I was looking out through the car window on an early Thursday morning as we were being driven to YG. I felt so much had happened since we got here, it felt like we had stayed in South Korea for so long when its only been five days. I already felt homesick and the feeling of going to YG this morning, made me nervous.
I didn't know what to expect when I get there. Yesterday was a total disaster and I prayed that today it wouldn't be the same. But deep down, I knew I had to prepare myself for what's to come.
Although the other Toxins and I were still on speaking terms like nothing had happened during lunch yesterday, I could somehow feel the tension amongst ourselves. It's like we were now divided ever since I had suggested on on all of us working on the lyrics for the song. Mike, Daniel and I on one side, Zoey and Christine on the other. How I wish it never came to this and I regretted every moment of it. But as the saying goes, what's done is done.
We were all seated in the car, the others talking amongst themselves with Lee and Collins while I was quiet and feeling out of place. We hadn't told Lee and Collins about our little conflict yesterday. We decided not to tell them until we came to a final decision. That's if it will even be necessary.
"Looks like someone is deep in their thoughts this morning," said Collins who sat in the front seat of the car and was looking at me through the rearview mirror.
"I just miss home, that's all," I said.
"You can give your mum a call later on in the evening," said Collins. "I bet by then it would be daytime in the U.S."
"Ya, sure." I tried to put up a smile, but it felt pointless.
We finally arrived at our destination and when we all got out of the car, I couldn't help but feel nervous. The five of us followed Collins and Lee into the YG building. As usual, we first had to go for practice. We left Collins and Lee downstairs on the ground floor, while the rest of us took the elevator heading for the changing rooms.
After changing, we all met in one of the dance studios, ready for practice.
"So, what should we do first?" I asked. "Go through the same routine as always or come up with some new dance moves?"
"I don't see why we should come up with new dance moves," said Zoey. "I mean, it's not like we have come up with a new song yet or anything."
I felt my heart jolt upwards and I couldn't tell if it was guilt because of the song issue or I wasn't just feeling too well.
"But we always come up with new dance moves even without a new song," said Mike. "I've come up with some pretty good moves and I think we should try them out."
"Well, okay then," said Zoey, shrugging her shoulders as though in doubt. "Let's give it a shot."
"Zoey, if you want you can just sit back and watch," I said. "It seems to me you don't want to do this."
"No, I want to, believe me," said Zoey.
"Okay, if you say so," I turned to Mike. "So, what new ideas do you have?"
Mike soon begun teaching us some of the dance moves he had come up with and without fail, we all got to know them quickly even when we made a few mistakes here and there. We soon got a hang of it after going through it a number of times, it turned out to be perfect and we liked it. Sometimes back home when our choreographer, Jimmy wasn't available, Mike would step in and act as our choreographer instead. Most of the time, the two would both work together, and they made a pretty good team.
After going through the dance moves flawlessly with what seemed like the fourth time, we decided to take a break. And when I went to collect my water bottle on a rack where we laid our training bags, I noticed from the corner of my eye that the door stood slightly open. That's weird. The last time I checked, the door was closed and I am pretty sure of it.
When I turned to face the door, I noticed a shadow, and it moved. Someone was definitely behind the door. I started to walk towards it and when I got to the door, I was surprised with what I saw.
Standing behind the door were two young trainees, probably in their teens, a male and female. When I saw them face to face behind the door, they seemed frightened and they bowed their heads.
At that moment I didn't have any words to say as I kept staring at them.
"Hey, Sam, who is by the door?" Christine called out to me.
I couldn't even reply. I didn't even know where to start explaining to Christine that there were young trainees by the door, who were probably watching us practice.
Before I could say anything, the girl said, "we're sorry. We didn't mean to spy on you while you were practising."
"Yes, we're sorry," said the boy. "We were just leaving."
With their heads still bowed low, they slowly started to back away.
"Wait, stop," I said.
The two trainees immediately stopped as though they were robots. It felt a little weird, but I quickly brushed off the feeling.
"Please, come in," I said, stepping aside and widening the door for them.
For a moment, the trainees looked on at me with scared looks on their faces. I can tell why. It was probably some of the rules set around the place and they must have found it quiet weird that I, the famous B.K, had told them to come in.
"아니요 (Aniyo)," said the boy. I recognised that he said 'no'. I don't know Korean, but there were some basic words I got to know so far from watching some K-Drama series.
"I mean, no," said the boy, this time in English. "That won't be necessary."
"No, I insist," I said. "Come on in, we don't bite."
Zoey soon appeared behind me and asked, "what's going on? Are these fans of ours?"
"Well, maybe," I said. "Don't try to intimidate them. You know you scare people."
"No, I don't," Zoey turned to face the trainees and said, "you guys can come on in and practice with us. You're YG trainees, right?"
The two trainees nervously nodded, still with their heads bowed low. I looked on at the trainees, then at Zoey, then back at the trainees again.
"If you are worried about getting in trouble with Yang Hyun-suk, don't worry about it," I said. "You can come and practice with us. You don't have to be afraid."
