She was standing outside a huge hotel building with two luggage beside her and a backpack on her back. Stress could be spotted on her face but her body seemed confident, confident enough to stand straight. 'It's okay, Everything will be okay. My family won't be with me to look out for me but I have some friends who will look after me even when I am not in my right mind. I know I can trust them.' She calmed down after convincing herself that the people she was going to work with, will look after her and take care of her.
She moved her leg forward to enter the huge building in front of her where the crowd was already presented with the cameras and mick, waiting for the celebrities to come out of the hotel. Tiara chose the back door again to enter the huge building, hiding from the reporters and fans. She wrapped a scarf around her face to hide her identity from the reporters who were standing at the main entrance but she encountered the same lady who stopped her and her friends a day before.
"Who are you and where do you think you are going?" She stopped her again as she didn't recognize her with the scarf on her face. "Not you again! Don't you have a life for yourself or something? I am here to meet TR-X again and before you ask if they want to meet me or not then let me tell you that they are the ones who invited me here." Tiara said without stopping to take a breath as she had lots of thoughts going on inside her little brain. The lady rolled her eyes and gave her a look filled with disgust. "Whatever!!" She said in an irritated tone as she recognized Tiara with her voice and small and thin frame. "What's up with the luggage?" She raised an eyebrow at Tiara. "Why do you think I will answer you?" Tiara replied to her in a stern tone asking her to back off indirectly.
"You a-" The lady was about to scold her because of her reply to her but a small crowd disturbed them and they both turned their head to the noises of the crowd finding the TR-X's staff who was ready for their departure. Tiara searched for some familiar figures but she failed, She slowly reached for her phone in her pocket to call Vin. She anxiously dialed his number because she was scared. 'What if they changed their decision? What if they think I am not worthy of this position now?' Tiara brought the phone near her ear with a trembling hand.
She heard the rings through the call, each ring was growing the tension inside her as Vin wasn't picking up her call, she was holding her breath as each ring passed without any sign of an answer from the other side. "He-" She was about to say something without taking a breath even after holding it for a few seconds already. "Wait, We are coming." She heard Vin's voice, huffing as if he was running to her and the call was ended before she could even blink her eyes. Tiara stared at her phone's black screen blankly for a minute but then her attention was dragged to the screaming crowd outside.
She noticed that the reporters and the fans were looking in a specific direction which was a major reason behind their screams. Tiara turned her head toward the direction where everyone was looking and found TR-X making their way toward their staff who was already gathered in the hotel's hall. She could swear that TR-X saw her standing a little farther than their staff but they didn't act on it making her feel like hallucinating.
She was so tensed that she didn't notice how TR-X staff was coming near her subtly and slowly merging her with themselves but it was too late when she realized she was getting dragged outside by the staff like she was their luggage, she didn't understand what was going on or what was happening with her. She got pushed under a large bus which was parked outside the hotel for TR-X staff before she could figure out what was happening with her.
Tiara looked around for her luggage which was no longer with her as she herself was dragged to the bus like a piece of luggage itself. The staff didn't say anything to her like she never existed for them to begin with, They just left her alone as soon as they entered the bus and proceeded with choosing their seats and settling on them. She was confused and processing everything in her mind but the bus started to move making her stumble a little. She was going to make the driver stop the bus but her phone started to ring stopping her from doing so. She pulled her phone out of her pocket instantly and looked at the caller ID.
"What is going on here!?" Tiara asked over the call in frustration. "Calm down." She heard KR's voice. "I know you must be confused right now but we didn't have any other option to take you with us without media's attention. We don't want to let the media know about you being our manager for now, We surely will have to introduce you as our manager soon but we have decided that we should announce it after we reach Korea again. You must stay with our staff until we reach the airport." KR explained everything to her calmly to calm her down and she understood the point behind their decision as well as she had faced the hatred from their fandom once already. Even though she never showed anyone that it impacted her in any way that wasn't the truth, It hurt her when people made assumptions about her but she could bear it because she knew those people knew nothing about her.
"Okay, Understood." She agreed with him and sighed as she looked at the people sitting on their seats comfortably, some looking at her curiously and some talking to each other. "Yes, We will meet you at the airport and guide you further." KR reassured her that they would be by her side. "Okay, See you at the airport then." She said because she knew there was nothing she could do in this matter rather than accept what they had decided for her.
