In her dream she was walking towards a garden, it was her backyard, the one that she grew up on. She inhaled the familiar scent of Lavender and Vanilla, mixed with some wild flowers and trees. It could be a relaxing sight for anyone – green everywhere, roses and tress all around, making a round field in the center – but for her, it wasn’t. As she walked the familiar path, well alert on her surroundings, her senses sharpened, just like they do when you’re having an adrenaline rush.

Just as she passed some wood stall at her right, she heard a low and urgent swift sound, the wind breaking as the metal bar approached her. She turned around and caught it on her right hand, glaring at nothing in front of her. It was always like this, she remembered, how could she expect anything different?

“Quite faster you’ve gotten,” A male voice said, she glared and turned around, following the steps that approached her, “But not enough!” The man said again and jumped on her. She gasped as the air escaped her lungs, screaming for oxygen, she hit the floor and her head hit some rocks on the area. Slowly, she opened her eyes, well used to those nightmares.

She glanced around, she was alone in her new room; Dara had done well asking for separates suites, one next to the other, connected by a door on their living’s rooms. She stood from her bed, still a queen size, but it was no longer white and gold, it was all black and silver, the sheets where black with lines of silver and spirals decorations with the same bright color. She took a deep breath and stirred, walking towards her bathroom.

Chaerin finished quickly getting ready and walked towards the double door that separated her and Dara’s suite. As she opened them, she saw that Dara was at her living room, relaxed on the couch and talking to a man, a man she recognizes as Lee Kikwang, also a member of CNS – Cube Night Shadows – their company. Chaerin glared and walked next to Dara’s couch, her 6 inch stilettos making noise as she walked on the marbled floor.

“Good Morning CL, finally you illuminate us with your presence.” Kikwang said standing up, Chaerin just scoffed and glared, crossing her arms on her chest, her black casual dress corrugating just a slight bit as she did.

“What are you doing here?” She asked with a menacing tone, Kikwang, however, didn’t seemed bother by her harshness and sat back again.

“Aw you know, just a routine visit, as always.” He said crossing his left leg over his right. She glared and cooked her head, faking a confused expression.

“Apparently ‘never’ is your routine.” She said but Kikwang ignored her and handed Dara a black folder he had been holding. Dara smiled and grabbed it, opening it carefully, Chaerin eyeing her as she did. As soon as she opened it, she took out a small black card with golden spirals and letters. Dara frowned and looked at him, the card on her hand.

“What’s this?” She said, waving the card.

“An invitation, of course,” Kikwang said amused. Chaerin frowned and sat on the arm of the sofa, looking at the card.

“We didn’t come here to make public relationships.” She said, Kikwang smiled and nodded slightly.

“Of course you did, how do you think you’ll be able to approach Hyunsuk with just visiting him at his office? You need to incorporate, to know everybody, to make everyone love you as much as trusting in you, both of you.” He said. Both Dara and Chaerin frowned, evident disgust on their faces. “It will be fun girls; don’t be so gloomy about it.” Kikwang finally said.

“Alright then, we will go. Don’t get all ed up in your minds about the ‘involving’ thing.” Chaerin said, walking towards the front door, Dara looked amused while Kikwang looked mad.

“Where are you going?” Kikwang said, his voice annoyed, Chaerin just opened the door and walked out, hearing Dara tell him she was going to ‘work’.

Chaerin decided it was time to go on her own to the company, so she got on her black Bentley and drove towards the center of Seoul, playing random music loud on her radio.

As she passed the front guard and through the entrance of the underground parking, she forced the steering wheel to the side, hitting the brakes as she saw a white Bentley almost crashing with hers. She frowned and stared as the owner of the car got out, and for her vicious luck, it was none other than that Jiyong. She puffed her cheeks and got out of the car, trying to look worried.

“Oh my God, are you alright? I’m so sorry!” She said walking towards the front of their cars. Jiyong looked at her annoyed but then relaxed, just a slight bit so she could see he was alright.

“Yes, I’m fine, how about you?” He asked, genuinely worried. She smiled and nodded, scratching her elbow.

“I’m fine, just a bit shocked, that’s all.” She said. He scoffed and walked towards the front of their cars, noticing there was no damage made to both cars.

