During the first break of the rehearsals, maybe the only one, Hannah is walking around with a bottle of water. She stays in the dancer’s room to chat a bit, heading out when Manager Lim comes to talk to her. The two of them walk slowly in the corridor, away from cameras for once.

“Your mother keeps calling,” he tells her and he continues before Hannah can say anything; “I don’t know what to say to her. I can’t speak as fluent as she thinks I can and when she starts speaking English I don’t understand a thing. She won’t stop calling until you talk with her, Hannah. Could you fix this now before the concert?”

“Why don’t you just tell her to call after the concerts?” Hannah whines. She wants to focus on the concert now, for these two days – then, she can take care of her family once and for all.

“I did… But she didn’t think you had a concert that was more important than her…”

Hannah looks at her manager, speechless.

“She did say that,” he nods at her, “I understood that part precisely.”

She grimaces and continues to walk with a sigh. She has some time left of the break, so she agrees on doing it. She will have to tell her mother to call back on Monday, as she is too busy now. Manager Lim walks with her to a quiet place where she can call back to her mother, and restlessly Hannah waits for the tone to get through. What is she supposed to say? What does her mother really want from her to call this much in two days? Has her grandfather gotten sicker? No, her twin would have called if it was like that. Is it about money? But her mother isn’t the kind to beg for money, it is more Julie’s style.

“Mom, it’s me,” she says, drier than she expected her greeting to be once her mother has picked up. A few years back, Hannah was scared of this woman. She was scared of her own mother. Now, she wouldn’t care. Hannah is a grown up now, she can decide over her own life; she can live her own life. There is nothing to be afraid of.

“Hannah, you are really difficult to get in touch with,” her mother sighs tiredly. Only then Hannah realises what time it is in Sweden; seven hours back. Is it even morning there?

“Did I wake you up?” her tone is surprised.

“I’m working night,” her mother answers. Silly, Hannah thinks, her manager just told her she has been calling nonstop; of course she would be awake.

“Then what is it? It’s not like you call to just chat,” Hannah’s tone is back to the dry one, the one that makes Manager Lim give her a glance. Hannah glares back at him. She is not changing her tone.

“I really want to help you out with what happened with Julie. Maybe if you could come home for a few days and we all got to talk it through-”

“What?” Hannah interrupts in shock. Oh, she wants to punch someone! She drops the bottle of water to hold her hand in a shaky fist. “Why would I do that? I have more to loose by going there than you got by coming here.”

“You want us to come to China?”

China?

“I’m in Korea.”

“Korea then, whatever, they all look the same, right? But we can’t go there; we have work to do here.”

“Well, guess what, mom; I have a job too. Who do you think paid for your guy’s Porsche and grandpa’s treatment? Against my will, if I may remind you that. At least about the car.”

“But Hannah, you don’t have a real job. You maybe make money now, but in a few years you won’t make money at all. It isn’t a job you can survive on for long, haven’t you understood that yet? Come home and we can talk-”

“No!” Hannah bursts out and she hits her manager’s hand away when he wants to take the phone from her. She turns away from him, her voice rising; “I have tried to talk to you for over five years, mom, but you never listen. You still think I’m in China! If you don’t even know where I am, we have nothing to talk about!”

“Why are you raising your voice at me again?! Can’t we talk like grown ups for one-”

“Let’s talk like grown ups when you aren’t as ignorant as a child,” Hannah snarls back at her, and for once she doesn’t hang up. Hannah wants to finish this. She doesn’t want her mother to call back. China? How can she not know its Korea! Hannah wants to cry just thinking about it. It’s been five years and her mother doesn’t even know which country she is in. Then why does she even bother to pretend she cares about Hannah?

“You did not just-” her mother is stunned by the words Hannah said, and Hannah would have been too if she wasn’t too worked up for what her mother has said.

“Yes, I did. Yes, I did, mom,” Hannah breathes. She does not want to cry now. “I am tired of repeating my words to you, so damn sick and tired. Can’t you get that? I don’t know what makes you so bored and irritated at life all the time, but you need to accept that I managed to get away and get a life that has absolutely nothing to do with you. I’m independent without you and you need to get that. Going to Korea was not a failure and mistake, and it is something that I will never regret because I have lived a life so far from your understanding that I am so tired of being dragged down from this great life by having my family contacting me and pulling the strings only you guys can. I don’t want to give you money, I won’t because I don’t think you need them – as you said, you have jobs, and I do know you have well-paid jobs.”

