"Ahhh! I feel like I'm back at school all over again," Zoey complained as she scratched her scalp, her hair already looking messed up.
"Tell me about it," I said as I leaned back further on the couch. "I don't think I can take this anymore."
"This is just awful!" said Daniel who had his body and his face flat faced onto the floor.
"Do we really have to know all of this stuff?" Mike asked lazily, as he laid on one of the couches alone.
"Do we have any other choice?" I asked him.
"Well, I have a choice," said Christine, who sat beside me. "I can easily just pack up and fly back home."
"You're bluffing and you know it," said Daniel, his face still flat faced onto the floor.
"Can we order coffee?" Zoey asked. "I need a lot of caffeine. Urgently."
"You don't need coffee," said Mike. "Breakfast filled with eggs, bacon, bread and juice is all that you need."
"Morning, Toxins," came Collins as he entered the lounge. "How is your reading going?"
"Reading? More like studying until you're brain dead," said Zoey. "Why do we have to read this and follow every single rule?"
"Ya, I thought we were visitors and supposed to be treated like 'visitors'," I said, furrowing my eyebrows. "But instead, it looks like we are back to the same old routine of following whatever the board tells you, but only this time, it's Yang Hyun-suk."
"And you think I would have done something about it?" Collins asked.
"Yes!" the five of us replied at the same time.
"Things are a lot more complicated than you think. You can wrap up from here. You need to go for dance practise."
"Finally! I thought you would never say that," said Daniel who quickly got up from the floor.
Zoey yawned and stretched her arms out. She looked like a yawning lion with her scruffy hair. "Thank goodness," she said. "Something fun to do except from reading this pamphlet."
Last night, we were given pamphlets on the rules and regulations we had to follow whenever we were within YG premises. These were the same rules that even the YG trainees had to follow. It didn't feel right at first, but just like Collins had said earlier, if we wanted to collaborate with BigBang with no problems, we had to follow the rules.
From then on, we woke up an hour early before heading for practise to read in the lounge. We were all still in our pyjamas and we looked as tired as hell from last night. But anyhow, we managed to read through half of the pamphlet. And hopefully, we got a thing or two. If not nothing.
"Okay, so, get changed and meet us downstairs in ten minutes," said Collins.
"Aye, aye, captain," said Zoey, giving Collins a mocking hand salute. Collins just rolled his eyes at her and left for the elevator.
After we got ourselves ready, we went downstairs and went into the car. This time, we weren't going to the gym like we had done the previous day. We were going to start training at the YG dance studios. It was a good thing, but with all the rules we had to follow, you could even think twice about going there.
When we got to the studios, we went straight to one of the dance studios and started practising, trying to shake off the feeling of following the rules.
While we were going on with practice, we heard the door to the studio fly open and we all stopped. We continued to look at the door which stood slightly ajar. For a moment, no one walked in, and we started to wonder who could be at the door.
"Check who is at the door," Zoey said to me quietly.
"Why should I check?" I asked, also with my voice tuned down.
"Daa, you're the leader."
"And what if there is someone out there wanting to kill me?"
"You're one kind of a person who isn't even afraid of watching horror movies. Just go check."
I rolled my eyes and went quietly towards the door. When I got to the door and fully opened it, there was no one there. Before I could fully step out of the room to check around the corridor, someone jumped in front of me, blocking my view.
"What the.....!"
G-Dragon had jumped right in front of me that I almost lost balance and was falling backwards. But he held my waist and pulled me towards him to prevent me from falling. We were in such an awkward position that anyone could easily mistake the two of us wanting to kiss each other. We were too close that even our bodies touched and my face was just inches away from his. I felt an electric shock wave rush through my body from his touch and I was caught staring into his eyes.
"Hey, BK," said G-Dragon with a dashing smile on his face. "Did you miss me?"
Somehow, I was a little lost for words. Everything just came up as a surprise. And also, I still couldn't stop staring into his eyes. I couldn't figure out why I was so mesmerised just by looking at them. It felt like I could look into them and get lost forever.
"Hello, Sam, can you hear me?"
I shook my head from the trance and I found myself furrowing my eyebrows at him.
"You should really stop doing that!" I said. "Again, you almost gave me a heart attack."
