All in all, Jery assessed that she had a good first week, never mind the lukewarm welcome she received from her team. Well, she decided to peg that as one of the disadvantages of being a female foreigner in Korea. She only stood out being female and foreign, but she worked at a top IT firm and had proven that the gray matter between her ears wasn’t just for show.
 
So she expected to sleep in late on Saturday when a persistent noise woke her up early on Saturday morning. Her bedside clock gadget indicated 5:30 AM. Her body still adjusting to the timezone differences, it would still be 4:30 AM where she came from.
 
“What?” she asked herself, half-asleep. She heard it again, before realizing somebody was pelting her terrace door with stones and calling her name.
 
Half-irate, she climbed out of bed, calling out. “Wait! Stop throwing stones, I’m coming out!” In her ire, she didn’t mind the cold morning air that blew in and the fact that she was only wearing shorts and a long shirt.
 
“Kyuhyun, it’s too early in the morning! What are you doing waking neighbors up?” she asked, looking down from her terrace to her neighbors' backyard, where Kyuhyun was apparently waiting.
 
“Apologies Jery-noona, I’ve been ringing your doorbell since 5 AM. You weren’t answering," he replied.
 
Jery didn’t bother explaining she usually turned it off by 10 PM, not really expecting visitors at that ungodly hour. “Why did you wake me? Quick, it’s freezing out here.”
 
“Jery-noona, are you busy today? We’re short one crew so we thought you might like to come along.” At that point, Donghae wandered out, yawning and stretching in his pjs. Then he did a double-take at Jery’s getup, playfully covering Kyuhyun's eyes who had not tired of craning his head back just to look at her. Kyuhyun evaded the gesture and smacked him.
 
She was apparently not pleased, because she merely crossed her arms across her chest. “I really want to sleep in Kyuhyun, I’ve had a hectic week.”
 
“Come on, noona, it’ll be fun,” he wouldn’t let up convincing her to go.
 
“Oh yeah, doing what?”
 
“Well, wait backstage, putter around for what we need, watch our performance.”
 
“That is not exactly what I had in mind spending my first weekend in Korea.”
 
“You haven’t been anywhere else in Korea than home and work, which happens to be only two blocks apart,” Kyuhyun shot back irreverently. “Please, noona, say you’ll go.”
 
“Yes, noona,” Donghae in this time. “We really need an additional hand, Freddie called in sick last night, and we’ve been looking for a replacement, just for today. We’ve already experienced being shorthanded and it’s not fun. We’ve just about called everybody before we remembered you don’t work weekends. Manager hyung already said ok.”
 
She stared down the boys’ pleading yet hopeful faces. She really couldn’t say no to them. And it would get her out of the house. “Ah, alright. By what time do I need to be ready?”
 
“The van and the others will be here by 6:30.” Kyuhyun said.
 
“Hookay, less than an hour. I’ll be out by then.”
 
“Come on over earlier, breakfast will be ready,” he called up again, but Jery was already going back inside, merely waving him off.
 
She was done by 6:15, dressed in jeans and rubber shoes, a striped gray-white-black sweater beneath her light green jacket. She headed over next door, carrying her own cup of coffee. Only Kyuhyun was waiting on the first floor.
 
“Where’s everybody?” she asked as he led her to the dining hall. He had on a blue polo with rolled-up sleeves and jeans.
 
“All upstairs, doing last-minute primping. I was up early since I was tasked to ask you to go with us,” he reminded her, offering her a plate of cheese sandwiches and a glass of milk.
 
“I already brought coffee, somebody will have to drink the milk,” she said, and began to dig into the sandwiches. Kyuhyun made a face, but he drank the milk anyway.
 
Sungmin presently wandered into the dining hall, and made a beeline for her as soon as he saw her. “Ah, Jery-noona!” He gave her a hug. ”Glad you could join us on short notice.”
 
“Good thing Kyuhyun was able to wake me. Otherwise, I would have slept on til 10 AM.”
 
“Huh! That’s unhealthy – you still should wake early even on weekends. It’s good for the body.”
 
“So, this is what you’ve all been rehearsing for the past week?” she asked.
 
“Yeah, we’ve worked hard. Hopefully it looks as good on TV as we envisioned it.”
 
“Well, good luck to you, guys.”
 
