The Prince of K-Pop || Bang Chan FF

Chapter Forty-Two

          The studio appeared to be a renovated warehouse with lots of space and great acoustics. Large window produced natural light while production crews added umbrellas to direct it and a few extra sources to keep everything well rounded. Naty sat at a long table with about five different cameras on her with a few different microphone attachments. She even had her own mic hidden in her collar thanks to the make-up woman that looked after her upon her arrival. Naty counted eight people walking around and setting things up for the video.

          It was astounding.

          Stepping behind the camera of one of ChaeChaeChingu's videos filled Naty with ambivalence. On one hand she was ecstatic! ChaeChae had been one of the first YouTubers that actually helped her learn Korean. It began with her video on '15 Must Know Informal Phrases' and ended with Naty watching every single video the woman had ever posted. She saw the beginning of the channel on the woman's bedroom floor to where she sat in the incredible studio in downtown Seoul.

          It made Naty feel as if she had made it.

          And then there was the voice.

          It was an old tape that played during her biggest moments that told her she didn't deserve the good thing, the opportunity, the love. The weeds grew wild in her mind's garden as she sat still while people hustled and bustled. The voice told her this wasn't for her. This was for her boyfriend, for Stray Kids, for K-Pop. She was an unusual spectacle to be taken advantage of before being discarded and thrown into the gutter.

          They didn't actually want her.

          Naty looked down and caught sight of the little smiley face on the inside of her hand.

          That morning she woke up before Chan and made breakfast for him. While they sat at the table, she confessed all of her concerns. The man didn't have any solutions but he did have ears to listen and arms that held her while she lamented. He didn't have solutions, but in his pocket, he found a pen and drew a little smiley face on the inside of her hand. It was the only thing that had been able to put a pause on the awful voice in her head.

          "Good morning, good morning, good morning!"

          The sing-songy voice could belong to no one else but Chae. The woman, all five feet of her, zig-zagged through her crew to greet everyone she passed. She had done the same upon entering but Chae just looked so...enchanting as she did it. A scheduling snafu had made it impossible for Naty to actually speak to her before anything but she didn't mind. Everyone had been so kind and sweet she already felt comfortable.

          "Hi, hi, hi," her voice rang out in sweet tones as she took the seat beside Naty, "I'm so sorry for being late. Please for—"

          "Oh, don't apologize! I am honestly so thankful to just be here. I am such a big fan," Naty felt herself on the cusp of gushing but held it in.

          "That is so sweet. I really appreciate hearing that. Especially since you're probably going to hate me at the end of this."

          "What?" Naty felt herself nearly do a spit take.

          "Where's the food! Let's begin!" the woman's voice took a sharp tone as she moved into position.

          Every sound immediately ceased.

          "Hello, hello, hello! This is ChaeChaeChingu, your favorite chingu, here to teach youuuuu all you need to know about Korean, English, and everything else in between. Today is Monday and, on Monday, I like to do a little something special called 'Morning Mukbang!' where I introduce a guest I will be highlighting for the rest of the week. This week my guest is...," she turned her eyes to Naty who was still recovering from the 'hate me' comment.