yusyusds

[yusyusds]

I'm Glad We Met Part 6

Back to the present

Rei played with her necklace while she warm-up her voice. She felt nervous, more than she would like to feel, shaking like a baby and having issues breathing normally. 

Her first big concert was about to happen and she had been through a lot before she got there. So many emotions were in her mind, and although she was doing everything to avoid it, tears were winning the battle.

"There are hundreds of people out there," Liz said excitedly getting close to her, but when she noticed her friend's condition, her expression of excitement immediately dropped and changed to concern. "What happened ? Are you okay ?”

"I'm just too happy to finally be here, but I'm also sad knowing that he is not here to cheer for me." she said sincerely, breaking and starting to cry. 

That caught the attention of the rest of the girls, who approached worriedly.

"Are you sure you want to go on stage like this ?" Wonyoung asked. 

"True, our fans might be worried if they see you like this." Yujin pointed, worried at the idea of her friend collapsing on stage. 

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I've got you all and I also have him here." She pointed to her necklace and all the girls surrounded her in a group hug. 

"Never forget that we love you," Liz told her just before they went on stage, where hundreds of people greeted them enthusiastically. 

Rei was impressed to see so many people there, she never thought they would be so popular. The concert began and they sang and danced song after song with the best energy, it was almost impossible for her to think of anything other than showing up her talents. 

Everything was going smoothly, until it was time to sing one of the songs from the new album. 

I’m Glad We Met.

A tension settled on stage while the girls were located next to each other in front of their microphones, the song had no choreography so all the attention would fall on their voices and expressions, and nobody wanted to do it wrong, they knew that the song meant a lot to Rei. 

"Everyone," Rei said to get the attention, "The next song is very special to me, as you know I participated in the writing, so I want you to sing with me, Okay ?"

The audience answered affirmatively and the instrumental began, the voice of the fans quickly mixed with the girl’s voices who sang with passion and love. Although it wasn't their love story, they were able to feel everything Rei felt through the lyrics, like they were the protagonists. 

Rei's part came and she made an effort to sing without the tears escaping, but as the seconds passed it became more difficult for her to keep a smile on her face. All the memories he had with YN were reproduced in her mind like a movie, starting with the day they met when they were kids, she found out late that the boy who helped her to find her parents was him, maybe that's why his hands felt like a safe place. 

They were destined to be together, but viciously torn apart. 

She could say it but the event that inspired her to write the song, was the night that they had their first kiss. She was already in love with him by that moment, but in some way it felt like meeting him again while spending the night between his arms. 

Her last verse was about to come, but a knot in her throat was preventing her voice from coming out. At that moment something caught her attention in the audience. 

"YN is proud of you"

She read on the sign before noticing who was behind it. 

Jun was there with the rest of Abyss members, she also saw Leeseo with her future group members, Kyujin and Eunchae,  manager Cha was also there and even CEO Go, but there was something that caught her attention even more. 

Leeseo had YN's plushie in her hands showing it to her.

That gave her strength and courage to continue, she sang like never before, letting everything she kept in her heart come out.

In that way she managed to close the song, and when she opened her eyes she saw YN in front of her smiling proudly. 

"I told you that someday we'd be on stage together." He caressed her cheek "I love you," he said in Japanese before disappearing. 

Rei felt warmth spread across her chest as a tear fell down her cheek. 

"I love you too, I’m ….” she whimpered "I’m glad we met”

[yusyusds]

I'm Glad We Met Part 5

Since that day, they started a secret romance. 

After being found by half of the company all together in a dark room where they spent the entire night together, all the staff members were making an effort to have them separated from the other, but it wasn't working, they were too in love. Their friends, Wonyoung, Jun, Leeseo and even the CEO, ended up supporting them, even if they were worried and found it risky at the beginning.

 The debut announcement of Abyss arrived and there was expectations among the general public, their agendas were full, but YN still had time to escape after his obligations to spend some time with Rei, like that day.