The van blasted its horn outside, and Jery could hear the commotion upstairs as each of the members raced down and out the door.
 
“Don’t forget to turn off your things!” Sungmin yelled from the ground floor even as Jery hurriedly finished her coffee and Kyuhyun put away the dishes.
 
The three of them were the last out, with Jery helping Sungmin check the gas and fixtures were turned off before heading out. They were just in time since the rest were still finding seats to settle on as the boys from the other apartment had already taken the good seats.
 
“Ah, settle down,” Manager-hyung Park Jungwoon called over the mutters of complaints. “Next time, we’ll fetch you earlier so you can choose the seats you want. Ah, Ms. Adelair, glad you could join us.” He was surprised by the hand she held out for a handshake but shook it anyway.
 
“The boys said they needed the extra hand, so anything I can do to help…” she replied.
 
“Jery-noona, you sit here,” Kyuhyun indicated the two vacant seats behind the driver.
 
“Uh, okay, thanks.” She took the window seat. Then she was surprised when he settled next to her, when she assumed he’d head back to where the others were.
 
Shindong started jesting. “Ah, what is it with the world? Kyuhyun sits up front while his hyungs sit at the back.”
 
Kyuhyun's grin was evil. Acting as if he was about to get up, he innocently asked, “You want to keep Jery-noona company? We can change places.”
 
The smile died on Shindong's face as the rest of the boys laughed. “You!” Shindong merely pointed a finger at him while Kyuhyun waved back.
 
The ride to the studio was relatively quiet, as the boys each slept off during the ride. But Jery couldn’t sleep, and so busied herself with watching the moving view from the van window.
 
“How do you find working in Korea, so far?” Manager Park asked her.
 
“Not much different, really, where I come from, though I have to admit people are more time-conscious here. I’d like to be able to visit the countryside someday – metropolis areas tend to look alike wherever one is in this world but the really beautiful views are in the country.”
 
“Will you be staying here long?”
 
“My work contract and visa are good for five years, so at least that long. Anything beyond that is still up in the air.”
 
“You must be really qualified, to be hired by Novgorod. I hear they don’t just get anybody.”
 
“The screening is really stringent. It was only this week I learned that only five out of the 500 applicants passed for our batch and that is for Asia alone. I had to go through a battery of tests before formal interviews started. They found a fit for me in the company because I was given the job offer. That was rather sudden, too, just about last month actually.”
 
“Oh, you already speak good Korean! You’ve been learning long?”
 
“Actually, no,” Jery replied, embarrassed. “I can’t read all the Hangul yet, because I studied the Romanized Korean dictionary. As to grammar, I’m good at parsing, but if you notice, I have a tendency to be informal. The company is putting us new hires through language training starting next week, two hours daily for the next three months, so I should improve.”
 
“Well, good luck, then. Ah, here we are.”
 
It was already 8 AM, so the manager shook the boys awake. Other crewmembers were already waiting outside. The van was parked infront of the office building where the studio was located. As each boy alit, they were given their VIP passes while Jery was assigned her own backstage pass. She was unsure what to do but Manager Park told her to stay with the boys.
 
They headed off to the studio office set aside for them.The manager and the boys sat down to a pre-production meeting, dividing the schedule between them.
 
“Who’s the dance line this time?” Mr. Park asked. Half of the boys raised their hands. “You head first to stage. The production team wants to see the choreography so they can deicde on the usual – lighting, background, camera angles. The rest, to wardrobe. Jery, you accompany wardrobe. I also need your number so we can coordinate both teams. After that, we switch – song line head to stage for audio settings, dance line to wardrobe. You wait for the boys at wardrobe, Jery. When that’s done, everybody goes to stage for dry rehearsal before you dress up and have hair and makeup for performance. Dry rehearsals should end by 10 AM, so as usual, manage yourselves, people.”
 
The dance line boys accosted Jery as they headed out, already turning over phones, wallets and gadgets to her. Good thing she brought her backpack so it was easy to take out her laptop bag and sling it over her shoulders and had the boys dump their things into the pack. Then she jogged after Kyuhyun's group who were already headed to wardrobe.
 
