Author's Note: So this story has been running through my head for the last few days. I wrote it along the same time I was writing my last one on the BoF series. It just came out of nowhere, but I had to write it down.
This one is a semi-sequel. It has some of the characters from the last story, Becoming Warrior, but they aren't obvious in this story so it can't be considered a sequel.
(&(&(&(&(&(&(&(&(&(&(&*
"So after our recording we're going to dinner with President Ahn and Hwang Tae Kyung."
The three of the four twenty-somethings in the car crooned at the name Hwang Tae Kyung. The guitarist/vocalist had technically been the founder of their group, but President Ahn had had to sign off on the project.
A.N. Jell was the top selling group of A.N. Entertainment, followed in a close second by Warrior. Both groups were great friends and had collaborated to create two new groups. After several months, the competition for the new groups had started and it had been ugly.
It had been a tough road for everyone. Many girls and guys had left auditions crying. They had been required to sing, dance, rap and play at least one instrument. Song writing and production was encouraged but not added to the final score.
After a month of auditions, the eleven people chosen for the new groups had been posted. Four girls had comprised the group Black Widow and seven guys had been put into BlackJack.
The first member to be chosen for the girl group had been Hwan Do Hyun. Naturally she had become the leader, main vocal and visual. She was also the shortest member but she was fierce yet nice. She bossed her members around but they all knew she loved them no matter what she said.
The second and third members were Seo Eun Ji and Rachel Jung. Both were Korean born but had grown up in the United States on separate coasts. Eun Ji had been raised in New York City while Rachel had grown up in Seattle. She had gone to school with former 2PM member Jay Park when they had been kids before the man had left for Korea. Though he was six years older than her, they had still somewhat associated with each other. Both girls had come to South Korea to train under A.N. Jell to become actresses and singers.
The youngest, or maknae, was Kim Kai Ri, or Kai. She had been born in Japan to a Japanese mother and a Korean father who was working overseas for a big name company. When her parents had divorced when she was two, she had moved to South Korea with her dad and had leaned Korean. She was the group's best Japanese speaker since she was a native speaker.
All the members had been brought into the company by scouts, but it was Hwang Tae Kyung who had brought in Kai. He had heard all he auditions at the company and had gone to the park for some relaxation. He had been sitting on a bench when he had heard this soulful voice. He had rounded the corner and had found a teenage girl sitting by a tree reaching for an animal. She had picked it up and had cuddled it, not caring about her school uniform.
When her song had ended, he had cautiously walked up to her. His initial thought had been that she would freak out because he was Hwang Tae Kyung, but she had listened to him and had gone back to the company with him.
After she had signed the contract some weeks later, he had taken her under his wing and had trained her. That had led her to being bullied for special treatment. Everyone had been jealous that the star of A.N. Entertainment was showing favoritism. The only three who hadn't done anything and had eventually befriended her were Do Hyun, Eun Ji and Rachel. Then they had been grouped together right after that.
That had been a match made in heaven. No sooner had Black Widow debuted than their mini album shot to Number One on the rookie chart and Number Seven on Gaon. They had beaten BlackJack by three places. Their second single had even beaten out 4Minute and SNSD.
Now they were working on a full length album. All of them had had a hand in writing lyrics and composing. In fact all the slow songs had been composed by Kai on a piano. They had three more weeks before the album was finalized and all promotion materials were out.
There was a bunch of lively chatter as the car headed towards its destination. Everyone enjoyed eating with Tae Kyung and President Ahn. They were generally so lively with certain compliments.
The car pulled up to the restaurant with fanfare. Everybody wanted a glimpse of the rookies in regular clothes. The ladies were easy going as they signed autographs and took pictures. After a few minutes they were able to go inside.
They rounded the corner and Kai stopped. It wasn't just President Ahn and Hwang Tae Kyung. It was BlackJack and their manager Kim Tae Hyun. The three other girls stopped and looked back at her. When they had been trainees, Kai had had a relationship with one of the BlackJack members for nearly a year. When they had debuted, they had broken up and had found it hard to be friends.
Now he was sitting at the table where she was expected to sit.
"Kai, sit by me."
She looked up as Tae Kyung patted the seat next to him. Eun Ji grabbed her arm and shoved her forward. If Kai sat next to Tae Kyung, Eun Ji would sit next to her. That would put her in front of San Cheong who she was dating.
In the end, the three older members pushed their maknae towards their founders. Kai glared at them before she sat down. She was all too aware of the stares she was getting from her right side.
Tae Kyung, with full knowledge, made it worse. He leaned over and pointed at something on the menu. "Would you like to share that with me? I had a huge breakfast so I'm still kind of full. It looks good but I don't want to waste half of it."
Kai looked it over then shook her head. "it has olives."
"We can take them out. It can just be an alfredo without olives. Who puts olives in alfredo anyway?"
Rachel raised her hand. "I do."
Eun Ji nudged her friend. "This is why no one asks you anything."
Rachel smiled cheekily as everyone chuckled. Kai watched closely as everyone talked things over. Completely uncomfortable, she sat with her hands in her lap as everyone talked around her.
Kai propped her chin up on her fist and settled into silence. She ignored the majority of the conversations going on around her since she was already used to the nonsense that surrounded her members.
"Kai-ah."
