“I hate first days!!! What should I do…if this continues then I’ll be late on my first day…Uggghhh! I’ll try this” It was so chaotic. There were at least a hundred things on my mind’s to-do list and so little time. The biggest problem was what to wear on my first day as a manager, something not too formal and not too casual that people don’t take me seriously. Finally after emptying the whole of my closet I wore an Indian Kurta and chudidaar. It was a leaf coloured long top reaching beyond my knee with tiny cream colour flower prints on the border and on the sleeves. Under it I wore cream colour tights and a leaf and cream coloured stole across my shoulders. It was sort of formal from Indian point of view but the reason I wore Indian clothes today was that people would notice me (even if they did so because to them I seemed weird).I needed people to notice me so that they would listen to me.

So, I got ready, packed a big box of healthy Indian snacks for “My idols” and headed towards their dorm.

As I reached the entrance of the building, I thought how would I answer the guard when he asks me the purpose of my visit, but to my pleasure and surprise the guard welcomed me and told me to walk straight down the hallway to the lift; the second floor. I did as told and from there I knew which one was SHINee’s flat. I first rang the bell but even after 5 minutes nobody opened the door. Last night JinKi had given me the passcode to the flat in case I ever needed it. I didn’t know that the need would arise so soon.

When I entered the dorm it felt as if even the innate objects were sleeping, there was such deep silence in the dorm. Then I knocked on MinHo’s door thinking that maybe he is a light sleeper which I realised was not the case. Then I knocked on Key’s door. There was no answer but the door was ajar. I entered his room and boy was his room so crowded! There were clothes and accessories everywhere. He slept in a double bunk bed in which the upper bunk was totally dedicated to his clothes and bags. In the lower bunk, Key was wrapped up in the covers like a 5 year old kid. I called out his name, no reaction. I then moved his arm a bit but still no reaction. Then in frustration I said “Ya Kim Kibum ironaseyo!!” (ya Kim Kinbum wake up!)  And then there was eureka! He woke up. I thought he would be flustered seeing me in his room but all he said “goodmorning. What time is it?”

“It is time to wake up and help me wake up your other members… So Key and I raised the alarm in the dorm. He woke up the others while I laid the schedule and my notes on the table in the parlour. Everyone gathered in the parlour half awake. “Good morning guys. You guys had a good sleep I guess, 7 hrs. is a lot! So, here is your schedule, not much but loads of practice time.” All the 5 took each of their copies of the schedule.

“So we have one performance at Music Bank and one interview. Then we have only vocal and dance practice. That is light”, JinKi said this with a smile. It was the first time I had seen these guys in bare face, without a trace of makeup and I must say that there was hardly any difference. Without makeup they Shined and looked even more innocent and I must say that all five of them looked younger than their age. But now I couldn’t waste time at appreciating their beauty; now I had to manage their days. So we discussed how to go about the schedule. They would wash and wear the costumes for the recording from home and then in the green room they would get their makeup done which would also be continued for the interview and then they could change for their practice time.

“How many washrooms are in this flat and who takes the most time to wash?”, Taemin answered that there are 4 washrooms and Key takes the longest. So I ordered that Key, Taemin, Jjong and MinHo should wash up first and as one gets ready then JinKi can wash. Everyone listened to me. Jinki was then helping me clear the papers from the parlour and I set out into the kitchen to make them breakfast. I didn’t open my snack box yet for they were for the time when the guys were hungry in between the schedule. With JinKi’s suggestion I made omelettes and fried rice for the guys. All were then gathered at the dining table wearing their extremely cool outfits for the recording.

As we entered the broadcasting studio, my nervousness increased and my throat dried immediately. Since we had the second performance we had to come early for makeup and the prerecording. We then entered the area of green rooms. Whenever I saw people I greeted them even if I didn’t know who they were; which was the case 90% of the time for I only knew the SM staff that was introduced to me yesterday.

We entered SHINee’s green room which they had to share with Henry. The stylists were there on time just as I had told them. We shared greetings and the stylists began their work on Taem and Key. To the other members I gave them the questions and the probable answers to be given at the interview. I told them to go through it and note down their suggestions or any corrections. I sat down to check on the casting offers for SHINee when Henry and his manager came in. Just like a reflex action I stood up to greet Henry and his manager. “Oh, we met at SM the other day, are you working with them?” Before I could say anything, JinKi stepped in and said with a naughty smile “She is our main manager from today onwards. Aansha will be bossing us around now…” I looked at Henry to see what his reaction would be; he smiled and said “Lucky Hyung! You get a pretty manager and that too an Indian, now there will be no management issue, hunger issue and she will also listen to your suggestions well. I bet she has a lot of patience. Well at least you’ll get to look at a pretty face 24×7, not like me staring blankly at my manager’s football face…”

To be honest, I was bashful hearing all the complements from Henry. “How can you be so sure Henry?” was the question asked by Key who was hearing our conversation attentively even though he was getting his makeup done. “Key, I’m from Canada. There almost all the cities have areas called Mini-India. And where I lived was packed with Indian families plus most of my friends were of Indian origin, so I know some of their traits. You don’t have to worry about a thing if Aansha is going to be your manager. She may have a rocky start but will become your anchor in the future… It is nice to meet you Aansha. “

When JinKi went back to his seat, Henry came close and whispered in my ear,” I’ve put in a good word for you. Hope you’ll treat me with some of the delicious Indian food. Maybe we can become friends too…” He smiled and got busy with his stylist. The whole whispering episode was witnessed by JinKi and by the looks of it, it seemed that something was burning, but, I was loving it.

 Just when I was enjoying all the attention, I got a call. Jack was on the line and he said that there was some problem at the stage. I told the guys to get ready and that I’ll come and check later.

The VCR for SHINee’s song was all wrong. The art director of SM had given us the wrong file and no matter how many times I called him, he would not pick up. There wasn’t enough time to go to the company and get a hold of him, so what to do!!! The performance today had to be a collection of Shinee’s previous hit songs, and we needed something appropriate to indicate SHINee’s glory, right from the debut till today!

“I don’t want to be a failure right from the first day…I need a pre-performance video apt for the Shining SHINee! What to do… just half an hour left!"