As soon as my alarm went off early the next morning, a knot of dread began to form in the pit of my stomach. I talk a big game and am a generally confident person, but meetings like this always made me nervous. Begrudgingly, I wished Mr. Cary was there. My negotiation style is infamous for being pretty aggressive, and in Korea I was pretty sure that wasn’t going to work. Or at least I’d be dismissed as a disrespectful American who had no business being there.

I let my legs hang from the edge of my bed as I simply sat there for a solid few minutes. Taking a deep breath, I hopped down and started to get ready. I found the most business-appropriate clothing I had thought to bring along and attempted to put my hair up in as tight of a bun as was possible, considering how wild the stuff generally was. The attempt failed. Settling for as groomed of a ponytail as I could manage, I gave up on the idea of my hair looking orderly.  Finally, I sat in my chair, staring down a pair of black heels. I was thankful that they had managed to end up in my luggage for such an occasion, but I was also resentful. I was pretty tall by girl standards and generally avoided heels, but they did bring a level of formality that I needed today. Once I slipped them on, my feet already began to complain. I sighed, pacing my room to get used to the feeling. At least they were high enough that my black slacks were not at risk of being stepped on.

On a typical day, my effort related to make-up was practically zero. A bit of eyeliner here, a bit of mascara there, and I was done. If I needed more for some reason, a stylist was usually involved. Looking at my bag of haphazardly organized beauty products, I groaned. It took me a rather long time, but I was finally able to apply what I was pretty sure was the appropriate amount to my face. At least my pale complexion worked in my favor for this kind of thing. I just wished my lipstick wasn’t quite so red, but Charlotte had always raved about how it brought out my eyes or something stupid like that. I took another deep breath. I was getting frustrated at someone thousands of miles away for my own shortcomings. I apologized to Charlotte in my head before looking at myself in the mirror one more time. Despite my grumblings and misgivings, I had to admit that I looked rather nice.

Glad that I gave myself so much time before the meeting, I took the chance to look over my digitized notes one last time. N had also been kind enough to write out some lists for me so I could give physical copies of my needs to the various representatives. I was grasping for things to do now. Anything but go down those stairs. But there was nothing else, so I resigned myself to close my laptop, gather the neat stack of paper, and for the hundredth time that morning, take a deep breath to clear my anxiety.

Supplies in arm, I finally reached to open my door. My hand hovered over the door handle. This had to be my last moment of hesitation. I had to let go of my personal feelings about VIXX, its members, and any sort of personal agenda. I needed to enter business mode- and not music mode, but legitimate cold-hearted business. If my opposition drew a hard line, I needed to be harder. Emotional appeals would have to fail. “ mode activate,” I whispered to myself with a little smile. I could do this.

I finally got the courage to leave my door, striding confidently down the hallway. All my resolve broke, however, when a soft, weary voice caught me off guard.

“Mira?” it was Hongbin. If I had to guess, he was returning from a trip to the gym. His hair was plastered to his head from the sweat, and he was still breathing a bit heavily. “Good morning!” he called cheerfully.

I grimaced before turning around, “Good morning, Hongbin.” If it had been anyone else, it would have been so easy to just keep moving.

“Wow,” he breathed, “you look…” he trailed off as I felt his eyes rove over me.

It took everything I had not to fall back into my comfortable banter. Especially with Hongbin, who was still in the process of warming up to me. I didn’t want to just brush him off now, but I had spent so long getting emotionally prepared for this, I couldn’t break it now. Not even for him. I simply gave a little bow, “Thank you. Excuse me, but I need to get to a meeting.”

“Oh,” his face fell a little, and I felt my heart break in my chest.

I had to say something, I couldn’t just walk away, “Can I stop by later? I still have to give you your present.” I had been set on making him come to me to fetch the guitar, but perhaps he needed more encouragement before he was comfortable coming to see me on his own. Stop it, Halley! I shouted to myself internally. No. mode still on. That was all he was getting.

His smile almost broke my resolve again. “That would be great,” he gave me a little wave, “good luck.”

I nodded and turned back around, resolving to head to the conference room immediately. My state of mind was a little bit mixed up, but I slowly was able to return to business mode as I slowly descended the stairs, careful on my high heels. Gripping my laptop tight against my side, I made it to the lobby, greeting the receptionist as always. With trepidation, I approached the conference room. With one final internal pep-talk, I strode into the room. A familiar face was there to meet me.

“Welcome Miss Mira, the others will be here shortly,” Mr. Kim greeted me in his accented English.

“Good morning,” I replied in Korean. He gestured to the foot of the table for me to sit. I set up my laptop, letting it boot up as I flipped through N’s lists that he wrote for me, getting them into a logical order.

Mr. Kim sat to my left, “Do you need that connected to a projector?” he asked, nodding to the laptop.

I shook my head, “It’s all in English,” I explained, “it’s for my reference.”

