Next day, I drove the girls to their individual schedules early in the morning. I had to rush a bit because I had that big meeting with Jaebum sunbae.
The main agenda was to report on the progress for the TT World Tour.
All of us were there: Jaebum sunbae, Jaekwon sunbae, Woongyoung sunbae, Jenny sunbae, Shinki, Kwangjeong, and even Leejun, Sangwon, Nikki, and Soojung were present as well.
But still, I did most of the talking, referring to Jenny sunbae and Woongyoung sunbae once or twice for some details.
presented for fifteen minutes, answering a couple of questions, inquiries, and clarifications from Jaebum sunbae and a couple of executives whom I didn't personally know.
I was honestly nervous all throughout the presentation, but I made it thought.
"Seems like everything is in order," one of the executives observed, "Good job, Y/N. I think from this point on it's going to be smooth sailing."
"I concur," another one said, "I'm going to report this to Kim Youngmin later today. I think you've put all their worries at rest. Good job, Y/N."
"Thank you, sirs. I'm assuring you that we'll do our very best for this one." I bowed, before returning to my seat.
"Yes, I'm sure you will," Jaebum sunbae replied, "Especially since we got a proposal from Taiwan to hold a stop at Taipei Super Dome. I want you to look at it as soon as possible."
"We will," Woongyoung sunbae replied, holding up a folder, "We've already taken the initiative to review what the organizers are proposing."
"Good," the first executive said, "Now if you will excuse us, we need to report to Kim Youngmin in ten minutes."
The two executives took their leave, prompting Jaebum sunbae to go ahead with the next item on the agenda.
"As I've told you last week, I'm going to add a new member to your management team," he said, nodding to his secretary to usher the new manager in, "She's going to help you with the marketing and promotion part for the TT World Tour."
The next few seconds flipped my world upside down.
Great.
I couldn't even react right away, but my heart sank when I saw the person that Jaebum sunbae's secretary escorted to the meeting room.
"This is Ciara," Jaebum sunbae said, "She's an expert in marketing and promotions, having some years of experience in the industry as a product manager and in the academia teaching global marketing."
I was frozen in place for a few seconds as the other managers applauded her arrival.
"Hello everyone," Ciara bowed, "My name is Ciara Xiah, and I am looking forward to working with you with managing Twice. I will contribute as much as I can to the team and make Twice an even bigger success in the future."
The rest of the management team went to her and shook her hand, giving her their well wishes. Kwangjeaong and Shinki even joked to her that I was a hard boss to please.
Swallowing hard, I pretended that everything was alright.
I regained my composure and walked up to her to shake her hand, "Welcome to the team, Ciara. I hope that you are prepared to take on the challenges of managing the girls."
"Oh, don't worry about that, Ciara," Jaebum sunbae said, "Y/N here is very protective and caring about the girls. I'm sure that you will do just fine."
"We can spend some time together to learn," Nikki added, "Y/N sunbae is very particular when it come to managing the girls."
"Yeah, in fact, all of them love Y/N sunbae so much, it puts pressure on the rest of us to also perform well," Soojoung added, "But it's okay. It's basically our job to make the girls' work as smooth as possible."
All this time my heart froze. What the heck was Ciara Xiah doing here?
After another hour of going over the details of both the Seoul concert and the Taiwan concert, Jaebum sunbae concluded the meeting.
"Hey Y/N!" he said to me as we were all leaving the meeting room, "I trust that you would take care of Ciara and direct her to all the things she needed to do."
I nodded, "I will, Boss." What else was I supposed to say about that, anyway?
I spied Ciara talking to Jenny sunbae and Woongyoung sunbae, silently thanking Divine Providence that I was spared of talking to her right away, I scurried back to my office, going straight to my computer and browsing through my emails.
A few minutes later, Kwangjeong and Shinki stopped by, dropping the question I was hoping to avoid.
"Okay Y/N, what's up?" Shinki asked.
I sighed.
I couldn't decide right there and then if I should tell them or not.
I was totally shocked to see Ciara that my brain couldn't really process all of it. In all honesty, never in my wildest dreams or imagination that I would see her here.
Oh darn it.
"What about?" I asked, pretending to be innocent and professional about it, hoping that they'll buy it.
"About Ciara," Shinki replied, "It's like you've seen a ghost."
My brain scrambled for answers, "Oh... yeah... well, you see, I know Ciara personally. I just didn't expect that she'll come here to Seoul and be a part of our team."
"Oh really?" Kwangjeong said, "Well that's serendipitous. At least you can tell us how she ticks so that we can get her up to speed more quickly."
"Well, if you put it that way, yeah..." I replied.
Kwangjeong and Shinki then left for work. Since I was stuck in the office, it fell on them to do the rounds on the girls' individual schedules.
I would of course do my own rounds later in the afternoon.
I did my best to get back to work, concentrating first at replying to emails and cleaning out my inbox.
The Taiwanese proposal looked very promising, but I decided to have a few discussions before this gets approved.
But, once again, I was asking myself, what the heck is Ciara doing here? I silently cursed my fate and my current situation.
