We had just finished filming for a variety show when I got a call from Junsu. 

I climbed into the car and tried to buckle my seat with only one hand while the other was attempting to answer the phone. 

At long last, Tae Ji buckled me in and I finally answered the phone. 

"Hi, Junsu."

"You could at least try being polite. Call me sunbaenim or oppa," he said. 

"Oppa requires two more syllables of my breath and sunbaenim takes up three," I said. "It's just too much work."

There was silence on the other end. I glanced at the screen to see if I accidentally ended the call. Nope. The call was on. 

He finally said something. "That was an awful excuse. Anyway, you know how there's a rap part in 'Heart Damage'?"

"Yeah, we're cutting it out right?"

"There's no need to. I found somebody to do it."

"Is it Taec?"

"Better. You should probably put me on speaker for this."

I complied. 

"You're on."

Junsu paused for a bit, just to annoy us I'm sure. 

"Jay."

"Jay..." I said to myself but then Hana squealed. 

"Jay's going to feature in your song?!" She squealed happily. 

"Apparently," I said. "How did you contact him?"

"JYP did. He thought it would be more comfortable for you to work with someone you at least kind of knew and he knew Hana would be happy," Junsu explained. 

"Ohh, we have to get oppa some rice cakes then," I said. I leaned forward to Sung Gyu. "Unnie, could we drop by the store for some rice cakes for JYP oppa?"

"Sure, girls. But no candy." Sung Gyu stared at Eun Mi and Tae Ji through the rearview mirror. "Rara, I thought you monitored their snacks."

"They got smarter," Rara said. 

Eun Mi and Tae Ji tried to act innocent but I saw the stash of cookies in Tae Ji's drawer. 

I returned to my conversation with Junsu. 

"Hey, thanks. I really appreciate it."

Junsu laughed. "Can I get some rice cakes, too?"

"No."

Hana kicked my leg gently. "Yah! You should be nice to your oppa! Apologize!"

"Using aegyo," Junsu added. 

I winced. "You're doing it too, Hana, since you dragged me into this."

I sighed and Hana whispered in my ear. 

I quickly pulled away. "Hell no! I'm not saying that!"

"You have too! It's only aegyo!" Hana persisted. 

I groaned. "Aish, this is so...ugh."

Everyone leaned in as Hana counted off. 

"One, two, three..."

"Oppa saranghae!"

Junsu burst out laughing and I elbowed Hana in the ribs, who was laughing hysterically. 

"Bye, Junsu!" I said into the phone angrily. 

oOo

I wearily climbed up the stairs with Hana to the recording room since the elevators were crammed with people since there was some kind of meeting that day. 

Hana was skipping a step while I trudged upstairs one at a time. 

"Hyun Ae! Hurry up!" She whined. 

"You know, you're starting to sound more like the maknae than leader," I said. 

"Hey, I haven't seen Jay in two years," Hana said. "He's like my brother. You have a brother AND a sister. I don't have either. Jay's the closest thing I have to a sibling."

"Okay, okay," I said. "But I don't think Jay will be there for a few minutes which means you can calm down."

Hana reluctantly slowed down. It was way too early in the morning on a free day. I didn't have a schedule that day, only my rehearsal with Jay and Junsu. 

We finally reached the floor and made our way to the studio. 

"Hi, Jun-" I stopped in the middle of my emotionless, and somewhat sleepy greeting when I saw Jay. 

I braced myself before Hana even opened . 

"Jay!"

She nearly tripped over a chair to get to Jay, who grinned and fearlessly opened up his arms. 

Hana nearly toppled him over as she hugged him. 

Junsu and I stared awkwardly. 

"Looks like you lost some weight, Hannah," Jay teased in English. 

"Shut up," she said, grinning. "That's seriously the first thing you're going to say after not seeing me for two years."

Jay laughed. "I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Sheesh, you're scary."

Junsu nodded along like he understood. 

"Ahem," I cleared my throat. 

"Oh, right," Jay switched to Korean. 

We all sat down at the table and I began to wonder if it was awkward for Jay and Junsu to meet again. 

If it was awkward before, they didn't show it since they shared the common hobby of making fun of Hana and me. 

We practiced until lunch time. By then, my voice was tired and I was starving. 

"I need food," I said weakly. 

"Hey, Junsu, we should take them to that restaurant that we always went to as trainees," Jay said as we left the studio. 

"Sounds great, I can drive," Junsu said. 

I stopped dead in my tracks. 

"Um, I saw you're driving in Wild Bunny," I said. "I think I'll walk."

Jay and Hana laughed and Junsu glared at me jokingly. 

He put got behind me and pushed me through the parking lot to his car. 

Junsu's driving had gotten much better from what I could see. My first clue was the fact that I wasn't  holding my breath every time we needed to make a left turn. 

Parallel parking was okay. It took him a couple of tries but we didn't damage any cars too much. 

The restaurant was relatively small and not too many people were in there since it was the middle of a work day. There were some old people playing cards and that was it. 

"Junsu-ssi! Jaebeom-ssi! You're back!" A rather plump ahjumma welcomed us. Her poofy cheeks were slightly red and her eyes were big and friendly. "And who are these lovely ladies?"

Hana and I bowed. "Hello."

"They're in our sister group, 12hour," Junsu said. He motioned to Hana. "Hana is Jay's younger cousin."

"Ah, yes, I could tell," she smiled at them. "You're family must be very beautiful and handsome to have such lovely children. And this is Boa's little cousin?"

The three of them chuckled. 

"No, no," I said. "I'm not. I apparently look like her. I've never actually met Boa."

"Her name is Hyun Ae," Junsu said. "She's my student."

