After getting changed and cleaned up the girls hopped into their van and drove off to celebrate their first successful day of schedules to prepare for their debut. It was nice to end the day in a relaxing manner, not to mention having the opportunity to finally get to know more about their manager. Because everything was mainly focused on schedules and preparing, they never really had time to sit down and talk, get to know each other on a more personal level. Of course Yura knew everything about the girls, as manager she should, but they barely knew anything about her other than that she once started out as the manager for DBSK.

“Where are we going, unnie?” Yoon Hee leaned a bit forward from the backseat curiously.

“There is a restaurant downtown that I’ve been going to for years,” she smiled, glancing through her rearview mirror briefly, “They have the best Korean barbecue you have ever tasted!”

“Korean barbecue!” Eunmi sighed happily, “The sweet taste of juicy grilled meat, the delicious smell of the sizzling grill! Galbi! Bulgogi! Jeok! I can’t wait, it’s been so long!”

“Yah, Eunmi-ah! Will you stop drooling before we drown?!” Jaeyeon nudged the girl next to her who was busy fantasizing about their dinner. She always seemed to space out when food was mentioned and amongst them all she probably was one of the biggest eaters and yet managed not to get fat.

“Are we almost there, unnie?” she ignored the slightly younger girl and stared at their manager with eager eyes.

She chuckled and nodded, “Almost there, just hold onto your stomach or just a little longer.”

After a few more minutes of driving and listening to Eunmi’s constant daydreams of food, they finally stopped in front of a cozy looking restaurant with an old sign that said “Hanguk BBQ”. The girls hopped out of the car and stared at the outside of the building for a moment. None of them had ever been in this side of town before, it looked a lot simpler than what they were used to see downtown Seoul. No bright lights or colors, no flashy signs or pictures of idols promoting products. It was simple, authentic and quite relaxing actually.

“Remember this place, girls,” Yura smiled, locking the car and walking towards the entrance, not really explaining what she meant by that. As the girls exchanged slightly confused looks, their manager entered the restaurant and they soon followed.

The inside of the restaurant matched the outer appearance. It was simple and authentic. There weren’t any bright lights illuminating the restaurant, no loud music or colorful posters on the wall. It was narrow and dark, the walls matching the dark oak color of the floor. There weren’t that many people, just a few elderly couples and ahjusshies.

“This place looks so…” Aejung tried to find the right way of describing this place, since it was nothing like she had expected and wasn’t quite sure yet if that was a positive or negative thing.

“Quiet, relaxing, private?” Yura finished with some of her own suggestions after which she hesitantly nodded. “You might not have any problems now but once you’ve debuted it will be a lot more difficult for you girls to find a place where you can eat and relax without the screaming fans and paparazzi. This place is so underground that aside from the elderly people around here, only a few other people know where to find this.”

“Uwaaaa, nice thinking unnie!” Yoonhee smiled. “You’re really looking out for us!”

“Of course, that’s my job isn’t it?” She winked before leading the girls to a larger table a bit in the back, the grills already fired up nicely. She waved at the ahjumma behind the counter who greeted her with a smile and disappeared into the kitchen area.

“So do you come here often? Do our sunbaes come here?” Sooyeon asked once she was seated.

Yura nodded, “Actually I was on my way to pick up your DBSK sunbaenims when we stumbled here, they were out in the town, got drunk and somehow managed to find themselves in this area. I just started as manager and I wasn’t the one in charge but I got a call from their main manager to pick them up here.”

“So do they still come here and eat often?” Jaeyeon asked with a wide grin.

“Yunho does. We’ve met up for a bite plenty of times when he was free, especially for him it’s hard to get out without the fans,” she explained.

“Aigoo unnie, you and Yunho oppa?” Eunmi giggled slightly, “Sounds cozy…”

The other girls caught what the young rapper was trying to say and started grinning, turning their gazes to their manager completely, who merely blinked.

“Eunmi-ah, what are you trying to say?” she blinked again. “We’re colleagues… sort of.”

“Sort of?” Yoonhee grinned.

“Well you can’t really call me a colleagues since I’m not an idol. I guess you could call us friends but that’s it!”

“Alright unnie, if you say so…” Eunmi taunted slightly.

