So, as it turns out, the rest of the BTW members did want to meet up and talk about the album. It was obvious. They were upset and wanted answers. Sadly, I couldn't really give them what they were looking for.
While I waited for the other members to arrive, Daniel, Christine and I were seated on the floor while Zoey was pacing up and down with Mike seated on the couch. We were working on the song. So far, we had an idea of what the song would be about. We started working on the chorus first.
"Okay, so the first part of the chorus," I said as I looked at my notebook, "'I want to sing a sad song tonight, but there's nothing in my head.' What do you think?"
"Why would a sad song be in your head?" Zoey asked as she continued to pace up and down.
"Don't you always think about what you want to sing?" Mike asked. "And when you're heartbroken, you definitely want to sing a sad song. Although, we do things without thinking sometimes."
"Oh, okay."
"I think it's good, so far," said Daniel who sat next to me. "What will come next?"
I scribbled something down. It didn't seem right so I cancelled it out with my pen. "Nah, that didn't seem right," I said.
"Come on, Sam, you have to think," said Zoey as she looked at me.
"What if you mention about being heartbroken in the next line?" Mike asked.
I thought of what Mike said and I started to write while I sang the lyrics, "'I've been heartbroken many times and these are one of those days.' How does that sound?"
Christine blew a kiss in the air, "love it. Let's continue."
Some lyrics sprang in my mind and I quickly wrote them down while singing, keeping the tune I had in my head. "'I try to find a song to ease the pain, I try to find a song that suits my mood.'"
"Alright, we will inform you if there will be any changes," said Lee as she was on the landline. "Thank you, have a good day."
After the call, Lee came over to us with her hands on her waist.
"It's nice to see all of you like this when you've a song to write," said Lee with a smile on her face.
"If it wasn't for us making an album, I wouldn't be here," said Zoey as she continued to pace up and down.
"We all know that. But you don't have much time and it's good Sam is pushing you all."
"Ya, but it's going to be tough," I said as I looked up at Lee.
"It's nothing we can't handle," said Christine. "When the others are here, I bet we will work much faster."
"Trust me, the first thirty minutes they get here, they will be complaining like crazy," said Lee.
"Well, at least I got to complain earlier," said Zoey.
"You're still upset and you know you can't complain any more since Sam told you to keep quiet while we all think," said Mike.
Zoey threw him a look. "Just mind your own business," she said. "We have a song to work on."
Mike just shrugged his shoulders while Daniel and I just shook our heads at her and went back to looking at my notebook. Soon, the landline started to ring and Lee groaned in frustration.
"Looks like you also have too much on your plate, Lee," said Christine.
"You've no idea," said Lee as she went over to the landline and picked up the call.
I sang out what we had written so far as the chorus and when I asked the others how it was, Lee came over to interrupt us after that call on the phone.
"The others are here," she announced. "You all better brace yourselves."
"I've to be the one to do so," I said. "I'm the leader after all." I went on to address the others. "So what do you think? I feel we haven't really completed the chorus."
"I agree," said Daniel.
The others agreed too and while we continued to brainstorm for more creative lyrics, we heard the elevator down the hall open. BlackPink and WINNER were here.
I could hear them talking in the hall and I could tell they weren't happy. They soon came into the lounge and the five of us, Toxins and Lee, gave them nervous smiles.
"Hey, people," I said as I stood up from the floor. "How are you all doing?"
The two groups all answered at the same time in their own words that it became too much for my ears.
"Okay, chill out, everyone," I said as I raised my hand, signaling them to stop talking. Surprisingly, they did. "Why can't you all just sit down and relax for a bit? Talking like this won't help."
The two groups soon made themselves comfortable around the lounge. Some were seated on the floor with Daniel and Christine, while others were on the couch. Zoey soon joined the others on the floor while I remained standing in front of everyone, my back facing the flat screen TV on the wall. Lee also stood, but near the landline so as to pick it up when anyone called.
"Okay, I know everyone here is upset," I said. "So, for your wellbeing, a few of you can say a few words to vent out your anger."
There was an awkward silence as those seated in the lounge looked at one another. They were probably wondering why I said that. Some went on to look at me with confused looks on their faces.
"Wait, Sam," said Seunghoon. He was seated on the couch alongside Mike and Jinwoo. "You want us to say how we are feeling right now? Like how angry we are about the album?"
"Yes," I said. "We're going to treat this time like a therapy session."
