Meeting WINNER the previous day was one of the most memorable days of my life. We had so fun when they came, though they were just with us for a short while because we had to be pretty cautious with when Collins and Lee were going to come back to the hotel. They weren't supposed to know that WINNER had come to the hotel to visit. Most especially, Collins.
With the little time we had with WINNER, I couldn't help but feel like a fan girl all over again as we all got to know each other.
Seungyoon, the leader and maknae of the group is so cute. For me I really like him or maybe thats just the fan girl in me saying all that. I just felt he was such a fun and nice person to be around with.
Then there is Mino, who almost looks identical to G-Dragon, you could easily mistake the two for father and son. I mocked G-Dragon about it with the others. And Zoey kind of grew attached to Mino. Which to me, wasn't much of a surprise.
As for Jinwoo and Christine, they seem to be hitting it off pretty well like good friends. I for one thought they made a really cute couple. Though I had to keep in mind Collins' golden rule about not dating anyone while we were here in Korea.
As for Seunghoon, I wasn't going to let go of him that easily. He and I had a lot of talking to do concerning how he got in the closet in the first place. I guess he was the one who had secretly been stalking me the whole time.
Before they left, we agreed to meet tomorrow at YG, though the three BigBang members didn't think it was a good idea because of their manager. Even if the two groups were to meet, how were we, The Toxins, going to agree with Collins to let us go to YG? As far as everyone's concerned, we were done with our collabo with BigBang. What else were we going to do at that place?
I already had that part all sorted out. G-Dragon declared that whatever I had planned wasn't going to work this time around. The other Toxins and WINNER had faith that it will. And I was pretty sure it would work because I knew I wouldn't have to break a sweat.
Right now, this very morning, I'm in my purple pyjamas with a matching sleeping robe and fluffy bed slippers, stretching and yawning as I stepped out of my room into the hall. I made my way to the lounge where I found Collins and Lee by the dining table, working. The two had been so busy yesterday and still even today. I didn't get a chance to talk to Lee about WINNER because she came back so tired last night and went early to bed.
"Morning," I said as I approached the dining table.
"Morning," Collins replied first, then Lee. "Aren't you supposed to be asleep?" he asked.
"I'm tired of sleeping," I said as I drew out a chair and sat on the opposite end of the table from where Collins sat. I needed to look at him straight in the eye as we talk. But as for now, he was looking down at some paper work.
"Well, you can always do something, right?" he suggested.
"Ya, I guess," I replied as I leaned back on my chair and rubbed my eyes. "I was thinking we get back to the old routine."
"What old routine?" Collins asked. He was still not looking at me.
"You know, going for practise every morning. We're done with what we came to do here, so I was thinking it's best we try and keep ourselves busy while we wait to go home. We can't always go shopping and sightseeing everyday. At least we try to do what we're familiar with."
"Mmmm, I guess you're right," said Collins as he looked up at me. "I was wondering what you guys will be doing the whole time now that shooting the music video is done, and you came up with a pretty good idea."
"I did?" I tried not to act surprised through my sleepiness.
"Yep," Collins nodded his head. "I think doing your usual routine to start the day will be perfect. Why don't you wake up the others and head to YG? I don't want all of you to become lazy bums at the end of the day and that won't be good now, will it?"
Wow. This was literally not breaking a sweat. I didn't even have to look at him the entire time and he even agreed for us to start today. Perfect. Absolutely perfect.
I tried not to act all happy about it as I yawned and slowly stood up from the chair.
"Okay, I'll go wake them up," I said.
I left the lounge at a slow and steady pace. When I turned around the corner, I quickly and quietly ran back to my room with so much excitement and through the door I had left open. I ran in and jumped on Zoey's bed to wake her up.
Zoey sat up with a start immediately I landed on her bed. She sucked her teeth in irritation when she noticed it was me and fell back into the bed covers.
"What's your problem, Sam?" she whined. "Can't you see it's too early in the morning?"
"Don't you want to go and see WINNER or what?" I asked as I looked down at her.
At first she didn't say a word until she scrambled to sit up, pushing the bed covers aside and looking at me with her eyes wide open.
"What did you say?" she asked.
"Get ready, we're going for practise," I said as I stood up from the bed.
"We're going to YG for practise? And meet WINNER there?" Zoey couldn't believe it. "Collins agreed?"
"Ya. So get your lazy butt out of bed and let's go. I'll go wake up the others."
"Sam, I love you," said Zoey with a smile. "You really had it all planned out, didn't you?"
"I did say I had a plan, right?" I shrugged my shoulders. "And Collins agreed without an argument."
"I can't wait for GD to see this. And he said your plan wouldn't work."
"Sometimes it's nice to prove people wrong." I smiled and headed out of the room.
I went to wake up Christine who couldn't understand why we were going for practise until I told her that we had to meet WINNER at YG.
"Wow, seriously?" Christine asked as she rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed. "Collins agreed to go back to the old routine?"
"I gave a reasonable explanation so, he agreed. Now, get your gym bag all packed up. You don't want to miss meeting Jinwoo now, do you?"
