Chapter 4 is up!

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YG then released a mysterious photo with a date caption and small logo of what seemed to be WINNER’s, thus fueling comeback rumors.

At the same day, SM Entertainment released a mysterious photo of cake, signaling what seemed to be the return of their four-member girl group.

After much hype, both company’s released the clearer photos. As expected WINNER and Red Velvet were scheduled to make their respective comebacks over the weekend. SM surprised everyone by unveiling the fifth member of Red Velvet, Yeri. She will be the new maknae of the group. The boys’ MV and album will be dropped on Monday, the following week, while the girls will be releasing their MV and first mini album on Friday.

WINNER’s concept for the carrier track is said to be more upbeat, with powerful dance steps and y raps from Mino and Seunghoon. Red Velvet, on the other hand, will be getting away from the happy concept of Happiness and y, soulful vibe of Be Natural. Instead, they will give an equally upbeat, dance track that will surely showcase the girls’ vocals, raps and dance skills.

Thursday, WINNER and Red Velvet arrived at M-net for the dress rehearsals of comebacks in M! Countdown.

Fans flocked the streets to catch a glimpse of their idols. The girls of Red Velvet walked into the building with big smiles on their faces.

Shortly after, WINNER arrived. Inner Circles immediately flocked the studio to see the boys.

While Irene, Joy and new maknae Yeri were still getting their make-ups done, Seulgi and Wendy wandered around the hallways, calming themselves down.

Well, Seulgi was mostly exchanging messages with her boyfriend, Jackson. 

Meanwhile, the boys of WINNER had just wrapped up their make-up session. 

“I’ll take a walk.” Seungyoon said.

“I’ll go with you.” Taehyun chimed in and sat upright.

The two boys then walked out of their dressing room and walked around the backstage. Along the way, they greeted their sunbaes and other artists.

Taehyun’s face suddenly lit up when he caught a glimpse of certain pretty girl group member. He nudged his friend, who was on the phone.

“Dude! Red Velvet girls at 12 o’clock.” Taehyun mumbled.

Seungyoon’s head shoot up and met Seulgi’s figure.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” He growled.

“Wendy-sshi!” Taehyun cried.

The now blonde Wendy looked up and met Taehyun’s smiling face. She then grabbed the equally blonde haired Seulgi and dragged her to the boys.

“Annyeonghaseyo!” Wendy and Seulgi exchanged bows with the two WINNER boys.

“I guess our groups will be promoting at the same time again.” Taehyun said.

“Yeah. We’re gonna be up against each other again in the next week.” Wendy said.

While Taehyun and Wendy were comfortable with each other. Seulgi and Seungyoon were slightly awkward.

“So, how are you?” Seungyoon opened up.

“Good. I’m looking forward to our stage actually. I really like our song this time and I just wanna have fun on this comeback stage.” Seulgi said.

“Good for you. I’m also looking forward to our stage tonight.” Seungyoon said.

“Looks like your friend is hitting it off with my best friend.” Seulgi said.

“Please excuse Taehyun. He had caught on the obsessive fanboy disorder.” Seungyoon said, earning a glare from Taehyun himself.

“Hyung, why don’t you just reveal who your favorite Red Velvet member is, uh?” Taehyun grinned.

“You’re a fan?” Seulgi asked.

“Uh, yeah. I like your music. Be Natural is actually pretty cool.” Seungyoon complimented.

“Uh, kamsahamnida.” Seulgi bowed.

“Hyung! Just admit it! You have a favorite!” Taehyun insisted.

“Don’t listen to him. I don’t really like taking favorites. I like you collectively.” Seungyoon said.

“I see.” Seulgi nodded.

She suddenly flinched when her phone vibrated.

“That must be Jackson-sshi, right?” Seungyoon asked.

“Yeah. Uh, excuse me for minute.” Seulgi said and walked away.

Seungyoon’s crush on Seulgi had partially fade away, so he was okay with everything. He is now focused on trying to figure out why Jaeyeon forgot about him.

Wendy’s phone also buzzed. She glanced at the screen and smiled.

“Uh, I should take this.” Wendy smiled at Taehyun.

Taehyun nodded.

“Hey Johnny!” Wendy smiled.

Taehyun’s eyebrow arched and glanced at Seungyoon.

“Johnny?” Taehyun asked.

“Why are you asking me? Aren’t you the fan boy?” Seungyoon said.

“Who the hell is Johnny?” Taehyun asked.

From a distance, Wendy could be seen smiling and giggling on the phone.

“Looks like this Johnny dude is someone really close to Wendy-sshi.” Seungyoon smirked.

“He does not scare me.” Taehyun smiled proudly.

“Sorry about that. It was just my boyfriend cheering on me on my group’s comeback.” Wendy said.

“B-Boyfriend?” Taehyun asked.

Seungyoon smirked.

“Yeah. That was Johnny, my boyfriend.” Wendy smiled.

Taehyun’s world crashed. The lovestruck idol had just gotten his heart shattered to pieces when she revealed that she was in a relationship.

Soon, Red Velvet took the stage for their new track. Despite having his heart shattered, Taehyun still tuned into the girls’ performance.

“Woah! Irene is so hot even on that conservative outfit and she's blonde!” Mino cried.

Jinwoo’s jaw was hung loose. He just couldn’t keep his eyes off the stage.

“I don’t care about that Johnny dude.” Taehyun mumbled.

“Look at those three…idiots!” Seunghoon cried.

“Tell me about it. Taehyun has been rambling about Wendy-sshi’s boyfriend and how he do not scare him at all.” Seungyoon said.

“Boyfriend?” Seunghoon asked.

“Yeah. She revealed that she’s seeing someone in front of the fan boy himself.” Seungyoon said.

“Burn!” Seunghoon remarked.

“And then we have this tension between Jinwoo hyung and Mino hyung.” Seungyoon said.

“Why must they fight over one girl?” Seunghoon said.

“Why are these idiots even crazy about girls?” Seungyoon corrected.

After the girls’ performance, WINNER took the stage.

Friday came, Red Velvet released their much-awaited music video for Ice Cream Cake and their first mini album. Their track had immediately received an all-kill in Melon, Bugs, Soribada and more.

And on Monday, WINNER released their new album and had achieved an all-kill in the charts.

By Thursday, both groups were nominated for the #1 spot in M! Countdown.

At the end of the show, WINNER had bagged the top spot, bringing the trophy home.

“Congratulations!” Red Velvet congratulated the boys.

By Sunday, the two groups were once again up against each other, alongside Boyfriend. At the end, Red Velvet won.

The two groups respective comebacks were hits. They won in various charts. 

One Sunday, both groups were arranged to perform a special stage on the week’s Inkigayo.

They had arrived in SBS studios before the broadcast and had rehearsed the special stage.

“You’ll be performing your collaboration performance in Gayo Daejun last year. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get GOT7 and Lovelyz, so you guys will be performing together instead. We’ve made some changes in the pairing, except for Taehyun-sshi and Wendy-sshi.” The PD said.

The truth was SM and YG arranged this joint stage. Ever since Taeyang and Yuri’s viral kissing video scandal shocked everyone, both companies had decided to show everyone that there was no conflict, despite the rivalry. The two rookie groups’ collaboration stage will be like a publicity stunt for both agencies.

“Mino-sshi, you will be paired up with Irene-sshi. Seunghoon-sshi, you’ll be dancing with Joy-sshi, Seungyoon-sshi and Seulgi-sshi. Lastly, Jinwoo-sshi and Yeri-sshi.” The PD said.

The rehearsals were pretty good. The two groups showed great chemistry with each other. The PDs just hoped that they would do equally as great during the live performance.