We fell into an awkward silence then, waiting for the rest of the attendees. Finally, they began to arrive. First, three members of the production team arrived. They were relatively young, which I supposed I shouldn’t have been surprised by. They introduced themselves eagerly, bowing low. I made the mistake of offering a handshake, which was eventually accepted, albeit quite tentatively. Next the video director arrived, and I refrained from offering my hand this time, opting to simply bow and greet him respectfully. The representative of the budget committee was next, and he was exactly the type of person I prepared for. He was an old, hard man who b owed curtly and gave as short of a greeting as he could manage before taking his seat along the table.

I took inventory of the people sitting on either side of me, noting that the head of the table still sat empty. “Is someone else joining us?” I asked Mr. Kim, who simply smiled.

“Just me,” a voice came from behind me at the door. Everyone in the room stood hastily, and I followed suit. I recognized him from the very first day I was in Korea. He had introduced VIXX before their performance just for me. “Hwang Sejun, Jellyfish CEO,” he introduced to me, offering his hand.

For a moment I just looked at it, surprised by the gesture. “Halley Browne,” I took his hand, “Mira,” I added for clarity, “pleasure to meet you.” He was a middle-aged man, mid-forties maybe with rounded glasses on a wide face. He had an air of authority, but his smile was kind.

“I’m mostly here to observe,” he spoke as he took his seat opposite me at the long table, “this is our first project like this, and I’m curious to hear how it’s going.” No pressure. “Let’s begin.”

I glanced around the table, and all eyes fell on me. “Alright, well I’ve accomplished a great deal already. I’ve had one-on-one sessions with each of your members.”

“How did they go?” the CEO spoke up. Observer my . The rest of the table kept quiet, but their interest had indeed been piqued.

“Very well,” I began, “each one is extremely talented. You did a good job putting this group together. They mostly balance each other well. They have things they need to work on, but they’re young and relatively new to the industry.” The CEO and Mr. Kim looked at each other, clearly pleased by my commentary.

“So what’s next?” Mr. Kim spoke now.

I glanced at my open laptop, reminding myself of my objectives, “Well I have the track composed, the lyrics were written by Kim Wonsik and myself, and I’ve just started studio recording what instrumentals I can,” I paused to look at the three members of the production team, “I need some studio artists for some other instruments. Can you help me with that?” I handed them one of the pages I had prepared with the list of instruments required.

“Of course Miss Mira,” one of them responded kindly, taking the paper. The other two craned their necks to read over their colleague’s shoulder, “This is quite an interesting list,” he commented.

I nodded once, “I have sheet music ready whenever you’re available. I have a digitally composed version if you would like to hear it.”

The three of them looked to the head of the table, like children looking to a parent for permission, “Alright, go ahead.” Mr. Hwang decided, gesturing to my laptop.

I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry. It was a bit nerve-wracking to play my instrumental for them, but I had offered. I navigated to it on the laptop, suddenly regretting not bringing proper speakers. Regardless, I hit play and turned the laptop to at least project the sound in their direction. The track began, and I sat patiently while the entire four minutes played. It was impossible to gauge any of their reactions, with the exception of the youngest producer, who appeared to dance in his seat a bit as the music continued.

When it ended, all eyes went to the CEO once again, who nodded gravely, “It is a strong instrumental,” he commented.

“Yes, I know you have a tradition of releasing the instrumental as a bonus track on each release. I wanted this one to be an instrumental worth standing on its own,” I explained.

“That is good,” he agreed, but I saw him falter, “However,” he began again slowly, “I am concerned. VIXX is a vocally powerful group, but I am not sure if they will be able to live up to this instrumental.”

I felt anger flare in my chest. Calm down, Mira. “I have faith in them,” I stated simply.

The CEO looked to the producers, who shrank under his gaze, “It could prove difficult,” the middle one spoke up, “but we can at least try.”

I opened my mouth to speak again, then promptly shut it. It was no use explaining everything now. I would see to it that my terms would be met. I looked to the CEO expectantly, “Which instruments will you be playing?” he asked suddenly.

I found it an odd question, but I answered quickly, “The guitar tracks have been recorded already, and I plan on completing the piano and various keyboard tracks by the end of this week.”

“And the vocals?”

“I need to work with the performers a bit more, but they should begin recording within a few weeks if things go well.”

“What about you?” he asked, leaning forward.

I was confused at first, then it registered, “Oh,” I said quickly, “I won’t be singing for this track.”

He looked slightly disappointed, “Shame,” he spoke, “it would boost interest, I think.”

It was an option that I had not considered since meeting VIXX, “The six of them have enough variance in their voices. Adding one more would just take time away from each other.”

Mr. Kim and CEO Hwang looked at each other, “We appreciate your interest in their performance, but,” Mr. Kim spoke now, hesitating before beginning again, “we want to keep their success in mind. Having a more direct collaboration might contribute to that.”

I nodded shallowly, doing my best to keep my emotions in check. I wanted to snap back that they didn’t need me for that. They were good enough. I quickly organized my thoughts into more coherent statements, “In the long term, it would be a detriment, since I would not be able to perform with them live.”

They seemed satisfied with my answer, but the older man who had up until now remained silent cleared his throat, “Excuse me,” he spoke firmly. “I suppose now is a good time to ask how this song will be attributed.”

