CHAPTER 1: By some act of God

 “Joan” After a prolonged wait, our Editor in chief finally called my name, forcing me to snap out of the thoughts –or rather fantasies, to be fair– that had fully deviated my attention from Sunhwa’s boring speech during the past hour or so. Taken aback, I straightened my shoulders and replied with a simple “Yes?”.

Just like every month, the staff of Vogue Girl had been called to a mission assignment meeting where the editors were supposed to discuss the next issue of the magazine. I have to admit I had been daydreaming since the moment I sat at the table, so for a brief moment there, I was terrified Sunhwa would ask me a question or my opinion on whatever topic she had been discussing.

“I said you’ll interview EXO and the cast of Misaeng” She said with a knitted brow as she pointed at me from across the room with her ballpoint. “Make it actual and focus on their role in the entertainment industry last year, I don’t want cheesy articles about how much they love their fans or who their ideal types are. Elle already did that last month”

“Great, this is by far exactly what you were expecting.” A theatrical voice said inside my head at the same time I nodded, forcing myself to smile at my boss. “Sure thing, don’t worry, I’ll make it actual, fun to read and with substance. No clichés” Quite honestly, I was trying far too hard to sound excited so it didn't come as a surprise Alice, Roman, and Jonghyun casted me entertained glances from the other side of the table. I recognized the mirth in their eyes and their exceedingly amused expressions, even from afar.

Of course and as per usual, they were having a field trip day watching me wince in pain.

“I want it to be moving and witty.” My boss pursed her lips and adopted an expression that made her look particularly severe. Judging by the way she was looking at me, I was willing to bet she had guessed that I was –like always– completely uninterested in the topic she had assigned me, but I didn’t dare to speak a word. “You better give me something I can use for the cover.” She braced herself on the table “Understood?”

At the risk of appearing unenthusiastic and a real killjoy I was convinced that those two tasks would become yet another boring and pointless articles written about topics without the slightest cultural relevance or social impact, but I nodded vehemently. I was pretty sure I was the only person in that room unimpressed by the nature of Sunhwa’s projects but yet again, who was I to judge the magazine? If that was what readers wanted, of course, that was what they would get.

“And-” Apparently my death warrant had not been completely announced yet because Sunhwa went on ”-don’t forget the article about the cast of Abnormal Summit” she made an unnecessarily dramatic pause to look directly into my eyes. “I want something different and unique for their feature. Any ideas?” That one question I was dreading the most had finally been pronounced, sending my mind into a frenzy of panic while Sunhwa stared at me quite expectant, slightly narrowing the eyes as though she knew I had nothing to say.

I gulped. Frankly, I had no interest whatsoever in Abnormal Summit or those foreign guys who had suddenly taken Korean television by storm. In fact, I barely knew about their TV show and all my knowledge on the topic was limited to the information I had collected earlier that morning, from a conversation with Alice.

“They’ve signed over 28 CF deals this month only and they’ll become the faces of the biggest mobile company and a coffee franchise of the country” I reasoned “I could probably focus my article on how they’ve managed to integrate into Korean society so well that they’ve even been selected to promote top products, proving that the westernization of-” My boss cleared up loudly and addressed me that look she reserved for those moments when I was getting –and I quote her– “too serious and academic” with my ideas. I mentally cursed and sighed defeated, before wearily adding:

“People feel identified with them although they’re foreigners and their popularity can be compared to that of top Korean stars... an unusual phenomenon in the currently saturated entertainment industry.” Sunhwa softened her expression and a flicker of delight crossed her otherwise judgmental features. She even suppressed a smile.

“Fine. I like it. ” I foolishly thought that I had gone through the monthly Chinese torture those meetings were, without major problem, but just then, Sunhwa made sure to add “I want you to follow them on the set of their commercial films and capture everything on your article.” I felt like putting on a disgusted expression but I refrained myself from commenting on her originality-lacking and overused idea. Instead, I took a deep breath and nodded.

“Great, now to the next article. Alice, you-” I stopped paying attention to Sunhwa’s words. My mind was somewhere else –far from that office– trying to process the entire “follow them on set and capture everything on your article” instruction. 

February was looming as an exceptionally boring, tiring and disastrous month, even though Friday the 13th hadn’t even arrived yet... even though Park Chanyeol and his boy band hadn’t come into the picture just yet.

A song lyric from a popular song suddenly came to my mind and although slightly unsuitable for this specific situation I thought to myself: “God Save the Queen”, mainly because the only way I could go through that month was by some act of God.

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