And they were more than right. The groups displayed a really good chemistry on stage with that y collaboration performance of Maroon 5’s hit ‘Moves Like Jagger’.

Mino pulled off the best wave he could show to impress the leader. Truly, the crowd went berserk when he and Irene were so close to each other. Poor Jinwoo, he wasn’t able to flirt with Irene as he was paired with maknae Yeri. Mino ended the performance with a warning to Jinwoo that Irene was ‘his’ by wrapping his arm around her waist.

Taehyun and Wendy, who had been paired up once, never failed to show the audience their good chemistry with fan services. In Gayo Daejun, their fan service were merely smiles and Taehyun’s hair . This time, the pair spiced the stage up with a little skinship. Taehyun Wendy’s cheek in a flirty way, Wendy giggled and they ended the performance, facing each other closely.

Seungyoon and Seulgi did their fan service in a y yet appropriate way. The male idol did not want to piss the female idol’s boyfriend, so he pulled off the classic—checking her out in a y way, i.e., biting his lip as he looked at her dance. 

WINNER’s dancing machine Seunghoon rather did a cute fan service with Joy. The girl was four years younger than him, so, he just gave her a high-five and pulled a cute pose with her, displaying his aegyo. So did Jinwoo and maknae Yeri. 

After their special stage, both groups appeared on stage for their respective performances.

After all the performance, all artists gathered on stage.

WINNER and Red Velvet, along with Younha, who did not perform, went up against each other for this week’s Inkigayo.

The scoreboard was displayed on the screen. The numbers were rolling, artists and everyone in the studio anticipated the pronouncement of the winner.

And the winner is…WINNER, Congratulations!

After the series of bows, the boys took the stage for an encore, but Taehyun disappeared even before the music started.

Apparently, he walked away with Wendy.

“So? You owe me a cup of coffee, Wendy-sshi.” Taehyun smirked.

“I’ll take note of that.” Wendy smiled.

“We can go to some café now and you can pay up.” Taehyun smiled.

“Sorry, Mr. Nam, I can’t leave right now. If I do, the girls and manager oppa would find out and I’ll be in so much trouble. Just ring me and I will see if I have time.” Wendy said.

“We might not be able to see each other next week, Ms. Son. So, this is the right time.” Taehyun insisted.

“If you insist, but I gotta tell Seulgi.” Wendy said.

“Hey, Bear! Can you tell Joohyun eonni and manager oppa that I will be going out for coffee?” Wendy pleaded.

“Coffee? Who with? Is Johnny around?” Seulgi asked.

“Nope. I owe Taehyun-sshi a cup of coffee after losing to a bet earlier. So, will you?” Wendy asked.

“You’re going now?” Seulgi asked.

“As soon as I dress down, I’m going to meet him and go to a café.” Wendy said.

“Ok. Be careful. Keep your distance and no skinship!” Seulgi cried.

“Yes, mom.” Wendy groaned and dressed down.

“Let’s go.” Taehyun said.

Wendy and Taehyun snuck out of the studio, pulled their hoodies and walked away from the building.

Meanwhile, Seungyoon finally realized that his friend was missing.

“Guys! Has any of you seen Taehyun?” Seungyoon asked.

“Nope! He’s probably in Red Velvet’s dressing room, flirting.” Seunghoon said.

“But he’s been missing since the encore stage.” Seungyoon said.

The boys missed him on the way to the dressing room.

“Ring him up.” Mino ordered.

Seungyoon pulled his phone out, tapped on Taehyun’s caller ID and placed the device on his ear.

After a few rings, the dude finally picked up.

“Nice of you to finally pick up. Where the hell are you?” Seungyoon asked.

“Uh, just out for coffee with Wendy-sshi.” Taehyun said.

“WHAT? Coffee with Wendy-sshi? Are you out of your mind? You two are gonna get caught!” Seungyoon shouted on his phone.

“Easy there, hyung. Relax! We’re pretty much covered up. Besides, we won’t take long. She’s just gonna buy what she owed me and we’re off to SBS studio again.” Taehyun said.

“Fine! I give you twenty minutes to get back here or I would have to report this to manager hyung.” Seungyoon said.

“Yeah! Yeah! Loosen up a bit, man. You’re being way to uptight again.” Taehyun said.

“I am not uptight. I’m just being a good leader. Twenty minutes, man.” Seungyoon said.

“Yes, can I hung up now?” Taehyun said.

“Fine.” Seungyoon replied.

Taehyun hung up.

“So? Where is he?” Seunghoon asked.

“He is in some café with Wendy-sshi right now.” Seungyoon said.

“Man! He got it bad with Wendy!” Mino remarked.

“Yep! He got it so bad!” Seungyoon agreed.

Fifteen minutes later, the two idols walked back to the studio and were just in time for them to leave.

Meanwhile, respective CEOs of SM and YG met up for an official business meeting. Ever since Taeyang and Yuri’s dating scandal, both parties had been constantly in communication.

YG’s CEO Yang Hyunseok entered SM Entertainment’s headquarters. He was greeted by the staffs. 

He was accompanied by Lee Sooman’s executive secretary to the man’s office.

“Good morning, Mr. Yang and welcome to SM Entertainment. Let’s begin.” The man said.

“Step one was successfully done. Both WINNER and Red Velvet pulled the stage off well and had received good criticism from the crowd. So, I believe, we are ready for the second phase, Mr. Yang. What do you say?” Lee Sooman asked.

“Yes, we are ready for the next step, but we have yet to finalize the plan. So, what’s your suggestion, Mr. Lee?” Yang Hyunseok asked.

“A reality show will be nice. Here, fans get to know more about the idols. I know your artists have gone through a show already, am I correct? I’m sure that fans know a lot about the boys already, but this show is different from any other reality show. I envisioned that this will be some short of a challenge variety show, e.g., Running Man, where our artists can showcase their skills not just in the arts but also in athleticism. The competition part is not gonna be a Boys versus Girls thing. Although, there is still a possibility to have it. Anyway,  we will have to pair them up in a fair way, which will be finalize as soon as we find a PD. Aside from the challenges and missions, there will also be like a We Got Married theme, but I am not going for the idea of pairs living together. We can work on this with the PD and maybe even capture their everyday life as artists.” Mr. Lee proposed.

“Ok. This is a good proposal. I’m up for it. If you can just give me a hardcopy of this. I wanna discuss this with my staff and hear their side.” Mr. Yang requested.

“Mr. Jung, please produce a copy of my proposal to Mr. Yang.” Lee Sooman requested.

“Yes, sir.” The executive secretary bowed at the boss and retreated back to his spot.

“I shall be discussing this with my staff and give you our verdict tomorrow. Finding a PD will not be a problem, as I will be shouldering that responsibility. We will be showing this in M-net channel, I suppose?” Mr. Yang asked.

“Yes. We will be airing the show on M-net channel for local viewers and for those who has access to The M Channel across the globe. We cannot be leaving out international fans who do not have M-net, M channel and the live streaming tool of M-net.com, so I propose that we also air the episodes in our company’s official YouTube channels, thereby accommodating a huge number of viewers.” Mr. Lee said.

“Ok. I’ll have my secretary contact you for our decision. So, I believe our meeting just ended.” Mr. Yang said.

“Oh, yes. It’s our pleasure to have you here, Mr. Yang. Have a good day. Mr. Jung, please Mr. Yang out.” Mr. Lee said.

That afternoon, Yang Hyunseok called all members of the board to discuss the important proposal that SM’s CEO made. He explained everything to his staff in a detailed manner, earning nods from them.

“May we have a show of hands as to who would go on board with this project?” The man asked.

All members of the board rose their hands, signaling that the project is good to go.

