| |
My first day of filming arrived without fanfare. I woke up. Got dressed. Brushed my teeth. But the butterflies in my stomach must have drunk some espresso. Talk about jumping right into things! I knew we would do some crazy stunts. It’s a Korean variety show, after all. But I never expected my wedding day to be quite so ... competitive.
––––––––
Letty sat on a squishy yellow couch in the main lobby of UStar and pulled the hem of her plaid wool skirt over her knees as she sank into the cushions. She was glad she picked her thick burgundy sweater with the cowl neck today. The marble floors under her patent leather Go Go boots radiated the morning chill. Giant glass windows stretched behind her where she could see the Seoul locals hurry past the building like it didn’t house some of the greatest singing talent in the world.
Letty turned her attention back to the lobby. The picture perfect receptionist at the front desk looked like she could have been in a girl group herself with her polished appearance and flawless makeup. Everything about the talent agency communicated glamour and prestige.
A striking man walked out a door on the right and Letty’s heart thumped a little harder at the sight of him. Was he one of the trainees at UStar? No. He lacked the guyliner and colored highlights that this agency incorporated into every artist’s style. His dark black hair was swept in a side part off a strong forehead. A square jaw line radiated strength and dependability, while his soft pink lips rested in a self-assured, confident line. Wearing dark jeans and a kelly green cardigan over a white button up shirt, he had that dressed down but stylish vibe that Korean men excelled at.
Her hand automatically reached for her phone like the true fangirl she was, but she just managed to stop herself. Taking pictures of famous people was one thing. They expected that. But taking pictures of total strangers just because they were yummy enough to eat with a spoon was sinking into stalker territory. Letty sighed as she put the phone back in her purse.
But that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the view.
The man turned her way and his eyes crinkled at the corners as he gave her a dazzling smile. He walked in her direction and she tried not to gawk. He was long and lean and Letty had to tilt her head up as he drew closer, but she was used to that since high school when her height topped off at 5’3” and refused to go any higher.
“Letty McDonnell?” he asked in an unmistakably American accent.
“That’s me!” Letty jumped up from the couch. Even the four inch thick heels on her boots didn’t help much. He still towered over her.
“Hi. We talked on the phone.”
He held out a hand and she pumped it with enthusiasm.
“Nice to meet you. You said your name was Ben, right? Or would you prefer Hyun Bin? I’m good either way.”
“Just go ahead and call me, Ben. It’s the American name I grew up with. It’ll make me feel like I’m back home in the States where you don’t have to worry about whether to speak formally or informally to someone.”
“That’s true.” Letty laughed. “As you can tell from my little language blunder earlier, I could get in a lot of trouble with that. Thanks for helping with my taxi situation.”
“No problem.” He paused for a second and gave her the once over before speaking. “You don’t look like an unhinged sasaeng.”
Letty laughed again and waved her hands. “The rumors of my stalkery have been greatly exaggerated. It’s kind of a complicated story, but the short version is: I tripped.”
“I figured it might be something like that.” Ben accepted her explanation at face value. “They would never let a real stalker within thirty feet of this show, no matter what it’s called.” He glanced at the mammoth orange bag at Letty’s side. “Oh good. You have your suitcase with you.”
“The information the agency emailed me said to bring it on the first day.” Letty rolled it in front of her.
“Wow!” He eyed the extra-extra large bag in disbelief. “They had room for that on the plane?”
“They might have had to strap it to the top.” Letty grinned. “A girl’s got to be over prepared for a Korean variety show. I hear the stars who do it all the time bring multiple pairs of underwear because they never know when they’re going to end up taking an impromptu dip in the ocean.”
“I’m glad you realize what you’re in for.” Ben nodded and grabbed the handle of her bag. “Just follow me and I’ll take you to the set.”
“The set?” Letty thought they might sit her down and explain things first. “No welcome packet? No tour of the agency?”
“Sorry. That’s not how they do things here, but if you get confused about anything just ask me. I’ll be shadowing you wherever you go. Some people speak English, but not a lot are fluent. You’ll need me to communicate. I’ll introduce you to the program director in charge and the three other brides. Then we’ll start the shoot.”
“You mean I get to meet Ki Tae today!” Letty’s voice rose two octaves.
“Careful.” Ben wagged a finger at her. “Your stalker is starting to show.”
He took her suitcase and headed down a long hallway with framed posters on the wall and Letty tried to keep up with his giant strides. The familiar faces of UStar’s most famous K-pop artists greeted Letty as she passed. She made a mental note to visit the gift shop before she left today. Ben must have noticed her scurrying because he slowed down to match her pace.