Yura rolled her eyes, calling over the ahjumma and ordered meat for all of them as well as some drinks. It was true that colleagues wasn’t the right term for their relationship. They were too close to call each other just familiars. They were friends, even though she didn’t work for them as their manager anymore they still called each other and met up for dinner or drinks once in a while. But that is was friends do, isn’t it?

“So how was it being their manager?” Jaeyeon continued, wanting to know more about their manager and more about their sunbaes.

“It was a lot of fun but also very hectic. They were very popular and the more they performed, the harder it was to keep them save and on schedule. Fans would follow them everywhere and even break in. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you about all those sasaeng fans and accidents?” The girls shook their heads. “They were very hard-working guys though, everything good that has come to them in all these years, they deserved. It’s sad to think it ended the way it has.”

“Were you still their manager when they broke up?”

She nodded, “Briefly. I got send abroad with Boa and some of her staff a few months after, unfortunately.”

The ahjumma arrived with their drinks and the plates of meat, setting it out in front of them before waddling back to help other customers.

“Didn’t you like working for Boa-sunbaenim?” Aejung tilted her head slightly.

“Oh I did!” Yura smiled before taking a small sip of her drink. “I just wished I could have stuck around a bit longer, to help support wherever I could. Needless to say that the whole ordeal took its toll on all five of them.”

The other girls nodded with a soft understanding hum.

“I remember one night when we were in LA where Boa was working on her US album, I got a call from Yunho, he sounded… confused? Asking me about where things were around the dorm even when I hadn’t been there for months! They were apparently moving from their old dorm. It felt regretful that I couldn’t be there to help out, I missed hanging out with them.”

“So oppa was a special friend?” Sooyeon wondered.

Yura laughed, “Yah... Not that kind of special friend. Just close friends. We’re off the same age so talking was a lot more casual, that helped a lot.”

“Wouldn’t you rather have been their manager again instead of ours then, unnie?” Jaeyeon asked carefully.

“Ah?” she smiled and shook her head. “Aniyo, I like being your manager. I have gained a lot of experience over time so I am going to do my best for you girls and watch you on your road to success.”

“I hope we have what it takes to follow that road though,” Eunmi sighed slightly. “What if no one likes our music? Or us?”

“Don’t be silly, they are going to love you girls! I guarantee it!” Yura smiled, leaning forwards. “Anyway, let’s eat! After all, that’s what we came here for right?”

“Right!” the girls nodded and started placing down their meat on the grill, the mood of their conversation cheering up again.

After a nice long and delicious dinner, the girls went back to the dorm where they parted with Yura after going through their schedules for the next morning. As soon as their manager was gone the girls sat around together to talk about earlier.

“I feel so bad for unnie, she really seems to regret not being able to stick by Yunho oppa and Changmin oppa…” Yoonhee pouted slightly.

“Mostly Yunho oppa,” Eunmi nodded. “They really sounded close… Like best friends or… you know… secret lovers?”

“Aigoo, Eunmi you’ve been watching too many dramas again! Secret lovers…” Sooyeon shook her head with a grin.

“Did you see the way her eyes lit up when his name was mentioned? And how sad she was talking about not being able to be there for him?” Aejung nodded. “That’s not just friendship!”

“So you think that she had a crush on him?” Jaeyeon grinned, “Omo, that’s so… sweet!”

“Do you think oppa had the same feelings for her though?” Aejung continued.

Eunmi shrugged, “Who knows? My guess is he definitely liked her or he wouldn’t call her all the way in the US right?”

“They would totally look cute together, don’t you think?” Jaeyeon smiled as she was picturing the two of them together in her mind.

Sooyeon yawned slightly and nodded, “Well, either way it’s over now right? Let’s go to bed!”

“Yah, what do you mean it’s over now? This is only the beginning!” Eunmi giggled as she clapped her hands together. “We should figure out if there are really mutual feelings!”

“And then what? Try to set them up?” Yoonhee frowned slightly at the thought.

Eunmi nodded happily but Sooyeon shook her head quickly.

“Yah… How about we don’t meddle with other people’s business and focus on our debut? Now let’s get to bed because we have another busy day tomorrow!”

Tadaaaaa~ This was supposed to be a Valentine's chapter but my timing is off and for some reason this story just didn't want to come out. But here we go, I decided to write a bit for manager Yura as well. What do you guys think? Did she have a crush on Yunho? Does she still feel the same? Did he have feelings for her? Should they get together in the end?

xxx Dazzle