After a couple of hours, Woongyoung sunbae and Jenny sunbae approached me.
"Ciara is a good addition to the team," Jenny sunbae said, "She's quick on her feet, and that's the kind of manager that we want for Twice."
"Yes, I concur," Woongyoung sunbae agreed, "She brings a lot of good questions. Very insightful. It'll do us a whole lot of good if you can use her skills to the fullest."
We spent twenty minutes discussing Ciara's questions.
Surprisngly, I was able to answer all of them, but that gave me shudders down my spine.
Cripes, it seems like this is getting too much for me. After that discussion, I excused myself, heading towards the restroom. That was a huge pipebomb on me.
Oh man, just when I thought my life has turned for the better, and now this monkeywrench named Ciara bites me in the...
Crap.
+++
I splashed cold water on my face, clearing my head.
I cursed under my breath, wondering what was going on.
"She was the reason why I left home," I thought, recalling that time which became one of the lowest points in my life, "Pursuing her almost made me cross that professional line that I should never cross that could have ended my career right there and then, and her chances of a bright future. And now she's here. Crap."
That thought was actually a bit ironic, given my current situation and relationship with all nine members of Twice.
Whatever.
I wondered if this was some kind of joke that Divine Providence was throwing at me right now. If it was, then it's one helluva joke.
Seriously. As I strode out of the restroom, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.
"Oh, Y/N, I have a thing I need to ask you," It was Jenny sunbae."What's up?"
"I was just giving Ciara here a brief rundown of what we do here as far as managing Twice is concerned," she said, "I also suggested that she meet the girls themselves later this evening during their rehearsals so that we can both introduce her to them, if that's okay with you."
My mind went into overdrive for a few seconds, going through the girls' schedules for the day, "Okay, sure, why not?" I tried to stay calm, "Woongyoung sunbae, Jaekwon sunbae, Leejun, Shinki, and Kwangjeong should be driving them there at six later tonight."
"Great," Jenny sunbae replied, "I'm taking Ciara along with Soojung to meet some suppliers for some last minute details. They've been very picky with the merchandise that we want."
"I thought that was already a done deal, what's the holdup?" I asked.
"I don't know," she said, "But don't worry, I'll sort it out."
"Good, thank you, sunbae," I got back to my desk, "I'll be leaving soon with Sangwon and Nikki to meet with the recording team for the DVD production. I'll be back in the office by four and then we'll just meet in the lobby at five."
"Sounds like a plan," she replied, "Later then, Y/N."
I switched off my phone, tossing it next to my computer.
I picked up the folder containing the proposal for the Taiwan stop, browsing through it again.
Man, we haven't even started with the Seoul stop and I've already got Taiwan on my lap.
And just then, Jaebum sunbae walked by my desk, handing me a couple more folders, "This just came in: Proposals for Jakarta and Singapore for the TT World Tour."
My mind froze, "Really? That's pretty quick." That came out almost automatically.
"Yeah, it seems like we're on a roll here. I've also received a couple of calls for Hong Kong and Bangkok," he mused, "Seems like we're in for a busy year."
"At least it also keeps the girls busy," I replied, nodding,
"And in international audiences as well, which is what we want, right?"
"Now you're getting it, Y/N," he patted me in the back, "I knew I made the right choice putting you in charge of Twice."
"Thank you, sunbae," I sheepishly shrugged, "I'll get on it."
The thing about recording the concert for the purposes of releasing the DVD version is that you really had to be obsessive-compulsive about it.
I had to make sure that we would get as much good and workable material as possible.
In fact, I realized that much when we were in Saitama for the 2nd Japan Tour since there was going to be broadcast as well as a DVD production of it as well (which reminded me that I had to fly to Japan in a couple of days to see what was going on with that as well, aish).
"You okay, Y/N sunbae?" Nikki asked as we walked back to the office, "You were pretty tense back there?"
"I'm fine, Nikki," I replied, exhaling long and hard, "It's been a long day so far, and we're still not done yet," I then turned to Sangwon, "What's the update on the girls now?"
"Sana and Dahyun just finished their first photoshoot and are now on their way to their second one," he began reporting, "Nayeon is still recording for the SBS Midnight Entertainment. Jeongyeon, Momo, Jihyo, and Chaeyoung are still in their respective photoshoots. Mina in her script reading session and Tzuyu still in the middle of her CF filming. From the looks of things, they are all still on schedule."
"Great," I nodded as we got on the elevator heading to our floor, "Thank you, Sangwon. We still have some time before we need to go to the Seoul Olympic Arena for tonight's rehearsals," I then turned to them, "I need your help going over some documents regarding the Taipei stop."
"Okay sunbae," Nikki and Sangwon both nodded.
These two, along with Soojung and Leejun, have learned a lot and have grown fairly quickly.
I decided right there and then to start giving them more responsibilities as well.
We spent the next three hours going over the proposals of not just Taipei, but also Jakarta and Singapore, taking notes documenting further questions, clarifications, and issues.
