Riingg! Riingg! Riingg!

With a groan Ava lifted her head from her pillow and peered through blurry eyes at the small alarm clock sitting on her bedside table. She had unpacked it the other night and finally plugged it in the evening before.

8:15

Crap! 

She had to be at Starship in just over an hour! Why hadn't she set her alarm for earlier?

"What was I thinking?" She moaned into her hands that were now covering her face.

Her hands disappeared almost instantly though, as she realized she was wasting time blaming herself.

She threw back the covers and ran into the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later, she raced back out and wrenched the closet door open.

Perusing her options, she pulled out a pair of black velvet pants and a hot pink sweater. She grabbed some socks and ubderclothes, before selecting a pair of white hightops to complete her look.

She put on the underclothes and then half dried her hair with her towel. She ran her brush through her locks and then ran her fingers through it, trying to air dry it some more.

After she deemed it dry enough, she pulled up part of her hair into a ponytail, letting the rest hang down behind it.

She quickly put on the rest of her clothes and took a quick look at her face, making sure it didn't have any acne trying to appear.

Nope.

She grabbed her phone and looked at the time. 8:48.

The night before Minjun had sent her a text, letting her know she needed to be at Starship at 9:30. She still needed to sign her one-year contract as photographer. After that, at 10:30, they would hold the press conference and that was what really freaked her out.

What if that weird, violent, sasaeng fan showed up? How would she even know if she/he did? She had never seen their face, just heard their voice.

Her sleep the night before had been plagued with memories from the Ghost House as well as her memories from when she was seventeen. It had made for a very long, nightmarish night.

Every hour it seemed, she was waking up from one incident or the other. She really wished the memories would stop coming back to her because she was so tired of reliving them again and again.

She picked up her purse and shoes and headed to the kitchen. 

Once there, she made some toast. She briefly thought of taking it with her and eating it in the cab but figured she might freak out some people with her weird American eat-on-the-go habits.

That's all she needed. People staring at her as though she had lost her mind. Who knows? Maybe she already had.

She headed out the door and thankfully found the elevator empty when it arrived.

On the ground floor, she made a beeline for the exit and was able to catch a taxi after only a few minutes.

She told the driver the address and watched his face as an expression of surprise crossed it as he heard her speak in excellent Korean.

She smirked to herself after his attention had turned to the front again.

Minjun had told her she wouldn't be able to go with Monsta X because they had an early interview to attend before the press conference.

After nearly 30 minutes, the cab finally pulled up in front of Starship. She paid the driver and took a minute taking in her surroundings.

The area was mostly just buildings but she found the architecture beautiful.

She took out her phone to check the time. Seeing she only had five minutes before she was supposed to meet the CEO, she hurried towards the door.

There were two security guards standing just inside the doors and when she told them who she was meeting, they let her by and directed her to the desk, where a woman in her thirties was busily answering a phone and taking notes.

However, when she approached, she quickly ended the call and looked up with a polite smile.

"Yes? Can I help you?" She said in English.

Ava smiled back and replied, "I have an appointment with CEO Kim Shi Dae at 9:30." She spoke in English as well.

The woman's face immediately lost her smile and she rudely looked her up and down, before her lip curled up in distaste.

At that, she felt her own smile slip and her eyes narrow at the woman, but she quickly pulled her smile back up.

She didn't want to leave a bad impression on her first day here. Hopefully, once they got used to her, everyone would just treat her like any other Korean worker-

"Aish! Stupid Americans! Why did the CEO get a foreign photographer? There are plenty here in Korea to choose from. Americans don't understand our customs and language! And they dress horribly too!"

Or not.

Ava had a hard time not letting her jaw drop at the woman's rude words. She had spoken mostly under her breath, and if she hadn't known Korean, she wouldn't have had a clue that the woman was nearly cursing at her. The receptionist had kept a tight smile on her face the entire time.

She blinked her eyes a few times and wondered if she had actually heard the words.

Maybe she had imagined the whole thing, because the woman was rising from her seat, an even bigger smile on her face, and directing her down the hallway to the right.

Then she caught a glimpse of the hate in her eyes as she briefly looked over at her.

No. She had most definitely not imagined that little rant.

The woman stopped at an elevator and when it arrived, shooed her inside and pressed the button for the third floor.

"I will call ahead to the receptionist there. As soon as you arrive, she will be waiting for you."

She nodded. "Thank you," she said, gritting her teeth, and bowed politely.

The ride took seconds and when the doors opened, it revealed a slightly younger woman. This one gave her a wide smile as well, and she looked searchingly at her face, trying to gauge her sincerity.

Her eyes showed nothing but curiosity and friendliness, so she gave her a smile back in return.

The woman bowed. "Hello. My name is Nam Hye Ji. It is so nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you as well. I'm Ava Richmond."

Hye Ji's head bobbed up and down rapidly. "Yes," she said breathlessly. "I have been wanting to meet you since I heard the CEO told us an American would be coming here." She paused briefly before speaking even faster than before. "Is my English okay? I get words mixed up sometimes."

Ava opened to respond when Hye Ji let out a squeak and slapped her hand over .

"The CEO! You have a meeting with him!"

Hye Ji grabbed her arm and raced down the hallway, pulling her along behind her.