The place was packed not with people but with things – two sets of suits, pants and shoes. Even without being told what to do, the boys left her their things on the lone sofa and headed for the racks, taking out the clothes with their names on it. They stripped off what they had down to their uniform black singlets and spandex shorts then donned the sponsored clothes and shoes before heading to an available wardrobe specialist who made minute adjustments to the whole ensemble as well as consulting with the makeup artists what to do later for the hair and makeup. The boys also put in their suggestions based on the concept thay had for choreography. Once that was done, they headed back to the racks, neatly replacing the shoes and clothes before donning the second set and repeating the process.
 
Jery watched how it was all an organized chaos when her phone rang. Manager briefly barked the instruction for her to send to stage the six boys who were in wardrobe and to wait for the other group. Her backpack got heavier as the boys also left her their valuables.
 
The second set of boys came and repeated the same process. Leeteuk only once interrupted her observations by confirming if the other group relayed the performance concept and required look to which she answered in affirmative. Then it was already 9:20 and everybody scrambled back to stage for the dry rehearsals. Jery followed them this time to watch.
 
The rehearsals ran twice, first for camera and audio adjustments. The boys were given instructions where to look for each solo part. The boys perfected it on the second run, ending with instructions not to lose each of their microphones. Then they headed to the makeup/waiting room which was adjacent to wardrobe. It was a bedlam, with each member finding his own corner. Manager hyung presently came in.
 
“Guys, rehearsals ran well, but nail it during performance. First performance will be at 1:00 PM and then finale by 2:15 PM. That should give you ample time for hair and makeup changes between performances. I need everybody starting on hair and makeup by 11 AM – so that means we’re having lunch now.” It was only 10 AM.
 
“No one brought food this time, manager hyung?” Kangin complained.
 
“Actually, your fan gifts are already at the meeting room but Leeteuk and I decided you can have those after performance, where you can enjoy it more. For now, just order up.” Then as if escaping something bad, manager hyung hurried out.
 
The way everybody shouted the orders confused the poor PA who should have been used to it by now. After hearing everybody’s orders once, Jery stood up and said, “Alright guys, alright, I got your orders. I’ll accompany him to buy the food.” She’d been informed earlier that the PA in charge of food had to watch the preparations as part of the safety measure.
 
That effectively quieted them down, with a dubious Siwon saying,” Really, noona, you got all that?”
 
So without a list, Jery recited back to him all the orders, even with the special requests like additional spice here, meat there, etc. The boys cheered.
 
By the time Jery and the PA reached the noodle store, she had summarized the orders on a small notebook she had on hand, writing as she walked. She handed the list to the store manager who merely thanked her and informed them that only the PA will be allowed into the kitchen.
 
“How long will it take?” she asked the PA.
 
“About fifteen minutes at most – we can’t waste much more time than that. Hey, how about your lunch?” he asked.
 
“Actually, there’s the barbecue store just ahead, I’ll buy mine there. I’ll just look around, and be back here in 10 minutes.”
 
“Ok,” then each proceeded to do their own activities.
 
Jery had espied the barbecue store on the way up to the studio, and she was glad the stall was already open. She wanted street food for now, so she ordered sticks of pork barbecue and even chicken entrails along with a bowl of rice. She was already finishing off a stick as she made her way back.
 
“That was quick,” she said to the PA, who was already waiting for her with the pack lunches.
 
“Just finished, actually. Your summary helped – they used to prepare individual bowls but since you totaled the similar items, it was easier for them to determine how much to cook for each, and how to garnish.”
 
Not seeing any labels, she asked, “Uh, how do we know which dish is for who?”
 
“Erg, I recognize the dishes – why don’t I just call out the dish and you tell me who it’s for?”
 
“Ok.” They headed back to the studio.
 
The enterprising boys already cleared a space for lunch, even finding a table and benches to sit on. Everybody had wet hair, apparently taking a turn at the shower room to prepare for hair and makeup. The PA and Jery distributed the food before they headed to their own lunches, the PA with the other crew, Jery with the boys. As usual, she was sandwiched between Sungmin and Kyuhyun.
 
“Where’s your lunch?” Sungmin asked as he handed back her relatively lighter backpack.
 
“I didn’t want noodles so I bought barbecue – here, have some,” she offered the boys, placing the paper bag in the center where they could reach for it.
 
“Ah, noona, that smells heavenly,” Shindong said, already taking a couple of sticks, prompting a food fight with the others taking from him.
 
