Underlined = English
Underlined + Italicised = French
May 21st, 2017:
Our first interview was with Good Morning America and it took a few seconds to fit us all within the frame of the camera.
"Well, welcome to America," the interviewer said smiling their plastered smiles.
"Thank you," I say, bowing my head slightly.
"You guys haven't done this before, right? You haven't been to Billboard before?" he asked.
"No, this is our first time," I nod, "we're very excited".
"Yes, right guys?" Namjoon said looking at the boys intently which made them all cheer excitedly on cue.
"Ok, so how's the heat treating you so far?" he asked moving on quickly, "it's so hot out here".
"Yeah, it's hot," Namjoon exclaims.
"So hot," Taehyung backs him up.
"I'm sorry for all the people in suits right now," I chuckle.
"But thanks to this... this... what is it," Namjoon says, looking for the English word.
"The tent covering is definitely helping the guys," I step in to help him.
"Now, I've been learning a lot about you guys," the interviewer chuckles, "and I heard you guys are just social media monsters if you will. How do you do that? Cuz your social media following is just unbelievable".
Namjoon gives the tried and tested answer about how we've been using it since before our debut and that fans just really understand it and us so it just seems to work seamlessly for us.
"So, for American audiences, this is Good Morning America, the number one morning show in the US!" he says proudly, "tell the US something about you all, something that they don't know that they need to know".
Once again, Namjoon spoke before me and gave a basic rundown of the group and the tour we were on.
"If you give our music a chance, you won't regret it," I add, "I recommend you translate it, there's a lot more meaning behind it than you might initially think, or better yet listen to it with a Korean, they'll be able to give you even more context".
"Great... how old are you guys?" he asks, looking like this was a genuine question.
"19," Jungkook says in Korean after I had translated the question.
"He's 19," Namjoon points to Jungkook, "she is too actually".
"Wow, so young," the interviewer chuckles.
"He's the oldest at 24," I say grinning receiving a look from Seokjin as he shook his head.
"Still really young," the interviewer says impressed, "and, well, you two speak English, how about the rest? Were you a bit nervous about the English?"
"We're the only fluent speakers," I explain, "but they pick up more than they give off, I think. It's just confidence you know".
"Where are you from? I can't tell with the accent, it's different from his, right?" the interviewer asks getting a bit sidetracked.
"I'm from French Canada," I answer, "so this is my third language".
"Wow, that's so cool... well could you all try to say this," the interviewer questions, "Good Morning America!"
"Oh, yes of course," Namjoon nods, more to the group than him so they followed what he did. He starts the phrase, and we all follow happily.
"Great, thank you so much," the interviewer shakes our hands, "have fun in there".
"Thank you," I say as we all left for the next interview which was with Snapchat Live.
The Snapchat interview was quite short and pretty much the same as the first. We were then guided to the second photo op. Just before reaching it, I turned to talk to Sejin.
"Can I have water?" I ask.
"Yes," he says quickly, searching the bag he had with all the items we had given him like our phones, Jimin's bracelet that had broken, my band-aids, etc. He tried to unscrew it but with his hands already holding the bag and Yoongi's coffee, I just took it from him and did it myself to not have him drop anything and for it to go faster. It was then that I realized I was shaking slightly as I tried to pour water into my mouth without touching the rim since we were all sharing this bottle.
"You okay?" Sejin whispers right behind me noticing.
"Yeah, this is just a lot," I chuckle, knowing I was fine, this was just probably my body's adrenaline in this hectic environment.
I hurriedly stuff the water back in the bag and rush to join the boys who were already lining up.
"Do you mind going back to the middle?" our American publicist asked, intercepting me right before I reached the boys.
"Yeah, sure," I nod, going to stand next to Jungkook instead.
It seemed the boys were expecting this as they didn't question it. I felt weird being in the middle however. I was so used to my spot to the right in between Yoongi and Seokjin, this made me feel a bit out of place. We had purposefully chosen for me not to be in the middle when we debuted because I didn't want all the attention to be on me, the girl in the middle, all the time. My being in the middle also drew more attention to the fact I was a girl and when we debuted, I had been trying to be taken seriously as something other than just "the girl", so not being in the middle helped with that.
