"Let's do it in 5, 6, 7, 8,..."
Together, we moved our feet to the rhythm of the beat. We moved our bodies from side to side, clapped our hands, and turned around. In a coordinated manner, we switched positions, still in rhythm with the beat. We continued to dance until the music stopped.
"Okay, that's good. Shall we do it again?" I asked through heavy breaths.
"Yeah," Zoey replied as she wiped her sweaty forehead with the back of her hand.
The others nodded in agreement. I went over to the stereo, which lay a few feet away from us, and hit the play button. I quickly joined the others, and we continued with dance practise. After a few rounds, we took a break.
"Phew! I'm so tired," said Daniel as he grabbed a water bottle from his training bag.
"I know, but we've got to get back to our usual routine," I said as I grabbed my towel, "or else we would all get lazy."
Back home, we would wake up early in the morning on specific days and go to our dance studio for practise. It's a way of keeping ourselves in shape and also coming up with new dance moves. Collins always came to check up on us to see if we were doing so. He had booked the gym for us to practise in yesterday, so we woke up early and came before opening time to avoid unwanted attention from the fans.
"It's good we're doing this again," said Zoey, after taking in water from her bottle. "We had been so busy last week that I missed dance practise."
"Okay, guys," came Collins' voice. We turned to see him approach us. "You can wrap up now. We've got to go to YG Entertainment Studios."
"Oh, yes!" Christine exclaimed. "We finally get to go there."
"Why are you so excited?" Mike asked her, looking surprised like the rest of us over her reaction.
"Guys, don't you get it?" Christine asked. "We're going to the YG studios."
"So?" Daniel asked, shrugging his shoulders.
"Oh, my goodness," Christine said, slapping her forehead with her hand. "Do I really need to explain everything? Since we're going to the studios, we get to meet the YG family, like PSY and many others."
"Oh, yeah, that never crossed my mind," said Zoey. "Why didn't you remind me, Christine?"
"Don't blame me," Christine defended herself. "You, Zoey, have the knack for these kinds of things. I thought you already knew."
"This will be awesome," said Daniel. "I can't wait to meet PSY in person and do the Gangnam Style with him."
"Well, to be honest, we all want to meet PSY," I said, "so let's hit the showers and get ready."
"I thought you would never say that," said Collins. "You've got twenty minutes. Lee and I will be waiting outside."
"Twenty minutes!" Zoey whined. "We're going to the YG studios; at least give some of us time to look good."
"Okay, twenty-five," said Collins, giving her a cocky smile. Zoey's jaw dropped. "You better hurry. You don't want to be late."
Before Zoey could object, Collins started to walk away. I looked at her and prayed that she wasn't going to throw a tantrum. Collins always knew how to get to her, something that I found very difficult to do.
"No fair!" said Zoey as she stomped her foot hard onto the floor.
Ah-oh. Here we go.
"Zoey, relax," said Christine. "We've got twenty-five minutes. You rush to the showers. Sam and I will get your stuff."
"Fine." Zoey rolled her eyes and dashed out of the room.
"Girls are so complicated when it comes to getting ready," said Mike as he swung his training bag over his shoulder and started heading for the showers with Daniel tailing behind him.
"Trust me, you've no idea," I said.
As I grabbed my things to put them away in my training bag. I felt my phone vibrate inside my bag. I took it in my hands and unlocked it to check. There are a bunch of unanswered messages. I had so much fun yesterday that I didn't have time to read them. Likewise, I made a mental note to make time to do so today.
I went to the message that I received seconds before. It's from Taeyang. Taeyang? I never gave Taeyang my number. Either Daniel or Mike must have given it to him. I read his message, which said:
"Morning, Sam, it's Tae here. I hope you had a lovely night. I was wondering if you saw something online on social media that might surprise you. Here's a link to check it out: http://........"
This made me furrow my eyebrows a little. I know I've been the talk of the town lately, but Taeyang's message gave me goosebumps. The link belonged to a famous entertainment magazine. Hopefully, they didn't say anything bad about me. If it was something serious, Collins would've known by now and told me about it. I decided to check it out.
"Hey, Sam? Are you coming?" Christine called as she stood by the door, waiting for me with both her bag and Zoey's. "We better go; we don't have much time."