“There’s enough for everybody, here,” she said.
 
“That’s not it, noona, his noodles already has extra meat, and that makes him heavy. We don’t let him eat much before performance because he’ll just go queasy,” Hankyung informed her.
 
Everybody concentrated on eating, aware that they had a deadline to beat. Performance was hours away but the energy was palpable. Jery kept waving off Kyuhyun and Sungmin's offer of noodles. Then everybody was done and rushing back to the shower rooms to brush teeth before making a beeline to the waiting stylists and hair and makeup artists who carried in the first performance wardrobe. While the boys changed, Jery and another crew cleared the lunch table and folded up the table and benches to make up more room.
 
Phones kept ringing inside the backpack so she asked, “Guys, am I supposed to answer calls, too?”
 
Heechul exclaimed. “Ah, no, noona, people know better than to call us this time. Those are just fans being bothersome, just ignore it.”
 
“Can I just turn all these to silent, then? It’s really painful to the ears.”
 
“Ah, sorry about that, noona, go ahead,” Siwon told her, looking up from the makeup table.
 
She had just finished silencing the last phone when she slightly jumped at her phone’s vibrating. Manager was calling. “Yes, Manager Park?” she answered.
 
“Are they starting on hair and makeup?” he asked.
 
Jery checked and did a head count before replying, “Yes, all thirteen already in wardrobe and midway for hair and makeup.”
 
“Huh? They’re early today. Anyway, remind them to be backstage exactly 12:45. I’m already up here in the Director’s booth. There’s a crew from production team assigned to them, but I’d like it if they’re prepared even before production comes calling, ok?”
 
“Yes, manager, got it, I will inform them.” She hung up the phone and informed the guys. They all looked at the giant wall clock that read 11:45. An hour to go.
 
There was a TV monitor available inside the room so the members were able to watch the telecast that started 12 NN. Then it seemed like no time at all and the boys headed out backstage. The makeup artists and stylists didn’t stay in the room after they were done with the boys. They waited backstage, too, for any last minute adjustments before the boys headed out to stage.
 
Jery spent the time rounding up clothes and shoes scattered around the floor and folding them up on the corner where there was less traffic. A moment later, crew from wardrobe rolled in the second rack of clothes and brought in the shoes.
 
Jery finished straightening up the strewn-about clothes holder when it was time for the boys to perform. True enough, they gave a superb performance which was a far cry from the rehearsals she’d seen. She had to laugh at the screams they elicited from fans.
 
Then it was bedlam again as everybody crowded back into the waiting room, the boys already stripping off shirts and jackets on the way to the clothesrack. They had the presence of mind to dump their set of clothes inside the clothes jacket before donning the second wardrobe.
 
Manager Park was calling again. “They have thirty minutes, Jery.” Then he hung up. So Jery called back to the boys saying they only had thirty minutes. She could see them scrambling to get done.
 
“Did we look okay, Jery-noona?” Sungmin asked, the first one back for hair and makeup.
 
“You were wonderful!” She truthfully said. “You all looked cool up there.”
 
“Ack, it’s hot out there noona. See?” Heechul had wiped the back of his neck and it came up wet. The stylist hurriedly wiped him off before retouching his makeup and arranging his hair differently. They all remembered to attach their microphones again.
 
And then in no time, production was calling them backstage and this time she bade them goodluck for the finale. She set about arranging the boys’ first wardrobe, made easy because they dumped everything into the clothes jacket.
 
The finale was awesome. It was the boys’ new single, first introduced in the show and already a crowd favorite. The boys will be having a string of performances again for the new single and album.
 
It was a while later before the boys trudged back to the waiting room as they still had to do photo-ops and interviews after the performance. But they were all smiles for a job well done.
 
“Hey, everybody, let’s have a picture with noona,” Sungmin said, already dragging Jery into the center of the melee. One of the other crew offered to shoot for the boys, and Jery momentarily found herself in the center of that hyper, quirky crowd. Then everybody was off, taking pictures with everybody else.
 
The boys hit the showers after settling down, leaving Jery in charge of their things again. Only Kyuhyun had the presence of mind to ask her to wait outside as they finished up and changed back to their own wardrobe.
 
