Hunting Instincts

That Saturday, Miya was still smiling.
     The same thing was true on Sunday.
     On Monday, she almost tripped and fell over, but when Mukashi caught her she smiled and graciously thanked him.
     On Tuesday she hummed a new melody that Mukashi hadn't heard in any of her songs before, but he didn't bother to ask where it came from, since the two of them were in the tour bus driving to a recording session for a dress line.
     On Wednesday, Miya was waiting for him outside of her bedroom door instead of him having to wait for her like he usually did. 
     She kept trying to have small conversations with employees, even those who didn't have any bearing on how her day went. He'd seen her smile and wave at one of the older janitors as if she and him were friends, even though he was very sure that they had never talked before.
     Thursday saw her break into a miniature performance at a fan meet-up in a small cafe, and it had taken a lot of effort for him to manage the situation well and get her out of there in time for that evening's photo shoot for Zygeist Media's new idol promotion. 
     Miya had apologized to Mukashi about it afterwards.
     Friday was when Mukashi realized that the 'high spot' was not disappearing or fading; or at least, it wasn't fading as quickly as it normally did. He didn't understand why that was the case.
     What he didn't understand was that Miya was having fun.
     She hadn't had fun as an idol in years, but as things settled into a wonderful new routine with the Southwell siblings, she found herself smiling a lot more often. Every time something bothersome would happen, she would simply make a note to write about it in her letter for the evening. Of course, she still had random bouts of sadness, but instead of happening several times a day, they were only happening once, and only in the mid-mornings when the day seemed the longest. 
     She sang during fan meet-ups, and even though sometimes she made what would have usually been considered mistakes while performing she was able to turn sour notes into new melodies and unbalanced legs into vibrant new dance moves. 
     At a meet-up on Saturday that was taking place in a rather large venue, she broke out into song and began dancing in her small designated area. She almost tripped, but she managed to turn the trip into a twirling jump that ended with her striking her signature pose of clapping and bringing her hands down in a prayer.
     The impromptu dance move went viral, and though there were several thousand people who thought that the stumble was a sign that she was not as perfect as she claimed to be, there were several million who thought it showed her ability to improvise and make beautiful things in the heat of the moment.
     Mukashi watched from the sidelines.
     On Sunday evening, while he walked away from Miya's bedroom, he checked his notes once more. His brow furrowed. 
     The 'Miyashi' trend was only becoming more popular. It was to be expected; with Miya's popularity increasing, all things related to her would also increase in popularity. Strangely, it seemed like the 'Miyashi' trend was gaining popularity at a faster rate proportionate to how fast Miya was gaining to popularity. 
     By the time he made it to the elevator, he found out why that was the case. His jaw set as he saw one new photograph for the 'Miyashi' trend whirling about online.
     It was a short, soundless video of him carrying Miya in his arms while he was walking down one of the many nondescript hallways on Zygeist Media's third floor.
     He shut his eyes tightly and started going through his the filing cabinets in his mind. 
     He'd stepped out of the tour bus, crept along the first floor without seeing anybody, then stepped into the elevator with Chi-Hun.
     Mukashi's eyes opened in sync with the elevator doors on the first floor. He reached for his phone and swiped through his phone numbers as quickly as he could. He didn't step off the elevator as he dialed Director Sang-Ki's secretary's phone number. All he received was a busy signal, and he remembered that the directors had different hours; they only came in to work for ten hours a day on an unchanging schedule, as opposed to managers who were on-call essentially twenty four hours a day, with roughly eight hours of what could loosely be called 'free time.'
     He spoke into his cellphone with a firm voice.
     "I have a pertinent message for Director Sang-Ki." 
~~~
     Miya went into her bedroom that Sunday evening with a small grin on her face. She washed the makeup off her face and got herself ready for bed, then she went to her bedside cabinet and retrieved the notepad and her blue pen. She sat down on her bed and thought about what she would write that evening. She thought about telling the siblings about how her day had gone, and decided to do just that. 
     Her hand drifted slowly across the page with slow, meaningful strokes as Miya carefully thought about what she wanted to say. She hummed a few more pieces of a melody that had been drifting through her head for the last week, then her eyes widened in realization. She redoubled her efforts on the letter as she began writing down lyrics for her own new song. Even if Mukashi didn't want her to write a song, if she wrote something and gave it to the Southwell siblings, that was good enough for her. She hoped they liked what she came up with. 
     In her mind, she knew that what she was writing for them at that moment was only a rough draft; she made sure to include that fact in the letter, and she wrote down that she would love to hear their thoughts about it. She bit her lip as she wondered about how she would convey the beat and rhythm through words alone, then came up with a little workaround that she was pleased with. She kept writing the letter late into the night, and by the time she was finished, she only had six hours left to sleep instead of the eight that had been allotted to her. She yawned, then gently tucked the letter underneath her pillow, turned off the lights, and went to sleep.
~~~
     "When will Director Sang-Ki be available?" Mukashi asked his cellphone as he spoke to Sang-Ki's secretary on Monday morning. He was making his way to Miya's bedroom.
     "Director Sang-Ki is currently on a business trip involving Fiefdom Entertainment. He will not be available for at least another month; possibly two if the trip goes exceptionally well." 
     Mukashi didn't flinch. 
     "Thank you for your time." He said, as calmly as he could. "Would it be possible for you to send him a message?"
     "Only if someone of the Vice President's level requests it to be sent. The potential partnership with Fiefdom Entertainment is of the utmost importance to our company; anything that is not an emergency will be put on hold until the details of the partnership are sorted out."
     Mukashi's grip on the cellphone tightened, slightly.
     He caught himself being emotional and forced his grip to loosen before he spoke again.
     "I understand. Have a pleasant day."
     "You as well."
     He hung up and put his cellphone away. He stood outside of Miya's bedroom, and was slightly relieved to see that she had not woken up before him once more. He glanced at his phone and saw that it was already two minutes after five am. 
     He went to knock on the door, then hesitated.
     He could afford to wait for another three minutes.
     Miya stepped out after two, and when she saw Mukashi standing outside her door, she smiled awkwardly.
     "O-oh! Mukashi! I-I thought you weren't here yet. Usually you just knock on my door as soon as you get here." She blushed slightly as she looked up at him. "S-sorry for not getting up on time. I-I had a little..." She reconsidered her words before she said that she had trouble sleeping. "E-er, what I mean is that I was sleeping really well and didn't want to wake up."
     Mukashi would have considered her words strange, if it were not for the fact that she had been acting slightly odd for the entirety of the previous week; a sudden bout of listlessness was not entirely unbelievable.
     "I will schedule another dance practice for tomorrow then, instead of vocal exercises."
     Miya stammered.
     "W-wait, I won't do it again!"
     "Physical inaction often leads to loss of energy. As your manager, I must help you stay active."
     "I-I was only four minutes late!"
     "Four minutes more than normal."
     Miya groaned, but she couldn't help smiling.
     And Mukashi had to try very, very hard not to.