The two trainees looked at me and this time, they looked really excited. By the looks on their faces, I bet they were fans, and probably the idea of dancing with The Toxins seemed like a dream come true. I knew how that felt, because once upon a time, I was once in their shoes.
"Re-really?" the girl asked, looking at me with excitement in her eyes.
"Ya, sure. Why not?" I jerked my head to the side, telling them to come in. I knew I was already in trouble with Yang Hyun-suk because of what happened at Caribbean Bay, so I didn't mind if I got into more trouble just because of allowing innocent trainees to come and practice with us.
The trainees gladly followed as Zoey and I led the way.
"Oh, I see you brought in some friends," said Daniel as he saw us approaching. "Welcome guys."
"Thank you," said the two trainees at the same time, with huge big smiles on their faces.
"You guys don't mind if they join us, do you?" I asked the others.
"Not at all," said Mike.
"Ya, it's good to have people around, much less our fans," said Christine. "It's going to be so much fun."
"Wow, this is like a dream come true," said the girl. "I never knew I would be dancing with you guys."
"You better believe it, girl," said Zoey, giving the girl a wink. "Dreams do come true."
"So, should we teach them the new dance moves we have been working on?" Mike asked as he turned to me.
"Ya, sure," I said. "It's okay with me."
Mike soon started to teach the trainees the dance moves and surprisingly, they got to learn it quicker than I anticipated. They were really talented, I had to give them credit for that.
"Wow, for trainees, you're really good," said Mike, as he turned to face them.
"We try," said the boy. "We have been watching you practise, so it wasn't that hard."
"We didn't get to know your names," said Daniel.
"I'm Soo Mi," said the girl.
"I'm Young Jin," said the boy.
"It's really nice to meet you guys," I said. "Why don't we go through the dance moves together and see how it all turns out?"
Everyone agreed. We positioned ourselves and started going through the moves again and it was awesome. When we were done, everyone cheered and we all gave each other high fives.
"This is so much fun," I said.
"Ya, I know, we should be doing this more often with other trainees," said Mike.
"Ya, but we have to finish this dance routine, Mike," said Zoey. "So, work on it."
While I turned to talk to the trainees, I noticed Lee come into the studio. And she seemed to be coming straight for me.
"Sam, we need to go," said Lee as she came close.
"Go? Go where?" I asked looking confused.
"The reporters are here, you know, over the video of you and G-Dragon."
Yikes! I was enjoying myself with practice and being friends with the trainees, I forgot all about the video. I wish the reporters should just forget about the stupid video for once and let it be.
But that wasn't my only fear. I am going to be with GD for the interview and the thought of being next to him somehow made me nervous. I realised that I had goosebumps all over my arms just at the thought of it. I just hope he isn't mad at me anymore. But I was going to trust my gut and say that he probably still is.
"Wait, they are having their interview today?" Zoey asked.
"Yes, and right now," said Lee. "Go and freshen up, Sam. You must be ready within fifteen minutes."
"Um, okay," I said. I could even hear my voice breaking.
"Is GD already here?" Christine asked.
When Christine asked the question, I felt my heart stop beating. Eish! I was nervous for sure. The thought of GD being here almost made me want to run.
"No, but he will be here any moment," Lee replied. "Come on, Sam. You better take a shower."
Somehow, it felt good that I was going to take a shower. Maybe I would cool off and try to calm down with all of this. But I felt that wasn't going to be the case.
"See you later, guys," I said as I followed Lee who led the way out of the studio.
Everyone waved and wished me luck. Dealing with reporters wasn't easy and you just didn't need luck to confront them. You needed guts and confidence.
I needed luck to be on my side though, because dealing with G-Dragon wasn't going to be easy.
***
The make-up artists were done powdering my face and my hair was all combed and tied up in a pony tail. I wanted to look simple in front of the cameras and reporters just like I always have. Except whenever I have to shoot for music videos and taking photo shoots, I have to apply make-up just to fit in with the scene.
When the make-up artists were done and I was applying pink lip gloss on my lips, I heard quick chattering behind me and someone mentioned G-Dragon's name. I turned to look behind me and I saw G-Dragon entering the dressing room.
My heart skipped a beat as I watched him. He didn't seem to notice me at first because of the make-up artists and clothe designers that surrounded him trying to figure out if he needed a bit of make-up and a change of clothes. But just the way he was dressed seemed okay to me and they seemed to have noticed that too because, they backed away from him and went on to do their own things.
He dyed his hair blonde this time around and it matched with his white fancy jacket with gold studs on the collar and a black shirt beneath. They never call him a fashionista for nothing.
When he looked in my direction, he saw me and he immediately looked the other way as though I was nothing.
Ouch! That's gotta hurt! I felt my face grow hot in embarrassment. He was still mad at me. I slowly turned to face the mirror again trying to act like nothing was wrong, when I was actually hurt.