I noticed Christine blush out of no where and I decided not to taunt her about it. I quickly walked out of the room to go and wake my brothers up. And as much as they were excited that we were back to doing the old routine, they were happy that they would be meeting WINNER again.
When we all had our bags packed and we were all dressed ready to go for practise, we found ourselves in the lounge. Collins and Lee had stopped discussing and looked at us.
"Well, that was quick," said Collins.
"We don't need to do so much when going for practise, do we?" Zoey asked. "You told us that."
"She's right," said Lee as she looked at Collins.
"I hate when you use my words against me," said Collins. "Let's go before you start to say something I'm not looking forward to hearing."
"You know I can't do that, Collins," said Zoey. "I care too much."
Collins rolled his eyes and that almost made me laugh. "I'll keep that in mind," he said as he stood up from his chair. "Let's go."
"Isn't Lee coming with us?" Daniel asked.
"I would really love to, guys, but we've a lot of work to do," said Lee. "I'll make sure to pass by at lunchtime to check on you."
"You should, we have a lot to tell you," said Christine.
"And what would you possibly want to tell Lee that you wouldn't tell me?" Collins asked with his arms folded.
"Nothing," said Christine.
I noticed Mike give Christine a little shove on the shoulder and he whispered to her to shut up. I quickly intervened before Collins could notice and ask what was going on.
"It's just about the k-drama series we watched last night," I said. "Lee was so tired that she missed the episode that we were all planning on telling her what happened."
"You girls will tell her," said Mike. "I don't watch your k-dramas."
Collins sighed. "I don't watch k-dramas either but we all love something, right? Let's go."
We all said bye to Lee and we headed to the elevator and found the SUV waiting for us as usual outside.
When we arrived at YG, we disembarked out of the car at the entrance of the building. Collins wasn't coming in with us because he said he had to rush back to work.
"I already informed the working staff that you guys will be around," said Collins as he talked to us through the car window. "You guys behave yourselves, okay?"
"Don't worry about a thing, Collins," I said. "I can handle it when things get out of hand."
"I know you will. See you later."
"Bye, Collins," said Zoey and Christine at the same time as they waved at Collins who waved back.
Immediately the car drove out of the YG premises, we all turned around and found ourselves in the lobby.
"I can't believe this is happening," said Christine so excitedly as we walked towards the elevator.
"I know. Sam is a genius!" Zoey said as she wrapped her arm around my neck and brought me closer to her.
"Careful, Zoey," I said as I waved at the receptionist at the desk, who happily waved back at us. "And you're squeezing me to death."
"My sis has always been a genius," said Daniel.
"Did you text them that we're already here?" Mike asked.
"I did that when we were in the car," I said when Zoey had finally let go of my neck and we had reached the elevator.
"Good, so we wait," said Zoey as she pressed the up button of the elevator.
"No," I said as the doors flew open and we all went in. "We practise." The doors closed before us and I pressed the button to the floor leading to the dance studios.
"Are you kidding me?" Zoey moaned as she leaned on the walls.
"We did say we come here for exactly that, didn't we? It would look weird if we were just snooping around doing nothing."
"And besides, I don't think we've gone for practise in the morning for a while now," said Mike. "I really missed dance."
"We just danced three days ago," said Zoey, with her eyebrow raised.
"That's different."
"Ya, I still get what you mean. So, we practise and while we do that we wait for WINNER."
"Exactly," I said as I smiled at Zoey. "Not so hard to do, isn't it?"
"Don't mind, Zoey," said Christine. "We all know her too much already."
"I'm not a lazy bum if that's what you mean," said Zoey.
We soon got to the dance studios and when we occupied one of themy which was empty, we began to practise right away.
It was so much fun getting back to our old routine. I soon had that sense of relief after we practised even though I was tired after our first few rounds. I was born to dance and I realised that I had missed doing it.
"What time are these guys coming?" Zoey asked as she was seated on the floor.
"It isn't even close to two hours, Zoey," I said with my hands on my hips.
"I know, I'm just impatient and I'm already tired of practise."
"I'm so glad I told Collins that we should do this again. You've become so lazy. Stand up. Let's go for another round."
"Another round!" Zoey complained. "Can't we at least wait for the boys and Christine to come back?"
Christine, Mike and Daniel had gone out to fetch water bottles for all of us downstairs a good five minutes ago.
"Come on, let's go one on one, just you and me," I challenged.
"No way," said Zoey, still on the floor and shaking her head. "You know that you're a way better dancer than I am."
"Mike's like 'the' best in our group."
"And you're second. There's not much of a difference."
"Come on, Zoey," I pleaded as I went over to the Beats by Dre pill, lying a few feet away from us. "I promise I'll play that song you really like."
"What song?"
I didn't answer when I got my phone that was lying close to the pill and went through my music list. I tapped on the track, "The Greatest" by Sia and the music on the pill soon started to play.
I turned around and I found Zoey already up from the floor and looking at me. I smiled. I knew she would get up to this song.
"I hate you, Sam," she said as I approached her.
"Just dance, Zoey," I said as we stood a few feet away from her, facing her.
