Chapter 6

“I think it looks better smaller.”

I glared at the man on my computer screen.  “No, it looks better blown up.  Trust me.”

“Trust you?”  The pudgy man laughed in his seat.  “The last time I trusted you, you spent thousands of dollars on the packaging of a mini album.  I don’t want to trust you anymore."

“But looked how good it turned out,” I said as I held up Psy-oppa’s recent album.  “You know that it’s going to look better blown up.”

The man ran a hand over his face and groaned.  “Yes, but how much will this cost me?”

I laughed and crossed my arms over my chest.  “Don’t worry about it.  It’s within budget this time and it’s going to look good.”  My boss nodded his head and gave me a small smile through our video chat session.  I took another sip of my hot tea and put it back on the island counter.  For our weekly video chat meetings, my boss decided to go over the plans for Psy’s international promotions.

“You’re getting too comfortable with me,” my boss said pointing at me through the computer screen.  “You aren’t even professional dressed.  Even though this meeting is in your home, you should still consider this a business meeting.”

I rolled my eyes and nodded my head.  “Arraso.”  I quickly caught myself responding in Korean and I turned my head in embarrassment.

“You’ve been in Korea too long,” he said laughing.  “So how is it going there?  You didn’t really tell me too much information about that one artist that wants to work with you.”

“I haven’t really gave it much thought,” I replied.  “I looked into him a bit more and he’s actually not as well known as I thought he was.  He has some reputation in the States but not enough to get instant recognition.  He’s well known in the Asian-American community though.”

“Well its up to you, _______,” he said as he adjusted his tie.  “Your contract is supposed to be extended for four more months with Psy, so you can decide if you want to continue working in Korea or come back here.  Just let me know.”

Four months?

The idea of leaving Korea in four months instantly made my heart drop.  I only had four months to spend with Psy-oppa and his family, only four months to hang out with the Big Bang members and the producers I had gotten close with, much to my dismay.  This is exactly why I hate getting attached to people while on assignments; the part of me leaving them was never easy for me or for them.

“Hmm,” I said to the computer screen.  “I’ll let you know.”

My boss nodded his head and snapped his fingers to get my attention.  “By the way, I forgot to tell you.  A couple of artists back home have been wanting to get your information.  Can I give it to them?”

I furrowed my eyebrows at him and responded, “I guess so.  Just don’t promise them anything though, I still have my contract here that’s why.”

“Arraso, arraso,” my boss said teasingly back to me.  “I think I used it correctly, right?”

I nodded my head and rolled my eyes.  “Yes, sir.  I have to get going but same time next week?”  The man nodded his head and gave me a little wave; I almost had to stop myself from bowing.  I swear if I did that, he would never let me forget it.  I closed my laptop screen and finished off the last few sips of my tea.

I walked over to the sink and set my dishes down inside.  My big comfy bed was calling my name from the other room and it would be rude just to ignore it.  Quickly, I made my way over to my bedroom and I collapsed on the cold comforter.  I grabbed my pillows and hugged them tightly to my chest.  Glancing at the clock I realized that I had a couple hours to spare before I had to head back to the office for another staff meeting.  Taking advantage of the free time I had today, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Why are my thighs vibrating?

“Ugh.”  With my eyes still closed I grabbed my phone from my pocket and slowly I touched the answer button.  “Yeoboseyo,” I said groggily into the phone’s microphone.

“Oh—I didn’t mean to wake you up,” I heard Jiyong say on the other line.  “You can go back to sleep—I—I just wanted to…umm okay.”

I ran a hand through my hair and rolled over on my bed.  “Its okay, I’m up now.  What’s up?”  I closed my eyes and listened to Jiyong breath heavily in the phone.

“I just ran over a cat,” Jiyong said to me on the phone.  I popped my eyes open and I tried to figure out why he was telling me this.  “I just—wanted to tell someone.  I feel bad.”

I rubbed my eyes and sat up on my bed.  “Well it was an accident, right?  Don’t worry about it, things like that happen.”

Jiyong sighed through the phone.  “I know, I just feel bad.  I love animals and I couldn’t believe I was so careless and did that.”  I nodded my head in agreement even though Jiyong couldn’t see me.  “Sorry, I just wanted to tell someone.  I don’t now why I called you.”

