Chapter 2; Her story begins

Jeongyeon

- “Oh, you're outside already? Hold on.”

“Am I late? Nope, she's just an hour early, this kid.” Jeongyeon thought with a wide smile on her face.  “Hey Chae, could you get the door? I have to dry my hair.”

- “Yeah, I got it.” Chaeyoung walked towards the door and opened it. The sky was a clear blue and the sun so bright that it briefly blinded Chaeyoung upon going out. With her eyes closed, she suddenly felt a strong embrace and a familiar scent. Chaeyoung hugged her friend back.

- “Hello little cub, where's the ostrich? I've been dying to see her!”

- “She's getting ready still. Come on in, you pigeon.”

- “It was an eagle dance, Chae. EAGLE!”

- “Hahaha whatever, and what's up with you? You haven't visited since I got here. I know that Jeong is your best friend, but come on.” The small tiger teased Dahyun who was smiling while looking around the place.

- “I was planning on coming this week anyways, it was a coincidence that Jeong showed up so early. Man this place hasn't changed. I feel so nostalgic looking around. It makes me remember when we use to make up plays with auntie Jihyo. Do you remember?” Dahyun exclaimed while beaming nonstop.

- “I remember, Tofu; I'm still hurt for the time that you got the protagonist role over me.” Jeongyeon stepped in to the living room putting her earrings on to finish her outfit.

- “Jeong!!” Dahyun flung herself in Jeongyeon's direction which caused them to fall on the couch.

- “I've missed you Dubu.” Said Jeongyeon while hugging her best friend.

- “I've missed you more. I can believe that you are really here in one piece. Is this real life, or just a dream?”

- “Wait, what? Where you expecting my plane to crash or something like that?” Jeongyeon looked at her best friend with a confused expression, and on the corner of her eye she saw her sister turn around and start trembling. Jeongyeon began to worry, and before she could speak up, Dahyun continued.

- “I just… It made me so sad… when you died… on the show… in suchaspectacularmanner!!” Chaeyoung and Dahyun could not hold their laughter anymore. Dahyun had no visited until now, but ever since the shocking episode she and Chaeyoung had been planning on giving Jeongyeon a hard time for dying in her first role.

- “Oh, haha, so funny, and you too Chae!? I'm your sister.”

- “I'm sorry unnie. That was worth the wait though.”

- “Definitely” Said Dahyun as they high fived and wiped off their tears while Jeongyeon sulked at them, even though she was struggling not to smile herself. Jeongyeon had been looking forward to this; she was finally reunited with her best friend and her sister, everything would be fine now.

- “Will you be joining us, Chae?” Ask Dahyun, finally calming down from that fit of laughter.

- “I have to go to class, so not this time. Will you guys bring something for dinner? We can watch movies all night; I don't have classes until next week after today!”

- “Count on it! Dubu will be staying over, right?”

- “Can I?! Of course I will then”

- “It's settled! Good bye Chae, we should get going. Have a good day in school.” Jeongyeon waved at her sister while exiting the house.

- “Bye, Chae. See you later!”

- “Bye, bring something yummy!” Chaeyoung waved back and went inside the house to get ready for school.

- “You said that we need to go see auntie first, right? I'm so excited; I haven’t seen her since we left for the states.”

- “Yep! I have to go get my allowance, but that just an excuse so that she can see you. She has never told me to go get it at her work instead of just leaving it home, or putting it in my card.”

- “Well, I'm not mad.”

Jeongyeon and Dahyun were catching up with each other while walking to Dahyun's mother workplace, but, in the end, they decided to take a cab since too many people were starting to recognize Jeongyeon.

- “Wow they are even trying catch up to the cab. I remember when I was more famous than you.” Dahyun teased Jeongyeon while doing the TT sign with her hands.

- “You might still be, that video of yours is still getting tens of views per day.”

- “Don't you patronize me Yoo Jeongyeon”

- “Hahaha I'm not!”

- “I bet more people have watched a single one of the episodes of your arc than they have the eagle dance video, and you even did a couple commercials and promos for famous brands in the States.”

- “I guess, but I didn't expect to be popular in Korea. All of those aired in America only.”

- “That probably only made it more popular over here.” Dahyun reasoned.

- “Maybe, oh this is the place right? Huge as ever.”

- “Here we are madams” The taxi driver intervened. “the IM Cosmetic Headquarters.”

- “Thank you! Here you go” After they paid the taxi driver, Jeongyeon and Dahyun went to talk to the receptionist who let them through.

- “Let's get the lift”

- “We can use the stairs, what floor is auntie on?”

- “Eleventh”

- “To the lift!” Jeongyeon said immediately after, and DY exploded with laughter.

- “I really did miss you, Dubu. You know how to appreciate good comedy.”

-”Nah, I think you just tainted my sense of humor. Now I even laugh at the no-jam jokes that you and Chae make.”

-”We showed you the light, Dubu. That’s all there is to it.” The two friends were joking around while they waited for the lift to get down from the 4th floor.

- “Here it is.”

- “Hello, can I get in too?” They turned around to see the beautiful, tall girl who asked the question.

- “Of course, get in” She smiled and got in. “What floor?” Asked Jeongyeon who had just pressed the button labeled “11.”

- “7^th, please”

- “No problem” The door for the elevator closed. Jeongyeon and Dahyun were about to resume their conversation when the girl interjected.

- “Oh wow! Are you Yoo Jeongyeon?” Before Jeongyeon could answer, the tall girl continued “Oh sorry, I should introduce myself first. I’m Chou Tzuyu. I have been following your work so far.” Tzuyu looked a little flustered as she introduced herself.