“Jery!” Manager Park called, striding down the corridor toward the waiting room. “Where are the boys?” he asked as he reached her.
 
“Inside, changing; told me to wait here.”
 
“Good job you did today, organizing the boys,” he complimented.
 
“Actually, sir, they organized themselves. They already knew what to do.”
 
“The other crew said you cleaned up after them between performances. That’s why there was less chaos around than their previous engagements. Everybody used to be in a hurry that things tend to be forgotten, but now, everything was right where they needed to be.”
 
The waiting room door opened, a fresh-face Sungmin peeking out. “You can come in now, Jery-noona,” he called. The others were already halfway decent.
 
“Congratulations, everyone, good job!” Manager announced. “We’ll all be heading out in a while to the meeting room, but I just want you guys to know you’ve done a superb job up there again today.”
 
The boys gave varying hurrahs. Then they were busy rummaging Jery’s backpack for their things. SungMin pushed them away when many headphone wires got tangled.
 
“Guys, why don’t you buy those little organizer purses so that next time you need to leave these, just put them in the bag so they don’t mix up with everybody else’s,” she advised before she and Sungmin took out two items at a time and handing them to the owners. Once done, Jery unslung her laptop bag and put it back into the backpack.
 
Once manager signed off on the release papers, they all headed back to the meeting room. The smell that reached them was heavenly.
 
“Ok guys, these have been certififed ok for eating, so dig in.”
 
“Really?” Jery as Leeteuk. “You need to have all these checked before you can eat it?”
 
“Well, noona, there have been a number of anti-fans who take the extreme when they want to harm stars they don’t like. Nothing like that has happened yet to us, other than scathing comments, I mean, but we’ve had colleagues who fell victim to such, so we take precautions.”
 
Now she understood why everything the boys ate had to be monitored. Jery got herself a plate of cake and fried chicken before heading back to her seat. As usual, Kyuhyun sat beside her.
 
“Your fans are generous,” she commented after having a slice of cake. It was delicious.
 
“Yeah, well, considering they’re stockholders of the company, we bring them a lot of money. Of course, they’re the ones who also buy the album, watch our concerts, so it’s a mutual benefit thing. They did it to protect us; we give back what we could to them.”
 
“That’s nice.”
 
“We’ve been lucky. Out of all the idol groups with a fan club, they chose to help us by buying stocks in the company. Taking ownerhip, so to speak. So most of the time the company decides on our favor, because of the support we have, not just here, but abroad, too.”
 
“But you’ve surely earned it. You’ve been releasing superb album after album, single after single. And I’ve seen how you all work hard with your performances. You all work hard to improve yourselves, and you do the best in everything you do.”
 
“Wow, thanks! That means much, hearing it from you,” KyuHyun said.
 
“Ok guys, I’ve already gotten phone calls after that performance. Which would you like to do?” Manager Park asked.
 
“Who called?” Leeteuk asked.
 
“The usual – KBS, SBS, MBC – our preference dates.”
 
“Do we do the MWF route?” Ryeowook asked.
 
“MWF sounds good. I already have Tuesdays scheduled for Athena,” Siwon said.
 
“All next week?” Sungmin asked.
 
“Well, we take the opportunity now to create hype for the new album – and all the major channels will want a stake on featuring it first. Then we could do guestings to maintain interest. Depending on how the album is received, and the next single we release, we’re looking at until July for promotions. And that’s just here in Korea – nobody’s mentioning yet the overseas effect."
 
>>>
 
Jery left the middle of the meeting, taking a call from her brother Eruard, who was in the US for training at that time.
 
“Sis!” he exclaimed as soon as she answered, putting on her phone’s hands-free device.
 
“Hi, bro!” she greeted him, finding an empty sofa on the studio lobby. People left her alone as soon as they saw her backstage pass. “How’s America? You’re up rather early.” It was already 4 PM in Korea, and around 4 to 5 AM in the US. She made sure she faced the corridor where the boys would be possibly passing by.
 
“Yeah, well, we have Saturday session, and I might not be able to talk to you later. I heard from Ma you’re rather enjoying you first week there.”
 
“Actually I am. Even managed to get myself a weekend part-time. I’m currently at a TV studio, acting PA.”
 
“What? You actually agreed to be a PA?” He laughed.
 
