•  

it was officially my first day at work so i wanted to cause not a good but a great impression. i checked the clock and it was 5:35 a.m still. after taking a shower, i started doing my hair in loose waves and applying some minimal makeup. i chose a floral skirt with a white crop top with black tights and a black blazer, i put on black ankle boots and checked myself in the mirror.

i checked my clock again and it was 6:30 a.m now. i grabbed my phone and bag and did my way downstairs. when i arrived i saw lorel waiting in the lobby.

why is she here? she said that she'll be here at 7:00 a.m

she smiled when she saw me and bowed, i did the same. "unnie." i said and she laughed sweetly.

"hazel-ssi" she said and i looked at her confused.

"that's my way of referring to you." she said "oh okay." i said smiling.

"i thought you said 7." 

"i had to wake up other people, we're dealing with some rebels." she laughed and I did too.

"oh I see." i walked with her as we did out way out of the building. 

"it's one of the boy groups, some of the members apparently doesn't hear their phones at the morning." 

"that's problematic." i said and she agreed. by the look on her face, she seemed exhausted and definitely not ready to start the morning but she smiled widely and eagerly at me, maybe trying to hide her fatigue. 

"incredibly. they're never on time, only their leader, but well... i don't want to bore you with this. let's go, if you are ready?"

there was the same black car waiting for us outside, she opened the door and i stepped inside.

"since is your first day we'll be driving you to the workplace but i'll come back with you today so you can learn the way back." i nodded.

"it is important that you learn to be on your own so you can get to know the city and meet people of course." she said smiling.

"sounds great." 

•

after a few minutes we arrived the building and i smiled widely. it was the same i've seen in pictures and videos before. we stepped inside and suddenly all the people started bowing at us.

"it is perfectly normal here." she said when she saw my confused face. of course i wasn't used to but i knew this happened. i tried my best and bowed back every time someone would do it to me.

"let's meet your boss. his name is park junmyeon and you should refer to him as park junmyeon sunbaenim." 

"got it." we arrived to a waiting area with big white couches, we sat and a few minutes later a lady greeted us.

"he's waiting for you." she said and we stepped inside his office, he stood and walked towards us bowing, we did the same.

"ahh hazel-ssi welcome to south korea and to jyp." he said and i smiled. he was a small man and a bit chubby but he looked young, i would say maybe on his 40's. he had big glasses and short brown hair. 

"thank you so much park junmyeon sunbaenim." i said bowing and he chuckled as his face filled with surprise.  

"woah i wasn't expecting that but thank you." he was clearly surprised. he invited us to sit so we did. he gave me a folder and it was super heavy.

"i talked to your professor he says nothing but good things from you." i blushed at the compliment, professor loipin always talked good of their students.

"kamsahamnida." i said and he nodded.

"okay to the point then. i manage the whole audio-visual side of the jyp. i am the director but i want you to be our assistant. you'll be working closely with my personal and be helping them in anything they need." i listened closely and nodded every time. 

"lorel will help you with the guidance during this first week but you can also ask for help to my staff. we have a big crew and they're all nice people so you'll be fine." 

"thank you." i said again and he smiled warmly.  "i heard that your korean is not good yet?" he asked and i nodded embarrassed. ira's voice resounded on my mind... how are you supposed to talk to koreans? you'll talk to them in english and they will answer you in korean, does that mean you'll be speaking korenglish?  i chuckled in my mind at his antics. 

"it won't be a problem, all the people who work here speak english, but it will be great if you could learn some words now that you'll be living here for the next six months, try to make friends, that is always a great solution." he said and I nodded again.

"i will, kamsahamnida sunbaenim." he opened his eyes widely and smiled. "Good!" he said standing.

"now, the crew is going to film today some stuff, lorel will take you to them. we will talk tomorrow to see how was your performance today." he said and i stood nodding. i could feel my palms sweating already, the nervousness grew each passing second but i was positive that i'll do a good job. 

"sure. it was a pleasure meeting you sunbaenim." i said bowing. "same hazel-ssi. take care." he said and lorel lead me to the door.

"great. now let's go to the crew." we took the elevator again and stepped outside a hall where there were different songs playing, one different behind every door. "how was it?" she asked.

"he's really nice." i said and she nodded. "he is a great boss." she opened the door at her right.

"please." she invited me to step inside so i did, there was the crew. she quickly introduced me to them and we talked for a few minutes. most of them were korean but there was one french, one swedish and one venezuelan. 

the door suddenly opened and a bunch of boys stepped inside, they were laughing and apparently telling jokes, some of them were pushing each other and yelling. the idols, I supposed, judging by their flawless looks.

"boys. let's focus come on." said their Manager, yi chenyu, in korean. i felt happy that i understood most of that phrase.

they quickly organized and he looked at me and nodded. he had giving me the order to turn on the camera so i did. The music started playing and the boys started dancing. i was so impressed by the way they danced, i could tell it was a got7 song since i am fan of a lot of kpop groups but they looked so different in real life and without make up, they still looked pretty though, but more like normal guys.

