It had only been a couple of hours since the party started and Kira was already wishing she could go home. All the interviews, the photographers, and the paparazzi were driving her crazy. Back in America it was the same. She always left the talking to the bubbly Nika and to the composed Aria. She was the quiet one; the one that always nodded at the back and smiled. She was the “brain” of Most Wanted. Books, information, and knowledge in general were her thing. Kira had even studied everything regarding Kpop the last six months, which none of the other girls did.

“Wait, Kira Darnell!” The writer for some entertainment magazine called for her as she quietly escaped from the center of attention. “I have been waiting all night to ask you some questions!”

Kira ignored the man and kept walking. Hopefully, the writer would think that she was busy and would leave her alone. Unfortunately, this man was way more persistent than the rest and he seemed determined to follow her to the end of the world. When she saw seven familiar faces at a distance, she got an idea.

The boys from Infinite observed the scene from a distance.

“Look, guys.” Hoya gestured at the redhead. “That’s one of the Most Wanted girls. Kira, I think.”

“She really stands out from the crowd.” Sanggyu commented.

“Is she…running away from someone?” Dongwoo tilted his head.

“No idea, but she is coming this way.” Sungyeol said nervously. “Try acting as if you were normal.”

“Oh, yeah? How about you try acting as if you weren’t a complete retard?” L responded as he took a zip from his champagne glass.

“That may be impossible for him.” Sungjong chuckled. “Oh, she’s coming!”

Seconds later, a foreign redhead approached the guys. Her blue eyes stared at the boys for a moment before she bowed respectfully. The seven guys bowed back.

“Hello.” Kira smiled. “You guys must be Infinite, right?”

“T-That’s right.” The leader Sanggyu blinked with surprise. They were all pretty excited that the foreign celebrity actually recognized them.

“She knows us!” Sungjong whispered into L’s ear.

“I’ve studied a lot about you.” Kira continued. “I’m a big fan of your work.”

“R-Really?!” Dongwoo’s featured brightened. “Thank you very much!”

“Your Korean is very good.” Woohyun complimented shyly.

Suddenly, the reporter that was following Kira a few moments earlier materialized in the middle of the conversation.

“Miss Kira.” The man said with a tinge of frustration. “I would appreciate if you answered some questions for our magazine’s next issue.”

“Oh, I’m very sorry.” Kira said apologetically. “I am busy right now and my manager is looking for me. But-” She looked at the seven boys standing behind her. “Here is Infinite!” She beamed. “I’m sure you must have tons of questions regarding their recent comeback.”

“Now that you mention it, I do have a few things I would like to ask.” The reported switched his attention to the idol group. “Would you boy mind sitting down with me for a few minutes?”

“Huh?” Sungyeol said. “But we-“

“I bet they have some time to spare.” Kira said. “Now go and talk for as long as you need to, okay? See you around!” Then she disappeared into the crowd. She felt bad for using the boys to get away, but she was dead tired and if she had to answer one more questions she would probably pass out.

“That girl totally sold our names to get away.” L whispered to the other members as they walked toward an empty table with the reported.

“We just got played by a foreign singer.” Hoya scoffed. “Unbelievable.”

“At least we got to talk to her.” Sungjong shrugged. “And she said she is a fan!”

“Yeah. I think the president will be satisfied with that.” Dongwoo said. “I wish we had talked a bit longer with her…”

Kira turned around one more time to watch as the boys were being dragged towards an interview that was not theirs in the first place and her chest filled up with guilt. She sighed and began to walk in their directions. I know I’m going to get in trouble for this, she thought.

“Hello again.” She arrived to the table were everyone was already sitting. “I’m sorry to interrupt.”

“Not at all!” The reporter clapped his hands together. “Have you decided to do the interview along with this handsome young men?”

“Actually…” Kira took a deep breath as she thought of some kind of excuse. She was the responsible one, after all. Lying was a foreign word in her dictionary. “I’m afraid I will have to take this boys with me.”

The members of Infinite exchanged glances.

“Huh?” The reporter frowned.

“Yeah…” Kira continued. “My manager wants to have a quick word with them regarding a future collaboration. He said it’s very important.”