They stopped before a door that had Kim Shi Dae, CEO written on it in Hangul.

Hye Ji knocked and then pushed it open.

A dark-haired man rose from behind a desk as they entered the room and Hye Ji and he bowed at each other before Hye Ji turned to Ava and introduced her to Kim Shi Dae.

The CEO bowed to her and Ava did likewise.

Mr. Kim smiled at her and motioned to one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"Please sit, Miss Richmond," he invited in perfect English.

"Thank you."

She took a seat and then swallowed a little nervously.

She wasn't sure why she suddenly felt nervous. Mr. Kim seemed like a very nice man and he, unlike the rude woman downstairs, seemed to actually be happy she was here.

He pulled a stack of papers stapled together from under another pile of papers and placed them on the desk in front of her.

"I understand that you speak Korean fluently, however I had this contract typed in English. That way you can read through and make sure everything is the same as what Jung Minjun told you before."

"That is very nice of you, sir. Thank you." Without trying to she found herself smiling again.

She picked up the stack of papers and read through them carefully. Everything was exactly as Minjun had explained to her, thankfully.

He showed her where to sign and once she handed the contract back to him, he stood up and reached across the desk and grasped her hand.

"Welcome to Starship."

~~~~~~~~

Ava peeked out from behind the curtain keeping the back of the press room private from the many reporters' eagle eyes.

A table was set up on the stage with eleven chairs sitting behind it. One for each member of Monsta X, one for the CEO, one for Minjun, one for Monsta X's manager, and one for her.

She gulped as she looked out at the room and saw probably fifty reporters, all with their cameras around their necks and notepads in hand.

Conversations buzzed back and forth, everyone wondering what the practically last-minute press conference was about.

Her heartbeat increased and her palms grew damp. Was that person here? She knew sasaengs were known for there erratic, obsessive behavior. 

If all the rumors were true, and after two days ago she was sure they were, there was every possibility in the world that that particular sasaeng had snuck in.

She was so focused on the crowd outside, she failed to hear the footsteps behind her.

Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she let out a shriek, nearly jumping out of her skin.

She whirled around, her hand held to her chest, to see Jooheon standing behind her, a beaming smile on his face.

At her expression he stopped smiling and frowned instead. "Noona?" He questioned. "Are you okay?"

Her heart rate was already slowing and she nodded.

"Yes, you just startled me." She chuckled, trying to put up a happy front, when in reality she was scared of who might be on the other side of that curtain.

She looked behind him and saw the other members making their way towards them.

Most of them were smiling, except for the youngest. He had a sullen look on his face and when he glanced up and caught her eye, a frown appeared on his face and he looked elsewhere.

That look answered her thoughts on whether he was okay or not. That would be a no.

Before the others could speak to her, Mr. Kim appeared, followed by Minjun and the manager whose name she had forgotten.

The CEO herded the members towards the curtain and they and the other two men followed them. They all stood directly behind the curtain, awaiting their introduction.

Mr. Kim stopped in front of her and smiled reassuringly. "It is just a simple press conference, Miss Richmond. Nothing to be worried about."

She didn't tell him that it wasn't the reporters she was afraid of, but someone else, and instead tried to smile back.

"I will introduce you and when you hear me say your name, make your way onto the stage. All right?" The CEO was still smiling at her.

"Yes. I understand, sir."

With that, Mr. Kim parted the curtain and the noise from the reporters hushed.

They heard him greet the crowd and then he introduced the others and soon she was alone.

She heard Monsta X greeting the reporters and the noise picked up again momentarily before Mr. Kim spoke again.

"And now the reason you all are here today." There was absolute silence now and Ava found herself holding her breath.

"I would like to introduce Ava Richmond to everyone gathered here today."

She took one last deep breath before stepping out from behind the curtain.

She walked to the table and finally looked out at the crowded room. She bowed and introduced herself in Korean.

She took her seat and Mr. Kim continued.

"Miss Richmond has just been hired as Monsta X's private photographer."

There was a moment of silence before the entire room erupted in conversations.

"What?"

"Why did you hire a foreigner?"

"Aren't Koreans good enough?"

"She looks too young."

That last one Ava took exception to. 

Too young? She was twenty-five and who cared if she looked younger than she actually was? All the idols here, or at least most, had tons of things they used to make themselves look as beautiful and young as possible.

Wasn't that what pretty much what everyone in the world tried to do? Tried to look as young as they could, as long as they could?

She just sat in her seat as the audience threw out questions at the CEO.

He answered them in a calm, reassuring manner and it helped in appeasing the somewhat angry reporters.

She had finally calmed down and was looking out and trying to read the people's many expressions, when her gaze landed on a lone reporter at the very back of the room.

They were dressed in a dark hoodie and carried a camera just like the others. Ava couldn't tell if the person was a male or female. The distance was just too far.

The person had their own gaze locked on Ava's and when they caught her eyes, their hand made a cutting motion across their neck.

Ava's heart stopped and she half rose from her seat to- she didn't know what she was going to do, but it didn't matter.

Because whoever the person in the hoodie was, they were not sticking around.

The person immediately turned around and she watched as they headed for the door.

~~~~~~~~

Yay!!! Two chapters within just a few days!

I hope you all like this one and please comment and let me know what your thoughts are! I love to hear from everyone :)

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