"Lisa," I called as I opened the door, "I'm going off to work."

My best friend staggered out of her bedroom, her blonde hair so messed up a family of birds could nest in it.

"kay kay…" She yawned.

"And Jennie…"

I paused in my steps and turned around. "Mmmh?"

"Try to make some friends okay?"

I frowned.

"Did my mom pay you or something?"

"No, why?" Lisa appeared genuinely confused. I guess it has nothing to do with her then.

"Nothing," I said with a shrug.

Lisa had a suspicious look on her face, but she decided to continue anyway. "I'm serious, Jennie. You're still the same after all these years."

I exhaled heavily.

Remember I said that I don't have many friends because my family was always moving around? Well... that wasn't really the reason why. At least not in the beginning.

I don't really like to talk about it, but you can say that my early school days were a little rough. You see, I was rather awkward-looking as a kid. Coming from a mixed parentage, I neither fit the conventional image of a Kiwi nor a Korean. My eyes were too big, my face was too thin, my skin was a bit too dark opposed to the white Korean standard, etc... And it seemed that looks played a huge part in the popularity contest.

So, I didn't have any friends simply because nobody wanted to be mine.

While moving from school to school, I would count myself lucky if no one decided to pick on me. As time passed, making friends just steadily dropped in importance under the "Things to do" section until it didn't matter at all.

But sometime between my twelve and thirteenth birthdays, I don't know, the Seoul gene from my mom kicked in?

Suddenly I wasn't the nerdy alien from outer space but an "exotic beauty". Please don't think I like the label though, it makes me feel like part of the special exhibition at the zoo.

I don't get it. When I look into the mirror, it's still the same me as my gangly little self-ten years ago.

The one incident that really got the ball rolling is when I was fifteen and studying in Sydney. We had "Racial Harmony Day", which basically required the students to dress up in their ethnic costume. Thanks to my Korean name (though my dad's Kiwi – Kim the surname was my mom’s whole pride, so we kept it as a family name. Although, ‘Wilson’ as a surname would have been cool as well), I was asked to don a hanbok for the day. Oh boy, did I not know what I was getting into. Suddenly everyone had this image of me being this traditional, graceful Korean girl. And it got stuck. Everywhere I went.

Then I started having more and more random people approach me at random times.

Believe it or not, the conversations would usually go this way:

"Umm, Jennie Kim?"

I held back a groan. Not again. But mommy says I must be polite, so well.

"Yes?"

"I—I... Is Jennie or Kim your surname?"

"Kim's my surname."

"So, you're called Jennie?"

No, I'm called Conan the Barbarian, but you can just call me Conan. By this time, I would be too lazy to respond and would just nod, albeit politely.

"Have you done any plastic surgery"

Excuse you , what kind of question???.

"No, I didn’t." I replied extremely irritated.

"Wow." And said person's eyes will be shiny with I'm not sure what.

"Are you also going to ask whether I practise martial arts because you're right I actually trained as a ninja with the Ninja Turtles?" I muttered under my breath.

"Huh?"

"Ah, sorry, I just remembered that I left some milk in the car. So, please exingcuse me."

The last part of course murmured under my breath.

 I would flash Jennie's charming/dazzling/megawatt gummy smile (depending on how irritated I was) and said person would float off with a dreamy smile on his or her face.

"I'm friendly to Rosé, am I not?"

Lisa rolled her eyes. "That's the problem, you veer between extreme indifference and extreme flirting!"

I huffed. That's not true Lisa, I'm not flirting with Rosé. I'm just teasing you.

"Jennie, don't keep people away from the real you."

"They're happy with what they see anyway," I said evenly. What I've learned through all these years is that most people are only interested in what's on the outside. And somehow, they have this idealized image of me being this polite, elegant girl who sips tea and will be easily blown away by a gust of wind. I haven't met anyone (save for Lisa and maybe two others) who's vaguely interested in what I really am. "I'm sure they prefer that to the real me."

Lisa knitted her brows and took a step forward, causing me to retreat instinctively.

"This real you," she poked me gently on the shoulder, "this boisterous, badass, sarcastic you – is a lot more charming to me."

I couldn't help but smile. Therefore, Lisa's my best friend.

And the smile remained on my face even as I boarded the train and travelled to the YG office in Mapo-gu.

I was a little nervous as I sat in the waiting area. This was, after all, my first full-time job. I checked my reflection in the huge mirror hanging on the wall and adjusted my maroon cardigan. I guess I look presentable. A few days earlier I had received a call from the manager whom I'll be assisting. I was rather relieved that she could speak some English, even though it was heavily accented. She told me to meet her in the office and emphasized that I should "be comfortable dress" as I will "move a lot around" (those were her words, not mine). Thus, my outfit consisted of a pair of black skinny jeans, a beige shirt and a cardigan.

"Ah, Jennie-ssi?"

I looked up to see the receptionist smiling at me. She gestured at the manager's room.

"Thank you," I replied with a grin. At least I've learned how to say that in Korean.

I walked towards the door, took a deep breath, and opened it.

"Welcome, Jennie!"

