Chapter 1

“Oppa!  I swear, if you keep distracting me then we will never get this done.”

“You’re the one trying to make me more fat from all this food you brought.  How can you wave kimchee pancakes in my face like that!  This is your fault!”

A wet napkin met my face and I gasped in shock.  I ripped it off and shot a death glare towards the older man laughing in his seat.

“You act like you’re five years old,” his wife said as she gave me an apologetic look.  “Just finish eating and thank _______ for making the food.  We should hurry so we can see the kids in time.”

“Yeah, go home to your children and leave me alone already.  I’ve had enough of you,” I said as I returned to my laptop to finish the final details on a Psy concert poster that was given to me last week.  “Be gone!”

Psy laughed and came over to my desk and looked over at my screen.  He rested his hands on my tense shoulders and began massaging them.  “This is why you treat me so bad, because you work too hard.”  I sighed and pushed his hands off.  Not this again.

“Go home,” I said quieter this time.  I offered a sincere smile and started heading towards the door with the couple.  “I still have work to do and you being here doesn’t help.  You need rest for your performance tomorrow.”
 

Working with Psy was probably one of the most enjoyable experiences in my career.  He made work fun; he made me smile and laugh just like an oppa should do.  Working away from home definitely has its downsides.  Not being able to see your family and feeling out of place majority of the time was something I’d come to terms with after I took this job.  I never emotionally invested in people that I knew I wouldn’t see after a job ended.  I never wanted to get attached because I knew after a few months; I would be picked up and dropped in another city in another country.  Though Psy was different, his family accepted me with open arms and made me feel like I actually had something special and meaningful in this foreign country.  They invited me to family dinners and even helped me improve on my formal Korean.  As much as I tried resisting getting close to them, I couldn’t help but fall in love with them.  Just thinking about when my contract ends with YG depressed me because that would mean leaving the only people who cared for me in this country.  Though, with the upcoming promotions and his sudden boom of popularity overseas, I could tell that my time with him would definitely be extended.  Not that I mind in the slightest.

 

I hugged the couple and watched them leave.  Psy sent me a quick wink and left me to do my business in the spare office.  My back was met with the cold door as I slid down it towards the floor.  Closing my eyes for a few seconds felt like hours to me.  Sleep was not easy to come by these past few years and it was even rare for me to have time to rest.  Opening one eye I looked at the clock hanging on the wall.

3 AM

“Well since its already morning,” I said to myself sarcastically as I got up with much effort.  After packing all my equipment, I headed towards the empty dance studios that the YG trainees would use during the day.  Dancing was one of the things I kept up from my childhood because that’s where I discovered my love for the arts.  Being able to sweat off all my frustrations through dance moves and up-beat music was what I needed in that exact moment.  My body and my mind urgently needed a break.  Plugging in my iPod to the stereo, I sauntered towards the middle of the dance floor.  My neck and joints cracked as I stretched out my stiff body.  After the first note hit my ears, I instantly let my body do what it wanted with the music.

Covered in sweat and collapsing on the floor, my uneven breaths filled the echoed room.  The stray hairs from my ponytail were annoying me as I wiped them out of my vision.  I glanced at the clock while still laying on the floor.

5:45 AM

“.”

The trainees would be here in 15 minutes for their morning lessons.  As much as my body yearned for more resting time on the floor, I jumped up and began packing my things.  Running out of the studio in record time, I slipped on my hooded jacket and ran towards the elevator.  The ringing noise of the elevator irritated me as I hit each floor before coming to my destination at the lobby.  I would have to be back here in a couple hours for a meeting with the President and Psy’s staff after his live performance.  I shouldn’t have danced for so long, I could have been sleeping or even working.  My palm met with my forehead as I left the building.  I glanced down at my phone to see the time.

6:15 AM

28 hours and 15 minutes without rest.

“Ugh.”

“I can’t believe you fell, oh my goodness that was classic!”  I laughed as I walked with Psy and the president down the hallway towards the deliciously haunting smell.  “Seriously, how did that even happen?”

Psy groaned and dropped his head down, “Shut up _______, I was just moving too fast while dancing and I ended up losing my balance.  I’m not young like those idols okay, I actually get dizzy real easy!”

“Should I call you ahjussi then?”

“Don’t.”

“Ahj---“

“DON’T.”

“You guys bicker like brother and sister,” the President said laughing as we entered the cafeteria.  “Good job today though Psy, I didn’t even realize you fell until _______ pointed it out.”

Psy gave me a glare and whispered, “You always point out of flaws.  You are such a hater of all things me.”  He put his hands on his hips and shook them like a diva while he spoke to me.

I pushed him roughly and responded, “Always.”  A smirk formed on my lips as I stood behind the president in the food line.  As my eyes scanned the room I saw a couple of trainees sitting on a nearby table while another table was occupied by a couple of unknown men.  I glanced back at the trainee table and noticed someone familiar.

“.”

The president turned around and gave me a stern look before turning back towards the lunch women.  Psy leaned over and whispered to me, “You seriously need to stop swearing in English, its not like we can’t understand you.”

I elbowed him in the stomach and pushed more hair in my face.  “Shut up.  I just don’t want those boys over there to notice me, so be quiet before I kill you.”  Psy smiled widely and the minute those words left my mouth I regret telling them to him.  “Oppa, don’t say anyt---”

“Yah, _______-ah, why are you being like this!  _______!?” Psy screamed loudly to have everyone turn their attention to the colorfully dressed man in the room.  I started smacking his arm and hushing him.  “Yah ________-ah, stop hitting me!”

