I stared at the middle aged man in a black hat, dumbfounded. Hold on, I thought to myself. That can't be Appa YG...can it?! I tried sounding out words but nothing came out. What did he say? I had quite a voice? How did he know me? What the hell? Did Jiyong just eat my ice cream?! A swirl of questions and confusion infested my mind.
"Mindy..." Jiyong said.
"I-I can't..." I realized I had switched to English. "Sorry," I said in Korean. "It's just...I can't...Hold on...I..."
Taeyang hopped onto the tables and tapped the mic button. "Okay, take a deep breath and try again," he told me.
Seungri and TOP flashed me thumbs up in the background. I took and Taeyang's advice and tried again.
"Annyongseo, president. And thank you," I told Appa YG.
He replied, "Why don't you try another song?"
If I wasn't so freaked out, I would have laughed and ran out of the building screaming into the streets of Seoul. Instead, I froze. TOP turned to Appa YG and said something to him. Probably something along the lines of "She's going to pass out. I don't think you should push it." and "I want more ice cream."
A sudden thought entered my mind. This was a once in a lifetime chance; to sing in front of the president of YG Entertainments. THIS could lead to so many opportunities. I could even...preform with the members of Big Bang. And if I hesitated another moment, the opportunity would shatter into a million of pieces. I cleared my throat.
"I'll sing Haru Haru, if that's okay," I told him, confidently. Appa YG smiled at me and the members cheered politely for me. He gestured for that unknown dude at the mixing station to start the track for Haru Haru.
As I listen to Jiyong's voice in my ears, I took a deep breath and concentrated on the lyrics on the screen. And I sung with all my might and effort.
After the song ended, I reluctantly lifted my head to see their reactions. The members had reclined in the couch. Jiyong shook his head with his silly grin in disbelief. Seungri looked as if he was crying. The other members looked at each other without any words.
Appa YG tapped on the mic button and said, "Mindy, why don't you come out?"
With my trembling hands, I took off the headphones and exited the recording booth. When I entered the outside of the recording studio, my heart pounded unhealthily against my chest. Although the members stayed silent, they looked as if they couldn't hold in their excitement.
Appa YG gestured to the chair opposite of him at the table in the center. I sat down.
"I just have to say," Appa YG said, "that was one of the best performances I've ever witnessed in a long time for an amateur."
Beads of sweat from relief rolled down my neck. I looked over to the members and they all smiled at me. "Thank you," I shakily answered Appa YG.
He stood up from the chair and said, "I'm expecting to see you in Dancing Studio A tomorrow morning at 7."
He started for the door. Wait...WHAT?!
"Excuse me?" I asked to his back.
He turned around. "Don't you need your training?" Appa YG smirked. "Welcome to YG."
I turned to the smiling members in disbelief. I didn't hear right. I know it. Welcome to YG...?! What did that mean? What just happened? I lowered my head into my hands.
"What is this?!" I muttered.
At that very moment, I didn't care for the impression I made on the members. All that ran through my head was Appa YG's pitch voice.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up. "Are you okay?" Jiyong asked me. He couldn't keep in the grin.
"No!" I exclaimed. "How could this just happen?" He took the seat next to me as Daesung took the seat in front of me to escape from TOP. "Shouldn't there be a contract or something?" I asked the members.
"Usually," Daesung told me. I gestured to the bare table in front of me.
"Nothing here," I said.
"I think in this case, he's testing your ability to be an idol," TOP commented.
"Yeah, after a bit of training, I'm guessing he'll see if you're fit for YG," Taeyang answered.
"Reminds me of the time we debuted..." Daesung smiled at the ceiling, reminiscing.
"Okay, so if I am fit for YG, what do I do? I'm only staying in Korea for 2 weeks. And I have school!" I exclaimed, frustrated.
Jiyong laid a hand on mine. "Relax, I'm sure the president has a plan," Jiyong said.
I breathed. "Ottoke...I have that tour tomorrow too. I guess I have to cancel," I said.
"A tour?" Seungri asked.
"Of Seoul. I booked a tour and all to visit all the big places but since I have training I won't have time to go to any tours," I told them.
"Idea!" TOP yelled loudly, startling the members and me. "Why don't we-the members- give you an exclusive tour of Seoul ourselves?" he smiled brightly.
Daesung clapped excitedly. "Great idea, hyung! Great idea! We can be wearing disguises and everything."
Jiyong announced, "Why don't we start tonight? We should celebrate Mindy's entrance into YG training!"
"Would it disturb your work...?" I asked. "
Aish, Mindy, you worry too much," Seungri told me.
"We always have free time after dinner," Taeyang said. "And we'll make time for you."
I glanced at the five members around the room. A few minutes ago, they were a fantasy, only idols. Now, they were taking me on a tour of Seoul...I smiled at the members. "I think I'm the luckiest VIP of all time."
After we had planned out our meeting time and place, I bid them a farewell and rode the bus back the the Lee's apartment.
As I stepped into the hostel, Eun Mi looked up from her designer sketchbooks and smiled at me. "How did it go?" she asked.
So Young stopped playing with her dolls at the foot of her mother and stared at me. I waved to her then sat down on the couch.
"Aigoo, so much happened," I sighed. I told her all about my singing and Appa YG offering me training in YG.
When I finished, she stared at me awestruck. "That..." she trailed off. "Yes?" "That just happened?" she asked.