“Hannah, are you lecturing me, your own mother, now? I did not-”

“You wanted me to call you and I did. If you don’t want to hear the truth, you shouldn’t have called to begin with,” Hannah bites at the phone. She is so annoyed right now.

“I just want my daughter back, is it so bad?”

“Then you shouldn’t have ignored me to begin with,” Hannah whines. “I tried to talk to you for a year before we even got the idea of going to Korea. You just never listened!”

Hannah turns against the wall, resting her forehead against it as she can’t hold back the tears anymore. She holds her free hand over her free ear to not hear what Manager Lim says, she doesn’t hear that it is Emelia he is talking to as she has come over.

“Mom, I will tell you this and then I’m done. You decide if you want to listen or not, but I will not repeat myself, okay?” Hannah says in a low voice, hearing her mother mutter on the line. Hannah is going to cry, the moment she thinks of the words, and she bites her lip to prepare herself. “I love you,” she whispers, and continues with silent tears falling down her cheeks. “You will always be my mother and I have never, and will never be ashamed to be your daughter. I think I grew up the best way I could, you taught me well and I am proud to have a mother as strong as you, but my road is here – in Korea, with 5 Pieces. I know you don’t understand that, I have known it for years already, but you need to understand that I will never go back to live the life you want me to live. This is where I belong; this is the place that makes me happy and it is here I am able to do the things I love. I honestly don’t care if you don’t think I am doing anything good, but … but this is where I want to be.”

“I do understand, but I don’t understand why it has to be over there. You could sing in Sweden, you could live a normal life here.”

“Mom…” Hannah sighs, the tears just flooding down, falling down from her chin to the floor by her feet. “That’s not what I want to do.”

“It’s because of that guy, isn’t it? It’s always about some guy.”

Hannah bites together. In just a second… for one second, she thought she was going to solve this, that she was going to make her mother understand that what she will do tonight – stand on the stage, take on the spotlight and sing and perform with 5 Pieces with hundreds of fans in the audience… she thought she was going to understand – that this is her life, what she loves to do more than anything. And she brings up Jonghyun?

“I’m not in Korea because of some guy…”

“You are! I saw you at the hospital three years ago, didn’t I? You said it was your boyfriend. Your sister says you are being hated in Korea now when your relationship has gone public. What left is there if your fans don’t want you? It’s that guy!”

“They don’t hate me.”

“Oh, really? Your sister surely read out a lot of hateful comments to me. That you are a and bimbo-”

“MOM!”

“I’m just saying what it read, honey, you can’t blame me for your mistakes.” It’s that voice. Hannah doesn’t shout or talk back, she is speechless as this I’m-better-than-you tone her mother has. “Your speech says nothing to me, Hannah. You are my daughter and one day you will realise that what everyone over there are saying about you will reach inside that little shell you have created and they will break it. And don’t think the people you surround yourself with around there will stick around; the moment you stop selling, you are worthless.”

Hannah isn’t sure if she can’t breath or if she is hyperventilating, but she knows that she can’t close and stop the tears and that parts of her body are shaking. Right before she drops the cell phone, a cold hand takes it from her and Hannah glides down against the wall with Emelia supporting her. Emelia is terrified when seeing Hannah look at her, and her eyes are completely red and wet and speechless.

Manager Lim gets the phone, turning it off when he turns around to tell the two camera-men that had arrived with Emelia to please not film this.

“Hannah, Hannah,” Emelia repeats in a low voice, trying to get Hannah’s attention. Hannah is looking at her, but at the same time she isn’t. Emelia holds on to her shoulders, trying to make Hannah’s eyes focus just on her, to calm her down or at least calm her self down. She hushes when Hannah is shaking. Emelia is terrified, not because Hannah is crying, but because Hannah is just looking at her while crying and shaking. Hannah is completely gone; usually she hides her face, embarrassed to show her face crying or being in that situation, but now it is like she doesn’t even know she is looking at Emelia.