“Yeah, well, the stars happen to be my neighbors, too, and they were desperate for help. Since I’m not doing anything on a Saturday, I figured it wouldn’t hurt as I’m not doing anything anyway. Rather, it made me miss my org days.”
 
“Oh, like that time you joined a performance org?”
 
“Yeah! Same hectic atmosphere, costume changes and all, makeup, the actual performance. ‘Nuff about me, how about you?”
 
“Yes well, there’s talks here to consider us for a longer work period here in the US. But that’s still after the training but I’m keeping my fingers crossed. By the way, have you heard from Michu? I’ve been looking for opportunities for her here.” Michu is their youngest sister, currently working at Southqueen.
 
“Oh, about that. I think you need to speak with her. Last we talked last night, she got an opportunity to work in Japan so she’s up to her neck figuring out what to do with your apartment in Southqueen. I think she’s leaving in two weeks. Five-year contract, too.
 
“I’ll call her after this, then. How’d the elders felt about that, left alone in the country?”
 
“Oh, the usual, sad but proud of the opportunities we found. I did promise to call often. At least Michu and I are in relatively the same timezone. And if there’s opportunity for me to visit Japan, I promised Michu we’ll meet up.”
 
“How about adjusting to the culture there? Are you being treated good?”
 
“Yes, well, people mistake me for being a tourist, but once I tell them I work for Novgorod, they pretty much leave me alone. It’s the guys in my team who I need to work on… I’m the only female and they’re still dubious about my qualifications – the usual gender biases.”
 
Eruard scoffed. “Just let them wait. You always shine wherever you are placed. You’ll get their respect.”
 
“Well, thanks for the encouragement. I will work hard.”
 
“So, any prospects there already for a love life?”
 
“What?!” She nearly screamed. She had to look around to see if she disturbed anybody. There were a few eyes on her, apparently looking her way at her outburst but they all turned back to what they were doing.
 
“Are you crazy? I just got here. Besides, Korean men are used to being boss. I’m currently butting heads with some who are not used to independent, headstrong women.”
 
“Well, I hope you’re not being bluntly stubborn – I really can’t think of any country in the world where males would want to be with a stronger female.”
 
“Bro – would I be me if I weren’t blunt and stubborn? I’m just direct and have set preferences. It’s not even about my upbringing. I’m just used to making my own decisions.”
 
“Yeah, yeah, I know that, but the rest of the world don’t. So, piece of advice – go easy. You’re not getting any younger and we worry about your single state.”
 
“Really, bro, would it be so bad if I stay that way?” Then she noticed the guys were heading back to the van. She got up and followed after them.
 
“Are you that badly burned you’re not ever considering getting into a relationship again? Hey, why is it so noisy all of a sudden there?” The boys had suddenly made a ruckus outside the van, wanting to be the first ones in to get the nice seats.
 
“We’re preparing to go back home. The group I told you about? Their meeting’s ended. Ack, why are we having a long-distance conversation about my non-existent relationship? And you, shouldn’t you be making wedding plans by now?” Eruard went quiet.
 
“Hello?” she asked, wondering if the line got cut.
 
“Sis, you have a nasty way of turning tables, you know that?”
 
“What? You’re the one who has a girlfriend.” She waited while the boys sorted themselves out, going up the van. “And you’ve been what, together for six years now?”

“Of course we talked about it. But you know I’m here, she’s back in Southqueen. And we’ve yet to discuss if and when I get assigned here and what it would mean for her.”
 
She was the last one in the van, Kyuhyun waiting for her to take the window seat again. She hurried to her seat, still on the phone with her brother.
 
“You see, and you want me to hook the first guy I find. I just got here bro. Give me a year, I just might give you shocking news.”
 
He finally laughed. “Hopefully not too much of a shock. Remember what they say about being careful what you wish for. And I didn’t mean to pry. It’s just after you-know-who, you haven’t exactly shared something about that part of your life.”
 
“Oh yeah, since when did I share stories about crushes. Egad, as if that is even possible at my age. I’m not entirely without feeling, bro. It’s just that after the previous relationship, I just couldn’t imagine getting into the same thing with just about anybody. And I’ve changed since then. These days, my consideration isn’t about falling in love - it’s being convinced I’ve found somebody I can spend the rest of my life with.”
 