Through the mirror, I saw G-Dragon take a seat on the other side of the dressing room facing a mirror. He was looking down on his phone, probably texting or something, and I continued to stare at him.
G-Dragon looked up at the mirror in front of him and I bet he saw me looking at him through my mirror because he had a funny look on his face and he went back to looking at his phone. Bummer! I could tell by the way he looked at the mirror that he obviously saw me looking at him. I sighed in deep regret and looked the other way. I had never felt so alone.
Then all of the sudden, someone behind me held my shoulders and I almost jumped in fright. I looked behind me and there stood Daesung.
"Hey, little kitty. Your head's in the clouds today," he said, as he continued to look down at me and smiled. "What's up?"
At that moment, I was so glad that he was here. Right now I needed someone to talk to. I smiled back up at him. His smile and his presence seemed to have brighten my mood a little.
"Take a seat and I'll tell you," I said.
"Okay, sounds serious," said Daesung as he grabbed a chair and sat next to me.
When I looked at Daesung, I felt myself blush. With our shoulders almost brushing each other, I could feel the electric pull between us and I hope he wasn't feeling it too. It brought back memories of what happened the day before yesterday. The two of us hadn't even tried to bring up that topic yet. Maybe we never will.
"So, tell me, what's wrong?" Daesung asked.
"Everything is wrong," I slowly replied.
"Is it about yesterday?"
"Ya, it is."
Daesung looked behind him because he knew what I was taking about. I also turned and G-Dragon was still on his phone ignoring everyone around him. He seemed lost in his own world.
"He's still mad, isn't he?" Daesung asked as he turned to face me.
"Pretty much," I replied. "He didn't say a word to me when he came in and ignored me as though I didn't exist."
"Let's just hope he doesn't stay that way for long."
"I hope so too. But why do I get the feeling that this is only going to get worse?"
"Stop thinking like that, okay?" Daesung held my hand that was on my lap. That sent tingles up my arm and down my spine.
"I can't, Daesung," I said. "My gut feeling has never failed me before. Why should it now?"
"I don't have the answer to that. And it seems to me you really trust your gut a lot."
"Dah, I always do," I said rolling my eyes playfully as I smiled.
Daesung laughed and that caused me to laugh also. I felt so relieved that I shared this with Daesung. He is so nice, caring and understanding, just like Taeyang.
I soon felt someone's eyes on me as I laughed. I looked behind me. For a moment, I had a feeling that G-Dragon was staring at us through the mirror, but his eyes were still on the phone. Maybe I was just imagining things.
Lee suddenly came in the dressing room and said, "Sam, Ji Yong, it's time to go. The reporters are waiting."
I quickly stood up and checked if my clothes were alright. I was wearing a blue summer dress with purple flowers on it and white flats.
"You look beautiful, Sam," said Daesung. "Just stunning."
I smiled and I blushed like crazy. Right now, I had to focus on the interview and Daesung was sweeping me off my feet.
"Thanks, Daesung," I smiled, as I continued to blush.
I noticed G-Dragon stare at us as he stood up from his chair. And when I turned to face him, he quickly looked away and walked out of the dressing room, bypassing Lee who was by the door. For a moment, the room was silent as everyone, including the people who worked around the dressing room, noticed G-Dragon's odd behaviour.
"Wow. What's wrong with him?" Lee asked as she pointed her thumb down the hall where G-Dragon had passed.
"Long story," I answered. "We better go."
Lee nodded her head and I turned to face Daesung.
"You'll be fine, don't worry about it," said Daesung as he smiled at me.
"Thanks," I tried to put up a smile, but it all felt useless.
Lee and I walked out of the dressing room together and it seemed like G-Dragon had already taken off into the elevator without us because he wasn't in the hallway. The guilt came back to settle within me and I couldn't help but blame myself that it was all my fault he was acting this way.
When Lee and I got into the elevator, she asked, "why does G-Dragon seem so upset? I noticed the way he looked at you. Weren't you supposed to be mad at him for what happened at Caribbean Bay?"
"A lot has happened that you don't know about, Lee," I said, staring at my feet as the elevator continued to move. "So much that I can't explain."
"Like what? I heard you guys had lunch yesterday and things didn't turn out well."
"Where did you hear that from?" I asked as I quickly turned to look at her.
"Too much gossip among the working staff at the hotel," said Lee with a smile. "Don't worry though. They said it didn't seem so serious."
"Wait? You understand Korean?" I grew even more surprised when that thought suddenly dawned on me.
"Dah," said Lee, rolling her eyes and the elevator doors slid open. "Why do you think I was able to hold Yang Hyun-suk and Collins for so long at YG? Oh, and don't tell Collins. He doesn't know either."
"You never told me what happened," I said as the two of us stepped out of the elevator.
"Well, I think the both of us have a lot of catching up to do after this," said Lee as we both walked down the hallway and turned round the corner. "Right now, it's showtime."
