It was a cool March day, around noon as a camera crew was set up and operating in front of the main outdoor stages of Kaiba Land. The auditorium was empty due to the fact that the park wasn't fully operational yet. Center stage sat three fashionably dressed boys in folding chairs. All wearing a funky purple and white tie-dye suit which was styled a bit different but had the same patterns consistent. They also all had similar style hair, slicked back but dyed bizarre colors such as blue or neon yellow. Standing beside them was a young woman, looking to be about in her 20s the same age as the boys. Unlike them, she was dressed completely different. Her outfit was more of a costume. A high-waisted A-line skirt that was cut just above her knees. The top was a sweetheart neckline. Sleeve-less and had three white buttons lined up under the collar. The bottom of the top had short coat tails that hung down right below the rear. The whole outfit was baby blue but for the outer fridge which was white. Down her legs were white thigh-highs and her feet she wore the same blue shade pump that matched the outfit.
"Broadcasting from Kaiba Land, Charisma Complex would like to proudly present our newest and hottest boy group 'Shining Knight!" She grinned big as she called their name out, microphone in hand as her free arm was stretched high gesturing towards the group. She stepped aside with a bounce. The camera focused on the boys as they gleamed. They waved, repeating their band name in unison. They introduced themselves by name and rank. After that the young lady pulled out a set of notecards of questions to ask them that were dule monster related. Once they were asked personal questions like what were their favorite card was ect. A deck of cards was brought out by a backstage crew member. Quickly a game of duel monsters was about to start.
Seto Kabia watched the performance pan-out on his tablet from opposite side of the theme-park. He was seated comfortably in the backseat of his moving limousine. Once the vehicle stopped the chauffeur stepped out quickly and opened the back door. Kaiba's steely eyes shifted once the door opened. He turned his tablet off and carefully set it back in the satchel that was next to him. He stood, leaving the satchel behind. Dressed in black fitted slacks and a royal blue dress shirt tucked in. The buckle on his belt was silver and engraved with his initials. Not paying any acknowledgment to his chauffeur he swiftly started walking straight, towards the back of the main stage. Once he was up to the concrete stairs and opened the heavy metal doors that lead into the backstage laughter from the Shining Knight group could be heard that blended in with the clatter of the backstage crew. The game hostess laughed along with them. Kaiba approached them from behind as he turned his intense stare to the woman dressed in blue and white.
"Hyori," He spoke in a sharp tone. It caused the group of boys to stiffen, standing up straighter as they looked at him in awe.
"Ah-his eyes are more threatening in person," Ben, the maknae spoke softly.
"He is much taller in person too-" Bam-Bam the rapper added, leaning in close to his bandmates in the same hushed tone.
Hyori, the hostess looked over her shoulder casually. "Hm?" She raised a brow with a pouted lip. "Hello ," She said pleasantly. "Did you come to see how well my boys did?" She smiled as she praised White Knight. The boys bowed to Kabia in unison.
"Pleasure to meet you !" Babka, the lead vocalist spoke in Japanese to show respectful as he kept his bow.
Hyori placed a hand on her hip, gesturing to him to stand straight again. "It's okay. He speaks Korean," She told him gently.
Kaiba watched with a cool expression. "I watched the performance on my way here," He explained and glanced over at the boys. "You did very well," He spoke to them in Korean. "I was very entertained even though only one of you knew how to play duel monsters," He said.
Once again, White Knight bowed and thanked Kaiba in unison. Kaiba rolled his eyes already getting annoyed with their routine. He turned back to Hyori.
"Do you have a moment? I'd like to speak to you in private." He kept his tone slick.
Hyori titled her head slightly, causing her long brown hair to fall behind her shoulder. "Mh, I suppose. My boys only have four hours until they have an interview in the lower part of Domino city," She explained.
"They can go without you," He said bluntly.
Her lips stretched into a frown. "Go without them?" She was appalled.
"Yes, they can answer questions on their own I'm sure," His eyes narrowed a bit at her.
