Chapter One : The First Blooming

“Hello everybody! This is SBS Inkigayo! I’m Nicole, the pretty Lupin!” said Nicole in an excited voice.

“I’m IU, the cute Lupin!”

“I’m Hara, the lovely Lupin!”

“And, I’m Gyuri, the goddess Lupin…?” said Gyuri in a confused way.

All four of the Lupins-for-one-day burst into laughter. Gyuri was invited to be a special host for today’s Inkigayo because of her humour, and her goddess concept.

“We are excited to see the performers today! CN Blue, EXO both K and M, and After School are in for you!” exclaimed Nicole cheerfully.

“Also, soloist GNA, Infinite, ZE:A, 2PM, Miss A are in the house!” said Gyuri.

“FT Island, Jewelry, SNSD, Super Junior, rookie groups Hello Venus and A JAX are also set to perform!” said Hara.

“4minute, Cross Gene, last but not least, ballad group 2AM. Who’s excited to see on today’s Inkigayo Special : Family Version? There will be special joint performances in this three-hour programme! So let’s start with a breathtaking performance of ‘MAMA’ by the exotic EXO!”

All four stood close to say “Music… START!” The camera turned towards the 12-member boy group. The performance was unbelievably well-rehearsed. Fanchants were so loud, almost capable of breaking the thick windows of the stadium. Even the four MCs were so excited that they too, became fangirls. Nobody could escape EXO’s charismatic performance.

Following that, rookie groups Hello Venus and A JAX performed a song by H.O.T, ‘Candy’. What surprised everyone was, the four Lupins-for-one-day, went up the stage and performed as well. Gyuri though, was particularly happy since she was a big fan of H.O.T. Then, there were performances by SM Family, and even dance battles between the best dancers in the idol groups. Three hours ended quickly, so did Inkigayo, which ended in satisfaction to all the fans in the audience.

“Wow, I can’t believe three hours had gone by! That was really fast! Did you all enjoy the performances earlier?” said Nicole enthusiastically.

‘YES!” was obviously the answer from the sea of people sitting before the stage, some even stood to show their satisfaction.

“We are very sorry to have to end this programme so soon… But we are very happy that you all enjoyed it!” said Hara.

“And, last but not least, thank you Goddess Lupin Gyuri for being here with us today! You were such a great MC!” said IU, envious of Gyuri’s skills in hosting shows.

“I’m just a fine MC, you guys were great too. Probably the advantage that I have is my beauty….” Said Gyuri, until her talk was interrupted by Nicole.

“Oh wow. Sorry about that. That’s how our leader normally react when she hears a compliment, even if it’s not that great. Anyway, thank you all and see you next week!”

Four of the Lupins-for-one-day gave a 90-degree bow to show their thankfulness and also respect. In seconds, the camera was no longer filming. The performers and hosts went back stage, greeting everyone in sight and introducing themselves to one another. 2PM and Miss A were as if they were engaged in a family conversation. Meanwhile, FT Island and CNBlue were sharing some tips on musical instruments. Nicole and the other three Lupins took a photo together which they posed with goofy faces. They reviewed the photo and let out a laugh. They then separated ways to entertain the other guests.

“Nicole! Wow, I didn’t know you could be such enthusiastic host!” Said Jinwoon, approaching Nicole from behind.

“I never knew I could be this good too! You sang well tonight!” Said Nicole, smiling.

“Thanks! We should have lunch together again. We’ve been so busy with everything…” Said Jinwoon with a sigh.

“Oh speaking of that, how’s Kibum? He’s hit a fever. I thought he was too tired with the overseas activities and the musical he was recently casted in.”

“I think he’s getting better now. I had a talk with him just before 2AM’s performance. He said not to worry about him because he forced himself to take in the medicines the doctor’s prescribed.”

“So he finally went to the doctor, didn’t he? After all the persuasion,”

“I guess so. He didn’t want any of us nor his fans to worry. Moreover, he keeps saying it’s just a small matter.”

“It’s not the first day you knew him. He’s a fighter,” admitted Nicole.

“Nicole! You’re being summoned – Oh, hi Jinwoon. How’s your day?” Gyuri appeared suddenly.

“I’m fine. How about you?” asked Jinwoon politely to his senior.

“I’m feeling over the moon. I’m sorry to interrupt, but our manager is demanding to meet us now.”

“In that case, I’ll excuse myself. See you again,” said Jinwoon, stepping away from the girls.

“What is it Gyuri? Why does Hyuksin want to meet us so urgently? Something bad happened?”

“I’m not quite sure. He gave me a call to meet him at K5K at this late hour. Hara’s already waiting in the van. I thought you left first because I couldn’t contact you nor look for you anywhere.”

“Sorry, I turned off my phone thinking no one would find me today. I hope nothing bad’s happened,” said Nicole, wearing a worried look on her face.