It was showtime indeed. I found Collins, Yang Hyun-suk and G-Dragon talking amongst themselves in the hallway. Behind them was the door that led to the conference room. I could hear voices of the reporters behind the door and I felt my palms starting to sweat. I wasn't such a fan of interviews and I hated them.
"Ah, here she comes," said Yang Hyun-suk as he noticed Lee and I approach. "You're looking very lovely today."
I bowed my head at him and said slowly, "gomawoyo (고마워요) (thank you), Hyun-suk Sajangnim (사장님) (Boss)."
"I'm impressed," said Yang Hyun-suk, with a smile on his face. "You're really learning."
"Well, I try to do the best I could," I said.
"Sam really knows how to adapt to the environment she's in," said Collins. "No wonder she's so smart."
"No doubt about that," said Yang Hyun-suk. "And she's looking really lovely today, isn't that right, GD?"
My heart almost skipped a beat as I turned to look at G-Dragon who was also looking at me. For a moment, he didn't reply and I was scared at what he was going to say.
Surprisingly, he managed to put up a smile on his face. For a moment there, his smile seemed genuine, but I could feel the negative energy behind it.
"Yes, she does look lovely today," G-Dragon replied.
I didn't know whether I should run or remain where I was. I couldn't stand this any longer. I felt he was some psychopathic killer ready to jump on me when no one was looking. And honestly, I felt pretty terrified.
The door soon flew open and someone came to inform us that everything was all set and ready to go. I breathed out heavily as I tried to calm myself and we walked towards the door. My palms were still sweaty.
"Hey, don't worry about a thing," said Lee as she reached me to the door. "You'll be alright."
All I could do was nod my head at Lee and I stepped in to the conference room first with G-Dragon behind me.
The flashing lights of the cameras flashed around me. They blinded my eyes for a moment, but I pretended not to flinch as I continued to walk up to the small podium and there stood a table with four chairs.
I got up to the podium and I was guided where to sit. There were four chairs behind the table and I sat in the middle and G-Dragon sat next to me. Collins sat to my left while Yang Hyun-suk sat to G-Dragon's right.
The bright lights of the flashing cameras continued to flash in front of my eyes and it took time to regain my vision. I soon noticed that there were a lot more reporters and camera men in the conference room than I had anticipated. My hands were as sweaty as hell and I felt them shivering. I bet this interview was going live on national TV because I noticed video cameras around the room.
"Good morning, everyone," said Yang Hyun-suk through the set of microphones that were in front of him on the table. "We may now proceed with the interview. You may begin to ask your questions."
The thing I always hated about interviews, was that reporters could ask the dumbest questions, the personal ones, the most hurtful ones, the most confusing ones and the inappropriate ones. I hoped and prayed that the first question wasn't going to be any of the five I had in mind.
A lady among the reporters raised her hand and Yang Hyun-suk told her to proceed. I had my fingers crossed. I always hated such moments.
"I'm Mi Sun from MBC TV," said the reporter. "On Tuesday this week, a video of YG's own phenomenal artist, G-Dragon, and Samantha Glasson, also known as B.K, was released on YouTube and almost became a worldwide trend. My question, probably on everyone's mind is, are the two of them dating?"
Yang Hyun-suk answered, "we can assure you that the two of them aren't dating. That video wasn't supposed to be aired on YouTube."
"If it wasn't supposed to be aired, then who did this and why?" the reporter asked.
Ah, oh. Was this the part where either G-Dragon and I were supposed to answer the question? If so, I wasn't ready to tell them that my very own best friend had done all this. I feared of what the outcome may be.
"The person who took the video was none other than our very own, Zoey," Collins answered.
From the corner of my eye, I looked at Collins. I knew Collins wouldn't want to make Zoey look bad for any reason at all, but it looks like he and Yang Hyun-suk were sticking to the truth. I might as well just do the same.
Another reporter, a man this time around, raised a hand and Yang Hyun-suk allowed him to speak.
"Thank you, my name is Jin Soo from KBS," said the male reporter. "I think a lot of people would want to know after hearing all of this, why would Zoey post that video? From the look of things, what was going on between GD and BK seemed like a private affair, or was the video all for show?"
This was what I feared. I bet a lot of our fans were thinking G-Dragon and I were actually dating and had high hopes. Now that people know the truth, it would crush the fans and Zoey would end up being the villain. But telling the truth was really the best option. It wouldn't seem right, now that GD and I were clearly not on good terms at the moment, to tell the whole world a lie.
"I think I'll answer that question," said G-Dragon.
For a moment, my heart almost skipped a beat as G-Dragon spoke through the mic. I turned to look at him. I just hoped he wasn't going to say anything that would raise more questions from the reporters.
"The video you saw on YouTube wasn't for show," said G-Dragon. "All that was actually real."
"And you allowed Zoey to take the video?" the male reporter asked.
"No, apparently, we never realised that Zoey was taking the video until it was already too late."
"But why did she do all that? Can you explain what her intentions were at the time?"
I knew G-Dragon wasn't going to answer that question because no one knew Zoey better than I did. So without realising it, I stepped in.
