Skyline was the most popular Kpop group under Aether Entertainment that had seven members consisting of Lee Taewon, Kim Taeyoung, Baek Yuhwan, Fujimoto Sora, Choi Juno, Jung Seowoo, and Jang Taeho. Of all the seven members I could've met, it had to be my bias, Lee Taewon. I never thought I would meet him in my lifetime or interact with him. It happened to me, Maria. I still found it unbelievable. No one could make my day any better because Lee Taewon had made my day. If I said that out loud, would it be crazier than how it sounded in my head? Taewon being himself, he had to strike again, too. He had to be the one who texted me, and I couldn't pretend not to know him. He was precise and articulate in his text.
I had ignored the first text, "Hi Mari, " and I wish I could have ignored the next one. My nightmare, what I feared were those words, and he had said them exactly. "Hey, Miss. Lee Taewon is dreamy, and his voice saved lives. " I was shocked. I could have dropped my phone and let it land on my hips. But I couldn't let it because the next thing that came was a screenshot of my contact, with the name, "Mari thinks Taewon is dreamy and sexy. " I screamed so much so that April came into my room in her pyjamas with a bat. I chuckled with my hands on my stomach. She was ready to destroy.
"Sorry, False alarm. " I apologised to April.
"Not Funny Mari. " April replied as she kept the bat next to the door.
"What happened?" She asked.
"Nothing. " I explained. How could I explain to April that the stranger on the rooftop was Lee Taewon? My bias. Literally Bami. How could I tell her that he had texted me with a screenshot of the most embarrassing contact name? It had to be a secret.
"Are you sure?" April asked as she yawned. She was tired. I felt guilty. I screamed, and it was my fault to wake her up. She went through my room searching for anything. She found nothing.
"Why did you scream? " she asked.
"It was a tiktok edit on Lee Taewon, " I lied.
"Let me see, " April said as she walked over to me.
"I'll send it to you. " I offered. "You look tired, You should get some rest. " I added as I gestured. She nodded, yawning louder. It was deafening. She walked away and went to her room, leaving the bat on my doorstep. I checked my chat again. It was there as clear as day. It was Lee Taewon. I texted back. I never said you were sexy.
Instantly, I received a message from him, You didn't say it, but you thought it. It came off a bit arrogant, but he wasn't wrong. I mean, I thought he was sexy but he was never going to hear those words from me. He seemed to enjoy teasing me, and I wasn't going to endure it alone. I went ahead and saved his number and sent a screenshot to him. I avenged myself by saving him as Mr. I think Mari is cute. It felt great. It was liberating to fight back.
I do think you are cute, Maria. He typed, and I thought he would bother him. Only to find out, not only did it not bother him, he managed to make me feel butterflies in my stomach. He was insufferable - absolutely the death of me. I then felt disappointed. I thought I'd won only to realize I was in a losing game. His members never lost to him in the game shows. How I expected to win was a dream. He pranked and tricked his members most of the time. Blunt and Rude was an understatement. He was shameless. I enjoyed his shamelessness on Fly Skyline, but being on the receiving end made me change perspectives. It made sense why Choi Juno lost his temper on almost all episodes. It not only made sense. I understood him.
Could you please change the name? I texted him.
My phone, my rules. He must have enjoyed typing that. I sent a face with rolling eyes emoji to him. I was about to close all communications when he sent another text as expected of Lee Taewon.
But for another IOU, I will change it. He hit a nerve. I hadn't paid the first IOU, and now he wanted to have another one. I was livid.
It's not going to happen. I replied in anger and blocked him. I calmed myself a little bit before I slept. I had to stop all conversations with him. He was going to give me a heart attack, and I wasn't going to allow him to. My thoughts drifted to him even as I slept. My brain replayed the entire thing over and over. So if you ask me, I hadn't slept. The next day arrived, and this time, I was the one who arrived late in the whole team.
"You look terrible. " Han Jisoo said to me as I walked over to my desk.
"Gee, thanks for mentioning it. " I replied sarcastically.
"Nightmare? " he asked concerned. I shook my head. I wanted to say that it was a dream, with haunted memories. My mind played what had happened the previous day. Worse, I woke up multiple times in the middle of the night and still managed to pick up the dream from where I left off. I didn't want follow-up questions. Han Jisoo was dangerous because of him and April. The last thing I needed was April getting caught up in my woven lies. So I turned my head and nodded at him. I didn't get to sit on my chair. Lexy texted me to head over to the hardware side.
