An Encounter

Surprise

I sit on the podium and see the man I bumped into entering with Han. Outside I was in a rush so I did not see him clearly but now I just realized that it was Felix. Oh no, what kind of problem is this? Why did he have to be a Stray Kids member?

After a while, Han starts calling but I reply with a text, leading to a whole text frenzy with him continuously asking if I was in Korea.

I had to lie because it was a surprise

The MC suddenly says, "Next we have number 11, a trainee from the UK". 

OH GOD everyone is looking, Felix is literally burning holes into me and Peter is staring at me with a look of betrayal, surprise, and happiness. Everyone else is clearly waiting to know how good I am at Korean.

"Hi, my name is Amara Taylor, I am 19, I just graduated from Oxford University and here I am". People in the crowd say 'Wow she's smart' and 'She has a good fashion sense'. I also see Han talking to his members about me.

"OK", the MC sighs, "What did you audition with?"

"I chose three songs. I danced to Wannabe and Dalla-Dalla by ITZY and I sang Can't Stop Me by TWICE"

"Last question then we will take one from the crowd, can you answer this in English", He asks, "What is do you think is your best quality to be a K-pop Idol?"

"Probably that I am fluent in English, Korean, and French and I can speak intermediate Japanese and basic Spanish and Malay" 

I usually don't tell people about the language of Malaysia.

The whole crowd gasps.

"Ok the question from the crowd"

A lady from the crowd is picked."How did you learn Korean, some of us first-timers found it difficult"

"I didn't learn it that much, my mom is Korean so I speak it with her family and both Korean and English with her and my siblings"

"Ok thank you can take your seat in the crowd"

The event ended slowly and we trainees were allowed to go home and get some rest for tomorrow. As I was leaving the building I saw SKZ getting into their car and leaving. Hannie was already in and Felix was staring daggers whiles Bang Chan was pushing him into the car.

I got on the bus and there were new messages from my mom, my sisters, my brother, and Hannie.

Pete's message was telling me to go home quick, dress semi formally for dinner and meet him at the Margaux Grill at 6:00.
I check the time an it's 15 minutes to 4.

Wow, great timing Han. 

I hurry to my apartment. I take a bath, put on light makeup, and get dressed.

And I decide on a red corset off shoulder top and a black mini skirt with black tights, black heels and a limited edition black Chanel bag.

This time I take an Uber Black to the restaurant for safety.

At the restaurant, I go to the reception and the receptionist leads me to where the others are sitting..

Oh shit! All the members were present and everyone turned to look when I got in.

"Hello", I greet. Everyone responds except Felix who scowls and Han who runs to me.

"Shit Ams, why didn't you call I had to even call Aunt Bora on her trip to ask"

"Chill I was trying to surprise you"

"Like the accent", Seungmin says.

"Thanks"

"Can you focus, how did your dad allow you to come alone?" Han asks

"I cried and he allowed me but 3 days ago I realized that certain people were following me, so I threatened to sue them and they ran away"

Everyone except Han looks at me in shock.

"You know he is not done"

"Yep he is going to call you in 3, 2, 1"

Han's phone rings. He picks it up.

"It's your dad", he whispers then he puts it on speaker.

*caller in italics*

"Hey Peter, how is life"

"It's good, Uncle Mike"

"Great, you know that Amara is in Korea right?"

"Yes, I do"

"Can you watch over her and make sure she doesn't meet any Italians, you know her history with them and make sure she doesn't rebel against us"

"Ok"

"I will call once in a while to check out"

"Ok, bye"

"Bye, I listen to your songs you are doing great, continue being a champ."

"Thanks"

And the call ends.

I sit down and sigh and everyone stares waiting for me to speak. I am too nervous to speak because I just realized who I was with. Felix is visibly annoyed.

I start drinking water and then Han starts speaking.

"So. How is it with Alfonso and who was the other man, uh ah Lorenzo?"

I choke. Why did he mention that now?

"'Cause it seems that your dad doesn't want it to repeat itself"

"I spoke to Alfonso 2 days ago, Yvette gave birth to twins 6 months ago and for Lorenzo, I think the money is all he ever wanted so I let him go"

"Who is Alfonso his story sounds juicy", Hyunjin says

"He is my ex"
And Chan starts smirking at me.

"So when she was 16, she met an Italian who had moved to London for Uni. She fell in love hard and they dated. Her family and her had traveled to Singapore for the holidays when she came back a friend of hers told her that he was hooking up with Yvette one of her friends she thought she was lying and unfriended her. Then one day she heard Yvette telling him that she was pregnant and she went into a depression.", Han spills out.

"Bro that's deep, but what about Lorenzo" Changbin asks.

"So he was not Italian by the way he's Spanish" I start saying.
"He was supposed to be her second chance at love?" Lee Know questions.
"Yep", Hannie says,"but he only wanted her parents money so he dated her and then one day, she lends him ten thousand pounds and he left. And if you are wondering how rich her family is her dad is Richard Taylor and her mom is chaebol heiress and model Penelope Taylor known better in Korea as Cha Bo-ra"
"So she is a 4th generation chaebol heiress for her mom with a business tycoon as a dad", Chan confirms reading from his phone, "but the press doesn't have a photo of her or her little sister yet only the older twins, Dorian and Diane"
I nod quietly.

"Looks like someone has many issues" Felix suddenly says whiles getting up.