A/N: Hello my dear readers, I've been on a long break yet again, I'm sorry. I would say it's because I have a life but sadly it's because I don't. My life is work sleep and more work. My boss is like drowning me with whatever he can find and I think I've probably resent the same magazine advertisment design like 10 times? At any rate, please don't expect timely updates, though I assure you I won't abandon fic. IMPORTANT: This chapted have been updated to full. I'm sorry that my updates always take so long, but I'm really busy with many things that fanfiction is only something I can do when I have free time, which is really rare. I'm very greatful for all of you who stuck through the wait and continued reading this story, your support means a lot to me. Thank you so much. I love you guys! I hope the fact that the updates are always at least 4k in words helps. This time it's 6k so happy reading!

Hope you guys enjoy the development!

Also I'm working on another fic that is OC centric with Jong Hyun (sorry Jongkey fans), though there may be a pleasant surprise for you guys as well. I wonder, will people read fics without posters? I'm so sick of designing things at work that I don't feel like doing it outside of work. lol. Btw, O' Sulloc is a REAL cafe in Myeong Dong, my friends brought me there when I was in Seoul, it's REALLY good~~ Do try it out!!

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Yun Ri sipped her royal milk tea uncertainly as she stood in the cold winter winds of Seoul. She would much rather be in the warm café, gobbling down O’sulloc’s infamous tiramisu cake, but that was not an option right now. She needed to watch Shin Se Kyung to be the one in the café first; after all, if the new Viven model found out that it was not Jong Hyun waiting at the table, she would definitely up it and leave. Teeth chattering in the cold, Yun Ri finally saw a lean figure covered from head to toe, donning huge sunglasses, walking up the stairs and into the café. As expected, the actress did not even cast a glance at her; it was not unusual to teenage girls to wait around for their friends in the streets of Myeong Dong.

Yun Ri waited for another 3 minutes and expectedly, Jong Hyun’s phone buzzed. ‘I’m on the second floor, in the corner, where are you?’ Ignoring her wildly pumping heart, Yun Ri quickly typed a reply, ‘See you.’ Following that, she pressed speed dial number 1, ‘Yeobuseyo? Ki Bum ah, I’m going in.’ The only reply she got was a ragged breath, but that was all the morale boost she needed.

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Yun Ri’s POV:

I wonder if I was this crazy when I was in love. I’ll be honest; I’m not in love right now, not with Young Soo. I wish I was, because if I was, maybe then I can accept him, for better or worse, but obviously I can’t accept him worse, I can’t accept Lee Soo Man... I shook my head to clear my thoughts, what is important now is not me, it’s Ki Bum.

I can see Shin Se Kyung’s awkward and defensive body language the moment I pulled up the chair before her, but she stayed put, which is a good sign. As a preemptive measure, I pulled out Jong Hyun’s phone and placed it on the table. Seeing the familiar gadget, she calmed down a little. ‘Who are you?’ ‘I’m Kim Yun Ri, I work with Shinee and I’m here on behalf of their manager Lee Young Soo to speak with you about your relationship with Kim Jong Hyun.’ Right, I mentally rolled my eyes at my twisted truth. As if Young Soo would send me her way, or anyone from SM Entertainment. The woman sitting before me was all their doing. Shin Se Kyung however accepted my explanation without much of a fuss.

‘Does the company want us to stop dating?’ She asked me, her tone neutral, but staring right into her eyes, I saw something that worried me. I saw hopefulness. My mind raced a hundred miles an hour, this reaction was off. Very off. ‘SM has taken measures to manage the impacts of your relationship with Jong Hyun,’ I began very carefully. ‘I’m here for more…personal reasons. Mainly regarding the…emotional well-being and internal dynamics of Shinee,’ I tried to phrase my words as professionally as possible. Inwardly however, the more blunt side of me was screaming ‘bull!’, I shelved that part of me away.

Then I saw it, that glimmer of hope in her eyes faded away into bitterness. A grim smile crept its way onto her beautiful features, Gods she was beautiful, even when sad she was beautiful. I see why Ki Bum was so worried. Silence lapsed and neither of us made a move to break it. She obviously had something to say and was trying to find the best way to phrase it, as for me, I didn’t wanted to keep the discussion open and not drive her away.

‘I know that it is Ki Bum sshi he loves.’

