You had spent a good two years touring, collaborating and making connections in the West. The dream of becoming a global artist spurred you on through sickness and health, cold shoulders and warm welcomes. You lived for your music and your fans. It was exciting - the zeal of having a larger than life goal, the blur that your life tended to be - but then there were moments when it wasn't. When you just wished you could escape somewhere.
And it didn't matter whether things were going great that day or terrible. It was a fleeting feeling and it descended on you more often than you'd like to admit. It would be shameful to even say it out aloud when things were going so well - for one, the little snippet of you singing The Climb went viral on Twitter, and two was the unexpected popularity of your songs in South Korea.
It brought you the attention of one of the biggest entertainment companies in the K-pop industry - one that had recently made a significant move into the American pop space as well. What drew you to them was the creative freedom they offered you, and the fact that they built themselves from the ground up much like you did.
So four months later, you found yourself booking an Airbnb in Seoul, and getting ready to finalize a four-album deal with Source Music, a subsidiary of HYBE - erstwhile Big Hit Entertainment.
Chilly October air bites your bare face when you step out of your gleaming Porsche Cayenne at the new HYBE office entrance. You gaze at the building, wondering what it has in store for you. Will the much-famed ultra-modern workspace actually begin to feel like home, or will it be another prison, akin to or maybe much worse than your last label?
"Come on in, Y/N, it's freezing," Monica says. She and Lily are by your side as usual, sporting navy and cerulean hues in their formal wear. You look at the stoic woman in her 30s, and your lanky awkward assistant by her side and feel reassured. As long as these two are watching your back, you'll do fine.
"Let's go!" You adjust your long ponytail, all businesslike, and power walk inside, your team in tow.
The atrium you guys walk into is spacious, populated with a variety of formally clad to casually dressed people going about their business. Most importantly, it is warm inside. There is a faint scent of coffee that you breathe in deeply.
"Ooh, this place is straight out of a sci-fi film!" Lily exclaims.
Monica chuckles. "You're quiet Y/N," she adds. It's not like you to be somber on a big day like this.
You all walk towards the elevators.
"Yeah, I just - I hope this doesn't end up being another Ribbon type situation," your head drops momentarily, "We've been independent for so long, do we need this?" You voice your doubts softly, taking in the shiny signs and glass walls that offer a full view of the Yeongsan street outside.
"Ribbon was shit. HYBE is the future. And trust me, they didn't get where they are by mistreating their artists," Monica answers.
"Wait, Ribbon's the first label she signed with, right?" Lily asks Monica.
Monica excuses herself to call the executive who was supposed to meet you guys, so you answer Lily.
"Yeah. It was a nightmare. A harassing, cheating effing nightmare." You shudder at the memory. "Ah, I was seventeen back then, and really, really dumb. Even seventeen-year-olds are too sensible to fall for good looking men offering deals that are too good to be true." You mumble.
"I'm not the right person to give advice," Lily begins tentatively, "but don't think that way, Y/N. The world's full of cheats. And you were young and alone, you didn't have us then."
You chuckle at the last remark. Thankfully, Lily doesn't ask more questions. A part of you would give anything to pretend that that part of your life didn't happen. And yet, painful as it is, it is what made you into who you are today. But you're definitely better off not talking about that time, that place, and that man.
"This fuschia suit was a perfect choice today by the way," Lily adds. You light up at the remark.
"It was, wasn't it?" You twirl, but stop when your sneakers make a squeaky sound. Both of you giggle, while Monica, who's off her phone, casts a look of mild disapproval at you.
"We're supposed to go to the 15th floor -" She doesn't even finish the sentence when Lily exclaims, "That one!"
The elevator on your right is just about to close. You dash towards it.
"Patience, girls, patience..." Monica remarks, following you in a brisk walk.
YOU ARE READING
Pop Star || Yoongi x Reader
Fanfiction[Short Chapters] Being a pop star means you've got to be on your best behaviour at all times. But what happens when you end up dissing Kpop in front of the biggest Kpop stars in history? Suga thinks you're fickle when he first meets you - though it...