They rode an elevator up to Level 3 and the metal doors opened to reveal a large, open practice area that stretched the length of the room. The hardwood strips gleamed in the fluorescent light, floor to ceiling mirrors stretched along the side and staff members bustled around while the largest group of people congregated at the end. Several cameras were set up in a wide half circle near the curtained windows and tripods held multiple square lights that illuminated the already bright room.
Ben walked in the direction of the cameras, still dragging her suitcase, and Letty followed behind him. This all felt like some crazy wonderful dream after marathoning too many Korean dramas. Ben stopped beside a man wearing a yellow ballcap and wrinkled brown sweater vest and motioned Letty over to make the introductions. He spoke in Korean to his senior with one hand holding the other in a deferential pose, and Letty smiled at the nothing-but-business man in front of them.
Ben made the introductions in Korean first, followed by English. “This is our director, Cho Joo Hyung. He’s in charge of the whole shebang.”
Should she shake hands? Or would that be rude? Obviously, a hug was out of the question. To play it safe, Letty copied Ben’s pose with her hands clasped in front of her and bowed her head in greeting.
“It’s nice to meet you Director Cho. Thank you so much for choosing me for this show! I promise I won’t let you down.”
Ben translated Letty’s words to the director when she was done. The man nodded his head but was distracted by someone walking past with a microphone on a long metal stick. He called out to the person and flapped his hand down as he walked toward him.
“It looks like he has to talk to the boom operator,” Ben said. “How about I introduce you to the other brides?” He pointed to the corner on the left where three women sat in camping chairs.
“Sounds great!”
“Let me fill you in on their backgrounds before we head over. Each bride is from a different country. The one on the far left that just stood up is from Japan. She’ll be married,” Ben did air quotes with his fingers, “to the leader of B4U, Chance.”
Letty observed the tiny girl in the even tinier outfit. She’d pulled her hair up in two cutesy pigtails at the top of her head and looked like a manga character come to life in her powder puff blue sundress and strappy stiletto heels, one of which was tapping out a rapid beat on the floor as she glanced from one side of the room to the other.
“Will you be translating for her too?”
“She and Chance both speak English, so they’ll use that to communicate with each other.”
“That’s right.” Letty snapped her fingers. “Chance grew up in Los Angeles.”
“Yep. Technically she speaks Korean too, but the producers wanted to include more English segments to appeal to the international fans.”
“She speaks three languages?” Letty rubbed the back of her neck. “Boy, do I feel lacking now.”
Ben motioned his hand at the next girl who looked like she couldn’t be over eighteen years old. She perched on the edge of her seat with her shoulders hunched over, texting on her phone.
“Next is Song Ji Ah. She’s a high school senior from Korea. She’ll marry Jin, the bass player. They’re both the youngest. So they’re targeted to appeal to the teen demographic.” He moved his hand one over. “And last is the bride from China, marrying Young Joon, the drummer. Her name is Mimi.”
He gestured to the most bored looking bride. The tall, elegant woman sat with her head laid against the back of the chair, a gold sleeping mask covering her eyes. Her long legs stretched out in front of her, encased in tight black leather pants. Letty could tell she would dwarf her by half a foot if they ever stood side by side.
“Will she need a translator?” Letty asked.
“No. She’s been a trainee here at UStar for a few years, but hasn’t made her official debut yet. She speaks enough Korean that she won’t need one.”
“She’s a trainee?” Letty twisted her head and pursed her lips. “So she already knew Young Joon before the show. I don’t think the 4evers will like that. Isn’t that kind of cheating? We’re all supposed to be diehard fans.”
Ben shrugged his shoulders. “The show will include her background in the opening so it won’t be a shock to anyone. We’re not stupid enough to try and hide it. The internet fan police would call us out right away.”
“You got that right! But let me get this straight.” Letty pointed a finger at her chest. “I’m the only one that won’t be able to talk to her husband one on one?”
Ben nodded.
“So ...” Letty let the word just hang there.
“So we’ll give you an earpiece to wear.” Ben filled in the blanks. “Ki Tae will wear one, as well. I’ll sit off camera with a microphone and translate what you say to each other and you’ll both be able to hear me.”
“Oh, I get it.” Letty blew out a breath. “I was afraid this was going to be an endless game of charades. Not that I couldn’t make that work.”
“I’m sure you could.” His lips quirked up as he agreed.
