"I still can't believe she did that" I said to the rest of the table as T.O.P poured himself a cup of coffee.

         It still took some time getting used to the fact that T.O.P was sitting so close to me casually pouring himself coffee. My mind suddenly wandered to a Beverly Cleaver fantasy.  I pictured T.O.P sitting at the breakfast table in his signature T.O.P glasses with the morning newspaper. He would be dressed in a classic suit with suspenders as I would be in a cute light colored a-line dress that delicately flared out. Then I would turn around and smile at him with a stack of pancakes just like the women from the 1950's before kissing him on the cheek. Our beautiful blasian children would run about the house chasing after each other. We would turn to each other and laugh, just thinking about how perfect our life was. I could hear the bright cheery theme song as the credits began rolling. I felt my signature goofy smile appear across my face just picturing myself being married to T.O.P.  I let out a tiny giggle before biting my lip at the thought.

"What are you smiling about?!" Paije snapped at me still peeved.

                I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I tried to find an answer. T.O.P paused about to sip his coffee, and I could feel myself drool remembering the first time I realized that he was my bias. I was watching his music video Turn It Up for the fourth or fifth time and he was sitting in a giant coffee cup, sipping something. He raised his eye brow smoldering to the camera and I felt myself giggle trying to fight off a scream. I swear if he even twitched his eyebrow right now, let alone cocked it I was going to explode.

"Devon?"

                I tried to drag myself away from his face but he was doing it! HE WAS RAISING HIS EYEBROW! HE'S RAISING HIS EYEBROW!!! My lips pursed locking in the much anticipated squeal and I looked away slowly, trying to concentrate on something else.  Thank God Paije was there to save me.

"Hey...T.O.P-ssi! Can you look normal?"

"Moh? I am looking normal!"

                I heard Paije make a motion and I knew that she was referring to his eyebrows, because he let out a groan. The rest of the table was laughing and I opened my eyes and breathed, appreciating the return of the relaxed feeling.

"This girl" he chuckled.

                He was looking at me, but I couldn’t quite place his expression. It wasn’t harsh or annoyed, it was something else. Something that was burning inside of him. I don’t remember ever seeing that expression before…and I doubt I will ever forget it.

"So...is okay?" T.O.P motioned at the group. "Today was…" T.O.P breathed out, not really sure which English word would describe the situation.

"I'll say" little Aania puffed out, and T.O.P gave her an eye smile.

                Paije was in a sour mood for the rest of the breakfast. Even when Seungri showed up, his bubbly personality wasn't enough to cheer her up. The Prince of Aegyo did everything to make her respond but Paije was quieter than Dayoung on season 5 of Hello Baby. Seungri gave up after a few minutes of pleading. She was pissed, and unfortunately I was the main one she was pissed at! Which I couldn't understand? I had done her the biggest favor by keeping her from killing Madison. Not only would she have done jail time, she would've gotten kicked out of the event. No...I needed her here with me. If that was selfish on my part, so be it. But I was not going to be left in a city without someone in my corner!

"Paije..." I whined. "Paije" I sang sweetly.

 Seungri clapped at me approvingly and I smiled back at him.

I tugged on her arm and she shrugged me off violently. "How long are you going to be mad at me?" I laughed whining.

"Until I find that and rip the flesh off of her skin, layer by layer" she said darkly.

                After that statement, everyone shifted their chairs away from her slightly. I sighed hopping that Daesung would come to our table soon; only he was positively charged enough to handle this. And right on cue he came in and patted Seungri on the shoulder, indicating him to move.

"No!" I shouted. "Please take my seat!" I said offering it willingly showing him exactly where to sit.

                He laughed walking around to help me out of my seat before sitting down. Seungri had already swapped to another table. I stood up watching this fully, it took everything I had not to take out my iPod and record this so we could watch it later. A personal talk with Daesung...she would want that videotaped...heck! I would want that videotaped.

"Paije..." he spoke softly.

                She didn't look at him, but her eyes began filling up with water.

"Paije."

She turned her head away, not wanting him to see her cry. She was fiercely trying to wipe away her eyes but his hand caught hers making her freeze.

"Please...look at me?"

                 And suddenly Paije became a genie and obeyed his command, her head whipped to his instantly. It wasn't fair the kind of power these biases had! Anything they asked of us we were willing to do, no matter how much we were against it. The willingness to please and serve was a price we all were willing to pay to be apart of the fandom. And the strangest thing was, during the moment...we were happy to do it. We didn't care how ridiculous the request was! I swear...right now if Dae asked her to chew off her right leg she might've done it.

                She stared at his hand and watched how he held it tightly. It looked like she was crying even harder. He smiled and silently motioned for a napkin and Aaliya handed one to him sniffling.

"Stop crying" he said wiping away her tears. "You smeared your make-up. And you looked so pretty" he smiled.

