Kpop Club (7 page)

KYM took them
one door down the corridor to a huge studio with wooden flooring
and floor to ceiling mirrors on all the walls. Parts of the mirrors
were covered up by posters of KYM artists.

“Krystal, did
you ever wonder why I didn’t ask to see you dance?” said KYM.

“Now that you
mention it, I guess it’s strange that you didn’t,” said
Krystal.

“I didn’t need
to because we have the best dance instructors in the world here at
KYM Entertainment. We could make you dance like MJ even if you had
two left feet!”

Krystal
sniggered and her dad grinned.

“Out of
interest though, how good a dancer are you?” said KYM.

“I think I’m
pretty good but I’ll let you be the judge of that.”

“She’s always
dancing around the house. It’s a good job we live in the basement
otherwise the people downstairs would be miserable,” said her
Dad.

KYM
chuckled.

“Great stuff,”
said KYM. “Well, as I say this is a good example of one of our
dance studios – we have 8 more like this, dotted along the hall.
There’s a lot of dancing that goes on here but all work and no play
makes Jack a dull boy as they say. Let me show you how we unwind –
please, follow me.”

KYM led them
out of the studio and up a flight of stairs that spiralled behind
the reception desk. The walk up the stairs took them to an almost
identical reception area, with two corridors shooting off it on
either side.

“This place is
surprisingly big,” said Krystal.

“Yeah it is,”
said KYM, leading them down one of the corridors. “We managed to
fit a lot of facilities into the building. The rooms in this
corridor are for chilling out and unwinding. This room here is a
karaoke room. The room next to it is a video games room. Then we
have a TV room, a hairdresser, a nail artist, a masseuse, a
laundrette and finally here we have our own coffee shop.”

The rooms were
masterfully kitted out; Krystal and her dad were speechless.

KYM then
showed them back across the reception area into the opposite
corridor.

“The rooms in
this corridor contain beds and sofas for when people want a little
bit of peace and quiet.”

“This is
amazing,” said Krystal.

“Yeah, we try
and make our artists comfortable here,” said KYM. “Now there’s one
more thing to show you. Because of our busy schedule and the fact
that we’re often on the road, we ask that our groups live together.
This doesn’t mean that they can’t have occasional nights at home
but we just feel that it makes sense if everyone’s together. If you
could follow me downstairs again, I would like to show you where
the Kpop Club members will be living.”

Krystal hadn’t
even thought about living arrangements and could tell that her dad
was a little taken aback as well. She kept a brave face.

They followed
KYM downstairs; jumped back into the Mercedes and made a short
journey to a swanky neighbourhood in Apgujeong. The car stopped
outside a ginormous house, surrounded by high stone walls. KYM got
out of the car, unlocked the main gate and led them up a short but
steep flight of stairs onto a very well-kept front garden. They
walked past a few young pine trees to a rather grand front door.
KYM keyed in a pass code, opened the door and ushered them
inside.

“The other
girls have been living here for the last 6 months but are currently
away visiting their families as I’ve given them a week’s holiday,”
said KYM. “This is a ten bedroom house; it has 5 bathrooms, 2
living rooms and 24 hour security. If you’d like to take your shoes
off, I’ll show you to the room you’d have, Krystal.”

Krystal and
her dad removed their shoes and followed KYM upstairs onto a big
landing.

“Your room is
the first one down here on the left,” said KYM, leading them down a
passageway off the landing.

Krystal’s room
was massive; as big as her living room and bedroom at home
combined. Inside sat a king-size bed and a white wooden bedroom set
which included a full-size dresser. To Krystal’s delight, there was
also a small balcony that looked out over the garden.

“Everything in
this room would be yours to use for free as part of your contract.
You only really need to bring your stuff and some bedding,” said
KYM.

KYM continued
the tour, taking Krystal and her dad from room to room and leaving
them thoroughly impressed. Once they were done they drove back to
the office and sat back down on the sofas in KYM’s office.

KYM cleared
his throat, adjusted his tie and brought his hands together on his
lap.