“I guess we’re lucky.” He said. She scoffed mentally and glared just a bit, lucky for him she had such a good eye sight and was able to make the maneuver, or he would be working his off for at least twenty years to buy another car, she thought.

“I guess we are… Mr. Jiyong, I want to talk to you, if we can.” She said, faking a cute and worried voice. He widened his eyes a slight bit and then returned to his normal, cold look on his face.

“What about?” He said. She shrugged and looked to the said, holding her left elbow with her hand.

“I just thought we could start all over again… We didn’t start on good terms, and I think we both have the potential to at least be civil around each other.” She said. By the corner of her eye she saw him considering the options, then scoffed and relaxed his stance, looking quite handsome not wearing that defensive mask.

“I’m Kwon Jiyong, nice to meet you.” He said extending his hand towards her. She turned to look at him, quite impressed he even considered it. She finally took a good look at him, he look quite fashion and elegant, wearing a black coat over a white buttoned shirt and a black tie. Hi was wearing black leather pants,  and his high boots laced up, his hair brushed to the side, showing the slight shaved area close to his ears. He was wearing some Ray-Ban black sunglasses, but she could see he was bared face. His ears full of piercings and his fingers with a few rings on them.

She extended his hand and shook his, smiling widely. “I’m Lee Chaerin, it’s a pleasure” She said. She saw that under his sunglasses he eyed her. But of course he will, she dressed up intending to do just this, impress him. She wore one black casual dress, tight on her waist with a black leather belt. It was quite revealing, but at the same time conservative. She wore silver accessories, enough to make her look pretty but not so much to make her look like she tried too hard, just a silver bracelet on one hand and a pair of earrings, her necklace was one of her own collection, a simple pearl charm on it. Her black stilettos never forgotten, she was short and she didn’t love it that much.

“Well Lee Chaerin, I got to go, I’m late for work, see you around.” He said, now walking towards his car. Chaerin smiled and turned around, walking towards her and turning on the engine, driving towards an empty spot not too far from the incident area. She chuckled lightly looking at herself on the rear mirror. Her signature eyeliner making her eyes look feline, her pale lipstick making her look feminine and casual. She smiled widely, checking her teeth, then got out of the car, expecting – for some weird reason – to see the white Bentley near hers, she saw nothing, shrugged off the thought, and walked towards the elevator, praying no one will be there, and she was glad her prayers were heard the moment the doors opened.

As she walked out of the elevator at the 3^rd floor, she heard the guitars chords again, but this time, it wasn’t the relaxing and expert sound she heard the day before, this time the chords sounded hard, forced and clumsy, she smiled thinking it couldn’t be Jiyong playing, his hand told the world how great he played the guitar. She walked towards the now truly familiar hallway and reached Jiyong’s studio’s door, curious wonder on her eyes as she poked her head on the door. It was kind of full, compared to the other days she’d been here. There were at least 4 or 5 persons in it, all male. She walked in, recognizing Hyunsuk and TOP immediately. They were both standing next to each other in front of the computer and talking to someone she couldn’t recognize.

On the couch there were the two other men filling the room, she could only see their backs, but something seemed wrong about one. He had black hair, short on the back and long in the front, he was wearing a black shirt and jeans, nothing too flamboyant, the one next to him had some kind of Mohawk, he was dressed more hip-hop-ish than the one with the guitar on his hands playing the clumsy chords. Her breath caught in the moment she saw their reflection on the mirrors, she tried to think it was just an illusion, her mind playing tricks on her.

Just as she was almost out of breath, a person walked in behind her, almost bumping on her. He looked at her and smiled, it was Jiyong. She smiled weakly back, his eyes tender, loving, such a strange sight to her, or maybe she imagined that too. “And we crash again, you’re dangerous.” He said with a tone of joke on his voice. She gulped and nodded, afraid of talking.

“Y-You’re the one who almost hit me, both times.” She said, stuttering a bit. He laughed silently and walked towards the room, the guys in it looking at him, and to Chaerin’s regret, Hyunsuk saw her and smiled widely.

