I kid you not when I say we both darted our eyes to the phone and watched it light up while a cute ringtone radiated from it. Paije lunged for the phone and flipped it open to answer; excitement had constricted her voice and for a full minute she had a weird happy smile on her face.

“ANSWER YOU FOOL!!!” I screamed at her uncontrollably; I’d have to apologize to her later for it but at the moment neither of us cared.

                I watched in silence as the expression on her face fell. The euphoria drained from her voice and was replaced with pure fury.  

“YOU BETTER PRAY TO GOD WE NEVER MEET FACE TO FACE AGAIN, OR I SWEAR SOMEONE IS GOING TO SUFFER!!!!” she threatened with no effort at all.  Which was completely understandable, a moment as crucial as this needed to be taken in seriousness.  

“Did you win?!” Although I had a pretty good idea that she hadn’t from the way she screamed at the phone.

“No” she whimpered. “It was a stupid prank call”

                You see! This is why I tried not to get my hopes up. It was easier to start off disappointed and then become pleasantly surprised than to have Mt. Everest hopes and have them fall at a rapid rate. Somehow we fell asleep in our realization that we didn’t win and when morning came we went downstairs to Paije’s living room. Paije opened her laptop as I went into the kitchen to make pancakes.

“We need to take pictures!!! We’re officially registering for I.V.I.P’s!!!” she squealed from the couch.

                I the stove and started mixing the pancake batter. My phone started ringing on the countertop. I figured it was probably my parents telling me what time they wanted me home or Greg wondering if I’d meet him later to hang out, so I ignored the call. I put the first round of pancakes on the sizzling skillet and I could already see the little air bubbles forming. My phone rang again, this time I answered it.

“Hello”

“Hello” a cool accented voice spoke through the phone. “Is this Devon Ashford?”

“Yes, may I ask whose calling?” I answered completely clueless.

“Yes. My name is Kim Mi-Hi”

“Kim Mi-Hi?” My heart almost stopped. No one I knew locally was named Kim Mi-Hi. Relax Devon…breathe. I knew a Kimberly that everyone called Kimmy and she lived down the street. I knew a Mi-Mi from one of my classes and I was pretty sure I didn't know a Hi personally. But I definitely knew that I didn't know someone named Kim Mi-Hi. My heart accelerated.

“I’ve tried to call you before, but the lines were busy.”

“Sorry I had my phone off” I apologized trying to slow my brain from the impossible conclusion that just couldn't be.

“I am calling from YGENTERTAINMENT,” Okay, that was all the confirmation I needed. Okay lets think of a logical explanation as to why one of the greatest recording companies was calling me on my cellphone. Something more realistic than me winning.

“Y…G?” I whispered.

                A huge lump filled my stomach let alone my throat, mouth and brain.Okay...so this is what it felt like to bow dow to the Wizard of Oz. Nothing but respect and reverence for the two letters I repeated again. YGFAMILY was calling me, ME!!!!

“Something’s burning! Pay attention Devon” Paije was annoyed with the burnt smell and rising smoke from the burner until she saw my face. “Who’s on the phone?”

 “Y….G” I somehow choked out as all of the color drained from her face just as the sound went from my voice.

“Miss Devon, you are one of the winners chosen for the International V.I.P sweepstakes.” You could hear the smile congratualting me in the YGE representative’s voice.  “Have you chosen your guest?”

“Guest?” I managed to question...and then I exploded. “I WON THE CONTEST!!!! I WON THE CONTEST!!!! IS THIS A JOKE????!?!???!!”

                I was prepared to hear the cool female accented voice but instead…

“Devon? This is Taeyang, SOL from BIGBANG. I’ve personally drawn your name and you are one of two winners chosen to represent the U.S here in Seoul. You and Your guest will be scheduled to leave in a few days. Congratulations and I look forward to meeting you.”

                And then he was gone. Just like that my life, no my very existence had changed. I had just spoken to Taeyang!!! A man whose dance steps and charisma we're unbelievable. I was thrilled at my amazing good fortune. I stared wide eyed not blinking and the burning pancakes on the stove. The smoke alarm was sure to go off any second; but both of us we’re silent holding our breath.

“Ms. Devon? Are you there?” Kim Mi-Hi asked.

“Ms. Kim, can you hold for a second?”

“Sure”

                I let out a fierce scream worthy enough to be in an axe murderer film. Paije joined me in a dance around the kitchen as the pancakes continued to blacken. I won…I actually won. Luck was not only on my side but she decided to make up for all the times I needed her and she took a vacation. Lady Luck had to be a goddess, a goddess who loved K-Pop. A goddess who understood how impossible this situation was without her; one who had teamed up with the fates and God himself. This had to be a group effort for me to win.

“Okay, I’m back. I am so sorry about that” I apologized repeatedly to the YGE representative.

“That’s okay; if I didn’t hear someone freak out I would’ve thought I had the wrong number” she giggled into the headset.

 “This just seems so unreal. Was that really Taeyang I was talking to?” When Paije heard this part she almost passed out, but I saw her knees buckle as she clambered up a chair to keep from going down.

“BIGBANG wanted to give a special thank-you to the members to prove how important this is to them. Now, if you’ll let me I’ll give you your information for your plane tickets and I’ll need your guest info as well.”

                     In no time at all I  had given her additional information about me and Paije and in return she gave me a password to go online and recieve the Winner's Package which would include our flight information, accomodations, schedules, and audition date. The air seemed to taste sweeter to me even though it was tainted with black smoke from burning pancakes. As i pressed the keys adreniline flexed my fingers to move even faster. The Intro Song from BIGBANG's mini 4 Album started blarring from my speakers as a video featuring all five of them popped up, which automatically led to some serious fan girl on my part. I had won! This wasn't a drill, joke or prank. The Hangul that read 축하 해요 danced lightly across the top and bottom of the screen.

"CONGRATULATIONS" they all shouted together.

                     Different windows opened up when i scrolled over them showing us the dates of our flights and the schedule.

"WE LEAVE TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK!!!!!" Paije screamed.

"I know!" I squealed so high I reminded myself of a whistling kettle when the water boiled and steam rushed out. But I guess that's what I was essentially...a whistling kettle. A kettle who was filled with love for BIGBANG instead of water and put under the right pressure and heat would rush around like the boiling water until I couldn't contain my happiness anymore. And then I'd whistle...allowing everyone around to hear my reaction.

"Print out the schedule!" Paije rushed me hitting my shoulder with intensity.

"Okay Okay!!!!" I answered grinning from ear to ear.

                     Paije snatched the page from the printer and then her rapidly moving eyes read the page.

"It says once we get there, there will be a tea for us especially before we meet up with V.I.P's from Korea and Japan." She looked up at me. "Wow, they're truly making this a GLOBAL EVENT."

"I know, this is the nicest thing any group has ever done." I grinned even wider if that was possible.

                       And for once in my life, I truly knew I would dream of nothing. I didn't need to have a BIGBANG dream or a T.O.P dream that I never wanted to awake from...mine was coming true; in just a few days.