“I’m hurt Jiyong-sshi, I thought you called me because I was someone to confide in,” I gasped dramatically on the phone earning a laugh from Jiyong.  “I guess I was terribly mistaken.  Never again!”

Jiyong laughed again and he paused for a moment before speaking, “I guess that’s why I called you.  I knew you could cheer me up and take my mind off it.”

I loosened my grip on my pillow and rolled over on my stomach.  I rested my head on my arm and held my phone with my other hand.  “Hmm well yeah, you can call me anytime.  Just not like Seungri though.  I’ll call the police if you start acting like him.”

Jiyong laughed as I heard some voices in the background.  “I promise I won’t.  Well I need to go now but sorry again for waking you.  I’ll see you at work?”

My eyes closed as I nodded my head to no one in particular.  “Ne.  I will see you then.  Bye.”  We both hung up our call and I reached blindly for my pillow prisoner again.  Tucked securely in my arms, I rolled on my side and drifted back to sleep.

Four months.

And that’s how our friendship started.  Jiyong would call me randomly throughout the week telling me about small details of his life that felt completely insignificant to me but to him it was relevant at the moment.  He’d call about how big the moon looked tonight, or how Seungri and Youngbae kept stealing his socks so that he’d be left with an uneven pair, he’d call to tell me that his mom was sick with a cold and he felt bad for not seeing her.  He called me one night to tell me that he had a spider in his room and his fear of spiders was keeping him from sleeping.  That night I spent the entire time talking to him on the phone, playing games with him so he could get his mind off of the insect that was living in his room.

He called about everything and anything.  And soon this habit turned into a schedule.  Everyday he’d call and everyday I’d pick up.  I don’t even know why I picked up the phone but I did.  I looked forward to hearing about his stupid story of the day.  It reminded me of my mother and how she loved to just talk about nothing for hours and hours.  Jiyong’s voice was calming and soft, unlike the lives that both of us lived.

I never once called Jiyong though.  He was the one to always call me.  He even brought it up one time while I was cooking myself dinner and he was on the other line trying to pick out an outfit for the next day.

“Why don’t you ever call me?”

I dropped my spoon into the hot pot and I cursed myself under my breath.  I tucked the phone more in between my shoulder and ear and I went back to cooking.

“I don’t know, why?”

Jiyong sighed and I grabbed the hot pot and poured it into a small bowl on the side of me.  I knew very well why I never called him.  For the same reason I never responded to Seungri’s good night text messages.  I didn’t want to end up getting attached.  I didn’t want to get too comfortable with them.  It was bad enough that I was having daily phone conversations with Jiyong.  This wasn’t supposed to happen like this.

“Hmm,” Jiyong mumbled into the phone.  “Just wondering.  I don’t mind really.  I was just curious.”

Even at work, the boys had been bothering me more and more lately.  It was getting harder for me to concentrate on work.  Seungri and Jiyong made it a habit to just drop by my office at all hours of the day.  They’d bring me food, presents, and have trainees deliver me small messages of encouragement, which always ended up in the trash.  My workload was piling higher because of the small distractions that I would encounter with them.  I couldn’t take it anymore.  This feeling felt so foreign to me that I even tried to explain it to Mina one night.

“So, you’re saying that all these boys are buying you things, making you food, and trying to hang out with you, but you…don’t want to?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re telling me that these boys aren’t just normal boys, but they are actually in a popular Korean boy group and the others are famous producers as well?”

“Yes.”

“So,” Mina paused.  “Tell me again why the hell you are complaining.”

I groaned over the phone and I glanced back at the calendar taunting me in the kitchen.

2 months and 12 days.

“Never mind.”

I never told anyone about my contract ending so soon.  The only person who probably knew about it was the President himself.  I couldn’t even begin to imagine me telling Psy-oppa and his family that I was going to be leaving Korea in two months.  Then there was Jiyong and the guys, I felt like I had to tell them eventually.  I developed a weird relationship with all of them and it felt wrong to just leave the country without notice.  Though, I had two months to figure out how to do all of this, so I would just wait until then to deal with everything.

Tonight felt different when Jiyong called me.  He didn’t speak too much and I felt like I was the one that was starting the conversations.  Irritated, I spoke up, “Yah!  What’s wrong with you tonight?  Are you okay?  Did Daesung-sshi eat all the crackers again or something?”

