“Our groups?” We both stare at each other very confused because of the text we both got sent. Who are our groups? Why do we have them? Why are they letting us see visitors? My past must be very interesting. I have a stage name, a group, people who ship me with others… OH GOD. Does that mean…? No it can’t. I wasn’t an idol. I can’t be an idol. I don’t have the patience for that. That takes some acting skills I don’t have. I shake my head at my phone.

“Chaerin, are we…” A knock at the door interrupts Key’s revelation. We go out of the bedroom to see some arm guards. They grab Key and me by the arm and take us to an elevator. They don’t handcuff us this time, but they have exposed guns. I guess there’s no hope of escaping then. They look like they’ll shoot without a thought if I run. I look over to Key to see him stony faced. He never shows a shred of fear. He’s got the acting skills to be an idol. If he was, I bet he was awesome at fanservice.

We walk down a hall to two doors on the opposite sides of the hall. The guards open the right door and throw me in it. It was a room similar to the one I woke up in, except without a mirror and it was better lit. There were four chairs in the room, three of which were occupied by some strange girls. As soon as they see me, they smother me in suffocating hugs.

“Chaerin! CL! We missed you so much! You’ve got to take care of yourself until Papa YG gets you out of here!” A skinny girl with a high voice and long brown hair tells me. She hugs me so hard it’s almost abuse. I stare at her in shock when another starts strangling me with hugs.

“CL, you look so pale! I brought some corn for you and a Rilakkuma bear! The stupid guards almost took it away. I miss you!!!!” This girl was wearing a short dress and killer heels. Her hair was bright red and she looked so excited to see me. I try to smile at her when another girl hugs me, though she was gentler.

“Chaerin unnie, we need a leader, we’re not the same without you.” This girl looked very mature, even though she was young. She had short black hair and a dancers body. I pulled back from her hug and looked at all three of the strange girls. This is my group?

“Who are you?” All of their faces fell instantly. I felt bad that I upset them. We must have been really close. I wait for an answer, as they stare at me blankly. They slowly all sit down, taking in the information. The girl with brown hair gets up and walks towards me.

“You don’t remember who we are?” The girl says mournfully. She just stands there with the look of a sad puppy in her eyes. I want to tell them I remember everything about them, that I was just kidding and that everything is all right, but I can’t. I can’t lie to them. It would hurt them even more.

“I don’t remember anything. I woke up not even knowing who I was yesterday or something. They took my memory.” The truth spilled out of my mouth like a waterfall. Their faces seemed to lighten somewhat, maybe because I don’t just forget them. The girl in front of me sighs and looks toward the other two girls, and looks back to me.

“I guess we should introduce ourselves then. My name is Sandara, or Dara, or Sandy depending on where you’re from. You can call me Dara unnie.” She weakly smiles at me and then sits down. I look to the girl with the bright red hair and she smiles brightly at me.

“I’m Bom! I’m the oldest. I love corn. See, I brought you some!” She gets up and hands me a small container of corn and a teddy bear with some guy on it. “It’s a teddy bear with Teddy oppa on it! He’s our producer and songwriter and you kind of adore him.” Bom sits down again with a large smile plastered to her face. It brightens the mood in the room, and the other girls smile. Finally, the black haired girl stands up.

“My name’s Minji. I’m the maknae. But call me M-I-N-Z-Y! I’m also the lead dancer.” She smiles shyly at me and sits back down. She seems a little quiet, but I have the feeling that she could be outgoing if she wanted to be.

I sit down in the other chair, which faces the other three girls. I look at them for a little while trying to match their names and faces in my head, slightly wondering why I know them. I have my hunches, but I don’t know if I want it to be true.

“You should probably know why we’re together right now. If you haven’t figured it out already, we’re an idol group called 2NE1. Our fans are called Blackjacks and we are from YG Entertainment. We do electronic-hip-hop type music and we are known for being fierce and strong. 2NE1 NOLJA!” Dara seems really excited to tell me about our group. My mind is swimming with all of this information I can barely think.

“And what do I do?” I ask. What talents could I have? Since waking up I haven’t thought myself particularly talented, but then again I haven’t known myself for very long.

“You’re the leader and main rapper in 2NE1. You carry a lot of the ‘fierce’ side of us.” Dara says, nodding enthusiastically.

“I’m the rapper?!? And the leader?!? How did I do that?” I inquire. How the hell did I lead things? I don’t think I have the charisma or anything… Am I even interesting? The other girls all seem pretty shocked that I’m shocked. I guess I wasn’t like this before.

“You’re a really good rapper and leader.” Minzy says. “A lot of people look up to you. They’re called ‘CLassifieds’.” I have my own fanclub. Wow. Suddenly Bom comes up and suffocates me in hugs.

“I MISS YOU CHAERIN-AH. PLEASE COME BACK TO US SOON. PAPA YG WILL GET YOU OUT OF HERE. BLACKJACKS DON’T KNOW, BUT THEY’LL MISS YOU. WE ALL DO. ESPECIALLY-“ Suddenly there was a knock on the door. It opens to reveal a security guard.

“Time’s up. Girls, let me you out.” The guard says. Dara and Minzy a crying Bom out with the guard. Another guard takes me out and takes me back to my confinement. Key isn’t there yet, so I take a moment to organize everything.

I sit on the couch staring blankly at a turned off TV. I’m really an idol. I’m a K-Pop idol. I dance, I sing, I rap, I go on the radio and the TV all the time. I lived a life of exposure and exhaustion. I can’t believe I used to do all of that. How did I do all of that? I don’t think I’m pretty enough for that business.

“Trust me Chaerin, you are.” I turn around to see Key standing in front of the door. His face is serious, and he walks to sit on the couch next to me.

“How long were you here? Was I saying that out loud?” I say. Wait, did he just say I’m pretty? , my heart’s fluttering. I’m blushing too. I guess I’ve dug my hole, and I’m gonna sit in it. Lee Chaerin has a crush on Kim Kibum. At least I didn’t say that out loud.

“I just walked in. Yes, you were talking out loud. So you’re an idol too? I’m actually in SHINee. Turns out I’m one of their rappers. This one guy named Jonghyun started weeping as soon as I walked into the room. The others just kind of stared at me in disbelief. It took them a while to realize I didn’t know who they were. It was a little awkward.” Key explains. Looks like his meeting went worse than mine.

“I’m the leader and main rapper of a group called 2NE1. As soon as I walked in they started crushing me with hugs. They were sad when I didn’t know them, but they were happy again when they introduced me to themselves. One girl named Bom gave me corn and a teddy bear.” I took out the stuffed animal and the container of corn. I realize that on the corn it says ‘We all love you, CL’ in neat hangul. “I should probably put this in the refrigerator.”

I walk over to the kitchen and put the corn in the fridge and I turn around to see Key smiling at me. My heart races again and I mentally scold myself for getting carried away again. He walks closer to me. CHAERIN GET A HANDLE ON YOURSELF. YOU’RE STUCK HERE WITH KEY YOU CAN’T BE LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME.

“You know, now that we’ve forgotten everything, we don’t have to be idols. We can do whatever we want when we get out of here. We can do things that idols can’t do.” Key says looking straight at me. It feels like he’s looking into my soul.

“Like what?” I say.

“Like date freely. And get enough sleep.” Key says.

“Why would you say that?”

“No reason.”