**

I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. That was until I remembered last night. I stuck my tongue out and shook my head. I had no plans for the day and needed to get more information. I had to start writing the paper or I was gonna get it. Key’s note was staring at me. I picked it up from the table and looked at his number. It was worth a shot. I picked up the phone and called him. I called SHINee’s Key!

Ring…Ring….Ring….Hello you’ve reached the voice mailbox of…

I hung up. No answer. Well…this . I was bummed out after that but I had to get out of the hotel. I took a cab and told the driver to take me where all the good restaurants were. He let me off at a crowded street. The whole scene was overwhelming and I felt like a lost sheep. I looked around, passing each shop, taking note of the foods and ingredients. Suddenly, up ahead I saw a familiar face. I quickly scurried to him. It was him in person...the CEO of JYP Entertainment!

When I walked up to him he had a mouthful of ramen and was completely surrounded by guards. I smiled lightly and asked if I could sit with him. He agreed. I introduced myself but he seemed unmoved.

“Umm…”

He stared at me.

I looked at his suit and noticed a familiar pin. It was the logo for PPA (Pen Pals Association). I had a pen pal from Thailand through that program. It was mostly for reporters and businesses to connect the two worlds.

“PPA!” I yelled pointing to his pin.

He leaned back, surprised.

“I was partnered with YOL in Thailand!” I told him excited.

He smiled and loosened up.

“UGR…London,” He said to me.

We both exchanged our pen pal stories then eventually I brought up the idea of having a tour of the company.

“6pm tonight. You can come by and I will personally give you a tour!”

I shook his hand and left him to his food. This was great! I could see the practice rooms and everything! I turned the corner and wondered deeper into the food district. My stomach grumbled. I saw a sign that showed beef. Korean BBQ, now that sounded good. I went to open the door but it seemed someone had the same idea. We both touched the door handle, slightly touching hands. I looked up….it was Taemin. I flinched back.

“Melanie?” Minho asked.

“Yeah! I thought I would get some lunch.”

“Come eat lunch with us!” Onew suggested.

“Sure,” I answered.

We sat around a grill. Everyone was there, except Key.

“Where’s Key?” I asked.

“He has a photoshoot for a magazine,” Jonghyun told me.

“Ahh…. Oh! How do I cook this?” I asked holding the raw meat on my plate.

“Here,” Taemin said gesturing for the meat.

He put it on the grill and I heard it instantly sizzle.

“How were your days?” I randomly asked.

“Busy,” Minho laughed.

“How was yours?” Jonghyun asked.

“Pretty empty actually. I’m just wondering around.”

“That’s no fun! We’re free for a few hours. We’ll take you around after lunch!” Taemin said suddenly.

“Thank you! That would be great!”

Having lunch with them resembled school. I watched as they talked. I could tell how close they were. Performing together and spending years together made them more like brothers than friends. I told them about my job, life and random stories. I felt so comfortable around them. I got hints about their personalities as well. We finished up lunch and they took me around town.

“Jonghyun look!” I said pointing to a pair of outrageous shoes.

“Jonghyun Oppa,” He said to me.

“Oppa (Older Brother)?” I asked.

“Yeah you can call me Jonghyun Oppa,” He smiled.

I felt weird thinking about it. I couldn’t imagine calling him that. Eventually they all followed his footsteps and asked me to call them Oppa. I felt like this was the breaking point. I was officially one step closer with them, not just as an interviewer but as a friend.

“It’s 4:30. Key should be done soon,” Taemin said.

“We should go meet him,” Onew said.

“Do you want to come with us?” Minho asked.

I wanted to but I had to prepare for my interview. I couldn’t miss this.

“Alright but would it be okay?” I asked.

We walked to their van.

“We’re your Oppa’s it’ll be fine,” Jonghyun said nudging my shoulder.

“Hey!” I said smiling.

We arrived at the photoshoot site. I looked around then saw Key. I stood there, paralyzed. He posed so naturally. He looked unreal. I stood there and stared. He turned his head and our eyes met. He didn’t say anything but walked towards me.

“We’re done. Good work everyone!” Someone shouted.

He was right in front of me and my heart rate wouldn’t stop getting faster. He smiled at me and I wanted to melt.

“Are you free now?” He asked.

I looked at the time. 5pm I had to go!

“I need to go. I have a meeting at 6. I called you this morning though…”

“Ah! That was you? You should’ve left a message or texted me!” He said.

“No it’s alright I know you were busy.”

He kept apologizing.

“I should go,” I said to him.

I turned.

“Bye Oppas!” I said to everyone.

I turned and smiled at Key.

“I’ll see you next time.”

I pulled out my phone and called Sean to meet me there.

Sean meet me in front of JYP. We both walked inside and there waiting for us was Mr. CEO himself. He first led us upstairs to the recording room. We passed a few empty room but I got to see a sneak peek of GOT7 recording the audio for their newest song Just Right. I tapped my foot to the beat trying not to dance. I could see that they kept going over the same parts over and over in order to reach perfection. The same was with dancing. People danced endlessly, tired and sweaty. I followed along taking notes but my mind wandered. I missed SHINee. I remembered Big Head’s words about getting a connection and making friends. It finally hit me. I should just focus on SHINee. It would be better to get one strong connection plus it gave me an excuse to see them again.

Sean and I took a cab back to SM. I tried to make an appointment but he was booked for a few weeks. There was only one more thing I could do: call Big Head.

“Hello?”

“Hi Boss it’s Melanie.”

“Yes? What is it?” He asked.

“I would like to use SHINee as the base for my paper. I was not able to secure a meeting with the CEO in order to get their permission,” I explained.

“Okay..mhmm…..I see.”

Just like that he hung up. I got a call back an hour later while at dinner with Sean in the hotel café.

“Hello?”

“Alright Melanie I took care of it. From now on you are assigned to SHINee’s team. You will follow them everywhere like you are part of their management team,” Big Head said.

“Thank you so much sir!” I shouted.

“Good luck.”

I hung up with a big grin.

“You got it?” Sean asked.

“Yup!”

It was already 10pm and Sean and I headed back to our rooms. It was still awkward although we made up. I laid on my bed. It was late but I wasn’t tired. This was the perfect chance for me to see Korea at night! I realized I had been focusing on the day when I didn’t think about night life. I grabbed my phone, coat and wallet. I decided to do this on my own.

I got out of the cab and was immediately bombarded with lights. There were signs everywhere. People were buzzing around. I walked around and noticed there were no cars. It was mostly pedestrians. I looked around but got nervous quickly. There was no bus, car or anything in site. How was I going to get back to the hotel? To make things worse I felt a raindrop hit my nose.

There was a five minute pause then it stared to pour. I stood there soaked. I turned to run for a nearby store. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked down and saw the rain stopped around me. I turned and stood directly in front of Key who held an umbrella above me. I was practically touching his chest. I smiled at him.