"Okay," said Jennie who sat on the floor. She raised her hand and I allowed her to speak. "I want to say something." She stood up from the floor. "I am not happy about us making an album. I thought this weekend was meant for us to rest and worry about making a new song later. I wake up this morning, hoping it will be a good one, but no. I wake up to a message saying that we are making an album. This is so uncool!"
"Thank you, Jennie," I said. She sat back down. "Trust me, I was surprised when Collins told me the news himself. We were supposed to receive the news on Monday, but I guess it was a good thing he told me earlier. Or else, we would really have panicked."
Mino raised his hand, I made him go ahead and speak. "So, you're telling me that they didn't even reconsider us making it? Two singles wouldn't have been a problem and now we have to make an album? How many songs are going to be in this album?"
I rubbed my hands together. "Not more than five songs," I answered.
"Five songs!" came the chorus response from the others, except the Toxins. They started complaining again all at once.
"Guys, calm down!" I shouted, making sure my voice was much louder than theirs. Surprisingly, again, the noise slowly died down.
"I know," I continued, "that five songs is too much with the time that we have. But we wanted BTW to become an official group that we really didn't think about what might happen in the future."
My last statement got everyone there that they had sad, guilty faces. It was harsh, but that was the reality.
"Look, as little time as we have right now, we should all just try to relax. The other Toxins and I started working on a song. If you don't want to participate, it's fine, given the anger we all have and we can work on something on Monday. If others want to join us, they can stay."
"Our work just got harder, didn't it?" Jisoo asked.
"Ya, it did. So, who are going to stay?"
A moment passed and no one raised their hand. It felt a little disappointing but I had to be expectant of everything including this. I wouldn't blame them. We were all upset and tired. We just had a rough week and we were now getting into a more challenging one.
I was just about to say something to conclude the meeting when Jinwoo spoke first.
"I'll stay," he said.
"Really?" I asked as a smile appeared on my face.
"Sure, why not?" He smiled back at me.
"If Jinwoo is staying, then so will I," said Lisa who sat on the floor next to Zoey.
"Oh, yes!" Zoey exclaimed as she hugged Lisa seated next to her. "Someone to vent out my anger with."
"I'll stay too," said Mino.
"For my little kitten, I will stay," said Seunghoon.
"What the heck.., I'm in," said Seungyoon.
The other three BlackPink members agreed in unison that they would also stay. This was great. We were already working as a team and I couldn't have asked for anything better.
"This is great," I said. "I'm going to give us all some time to relax and work on the song later."
"You're right," said Seunghoon. "Working on this requires that we have a peaceful mind."
"Hey, are we all forgetting something?" Lisa asked.
"What is it?" Daniel asked.
"Just like every group, there's always supposed to be a leader. And as far as I know, BTW doesn't have one."
"That's true," said Jisoo.
"You said every group has a leader when that isn't always the case," said Christine.
"Oh, really?" Mike asked.
"Yep," Christine said with a smile. "So far, BlackPink is one of the K-Pop groups that have no leader."
"Oh, ya," said Mino. "That's true."
"I always thought Jennie or Lisa was the leader," said Daniel as he scratched his head. "I should have asked the first time we met."
"We believe all four of us are leaders," said Rosé. "So, there was no point in picking one amongst ourselves."
"For you to be so well coordinated as a group, you don't really need one," I said.
"I like the way you put it, Sam," said Jennie.
"Okay, back to the main issue at hand," said Seunghoon. "Who will be our leader?"
"We don't have to choose amongst ourselves because our managers already did it for us," said Zoey.
"Huh? Wait a minute," said Mino as he looked at Zoey. "How do you guys get all this first hand information before anyone else?"
"As much as there is a strict relationship between The Toxins and Collins, he gets to tell them what they need to know when it's necessary," said Lee.
"I wouldn't have put it in a much better sentence," said Mike as he looked at Lee.
"You guys seem to have fun with Collins," said Jinwoo.
"Fun with Collins?" Christine asked as she chuckled. "That's an understatement."
"You should hear what he calls us sometimes," said Zoey. "But we can't deny that we have our good moments with him."
"So, who's our leader?" Seungyoon asked.
"I am," I answered.
"Wow, really?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "We didn't get to pick earlier so our managers decided to give me the responsibility."
"Cool," said Jisoo. "If we had a chance to vote and you were one of the candidates, I would definitely vote for you."