Jiyong laughed softly through the phone.  There was another pregnant pause.  “Jiyong, this is awkward.  Work with me here.  Is something wrong?”

“Come to my music video shoot tomorrow.”

I stopped flipping through the endless television stations and I focused my attention to what Jiyong had just asked me.  The man on the television was screaming at another woman on a variety show and I quickly turned down the volume so I could hear what Jiyong had to say.

“Umm tomorrow?  Why?”

We haven’t officially hung out to eat since that one time months ago at the ramen shop.  Sure, we’d hang out at work and talk on the phone at night, but we haven’t hung out since that one night.  I still occasionally would think back to that first night I met Jiyong and he ended up drunkenly confessing something confusing to me.

“You don’t like me.”

Even though me and him established a friendship of some sort, I still never figured out why on that first night we met he said those words to me.  I thought I’d figure it out after all this time, but I was still confused as ever.  And now him, right now, demanding me to come to his music video location, was confusing me more than ever.

“I just would like a friend there.  Youngbae is coming but I would like you to come too,” Jiyong said.  “Please?”

Friend.

That word scared me more than it should.  Now that he actually vocalized our relationship to one another, I felt a weird tang in my stomach.  This wasn’t good.

“Sure.  I will see you tomorrow.  Get some rest, you’re going to need it.”

We ended our phone conversation early that night because of Jiyong’s weird attitude.  I played with my toes on the couch and I bit down on my lower lip.  Time was slowly ticking and my time in Korea was becoming less and less.  As much as I wanted to stay and be with the people that I grew accustomed to, I knew that this wasn’t what my career was all about.  I sighed and headed toward my bedroom.  For my one day off tomorrow, I had already promised to visit Jiyong on his set.  Crashing down on my soft sheets I closed my eyes instantly and tried to gather as much rest as I could before tomorrow began.

2 months and 11 days.

“Omo, _______,” Youngbae said as I sat next to him in the waiting room.  I placed all my bags down on the table and Youngbae looked at me with his small eyes.  “You made all this?  It probably took you hours!”

2 hours and 43 minutes to be exact.

The clock behind Youngbae read 5:30 AM and my tired eyes were threatening to shut at any moment.  But I promised Jiyong that I would support him today.  After sleeping for about 2 hours last night, I got up and decided to make some food for the staff this morning.  I heard that the shoot would last a couple days, so I decided why not give them some home cooked meals for their first day.

Youngbae unpacked the food excitedly and popped an egg roll in his mouth.  I slapped his hands away.  “Yah!  You aren’t doing anything today but supporting your best friend!  Stop stealing the egg rolls!”  Youngbae laughed and wiped his mouth with the back of his jacket.  I reached over and wiped a couple remaining crumbs from his mouth and I shook my head at him.

“Are you eating my egg rolls, you thief?!” Jiyong entered the room with his hair in a hair net and his make-up heavily done.  “______-ah, thanks so much for making us food.  You’re seriously so sweet.”  Jiyong gave me a small hug and sat down in the chair next to me.  One of the make-up artists came and gave him some finishing touches on his eye make-up.  Jiyong slowly took off the hair net that was on his head and I accidentally let out a small snort.

Jiyong turned around and glared at me.

“Shut up.”

I snorted once more.

“Its for the video.”

Jiyong ran a hand over his blonde corn rolls and looked at himself in the mirror.  He began picking at the hair and looked at me through the reflection.  “Not another word or disgusting sound, got it?”  I nodded my head and looked back at my phone in my lap.  I sneakily held it up in my hands and snapped a picture of Jiyong to send to Seungri.

“Jiyong-sshi, you have two minutes!”

Jiyong ran over to me and opened his mouth wide.  I laughed at his gesture and popped an egg roll into his mouth.  He chewed happily and gave me a closed mouth smile before running off in the direction of the stage manager.  Youngbae put an arm over my shoulder and lead me towards the seats we could sit in while Jiyong did his work.

“What song is this for?” I asked Youngbae as he continued to eat more food from my containers.  I kept slapping his hands away.

“Its called One of a Kind,” Youngbae said as he chewed happily.  “You’ll like it, the beat is really addicting.”

