Chapter Text
My eyes look around the bedroom. The size of it impressed me. It was slightly bigger than my old studio apartment, but compared to the rest of the rooms in this apartment, it was the smallest. Or so I had been told, anyway. Other than the lounge area and entrance, I had seen nothing else.
The tall man who had picked me up from my old apartment had briefly introduced himself as Sunghoon, one of the managers. When we arrived at the new apartment, he took me straight to the room that would be my bedroom, telling me to make myself at home and ‘the others’ will be home soon before rushing back out the front door. I was left alone after that.
The room is nice enough. Decor is rather plain, very plain in fact - white walls, white bedding with a pale pink throw blanket at the bottom, light hardwood flooring with a beige rug, empty desk in the corner with a basic stool and a silver table lamp. There was a built-in wardrobe, chest of drawers, and bedside cabinet. It had the basics, which is all you really need, I guess, but it had zero personality. I can smell the faint smell of paint, which meant it had recently been decorated. I wondered what colour it had been before. As I sit down on the double bed I groan lightly, the past 48 hours had been crazy!
So my name is Luna, birth name is Younha but as a child I always pronounced it as Luna and the nickname sort of stuck. I was born in New York, in the back of my dads car by the side of the road to be exact! My parents said I was eager to arrive, and it was a fitting start to my life ahead as I always jumped head first without thinking. My current situation was a testament to that!
My dad was in the army, so we moved a lot. I had lived in many countries, got to experience a lot of different cultures and I had a rather unique childhood. I had always had a love for learning new things, exploring new places, so I adapted well every time we moved. I was 15 years old when my parents settled in London and my twin sisters Hyejin and Soojin arrived soon afterwards. When I was 18 years old and graduated from school, I decided to move to Seoul to continue my studies here.
Both my parents are Korean but neither of them were born or had even lived there. We would visit during holidays and it was vital to my parents that we were fluent in Korean too. I always loved when we visited so, for me it made sense to me to study here. My parents were incredibly supportive of my ambitions, and as hard as it was to move so far away from them, it was also the best decision I ever made. I excelled in my studies, made friends instantly and graduated top of my class. My dream job was always to teach languages and the fact I was fluent in many of them before I even began studying gave me an advantage, but after graduating, finding that dream job proved harder than I imagined.
3 weeks ago…
I am sitting in an interview to be a language tutor and translator. Excited to have my first interview for a job I had wanted for years, a job I had studied hard for. I had graduated from college the year before and I had struggled to find a job in the field I wanted. To pay the bills, I was working as a receptionist in a hotel. Honestly, I hated it, but I was grateful for a steady wage.
A week before, one of my old college professors contacted me to say an entertainment company had approached her. They were looking for someone to teach English as well as translating. She asked if I wanted her to put my name forward. I nearly dropped my phone telling her that of course I did as she laughed and replied she was glad because she already had. Within 24 hours, I had a call from the company itself asking me to come in for an interview.
I had no idea what the company was. I had been told in the interest of privacy they could not reveal the company until after the interview process. All I knew was this was a full-time job, working with a group. They didn’t say if it was a boy group or a girl group, nor how many members there were, but it would provide accommodation and they would except me to travel as well. It was exactly what I wanted.
I was confident in my language skills and translating. That isn’t me being big-headed or thinking highly of myself. It is just facts, but I had little tutoring experience. Only tutoring a couple of high school students and most of them had a zero interest in learning English so it felt like a waste of my time and honestly, really soul destroying for myself. I couldn’t understand how people didn’t have an interest in learning other languages. I just hoped the lack of tutoring wouldn’t affect my chances for this job.
“So Miss Lee, we can see from your CV you are fluent in multiple languages. How did you have time to study so many?” The older woman asks me
“My family moved a lot for my father’s job. Every country we lived in, I would learn the language.” I reply.
“So, every language you know, you have lived in that country?” The younger man asks as I nod.
“So you’ve lived in France, Spain, Italy and Norway?” the woman asks
“Yes. Germany too, but we weren’t there long.” I reply.
“Where did you learn english?”