"Fine with me," said Seunghoon. "As long as there's someone who is going to push us to do our best, I wouldn't have thought of anyone better."
"Ya, that's my best friend right there," said Zoey, showing her love and support.
"Thanks guys," I said. "Okay, we will get to work real soon. We just have to sort ourselves out with food and snacks first."
"I can do that," said Lee as she headed for the landline.
"Thanks, Lee. I better go get my guitar. The music isn't going to play itself."
As I made my way out of the lounge and Lee was on the landline, I noticed the others talk amongst themselves. They sounded more calm and happy. That was a good sign.
I went to my room to get the guitar I was given by Yang Hyun-suk when we went to film our music video at the water park. I had packed it in the closet. It was in a black guitar case with the initials "B.K" written in white. I removed the case and placed it on my bed. I opened the case and removed the guitar. I hadn't played the instrument for a while and I realised how much I had missed it.
I went back to the lounge with the guitar in hand. I passed Lee who was still talking on the landline.
"Wait, is that the guitar Yang Hyun-suk gave you when you went to shoot your music video?" Jinwoo asked.
"Yes, it is," I replied as I settled the guitar next to the side arm of one of the empty couches.
"Cool. So, when can we start on the song? I'm just dying to hear it."
"You guys will have to wait a little longer if you don't want to be disturbed by what's coming," said Lee after she put the receiver down.
"What's going on, Lee?" I asked.
"You're not going to like this. G-Dragon is here."
"What!" Zoey exclaimed as she stood up from the floor. "Why is he here?"
"This is bad. Real bad," said Daniel as he shook his head and had a disappointed look on his face.
"We should have thought of sealing this place up if we knew he was coming," said Christine.
"Are we missing something here?" Rosé asked. "This is G-Dragon we are talking about. Why do you worry if he comes here?"
"Goodness," said Daniel as he looked at Rosé. "Don't you guys remember?"
"Remember what?" Mino asked.
"That there was one person who didn't like the idea of BTW becoming official?" I asked. "Now he is here and he isn't going to stop taunting us."
"Aigoo," said Jennie as she hit her forehead. "How can I forget?"
"Now that we are all here, he's definitely going to taunt us for sure," said Seungyoon.
"He wouldn't be here if he didn't know about the album and all of BTW meeting at this point in time. So, how did he know?" I asked as I turned to look at Zoey.
"Don't look at me," she said as she raised her hands. "I didn't tell him anything, I swear."
"I didn't say anything to him either," said Mike.
"Me neither," said Daniel.
"Ummm," said Lisa. Everyone's eyes flew to her. "I might have told him on our way here."
Everyone muttered out loud, including myself, in disapproval. This wasn't good.
"I'm sorry, guys," said Lisa with a guilty look on her face. "I didn't know it would be such a big deal if he knew."
"He was going to know anyway," I said. "We just didn't want him to know today when we want to start working on a song."
"I bet he is one floor away from us right now," said Seunghoon.
"What are we going to do?" Zoey asked.
"We can't do anything," I said. "If he's going to taunt us, then so be it."
"Really? I'm going to jump on him like a bobcat and seal his mouth shut if we don't come up with a plan."
I shrugged my shoulders and said, "sorry, Zoey. If we knew like thirty minutes ago that he was coming, we would have thought of something. It's too late now."
The lounge became quiet when we heard the sound of the elevator. Great, he was here. Everyone else in the lounge didn't say a word as we heard footsteps in the hall.
I could feel Zoey beside me grow tense. Everybody was. It felt like we were in a horror movie and were waiting for the worst case scenario when the bogeyman shows up. In this case, our bogeyman was G-Dragon.
He soon appeared in the lounge and just like most of us, he wore simple casual clothes. He stopped when he noticed all of us looking at him.
"Morning, everyone," he said as he took his black shades off of his eyes. He even had a smug smile on his face. "It's fancy meeting you all this lovely morning."
This time, it didn't feel like a horror movie. It was something else entirely. With that smile on G-Dragon's face, we all became irritated. I felt like going with Zoey's plan, attack him and seal his mouth shut.
"What's wrong with everyone?" he asked when no one responded to his greeting. "Aren't you going to greet me? Remember that that isn't respectful."
"Sam, please talk to him before I put my hands on his neck," said Zoey, through her clenched teeth.
I rolled my eyes and I walked over to him. We were looking straight at each other.
"May I ask what you're doing here?" I asked.
"I just came by to say hi to you all," he replied with a smile on his face.