"I did?" She gurgled, the tears choking back her voice.

He nodded sincerely. "You still do."

                At that she blubbered and continued crying. Daesung became startled before laughing harder.

"Now, can you tell me what's wrong?"

"That Madison was completely awful! She's been horrible this entire event and on top of that she had the nerve to-"

                And that was the end of her coherency! Only the beginnings of words and syllables could be heard because she was so angry. She was laughing and making threats left and right and only Daesung seemed to understand what she was saying until she told him why she was upset with me. I backed away an inch, not wanting to get to close to her. She was so upset she might have been crazy enough to hit me!

"Well I for one am pretty grateful to her" he said suddenly swiveling his head to meet me.

                I literally stopped breathing.

"M-Me?" I swallowed hard.

"Grateful for what?! She didn't even say anything to defend you?! She was too busy defending T.O.P!" Paije protested.

"I had too! She called him Top Hat!" I laughed.

"You call him worse when we're back home" she grumbled.

               She had me there. We both knew I had a slew of nicknames, but I couldn't help it! He was an easy target. Although my T.O.P was a master of iness and glares, it was his foolish side that I liked the most. He was the Duke of Derp! And the fact that he was such a big dork made me love him even more. 

"Yes...but when I say those, I mean it with love...you know how I feel about him" I smiled giddily.

She let out a gust of air.

"If you fought, Mi-Hi would've made you leave too” Daesung said reasonable.

                At least someone else understood why I stopped her. Maybe because Daesung was on my side I might've stopped being the bad guy.

“Yeah but-”

 “Can you really just sacrifice our time left together?” He asked her seriously. “You...kind of made it seem that I meant more to you than that." he pouted.

              Never in a million years did I expect Daesung to be so suave. It was just the right amount of flattery to make her feel special but not overdone in the slightest. His subtle hints were placed throughout the sentence contained just the right amount of persuasion. I swear I felt myself and a few other girls at the surrounding tables sigh longingly, while Paije was mentally yelling at herself to convert oxygen into carbon dioxide.

“Of course you do!” She sniffled. “Don’t ever question that again!”

He smiled squeezing her hand tighter. “Just checking.”

                Again my heart melted. This moment was just too sweet! I needed to get out of here…I was starting to become insanely jealous. I walked over to the buffet table and began dishing myself out some fresh fruit. I was about to grab a fork, but some tall person was waving one in front of my face.

“Thank you” I said reaching out to take it from him, but T.O.P moved it away easily.

                Not again! This quick gesture brought me back to that night at Hyun Joong’s with the remote. I mentally forced myself to stay in the present so I wouldn’t think about him. Focus on T.O.P.

“Can I have the fork please?”

“I’m curious…what other names do you call me?”

                I looked at him before laughing. I shook my head no trying to reach for another fork but he picked them all up making it impossible for me to get one. I looked at him in disbelief, humor etched across my face.

“Tell me one.”

“I swear! Do you listen to everything I say?”

“Only because it usually involves me” he smirked.

My heart skipped a beat but I was becoming more accustomed to it. “I’m not telling you!”

                I picked up a spoon and began walking back to the table but he took bigger steps to stand in front of me.

“Just start saying them” he said casually waving his hands in the air to represent word vomit. “You could tell me...if you want too" he tried to say uninterested but I could hear the burning curiosity behind it.

“Why is it I have to tell you everything and get nothing in return?”

 “What does that mean?”

“It means you tell me nothing” I said a little upset.

He chuckled at my tone. “You want to be a Korean producer like Teddy, but you don’t know Korean. Is it my fault you can’t keep up?”

“Why are you and Teddy talking about me?!” I shrieked trying to sound mortified, but I was more flattered than anything else.  “It’s not my fault you paid the only other person in the room-” 

“So you did ask?” He laughed a little harder at my bitterness, cutting me off.

I rolled my eyes before asking him a serious question. “What is it you don’t want me to know?”

                He looked at me, totally taken off guard. And just like always the T.O.P I had grown accustomed to reappeared. His entire mood changed and became more serious. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and just looked deeply into my eyes. I did the same taking full advantage of this opportunity. It was the first time I had ever looked directly into his face when standing. BIG MISTAKE!!!! It took everything I had not to collapse from the intensity in his dark smoldering eyes. They were beautiful and so mysterious. I peered into his eyes trying to find some answers to my questions. I saw a glint of something tucked away, something that wanted to show itself to me. But that something hid behind his gentle gaze burying itself deep. 

“I may not speak Korean, but I know when you're hiding something. And somehow it’s related to me” I noted remembering the end of his rant in the lobby. “Except for your blatant dislike of Hyun Joong, I can’t really make out much else.”

                He smiled not saying anything.

"Just tell me" I rocked on my heels before someone else called my name.

