"Call Jiyong," Appa YG said, handing me his phone.
My hand shook as I tapped on Jiyong's contact number and placed the phone to my ear. Could this really prove my innocence? Jiyong answered after the third ring.
"Jiyong oppa!" I exclaimed when he picked up.
"Oh, Mindy," he answered, surprised. "Why...are you calling on the president's phone?"
"It's urgent. Are you in the YG building right now?" I asked.
"No...I'm picking up a new scarf from Hermés. What's the matter," he replied.
I rolled my eyes. Of course, he would be shopping. "Well, I think we found evidence to my innocence!" I said.
I heard yelling in the background. Jiyong's voice returned to my ear. "I'll be right there."
Ten minutes later, Jiyong burst into Appa YG's room, holding three shopping bags and a Starbucks cup. "
Let me see it," he instantly said, depositing the bags onto my lap and the cup onto the table. Appa YG handed him my phone. "I never sent this," Jiyong said, bewildered.
Appa YG replied, "Let me see your phone."
Jiyong slipped his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Appa YG. After 30 seconds of scrolling through Jiyong and my messages, Appa YG's eyebrows scrunched up in frustration. "It should be here..." he muttered.
Jiyong took the phone from Appa YG's fingers. "I told you, didn't I?"
"Well..." I said, "you can delete messages."
Jiyong and Appa YG looked at me as if I was mad. Jiyong shook his head in disbelief. "Are you saying I framed you? Oh my goodness, Mindy. Why would I ever do that?"
My eyes widened and I held up my hands in defense. "No! Oh my God, no. I'm not saying you framed me. I'm saying...someone else might have framed me," I protested.
Jiyong sat down next to me. "Well, I didn't have my phone when I supposedly sent that text."
"Who had it?" Appa YG asked.
"One of the staff members," Jiyong said. He picked up his coffee cup. "All of the other members left their phone with the staff too. It wouldn't be good if it went off during the press conference."
"Then...would it be one of the staffs...?" Appa YG stammered.
"That's absolutely absurd! We're all family."
"I know. It doesn't add up," Jiyong answered.
I sighed. "It doesn't matter. We'll just with the media saying it's a scratched out case."
"It doesn't solve anything," Jiyong told me.
I shrugged. "What can we do? The rings are where they belong. Who's hurt?"
Appa YG shook his head. "You are."
We stayed silent for a while. Appa YG was smart. He knew that because of the story that had gotten out, if I was to debut, it would be harder for me to achieve the attention and media I wanted.
Appa YG stretched out his arms. "I could simply hold a press conference to protect Mindy-sshi's name. It wouldn't clear up everything but it should do well enough."
"What are you going to say?" Jiyong asked.
"It's all a misunderstanding. Mindy-sshi was asked to give you to the rings and was accused wrongly," he answered.
"What if they ask who I am?" I questioned.
"Classified," Appa YG said. He stood up and so did we. "Alright, you two. Get back to work," he ordered.
We both politely bowed to him and walked out to the elevators. As we rode down to the dancing studios, Jiyong kept shaking his head in disbelief.
"Aish, I can't think any of the staff would this!" he exclaimed.
"Me neither," I sighed. "It doesn't matter, oppa. I'm fine. We're all fine."
"I guess..." Jiyong answered, softly. He dropped me off at Dance Studio A and I greeted Joon Tae to begin my dance training.
"You had a tough day yesterday, huh?" Joon Tae asked as he stretched with me.
I groaned as I felt my muscles tense up. "Oh God, don't get me started."
I finally finished my training with Joon Tae by lunch. Since I was so close to finishing, I skipped lunch to practice a little bit more. I ended up having to eat a granola bar because I started to feel faint.
Hye Ri came to give me my vocal lessons when I was midway through my tenth run of the dance. She sat down at couches on the side of the room to watch me finish it. When I finished, she stood up and turned off the music.
"You're so determined," she stated.
I reached for my towel and water bottle. "Yeah, well...with what happened yesterday, I need to get this number down and cover up that huge mess."
She had the instrumental version of the song ready for me but didn't play it. Instead, Hye Ri looked over at me and said, "I don't believe what they say about you."
I smiled. "I was hoping you wouldn't."