When the lyrics were sang out, Zoey started to dance and I watched her, then it was my turn to step in and dance too.
It's been a while since I had a real dance battle with Zoey and I had to admit, I was enjoying myself. Though we were dancing to one of Zoey's favourite songs and she was so good at dancing to it, I felt I was up to her level.
At the end of it, the whole thing didn't finish like a dance battle. We danced together both our moves synchronising with one another.
When the song was done, the two of us were facing each other and panting like crazy.
"That was so cool," said Zoey. "Let's do that again."
"Wow! You two were awesome," came Mino's voice behind us.
Zoey and I turned around and there stood, Mino and Seunghoon, both smiling at us.
"Aaah! You're here!" Zoey exclaimed excitedly and ran over to them. I was too exhausted to run, so I walked.
"Morning guys, how are you doing?" Zoey greeted them. "I wish I could hug you but I'm all drenched in sweat."
"We're great," said Mino. "Can we watch you two dance battle again? It was awesome."
"You watched the whole thing?" I asked as I finally got closer.
"Pretty much," said Seunghoon.
"Okay, so who do you think is a better dancer?" Zoey asked.
"Zoey," I gave her that look telling her that it wasn't necessary.
"No, like, seriously," Zoey went on completely ignoring me. "Whose the best?"
Mino and Seunghoon both looked at each other and I didn't want to know what was running through their minds. They smiled and went on to look at Zoey and I.
"I think Sam is a better dancer," said Seunghoon.
"Well, I think Zoey is," said Mino.
Zoey smiled to herself. "And it's a tie. We need more votes."
"Zoey can you just drop the whole thing? It's not really necessary," I said.
"Where is Seungyoon and Jinwoo?" Zoey asked, ignoring me again. "Didn't you all come together?"
"We met the other Toxins downstairs and they decided to stick with them," Mino answered.
"We will wait for them and then Sam and I can dance again and see who is the best."
I shook my head at Zoey and said nothing. She could be so persistent at times and right now, I couldn't do anything to stop her.
"Seunghoon, you I need to talk," I said as I looked at him.
"Ya, sure. What is it?" Seunghoon asked.
I nudged my head to the side telling him to follow me. I went over to the wall and leaned my back on to it. I had the back heel of my right foot pressing against the wall as I was staring at Seunghoon as he came closer.
"I want to know everything," I said with my arms folded.
Seunghoon lips were raised to a smile. And it was a corky one. That meant he knew what I was talking about. I wished he could stop doing that. He was making me lose focus.
"You aren't letting this go, are you?" he asked with his eyebrow raised.
"The others might, but I haven't," I said. "And I can also bet, the BigBang members aren't going to either. So, were you the one at the park hiding behind the trees when TOP came to pick me up?"
Seunghoon took a step closer and answered, "yes."
"And the one who was standing behind the door when I was alone in the recording studio and I chased you down the hall?"
He again took a step closer. "Yes."
Well, that made sense since the time I was chasing him down the hall, I never caught him because he had disappeared when I reached the lobby and no one had seen him. Only a person who knew YG could know where to go without being seen.
I hadn't realised it till now that I was looking up at him. He was so tall and he was looking down at me, his eyes never leaving mine. I gulped at how close he was that I could feel his body warmth. And that made me pretty uncomfortable.
"So, its been you the whole time?" I asked as I looked away, trying to ignore him and how close he was.
"Well, yes," he answered. "The others knew about it and they didn't like the idea of me stalking you. But I couldn't because I'm such a big fan of The Toxins."
"If you're such a fan why didn't you stalk the others as well?" I asked as I looked at him. "I'm not the only Toxin."
"Apparently you happen to be my bias," said Seunghoon as he leaned closer and whispered in my ear.
I blushed and I was a little surprised that he used the word "bias." In Korea, most people refer to that word when it was comes to the person who tends to be a personal favourite or most liked especially in relation to k-pop celebrities.
Seunghoon playfully tapped the tip of my nose and he laughed. "You look so cute when you blush. Has anyone ever told you that?"
"Well, yes," I said as I shrugged my shoulders.
"I bet most of the BigBang members say that about you."
"No, they don't," I lied and Seunghoon laughed. He could clearly see through me because I was blushing too much. I shoved him aside and walked away. Luckily, the others had arrived.
"Good, the two groups are complete," said Zoey as she clapped her hands together.
"A 'hi' would be nice, don't you think?" Jinwoo suggested as he walked alongside Christine.
"That's Zoey," I said. "How are you two doing today?" I asked Seungyoon and Jinwoo.
"We're great," Seungyoon answered. "And you?"
"Awesome," I replied.
"Okay, Sam get over here," said Zoey as she took hold of my hand and dragged me with her.
"What the....Zoey!" I tried to pull my arm away from her grip but I was still being dragged along either way.
"What's going on?" Mike asked. I bet he had a confused look on his face.
Zoey stopped when she and I stood a few feet from the others. She turned to look at them.
"Sam and I are going to have a dance battle," she said.
"Huh?" Christine looked confused.
"Is that really necessary?" Daniel asked. "You should be having a dance battle with Mike not Sam."