"Really? You should check yourself first before you blame me for anything," said G-Dragon. "Just a moment ago, you were staring at me like you wanted to kiss me."
My eyes almost fell out of their sockets and I blushed like crazy. I wanted to slap him, but I couldn't raise my hand to do so. Fighting and disrespecting others within the YG premises is a crime, if I could put it that way. Fighting in an institution is never allowed anyway. And who knows what might happen. But then again, I wanted to slap G-Dragon so bad to wipe that grin off his face.
"Aren't you going to say anything, my little kitty?" G-Dragon asked with a smirk on his face.
"I...uh...," I was starting to lose my patience. "I hate you, Jiyong."
"Says the girl who's still staring into my eyes and yearning to kiss me."
That's it! I had had enough.
I quickly pushed myself away from him and took a few steps back. I looked at him and folded my arms. G-Dragon was still smiling at me and I wanted to squeeze him to death. It looked like he enjoyed mocking me and it was so annoying. But yet again, I still couldn't understand why I was blushing so much. I turned to look the other way.
"Jiyong! You're here!" exclaimed Zoey as she ran towards him and they hugged each other. "What happened to you yesterday? You never came with us for lunch."
"I had some things to take care of," said G-Dragon. "Sorry, I couldn't come."
"You better say sorry to Sam, yourself," said Christine. "It was her special day yesterday and she was so upset that you never showed up."
I quickly looked over at Christine and I gave her the 'I'm-going-to-kill-you' look.
"You see, she is still mad till now," said Christine, pointing at me.
I rolled my eyes, muttered out loud and placed my hand over my forehead. All this was giving me a headache.
"Now I see why she is so upset with me this morning," said G-Dragon, as he looked over at me with one eyebrow raised, giving me that bad boy stare. I quickly looked away. I could still feel myself blushing.
"You better have come with something to make her forgive you. Or else she would stay mad at you forever," said Mike.
OMG! The last thing I needed was for my brother to join in this charade.
"Don't worry, I have just the thing to lighten her up," said G-Dragon.
I rolled my eyes as I still had my back facing the others. What could G-Dragon possibly do to lighten me up?
The next thing I knew, I caught a whiff of something sweet and flowery in the air. Before I could turn to check where the smell was coming from, a bouquet of red coloured roses filled my vision. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, but they were roses alright. And they looked lovely.
"How did you know I love roses?" I asked.
"It's not hard to tell what you like nowadays if you have social media around," said G-Dragon who stood right behind me and whispered in my ear.
Oh, ya. I forgot we had that.
I took the roses and sniffed them. They smelled really lovely. At that moment, I almost forgot that I was ever even mad.
"So, you're not mad at me anymore?" G-Dragon asked.
I turned around to give him my answer when I was stopped short at the sight of the box of chocolates in his hands. Chocolates? Why did he have chocolates?
As though he read my mind, G-Dragon said, "I got a box of chocolates for you just in case the flowers wouldn't be enough to forgive me. I know you love chocolates. Well, every girl does."
I was completely lost for words. I never expected this, especially from G-Dragon. Was I dreaming or was this G-Dragon standing right in front of me a fake?
"Wow, thanks, GD," I said. "But to be honest, I wasn't mad at you for not being around yesterday."
"I know. Just wanted to make up for not showing up. And by the way, congratulations."
"Thanks." I couldn't stop blushing. And somehow, it felt quite embarrassing.
"Awww, this video of this cute moment is so going to go viral," said Zoey.
When I turned to face Zoey, I noticed that she had her phone and was taking a video.
"Zoey, you were recording all that?" I asked even when I already knew the answer.
"Ya, who wouldn't?" Zoey asked. "There's nothing you can do about it though. I have already posted it online."
"What! Zoey, how could you!" I stormed towards Zoey and I felt like at any moment, lightening would flash out of my eyes and zap her.
"Whoa!" Zoey backed away a little as I approached. "Sam, chill out. It's just a video, okay? It's nothing serious."
"Well, it is serious, Zoey," I said trying to keep my voice down so as not to attract anyone from outside. "You just filmed us and posted that video without our permission."
"Great, Zoey," said Daniel. "You just made Sam even more upset."
"Sam, relax, okay," said Zoey. "Don't worry, I'll try to delete this before anyone sees it."