She took a deep breath. "Okay. Why don't you sing and add your dance routine to see how you'll hold out dancing and singing."
"Challenge accepted," I winked at her.
I guess I did alright but Hye Ri taught me handy ways to keep my breath while dancing and dancing since that has always been the problem. I finished training by 6:30 and had dinner really quickly so I could join the members in the recording studio. They all greeted me warmly when I stepped in. I took a seat in front of the Mac.
"How's 'Bad Boy' going?" I asked Jiyong.
He looked over at me and smirked. "Way better than I expected. Want to hear what we have so far?"
I nodded, excited. I would be the first VIP to hear what could be one of their new singles.
"Shut up, Seungri," Jiyong told Seungri who was making weird noises in the recording booth instead of practicing how to sing his part in the song.
TOP pushed the spacebar to start the song. As I listened to the minute of it, I felt shivers run through my body. It was so good it sent goosebumps to my skin. When the incomplete track finished playing, I clapped enthusiastically.
"Oh my gosh. This is beyond awesome," I commented.
"Courtesy to TOP and Jiyong for the lyrics," Taeyang complimented.
I turned to TOP. "Oppa, I didn't know you write the lyrics for your songs too. I thought it was only Jiyong oppa."
He shrugged. "I started writing on GD&TOP and Tonight."
"Geniuses." I turned to Daesung. "Oppa, you did really well with your solo."
He lifted his hand and started flapping his wrist like a penguin. I was met with his angelic smile. "Oh, Mindy~" he answered.
As Seungri continued recording, I scrolled through the sites and responses of VIPs for the press conference yesterday. Reading some of the comments made me madder and madder until I couldn't keep it in.
"Oh my God!" I exclaimed.
Taeyang who sat next to me rolled his chair over to me and Daesung came to the computer screen. "What is it?" Taeyang asked.
"These comments! One says Daesung oppa looks like he doesn't have eyes. One says TOP oppa is a stiff robot that looks like a girl most of the time. And another says you're a complete loser. There's more about the other members too!"
Daesung patted my shoulder. "Chill, Mindy. We get them all of the time."
"Unacceptable," I muttered shaking my head.
"So what?" Taeyang shrugged. "It's just some. It's not going to affect us at all."
I sighed. "I don't like it when someone talks bad about any of you."
The members looked at each other and smiled secretively. After Seungri finished his part, the members left the room to me so they could have a quick dinner.
"You can listen to it again with Seungri's part," Jiyong told me. "Just try not to move or fix anything."
"YES SIR!" I said in English.
With that, they left for dinner. I watched a few videos on YouTube about cats before I remembered Jiyong's offer. Rolling over to the mixing station, I tapped on the spacebar like TOP did and sat there listening to the incomplete but almost perfect track. After the song was over, I left for the bathroom for a few minutes.
When I returned, I continued watching videos of cats. A few minutes later, the members returned and sat at their usual stations.
Jiyong asked me as he sat at the mixing station, "So how is it now?"
"It's even better now! Especially with that transition from TOP to..." I realized everyone fell silent and froze in their spot. They all stared at a screen in the mixing station.
"W-what is going on?" I asked, already knowing something terrible was about to happen.
Jiyong tapped the spacebar and began the song. Instantly, I knew the difference. The beat was off. The singing was not moving with the music. And worse of all, Seungri's part was missing. After it stopped playing, the members stared at me. What did I do?!
"Oh my God, Mindy," Jiyong whispered in disbelief. "What did you do to Bad Boy?"
Whatever I had done, I messed up at least three weeks of work on Bad Boy. I stared at all the stares from the members suddenly feeling like I didn't belong and that I created the biggest mess in humanity.
Great. Just great. Less than a day after I had supposedly stolen the rings, I screwed up Big Bang's work. This was going great. And it's been barely a week since I set foot onto Korea!
Jiyong couldn't suppress his disbelief and disappointment. "W-what did you do?" he asked me. I
felt tears well up at the corner of my eyes. "I-I don't know! I just pressed spacebar to listen to it like TOP oppa did and then I went to the bathroom afterwards. And then I came back. I didn't realize there was something wrong with the track until now!" I explained to him.
"What were you doing during the majority of the time we were gone?" Taeyang asked me. I looked down at the Mac, embarrassed.