“Great! I guess we have a full vote here. I will be relaying our decision to Mr. Lee. We shall look for a PD and everything will be all set.” The man said.

A few weeks later, WINNER and Red Velvet were informed about the project.

“A variety show? That’s wonderful! When will we start filming?” Wendy cried.

“Soon. The filming date will be a surprise. Unfortunately, Yeri wouldn’t be in this show. Mr. Lee said that she’s too young for this show.” The girls’ manager said.

“Oh! T-that’s ok! I will cheer on eonnis then.” Yeri smiled.

“A variety show? Cool! When will we film?” Taehyun asked.

“Soon. Yang sajangnim said that it would be a surprise, so you will just have to wait what’s in store for you.” Their manager smiled.

“Can’t you at least give us a hint? Is this another WINNERTV?” Seunghoon asked.

“I can’t say anything, I’m sorry. You’ll find out soon.” Their manager smiled.

A week later, filming commenced. The PD, along with the camera crew secretly walked into both groups’ dorms and filmed the idols will they were still sleeping.

The crew were snickering around, waking the first victim…Seunghoon. As soon as Seunghoon’s eyes open, he jumped out in shock, waking Jinwoo up in the process.

Jinwoo, who realized that the cameras were rolling, he pulled his blanket up to his head and hid his bare face.

Mino was still asleep.

Meanwhile, the other half of the crews finally caught their first victim, Irene. The female idol let out a shriek after seeing the camera lens on her face. The camera man shifted to Joy, who was sleeping like a baby.

“Is this some kind of prank?” Irene asked.

“Aniyo, we are filming the show now, Irene-sshi.” The PD said.

“Jinjja? Ah, joeseonghabnida.” Irene said as she covered her face.

“Eonni, what is going on?” Joy finally woke up and covered her face.

“Apparently, we are filming. Are you gonna edit this out?” Irene asked.

“We will have to assess the footage we get and see if we would edit it out or not.” The PD said.

The other crew finally woke Seulgi and Wendy up. Yeri stayed in her old dorm for a while.

After filming the girls up, the camera crew closed the cameras.

Meanwhile, Seungyoon and Taehyun finally caught on with the situation.

“Where is Mino hyung?” Seungyoon said as he sipped onto coffee.

“Asleep. He is sleeping like a baby.” Jinwoo said.

“Should we wake him up?” Taehyun asked with a smirk.

Seunghoon motioned to go in.

The boys then all jump on Mino’s bed and woke him up.

“What the hell?” Mino cried.

“Wakey wakey, sleepyhead!” Jinwoo said.

“Get off me, guys!” Mino cried.

“Should we?” Seunghoon turned to the PD.

Mino turned to the PD and back to the guys.

“What is going on?” Mino asked.

“We are filming!” Taehyun sang.

“Filming what?” Mino asked.

“The show, man. We are filming the variety show.” Seunghoon said.

“Now?” Mino’s eyes show.

“Well, the cameras are rolling right now.” Seunghoon said.

Mino grabbed a cap and put it on to cover his messy hair.

After filming the boys, the crews closed their cameras.

“What is this?” Seungyoon asked as he received a yellow envelop.

“Well, open it, hyung!” Taehyun cried.

The leader opened the envelope and read the texts in it.

Good Morning WINNER! Welcome to Rookie Adventures! Your first mission will start today, so take a bath, dress up and get ready for your first adventure! Dress comfortably, ‘cause this will be a long day. ~Yang PD

“Yang PD? Yang Hyunseok sajangnim?” Seungyoon asked.

“What does it say?” Taehyun asked.

“Get ready ‘cause we are off to our first adventure today.” Seungyoon said.

“Woohoo!” The boys cried.

Meanwhile, Red Velvet had also received a note. Irene opened up a red envelope and read the texts out loud.

Good Morning Red Velvet! Welcome to Rookie Adventures! Your first mission will start today, so get ready for your first adventure! Dress comfortably, ‘cause you’ll be running around a lot. ~Lee PD

“Lee PD? Lee sajangnim?” Joy asked.

“I think so.” Irene said.

“Well, let’s get ready!” Wendy cried.

The two groups spent the next hour getting ready. 

Seungyoon and Irene then received another card from the camera crew.

Boys / Girls! We will be transporting you to a secret place, so seat back, relax and just enjoy the journey. ~Lee / Yang PD

After a forty-five minute drive, the girls arrived at their destination. They were at the Han River park. A flag was put up in the middle of grassy area. They were given their respective lapel microphones.

“Hello, I’m MC Daesung!” Daesung cried.

“And I’m MC Amber and this is Rookie Adventures.” Amber introduced herself.

“Today, we will be meeting our two groups, who are the stars of this show. Oh and there they are!” Daesung cried.

“Annyeonghaseyo!” The girls greeted the crew and the MCs, which were apparently BIGBANG’s Daesung and f(x)’s Amber.

“Amber eonni, why are you here?” Seulgi asked.

“I was picked to be one of the MCs of this show…your show, silly?” Amber said.

Soon, another van pulled over. A man stepped out followed by younger guy. Joy was first to see who the other guest was.

“Looks like the other group is here too!” Amber cried.

“Seunghoon oppa?” Joy mumbled and glanced at Irene.

Soon, the rest of WINNER stepped out of the car. They made their way to the meeting area and met with Red Velvet.

Taehyun was smiling from ear-to-ear when he caught a glimpse of blonde Wendy but quickly released something off.

“Yeri-sshi isn’t in the show?” Taehyun asked.

“Unfortunately, no. After that special stage in Inkigayo, we received negative comments about her being paired up with Jinwoo-sshi, as a result of the big . So, we decided not to put her in the show together with the girls. However, we are considering making her a guest in an episode or two.” The PD explained.

“I see.” Taehyun nodded.

“I’m guessing you guys still don’t know what your mission is?” Daesung asked.

“Ye!” Everyone nodded.

“Well, Amber here will be handing out two mission cards. Each cards says something about your first adventure. Amber-sshi, please hand them the cards.” Daesung said.

The boyish female idol handed the rookies their cards.

“Please read it out the message and on our cue, your first adventure will officially begin!” Amber cried.

Mino and Wendy began reading the messages.

Hello Rookies! Welcome to Han River Park and Rookie Adventures! You have finally met the MCs and each other. Now, it’s time to meet your partners. Each one of you will be going around finding your partners. How? Easy! Four colored cards are scattered around the area. These will serve as your clues to finding your partner. But, you can’t take all the cards, as there are assigned colors for you. Amber will be giving you your assigned colors. Follow your designated color and you will get to your destination. No looking at each other’s cards. Once caught, a penalty will be given. No running around by twos. Separate! Good Luck! ~Rookie Adventures PD

“On my cue, everyone line up in front of Amber-sshi. She’ll be handing out your designated colors. Keep the piece of papers to yourselves, please.” Daesung said.

“And…cue!” Daesung cried.

Red Velvet lined up in front of Amber. WINNER came after.

“And on our cue, run, okay?” Amber asked.

“One, Two, Three! RUN!” Daesung and Amber cried.

With that, the two rookie groups ran around to look for their color cards.

Jinwoo + Irene + Mino= RED
Seungyoon + Seulgi= YELLOW

Taehyun + Wendy= BLUE

Seunghoon + Joy= GREEN

Mino ran towards one of the vans and bumped onto Irene.

“Irene-sshi…” Mino panted.

“Mino-sshi…” Irene said.

The pair got to the back of the van and found a red card stuck on the window. Mino and Irene reached for it, but before they could pull it out, Jinwoo snatched it away from them.

“Y-You’re red too?” Mino cried.

“What do you think, man?” Jinwoo asked.

“Just read the message, Jinwoo-sshi.” Irene ordered.