Hannah can’t believe it. Was it really her own mother she spoke to? Did her mother say those words to her? Hannah opens more, lowering her gaze. She can’t believe it. Her shoulders are hurting from the strange shaking, from trying to grasp what just happened.

“What happened?” Doctor Yoo comes jogging up to them. Someone had gone to get him; Maria is there now too. The doctor sits down on her knees next to Emelia, putting a hand on Hannah’s back. “Hannah, can you hear me?”

She closes and gives a pout when focusing her eyes on Emelia, and then she closes her eyes when she cries hard again.

“She said I’m worthless,” Hannah says in one breath, starting to hysterically shake before leaning forward, wanting to fall forward but Emelia blocks her way to have Hannah in her arms. Doctor Yoo looks clueless at her; Hannah had said that in Swedish, but Maria comes forward instead.

“You’re not worthless,” Maria cries quietly when pushing her way in to hug the girl hiding on Emelia’s lap. She hands the youngest some tissues.

“But she thinks I am…” Hannah cries.

“We’re sorry,” Emelia tells to all the Koreans around them, “could we … you know, get some time alone?”

Manager Lim makes sure they all leave, Doctor Yoo stays as they don’t know if Hannah is about to faint or collapse, keeping some distance though, but the ladies stay there. Hannah can’t stop crying, and she keeps shaking even if she is sitting on her knees, leaning forward to rest on Emelia’s legs and having both Emelia and Maria rub her back to calm her down. Maria keeps handing her new tissues. Her nose is running and she cries and there is no stopping. Her body is hysterical.

When their manager comes back, he has Carolina and Julia with him. He had told them on the way what was going on, though he didn’t have any details as he couldn’t catch up with the Swedish things that was being said. Both girls still get a surprise when seeing the other ladies on the floor, and they sit down next to them, just to be there.

“Ryo is looking for you,” Carolina tries to loosen up the mood for Hannah, but she receives glares from the others instead.

“She is wrong, Hannah,” Maria says instead to the youngest. Hannah had taken out her hair from the bun during rehearsals before, so Maria is now taking her fingers through it while comforting her. “No one is worthless.”

“She said I’m hated…” Hannah breathes; her tears stops by those words and against Emelia’s knee she is spacing out. After what her sister said, she really is hated, isn’t she?

“No one hates you!” Carolina says a little too loud.

Hannah sits up, spacing out. “What if no one in the audience wants me to perform tonight?” she wonders, the tears coming again. “What if-”

“No,” Emelia interrupts her strictly, holding on to her arm for Hannah to look at her with big eyes, “Its no ‘what if this’ or ‘what if that’. We are 5 Pieces, pieces of one: It is five of us, and a sixth out there. Nothing will change that and all of our fans know it. Some idiot in this universe might hate you, but that poor one does not know you, does not know what a special person you are.”

“And she does not say that because we are all friends, Hannah,” Maria tells her with a nod. “5 Pieces is something. Maybe not to everyone, but our fans believe in us – as five. Whatever your mother said, do not listen. You know how she was like before, she has probably not changed, but you have.”

Hannah pouts when seeing Carolina and Julia nod in agreement. Manager Lim is leaning against the wall, smiling at the girls comforting Hannah. He needs to talk to her too; he is the one at fault this time. He won’t ever make Hannah talk to her mother again. He looks a little at the side to see if Doctor Yoo is still there, and he sees the camera-men.

“But it is a precious moment,” the camera-men whispers when Manager Lim is pushing them away.

“It is a private moment,” Manager Lim scolds them and he then stands on guard further down the corridor, to make sure 5 Pieces is alone.

Hannah wipes the tears, making the ladies smile by the childish way she uses her whole hands and wrists and everything she can reach to wipe the tears. In the end, Maria says she surely is hopeless and she takes a tissue to help her wipe the tears.

“Don’t cry more then!” Maria complains lightly, smiling because Hannah cries anew because of her members.

“You really don’t have to sit here with me…” Hannah says in a low voice, looking down at her hands now when she is sitting on her by the wall.

