𝚔𝚘𝚒 𝚗𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚗 恋の予感. | Nishimura Riki

We need to talk

Hyejin introduced herself to the backstage crew, unaware of the malicious pairs of eyes watching her - completely ignorant of them falling over themselves to get a better glimpse of her.

"What are we going to do about her?" One whispered to another.
"She seems harmless." The other scoffed.
"If she becomes a problem, we'll just get rid of her like the last one." The third one said, drawing a puff out of their cigarette.

~

The din in the cafeteria was deafening. Heeseung could barely distinguish between his members' voices and those of the staff on the table next to theirs. Sunghoon had left earlier to eat the lunch their new manager had bought for them all in the waiting room. Both Sunoo and him were on a diet and were supposed to skip lunch but the younger of the two had decided that the PDs could - respectfully - kiss his ass if they had a problem with him eating.

"I think we should tell her," Heeseung announced.

The five others on the table turned to Heeseung. "Who? And what?" Jungwon asked but he still had food in his mouth so it sounded more like 'uahagjshs'. Jay scrunched his face in disgust as pieces of food flew from Jungwon's face and onto his spectacles.

"Kim Hyejin. I think we should tell her about what happened to our Sunghoon and Managernim last night."

The table erupted with noise. 'ARE YOU CRAZY' one member yelled. 'TALK TO YOUR ELDERS WITH RESPECT' another member yelled back. Every staff in the huge cafeteria of Citi Field Stadium was looking straight at the members' table now - not that it stopped them from arguing. Eventually, the very topic of their discussion, Hyejin herself had to glare at them to calm them down.

"Hyung, she could literally run away." Ni-ki stage-whispered across the circular lunch table. "or worst of all, she could tell the fucking medi- OW!"

Jake slapped the back of Ni-ki's neck, leaving a stinging red hand mark behind. "Just because you become an adult in December doesn't mean you can curse like that." He glowered.

"He is right though. Korea's media might forget about it but this is America." Jungwon interjected in the conversation. He was still scarfing down his roll or burrito or roti or whatever that they had picked up on the way for lunch. He had already finished his share of the lunch and was now eating Heeseung's. The red sauce dribbled off his chin while the members stared at him.

The members scrunched their faces in disgust. He had made a big fuss in front of Hyejin. 'Indian food is spicy,' he'd said. 'What if we get bloated before our concert this evening?', he'd complained. Would you look at him now? As if suddenly self-aware, he looked up at the members. "Oh, I am sorry. Did you want some?"

"If we did, are we supposed to eat it off your face?" Jay told Jungwon off, pulling out a tissue from his bag. Sunoo slow-clapped as Jay took Jungwon's face and wiped the sauce off his face. "Our leader is so cute." he teased.

The members ate in silence. They couldn't make the decision to tell Hyejin without Sunghoon. This concerned him more than any of them. He had been there when Managernim was - when he was - when the incident happened. He had already been going through so much and now this had happened. It was too painful for them to think about it and they hadn't even been there. Still, it wasn't fair to Hyejin either. It would be dangerous if she were put in a situation like last night without knowing that something like that was possible.

Then, there was the fact that Manager Kim was Hyejin's uncle. It was a fact only Heeseung knew about. He'd sensed there was more to it than just that. The panic and hopelessness on Hyejin's face had not been that of a niece worried about her uncle.

~

It was 6:00 p.m. and Hyejin could not hear herself think over the booming chants of 'ENHYPEN! ENHYPEN! ENHYPEN!' coming from the stadium and the constant throbbing in her head. The concert had started only half an hour ago but the fans were already yelling like they were never going to see them again. She didn't know how the chairman of the company was going to interview her with this incessant noise but he was a millionaire, he probably had his ways.

She had been disappointed to be pulled away from her work backstage for her interview. Hyejin wouldn't lie, she enjoyed seeing the mostly male PDs shocked expressions when she lifted heavy speakers almost half her size. Her work was more enjoyable than she thought it was going to be. She might even start genuinely wanting this job, one can never know.

The tall bodyguard she was following led her to a glass door. Inside was a white room and a clear glass table with papers on it that she assumed was her resume. At the table, sat two men discussing something in hushed voices. One man was taller than the other and had a sturdy build like her previous boss. If he was anything like her ex-boss, Hyejin would have a hard time pleasing him. The shorter one had a stout figure and a big, prominent nose in the centre of his face. One of her older friends from university had once told her that a big nose meant..... she would not complete that thought.

Both men wore spectacles and pushed them up to their noses in sync as they turned to look at Hyejin. She bowed to them politely and took her seat across from them. She had been right! She glimpsed her photo on one of the papers the taller man held. It even had highlighter marks on it! She silently high-fived herself in her head as she shook hands with the two men. She just had to ace this interview and she was pretty sure she would have the position in the bag.

"Shall we start?" The shorter man, who she assumed was the chairman, asked. Hyejin nodded a polite yes.

~

Hyejin waited outside the white room. The fans' yelling had been slightly dulled while she was inside the room. She suspected that was why they chose that room for the interview, but now her throbbing headache was back. Enhypen wasn't even on stage yet. It was only the backup dancers doing the intro of one of their latest title tracks while they were probably changing into new outfits backstage.

She wanted to rest her back against the wall but she knew the interviewers were watching so she stood 'at ease' with her hands held together in front and her back straight, just the way her instructors at SM Entertainment had taught her. Even though her trainee years were long gone, she would never really forget the times the etiquette teacher would scold her for 'standing wrong'. She looked at the time on her watch. It was 7:17. She hoped they'd come to a conclusion soon. It would look like she was skipping work to the other staff if she stayed here for much longer.

The tall man, who had introduced himself as the CEO, called her back in. They took their seats. The chairman cleared his throat. "It's not every day one comes across a resumé as impressive as yours, especially considering your age and university. You graduated from the University of Southern California?" He questioned. Hyejin smiled and replied yes. "It's the top university in the world for your course, I hear. Your academics as well as your experience at Berlin Rosen, the firm you last worked at, have impressed both me and Mr Park Jiwon here," he gestured towards the CEO next to him.

"With that said, we'd like to offer you a provisional contract for one year" Mr Park pushed a black file forward. Hyejin gratefully accepted the file, smiling at both men. "I will tell you the basic terms of the contract now." Mr Park continued. "There must be no direct or indirect leak of information from you regarding comeback schedules, comebacks, undisclosed location etc. You will receive access to all SNS accounts of the artist within one month of employment including Naver accounts. You will receive both a company debit card and a company credit card. You are to use these only in emergencies.

To ensure the protection of our artists, we usually add a clause that the manager must escort them to and from airports and other schedules where crowds might be present but we have not included it in your contract. This does not mean that you are not permitted to do so. It means that you are not obligated to do so."

"I see," Hyejin replied simply while reading the contract. The terms of the contract were pretty fair. She had to admit they were smart to draft multiple contracts. The one in her hand gave her a salary of 4 million won like she had asked for but she had peeked at the other copy and it said only 2.5 million won! 2.5 million won wasn't even $1000 in America.

After the contract was signed, she shook hands with the interviewers and excused herself. She was just about to leave the room when Mr Bang, the CEO, called out to her. "Hyejin, you're very young and this position comes with a lot of pressure. Don't worry too much. The group will disband after their next comeback so don't take too much stress. It won't matter if you make mistakes." He smiled softly.

Hyejin froze.

~