“So you’re saying that we can expect a joint performance between Infinite and Most Wanted?” The reporter raised and eyebrow and started to type on his laptop.

“Nothing is certain, but we will let the media know once we have discussed things thoroughly.” Kira answered vaguely.

“Collaboration? I haven’t heard of anything like that.” Sungjong said.

“Oh come on, erm, Woohyun.” Kira laughed nervously. “We talked about this in the morning, silly.”

“My name is Sungjong, not Woohyun.” The maknae corrected. Dongwoo elbowed him in the ribs and shot him a look, understanding exactly what Kira was up to.

L shook his head at the others’ lack of discretion.

“Kira is right.” Sanggyu got on his feet. “We have a lot to discuss.” The other members got on their feet as well.

“We should leave this interview for some other time.” Woohyun bowed his head at the dumbfounded reporter.

“Shall we?” Kira smiled and gestured the boys to follow her.

“Yeah, lets go.” Woohyun ans the others started to walk behind Kira, leaving the reporter sitting all by himself in the crowded party.

“I already said it is impossible, mom.” Aria said to her mother through her cellphone. She had slipped out of the party and into the empty lobby to answer a very urgent call from her. “College is out of my reach right now. My career is what matters the most.”

“But I got a call from that famous performing arts college you used to go to! They are willing to take you back if you return to the States! You dropped out after only one year…” Her mother said.

“I had no choice. Korea is the future of Most Wanted and I am not jeopardizing that.”

“Sweetie, think!” Her mother’s tone turned desperate. “You had such a bright future here! You loved going to school.”

“I really have to go now, mom. I have to return to the party.” Aria said before hanging up.

She rubbed her temples and took a shaky breath. Her mother was right. She loved going to college, hanging out with her old friends, and studying what she loved the most. She pursed her trembling lips to keep from sobbing.

Don’t do this, Aria. You promised you would give your all to succeed here in Korea. There is no turning back. Kira and Nika need me. She thought.

“You don’t look so well, Aria Stam.” A female voice said from behind. Aria turned around and found herself face to face with a beautiful Korean girl. She had perfect milky skin and silky reddish hair falling over her shoulders.

“Excuse me?” Aria replied.

“My name is Han Sunhwa.” The pretty girl said with her chin up and a hand on her hip. “From Secret.”

“Nice to meet you.” Aria bowed, ignoring the ugly vibe that that girl radiated. “Thanks for attending the party.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Sunhwa scoffed. “I just came to see why everyone is making such a big deal about you three.”

Aria gripped her dress tightly and tried as hard as she could to stop herself from punching the stuck up chic in the face.

“Well, I hope you enjoy the rest of the evening.” Aria said with a forced smile. “I will return the party now.”

“Not so fast.” Sunhwa stopped her. “I want to have a word with you.”

Beast was already getting tired of the party. The food, the decoration, and the music were great, but it was just too formal for their taste. The boys decided to take a small break from the overwhelming crowd and step outside for a moment.

“Hey, look.” Hyunseung pointed at the two figures that stood in the middle of the deserted lobby.

“Looks like we aren’t the only ones about to die of suffocation in there.” Doojoon joked as he ripped his tie from his neck.

“Isn’t that…Sunhwa?” Junhyung squirmed his eyes.

“Just perfect.” Gikwang groaned.

“Do you still get those obsessed fan-girl texts from her?” Yoseob teased his fellow member.

“You should know. She used to send the same texts to you.” Gikwang said. “Hell, she used to send those texts to ALL of us!”

“Well, I’ve been Sunhwa-free for two months now.” Dongwoon said proudly.

“I didn’t knew she was friends with the foreign girls.” Junhyun noticed the unfamiliar face of the girl that was talking to Sunhwa.

“Friends? I doubt it.” Doojoon chuckled. “The last time Sunhwa was nice to someone else aside from her members and famous guys was, well, never.”

“You’re right.” Yoseob agreed. “It’s making me kind of curious.”

“What if we coincidentally happened to be standing closer to them and accidentally heard their conversation?” Hyunseung smirked.

“I don’t see anything wrong with that.” Yoseob winked.

“You sick stalkers.” Gikwang shook his head.