"I'm their producer. It's part of my job to be there for the-"
"Have that foreigner take care of them," Kaiba interrupted "What is his name? Zack?" His tone was venomous.
Hyori stared at Kaiba harshly. "Gabriel. We call him Gabe," She corrected him.
"Whatever his name is. Have him look after them. I have matters to be straightened out with you that are important to both our companies," His stance was almost threatening as he took no for an answer. The rookie boy band stood in the background obediently as they waited for their cue to leave.
Hyori said nothing, only giving the same intense stare back that she received from the young CEO. She quickly turned on her heal as she called out for Gabe. Kaiba's phone started to ring. Clearly looking disgruntled he stepped away and answered it.
"I told you I'm looking over the construction! What do you want!" He blustered out.
It only took Hyori a moment to find Gabe as she walked beside the Canadian gentleman. He the young likes the rest of the group. His dirty-blond with a shaved faux-hawk was covered by a backward baseball cap. His facial features were curved with a large pair of thick rimmed glasses framing his face.
"I'll take them to their next appointments," He said, trying to reassure his business partner. He peered over at Kaiba who was still on the phone. It was unclear what was being said but his nasty attitude could still be heard.
Hyori embraced Gabe in a quick hug. "Thank you! You're the best manager ever!" She cheered as she quickly turned to Shining Knight. Catching a glimpse of the activity Kaiba excused himself from the phone.
"Are you ready to go now?" He asked, clearly put-out standing by the back door.
Hyori high-fived all of the boys before walked away from them. "Hopefully I'll be back by tonight!" She called out to them. "Thank you again, Gabe!" She waved as she followed Kaiba out the metal doors.
Shining Knight and Gabe all waved back. "No problem!" The Western Manager called out before turning his attention to the group.
Without looking back Kaiba started walking down the steps that lead down to the cement sidewalk. He glanced back once as Hyori started to carefully tip toe down behind him, holding onto the railing. He turned to face her as he took a hold of her hand and helped her down. She didn't respond to his kind gesture. They both fell silent, the center stage started to shrink in the background as Hyori walked beside him.
"Why haven't you been answering my phone calls?" He growled softly, looking forward.
Hyori raised a brow, looking up at him. "Is this why you stopped by the theater? To question why I've been ignoring you?" She couldn't control her smile.
"No," Kaiba shot out. "I'm overseeing the construction at the Kaiba Corp building here. When that's finally finished the park can open to the public," He explained as he stopped in front of Blue Eyes cafe and opened the door for her.
"Oh, I see," She stepped inside as Kaiba followed.
"You never answered me," He walked past her heading towards the back of the small space. The design of the cafe was very kitschy. It had narrow seating. There were tall tables lined up against the large windows with tall stools. Framed pictures of winners of past dueling tournaments hung over the booths. He sat against a wall one of the booths. He crossed his arms keeping his icy stare on her. Hyori kept quiet and sat down across from him.
"I had no desire to talk to you," She shrugged. "I'm sure if it was important enough you would've to reprimand me earlier," She crossed her leg, accidently brushing her it against his.
"I told you to start cutting out all these escapades. Once the park is opened I need you to manage things here. You can't be gallivanting all over the world with this Pop-Star nonsense," He scolded.
Hyori glared at him. "Charism Complex is an Entertainment industry . That's my priority first. We're doing you the favor by collaborating with you," Her voice became as stern as his.
"And part of your contract is to make sure Kaiba Land is operating smoothly. You're in charge of the entertainment and broadcasting here. How are we supposed to function if you're else where?"
"That's why our company have departments working together-"
"I don't like your crew. Your brother has no clue on how to run things," He crossed his leg as he paused taking notice of the waitress that had approached the table. She bowed to them. Hyori bit her tongue, not wanting to make a scene in front of the worker.
"Welcome, ! It's very nice to you see! Would you like a menu?" She asked sweetly.
"No, just two coffees," He said, looking at Hyori. "Have you eaten?" He gruffly asked.
"Just this morning," She answered nonchalantly.