“We don’t have to, but we want to,” Emelia answers, “because that is what friends do, right? When you cry, we wipe those tears for you.”

“Actually-” Carolina starts to say but Emelia tells her to not say something stupid again.

Hannah smiles at it. “I really don’t know what I would do without you all,” Hannah confesses, and she apologizes when she starts to cry again. Maria gives out a sound and hugs her. When Maria leans back, Julia crawls over the floor to give Hannah a hug too.

“No matter what your mother told you on the phone,” Julia starts to tell her, those big eyes looking straight at Hannah, “you will always be more loved than hated. And you have us who always will love you, what more is there?”

She nods in agreement, knowing that 5 Pieces is not just a group for the moment. They aren’t there for the money. 5 Pieces is friendship, a lifelong line of love, friendship and experience between five friends.

“Do you all remember when Carolina started to cry during our [Original] promotions?” Emelia suddenly asks, and though the girls giggle at it, Carolina says they don’t have to bring that up.

“You cried because you never thought a song of ours would have over hundred of people follow the dance routine,” Julia laughs by the memory.

“It was a good reason to cry!” Carolina pouts. “It was the first time our song got so much love and I was overwhelmed by it.”

“That year, my sister said 5 Pieces won a poll online over which K-Pop artist that had surprised the most since debut,” Maria smiles, hugging her own legs, “We won over SNSD with just a few votes.”

“None of us believed it,” Hannah giggles and bites her lip. She does remember that. Those are good memories.

“It was the year after that we met Mr. Scoldier, right?” Julia wonders with a smile and they all laugh at the memory of their trainer during their second album [I Love You] preparations where they spent the whole summer in living hell because of that trainer.

“I still don’t get that nickname…” Carolina looks confused. Hannah smiles at her.

“Scoldier – a soldier who scolds. Why can’t you get that?” Maria shakes her head and looks at Hannah as if it’s unbelievable and Hannah nods in agreement. She likes that her members are bringing up these things to put her in other thoughts. “The first time we met him, he threw me out of bed.”

“HA-HA! It was hilarious! You were like hitting him for shouting your name and he pulled you down!” Emelia laughs loudly. Carolina claps her hands when she laughs and Hannah leans against the wall with a smile. She doesn’t remember that, but she still likes it.

“I hated him all summer…” Maria sighs sadly. “Until we got first place on our comeback stage”

“Hannah cried when we won,” Julia is fast to mention happily, pointing at the youngest who looks surprised at it being brought up.

“All of us cried,” Emelia adds, her smile changes and Hannah thinks she is reminded of that it was their first comeback after Hannah’s car-accident the year before, “beside from those that didn’t feel the moment.”

“I cried on the inside,” Carolina says as she feels Emelia’s eyes on her.

Down the corridor, Manager Lim can hear the girls laugh and it makes him smile. Hannah was hysterically crying several minutes ago, and she would still be crying if someone else was with her – yes, he thinks she would still be crying even if her boyfriend was with her – but no one can make her laugh and smile like 5 Pieces. Those girls have a connection he will never understand. He doesn’t even know how Emelia had found them over here. She had come up to him, asking if something was up. She said she felt it was something. How did she know? He can’t ask that, he is just happy she did; he is happy the ladies are there for each other.

“Ladies,” Maria says with pretty eyes looking at her members, “I hate to ruin our moment here, but we got a concert to do tonight and I don’t think anyone of us is feeling ready for it just yet. What do you say about we go kill it at the rehearsal and then amaze and daze at the concert tonight?”

“Could we do a cheer?” Carolina quietly asks when Emelia is getting up on her feet.

“Oh come on,” Julia sighs.

“Just for Hannah to get the excitement,” Carolina pouts badly.

Hannah smiles, knowing each member is doing her thing in the group, and she takes out her hand in the air between the ladies. “Pieces of one,” she tells them, smiling widely when Carolina hits her hand brightly on top of hers and the other members follows without any hesitation.

“Ladies; pieces,” Maria is saying, her whole face-expression is shining up and Julia laughs. “One time, and one time only; who are we?”

“5 Pieces!” they shout and throws up their hands, laughing as they all can feel the excitement rising.