Ben led her over to the group and made the introductions in Korean first. Mimi the Trainee Bride didn’t even bother to take her mask off as she raised a hand in greeting, but the eyes of the high schooler widened as she recognized Letty. Her fingers flew as she bent her head and started texting again.
Ben turned to the bride from Japan and switched to English. “Sana, this is Letty. She is the bride from America who will be paired with Ki Tae.”
“I saw you on the internet!” Sana needed some lessons on how to use her inside voice. “You jumped on Ki Tae!”
“Oh, no!” Letty held up both hands in a gesture of surrender. Her stalker reputation must be cross-continental. “It was an accident. I tripped and fell.”
“You ripped the scarf off his neck!”
Sana stuck her tiny fists on her hips and raised her perfectly plucked eyebrows. Others in the room turned their way to see what the commotion was about.
“Not on purpose,” Letty squeaked. Would she be shunned by the other brides for the duration of the show? “I just grabbed it when I was trying to stop falling.”
“Do you still have it?”
Sana took three steps forward, until they were almost nose to nose, proving she also needed lessons in personal space. Letty leaned back as the girl pelted her with questions.
“Can I touch it? Would you sell it to me? Does it smell like him?”
“Uh, I don’t know. I didn’t keep it.”
“Oh.” Sana’s interest evaporated and she sat down in her chair and took out a nail file. She ran the instrument back and forth at lightning tempo without sparing her another glance.
Letty was a people person by nature, but it looked like she had her work cut out for her with these three.
Ben placed a hand on Letty’s arm. “Let me get you a chair.”
He grabbed a folded one from the wall and set it up for her next to Sana. Letty sank into it as he wheeled her orange suitcase to her side.
“I’ll just leave this overgrown pumpkin here with you while I go check with the director.”
He walked away and Letty glanced at her co-brides. Sana filed. Ji Ah texted. And Mimi slept.
Letty felt like that kid on the playground sitting alone on the teeter totter.
That simply wouldn’t do. She needed a plan. Letty worked out a strategy in her mind for Operation Bride Bonding. If she befriended Sana, who spoke both English and Korean, then she could be a bridge to the other two women. Letty whispered a silent prayer for help and began.
“Sana is such a beautiful name,” she told the girl beside her.
“Thank you,” she said, still filing her nails, her stiletto tapping once again.
“Does it mean anything?” Letty forged on.
“Yes. It means helpful calm.” Her vibrating shoe never missed a beat as she answered. Sana's face lifted as a crew member shouted to someone and her head whipped back and forth as she observed the whole room.
Letty clamped her lips together so she didn’t bust a gut in the anything-but-calm bride’s face.
“That’s beautiful,” she choked out and rubbed a hand over her lips before she continued. “My full name is Violet, after my great grandmother, but most people call me Letty. Do you—”
The director in the yellow ballcap pounded his hands together and the noisy room quieted. His voice projected so everyone could hear him as he pointed to different people and gave directions. The man’s authority radiated from him like a nuclear reactor. Trainee Bride straightened in her chair and took off her mask as she listened, and the Korean high schooler fan even put her phone away. Ben reappeared at Letty’s side and crouched down by her chair.
“Director Cho’s telling everyone we’re about to get started,” he whispered. “The host will come out first and introduce you one by one. The brides will line up in front of the cameras and we’ll have our first competition.”
“Competition?” Letty’s head jerked around to make sure he wasn’t joking.
He gave her an apologetic smile. “This is reality TV. We have to start things off pitting people against each other. It’s an unwritten rule.”
Ben passed her a plastic black box about the size of a cell phone with a belt clip on the back. An earphone on a long cord was plugged into the top.
“Clip this onto your waistband and run the cord up under your sweater and hook it around your ear. This is what you’ll use to communicate with me.” He held up another cord with a tiny microphone covered in a fuzzy black ball. “When you speak into this, only I and the sound engineer will be able to hear you for now. They can use the audio later for the show, but it also allows me to help you if you need something or have a question.”
Letty stood, slipped the box behind her, and hooked it to the waist of her skirt. She grabbed the earphone cord and twisted and turned as she tried to push it up under the back of her sweater. Ben’s hands reached out and hovered mid-air but stopped. He cleared his throat and turned his head to study a spot on the ceiling.
“There might be an easier way. If you hook the piece in your ear first and drop the cord in your collar, it will fall all the way down so you can plug it in the box and then clip it on your skirt.”
“Hah. That would make more sense, right?”
Letty followed his suggestions and dropped the earphone cord down her sweater. She felt the cold metal prong hit her back as it fell, and she was hooked up in short order. Ben led her to the center of the large room and pointed at the group of people behind the cameras about twelve feet away.