“English is actually my first language, I was born in America.” I say
“Wow, and you are Korean too?” the man asks, looking down at the CV
“Yes. My parents are both Korean, neither of them lived here, but they were taught Korean and English. They did the same with myself, and my little sisters are learning Korean too.” I answer, “My parents and sisters live in the UK now.”
“You are certainly very well travelled.” The woman smiles
“It is rare someone of your age is so well educated. Your education records are very impressive. Your college professors spoke very highly of you as well.” the man says, looking over at the woman who nods back at him
“Miss Lee, from the moment we all read your CV we knew you were our top candidate for the position we have. We had to meet with others and of course with yourself, but from what you have told us today there is no doubt in my mind that you are perfect for the job.” the woman smiles at me.
Holy shit! I got the job! I got the fucking job! Inside my head is screaming, my heart is racing, but on the outside I am cool and calm. Like a duck in a pond.
“We understand you will need time to consider your options before you can give us an answer, but…” the man says
“I’ll take it.” I say quickly, making him chuckle, “Sorry.” I add, bowing for interrupting him.
“If you are 100% sure, then we can sign the confidentiality forms the now. Once you have done that, we can give you the full details of who you will be working with.” he says. “And then we can get your official contract signed as well.”
After an hour of going over a million forms, signing what felt like thousands bits of paper to the point where I felt like my signature didn’t even look familiar to me anymore I was told I was going to another room to meet ‘the band’. I still had no idea who it was and only hoped that I would know them. I would be beyond mortified if I walked in and didn’t know who I was working with.
As we arrived at the door, the man who had interviewed me smiled at me.
“The guys have been told you’ve been hired. You were their top pick from candidates as well.” He says
“Oh, wow.” I say, instantly feeling more nervous.
“We wanted them to be involved in this process. Have a voice in the decision. I think you were everyones pick.” he chuckles
Ok, no pressure then(!) He knocks on the door and then a muffled ‘come in’ comes from the other side. As the door opens, I nervously look in and feel relief when I instantly recognise them. They are all lounging around the room, on chairs and sofas. Most of them are on their phones or talking to one another.
“Guys.” Hongjoong says, quickly standing up as we walk in
The rest of them stop what they are doing and look in my direction, instantly stand up too and say hello. I am in slight disbelief that I am standing in front of Ateez right now, but I bow and say hello back. I can have my freak out later on. For now, professional mode needs to be activated!
“This is Miss Lee.” the man says, “Your new English tutor and official translator.”
This causes a whole introduction from everyone. I listen politely, bowing to each one despite already knowing exactly who they all are. As they finish, the man’s phone rings and he apologises before scuttling back out the door to answer it. I turn to face them all once more, butterflies in my stomach as we are all alone now.
“Please sit down Miss Lee.” Seonghwa says gesturing to one of the armchairs.
“Thank you.” I reply, smiling briefly at him.
The room is silent as everyone sits down again; they are all looking at me. 8 pairs of eyes on me is pretty damn intimidating. I appear to have lost my ability to make conversation too. Part of me was not really sure how to act around them. Other than professional, of course.
“It is nice to finally meet you Miss Lee.” Hongjoong says
“Oh please, call me Luna!” I say without thinking first
Shit, that was a bit too casual, and this is technically a work environment, even if I am not officially a member of staff yet.
“Luna?” Yunho asks, his eyes lighting up. “Like Luna Lovegood?”
“Yes!!” I giggle excitedly
My love for all things Harry Potter was well known to the people who knew me. Luna was one of my favourite characters. It was pure coincidence that we shared the same name. I loved how quirky she was and was not afraid to be herself.
“Well, my birth name is Younha, but I always pronounced it as Luna and the name stuck.” I say.
“So would you prefer us to call you Luna or Younha?” Hongjoong asks
“Oh Luna. If someone said Younha, I probably wouldn’t even realise they were talking to me.” I laugh lightly.
I need to rein myself in a bit. I am talking far too casual for the situation. As I am about to apologise, San suddenly speaks.
“Would you like something to drink? Coffee or a tea? Food?” he asks.
“Oh no, thank you. I am fine.” I smile politely.