"Yeah, and I don't know how to work out everything. I'll have to cancel my tour and I don't know...I don't know what Appa YG has in store for me," I answered.
"You'll have to talk to your parents about this," she informed.
"Yeah, sure. I'll do it later. The Big Bang members are taking me out for dinner and a tour of Seoul tonight at 6:30," I told her.
She looked at the clock. "Well, you better get ready now."
I went to my room and pulled on normal street clothes, which were black skinny jeans, a white tank top, a navy cardigan, and high tops. I also split my hair into two ponytails. With my messenger bag, I told Eun Mi I would be back before 11 and left to the bus station.
When I reached the restaurant, the members were not present. I waited a few minutes then felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to face five grown men with fake mustaches pasted on their upper lips. Going along with the disguise were hoodies, jeans, and high tops. Because TOP and Jiyong couldn't stand the normalcy of the outfit, they both wore beanies. TOP added fake glasses though.
"You...call these disguises?" I laughed into my palm.
Daesung began stroking his fake-stache and said," I am not Kang Daesung anymore! I am...KIM TAE JANG!"
Seungri scratched his head under his hoodie's hood. "We had to detour a whole bunch because we kept stumbling upon VIPs who looked at us like they...knew," he said.
"You guys did all of this...for me?" I felt so grateful for such down to earth men.
"No, we did it for the food and to ditch work," Jiyong said.
TOP groaned, "Can we eat now?"
We stepped into the restaurant and chose a secluded booth. I ordered for the members while they hid behind their menus. We feasted on spicy tofu soup with kimchi and bulgogi. They even made me try the super spicy version of the soup that made me cry. Taeyang felt guilty so he let me have the rest of the spicy fish cake...which made it worse.
After finishing, we walked the streets of downtown Seoul to see to shops. When we passed an ice cream store, TOP wrapped his arm around my shoulders and told me, "Would you like some ice cream, Mindy? On me."
"Ah hyung," Jiyong said, "you're only doing this for yourself."
TOP scoffed sassily. "Mindy, here, is our special guest. I want to treat her like royalty, like a true VIP." The other members let out a sigh of frustration. I laughed.
"What is up with you and ice cream, oppa?" I asked TOP as I pulled the door open for the members to step in the bright store.
TOP and I stepped up to the counter to order while the members waited a table. As we ordered, the counter girl kept staring TOP suspiciously. Cautious to not get caught, he kept his head low as he pulled out his wallet.
Suddenly, she asked," Has anyone told you that you look a lot like TOP from Big Bang?"
I felt TOP tense up beside me.
He answered smoothly," Oh, I look up to him so I try to...resemble him."
The counter girl rolled her eyes and went to get our cones. TOP let out a breath of relief. "That was close," he whispered.
"Hey, it's your fault you wanted ice cream," I whispered back. TOP smirked at me.
After taking the ice cream, we went back to walking the streets of Seoul.
Suddenly, Seungri piped up, "I have an idea of where we should go!" An understanding passed between him and Taeyang.
"Ohh," Taeyang whispered.
"Let's go!" he exclaimed.
Seungri led us to a dimly lighted park with a bridge over an artificial, decorative river.
"Oh, out of all places, you would choose this," Daesung said. The rest of the members nodded, knowing something I didn't. They continue to walk and ended up under the bridge. We sat before the river lit with lights under the rapids on the concrete.
Something clicked in my mind. "Hey, this is where you guys hung out before debuting!" I exclaimed.
"Mhmm. With HyunSeung," TOP said, biting into his ice cream.
"You realize his last words came true?" I mentioned. The members looked at me, confused. I stared back at them. "In the Big Bang documentary, before showing Appa YG his preform and for a second chance he said, 'If I don't make it, I hope I'll meet them at the top.' He's in BEAST now right?" I told them.
"Ahh...That's pleasant to hear," Daesung said, glazing at the underside of the bridge.
"Seungri also got dropped at first," Taeyang said. Seungri, who sat next to me, nodded, staring at the running water. Taeyang laid a hand on his shoulder. "
Sitting here reminds me of those days...they were so long ago," Jiyong sighed.
I said, "Imagine Big Bang without Seungri oppa. I don't think it would be the same." I heard sniffling beside me and realized Seungri was tearing up.
TOP, also noticing this, piped up, "Seungri, ah. What's up?"
"Did I say something?" I asked him, guilty that I made him cry.
He shook his head slightly and took a breath. "I just realized that I wouldn't be the same if I've never been in Big Bang, if I've never taken that second chance. All of you hyungs have changed me, and I never realized it. And I am so thankful," he said.
I've never seen Seungri so sincere and emotional. It was like an entirely different image of him. The members rushed to his side.
"Honestly, maknae," Jiyong began, "We would have never been the same without each other."
"That's why VIPs were so scared you five will split when you all did solo activities," I told them.
TOP said as he finished his ice cream, "Big Bang is infinite. When we are thirty or even forty, we will always go back to these moments."
That was when I realized that Big Bang was more than an idol group. For the past few years, I stood motionless as a VIP, not being able to see the reality behind Big Bang. Other idol groups might be closer, might even have better looking men or more popular music, but Big Bang has something more of the definition of an idol group.
Looking upon the five members, all embracing Seungri who was complaining and struggling under their weight, my pride to be a VIP soared because truly, Big Bang is infinite.