13 Time Flies with BTS

BTS and Iris gathered inside Bang PD's office. Together with the interpreter to explain some parts, they all discussed the course of events for the next week until BTS had to fly off to the Japan part of the Wings tour. It was mostly a reiteration of the first meeting Iris had with Bang Shihyuk; however, Iris had gotten more work done than expected, so they could soon expedite to demo recordings before final arrangement and recording.

Excited to finally work hand in hand with BTS, Iris left the office in high spirits. But just as the door was about to close, the interpreter stuck a hand out to tap her shoulder.

"Wait, Iris-ssi. Bang PD-nim forgot to ask you about something a few days ago. Who was it that delivered dinner to you the day that he said to take a break?"

Momentarily perplexed by the unexpected question, Iris directly answered, "That was my cousin Cindy. She traveled with me here."

The interpreter nodded in understanding, thanked her, and then retreated back into the office. Iris tipped her head to the side curiously, wondering what this was all about.

"Iris-ssi?" J-Hope called out when he saw that Iris was still in front of the closed door.

Brought out of her pondering, Iris replied that she was coming. "Na gago isseoyo!" She scurried to the back of the group with J-Hope, Jin, and Namjoon.

J-Hope brightly smiled and moved aside so that she stood in-between him and Jin. While he partook in light, broken language conversation with Iris, Jin was whispering to Namjoon.

"(How do I say 'how are you feeling? you look better since last time!' in English?)" Jin blinked at Namjoon with expectant, eager eyes. Jin had barely exchanged any words with Iris since she woke up after being unconscious that fateful day. And ever the courteous flirt, it was second nature for him to ask if she was okay while possibly impressing her.

Namjoon merely smiled knowingly before whispering back the answer and repeating it twice. Jin then turned to the girl with a glowing grin.

"Iris-ah~! How are you feel-ling? You look better since last time in LA!" Jin enunciated his words slowly and confidently.

Pleasantly surprised by Jin's earnest effort to talk with her, Iris beamed and did a thumbs up. "I'm good! Gomawoyo!"

Not wanting to be left out, the rest of the younger members jumped in on the conversation while pestering Namjoon with English questions. Only Suga quietly watched the whole funny situation from the sidelines with a quirk of a smile on his lips.

Entering the recording studio, Iris began showcasing her tunes and lyrics with Namjoon acting as translator.

"Since your new album is airier and lighter, I decided to add a bit of a fun fairytale twist on the song that I think works with you guys!" Iris explained while clicking around on the monitor. She handed out some musical scores with tentative lyrics. "Here, I wrote these for you in order to follow along."

She turned on the instrumentals with piano as the melody for the vocals. The BTS members listened attentively to the song as it played. Some bobbed their heads to catch the rhythm while others tried to whisper the lyrics to the melody.

After it ended, Iris asked, "(How was it? The theme is Pied Piper. BTS is tempting all of Army to follow them! What do you think?)" Since she had made 'Neverland,' a song about Peter Pan and youth, then the Pied Piper, a fairytale which matched with BTS on the allure of youth, easily came to mind.

The BTS members jerked back in shock at the sudden length of Korean words from Iris. "(Your Korean really improved!)" They all complimented enthusiastically. "(You surprised us!)"

Iris grinned widely while replying, "(Yes! I studied up and wanted to surprise you!)"

"So then I don't need to translate anymore!" Namjoon jokingly laughed before adding, "I really like this song by the way! The Pied Piper is a great idea!"

The rest of the members piped up in agreement. "(The flute-like sound in this is really nice!)" Jimin commented as J-Hope interjected, "(I can already think of lyrics for this! Really) good Iris-ssi!"

Iris stood up from the chair and bowed. "Ah, gamsahamnidaa!!"

The group ran through the various arrangements several times and added in their own inputs. Bang PD and other composers as well as one of their producers, Pdogg, would take a look at it another day of the week.

For now, BTS and Iris's short session served as a good enough introduction. Since BTS had just gotten in from their flight, they needed some time to rest and recoup.

The next day, everyone was all refreshed and ready to tackle Iris's song as well as any others already composed by Big Hit for the album. Iris got to listen to these songs as well. She also found out that the track BTS collaborated with the Chainsmokers was basically done. It was called, "Best of Me."

For the rest of the week, BTS would check in with the progress of "Pied Piper" and other songs while creating and practicing dance moves. It was amazing for Iris to see behind the scenes how the choreographies were made. Some were sent through videos like with Keone Madrid while Son Sungdeuk, Big Hit's performance director since the start, took an active, in-person role.

In particular, Iris saw the unreleased choreography of "DNA", the title track. It was co-created by Keone and Christopher Martin. Just like song-making, dances took just as much effort and collaboration on the parts of many people. She took note of all the choreography details and how the teachers explained and demonstrated the moves.

Thus, all too soon, the week with BTS was over. By now, Iris had formed stable, friendly bonds with each of the members as well as the staff of Big Hit. Everyone was impressed by Iris's devoted work ethic and ability to learn. She had even picked up on various snippets of the dances and song melodies.

The day after BTS flew out to Japan, Iris moped around in the building's garden area. Although her days had returned to what it was before BTS was here, the building felt a lot quieter since their departure. It would be like this for about another week.

Unfortunately, the progress of "Pied Piper" had been too efficient. It had almost reached the demo stage for final recordings. If Iris had realized this earlier, she would've slowed the progress to take up more weeks. It might sound wrong, but she had enjoyed being at Big Hit more than expected.

She knew that the entertainment industry was complex and difficult. The staff at Big Hit were always busy and on a mission, but Iris had an inkling that compared to other companies, Big Hit was definitely more congenial. Everyone was respectful and cared about one another while being able to tease at the same time. They also all shared and rejoiced in the success of BTS on the rise.

With these thoughts swirling around in her head, she ambled back to her dorm from the garden. But on the way there, she encountered Bang PD. Upon seeing him, she instantly bowed and greeted him. Strangely enough, it looked like she was just the person he wanted to see.

"(You were looking for me?)" Iris pointed to herself in surprise.

"(Yes, I had something important I wanted to discuss with you. Can you come into my office for a moment?)" Bang PD gestured for her to follow him.

Iris fretted for a second at his words. 'Wait, he's not here to confirm that I indeed am leaving in a week is he? I know the song producer the other day said that my song would be done in a week, but—!' She really didn't want to depart so soon.