"I-I was watching videos of cats..."
Daesung slumped onto the couch and put his head in his hands. Seeing the members discouraged, frustrated expressions made me blame myself even more.
Suddenly, Seungri spoke up, "It's not like it matters. I can record my part again in 15 seconds."
Jiyong shook his head. "It's not that, it's-"
"I mean that's pretty much how long my part is total," Seungri interrupted him.
Jiyong stared at the maknae. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Seungri shrugged and stared at his shoes. "I'm just saying my part in this song is so insignificant, it doesn't even matter if it's deleted."
TOP, frustrated, exclaimed, "You can't just say that!"
"Stay out of this," Jiyong blandly stated to TOP.
TOP was shocked. "Excuse me? I'm part of this band too. It's not always the 'G-Dragon crew'."
"Oh stop it, hyung," Seungri told TOP rolling his eyes. "You don't have any idea to what it's like swaying in the background behind you three!"
"You three?!" Taeyang exclaimed. "What relevance does this have with the song?" "
You always get the main singing part. Jiyong and TOP always gets the main rap," Seungri protested. "What are we left with?"
"We?" Jiyong narrowed his eyes.
"Daesung and I. I'm sick and tired of being one of the two less loved by VIPs. Even Mindy likes you three more!" Seungri uncrossed his arms and clenched his fists.
I couldn't believe this was happening. "No!" I protested. "I'm an unbiased VIP. I love all of you equally."
"Oh please," Seungri said sarcastically. "I see how you look at Jiyong or TOP." Seungri looked to Daesung. "Hyung, you have to admit you never liked being in the background."
Daesung looked as if he had been shot in the heart. "I-well...It's true we never get that much attention from fans as much as you hyungs."
Seungri started for the door. "I'm done here," he said. Then he turned to Daesung. "Are you coming with me, hyung?" as Daesung sat up to follow Seungri out, he sent me a guilty look.
When they had left, Jiyong groaned in frustration. "Those two! Speaking as if!" he exclaimed.
"You shouldn't have been so harsh on them," TOP told Jiyong.
Jiyong turned to look at him with a glare. "You shouldn't be the one talking! Seungri was talking about you too," Jiyong yelled at TOP.
"That's it!" TOP also shouted. "At least I never intended to make this band into 'G-Dragon and friends'! Being the leader doesn't mean you have to be the center of the spotlight."
"S-spotlight?" Jiyong stammered, unpleasantly surprised.
TOP grabbed his jacket. "I'm leaving." As quickly as everything had happened, he was gone. I couldn't keep the tears from breaking from their cage.
"Jiyong oppa..." I cried.
Taeyang took my shoulder. He looked into my eyes and sighed. "I think you should leave now," he told me.
I knew that I didn't belong in the recording studio at that time. I took my phone and wiped my eyes on my sleeve.
"I'm sorry, oppas," I told them as I walked out the door.
As I rode the elevator down to the Dance Studios for more practicing, I let out the tears. Not only did I mess up their work, I tore the band apart. What kind of monster was I?
My guilt pulled me down so much; I only practiced until 7:30 in which I went back to the Lee's apartment. They sat at the dining table to eat their dinner. When they say me, they were surprised.
Sang Ki said, "Oh, Mindy-sshi! We weren't expecting you to be home so early. We rarely ever see you now."
"Would you like some dinner?" Eun Mi offered standing up to get me a bowl of rice. I quickly told her not to and say down at the table with them.
"Training takes up most of the day and I hang out with the members afterwards," I told them halfheartedly. Eun Mi and Sang Ki looked at me with concerned expressions. "
Is there something wrong?" Eun Mi asked.
I threw up my hands in frustration. "You've seen the news and the Internet articles! I've been accused of committing a crime. Not only that, I caused an argument among the members today."
Sang Ki looked down at his rice. "You can't take all of those comments on the articles to heart. Most of them are just jealous of you to be close to the members."
"I don't want them to be jealous!" I replied. "I just want to be a VIP like them."
"Well, if you work for YG, you're never going to be a real VIP anymore," Sang Ki told me.
The thought of that sent tears to my eyes but I swallowed it back and stood up.
"Thank you for everything but I'll go in my room and prepare for bed early."
