In this reception hall, I feel out of place. The party gowns, the Champagne glasses, the food, everyone smiling at each others like we're all best friends...

That's not me. For several reasons. First, I just arrived here. Where is "Here"?

Here is Seoul, South Korea. Here is also here, this company, this reception hall. I just arrived here. I couldn't find a job back in France, at least not the job I wanted, and I got offered a job in the marketing department at one of the major beer companies in Korea. 

My parents- my adoptive parents, I mean, weren't too happy with my decision. They thought I was going back to my country, trying to forget about France, about them. But it's not the case. It's not about forgetting anything... More like grabbing an opportunity to get a good job while learning a bit more about myself, about where I am from.

So here I am, celebrating the fact that my new company got some of the most famous singers out there to promote our beer during holidays.
The reason why I feel out of place isn't because I don't like this job, or because it's not my thing. But I'm not a socialite and parties are not my thing.

"ie, who joined the company last month, will assist Lee Min Ji on this project.", I hear our boss say, so I suddenly have to pay more attention. I didn't even know I would have a specific role on this project. "ie will be in charge of studying both our usual consumers and Infinite's fanbase to propose concepts that would both appeal to our usual consumers, and attract new consumers through Infinite's popularity. 
Now, let's welcome our new models, the members of Infinite!"

I said I was Korean, not that I knew everything about Korea. Especially, I do not know who Infinite are. Other than they're a group, that they sing K-Pop and that they are guys. Oh, and right now as they're standing on stage, there's an other thing I'm learning: their members are handsome. Really very handsome.

******************** 

"Hyung, why are we even coming here ? I mean I know it's a big contract for us and all that, but we usually don't go to the company celebrations even when it's companies we have contracts with", I hear Myungsoo ask our manager. 

"Because", manager-hyung answers, "they pay us more than most of the other companies you model for. Secondly, because we know there are always a lot of media at this yearly event of theirs, and we are always happy to get some publicity. But the main reason is to proove you're ready to make yourselves available for this project. Oriental Brewery is investing a lot of money and time in this. They'll also organize a showcase and a fanmeeting for you guys. But in exchange they asked us to cooperate with one of their employees who'll observe us and your fans for a while, to create a concept that fits both their image, yours, and you fans' expectations. Being here today is a way to say, "Thank you for choosing us, we're happy to work with you".

When we hear a knock at our door, we know it's time for us to introduce ourselves. I'm never really at ease when Infinite appears in front of people who aren't fans of us. I never know how they'll react, and of course as celebrities our main goal is getting people to love and support us. In those formal events, I feel like I don't belong there. But we're all together, all seven of us and I know it'll be alright. 

"Just man up, Hoya. They chose you, so they like you" I think to myself. 
Right when I get up on stage, my eyes land on a cute girl, with a pink-and-black party dress and who's looking at us like she's not believing what she's seeing. Why does she look like that? She looks... interesting!