, no, I don't have a boyfriend." I answered him.

"Really?" Jeonghan is really talking casually to me now as if he hasn't met me just a few minutes ago. He's one year older than me and is the same age as Seungcheol but he said not to call him oppa anymore.

"Ya, hyung! Stop flirting with Soojin noona. She's Mingyu's girl!" Chan shouted.

Silence filled the whole room. The staff of Seventeen that's also inside looked at me as if scanning me from head to toe.

Hansol sssh-ed Chan.

Seungkwan held my hand like in the dramatic way.

"But seriously, noona, is there a chance for you and Mingyu hyung to get back together? Have you talked already and decided not to separate anymore? Won't you leave him again?"

"Kids!" Seungcheol's voice roared. He seemed seriously mad.

"These maknaes are being talkative again. You all should just shut your mouths and avoid talking personal things about a person." He reprimanded them.

"Noona, I'm sorry for that." Hansol told me.

I smiled at him. I can see that Hansol's the one who matured a lot since I last saw them. He's small and cute three years ago but now, he's like a boy-next-door type of man.

"Everyone! You can talk to Soojin and ask her questions and what not but not right now. You'll be going on stage in a few minutes so you better prepare for that. Where's Myungho, Seokmin and Mingyu?" Ms. Park asked them.

"They're filming for the coming of age special of Show Champion, noona." Jisoo answered her. He looked at me and flashed a genuine, shy smile. I don't have much memories with Jisoo before because I just met him for a short time. I'm glad he has become a Seventeen member now.

"Alright, just tell them to rehearse when they get back here. I'll leave you for now. Soojin, make sure to watch these boys."

I nodded my head.

"Yes, Ms. Park."

I was a bit confused after Ms. Park left because she did not inform the members about me being their new manager.

I roamed around the room to greet the other staff. I want to leave a good first impression with them. Good thing, they didn't ask me about what they heard a while back.

"You really changed a lot, Soojin." Wonwoo said as I stood in front of him. He was holding a book. And oh, I just noticed he's wearing specs now. He looks so good with them on.

"What do you actually mean by that? I'm still the same Soojin you know." I grinned.

"No, you changed. Where are your chubby cheeks now? You're skinny now. You're not as tall as I was expecting you to be. And your is longer, too. They way you dress changed as well. You look formal." Wonwoo mentioned the things he noticed one by one.

Yes, it might be true that I lost a lot of weight especially in my chubby cheeks. My baby fats are gone. Sungjin oppa once said I look like a grown young lady now. I feel so good about myself, really. Nobody will judge me now because I have a nice figure. And I won't deal with any more diet because my metabolism has gone faster as well. No matter how much I eat, I don't gain weight.

"Maybe it's part of puberty. We're adults now." I told him.

Wonwoo's smile quickly faded when he looked at my direction. He stood and then I realized he wasn't exactly looking at me but instead the person behind me. I looked at it. My eyes widened when I saw Mingyu wearing a white coat with some blue lining on the cuffs, a white shirt inside, and white pants.

His smile suddenly froze when he saw me.

He has this big question mark expression on his face.

"Kids, is everyone here now?" A woman entered the room and asked them.

"Yes, noona." Wonwoo answered her. I looked at Wonwoo for a while and he smiled at me as if telling me everything's going to be okay.

I looked at Mingyu again but his eyes are now looking intensely at me in a not-so nice way. As if he's accusing me of something. I don't know. One thing that I'm sure of, he's really really mad.