He read the message out.

Congratulations, rookies! You just found each other! You will be the red team! And for your first destination, you will have to find a red flag with a “Red Team” sign on it. How? Clues will be given to you at each stop. To know your first stop, you must answer this riddle: “…” Good Luck! ~ Rookie Adventures PD

Jinwoo read the riddle and all three of them began brainstorming.

Meanwhile, Seungyoon finally got to the point of meeting. As soon as he tapped onto the trunk of a tree, he found someone’s hand on it. He glanced on his side and a panting Seulgi welcomed him.

“Hey…” Seulgi said.

“I guess we are partners!” Seungyoon said.

“Yeah. Now, let’s read this out.” Seulgi said.

Congratulations, rookies! You just found each other! You will be the yellow couple! And for your first destination, you will have to find a yellow flag with a “Yellow couple” sign on it. How? Clues will be given to you at each stop. To know your first stop, you must answer this riddle: “…” Good Luck! ~ Rookie Adventures PD

Taehyun and Wendy got to meet each other after seeing a blue card stuck on a crazy-looking bush.

“Partners!” Taehyun sang.

Wendy grabbed the card and read the texts out loud.

Congratulations, rookies! You just found each other! You will be the blue couple! And for your first destination, you will have to find a blue flag with a “Blue couple” sign on it. How? Clues will be given to you at each stop. To know your first stop, you must answer this riddle: “…” Good Luck! ~ Rookie Adventures PD

Seunghoon and Joy found each other around a cherry blossom tree. Joy grabbed the green card and read the message.

Congratulations, rookies! You just found each other! You will be the green couple! And for your first destination, you will have to find a green flag with a “Green couple” sign on it. How? Clues will be given to you at each stop. To know your first stop, you must answer this riddle: “…” Good Luck! ~ Rookie Adventures PD

All teams rushed to look for their first clues. Each of the stops they had gone to had given them items. These items would determine their first destination.

“I see it! The flag is over there!” Irene cried as she pointed onto a Chinese restaurant.

“Let’s go!” Mino grabbed her hand and dragged her away.

“Hey, wait up!” Jinwoo cried and chased after them.

“Seulgi-sshi, I think that’s the place.” Seungyoon pointed to a flower shop.

“It is. Kaja!” Seulgi nodded her head.

The pair rushed to the flower shop.

“Hongdae!” Taehyun cried.

“What?” Wendy asked.

“We are heading to Hongdae!” Taehyun cried.

“Oh yeah! Let’s go!” Wendy cried.

Taehyun grabbed her hand and dragged her to the van.

“Seunghoon oppa, I think I found our destination! We are headed to a pottery place.” Joy said.

“Kaja!” Seunghoon said.

Joy and Seunghoon ran to the pottery studio.

“Welcome to Tang Dynasty Restaurant! Here’s your mission card.” The manager said.

Irene received the card and read the message.

Congratulations, rookies! You made it to your first destination! Now that you are in a Chinese restaurant, your first task is to learn how to make dumplings. Choose one member from your team to represent the group in this round. You have ten minutes to prepare and learn the task. Once you’ve learned the process, there will be a medium-sized bowl of meat and stacks of wrappers given to you. You have to finish making dumplings within 90 minutes. Ten badly looking dumplings will cost you a penalty of ten minutes. 20 failed attempts will stop the game and you will lose this round. Good Luck! ~ Rookie Adventures PD

“So, who is it gonna be?” Jinwoo asked.

“I’ll do it.” Irene volunteered.

“You sure? I can do it.” Mino asked.

“Uh! I’m sure.” Irene nodded.

Irene dressed up in a proper chef uniform and began learning how to make dumplings.

The boys watched Irene as she made dumplings.

“Isn’t she pretty?” Jinwoo said.

“Dude! We are filming.” Mino said.

“What’s wrong with being a fan boy?” Jinwoo said.

Irene made it through the round barely breathing. She had made fifteen badly looking dumplings, almost losing the challenge, but knowing that two boys were counting on her, she struggled to finish the challenge without failing them.

The staff gave them another mission card.

Congratulations, rookies! You made it through the first round. Making dumplings isn’t an easy task as it requires patience. Your next task is to make hand-pulled noodles. Pick one member from your team to represent your group in this challenge. You have twenty minutes to learn the art of dough pulling. Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, there will be three pieces of dough given to you. You will have to make three hand pulled noodles within two hours. One failed attempt will cost you a penalty. Two failed attempts will stop the time and you lose this round. Good Luck! ~Rookie Adventures PD

“I’ll do it!” Mino volunteered.

After his lecture, Mino began using the new found skill he got to do the challenge. The first dough he made was okay. The second dough was a flop, thus a penalty was given to them.

“You will not be doing anything for the next ten minutes. Once the buzzer rings, you may continue the challenge.” The staff said.

“Damn it!” Jinwoo cursed under his breath.

When the buzzer rang, Mino resumed the challenge. He finished the last dough just in time for the challenge time to end.

Congratulations, rookies! Learning the art of hand pulling noodles isn’t an easy task but it is not impossible. Your next challenge is to make fortune cookies. Choose one member from your team to represent the group in this round. You have ten minutes to prepare and learn the task. Once you’ve learned the process, there will be moulds and dough given to you. You have to finish making cookies within an hour. Fifteen badly looking cookies will cost you a penalty of ten minutes. Thirty failed attempts will stop the game and you will lose this round. Good Luck! ~Rookie Adventures PD

“I will do it!” Jinwoo said.

Mino and Irene watched Jinwoo as he did the challenge. Mino used the chance to flirt with Irene while Jinwoo was busy. Unbeknownst to Mino, Jinwoo was looking at them and he wasn’t exactly about what he was seeing. He brushed the thought off and concentrated on making perfect cookies. Like Irene, he had a near failure experience when he failed to perfect the twenty-seven cookies he made. Fortunately, he made it through the challenge.

Congratulations, rookies! You finished this super challenge. Your hardwork deserves a reward. So, the staff will you to your table and you will be served with lunch. Enjoy your meal! See you tonight in the studio! ~Rookie Adventures PD

“Assa! Free lunch!” Mino cried.

Meanwhile, Seungyoon and Seulgi received their mission card.

Congratulations, rookies! You made it to your first destination. Now, that you are in a flower shop, your task is to look around the flower gardens. In here you will be given lectures on flowers. At the end of the lecture, you will be quizzed about them. You have thirty minutes to familiarize each flowers and your test will come shortly after. Good luck, rookies! ~Rookies Adventures PD. 

Seungyoon and Seulgi walked into the green house. The flower shop owner showed them around, giving them information about the flowers. Each of them were given a notepad and a pen to take down notes. After fifteen minutes of familiarizing the flowers, the idols reviewed their notes in preparation for their quiz.

“What is this flower again?” Seungyoon asked Seulgi.

“Oh! It’s Petunia.” Seulgi said.

“Ah!” Seungyoon nodded.

Seulgi then received another mission card. Seungyoon scooted closer to see the message.

Rookies! Your flower familiarity quiz will start in five minutes. As for the mechanics, the owner would be showing photos of her flowers, the two of you will have to answer her questions within five seconds. The quiz will go on for ten minutes. Miss two questions and you will get a penalty of a minute. Miss five and the game is over. You will not be given any ‘pass’ powers. Good luck! ~Rookie Adventures PD

“Woah! The PD sure is strict about this game.” Seungyoon cried.

“Ahuh! I’m getting nervous.” Seulgi said.

“We can do this!” Seungyoon cried.

“Ne, fighting!” Seulgi cried.

Shortly after, both idols underwent a test. Seungyoon missed two questions, prompting a 60 second penalty for them. 