My head snapped up from the menu that has been there since before I sat down. I stared at the beautiful girl who sat across me like she just grew another head, but for the record, based what she just said, she might as well have. On the other end of the phone that I had left purposely still in conversation to Ki Bum’s phone so that he could listen in on our conversation, I would bet my fortune that my cousin was equally stunned as well.

She gave me a knowing look, the kind that girls gave each other when we shared a common secret. A dirty little secret. ‘I’m a girl, we snoop around,’ Shin Se Kyung confessed with a bittersweet smile, ‘I saw all his messages and photos with Ki Bum sshi and put two and two together. I know that he loves Ki Bum sshi, but I don’t care. I love him too much already. I don’t mind sharing his love or being lied to if it means I don’t lose him.’ I felt a migraine coming on as she said that.

Love makes people do crazy things and this woman in front of me is a stellar example.

That said, I sighed. What was I supposed to do now? ‘You love him very much don’t you?’ I said after moments of silence. She nodded and I saw tears slowly leak from the corners of her eyes. ‘I do, I love him so much that it hurts.’ I felt my own heart ache as I remembered how I felt when I was in love with Nick. I cast a quick glance at the phone and made a hard decision. I ended the call with Ki Bum.

Reaching across the table, I extended my hand to the tearing girl, ‘I’m Kim Yun Ri, Ki Bum’s cousin.’ Sniffling, she took my hand and shook it, ‘I’m Shin Se Kyung, Jong Hyun’s girlfriend.’ We exchanged smiles and I called for the bill, we needed to go somewhere a lot more private to talk.

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3^rd Person’s POV:

That night, Ki Bum received a long message from Shin Se Kyung, whom Yun Ri has suddenly began to cal Se Kyung unnie. He wanted to yell, hit, scream at his cousin for ending that important phone call, but he knew that he had intrude upon a private moment and Yun Ri had did the right thing ending the call. He looked at the glowing screen of his phone again and read the message he has practically memorized once more.

‘Dear Ki Bum sshi. Greetings I’m Shin Se Kyung. I’m no good at pleasantries so I’ll just go straight to the point. I love Kim Jong Hyun. I love him more than anything in the world, possibly as much if not more than you. But I know he loves you, he loves you in the same way I love him, because he’s willing to put up with everything the world throws at him just to protect you. I hope you’re cherishing him and the love he has for you, I would do anything to get even a fraction of that love.

I’ll admit, I’m jealous of you Kim Ki Bum. I’m jealous of how much he loves you, how much he thinks about you and how much he is willing to sacrifice for you. I’m happy that you’re hurt when he calls me ‘jagiya’, I’m happy whenever I’m stealing him away from you. I know all these feelings are wrong but I don’t care because I love him and I’m selfish, I want him all to myself.

There are so many things I love about him. His eyes, his voice, his laugh, the way he asks me if I’m cold, the times he offers to carry my bag, the things he say to make me laugh, the warmth of his hands when he puts them around my shoulder, the feel of his lips when he kisses me goodnight of my forehead. I bet you are just boiling with jealousy when you read this, but do you know what I love most about him?

I love the way his eyes light up with love whenever he reads a message from you. Why are you on the receiving end of that look and not me? I’m Shin Se Kyung, I’m the icon of bagel girls, I’m the dream of every man, what do I have that you don’t? What have you ever done for him that made you deserving of him? You never had to deal with the anti-fans, you never had to cancel schedules to hide from the press, you never had to go through a ing thing I had to and yet you’re the one he loves.

Sometimes I get so jealous I just want to kill you. But I know if I did that then I’ll never see the radiant Jong Hyun that is always happy, always smiling. I hate myself for this but I respect and ACCEPT the fact that he loves you. I accept it because you make him happy and I want to see him happy. But know this Kim Ki Bum, just because I accept it doesn’t mean I’ll let him go.

I love him too much to let him go. I won’t do anything to break you guys apart, and neither will I say anything about your relationship with him to anyone. I’m not doing this for you, I’m doing this for myself because if I did, he’ll hate me forever and I don’t think I can live with that. I’ll continue playing in this charade as long as you do, but though I mind sharing him with you right now, I will do everything in my power to make him fall in love with me.

I’m a woman, and women are selfish. I want him to love me and me only, so Kim Ki Bum, watch your man, because all is fair in love and war. This is war.’