I sighed in frustration. On one hand, I had to get ready, and on the other, there's this link I wanted to press to see what Taeyang's talking about. I dropped my phone in the bag and quickly followed Christine to the showers.
Within our given twenty-five minutes, we were all dressed up and ready to go. Even Zoey was on time. As we were heading out, a few people had arrived since it was time for the gym to open. When they saw us, they ran after us with excitement. We quickly ran out of the building. Luckily, our bodyguards, who stood by the doors, blocked the way when we got out to prevent the fans from reaching us. We found Collins and Lee waiting in the car. The driver started the engine and sped away before the fans could even get close.
"Looks like you guys made it out in time," said Lee. "For a moment there, I thought they were going to get you."
"We go through these things almost all the time," said Mike. "It's no big deal when you know the fans love you."
While everyone was engaged in the conversation, I took the chance to check my phone to read Taeyang's message again, staring at the link that came along with it. I don't want to know what the media has been saying about me. Likewise, I've been trying to avoid reading any online newspaper, magazine, or media posts since we got here. For Taeyang to send me this, something's up.
My thumb automatically pressed the link, and the internet page started to load. I looked around to see if anyone was looking, then went back to my phone again. The page had finished loading, and the online front cover of Elle Korean Magazine is the first thing I see. It had my smiling face on it, and what I read on the cover almost made me faint. It read:
"The Astonishing Samantha Glasson: The One Who Stole The Hearts of Many Koreans."
"Huh!?"
Everyone turned to look at me, and I quickly covered my mouth. It just slipped out; I couldn't hold it.
"Hey, are you okay?" Zoey asked. "Did someone send you one of those messages or something?"
"Um... did anyone get the chance to see the cover of the Korean Elle magazine today?" I asked.
"What? Elle? No, I didn't," said Zoey. "Let me see."
I gave Zoey my phone, and she looked just as shocked. Everyone got a turn to look, except Collins and Lee.
"We already knew about it this morning," said Lee. "We wanted it to be a surprise."
"Wait... did you tell Taeyang to send this to me?" I asked.
"No, we didn't," said Collins. "If we wanted it to look like a surprise, we would've planned something else. We wanted you to see it for yourself."
"You're so lucky, Sam," said Christine. "To be honest, everyone has been talking about you from the time we got here and also when we went out on tour."
"You've been keeping tabs on that?" I asked.
"Well, yeah, some of us have," answered Mike.
"It looks like you guys are better off than I am. I sometimes don't go online and see what's going on."
"That's because you don't like all the attention," said Zoey. "If I were you, I would feel like a queen."
"Well, thank goodness Sam isn't like you," said Daniel. "If she were... who knows?"
"Do you mean to say I wouldn't make a good leader?" Zoey asked, looking furious. "That pretty much sounds like it."
"Everyone here can all be leaders. Sam's just better at it."
"I agree with Daniel," said Collins.
"Ahh!" Zoey exclaimed as though she were in pain. She placed her hand on her chest. "My heart is broken!"
"You're such a drama queen," I said as I smiled at Zoey. "You make everything seem melodramatic."
"Yeah, that's why you need me around," said Zoey.
"We all need each other, no matter what."
"Guys, you won't believe what I'm seeing right now," said Lee.
We all looked in front of us as the car pulled up at the front gates of a building. The YG Entertainment building; we were finally here!
"OMG, this building looks huge," said Christine. "Well, kind of. For an entertainment company, that is."
"Guys, do I look great?" Zoey asked, sounding nervous and running her hands through her hair. "I want to make a good impression when we go in."
"You look fine," I said. "You worry about looks for no reason."
"Easy for you to say. You don't have to worry because you naturally look good."
"Wait... for real?" I asked as I raised an eyebrow.
"You really should read what people say about you online," said Zoey, rolling her eyes at me.
"I'll try to do so."
"Yeah, and I'll make sure that you do."
While Zoey and I continued our conversation, the car entered the YG premises and stopped in front of the building. We hadn't even noticed until Collins looked at us and said:
"Can you two save your little chitchat for later? It's time to go."
"Oh," said Zoey as she looked out of the window.
When we all got out of the car, we found Yang Hyun-suk waiting for us at the entrance.
"Hello, everyone. I'm glad you could make it," said Yang Hyun-suk as he shook Collins' hand.
"Thank you for having us," said Collins.