When Zoey checked her phone, there was a look on her face that made me realise that it might just be a little too late.
"Whoops," Zoey said, as she gave me an apologetic look.
"You just made things a whole lot worse, didn't you?" Daniel asked as he shook his head.
"I'm so dead," I said as I also shook my head.
"I'm sorry, Sam," said Zoey. "It already got 15 views. It's probably now on YouTube since I posted it on my fan page."
"Sometimes I wonder why you're ever around me," I said through my teeth.
"Chill, BK," said G-Dragon as he came to stand beside me. "What's done is done. Don't worry about a thing, okay?"
I took a sniff of the roses I was holding and said to Zoey, "you're so lucky I have roses and chocolates to lighten my mood. Otherwise, I would've killed you today."
"Looks like we have G-Dragon to be thankful for," said Mike. "You really know how to mess things up, Zoey."
"Thanks, Mike. You're making me feel ten times worse than I already feel right now," said Zoey with a frown.
"Can we please put this behind us and continue practising?" Daniel asked.
"To be honest, I don't feel like practicing anymore," I said. "Zoey just ruined my mood."
"Hey, I said I was sorry," said Zoey.
"Alright," said G-Dragon, clapping his hands to grab our attention. "Then we can go to the recording studio instead. We have to start coming up with the song today."
"Oh, I completely forgot about that," said Christine.
"Let's go freshen up then," said Mike.
"Let's do that," I said as I quickly took the box of chocolate away from G-Dragon. "And I'll be taking that."
I quickly walked out of the studio with Christine and Zoey following right behind me. And as I walked away, I could feel G-Dragon smiling right back at me.
A few minutes later, we were all showered up and we found G-Dragon waiting for us at one of the recording rooms. We had to wait for the other BigBang members to arrive. For the mean time, all we did was chat.
Daesung arrived first and after he greeted all of us, he said, "Sam, haven't you seen the video that's trending on YouTube right now?"
I stared at Daesung with my lips tightly sealed. I didn't have to ask what video he was talking about. My eyes flew to Zoey and she looked away without saying a word.
"I know what video you're talking about, Daesung," I said trying to keep my cool.
"Judging by the looks of things, Zoey must have done something, right?" Daesung asked.
"She surly did," I replied as I continued to stare at her just like a lion would stare at its prey.
"Can we please stop talking about that?" Zoey asked. "I already feel awful about all of this and you're just making it worse."
The next thing we all knew, Christine's phone beeped, then Mike's, Daniel's, Zoey's and mine. We quickly took out our phones at the same time. I had a notification on YouTube about a trending video. It was the same video Zoey had posted almost an hour ago and it already had 2.1k views.
"It looks like people don't have a life nowadays that they spend all their time on YouTube," I said. "How could this video get so many views in just an hour!"
"Oh. Looks like we all received the same notification," said Daniel. "That's classic."
"If I were you, Sam, I wouldn't even read the comments," said Daesung, who was also checking on his phone.
"What are they saying?" G-Dragon asked with a grin on his face, as he went over to Daesung.
"I don't want to hear it," I said as I leaned back on the chair and put my phone back in my pocket.
"The most amazing couple?" Christine read out loud in surprise.
"This isn't good," I said as I closed my eyes.
"Aww, so cute. These guys just make the perfect couple. GD is so romantic," Mike read out.
"People, please, stop reading the freaking comments," I said holding my head as though it was about to explode.
"Sorry, we will try to quiet down this time," said Mike as he smirked at me.
"Hey, guys, listen to this one," said G-Dragon. "I hate to admit this but these two look so...."
"Enough, please!" I exclaimed. "The last thing I need is someone reading a comment that says you and I should get married."
"You're so good at guessing, Sam," said Daesung, his eyes still on the phone. "This comment was saying the exact same thing."
I rolled my eyes as everyone looked so preoccupied with their phones. Then, Zoey squealed in delight and she jumped from where she sat and dashed towards me. For a moment there, I almost got frightened. She came at me like a bulldozer and the last thing I wanted was to get knocked over by the same person who just made a video of G-Dragon and I trend on YouTube.
"Hey, Sam, do you remember this picture on the first day we came to Korea?" Zoey asked as she flashed her phone before my eyes.