"Really? Aren't you surprised that BlackPink and WINNER are here?" I asked as I folded my arms.
G-Dragon looked at everyone in the room. Everyone else looked like they were about to tear him apart like hungry wolves. His eyes flew back to me.
"Why should I? After all, you guys are doing something for you to meet, right?" he chuckled.
"I know Lisa informed you, so don't you act smart, GD."
"I'm not. I just wanted to see what you all are up to. By the looks on everyone's faces, you're all very upset. What's up?"
"We had a rough morning, as you can see. And you being here is just making things worse."
"Really? I wasn't the one who wanted BTW to be a thing, did I?"
"Okay, you're not helping," I said as I quickly approached him and I did what I should have done before he even opened his mouth.
Kick him out.
I took hold of his shoulders and I quickly turned him around. He was surprised by my strength as I started to push him out of the lounge with my hands on his back.
"Whoa! Sam, what are you doing?" he asked.
"What do you think?" I asked.
Before I could drag him out into the hall, he turned around and looked at me.
"Are you kicking me out?" he asked.
"Is that what's happening?" I asked sounding clueless as I put my hands on my hips. "It seems so."
"What did I do? I haven't done anything wrong."
"You being here is already wrong to begin with. And I'm sorry, but nobody wants you around, including me. That's if you want all of us to attack you."
"You wouldn't do it even if you wanted to."
I took a step to the side and pointed at Zoey's angry face. "Do you see her face right now? We know why you're here and all we want to do is get to work. You being here will prove to be a distraction because you will just taunt us."
"But I want to stay. I promise, I won't say a word."
I shook my head at him. "I can't trust you to be quiet. Your presence isn't needed here."
I held his shoulders again and turned him around like I did before. This time, I managed to take him out into the hall, heading to the elevator.
"Come on, Sam," said G-Dragon. It's good that he didn't fight back or else terrible things would have happened. "I really want to stay."
We stopped in front of the elevator and I pressed the down button to summon the elevator. The doors soon flew open and I continued to drag G-Dragon into the elevator. I quickly pressed the button to the ground floor and I quickly stepped out. I turned to look at him and he did the same to look at me.
"You're really kicking me out?" he asked.
"Yes, I am," I said.
G-Dragon looked at me with a surprised look on his face as the doors started to close. He would be back for us, that's for sure. But for now, he just had to go.
Just before the doors closed shut, I threw him a hand salute and I winked at him at the same time. I might have seen him blush in those last moments. I really couldn't tell. I was just glad he was gone.
"Oooh! Sam, you're my hero," said Zoey as she came into the hall and hugged me from behind. "I don't know what I would have done without you."
"Don't praise me just yet," I said as I detached her arms around my neck. "Knowing G-Dragon, he isn't going to give in that easily."
Zoey and I made our way back into the lounge. I could tell the others were still uneasy despite G-Dragon leaving.
"What do you mean he isn't going to give up?" Zoey asked. "You just kicked him out."
"He will come back in one way or another," I said. "I bet he won't even leave the hotel premises."
"Can you really be sure about that?" Seungyoon asked.
"Not really, no."
"So, before he comes back, we better start working on that song," said Jisoo.
"You're right. Let's start. Hopefully, there will be no more distractions. Daniel, pass me my notebook, please."
Daniel, still seated on the floor, stretched out his hand to give me the note book. I took it and went over to the dining table and got myself a chair. I put the chair in front of everyone so that I would face them like before. I took the guitar and sat. I settled the note book on the arm chair of the couch close to me.
"Okay, everyone, let's get started," I said as I looked at everyone else in the room.
I then started to explain to the others what the song was all about. They were a number of questions that came from the BlackPink and WINNER members who were a bit confused. The song talked about a sad song so they wondered how it was going to sound fun for those listening. After explaining to them in more detail, they finally got the hint. I was just about to read out the lyrics for the chorus when my phone that was lying on the empty couch next to me, started to ring.
"Who could be calling me right now?" I asked as I picked up the phone. "Hello?" I asked after I answered the call.
"Hey, Sam, can I come up now?" came G-Dragon's voice.
"What the-?" I stared at my phone as though at any moment, it would have teeth and bite me. I placed back the phone to my ear. "Why aren't you calling me using your phone?"
"If I called using my phone, you wouldn't pick up."
I rolled my eyes. He got that one right.
"And to answer your question, no. You can't come here," I said.