The idols carried on with the game as soon as the penalty passed. At the end of the quiz, both idols finished their challenge. They gave each other a high five and then received a mission card.

Seungyoon and Seulgi read the message on the card.

Congratulations, rookies! You’ve finished phase one of this challenge. For the next round you will learn how to make flower arrangements. Here’s the catch: The man will be the one who would make the flower arrangements while the woman will be cheering on him. Seungyoon-sshi, you have forty-five minutes to learn the art of flower arrangements. Seulgi-sshi, you have two minutes to come up with a cheer. Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, you will have to make five flower arrangements within ninety minutes. Get two badly made arrangement will result in a penalty of ten minutes. Get three and it’s the end of the challenge. Cheering will be done for every ten minutes. A bad or unenthusiastic cheer spirit will also cost you a time penalty of five minutes. A good cheer spirit will let you go on with the challenge. Good luck! ~ Rookie Adventures PD

While Seungyoon was busy attending a lecture on flower arrangements, Seulgi was brainstorming on a cheer.

Forty-five minutes later, Seulgi was asked to stepped into the arrangement area. She gave Seungyoon a smile and started cheering.

Seungyoon jjang! Seungyoon jjang! Seungyooni, seungrija! Fighting!

Seungyoon spent the next ninety minutes making flower arrangements. With his partner’s warm cheer, Seungyoon was determined to make the best arrangements he could make. Along the way, Seulgi messed up her cheer and cost them a five-minute penalty.

“Mianhae!” Seulgi cried.

“Gwaenchanayo, Seulgi-sshi.” Seungyoon smiled.

At the end of the round, Seungyoon finished all five flower arrangements. The shop owner labeled each arrangements with Seungyoon’s name on them, stating that the idol made them himself. 

Congratulations, rookies! You have completed your mission for now. Your hard work earned you a good lunch. Here is a pass and pocket money for you to spend for your lunch. There is café nearby, so enjoy! See you tonight at the studio. ~Rookie Adventures PD

“Assa! I’m starving!” Seungyoon cried.

“Will you be filming us even in the café?” Seulgi asked.

The crew nodded.

The two idols then made their way to the café for lunch.

Meanwhile, Taehyun and Wendy just arrived in their destination. They were then handed a card.

Congratulations, rookies! You’ve made it to your first destination. For your first challenge, you will have to perform on the streets of Hongdae without being recognize. You will be given disguises to be able to fulfill this mission. Mess up a performance will give you a penalty. This penalty entails you to take off one of your disguise. If at least one person recognize you, the challenge will be over. Good luck! ~Rookie Adventures PD

The two artists then made their way to Hongdae. The crew set up their equipment and then the two began performing. 

Wendy placed the guitar case before them to look like they were actual street performers and then proceed to putting up a show. 

“Can you play an acoustic version of ‘Empty’?” Taehyun asked.

“Yeah. I think so.” Wendy said while she fixed her fake glasses.

In a while, the two idols performed a different version of ‘Empty’, drawing people.

Not to blow their cover off, the crew made sure that they did not give people a sign of what they were doing.

Wendy covered Seunghoon’s rap, while Taehyun did Mino’s. At the end of the performance, a huge crowd had surrounded them already.

“Do you know ‘Some’?” Taehyun asked.

“Uh. Shall we do it?” Wendy asked.

The idols then performed Soyou and Junggigo’s hit ‘Some’, drawing more people into the crowd. Their street performance got them some monetary tips.

Some people even took selfies with the two-man street band, to which both idols appreciated a lot. 

The two idols received another card from the PD.

Congratulations, rookies! You’ve passed the challenge! To end your misery, you two may take your disguises off. Your next challenge will be up in a while. Enjoy! ~Rookie Adventures PD

“Is he serious with this?” Taehyun asked.

“I guess we can take our disguises off now.” Wendy said.

With that, the two idols stripped off their disguises and the crowd went wild. 

“Annyeonghaseyo! WINNER’s Taehyun and Red Velvet’s Wendy ibnida!” The idols greeted their fans.

“We are here to film a challenge for our new show. Please tune into Rookie Adventures, which will be aired soon.” Taehyun smiled.

“Our last performance will be…Eyes, Nose, Lips by Taeyang sunbaenim.” Wendy said.

As the idols performed a cover of Taeyang’s song, fans sang with them.

“Thank you everyone! See you guys soon!” Taehyun and Wendy said as they entered the van. 

They then made their way to Cheonggyecheon Stream.

“Aren’t we in Cheonggyecheon?” Taehyun asked.

“Yeah, w-we are.” Wendy mumbled.

Congratulations, rookies! You made it to the next round. As your next challenge, you will have to act out scenes from dramas while you’re on the flowing stream. Getting people to watch you will earn you pocket money. Getting them to take photos, selfies and videos of you, will earn you free lunch and getting monetary tips from them will get you out of this challenge and proceed to the next round. Good luck! ~Rookie Adventures PD

“WHAT? You’ve got to be kidding us, right?” Taehyun asked the crew.

“No. This is the challenge.” The crew said.

“So, what drama scene will we be acting out?” Wendy asked.

The crew handed them two pieces of paper. The two idols read through them. 

“The hair scene?” Wendy asked.

“Wendy-sshi, you will have to tie your hair like Cha Eun-sang did in ‘The Heirs’. Taehyun-sshi, just like Kim Tan did in the drama, you will have to pull the hair tie out of her hair. Her hair flies around and she turns around.” The assistant PD said.

“Ne!” The two idols nodded.

With that, the idols took their shoes out, Taehyun rolled his pants up to avoid getting wet. Wendy, who was wearing a dress had no problem getting her feet wet. The two then walk on the streams like two crazy teenagers and re-enact a scene from The Heirs. The first attempt did attract attention but not for the acting. Rather, people were intrigued by the idols’ actions.

More attempts later, people began crowding them and taking photos and videos of the idols.

“Are they dating?” A girl with a Wolf 88 hoodie asked her friend.

“Ani. It looks like they are filming for some show. Omo! WINNER and Red Velvet doing a drama together?” The girl’s friend gasped.

The photos, selfies and videos earned the idols free lunch.

After the fulfilling the crazy challenge, the two idols received another card.

Congratulations, rookies! You’ve finished your mission for now. Now, you’ve earned yourselves free lunch. Please dry down and the van will take you to your restaurant. Enjoy! See you tonight! ~Rookie Adventures PD

“Assa! Let’s head out for lunch!” Taehyun cried.

Meanwhile, Seunghoon and Joy reached their destination.

Congratulations, rookies! You’ve made it to your first mission. Your first challenge is to learn how to make clay pots. Choose one between you who will do the challenge. Once you learn the basics, you are off to pot-making. You will be given 90 minutes to finish at least one pot. Two failed attempts entails you a failed challenge. ~ Rookie Adventures PD

“I will do it, oppa.” Joy volunteered.

“Are you sure about this?” Seunghoon asked.

“Ye. I always wanted to learn how to make pots.” Joy smiled.

“Ok. I will cheer for you.” Seunghoon said.

Joy then began learning how to make pots. She even tried to practice herself. As soon as the challenge start, Joy placed her hand on the potter’s wheel and began forming the clay. 

Seunghoon watched his partner as she made her first attempt to make a pot from scratch. He smiled at her childish ways. Well, he can’t blame the girl. She was still in high school. She hasn’t exactly matured enough. When Joy glanced at him, he gave her an encouraging smile, coupled with a slight fighting sign.

Joy almost cost them the challenge when she made a really bad mistake on the course of the game. Fortunately, she finished making a pot with just one failed attempt.

“Assa! I knew you would make it!” Seunghoon cried.

“Thanks for the encouragement, oppa.” Joy smiled.