"I know what Zoey did by releasing the video has raised a lot of questions in everyone's mind," I said, confidently. "Many of our fans had high hopes that GD and I were dating, but that's not the case. What happened was nothing but a misunderstanding."
Immediately I said those words, everyone's eyes were on me now, including those around the world probably watching on their television screens or devices. Yang Hyun-suk, Collins and G-Dragon also stared at me. The camera lights kept on flashing in my face like crazy. I wish I could tell the camera men to stop because the flashing lights were so annoying.
I continued before any reporter could ask what I meant. "The truth is, what was going on between GD and I was real. He gave me chocolates and roses because he was trying to make up for not being there for me the previous day and to congratulate me on making it on the Elle Korean Magazine Cover. So, him giving me those gifts were more like saying 'congratulations' and 'I'm sorry for not being there' kind of thing."
For a moment, no one said a word, not even the reporters. I turned to Collins, who gave me a nod to go on. I continued to stare at the audience of reporters and camera men. I could feel G-Dragon's eyes on me though. But that shouldn't intimidate me. I cleared my throat and went on.
"And knowing Zoey, she's one who likes to capture such beautiful moments. So, she decided to take a video of what was happening. And before we could realise what was going on, it was already too late. She first posted it on her fan base, which she usually does. But before she could take it down, her loyal fans had already seen it and probably one of them posted it on YouTube. And that's how everything came to be up to this point."
All the reporters who were taking down what I was saying, started muttering among themselves as though we were in a debate room. I didn't know what they would obviously be talking about and I hoped that they weren't going to ask a question that might just intimidate me.
The same female reporter from MBC raised her hand and she was told to proceed. I feared for my life.
"So what you're trying to say, B.K, is that all this is Zoey's fault?" the reporter asked.
"Well, I could blame Zoey because she was the one who took the video in the first place and without our permission. But it's not entirely her fault," I replied. "I've grown to know her very well because she's my best friend. I know she didn't mean any harm by raising people's hopes that we were dating. Knowing her, she thought she could try to capture the great friendship that G-Dragon and I have."
What was I saying? I know I am being honest and genuine, but saying it with G-Dragon by my side felt awkward. If people got to know that G-Dragon and I had quiet a misunderstanding the other day, it would surly raise questions and the whole world would criticise me.
I stared at G-Dragon beside me and he was still staring at me. I could see it in his eyes that me saying all that felt wrong, but all that happened way before the argument. I was hurting as I said all that and I wish I could turn back the hands of time and set things right.
"And also, she's always admired G-Dragon," I continued, as I turned to the audience. "So, I bet she was trying to capture G-Dragon's great personality. We all know how much of a good guy he is, so, that's why Zoey did all that."
I think I had said enough and I kept quiet. This was awkward and I could feel that G-Dragon was feeling the same way. All I wanted was for this interview to be over and get out of the conference room.
"So, you two are clearly not dating?" the reporter asked.
"No," G-Dragon and I replied at the same time.
Okay. That felt weird. My eyes flew at G-Dragon and he also turned to look at me. That made things even more weirder. I bet those watching on national TV would either find all of this a show or something beyond the ordinary.
"And you guys wouldn't like to date in future?" the reporter continued. "Because a lot has been said since the video came out that you two would make a great couple."
"No, we wouldn't."
Dang it! We replied at the same time, again! This wasn't going so well and we both knew it as we stared at each other. These were the times you would tell the reporters to mind their own business and walk away like you didn't care. This was turning out to be just terrible.
"There would be no need to ask such questions," said Collins. "The Toxins are here in South Korea strictly for business. There would be no point for Sam and Ji Yong to start dating when The Toxins would obviously stay here for less than a month or two."
Phew! Thank you, Collins! No wonder I considered him as my top guardian angel. I was so glad that he finally decided to step in or else I would obviously have told the reporter to piss off.
"So, how is the song coming along?" the reporter asked. "Because I heard The Toxins and BigBang had quiet a fun ride at Caribbean Bay the day before."
Oh no. That question was clearly not necessary. Aargh! This was what I considered the inappropriate question.
"I don't see why you get to ask that," said Collins. "They went out to have fun and find a source of inspiration for their song. And why not at Caribbean Bay? I know Sam and Ji Yong were supposed to be here for the interview that day, but apparently, you all came at the last minute when they had already made plans to go out."
I didn't know whether to be impressed that Collins is such a good liar, or I should hug him at the end of the interview for saving our necks. That was such a close call.
"I think time is already up," said Yang Hyun-suk. "So, if you would kindly excuse us, we have other schedules to attend to."
No reporter asked any further questions, that meant all of this was over. Finally! I just wanted to get out of here and breathe. I needed the air because things were starting to get a little intense in here.
When we all got up from our chairs to leave, I was backing away from my chair and the back of my shoe got caught with one of the cable cords on the floor. Before I realised it, I tripped and was falling backwards.
I almost screamed but before I could even reach the floor, G-Dragon caught me just in time.