Soon enough the song started playing through the studio.  Jiyong and a couple other dancers dressed in black were standing behind him in front of a large graffiti-like wall.  Jiyong began nodding his head up and down to the tune of the song and the people behind him followed as well.

This sounds really familiar.

I shook my head and began looking at my emails from the day before.  Every now and then I would look up and see Jiyong dancing on the set or talking to the director about different camera angles.  Youngbae eventually got up and started talking to some of his friends that were lingering around the set in the background.  I was left on the side with my phone and the egg rolls in a container.  Jiyong happily came up to me after a couple of hours of filming and opened his mouth again.  I rolled my eyes and plopped another egg roll into his mouth.  He smiled and scrunched his nose at me in appreciation.  Jiyong smiled again and swallowed his bite.

“Come over here, _______.  I want you to see what we filmed so far.”  Jiyong lead me towards the front of the set.  I awkwardly ran after him and I put my hands further down into my jeans pocket.  Everyone around me was dressed in gangster like attire and I was trudging around in my plain white tee, jeans, and Converse shoes.  I ran a hand through my hair and tried to style it as best as I could before we reached where the director was sitting looking at a monitor.

Jiyong went behind it and asked a man to replay the scenes that they had just filmed.  He looked back at me to make sure I was paying attention and I nodded my head at him.  After a few minutes of watching the clips, Jiyong turned to me and spoke.

“What did you think _______?  If you don’t like it we can change it.”

I awkwardly looked around the room and saw everyone directing their attention to me and my response.  The director had a stern look on his face before turning his attention to his assistant next to him.  My feet made its way towards a smiling Jiyong.

“Jiyong-sshi, I can’t say my opinion here.”

He looked confused.  “Why?”

“Professionally, its rude.”  Jiyong still looked confused.  “I’m here to support you as a friend, I wasn’t hired to give my opinion.  Plus, it’s disrespectful of me to say anything when you have a hired director here to do his job.  Please understand where I am coming from.”

Jiyong looked away, disappointed in my answer.  “I just value your opinion that’s all.  I didn’t think it was anything awkward.”

I laughed, “Its just, I wouldn’t want someone else telling me what to do you know?  I’m here as your friend okay?”  I rested my hand on his shoulder and he glanced up to meet my comforting eyes.  “It looks great though, just go with your vision and the director’s vision.  It’ll be fine.”

Jiyong nodded to my words and looked back at the director.  He bowed apologetically and he looked back towards me.  “Sorry.”

I shook my head and pushed him roughly.  “You’re so weird.  Why does my opinion matter anyway?  Now get back to work, come see me again if you get hungry.”  I looked at Youngbae dancing in the background.  “Yah!  Youngbae!  Lets go back to our seats!”

Jiyong watched as Youngbae and you went back to your seats at the back of the set.  Jiyong awkwardly touched his corn rolls again and slowly made his way to the front of the set.  He knew when he has asked you to come today that he was just doing it because he wanted your support, that’s all.  But when he saw you sitting down in the back, he soon remembered how much your opinion was valued.  He didn’t think it was rude to ask for your opinion in front of the director, but then again, he wasn’t really thinking when he flat out asked for your opinion either.  Jiyong slapped his forehead and bounced up and down to get rid of the weird feelings before he had to start filming again.

“Woah, I never saw a real tiger this close before,” I said excitedly as I snapped a few more pictures of it.  “It’s adorable!”

Jiyong and Youngbae laughed at my reaction towards the animal.  Jiyong let the animal trainer take the leash for a moment and he came closer towards me.  He asked me if I wanted to hold the leash for a while.  My eyes opened wide and I asked him once more if it would be okay.  He nodded his head and I nervously took it from his hands.

“Holy .”

Even though I spoke the words in English, Youngbae and Jiyong fell over in a laughing fit.  I was walking super slowly with the baby tiger and my scared face wasn’t making the situation any less tense.  Jiyong grabbed his cell phone and snapped a picture of the awkward situation.  He began laughing again as I accidentally let out another string of English curse words under my breath.

“You have a very dirty mouth when you talk in English,” Youngbae said as I gave the leash back to the trainer.  A wave of relief washed over me as I saw the little animal walk away from our group.