As I changed to comfortable black sweats and the GD&TOP sweater I ordered a whole ago, I couldn't help but feel guilty walking out of that room so rudely. This whole day was filled with guilt; from supposedly messing up the track to causing chaos among the members.
I laid on my bed and stared at the plain ceiling. What had I done? All I've done to Big Bang was creating chaos. I probably wouldn't be able to face any of them for a while.
A few minutes later, Eun Mi knocked and peeked into my room. "Mindy-sshi, there is someone calling you," she told me.
I followed out into the living room where I found TOP sitting in the couch and playing some toys with So Young. The scene was so adorable and touching, I felt myself clutch my wrist and bite back a smile.
When TOP noticed me, he looked up and smiled faintly. "Mindy!" he greeted. He stood up from the couch.
"Annyongseo, oppa. What are you doing here?" I asked suddenly feeling self-cautious in my sweats. He looked over to the Lee's cleaning up after dinner.
"Can we talk outside?" He slightly bowed to them and led the way out of the apartment onto an empty balcony. We both stared out into the night air for a while before TOP spoke again. "I'm sorry that happened, Mindy," he said.
"I should be the one apologizing. I created it." I shook my head and suddenly stopped focusing on the Seoul night air.
"Either way," he said, turning to me, "I still want to keep the promise we had on the first day we met you. Even if the members want to stab each other in the back, I still want to take you out to see Seoul."
I suddenly began to tear up. TOP, busy with all his idol work, thought of me and his idea on the first day. Now he was here to take me out.
"Oppa...I..." I stammered.
He hopped onto one leg. "Come on, Mindy. I want some time to let my mind breathe too."
I stared up at his brown, bright eyes that could give girls unexpected pregnancies. They shown such sadness I couldn't say no. I smiled up at him.
"Let me change first," I told him.
After I changed into my jeans and said goodbye to the Lee's, we embarked on our journey. While walking down the road of the neighborhood, TOP snatched my hand and interwove our fingers together.
He said smiling, "I hope I can take care of you well."
We rode the bus to downtown Seoul where a festival was taking place. Along a wide street were vendors selling goods from dried fish to Big Bang posters to jewelry. TOP remembered to where his thick and wide rimmed glasses and beanie today with the simple outfit of a Fubu hoodie and jeans. We both looked like two normal teenagers walking along with the crowd.
TOP made sure to grip my hand tight so I wouldn't drift away. I couldn't shake the feeling of nervousness of holding his hand. It just felt so surreal yet there he was pressed close to me because of the crowd. I didn't say much as we walked the first few feet lingering on a few stands.
TOP looked over at me, concerned. "What's on your mind?"
I glanced up at his bright brown eyes after laying down a chic handbag. Even if it was only a glance, I gave away what I really had on my mind. His face became solemn. "Please don't worry about that," he told me. "We've been working together for 6 years. Arguments are bound to happen."
A rushing boy slammed against me as he ran forward. TOP gripped my hand harder to steady me and sent a glare in the boy's direction. "Oppa...I started it. I ruined your work..."I muttered as we passed a vendor selling adorable earrings.
I didn't even find any interest in it due to the guilt that came back.
"No you didn't," he simply stated.
"What?"
"I'm sure as I was when you were accused of stealing the rings that you are innocent and did no harm to the song," TOP reassured. "The few minutes you were away? Someone could have gone in and messed up the song."
"Are you saying it could be one of the staff members again?" I asked shocked.
"We'll find out, won't we?" He pulled me over to a booth with clothing. "Let's just forget everything bad that had happened this week and enjoy the night."
TOP secretively took off his glasses to try on a cheap rip-off of sunglasses from Dior and posed in a sassy way. "Don't I look..." he switched to English. "...fabulous?"
I took a tiger shaped hat off the rack along with another pair of sunglasses to try on. "Your pronunciation of the 'f' in fabulous is admirable. But either way, you can not be as fabulous as me."
I could tell he rolled his eyes under the sunglasses. After putting the items back, we moved into other booths. In one stand, we found Big Bang related merchandise. TOP kept cracking up about how ridiculous Jiyong looked in a sticker set so of course, he bought it. We also found these plastic crowns for VIPs and bought it to show our Big Bang spirit. TOP wore it over his beanie, which made him absolutely adorable.