"Sorry, Maria. Could you send this to recording room 7?" she asked apologetically as she pointed to the C.P. U in front of her. "But your team can do that. " I complained as I pointed them out.
"Please, " she practically begged. It must have been serious if she begged me.
"Okay, but you owe me a snack then. "I conceded. I went over to the fifth floor. My black leather boots clicked on the familiar floor as I made my way to recording studio seven. I arrived at the door. I was about to knock when the door opened. I was pulled in by strong arms. I held onto the C.P.U tightly, my heart pounding in my chest. I found it hard to breathe as Taewon restricted my movements with his hand on the wall right next to my ear. He was staring down at me. His hair was parted in the middle.
"You blocked me. " He stated, his voice dangerously low. I had completely forgotten about that.
"Yeah, I did. " I said as I tried to wriggle my way from him by crouching down, but he held me up. "Good morning?"I asked nervously. He cursed in Korean. He ramaged his hair, and I was mesmerised. I closed my eyes, trying to avoid his gaze.
"Good morning." He replied. I walked over and placed the C.P.U, connecting it to his computer on the desk. My eyes wandered around the recording studio, and no one was around. Just him. I had heard rumours that Taewon loved to work on his own. It turned out to be true. He was really antisocial like he said he was. After I was done, I woke up. I turned and caught him watching me. I felt my world turn before my eyes. I felt as if the world had stopped and had decided to turn anticlockwise.
"You owe me, Maria. " he reminded me. I rolled my eyes and folded my arms. I knew this was what it was all about.
"I can unblock you if you want, but you'll be using up your IOU. " I replied. It was almost a revenge of some sort.
"Tread carefully, Maria. I don't like being pushed. " He warned as he walked over to me. He was close. My heart was under duress. I could smell a tint of his toothpaste while he took patient breaths. He knew what he was doing. He was enjoying this. "Neither do I." I stepped back as I said, hitting a chair behind me. I almost fell, but he caught me. I worried he would create another IOU out of that, so I wriggled out immediately and acted like it never happened. Who said ignorance can't be helpful? It's probably some scientists who didn't know when to use it. He stared at me mischievously, almost as if he was plotting against me. I had seen this look before, and the rest of the members never had it pretty. I hoped I would be an exception, considering I was his fan. But Lee Taewon had other ideas.
"I know what I want now. " He said his voice a little deeper, almost daunting, but still captivating. His mood had completely changed. His gaze was still on me as he debated internally. I couldn't help but wonder what he wanted. His eyes showed his amusement, and yet how calculative he was as he narrowed them. He came closer to me, making me recoil back, placing us in a game of tag of war. He was determined, and I wasn't willing to step down either.
"Have you decided?" I challenged. Meanwhile, I celebrated within myself. This was an achievement. The great Lee Taewon had finally lost a war, and he had lost to me. No one would ever know of this battle, but at least I knew. To add it on top, I found a loophole to tease him about. He was about to call an IOU for an unblock. That was a dream come true. Meeting my idol was one thing, but beating my idol was rejuvenating.
"Mari, I'm calling upon my IOU, " he paused as he tried to read my expression. I took out my phone, ready to unblock him. He smiled at me maliciously. I felt a bit uneasy.
"Okay, what do you want? " I asked confidently.
"You have to -"
"Unblock you? " I interrupted him. I was about to do it anyway. I bit my lip as I stared at my phone. I just needed the confirmation.
"No, mari. " he ripped my phone from my hands. He moved closer to me as he stared down at me. His gaze was dangerously close and locked to mine.
"I want you to do whatever I ask for a month. " he replied. My eyes widened. All my excitement went down the drain of disappointment. I had lost. I should've known it wouldn't have been that easy. But for a month, he was taking things too far. The cost of being helped was too much. Why did I have to be a damsel in distress that day? And why did it have to be Lee Taewon, who saved me? What was Han Jisoo and April Summers doing at an empty bar listening to someone else's playlist? I should have allowed April to follow me that day. All I had was regrets, and I wanted to beg for mercy, but my pride didn't let me.
"That's not fair. You only helped me for a minute. " I argued.
"Two months, " he added. Remember when I said my Korean was limited to vowels. I lied. There were two words I knew from watching all those Korean dramas during my free time. I wanted to scream them at him. "SHIBAL SAEKKIYA!!!!!!!" I wanted to say them loud and clear, but I couldn't forget where I was. I was at Aether, and he had an advantage over me. He was the reason why the pay at Aether was good. Him and Skyline. Two, I was a big fan of his, but I suddenly considered stanning Jang Taeho as my ultimate bias.