I cut the phone and put it back down on the couch.
"That was G-Dragon?" Christine asked. I nodded my head. "What's his problem?"
"He wants to come back up here," I answered. "Let's just ignore that he even called."
I picked up the notebook on the couch and just as I was about to read out the lyrics, Zoey's phone rang. She immediately stood up from the floor and excused herself as she went out of the lounge to take the call.
Since Zoey knew the lyrics, I opened my mouth to read them out when we all heard her raise her voice.
"For crying out loud, Jiyong, no one wants you up here!" she exclaimed. "Good day!"
"Ooh," said Daniel as he looked behind him towards the hall. "Zoey is really angry."
Zoey came back into the lounge and she did look angry. But instead of complaining, she came and sat back down on the floor.
"We can continue," she said to me as though nothing had happened.
I looked at her first before I looked at everybody else in the room. I had a feeling one of our phones were going to ring, so, I took a long pause before getting back to business.
"Sam, what's the hold up?" Rosé asked.
"Just checking that we won't have another call from G-Dragon," I answered.
"No one's phone is ringing," said Jinwoo. "We can carry on."
"Okay," I said. My sixth sense on high alert.
I looked at the notebook and as I read the lyrics in my head, I started to think of the tune I thought of earlier and how I was going to play it. I strummed a few strings on the guitar until the tune felt just right. I played the tune over and over again so that I would never forget it. I turned to look at everyone seated in front of me and they were all listening attentively. I noticed Seunghoon unconsciously move his head up and down, enjoying the tune.
I started to sing out the first lyrics when all of the sudden, the landline started to ring. But since Lee was already there and was expecting calls from reporters, she quickly picked up the phone. A few seconds on the phone and she soon interrupted me.
"Sam," she called out to me. I stopped what I was doing as I turned to look at her.
"What is it?" I asked.
"It's G-Dragon," she answered. "Apparently, he's causing quite a scene in the lobby and the receptionist needs you down there immediately."
Many of us muttered. G-Dragon really wasn't going to quit. And I had mentioned that he wouldn't just a few minutes ago.
"Why can't they just call security?" Jennie asked.
Lee winced. "I'm afraid they can't do that," she said. "He plans on suing every hotel staff if they dare try and touch him. He wants Sam to go down there and bring him back up here."
I sighed. I had to admit, he was very clever. Seems like he won this round. But the battle was far from over.
"Fine," I said as I stood up and put the guitar down on the couch.
"Are you sure?" Lisa asked. "You know we don't need him here."
"We don't want the hotel management to launch a complaint against us, do we? We have no choice. We bring him up here but I'll make sure to shut him up, if necessary."
"We would have been done with the chorus by now if it wasn't for him," said Zoey.
"Don't worry, Zoey," I said. "This time I'll give you the chance to attack him when I tell you to."
Zoey rubbed her hands together as she had a devious smile on her face. "Ooh, I'll do it with pleasure."
"I don't want to know what Zoey is going to do," said Mino.
"Neither of us want to," I said.
I started to make my way out of the lounge and approached the elevator. I heard footsteps behind me as soon as I pressed the down button of the elevator. I turned to see who it was. It was Christine and Seungyoon.
"We're coming with you," said Seungyoon.
"Okay," I said. "But it's not like I can't handle him."
"We know," said Christine. "We just want to help in any way we can."
I smiled at the both of them and the elevator doors flew open behind me.
"Okay," I said. "Let's go get ourselves a dragon."
The three of us entered the elevator and Seungyoon pressed the button to the ground floor. The elevator doors closed before us and it started to move.
"G-Dragon is really taking things too far, isn't he?" Christine asked.
"Yep," I agreed.
The elevator continued to move until we found ourselves on the ground floor. As soon as the doors flew open, we saw that the people's attention in the lobby was focused on something. We had no doubt it was G-Dragon. The three of us got out of the elevator and joined the crowd.
G-Dragon was in the middle of the lobby and he looked to be standing on something because he was taller than anyone else in the room. Some of the people who watched also had their phones drawn out, capturing G-Dragon. We found him in the middle of his speech talking about something, but in Korean.
"What's he saying, Seungyoon?" Christine asked.
"Umm," Seungyoon continued to listen until he turned to Christine and I. "He says he's going to do something if Sam doesn't come to get him."
"Sometimes, I wonder if he came here already drunk," I said.
"Don't you think we should do something before he really does what he said he will do?" Christine asked.