Ki Bum tossed his phone aside, Shin Se Kyung’s words whirling in his mind. ‘What’s wrong baby?’ Jong Hyun’s hugged him from behind, ‘You’ve been so unsettled the whole day. Can’t sleep?’ Ki Bum mentally slapped himself for worrying his boyfriend who was supposed to be recuperating from the operation in peace. He should not be worrying the lead singer…Shin Se Kyung was right, what has he done for the lead singer to deserve him? Biting his lip in worry, Ki Bum turned around and smashed his lips into Jong Hyun’s. The startled singer froze for a second before melting into the kiss, hey if his boyfriend wants a kiss, who’s he to deny him?

Shin Se Kyung wants a war? She gets a war.

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Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into days, it’s been almost half a year since the Shin Se Kyung scandal and fans have slowly eased themselves back into Jong Hyun fandom. Things seemed to be looking up for Shinee finally, especially with their Bean Pole advertisement and preparations for entrance into the Japanese market. Superficially, Shinee was back on track to becoming the next TVXQ. But one Lee Jinki does not think so.

Jinki’s POV:

I ran my hand through my hair again; it was another one of those performances where Shinee isn’t assembled together. Due to his leg injury, Jong Hyun has missed out many performances with us, Min Ho too…but at least this time we’re apart because of good news, not bad. Jong Hyun has finally entered the finally stage of his recovery and will soon be dancing again. Which is why I’m struggling to understand why Ki Bum is so…off, these days. There’s no other way to explain it. Sometimes all he does is stick to Jong Hyun, forgetting practices, work and even meals. Then at other times, he would do nothing but work himself to death, ignore Jong Hyun’s calls, messages or even purposely return late from practices to sleep in the living room. I joked that Ki Bum is probably PMSing, but I have a feeling that it’s a lot more complicated than that.

The PD called us to get ready as the emcee reached his last line of introductions. I cast a sideway glance at our maknae. First the umma of the group and now t he baby. Though he was all smiles, I could see the dark circles under his eyes that concealers didn’t quite cover. I blinked twice as the image of Tae Min started to split into two, the room seemed hotter than usual, but I pushed it aside. I would lie to myself that his fatigue was because he had once again overworked himself at dance practices if I could but I couldn’t. The incident from 3 nights ago is still fresh in my head, reminding me of the pains of being the group leader.

Flashback

“Hyung…” I looked up as Tae Min walked into the room looking uncharacteristically glum. In his hands was a piece of crumpled paper. “Yes?” I patted the spot next to me on the bed, motioning him to sit down. “Hyung…can you…I…can I tell you a secret?” Tae Min finally spit out after moments of difficulty. I smiled reassuringly and nodded. Mentally, I wondered what is it that Tae Min wanted to tell me? Was he dating someone? Did he… get a girl pregnant? Wild possibilities ran through my head. “I failed my exams..” Unknowingly, I let out a sigh of relief. This was much better than what I had expected. “Don’t worry about it Tae Min, we all underperform sometimes.” I ruffled his hair, but to my surprise, he blocked my hand and cast me an irritated glance. “Don’t patronize me hyung,” he said not too nicely. I always knew Tae Min had a dark side, his outburst months ago only served to reassure that.

“Tae Min, I’m not patronizing you. We’re idols, no one expects us to do well-“ The piece of paper in Tae Min’s hands was shoved forcefully against my chest. “I didn’t just fail a subject, I failed everything hyung, EVERYTHING.” I swallowed whatever I had to say back and tried a new tactic, “Well Tae Min, you did have to go through many things that your classmates didn’t. You have work and we went to Taiwan and with Jong Hyun and Ki Bum’s problem-” “Hyung you don’t understand!” Tae Min snatched the paper out of my hands and this time held it up to my face. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust its focus and I saw that it wasn’t just any report card, it was a warning letter. I began to scan through the letter but Tae Min’s hand began to shake as he realizes that I am actually reading the paper. I held onto his hands to steady them, but soon my hands started shaking as well, the contents of the letter finally sinking into my head.