“I don’t think we should get involved. We don’t even know the blond girl.” Doojoon said.

“Don’t be such a bunch of pansies.” Yoseaob insisted. “Lets just do it.” The other guys gave up and decided to do whatever Yoseob wanted. They walked a little closer to the girls and tried hard to listen to their conversation.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Sure. What is it that you want to talk about?” Aria said.

“Don’t play innocent.” Sunhwa glared. “I heard the rumors.”

“That makes one of us.” Aria replied. “What rumors are you talking about?”

“The rumors about you and Beast.” Sunhwa said with exasperation.

“Beast? What is Beast?” Aria chuckled.

“The idol group, you ignorant. I heard that they were the ones that picked you in the airport. Don’t try to deny it.”

“What? You must have some pretty unreliable sources if you actually heard that.” Aria said. “I can tell you for sure that we have never been nowhere near those Beast guys.”

“Don’t lie to me, girly. I can get very frightening if I want to.” Sunhwa threatened.

“Are you even listening to me? No idol group picked us up at the airport! I was there, remember? I know what happened.”

“Is that supposed to be your American sense of humor?” Sunhwa took a step closer to the other girl.

“No, it’s common sense.” Aria told her without taking her eyes off from Sunhwa’s. She was already having a rough day and now she had to put up with a random chic’s nonsense.

“Just stay away from them. Got it?”

“Humph. I guess you can find nasty girls everywhere, no matter what country you go to.” Aria said. 

“You rude little-“

“Hello, ladies.” Doojoon stepped in before things got nasty. “What are you doing here all by yourselves?”

“Guys!” Sunhwa gave an angelic smile to the six handsome men that stepped forward. “I’m so happy to see you here!” 

Sunhwa's sudden change of character made Aria want to puke.

“Oh, yeah, me too…” Doojoon lied. Then he turned his attention to Aria. “You must be one of the members of Most Wanted.”

Instead of bowing and smiling politely, Aria just nodded. She was too irritated to act all sweet and nice in front of a bunch of strangers.

“We are Beast. We are so glad to meet you!” Yoseob said in his most handsome voice. “I’m Yoseob.”

“My name is Hyunseung.”

“What’s up? I’m Dongwoon.”

“I’m the leader, Doojoon. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Gikwang.”

“Junhyung.”

“Just forget about her!” Sunhwa tried to push the guys back into the party. “She is busy right now.”

“She doesn’t look very busy to me.” Yoseob said, reluctant to move from his spot.

“Wait.” Aria realized. “You guys are Beast?”

“The one and only.” Hyunseung winked charmingly.

“Your girlfriend was throwing a tantrum just now. You should be more careful.” Aria shot Sunhwa a look.

“G-Girlfriend?” Gikwang laughed. “I’m sorry. There must be some kind of mistake.”

“Oppa!” Sunhwa whined and pouted like a four year old.

“Stop it with the ‘oppa’ thing, Sunhwa. We’re the same age.” Gikwang stepped away from her.

“I don’t know if she is your girlfriend or not, but next time try to keep her on a leash, okay?” Aria smiled.

“If it was possible we would have done it long ago.” Junhyung murmured. “In an abandoned cave or something.”

“Are you going to let that girl speak to me like that?!” Sunhwa protested.

“Don’t be like this. We’re in the middle of a party.” Doojoon tried to calm her down.

“I already called Hyosung.” Yoseob said as he hung up his phone. “She’s coming to retrieve the missing thing- uh, I mean, Sunhwa.”

“You should call animal control instead.” Aria said.

“I tried, but the line was busy.” Yoseob joked, which made Aria laugh.

“You guys are a bunch of jerks!” Sunhwa turned around and stomped her way back to the party.

“I should go, too.” Aria told the boys. The Beast guys were not sure how to make her stay, so they simply nodded.

“And thanks. I hope to see you around.” Aria gave a little wave before walking away.

“She is going to be the mother of my children.” Hyunseung declared. “Our kids will be unique, talented, pretty-“

“And imaginary.” Dongwoon added, causing everyone to laugh.

“Okay kids, lets go back inside.” Leader Doojoon ordered.

“Roger that.” The other replied.