"Ya, we should. We really have to stop this nonsense. Seungyoon, may you lead the way?"
Seungyoon slowly made his way into the crowd, excusing himself as he went. Christine and I followed behind him until we got to where G-Dragon was. He was actually standing on a tall wooden stool. G-Dragon soon saw us and he smiled.
"Hey, GD," I said to him. "May you please come down from there? You might hurt yourself."
"Okay, since you asked me to, I'll do it," he said. He soon addressed the crowd and I heard him give out an apology with his hands together. I guess he explained the reason why he wasn't going to do what he did since I was here.
The crowd that had gathered to watch soon let out sighs of disapproval like their favourite show had just been cancelled. Soon, they slowly started to disperse, heading back to what they were doing before G-Dragon made a scene. I saw a few young people take pictures and videos of us.
"Goodness," said G-Dragon as he came down the stool. "I'm so glad you came just in time."
"Why?" I asked as I folded my arms. "You were about to do some silly stunt that would land you in the hospital, weren't you?"
G-Dragon raised an eyebrow at me. He seemed startled and that was a sign that I was right.
"Well..., not really," he said as he scratched the back of his head.
"I know we have only known each other for a few weeks, but I think I know when you're on the verge of doing something ridiculous."
"Have I ever done anything ridiculous in front of you?" G-Dragon asked.
"I just know," I said. "There was a time when you took the other Toxins with you to the water park. That was silly of you because we had an interview and you never picked up any of my calls. Secondly, you dropped me into the pool in the most dramatic way possible."
"Wow, he dropped you into the pool?" Seungyoon asked.
"Yep," I answered Seungyoon. "That was when I knew how to determine if he was going to do anything ridiculous like that ever again."
"Okay, you got me," said G-Dragon. "There is just no out smarting you, is there?"
"Come on. We have wasted so much time down here. We have a song to work on."
I started my way towards the elevator, Christine and Seungyoon followed alongside me with G-Dragon behind us.
We soon found ourselves in the elevator, G-Dragon being the last to enter. We soon felt the elevator move and for a moment, there was silence.
"So, umm," G-Dragon said to break the silence. "Zoey is going to kill me, isn't she?"
"No doubt about that," said Seungyoon.
"So, this is how it's going to work," I said as I stared at G-Dragon's back as he was standing in front of me. "You're going to mind your own business when we get to our floor. Any nonsense from you and I won't be able to control my best friend when she attacks, got it?"
He turned around to look at me. "Does that mean you're going to let her attack me?"
Christine smiled at him. "Do we have a choice?" she asked.
We soon arrived on our floor and I was glad to see that there was no one standing outside the elevator. While we were in it, I thought of Zoey and the four BlackPink members waiting outside with duct tape and some rope so as to tie and shut G-Dragon up. That didn't seem like a very bad idea. We should have done that to him in the first place.
We walked out of the elevator and headed for the lounge, when G-Dragon started to announce to the others:
"Hey, people. I'm back!"
As soon as we entered the lounge, we found everyone else looking back at us. They hadn't moved from where they sat. Lee on the other hand, was on the phone, engaged in a conversation. But her eyes flew towards G-Dragon, and I could tell how irritated she was that he was back.
"I see no one missed me," said G-Dragon.
"Don't worry, we were planning for your funeral," said Zoey as she looked at him from the floor. "I bet in that way, we will greatly miss you."
"Yep," said Jennie.
"You guys are just vultures," said G-Dragon as he came to sit on the empty couch where my guitar rested.
"Says the person who only came here to make fun of us about us making an album," said Mino.
"Sam warned me that I should keep my mouth shut. And I'm going to do just that."
"Good," I said as I made my way to sit on the chair I had sat on earlier. Seungyoon and Christine went back to where they previously sat too. "I'm glad you understood my warning. Now, I want you to go to the dining area and sit there."
"What?" G-Dragon looked baffled by my request.
I nudged my head towards the dinning table. "You heard me. I want you to go over there and sit. And you won't say a word. Or else, I'll tell Zoey to work on that mouth of yours."
G-Dragon turned to look at Zoey sitting next to him with his mouth silently open for he was trying to say something, but no word came out. Zoey on the other hand, waved at him with a devious smile on her face.
"Wait, Sam," he said as he turned to look at me. "What if I want to give you some advice on what you're working on?"
"We will simply ask," said Rosé.
"That's your answer," I said. "Now, can you please leave?"
