Chapter 2: Irie’s POV

2works, I soon learned, was not an entertainment company like I thought it was for all these years. It's actually a private marketing company with certain divisions within it that dealt specifically with talent and entertainment. Currently, the company only has one artist signed to them and once I saw who, I knew why my company was contacted to plan this event.  

DMTN, formerly known as Dalmatian, is a five-member boy-band that made their long awaited comeback earlier this week. Tonight, they’re celebrating the release of their first full-length album at one of the trendiest clubs in Gangnam with an impressive guest list including Beast, Infinite, Ailee, San-E, and NS Yoon G. 

It was just past three in the afternoon when I arrived at the venue, and as I was walking in, I was bracing myself for chaos. If there's one thing that I learned very early on in my career is that in the world of event planning, no matter how hard you try, nothing ever goes as originally planned. So when I saw that the decorating was finished, even through the event wasn't going to start for another four hours, I already had a feeling that this event was going to be a success.

And it didn't just stop with there. It appeared that the staff also took care of setting up the bar, in addition to preparing and configuring the tables and booths by cleaning and putting out the proper linens and centerpieces. And within ten minutes after my arrival, the caterers came with all of the food that was going to be served tonight along with its necessary tableware. The only thing that wasn't finished yet is the stage that's going to be used for the group's performance set tonight. But from what it looked like, the AV technicians were almost done setting it up.

Now if only the rest of my team were here, then everything would be perfect. 

“Irie!” a loud voice rang out throughout the empty club.

There were still a couple of hours until the event started. I was busy on my phone, replying to a few important emails that I still had in my inbox relating to next week’s Calvin Klein event. I wanted to get those out of the way while it was still quiet because I knew that if I didn't reply to those emails now, I'd be thinking about them for the rest of the night.  

“Irie!” the same voice exclaimed.

When I looked up, I could make out the figure approaching my table but because the lighting was so dim, I couldn't see his face. 

“Irie Chae! Get over here!” the person then exclaimed in English. 

Once he started speaking English, it became obvious who it was. It was none other than my cousin Daniel, who's one of tonight's guests of honor. I was expecting him to arrive sometime soon, but not this soon. 

“How have you been girl?” he asked as he grabbed me in a tight hug. “I haven’t seen you in forever.”

Daniel and I grew up together. We lived in the same city, so our families saw each other often and with only an eight-month age difference between us, we used to do everything together. But by the time we hit our teenage years, Daniel and I pretty much stopped hanging out with each other. Most of it was due to the fact that we had fallen into different crowds by middle school. Daniel was more focused on music and hanging out with his friends, while I chose to stay in on most nights and study. Then the summer after my sophomore year in high school, Daniel moved to Korea to train. It wasn't until three years ago, when I moved to Korea for work, that we reconnected with each other. He was the one who actually reached out to me first and since then, we've been closer than ever. 

“I know,” I agreed as I wrapped my arms around him. “I haven't seen you since Christmas.”

“It's been that long? Wow,” he said. “Well, how have you been?”

“I’ve been doing pretty well. How about you?” I asked.  

“Honestly, I’m really happy,” he answered.

“I bet,” I nodded in understanding.

After his scandal back in 2013, Daniel’s activities were put on hold for almost a year to give him time to reflect on his actions while the other members were out promoting as a four member group. During that time I hung out with Daniel a lot, keeping him company while the other members were out and day after day, I saw how devastated he was over the fact that he wasn’t on stage. Now that he's finally able to go up there and perform with his brothers again, I can’t even begin to imagine how happy he must be.

“Well, we’re all really excited for the party tonight. You did an incredible job with the place by the way,” Daniel remarked.

“It wasn’t all me, but thank you,” I chuckled.  

“And thank you Irie. For everything,” he said sincerely, grabbing me in another hug.

“You’re welcome Danny,” I smiled as I patted his back.

“Come on,” he then said after he let me go. “I want to introduce you to all of the members.”