I shook my head and laughed, “Sorry, I don’t really know how to swear in Korean yet.  But did you see that, omo, I just got to walk with a real tiger!  I can’t get over it!”

“Yeah, your face looked other wise though,” Jiyong said laughing.  He pulled out his phone and showed me a picture.  “You look like you’re going to piss in your pants.”  I reached over and tried to grab the phone but the height advantage he had over me made me lose that battle.  I sighed and pushed his shoulder.  Jiyong was now wearing clothes that made him look exactly like the tiger cub that was walking around the set not too long ago.

“I’m starving, lets go eat some of the food you made,” Jiyong said as he sent me a quick smile.  He ran over towards the waiting room and Youngbae soon chased after him with a quick slap on his bottom.  The two boys started jumping all over one another and soon started a wrestling match in the middle of the crowded set.  I rolled my eyes and made my own way towards the waiting room.

“You guys act like buddies,” I said to them as the entered the room.

The two friends exchanged a look and then turned their attention towards me.  I guess they didn’t understand what I meant.  Leave it to the dirty mind American to make an innocent scene seem something scandalous.

“Never mind,” I said as I waved them off.  They both shrugged at me and went over to get some of the food I prepared this morning.

“Mmm, egg rolls, my favorite,” Jiyong said as he sniffed in the food I made for him.  He picked a couple on his plate along with some chicken I prepared as well.  He plopped down on the sofa next to me and began chewing on his food.  “Thank you ______-ah, you’re the best!”  He tapped my nose and gave me an appreciative smile.  I moved his body away from me and I moved further down the couch, which only made him scoot closer to me.

“You’re annoying.”

“You’re a great cook.”

“Go away.”

“But then you’d miss me.”

Youngbae made a small gagging noise to the side of us and we were interrupted from our little banter to glare at him.  I moved to another seat near Youngbae and looked down at my phone again.  I had a couple missed calls from Mina and my parents, but a new text message was waiting to be read.  I clicked it and saw it came from Jay.  I hadn’t heard from him since the night Seungri answered my phone and I wasn’t planning on hearing him after that.  I opened the text and read what he wrote.

Hey _______, long time no talk!  Sorry, I’ve been real busy.  But have you considered my offer at all?  Let me know!  Give me a call or text me whenever you are free.  Maybe we could go out to eat? :)  Have a nice day! J

“What are you smiling at?”  I looked up and saw Youngbae smiling mischievously at me.

Jiyong turned his attention to us from his food and gave me a confused look.

“Nothing,” I said as I threw my phone in my bag.  “My dad just sent me a text message.”

I don’t know why I lied but I felt like I needed to for some reason.

“So, Jiyong,” I said as I looked towards the blonde man.  “Why did you choose to make this song your first music video?”

Jiyong looked up at the ceiling and pondered the question I just asked him.  “Its not my main track, so I just wanted to introduce the fans to something up-beat and catchy for my album.”  He nodded once more and looked at me.

I nodded and crossed my legs.  “So have you written any other songs yet?”

Youngbae looked at his friend and Jiyong nodded.  “I wrote three more songs.  One of which you actually helped me finish.”  He pointed towards me then plopped another piece of chicken in his mouth.  I raised my eyebrow and uncrossed my legs.

“Me?  How did I help you?”

Jiyong shrugged.  “I don’t know.  You just did.  When we film for it I will tell you where you helped me out.”  I nodded my head and went back to playing with my phone.

How did I help him finish a song?  I barely have even talked to him about his solo album.

After a couple more hours of filming, the director decided to call it a day.  The entire crew clapped and thanked one another and gave each other small bows.  I watched everyone interact with one another and thank each other individually.  This kind of workmanship and appreciation was rare to see back home in the States.  I loved witnessing the differences between the two, and the more I realized it the more I realized that maybe this is where I was supposed to be.

“Ready to go?” Youngbae came in front of me and interrupted my train of thought.  I nodded my head and he helped me gather my containers and put them back in my bag.  “Jiyong said he’d drive you home.  I’m going to take the van back with the managers.  I will see you soon though, ________.”  Youngbae gave me a small hug and an eye smile before he went off towards the exit of the set.  One of the cordi-noonas informed me that Jiyong was still getting all his hair and make-up off and it would take a little while longer till he was ready to leave.  I decided to make myself comfortable on the couch in the waiting room.  I propped my feet up on the table and rested my hands on my lap.