The camera lights in front of us flashed like crazy because of the scene. And I couldn't help but feel that all this just made things a whole lot worse.
G-Dragon and I were so close and I couldn't help but blush when I looked up at him and he was staring down at me. I knew that he was still angry at me, but I wanted to forget about that and I hoped he would too. We could both carry on with our lives as if all that never happened.
He quickly helped me to straighten up as the camera lights continued to flash before us. I stared at G-Dragon and I realised that I was still blushing. I took a strand of my hair behind my ear and cleared my throat.
"Um, thanks, GD," I said to him.
"You should be a little more careful next time," he replied.
I couldn't tell if he said that because they were reporters around, or he really did care despite being mad at me. That, I'll never know.
The four of us walked out of the conference room and I couldn't help but realise that I had another challenge ahead now. And that was the song.
***
"Sam, you were just awesome! Come here, you!" Zoey exclaimed as she ran towards me and pulled me into a tight hug.
G-Dragon and I had just walked out of the conference room and Zoey appeared out of no where.
"I thought you weren't supposed to be here," I said to Zoey, still embraced in her arms.
"Well, ya," said Zoey as she pulled away from me. "I was watching the interview with the others upstairs and when I saw how you defended me in front of those reporters, I decided to come down here."
"You should have seen the way she came," said Lee. "If it wasn't for me, she would have come running into the conference room."
"Zoey, what are you doing here?" came Collins' voice behind me. Yikes! Zoey was in for it now.
"I came for my best friend," said Zoey. "Is that bad?"
"At the moment, yes," said Collins. "Not when everyone now knows that it's all your fault that you released the video and made everyone have high hopes about Sam and G-Dragon's relationship. It was best to keep you out of plain site of the reporters to keep them from asking any more questions."
"Come on, Collins," said Zoey, shaking her head at her manager. "Don't you know up to now that whatever Sam says to the media everyone will listen and believe her? No one is going to be mad at me for long if not at all. You'll see."
"I don't get it," I said, with a confused look on my face. "Why do you say no one is going to be mad at you because of what I said?"
"You told the media that even though I made the video, it was partly not all my fault. If you want, Collins, you and I can bet on it. Everyone listens to Sam. She's like some high-rank public figure. If she were to run for president, she would be instated the very same day."
Yang Hyun-suk, Lee, G-Dragon and I laughed at Zoey's joke, except Collins. I knew he was pissed with what Zoey had said, but I had to admit, that was something even an angry person would laugh about.
Speaking about angry people, I turned over to G-Dragon who was still laughing. It felt good to see him laugh and I smiled. But very soon, he will be back to the way he was. Just the thought of that made me swell up with sadness that I even had to face the other way so that no one would notice it all over my face.
"Zoey is one person you should never throw away in your life, Collins," said Yang Hyun-suk, holding Collins' shoulder with a bit of laughter on his face. "She's just hilarious."
"Ya, she's one of a kind," said G-Dragon.
"Ah, and how could I forget about my lovely G-Dragon," said Zoey, as she came to stand beside G-Dragon and hooked her hand around his elbow. "You looked awesome today. And handsome too."
"Wow, looks like Sam was right," said Yang Hyun-suk. "You do admire G-Dragon."
"Ya, no one knows me better than Sam," said Zoey with a grin. "If it were possible, I would gladly have dated G-Dragon."
"Don't even think about it," said Collins, pointing a finger at Zoey.
"I know. 'We're here just to collaborate with BigBang, yadda, yadda, that means no dating anyone of them.' I still remember that rule," said Zoey rolling her eyes.
"Sometimes I wish I could kill you," said Collins, shaking his head.
"But you can't, because you love me just as I love you, Collins," said Zoey, with a huge grin on her face.
"Hilarious," said Yang Hyun-suk. "We better get going. You three have to get that song ready, while we, have other things to attend to."
Oh, the song. For a moment, I never wanted Yang Hyun-suk or anyone else to mention it. I felt my heart beat faster and I felt like judgement day had finally come.
We all found ourselves in the elevator and I was quiet the whole way. The two managers were busy talking about something important, while Lee, G-Dragon and Zoey were talking about the interview.
When the elevator stopped, Zoey, G-Dragon and I got out and we dropped off on the floor to the recording studios. Our managers and Lee continued on their way upwards in the elevator probably heading for Yang Hyun-suk's office.
While the three of us walked along the hallway, heading for one of the rooms, I couldn't help but fall behind G-Dragon and Zoey as the two walked ahead of me alongside each other. The two were so deep in their own little conversation, I didn't feel like listening or joining them. At that point, I felt like I didn't matter.
We found ourselves in one of the recording studio rooms and we found all our group members waiting for us.
"You're back!" Christine ran towards us, coming straight for me and pulling me into a hug. "You were so brave standing up for Zoey like that."
"You know I don't like interviews," I said, trying to put up a smile. "I was actually scared."
"You didn't seem that way," said Taeyang. "You looked very calm as though you knew what you were doing."
