“Can’t I come?” her best friend asked and Rochelle glanced up from her bag. “I want to go to Music Bank too.”

“As much as I’d love to take you Kate, it’s my first night. I’m only going myself to get a feel for the atmosphere and Min-Gi is going to interview a few groups. You’d just get in the way,” she told the younger girl and the red head pouted dramatically.

“I wanted to see the performances with you. We haven’t really gotten into the music scene here yet.”

“Lies, I know how much time you spent between school work and watching the music channels this year Kate,” she pointed out and the girl grinned sheepishly. It was weird that despite their three year that they were able to get along so well. “I promised your Mum when she agreed to let you come with us that you’d remain dedicated to your studies, not eyeing up all the Asian boys on telly.”

“How am I abandoning my studies? I have a B-plus average Chelle. Besides, maybe you should watch them too, might get a feel for your new role.”

Rochelle chucked her voice recorder into her bag and then slung it over her shoulder. She looked at her simple black tunic top and dark jeans in the mirror, patting her loosely curled brown locks down and giving her reflection a small satisfied smile. Rochelle then glanced back at Kate. “Sorry hun, but I’ve gotta go. Min-Gi will be picking me up so-- well right now,” she mentioned, as she heard a knock on the front door to their apartment. “Love you, I’ll see you later.”

“You better think of me!” Kate called as Rochelle rushed towards the door, opening it for her co-worker. Min-Gi smiled brightly.

“You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” she stated with a nod. “See you Kate!”

“Okay so let me brief you,” Min-Gi started as they headed towards the elevator. They stepped inside and Rochelle reached to hit the ground button. “We’re going to be there for the rehearsal of 2NE1, and SHINee. We’ll watch both performances and interview both groups. Then we’ll hang around for the official performances before leaving. You got all that?”

“Yep, and what do you want me to do?” she wondered, glancing up at her new tutor. “Take notes; add to the interviews in any way that may help?”

Min-Gi smiled. “Use your initiative. Obviously I’ll be running it, but you could always run questions by me if they crop up.”

“Okay, thanks,” she said and Min-Gi smiled, stepping out of the elevator as the doors opened.

“Taesung was right about you. I was worried about being able to hold a conversation with you in Korean.”

Rochelle blushed lightly. “I hadn’t even realised I wasn’t speaking English then.”

“It’s becoming comfortable to you then.”

“I guess so.”

Min-Gi led Rochelle out to a car and opened the door for her to get in, scooting in after the brunette. “You nervous?”

“Not yet.”

“You will be,” Min-Gi told her, smirking lightly and Rochelle frowned.

“I’m not normally too bad when it comes to meeting people for my interviews. It’s when I can’t control the outcome that I become anxious,” she responded but Min-Gi merely shook her head.

“I don’t think you’re ready for the culture to hit you full force, Kiwi,” she called her by her new nickname and Rochelle chewed on her lip, wondering what she meant.

They had been at Music Bank for an hour now, and had just completed their interview with 2NE1, who had performed their song Fire before it. The interview had proven more difficult than she thought it would be, Rochelle had found it hard to keep up with their fast language and only got the gist of most things. Min-Gi was right, she would struggle more than she had set out to believe. It made her extremely nervous as they sat down to watch SHINee get ready to do their song Juliette.

“Okay,” Min-Gi said as five boys got positioned on the stage in front of them. “This is SHINee. From left to right it’s Onew, Taemin, Jonghyun, Minho and Key. They are the biggest thing in Korea right now. Everything they do is golden. This is the group Taesung had in mind for you to work with.”

“You’re joking right?!” she cried, glancing up at the boys waiting for the music to start up and then back at her co-worker. “Is he insane?!”

“Well he thinks your age will relate more to the boys.”

“But I’m so inexperienced compared to you!”

Min-Gi smiled. “Rochelle, you won’t ever be on your own. Not unless you request it. You’ll be fine.”

“You just worked me up earlier about getting nervous and now you’re telling I’m going to be fine in front of these guys?!” she reacted, pointing at the stage where the boys had begun their rehearsal. She paused for a moment, taking in the choreography and smiled.

Min-Gi nudged her gently. “They’re really good huh?”

“Yeah,” she replied, watching the boy in the middle throw himself into his dance moves. Her eyes shifted along the lines, landing on the boy in the blue shirt. He noticed her stare and shot her a wink, Rochelle smiling politely and then turned to Min-Gi. “I don’t know if I can keep my cool for this interview.”

“Rochelle, they’re five really nice guys.”

“I know but you just said they’re really popular.”

Min-Gi sighed. “So maybe I shouldn’t have told you that. At least see how we go in the interview before you decide if you can or cannot do this.”

“Alright,” she agreed, noticing the boys had come to the end of their set. Min-Gi got up and Rochelle followed suit, going back to the interview room backstage and getting ready for SHINee to join them.

They didn’t have to wait long, the boys soon walking into the room and lining up. They nodded their heads in respect.

“Hello, we are the shining SHINee!” they greeted, each raising an arm in sync. Then they sat down and Rochelle smiled weakly at them from beside Min-Gi.

“Hey SHINee, my name is Min-Gi and this is my assistant Rochelle,” the interviewer introduced and Rochelle nodded her head upon her name being mentioned, giving a small wave. “As you can see Rochelle isn’t Korean and she’s new to our music scene. How about you introduce yourselves individually so she can learn who each of you are.”

The one closest to her nodded his head. “I’m the leader, Onew.”

“I am Bling Bling Jonghyun,” the spiky haired one greeted and then looked at the small boy beside him.

He smiled widely and nodded. “I’m the youngest, Taemin.”

“Hello, I’m Flaming Charisma Minho,” came the quiet voice of the tallest of all the boys and the member next to him grinned.

“I’m the Almighty Key.”

“Thanks for that,” Rochelle answered with a shaky voice and then chewed on her lip. The group seemed slightly surprised that she replied in Korean and she couldn’t help but feel satisfied with herself.

“So how does it feel that Juliette has gone straight to number one?” Min-Gi pressed on and Onew smiled.

“We feel very thankful. We have the best fans. We love them, and their support has taken Juliette further than we expected.”

Jonghyun nodded. “We are so glad to be back. Everyone seems to like Juliette.”

“I heard that it was inspired by you watching Romeo and Juliet, Jonghyun?” Min-Gi asked.

“Yes, it feels very special to have written this song and have the members sing it with me. It was not something that has happened to me personally, but I enjoyed the love they shared in the story.”

Min-Gi smiled and moved on to the topic of their new looks. Rochelle could feel herself relaxing into the interview and once it was over, Min-Gi closed her folder and glanced at her expectantly.

“So?”

“I think I could work with them,” she announced and Min-Gi smirked.

“They seemed to really like you, especially Key. He hardly speaks in English at interviews.”

“Wow,” Rochelle mentioned, grabbing her bag and standing up. She smiled at her friend and Min-Gi rolled her eyes.

“Don’t let it get to your head too much, you’ve still got a long way to go Rochelle.”

They shared a laugh and headed for the exit, Rochelle feeling excited for the actual performance later that night. But for now she was happy once again, feeling some hope within herself grow at the thought of spending her summer with the five superstars. 

__________

Anyone interested?