He was already waiting for the girl in their secret place, they would have a picnic for their 100 days anniversary. Everything was already prepared, the food, the lights, even some music. YN heard footsteps and immediately knew that it was Rei, who appeared pushing aside the curtain of plants. She was wearing a beautiful white dress and a baby blue sweater as a shield for the cold weather.

 "Hi," she greeted with a big smile on her face, happy to be there with her favourite person. 

"You look gorgeous." YN words made her become red as tomatoes, "You changed clothes? You had different clothes during the showcase," he asked, taking her hand to guide her to the blanket on the floor.

 "You saw me?" She was impressed to know that he had seen her since the place was full of people, manager Cha had made an effort to get her into the place without anyone noticing. 

"Of course, even in a sea of people you will catch my attention," he said sincerely, causing butterflies in the girl's stomach. 

"You looked really cool on stage, I want to redebut fast so I can be there with you," she said imagining how great a concert with all the artists of the company would be, it would be the perfect excuse to be on stage with him. 

"I heard from Uncle Jinman that your group would debut soon, after our first comeback, it’ll be your second time debuting right" he said repeating what he had heard from the CEO during a dinner. 

"Really? Don't lie to me, you know that I get excited easily." she said, shaking her hands. 

"I never lie." He patted her head affectionately. They started to eat until it was gift time. 

"Don't laugh at my gift, but I heard that you are scared of the dark," she explained as she took his gift out of a bag. "So, I think this would be perfect. You can turn it on and think about me." It was a projector lamp, the packaging showed a galaxy. 

"It was Jun Who told you that, right?" He received a timid nod in response. "I told him to never reveal it, but I like the gift. I promise to use it," he said, then took out of his pocket a small velvety box from which he took out a necklace. 

Rei couldn't hide her excitement, even more so when she saw that their initials were on it. 

"I love it," she said, hugging him happily. "And I love you," she said for the first time, taking the boy by surprise. 

"I love you too." He told her, taking her face between his hands to kiss her. 

That was the first and last time they expressed their love in that way. 

With the imminent debut, the dates became less frequent and they got used to talking through messages every time they could until the day of the debut arrived and Rei couldn't be more excited, counting down the minutes until the time when the MV would be released. 

The first thing she did after listening to the song, which she already knew because YN had sung it to her, was to write a congratulatory message to the boy, her message was received but the minutes passed and still no response arrived. Initially she was not worried, but as the minutes went by she was surprised that YN hadn't even seen the message, so she tried to call him without receiving an answer, instead of that she received a call from Wonyoung.

 "Our debut date  is gunna in a few months! In a few days we will start the recordings and they will publish the announcement." The girl was almost screaming through the phone, and her excitement infected Rei who jumped all over the place. 

While they were both talking about their future debut, the sound indicating that another call was coming in, caught Rei's attention, she asked Wonyoung for a minute, and answered the call when she saw that it was Jun. 

She expected to hear YN's voice as he occasionally used his friend's phone to call her, but instead she heard an agitated Jun. Nothing had prepared Rei for what she heard through that device, Jun's words resounded in her mind and made her fall to the ground. 

"We had an accident..he didn't make it." 

That news, that still seemed unreal to her, took her into an abyss of emotions in which she was trapped for months. On the way to recording a variety show, the car's wheel exploded, causing manager Cha to lose control. YN saw her message before dying, he was about to answer her when the fatal accident snatched everything from him. 

Although Rei felt that she was the only one affected, the reality is that YN was special to everyone and her loss caused a crisis in the company. None of the girls were in condition to debut, so the announcement was delayed for months, and Abyss' debut was delayed while they decide what to do with the absence of a member. 

Manager Cha ended up quitting as he felt guilty about the accident for not having checked the car before starting to drive. CEO Go also tried to quit, but everyone refused, for many he was the only adult they could count with, he couldn't abandon them and add more pain to their lives. 

For Rei, every day without YN felt like an eternity, she didn't sleep or eat, and the tears seemed endless until she found a way to honour the boy's memory. 