"We have to take a picture of you like that," I laughed. I pulled over to a photo booth station and we slipped into the booth.
"Oh dear," TOP complained.
"Just smile, oppa," I told him.
In the first photo, he obeyed and smiled with his arm around me. In the next, we both framed our faces with the V created by our hands. In the third photo, he pretended to choke me with his arm around my neck. On the last photo, TOP surprised me by brushing his lips against my cheek as the camera flashed. I took a step back in surprise.
"Woah, oppa," I stammered.
He winked. "I love all VIPs."
I shook my head in disbelief. "Not intimately, right?"
"You're just not the typical VIP," he stated.
We took the photos from the girl working on the photo booth. She mentioned how much TOP looked like TOP. We thanked her and quickly walked away before she could say or see anything else.
When we reached a jewelry booth, something caught my eye.
"Look oppa. There's only two left," I told him, holding up a thin blue bracelet with silver beads intertwined in the strings.
The lady selling it smiled at me, "There was only two originally. Unfortunately, it was handcrafted so the price is a bit high. No one is interested."
I bit lip and tried my luck. "How much?"
"10,000 won*," she answered. I put the bracelet back down, disappointed. It was expensive.
"Ah...it's so pretty," I muttered disappointed me.
Suddenly, TOP reached out the bracelet and handed the woman a 10,000 won note. "We'll take it," he said.
I stared up at him as he reached for my wrist so he could fasten it.
"Oppa!" I exclaimed.
He lightly punched my head and told me, "It's just 10,000 won. I'm loaded, Mindy." I sighed. "Idols..."
I still smiled at him. "Thank you so much, oppa."
We continued on for a few more vendors before a thought crossed my mind. We stopped before a vendor selling tiny toy robots in which TOP became totally absorbed in.
"Hey, Seunghyun oppa," I called him.
"Wow..." He acted being surprise. "You usually never call me Seunghyun."
He kept his eyes locked on a specific toy though.
I laughed. "I think I saw something back there I want to check again. It'll be quick."
"Alright," he agreed. "I'll be right here. Don't get lost."
I hurried back to the vendor where TOP bought the expensive bracelet. I cheered to myself to find the second one was still there. The lady was surprised to see me again.
"Aigoo, did something happen with the bracelet?" she asked me.
"Anniyeo," I smiled, showing it on my wrist. "I just want to take the second one."
I pulled 5,000 won out of my pocket and then 3,000 won. That was it. I didn't have enough money for the bracelet. My face fell.
"Sorry but I don't have enough money," I told her. I was about to walk away when she stopped me and held out the bracelet.
"I'll take it for 8,000 won. It's cute that you want to match with your boyfriend," she said.
I was about to object to her prediction but decided to leave it. "Thank you so much!" I told her and hurried back to TOP while slipping the bracelet into my pocket.
When I reached TOP, he was taking a wrapped box from the seller. When he saw me, he pointed to the box and smiled. I returned his smile.
"So where did you go?" he asked as we continue along.
"Oh nothing," I replied innocently. He looked at me suspiciously but didn't say anything back.
When we reached the food vendors, he made me try so many desserts I was about to burst. At 11, he walked me to the bus stop to escort me home.
"Do you think Jiyong is still at the YG building?" I asked as I looked up at the building in the distance.
"Probably... fixing that so-" TOP stopped and looked at me.
I sighed and looked down at my shoes. "I think you should go talk to him," I told him.
This time TOP sighed. "Yeah, I need to. I don't like fighting with the members, especially Jiyong since he has to worry so much about Big Bang."
"I could go home by myself," I told him.
TOP looked down at me concerned. "Are you sure?"
I nodded and said, "I had a good time. Thank you." He pulled me in for a hug.
"Me too," he answered, still holding me. He pressed a kiss onto the top of head.
Just as he was about to walk away, I called him back, suddenly remembering. I pulled out the bracelet and reached for TOP's wrist.
"But it's yours," he protested.
I held up my wrist the show the one he bought me. He looked surprised for a second and then happy. After I had fastened the bracelet onto his wrist, we exchanged one last glance and then turned separate ways.
[*10,000=about $7-8]