"And you also looked very pretty," said TOP, giving me a wink.
"Um, th-thanks," I said while my cheeks blushed after Christine had pulled away from me.
"Ya, you're looking prettier even now," said Seungri, staring at me with dreamy eyes. "I would've come down there in the conference room and kissed you in front of the whole world."
Daesung who stood beside him slapped him on the shoulder. Seungri whined in pain while he held his shoulder and stared at Daesung.
"What?" Seungri asked.
"You only want to cause trouble, do you? You should learn to respect Sam, you know," said Daesung.
I couldn't help but get the feeling that Daesung was a little jealous. I couldn't help but smile to myself.
"Hello! Isn't anyone going to talk about the little scene that happened at the end of the interview?" Daniel asked.
"Oh, the part where G-Dragon saves Sam from falling?" Zoey asked. "If you're worried that people would find that romantic, I highly doubt it."
Highly doubt it? If Daniel was thinking the same way I had earlier, people would start to make up a love story that barely even existed.
"Well, fans do like to make out a love story out of small things," said Taeyang, scratching his head. "I wouldn't be surprised if that happens."
Oh, no. Looked like Taeyang was also on this one too. I wished for someone to change the subject. This was starting to feel awkward, especially with G-Dragon standing right in front of me.
I stared at G-Dragon and I could tell by the look on his face that he didn't want to hear a single word concerning love stories. We had other serious things to think about.
"Can we drop that for now and focus on the song instead?" G-Dragon suggested. "We don't have much time and we need to work on it right away."
"GD's right," I said. "We all saw the reporter ask on how much progress we've made and Collins made an effort to cover for us. So, for the sake of our managers, let's get to work."
"But we have to vote again, remember?" TOP reminded us.
Everyone fell silent and the room felt awkward. It was like the ghost of yesterday still haunted us even now. Again, I still felt like it was all my fault.
"Well, we all agreed yesterday to vote again," said G-Dragon. "So let's get settled and get this over with."
When everyone went to settle down on the black leather seats, I stood on the same spot, deep in thought. Was all of this worth it? The last thing I wanted was for all of us to be divided because of my stupid suggestion. Maybe I was wrong this whole time and I shouldn't have done all of this in the first place.
"Hey, Sam are you alright?" TOP asked. "You seem troubled."
I came back to reality and I saw everyone staring at me with worried looks on their faces, except G-Dragon.
"Sam, are you okay?" Zoey asked when I didn't answer. "Something is up and you don't look so good. Tell us. What's wrong?"
I still didn't say a word as I played around with my fingers. I took in a deep breath and breathed out with my eyes closed, clenching my hands into fists. When I opened my eyes, I looked on at the others and said:
"This voting thing is pointless. I take back what I said yesterday. It's for the best if G-Dragon and I work on the lyrics for the song instead."
Again, the room fell into an awkward silence. Everyone's eyes were on me and they looked surprised, except for G-Dragon. I couldn't tell whether he was smirking or he decided to play stoic for a change.
"Wait, what?" Daniel asked. "Why?"
"Because, Daniel, nothing is going to change," I said, looking at my brother. "The same thing will happen even today when we vote. It will end up in a tie again. So, what's the point? I bet a lot of you have thought of it the same way, haven't you?"
No one said a word as they all looked at each other, apart from G-Dragon, who still had his eyes on me.
"I think it's best this way," I said, grabbing everyone's attention again. "We're going nowhere like this and I should have realised it sooner."
"Well, it's about time you came to your senses," said G-Dragon.
I felt like I had been given a slap on the face. And OUCH! It hurt like hell.
"That's a little harsh, don't you think?" I asked.
"Well, it's true, isn't it?" G-Dragon asked, with his eyebrows raised.
"Well, at least I'm bold enough to even admit that I was wrong."
"And you want me to give you credit for that, Samantha?"
Samantha? Really? He called me by my full name. Okay, it was clear he was still mad, but he shouldn't be expressing his anger in front of everyone else like that. He should be doing it to me and me alone. I was ready for what's to come, but not with our group members around.
"I don't think we should argue here," I said. "Why don't we go some place else and talk?"
"And why should we?"
"It's not right and you know it. If you want to get personal with me, at least do it with no one around."
"Oh, and now you're trying to play the good girl trying not to hurt anyone else?"
"That's what I'm meant to do, GD. This isn't right."
"Sorry, Sam, but I'm rather comfortable here," G-Dragon leaned back on the chair with his hands behind his head and crossing his leg above the other.
I shook my head in disbelief. G-Dragon was totally unbelievable. Right now, I wasn't sure whether to hate him or just feel sorry for him.
"Fine, then we'll stay here then," I said.
"That's more like it," said G-Dragon, with a smirk on his face.
"You're so stubborn," I rolled my eyes at him.
"Ya, well, I was born this way."
"Can we please start working on the song now?" I asked. "It seems like we don't have much time left."
"Okay, let's start."