CEO Go decided not to replace YN with someone, but wasn't sure about what to do to explain that the group was 6 even if there were 5 of them on stage. That way Rei had an idea, and using her drawing skills created a line of plushies starting with the one that would represent YN and also a cartoon illustration of the boy. 

"Rei chan, can come in?" Leeseo's voice pulled her out of her bubble. 

"Yes..." she said in a low voice. It was still difficult for her to look the girl in the eyes, but she didn't want to keep avoiding the reality. 

"I brought you a little bit of food," the girl said, leaving the plate on the desk and finding Rei's drawings, she immediately recognised her brother's features in one of the drawings "What is this?" she asked.

"I...I don't know, I had the idea of having YN on the group merch, he can also be a chapter in the group lore, but I don't know," she said a little shyly, laughing at herself. "I think I miss him so much that I'm having dumb ideas." 

"Of course not, it's a fantastic idea, YN would have loved it," Leeseo said. "Let's make his dream of debuting a reality." the 2 hugged, tearing up a little.

[yusyusds]

I'm Glad We Met Part 4

"Rei look, " Liz said to her, taking her shoulder to bring her back to reality, "A question for you, it says “Rei, you’re the only foreign member, how did you deal with being away from your family for so long”" She read imitating the interviewer's voice. "That reminds me of the time we did that event with our parents." 

Rei remembered that time, an event took place in the company and the idea was to bring relatives to show how skilled they were. Rei felt quite bad for being the only one who had no one to invite, even YN had the CEO at least, he was like a second dad for the Lee siblings since they came to Korea.

That event, together with the fact that she had already been feeling homesick for weeks, was like a torture. 

"Girls, shall we go out today ? I found a themed café in the mall," she asked excitedly, starting to search her phone for photos of the place without noticing that Liz and Wonyoung looked at each other uncomfortably.

"Today I can't, I'm going with my parents to the temple," Wonyoung said. 

"Oh, it's okay, don't worry," Rei responded without problem reassuring her before directing her gaze to Liz, "What about you ?" 

"I also have something to do with my parents..." the girl replied in an embarrassed tone. 

"Oh," she said feeling a little sad, a strange and uncomfortable silence settled between them, "I guess I’ll go alone." she showed her best fake smile to show her strong side.

"You can always go with Leeseo and your boyfriend," Liz said, teasing her about her relationship with YN. 

He's not my boyfriend," Rei said with her cheeks getting red as tomatoes. 

"Yet." Wonyoung added.

In that way, a heated debate about the non-existent relationship between YN and Rei began, the girl trying to clarify that they were not a couple and her friends insisting that it was not necessary to formalise it, they were practically already a couple. 

That helped lighten the atmosphere and the awkward moment was left behind, time passed faster than they would have liked and in the blink of an eye, the time for the girls to leave arrived and Rei was left alone in the practice room. 

"Knock, knock." Just by hearing his voice, Rei jumped like a spring, excited by YN's presence."Are you busy ?"

"Not really…" she said in a low tone "What about you ?"

"Me neither, actually I was looking for someone to go out with," he said looking up for her reaction, Rei didn't know but YN was aware of her situation, Liz told him about how sad Rei started to look since the day that the event was announced. 

He wanted to make her know that she was not alone, even if her family wasn't here. 

"Yes!" she said excitedly, and then realised that he didn't explicitly invite her, making YN burst into laughter "Hey, don't laugh," Rei pouted. 

"Sorry, sorry, lets go," he offered his hand and Rei didn't hesitate to take it. It took them a while to reach their destination, Rei let herself be guided, hand in hand with YN, she knew that she would always go to a good place if it was with him. 

They arrived at a famous park in the center of the city, but apparently the final destination was deep inside the place, since they continued entering the place until they reached an area that seemed straight out of a fantasy book. 

The area was painted in different shades of green and the flowers of different colors seemed like drops of paint on that beautiful canvas, there was a small creek surrounded by flowers and butterflies. 

"What is this place ? It's so beautiful," Rei said excitedly. 