'Oh shit, I could have asked about my luggage as well. Where is it now? Stupid Tiara, Should I call him back?' She cursed herself, staring at her phone's blank screen. 'Or should I ask them?' She thought as her eyes trailed over the humans in front of her. "Hey…" She greeted them awkwardly, waving her right hand to them to grab their attention. "Can I ask where is my luggage?" She asked them awkwardly, scared that they would ignore her.
"Don't worry, We took care of it." A girl with bright skin and straight brown shade hair answered her. "You should take a seat." A man who was thin yet muscular enough to be called a strong man with black silk messy hair said while patting the seat beside him indicating for her to sit there. Tiara nodded her head with a smile, trying to be friendly with them as she knew that she was going to spend time with them at least for quite a long time, and took the seat beside the young-looking man.
'Should I just go back? Am I making a mistake?' She was tensed as the bus made its way through the busy road. 'No! I shouldn't think like that. I am not a loser who will just give up and run away and I am here already, what will they think if I run away like a coward?' she scoffed at her own thoughts and forced herself to stay still on her spot. She felt her hands trembling due to the stress brimming inside her and a strange heavy feeling inside her chest stopping her from taking a proper breath.
"It will be okay." The man sitting near her reassured her after noticing her shivering state. She turned her head towards the man coyly, embarrassed of herself, and passed him a forced smile. "I am Tiara." She tried to change the topic by introducing herself. "I would be dumb not to know you. I am Dae-Eun Chul, You can call me Dae." He introduced himself in a friendly manner and smiled kindly to her. "It's nice to meet you…" She was lost after seeing his wide smile and cute narrow eyes looking at her softly. She was confused and awkward by his remarks about acknowledging her already, she tried not to look surprised or freak out but her mind worked faster than her actions to figure out that he knew her because of her past in Aglos and TR-X.
They went silent after sharing a smile which only pushed the little girl to be even more nervous about everything. 'Should I say something and continue our conversation?... no, I don't want to sound desperate to make friends but I don't want to sound rude or something like that…' Her eyes were wandering everywhere to find a way to start a conversation again subtly. 'Ugh, Why it's so hard to communicate with humans.' She sighed and rolled her eyes softly after she turned her head a little toward the other direction from the man beside her. 'I just wish we reach the airport as soon as possible.' She prayed as she knew the longer the trip would be the longer the awkwardness would be.
"I can't believe you are going to stay with us. I think it will be great." said Daeeun with a hint of joy in his tone. 'Can't you just keep your mouth shut? I don't know how to reply to that!' Tiara blinked her eyes 4 times to make her mind process think what she should reply with which made her look innocent and cute. "Yeah… I hope everything will be okay." She honestly replied to him. "It will be okay. Trust me." He reassured her in a soothing voice and smiled at her which she returned shyly. "Your English is so good compared to TR-X." She complimented him because she thought that every Korean had bad English. "Thank you, We visited different countries during TR-X tours and concerts which forced us to learn the international language to communicate with others easily." He spitted out the trouble of the language barrier in different countries that he had to face by being a staff of an international boyband.
"Ahh, That must be hard." Tiara exclaimed but she stopped as she realized something. "Wait, Doesn't it mean that they talk in English as well? So, They should know English as well but as far as I know they aren't as good as you." Tiara spoke her thoughts out after hearing Daeeun's statement, remembering their way of talking since she met them at the fan meet. "That's right. They should but they aren't good because they always have a translator with them but we have to struggle on our own." He told her the truth of their struggles and how their agency works. "Oh…" Tiara didn't know how to reply to him and ended up coming up with just a reaction.
'Of course, Wealthy people get to have all the facilities while the poor struggle even with their basic needs. That's how this ugly world works, isn't it? It's always about wealth and power, never about heart or strength. If you are wealthy then everyone will respect you, talk nicely to you even if they talk shit behind your back, and always try to get close to you but if you aren't, then they will never make time to even look at you let alone talk to you nicely.' Tiara made an ugly face which reflected her disgust towards the world's unfairness, how one has everything while the other has nothing.