Another silence descends. I see that Jongho, Mingi and Yeosang are barely looking at me, San keeps glancing towards Hongjoong, Seonghwa and Yunho are smiling friendly at me and Wooyoung… Well Wooyoung is hard to read, his face is rather blank but his eye contact with me is intense. I clear my throat quietly and look at the floor.
“Sorry, it must be intimidating meeting all 8 of us in one go.” Hongjoong says, “We really wanted to meet you.”
“You are a lot younger than we were expecting.” Yeosang says quietly.
“The profiles the company gave us on candidates did not have ages on them.” Seonghwa explains. He must have seen my confused face.
“Oh, I am sorry. You must want someone, erm older. More experienced.” I say, “I can go if you want.” I add, standing up.
“No!” they suddenly say, making me jump slightly at their loud voices
I say ‘they’ but I don’t think it was all of them, but it was definitely over half of them. All of them are looking at me now, at least.
“I apologise. We can be a little loud at times.” Seonghwa says as I sit back down. I notice he looks at the others with firm eyes. Eyes that are silently communicating with them before they all apologised too. “And no, your age is not an issue. It is just rather surprising.”
“I think I speak for most of us when I say that with your profile, experience and skills we were expecting someone…” Hongjoong says searching for the word
“Old!” Wooyoung laughs, making me giggle quietly at his bluntness.
“Can you really speak all those languages?” Mingi asks
Wow, his voice is really deep in person! I nod in reply, not sure how to answer it.
“That is really impressive!” Yunho chuckles
“How?” San asks with a massive smile on his face
“Which language is your favourite?” Mingi asks
“How old are you?” Wooyoung asks
“Guys, let’s not bombard her with questions! I am sure Miss Lee… Luna has had a long day.” Hongjoong says. “We will all have plenty of time to ask her questions and get to know her as we begin to work together.”
“But…” Wooyoung whines
“Woo.” Seonghwa says firmly, causing him to quieten instantly
There was something rather hot about the way Seonghwa quietened Wooyoung so quickly. Just at that moment, the man from the interview comes back in and says that the guys transport has arrived. This causes them all to stand up and pack up their things. I stand up too, placing myself in a corner so I wasn’t getting in their way.
“So what do you guys think of Miss Lee?” he asks, looking between the guys and myself.
“I think we will get along well.” Hongjoong replies, smiling at me.
Here I am, 3 weeks later. I’ve been officially working with them for 2 weeks. The first week was mainly about getting to know them, and them getting to know me as well. The second week was when the work began. I focused on getting to find out how each member learned so I knew the best approach to teach them. For learning, everyone learns differently. A technique that would work for one person doesn’t necessarily work for someone else.
I felt like I was beginning to understand each of them. Some were quieter than others. Therefore, harder to get to know, Jongho and Yeosang being toughest nuts to crack, but Yeosang was relaxing a bit more around me while Jongho was still very formal and incredibly reserved. I don’t think we have spoken over 20 words to one another yet. So I was at a loss over how to begin teaching him so decided that in the following weeks when the learning would properly begin I would try out techniques and see which one fit him.
There were a lot of hushed conversations in corners whenever I was around and lots of glances in my direction, however. It was to be expected. They are a close-knit band, and I was a new person. Someone they didn’t know or trust yet. That doesn’t mean it didn’t make me feel a bit on the paranoid side though, I wasn’t sure if they liked me. Sure, they were polite enough and respectful towards me, but other than that, they were like a closed book.
Then, 48 hours ago, Hongjoong and Seonghwa asked to have a meeting with me. Honestly, I was scared I was about to be told it wasn’t working, that they didn’t want someone as young as me teaching them, and that I was being let go from the company.
However, the conversation with the 2 eldest members could not have gone differently and that closed book on the band was opened a bit, and a proposition was presented to me. And it goes without saying that I accepted it because here I am now. My own bedroom… in Ateezs shared apartment. As their live-in girlfriend and/or companion I guess? I wasn’t too sure about the full details yet, but personal/romantic relationships with each of the members were the gist of the situation.
How the fuck did this even happen? One thing I knew for sure was things were about to get interesting.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Song Recommendation: Utopia by Ateez