Being on their way back, Manager Lim turns around to look at them. He looks at Hannah, and she smiles sadly when seeing his face-expression. She walks straight up to him, and this time he isn’t surprised to have her arms around him for a hug, but he laughs when all of the ladies hug him too.

“Is everything alright with you five?” he asks with a smile, patting Emelia on her head.

“Everything’s alright!” Carolina cheers. She wants to jump around with them all, but she can’t make five other people jump in the hug.

“We are just really thankful for the life we share together,” Julia adds up and the girls giggle. He really does not understand them.

Hannah hugs his arm when they are starting to walk.

“Is everything alright between us two?” he asks her, not sure if she is upset at him.

“Of course,” Hannah answers with a nod, “It’s not like you knew I was going to start crying like that.”

“I’m still sorry,” he whispers, not sure if Emelia’s silence in front of them means she is listening to them. She is scaring that way.

“And I’m sorry too,” Hannah whispers back. He notices she was about to say something else, and when he looks down he sees her being in other thoughts. What is she thinking about?

Hannah is happy again. She is a mess, she knows it, but at least she won’t cry bad tears because of her mother; she will cry good tears thanks to her members. Maria laughs randomly when they are heading back, trying to wipe Hannah’s face that so clearly shows she has been crying. Her eyes are completely red, shining from the tears and she looks like a child who has cried for hours.

The break isn’t over yet so the ladies head back inside the waiting room. Hannah can feel her cheeks blush when seeing a blonde-head sitting in the sofa with his back against the door. Jonghyun is there. In the other sofa she sees Onew sit with Michin in his lap, but Onew like everyone else who does that is scolded the moment Manager Lim comes inside – no puppies in the sofas. Jonghyun is turning his head around, almost leaning it back against the edge of the backrest to look around. He sees Maria when she walks by him, greeting him with a handshake, but Hannah smiles shyly when seeing it is not Maria he is looking for. Hannah gets up behind him, placing her hand on his shoulder while pretending she is listening to what Maria tells their manager.

“How is it going?” Jonghyun asks her, leaning his head back completely to look up at her.

“Good,” she answers shortly. He notices it, he sees it. But he also notices how Hannah is looking at everything else in the room, everything else but him, her hand is on his shoulder with her thumb caressing back and forth, but she isn’t looking at him.

“Please sit,” he whispers to her in a lovely, caring voice.

It is a lot of noise in the room, the ladies always manage to make a lot of sound around them with movements and chatting and Onew is talking to them. Hannah only hears one thing Onew says, and it is when Onew says Michin didn’t want to cuddle with Jonghyun. Laughter, she hears when she sits down in the sofa. She sits with one leg on the seat, her body turned to Jonghyun when she sits down and if there are cameras around or not she leans close to rests her head on his shoulder, hug his arm and close her eyes, breathing him in. He doesn’t ask her anything, all he does is to peck her hair with his lips.

She looks at his hands when he takes out his cell phone, and she smiles a bit when she sees the ornament on it. He had given her a cell phone strap of a key, and she is now looking at the lock. Now you have the key to my heart, he had told her at the restaurant. Would he give up on her if she is hated? What if all his fans hate her, and threaten to not be his fans if he is together with her?

Hannah blinks when he suddenly shows her his cell phone, and she realises she was in other thoughts so she didn’t realise he was texting, but he doesn’t send the text – he shows it to her.

‘What happened?’ he has written, and he has added some cute smiles to the text.

Her boyfriend is silly. A fool, he would correct her if she said it out loud. She sighs and moves her position a bit, to look up at his face as she leans hers against the backrest. He looks down at her, mouthing that she has cried. “I talked to my mother,” she whispers back. She smiles at the change in his face. He had thought she was disappointed in her work today, that maybe she had a fight with the ladies or that she somehow was dissatisfied. “I’m alright now,” Hannah tells him in the same low voice.

Jonghyun pouts out his lower lip at her, using his free hand to caress her cheek.

