Chapter One

Dong Na-Young walked into the YG building like she did every Thursday. But today was a little different. Today was a Wednesday. Every Thursday for the past year she had gone to visit her brother Yongbae, better known as Taeyang for most of South Korea. But today, YG wanted to meet her to talk about ‘the future.’ That’s how he had worded it in the e-mail he had sent her two days ago.

She walked up to the front desk and wrote her name on the appointment list. Usually she just grabbed a visitor’s pass and walked up to the studios, but as she had thought many times this morning, today was different.

“Hey Na-Young.” The receptionist said.

“Hello.” She replied politely.

“You can go on up. He’s ready for you.” Na-Young gave a quick bow to her before she walked towards the elevator, and took it up to his office. She stood in front of the office door and stared at it. She had met Yang Hyun-Suk on numerous occasions, but it had never been in this office. This seemed scarier than just seeing him at events.

“Are you going to go in or just stand here all day?” Na-Young whirled around, almost hitting Teddy in the process.

“I am so sorry!” she exclaimed. Teddy laughed,

“What are you doing up here Na-Young?” he asked. She shrugged,

“I have no idea. Yang Hyun-Suk e-mailed me and told me to be here. To ‘discuss the future’.” She said. Teddy frowned,

“The future?” Na-Young shrugged again.

“I don’t know.” She said. “What are YOU doing here?”

“He said he wanted me here for a meeting he’s having. I guess it’s yours.” The door opened behind them and they both spun around.

“Are you going to come in?” Yang Hyun-Suk asked, looking serious. Teddy and Na-Young looked at each other, then back at him, both nodding their heads politely. They followed behind him into the office and sat next to each other in chairs in front of his desk.

“The reason why I called you here Na-Young is very simple.” He said. ‘Straight to the point’ she thought, listening to his as he continued. “I have been working on putting together a girl group. A trio. I have a couple of girls lined up, but something is lacking. I want to see other girls so I can have a fresh perspective. I would like you to become a trainee Na-Young.” He finished. Na-Young stared at him without saying a word, genuinely confused.

“Excuse me…what?” she asked, forgetting to use formal language. Yang Hyun-Suk chuckled,

“I would like you to be a trainee here at YG.” He repeated. Na-Young looked at Teddy,

“So I did here him correctly?” she asked. Teddy nodded, looking just as surprised as she was.

“What do you say?” Yang Hyun-Suk asked. Na-Young looked back at him and took a deep breath, trying to think through her options. Being who she was, she loved to dance, she loved to rap, and she was good at it. But she had never thought she would be able to do so on her brothers’ level. She thought it was unattainable, so she had never tried. But was this what she wanted? Now that she was being given the opportunity, would she want to take it?

She looked back at Teddy, who was leaning back in his chair waiting to hear her answer.  She looked back at Yang Hyun-Suk and bit her lip, nervously nodding her head.

“Okay.” She said simply. Yang Hyun-Suk smiled and pulled out a file folder, handing it to her across the desk.

“This is a copy of our standard trainee contract. Your parents should be familiar with it. Have them look it over and we can all sign everything tomorrow morning.” He said. Na-Young gently took the folder from him and nodded her head gingerly. Yang Hyun-Suk nodded his head in return and then turned to look at Teddy. “I want you to make preparations for the girl trainees; new songs and new dances. I want them to have them down in a week. We will evaluate on the last day and pick the appropriate candidates for the new group.” He said. Teddy glanced at Na-Young,

“Her too?” he asked. Yang Hyun-Suk smiled,

“She wouldn’t be here it I didn’t think she could do it.”

Na-Young brought the topic up slowly to her parents, breaking the news gently. She knew they would be excited for her, but they would also have questions that she knew she didn’t have the answers to. They would want to know when she had decided that this was something she wanted to do. When she finally brought it up, her mom was the first to accept it, saying if this was something she really wanted to do, they would support her. Her dad was harder to sell, but together with her mom, they got him to agree.

 

After meeting Yang Hyun-Suk with her mom and signing all the appropriate papers, it was decided that she would start learning the music with Teddy tonight after dinner and learn the choreography tomorrow. After today she would start training with the rest of the trainees in a different building. Trainees didn’t get to work in the main office. She knew she was lucky that it was Thursday today and she was here visiting her brother. She stretched her arms over her head and yawned, the bottom of her sweatshirt riding up, letting a sliver of flesh show.

“Hey, hey, hey, we wear modest clothes here!” Na-Young smiled and turned around just in time for Jiyong to crash into her, giving her a quick hug, her brother coming up behind them.

“Hey guys.” She said.

“What are you doing here so early? Usually you come by for late lunch of dinner.” Jiyong said. Na-Young hesitated and glanced at Yongbae.

“What?” he asked.

“Mom and I were having a meeting with Yang Hyun-Suk.” She answered. Jiyong raised an eyebrow questioningly,

“Why?” he asked curiously. Na-Young smiled,

“He wants me to be a trainee here.” She stated. Jiyong’s eyes widened,

“Really?!” he exclaimed, grinning. Na-Young nodded in reply. Jiyong rushed forward and gave her another hug. She laughed, but her eyes were focused more on her brother who stood still with his hands in his pockets. His expression hadn’t changed at all. Na-Young pulled away from Jiyong.