"Follow me, please. I'll show you around."
We followed Yang Hyun-suk into the building. The lobby looked formal yet exquisite. We even met a few young male trainees who were making their way out of the building. Many entertainment agencies take them in because they might make a name for themselves in the music industry someday.
When the trainees saw us, they bowed their heads as a sign of respect. I could tell they were excited to see us, but they had to keep it under wraps in front of Yang Hyun-suk. Was he that strict, or is that how things are around here? I am aware of their culture, so bowing to their elders is a sign of respect. Maybe I shouldn't dwell on it so much.
We soon went upstairs, where we found a number of recording rooms. We even met a few music producers who were so kind and welcoming. Likewise, we soon found ourselves walking down the hall to the dance studios that were on the other side of the building.
We found many trainees with their choreographers in almost every room, practising. There was an all-girls' group that noticed us pass by first. They stopped what they were doing as they came out of the room they were practising in and shrieked in excitement. They came over to us and bowed their heads, greeting us as they giggled. Furthermore, they were dying to hug us, so Zoey and I went along and hugged one of them. Likewise, they screamed like crazy.
The screaming caught so much attention that many other trainees walked out of their studios and came over to meet us.
The next thing we knew, Yang Hyun-suk told the trainees to quiet down and get back to training. All the trainees quickly obeyed and slowly went back into their respective dance studios. Wow, these guys were well-disciplined, or was my previous hunch about Yang Hyun-suk true?
"These guys are well-disciplined," I heard Lee whisper to Collins behind me.
"Sorry for the inconvenience," said Yang Hyun-suk as he turned to address us. "They could be a little out of control sometimes."
"Out of control?" Collins asked and raised an eyebrow. "Your trainees are well-behaved. If it comes to The Toxins, they are the ones out of control."
"Hey!" The five of us all looked at him with annoyed looks on our faces.
Yang Hyun-suk laughed. Collins rolled his eyes at us. "You see what I mean? No respect for me at all."
"We do respect you, Collins," said Zoey with a sweet voice and a smile. "And we love you too."
"The only person who respects me is Sam," said Collins. "The rest of you are just crazy."
"Crazy?" Zoey's voice went a little high there. "Come on, Collins. You can at least find a better word than that."
"We do have a lot of respect for you," said Daniel. "We just trouble you because we love you."
"That's cute," said Yang Hyun-suk, with a smile on his face.
"Don't mind them. These little arguments happen all the time," said Lee to Yang Hyun-suk.
"Yep, all the time," I said with a nod.
Daniel looked down the hall and said, "Hey, look, here comes Taeyang."
Everyone turned to see Taeyang come down the hall. Judging by the way he's dressed, he looks like he came straight out of dance practise. He had a black vest on with a matching black tracksuit. He also had a towel around his neck. Likewise, he looked worn out and sweaty.
As he approached us, I couldn't help but stare. He has such an awesome physique, and I could clearly see his abs through his vest. I couldn't help but blush. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't. Darn it! Why can't I look away?
"Wow, if I had known sooner, I would've been drooling over Taeyang," said Zoey as she whispered in my ear. "He's so hot!"
"I know, right?" Christine whispered back. "Not only is he hot, he is so cute."
"I was wondering what the racket was all about," said Taeyang when he finally got close. "The Toxins are in the building."
"Yeah," said Zoey, giving Taeyang a weird giggle. I looked at her and raised my eyebrow. Zoey noticed and lowered her head.
"Hello, everyone," he greeted, and to Yang Hyun-suk, he bowed his head. The bowing head thing is going to take some getting used to.
"Oh, Sam, I almost forgot," said Taeyang as he turned to look at me, giving me his cute eye smile. "Congratulations on making it in Elle magazine. You did check it out, right?"
"Um... yeah, I did, thanks," I said with a smile, trying to hide my blushing cheeks.
"I'm coordinating dance practise with some trainees," said Taeyang. "Would you mind joining us? They would be thrilled to have you."
"I wouldn't mind, right guys?" I asked the others.
"Sure," they responded.
"And if it's okay with Collins and Yang Hyun-suk," I said as I looked over at both managers, waiting for their response.
Yang Hyun-suk smiled at me and said, "Well, I'm impressed with your respectful gesture, Sam. You've got my permission. You should call me 'Yang Sajangnim' from now on."
