Surprise and More Surprises

"What?!" I yelled so loud that they both had to cover their ears.

"I'm sorry about that. I just got surprised." I sat back down and tried to absorb what PD-nim just announced.

"I understand. I mean who wouldn't be?" IU-sunbaenim finally spoke.

"PD-nim, how did a rookie like me end up with this kind of gig?" I asked him.

He leaned back on his chair and sighed. "Because of what you said in Radio Idol. IU-ssi's fans began to ship you guys together. The company's forums are practically exploding!"

I couldn't believe it either. It was just a thing that I actually casually mentioned and it earned so much attention.

I should be more careful from now on.

"But PD-nim, you know that I only meant that as an admiration, right? And not as a potential love interest?" I tried to deny it all. This could end up in a messy misunderstanding in the future.

"Relax JayB-ah. No one is blaming you for it. In fact, it's actually a good chance for you to represent Alpha as its leader. This will promote you and your group. Am I right, IU-ssi?" PD-nim turned to her as she gave me the prettiest smile she could give.

She's beautiful…

Wait!

Stop daydreaming!

"A-are you really okay with it IU-sunbaenim? I mean… we are going to be paired up and maybe they'll let us do something…" I trailed off as I grew red in embarrassment.

She giggled and said, "What? What's wrong? Don't tell me you haven't kissed a girl yet?"

"Sunbaenim!" I covered my face out of embarrassment.

Ahhh! This girl!

I actually have kissed a girl in the previous world! Just so you know! And there were plenty of them at that!

It's just that in this world…

"You haven't, have you?" She continued to tease.

I just didn't answer as I plopped my head on the table.

Both PD-nim and IU-sunbaenim just chuckled at me.

"You're really cute, you know? I don't mind being paired up with you. You did just admit that you admire my voice." I groaned as she continued to tease me.

PD-nim chuckled. "That's enough IU-ssi. JayB-ssi might not be able to sleep properly tonight."

"PD-nim!" I yelled in embarrassment.

IU-sunbaenim was now laughing hard and was about to fall off her seat.

Cute…

"Sunbaenim… can you please stop teasing me?" I pouted at her.

"I'm sorry… I just couldn't help it. You're just so cute when you're flustered. And please don't call me sunbaenim. We're going to be working together from now on." She was clenching her stomach because of the pain from laughing so hard while wiping down a tear in her eye.

I just smiled at her, "Okay… noona."

She stopped laughing and flinched after she heard that. She then turned her face away which was slowly turning red.

What was that? Wasn't she the one who asked me to speak more casually?

"Ahem… so you'll be meeting the director and writers next week for the script reading. I will be talking to your managers in terms of your schedule. Any questions?" PD-nim then changed the topic.

We both didn't say anything hence the meeting was adjourned.

When I was walking in the hallway towards the building's exit, my phone began to ringing.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hyung! Are you done yet? Where are you? The meat's already here! Come quick!" It was Zhang calling.

I chuckled at this because he sounded like a kid waiting for his dad to come home. "Okay Zhang-ah. I just finished my meeting with samcheon. I'll be there in a few minutes. Please leave me some meat."

"I'm trying hyung! But Yo Chul-hyung is hogging all the meat!" He responded.

I laughed before ending the call. The sound of my members enjoying themselves always energizes me.

Let's go!

"JayB-ah!" Just when I was about to head out of the building someone started calling for me.

"Oh. IU-noona. It's you. May I help you with something?" I asked.

She suddenly stopped and turned around because she grew red when I called her noona.

"Why would you ask me to talk to you casually when you're embarrassed to be called noona?" I bluntly asked.

"I-it's nothing. I'm just not used to it yet." She turned around as she tried to explain.

I just chuckled at her reaction. "So… is there anything you need?"

"Oh… right. I was wondering if you had dinner already and if you wanted to join me?" Is she asking me out? But why?

"I-it's not a date. I just wanted to get to know you better. That's all!" She was starting to get flustered.

I smiled at her and replied, "Noona, my members are eating barbecue right now in a nearby restaurant. Would you like to join us instead? Besides, it's not a date after all."

She looked disappointed with my response before forcing a smile. "Sure then. I hope it won't be much trouble."

We then walked out of the company's building together while putting on our face mask and cap.

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"Ah! Hyung! What took you so long? Yo Chul almost…" Jiwoo started trailing off when he saw the person who entered with me.

"Hey guys. I brought a guest. Be nice." I said.

They all stood up and made room for IU-noona to sit on. Seiji-hyung also rushed to the counter to ask for additional utensils.

"Sunbaenim… I'm a big fan." Zhang said as if he was being star strucked.