I re-read the final line of the letter over and over, just to be sure. It had said, ‘If Lee Tae Min fails to pass the retest in a week and bring up his attendance to meet school requirements, he will be expelled.’ I knew schools in Korea were harsh, but I also knew enough to know that high schools is Seoul rarely threaten their student idols with expulsion. Which only meant one thing, “Tae Min, how long as this been going on?” Tae Min shifted his eyes away guiltily, “Since I transferred from my previous high school.” I felt the urge to groan, but suppressed it, Tae Min didn’t need the negativity at the moment. We all knew that Tae Min was doing badly in his previous school due to the bullying, he wasn’t stupid by any means, his grades had been decent during training and even after debut. “Tae Min ah,” I started, with my most comforting voice, “I understand, but don’t worry, this isn’t a big deal, I’m sure you’ll ace those re-tests-”

A harsh glare from Tae Min cut me off. “Damn it hyung! It’s easy for you to say! You and Ki Bum hyung graduated top of your school! What do you understand!? You understand how it feels to be revered as the top student in your damn school, NOT how it feels to be a drop out! The teachers are threatening to call my parents! I only barely managed to convince them to not call Young Soo hyung!” I bit my lip, not sure what to say. If Young Soo hyung found out then the company would surely get him transferred to a more lenient (3^rd rate) high school or god forbid, an arts high school; but that would mean that Tae Min has to break the promise he made to his parents. Tae Min’s parents weren’t all that thrilled for him to be an idol, they weren’t against it, but to them Tae Min had to at least have some college degree to fall back on. Going to an arts high school meant that Tae Min has little chances of getting into any decent universities. What’s worse is that if they found out about the looming expulsion, whilst they won’t pull Tae Min out of the band because of contract termination fees, they will definitely force him to take a break, or complain about SM to the press, which will not bode well with the management. Besides, expulsion is a huge black mark to have on your records, it will ruin Tae Min’s reputation forever, and when that happens, not even SM can protect him, and Tae Min knows this better than anyone.

I clasped Tae Min’s hand in mine and stared at him seriously, “You’re right. I don’t know anything about how you feel. Ki Bum and I had it easy, graduating when Shinee was less famous and had less schedules. We also didn’t have all this to deal with, but Tae Min, this isn’t the end of the world, I know it looks like you have to give up so lot right now, but you still have a chance. You can study for that re-test, we’ll all help you with it, I’m sure Young Soo hyung or Nick hyung or heck, even Yun Ri will help you.” The only reaction Tae Min gave was a solemn nod. I rubbed comforting circles on his back, but he didn’t seem to get better. “Hyung…” our maknae started again, “You don’t get it do you.” He said with a bitter smile. “It’s not the exam I’m worried about,” he looked me in the eye, despair shining through his usual mask of happiness. “It’s the attendance. I can only afford to miss 3 days of school at this rate, and I don’t mean showing up in school to take my attendance, I need to physically be in class, for at least half the day. You and I both know that’s impossible…it’s hopeless…” At this juncture, Tae Min broke into tears and to my frustrations, I found myself unable to say anything to ease his suffering. All I could do was hold him and let him cry…

“Why is it so hard damn it! Why is everything so impossible!? I’m such a failure, all I can do is disappoint people…I’ve failed my parents, I’ve failed the school, I’ve failed our fans, I’ve failed you guys…it’s not supposed to be this way damn it!” Tae Min continued choking out heart breaking cries and as his cries got more hysterical, I could only watch in horror as our maknae dug his fingers onto his forearms and dragged them down harshly, raking skin and drawing blood. I quickly grabbed his arms and hugged him against me, “Stop it Tae Min! STOP IT! Don’t hurt yourself!! Damn it, don’t just DON’T!” But Tae Min continued to thrash around in my arms, “LET ME GO HYUNG!! I WANT IT TO HURT! I NEED IT TO HURT!! AT LEAST THE PHYSICAL PAIN WILL MAKE ALL THE OTHER PAIN HURT LESS!! DAMN IT! I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO!! AT LEAST LET ME FEEL BETTER!” He yelled. His words threatened to drag tears out of me as well.

Why did everything have to be so hard for him? He’s still so young, he shouldn’t have to live his life to please everyone, he should be living out his dream now and not worrying about expectations from parents, fans and the company. Why can’t he just give up academics and focus on music, he loves music. Probably more so than any of us, he loves this career, he gave up everything for it, so why is it that he is still stuck between these choices? Why can’t his parents just support his decision? Why is SM so enamored with making us seem perfect to the public eye? So what if we drop out from school, so what if we’re not college graduates? All these pressures, just for a stupid image…Tae Min used to be a bright innocent child, but the people around him…us, we have broken him and forced him to the brink of insanity. Not letting go of his arms, I tightened my embrace on him. Tae Min didn’t deserve this, none of us did. And yet, this was just another cruel aspect of our industry.