This was something I had considered carefully. Would I pull a Zedd or David Guetta and insist the song be ‘Error’ by Mira ft. VIXX? Would it be ‘Error’ by VIXX ft. Mira? Definitely not, that was not representative of what the song was. I had prepared myself to negotiate this point until I was satisfied financially, but something in the back of mind ate at me. In the end, my role so far had been composer and teacher, not really a collaborator. I didn’t want to be in the song or the video. This was their song. From me, to them. “Just ‘Error’ by VIXX. I don’t need title credit.”

They all seemed surprised by this, but no one seemed to speak for a while. “And royalties?” the old man spoke again.

“Like any other composer,” I insisted. “As long as the staff continues to treat me well, I’ll consider housing me as a bulk of my payment.”

They all looked to one another. Clearly they weren’t expecting this. “We do have the resources to pay you properly,” the old man seemed to be conflicted between grateful and insulted, as if I was treating them like a charity case.

“I realize that,” I placated him, “I’m sure you expected a greedy American, but considering how long I need to stay and how much I eat, you’re still paying plenty for me,” I smiled a little.

A chuckle came from the production team, which he promptly hid with a cough. I looked to the CEO, and I felt myself becoming a bit testy. I raised my eyebrow at him, asking for his thoughts. “Sound acceptable,” he admitted.

“Now,” I turned to Mr. Kim. I was slowly taking control of this meeting, “promotions? When will you announce this collaboration?”

Mr. Kim thought for a moment, “I figured once the teaser is ready would be the best time.”

I nodded, “If possible,” I paused, trying to find a way to leverage my time, “if an opportunity arises such that it can be announced sooner, please do.” When Mr. Kim gave me a confused look, I continued, “I have respected your desire to surprise your fan base, but I have gone a bit stir crazy having to stay inside all the time.”

“Ah,” Mr. Kim nodded, “I will see what I can do.”

“Thank you,” I nodded. There was one more person who needed to be addressed. I looked to the director, “I have some ideas for the video if you would like input.”

“Of course,” he spoke politely, taking the offered paper.

“It’s a bit far off, but I will let you know when we need to meet again,” I spoke, turning back to my laptop to see if I had missed anything I needed to talk about.

“Will you be appearing in it?” the director asked suddenly.

“No,” I couldn’t hold the little laughter in my voice, “I would totally ruin the aesthetic. We may need an actress, though.”

“Miss Browne,” Mr. Hwang’s voice was stern, and I heard a hint of agitation, “I would really like you to consider to take a more starring role in this project. Even having you appear playing the piano would be a benefit.”

I looked at him sternly now. My shroud of politeness was slowly wearing away. Every time I conceded my involvement, there was a jab. It wasn’t a jab at me- that was something I could take, but it was a jab at the boys I was working with. My resolve to consider them mere collaboration agents was waning. “With all due respect, sir,” I started, my voice carrying an agitated edge, “you should be happy that I don’t want to steal your artists’ show. Even if it’s my composition, it will be their performance.”

He remained cool, “And we do appreciate that, however it seems a waste of an opportunity.”

I looked to Mr. Kim, who was avoiding my eyes, “Then we will promote together,” I spoke, flicking my gaze back to the Jellyfish CEO, “We’ll do interviews, radio, whatever you want.”

He sighed, “You don’t understand Korean fans,” he started.

“You’re right, I don’t,” I admitted, “but you need to let me do this my way,” I stood from my chair. They looked up at me, clearly surprised by my actions, “I think you’ll be pleased to see the progress they’ve made with me. If you want these guys to grow as musicians, you need to let me push them.”

“Miss Mira,” Mr. Hwang spoke sternly, “We will of course give you absolute creative freedom on your project,” his hands raised defensively, “we just wanted to take the opportunity to merge your large Korean fan base with VIXX’s.”

I’m not sure how much of his talk was flattery and how much was truth. I knew I had a few fans here in Korea, but I hadn’t had the opportunity to really reach out considering my forced isolation here. “I’ll make it happen.”

He gestured for me to sit, “Excellent,” he said coolly. I felt a wave of embarrassment wash through me. I certainly lost my cool there. He continued to speak, “Now I understand it is an important holiday for you this Friday. Please inform the staff if there is anything we can do to accommodate you further.”

It took me a moment as I slowly sat back down to realize what he was talking about, “Oh 4^th of July,” It really wasn’t that big of a deal as far as holidays were concerned, so I shook my head, “Special accommodations will not be necessary.”

“Mr. Kim,” he turned to the man at my left, “Please see to it that we can allow Miss Mira opportunities to leave the office.”

“Yes, sir,” he said simply, writing something in his little notebook.

“Is there anything else we need to discuss with our guest?” Mr. Hwang looked around the table, receiving shaking heads indicating there was nothing else. “Thank you all for your hard work,” he stood, and everyone followed suit.

And like that, the meeting was over. I remained behind in the conference room to shut my laptop down properly as well as to lower my heartrate. That had not gone according to plan. I sat back down in my chair with a sigh. The most important goal was reached, at least. Recording artists for the instrumentals would be tasked soon. So at least I had that going for me. When I waited long enough to avoid awkwardly running into one of the executives in the hallway, I stood from my chair, gathered my things, and made my way out.