"And besides, you and I have countless dance battles back home," I said after I pulled my hand away from her grip. "If you ask me, we were just having fun until Mino and Seunghoon showed up."
"Zoey, Sam is a better dancer than you. Period," said Mike as he unscrewed a bottle of water and drank some.
"That's not what Mino said," said Zoey with her hands on her hips.
"You should have seen the dance battle these two had," said Mino. "It was pretty awesome."
"I would also love to see it," said Jinwoo.
"Pretty, please?" Seungyoon pleaded with his hands clapped together and looking at me with those cute adorable eyes of his.
Apparently, he wasn't the only one doing the puppy eye thing. The four WINNER members were all doing but as they looked at me. Mino even had to pout his lips and that just made him look even more adorable.
I wanted to look away but I couldn't. They were really making me do something I didn't want to do.
"Come on, Sam," said Zoey. "Look, they are even doing the puppy eyes. So cute."
I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Fine. Let's battle," I said as I walked over to the audio Beats by Dre pill.
"Yes!" I heard the four of them cheer. I smiled at their reaction as I got my phone and looked at the track list. Then, something came to me.
"Change of plans, Zoey," I said as I turned around. Everyone's eyes were now on me. "If you want this dance battle, I suggest we pick another song."
"Okay, fine," said Zoey. "I'm up for it."
"Since we danced to one of your favourite songs, I'll pick my own." I gave her a smirk. "And it's a k-pop song."
"This just got interesting," said Mino.
"Fine, whatever." Zoey rolled her eyes. "What song are we dancing to?"
"Ringa Linga (링가 링가) by Taeyang," I beamed. "One of my personal favourites."
"Taeyang is going to love this," said Mike as he went over to his gym bag to get his phone. "Good song choice by the way, Sam. It's also one of my favourites."
"Thanks," I smiled at my brother who had his phone ready to capture a video. I turned to look at Zoey. "Ready for this."
"Totally," said Zoey, as she looked back at me.
I tapped the track on my phone and quickly put the phone next to the audio pill and quickly rushed to stand face to face with Zoey.
When the song started, I took the dance floor and danced. Then Zoey stepped in. We kept taking turns, but whenever it came to the chorus, she and I would dance together, dancing to the actual moves done in the actual music video. I was a little surprised dancing to the moves because I had never tried to practice on them before. All I ever did was watch. And Zoey was also doing a pretty good with the moves too.
When the song was done and Zoey and I stood there in our stance, there was a loud cheer coming from the others.
"Wow, totally mind blowing," said Jinwoo.
"Whenever it came to the chorus, it didn't look like you were having a dance battle at all," sais Seungyoon. "I've to say, that was pretty sweet to watch."
"I loved everything about this dance battle," said Mino. "I could watch you two all day long."
"Thanks, guys," I said.
"I loved that you danced to that song," said Christine.
"Now, coming to my question," started Zoey, trying to gather her breath. I rolled my eyes as I walked away and got a water bottle from Christine. "Who do you think is a better dancer?"
"Wait," I said before anyone could say anything. I put the bottle of water to my lips and drank some water. "Don't answer that."
"Why?" Zoey asked.
"I think you and I both danced really well and there is no need to ask. Besides, you and I have never practised on those moves in our lives, especially on the chorus. That counts for something, right?"
"I agree with Sam," said Daniel. "You two were great."
"Sam is right," said Seungyoon. "I wouldn't also fuss about it if I were you."
"I still want to know though," said Zoey.
"Fine, I've a better idea," said Mike. "Why don't we ask the whole world to vote?"
"Wait, you want to ask our fans?" Daniel asked.
"Well, ya." Mike shrugged his shoulders. "I don't want to vote because I think it's pretty obvious who is the best." He put so much emphasis on that last sentence as he looked at Zoey.
"Mike's right," said Zoey as she approached him. "Let our fans choose who won the dance battle."
"This is pathetic," I muttered to myself as I drank some more water.
"I also think it will be great if the fans see this," said Jinwoo. "They will love it and will obviously bring out a better opinion."
"See, even Jinwoo agrees," said Zoey as she looked at me.
"Count me out of it," I said as I raised my hands midway in the air and took a step back. "I don't care what you people do at the end of the day."
"Fine, I'll create a voting poll and upload the video. At the end of the day, we will see how all this comes out," said Mike, as he tapped away on his phone. "Though I'm pretty sure Sam will win."
"You're just saying that because she's your sister," said Zoey. "I know I'm going to win."
"No, it's because I'm speaking the truth. Daniel, back me up on this one."
"Don't look at me, I would rather see what the fans think," said Daniel.
Zoey and Mike soon got into their little debate while the others listened. I decided to ignore them and went over to get my phone and the audio pill. Looked like practise was already over since everyone was now talking about the dance battle.
I got my phone and the pill in my other hand. I was checking my phone for any messages until I soon felt a sudden presence of someone standing next to me.
"Well, you don't seem so enthusiastic about the whole thing," came Jinwoo.
I turned to look at him and he had that friendly smile on his face. I smiled back at him in an instant. Felt more like an impulse. His smile was so warm, you couldn't easily ignore it. Even a person who had been grumpy the whole day would smile if they were to look at him.
