“No ing way.”

     Yunho throws the line-up for the Halloween Rave across the table and folded his arms. “No. This is not possible.” He shoots a murderous glare across the table to their manager, “You are not telling us we have five performances throughout the whole show –”

     “You can handle it.” Yunho’s manager, Baek, reassures him firmly. “You two have had SM Town Live Tours and Tokyo Dome performances that tripled this measly volume.”

     “True, true.” Changmin jumps in, scratching his chin. “I don’t understand why you are finding every possible way to be against this show. Five performances is nothing, plus they are arranged with huge chunks of time for breaks. It’s a piece of cake.”

     Yunho flat out ignores Changmin. “Yes, five, easy, sure.” He slams his hand on the table, “Only that all of them will include Rita.”

“Oh yeah, you are right.” Changmin scratches his chin. “I didn’t even notice.”

“And have both of you forgotten who she is?”

     “Not still.” Changmin groans. “You’ve got to get over it. I bet she doesn’t even remember.”

     Yunho looks at Baek. “The media doesn’t move on and forget. That’s not how the industry operates. You do realize, Baek, that this will bring ty publicity?”

     Baek falls silent for a second, musing. He rubs his palm over his receding hairline and shakes his head, “Not exactly. Depends on how you play it. If you, Yunho,” he jabs a finger at him, “If you behave accordingly and displays nothing but professionalism, the media can’t milk your past scandal. If you play it right, it will glorify TVXQ’s image even more. It will make you two invincible in Asia.”

     “No.”

     Changmin glares at him. “You are being such a kid. I bet Rita isn’t sitting in a room, having a meeting with her executives and whining about this arrangement.”

     “That, and there is another important point you are both overlooking.” Baek continues, sitting up straight in his chair. “The company has been in a neck-to-neck battle with YG Entertainment for a while. The significance of it is especially marked by two giants in the boy band industry – TVXQ and Big Bang. It’s well known within the circle that TVXQ has always exhibited ‘friendly rivalry’ with Big Bang. Especially in term of reception in Japan and breaking the Dome Tour record. So far, both bands are breaking even, but you two know that the competition is tight: although TVXQ is acclaimed and worshipped across the globe, Big Bang is also gaining momentum at invading the Western hemisphere.”

     He pause and gazes at the two men solemnly, folding his hands over each other on the table. “This performance, in other words, is an open-stage competition between the two bands. You both will be on stage for an equivalent number of performances - with some other artists shuffling in between. However, it is crucial that you are sharpened and honed for this event – TVXQ has so far never been on stage with Big Bang. You two need to stay in top shape and reassure the audience that you are the best – the best dancers with the best vocals, and the best duo with the best synchronization.”

     Changmin blows a low whistle under his breath. “That’s a lot of ‘bests’ to be met.”

     “Precisely.” Baek emphasizes, his heavy gaze pinning Yunho in his seat. “That’s why you cannot be distracted by some past, trivial drama. You have to be focused and ace this performance. You have a Godly reputation to upkeep.”

     Yunho lowers his eyes, fixating his gaze on the bold-lettered sheet for a long moment. Slowly, he shakes his head. “I can’t dance with her. Co-operative choreographies require connections – and I can’t have that with her.”

     “You won’t,” Baek corrects him. “Not you can’t.”

     “I can’t do this – at least not with the amount of publicity monitoring this show.”

     “You have to.” Baek says, not negotiating nor granting him a second option. He steadies his gaze upon the icon before him, “Because you are Yunho of TVXQ – a Rising God of the East.”

***

     The second meeting with Rita is scheduled to be three days later, in the early afternoons and after all the members of Big Bang have finished their daily training. Once again, the five band members are standing awkwardly in the creepy office with ghastly ivory lighting. Three of the band members – Taeyang, TOP and Daesung are crammed onto the leather couch, while Seungri paces awkwardly around the tiny space. Jiyeon, on the other hand, occupies his time by making another instant coffee for himself

     “Make one for me, why don’t you?” Daesung asks out of boredom.

     Jiyeon snaps his fingers. “Coming right up…as soon as I find another Styrofoam cup.”

     “This is ridiculous,” Watching his fellow band members bonding over espresso, Seungri finally stops pacing. “Look at you two – making instant coffee and having a good time… it’s pathetic! This show is going to be a disaster. I can already see it happening from all this disorganization.”

     “And this dingy office just makes the entire event seem flimsy.”

     TOP is treading on the trail of a long criticism before the door is flung open. The first thing that the five men sees is the fire engine red hair - a color used for emergency vehicles and can be spotted from a mile away. The three that are down in the couch stands up – shoving each other in the process - and waits expectantly for their hostess.

     Betty struts in the room with a pair of leather pants and a plain white shirt. From their experience, the five knows that Betty is no producer but merely a partner of Rita’s. They have made their debut at different times and went on separate trails of career development. However, it was reported that Betty and Rita had trained together long before their entrance to the entertainment industry, rooting deep into adolescence. After their careers have both leveled and stabled, they were known to partner and perform astounding dance duets together – a golden pair within the dance circle.