"And bingsu," He quickly added. The waitress smiled big as she nodded, skipping away. Hyori was surprised that he had remembered her favorite treat. She let the comment about her brother slide.
"Coffee? Don't you think you should have gotten decaf?" She asked, resting her elbow on the table.
"No, I only had one this morning. Also, I don't like the dress." He said blandly as his eyes slowly scanned Hyori's outfit.
She made a face. "Why are you telling me? You're the one who picked the design."
"I know. And I don't like it. It's too short in the back and looks too similar to the waitress uniform," He leaned back a bit as the waitress set a small metal milk pitcher and large white coffee cups down. They had a cartoon Blue Eyes White Dragon on it that was curled around the big KL colored in red in the middle. She set down a wooden tray between them that had the large bowl of bingsu on it along with two spoons laying over a few napkins. The bingsu was, of course, Blue Eyes White Dragon themed. The shaved ice was covered in blue syrup. Blueberries and blue tapioca pearls laid on top with a large dollop of whipped cream finishing it.
"Enjoy!" She bowed once more.
Hyori gestured to the girl. "Excuse me, can you switch this cup to decaf please?" She took hold of Kaiba's cup and handed it to the waitress.
"Oh! Of course, I'm terribly sorry!" She smiled nervously and walked off.
Kaiba stared at Hyori unimpressed. "There was no need for that," He scowled.
"Well, you're complaining about how you want things running smoothly. If you drop dead from a heart-attack then how will anything be done?" Her words seeped sarcasm as she picked up the spoons and held one out for him.
He took the spoon, setting it aside on one of the napkins and crossed his arms again. "Tell Ji Hun to replace you from your silly idol training. Your priority should be here," He restated.
With a mouthful of binsu her eyes narrowed. "No, that's what he assigned me to. My brother does a damn good job at what he does. Do you think you're the only man who can successfully run a company?" She tucked the spoon in the shaved ice as she started to fix milk into her coffee.
"I think he's foolish for wasting his sister's talents on babysitting boy bands," He scoffed as the waitress coyly set the decaf down and quickly scurried away from the conversion.
"Do you hear yourself? If I told you that I think the tasks you give Mokuba are foolish you'd tell me I was out of line," She frowned deeply, wrapping both hands around her cup.
"Because you would be," He said matter a fact, sipping some of his decaf.
"Then what gives you the audacity to tell me that my brother doesn't make the right choices for our company? You produce technology entertainment and we produce theatrical entertainment. This is the reason why we're working in conjunction. Our silly idols are helping market your company. I'm assigned to your theme park but I also have other obligations. You have to understand that."
Kaiba listens to Hyori's words intently, still clearly unimpressed he waited for her to finish. "I'll speak to Ji Hun about releasing you from those other obligations. So you can focus on the task at hand here," He said coldly.
Hyori was Gobsmacked. "Didn't you pay attention anything I just said?"
"I did. It wasn't very interesting," He stated bluntly. "Whatever events or performances you're involved in are only to be here. You're not allowed to galavanting around the globe. It's unprofessional," He stated, taking another sip of coffee and stood.
Hyori opened her mouth before speaking. "What about my request I asked you at the beginning of the week?"
He flustered his brows together. "What request?" He grumbled.
She lowered her head staring at him unconvinced that he had forgotten. "You know what," She responded dryly.
He made eye-contact with her, a sharp gaze. "The request to attend that performance for your company's idol groups? Because it requires Kaiba Corp's attention you can go. As for myself. I have more important things to take care of-"
"We're sponsoring you!" She snapped. "Don't you at least have the common courtesy to show up for a few minutes?"
Kaiba's blue eyes dulled, lips stretching further into a frown. "Before you interrupt again. I've asked Mokuba to take my place. If you're so worried about not having a date," He spat sarcastically.
"You won't be missed. Don't flatter yourself, Seto," She emphasized his name, finally taking a sip of her coffee.
Hearing his name caused a smirked to creep onto his face. He turned his back to her as he picked up his ringing phone. "I'll call you later. Make sure you answer," He told her as he walked out.