“Devon!” Kendrick said coming over, and T.O.P’s annoyance flickered on his face. Kendrick nodded to T.O.P before focusing his attention on me.

“Hey Kendrick” I said politely and T.O.P’s eyes flickered to mine. “What’s up?”

“Well, I was wondering if you wanted to practice at YG today?”

                One word…AWKWARD. No this was more than awkward. This type of AWKWARD didn’t just have AWKWARD turtle babies that swam away. These awkward babies were turning into the vicious dinosaurs you see in Jurassic Park.

“Is Aaliya coming too?”

                Please say yes…please say yes…please say yes…please say YES?!

“No” Kendrick said quickly. “I thought it’d be good if we were alone” he said raising his eyebrows; in front of T.O.P no less!

“That’s really sweet Kendrick but-”

“Yes, that is really sweet Kendrick” T.O.P said trying to mimic my voice. “But that’s not necessary.”

                T.O.P’s voice was really short, and sounded annoyed. I just prayed that he wouldn’t explode at Kendrick like he did with me.

“BIGBANG is creating all new choreography; therefore there is nothing to practice.”

“How convenient!” I said with a smile.

“Well you still owe me from before, so I guess…we’ll figure something out.” Kendrick smiled to the both of us before walking over to the buffet table.

                I breathed out heavily shaking my head trying to walk back to my seat.

“Hey!” T.O.P called after me and I stopped immediately a few feet from the table. “What do you owe him?”

“Huh?” I said picking up a slice of pineapple plopping it my mouth.

“Do you owe him something?” His tone turned helpful.

My face scrunched up and tried to find a way to explain it, but then I remembered that silence is the best weapon I have. “You know…I don’t think I’m gonna tell that one either.”

“Waeyo? Waeandwaeyo?”

Finally, some Korean words I knew!  I shook my head and continued eating fruit making faces at him. He glared at me before allowing his eyes to lighten. I turned and walked back to myself smiling from my core. It was glorious! I had won one round…finally. When I got back to the table Paije’s mood had done a complete 180˚. She was smiling so big at me with loving eyes it made me wish that Daesung would fly back with us, so he could fix her again the next time she got mad at me. I sat down beside her hesitantly and she laughed at my slow approach before hugging me tightly. Table by table V.I.P’s started dismissing themselves so they could catch their flights on time. Those of us who were staying made it completely obvious. Our smiles were so big and bright from our happiness. Aaliya was the worst of us all though. She waved goodbye to all the people passing by our table and added little sayings like “Safe Travels!” and “Have a Nice Flight”.

When we looked at the other tables we recognized the other two winners immediately. One of them was the skinny geeky girl from before. What I didn’t notice before, made itself more prominent now. She had fiery red hair that she kept in a big bushy ponytail and freckles all over her face. I saw her looking at our table and I motioned her over to join us. She looked to her guest which was an identical replica of her except it was a boy. He nodded and they got up to come over. I smiled brightly at them and the boys smiled enthusiastically but the girl returned it hesitantly. They stood behind the unoccupied seats.

“Are you the other winners?” The boy said excitedly.

“Yeah” I answered. “I’m Devon, this is Kendrick and Aaliya.”

                They followed who I pointed too.

“This is Paije, Aania and Egan. They’re our guests” Kendrick said politely.  

“Nice to meet you guys. I’m Charles but everyone calls me Charlie.” He said cheerfully. “And this is my sister Anna. She’s the winner” he said through gritted teeth pushing her forward.

She rolled her eyes at him before trying to smile towards us. “Sorry, if I’m being standoffish…I’m still trying to get used to the idea.”

“I know isn’t it incredible?!” Aaliya squealed dancing in her seat.

“More like a nightmare” Anna groaned. “I have no idea why he would pick me!”

“Daesung is just wonderful that way” Paije sang still on her high.

“No I mean I seriously cannot dance! It’s almost laughable that he would pick me! I’m awful at it!”

“You sound a little upset” Kendrick said sarcastically and I nudged him in the side.

“I guess it’s partially my fault” Charlie winced. “I sort of convinced her to try out…now she’s doomed.”

“It was supposed to be for laughs! Never in a million years did I expect him to pick me! I should be boarding a plane back home as we speak; but he made me promise to stick it out-”

“Well if you promised him, it up and practice. You can’t leave after making a promise to your bias! He is your bias isn’t he?”

“Oh yeah…you have no idea” Charlie smiled. “As soon as that girl at your table began beating up the other one she cheered louder than she did at the concert”

“Now you're exaggerating” Anna spoke up and smiled.

“Well, we’ll help you” I said trying to comfort her. “I mean, I’m sure I’ll need all the help I can get to catch up!”

“Really?” Anna said hopeful.