I rubbed my face with my hands, "I'll need to have Jenny sunbae and Ciara look over these as well and see if they have other ideas.
I want to have all the issues written down first before we can all deliberate on all of these."
We got there twenty minutes later.
As usual, I got some meals prepared for the girls, carrying them in two large coolers."Y/N here is very protective and very caring towards the girls," Jenny sunbae teasingly said as we reached the backstage, "I think he's in love with all of them, one way or another,"
And then continuing in a louder voice, "Now aren't you the playboy, dealing with nine girls all at the same time?"
"We heard that, Jenny Unnie!" Jihyo and Sana came running towards us, and then promptly stopped when they noticed Ciara.
"Oh, you must be our new Manager Unnie," Jihyo politely said, "Annyeonghaseyo," and bowed to her.
"Ciara, meet Jihyo and Sana," Jenny sunbae made the introductions as I saw Dahyun and Tzuyu walk towards as well.
I gave Dahyun a quick smile, discreetly mouthing the words, "Hey Babe."Dahyun silently responded back, "Hey Honey," as we got closer.
She and Tzuyu then turned to Jenny sunbae and Ciara, introducing themselves as well.
We reached the rest of the girls, who were taking a break, chatting with the choreographers and the managers.
Like clockwork, the managers unpacked and distributed the food we brought, much to the delight of the girls, as usual.
Introductions were exchanged between Ciara and Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Mina, and Chaeyoung while they ate.
It was then that I just realized that Ciara is just months younger than the oldest members.
"Chincha?" I suddenly heard Nayeon surprised exclamation, "I'm older than you?"
I noticed an amused smirk on the faces of the younger members.
"Just by months," Ciara politely replied.
"I think that's the first time we had a manager who's at the same age range as ours," Jeongyeon said, "Oh this is going to be fun."
"Yeah, even Nikki Unnie and Soojung Unnie are older than Nayeon Unnie," Sana added, and then turned to the two junior managers with an apologetic look, "Mianhe, Unnie."
Because of the age similarities, the girls quickly became close to Ciara, making me cringe a bit.
Slowly and surely this is getting more and more awkward for me, but the thing is, this is on a personal level and not on a professional one. Ugh, sometimes I just hate being objective.
The girls went back to their rehearsals as soon as they were done eating.
They went on for another four and half hours, practicing over and over again, before I got to drive them home.This went on pretty much for the next couple of days.
Ciara was getting more and more acquainted with the ropes of being a manager, and was quickly getting closer with the girls as well.
I'm honestly surprised that her Korean was decent, since she and I came from the same country.
And then, on the day before I was flying to Japan for the meeting with UMJ on the 2nd Japan Tour DVD, Jaebum sunbae dropped the bomb on me.
"Ciara's going to accompany you to Tokyo tomorrow," he said, handing me her passport with her VISA, "I figured she needs to get exposed as well to the girls' Japanese activities."
"Is she in a fast-track program or something?" That came out almost automatically. I was honestly quite surprised. Good thing I kept my tone down.
"In a manner of speaking, yes she is," he nodded, "Your team's pretty much stretched out at this point, and so is everybody else. I don't want to waste any time training a rookie the ropes when she can learn on the fly. And you have a good rep in being a mentor. I heard that your four junior managers are singing you praises."He did have a point though.
My heart sank a little bit.
+++
That night, Dahyun and I had some alone time together, our first in weeks.
I made dinner back in my place, but that was about it since I needed to wake up super early tomorrow to fetch Ciara and catch our flight.
"Ciara's a really nice person," she said as we cuddled in the sofa, enjoying some soft background music, "She's so friendly, not to mention pretty too."
I kissed her forehead, sniffing the shampoo scent on her hair, "Yeah she is, but you're friendlier and prettier by miles."
"That's a biased answer, Oppa," she chuckled, "But I like it," and then squeezed my hand.
We then shared a deep, passionate kiss, feeling her love pour out and wash me over, reminding me of how much I loved Dahyun.
But deep inside, I was troubled. I never really expected Ciara to show up again.
"I'm going to miss you for the next couple of days, Babe," I whispered, her hair.
She smiled, flashing me an eyesmile that always dropped me dead, "You're so cheesy, Honey, but I'm gonna miss you too."
After a few more minutes of cheesiness, I brought Dahyun back to their dorm.
"Have a safe flight, Oppa," she said, kissing me one more time, before jokingly adding, "Take care of Ciara, but don't cheat on me, okay?" Aish, if only she knew. Should I tell her?
"And have the wrath of Dubu brought down upon me?" I feigned fear, "Not in a million years."
As I got back to my room and packed, I shuddered at the thought of being alone with Ciara.
I was actually frustrated and afraid as to how am I going to act. I just didn't trust myself that I won't do anything stupid.
Just as I thought I can leave everything behind and start a new life as Twice's manager, which is my dream job, and more importantly being Dahyun's boyfriend, my past comes back and bites me in the once again.It's as if me being an Assassin wasn't enough already.
Oh yeah, that reminded me. I needed to pack at least my hidden blades just in case. I finally found a way to smuggle those past airport security.