{Chapter 10}

Livia took a deep breath and looked up at the building again, hoping she was at the right building. It was illogical, since if she was about to walk into the wrong one, she knew that the producers would set her straight before she tried to go in, but it had become a habit for her to check buildings multiple times, since, despite being a city-loving girl, she got easily lost, and had never truly gotten used to addresses in the city, and was known in her family for making several mistakes before actually finding the place she was looking for.

She took another breath, moved the paper bag she was carrying to the other hand, and opened the door. A small part of her was annoyed that the small production crew following her didn’t help, but she also understood that they wanted to be as invisible as possible. But right now, she probably could have used a little more support—from anyone.

She walked into the building timidly, looking desperately for a familiar face. Instead, she was faced with a small reception room, with a couple of desks, behind one of which a woman, older than Livia but not yet middle-aged, sat, typing away at her computer.

Without looking up from what she was doing, the woman said, “I’ll be with you in a minute.” She didn’t offer any other indication to Livia about what to do, so Livia stood still, glancing around like she was generally curious about where she was.

It was smaller than Livia had expected, but it wasn’t tiny. It didn’t really look like a place Livia was supposed to be, but if Livia had learned one thing while moving to and living in Seoul, it was that appearances could be deciving. Restaurants that looked shady turn out to be the best, most underrated places to eat, office buildings that seems quite professional turn out to be anything but on the inside, and so on.

“I’m going to assume that you’re Livia?” the secretary suddenly asked, taking Livia out of her thoughts.

“Huh? Oh. Yeah,” Livia recovered quickly.

“Follow me,” the secretary said with a small smile, both towards Livia and the cameras following her.

Livia did as she was told, and the secretary continued talking as they walked down a hall. “I’m only going to show you where the elevators are and tell you which floor to go to, but I don’t usually actually show people around, so…”

You’re only doing this for the cameras, then, Livia thought to herself with a smile. She didn’t blame the secretary exactly. The woman worked so closely with the entertainment industry, that the want to be in front of a camera must be horribly strong. If she had been in her place, Livia realized, she’d probably be doing the same thing.

As promised, the secretary led her to the elevators, told her what floor to go to, then left Livia to her own devices—and thoughts.

Inside the elevator, Livia took several deep breaths. It had already been one of those days where she regretted ever getting out of bed, but when a Korean variety show comes knocking on your door, you have no choice but to answer.

At least if you wanted your career to last longer than a few weeks.

Once the doors opened, Livia stepped off the elevator and instantly knew what room she was supposed to head towards. Down the hall a little ways from the elevator the door to a room was cracked open and music, light hip-hop, from the sound of it, was drifting out of it.

Trying to keep the large paper bag she was still lugging with her from making too much noise, Livia walked cautiously to the door and peered inside. It was, as she had expected, a recording studio. It was smaller than the one she used at her company, but it had all the fixings. She didn’t know where to look first.

A voice suddenly cut through the music, a rap that played with and danced in between the beats. Livia didn’t need to look through the window into the recording booth to know that it was Day Day. The rhythm was his. Admittedly, she hadn’t listened to Dalmatian’s songs too much, but that was more because she hadn’t had the time rather than a lack of interest.

She watched Day Day for a few seconds. tHere was something about watching an artist at work that inspired her. It was something Livia believed everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime; seeing the creativity of someone’s soul being poured out in the few moments they were at work.

Movement suddenly caught her eye and she looked immediately in front of her. Two men were sitting in chairs in front of the sound board; and one of them was looking at her.

He stood and began walking towards her, and Livia could feel a new wave of fear enveloping her.

She wasn’t afraid of her hurting her or anything (there were too many cameras around), but she had no idea who he was, and she didn’t really want to be told off, even for just being in the wrong spot.

The man stopped in front of her and leaned down to ask quietly, “Are you Livia?”

Livia nodded shyly. She could hear the smile in his voice, so she figured she wasn’t in too much trouble, but he obviously carried some importance.

“Jisu!” the man called over his shoulder. The other man in the studio turned around to the sound of his name, and Livia recognized him as a member of Dalmatian. One of the vocalists. “Can you help Livia? She’s here to bring Day Day food.” He finished with a smile back at Livia, and she realized that he must have some major authority to know about her mission.

“Yeah, of course,” Jisu said, scrambling to his feet and rushing over to the door. He took the bag from Livia, despite her protests. It was heavy, but she had gotten used to the burden during the trip.

Jisu, however, refused to give her back he bag, and instead squeezed past her and out into the hallway. “Follow me,” he said. “We’ll take this to the lounge down the hall,” he told both Livia and the man behind her.

“I’ll stay here with Day Day,” the man told Livia. “If both Jisu and I disappeared, he would be suspicious.”

“Follow me,” Jisu said quietly, nudging her a little.

They walked back towards the elevator, then a little past, and into a surprisingly empty room. Jisu had called it a “lounge,” but the only thing that could warrant it that name was the presence of two old couches up against separate walls. There was a folding table in the middle of the room, and that was where Jisu finally set the bag down and began rummaging through the contents.

Livia began helping. She had made all the food last night and this morning, and everything had been meticulously portioned, labeled, and placed in Tupperware, so she felt a certain amount of pride as she began setting things up. It truly felt like she was making a meal for her husband.

“What is this?” jisu asked, opening a Tupperware container himself.

“Garlic mashed potatoes,” Livia answered, her stomach growling appreciatively.

The mission had been to make Day Day a meal and deliver it, and Livia had wanted to give her husband a taste of her hometown, so she had prepared meals that she had had living in Germany, and then again in America thanks to a German mother. She had also adopted the German hospitality mindset, so she had made enough food for not only Day Day, but his band and some extra people if they happened to stop by.

“And this?” Jisu asked, opening another container.

“Roasted chicken with garlic and lemon,” Livia answered. “And this,” she said, opening a container for herself, “Is creamed spinach, which you eat with…this bread.” Livia bulled out a couple of bags of bread she had bought and baked.

Jisu looked at the containers already on the table and asked, “Is this food from where you’re from?”

Livia nodded. “Yep. From Germany.”

“Cool…” Jisu sighed.

Livia smiled lightly. She loved hearing praise for her home country. “You get some too; I made enough.”

“You sure?” Day Day’s voice suddenly came from the doorway, making Jisu jump, much to Livia’s amusement.

The rapper walked over to the table, followed by the man Livia had met earlier, and looked at what was set out. Looking up at Livia, he asked, “Did you make all of this yourself?”

Livia nodded. “They’re my mom’s recipes, but I made them. Don’t worry, I’ve been eating this stuff my whole life, I know it’s good.”

“It looks good,” Day Day told her, still looking over the table.

“Do we get dessert, too?” Daniel asked, joining the group.

“Daniel,” the man from the studio scolded under his breath, but Livia could also tell that he was slightly amused. Livia decided that he must be one of their managers.

“Oh, it’s fine,” Livia said, reaching into the bag to pull out one last container. “For dessert: German shortbread and chocolate fondue. Well, because I didn’t have enough room for the fondue set, it’ll really only be melted chocolate.” Livia smiled sheepishly, and Day Day laughed. From then on, the little dinner party seemed less awkward, and once Inati and Youngwon had arrived, everyone set in on the food.

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