I nodded. “I’ve missed all the rehearsals and somehow I still got in. If BIGBANG sees something they like, they’ll keep you. So somewhere in your audition, Daesung must have seen something he liked…so you can’t bail on him…Fighting?”

She took in a deep breath before nodding determined. “Fighting!”

                We kept talking to Charlie and Anna finding out more about them. They were fraternal twins who were both 18 and from Ireland. Charlie’s bias was T.O.P and he tried everything to imitate his personality. He kept his ginger red hair flat on the sides but spiked at the T.O.P and he was wearing a pair of thickly framed glasses that sort of reminded me of T.O.P’s signature style. Charlie was taller than Anna and although they had the same shade of green for eyes, Charlie’s seemed a little more vibrant. Perhaps it was his personality? Anna was around our height with a slightly angular face to match her sleek and athletic build. She had bushy red hair that she had managed to pull into a ponytail and a slight rosy tint to her cheeks from being flustered. Eventually I looked about the room and noticed that it was completely empty except for us and an Asian boy sitting by himself at a table. I looked at him until he caught my eye. He smiled shyly and then looked away. I stared at him again, but this time he wouldn’t look at me.

“Where are you going?” Kendrick asked noticing me rising from my seat.

I pointed over there. “I’ll be right back.”

                I walked over and the guy sitting down looked up at me hesitantly.

“Hey” I smiled.

                He smiled again shyly before looking away.

“How’s it going?”

                He didn’t say anything, he just continued to not stare in my direction.

“Do you want to sit with us?”

                He looked up and stared at me. This was becoming unintentionally awkward. Then it finally clicked.

“Do you speak English?”

“Bu.” Was the only thing I was able to catch before he broke into a continuous stream of Mandarin. He looked depressed.

                Finally, my Chinese courses that I had been taking at school finally were starting to pay off!!! We were golden! Or at least an attempt to be golden! Where was Sim Sunbae when I needed him.

“Hao? Uhm...snap!  Ni jiao shenma ming ze?”

                His eyes sprang to life when I asked him his name in mandarin. His entire face lit up and his shyness seemed to disappear.

“You-You speak mandarin?”

"Xiao"I smiled as he laughed at my lack of vocabulary. "I know enough to pick out what you are saying"

"I'll take it!!!"  He grinned at me forming the most adorable eye smiles allowing his dark eyes to crinkle.

“Come with me?”

“Where?”

“To greet my friends”

“Oh…that’s why you kept staring and smiling at me! I thought you liked me” he laughed rising out of his seat.

                This guy was taller than most semi-short red hair. He was dressed in a pale yellow button down shirt and a pair of jeans. I smiled walking him over to the table where everyone else sat talking. This guy was very easy on the eyes so I didn’t have to put in much effort at all.

“Hey everyone, this is the other winner”

“Hi” he said friendly.

“Nice to meet you” Paije said with a polite smile.

“He doesn’t speak English so, we’ll have to try extra hard to make him feel welcome.”

“Who’s partner is he?” Aaliya asked curiously

“He must be T.O.P’s, everyone else is taken” Egan noted.

“Ay! Mikio!”

                The boy next to me spun around to see who had called him. It was a guy who was a few inches shorter than Mikio. What I loved most about him was his thug-life apparel. He wore these baggy jeans that rested comfortably below his hips, and he wore so many shirts he looked really warm. His face reminded me of a younger Teddy Park, especially the way he rubbed his hands together to approach me and the rest of the group.

“Ayo ma!” He began checking me out from head to toe.

I had to giggle a little bit; his entire persona was a mix between BIGBANG’s early days with American flash.

“You speak English?”

“Aw yea…no doubt! I’m Raizo, this is my bro Mikio” he stepped forward to shake my hand.

                This guys English sounded like he came from the hard core streets of London. It was adorable and Paije and I giggled even more when he checked her out too.

“Raizo?” Kendrick began. “Like from Rain’s Ninja Assassin?”

Raizo smirked slyly before answering. “I took on that name because just like him, my flow is killer.”

                Even with the language barrier Mikio rolled his eyes in embarrassment. I was almost positive that he knew what was going on just by watching Raizo’s hand gestures.  Paije and I laughed, but instead of becoming offended he joined in too.

“I’m the winner from Taiwan” Raizo explained.

“I thought he was the winner” I said confusedly pointing to Mikio.

“PL….EASE” he said exaggerating the word. “He wishes his skills were as tight as mine! How else would I have gotten in the video!”

                He pumped out his chest and did a perfect body roll before working it into the robot. I felt my face become way to excited! This guy was good and I began clapping and smiling like a dork after he finished.  He took small bows which added to his humor before straightening back up into good posture.

“Shoot me now!!!” Anna groaned in defeat as Charlie pointed his finger at her.

                She looked at him as he continued shooting her, before smiling in defeat.

“I just can’t wait to start!” Aaliya squealed in delight.