06. Naeun (1/2)
(OST- Cos I’m your Girl by S.E.S )“Naeun-sshi have a seat.” The producer gestured to the chairs and I did this. It was a little nerve wracking meeting him by myself. He smiled and sat down too.“You’ve MC’d in the past haven’t you?”I nodded. “Y-yes I have.” That was when our members were doing it for Music Shows. Usually Eunji and Bomi did it. The door opened and a male voice apologised for being late.“It’s alright Dongup-sshi,” he sat next to me. I turned to him and shook his hand awkwardly. The producer then began to speak about the show.“At the moment they are currently going through the auditions. We presume that by the end of this week they will have finished and then it’s onto the boot camp. The filming for the first live show will be two weeks from now.”“I-In two weeks?” They both looked at me. I had to continue even though I was put under pressure. “I-It’s j-just that I—“He cut me off urgently. “Say what you need to Naeun-sshi.”
“My drama… It still will have filming then.”“Ok how many episodes do you have left?”Why was he asking me this? I stopped to count in my head before I came to an answer. “Ten more left to go.”
“So you cannot choose not to appear in any episodes?”
That wasn’t possible. I was a female lead. What would happen to the storyline if I suddenly disappeared for some of the episodes? What about the writers who were working hard to make sure we had a rise in ratings.Fortunately Dongup-sshi came to be a great help. “Why not just play it as we go sir? I’m sure that if she has to drop out then you can find someone else to replace her. There will be no harm done that way.”
I hadn’t thought of that. The producer himself seemed to consider this idea. “Hmm, ok it may not work out but let’s do that. For now you two will be confirmed MC’s and we can find another female if worse comes to worse. “He stood up. “I’ll email your agencies the information about the filming and be in touch with you both. Good afternoon.”As we left the office I quickly bowed to Shin Dongup. “What are you doing?” He pretended to be alarmed making me embarrassed.
“I just wanted to thank you. I didn’t know what I would have done.”“Don’t worry,” he said to me. “I shall see you again at the filming.” I bowed again as he went to his next schedule. Checking the time I realised I still had time to help Hayoung prepare the drinks and food for Bomi and Eunji unnie’s final fan meeting.Ω
“Ah you’re here at last unnie!” Hayoung bombarded me by hugging me. Eunji and Bomi unnie tried to join in but I had only just playfully pushed our maknae away as they did. “Come on I have to put these on another four hundred bottles.”
I lifted up the small water bottle and peered closely at the sticker which said ‘Apink loves you.’ After putting it down I tried to count the mass of bottles and bagged biscuits but there was too much to count.“Unnie,” I said to Bomi. “Didn’t you say there would be only five hundred fans here?”
Eunji stared at me sheepishly. “Actually, there’s seven hundred and fifty.”
“Seven hundred and fifty—“Hayoung clapped me on the back. “At least you came. You can help me finish the bottles while Eunji and Bomi get ready.”I wasn’t going to get out of this. Eunji and Bomi unnie took their leave. I made Hayoung squish over so I could sit down on the chair and get to work. By the time we were finished and getting the staff to pass them out my fingertips were dry and I would probably fall asleep seeing the words ‘Apink loves you’ occurring in my dreams like strange subliminal messages.“Should we get something to eat?” Eunji asked slinging an arm over my shoulder. Hayoung came over to us.“Actually… Some fans have prepared chicken for us. It’s in the waiting room.” My mouth dropped open. Meat I really loved meat. Chicken that was deep fried was rather good too. They laughed as they saw me hurrying back towards the waiting room.
“Wait up Naeun-ah,” Eunji called. “Let Bomi and I change before you eat a whole bird.”I stopped and pouted in protest. I was hungry why were they trying to go against my rights while I had an empty stomach? Hayoung sat close to me as we waited for the other two to change into something more comfortable.“Alright let’s dig in.” Bomi and Eunji gave out the chicken to manager oppa before I got some. I swear they were trying to annoy me and it was going to start working soon if I didn’t get any.“Naeun, say ah,” Hayoung passed me a wing and I started to happily eat. We all sat gnawing the greasy goodness. It was times like these I enjoyed being famous. Pink Pandas were truly generous beyond measure.Bomi unnie put down a bow. “Oh yeah Naeun; guess who was asking about you recently?”