Noelle took another look in the mirror. It must have been the 45th time. She had put on so many combinations of the few clothes she brought with her. She was only supposed to stay in Seoul for eighteen months, after all. After careful thinking, a cream-white oversized shirt, a pair of skinny jeans, and white sneakers were the winners.
She was proud to have been selected for the prestigious internship at NT2 Entertainment. Only three interns were chosen each year, and she was the first to join that tiny team within the talent agency unit. It was the only team with a direct connection to what she was after, to what she had been working toward for the past three years. Everything was planned.
Though, traces of guilt still haunted her.
On one hand, the sector she had chosen was far from what anyone who knew her would expect. As an economics graduate, she wasn't heading for an internship at a bank or an insurance company. An internship in the entertainment sector? After selecting a master's degree in Business Administration? Mother could kill me if she ever finds out... At least her father had promised not to mention any details.
On the other hand, her selection had nothing to do with her academic or even her professional goals. She was there for rather personal reasons. But then again, who crosses two continents for a man that didn't know she even existed?
She couldn't deny she was feeling anxious and scared at the same time. What she had done so far—and what she was about to do now- was pure madness. It made her feel a bit ashamed. Nobody should ever learn the real reason she was there. She had to always stick to her scenario: she was just a student looking for a good internship. Everybody would laugh at her if they found out she'd made all her decisions for the most foolish purpose on earth. Even my professor will have a reason to kill me...
But it was time to reap what she had sown.
The time was 07:10. Noelle had been up since 6:00 to take a bath and do her hair, and she hadn't eaten anything yet. What if I spill milk on myself before I even get there? She put the bottle aside and ate the flakes plain, which gave her a choking sensation.
Now ready for the final touches—discreet makeup, brushing her teeth, and organizing her bag—she stood in front of the mirror one last time. Looking good, girl! And in any case, she wouldn't be running into him today. He had shootings this period, she'd been told during the interview.
The bus arrived, and a couple of minutes later she was in front of the NT2 Entertainment headquarters. She was familiar with the place, having been around a few times. The building was more than thirty-story high, and she even knew the specific floors the company occupied—scary, wasn't it? She entered the lobby and headed for the reception as directed.
"Good morning. I am here to meet Mrs. Pyo" she said in Korean to the receptionist.
"Good morning. Your name, please?" the girl asked, putting on a pretentious smile and speaking rather slowly.
"Noelle Auclair" she replied, speaking slowly and as clearly as possible. The thought that the receptionist assumed she didn't speak good Korean was annoying.
"Wait a minute, please" the girl said. She picked up the phone and spoke to someone in a very low voice. She hung up and turned to Noelle. "Someone is coming to pick you up. Could you stand by the entrance gates, please?".
"Thank you" Noelle responded politely. She decided to call her Ms. Please. That girl had something robotic about her; even her smile was so fake. She moved away and stood where she was told.
While waiting, she took a look at all the people rushing in. They were all in a hurry, and as they passed by her, they completely ignored her. She usually stood out, being European in an Asian country, but on that morning, everyone seemed solely focused on getting to their desks.
After a couple of minutes, a girl appeared, moving in the opposite direction of the crowd. She was heading to the entrance, and as soon as she saw Noelle, she smiled. She presented a card to the reader, and the door swung open.
"Hello! You must be Noelle! I am Cho Mi-Suk" the girl said, extending her hand. The moment Noelle heard her voice, she realized who she was. Her first name was also well-known, but she had never seen her face before.
"Yes, you are right! Nice to meet you" Noelle replied, smiling and shaking her hand.
"Oh! Your Korean is indeed very good!" Mi-Suk noticed.
"Thank you. Living here for the past year helped me a lot" Noelle said.
"Let's go to our office. We are all waiting to meet you" Mi-Suk said, walking back to the entrance gates and swiping her card again for both of them to enter.
She seemed like a very joyful person, now that she'd met her in person. She was wearing a cute denim skirt and a short-sleeved blouse with green and red stripes, and she was in a great mood for a Monday morning. "I will be showing you around today. You can ask me anything you want" Mi-Suk said. "Our office is on the seventeenth floor and we will get there on this nice elevator, because only once have I tried to use the stairs and I only got myself up to the fifth floor!".
Noelle was certain that they would get along pretty well. They reached the seventeenth, and after stepping out Mi-Suk introduced her to another girl sitting at the floor's reception. "Hey Ari, this is Noelle. She is our new intern".
"Oh! You got an intern? How come?" the girl, whose name was Ari, said.
"Come on, it has been a while since we got someone new on the team" Mi-Suk responded.
"Exactly! Four years, is it? Since you came? Let's see how long she will last!" Ari said in Korean, and then shifted to English: "Noelle, nice to meet you! Welcome!". And after that, she added in a low voice in Korean again: "You are lucky, I guess...".
"Nice to meet you, too! And thank you, I guess..." Noelle responded in Korean. Yes, she felt lucky, but it was obvious that Ari was thinking the opposite. Why was she wondering how long she would last?
"I forgot to tell you. She speaks Korean!" Mi-Suk told Ari when she saw her stupefied face. "Come on!" Mi-Suk then instructed Noelle. "Ari will give you the wrong impression". And they proceeded down the hall. "On this floor, the talent agency unit is based. All the artists' agents are here and you will run into them quite often. NT2 occupies three more floors, but here is the core of our business" Mi-Suk explained as they walked. "And here is our unique team!" she said, smiling, when they reached a shut glass door with lively multi-color neon letters on it that read "Yeong Ye-Jun".
She was finally here. Her heart was racing.