“Thank you for
letting me show you around today. May I ask what your initial
impressions are and do you have questions?” said KYM.

For the first
time all day, Krystal’s dad answered before Krystal.

“All the
facilities seem top class, so I don’t really have any concerns
about that. We still obviously need to discuss her contract though.
Darling, what do you think?”

“Yes Dad, I
agree. It all looks great to me – it looks like I’d be very happy
here - I guess we just need to know what my contract says.”

“That’s music
to my ears - I can definitely help you there - I’ve prepared a copy
of the contract for you to look at, but why don’t we start by going
through the main terms together?” said KYM, revealing a big
envelope and pulling out a contract.

“Yes, that
makes sense,” said Krystal’s dad.

KYM placed the
contract on the table. Krystal read the front page to herself.

Contract of
Service between Krystal Kim and KYM Entertainment Limited

“As you’ll
see, the contract is for an initial term of 5 years and is governed
by Korean law,” said KYM, flipping over the front page. “Your main
duties are covered in clauses 10 to 20 and include things like
performing at concerts, recording songs, making appearances at
press conferences, etc. You will be obliged to record 2 albums with
KYM Entertainment over the course of 5 years. In return for your
efforts we pay you a salary of $200,000. You are entitled to a
yearly royalty equivalent to 1% of the profit from any single you
record. The right to this royalty will expire 20 years from the day
on which the single is first released.”

Krystal’s dad
nodded in approval.

“We pay you a
$10,000 bonus if any of your songs make number 1 on the Haon chart.
You are covered by our medical insurance, your accommodation is
free and as discussed, all food and drink is free. That’s an
overview of the main terms; I’ll now give you some time alone to
read the contract and discuss things in private, does 30 minutes
sound about right?”

“That’d be
good,” said Krystal’s dad.

Krystal was
happy to let her dad do most of the talking but smiled and nodded
to KYM to make sure he knew she was happy too. KYM left the room
and Krystal and her Dad began to study the contract in detail.

“Dad, this is
amazing isn’t it?” said Krystal.

“I have to
say, darling - you’ve done well here. This looks like a great deal
but are you sure this is what you want? You know many artists have
very short careers? You could always go to university first and
then come back and do your music stuff later?”

Krystal’s dad
looked her straight in the eye. Krystal stared straight back.

“I’m sure,
Dad. This is all I want and it’s too good an opportunity to pass
up.”

“No, I
understand, darling. Okay, well I tell you what – let’s make a
deal. I’ll give you my blessing as long as you agree to put at
least three quarters of the money you earn each year into a savings
account.”

“Yes, Dad!
Yes! Whatever you say! Thank you so much!” said Krystal, kissing
him on the cheek and giving him a big hug.”

“Ok, darling –
well done,” said her dad, kissing her on the forehead.

KYM returned
almost exactly 30 minutes later.

“How did your
talks go?” said KYM.

“I think we
have a deal,” said Krystal’s dad, standing up and shaking KYM’s
hand.

“Amazing
news!” said KYM, furiously shaking Krystal’s dad’s hand.
“Congratulations Krystal! I can’t wait to work with you. Let me get
some champagne to celebrate. Wait here one second.”

Within minutes
KYM reappeared with 3 champagne flutes, a bottle of Moet and a
fresh copy of the contract for Krystal to sign. Krystal signed
immediately, KYM corked open the champagne and they toasted
Krystal’s future.

“You’re going
to be such a great artist, Krystal, well done!” said KYM. “We’ll
have to have a proper celebration with you, your dad and the other
girls. They’re back in a couple of days - what say we do something
next Saturday night?”

“Dad, are you
free then?” asked Krystal.

“Yes that
should be fine,” said Krystal’s dad, visibly pleased. “Cheers to
next Saturday!”

“Cheers!” said
everyone, raising their glasses with a clink.

KYM called Krystal the next day to confirm that the
celebration meal would take place on Saturday night at the
Intercontinental Hotel and a car would be sent to pick them up in
the evening. Time passed quickly and it wasn’t long before Saturday
arrived. Krystal was expecting a black Mercedes and so was a little
shocked when a huge white Chevrolet Starcraft van pulled up outside
their apartment block. Having checked that the van was for them,
Krystal and her dad jumped in and sped off en route to the
hotel.

