Dangerous Woman - BTS 8th Member

Namjoon & Grace - First Meeting

It's often said that when BTS came together, it was fate. That the merging of eight talented people had been a once in a lifetime opportunity that would never happen again due to their individual personalities, talents, skills and backgrounds. And while some believed the origins of BTS started with Namjoon, Yoongi and Hoseok - it was actually the meeting between Namjoon and Grace.

He had signed with Big Hit Entertainment and Hitman Bang two weeks ago to start life as a trainee. Hitman Bang was putting together a hip-hop group (later an idol group) and Namjoon was the first piece of the puzzle, his rapping skills were superior to what had been picked before and he was nearly fluent in English. He just needed to be molded and formed into what he would later become - RM.

But first, there was someone who he would have to meet who would become his mentor.

It had been clear from the start that the hip-hop group would be men but his mentor would be a woman, five years older than himself. Grace Chu had entered Big Hit over a year ago as a bit of an enigma - she had training in ballet and ballroom dancing, she could sing, she was fluent in English having been born in the UK, she was somewhat fluent in German and she had the upbringing of a mixed Korean-British household.

Yet, there were no plans to make her an idol.

She was back up - learning the ropes of singing to do background vocals, rapping, contemporary dancing, how to look like an idol, how to work a crowd but there were no concrete plans. A spare part yet used for everything including paid work as an assistant to various people in the building. Her training had been done by Lee Hyun, who was currently in the military.

Namjoon stopped outside the small room that had been set aside for Grace. It was smack in the middle of the managers and producers, so she could go between the two departments easily. He could hear typing behind the door and every now and then he could hear classical music playing.

Another piece of the large puzzle that was Grace.

"Come in," came a soft voice when Namjoon knocked on the door and he paused, taking a deep breath before opening it.

He didn't know what he expected but he'd later admitted he expected her to look more European than Korean. She was only 5'4, later 5'8 in heels, and dark brown, almost black curly hair that had been pulled into a ponytail. Her Korean eyes were dark brown yet small flecks of hazel in them. She was tan but not overly.

"Kim Namjoon?" she asked, grinning slightly at the tall boy in front of her who was all arms and legs, his face a bit too big for this body.

He bowed politely then remembered she was British so he held out his hand, "Pleasure to meet you, Miss. Chu."

Perfect English, near enough. If not sounding a bit too American for her liking.

"Please, call me Grace...unless you prefer to call me noona? I'll leave that up to you."

Her accent was a typical British accent, maybe slightly upper class if Namjoon paid close attention to it. There was something else underneath it as well but he couldn't tell what it was.

"Grace is fine with me," he paused and stood there awkwardly. She was five years his senior, she had been in the company for over a year and while he expected her to take control of the conversation immediately, she could tell he was nervous and unsure.

"Don't worry Namjoon, I don't bite. Hitman Bang told me everything, though Bang PD would be the right thing to call him I suppose. He's sent you to me for mentoring though I'm going to be honest, I don't know much about rap or hip-hop. I'm only doing the lessons because I'm going to be doing background vocals for the next big hip-hop group," she sighed and nodded at the chairs in front of the desk. "Take your weight off your feet Namjoon."

He slowly sank into one of the chairs. "Did he say what you're mentoring me in?"

"English is one, though you speak perfect English to me. Maybe a bit of work needs to be done on pronunciation but only a bit. And I'm meant to teach you the way of the idol life," Grace suddenly grinned. It had occurred to her, as it had Namjoon, that she would be his idol mentor while not being slated to be an idol herself.

"You're not going to be put forward as a solo artist?" he found himself asking, seeing the pictures of the artists and bands that had gone before on the wall behind Grace's desk.

"My contract is purely work - I'm going to be a trainee but one who is going to help other artists, like yourself. Bang PD wants to focus on the new hip-hop group, BPB, which won't be co-ed. I'll help with background vocals, meetings, some lyrics but not many."

Namjoon sighed and looked down at his hands, fiddling with a ring that was on his index finger. "Well, thank you Grace then. For all the future help you'll give me."

God he was cute.

Sixteen years old and already sounding like a leader.

"You are more than welcome Namjoon. So, let's work out a schedule. It's going to be one to one with you and me for a while until others are signed - I believe there's more auditions coming. Why don't you work out a list of things you want to learn and I'll schedule lessons around your training and school," Grace said as she got out her diary.

He was silent for a moment and she wondered if she had said the wrong thing when he spoke, shyly for the first time since entering the room.

"Can I call you Gigi?"

Of all the nicknames she had been given in her life, Gigi was not one of them. It was certainly unique and not what she was expecting - it was a bit hard to create a nickname out of Grace or even her Korean name, Hea.

"Only if I can call Joon."

From that moment on, a solid relationship between mentor and student was formed. Within a month to a year, it would change to leader and artist, not before it was brother and sister. Grace would become Namjoon's back, his silent supporter, his go-to for when being a leader got too much or when he couldn't translate. Namjoon in return would become Grace's solo supporter, championing the use of her lyrics and notes, spearheading her career as Grace Chu, not as BTS.

Their family would form when six others would join that small little office and make their introductions to their leader and their noona.