"No," I replied, still with a smile on my face. "I don't want to know what the fans think and I'm clearly not in a mood."
"If you ask me, I think you clearly won the dance battle," he said.
"Thanks, but make sure Zoey doesn't hear that. I wouldn't like to see her yell at you."
"Trust me, I wouldn't. Mike did say she is a drama queen for a reason."
"You're right about that."
I looked behind me with a smile and I could see the debate heating up a little. I wasn't too worried about my brother and Zoey. They might have their differences, but they never got into a serious fight, better yet a physical one. The two of them arguing was an everyday drama I never got to stress over.
"They aren't going to stop, are they?" Jinwoo asked.
"Not anytime soon," I said as I looked at him. "What are we planning to do today, anyway? We all can't stay here at YG."
"Have no clue. Any bright ideas?"
"No, not yet actually." I stared at my phone to look at the time. "It's almost ten. Collins expects us to be here till lunch."
"Maybe we can sneak out. And go some place to have fun."
"Ya, you're right. Though we all shouldn't be seen together or else it will raise questions."
"May I ask what you two are up to?" Christine asked as she approached us with Daniel.
"We're planning a way to sneak out of the place without being seen together," I replied.
"Sneak out? Why?" Daniel asked.
"We made plans to hang out with WINNER, didn't we? And we can't do it here."
"Then, how are we going to get out?" Christine asked.
"It's a Sunday and there isn't a lot of people around," said Jinwoo. "It's not going to be that complicated."
"I sure hope so," I said. I turned to look at Christine and Daniel. "Let's all hit the showers real quick and then we can leave this place."
"What about those two?" Daniel asked with his thumb pointing at Zoey and Mike behind him who were still debating. It looked it would turn into an argument anytime soon.
"They will notice when we're gone," I said. "If the others ask where we are, tell them we've gone to freshen up, will you, Jinwoo?"
"Sure," he said with a smile.
Christine, Daniel and I went over to get our gyms bags and we walked out of the studio without the others even noticing, except for Jinwoo of course.
Twenty minutes later, I was walking out of the girl's shower room all freshened and dressed up in a white t-shirt with blue polkadots and matching black jeans with flat black boots. I was carrying my gym bag and was walking alongside Christine who wore a pretty apple green summer dress. We had left Zoey in the shower room, still patching herself up.
"Well, you look pretty today in that dress," I said as I looked at Christine.
"Oh, thanks," said Christine as she smiled. "I just thought of wearing it."
"Why? Anything special?"
"No, why do you ask?" Christine looked at me with an eyebrow raised.
"Oh, nothing," I stared up at the ceiling as we were soon approaching the men's shower room. "I thought since that dress is so pretty and nice, you must have worn it either for a special occasion or for a special someone."
We stopped right at the open entrance of the men's shower room and Christine looked at me.
"There is no special occasion," said Christine.
"Then it's for a special someone, right?" I looked her directly in the eye and I had a playful smile on my face.
"It's not that either." She rolled her eyes.
"Your eyes say it all, Christine. And I know it's one of the guys from WINNER."
"What are you talking about?"
"You like Jinwoo, don't you?"
Christine's mouth fell open and she closed it immediately. I could see that she was blushing and she managed to look away thinking that I wouldn't notice.
"No, I don't," she said. "Jinwoo is a nice guy but that doesn't mean I 'like like' him. Maybe I do like him but only as a fan girl."
"Please, I saw the way you looked at him yesterday and today. There is no doubt in my mind that you really like him. If you ask me, you two would make a great couple."
"Stop dreaming, Sam," said Christine. "Don't forget Collins' golden rule. We can't date any of these guys. And besides, I only like Jinwoo as a friend and nothing more."
"Ya, right," I said as I folded my arms. "I saw the way you looked at the both of us when we were discussing on how we were going to sneak out of here. You had that weird look on your face."
"What weird look?"
"The jealous one."
"Spare me the drama, Sam."
"If Zoey was the one talking to you about this right now, you wouldn't have the chance to breathe. At least I'm not even pushing you to admit that you like Jinwoo."
"You do have a point," said Christine as she nodded her head and stared at the ceiling.
"Which one? The part for Zoey or the fact that you like Jinwoo?"
"Very smart, Sam." She frowned at me. "But I'm not falling for that one."
I winced. She caught me. Now I wouldn't know if she really liked him or not.
The boys suddenly appeared coming out of the men's shower all dressed up and ready to go.
"Well, someone looks nice today," said Daniel as he looked at Christine.
"Oh, thanks, Daniel," said Christine as she smiled.
"See, even Daniel has noticed that you're glowing," I said as I smiled at Christine.
"She is," said Mike, as he looked at Christine. "Anything special going on?"
"No!" Christine answered quickly and shaking her head.
Mike gave Christine a look and shrugged his shoulders afterwards, brushing it off. But I knew that look very well. He had a hunch that something was up. And he wasn't wrong about that.
