"You mean that we are going to attend his concert?" Bryan repeated in bewilderment.
"Yes, but not entirely. We need to get VIP passes to meet him backstage," Valerie stated.
"Why can't we introduce ourselves to his staff crew?" He peered blankly.
"Have you forgotten? We are only there to meet and discuss important matters personally. Why else would I go on as a 'private detective?'" She prompted.
"You're right. Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's get on to it," Bryan said smirking coolly.
Valerie nodded in agreement as she beamed and went straight to the computer to buy tickets online as soon as possible.
The concert was only two days away and there were only seats remaining in the stadium. Both of them had chosen the floor on the left side of the section, the fifth row. They never expected that the prices were a little cheap because every product has its own taxes. What a life...
Once they clicked on the checkout order, they sighed in relief and started to make a plan.
"Here is what we need to do. We have to talk to him during the break because I know that every concert or show does have one," Valerie reminded firmly.
"Not bad. Though, I think that the security that he hires is really tight. We got to ensure that we act like true investigators because I do not know if he will be convinced," Bryan mentioned while he was scanning through the pages and the map that was displayed on the dinner table. He pulled the cap off of the marker and began to highlight in bold words. They put post-it notes as to when they will take action before they miss their chance.
Later on, the two of them decided to go out and explore the city. They went to the coffee shop and stopped by for hot cocoa. There, they sat near the glass window, whereas other people were passing by outside.
"I guess that girl Mariel got fired for stealing the designs from Ava. Has she ever informed you about it?" Valerie asked, sipping from her cup.
"Yeah. Apparently, Mariel won't be working as a model for the next 2 years since she is not someone to be trusted so easily," Bryan explained and continued on. "Maybe that's what happened with the guys, you know."
Valerie stared at him and looked away as she placed her palm under her chin quietly, saying defensively. "You don't know that."
"Really? What if it's true?" Bryan wondered.
Valerie rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Your ridiculous assumptions do not prove the outcome correctly, so quit it."
Bryan held his hands up and chuckled. "Okay, chill. I'm just thinking."
"Clearly, it doesn't help," Valerie chided and drank half of the cup.
A blonde guy pushed the door open and went straight to the cashier and ordered a medium-size latte with a blueberry muffin. He thanked the lady after bowing down and quickly exited, much to Bryan's curiosity.
He peeked over the side and chuckled. "That must be Jiyoo that I saw."
Valerie raised an eyebrow and turned around her seat. "Where?!"
"He just left," Bryan said.
"I see..." Valerie replied.
"I never expected him to go and buy food and drinks here out of all the cafe places in Seoul," Bryan snorted.
"Maybe, it's his favorite. I don't know..." Valerie shrugged and continued to sip on the latte.
"Is he still aggravated by you?" Bryan jokes.
"Shut your trap. I can't tell if he is or not. He simply does not want to answer. It will take time for him and the others to come together and ventilate," Valerie sighed.
"Hey. You're a detective. Not a therapist," Bryan stated and agreed. "Although, you are right. We do have a deal with Bong Si-woo. If we can't bring those guys to compromise, then we might as well withdraw from this. I'm just saying," Bryan said thoughtfully.
"We never know, right? At least, we should try," Valerie pointed out.
"Yep," Bryan nodded and finished the last half of his drink. "How about we go somewhere fun and take our minds off of this complex case? What do you say?"
"I'm in. There are a few places that I want to visit," Valerie smiled dreamily.
At that time in the afternoon, both of them had traveled from museums to amusement parks, specifically Aqua Planet 63, Figure one, Leeum & Samsung Museum Art, and One Mount. They took pictures as well as short videos, making hilarious faces of themselves. They know that there are certain rules and other circumstances of not making buffoonery since there are some areas that are sacred and strictly prohibited. As they both were walking inside the main streets, they bought two fluffy cotton candy and iced teas while they were playing one of the common quiz games.
"Would you rather have to shave all of your hair or lose all of your teeth?" Bryan asked.
"Hair because if I lose teeth, how am I able to talk?" Valerie reasoned out rhetorically. "You?"
"I would pretty much say the same thing," Bryan said, smirking.
"Okay. My turn. Would you rather fight 100 pigeon-sized zebras or one zebra-sized pigeon?" Valerie asked.
"One zebra-sized pigeon," he answered and snorted. "How is it possible for a human to fight multiple animals?"
"Superpowers," she guessed with a giggle.
"Probably. Alright. Next one... Would you rather go back in time one year to talk to your past self or go into the future one year to talk to your future self?" Bryan asked and took a small bite of the rainbow cotton candy from his hand.
Valerie glanced at him and laughed faintly. "Seriously? Can I skip?"
"Come on, Val. Just answer the question," Bryan begged as he lightly nudged his elbow on her left shoulder.
Valerie turned her head back to the front and thought softly. "I would go to the future to talk to my future self."
"Why?" Bryan went further.
Valerie breathed on slowly and hummed a little. "To take a leap of faith. I wouldn't want her to miss out on any chance in her life because I want her to be strong." She glanced back at him with a beaming smile in which Bryan was slowly nodding in understanding.
He sips on the cold tea with the straw and watches her observantly from the corner of his eyes.
"Alrighty. Last question. Would you rather wake up in the morning looking like a giraffe or a kangaroo?" Valerie burst out laughing.
Bryan squawked his eyes widely and cursed. "The hell?! Neither!"
"Ah. Come on, Bryan. Just answer the question," Valerie imitated his saying and sips of her drink, trying to stifle a laugh.
"Fine then. Kangaroo," he answered.
"Why?" Valerie asked.
"So I can kick you and people's asses," Bryan joked and laughed out loud when he got smack on the shoulder by Valerie's hand.