"To the right! To the right! Up here at the top! Over here!" the photographers once again shouted from everywhere. We posed various poses for a minute.
"Girlie up here!" one of them shouted loudly, and I took that as our cue to leave. The publicist was talking to someone on the wing, but I wasn't about to be called "girlie" again. I give Namjoon a look and he nods having picked up on it. The other members seemed to have noticed my change in demeanour and also made movements to leave.
"Can we just have the girl! Just the girl please!" a few shout expectantly.
The publicist had noticed our movement and gestured for us to follow him, ignoring the photographers. I was definitely not about to take solo shots, just being in the middle was discomfort enough. Having just one member pose alone went against everything we stood for and I wasn't about to do that.
"Come on, just the girl!" a couple kept pressing as we left, but to no avail.
"B*tch," I hear one of them mutter loudly as they put down their cameras waiting for the next celebrity.
"Thank you," I wave to all the photographers, making sure to make it clear that I spoke English, as I glared at the perpetrator of the swear word.
I had hung back slightly to do this and felt Yoongi's hand on my back trying to get me to keep walking.
"He's not worth it," he says barely whispering, right next to my ear so I was sure to be the only one to hear it.
We had been guided to an interview with ET! Canada and I moved past Jungkook and Seokjin to stand next to Namjoon in the front. The interviewer does the typical welcome and the boys do their excited cheering.
"Ok, your competition is pretty severe with like Justin Bieber and a whole bunch of other people, that's pretty crazy to be in the same category as them, right? How does it feel?" she starts off the interview.
"I mean, first off, it's such an honour," I say, recomposing myself from that altercation with the photographer, "you know, these artists are people we've been listening to and admiring since we were young and since we started out as BTS, so to be in the same category as them is kind of surreal. Like they're real superstars, yeah... it's just an honour".
"I'm looking at you guys, and you're very good-looking, are you ready to become North American heartthrobs?" she asks, making me chuckle slightly.
"Heartthrobs?" I hear Namjoon mutter confused, so I quickly translate for them all. It was cute seeing all the boys blush. Namjoon gestures for them to say or do something.
"Yeah!" Hoseok says excitedly from the wings and Seokjin does his lip-to-hand blow kiss making us all cringe, but the interviewer blush smiling.
"I'm sorry for him," I laugh while Namjoon had his head in his hands in embarrassment.
"No, I love it," she said happily, "and you," she says pointing to me, "you won't be short of suitors, I'm sure".
"Thank you," I bow my head, now my turn to blush.
"Um, so tonight we're very proud of Celine Dion," the interviewer composes herself once again, "she's a Canadian icon and she'll be performing My Heart Will Go On, are you a fan of that song?"
Namjoon grins looking at me.
"Yes, we're all huge fans," I say, not able to stop myself from smiling thinking of the days prior, "as a French Canadian myself she's always been an idol to me and I can't wait to see her perform live... he's a big fan too," I point to Taehyung who looked a bit confused before Namjoon quickly translates what was going on. His face lights up.
"Yeah, I love Celine Dion," he says proudly.
"She actually met her a couple of days ago," Namjoon reveals pointing to me, "she was really nice apparently".
"I didn't know you were Canadian, that's awesome," the interviewer says surprised.
"Yeah, we bonded over our Québec heritage," I nodded smiling politely, but a bit hesitant to speak on it more given I wasn't sure we were supposed to tell anyone.
"Well, I wish you guys the best of luck and hope to speak to you guys again," the interviewer ends the interview smiling.
We thank her and move on. We did a couple more interviews with news organisations like E! Insider and Access Hollywood. We now had one more to go with J-14 and Liam McEwan (A/N: IYKYK).
"So, this has kind of been your breakthrough into the States, how does it feel to be seeing all this love from the other side of the world?" he asks after the introductions.
"It's crazy, it's been really crazy," I smile, "to think that some fans have been out waiting from five am, I think? That's what we've been told at least. You know in this heat... it's... we're just honoured and so lucky to have great fans not only in Korea, but the US and other countries globally".