I've no words. Is he trying to discipline us too? I know he wants us to bow our heads, but I wasn't going to give him that kind of satisfaction just yet. We might not be Korean, so basic courtesy is all we can do for now. I just smiled at him and nodded.
My eyes flew towards Collins, and I could tell he felt the same way. I gave him an assuring look, saying that I was fine with it.
"What are we waiting for?" Mike asked. "Let's go. I'm going to show the trainees that I'm a much better dancer than you, Taeyang."
"You're on," Taeyang said with a smirk.
"This will not end well," said Christine, shaking her head.
The five of us followed Taeyang to one of the dance studios, while Collins, Lee, and Yang Hyun-suk continued their way around the building.
"Sorry, you had to go through that with our manager," said Taeyang as I walked beside him. "He could be a little difficult sometimes."
"Yeah, I figured," I said, trying to put up a smile.
"I know it's bad to talk about older people behind their backs," started Zoey, "but what's his problem? Does he want to turn us into Koreans or what?"
"Let's not talk about that," said Taeyang. "The walls have ears, you know?"
"Great," said Daniel. "It's like we just found ourselves under the radar of Big Brother."
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it," said Taeyang.
When we got to one of the studio rooms, Taeyang opened the door for us, and we went in. We found a few young trainees practising. When they noticed us enter the room, they stopped what they were doing as they became excited.
"We've got important people here with us today," Taeyang told them. "You all know The Toxins, I presume. They would like to join us for our choreography session. Is that okay?"
The trainees responded in agreement with such enthusiasm.
"Okay, then," I said, stepping forward and standing next to Taeyang. "I guess you all know that I'm Samantha Glasson, better known as Black Kitty. I'm so excited to be amongst you guys, and I hope we'll have fun together." I went on to introduce the other Toxins. The trainees clapped while the rest of us smiled back at them.
"So, Sam, would you and your team kindly do the honours of taking the dance floor first?" Taeyang asked.
"With pleasure," I answered.
The trainees created space as they stood on one side of the room with Taeyang. We, The Toxins, came up and danced to one of our songs that played on the stereo. After the song had played, the trainees, including Taeyang, gave us a round of applause.
"Oh, thank you, thank you," said Zoey as she did a curtsy. "You're too kind."
"You guys are awesome," said Taeyang as he walked up to me.
"Thanks," I said in between breaths.
Mike walked up to us and challenged Taeyang. "Come on, Taeyang. Let's go one-on-one. You and me."
Taeyang smiled and nodded his head. "Sure. Let's see who is a better dancer and put this behind us once and for all."
"Are you sure you want to do this, Mike?" I asked my brother after Taeyang had walked away. "I don't think it's a good idea."
"Don't worry, sis," said Mike. "You know I'm a good dancer. I can handle him."
Mike smiled at me and joined Taeyang. The Toxins and I went to stand with the trainees. Taeyang and Mike took the floor, and the music soon started to play. Taeyang went first to the centre and started to dance. I had to admit, he looked like a natural, and his moves were awesome. He moved aside, and Mike took over. Mike has always been considered the best dancer amongst The Toxins, and for the moment, he's doing pretty well.
Some trainees were cheering for Taeyang, while we Toxins and other trainees were on Mike's side. When the song was about to end, Taeyang took to the floor and did his killer move. Damn, he's good. There's nothing Mike can do about that. The song's already over, and Taeyang stole the show.
The trainees cheered for Taeyang while he and Mike gave each other a casual handshake.
"I'm still going to get you for this, Tae," said Mike.
"Anytime, Mike," said Taeyang with a smile.
"I told you going up against him was a bad idea," I said as I walked up to them.
"I know, I know," said Mike as he rolled his eyes. "I'll try listening to you in the future."
"You never do," I said as I raised my eyebrow at him, shaking my head.
"Never mind. I'll leave you two." Mike left us and joined the trainees and the other Toxins as they gathered around.
"So, how did I do?" Taeyang asked when Mike was out of earshot.
"You don't have to ask," I said. "You already know how much of a great dancer you are."
"Just hearing that will do," Taeyang told me with an eye roll. My heartbeat quickened.
"You're awesome. You look like a natural when you dance."
"Thanks. You also dance well. It looks like we were both born for this."