I shook my head at the sight. The rest of the members started introducing themselves one by one. Noona didn't like being called a sunbaenim when we were almost the same age. So as the dinner progressed, we also started to talk casually towards her. We even warmed up to her.

"So hyung… why did PD-nim ask you to stay for a while with IU-noona?" Zee asked.

I chocked and almost spat the food that I was eating because of that question. While drinking water, I turn to IU-noona to see if she would answer.

"It's actually a secret so we can't really tell you. I'm sorry." IU-noona answered with a smile before putting a large chunk of wrapped samgyupsal in her mouth.

"Is it because of what hyung said at Radio Idol earlier today?" Zee innocently asked.

This made IU-noona choke on her food in response. She quickly drank water to wash down the food that got stuck.

"Wait what? Wait, wait, wait, wait! What did JayB-ah say?" Dominic along with the members who were not with us on Radio Idol were starting to get curious.

They all leaned forward as if they were waiting for my response.

"It was nothing!" I denied then I glared at Zee giving him a don't-you-dare-blabber look.

"Hyung said that he likes IU-noona." As soon as he said that, he quickly rushed to the bathroom to avoid being beaten by me.

I face palmed really hard…

I'm going to kill that guy…

"Guys… it' not what you think…" I tried to calm the rest of the guys. But they were already staring at me weirdly like they were mocking me.

IU-noona just lowered her head because she was blushing madly.

"Hyung… is she?" Zhang calmly asked.

I tried to reply, "No! Of co-"

"Noona! Do you like hyung too?" Woo cut me off by asking a question to IU-noona.

IU-noona then tried to answer back, "W-what?! N-no! We-"

"Then why are you blushing?" Seiji-hyung tried to push even more.

These guys can't even tell that IU-noona was starting to get all flustered because of the situation. I flicked their foreheads and asked them to stop. They just gave us a wide smile before they laughed which helped in calming IU-noona down.

The night went on with some games and laughter.

"They're a playful bunch, huh?" IU-noona asked.

We were both alone standing in front of the restaurant. We decided to go out and get some fresh air while the rest of the guys continued eating.

"Oh you have no idea… you should see them when we're at the dorm." I replied.

She then giggled at my response. "Must be hard being a father of 8 kids?"

I chuckled at her joke, "I'm just glad that there are eight of them. I can't even imagine what I'll do if it was more than that."

We both laughed and talked some more.

"I wish I'd debut in a girl group. It would be great to have someone to lean on when you have problems." She just said out of the blue. It sounded so sad and solemn like she felt lonely for some reason.

"Why didn't you?" I asked.

She just shrugged. "PD-nim told me that it's hard to find someone who'll match my voice. He said that I'll do better as a soloist."

"Well, I really like your voice noona. I can't even imagine you being in a girl group anymore." I sincerely told her.

"Is that even a compliment?" She glared at me.

Uh-oh… I think she got it all wrong. "What? Yeah it was a co-"

She suddenly placed her index finger on my lip to keep me quiet. She then giggled and said. "I'm just kidding. I actually can't imagine myself being in a girl group either."

She then leaned on the wall while staring up the sky. On her hand was a can of coffee. She told me that she would be staying up all night to record a new song.

She just stayed silent. We both stayed that way. I keep staring at her every once in a while. She seemed so sad and lonely. I wonder why.

But she still looked so beautiful…

"Noona…" I decided to break the silence off.

"Hmm?" she then turned to me with a smile.

I don't know what came over me, but… "I'll write a song for you. I promise."

I suddenly blurted out. She looked surprise as her eyes suddenly widened.

"And… if you need anyone to talk to, I'm here. Consider yourself the unofficial 10th member of Alpha." I told her.

She laughed when she heard that. "I'd like that. Thank you."

We both smiled at each other before she pushed herself off the wall that she was leaning on. "I have to get going. My recording starts in a few minutes."

"I'll walk you back, noona." I tried to be polite.

She shook her head in response. "No need, JayB-ah. I can get there by myself."

"It's okay, noona. I insist." I tried to ask once more.

She just gave in before we wore our face masks and caps, and started walking towards JYP's main building. It was okay at first but it started to feel uncomfortable. The silence was making it more awkward.

"So… how does it feel being in the business for 5 years now?" I tried to break the awkward atmosphere.

"It's okay… I mean. At first, you'll be worried if you're going to click but once it works out you'll start to lose track of everything else and just fix your eyes on what you're doing." She replied.

"Oh? Did it make you feel bored? Like something's missing?" I asked.