Just for a second.  Just going to rest for a second.

I closed my eyes and the next thing I knew I was out cold.

“________, are you ready to—”

Jiyong came into the room with his normal clothes on and he stopped in his tracks when he saw the sight before him.  You were clinging tightly to a pillow and you had your head to the side as you slept peacefully.  Jiyong smiled at you and realized that only now you must have been so tired from getting up early to make the food you prepared today.  Jiyong thought back to the first night you met and how you helped him get to his apartment safely, even though you barely knew him.  Jiyong smiled and made his way towards you.

Your lips were slightly parted and your usually groomed hair was now all over your face.  Jiyong didn’t want to wake you, but he had to get you to his car somehow.  Jiyong leaned towards you slowly and whispered near your face.  “________, come, lets get up.  I will take you home and you can rest there.”

You swatted Jiyong away with your hand and you rolled over on the other side of the couch.  Jiyong laughed and tried to shake you.  You finally managed to open your eyes to see Jiyong only a few centimeters away from your face.  “What the ?”

Jiyong jumped back a bit, surprised by your words.  You slowly got up and started sleepily gathering your things.  Jiyong helped you and led you towards the exit of the studio.  He bowed a couple more times towards a few remaining crew members and he slung your bag over his shoulder.  He looked back and saw you slowly following him to his car like a lost puppy.  You rubbed your tired eyes and yawned.  Jiyong laughed at you.  It was the first time he saw you like this; it made you seem all the more human.  Jiyong guided you to his car and you fell down in the passenger seat instantly after he opened the door for you.

“I think I know where you live, but you’re going to have to tell me the address again,” Jiyong said as he buckled you in.  You mumbled your address and Jiyong nodded his head.  You fell back asleep instantly as the car started and Jiyong headed towards your apartment complex.  At every red light, Jiyong would turn to look at her to make sure your head wasn’t rolling around the headrest.  A couple times he adjusted your position so you wouldn’t hurt your neck.  When the green light came, he sped off towards his destination.

“______, we’re here,” Jiyong said as he unbuckled you.  “Lets go inside okay?”  Jiyong slowly gathered your things and helped you towards the basement elevator.  You rummaged inside your pocket and grabbed your apartment keys.  You fumbled with them and eventually slammed them into Jiyong’s chest.

“You deal with it.”

Jiyong laughed and ushered you inside the elevator.  You rested your head on the cold elevator walls while Jiyong tried to figure out which key was your apartment key.  After finding the right floor and the right room with much effort, Jiyong opened the door for you and led you inside.  You threw your jacket on the island counter and ran towards your bedroom.  Jiyong tried to put all your bags down by the kitchen before he saw you sprinting off in another direction.  He followed you to you bedroom and found you collapsed face first on the sheets.  Jiyong laughed silently to himself and grabbed his phone to take another picture of you.

She’s going to kill me tomorrow.

Jiyong bent down near you and nudged her slightly.  You groaned and turned your head towards him, your eyes still closed.  Jiyong leaned forward and began speaking, “_______, lets go eat dinner tomorrow.”

He heard you groan in response.  He laughed at you and asked you one more time.  You turned your head back towards him and opened one eye at him. “Sure, fine, whatever.  Just lock up before you leave.”

Jiyong laughed at you and smoothed out your hair before standing up.  He turned off your bedroom light and closed the bedroom door behind him.  He wandered around your apartment for a while before deciding to head back to his.  He did as he was told to do and locked up your apartment and turned of all the lights.  He turned back towards your apartment, making sure he didn’t forget anything.  Jiyong pressed the down button on the elevator and grabbed his cell phone to make a call.  The door binged open and he walked inside.

“Yes, can I make a reservation for two tomorrow?”

The elevator doors closed with a smiling Jiyong inside.

A.N.

Thank you to all my wonderful subscribers and everyone who left a comment!  And hello to all the new subscribers and silent readers as well, I'd love to hear from you!  Thanks for reading guys and supporting me!  Your kind words are really appreciated :D  Have fun reading this chapter and I promise to update as soon as I can tomorrow!  Have a nice day and happy reading!