Mi-Suk pulled the door open and let Noelle enter first. "Everyone, here she is!" she announced loudly behind her. Noelle took a look around to see who she was addressing. The office was quite spacious. White was the dominant color, with many neon details around, giving it an energetic and dynamic feeling. There were two comfortable white sofas close to the door, where a beautiful woman and a sympathetic man were sitting. Behind what seemed like a cozy living room area, there were four desks, currently empty except for one where a young man was sitting –not exactly just a young man, rather an impressive young god. Next to him, she saw Chloe, standing at the door of a separate office with glass walls that was clearly hers. When they entered, Chloe came over to welcome her.
"Noelle! It's been a while! Welcome!" Chloe said, shaking her hand firmly.
"Nice to be here. Thank you, Mrs. Pyo" Noelle replied.
There she was, her temporary boss, whom she had met a month ago during the interview. Chloe was open and supportive with her back then. Noelle felt that they would collaborate smoothly.
"Guys, this is Noelle Auclair. She is a post-graduate student who was selected for an internship and will be joining the team for the next three months. I will be helping her with her thesis, and I hope you will show her how we do things around here, so she can learn more about the business. As you can see, she speaks Korean very well, and we can help her to improve even further", Chloe said to the rest of them.
"Let me introduce the rest" she continued. "You met Mi-Suk. She is a very important member of the team, as she handles all of our social media". Indeed, she was the one responsible for all postings on all social channels, and that was where Noelle knew her name and voice from. She was often the one filming many of his videos.
"Here is Ho Sang-Jun. He is responsible for media and public relations" Chloe continued, pointing toward the guy sitting at his desk. Noelle, of course, knew exactly who he was. The former band member, a talented boy with high potential who had just dropped out one day. He studied and then returned to work with his friend.
"Nice to meet you, Noelle" he told her, politely but somehow coldly.
"Likewise" she replied. Noelle felt her cheeks flush when their gazes met.
"And here is our beauty queen! Si Dan-Bi, our styling advisor" Chloe continued, gesturing toward the beautiful woman on the sofa. Noelle knew her as well. After reading about her in an article, she had looked her up, and since then had been following her on her channels, where she gave advice on fashion and makeup. She had learned a thing or two from her over the years, and now she was finally meeting her in person.
"Nice to meet you, sweetie!" Dan-Bi said, surprising Noelle with her cordial and straightforward attitude.
"Nice to meet you, too!" Noelle replied, smiling.
"And finally, Kim Kang-Dae. We call him the co-pilot, as he usually helps us around with any crazy task we're working on and facilitates our work" Chloe said, indicating the last person in the room, a kind-looking man. Noelle hadn't heard anything about him, but how could she have known everything, right?
"Welcome, Noelle!" he said, getting up to greet her and they shook hands, returning the greeting.
"In this office, apart from visitors, you'll usually only see us. Kang-Dae and Dan-Bi aren't stationed here, but they come and go frequently. Ah! And the person whose name is on the door drops by now and then, but he's not around these days. Sang-Jun, the photoshoot is today, correct?" Chloe asked, turning to him for confirmation.
"Yes, in about an hour. I'll be joining him" Sang-Jun replied.
"Great! That will last the whole day, right?" Chloe wanted to know.
"More or less" Sang-Jun said.
"Nice. So, back to you, Noelle, would you like to share anything?" Chloe said.
Oh, she wasn't prepared for something like that and felt her ears turning red. No matter how many presentations she had made, and how comfortably she could talk in front of an audience about any subject, talking about herself always made her freak out.
"Um... not much. I'm Noelle, from France—Strasbourg, in particular—and I've been studying here for a year. I'm looking forward to working with all of you!" she said, as casually as she could.
"We're looking forward to it, too, and we'll all get to know each other better. Now, you must visit the HR department for some paperwork and to receive your equipment. Mi-Suk, please take her upstairs and get back quickly; we need to discuss the issue I mentioned earlier" Chloe said decisively.
She liked her style. She looked proud, confident and decisive. Noelle knew a couple more things about Chloe, though. She had graduated from the same university Noelle was now attending, and she had worked really hard in the industry. She was also the mother of a six-year-old boy she had been raising alone since a bad divorce, and she liked taking photos—her Instagram was full of great shots! Even though all these details made Noelle admire her even more, she knew she should be careful not to show that she knew anything.
"Yes, ma'am! Let's go, Noelle!" Mi-Suk said, and Noelle followed her. "Everyone is great! We'll all help you! We're very happy to have new blood on board!" she chattered on their way to the stairs.
Mi-Suk guided her to the HR department, and left. Noelle stayed there for a while. She had contracts and declarations to sign, was informed about certain technicalities, and was given a laptop and an entrance card. About thirty minutes later, she put the brand-new laptop in her bag and headed for the stairs, a pack of contracts for Chloe to countersign in her hands.
It was easy enough to find her way back to the office. She nodded to Ari as she passed by and kept moving. After a few steps, she heard Ari giggle and offer a silly "Hello!", but she didn't want to seem curious or snoopy on her first day, so she kept walking without looking back.
She reached the office door, shifted all the papers to her right hand, and grabbed the knob. She pulled it like Mi-Suk had done before. It was a heavy door, unfortunately, and it seemed she would have to struggle a bit. But suddenly, the door became as light as a feather.
And she felt a presence behind her.
Someone was standing there, holding the door open. She turned to her left and saw an arm just above her head. She turned a little more and realized who the arm belonged to.
The guy whose name was on the door was standing right in front of her.
She felt like all the blood drained from her body in one second, only to come rushing back a moment later. One moment she was cold as ice, the next hot as hell. She couldn't think of anything; she could only look at him, gasping. He was looking right back at her, a smile on his face.
Oh, shit!