"Yeah, we were."
"We should dance together sometime. What do you think?"
I nodded, and I couldn't help but blush. Dancing with Taeyang? That's nice, isn't it? That question got me even more confused.
The next thing we knew, the door to the studio flew open. Seungri and T.O.P. came in. When Seungri saw me, he ran towards me, took me in his arms, and lifted me up from the ground. He spun me around so much that I screamed out in delight like a little girl.
"Seungri, what's wrong with you?" I asked after he stopped spinning me around. I couldn't keep myself from laughing.
"I heard that you made it to the front cover of Elle magazine," said Seungri. "Congratulations, my panda."
"Aww, thanks, Seungri," I said. "I wasn't expecting this from you."
"You deserve it, my cutie," he said with a wide smile.
"Congratulations, Sam," said T.O.P. as he approached us. "Just like Seungri said, you truly deserve it."
"Thanks, T.O.P." I said with a smile.
"Since everyone is congratulating Sam over this," said Zoey as she approached us, "don't you think she needs to be rewarded or spoiled a little?"
"Oh, no, Zoey," I said, shaking my head at her. She obviously wanted something out of this. "I think congratulating me is more than enough."
"What about a party?" Zoey suggested it, completely ignoring me. "Come on, it will be fun!"
"I agree with Zoey," said Seungri. "We need to celebrate."
"I don't think it's a good idea," I said. "Don't you think we can just go out and have lunch instead?"
"Bo-ring!" Zoey said it in a loud sing-song voice. "You're so not fun nowadays, Sam. A party will be awesome!"
"I just think it's too soon. We just got here, and you want to throw a party because I made the cover of some magazine? That won't look right at all."
"Sam's right," said Taeyang. "You've just seen how difficult Yang Hyun-suk can be. Throwing a party will look wrong, and that will bring the Netizens to criticize you."
"Ah, I forgot we've got these 'Netizens' around," said Zoey, putting a lot of emphasis on the word 'Netizens.'
"I'm going with Sam on this one," said Christine. "Besides Yang Hyun-suk, don't forget there's Collins too."
"Okay, fine, we'll do as Sam says," said Zoey, pouting her lip. "But you should promise me that before we go back home, we're going to have a big party."
"I promise," I assured Zoey with my hand on my chest.
"Alright, that's settled then," said Taeyang. "I'll go get ready and tell our managers that we'll be leaving for lunch."
"Okay, thanks," I said.
Taeyang left the dance studio while Seungri went out to call Daesung and G-Dragon to come over for lunch. I was stuck with T.O.P., The Toxins, and the rest of the trainees.
After Seungri made his calls, he informed us that Daesung would join us, except for G-Dragon, who's busy and won't make it. A few minutes later, Taeyang was all showered and ready to go.
We left the YG premises and went to a famous pizza parlour. Daesung met us at there. Afterwards, we went out to have fun.
***
It was already evening by the time we dropped off at the hotel and said goodbye to the BIGBANG members. We went up to our floor and found Collins and Lee waiting for us as soon as we stepped out of the elevator.
"Hey guys," said Collins. "How was your day?"
"It was awesome!" said Zoey with a smile on her face. "After lunch, we went around the city."
"Don't tell me you were stuck with Yang Hyun-suk the whole day yourselves," I said.
"Yeah, about that...," started Lee as she bit her lower lip.
"What's wrong? When you do that, then something's up," said Daniel.
"Let's sit in the lounge, please," said Collins.
He led the way while we followed. There's absolutely no one in the lounge since we booked the entire floor for ourselves. We took up the empty caramel seats while Collins and Lee remained standing.
"What's wrong, Collins?" I asked.
"I'm sorry to spoil your evening with what I'm about to tell you," said Collins, "but this is important."
"Oh, boy," muttered Zoey.
"What I'm about to tell you might seem a little weird, and you guys might not like it. But if we really want to make a successful collaboration with BIGBANG, we've got to get used to it."
My heart started to race. What are we supposed to get used to now? To be honest, I don't want to know. It's already tiring enough that we always have to follow whatever the board wants back home. But now it seems we've got to follow Yang Hyun-suk's wishes too. And if we want to collaborate with BIGBANG, we've got to do whatever he says.
"What do we have to do now, Collins?" I asked with my eyes closed, expecting the worst.