"It's my happy place, here you can be yourself without feeling judged," YN said as he sat on the grass and took off his shoes to feel the water, "I always come here when I'm sad or angry and I need to release all the stress." He patted the floor to indicate to her to take a seat and she did. 

They sat next to each other in total silence for several minutes, it wasn't an awkward moment, but rather an intimate and close one. 

"I've been feeling strangely sad these days…" Rei said, breaking the silence. 

"It's because of your parents, right?" YN asked, looking at her nodding, "This place has a secret, everything you shout reaches the ears of the person you want to say it to." 

"What do you mean ?"

That you can just shout everything you want to say to your parents and they would hear it, look…" he got up and put his hands in her mouth "Mom! Dad! I love you!" 

At first Rei looked at him strangely, worried that he was going crazy, but finally she joined him, starting to scream everything she had in her chest. 

After that she felt much better than before.

Back to reality......

"Rei, look at this one," Liz told her, showing her one of the questions " ”Do you guys have any stories of getting into trouble?” We indeed have," Liz said in a playful way, "When we already had the debut groups ready and we went to the rooftop to have a little party. We almost got caught  because of Jun." She laughed at the memory, but there was an extension of the history that she didn't know. 

That day Rei experimented a lot of new things and she gave a new name to her feelings for YN.

While all the boys were celebrating, singing, and dancing, Rei and YN were in their own world joking and laughing about whatever comes into their minds, but thanks to all the noise that they were making the staff almost caught them. (boys and girls weren’t allowed to hangout late)

Somehow, almost everyone managed to escape or hide except for Rei and YN who were punished as it seemed like they were having a date and that was worse than anything else they could have been doing. In this way they ended up having to clean the warehouse as punishment

"I'm already tired," she said while shaking the dust off some objects, YN was on the other side mopping the floor. It was almost midnight. 

"You can take a seat and rest, I will finish."

"But I want to help," she pouted, but still took a seat to rest. "Come and rest too," she moved aside to make room for him. 

The boy didn't refuse and immediately sat down letting out a long sigh, he was also tired. Rei placed her head on the boy's shoulder, closing her eyes. She didn't intend to fall asleep, but somehow she ended up falling, being followed by YN. They both fell asleep and it wasn't until they heard the sound of the door that alarmed them, but before they could do anything they realised they were locked in the dark of the room.

Rei felt her chest compress as she was scared of being trapped, she looked up for her phone to make light, but didn't find it.

"YN ? Where are you ? I can't see you," she said, whining. 

"I'm here," he said, trying to join his hands with the girl's who trembled next to him, paralyzed with fear. "I'm here for you, don't cry." But that didn't work, the girl wasn't listening, so he started singing. 

He sang to her in an attempt to calm and distract her, took her face in his hands to join their foreheads. The girl's erratic breathing normalised until she became calm.

In that dark place, feeling each other's breathing, they acted on impulse and joined their lips. 

Their lips joined in a shy and careful kiss, full of tenderness and affection.

A moment of panic became a moment to remember, that had been their first kiss. They spent the night hugging each other with the excuse of dissipating the cold. It was not until the morning of the next day that they were awakened by the sound of the door opening.

[yusyusds]

I'm Glad We Met Part 3

"You have a 20-minute break, don't be late," a staff member said before leaving the girls alone in the room.

They all focused on themselves, using the time to fix their hair, practise the choreography or take a quick nap. They all seemed to have something to do except for Rei. 

"Rei, look at this." Liz appeared taking a seat next to her before giving her some papers. "I found the copy of the questions that he's going to do on the next block," she said enthusiastically. 

“Where did you get that from ? We could get caught." Rei took the papers looking around as if they were committing some kinda crime. 

"They were on the ground, it would be their fault for not being careful." Liz defended herself confident that there would be no problems. "Check these out while I see these ones," she split the roles as she knew Rei would take her time to read them all, although her Korean was almost on a native level, her reading skills needed to improve. 

"If I get scolded because of you, you will owe me a treat." Rei said jokingly before starting to read. 