It feels good to have him there. It isn’t awkward with the surrounding; it is just calming to look at him, to have him look at her. At 20’s Choice Awards the other day they had both decided to be professional. They hadn’t flaunt their relationship in another way than wearing couple rings, and though Hannah’s heart had been beating harder than usually that evening, she thought it went well. Jonghyun had kept smiling at her the few moments they even were near each other, because when SHINee won award and were performing, 5 Pieces was backstage and vice versa, so the audience didn’t even get to see their faces when the other one was performing.

Hannah gives out a shocked scream when a pair of heavy arms is put around her from behind, and Jonghyun laughs with the others because it is just Maria.

“Ready to get back out there?” Maria teases, though she gave the face of that she did not expect that kind of reaction. Hannah nods, getting ready to get up but she hits Jonghyun on the arm instead. He laughs even more.

“Why do you hit me when she scared you?” he laughs and points at Maria.

“You laughed,” Hannah mutters for answers and she grimaces cutely when Jonghyun grabs her chin with his big hand so Hannah can’t get up from the sofa. He grimaces back at her, and Maria mentions next to them that they are both cute. Hannah laughs and takes away his hand, but when she is leaving she still gives him a quick peck on the cheek before she hurries away with Maria who is laughing at how cute they are together.

“You have fully recovered now, haven’t you?” Maria teases Hannah on the way to the stage. Hannah pushes her friend, thinking that Jonghyun’s presence doesn’t make her smile more than what she would do if he wasn’t there. But she is happy he is here.

 

++ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + -+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + -+ - + - ++

 

Quentin Pelham is a British journalist and publisher with his own blog and co-host for gossip TV, being in his thirties he is single and stylish and his focus is on his job. He had arrived in Korea last night with the photographer, went to the hotel to sleep and he will be in Seoul today and tomorrow, only for 5 Pieces.

Five SWEDISH girls had really became the hot topic this year by being South Korea’s hottest girl-group, and the moment the magazine he works for had been chosen as one of few magazines outside Asia welcomed to the opening concert of the new tour for not just an interview but to get backstage access, Quentin had taken it right away. He, as everyone else, is interested in 5 Pieces. What is not interesting about these girls? Last year he had no idea of who they were, and then around New Year people on all clubs in Britain where playing this one specific song and no one knew anything about it. At first he had wanted to bring his whole crew to film backstage and do a camera-interview with 5 Pieces, but that had been denied by the agency in Korea. At the hotel this morning he was telling the photographer to take as many pictures as possible.

A Korean man had come to get them at the hotel, introducing himself in English as a manager working for 5 Pieces; Manager Park. During the car-ride to the concert arena, Quentin finds out that Manager Park is a manager for abroad schedules (if 5 Pieces go to Britain to perform, Manager Park will go with them) but he rarely works on set with 5 Pieces in South Korea unless they have a lot of individual schedules and need an extra manager.

“So 5 Pieces has actually been living in Korea for five years?” Quentin asks from the back in the car. He had read a lot of things on the internet during the long flight here, he had caught up a lot of information and rumours about 5 Pieces; fans have a lot of information online.

“It’s been five years, yes; they do travel back and forth once in a while,” Manager Park answers with a nod.

“Who paid for their living in the beginning? Did the agency help to find a place to stay for them?”

“5 Pieces first came to Korea through an audition, maybe you have heard of that-”

“Yes, I have, very fascinating.”

“-the agency who held the auditions (SM Entertainment) offered livings for all the participants, as well as costs for food, travelling and training during the auditions. Once 5 Pieces had won the contract, SM Entertainment paid for an official apartment,” manager Park explains simply with a very business-like voice.

“And how do 5 Pieces live today? Is it still SM Entertainment paying for their living?”

“5 Pieces still live together in an apartment here in Seoul; they actually moved in to a new apartment last month that they seem very satisfied with. You can ask them more about if later, if you want.”

He is good, Quentin thinks with a smile for himself. Even 5 Pieces’ manager knows how to answer questions without revealing the deep details.

“I was told that I will get to meet the founder of SM Entertainment during my trip here, when will I be able to meet him?” Quentin then asks.

“Ah, Lee Sooman will be at the concert today. He is probably there now to observe the final rehearsals so you might get a chance to meet him,” Manager Park kindly answers.