"I was gonna say, I've seen you guys all over social media, do you feel intimidated or scared before you post? Because so many people are going to see what you post, right?" he asks, looking at all the members as he spoke which was a first given most just gave all their attention to me and Namjoon.
"Sometimes," Namjoon answered while I translated since I felt I wasn't really the right member to answer as I was probably the one who posted the least and feared it the most.
"Well, we're just thankful," Jimin says in Korean.
"Yeah, we're just thankful to get all this love and attention," Namjoon reiterates.
"So, if this is your breakthrough, what is next for you guys? Coming back sometime soon?" Liam questions quickly since he had seen our American publicist telling him he had no time left.
"Of course," I state, "we did just finish our tour in the US about a month ago, but we love the States and we'll definitely be back soon".
"Oh, well, I'm excited to meet you guys again or go to a concert," Liam said happily, "thank you so much guys".
He bro-hugged all the boys and politely shook my hand.
"Ok, it's backstage now," our American publicist said, guiding us through the people and cameras.
Given how crowded it was, we were walking much slower which allowed for me to not have to rush in these shoes. They were still starting to hurt, however. I'd been standing in them for at least an hour and a half now and they'd never been worn before, so they were very stiff.
We get backstage and see several artists mingling, getting drinks, sitting down, and going to the washroom. It was a bit strange seeing celebrities, people we idolized, acting so normally with their guards down. I asked Sejin for some band-aids and sat down in the first unoccupied seat to tape up my foot. Jimin, Jungkook, and Seokjin all went to the bathroom.
"Oh my god, that's Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne," Hoseok muttered looking across the room.
"Guys, hey! It's good to see you again!" Alex and Andrew from The Chainsmokers said going up to the boys and bro-hugging them.
Apparently, they had met at the hotel while I had been with Celine Dion.
"And you must be Y/N," Alex turns to me smiling, his hand out.
I quickly shove my foot back in the heel and stand to shake his hand.
"It's great to meet you," I say putting a smile on my face.
"Gosh, you're even prettier in person," he said, looking at me up and down.
"Oh, um, thank you," I say, taken aback a bit, thinking that was a very forward thing to say to someone you had literally just met, the first sentence you ever told them.
"Hi, I'm Andrew," the other says, looking from Namjoon to me. We shake hands as well.
"Nice to meet you, Y/N," I repeat, now more on my guard.
"We can't wait to see you guys perform tonight," Namjoon takes the attention away from me.
They talk for another minute or so and I sit back down to finally put on the Band-Aids Sejin had given me. I had finished with my right foot when someone else came up to us.
"Hi, I've been so excited to meet you guys," I recognised a female voice but couldn't quite put my finger on it.
I hurriedly go to put the Band-Aid I was about to peel down so I could stand back up when she speaks.
"Oh my gosh, no, don't stop, I get it girl," she said, placing her hand on my arm.
I finally look up to see Halsey smiling at me in an absolutely killer outfit.
"Thanks," I blush, letting out a relieved breath, "much appreciated," I chuckle.
"No worries, we've all been there," she chuckles, "I'm Halsey".
"Y/N," I smile as I place a Band-Aid around my pinky toe, "it's such an honour to meet you. I'm sorry it has to be like this... I am a fan, I promise".
"It makes it even more memorable," she shrugged off my apology laughing, "well I'm a fan too. I've been listening to your music lately... well... I mean who hasn't," she laughs, "and I love it. Like the wordplays, how you guys work off of each other, it's brilliant. Spring Day is such a masterpiece. I've been listening to it on repeat".
"Oh, wow, you know Spring Day," Namjoon says surprised, "thank you".
"Of course, your music is hella good," she says as if it was obvious, "I feel like I don't need to know Korean to get it. I think that's genius in itself. The emotions and messaging you guys give off without using your lyrics..." she looks around her checking for anyone, "that's something more than half of this room couldn't do".