Liz shot her a finger gun “deal”

Most of the content was notes or indications of what or how to say things, but it didn't take long for her to find the first question that was related to her past. 

‘You guys seem close to the R3MIX members, particularly you rei with Leeseo, how did you meet ?’ 

Rei thought about it. 

Once she began her days as a trainee, Wonyoung was the first one she met after YN, during her first practice she arrived earlier than necessary and there found the girl there. 

"You're the new girl, right?" Wonyoung asked as she stretched, but she received no answer, so she watched the girl curiously. "Are you deaf or something ?" She asked jokingly, but when he didn't get an answer again she became worried, she couldn't believe that they accepted a trainee who doesn't hear. 

"I think she's a foreigner," another younger girl appeared, she had a lot of things including food in her hands. "Hi, what's your name ?" She asked in a language that Rei didn't understand at the beginning. "Hmm, maybe you speak japanese?" She tried again, receiving a positive answer.

"Yes!" Rei said excitedly at the idea of someone else speaking Japanese. "You're Japanese too ?”

"Correct, then you are the girl that my brother was talking about," she said, leaving everything on the floor to take Rei’s hands. 

"Brother ?" she asked and then connected the dots by herself, "You are YN's sister ?" 

"Yes, I’m Lee Hyunseo, nice to finally meet you" she replied, starting to jump like a little child while being followed by Rei. 

They continued to speak in Japanese for a while longer, while Wonyoung tried to not to get lost in so many words she didn't know, her Japanese was at a fairly basic level, so once she got tired of feeling left out, she intervened. 

"I love that both of you are already getting along, but you should hide those things before anyone sees them," she pointed at the snacks, "and you should start working on your Korean," she pointed to Rei. 

"I understand, but I'm a little shy when speaking." she said with a little accent. 

"Where are you staying ?" Leeseo asked once she finished the assignment. 

"In a hotel," she said, starting to stretch. 

"Hotel !? Oh no, you would spend too much money," Leeseo said alarmed. "What about the dorm ?" She remembered that the company has a little building for trainees without their own place to stay. 

"That place should be shut down, no one stays there apart from the insects," Wonyoung dismissed the idea immediately. "You should stay with us in our department, we have an extra room," she offered, in broken Japanese.

“Right, it would also help with the expenses," Leeseo pointed out. "Once we finish the practice, Wonyoung will take you there after her singing practice. I have acting classes so I will finish at midnight, I’ll be staying close by though" 

Everything was decided, although Rei could hardly give an opinion, it didn't seem like a bad idea to her, it would be a great help to be able to stay in a department with people that seem to be so nice. 

As the minutes passed, more trainees appeared until the dance instructor finally appeared. At first Rei felt a little lost as it seemed that they were already at an advanced point in learning the choreography, but she managed to integrate and catch up faster than she thought.

Once it was time to go home, Rei took her bag and waited for Wonyoung outside. While waiting, a familiar voice caught her attention. 

"Where are you going ?" YN appeared beside her suddenly. "I can give you a ride if you need."

"Thank you, but someone will come for me. In fact I don't know where I'm going." She joked, she only knew that she would be going with Wonyoung to her apartment, but she had no idea where it was, so even if she loved the idea of going with YN it wasn't possible. 

"You’re going somewhere and you don't know where ?" YN was confused, but before he could dig any further, a horn caught his attention. 

"YN, what are you doing? Hurry up." A man with dark glasses and a luxurious and flashy car parked next to them. 

"Sorry uncle, give me a moment," he said to him before turning to Rei. "Are you sure you don't need-?”

"I'm ready, Rei." Wonyoung appeared, interrupting YN. "My dad has arrived, let's go." she took the girl by the arm, almost dragging her away from YN. "Goodbye, your sister will stay on for practice." 

Rei didn't have the opportunity to say goodbye properly, but she didn't have a chance to think about it. Along the way she had the time to meet Wonyoung, she was quite attentive and also had a lot of advice to give, although the language was still quite a big barrier. 

