Chapter 4

One day in L.A., Min was walking home from school listening to her mp3 player when some guys from her school grabbed her arms and held them back as one of their friends stole the mp3 player right in front of Min. Min tried to wrestle away from their grasp but the two students holding her were too strong. They let go after the friend left with the mp3 player and Min collapsed on the floor. She massaged her arms that throbbed from the guys' tight grips. Her dad tried to console Min when she arrived at the house they were living in. But all Min wanted to do was talk to her grandma. She called her on the phone using one of their long-distance phone cards and started sobbing as soon as her grandma picked up.

At times like those, it was when Min really missed her grandmother being right next to her. She is not able to see her any time she wants to when she is living in the states so Min does cherish the time she spends with her beloved “halmoni” when she does visit Korea. And after meeting Kikwang that night, all Min wanted to do was stay by her halmoni's side. She did not go to the JYP building as she usually did during the next few days but stayed to help her grandma with the chores and with her knitting. At night, Min would sit on the couch in the living room watching korean melodramas while stuffing herself with cookies. Her grandmother would be in the kitchen close by making kimchi and cold noodles.

The drama she was watching that Sunday night was called “ An Endless Summer of Undying Love that will live on Forever .” It was about a woman who loves a man but he doesn't want to be with her because she comes from a poor family while he is a rich heir. One day, the man is involved in a car accident and he loses his memory due to amnesia. The woman decides to invent for herself a new identity as a rich hotel owner's daughter in order to finally win his heart but the man is more attracted to the young doctor that aids him. The woman who makes such effort to create her rich identity is devastated but cannot stop herself from loving the man even if he does not love her back.

Min watched as the woman in the drama longingly look at the man she loved go walking with the young doctor when she then called her grandmother from the kitchen.

“Halmoni..,” she said.

“Yes, Minnie dear,” her grandmother responded.

“ Why are guys jerks?”

“ What? Which guy is a jerk? Your Kwon Oppa who came by the apartment the other day isn't a jerk.”

“ I know HE isn't. And a few others aren't. But some guys are jerks.”

“ Minnie! What happened? I remember when you called because those guys were bullying you and stole your things when you were in L.A. Did something like that happen here?”

“ No, Halmoni. It's not like that,” Min reassured her grandmother. She can sense the voice of her grandma getting angry thinking of the possibility of more guys hurting her Minnie and Min decided to not say anything more to worry her. She just told her she was talking about the man in the drama. It was the character who was a jerk and Min said to her grandma that she can go back to her cooking. Min continued to watch the drama when her phone vibrated. She picked it off from the table to see she received a text from Jo Kwon asking if she was going to the office building the next day. Min texted him back saying she'll think about it.

Jo Kwon found out what happened with Kikwang when he came over to visit and have dinner with Min and her grandmother Friday night. Hearing Min's story, Jo Kwon admitted that Kikwang can be a little flirty. This made Min scoff and say him being a little flirty is an understatement. She said that Kikwang practically invited her to “have fun”with him at his place. Jo Kwon said he was sorry that Kikwang was rude when she met him but he said he had his reasons to believe he still is a good guy even though he has his faults. Min wondered how Kwon Oppa can have such confidence in that rude jerk but he had his reasons.

Min's phone vibrated again. Kwon Oppa is pretty stubborn, she thought. She expected to see another text from him when she picked up her phone but was surprised to see a text from Dong Woon that read,

“ Hey Min! Long time no see. Can you come by tomorrow? I have something I have to give you so PLEASE make it. ”

Dong Woon has something to give me? What could it be? Min was really curious about whatever Dong Woon was planning. She texted him that she promised to be there tomorrow. Then, she sent another text to Kwon Oppa saying that he can expect her to be in the building the next day.

So the Monday morning following that Sunday evening, Min got dressed to head towards the JYP headquarters. She thought she would visit Jo Kwon on the third floor where he had his vocal training before meeting Dong Woon to receive his gift. She pressed the button for level 3 in the elevator and waited for the doors to open to the floor. There were many rooms on the third floor including the office of JYP sunbaenim. She thought about stopping by to say hi to him while she was on the floor.