She then placed her hand on her chin like she was contemplating. "Hmm? I guess so. But it quickly fades. The business of the schedule sometimes make you forget that you're human too."

"I know what you mean." I replied.

She chuckled. "That's just the start. Wait 'til you finish your rookie year."

We continued to chat for a while before we decided to take a short cut over an alley to rush to the company.

While we were walking in the alley, two guys suddenly came out of nowhere.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" One of the guys said.

"Enough… Let's just get to the point, shall we? Hand over everything you have right now or we'll have to force you to give it." As soon as the other guy said that, he pointed a gun at me.

IU-noona and I placed our hands in the air. I can manage on my own but…

Noona is with me. It'll be risky.

These guys are obviously amateurs. The guy holding the gun can't even hold it properly.

"How much do you guys want? We can sort this out." I told them in a calm tone.

"Shut up! Didn't he just say that we want 'everything'?" the other guy also revealed his gun.

Pfft… amateurs…

I just sighed. "You can't have everything. Otherwise, you won't be able to carry it."

You want everything? Please… you can't even hold a gun.

The two of them laughed the other guy with a tattoo on his arm, let's just call him tattooed-guy, approached me. "We have no rooms for negotiations here."

The moment his gun touched my forehead, I immediately grabbed it and bent his arm before stealing his gun completely.

Then I hit his neck with it knocking him unconscious.

The other guy was beginning to panic. He immediately started pointing his gun at me before he started pulling the trigger.

It didn't work since the safety pin's been turned on.

I immediately rushed towards him stepped on his kneecap breaking it. He couldn't even scream in pain because I hit his temple with the gun making him pass out as well.

After that, I threw the gun away before calling the police.

I started tying them up with the chain that I found in the dumpster. All this time, IU-noona silently watched me. She was probably shaken up. I can see her trembling.

I approached her and asked, "Are you okay, noona?"

"I-I'm fine. I'm just a little shaken. That's all." She replied.

Thank goodness…

"Are you sure?" I tried to confirm it again.

She nodded in response. "If you work in this industry, you'll encounter all kinds of crazy. This is just one of them."

I guess she experienced being mugged before.

I just sighed and I took off my jacket. I wrapped it around her because she's probably shaking from the cold and not from what just happened.

She stopped trembling as she looked at me. Her cheeks were all red. "Thanks" was all she said.

I just gave her a smile. Minutes later the police arrived and we were questioned. The moment we revealed our identities, they didn't question us any longer. Especially since one of the officers recognized me.

He told the rest of his comrades to stay quiet about what happened tonight and not to reveal that we were here.

We thanked the officers and we continued making our way to the building.

The rest of the walk was quiet but we finally arrived in front of the building.

"Thanks for walking me back. Thanks for tonight as well."

"It's nothing, noona… So… see you next week?" I replied.

She smiled and then walked away while saying. "See you then."

"Oh! And JayB!"

When I was about to walk back, she suddenly called me. I turned to see what she wanted to say.

"I look forward to that song, okay?" She said before she continued to walk back to the company.

I'll definitely give you all your songs from my previous world noona.

When I arrived back at the restaurant, the members were already cleaning up and were getting ready to leave. Matt-hyung handed my backpack before we headed to pay the bill. They probably were too tired to ask where I've been.

"I'm finally full!" Yo Chul-hyung said while he was stretching his body.

"You said it, hyung." Jeong Do affirmed while patting his tummy.

They all turned to look at me and Matt-hyung asked, "Where's IU-noona?"

I told him that I already walked her back because she had a recording scheduled for tonight. They decided not to press on the matter anymore.

"So where to?" Seiji-hyung asked.

"Back to the company, I guess? We need to go home. It's almost 10PM." Dominic answered.

Suddenly my phone starts ringing.

"Hello?" I answered.

"JayB-ssi! Where are you right now?" the voice from the line frantically asked.

I turn to look at my members, and they mouthed at me, "who's that?"

"I'm with my members at a restaurant near JYP's main building. Is there something wrong?" I asked.

The person began to explain the situation. As she continued speaking, my eyes grew wider and my hands began to shake.

"Okay… I'll meet you there." I replied to her before ending the call.

"Who was it?" Jeong Do approached me and placed his hand on my shoulder.

He knew that I was angry and anxious about something.

I sighed. "It was Victoria-noona."

"She called at this time? What did she say?" Seiji-hyung asked.

I didn't answer them because I was thinking of what to do. I guess it's happening again in this world too, huh?

But I'll stop it no matter what. I have to.

"JayB-ah! What did she say?" Yo Chul-hyung began to get worried as he tried to ask me again.

"Guys… Sulli-noona's missing." I finally replied…

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