G-Dragon didn't like the idea of him sitting in the dining area. It could show all over his face.
"You're so unfair," he said. "You know, I'm older than-"
At the same time, all of us interrupted him by telling him to move out and go to the dining area. We said different things at the same time that there was a clash of words and a lot of noise. Some of us even pointed to him towards the dining area as if we were telling a child to go to their room after doing something wrong.
G-Dragon quickly stood up from his seat and made his way to the dining area. As much as he tried to hide that he wasn't upset, we could tell from his body language that he was.
"Okay," I said after I heard G-Dragon pulling out a chair and dragging it across the floor. "Let's get back to business, shall we?"
And for a good fifteen minutes, we continued working on the song with no distractions. Apparently, G-Dragon was behaving quite well without interrupting us. He had Lee for company when she wasn't picking up any calls. As for us, working on the song turned out to be quite fun.
It was almost close to lunch time and Lee ordered sandwiches for us. They were soon brought up by two of the hotel staff. It was then that I declared that we take a break and have something to eat.
"Goodness, I'm starving," said Daniel as he was the first to stand up and approach the serving trolleys where there seemed to be a stockpile of tuna and salmon sandwiches.
"Me too," said Lisa. "I never thought I would be so hungry."
"Hey!" G-Dragon asked as he came over from the dining area. "Am I allowed to say something now?"
I stood up from my chair after putting my guitar aside and gave myself a good stretch. After I was done, I noticed that G-Dragon was looking at me. I turned to look at him.
"What?" I asked.
"Am I allowed to speak?" he asked.
"Oh, ya, we're on a break. But no funny comments on the album thing. You did a good job keeping to yourself back there."
"What choice did I have?" he asked as he looked at Zoey who had just stood up from the floor. She realised that he was talking about her.
"Don't look at me, like that," she said. "You brought this on yourself."
"Really? It's not my fault that you guys are making a-"
"Shhh!" Daniel warned him. "No comment on the album, remember? And, Lee," he turned to look at Lee, who was at the time, seated in the dining area, "aren't you coming to eat with us? You know some of us won't spare these lovely looking sandwiches."
"For you to call them 'lovely' you're starving," said Lee as she came over to where Daniel was with the food.
"He isn't the only one," said Seunghoon.
"Okay, guys, let's go eat," said Mike.
Everyone else made a line by the serving trolley while one of the hotel staff who brought up the food, served us. The other was serving everyone else drinks in glass cups. I decided to stay behind while I watched the rest of my team complain about how hungry they were.
"Hey," said G-Dragon as he came to stand beside me. "Aren't you hungry?"
"I am, but at the moment, I don't have much of an appetite," I answered.
"Why? Because of what you're working on?"
I stared at him with my eyebrow raised and he quickly went straight to cover his mouth. I could tell how scared he was that I ended up laughing at him. In the end, he knew I was just messing with him as he slowly dropped his hand.
"You should really see your face right now," I said as I continued to laugh.
"You're so mean, you know that?"
"Really? I thought I was nice."
G-Dragon ended up smiling as he said, "you are. But there are times when you seem pretty mean and sarcastic."
"Am like that when I'm dealing with something serious and I need everyone to focus and not mess around."
"Mmm. Now I see why you're The Toxins leader. Wait a minute, who's the leader of BTW?"
"Who do you think?" Daniel responded to G-Dragon's question as he was carrying a plate with two sandwiches on it, a glass of juice in his other hand and heading for the dining table to eat from there.
G-Dragon turned to me and pointed his finger at me. In response, I nodded my head.
"Well, I'm not at all surprised," he said. "This group needs a leader like you."
"Depends on how much trouble they will give me. Then I can easily quit and give the responsibility over to Zoey or Mino."
"Haha!" came Zoey with her plate and cup as she settled in the lounge area on one of the chairs. "Tell me you're kidding, Sam?"
"Of course she is," said Mino as he came to join Zoey after getting his plate. "She can't simply give up and give either you or me the responsibility."
I raised an eyebrow at them and even though they were right, I would like to put them to the task at some point and see how it feels being on my end for a while.
"Anyway, I wanted to tell you that the song you're working on sounds awesome," said G-Dragon.
"Thanks," Zoey, Mino and I said at the same time.
"May you two come over here and get your food, please," said Lee as she already had a plate and heading towards the dining table to join Daniel. "Daniel here might go for another round and there will be no sandwiches left."