Congratulations, rookies! You’ve made it through the challenge. Originally, there is another round for this challenge, but because of a prior commitment, the shop cannot accommodate us any further. So, you may now take your rest. As a prize, you will be having your well-deserved lunch. Here is your pocket money and pass. Enjoy! See you tonight! ~Rookie Adventures PD

That night, the idols gathered together in the studio.

“So, what did you guys do?” Seulgi asked Wendy.

“Performed on the streets of Hongdae and re-enact drama scenes at Cheonggyecheon.” Wendy said.

“Eh? That’s easy! We had a quiz on flowers! FLOWERS!” Seungyoon cried.

“We had to perform on the streets of Hongdae with disguises on and avoid getting caught, hyung. Oh and re-enacting drama scenes while your in the stream is crazy! People think we’re some weird teenagers, violating the rules.” Taehyun said.

“So, what did you three do?” Wendy asked Irene.

“We became chefs in a restaurants.” Irene said.

“I’m never eating fortune cookies ever again!” Jinwoo cried.

“You made your own fortune cookies? That’s cool!” Taehyun cried.

“I never knew those cookies were so delicate!” Jinwoo cried.

“You should’ve seen Jinwoo hyung when he was doing the cookies. His face was hilarious.” Mino said.

Irene burst out laughing, surprising the girls.

“Yeah! It was hilarious. You were on the verge of giving up on those cookies, Jinwoo-sshi. Mino-sshi and I couldn’t stop laughing.” Irene said.

“If Jinwoo hyung made fortune cookies, what did you two do?” Seungyoon asked.

“I was hand pulling heavy balls of dough to make noodles and Irene-sshi made dumplings.” Mino said.

“Hey, what about flowers?” Mino asked Seungyoon.

“We had a quiz on the flowers we saw earlier. There was just too many and I had a hard time taking everything in.” Seungyoon said.

“Seungyoon-sshi also made five flower arrangements. He did well.” Seulgi said.

“Woaho! Flower arrangements?” Mino cried.

“Yeah! It was pretty embarrassing but I had to do it.” Seungyoon said.

Seunghoon and Joy then joined them in the studio.

“Where did you guys go?” Mino asked.

“A pottery studio and lunch.” Seunghoon said.

“You did pots?” Jinwoo snorted.

“Joy-sshi did the challenge. I was just there to cheer on her. We were suppose to do another round but the shop had other commitments and they couldn’t accommodate us.” Seunghoon said.

“Yah! You are the man. Why didn’t you do the challenge in her place?” Jinwoo said.

“I volunteered. I always wanted to learn how to make pots.” Joy said cheerfully.

Soon after filming three episodes, M-net aired the show.

Fans supported the show, as it had a high rating when it first aired.

One Sunday in Inkigayo, both groups arrived for their respective goodbye stages.

While waiting for the show to start, Taehyun made a visit to Red Velvet’s dressing room.

He knocked on the door and Wendy’s face greeted him.

“Hello!” Wendy smiled.

“Wanna hang?” Taehyun asked.

“Yeah, sure. Give me a second.” Wendy said as she grabbed her phone and walked away with Taehyun.

“So, what’s up? Is Mr. Nam bored?” Wendy asked.

“Yeah. I came by to hang with you. It’s ok with you, right?” Taehyun asked.

“Of course! So, what do you wanna talk about?” Wendy asked.

“Just wanna ask you to have coffee with me tomorrow morning. We don’t have any filming schedules.” Taehyun said hopefully.

“Sure. A cup of coffee with you wouldn’t hurt. So, Starbucks?” Wendy asked.

“Nah. I wan’t some place not mainstream. I’ll text you the address.” Taehyun said.

“Ok. Anything else you want to talk about?” Wendy asked.

Before Taehyun could reply, Wendy’s phone buzzed.

“I should take this. Excuse me. Hey, Johnny!” Wendy smiled as soon as she picked up the call.

Taehyun gritted his teeth when he heard his name.

Johnny again? Why does that jerk keep on calling every time I make a move? 

“I’m just hanging with Taehyun-sshi right now. No, he isn’t flirting with me. Johnny, you got it all wrong. Taehyun and I are just…what? You accuse me of cheating? Yah! Are you hearing yourself? Taehyun-sshi is someone whom I became friends with after working with each other. Johnny, you don’t get it. Fine! Have it your way! Bye!” Wendy harshly hung up.

“I’m sorry that you heard that.” Wendy said.

“Trouble with him, huh?” Taehyun asked.

“He’s being all jealous again.” Wendy said.

“Again?” Taehyun asked.

“I know! He can be a little jealous sometimes, but…” Wendy said.

“Is he hitting you?” Taehyun asked.

“Nope. We just cool off and then get back together after a while.” Wendy said.

“Wendy-sshi, I know that this isn’t my business, but judging by the way he sounds like when you talk to him on the phone, I think he is a big jerk. You deserve someone better.” Taehyun said.

“I can handle this, Taehyun-sshi. I’ve been in this roller coaster ride for months now.” Wendy said.

“Aish! Johnny is getting on my nerves.” Taehyun said as he slumped on the couch.

“Who?” Jinwoo asked.

“Wendy-sshi’s boyfriend.” Seungyoon said while on the phone.

“That girl’s got a boyfriend?” Jinwoo asked.

“Oh yeah and Mr. Nam, here, is very much jealous of the lucky man.” Seungyoon said.

“Tch! Hyung, that guy is big douche bag.” Taehyun said.

“What is it this time Namtae?” Seungyoon asked.

“They just had a big fight on the phone. That dude was being all green-eyed monster again.” Taehyun said.

“Well, what happened?” Jinwoo asked.

“She said that they were taking break again.” Taehyun said.

“Take this a chance, man. Woo her.” Mino said, earning a glare from Seungyoon.

“What? Taehyun really needs to make a move now.” Mino said.

“Why? So, you two can boast around that you two snagged two Red Velvet members? Yah! Don’t forget about the dating ban.” Seungyoon said.

“Seungyoon is right. We have dating ban. The last thing we need is a dating scandal.” Seunghoon chimed in.

“I’m wooing her, guys. End of the story.” Taehyun said.

The next day, Taehyun woke up, washed up and snuck out of the dorm.

He then sent Wendy a text.

To: My precious Wendy

Hey! Meet me at Caffe Pascucci.

From: My precious Wendy

You’re going all the way to Sinsa-dong for a coffee with me? Dude, are you insane?

To: My precious Wendy

Well, I need a break from my neighborhood. So, what do you say?

From: My precious Wendy

Ok. I’ll be there.

After ordering coffee, the two idols made their way to their table and sat comfortably.

“So, how’s Johnny? Patched things up?” Taehyun asked.

“Nope. He’s really serious about this silent treatment though.” Wendy said.

“If things don’t work out with you, my shoulder is always available for you to lean on.” Taehyun said.

“Thanks Taehyun-sshi! It means a lot from you.” Wendy said.

"What are friends for, right?” Taehyun smiled.

After the series of chats, a couple of sips, the idols were now at their twentieth minute inside the café.

“So, we will be filming again tomorrow.” Wendy said.

“Yeah. I’m actually looking forward to what challenges we are gonna go through.” Taehyun said.

“Me too. It has been really fun working with another rookie group.” Wendy said as she sipped on the her coffee.

As she set her coffee down, Taehyun could see the whip cream on her upper lip, forming a mustache. 

Taehyun grinned.

“What?” Wendy asked.

Taehyun stood up, neared his face to the girl and planted his lips on hers. Shocked, Wendy just batted her eyelashes while being kissed by the male idol.