     In the pale lighting, Betty’s grey eyes are gleaming eerily as she faces the band. She has no make-up on, except for her crimson red lipstick, contrasting deeply with her marble white skin. From afar, she almost seems like Rita’s twin – with her simple outfit and slight build – except that it is clear that she’s the darker doppelganger.

     When she sees the array of the band members standing, her eyes widens and she takes a step back. “Wow, it seems a little crowded in here with the five of you…standing…being tall.” She retraces her steps and gently closes the door behind her. “I’m Betty. We haven’t met yet. I’m Rita’s partner, but unfortunately not the co-producer of the event. I’m under the performer title myself like all of you, and oversees some of the backstage co-ordinations.”

     Jiyeon nods and introduces the band members accordingly, and they each exchange formal greetings with Betty. He senses that their earlier frustrations have significantly dropped, since Betty and all five-feet-five inches of beauty stepped into the room.

     “I apologize, but Rita is running a bit late today. She had to contact an important sponsor, but she will be here today regardless.” She pauses, then continues, “While we wait for her, why don’t we go over your choreography together? I’m sure she has given you guys the final line-up for the performances, right?”

     “And we also got the memo on the plot she has sketched around our past videos and choreographies.” Taeyang says, flashing a charming smile. “I must say, she’s pretty daring about some of the concepts.”

     “You don’t like it?” Betty tilts her head.

     “No. I think it’s very creative. We never would have thought of that on our feet.”

     Nodding, Betty smiles knowingly. “I would think that’s the case. There’s not many people who hasn’t been swayed by Rita’s layouts.”

     “So I’m guessing you just want to quickly run through our basic choreography today, to get into the momentum of it?” Jiyeon asks.

     “Exactly.” Betty replies, looking directly at the five. “Today, we are just fleshing out the skeleton of your dance, so we can start tacking on the fancy plot once we get into intense practice. After today, we’ll need to meet every single day to string the performances together, and nail it. Until the end of this week, only Rita and I will be working with you guys. But from there on, TVXQ will join us, because they dominate nearly half of the show.”

     The five men are deep in thought as they are given the agenda. After Betty finishes, Seungri frowns, “So for today, which studio are we going to for the run-through?”

     “There isn’t a studio here. We’ll have to use the stage.”

     “No way.” TOP shakes his head obstinately. “We need a private studio. There are a bunch of artists up there working on props. The five of us can’t just get out in the open like this.”

     Seungri’s forehead creases into a thousand folds. “Yeah, this could be a serious problem. I’m surprised that Rita hasn’t thought this out: because we could be mobbed.”

     “Ooh, I’m certainly sensing a bit of celebrity paranoia here.” Betty smirks, and TOP shoots her one of his notorious glares.

     Yet Betty seems unaffected. She rests her small hands on her curvy hips and appraises the five, “Look, you five are a bunch of very hulky men. I’m sure you can take on a fan – if there happens to be one – or a mob – if there happens to be one – with a wiggle of your little finger. Plus, all the artists have been police checked by Rita upon being admitted to the project. They have all signed a contract for confidentiality, and it will breach the contract if they leak anything they witness related to the Rave. There is nothing to worry about, I assure you.” Then she sneers, “Except maybe bruising your egos for our shabby treatment.”

     Jiyeon cracks a lopsided smile while the rest of the band stands, speechless and aggravated.

     “Huh. Well, how can we say no now?” He grins.

     “You can’t.”

     “Fine.” Seungri shrugs dismissively. “But the responsibilities and risks are on your shoulder now. We’ll ax the show if anything goes wrong.”

     TOP casts her a sideway glance as he walks past, all six foot of his intimidating self. “I hope you know that the band is highly in power of our own management. We are not puppets of our company like TVXQ.”

     “Great.” Betty waves her hand. “Why don’t you say that to their faces when they show up for the rehearsals?”

     Daesung gives her a peace sign as he walks by, all the while shaking his head.

     “Peace.” Betty says, to no one in particular. She watches the band file out the doors and locks it behind her, shaking her head and muttering to herself like a madman. “Rita’s got herself knee-deep in .”

     Not realizing that Jiyeon is still lingering by the door, she shoves the keys in her back pockets and stumbles backwards when she sees him standing in front of her. “God, you scared me!”

     “What do you mean by that?” He raises an eyebrow.

     “By what?”

     “That Rita’s knee-deep in ?”

     “The fact that she has to deal with all of you.” Betty responds vaguely, then stalks away after the band.

     But Jiyeon doesn’t move an inch from where he is. His eyes are focused onto a spot near the back entrance, where a figure stealthily slinks through and dashes straight to the staff washroom. His thought instantly concludes that a fan of either Big Bang or TVXQ or some other artist must have found a way past security. Curious and suspicious, he lopes after the mysterious intruder and follows the shadow into the washroom. He figures that he can just call the security or the police in worst case scenario, but somehow, his instincts tell him otherwise.