"She's not kidding," said Daniel. He had already finished his first sandwich and now, he was half way down with his second.
"My brother has an appetite," I said as I looked at him.
"Well, you already knew that," said Christine as she also came to join Mino and Zoey on the couch.
"Come on, GD. Let's go get our sandwiches."
"Goodness, I haven't been online for a long time now," said Jennie as she and Lisa went over to join the others in the lounge area.
"Oh!" Zoey said. "I also haven't been online too. I might miss out on the juicy gossip."
"You worry about what's going on that isn't much of your concern," said Mike.
"Please, Mike," said Zoey. "You almost sound like your sister. Where did I put my phone....? Ah!! Mino, can you pass me your phone, it's right next to you."
I looked over at Mino and Zoey and I saw him pass over the phone to her. As she ate, she managed to scroll through her phone checking on who knows what.
G-Dragon was right behind me in the line. We were the last two to get our sandwiches. Everyone else was seated in the lounge area, so, I decided to join Lee and Daniel at the dining table. I was also going to give Daniel the good news that there were plenty more sandwiches left.
After I got my sandwiches and my juice, I started my way to the dining table when I heard Zoey behind me ask:
"Hey, Sam, what happened downstairs with G-Dragon? I see some posts here. And is that G-Dragon on some stool or something?"
"You don't want to know," said Seungyoon.
"I would trust what he says if I were you," said G-Dragon.
"Whatever," said Zoey as I sat next to my brother at the dining table. "You shouldn't be taking up people's time for nothing. You're such a distraction."
"A handsome distraction," said G-Dragon and I caught him just in time smiling at the others.
"I beg to differ," I muttered under my breath that only Lee and Daniel could hear. In the end, they started to laugh.
"What is it?" G-Dragon asked, making his way towards the dining table.
"Nothing," Daniel managed to say, trying to keep his laughter in.
"There are more sandwiches for you if want some," I told him.
"Yes, more for me." Daniel stood up from his seat as he quickly rushed over to the trolley, passing G-Dragon in flashing speed.
G-Dragon went to sit next to Lee across the table. I munched on my sandwich as I looked up at G-Dragon. He was staring at me.
"What?" I asked after I swallowed.
"Nothing," he said. "And here I thought you weren't hungry."
"I need to eat at some point, don't I?"
"Sam isn't much of a eater," said Lee. "If she works on a song and doesn't eat the whole day, she tires out and sleeps without even thinking of eating at all."
"Ya, working on a song makes me forget to eat," I said. "That's why it's good to have people around to monitor me just in case."
"I also look out for you too," said Daniel as he came back with two more sandwiches.
I smiled at him. "I know you do."
"Well, someone over here is barely eating at all as she is busy looking at the phone," said Jisoo.
"Sorry," said Zoey. "I'll put my phone down in three.., two..., one..."
I looked over at Zoey and I noticed that she still had the phone in her hand. I furrowed my eyebrows. Usually when she does her countdown to stop doing something, she does it. But this time, she didn't put her phone away.
"Hey, Zoey, are you okay?" Mino asked.
"Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no!" Zoey muttered to herself.
"That many 'nos'," said Lee as she also looked over at Zoey. "Something is definitely wrong."
"Hey, Zoey, what is it?" Christine asked.
"Hold this for me, will you?" Zoey gave Mino her plate as she stood up from the couch. "Sam!!" she called out to me as she came running over to the dining table.
"Zoey? What's wrong?" I asked as I stood up from my seat.
"He's here, Sam, he's here," she said waving her hands in the air.
"Who are you talking about?"
"Johnny. Johnny Jerkins is here!"
"What?!" me and the rest of the other Toxins responded at the same time. We all couldn't believe the news.
"And guess what?" Zoey continued. "He knows we are here and he will be residing in this hotel."
"We're doomed. We're so doomed," Christine muttered to herself as she held her head in despair.
I took Zoey's phone and checked it out. Daniel also stood up to see for himself. Zoey wasn't kidding. He had posted on Twitter about his whereabouts a few minutes ago. He was here in Korea.
"Great! As though G-Dragon wasn't much of a distraction, now we have to deal with Johnny," said Mike.
"Some of us are lost here," said G-Dragon. "Who is this Johnny?"
Daniel and Zoey looked at me. This meant we had no choice but to tell everyone about Johnny. The five of us Toxins didn't like to talk about him, not going much into details.
"Fine," I said. "We will tell you."