“And you can’t have both?”
 
“Well, of course I should have both – it’s just that I already know how it is to be in love – I’d like to be able to stay in a relationship this time.”
 
“But you already lasted more than a year the last time,” he pointed out.
 
“It still ended, remember? That’s why we’re having this overseas conversation about my single state?” She asked sarcastically.
 
Eruard laughed again. “Alright, alright, let’s lay off that topic.”
 
“We should. So, what have you been doing other than training? You haven’t updated me about that baseball game you watched.”
 
“Ah, that was superb! It’s really enjoyable to watch the game live. The players were really skilled. Imagine trying to hit a ball that just seems to blur before your eyes. And the crowd! They get more rabid than basketball fans. Oh by the way, we’ll be wathing an NBA game next week. The company has all these sorts of complimentary tickets. Last week, it was a movie preview.”
 
“Haha, that’s nice! That’s a great break from work. Any plans for trips to the other states?”
 
“Actually, there’s the learning tour. It’s part of our curriculum – we’ll be visiting the company plants. That’s not for two weeks yet, so it’s being planned where else we could go during the learning tour.”
 
“Tell me about it when it happens. I hope I get to do the same here. So far, I’ve been around a small part of Seoul, but I’ve already heard of a lot of nice places to go. So I’m thinking of another nature trip.”
 
“Oh, much like the one you did before - historical site tour, mountain hike, cave trek?”
 
“Yeah, something like that. But not on my own though – it’s always fun with a group- so I don’t know, there might be plans for a company outing. Anyways, I’ll make sure to see the sights while I’m here. Hey, this call’s long enough. You still need to call Michu before training starts.”
 
“Okay, okay, I’ll do that now. It’s nice to hear again from you, Sis. Let’s catch up again sometime.”
 
“Yeah, I’ll be the one to call next time. Take care of yourself. Love you bro.”
 
“Thanks. Bye, sis.”
 
She hung up before noticing the peculiar look on Kyuhyun's face.

“Ah really,” he commented testily. “Spending too long on the phone. Ah, really!”
 
“You don’t talk much with your sister on the phone, do you?” she mildly asked. Leeteuk and Eunhyuk behind them couldn’t hold in the guffaws. Leeteuk smacked Kyuhyun behind the head.
 
“Uhm, that’s what you get for listening in on other people’s conversation,” Leeteuk told him. Kyuhyun hid his face in embarrassment.
 
“But that wasn’t English, no, noona? I thought I recognized ‘love you bro’ in the end but nothing before that,” Donghae commented.
 
“That was my brother on the phone. He’s in the US right now so we were catching up on what was happening with each other. We were speaking in vernacular, the dialect from our home city. So no, I don’t think you’d understand.”
 
“You speak many languages then, noona?” KiBum asked from somewhere in the back.
 
“I speak fluent English, and our country language, then our vernacular. In the same level as my Korean, I can also handle conversational French and Japanese.”
 
“Oh, really? Where did you learn Japanese?” Sungmin, of course, had asked in Japanese.
 
Jery answered back in Japanese. “French and Japanese were my language electives in university. Just basic courses but I learned enough to string together a sentence.”
 
Ryeowook understood enough Japanese to pick up on the fact that Jery went to university. “Oh, you went to university, noona?” He asked in Korean.
 
The manager laughed. “Nobody gets to Novgorod without a university degree.”
 
The guys all reacted along the lines of “What?! You work for Novgorod?”
 
“What are you then, noona?” Donghae asked. “A computer scientist?” Out of the group, only Donghae and Kyuhyun were currently studying in the music and arts fields at different universities.
 
“No, I’m actually an engineer.” That impressed the boys all the more. Somebody pointed out that Kyuhyun won a Math Olympiad grand prize.
 
“Oh? I was a Math Olympiad back in high school, too, but never got past the division finals. If you won the grand prize, then you’re good,” she said to Kyuhyun. He blushed with the compliment.
 
“Then you’re really smart noona,” Shindong said.
 
“Hmm, it’s something I’ve always been interested in, and had the necessary skills to do. The same as with all of you – you’re in the entertainment industry because that’s what you like doing, and you all have the necessary skills for it.”
 
Heechul reacted from the back. “Huh! She’s diplomatic, too,” setting off a couple of laughs.
 

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