“I’ll be over there. I can hear everything you’re saying through your microphone. If you need something, just tell me.”
Letty nodded and he hurried away as Director Cho shouted something to the crew. The other brides walked to the spot where she was and the noise died down in the room. Letty adjusted the transmitter in her ear and whispered into the microphone clipped to her lapel. “Testing. One, two, three. Are you there, Ben?”
“I read you loud and clear.”
She heard his answer in her earpiece. Letty didn’t know where he was among the crowd, but she didn’t have time to look for him anyway. The host of the show was already making his way to the center of the room where she was grouped with the other brides. He began speaking, and Ben translated at intermittent times.
“He’s welcoming all of you to Korea. He says that your overwhelming love for B4U is what you all have in common. Now he’s making a punny joke which doesn’t translate well in English.”
Letty laughed anyway so she didn’t stick out.
Ben continued the translation. “Now the host is asking you to look to the far end of the room.”
Letty turned and saw four decorative waist high pillars sitting in a row. A different item was on top of each: a pair of gloves, a purse, a plastic display case with a diamond necklace and matching earrings, and a faux fur jacket.
“Today is the day of your wedding,” Ben said.
“What!” Letty gasped. “We don’t even get to meet the guys first?”
“No.” Ben continued translating as the host explained everything with over-the-top gestures in Korean. “You four will race down the room when the MC blows an air horn. You’re competing for which accessory you can wear with your wedding dress. Whoever grabs it and keeps it is the winner.”
“I get it. They want a cat fight.”
The brides stood in an anxious line and she knew this was going to be no holds barred when Sana kicked off her stilettos. Letty shoved her sweater sleeves up and crouched lower to give herself more traction. The MC counted down and sounded the noisy air horn.
The abrasive blare startled the youngest bride who slipped on the polished floor and toppled into Letty. The unexpected impact knocked her off balance and she stumbled to the side, while the other two women barreled across the room, heading straight for the podium with the diamonds. The two reached the plastic box and latched on in a frantic tangle of hands. They both tried to pull it away and the stand crashed to the ground as they struggled. Letty and the other bride reached the stands on the left at the same time. Ji Ah lifted the designer purse and cradled it to her chest while Letty picked up the long, white opera gloves.
“These are so cute,” she said as she examined the row of five silken buttons at the top.
The ongoing brawl drew her attention and she looked up just in time to see Sana stagger into the empty pedestal where the purse had been. She lost her grip on the plastic case containing the diamond necklace and earrings, and Mimi flipped it open and held the jewelry over her head in victory. The MC waited until he was certain the battle was over before he ran up between the girls. He said something to Sana and pointed over at the remaining pedestal. She stuck her lip out in a pout and flounced over to grab the faux fur jacket as he wrapped everything up in a melodramatic tone. Then he clapped his hands together like a slate and the crew filed out from behind the cameras to carry away what was left of the pedestals.
Ben appeared as the other brides dispersed. Sana glared at her adversary and Mimi kept a death grip on her newly acquired bling as she headed back to her eye mask and chair.
“I’m glad you didn’t go for the diamonds,” he said. “I didn’t bring a first aid kit.”
Letty tut-tutted in his face. “I value my life too much for that. Besides,” she held her gloves up, “I’ve been wanting something like these for a long time. They’re so Audrey!”
“Yes. You’ll look very fair in those, my lady.”
Letty nodded in approval at his classic movie reference. “So is that it for today?”
“Not even close. Next is the wedding dress race against the clock. I guess I better warn you that the Korean entertainment system is kind of like being in debt to a loan shark. Just when you think you’re done, there’s always more interest to pay.”
Letty winced at the analogy. “Okay. Anti-pep talk received.”
“Sorry. I just want you to be prepared. It’s going to be a lot of long days and nights for the next three weeks. That sleeping mask Mimi brought isn’t just for show. She already knows what to expect.”
Letty’s eyes lost focus as he explained and she couldn’t hold back a dreamy smile.
“Hello.” A large hand waving in front of her face snapped her out of it.
“Are you alright?”
“Never better.” Letty giggled as his eyebrows puckered. “You said this is going to be a succession of long days and nights, right?”
Ben nodded.
“That’s every fangirl’s dream! I’m about to spend every waking hour with the face that has wallpapered my room for the past five years. But this time it’s not a poster, it’s the real deal.
Letty wrapped her arms around herself and let out a happy little sigh. Someday she’d have to go back to her boring desk job. But not today! And she would enjoy every delicious moment while it lasted.