We decided to go back to the dance studio where WINNER were waiting for us, hoping that Zoey would catch up with us sooner or later. And when we got into the studio, this happened:
"Wow, you two ladies are looking fine," said Mino, his eyes fixed on Christine and I.
"Just magnificent," said Seungyoon.
"Thanks," Christine and I replied at the same time.
"You're all just smoking hot," said Seunghoon. His eyes then fully rested on me. "Especially you, Sam."
I wanted to frown at him but I ended up blushing instead. He smiled at me and winked. At that moment, I felt like my heart was about to explode.
"I think Christine also looks really nice," said Jinwoo with a smile.
I looked at Jinwoo and I couldn't help but notice that smile on his face. I accidentally smiled at him and then at Christine. Mike who stood beside her looked at me with an eyebrow raised. I quickly looked away.
"Thanks," said Christine, as she blushed.
"Where is Zoey?" Seungyoon asked.
"Making herself look like a barbie doll," said Daniel.
"Ya, that's how I would put it," I said with a smirk. "And she's taking forever. She should be here by now."
"Want to go and check up on her?" Mino asked.
"Good idea. Let's go."
"You're going with Mino?" Seunghoon asked.
"Do you have a problem with that?" I asked as I dropped my gym bag to the floor and folded my arms.
Before he could say anything, I quickly turned around and started to walk out of the room. I heard footsteps behind me and I could tell it was Mino. When we stepped out of the room, he was snickering.
"You really put him in his place, didn't you?" Mino asked as we walked down the hall.
"Just because I'm his bias doesn't mean he could follow me around," I said. "I mean, him being in my closet last night was more than enough, don't you think?"
"Ya, trying to hide in your closet was a pretty big surprise."
"And you all helped him with it. How did you manage to get on our floor and trip the hotel lights anyway?"
"Actually, it was only just your floor that we tripped the lights on. And if it came to coming to your floor, we pulled a few strings."
"How can I forget. You're WINNER." I rolled my eyes.
Mino laughed and I heard him mutter, "cute." I pretended I never heard that and raised the corner of my lips to a smile.
When we got to the elevator, I was just about to push the elevator button when the doors suddenly flew open. My jaw dropped when I saw who was standing right inside the elevator.
"You look really surprised to see me," said TOP, as he stepped out.
"I....." I cleared my throat. "I haven't seen you in a while now."
"Did you miss me?" he asked as he gave me that bad boy smile of his and stepped closer, giving me a hug.
"I did actually. I thought you might be busy with something these past days," I said as we broke away from each other.
"I was. And I see G-Dragon wasn't lying about what happened yesterday."
TOP turned to look at Mino who gave him a salute. TOP smiled as his eyes flew back to me.
"You know you're going get in so much trouble, right?" TOP asked.
"We know," I said. "I managed to try and convince Collins for us to come here. We will be sneaking out very soon."
"Sneaking out together? Don't you think that's too risky. No one should even know that you've already met."
"We came up with something," said Mino. "Don't you worry."
"Well, if you're planning to sneak out, then you better do it fast." TOP had a smirk on his face and I could tell something was up.
"Wait a minute," I stopped TOP before he could say anything else. "Your manager is here, isn't he?"
"Did you just read my mind?" TOP asked. "I like that."
"No, I read your body language." I put my palm over my forehead. "This is bad. Where is he?"
"He's downstairs with some visitors," said TOP. "He plans on showing them around the place."
"And if he sees us together he is going to freak out," said Mino.
"What are you doing here anyway?" I asked TOP. "It's a Sunday."
"I came to see you guys at the hotel and Lee told me you were here practising," TOP answered. "Which you aren't doing at the moment."
"We were done minutes ago. Right now, we have to figure out how we are going to dodge your dear manager."
"Ya, while you figure that out, they will be coming up any moment now."
"Okay, then you go and tell the others not to leave," I instructed him. "I'll go down with Mino to get Zoey as fast as we could."
"I hate it when someone orders me around but I'll do it for you anyway," said TOP as he held my chin for a brief moment.
"Thanks," I said as I looked at Mino and he and I both went in the elevator.
We headed downstairs to the shower room and just as we stepped out of the elevator, there was Zoey in the hall, taking selfies with her phone.
"There you are," I said as we walked up to her. "What took you so long?"
"Trying to look good," said Zoey as she put her phone away in her gym bag. "Besides, I had to take a few photos for my fans. They complain they haven't seen me in a while. What are you two doing here? I was just about to come up."
"Well, the worst is happening," said Mino.
"Don't tell me Collins is here," said Zoey with a horrified look on her face.
"That's even a better guess," I said. "It's Yang Hyun-suk."
"You're kidding, right?"
"No," said Mino. "TOP just told us he's here and he's not alone."
"This isn't good," said Zoey. "What are we going to do?"
"He shouldn't see The Toxins with WINNER," I said. "That's what we have to do. Come on, let's go before he gets here."
Just as I turned around to head back to the elevator, I saw the elevator monitor show that someone or some people were coming up the elevator and had stopped on the the floor we were on.
"Quick, let's go the other way," I said, quickly turning around and rushing down the hall before the elevator doors could open.