Krystal was
really quite nervous about meeting the other girls. What if they
didn’t get along? What if they were horrible? She did her best to
remain positive and in an attempt to get her mind off things,
started to talk to her dad about how big the van was. This proved
effective as he made her burst out with laughter when he mistakenly
thought that it was called a Chevrolet “Starship”. This amused
Krystal so much that she decided that from then on, that was its
new name.

KYM’s
assistant, Ben, welcomed them at the hotel and led them through the
lobby to a traditional Korean restaurant called Han. A waiter then
took them to a private room and drew back a wooden screen door to
reveal a party of people standing in front of a big banner which
read,
Welcome to Kpop Club!

“Krystal! Mr
Kim! Welcome! Come and meet the girls!” said KYM, rushing over to
shake Krystal’s dad’s hand. “Krystal, come and have a seat over
here,” he continued, pointing to an empty chair.

Krystal was so
focused on the Kpop Club girls that it took her a while to notice
that the guys from the Andre Project were also in the room.

“Mr Kim,
please come and join me over here,” said KYM.

Krystal cast
her eyes over all the other members of the group; everyone looked
so different but they were all beautiful. The girls were smiling at
her so she smiled back and waved awkwardly.

KYM tapped one
of his chopsticks against a glass to get everyone’s attention.

“Right girls,
as you may have guessed, this is the final member of Kpop Club,
Krystal. And this is her father - Mr Kim.” said KYM.

“Hello!” said
the girls in unison, waving to Krystal and performing miniature
seated bows to Krystal’s dad.

“It’ll take a
while for you to learn everyone’s name Krystal, but let’s just go
around the room anyways. We have here: Hannah, Nadia, Celine,
April, Maya, Priya, Pooky, Jennifer and Rosa.”

“Hello,” said
Krystal and her dad, also performing mini seated bows.

“As you can
see, I’ve invited the boys from the Andre Project tonight – I
thought it’d be nice for you to meet some of the KYM family and ask
any questions you might not want to ask me. Although you can ask me
anything!” said KYM, smiling cheekily. “Now, I realise this is
somewhat of a difficult situation with so many people to meet,
Krystal. The rest of the girls already know each other very well as
they’ve been studying Korean together for the last 6 months. But
you’ll have plenty of time to get to know them and them you – and
trust me guys, you’re going to get on like a house on fire.”

KYM paused for
a moment before continuing.

“I’ve laid on
a special treat for you – the Han royal set menu – please eat as
much as you can. Ben, can you ask them to bring in the champagne
please?”

“Certainly,”
said Ben.

“I’m so
pleased to be able to welcome you all to our family. It’s going to
be a lot of fun,” said KYM.

Just then, two
waiters began waltzing around the table filling everyone’s glasses
with their choice of champagne or orange juice. Once everyone’s
glass was filled, KYM stood up to make a toast.

“Everyone, if
you would like to raise your glasses, let’s toast the future
success of Kpop Club! Kombae!”

“Kombae!”
yelled everyone before sipping their drinks.

“Right, please
enjoy the evening and don’t feel like you have to stay in your
seats; get up, walk about and meet the others too,” said KYM.

The room broke
out into conversation; the Kpop Club girls and the Andre Project
guys started joking about and Krystal’s dad, Ben and KYM began
talking about politics. As luck would have it, Krystal was sat next
to Andrew and he wasted no time in striking up a conversation. As a
kpop megastar, she half expected him to be pompous and rude but
nothing could be further from the truth. He was polite and humble
and spent the majority of the evening asking her about her musical
inspirations and aspirations.

Aside from the
fact that she couldn’t stop staring at his bulging biceps, talking
to Andrew was easy. He was just her type; tall, handsome and
well-built with soulful dark brown eyes and cool jet black hair. As
her eyes explored the rest of his body she realised that he was
wearing a lot of accessories including a leather wrist band, a
number of rings and a big silver cross around his neck.