The Chains of the Past

Mai looked out the very bust street as morning traffic began. She, and the rest of the group had just finished eating and were being served coffee, when she decided that it was high time she began her story. She had known that they would have to learn of this soon but she had not expected last night’s events. However, there was nothing else she could do. “The President came to L.A. to meet me after months of saying no to Brothers Entertainment. I initially didn’t want to come here because I had a vision where us – Asian women – can rule the Undergrounds of L.A.”

“They called you the princess of the underground there” Dae commented, showing his familiarity with Mai’s publicized background.

She nodded. “I had to battle out a lot of great rappers out there. Some of them’s even made it big up in Cali.”

“Missy Elliot was with you” Seung-ri added.

“Well… she and me really didn’t get to do a lot of things because I was about to leave when she’d just begun but we’ve kept ourselves in contact because I admire what she’s been able to do. The President has offered a chance for me to change the hip-hop and rnb music scene here in Korea. I’ve followed his career with Seo Taiji and admired their work as well. I thought I should give this a chance because as he told me – if I wanted to change how Asian women are seen in the music industry, I should begin from home.”

“So… you came down here then?” Bom asked.

“I did but I wasn’t alone. At that time, my boyfriend – you’ll remember him, he goes by the name MURD.O.C. - came with me. He’s also half-Korean and half-Japanese. We both decided to train under YG.”

“I thought you and Danny-hyung and Manager were the ones who trained together?” CL inquired.

“I came a year before Danny and Teddy. Danny had been my friend ever since and a month before I left I got the chance to meet Teddy. I introduced them to each other and the both of them hit it off right there. I’d seen potential in your manager the first time I heard him rap and I told Danny to make sure to always tag him along underground. I wanted the both of them to come down here too. And when they’d seen the potential of what they can do out here as well, they became very excited about it.”

“The President was skeptical about them because he had not even heard of what they could do. He was also really busy and didn’t have the time to see to new recruits. So, I decided to fly back and do some records with them. My boyfriend decided to stay because at that time, Jinu and Sean were recording collaborations with him.”

“It had been a year since I came back and I immensely missed Danny and the rest of the guys. I’d become close to Teddy because we’ve exchanged e-mails and they usually made me listen to their songs over the phone. The phone bill at our apartment skyrocketed but the President knew that I could be in to something so he let me.”

“Was this the time you realized you were in love with Manager-hyung?” Seung-ri asked excitedly, earning a jab on the rib from CL who was listening intently.

“Ow! We’ll come to that” Mai told him with a smile “But no. I’d only seen Teddy as a really really good friend. He has this dorky side –“

“The Manager?!?” Minji exclaimed.

Mai laughed “Yes. You’re Manager. He can be dorky” she sipped coffee and continued “I talked to Brothers Entertainment so we could use a good studio for the recording. I promised them a commission from my first album out here if they would support Danny and Teddy.”

“The President liked what they could do and they both came down here to train. We looked for other recruits here too because the President had a lot of plans. He wanted to form a group of ladies and a group of guys other than just solo artists and duos. He even wanted to have artists who’d be just acting. Everything that YG is now is because of all the visions that the President had.”

“I supported all of it and did my best because I also dreamed the same dream as him – to change the face of music here. However, we all didn’t expect things to almost go downhill.”

All of her juniors moved closer, feeling the importance of what was to be said.

“Around the time that 1TYM launched and I had ended promotions for my 2nd album, MURD.O.C. has become involved with an underground group selling drugs. The group was led by Song Yu Seuk – at that time, he had begun owning most of the clubs in Hongdae. I didn’t learn of this immediately but Teddy and Danny were the first to know. The both of them tried to protect me from it but MURD.O.C. had fallen to the vice and I’d caught him really high one time.”

“It was a frightening experience because he didn’t even recognize me” Mai paused as she relived those terrifying moments of horror when MURD.O.C. waved a knife against her and pushed her up against a wall “He attacked me and amost killed me if Teddy had not come in at the training room then. He disarmed MURD.O.C. as he let out screams which the whole building heard. The President and the others who were training at the time immediately rushed towards us and had to do everything they can to contain MURD.O.C. because the drugs were making him imagine we were out to kill him.”

“Oh My God” Bom gasped “Unnie, did he hurt you badly?”

“No. I’ve been to situations like that before and what he did to me was not new but I guess, it shocked me because I had never thought MURD.O.C. would actually do that to me.”