"Umm, sorry to interfere in all of this, but are you serious right now?" Zoey asked, looking surprised and confused at the same time.
"What's wrong?" G-Dragon asked, shrugging his shoulders.
"I don't know if you are seeing this, but you two look like you're about to tear each other's throats out. Doesn't that bother you? And you want to work on the song together? Today?"
Zoey was right. What was happening now looked more like the beginning of World War III, if not the end of the world.
"I'm sorry, Zoey," I said. "But do we have a choice?"
"Well, I have one. Why don't you two take a break from each other? You're scaring me and probably the whole lot of us too. Why don't you two cool down and work on the song tomorrow?"
"Zoey's right," said Taeyang. "You two need to chill out. You both seem angry at each other."
"I'm not the angry one, he is," I said, pointing my finger at G-Dragon. "I'm just being reasonable!"
"I know, Sam. You've both agreed to work on the song together, but you can't go on like this. Who knows what may happen if we leave you two alone."
"Tae is right," said Mike. "I don't want to go back home with your beheaded dead body. Mum will kill us."
"Okay, fine," I said, rubbing my temples and taking a deep breath. "You're right. Even I can't work like this."
I tried to calm myself down, trying to clear my head. I let my anger get the better of me. In fact, I couldn't tell if all this was anger or I was just annoyed because G-Dragon was acting bigheaded.
"Looks like we will work on it tomorrow then," said G-Dragon as he slowly got up from his seat. And with his hands in the pockets of his jeans, he slowly walked towards me.
The last thing I wanted was a face to face confrontation with him because if he was going to do or say something funny, I didn't know what I was going to do. But no. I wasn't going to let my anger get the better of me again. I didn't want to be angry at him. If there was anyone to be angry at, it was myself.
G-Dragon came close and he stared at me with his intimidating eyes. At first, those eyes used to make me melt like jelly, but now, I couldn't tell where that feeling went. Maybe it's because those eyes weren't there to intimidate but they were full of anger too.
He stopped a few inches away from me and I didn't back away. Earlier on, I would. But this time, I wasn't afraid anymore. I was tired of being scared.
"We'll meet tomorrow soon after practise, capish?" G-Dragon asked.
"Capish," I replied, without any hint of emotion.
"Good. You better get some aspirin and rest. It looks like your head is about to explode and we don't want that, do we?"
"No, we don't."
"That's my little kitty." G-Dragon smiled at me and walked away, our shoulders brushing each other, and he went out through the door.
"Well, that was close," said TOP. "For a second, I thought this whole place was about to blow up."
"Ya, I thought I was going to watch a Mortal Kombart fight," said Mike.
"Seriously? You're bringing Mortal Kombart into this?" I asked Mike with my eyebrow raised. Somehow, I wanted to laugh at the joke, but I couldn't.
"Come to think of it," said Zoey, staring at Mike. "You're right. Remind me of those two characters that hate each other so much."
"Scorpion and Subzero," said Daniel.
"So, in this case, Scorpion is G-Dragon," said Seungri, who seemed to be enjoying himself with this.
"Ya, it suits him since Scorpion and dragon kind of go together because of fire," said Daesung.
"Guys, are you seriously listening to yourselves right now?" I asked.
But no one answered me as they continued their Mortal Kombart fantasy.
"And Sam is Subzero," said Daniel.
"Ya, because she is all cool and chilled like ice and doesn't crack under pressure," said TOP.
"True, but also because Subzero is her favourite Mortal Kombart character," said Christine.
"Oh, ya, I forgot about that," said Mike.
This was getting ridiculous and I shook my head in disbelief.
"So this whole thing is like a fire and ice relationship?" Taeyang asked.
Oh great! Not Taeyang too! The argument G-Dragon and I had created a story in these guy's heads.
"Ya, I'm already imagining it," said Zoey, staring off into a distance, obviously in her imagination. "G-Dragon and Sam, like Scorpion and Subzero."
"Ya, I can imagine it too," said Mike, also staring off into a distance.
"Sam looks so hot in her Subzero outfit," said Seungri, also deep in thought and biting his lower lip.
"So hot," said TOP, nodding his head absent mindley.
"So does GD in Scorpion's outfit," said Zoey.
"Ya, their relationship is now like fire and ice," said Daesung. "Let's just see who wins."
As I watched the others share out their silly ideas of how the fight would turn out, I couldn't help but realise that they were right. Right now, GD and I weren't okay at all. To the outside world, we were friends, but to ourselves and our closet friends, we weren't. One moment we were smiling at each other but soon afterwards we were fighting again.
I didn't know how all this was going to end, but if G-Dragon and I didn't resolve our issue soon, we might not just hurt each other but also the people around us, especially our group members. And I wasn't going to let that happen.
If that was the case, I had to win this no matter what. I didn't care if I was going to end up getting burnt. I created this mess and I had to fix it no matter the cost. Even if it meant I had to play along like the others. That G-Dragon is Scorpion and I am Subzero.
That he is fire and I am ice.