Once they parked in front of the building, Rei noticed that the car in which YN left was in front of the other building. 

"Hey Wonyoung, who was that one with the shiny car ?" she asked, getting out of Wonyoung's dad's car.

"How are you going to ask who he is,thats Go Jinman, he's our CEO." Wonyoung said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, but for Rei it was a new discovery since her contract signing was with the assistant manager and until now she hadn't had the opportunity to meet the CEO. 

"And why is his car in front ?" she pointed confused.

 "We are neighbours," Wonyoung responded as if it wasn't a big deal and continued on her way into the building. 

"That means that...'' she saw YN leave the building across the street to look for something in the car. "He's also here," she said excitedly as she waved her hand to get YN's attention and say hi to him "We are neighbours!"

[yusyusds]

I'm Glad We Met Part 2

Unfortunately on her first day in the company she couldn't meet the girls who would be training with her, so the manager Cha, who was the same guy that recruited her, instead introduced her to another Japanese trainee. 

"Let me introduce you. Rei, this is YN, he's also from Japan, manager Cha threw a finger pistol at the boy “bang”

“Ahhhh” the boy dramatically fell  laughing. 

Rei was a little caught off guard by the interaction but laughed too 

"Ok YN  I leave Rei in your hands, give her a good introduction to the company facilities and be safe you 2" he said before disappearing into one of the hallways. 

"So... Let's go" YN said, taking the lead. He took the role of guide seriously, as he took the girl around every corner explaining for what and who each room was for, but Rei was barely able to concentrate.

That boy was familiar to her, especially his name, since it was not so common, even so nothing came to her mind. 

"Can I ask you a favour?" YN asked. 

Rei looked at him confused “of course, what is it ?”

I need a little help ," he pointed out. "I've been here for a long time, and I think I'm losing my ability to speak Japanese." Rei didn't say anything for respect, but throughout the tour his pronunciation was a little wrong in a few words. "So if you want, I can help you learn Korean and you help me to get my Japanese essence back," he proposed.

Rei acknowledged that it was a very good idea, so she didn't doubt it.

Deal," she took the guy's hand to shake it, sealing the deal. 

The hand slowly turned from the boys into a girls.

she returned to reality just at the moment and noticed it was Liz’s hand. Just at that moment Yujin started to speak, but not having heard the question, Rei felt a little lost. 

"He asked about your debut in Dreamday," Liz whispered to her. With that explanation, Yujin's story began to make more sense. 

"...we were very impressed that they had chosen us, at that time, we didn't even know that they had plans for us to represent the company so it felt totally unexpected and Rei still didn't understand the language well." All of them laughed while the girl's face became red. "We were competing against 100 other trainees, we felt like only our parents and friends were supporting us. But we still made it and debuted even if we didn’t know all 3 of us would make it and debut in the group."

Rei remembered that day perfectly. Yn, Leeseo and Jun (YN’s trainee bestfriend) were the only ones actively supporting them, some time later Gaeul also joined, and on the day of the finals it was those faces that Rei managed to see among the public and they were witnesses of her first presentation as a member of Dreamday after being announced as a member along with Wonyoung, Yujin and 9 other trainees from various agencies. 

They celebrated on stage, but the real celebration was backstage, where everyone was waiting for them, including YN. Without being able to resist and with tears of joy in her eyes, Rei threw herself into the boy's arms, forgetting about everyone else. 

As if nothing and no one but them existed, they hugged before YN took her face in his hands, wiping away her tears. 

"You did it fantastic, I'm proud of you," he told her, joining their foreheads in an intimate and close moment that was interrupted by Jun's comment. 

"I didn't know we were filming a melodrama," the guy said in a joking tone, making everyone laugh but YN and Rei who felt embarrassed for acting like that in public. 

To make the situation worst when Rei turned to go back with Wonyoung and Yujin she saw her parents there, they both looked impressed, but no more than her, who had no idea they would be there.

"Mom, dad! What are you doing here ?" she asked, going in their direction to hug them. 