“Oh Miss Lee, so glad you can join us, come in!” He said gesturing her to join them. She was going to deny it, say she didn’t want to bother them in their small reunion, but before she could do it, all the guys in the room look at her, TOP smiling as he recognized who she was, waving a bit with his right hand. Jiyong was smiling weakly as he sat on the wheel chair in front of the computer system. The guy talking to both Hyunsuk and TOP looked at her, smiling as he saw her, his eyes closed as he did. The two on the chair looked at her, the one with the Mohawk smiled slightly and nodded, while the one next to her widened his eyes as he saw her. In that moment, her heart stopped, her lungs stopped, everything stopped on her, killing her for a few seconds before she could hear them talking to her.

It was all a blur, noises of voices mumbling, she felt her hands sweating, her hair a bit dampened at the back of her neck. She looked at Jiyong who raised his eyebrows at her. She smiled and coughed a bit, clearing the slump on and bowed, greeting them.

“Chaerin I want you to meet my boys, Big Bang. You already know Jiyong, this is TOP, Daesung, Youngbae and Seungri.” He said pointing each one of them, but her eyes stopped at ‘Seungri’, he was looking at her with a confused look. “Boys, this is Lee Chaerin from CJ Conglomerate, the daughter of Lee Kwang Hoon, the CEO of the company. She will be working with us, she’s the one I told you about the U.S project, please treat her well.” Hyunsuk said. She smiled and nodded, swallowing the slump of saliva on . How this could catch her by surprise? She mentally slapped herself a thousand times for not making any research on the company or their groups. Of course, he told her he was an idol now, and showed her the picture that now seemed to be alive in front of her, and she, so ignorantly and foolishly forgot that tiny detail that could now tear apart everything in front of her.  

She took a quick glance at Seungri, expecting him to stand up and say everything was a lie, that she wasn’t who they thought she was, but to her surprise, or disappointment, he did the same they all did, bowed and greeted her like he haven’t met her before, like they didn’t shared a past.

“On behalf of my members, I greet you formally and give you a warming welcome Miss Lee, please make yourself at home.” Jiyong said in a foreign polite manner to her, smiling widely, welcoming, like he was some other person rather than the one who was almost going to break a guitar on her head. She smiled and nodded again, unable to speak a word.

“Now that you’re here with us, why don’t you make yourself comfortable on the couch next to Youngbae and Seungri so you can see what my boys can do?” Hyunsuk said gesturing her to sit. She wanted to refuse, to run away in shame, but Youngbae already moved closer to Seungri, giving her a wide space next to him on the sofa. She smiled and walked towards the sofa, her stilettos silent by her careful steps. She sat down, smiling and bowing slightly.

“Thank you.” She spoke. Youngbae smiled, his eyes closed, or small, she forgot some Koreans have small eyes, and nodded. She looked around, avoiding Seungri, avoiding making eye contact with him. She saw each and one of them, smiling at her like fools, but she smiled back, being polite. Next to her, a voice rose up, making her jump a little by his grave and sudden voice.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Lee Chaerin.” Seungri said, almost spitting the word ‘meet’ on her face. She looked at him, his face was composed, calm, but his eyes were filled with anger, confusion and almost disgust. She knew too well how good he was to fake feelings, to reprimand disgust and show a polite face. She gulped and nodded, not taking her eyes off his.

“Indeed, Mr. Seungri, it’s a pleasure.” She said. He smiled crookedly and nodded.

“I feel like I’ve seen you before, can’t you feel the same?” He asked, again, his voice seemed honest, but his eyes where ironic and daring, she could tell. But before she could answer, Jiyong cleared his throat and talked, interrupting her thoughts.

“I believe you’ve seen her, like all of us, probably on T.V or something, she’s a Chaebol daughter, of course she must be famous.” Jiyong said. She looked at him and saw his eyes staring at Seungri, almost talking.

“Yes, probably,” Seungri said, resting his back on the couch, finally dropping the topic. Chaerin inhaled and closed her eyes, so fast nobody could have noticed her sight of relief. She was careless, it was a bad move, and now, it was probably best if she could be reassigned another job, it was time to call it quits, she could be uncovered, everything could go to waste. It was a bad situation, she knew.