“Can you stop saying my name, oh my God.”

“Noona!”

I have been spotted.

I slowly turned around and saw the young boy excitedly waving to me from the trainee table with a huge smile on his face.  “Noona, come here!”  I moved towards Psy who was hysterically laughing right next to me.

“Why are you hiding from a trainee?  Does he have a crush on you or something?” Psy wiped a couple tears away from his eyes and looked back at the boy.  “Or maybe it’s the other way ar---”

Another slap was given to him in the arm before I headed towards the table.

“Red roses at your funeral.  Okay done,” I shot at him before giving him a death glare.  If looks could kill, Psy would be dead by now.  A sigh escaped my lips before I reached the trainee table.  I met Joon one night after he accidentally walked in on me dancing in the studio.  It was very unlike me, but I begged him not to tell anyone I danced late at night like this.  It was something I did privately in my spare time and I didn’t want anyone knowing.  Joon, being the idiot he was, assumed that our little secret instantly made us best friends.  Ever since then, he wouldn’t leave me alone.  Constantly chasing me in the halls, asking for my number, asking me for dinner dates, the list was endless.  If he wasn’t keeping my secret then I would have reported him to the police for harassment by now.

“Noona, I haven’t seen you around lately!  Have you been avoiding me?”  Joon pouted and all his friends started laughing at his reaction.  “Two nights ago I even checked the studio to see if—”

“Ah, aniyo,” I said quickly.  “I’ve just been working hard on Psy-sshi’s album.  You should be training hard though and not looking for me.”

Joon smiled proudly and turned to his friends, “Look at my noona caring for me all the time!  Isn’t she the best?”  My eyes instantly rolled and laughter was heard from his friends.  “Isn’t my noona the prettiest too?  She’s perfect!”

“Yah, Joon!” I shouted.  “Stop saying things like that.  Now get back to eating and leave me alone.”  My feet headed towards the hallway where I entered from minutes ago, turning my back towards the annoying boy.

“Noona!  Stop leaving me like this!”  Joon shouted as he stood up from his seat, causing an eruption of laughter coming from the cafeteria.  Embarrassed, I turned around and saw the lunch ladies, Joon’s friends, and the table full of unknown men laughing at Joon’s outburst.  I bowed apologetically and waved my hands at Joon to shut up, which caused even more laughter from the room.  “Noona!”

“Aish.”  I stomped away in my heels and left the boy standing there like a fool.  I swear he doesn’t even realize how embarrassing he is.  As I left the cafeteria I realized that I didn’t even grab food before I left.  Perfect, ________, just perfect.  Not wanting to go back and face more shame, I settled for instant ramen in the employee lounge. 

Joon sat back down in his seat defeated and rested his head on his hand.  His friends were still laughing at his noona’s reaction towards him.

“Joon-ah, you’re so embarrassing I swear,” one of the female trainees said as she tied her hair back in a ponytail.  “I felt so bad for her!”

“Yah!” Joon shot back.  “She wasn’t embarrassed, she was just acting like her usual self.  You don’t know noona like how I do, so stop saying things like that.”

The men who were sitting at another table overheard the trainee’s conversation and shared a laugh together.

“Remember when we were like that to the noonas?” A man said as he laughed to himself.

“Yah, Seungri, you’re still like that!”

Seungri shrugged his shoulders; not denying what was said to him.  “I haven’t seen that girl around before though, is she a new employee or something?”

Teddy responded, “I think she’s working with Psy-hyung on his album.  Some art director or something.”  Teddy paused for a moment before speaking again, “She’s cute though.”

Seungri smiled widely, “Ah, yes I was just going to say the same thing!  She’s really cute!  She looks really young though, how is she an art director?  Do you think I am her oppa, should I make her call me oppa?”

“Yah, Seungri, don’t you ever stop and think before you say something stupid?”  Jiyong said as he shook his head at his dongsengg.  Jiyong smiled briefly before returning to his notes that he was writing down in his lyric book.  “Hyung, I need to go over the track one more time.  I want to change a couple things with the lyrics, it still doesn’t feel right.”

Teddy laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder, “Take a break, Jiyong.  You’ve been working non-stop for weeks.  Have you even slept at all in the past couple days?”

Jiyong rolled his eyes and spoke, “I’m fine.”

“You aren’t ready Jiyong.”

The words ran through Jiyong’s mind one more time before he slammed his head down on the table.  His two friends looked at each other worriedly before looking back at the frustrated artist.

“I don’t understand why the president said that.  I’ve been working so hard on this comeback album and I felt like I was ready to debut in the States.  I just don’t know why he said that to me.”  Jiyong shook his head on the table as he mumbled out his words to no one in particular.

Teddy put his hands on Jiyong’s back in a reassuring manner.  “Well didn’t he say it was a professional’s opinion?  Maybe you just need to change their mind?”

Jiyong’s head slowly rose from the table as he turned toward his hyung.  He bit down on his lower lip and ran a hand through his damaged hair.  He was ready to debut.  He knew it and he was going to change that person’s decision in not letting him debut in the States.  Determined, Jiyong gathered his things from the table and headed towards the studio to start on the track he had yet to finish.  Seungri and Teddy watched as their friend retreated from the table with a new fire in his eyes.

“Hyung, I think you just created a monster,” Seungri said in a worried tone.

 

A.N.

Comments are appreciated, I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the story so far.  I have a couple chapters written already so I will post them when I have some time or when more readers are present!  Have a nice day everyone!  Happy reading!