I looked at her phone and there was a picture of G-Dragon and I holding hands. That was the time we arrived at the hotel and G-Dragon had helped me out of the car. We had been stuck holding hands almost the whole time.
Someone had posted the picture regarding the video on Facebook with a comment saying: "These two brillant people make a great couple. Them holding hands on the first day they met was a sign that they were meant to be together. Can't wait for what's coming next. #alreadyhearingweddingbells."
WEDDING BELLS! Has the whole world gone mad or was I now on planet Neptune? I stood up from my seat and started pacing back and forth. What was happening today? I just couldn't understand anything at all.
"If you're trying to think like Einstein and come up with a formula that might just get you out of this, it's not going to work," said Zoey as she stared at me.
"Stop talking, Zoey. It's your fault I'm like this," I said. "You shouldn't have posted that video. Now everyone will think G-Dragon and I are dating."
"Isn't that a good thing?" G-Dragon asked.
"No, no, Jiyong, this is bad, real bad!" I said as I stared at him. "What will my parents think when they see that?"
"Mum, will be so furious that you didn't say anything about a boy," said Mike with a wicked look on his face.
"Ya, that's my problem," I said to G-Dragon as I pointed my finger at Mike because of what he said. "My mother."
"She'll understand," said Daesung. "We're in a land full of showbiz and fame. Rumours are just bound to fly around anyhow."
"I hope so," I said. "She won't trust me anymore because I didn't tell her first that I had a guy in my life."
"Mmm, then I'm lucky to be that special guy in your life," said G-Dragon with that smile of his.
"You're so not helping, GD," I said as I shook my head.
The door soon flew open and Taeyang, TOP and Seungri came in.
"So this is where you are," said Taeyang. "Has anyone seen what's going on?"
"If you're talking about Sam and G-Dragon's video going viral, we already know," said Christine.
"Who posted the video?" TOP asked.
I turned to look at Zoey, and the rest of The Toxins, G-Dragon and Daesung, all had their eyes on her. The room was silent and by the look on Zoey's face, it could clearly show that she was feeling really uncomfortable.
"Eish, can you all please stop looking at me like I'm a criminal? I did say I was sorry," said Zoey.
"I can't stay mad at you forever, Zoey, and you know it," I said with my arms folded. "But don't you ever do that again. Clear?"
"As clear as crystal," said Zoey nodding her head like a little child.
"Okay, now that we are all here," I said, addressing to everyone, "lets put everything behind us so that we can focus on the song. What do you think?"
"I agree. Let's start now," said Seungri, as he took a seat and made himself comfortable.
Everyone gathered around in a circle and for what seemed like minutes, we were just staring at each other in silence.
"Are we just going to just stare at each other or what?" I asked.
"I thought you were spearheading this thing," said Taeyang.
"I know I'm the leader of The Toxins, but I'm simply not the oldest in this room right now," I said. "Any of the BigBang members, especially G-Dragon, could take the floor."
Zoey who sat next to me pulled me by the arm and I was drawn closer to her so that she could whisper in my ear.
"What are you doing?" Zoey asked. "Don't tell me you're going to follow every rule in that pamphlet! Why not take the reins instead?"
"Wow, I would never have thought that you really took the pamphlet and read it," I whispered back with a smile.
One of the rules we had read in the pamphlet talked about letting those who are older and more experienced than you take control of things. For the time being, we had to act like the juniors and let BigBang be our seniors. Besides, this is their home turf.
"This is not a game, Sam," Zoey whispered. "You simply aren't going to give away this opportunity to bring out your brilliant ideas for the song, are you?"
"Do I have a choice?"
Zoey looked at me and I could clearly see the answer on her face. I positioned myself upright on the chair and looked on at the others, brushing off the little conversation Zoey and I had.
"Okay, so what do you think the song should be based on?" G-Dragon asked. "I would like everyone to bring out their opinions."
"Let me start," said Zoey. "I think we should do a love song."
"A love song?" Daniel asked looking surprised. "You've never suggested on a love song before, Zoey. And you aren't always up for them either."
"I just had a change of heart."
"Well, that's a surprise."
"Okay, well, I'll go with Zoey on this one," said Christine. "A love song will be perfect."
"I think that's too cheesy," said Taeyang.