Once they headed back to the apartment, the two of them went inside their own bedrooms as they told each other goodnight. Even though Valerie decided to stay awake while she was scrolling the Instagram feeds through her phone and suddenly came across the picture of Jiyoo and Chia's engagement, reading the comments from fans and bashers. Obviously, there are those people who will support their relationship and those who don't. For Valerie, she didn't care at all. Not at least one bit.
Two days later, she and Bryan were stacking the papers before putting them inside the folders. They saved the tickets through the Ticketmaster app on their phones. Then, they ate dinner on the table and shut the door closed in the apartment until the concert was about to start in an hour. They took the bus as soon as they reached the Seoul Olympic stadium. Their eyes and mouth went wide open at the sight of the huge crowd.
"That's a long-ass line," Bryan exclaimed.
"Not surprised. He must be so famous in this country, including America," Valerie said.
"What are we waiting for?" Bryan urged on as they both ran behind the fan hurriedly until they showed their ids and headed inside the venue together. After entering the first gate on the floor, they sat down on the chairs and kept glancing around at the people setting in as well.
"This is packed. Full of crazy wild hyenas," Bryan remarked strangely and laughed.
"Oh, they can't be that bad. Don't overexaggerate," Valerie scoffed, shaking her head, and searched for the security standing near the stage level.
The lights turned off as the music began to play in the background where all the fans started to scream at the top of their lungs.
Bryan, on the other hand, covered his ears with his hands and mocked them girlishly.
Valerie gazed at him annoyingly, then heard the guy's vocalizing and revealed himself in the center. She watched him waved at them and spun himself around proudly and sang one of his best-known songs, Euphoria.
(Chorus): "Euphoria
Take my hands now
You are the cause of my euphoria
Euphoria..."
He walked down to one of the fans and took her hand gently to kiss the back of it. Then, he winked at her and made a love hand gesture towards her direction.
At the time of the break, Valerie and Bryan looked at each other as they gave a secret nod and got up their seats.
They walked up to one of the securities and informed them about their identities, leading them to the dressing room. They halted for a moment and read the name of the door, so Valerie started to knock loudly.
"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Bryan asked for reassurance.
"For certain," she whispered.
"What if he refused?" He thought.
"Trust me. He won't," Valerie said quietly.
Once the door was opened, the guy with a bunny smile gleamed so brightly and greeted them.
"Hey. You two are here for autograph signing?" He guessed thoroughly.
Valerie's mouth gaped and giggled slightly. "Um... Haha. No."
"We are here to ask some questions. We are both private detectives from New York and we want to investigate the New Year's Eve party incident, including your former group," Bryan stated.
"Come in, then," he gestured his hand out as they both followed him inside the room. He sat down on the chair in front of the dresser and brushed his hair and his fingers. "Go on."
Valerie took a quick look at Bryan and cleared her throat. "So what exactly did really happen at the party?"
Jeon Jaesang. A famous solo artist of the K-Pop industry, gaining fans around South Korea and across the world. His music became one of the top mainstreams in the Billboard charts and has collaborated with international artists like Ariana Grande, Charlie Puth, and more. He always wins some awards in other shows. His voice was very smooth and velvety that almost all the ladies have been so wanting to date and marry him. He was not only an international playboy but also a golden maknae.
"I was shocked when I found out that Taeyun as friends with the other group. You know, he gave them the credit for the choreography, which I told him not to. It was his fault for being so gullible to everyone that we meet. Then, the smoking bomb transpired and we barely couldn't see what was going on. All I know is that I passed out," he explained shortly.
"So you didn't find out who the suspect was?" Valerie asked further.
"No. I mean, I would've discovered if only Taeyun wasn't befriending EXEL. Otherwise, that group wouldn't be hitting tons of views on their song. At least, I'm beating them up on their game," Jaesang said proudly.
"Why did you and the rest of the members separate?" Bryan asked curiously. "You guys are best buddies."
"Pfft. You're funny. Best buddies, you say?" Jaesang huffed repeatedly and continued on sarcastically. "Joon-wo, Jiyoo, and Gyeong were rude to me. They scold me like I'm a child to them. They're the ones who made a decision to disband our group."
"Why?" Valerie questioned worriedly.
"I don't know. All they ever said was they were tired," Jaesang said, shrugging and adjusting his jacket collar around his neck. "Anyway, it doesn't matter anymore. I couldn't give any fucks to them."
Valerie sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "Don't tell me you won't be joining the Big Prime Agency because Bryan and I are wondering if you would love to."
"Yeah. Of course!" Jaesang beamed.
"Good," Bryan nodded.
"Just not within a group. I will continue being a solo, you know," Jaesang added in as he turned his face sideways admiring himself in the mirror.
"Sir! You will be on in five minutes," one of the backstage crew reminded after he knocked loudly on the door.
Jaesang clapped his hand and clicked his tongue as he got up from his seat. "That's my cue. If you'll excuse me, I better start warming up my vocals. I don't want to miss out on hitting the notes perfectly. Here are your autographs."
He grabbed the pictures of him and handed them in which they took politely.
"Enjoy my fabulous show," Jaesang grinned confidently and walked out of the dressing room.
On the other hand, Valerie and Bryan stood up from the couch and made their way back to their spots.
"Now, what?" Bryan hissed in annoyance. "That guy is practically fancying his own image and refusing."
"Yeah..." Valerie muttered disappointingly and shook her negative thoughts. "But we can't give up just yet."
"I think we should. This is useless," Bryan remarked.
"Not quietly. I have a backup plan, and we must inform sir Bong," Valerie said, smirking.
"Better work," Bryan mumbled with a frown.
"Trust me. This will be the start," Valerie nodded, then they both left without staying for the rest of Jaesang's concert.
They contacted Bong Si-woo and agreed to come to the meeting sometime soon.