"One week?" I bargained.
"Three months, " I wanted to curse. He was being unreasonable. Sure, if someone else was in my shoes, specifically a bami fan, they would be elated with this. I knew some delusional things they would have said, "My idol wants to spend time with me and blah blah blah." and I would have joined that trope if it happened to someone else. I sulked cause it was happening to me. I didn't like the way he loomed over me with his height. It made me feel small, and he was dangerous. "Dangerously hot and sexy. " a bami would have said. But still, he was being unreasonable.
"2 weeks, " I insisted. That was the highest I could go.
"4 months, " he paused amusingly. He was annoying. That wasn't fair at all. But what did I expect? He never played fair with his band mates, why would he do the same for a stranger called Mari.
"I'm considering getting another bias." I muttered to myself angrily. He heard me and didn't consider rescinding his offer.
"Three weeks, " I argued.
"Make that four weeks, " he said, almost leaning in. " Adding another week won't hurt you, Mari." I couldn't hear him past my beating heart. I nodded nervously.
"We have agreed. 1 month. " he stated as he moved away from me. My brain short-circuted. He had just managed to make me agree to his original proposal.
"Damn it!" I hollered. He chuckled at that obviously cause he won. It wasn't fair at all. All it took was five minutes, and I had to pay for a month. He was my bias, but I didn't want to freak out every time. My heart and, most importantly, my sanity wouldn't be able to take it. I would have loved seeing him once, but not every day. Something to note, You don't want to be saved by your idol. The payment was more expensive than a food hike in the supermarket. He then took my phone. He unlocked it using facial recognition and unblocked himself.
"How else will you be able to assist me, Maria? " He mocked as he waved my phone right in front of me. He tried handing me my phone, but I was still in shock about what I had agreed to.
"You shouldn't have blocked me," he said. " I hate wasting my IOU like this. " he complained as he held his jaw.
"Then change it. " I rushed to say. "No. " He replied. I was disappointed. He pushed my phone into my hands.
"Ah," He exclaimed. "You aren't allowed to have another bias, Mari. " he said as he moved closer. He leaned in, and I felt him breath close to my ear.
"You are only allowed to obsess over me, Mari. " he whispered. I almost shivered. He then turned me towards the door, ushering me to leave. I rushed towards the door, completely embarrassed. I didn't bother to look back at him. I wanted to complain but I couldn't. Once I was out of that nightmare, I beat my chest multiple times, trying to force myself to calm down. I walked all the way to the second floor and went straight to Lexy.
"Is it done? " She asked, looking at her computer.
"Yeah. " I said as I cleared my throat. She then immediately looked up at me.
"Are you okay? " she asked. "You look flustered. " she explained. "Who wouldn't be, Lexy?" I wanted to shout, but bit my lips instead. Lexy had no idea that Lee Taewon was in studio seven. He really stayed anonymous. I nodded.
"I may have a slight headache. " I excused.
"Oh, I have some painkillers. " she said as she started ramaging her drawers for them.
"It's fine. " I assured her. She stopped and noticed the time.
"You took a lot of time. " She stated.
"He took a long time to open the door. " I replied quickly in defence.
"Relax, Mari. I know. " She stated, almost making me nervous.
" You have a headache. It's understandable. "She explained.
"I just wonder why he insisted it had to be you? " she asked.
"I don't know either. Maybe cause of last time." I replied. Her face lit up for a second.
"Makes sense. You must have done a good job last time. " She said.
"Yeah, definitely," I stated anxiously. Lexy didn't notice it. I left her office and went and sat down in front of my desk. I started working on the error from the previous day. I had fixed it by lunchtime. I had pretty much gotten a lot of text messages from Taewon to head to the coffee shop and buy two coffees. He didn't even bother sending me the money. I ran towards the coffee shop and went straight to studio seven. The door was surprisingly unlocked. It was as if he had waited for me. He was still alone, this time seated on the couch with lunch in front of him. I wondered why he wanted two cups of coffee if he was alone.
"Here, " I said as I put the coffee before him next to his lunch. It was pretty much made of chicken salad, and he had two. One on his side of the table, the other directly across from him. I proceeded to leave when he stopped me by holding my hand.
"Take a seat. " he ordered. His eyes moved to the seat on the opposite side, as they told me to sit there. He was weird. I sat reluctantly. I stared at him as he ramaged through his hair before getting a fork and offered it to me.