"I also agree," I said. "We all sing pop and what the fans would love to expect from us is a pop song that will become a smashing hit."
"Now you're talking," said G-Dragon. "Okay, so who all agrees with Sam that it should be an all pop song?"
Everyone except from me, raised their hand. I looked over at Zoey, and she gave me a wink.
"Fine, we have all agreed that it's going to be a pop song, so what is it going to be all about?" TOP asked.
"Fun and games," Mike blurted out.
"Boys and beach parties and stuff," said Zoey. I hit my forehead with my hand when she said that.
"Pandas," said Seungri.
Zoey and I burst out laughing like crazy and we both said, "good one, Seungri!"
"If Zoey could suggest on boys and stuff, then I would like on girls," said TOP, with that awesome sexy voice of his, "and stuff."
"How about just making it a little more like a love song, but still has that pop beat in it?" Taeyang asked.
"It ain't that bad though," said Daesung. "But I think the song should be more about fun and something funky too."
"I like Daesung's idea," I said. "We need the song with a funky pop tune that would make anyone dance the first time they hear it."
"So, the song should be fun and with a catchy beat anyone couldn't stop dancing to," said G-Dragon, taking in everything into consideration.
"Ya, it should be a bit more like 'Fantastic Baby,'" said Daniel.
"You, Daniel, just read my mind," said Zoey, with a grin on her face.
"Okay, so we have that figured out," said G-Dragon. "We will have to start working on the lyrics and the beat."
"Sam, should write the lyrics," said Zoey all of the sudden.
I looked at Zoey and gave her the look telling her to shut up.
"Ya, I hear Sam is a very good song-writer," said Seungri.
"Well, I never write alone," I said shyly. I didn't like it so much when people praised me sometimes for my song writing.
"I'll help you write the song," said G-Dragon. "But everyone will have to help out too."
"Then after we come up with the song, Taeyang and Mike will try to come up with the dance moves," I said. "That's if it's okay with you, GD. Any choreographer can come in too."
"It's okay," said G-Dragon. "The two are the best dancers, so they will come up with dance moves and they will be our choreographers."
"Sweet, so we when do we start with writing the song?"
"We can start tomorrow," answered G-Dragon. "You know we can't just start writing there and then."
"So what do you suggest we do for the time being?" Daniel asked. "It's not even noon yet and we have nothing else to do."
"We go have fun," answered G-Dragon, as he stood up from his seat.
"Yay!" Zoey and Christine squealed in delight like little kids.
"Fun?" I asked, looking surprised. "And where did you think we should go and have fun?"
"Follow me and I'll show you, my dear jagi (자기)," G-Dragon gave me a wink and started walking towards the door.
"Hold on a second," I said, with a bit of fury in my voice. G-Dragon reached the door and turned to face me. "I know what 'jagi' means and just because people think we're dating, doesn't mean you've to think the same way too."
"I know, I just wanted to call you that to see your reaction," said G-Dragon with a smile. "You look so cute when you're annoyed."
I quickly looked away and didn't say a word. I always hated it when a guy always found a way to shut me up. How I wished I could punch GD in the face. My knuckles were just dying to punch something at the moment.
"So, if anyone is coming with me, I'll be waiting outside in my car," said G-Dragon and he left the room.
"Well, I'm going," said Zoey as she stood up. "How about you, Sam?"
"No, count me out," I said. "I've had enough drama in less than two hours already."
"Okay, but just know you're going to miss out on all the fun," said Zoey and she quickly dashed out of the room.
Christine, Mike and Daniel soon followed her. Taeyang, Seungri and TOP announced that they had their own personal things to do and left. So that left me with Daesung.
"Aren't you going out yourself?" I asked him as my fingers tapped on my knees.
"Nah, I don't have much to do today," said Daesung. "May I suggest that the two of us go somewhere interesting instead?"
"Ya, sure. I need to get my mind off what's happened today and figure out the lyrics for the song."
"Okay, let's go,"said Daesung.
We both stood up from our chairs and left the recording room.
As Daesung and I walked out of the building, we saw G-Dragon's car leaving through the gate. As I continued to stare at the car as it sped away, I couldn't help but feel that this day was far from over and something even far worse than crazy was about to happen. But I just couldn't figure out what.