Quentin gets distracted at every street they drive on; everywhere they are in Seoul he can see 5 Pieces. Posters of the concert are all around the city, it is commercial for some drinks or magazines; he spots them everywhere. Even on TV he could see them, and he had absolutely no idea of what they were saying in Korean. Quentin has read on about SM Entertainment, Lee Sooman and even other artists under SM Entertainment because when reading about 5 Pieces he would read about other artists too.

He can’t wait to actually meet them. Not just for work but as a fan of [Daze] he really looks forward to meet 5 Pieces and especially to see their concert. This concert has so much talk about it, even in Britain people are talking about the stunning 5 Pieces making a world tour. The question they are asking is if the tour will reach Britain, or at least Europe.

“There’s the arena, over there,” Manager Park says and he looks over some park at the big arena. But it isn’t really the building that takes the attention. The weather is horrible, it was raining last night and though it rained all night it has cleared up now, but what he sees now is just probably the longest line in his whole life.

“Are all of them going to the concert?!” Quentin is shocked at how high his voice got. Is the line going around a whole park?

“Most of them, probably. It fits around 15.000, but there are a lot of fans who just come to show their support or wait for tomorrow’s concert. Actually, it has been three days the fans have been lining up out here. Everyone is excited for the concert.”

“Three days out in the rain?”

“Fans always line up for hours and days to see 5 Pieces, especially to their concerts because 5 Pieces tend to do things for them, and two days ago the girls actually walked around with snacks and other things in the middle of the night to the fans who were stubborn to sleep outside in the rain and thunder.”

“So they do it for good promotions?”

“Oh no, they do it for their fans all the time,” Manager Park answers well, “while us as managers are put in a difficult situation when 5 Pieces out of nowhere decide to step outside to give snacks to their fans, the ladies really only want to try give back a little to show how thankful there are. You will understand once you meet them.”

Manager Park is a translator, guide, manager and guard, all at the same time when they have reached the arena. He speaks Korean and English, gets them inside through the security and Quentin is impressed with it all. The security is tight, the manager is well-educated and inside there are posters of 5 Pieces put up to promote the concert. Manager Park is greeting people with bows and lowering his head, talking to Quentin to say that 5 Pieces is currently at the rehearsals and they can go watch it, if they take photographs without flashes because the group needs to focus on the final rehearsal. It is understandable.

It definitely looks like 15.000 fans can fit in the arena, but Quentin is more impressed with the stage. Usually it is just one stage, the main stage, but here they have like a maze of stages going around where the floor audience will be. It is amazing, completely perfect and the girls on the stage are rehearsing, the music is on loud and he can’t look away from them.

Casual dressed, they don’t have hair or make-up done and they are rehearsing in a very refreshing way. And of course, he has no idea of what they are singing; but it seems fun.

Manager Park disturbs the journalist when he is busy looking from one fascinating artist to another, and Quentin looks at the manager to be shown to some people sitting in front of the stage. He recognizes one of them; Lee Sooman. The chairman of SM Entertainment doesn’t look away from the stage and Quentin gets to look at the rehearsals too, but he do glance back at Lee Sooman; that is the man who saw potential in 5 Pieces. He wonders what Lee Sooman saw in them five years ago; Quentin has seen pictures and videos from that time, and he is curious if the chairman saw what everyone else is seeing today. Did he know they would become this great?

On the stage, 5 Pieces is performing a song called [I Love You]. Manager Park says it is from their second Korean album, not knowing that Quentin has actually looked through all the group’s music videos. He recognizes this one, it is surprisingly the opposite kind of song compared from [Daze], and at first when he saw the music video it felt weird to see 5 Pieces act so cute, but now during the rehearsals it looks really good. Chameleons, he knows they have been called that before, and he has to use it in his article. 5 Pieces are real chameleons, the kind of artists that take on a challenge and fulfil it perfectly, whether it is the concept of a song or the language. One song rehearsal and he is impressed with them.

He is smiling, knowing that his story of meeting 5 Pieces has only begun. He knows already what the manager was saying in the car, that he will understand once he meets them.