I kicked his shin lightly. "Not really. I don't call you 'teacher' or anything."

"She's American, Ahjumma," Junsu said in a stage whisper. 

I blushed. "Ah, no! I'm only impolite to Junsu since he always teases me!"

"Arasso, arasso," she nodded. "You seem like a very nice girl."

We were lead to a table by the window and ordered our ramen noodles. 

"So, how are my protégées doing?" Jay asked as the hot noodles were passed around. 

"Good!" Hana answered for the both of us. 

"Sorry, I couldn't check up on you guys earlier-" Jay's eyes bulged out when he put the noodles in his mouth. He coughed. "Was this always so spicy?"

Junsu laughed. "You've gotten soft, hyung. You're lucky you didn't have to eat the super spicy noodles with us on the 2pm Show."

I held my breath, thinking the atmosphere would get awkward but the conversation didn't skip a beat. 

"Oh, God, I saw that," Jay said. "That looked painful."

Junsu nodded. "You could taste it in the air. The whole room was spicy."

Hana suddenly jumped excitedly. "There's this Mexican restaurant in Seattle that's just like that!"

I suddenly jumped as well. "The one near the huge Burger King? That's pretty much an amusement park?"

"Yeah! Jay, remember when we went there for my dad's birthday?" Hana turned to Jay. 

"I thought I was going to die," Jay said. "But then they gave us a ton of ice cream and it actually tasted pretty good."

We spent the next hour talking about spicy food, and only spicy food. For once, I felt like a normal person. 

oOo

The rest of my week was filled with rehearsals with Jay and Junsu when he had the time. 

Soon enough, it was time to perform.

Jay and I were back stage, waiting for Je Il to finish. When he got off stage after bowing, I smiled at him and held up my hand for a high five. 

This time he saw me and returned the smile and high five. He even said good luck. 

Jay patted my shoulder. "Come, grasshopper."

I held back a laugh and stepped out onto the stage with Jay. There was a cheer for Jay, who smiled and flourished his hands as he introduced me. 

I smiled and bowed. 

And prayed to God that Jay wouldn't steal my thunder. 

oOo

The MC smiled and didn't glance at his cards. 

"Today is a very special day," he said. "Over the past few weeks, theses rookie idols have bonded with each other in their divisions. Now, it is time to separate. Our idols need to spread their horizons and meet new people! There are two first places, second places and third places tonight in each division. Each will be separated into new divisions. First, in division one..."

I tried to look awake since I only got four hours of sleep last night since our practice ran really late. 

Suddenly, I heard my name. 

"Hyun Ae and Gunwoo, our first place winners from division four, will be split into division c and d!" He said. "Congratulations to you both! Gunwoo, you are in division C and Hyun Ae, you are in division D."

Gunwoo and I grinned at each other and bowed as well. I was kind of sad that we weren't going to see each other as often since we really became good friends. 

We took the microphone and had mini interviews. 

"Hyun Ae-ssi, is there anyone you would like to thank today?"

I laughed. "Of course, Jay oppa. Thank you for helping me by featuring in my song. And JYP oppa for finding you. And Junsu oppa for always helping me with my songs recently. And of course, 12hour, for supporting me. Please take care of us!"

"Wah, that's a lot of people," he said. "You really need a lot of help, don't you?"

I laughed again and bowed. 

oOo

It was already a week later and I sat patiently in my make up chair, reviewing my song. 

My phone vibrated violently on the make up table and my awesome stylist wasn't too stingy when I reached to pick it up. 

"Annyeong!"

"Junsu, stop trying to be cute." I said. Still, it was kind of funny to me since he was older and everything, so I cracked a smile. 

"Sorry, sorry. Are you ready?"

Earlier, before my dad and everything, I would have said 'I hope so' but that day, I was feeling more confident. 

"Definitely."

"Have fun out there," he said. 

"Thanks," I said. 

I put my phone down and took a few deep breathes. 

I was going to sing 'Ugly' by 2ne1. Not only was it a group song, but it was also not exactly a ballad. Which wasn't normal. And I never really tried that style anyway. 

oOo

I passed by Je Il on the way to the stage. He had gotten second with J-Heart. 

"Je Il, we haven't talked in a long time," I said. 

He smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Hey, congratulations on first."

"Thanks. Good luck on your song," I said before I was rushed backstage by an assistant. 

"You too."

oOo

The music had started to play and I began to sing. Junsu made me fully aware of the fact that I couldn't just stand there like I would have in a ballad. I had to add some crazy. Thing is, I'm not really good at crazy on my own. I was great with 12hour because it's pretty much just having fun my friends but alone was just...awkward. 

Here came the chorus. 

I swallowed. I had to take chances. I had to take the risk of looking bad. 

I breathed in again. I am in 2ne1. I am CL. I am Dara. I am Bom. I am Minzy.

And I sang. 

oOo

"And this song definitely took me by surprise but was performed explosively well," the MC said. "First place in division D is Hyun Ae with Ugly by 2ne1!"

I stepped out of the line to take the microphone. When i got back in line, I realized I stuck out like a sore thumb with my tie dyed baseball cap, cheetah ripped leggings, skull face mask, and my KISS graphic tee shirt among the poofy or elegant dresses and suits. 

Gunwoo held up his gold microphone to me and smiled. He mouthed 'congratulations' and I did the same. 

"Next week, we will be picking our two finalists so more people will be eliminated. This time, there is one requirement." He paused. "You must use a song with a dance. For example, IU's Good Day or Marshmallow, or G-Dragon's Heartbreaker. Idols, good luck."

I in my cheeks with nervousness. 

I was definitely going to need help.