Gryphon's Glenn

Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR
After dinner, Jason headed to his label's headquarters. He was walking down the hall when a voice cried, "Oppa!" Arms wrapped around him.

He looked down to see Ji-Ah Park, the youngest member of the label at twelve years of age. Ji-Ah was like a little sister to him and he was very attached to her. She smiled at him brightly and his heart melted as usual.

"I missed you, too, Kid," Jason said with a laugh.

"Are you here to write a new song?" Ji-Ah asked in perfect English. She'd been taught to speak it as soon as she joined the company, and she knew Jason was more comfortable speaking in English than Korean.

"Maybe... Want to help?" Jason asked.

Ji-Ah's eyes lit up. "Of course I do!"

"Come on. We'll work in my studio. Maybe we can write a duet."

"You want to sing with me?"

"Who wouldn't? You're a rising star, after all."

"Yep! Soon, I'll debut, and I'll be almost as popular as you, Oppa!" She laughed like that was impossible.

"They already love you as a model and actress, Ji-Ah. You'll be even more popular one day, once they hear you sing. You'll see." Ji-Ah had initially signed with the company at six years old as a model. She'd quickly proven she was a great actress, landing a starring role in a K-drama that was the first of several amazing parts she'd played. About a year and a half before, she'd decided to become an idol trainee and had moved into the dorms. Jason had already been very attached to her, and he loved having her so close by. The kid always made him smile.

He led her to the studio. Although he'd intended to work on some of the projects his manager had for him, Jason could tell Ji-Ah needed this. As happy as the kid always was, she got lonely at times. It wasn't easy being in the public eye, especially at such a young age. Jason could see in her eyes how badly she wanted to spend time with someone other than her managers. He was happy to help if it would put the joy back in her eyes.

Before he knew it, two and a half hours had passed. They'd recorded a simple but sweet duet. Jason was playing the rough cut when Ji-Ah's manager looked into the booth with an impatient expression on his face.

"I think it's past your bedtime, Kiddo," Jason said with a smirk as he looked at his watch. "You did great today. I'll clean this up and burn you a copy. Go get some rest."

"Thanks, Oppa," Ji-Ah replied. "I had fun." She hugged him tightly before bowing and adding, "Goodnight."

"Sweet dreams, Ji-Ah," Jason said as he sent her on her way.

He occupied himself for a bit cleaning up the recording. Soon, it sounded like any other demo. The duet had come out better than he'd expected. "We should release this," Jason thought aloud. "It's a good way to introduce her as a singer." He decided he'd talk to his manager later and see how he felt about it.

Faced with the mountain of work he'd been trying to ignore, Jason sighed. "Time to Adult," he mumbled. He set to work, knowing he was unlikely to get any sleep that night.

+

Matty awoke to the sense of Julian's great sorrow. Wondering why his best friend seemed to be grieving, Matty headed toward the woods. There, he found Julian kneeling with his hands on the earth, desperately trying to grow something.

"Jules..." Matty said softly. "You're going to hurt yourself if you keep that up. The ground is too damaged... Nothing can grow here." He looked at Julian with sympathy in his eyes.