Eventually, Tae Min fell asleep. I tucked him in and heaved a sigh of relief. I’ll work something out for him soon, I had to, but first I need to sleep. Seeing Tae Min in such a hysterical state scared me, and now that the adrenaline has worn off, I could feel the sheer horror coming back to me as the scene of him mutilating himself come back to me. “Hyung…” I looked up at the other figure at the door. Surprisingly, it wasn’t Min Ho, but Ki Bum. “Yea?” I managed a tired smile. Ki Bum bit his lips and shuffled around nervously. I mentally cursed as he looked down onto the floor and pulled his bangs over his eyes, I knew that position of Ki Bum’s. “Hyung…” his voice cracked. All that were actions that Ki Bum does when he’s trying his best to not cry. “Come here and sit,” I said, trying to hide my wary tone. First Tae Min, now Ki Bum. This is not my day. Reluctantly, he took a step forward, and another then has the final sob wrecked through his body, Ki Bum all but collapsed into my lab, crying uncontrollably. “Hyung, I don’t know what to do, I don’t want to let her take him away from me!”

The digital clock on the night table flashed twice, indicating that it was 2am, I turned to put my arms around Ki Bum, ready for another round of dramatic confessions and trouble. Mentally, I sighed…when nothing’s alright…

End flashback

My body went through the movements of the dance mechanically. The company always made sure that our performances were drilled into our brains until it became reflex, which was one of the reasons why our practices always ran so long, we do nothing but repeat the dance and the song, until we got sick of it and then got sick of getting sick of it. I wondered if the fans could tell that my heart was nowhere in the song we’re performing, all I could think of was how to solve Tae Min’s problems without involving his parents and the company and Ki Bum’s new found drama. I have spent the past 3 days, skipping meals between schedules to talk to Tae Min’s school to get them to arrive at a more reasonable compromise and spending nights losing sleep, listening to Ki Bum rant on about his insecurities. Despite all the things I’ve tried, I keep getting reminded about how useless I was, the school refused to relent and Ki Bum wasn’t getting any less stressed. My mind wondered to less pleasant speculations at that, what happens when the company decides to step up our training for our Japanese debut? Can Ki Bum cope? Will Jong Hyun recover in time? And Tae Min, what will happen to Tae Min? Will I walk back into the house one day to find Tae Min covered in his own blood, wrists slashed? I cast a glance at the maknae from my position again and wondered, ‘Why does Tae Min have 6 eyes?’ And then, the world turned black.

3^rd Person’s POV:

The audience turned silent as Jinki literally folded over and collapsed on the stage. The remaining members immediately stopped singing, the music thumped in the background but the hall felt eerily quiet. Fans hoped that it was just another Onew condition but the fact that the leader of Shinee remained motionless onstage told them that reality was a lot harsher than what they could have hoped. The music died down slowly and the din from the crowd started growing. Ki Bum quickly ended the performance with some reassuring words as Nick hyung and Young Soo hyung ran onstage to carry the fainted leader away. Rushing to the backstage, staff rushed about to get chair and water, call the ambulance and Lee Soo Man.

The remaining 3 members stood solemnly beside their leader, worried looks etched onto their faces. Jinki was always the one that no one had to worry about, nothing ever happens to him, he was their constant, their pillar of strength, but the pillar has fallen, and no matter how much they wanted to lie to themselves, Ki Bum, Tae Min and Min Ho knew that nothing was alright.

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“KIM YOUNG SOO! I left Shinee in your care and this is what happens!? First you let that little kidnap Ki Bum, and then I hear of some fiasco in Taiwan from the staff, now this!? I hope you know that I am beyond disappointed in you. I knew I shouldn’t have let that Kim Yun Ri enter SM, you started losing focus the moment she entered your life. You can’t even look after our merchandise properly. Get out of my sight, I don’t want to see your useless face anymore!” Lee Soo Man hollered at his son, but Young Soo just stood rooted to the ground. He was angry, no he was beyond angry. He was angry that his father did nothing to appreciate him, he was angry that his father referred to his new makeshift family as merchandise and he was definitely angry that his father threatened to replace him with Nick.