"Did you think we won't come to see our daughter succeed ?" Mr. Naoi said, caressing her hair with affection, in his eyes she was still a little girl that he had to protect, that's why his attention moved to the boy who previously hugged his daughter with so much trust. 

Rei watched how her father approached her group of friends and, as if choosing the fish he would have for dinner, her father took YN by the shoulder before asking him for a moment to talk. 

Everyone else, including Rei, stood frozen in their places watching YN and Mr. Naoi disappears into one of the backstage rooms at the end of the hallway. 

"What do you think he's going to say to him?" Jun whispered close to Rei, scaring her.

I don't know, my father is unpredictable," she said honestly. "But he's too good to say something bad." 

"Let's get closer and see if we can hear something" Jun said, before taking the lead, approaching the door. Rei soon joined him, sharpening her ears to hear. 

"We are getting to know each other, since we are both from Japan we try to maintain a close friendship" Rei heard YN explaining calmly, but even without having him in front of her, she knew that in reality he was shaking inside.

"I can see that she is very close to you, our Rei is more reserved and fragile than she seems," Mr. Naoi said worriedly, "I'm happy to see that she has people who support her around her, but I need to make sure that it will be like that for a long time…" 

"I want to be with her as long as I can," YN went ahead and said what he should do to gain his trust, taking Mr. Naoi and Rei by surprise, she felt her heart flutter in her chest. 

The only one who seemed lost was Jun, not having much knowledge of Japanese, he was barely managing to understand. 

"That's a good answer boy, I hope so." Mr. Naoi gave him some pats. "For now I will thank you if you make her happy and keep looking after her now that she's away from home." 

"I will," he sounded really sure and serious about it.

Rei was moved, both by her father's concern and by YN's commitment. Somehow that event meant more to her than being in the debut group, YN was becoming someone special to her.

"And what about you, Rei." the interviewer's voice took her out of her mind.

"Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts, what's the question?" she asked shyly.

"How would you describe that night with one word ?" Jung Shik asked again. 

"Dreamlike." she said smiling, and a strange silence settled in the place, Rei worried thinking that maybe they had noticed that she wasn't talking about her debut, but hearing the productor indicate a pause she relaxed. 

She needed to get back to land before they noticed that she was floating in clouds of memories.

[yusyusds]

I'm Glad We Met Part 1

“Recording!" 

That was the signal, the interview started, everyone got focused on their job, Rei was trying to keep a calm but pretty smile on her face, on her side Wonyoung looked fresh as always while Liz was looking up for everyone before doing the group greeting.

“Sky high, Hi, we are Estelle”

"I'm really grateful to see you all here," the interviewer,Jung Shik, greeted. "It's your first time here, how does it feel ?"

All the girls looked at each other before the leader Yujin took the initiative to talk. 

"We are a little nervous, but so happy about being in your show, sunbae." The girl's answer received the approval of the rest that nodded showing agreement. 

"Oh no, let's forget honorifics, now you can introduce yourself. Let's start with you..." he pointed at Rei while reading the papers on his hand to look up for her name. "Rei!" 

"Y-yes, I'm a lovely and graceful butterfly in charge of the rap in the group, my name is Rei," she greeted and the rest joined one after the other doing their respective greetings.

The interview officially started. 

Everything was going correct, Rei wasn't too participative but that was not a problem since everyone was having their time to shine after so long.

"Let's talk about your new music." In a natural way the interviewer changed the theme. "I see here that some of you participated in the creation of some of the songs in your new comeback, Rei was one of them." All the attention went on her and automatically Rei felt the nerves invade her body, she already knew what he would ask. "The song "I’m Glad We Met" was written by you?" 

"Not by me, but I helped with some things," Rei answered shyly. 

"It's a song about first love, how did you manage to help, maybe… you have a love story like the one that the song talks about?" He asked curiously, following the script without knowing the effect that could have on the girl. 

Rei’s hand went directly to the little butterfly necklace that went almost unnoticed between all the other accessories on her. Liz reacted too, taking her hand in a supporting way, she knew that the question would effect Rei.