Just as we turned round a corner, near the women's shower room was a door. I quickly opened it. It was a janitor's closet. I let the other two go in before I did. I heard voices coming down the hall from the elevator and I silently closed the door. The room was soon covered in darkness.
"What are we doing in here?" Zoey asked.
"Ssh, keep your voice down," I whispered.
"Fine," she whispered. "What are we doing in here?"
"What do you think we're doing? Hiding from Yang Hyun-suk."
"Are you sure it's him coming out of that elevator?"
I didn't say anything as we all listened quietly and heard voices and footsteps coming down the hall. The people bypassed the door and I could clearly hear Yang Hyun-suk's voice.
Gosh, I muttered in my head. If I hadn't thought of hiding when I saw the elevator monitor, we would have been in so much trouble.
We heard the footsteps and voices start to fade as they went further down the hall.
"What are we going to do now?" Mino whispered.
"And it's so dark in here," whispered Zoey.
I checked around with my hand on the wall for a switch. And when I found it, I flipped it and the light went on in the tiny room.
"Have they left?" Zoey asked.
I put my ear to the door and listened. I could still hear the faint murmuring of voices down the hall.
I shook my head. "They are still there."
Mino and Zoey both muttered in frustration. They were so impatient to get out of this tiny closet which was soon starting to get a bit uncomfortable. One thing I don't like is closed spaces, not that I was claustrophobic. Right now, we were so squeezed I was afraid I was going to drop in the bucket behind me.
I leaned on the door to hear if they were still in the hall. I couldn't hear anything.
"I think they are gone," I whispered.
"Try and check," Mino whispered.
I took hold of the door knob and slowly turned it. When it opened, I slowly and carefully swung the door open so that it wouldn't make any noise. I poked my head out of the room and looked left and right. The hall was clear.
"Come on," I said to the others as I swung the door wide open.
I stepped out of the janitor's room and Mino and Zoey followed. I slowly closed the door.
"It looks like they went towards the men's shower room," said Mino as he looked down the hall.
"That gives us enough time to use the elevator and head upstairs," I said.
The three of us were quickly running down the hall towards the elevator when Zoey's phone rang in her gym bag. And as if by coincidence, Yang Hyun-suk's voice was heard down the hall. They were coming back our way and had probably heard the phone ring.
"What are we going to do?" Zoey asked as she panicked looking for her phone in her bag.
I quickly took the bag strap from her shoulder and said, "he's heard us now, you two go back upstairs and get the others out while I distract him for a while. And you should figure a way to get out of the building before he notices anything strange."
"You want us to leave you here?" Mino asked.
"Just go, I'll buy you time. And don't use the elevator when you come down, take the stairs."
Mino and Zoey quickly ran for the elevator and got in just in time before Yang Hyun-suk appeared round the corner with other people behind him. Two men and a lady. Zoey's phone was still ringing in her bag and I was looking for it. When I finally retrieved it, I quickly looked at the caller ID. It was Christine. I cut the line immediately.
"I was wondering who was down here," said Yang Hyun-suk as he with his visitors approached me. "Nice to see you, Sam."
I quickly bowed to Yang Hyun-suk and to the visitors.
A woman who was with them said, "I see you've grown into the Korean culture pretty quickly. I've to say I'm really impressed."
I gave them a little smile while the other two men happily agreed. Yang Hyun-suk soon introduced them to me as the Chinese Internationals who had come to see the place.
"I see that you're done practising," said Yang Hyun-suk. "Where are the others?"
"Yes, they are waiting for me downstairs," I replied.
"I must say, I watched your stunning performance you did with BigBang at the Arts Centre a few days ago," said the slim looking Chinese man, who wore glasses and a black suit.
"Gomawoyo (고마워요) (Thank you)," I said as I bowed my head.
"You really do have good manners," said other man.
"Yang Hyun-suk wasn't joking when he said that you're fast learner," said the lady giving me a smile.
"I always do my best," I said politely.
"I would really have liked it if you and your grou could perform for us," said the man in glasses.
I felt my eyes were about to fall out of their sockets but I tried my best not to act surprised. All this just got a whole lot worse. What was I going to do now? I couldn't call the others to head back to the dance studio. I bet as I'm thinking right now, they are probably heading down the stairs.
"That will be great," I said with enthusiasm. "I'll just call the others to head back to the..."
Yang Hyun-suk stopped me before I could say anything more. "No, I bet you guys are tired. Collins told me you were going back to the old routine, are you not?"
I didn't know where this was going but I was feeling relieved at the moment. "Yes," I replied as I nodded my head.
"Since you haven't done so in a while, I bet you're really tired or you would have practised even longer. Maybe next time."
Phew! That was close. He has no idea how he just saved my life from his very own wrath. I was eternally grateful.
"Yes, maybe next time," said the man in glasses.
"Well, if you will excuse us, Sam," said Yang Hyun-suk. "We have places to be."
I smiled as I bowed my head and I made way for the manager and his visitors to pass to head to the elevator. I was so relieved after they got in and the doors closed shut before them. I held my beating heart. I hadn't realised how scared I was until now.