"Oh, no, we're not..." Namjoon says humbly, taken off guard by how knowledgeable she was and the diss at the other celebrities in the room.
"If we're being honest," I say, standing now having put on the last Band-Aid, thinking I was saying what Namjoon was thinking, "I think we're all a little stunned you've actually listened to any of our songs," I chuckle, "it's a bit of a surprise, but we're so thankful you have".
She was about to respond, but Jungkook, Jimin, and Seokjin had all come back from the washroom, and she excitedly introduced herself to them.
"Oh, looks like I'm being called," she said, turning to look at someone across the room, "it was so great meeting you all, let's exchange numbers before the awards end okay!"
"Yes, we would love that," Namjoon nods smiling and shaking her hand one last time before she left.
"Wow, that was so cool," I say when she had left. Namjoon and I quickly filled the boys in on what had just happened.
We were in this open space for another twenty minutes and during this time we were approached by Camilla Cabello, Julia Michaels, and Bruno Mars. Yoongi met Desiigner in the bathroom. I always found it a little funny when people came up to us because it was obvious they knew nothing about us as a group other than that we were blowing up on social media and had a big fanbase. Like, don't get me wrong, I was happy just to be here, but you'd have thought they might have looked up our most recent songs or memorised at least one of our names. Halsey so far seemed to be the only one to have shown any real interest in us as artists rather than viral sensations.
"Y/N!" I heard a familiar voice and accent say happily from behind me when I left the women's washroom.
I turn and see Celine Dion walking up to me, arms outstretched to hug me. We hug quickly.
"It's great to see you again so soon," she smiles, "you know, if we had more time, I would have asked you to sing with me tonight. I'm still thinking about you on that stage. You need a stage to truly show off that voice of yours".
"Oh, no, I couldn't have," I say blushing, "this is your night, but it would be an honour to perform with you in the future.".
I see Taehyung staring at us wide-eyed, looking very excited, from behind her.
"Do you want to come meet my band members?" I ask, grinning, knowing how happy Taehyung was going to be.
"Oh, uh, yes of course," she smiles, "it's going to have to be quick though, I have to go change my makeup soon".
She follows me to the corner the boys were all standing and/or sitting. I went to introduce her, but I wasn't sure what to call her now. Was I formal with Mrs. Dion, or Ms. Dion, or go informal wiht Celine?
"Ms. Dion," I say, settling on formal as I'd rather get reprimanded for being too polite rather than rude, "these are my band members. Jungkook, J-Hope, Jin, Suga, Rap Monster, V, and Jimin".
I gestured to each member as I said their names and she shook all their hands in turn.
"Y/N, call me Celine," she said patting my shoulder, "it's lovely to meet you all. You're lucky to have Y/N in your group, I might steal her one day".
"Oh, we're very lucky," Namjoon agrees making go pink.
"Celine, V here is a very big fan of yours, I think he's just at a bit of a loss for words right now," I chuckle, trying to get him to say something as Namjoon nudged him.
"It's an honour to meet you, I'm big fan," he finally speaks up beaming, "I love Encore Un Soir".
"Oh, thank you," she said, a bit taken aback he knew the song, "I'm glad it's crossed the language barrier and you can appreciate it".
Taehyung just nods his head smiling shyly.
"Well, I have to go, but it was great meeting you all," she says, "Y/N, I'll be in touch".
She waves to us all and goes off with her team.
"Ok, guys, it's time for you to go sit down," the American publicist says, gesturing for us to follow the Billboard staff member.
We all stand up and take a final sip of our drinks.
"Be warned, it's very loud in there," the publicist smiles just as we're about to enter.
Author's Note:
I know this is not how they met some of the artists, but I took some of my own artistic liberties lol. Hopefully, it's still realistic for you guys.
Also, I've been thinking about the development of this story (one to two years forward) and I was just wondering who you guys were thinking about for Y/N's endgame. Is it a Korean? A foreigner? A celebrity singer, actor, influencer? Just some normal dude? Just trying to gage the mood, and maybe add some fun little plot points lol :) (doesn't have to be someone/type of person she's been with or met yet)
~3230 words~