As soon Taehyun pulled away, Wendy looked at him weirdly. The dude now had whip cream mustache on his lip. Wendy, who finally caught on with the situation, wiped cream off her lip. Taehyun the cream off his lip and smiled.

“All gone.” Taehyun smiled.

Wendy was still looking at him intently.

“Hey, we gotta run. You don’t wanna get caught, right?” Taehyun smiled as if nothing had happened. 

Wendy, who was still in the state of shock, nodded, grabbed her coffee and walked out of the shop with the idol.

“Well, it’s nice hanging with you, Wendy-sshi. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Taehyun flashed one last smile and walked away.

Wendy nodded and walked the other way. She brushed her fingers on her lips.

WINNER’s Nam Taehyun just kissed me. NAM FREAKIN’ TAEHYUN JUST KISSED ME!! 

Wendy walked back to her dorm in daze.

“Where have you been?” A very anger Irene welcomed her.

“Out for coffee with T-Taehyun-sshi…” Wendy walked in lifelessly.

“WHAT?” Irene cried.

“What’s going on? Wan, you are here!” Seulgi rushed out of her dorm room as she heard Irene shouted.

“Coffee with Taehyun-sshi? On a Monday morning?” Irene asked.

“I left you a note on the fridge. Didn’t you see it?” Wendy asked.

Seulgi pulled the note out of the fridge and waved it in front of Irene.

“I’ll talk to her.” Seulgi said as she dragged Wendy inside their room.

“So? You went out on a breakfast coffee date with Taehyun-sshi?” Seulgi asked.

Wendy nodded like a clueless little girl.

“Why do you like you had just seen a ghost?” Seulgi asked.

“N-N-Nam T-Taehyun j-just k-kissed me.” Wendy said as she brushed her fingers on her lips again.

“W-what? He w-what?” Seulgi asked.

“Taehyun-sshi kissed me.” Wendy repeated.

Seulgi’s jaw hang loose.

“H-He k-kissed you?” Seulgi said.

“Yes and my mind is a blur now.” Wendy said.

“Omo! Your heart raced, didn’t it?” Seulgi gasped.

“Yeah. I was completely stunned, Bear. For a second, I was just sipping on my coffee and the next thing I knew he kissed me. He kissed me to get rid of the cream mustache on my lip. It ended up on his and he it up.” Wendy said.

“Oh. My. God.” Seulgi reacted.

“I know. Gross but I kinda thought it was y. Ah!! I’m losing my mind!” Wendy buried her face on a pillow.

“So, what are you gonna do now? We are filming tomorrow and he’s your partner. You can’t avoid him.” Seulgi said.

“I will try to act normal, but if things get a little complicated, I may have to call timeout.” Wendy said.

“Ok. Fighting!” Seulgi cried.

Filming was indeed awkward for Wendy. She had to stick with Taehyun the whole day. She tried to avoid him at all cost when the camera wasn’t rolling but he just kept on creeping behind her.

“Taehyun-sshi, I need some space. Please just don’t bother me for while.” Wendy pleaded.

Taehyun nodded and walked away.

Man! She must’ve felt violated yesterday. Damn it, Taehyun! 

Just when Taehyun sat on a bench, his phone buzz. He picked up and checked the caller ID.

From: UNKNOWN

Taehyun didn’t know who it was but answered the call anyway. 

Heavy breathing was heard on the other line.

“Hello?” Taehyun repeated.

“T-T-Taehyun-ah…” A girl’s uneven breathing rang on his ear.

“N-Nuguseyo?” Taehyun asked.

“T-T-Taehyun-ah, it’s me…don’t you recognize me?” The girl asked.

“A-A-Ahreum?” Taehyun said.

“I-I’m glad you remember. T-T-Taehyun-ah, come back to me. P-Please. I n-need you.” The girl said.

“W-what are you talking about? Why are you breathing heavily? Ahreum-ah, is something wrong?” Taehyun asked.

“T-Taehyun-ah, c-come back to me. I-I need you.” The girl repeated.

“N-Now? I can’t. I am in the middle of a schedule right now. I’ll talk to you later, ok?” Taehyun asked.

“No, Taehyun, please. I need you now.” The girl insisted.

“Ahreum-ah, I really can’t squeeze you in right now. I’m really in the middle of a schedule. Talk to you later, bye.” Taehyun hung up.

Somehow, the past had rushed back into the idol’s memory. 

Ahreum or T-ara’s former member Ahreum had just called him up. Rumors about them were true. They were sweethearts back then, but when they decided to become idols, they broke their relationship off. Ahreum’s dream finally came true when she joined T-ara but drastically crashed down when she was withdrawn from the team. The company said that she decided to go solo, but the truth was, she was kicked out because of the bullying incident she was involved with.

Taehyun’s dream, on the other hand, was fulfilled when he joined YG and eventually won in the company’s survival show. He began his career as a member of WINNER shortly after.

Taehyun brushed the thought off and concentrated on the filming session.

That night, the cast and crew wrapped up their filming. The boys of WINNER were getting ready to go home when Taehyun decided to walk off and approach Wendy.

“Wendy-sshi, may I have a word with you?” Taehyun asked.

“Uh…” Wendy eyed Seulgi, who gestured her to go and talk to the male idol.

“What do you wanna talk about, Taehyun-sshi?” Wendy asked.

“I, uh, I wanna apologize for what I did yesterday. I meant to cheer you up after what happened between you and that Johnny dude, but I guess it went too far. I’m sorry.” Taehyun said.

“A-Apology accepted. Please just don’t do it again.” Wendy said.

“Agreed.” Taehyun said.

Wendy smiled.

Just then, Taehyun received a phone call from another unknown number.

“Is this Nam Taehyun-sshi?” A guy from the other line asked.

“Ye, this is Nam Taehyun. Who is this?” Taehyun asked.

“This is Dohun, your classmate from high school.” The guy revealed.

“Oh! Dohun-ah, what’s up? How did you get my number?” Taehyun asked.

“Taehyun-ah, Ahreum…” The guy said.

“What’s wrong?” Taehyun asked.

“Ahreum is gone.” The guy said.

“What are you talking about, man?” Taehyun asked.

“S-She’s dead.” The guy revealed.

Taehyun’s world stopped.

“W-what?” Taehyun mumbled.

“Taehyun-ah, s-she hanged herself to death. I-I’m currently in the funeral services, paying my respect to her and her family. You should come too, man. You might’ve had broken up but you should at least come. I’m pretty sure she wants you to come.” The guy said.

“O-ok…” Taehyun hung up and dropped his phone.

“You okay?” Wendy asked.

“M-Maldo andwae…” Taehyun mumbled.

“Taehyun-sshi, g-gwaenchana?” Wendy asked.

Taehyun threw himself at Wendy, sending her down the ground.

“A-are you okay?” Wendy asked.

“No. S-She’s gone, Wendy-sshi. S-She’s gone.” Taehyun said.

“W-Who’s gone?” Wendy asked.

“A-Ahreum. She was a friend, a good friend. We haven’t been able to talk ever since we parted ways years back. She b-became an idol just like me. S-She was a member of a girl group, but her stay didn’t last for so long. Ever since then, she never talked to me, her friends. Just recently, I received a call from her. S-She wanted meet me. I told her I was busy. I was gonna call her back tonight but it’s all too late. S-She’s dead.” Taehyun explained in between tears.

Wendy did nothing but wrapped her arms around the dude and patted his back.

“I-I’m so sorry for your lost, Taehyun-sshi.” Wendy said.

The boys then found Taehyun on Wendy’s arms and Mino smirked.

“Damn! He really couldn’t control himself.” Mino said.

“Hey guys! Woah! You really couldn’t control yourselves, eh?” Seunghoon cried.

Wendy gave them a worried glare.