"and we're done, hazel-ssi please?" he said now in english, i nodded and turned off the camera.

"okay let's practice one more time." their choreographer indicated them. the boys sighed and took their positions again. 

"without camera this time." 

"can you help me gather these cables? i don't want the boys to trip with them." their manager asked me.

"yes sunbaenim." i said and he laughed.

"you can call me only chen. there's no need of all that formalism, plus you're a foreigner so there's no need-

"no, i insist – i said looking at him and he narrowed his eyes smiling – chen sunbaenim." i said and he nodded.

"okay if you insist." he said while we gathered the cables. the boys were dancing one more time and after a couple of times more they shot another video and by the end they were really tired.

"great. let's take a break to eat lunch and then we have to shoot the first episode, so you need to change and go to makeup and hair." chen said to them.

everyone left the room and i remained there, even some of the boys left. chen looked at me and smiled.

"can you pick up the cameras and lenses and organized them into these cases and bags? we need to transport this in the afternoon." 

"sure." i said and he nodded leaving the room. i looked around and saw one of the boys that were dancing, sitting in one of the couches. i ignored his presence and started doing my job.

a few minutes later he stood and walked towards me, he looked at me and stayed there quiet. i looked at him and noticed he was taller than me and had a beautiful soft dark brown hair.

"anyoung hashimnikka." he said bowing slightly. i looked at him confused. i didn't know what that phrase mean.

"hi. " i said in return, he looked at me narrowing his eyes which almost looked like he was closing them since his eyes were incredibly sharped. i noticed two small moles on top of his left eye. it was the first time i've seen that but i admit they look extremely cool on him.

"i am sorry, korean is not my strongest." i apologized and he nodded as if it was obvious.

"i said hi in a formal way." he said and i opened my eyes in surprise when i realized he spoke well english.

"oh sorry – i said bowing – anyoung hashimnikka?" i replied and i saw a hit of a smile.

or maybe i was hallucinating.

"how old are you?" he asked frankly. i looked at him confused about his question, why he didn't ask my name first?

"i am 21." i said and he smiled widely.

"dongsaeng." i narrowed my eyes in confusion and looked down to the lenses.

"what's your name?" he asked crossing his arms on his chest.

"hazel and yours?" i said and he looked at me with his eyes widely opened and rested his arms down.

"jaebum – he said clearing his throat –  oppa to you." he added. i looked at him confused.

"oppa?" i asked and he tilt his head to the side.

why oppa though? He looks young.

"yes. i am older than you." he said and i frowned.

"you are? by months probably." i said laughing.

"in fact i am a year older." he said crossing his arms on his chest again. i looked at him estranged.

"so you should call me oppa. is a respect thing, you foreigners don't understand it." he said and i rolled my eyes. i could see he had a temper just by seeing the way he's looking at me. 

"that is rude too." he added.

"i am sorry... but i need to finish this." he took a step back shaking his head and mumbling something in korean that I couldn't hear.

rude? he was rude... talking to me like that, like i was a little kid. these kpop idols have their heads on the clouds.

he walked back and took his jacket and left the room, i rolled my eyes once again and finished my work.

"anyoung hashimnikka." a few seconds later i heard a sweet voice. i turned around and saw a girl smiling at me.

"hazel-ssi, i am choi jayeon. we met a few hours ago in the introductory reunion but i couldn't tell you my name."

"nice to meet you jayeon, how should i address to you?" i asked and she smiled.

"actually just call me nana." i opened my mouth to say something but she shook her head.

"please, i insist. i've always wanted to be called like that but nobody does it in here."she said pouting.

"okay, how old are you anyways?" i asked smiling. she seemed sweet not like jaebum. 

"i am 27 so i am your Unnie and i command you to call me only nana!" we both laughed, she seemed way better and sweeter than that jaebum guy. 

"okay nana – i said tilting my head – thank you, you can call me hazel." i said and she nodded.

"wanna have lunch together?" i nodded. making friends was something i needed to do, and if they were inside the job it'll be ten times better. 

"your english is very good." i said and she blushed as we ate our ramen.

"i have an american boyfriend. so i've learned a lot with him."

"oh wow that's cool"

we ate our ramen in the building's dinning room and we talked about a lot of stuff. she told me she was got7's stylist and that she wanted to become a famous stylist in the future. we started talking about got7's members and she laughed.

"they're all cute and sweet boys, right?." she said but i frowned.

"you don't agree?" she asked and i shook my head.

"i met jaebum today – i said this and she laughed – yes." i finished.

"oh you met jb-ssi." she said and i narrowed my eyes. she gave me an i know what you're talking about look. 

"he's fine. he's just... too serious sometimes." i remained silent. he doesn't seem serious, he looks more like obnoxious to me. 

"did he harass you with the formal stuff too?" she asked and i nodded, she started laughing.

"you should have seen his face when he realized i was his noona, he was bowing like crazy and apologizing." she said and i almost choke on my ramen.

"i am glad." i said and we both laughed. 

•