I was momentarily stunned. A girl—I mean a lady was sitting in the manager's chair. But she looked like she was hardly a day over seventeen? On the other hand, I noticed that she had decided to call me by my first name. Good, I like that.

"I'm Sandara Park – or just Dara and I'm the manager!"

"Pleased to meet you," I said. I didn't know whether I should shake her hand or bow, so I decided to do both. Dara laughed and said something that sounded like "cute".

We sat down, and she proceeded to explain my duties. It was like I expected: running errands, accompanying the artistes – essentially ensuring that what needs to be done is done.

As she seemed like a likable person, I gradually relaxed and my eyes started to take in the décor of the room. It was simply furnished, though the walls were covered with posters of various artistes. Oh wait… are those empty beer bottles I see under her desk? I didn't have the time to take a proper look however, as she had stood up and led me by the arm outside the room.

"Though you are under me, you will be personal assistant for one idol."

"C’mon. I’ll introduce you to your new boss." She giggles excitedly.

On our way out, Dara stopped to speak to the receptionist for a short while. By the time we reached the ground floor there was a black van with tinted windows waiting for us.

"This is our company's van," Dara explained, "we ferry the artistes around in them."

That makes sense. You don't expect them to travel by public transport, do you?

"So how many vans does the company have?"

"Fifteen."

I nearly choked. "Fifteen?"

"Yeah," Dara replied merrily, "we have, uh, around thirty artistes. Five of them have their own vans, and the others share the remaining vans."

Lisa was right, YG is the biggest talent agency.

"And we're going to…?"

"We're going to JTBC studios. We are filming a show there today."

Woah, I get to see a live filming of a show? I must admit, I was getting rather excited about my job.

After a twenty minutes’ drive we arrived outside the building. Thankfully the guards waved us through on seeing Dara.

Having cleared security, we soon came to a studio. The walls of the studio were painted black, and in the middle of the studio stood a set made to resemble the interior of someone's apartment. Several spotlights from above lit up the set, while cameras pointed towards it from three various positions.

The place was a hive of activity as people scurried around getting ready for the day. Some were busy arranging the props on the set while others were speaking animatedly into the microphones attached to their headphones. In short, it was just like the movies (or what the movies show what it's like to make a movie). Anyone looking at me now would probably see an expression of slight interest on my face, but inside I was squealing "so coooooooooool!"

We walked towards the right of the set, where there was a bunch of people crowding around. My eyes widened in surprise when I saw the girl at the epicentre of the whirlwind of movement.

Isn't that the host of the party?

"This is CL, she's from our agency." Dara beamed proudly. "She's very talented."

Cleopatra-reborn sat in the sultriest position possible while her slaves—I mean the crew—tried to do her hair, her makeup and her nails all at the same time. She extended her hand slowly towards me.

"Hello," the honey blonde purred in perfect English, "we meet again."

"Indeed." I gave the warmest smile I could muster as I reached out to shake her hand. "I'm pleased to be working with you."

CL gave my hand a squeeze and winked at me coyly. I gulped.

"Oh," Dara chuckled, "you are not CL's personal assistant. We're still waiting for her."

CL flicked her wrist dismissively. "She's always late."

Out of the blue a thought struck me. The party. What Lisa said last week. A fleeting glimpse of one of the posters in Dara's office…

I'm not that unlucky, right? Right?

"She's here!"

Crap. I am that unlucky.

She walked, no, she strutted into the studio with a white oversized hoodie and a pair of skintight jeans that showed off every curve in her body. Her skin was as luminous as I remembered, and her long, silky purple hair swept from side to side with every step she took. I could almost hear the collective gasp in the room.

"Jisoo!" Dara called.

I flinched. I was quite certain that Jewel girl would not take kindly to my appointment. At least, based on her attempts to transport me back to the Ice Age at our last meeting. But I've signed the contract and I need the money (no thanks to my dear cousin).

"This is Jennie Kim, your new assistant."

Well, here goes nothing.

"Hello." I tried my best to keep my tone neutral.

Ice Princess decided to demonstrate how a human traffic light looked like. As she stared at me, her face turned green, then orange, then red. Finally, she turned to Dara and sputtered something in Korean.

I twiddled my fingers. Man, oh man. I'm probably about to set the record for the fastest time in getting and losing a job.

To my surprise, Dara merely shrugged her shoulders and said something that left Jewel girl speechless.

She opened and closed several times but not a single word came out of her. The situation was so comical that I had to stifle a guffaw. I shifted my gaze awkwardly. Is that CL snickering in the corner of the studio?

Finally, our icy lady here snapped out of her stupor, and spoke with gritted teeth. I didn't understand what she was saying, but her body language told me that it probably went along the lines of "Fine! But it doesn't mean that I have to like it!"

That Jisoo girl folded her arms and glared at me, as if challenging me to a duel to death. I resisted letting out a sigh. She's probably going to give me a challenging time.

I've never seen myself as a confrontational sort of person, but… if you think that I would quit just because someone eyeballed me, then you're dead wrong.

I quirked an eyebrow and grinned.

"It's a small world, Jewel girl."