Before I turn around to face the voice, an attendant runs out of the office, wiping drool from his mouth as he tries to wake up and approach the reception counter. The area lights up as it senses his presence. ‘I’m so sorry for the delay Miss. Who are you here to see?’ he enquires.

‘Dalhum Choi please.’ The attendee begins typing and then pauses as he looks to someone behind me ‘Kris sir,  Welcome Back! Why are you here at this time of night?’ Oh yeah, the voice. I turn around and see who else but Blonde Devil. ‘Kris?!’

‘Evening Gin-Ho shi, I’ve been asked to accompany this person to Manager Choi’s office.’ Blonde Devil answers the attendant. ‘Oh fantastic, glad you’re all looked after then. See you around Miss,’ Gin-Ho smiles and bows down at me. I wave goodbye and realise I’m all alone with this so called Kris, becoming tense. He turns around, walks towards the elevators and I follow silently. The elevator arrives and we both enter, our eyes adjusting to the well lit space. He pressed the 18th level and stands to the side nonchalantly. A million questions run through my mind, the most prominent being how am I still stuck with this guy? I heard him say ‘Manager Choi’ before, so he must be one of the people Dad is responsible for. I let out a long sigh, realising there is a great possibility that I’ll be seeing Blonde Devil more often than I would like (aka. Never again). He turns to look at me and proceeds to also let out a long sigh. He gazes with curious eyes and then turns back, muttering something like ‘still reckon she’s some crazy international stalker.’ I ignore his comment and thankfully, the lift sounds a ‘ding’ and the doors open wide. The lights are off but I can make out a couple of corridors, glass rooms, an indoor gym, and a big living space that held a kitchen and various entertainment devices. This is place is l-o-a-d-e-d. Immediately I feel bitter about having to be here in the first place because it is clearly evident that this place desperately needs to be compensated by 100k to stay afloat. Blonde Devil walks knowingly along the level and stops in front of a large door which displays ‘Dalhum Choi’ upon a name plate. He knocks twice and with a brief pause, opens the door. I peer in and see my Dad drinking some alcoholic beverage, his tie loose and pacing around his desk, his phone pressed against his ear. I haven’t seen him in a year, and I feel guilty when I see the wrinkles he has gained and the weight he has lost since. He senses other people watching him and then looks up at us. I take a deep breath, walk behind Blonde Devil and enter his office.

‘DAD, LEGIT I WILL DO THIS STUPID DEAL BUT PUT ME WITH ANYONE BUT HIM PLEASE!’

‘MANAGER CHOI, I DIDN’T THINK I WOULD EVER AGREE WITH THIS VIOLENT MONKEY BUT SHE’S RIGHT- THIS IS RIDICULOUS!’ We both shout as my Dad pushes us out of his office and closes the door on our resisting bodies. Blonde Devil still pleads with the shut door while I continue to bang my fists upon it. After a good two minutes, we both give up, only our heavy pants filling the silence in the air. We both look at each other and process the bombshell my father had just dropped on us moments ago.

Dad greeted us as we entered the room and after a brief hug, our reunion ended and he went straight to business. ‘Now Ahri, obviously I would have liked to see you under other circumstances but I’m glad you made it to Seoul regardless. I’ve had a chat to Sir SM and he’s agreed to release you from your debt in return for your service.’ I sigh with relief. ‘Don’t sigh with relief yet missy. There are some conditions that need to be satisfied.’ I tut and look over at Kris, who has been silent this entire time, trying to make sense of the situation. ‘In return for your physical altercation with one of our idols, Sir SM wants you to manage Korea’s hottest boy groups. They are just about to release a new song and have achieved unprecedented levels of success so there is pressure. You are to manage their schedules, oversee any issues and also teach them English so they can better communicate with international fans. If there is even one mistake or complaint about you, Sir SM will revoke this offer. If everything goes smoothly, he has organised with the Basketball Association Board to allow you to play the Grand Finals in two months time. How does that sound?’ Dad finishes explaining, looking at me with hopeful eyes. ‘Ahri, this is such a good opportunity and if you do well, you can be playing again, back on the court you love.’ I silently weigh the pros and cons in my mind while Kris stands at the back of the room, his eyes slightly puzzled. I can tell he is more on his guard, understandably after hearing the spectacular thrashing his colleague received from the great Ahri Choi. I turn back to my father who is still smiling down at me. I know that managing a kpop group isn’t a walk in the park. Especially a successful boy group, who no doubt are high and mighty from all the fame and attention from the girls. I haven’t even been around guys my age for the last two years, how would I even interact with them, let alone manage them?!?!?! Despite this, I find myself nodding in agreement. The slightest possibility to be able to play alongside my girls in the Final is more than enough motivation for managing these for sure hype-beast boys .