“ you dad!” Young Soo swore, for the first time at his father. “What did you say to me you insolent-” “I said you! Or do you need me to spell it out for you? You think I’m so useless do you? Without me do you think SM Ballad would have made the profits it did? Without me, would Kim Jong Hyun have regained his fans? Without me, you probably still wouldn’t be able to find, much less take Kim Ki Bum from under his cousin’s nose! You don’t have to be disappointed in me dad, oh sorry, I meant CEO Lee, since you never took the time to actually be a dad in the first place. A tool, that was and is all that I ever am to you. A tool to manage your merchandise, well you know something? Your ing merchandises are my FAMILY, and they always will be, more than you ever have. So go ahead, replace with me Nick, see if I care! He won’t take the job anyways, you know why? Because we’re family! He won’t let me be replaced unless I tell him to. So guess what, boss. You better start worrying about how to find someone to take my position because Lee Soo Man, I QUIT!” With that, Young Soo stormed out of the office, closing the door with an audible slam. Lee Soo Man stared at his son’s retreating form in shock. What had just happened?

As he trudged out of the building, Young Soo had a gnawing feeling in his gut that he had left out something important in his vicious exchange with his dad and that’s when it hit him. “Yun Ri.” His dad had called her a , insulted her, degraded her and yet he had said nothing to retaliation to defend her. He even defended Nick, but not her. In fact, he had referred to her as ‘Ki Bum’s cousin.’ Guilt immediately chewed at Young Soo’s conscience. He had just betrayed his girlfriend’s trust in him, hell, even if she wasn’t his girlfriend, what he had done, he had condoned his dad to say was unacceptable even for normal friends. He had let her down once again…Yun Ri was right, he was an . Although Young Soo knew that Yun Ri would never know of what happened in Lee Soo Man’s office, he decided that he needed to tell her the truth of what happened and apologize.

Getting into his car, Young Soo raced back to the apartment and knocked on the familiar door that was Yun Ri’s unit. Minutes passed and no one came out. He immediately dialed her number on the phone, but no one picked up. This was strange, very strange…worry began to rise up in him. Had something happened to the girl? Figuring that Ki Bum may have the answer, he ran up the stairs and back to his home.

“Ki Bum!” Young Soo yelled before the door was even fully open. The rapper looked up from the dining table where all 5 members of Shinee and Nick were gathered, fussing over the recently released Jinki. “Keep it down hyung, Jinki hyung just got discharged!” Ki Bum admonished, but Young Soo paid him no heed. “Do you know where is Yun Ri? She’s not at home and her phone’s not working…” Young Soo trailed off. Ki Bum looked at him weirdly, “She didn’t tell you?” “Tell me/him what?” Nick and Young Soo asked simultaneously. “Ki Bum ignored the assistant manager’s new found concern and continued, “She’s on some school project overseas. In LA I think, I’m not sure. I think she got a new number there…actually, that stupid girl, she didn’t give me her new local contact number like she promised! Wait let me call her friend now to ask.” The rapped pulled out the phone and dialed Yun Ri’s classmate’s number, the one who never freaked out over the fact that her good friend’s cousin was an idol. He eyed the two managers who have scooted too close to him for comfort in an attempt to listen in on the conversation and shooed them away, then placed his phone on loud speaker, on the table.

“Yeobuseyo? Ki Bum sshi?” A melodic female voice answered the phone. “Yeobuseyo! Na Young sshi! Sorry to bother you at such a late hour, have you heard from Yun Ri lately? That girl forgot to give me her overseas contact!” Ki Bum said casually. The girl on the other line giggled, “I’m not surprised, she must be busy as heck, aww man, I’m so jealous of her right now!!” The 7 men in the room exchanged looks, jealous, why? “Huh, jealous? Why are you jealous that my little Yun Ri is busy? I thought you hated work,” Ki Bum teased. Na Young laughed in response, “I know I know! But if it’s to work on the MV for Big Bang’s come back, then I don’t care if I’m worked to my bones. Oh my god, I can’t believe she’s gets to see Tae Yang’s face every day!!” Na Young all but squealed the last part. Young Soo stilled, working with Big Bang? She never mentioned that, he looked at Ki Bum, expecting him to give another smart- reply, but the rapper was just as stunned as he was. “Na Young,” Ki Bum said in a controlled voice, “I thought Yun Ri was in LA for a school project?” “Eh? Well, I guess you can call it that, didn’t she tell you? Since she got fired by SM last year, she needed a new job to pay for her apartment’s rent. The building you guys stay in isn’t exactly cheap you know? Our professor heard about it and since Yun Ri received some raving reviews for her Hot Times MV, he introduced her to YG who needed another director to direct a low budget production. Aww man, Yun Ri is so lucky! But she’s awesome, so I guess it’s fair, I love her to death for making GD and TOP look sooo hot in the Baby Goodnight MV!”