The doors finally open and she worries when the first person she sees is Lee Kikwang, the one person Min didn't want to run into. She got out of the elevator and hid in a corner as she watched him knock on the company president's door . She heard a voice telling him to step inside and Kikwang disappeared into the office. Min walked towards the room which Jo Kwon was practicing and peered inside to see him busy warming up his voice. Maybe, I'll wait until he finishes to say hi, she thought and she turned to look at the president's door. Min could not help but be curious about what Kikwang and the president were discussing. She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop but she went towards the office room and placed her right ear close to its entrance door.

“ But Sunbaenim, I do not understand... If I have the skills you are looking for , why are you letting me go? Please, don't do this. I have so much more to offer... I thought I was one of your favorites, Why?”

Min heard Kikwang say these words through the door. She could have sworn his voice was shaking as he was talking. She also thought she heard the sound of sniffling and him rubbing his nose while speaking. A few seconds later, she heard the president apologize and say that he will not take back his decision to let Kikwang go. He said Kikwang does not have the right attitude as a trainee as he already knows he's talented which led the president to make the difficult choice of terminating him from further JYP training. Kikwang continued to plead behind the door but the president wouldn't change his mind. All of a sudden, Min felt the door burst open and she saw Kikwang's face swollen from crying and his eyes red. He was weeping uncontrollably. He looked at Min as if he was about to say something to her but just passed by her instead and exited towards the door to the stairway.

The president's face was frowning inside the office and he looked at Min standing outside. He asked if Min needed to talk to him. She shook her head and she did not understand why but she decided to run after Kikwang and turned towards the door leading to the stairs. As she walked down to each level, she wondered why he took the stairs instead of the elevator but she continued going down the steps until she reached the bottom. She opened the door to find herself in the main lobby but Kikwang was nowhere in sight. She ran outside but he was gone. Where is he?

Min decided that Kikwang was really upset and probably wanted to be alone. She was not in the mood anymore to meet Jo Kwon and Dong Woon when all she can think about was how terrible Kikwang looked a few minutes ago. She texted them that she wasn't feeling well and was heading back home.

She went back to her grandmother's apartment to find it empty. Min remembered her grandmother usually goes to the grocery store on Mondays and assumed that was where she was. She decided to lie down on the couch in the living room and close her eyes for a little bit.

After napping for 20 minutes, Min woke up to the sound of the doorbell ringing. That's probably Halmoni, she thought. However when she opened the door, she found Dong Woon standing at the entrance.

“ Dong Woon! Did you hear...”

“About Kikwang hyung? Yea, I did... let's not talk about it. I just wanted to give you your present before you leave on Thursday. It's the something I wanted to give to you I texted you about. You ran off so I couldn't give it you at the company building and Jo Kwon told me where you lived”

Dong Woon handed her a medium-sized white gift bag with pink crepe paper peeking out from inside.

Min peeled back the crepe paper coverings to find a pair of beautiful satin red shoes.

“ They're from a really small vintage store at the south end of Itaewon. These were the type of shoes that dancers used to wear in the 60s or 70s or whatever. I think they're your size. They're cool,right?Kikwang picked them out. He said you can call them your 'dancing shoes' ”

“Kikwang found them?,” Min asked a little confused and Dong Woon nodded and told her to look underneath them. Min looked behind the shoes to find the same message engraved on each one. The message was, “ In New York, L.A, or in Korea, You'll always be a Super Star.” Below the message, there was also engraved Min's full name , Lee Min Young, with tiny stars circling around it.

Author's note:  End of flashbacks for now. Next chapter will be back to the present. I haven't written it yet so bear with me.  Also, I know I write a lot revolving Min's perspective in the chapters. Probably it's because she's a girl and I'm a girl so it's easier to write around her.  For later chapters, I will try to write them  around Kikwang more and his perspective. Try to have him really embody that playboy image haha. but also deep inside he's not really like that. complicated T_T..