The bus stopped leaving Tiara with a jolt letting everyone know that they reached their destination. Tiara realized she arrived at the start of her new life, A life where she would feel lost like a child again who wouldn't know what they are supposed to do, wouldn't have any idea of what the others were speaking right in front of her, or wouldn't know what they should wear or talk between big personalities. She gathered her strength and put on a brave act on her face to step out of the bus but soon camera flashes blinded her eyes from seeing anything while long bodies covered her tiny ones, stopping her from seeing anything further. The huge bodies started to drag her toward a specific directly intentionally but this time she didn't try to protest because she knew it was a part of TR-X's plan to take her with them without the media's acknowledgment.
The crowd left her alone in peace once they reached near check-in counter where her eyes fell on 5 familiar muscular figures who were looking at her with smiles of satisfaction, reassurance, and happiness.
"Come." Joy gestured for her to join them in the queue to check in, not worrying about the gazes that could be on them because they and their staff were the only one who was near the counter. Tiara nodded her head shyly and went near him as they were her comfort zone now because all the others were just strangers to her. They did the check-in and the rest of the formalities to go to another country. Tiara went near the staff again to go with them inside the aircraft but TR-X stopped her from doing so.
"Wait, Where do you think you are going?" KR stopped her before she could go near the staff again. "Inside?" She confusingly pointed to the crowd of the staff who were going inside the terminal slowly. "Not there." Sam stood in front of her to grab her hand instantly, pulling her in a different direction. "But…where? Everyone is going there" She protested as everyone else slowly faded from their eyesight. "You are coming with us." KR announced and Sam started to drag her toward another terminal which seemed private compared to the other terminal as it looked like it was closed. "B-but-" She tried to protest again but got dragged inside the aircraft anyway.
They entered a small cozy plane while Tiara was taken aback, surprised by the luxury and private cabin decorated with musical instruments all over the place. "Wow, It looks like a private plane." She exclaimed, surprised with the comfortable luxury space instead of a crowded and uncomfortable one. "It don't look like a private plane only… It is a private plane." Joy wrapped his arm around Tiara's shoulders, dragging her closer to his big frame, away from Sam's grip. "Huh? You guys have a private plane for yourselves as well!?" Tiara was stunned by the wealthy people beside her. "Yes." Vin proudly agreed. "Take seats and get settled down. We are supposed to depart after half an hour." KR ordered as Joy started to drag Tiara to a seat to make her sit comfortably without any hesitation, while others started to take a seat.
The little figure started to hear heartbeats like a drum in her ears due to the stress she was suffering from as she took a big step in her life which she never thought for. 'God, I accepted their offer without thinking of my duties or responsibilities. What is my work in this job? Should I ask them now? Will it be foolish to ask for the responsibilities now? What should I do? I should have known what am I supposed to do even when I accepted their offer and already joined the work. How stupid I am… I can't ask them, I don't want them to think anything less of me. I will just google it, I am sure that I can find something.' She fought her thoughts and decided to get help from the internet while Joy took a seat beside her, Vin grabbed a seat in front of her, and JJ beside Vin.
Tiara tried to hide her phone's screen away from Joy's gaze because she didn't want to look like a dumb little girl in front of them. She hesitantly typed 'What is the work of a K-pop artist's manager?' in the search browser. 'Managers are in charge of managing their artists. From organizing their schedules to taking care of the things that go into finishing the schedules smoothly, idol and actor-managers stay busy on a daily. Most managers have to stay 24/7 with their idols to ensure their security and routine.' She read the top lines which came on the screen of her phone inside her mind.
'Wait, does it mean I will have to stay with them? Do they stay together in a house? I-I don't know what am I supposed to do. Won't it be awkward for a girl to stay with 5 men in a house? Should I ask them if I am expected to live with them? Ahh, No. I will see what happens next.' Tiara chose not to ask any questions and go with the flow rather than thinking about the possibilities in the future.
"Hello everyone. This is the pilot of this flight speaking. Please, Seattle down, switch your phones off or put the flight mode on, and make sure to tighten your seat belts. We are going to take off in a few minutes." A soft manly voice came through a speaker to alert everyone. Tiara switched off her phone and took a long deep breath as she was ready to fly to her new life where she was going to be lost and confused like a puppy in an alley with unknown dogs.