Everyone stared incredulously at the phone. Yun Ri had directed the MV for Baby Goodnight? “Hello? Ki Bum sshi? Are you there?” Na Young asked, concerned at the sudden silence. “You’re not mad at me suddenly going into fangirl mode right? I’m sorry, it’s just you know I have a thing for Big Bang and…” Na Young rattled on. Tae Min gulped and looked at Min Ho who looked at Jinki who looked at Jong Hyun who looked at Ki Bum, Nick and Young Soo with wary eyes. Evidently, Yun Ri had not informed them of anything because tick marks could be seen forming on the 3’s faces, through gritted teeth, Ki Bum tried his best to ask in his nicest voice, “Na Young, could you please give me Yun Ri’s contact number in LA?” “Sure thing! It’s +18183556017!” Without saying goodbye, the rapper hung up the phone and dialed Yun Ri’s number, with vengeance. Jinki wanted to groan, he came out from the tranquil hospital, for this?

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Yun Ri stood behind the director’s chair, looking at the screen where a miniature GD rapped to the camera. Next to her was none other than the infamous G-dragon, Kwon Ji Young himself. “So Ji Young, do you think this take is satisfactory?” As a seasoned artist, Ji Young’s opinion held a lot of weight, even with directors. “What do you think Yun Ri?” He asked the new assistant director for their come back MV. The director turned around to look at her, evidently also interested in her opinions. “I think Ji Young sshi,” she stressed on the word ‘sshi’, which the leader of Big Bang have conveniently dropped from her name, “Did a great job, but the sun’s lighting isn’t so good at the moment, maybe we should take a break and redo the take when the lighting’s better? It is early in the morning, so I think we can afford the wait?” The director looked at her approvingly, “That’s what I thought. Not bad, when I was assigned a university student as my assistant director, I felt quite insulted, but you’re not bad, not bad at all. Guess your success with Hot Times wasn’t just luck.” The middle-aged man said, earning him an embarrassed blush from the girl. “Thank you, but I still have a lot more to learn,” Yun Ri replied humbly.

“Well, you heard the assistant director, take 5 until the sun’s higher in the sky, everyone, dissemble the more sensitive equipment and we’ll retreat into the trailer!” The crew nodded and scurried to work. Apparently overstaffed, Yun Ri found herself with nothing to do except trudge back to the trailer, Ji Young a few steps behind her. “So, guess you passed the test huh?” Ji Young said as he fell into step with the girl. “Test?” Yun Ri enquired. “Yea, that’s’ what Director Lee does, he asks these question to test new additions to his crew to see if they’re up to standard. You passed.” Yun Ri nodded nonchalantly, “Good to know.” Ji Young opened his mouth and looked like he wanted to say something but Yun Ri’s phone chose this exact moment to ring, the girl pulled out her phone, stared and the screen and froze. “What’s wrong?” The fashionista can’t help but ask at the girl’s stricken expression. “Is it the debt collector or something?” He joked. Yun Ri however, had no stomach for humor in her system. She shook her head slowly as she winced, “It’s worse, much much worse. It’s my cousin.” Yun Ri mentally screamed, everything was going great!! Why is it that nothing’s ever alright?

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A/N: Once again thank you for reading and supporting! And most importantly, thank you for waiting. I'm sure everyone's heard about the recent disaster in Japan, please do whatever you can to support them, and I pray for their speedy recovery. On a totally unrelated note, please don't try calling the number in the story, it's completely fictatious and I'm not responsible if you get yelled at for dialing the wrong number.

Thank you! And to those of you in Japan, stay strong!

endlesssky