Lucy was really stunned at how up until how late they were practicing. Hyunjun told her directly that when practicing, they usually put their phones away and tried to stay focused. So she knew it would be late.
But she hadn't anticipated that the earliest message would be at 1 am. It was from Kangmin, saying he and Hwa had vocal training so they ended earlier, and that others were still dancing.
Knowing she could sleep in the morning up until midday, Lucy was okay with being awake as long as needed, so when others finally sent her one song all, she continued working with the lyrics and making some sheets.
At the end, it was 5 am when Lucy went to sleep and her dreams were as wild as usual. Because a cat riding on a whale, on a huge Ferris wheel, well that wasn't normal. Especially when Lucy was the one riding in the same car as the whale… Maybe it was a sign to sleep more?
But that couldn't be. She was woken up around eight by Jacob. Jacob was one of her Korean friends. Well, maybe, to say in Korea would be better, as he was an American that moved to Korea. He worked as an attendant in an internet cafe, one that had a printer… and he was so kind to print out the lecture materials for Lucy.
"Do you have a lot of people there?" she asked, thinking about how to go. But she couldn't hear the noise from Jacob's side. And he confirmed it to Lucy.
"Nah, most students are in school." Lucy got up then, only splashed water on her face, put a bit of moisturizer with sunscreen, changed her pajama trousers for jeans, and with a light spring coat covering her pajama shirt went to Itaewon. Well, she took the bus.
When she got there, Lucy ignored all the surrounding people, some even turned around when passing by her. She was too tired to care what others thought about her messy hair, or face, or whatever.
So when she entered the cafe and found it was almost empty with only Jacob behind his counter, she was relieved. Her eyes looked so right and Lucy almost pissed herself how frightened she got.
"Fuck!" she exclaimed and made a step back. There was a huge cutout of C-land members. And the one she noticed first was Seonghwa. That was what scared her. She had PTSD from that guy.
"What's with this?" she asked Jacob and pointed at the cutout that almost had her have a heart attack. He just shrugged and grabbed the papers he printed out for Lucy.
"Boss is their fan," he just shrugged and passed the papers to her. Lucy took out the card and paid for it. She was shaking her head in disbelief at how such a chill boss could be so obsessed to the point of having cutouts. Especially with this group.
As if she summed it, the phone in her pocket started ringing and when she pulled it out, it was C-land's manager Baek. Lucy cried out in total defeat and with furrowed brows, she picked it up.
"Yes?" Lucy asked, waiting to be dragged somewhere again. And it was as she predicted.
"Where are you now? I need you to get here now. I can't get to you later. I need to be somewhere with Sunjun. And manager Kang has a day off today." Lucy was ready to cry.
"Where and how long do I have? I'm not at home." She wanted to at least shower and change her pajamas.
"The TV station and you should be here in twenty minutes." He said the name of a certain TV station and Lucy kept her mouth open. There was no way she could get there in twenty minutes. Maybe if she got a cab and went from here now, thirty minutes would be enough.
"I won't have to be in public, right?" she asked, just to be sure she didn't have to put down her jacket. Even though her pajama was a shirt that was too big for her, maybe he could pass it off for fashion in other places, but not on television.
"No, be here in thirty minutes, please. It would make it a lot easier for me." Junghoon's voice became a lot softer, and he even sighed in defeat. Lucy agreed and hung up, opening the app to call a taxi.
But this wasn't a movie, and it took her at least ten minutes to even find a free taxi. She tied up her hair in a ponytail and hoped nobody would comment on her look á la bum.
When she got there half an hour later, she was surprised to find Junghoon-nim already waiting for her in the lobby, nervously tapping his leg and looking at his watch. But when he saw her, he stopped and shook his head.
"I should have given you an hour," he said and put a visitor tag on her. He then led her up by the elevator and then to a waiting room, where there was a label on the door saying for C-LAND.
"Rough day, huh?" the stylist who was just passing by when Lucy opened the door said. Lucy cried out again and sighed.
"You have no idea." Lucy looked around, but there were only backstage workers there. She was good. Those people were really nice to her before that one time. And even now, they pointed at the char, asking if she wanted to put on some makeup to cover those dark circles.
"I would prefer to go and sleep somewhere," she said jokingly. It was after Junghoon had already left with Sunjun. And they were cleaning up the room a bit. She only had to wait for C-land to finish their talk show and get them to the company safely.
"You still have time. There is a corner on this floor, where you can hide and sleep a bit. Well, if there is no one there…" they giggled but explained to Lucy where it was.
Lucy found that spot amazing, with some vegetation and a bench she could lie on. Her legs had to be folded a lot, but it was better than nothing. Lucy found herself drifting off to sleep almost the moment she closed her eyes.
But it wasn't for a long time before she heard a slight whimper and angry shouting.
"What do you think you are doing, you wrench? I was supposed to interview them!" That was a lot louder, and the noise wasn't going away. Lucy blinked her eyes a few times and had a hard time keeping them open.
She thought that Koreans shouted this much only in dramas. All her friends were pretty quiet. But this woman was shouting as if her life was depending on it.
She got up from her bench and emerged from the corner just in time to catch a slap. Catch it with her face, instead of the other person that was cowering in front of her.
"What the fuck?!" she exclaimed in English, stunned by this wake-up call. Lucy placed her palm on her face and then looked around. There was no cam there. No one could see what she would do. That was good… That was excellent.