I quickly ran to the other end of the hall by passing the girl's shower room, turning a corner and heading to the flight of stairs right after the men's shower room. Just as I was about to descend the stairs, I heard voices and footsteps above me. I looked up and I saw the people I was expecting to see.
"Sam! You're okay," said Seunghoon as he was the first one to quickly rush down and reach me. He pulled me into a hug.
"I wasn't being a chased by a lion, you know?" I said as I broke away from him. "I'm fine."
"I told you she can handle herself with your manager," said Zoey as she came down the downstairs with the rest.
"I had no doubt about that in my mind," said Seunghoon.
"Then why did you hug me?" I asked shrugging my shoulders.
"Because I missed you."
I rolled my eyes and said nothing.
"Well, we all better get going or else you might just meet them again," said TOP.
We all started to rush down the stairs, as if we were being chased by Yang Hyun-suk himself.
When we reached the bottom of the stairs, we were faced with a new problem. We all couldn't walk out through the main door because the receptionist was in the lobby.
I was leaning on the wall of the entry way and taking a peak at the receptionist who was working on the computer.
"I think I've an idea," I said as I turned to the others waiting in the hall. "One group is going to head out through the main entrance and the other will take the emergency exit door right down at the end of the hall."
"How do you know there is an emergency exit door back there?" Mino asked as he pointed down the hall.
I rolled my eyes. I couldn't start explaining that I once used that door to sneak out myself due to some serious circumstances. When I mean that, I mean the situation that happened with Zoey and the diamond smuggler.
"Because I'm smart enough to know that there is one," I answered. "Don't all buildings such as this one supposed to have an emergency exit?"
Mino and TOP smiled at me, that I couldn't tell if they were impressed that I was smart enough to guess or that I already knew about the door. I brushed that thought away and tried to focus on the mission of getting out of here.
"We will take the back door," said Seungyoon. "Sam and the others will take the front."
"Why do we get the back door?" Mino asked.
"If we don't take the front and Yang Hyun-suk asks the receptionist if we left, it's going to raise suspicion," I said. "He knows The Toxins are here and not WINNER."
"Well, you do make a good point," said Seunghoon.
"She always does," said Christine and Daniel at the same time.
"You guys go right now and then we will come soon afterwards and meet you outside the gate," I said. "TOP, you're coming with me and the Toxins."
"May I know why?" he asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Because I need you around."
He smiled and I turned away before he could say anything more.
Seungyoon and his group started their way down the hall and went out through the exit door. I checked Zoey's phone which I still had in my hand and decided to wait for ten minutes.
"How long do we have to stay here?" Mike asked.
"A good ten minutes," I said as I checked the time on the phone again.
"These ten minutes will feel like forever," said Zoey with an annoying look on her face.
"That is why patience pays," said Christine.
"So if you guys are going to hang out with WINNER, how are you going to do that without drawing attention to yourselves?" TOP asked.
"Why do you ask?" I asked.
"You guys can't just walk around the streets and expect no one to notice that WINNER and The Toxins are hanging out. Your fans will take pictures and that way, our managers will find out what's going on."
I smiled and checked the time again. It was close to five minutes. I looked up at TOP.
"I'm not going to hide to the whole world that we are hanging out with WINNER," I answered.
"Huh?" TOP and the rest of my team turned to look at me with confused looks on their faces.
"What the heck do you mean?" Mike asked. "We're going to get into so much trouble."
"I know," I looked at the time. "Let's go. And act natural."
"Wait...Sam," TOP called out to me, but I had already turned around the corner, walking into the lobby.
The others quickly followed behind me and their way of acting natural was so surreal, as they entered the lobby laughing as if someone had just cracked a joke. That caught the receptionist's attention that I had to look behind me worried that they might have hit their heads.
"Are you all okay?" I asked as I stopped and looked at them.
"Of course we are," said Zoey a little too loud, it was annoying. "Mike just cracked a funny joke."
"I cracked a funny joke?" Mike whispered, looking pretty confused.
"Zoey doesn't even consider you funny," said Daniel as he smiled.
"Now that's funny," said Christine as she also smiled.
"Not to me," I said as I rolled my eyes. "Can we just go?"
As soon as I turned around to continue heading out the main doors, the elevator doors to the the side of the lobby soon flew open and for a moment, I paused as I thought it was Yang Hyun-suk with his Chinese visitors. Even the others behind me paused ready for the worst.
When the people in the elevator stepped out, the world before me stood still and I felt like dropping to the floor.
My brother Mike who stood beside me had his mouth wide open and said, "OMG, it's them."
"Well, this day just got a whole lot worse," said TOP and he didn't sound too enthusiastic about it. I couldn't blame him for that.
Coming out of the elevator was none other than YG's own female k-pop group, BlackPink. And when they saw us standing there like statues, they also stopped on their tracks and they were also as surprised as we were.
I felt like I had stood still forever that my feet hurt. Zoey who stood on my other side, nudged me on the shoulder to get my attention.
"Sam? Is it me or did our day just get a whole lot complicated?" she asked, her eyes fixed on BlackPink.
I gulped and nodded my head. "Yep," I replied.