“How did he involve himself in drugs?” T.O.P. asked

“I’ve never been able to ask him” Mai answered “After that incident, MURD.O.C. left and came to Yu Seuk. I tried to contact him and I looked for him and I even talked with Yu Seuk but I’ve never seen him again until one day a month after, Yu Seuk visited the YG office with him.”

“What did Mr. Song want?” YB, shifted from his position, loosening his collars a bit because despite the cold weather, he could feel tension rise.

“He wanted to frame the President. Mr. Song threatened to tell the media that we were having a drug den and that all trainees are drug addicts unless his demands were met. MURD.O.C. had become totally different then and I could say that he was yet again high when they both dropped by. I tried to go to him but Danny held me back and Teddy kept me by his side.”

“It was painful for me because we’ve both been together for almost three years and to see him fall like that broke my heart. I felt pathetic because I couldn’t do a thing for him. I was his girlfriend and I didn’t even know about his addiction.”

“I remember him now” T.O.P. said “So, you and MURD.O.C. were together that long noona… Why didn’t the public know of your relationship with him?!?”

“The President thought it best not to inform the public of that relationship because a lot of fans might get disappointed. I didn’t initially agree to that because I didn’t understand the culture very much. It was actually MURD.O.C. who agreed and pushed for me to do it. It crushed my heart to realize that in the end, my success made him feel overshadowed and led him to do what he did.”

“So what happened after that visit?” that was Minji.

“The President asked for time and gathered all of us but I had slipped away and immediately followed Yu Seuk and MURD.O.C. with my motorcycle. It was a foolish decision but I couldn’t let the chance to talk to MURD.O.C. pass me by. I caught up with them and found a way to corner MURD.O.C. without Yu Seuk’s knowledge. He was so easy to take with me because the drugs he had used had weakened his senses.”

“I hurried to bring him back to YG. I didn’t want him to be used and I deeply believed I could still bring who he was back but as we were half-way back to the office, he had fallen asleep on my back and had collapsed against my motorcycle’s back end. I lost my balance and we both crashed against a big tree. I didn’t know how I ever survived that but MURD.O.C. was not able to. From what they told me, he died on the spot.”

Tears she had been trying to fight off fell as Mai let herself feel again the ache of having known that one person she loved was lost to her forever.

“Noona…” CL reached out for her hand sympathetically. The 2NE1 leader had tears in her eyes too “That must have been really painful.”

“I saw that on the news but they said no one was with you” Dae told her.

“The President did everything in his power to cover everything up. I had also almost lost my sense of sight because of the amount of damage I suffered and they told me I was on the verge of dying. I don’t remember much of that anymore but what I do know is when I woke up a lot had changed.”

“Danny informed me that Song Yu Seuk was furious upon knowing that I had slipped away with MURD.O.C. and that he had died in the accident. He came to YG and told the President that he was going to launch war against him unless the President handed me over.”

“You?!?” Bom exclaimed.

“In his own way, Song Yu Seuk had come to care for MURD.O.C. and his death had pained him. He wanted to have me as an exchange or he will make sure that the President will never see his dreams realized. That was when your manager intervened and negotiated with Yu Seuk. I don’t know what he did but Yu Seuk immediately took him under his wing and made him manage all of his night clubs. The President tried to bargain for him but Yu Seuk told him that unless I come to him, he will never let Teddy go.”

“It was going to be an exchange of the both of us. I don’t know if Teddy knew that those were the terms but somewhere along the way, Yu Seuk was able to brainwash him into believing that the President did not even try to bargain for his return to YG. Thus, they both grew apart as I watched unable to do a thing. I had been forbidden to contact Teddy because of what I had done. Remember my two-year hiatus?”

They all nodded.

“I came back to California at that time and was constantly supervised. My foolish actions had brought problems to the President and I felt too guilty to disobey him. As I kept out of the media storm that the accident brought in, a special relationship between him and Yu Seuk had begun. Both men decided to stay away from each other’s path because Yu Seuk had agreed that money was more important to him than engaging in a war with the President.”

“But… how did he secure our freedom from Mr. Song?” YB asked “We have been let go and are now a part of YG.”

“Teddy wanted to sacrifice himself to give you guys your freedom but Danny, who learned of it because they have both kept in constant contact, had told me and the President of this. We did what we had to do for you.”

“You’re being vague noona” T.O.P. commented.

Mai took a deep breath and tried to smile brightly but failed “Song Yu Seuk has agreed to free all of you if I marry him.”

“WHAT?!?!?!?!”