Nicole and Gyuri bid goodbye to their seniors and juniors, who were also preparing to leave the studio. It wasn’t a long distance from inside to the back entrance. Even at this late hour, devoted fans waited outside just to catch a glimpse of their favorite idol groups. KARA fans, KAMILIA, gathered outside as if they were attending a late night concert. Nicole couldn’t hide her smile, nor did she want to. Both of them thanked the wonderful fans for waiting for them in the almost-darkness atmosphere, and asked them to go home early. The fans gave Gyuri a teddy bear, and handmade swans for Nicole. They passed other warmhearted gifts to Nicole so that she could pass them to the other members. Gyuri and Nicole apologized, and said goodnight to the fans, and headed to their van.

“Our Kamilia are so nice. They waited for our exit for hours, and even prepared gifts!” Said Nicole in amazement.

“This is the first time I received a teddy bear,” said Gyuri, amused of herself.

Gyuri and Nicole kept their paces towards their van located just a few metres away from the entrance. During this time, Nicole thought of everything that could possibly had happened. There were some positive and some negative thoughts, but she did not know which to catch. She just hoped it wasn’t a serious matter.

A few minutes later they reached their van. Bodyguards kept a lookout so that the girls were in a safe zone. As the door of the van opened, a blanket was seen covering a closed-eye Hara. Apparently she had fell asleep whilst waiting for her fellow members. Gyuri placed her forefinger in front of her lips and let out a small ‘shh’ as though she was playing a hide and seek game with Nicole.

“Hara’s asleep?” Whispered Nicole.

Gyuri nodded. She asked Nicole to enter the van first before her. Nicole complied with the leader’s command and sat down gracefully at the back of the van. Gyuri entered the van right after Nicole, placing the teddy bear right beside her. At this moment, Hara was awaken by the heavy vibrations of the van.

“Oh, you guys are here?” Said Hara unclearly.

“Here. A fan asked me to pass this gift to you.” Nicole handed a huge envelope to Hara.

Hara opened the envelope carefully, and took out what was inside it. To her surprise, the fan had given her a scrapbook that was themed after her. There was a big title in the front cover, ‘Hara – Our Miracle’. Miracle was Hara’s very own fanclub. She flipped through the pages, and emphasized on every page of contents. Joy filled her eyes as she read the wonderful messages written by fans abroad.

Meanwhile, Nicole was admiring the beautiful towers around Seoul. Her mind, which was filled with worry and fear, was now sunk in relaxation. She seemed rather calm, and forgot about what she had worried earlier about what might have happened. Gyuri though, was pressing buttons on the keypad of her phone. She wanted to call Hyuksin to ask him why he wanted to meet them so urgently. The screen of her phone showed “Calling…” but to no avail. A wisp of worry approached her, but she brushed away the negative thoughts and maintained a positive prospect in her mind.

“Wow, this…. This is too precious…” said Hara all of a sudden.

Hara was referring to the scrapbook she had received from a fan through Nicole earlier. She expressed her regret for not being able to meet that fan in person, but said that she would definitely prepare something special for that fan. Nicole, who was not listening fully to Hara, smiled as if she did.

The journey to K5K seemed to have prolonged. Gyuri was still pressing the same buttons on the keypad of her phone, finally showing a little bit of agitation on her goddess-like face. The overwhelming feeling of fear had come back around at Nicole. The harder she tried to find the positivity contained somewhere inside it, the more impossible it was to do so. Thinking it was one in a million to create another pathway of releasing the tension, Nicole stood up and approached Gyuri.

“Gyuri, I’m kind of scared now.”

“Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be just fine. Trust me,” the pragmatic leader reassured her fellow member.

“But, Hyuksin didn’t mention anything?” Asked Hara.

“Well, he did say it was urgent and he wanted to meet the three of us as soon as we finished recording Inkigayo. He texted me twice, reminding me about it.”

“Are we still far from K5K? Hope we’re almost there..” Said Nicole, frowning.

“Don’t alert yourself with such feelings, okay? It will be alright. Just close your eyes and think of nothing,” advised Gyuri.

Reluctantly, Nicole and Hara followed the leader’s advice. Nicole, though, found it a little difficult to have a relaxed and empty mind. However, after a few tries, she managed to do so and slowly things began to face away from her senses…

Few moments later, Nicole’s senses were back and she felt the van she was in, stopped. She thought a dream was manipulating her mind, but it was reality she was witnessing. She opened her eyes and found out that they had reached K5K. She turned to her left to see Hara, asleep with her ‘Hara – Our Miracle’ scrapbook in her arms. Gyuri, though, was outside, talking to a black-haired man wearing a dotted long sleeved shirt and a pair of blue jeans. She recognized him as their manager, Yang Hyuksin. It looked as if Hyuksin was telling Gyuri a scary ghost story. Gyuri wore a concerned and worried look on her face.

Gyuri reached for the van, opened the sliding door and said, “It’s Seungyeon.”

Hello! I've decided to make some changes in the characters, that is to replace the originally fictional character. I've replaced that character with BtoB's Minhyuk. Please enjoy the first chapter of "STORY TELLER", and comment about it! Thank you :)