She looked up into the face of the person whose voice she recognized well. Eddy Kim looked at her expectantly. He had switched seats with one of his members and looked at her like nothing had happened between the two of them. It was like they hadn't dated for nearly a year; like he hadn't called off their relationship seven months ago. Kai still found it hard to talk to him as easily as she once had.
"What are you doing after lunch?" he asked.
"Going back to the studio. I have some work I need to finish." She found it hard to get the words out.
He frowned a little. "Oh. My mom is in town and she wanted to see you."
Unlike most companies, A.N. Entertainment hadn't had a dating policy. In fact they had encouraged them to form deep relationships they could rely on. They had known from the very beginning that Kai and Eddy had been dating while trainees and had warned them of what could happen after debut.
There had been a weekend about six months ago when Eddy's family had come from the U.S. to visit. He had shown off his members, his sister group and his girlfriend to them with a huge grin on his handsome face. His mother had asked Kai to take care of her son while he was in Korea.
Kai had tried her best but in the end it couldn't save the relationship. After five years of flirting and nearly a year of dating, a fight had ended it all. Eddy had been driving them back from the company to the dorm when he had confessed that on a quick visit home, he had met up with his ex and had essentially cheated. Kai wasn't a jealous person but she was loyal, and that betrayal had cut deep.
Instead of talking about it and trying to sort it out, she hadn't said a word; opting to look out the window. Eddy had tried his best to get her to talk but she had remained silent the entire time.
He had finally cornered her inside the entryway to her dorm. He had demanded she talk to him. She hadn't yelled but her words had been harsher in her quiet tone than they probably would have been if she had yelled. She had deliberately targeted him which had in turn made him fire back just as nastily.
Eun Ji had broken it up after everything had been said and done. Everyone was already raw and hurting. Externally Kai had been stoic but internally she had been a mess. Eddy had been just the opposite. His cheeks had been flushed with color and his eyes moist.
"Let's end this," he had said. He hadn't even given her time to answer before he had left.
Kai hadn't said anything to anyone, even her members. She had used composing to separate her feelings. Somehow along the way, her somg "The Way" had been given yp BlackJack for their debut mini album. Fortunately Tae Kyung had put his name on the song so she woldnt be given away.
The song had gone viral and Kai had been cast the girlfriend of for the music video. was the oldest member of BlackJack and a really nice guy, but he hadn't known what had happened. Without, knowing, he had played his part well. They had made everyone on set that they were an actual couple in trouble.
Now looking back on the crazy seven months that had been their lives, Kai was surprised she could even sit across from him.
"Did you tell her?" she asked. "Did you tell her what had happened months ago?"
He nodded solemnly. "She nearly knocked my head off."
His mother was no joke. She was an even five foot tall with a big personality. It was no surprise she had threatened him.
He tilted his head. "What do you say?"
"I'm working on a song, Eddy. I'm going to finish it by some time tonight. I don't have time to meet your mom. Give her my regards," she said.
Kai turned her attention elsewhere to avoid him. Her heart ached and she fought the knot that formed in her throat.
She shared her meal with Tae Kyung and floated in and out of conversations. She only spoke when spoken to and kept her responses short.
Somewhere in the middle of the ongoing meal, she had a surge of inspiration. She didn't have a pen so she looked at Tae Kyung. Surprisingly he had one hooked to his collar. She grabbed it without asking and began to scribble on a napkin.
Tae Kyung leaned over and read over her shoulder. "Does that match the tempo?"
"Drag out the syllable here and it will match. Sing these two here together and the rhythm changes," she explained.
"What about here?"
"It changes from here to here." She quickly drew out the music score and circled the change. "Here's the crescendo."
"You'll have to play it for me when we get back."
President Ahn clapped his hands and laughed. "You two work really well together. It's no wonder Kai's song was a big hit for BlackJack."
frowned. "What do you mean?"
"You didn't tell them?" the boss asked the woman. All the women stopped what they were doing and tensed up. Kai never said a word. "Well, Kai wrote "The Way" that came out on your mini album. It's the reason I asked her to be the main female lead."
Briefly Kai met Eddy's gaze before looking away. Until now she hadn't told anyone what emotions had gone into that song. Now as they thought about it, the story obviously fit the story.
Muttering and excuse, Kai stood and left the table. Do Hyun hopped up from the end of the table and followed her. She didn't say anything as they left the restaurant. Even the fans didn't faze them as they walked down the street.
Do Hyun didn't say anything as they walked. She and Kai had been roommates since the beginning so she had been the one the maknae talked to the most. She knew every inner workings of the former relationship.
"I knew you had been working on a song but I didn't know that had been the one," she said finally.
"I didn't know it was going to BlackJack. I would have held on to it a little longer so they couldn't have used it,' Kai answered.
"Was it easier being main leads opposite Oppa?"
"It was better than being paired with Eddy, but it was still hard."
"If he asked, would you get back with him?"
Kai thought long and hard about it then shook her head. "No. It was way too painful."
"You may have to write more songs for them. Can you handle that?"
"I'll have to."
Do Hyun watched her friend and wondered if she really could. Kai wasn't the type to be swayed into something, but no one was dumb enough to deny the chemistry that sizzled between her and Eddy. It was hard to ignore things like that, but if she wanted to do it for the time being, she would let her.