“Yongbae?” she asked. He glanced away, if anything, he looked angry.

“Yah! Yongbae!” Jiyong said, grabbing his shoulder and giving him a shake. Yongbae glanced back at Na-Young,

“You’ve never expressed wanting to be a trainee before.” He said. Na-Young frowned,

“What?” she asked.

“I don’t think it’s such a good idea.” He said, “You’ve never wanted this before. This wont be just fun and games. It’s something you’ve got to take seriously.”

“Yongbae.” Jiyong warned. Yongbae waved him off.

“Have you already signed a contract?” he asked. Na-Young glanced at Jiyong and nodded slowly. Yongbae shook his head, “You should have talked to me first!” he exclaimed.

“I talked to mom and dad. They support me, why can’t you?” she asked, feeling frustrated.

“Because I didn’t want this life for you!” he shouted, his hands finally coming out of his pockets.

“What?” Na-Young said, “You’re the only one good enough in our family to do well in this business?” she asked, folding her arms over her chest. Jiyong stepped in between them,

“That’s not what he meant.” He said. Na-Young shook her head,

“Stop defending him Ji. You do it all the time.” She said, looking down at the floor.

“Na-Young, Just go home.” Yongbae said. Na-young looked up at Yongbae and Jiyong could see the tears building up in her eyes. She bit her lip and closed her eyes trying to control her feelings. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes.

“I’m doing this Yongbae, with our without your support. And I’m not letting anyone around me get me down. So until you change your mind about this…you aren’t my brother.” She said, turning around and walking down the hall towards the elevator.  Jiyong looked at Yongbae who was focusing on the wall in front of him like it was the most important thing.

“What was all that about?” Jiyong asked. Yongbae shook his head.

“Not ready to talk about it Ji.” He said. Jiyong grabbed his shoulders and made Yongbae face him,

“If you’re not careful, you’re going to loose her. She came here to tell you something exciting and you turned it into something completely different. You know she can sing, you know she loves to dance. So why would you assume that she didn’t want this?” he asked. Yongbae gently pushed Jiyong away from him,

“This life Ji, it’s not for her. It’s going to be hard, and it’s going to be long, and it’s going to be lonely.” He said.

“It’s not gonna be lonely for her. She’s got you, her older brother. She’s got our entire group, she knows all the staff and they all love her. If anything, this should be a walk in the park for her.” He said. Yongbae frowned,

“You know that’s not true. Yang Hyun-Suk will be harder on her than any of the other trainees. He’s going to expect more from her. It’s too much pressure.” He said. Jiyong shook his head,

“Then you give her the support and strength to keep pushing forward. She’s going to need you.” He said.

“I can’t do that right now Ji.” He said. Walking away from him before things got even more out of hand then they already were.

 

Na-Young stormed into Teddy’s studio and slammed the door behind her, unaware that Teddy was sitting at his desk. He turned around and gave her a questioning look. She opened to say something but nothing came out. Instead, she began to cry. She sat down on his couch and put her head in her hands. Teddy shot out of his chair and sat next to her, putting his arm around her, rubbing her shoulder to try and comfort her.

“Hey, what happened?” he asked. Na-Young shook her head, letting him know that she didn’t want to talk about it. So Teddy stayed silent and let her cry, patiently waiting. He heard the door open and looked up to see Choi Seunghyun, better known as TOP from Big Bang. He took one look at the scene in front of him and slowly took a seat at the desk chair, watching them carefully. He tried to telepathically ask Teddy what was wrong but Teddy didn’t understand the stares that were coming form the rapper.

Na-Young sniffed and reached up to rub under her eyes before completely looking up and meeting Seunghyun’s eyes. He gave her a small smile, looking more nervous to be in the same room as a crying girl then he usually was on stage. She gave a small chuckle and returned his smile with a small wave.

“Are you okay?” Teddy asked. Na-Young nodded,

“Yeah, sorry. I was just a little frustrated.” She answered.

“By what?” Seunghyun asked, inviting himself into the conversation. Na-Young sighed,

“Yongbae doesn’t want me to be a trainee here. We got into a fight.” She said.

“You’re going to be a trainee here?!” Seunghyun exclaimed. Na-Young nodded.

“Yang Hyun-Suk asked me a couple of days ago. We signed the papers today.” She explained.

“That’s fantastic!” Seunghyun said, getting up and sitting on the other side of her on the couch, “You’ll be great, I know you will!” Teddy nodded in agreement.

 “Don’t think about Yongbae right now. I’m sure he was just surprised. Give him a couple days. He’ll come around.” He said. Na-Young nodded,

 “Maybe.” She said. Seunghyun nudged her with his shoulder,

“If you ever need anything just come to me or Teddy. We’ll definitely help you. We know how everything works around here.” Na-Young nodded again and smiled.

“Thanks guys.” She said quietly. Teddy glanced at his watch.

“How about we go grab a quick bite to eat and then start working on the songs you need to learn?” he asked. Na-Young looked at the clock on the wall and nodded in agreement. The more practice she got, the better she would do during evaluations. She should learn all of the material as soon as possible so she doesn’t fall too far behind.