- “It’s nice to meet you Tzuyu-ssi, and thank you for that!” Jeongyeon said without thinking; by this point it was almost a reflex.

- “I know you. You have done the last couple of commercials for IM Cosmetic! I’m Kim Dahyun by the way.” Dahyun casually said as she extended her hand. Tzuyu took it and bowed.

- “It is so nice to meet the two of you! Yes, that is me; I’m actually here for a photo-shoot. Will you two also do a piece for IM Cosmetic?”

- “No, we are just visiting.” Said Dahyun, entertained by the whole situation.

The lift stopped, and the door opened for the 7th floor. Tzuyu realized this was her floor, so she bowed to them before stepping out.

- “It was nice meeting you Dahyun-ssi, Jeongyeon-sunbae. I hope we can work together some day!” Tzuyu said before hurrying away from the lift.

- “Well that was something.” Dahyun exclaimed as they looked at each other with a confused expression.

After that, they got to the eleventh floor, and went to Dahyun’s mother’s office.

Jeongyeon was excited to see Dahyun’s mother. The reason why Jeongyeon and Dahyun had met in the first place was because their mothers were friends; not only that, but Dahyun’s mother was Yoo Jihyo’s manager when she was working as an actress in Korea.

After they had all hugged and greeted, they sat down to have some tea and talk. Jeongyeon and Dahyun told her about their encounter with the tall girl in the elevator, and asked her if she knew Tzuyu.

- “Chou Tzuyu? Yeah I know her. She is the poster girl for IM Cosmetic, and she is also an actress.” Dahyun’s mom said as they enjoyed the tea.

- “That must be why she was so into you Jeong. For a moment there I thought that were living up to your girl-crush name, and she had fallen for you.”

- “Has she played many roles? She looked really young.” Jeongyeon asked while ignoring Dahyun’s comment.

- “She got a secondary role in a popular dorama recently. It’s called “Risu in love” I think.”

- “I’ll ask Chae later, maybe she has seen it.”

- “Why are you interested? Did you like her back?” Dahyun tried to come back to her last comment.

- “Well I also want to see her work; I have to keep up with my rivals don’t I?”

-“…Is acting all you think of?” Dahyun’s mother said smiling, after a small pause. Jeongyeon’s comment made her remember her old friend.

- “Its most of what I think about.” Jeongyeon uttered a little flustered.

- “Speaking of…” Dahyun’s mother said in a more serious tone “I really wanted to see you Jeong, but there is another reason why I asked you to come.”

- “What’s up, auntie?” Jeongyeon asked with a puzzled look on her face.

- “As you know, I made arrangements with your manager from the states and now I will be managing you. So I have prepared for you a list with the offers for acting gigs that you have received so far.” Her new manager handed a folder to the young star who look excited. Jeongyeon had the same expression as her mother used to have when she heard about an audition for a new role.

- “Wow! Thank you so much auntie; I have been dying to get back into the fray!”

- “You’ve been in Korea for three days!” Dahyun exclaimed while admiring her friend’s passion.

- “But I was away for twelve years. I need to get to work; otherwise, people will think that I’m a one trick pony. That I’m only famous because I had luck while abroad.”

- “I don’t think they do. Here, this is for you as well.” This time Jeongyeon received was an envelope.

- “Annual Entertainment Awards?”

- “Oh I know about that, it is happening in about two months I think.” Dahyun explained.

- “They actually invited me. That’s pretty cool; even though I haven’t done anything in Korea yet.”

- “Worst case scenario they want you there to attract attention for the event since you are quite popular right now. However, you can use this as a way to cement yourself in Korea’s showbiz. This is a good opportunity for you; I expect to receive more serious offers after the award show. Because of that, I want to ask you to wait until after the National Awards before you decide what to audition for next.”

- “Alright, that makes sense to me. I nearly forgot that you used to be mom’s manager when she worked in Korea, auntie. Thank you so much for doing this.”

- “It is my pleasure! Also, I already made a deposit in your account Dahyun, with this I will leave you two to enjoy your day.”

- “Thanks mom, love you!”

- “Auntie, if the awards are two months away is there something that I could do related to acting in the meantime, something small is fine...”

- “I knew it. I was surprised you agreed to wait for two months before getting any work. I have heard of a great acting school nearby; not that you need help with your acting skills, but it will keep you on your toes and the practice will help. I also think that your English sounds a bit better than your Korean right now.”

- “Right!? So true!” Dahyun said while making fun of her friend.

- “So it is noticeable. I will love to go for a few lessons auntie, I have always enjoyed that” Jeongyeon face was red while frowning at Dahyun who was still laughing.

- “You got it, and sorry if I was too blunt.” Dahyun’s mother said while hugging Jeongyeon good bye.

- “You’re just looking out for me auntie, I was also worried about that.”

After they hugged Dahyun’s mother good bye, the two friends decided to just head back to Jeongyeon’s place since they spent a good amount of time in IM Cosmetic. Chaeyoung only had 4 hours of classes as well, so they wanted to go meet up with her to order some food.

On their way home Jeongyeon felt sentimental when looking at the folder and envelop that she had received. She was thankful, thankful beyond belief to the art that she loved so much. Acting was her way to connect to her mother, and it also was her way to forget; now she did not feel lost, she had a clear vision of her future, and she had valuable people who cared for her.

On their taxi home, Jeongyeon hugged Dahyun without saying a word. Dahyun was surprised since Jeongyeon is not the type to like skinship, but after looking at her best friend face, she knew at once that she just need it to hug her back. Jeongyeon then wiped the tears off her face, took a deep breath, and the most genuine smile got drawn on her face. She was fine now, she was more than fine.