I’ve constantly been texting with Dara because of the Sugarman project she got me involved in. She said she didn’t like phone calls, so I had to comply. If not for this show, I don’t think there would be any reason for her to talk to me. Thank god for those little blessings.

Whenever I stray from the ‘professional’ tone and ask her some personal stuff to get to know her, she immediately clams up. Girl definitely has some trust issues. I don’t blame her though. I’ll just have to take it as a challenge. It’s part of who she is. I’ll break down her walls eventually.  But I’ll have to earn her trust to do that.

I think she really pulled some strings for my episode. She paired me up with a group from their company named iKON. Albeit new, they are pretty good I surmised after listening to their songs. I asked her if she can let me meet the group over dinner so we can talk about our concept in a relaxed manner. She agreed and told me she will arrange it, little did she know that I was indirectly inviting her as well.

I came to the restaurant a little overexcited, thinking I’ll get to see her again. When I got to our table though, all I saw were three boys bickering.

“Annyeonghaseyo.” I greeted them with a smile, while bowing and introducing myself.

“Anneyong-hasimnikka.” they bow back to me. “My name is Bobby.” the first guy introduces himself. So, this is the Bobby that won SMTM3? Impressive.

“Hello, I am Donghyuk.” the next guy continues. “My name is Junhoe.” the last guy says.

I can see how awkward these guys are towards me. They were a little loud ealier, but the moment I came in, they become like sheep. Interesting. They’re just like Dara. I smile internally.

I was wondering what time Dara will arrive. She never told me, so I decided to ask the guys.

“Do you guys know if Dara-ssi will be a little late?” I ask.

The boys looked at each other, confused. “We’re sorry seonbaenim. She talked to our manager and arranged this meeting, but she didn’t say if she was coming.” Bobby answered.

There goes my subtle plan of seeing her again. I should have been more specific. I should have asked her to come. The excitement I felt when I came here is now like a candle whose flame was blown out.

I decided to open the topic and start discussing the song choice with the boys while waiting for our food.

We were able to come up with the concept we want to go with. We’ll be getting the selection of songs from the Sugarman production team the day after tomorrow and after deciding on the song, we'll schedule a session in the studio. It’ll be a challenging process since we have to make the remake appealing to all ages, but we don’t want to lose the hip-hop color too. On that last one, we all agreed.

Talks about the show ended. We’re all just having a little beer, getting to know each other so there won’t be any awkwardness once we start working. I decided to take this opportunity to get to know Dara more. Who else better to ask but the people she’s usually around with, right?

“Your group must be thrilled to be participating in Sugarman.” I opened with that statement. I can tell they’re really taking this seriously, and being professionals about it. That’s rare for a group this new. The normal reaction should be nervousness and panicking, but they look like it’s something they do on a daily. I think this may be the difference between YG and other companies.

“We are seonbaenim. This is a good opportunity to show our skills. Some people know us more as the hip-hop/rap group because of Bobby and B.I hyung after SMTM. They completely forgot we got mad vocals too.” Junhoe jokingly says.

“That’s true. We needed this chance. We’re so thankful to Dara noona for giving us the slot. Even if she was our PR director, we didn’t think she’d do this for us since she’s closer with the WINNER hyungs. We heard that a lot of companies want their artists to guest in Sugarman, but noona didn’t want to give up our spot.” Donghyuk adds.

Dara, PR director at YG? She never fails to amaze me with the things I find out about her. Who would've known, right?

“Yeah, I heard she was given a deadline, and if by then she still hasn’t paired us up with a producer, she has to give the slot to someone else.” says Bobby.

“She had to constantly assure us that we will make the show. She just has to find the perfect producer for us. We didn’t know it was you.” Donghyuk says with a smile.

“It’s an honor to have you working with us, seonbaenim.” Junhoe declares while attempting a bow. Good thing I was able to stop him. I’m really not used to Korean formalities anymore since I stayed in the US for quite a while.

“Sheesh. Stop it, you guys before I shed a tear.” I tease them. Then, a sudden thought came to me.

“Say, what do you think about me and your Dara noona? Do you think we’ll make a good pair?” I ask them, interested at what they’re going to say.

The guys were surprised by my question. I bet they didn’t see this coming.

Bobby, being the eldest of the three spoke for them. “I’m not sure if it’s a topic we should be dipping in. Dara noona is nice to us and we respect her as a seonbaenim, but we’re not that close to be giving our opinions as to who will be a good match for her.” he explains. Okay, so they’re neutral. Nothing wrong with that. At least I didn’t get a violent reaction.

“If you really want to pursue her though, you’ve got to win the people around her. And I’m telling you, none of them wants a repeat of the dragon fiasco.” Junhoe comments.

Donghyuk and Bobby’s heads snapped towards Junhoe after hearing what he said, earning the youngest a headlock and an elbow to the rib from the two.

This kid is very gutsy, I thought to myself. I shake my head at them since they’re starting to become rowdy, maybe also because of the alcohol.

“Okay guys, cut it out.” I tell them with a stern voice. I then turn to Junhoe to warn him. “I appreciate the info Junhoe-ssi, though I would advise you to be careful of your tongue.  Just like what Bobby-ssi did, some things you shouldn’t be commenting on – especially if it’s something that does not involve you directly. You can cause a headline just by those few words you spit out, and be causing trouble not just for you, your group or Dara-ssi, but your whole company. You understand me?”

After Bobby and Donghyuk  profusely apologized for Junhoe’s behavior, they decided that it’s best to call it a night.

What puzzles me really is the reaction people have whenever Dara’s past relationship is brought up. Was G-Dragon really that bad?

If I'm to go somewhere with this, I need to make my intentions clear. I think it's time.

I need to talk to Minho.

Beside me are two idiots.

Yes, they’re my friends. Just a year older than me. One I’ve known since childhood and entered the underground scene together. The other, pretty new but feels like I’ve known him for a long time. It still doesn’t change the fact that they’re idiots.

I knew something was wrong. I’m a keen observer, you see. I don’t say much and look like I brush off most stuff, but what I actually do is store it on a little box inside my brain with the label ‘suspicions’. Lo and behold, I was right. I wasn’t happy I was right. It’ll just complicate things more.

I had this inkling feeling that Jiho hyung has liked someone for a while now. When the Block B guys starting teasing him about it, I was genuinely supportive of him. They didn’t have dating bans unlike u