"I- I always use my fans as inspiration, they are my first and only love, so this song is for them," she lied, still playing with the necklace, in it the initials "R" and "Y" were inscribed on the each wing, away from the sight of the rest. 

She wished to be able to talk about her real first love and talk about all the happiness it caused her, but the interview was not the place for that and before she knew it a new question was made, moving to a different theme. 

"Since when you all wanted to become idols and how were you all recruited?" he asked, and while the girls were deciding who would be answering based on the most interesting history, Rei got lost in her memories. 

"Dad!" the girl screamed between the people that walked without looking at her. "Dad, I'm here." She continued, starting to walk looking up for her family, but neither of the adults surrounding her were her parents.

In her desperation a voice mingled with hers, she searched around her until her gaze met with one of another child. Both stayed on their sides looking at each other with fear and curiosity.

"Did you also lose your parents ?" The kid asked in a funny accent, keeping the distance. Rei nodded, playing with her hands nervously. "We should look for them together," he offered, extending his hand to her "I'm Lee YN, I’m from Osaka" 

"I'm Naoi Rei, I’m from Nagoya" Still afraid, Rei approached and took his hand saying her name in a low and shy tone. 

"That's a pretty name." YN started to walk without letting go of Rei's hand. 

Tokyo was a really big city in the eyes of a kid who was alone and so far from home, but at least they were not alone anymore. Together they started to call their parents' names and approach all the adults that looked somehow like their familiars, but didn't succeed. 

It was a search for minutes, but for them felt like hours, eventually they reached a little park where they took a seat. Rei felt calmer, especially thanks to YN's firm grip, but she was still worried about finding her parents. 

On the other side of the park, some young people appeared with loud music, attracting the attention of both kids. 

Do you know that song?" YN asked. 

"I don’t think so," Rei tried to remember, but no memory came that included that song. 

"It's the debut song of SNova he explained. "Don't you like kpop idol groups?" YN asked, looking at her.

"Not really, I don't understand Korean," she answered sincerely.

"Oh, then I’ll work hard to become your favourite idol, my dream is to become an idol of a popular group, hopefully under SNova’s company starlight" YN's eyes almost shined while saying that. 

"I’ll need to learn Korean then..." she said, a little insecure, but still supportive, he turned and smiled at her brightly.

Before the talk could continue they heard their names, they automatically turned in search of the familiar voices watching their parents run towards them. Within minutes they were separated and embraced by their parents as they were bombarded by questions. 

The adults quickly greeted the other family, and then took the children and went on separate ways. 

"Good luck in Korea" Rei almost screamed while waving at YN thinking that the next time they would see each other would be through a screen. 

The years passed, and everything became bigger, including the interest of Rei for kpop, to the point that she wanted to become an idol like her favourites and YN, even if he hasn't debuted yet. Whenever auditions were opened, she sent her videos in the hope of being chosen, but sometimes she didn't even receive the predetermined message thanking the participation. 

Feeling more exhausted than usual, she finished shopping and left the store. Her mother needed some ingredients and couldn't find them in any nearby store so she had to walk several blocks to get there. 

She walked at a calm pace while humming one of her favourite songs. Maybe it was because there weren't that many people on the street at the time, but it gave her the feeling that she was being followed, but before she could do or say anything a man in a suit approached her. 

"You have good looks, if you are interested contact me. We are looking for trainees for a new group," he said in a funny sounding japanese before offering a business card. 

Rei took the card with doubt, but once she saw the name of the company she raised her eyebrows. 

"Starlight Entertainment." That name shone in her eyes, and from that moment the mission to get into the company started. 

It was not easy to convince her parents, it was normal that they refused to let their little daughter go to a totally different country to spend hours and hours training to debut in a group that could end up failing. So Rei made a big effort to convince them using her opportunity to study there as a benefit and eventually they agreed, with many rules and conditions, but after receiving the permission everything happened in the blink of an eye. 

Her journey in Korea started.