My father exclaims with joy and Kris just brings his forehead to his fingers. ‘I’m so happy Ahri, you have made the right decision, you can be sure of it! Well I guess I’ll get to the chase and introduce you to one of the leaders of the group you’ll be managing.’ I pick up my luggage and start to make my way out the door. Might as well get this over with right? Blonde Devil follows behind me out the door and we both wait for my father to lead us to this mystery leader. However, my father just stands in the doorway, with a large grin.‘Ahri, you’ve already met him but allow me to formally introduce you to each other.’ He points to Blonde Devil. ‘This is Kris Wu, leader of Exo-M and co-leader of EXO. You’ll be taking care of him now.’ My eyes widen as I see Blonde Devil’s eyes also bulging out of his sockets. ‘Mr. Choi, you can’t be serious?! SHE’S going to be managing us? HER?!’ He waves his hands around pointing at me. My dad just smiles, ‘Kris, meet Ahri Choi, my daughter and now your new manager. I hope you get along well!’ With that, he closes the door, leaving the both of us outside in silence to process what is happening.

So the Blonde Stalker who followed me literally from Canada is also an international Korean superstar?? , does this mean he’s a celebrity? I knocked out a celebrity and spilled coffee on him as well, omg. My track record is going strong- I reckon if I never get to play basketball again, I could really pursue the 'inflicting minor injuries to kpop stars' thing I have going on. Kris Wu. My second victim from this stupid agency. Which, now that I think about it, I didn’t hear him mention the coffee or bag hitting thing to my dad. I really hope he doesn’t, otherwise I already know I'll be receiving another 'give me 100k peasant' letter- signed and with kisses from Sir SM. Kris damn Wu.

I take another look at him, carefully now. His hair is dyed blonde and also flawlessly styled (he literally got out of a 14 hour flight, it's nearly midnight- how is hair so on point?!?!). His clothes look basic, but on closer inspection, I can tell its designer everything. Palace jacket, Supreme shirt, CDG shoes;  a walking street fashion magazine -I only know these brands because the Canadian Boys team rave about them all the time. And the sunglasses (thankfully out of sight now), face mask and the beanie was probably to conceal his identity at the airport to avoid a commotion. I'm starting to see the reasoning behind him looking like a tool. Also, this whole time, I was thinking it was such strange coincidence how we were sitting next to each other on the same flight and headed towards the same location, but assuming my dad knew of Blonde Devil’s travel arrangements, organising all of that would've been a piece of cake.  A lot of things are starting to make more sense. But this still .

We look at each other and as if we could read each other’s mind, we are both begin to  bang on my dad’s door, begging him for us to work with anyone but each other. Dad opens the door again and we lunge at him, but he dodges our bodies and leaves a folder filled with paperwork on top of my suitcase. Which brings me back to the present moment, where he pushes our hurtling bodies back out of the office, bids us goodnight and leaves us panting outside the silent corridor.

Kris finally stops knocking on the door and puts his arms down in defeat. Then he proceeds to stare at me and I feel his gaze drilling into my soul. ‘I want to make one thing clear,’ he begins in an intimidating tone. I lug my luggage on my shoulder and look up at him, ‘All ears,’ I retort. He holds my gaze and proceeds, ‘Look, I don’t know you or what your story is. All I know is everyone in Exo has worked so hard, sacrificed so much and love wholeheartedly what they do. I’m guessing you have no managerial experience, and from what I could hear on the airplane, you don’t listen to Kpop at all. You don’t know the industry, the demographic or the first thing that comes with your responsibility so I’m not expecting much, I assure you. But whatever is going on between your dad and you, please do not involve us in your rebellious teenage phase. Because this is more than a basketball match, this is more than a game. These are our lives and livelihoods we are entrusting you with. All I ask from you is to respect that,’ he finishes. I feel stumped as his words weigh heavy on me. He’s right, what made me think I could manage a Korean pop group when I don’t even know the first thing about it? The last two years, all my energy has been focused on basketball. I stare down at my rough hands, craving the touch of the ball. It’s probably the first time in years I have gone more than 24 hours without practising. I’m not a Kpop expert, Blonde Devil is correct. But I know a thing or two about sacrifice and dedication. I’ll prove it to him and this mysterious Exo. Blonde Devil takes one of my duffel bags from hands and turns on his heels, beginning to walk. ‘Where are we going?’ I ask, slightly taken back by this act of chivalry. ‘To your dormitory, where you’ll be spending the next two months,’ he replies as he approaches the lifts. He presses the elevator button to go up. A ‘ding’ sounds alerting us the lift is approaching. I guess I’ll get used to that sound soon enough. We get on the elevator and Blonde Devil presses level 48. The 48 button then changes its small screen to a fingerprint scanner, and Blonde Devil scans his thumb, then lift suddenly moves up as the button flashes green. This place is so extra I swear. Totally needs 100k to remain solvent. We stand in silence, for what seems to be the a millionth time today until the doors open again at floor 48 and he walks out.

Level 48 is mostly empty and the whole corridor is painted in matte black. I look around in awe at how sleek and aesthetic this place looks. Kpop dorms are lit y’all. Towards the end of the hallway, I see a single door which has another finger print scanner. Blonde Devil approaches the door, puts his thumb again on the scanner, and we wait when it suddenly hits me. If this was my dormitory, why would he have access to the room and have his fingerprints registered? As if he could read my mind, he begins to smirk as the door unlocks. ‘Sorry, I made a mistake earlier.’ I look at him, already knowing what is coming next. ‘Welcome to our dormitory Manager Choi’.

hahaha aiyaaaa so sorry it took so long to get to the chase but yayy things are happeningggg

also here is some dean to brighten up your tuesday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkNB5AsgZOc&t