The Start

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Was it possible to have a heart attack and panic attack at the same time? 

You remember the days when you didn't have thoughts like that, those were better days; but here you were, 25 years old and thinking about how your job was going to kill you.

Most people would think that you were being overdramatic; but then again, most people didn't have to deal with crazed fans, unreal schedules, and 7 young women who wanted to do anything but listen to you. How did you end up here? You honestly have no clue. Oh, you should probably clarify what you did, you were one of the staff supporting the group activities for YG Entertainment and the group you were assigned to was "Babymonster". You know that there are tons of people who would kill to be in your position right now and honestly; but all you could think about right now was how badly you wanted to be re-assigned. 

You never signed up for this, well you did, but that's besides the point. You see, you were born in Vietnam, adopted and brought to the US when you were just a baby, and had lived in the US all your life (well up until the past few years). You went to university in the US and graduated with a degree in Economics, so what the hell were you doing as a support staff member at YG Entertainment??? Well, when you were a sophomore in university, you had stumbled upon Kpop because of TikTok when you randomly scrolled to a video of "BlackPink". Their skill, energy, and beauty had hooked you instantly. During the summer before you last year in University, you had interned at a freight brokerage company and had a return offer for after you graduated. You thought you were going to take that. Sure it wasn't related to your degree, but hell, who even gets a job related to their degree anymore, a job is a job, is what you thought. But then you had stumbled upon a LinkedIn post for YG Entertainment, in Seoul, for a new grad rotational program, so you thought, what the hell might was well apply, despite having 0 knowledge of the Korean language aside from the words you picked up from various Kdramas. 3 rounds of interviews later, you were somehow on your way to Seoul, South Korea to be part of the 2022 cohort of YG Entertainment's young professionals rotational program. The program was pretty standard, you worked for different teams throughout the 1 year rotation, with each rotation being 2-3 months, and then at the end you were assigned a permanent team. What was unusual though was that each team you worked for was in a completely different part of the company. Your first team was the Data Analytics Team, which you thought you were best suited for and whose manager loved you. Your second team was the Legal Team, you mostly just grabbed people coffee, printed and stapled legal documents, and built the occasional slide deck for. Your third and second to last team was the Marketing Team, which was not your strong suit at all, but hey you tried. Last and certainly not least, you were assigned to the team purely dedicated to "BlackPink", the group who got you into Kpop in the first place, and their Born Pink World Tour. It was an amazing opportunity to not only see everything that went into a performance and a World Tour as a whole, but you also got to meet (you say meet but in reality it was you handing the girls water bottles or fetching them whatever craving they told their managers they had and you were one of the designated errand boys).

Soon enough, May 2023 came around which meant that you were at the end of the rotational program. You thought for sure that you were headed back to the Data Analytics Team; but you were completely caught off guard when you were instead assigned to the team dedicated to supporting YG's newest girl group "Babymonster". Confused, you went to the mentor you were assigned when you started the rotational program and asked them why and how you were assigned to a team that you didn't even trial with. 

"Sajangnim, how did I get assigned to the Babymonster Team? I haven't ever worked with them." you say in broken Konglish (Korean and English mixed together) since you were fortunate enough to be assigned a Korean teacher by YG Entertainment since they knew you were an international hire. 

"Ah Y/N, I know you must be surprised by this. You were originally going to be placed with the Data Analytics Team, which I am sure you would've been happy to be apart of; but at the last minute, one of the members of the BlackPink team suggested that even though their team was full, that because you did so well with them, you should be assigned to the team being built for our newest group "Babymonster". Your background as an American who discovered Kpop through social media as well as your ability to adapt on the fly and calmness throughout the hecticness of a World Tour made you an ideal fit for the team. Now, since members haven't fully been confirmed and they are yet to debut, what you will mostly be working on behind the scenes items so we can have a successful debut. This is a big opportunity Y/N and we know you will thrive!" 

"Gamsahabnida Sajangnim" you say while walking away happy but still a tad nervous since you weren't sure if this was truly what you wanted to do and if you would even be good at it. The BlackPink Team and their managers had been an established team, this new team you were joining as a whole different ball game. "Babymonster" didn't have an established fan base. Hell, they had it even worse, they had to be the girl group that followed "BlackPink". 

Not paying attention to what was in front of you, you accidentally stumble into another person, "Mianhaeyo" you say before seeing who you ran into. 

"Gwenchana yo" you hear a small voice say, lowering your eyes a bit (you weren't tall, standing at only 5 ft 6 in, but at least in Korea, you weren't short!), your eyes fall on a pair of doe like eyes staring back at you. 

"Yah, Ahyeonnie, what are you doing?" you hear a voice yell from down the hall.

Looking at where the voice came from, you see your former team member and pseudo-mentor, Jiwon, one of the leaders of the BlackPink support team, who also luckily enough for you, went to school in the US and spoke fluent English. 

"Annyeonghaseyo Y/N, I see you've already met one of your future charges" Jiwon said with a smile. 

"Oh you heard I was assigned to the team for "Babymonster"?"

"Of course, I was the one who made them pull you from the Data Analytics Team. Gotta have my favorite errand boy on my new team!" she said cheekily. 

"You're on the team too? What happened to the BlackPink team? You've been working with them for years?" you asked. 

"Nothing bad, I just wanted the chance to build something new. Stagnation is death in this world and I needed a new challenge, so I thought I might as well lead the charge for our newest girl group. Anyway, Ahyeon and I have to get going; but Ahyeon before we leave, say hi to the newest member of our team." 

"Annyeonghaseyo" Ahyeon said while bowing. 

"She's a great girl. It might be a bit premature; but I fully believe that she will not only be one of the debuting members; but one of the brightest stars in 5th gen". Jiwon said, which caused Ahyeon to blush. 

"I'm sure she will" you said which caused Ahyeon to look at her feet, while blushing. 

"We should take our leave, but can't wait to be working with you full time now!" Jiwon said before walking away, with Ahyeon in tow. 

That was the first time you met any of the members of the soon to debut "Babymonster" which also meant it was the last time you had any semblance of peace.

Time Skip to November 2023  

Here it was, it was finally time for "Babymonster" to debut. The girls were ready or at least most of the girls were. Ahyeon, the soft spoken girl you met a few months earlier, had to take a hiatus due to undisclosed health reasons. You and the rest of the staff had spent countless hours consoling both her and the rest of the girls. Giving them assurances after assurances that this was just a roadblock and that all 7 would debut together, just not right now. The release of their debut single (OT6) "Batter Up" was in your opinion a great success. Sure some fans were disappointed and those were a vocal minority; but the views were there and the girls were ecstatic that their dreams were becoming a reality. You were at the release party with the rest of the staff members, doing a mixture of celebrating and working (which would become your new normal) when you received a text from the one person you knew would be the most emotionally overwhelmed by today: 

"Can we meet" read the text.

"Of course, where and when?" you texted back.