Some more songs are played before the rehearsals are over. Quentin is about to start applause, amazed. He would be exhausted after just two songs if you had to perform like that, but the girls on the stage are just waiting to be judged. He looks over his shoulder, noticing who they are looking at.

“Why did you switch place on [Daze] and [Can’t Stop]?” Lee Sooman asks the girls on the stage through a microphone. He is sitting down but has the changed track list in one hand and a microphone in the other to speak his opinion. Quentin has no idea of what he is saying.

“It fitted better like that than when we did the opposite.”

“That doesn’t work. You leave fans confused when suddenly leaving during the goodbye, just to pop up and make them think something big is coming. Do [Can’t Stop] first for this concert, and we will see how it turns out. I think that works better.”

“We have had a lot of problem with the encore because we really want that remix, but we can’t place 5 Pieces out over the stages that way,” the director says.

“Skip the lifts, don’t let them pop up like they did in Japan,” Lee Sooman clears out for them, “just take those positions at the end of [Can’t Stop] and do the remix right after.”

“That sounds better,” Maria agrees from the stage.

“Can we do that?” Lee Sooman asks the director who answers that they will do that on the first concert. The girls say they will remember that. “On the rest, I like how the list turned out. The songs are sorted well.”

“You only say that because it was unclear two days ago,” Emelia jokes with him and Lee Sooman actually laughs, surprising Quentin as he thought Lee Sooman was this evil chairman who only wants money. That is what is being said on the internet.

The rehearsals are wrapped up, and Manager Park nods for Quentin that they will greet Lee Sooman now, meeting the chairman halfway on his way to leave. Lee Sooman reaches out a hand and smiles when seeing the British man.

“It’s very nice to meet you, I’m Quentin Pelham,” Quentin greets him with a good handshake and says where he is from.

“We are very happy to have you here,” Lee Sooman greets him back in English. “And I hope your short stay will be worth it.”

“Oh, I’m sure it will; I am already deeply impressed with what I have seen.”

Lee Sooman smiles widely. They share polite phrases with each other before the chairman has to go, promising to answer some questions later though. Manager Park says they have to go backstage too, to go wait in a room to when they will officially meet 5 Pieces. But when passing the stage, someone calls for the manager and when Quentin looks up it is one of the blonde goddesses from 5 Pieces coming over to them on the stage. She looks like a model, tall and slim with long blonde hair put up in a pony-tail and she looks really fashionable in a plain t-shirt and colourful jeans. It’s Maria, he recognizes her from the videos and pictures.

“Hi,” she smiles at Quentin, and surely, he is in some kind of heaven when having this young woman look down at him.

“Maria, this is Quentin Pelham, the journalist from Britain,” Manager Park introduces in English, “and Mr Pelham, this is 5 Pieces’ Maria.”

“Nice to meet you,” Maria reaches out her hand when squatting down on the stage to reach down to him, her smile is glowing. “I’m the Captain of the team, so if you want anything, come to me and I’ll fix it.”

“It’s very nice to meet you too, and I really liked your rehearsal,” Quentin is surely impressed.

“Ha-ha, then you should look forward to the actual concert,” Maria laughs and winks at him. That was something he didn’t expect. “Did you have a pleasant flight? It was long, wasn’t it?”

This young woman is charming; she knows how to ask him the questions to create a casual and natural conversation, and Quentin is suddenly very relaxed to be here. She has welcomed him by taking the first step, shaking his hand and introducing herself – that is how you do in business to make people take attention to you – and on top of that she has winked at him; Maria knows how to charm a stranger. And she is just 21 years old? He is deeply impressed. How could SM Entertainment find this woman?

But now, he really wants to meet the other four members of 5 Pieces. This was the leader, the “Captain”, but how is the other members like? With a leader like this, he has his heart up in his throat in excitement to get to meet the others.

 

Maria had been on her way down the stage when she has spotted this super well-dressed handsome British man walk with manager Park, and she knew right away who he was. With the microphone still in one hand, she had hurried over to them, wanting to make a good impression on him and welcome him.

 

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you can't finish the puzzle without one piece - I love that... ^^,

X. devonalias

 

PLUS: Updated INFO CORNER with FUN FACTS =)

http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/514256/4