     The door isn’t unlocked; he easily turns into the handle and enters. The staff bathroom consists of ceramic tiled floors and walls, featuring one toilet and a sink for single-person usage only. When he enters the bathroom, he discovers, frightfully, that Rita is kneeling over the toilet. With its seat lifted, she pukes straight into the bowl, gagging and gurgling noises reverberating off the walls.

     At the sound of opening doors, Rita instantly lifts her head up, her face entirely drained of colors and her pupils dilated from shock. They stare at each other eye-to-eye for the briefest moment before Rita spits once and attempt to stand up with her quivering legs.

     “Don’t.” Jiyeon says.

In one stride, Jiyeon rushes to her side and keeps her there. He doesn’t know what’s going on, but from the way her body is trembling he knows it’s completely inappropriate to touch her. He carefully holds her hair back as she bends over the bowl, gagging again into the bowl.

“What…are you doing here?” She says between ragged breaths and waves of nausea. “Get out of here!”

“You need help.”

“I’ll call someone myself if I needed it.” Rita replies curtly. “This is not included within the field of our collaboration.”

Jiyeon arches a blond eyebrow. “I’m not talking business with you.”

“Well this isn’t your business.” She insists. “I’m just sick.”

“About what?”

Eyes expanding, Rita glowers at him. “What are you implying with that?”

“I don’t know. It’s just a question.”

“I’m sick. I’m just physically ill, okay?” Rita swats his hand away from her hair. “Now please, leave me here.”

Jiyeon examines her for a second: her face is flushed with turbulences of emotions and her eyes avoiding contact with his. He shakes his head. “I think you should talk about it.”

“Excuse me?” Rita gapes at him, flabbergasted. She stands up, kicks the lid shut and flushes it twice. “G-Dragon, I’m delighted to be working with you, and I’ve idolized you ever since we met at the CBS Awards last year. But it doesn’t mean you have any rights to stick your nose in my business. You don’t know me outside of show business, and I don’t know you either.”

Jiyeon shrugs, unfazed by her concrete boundaries. “You are right – this is only the third time we are meeting, and we’ve talked about nothing but business so far. I don’t know, I just kind of care, and if you don’t know me, you probably don’t know the fact that I speak my mind. There’s a thin layer of mental filter between my brain and my mouth, and I hope I’m no offending you in anyway,” he heaves a sigh. “I just think it’s a shame that a pretty and successful girl like you seem to repress so much sadness behind the glory. I always thought fame and money made people happy.”

Rita walks over to the tap and turns it on. “Funny. I thought the contrary is true.”

“Huh. There is a reason why some people spends their whole life chasing after it, right?”

“You can’t be telling me you are entirely happy with your celebrity status all the time.” Rita says, wiping with the back of her hand.

Jiyeon shrugs. “No, that’s impossible. But I’m happy with what I do. A lot of things are just very stressful to upkeep, I must admit.”

Rita scrutinizes him for a long time, chewing her lips as she tries to decipher his compsure. Silenced by his earnest reply, she folds her arm in front of herself and rubs her elbows.

“You won’t tell anyone what you just saw?” She asks with her raspy voice.

Jiyeon shakes his platinum blond head.

“Promise?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t write up a legal contract.” He holds out his hand, “How much worth is a pinky-swear?”

Rita raises a thin eyebrow. She hesitates for a second before reaching out to his pinky with her own and hooks onto the tip tightly. “I guess the deal is sealed.” She says, a small smile on her lips. “You know, GD, you are…something.”

“My name’s Jiyeon.”

“Yeah, but…”

“I’m not on stage now, so I’d like it much better if you called me by my real name.” He insists, “It makes me feel more wholesome.”

“Alright.”

“So,” he starts slowly. “If we continue to loiter in this stinky place, are you going to tell me what happened?”

“No.” Rita replies honestly. “Not yet – not today.” She scans the grimy walls of the bathroom and wrinkles her nose. “And surely not in here.”

Jiyeon nods patiently. “I see. I’ll wait, then.”

“Plus, we have a lot to run through today. I didn’t know you guys are going to be here so early.”

“You are just plenty late.” He retorts. “But Betty has already taken care of the band and got them on stage.”

“Oh.” Rita cringes. “Do you think anyone might have seen me?”

“Nah. They are far too pissed about having to put themselves on public display. Ever since TOP received a disturbing and obsessive fan mail, the rest of the band has also become traumatized with the intensity of the fandom, too. It’s ridiculous.”

“Interesting.” Rita tilts her head. “What’s the story about?”

“Well, first of all, we can’t stand in here and chat all day. Secondly,” he winks at her and smiles crookedly. “I won’t share mine until you share yours too.”

Rita smiles, and holds out her pinky. “I guess that’s another promise, then?”

Jiyeon immediately hooks his little finger with hers, “The deal is sealed.”