“I-It’s not what you think, Seunghoon-sshi. T-Taehyun-sshi isn’t exactly in a very good state right now.” Wendy said.

“W-what are you talking about?” Mino asked.

Taehyun faced his friends.

“I just received a heartbreaking news, hyungs.” Taehyun said.

“You crying dude?” Mino asked.

“A-Ahreum…” Taehyun said.

“What about your ex-girlfriend, man?” Seunghoon asked.

“I have to go to the funeral service.” Taehyun said.

“FUNERAL SERVICE?” All four boys cried in unison.

“I have to ask manager hyung if I can go.” Taehyun said.

“O-ok…” Seungyoon nodded.

After WINNER left, Wendy walked back to her tent.

“Why were you hugging Taehyun-sshi?” Irene cornered her.

“Before you start assuming things, I want to make something clear. The dude lost someone really important to him. I was just consoling him.” Wendy said.

“Lost?” Irene asked.

“His ex-girlfriend was found dead in her dorm earlier tonight. He was just so saddened by the news. Poor guy.” Wendy said.

“Wow. Poor Taehyun-sshi.” Irene said.

“Yeah. Let’s just hope he feels better by tomorrow.” Wendy smiled.

Taehyun changed into black and white suit and headed to the funeral service. He greeted the deceased’s parents, offering his condolence to them and prayed to the dead.

Mianhae, Ahreum-ah. I didn’t know that it would end like this. I’m so sorry for hanging up on you. I’m so sorry for putting more importance to my schedule. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. If I had come earlier, I could’ve stop this. I’m so sorry. You need me, right? I know it’s too late but I’m here now. Mianhae. Mianhae. Mianhae.

Taehyun said his prayers as his tears flowed down.

The male idol cried his eyes out. Ahreum’s parents then approached him and calmed him down.

“Son, this is not your fault. Please stop blaming yourself.” Mr. Lee said.

“Mianhae, abeonim. This wouldn’t have happen if I hadn’t hung up on her.” Taehyun said.

“W-what do you mean?” Mr. Lee asked.

“Earlier today, she called up. She said that she needed to see me. I told her that I couldn’t. I was really in the middle of a schedule but I had promised her that I was gonna talk to her tonight. I was going to, though, but it was too late. She ended her life.” Taehyun said.

“Taehyun-sshi, it is really not your fault. Ahreum has been depressed for months now. I have taken her to therapy. She had a few sessions but nothing was just working. She saw you on TV recently. It was your show with a girl group. She was really happy to see you living your dream. What made her upset was your interactions with that girl group member. What was her name? I didn’t really catch on. She was sad because you were showing so much chemistry with that idol. She missed the days when you were together.” Mrs. Lee said.

“W-Wendy-sshi? S-She’s a friend and a co-star. We are not dating.” Taehyun said.

“I know that, son. Ahreum was upset because she regretted parting ways with you. Now that you have your own life, she felt like a failure. She was envious of you, son. Her career flopped even before it shoot up. People were calling her a crazy, possessed person for posting strange photos on her SNS. She blamed herself for all the failures. She had lost her self-control.” Mrs. Lee said.

“Here. This is a letter handwritten by her. We found it on her desk, just beside her deathbed.” Mr. Lee said.

Taehyun received the letter and excused himself. He sat on a corner and read the handwritten letter.

Dear Taehyun, 

    Taehyunnie annyeong!~ Oraenmaniya. I miss you so much, Namtae. I missed those days when we were together. Every hugs, kisses and laughters we shared was special. Taehyun-ah, congratulations for making it to WINNER. You picked a really great company. You finally fulfilled your dream and you deserved it. Honestly, I envy you. I might’ve, at some point, reached my goal, but I chose the wrong company. Core Contents Media or MBK Entertainment was just horrible. I spent the last years training for nothing. My career crashed even before it shoot up. What a bummer, right? Namtae-ah! You are successful man, while I’m a bum. It’s so sad, but I have to face reality, right? You don’t always get what you want, right?

    Hey, I watch your performances on music shows. You are really good. Keep up the good work. Don’t stress yourself out, ok? Take some supplements to keep your body healthy. I heard that you received so many awards for your debut song. Congratulations! Your music is great. I listen to them every time. Oh and I recently watched your show with Red Velvet. I think it was entitled Rookie Adventures, right? I had fun watching it. You were great. Kudos to you for having Wendy-sshi as a partner. She’s really pretty and talented. Honestly, I envy her. I saw the way you looked at her and I must say that you, Namtae, really like her. I don’t want to sound like a jealous ex-girlfriend now, but I can’t help it. Please don’t pursue her. I deserve you more than her. I’m prettier and more talented. Considering that we had our past, I deserve you, right? Taehyun-ah, I am still here waiting for you to love me back. Please, Taehyun-ah. I need you in my life. I don’t want to lose you forever. Please come back to me. I will wait for your call, but if I don’t hear from you, I will take that as a sign that you don’t love me anymore and leave your sight, but please call me back. I love you, Taehyun. 

Sincerely, 

Lee Ahreum 

Taehyun dropped the paper on the floor. He wanted to thank her for all the encouraging messages, but took back what he had said earlier. He was actually wrong about her. He might’ve been the partly the cause of her death, but it was still her greed that killed her.

“Are you feeling better, man?” Seungyoon asked him.

“She said that she was gonna stop pursuing me but why kill herself?” Taehyun mumbled.

“She killed herself?” Seungyoon asked.

“Uh. Her parents found her body hanging on the ceiling, tied up to a rope. She hanged herself, man. She hanged herself right after writing this letter.” Taehyun showed his friend Ahreum’s handwritten letter.

“I may sound rude now, but she deserves it. Even on her deathbed, she was still the same old, Ahreum. Selfish.” Taehyun said.

“Dude, that’s harsh.” Seungyoon said.

“Read the second half of the letter, hyung and you will understand why I’m acting this way. Damn! I take back what I said earlier. Her greed killed her.” Taehyun cursed.

Seungyoon read the letter and was shocked.

“Unbelievable, right?” Taehyun cried.

“Uh. She wanted you to choose her over Wendy-sshi. What a desperate move!” Seungyoon cried.

“And she wanted pity? Pity my ! I don’t wanna pity her. I pity her parents for having such a greedy daughter like her.” Taehyun said.

At the end of the day, Taehyun brushed the incident aside and concentrated on his schedule.

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A/N: There you have it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

DISCLAIMER:

1. For T-ara fans and fans of former member Lee Ahreum out there, I don't mean to bash your idol/s. I found out that Namtae was rumored to have dated her so I just used that idea, her withdrawal from the group and the nasty rumors about her to pump up this story. No harm done.

Also, we all know that WINNER did not make a comeback with Red Velvet. I just thought that maybe if they came back together, I can show more WINNER-Velvet interactions. 

Lastly, how did you find the collaboration project between WINNER and RV "Rookie Adventures"? It's totally made up by me. In my head, SM and YG joined forces to distract people from the latest scandal that involved their artists, Taeyang and Yuri respectively. We all know that Taeyang is dating actress Min Hyorin and she is dating a baseball player, but I actually ship them so much, that in this fic I wanna show that Taeyang and Yuri were caught kissing in a club. The companies have conflicting responses putting their images in hot water. So SM and YG had to distract the public by publicizing an "allegiance" through putting RV and WINNER in a show together. I know some may think that it's unfair for Yeri to sit back and not be a part of RA but I only thought so because I wanna highlight the rivalry between Mino and Jinwoo. If I pair her with Jinwoo, I don't think I can properly show the rivalry between them.

I would like to hear your feedbacks. So, I encourage comments. Don't worry! Criticism will not hurt me. Just don't be rude hehe.