~♥~ Kyou POV ~♥~

We went into the store that Injun and Hyunmin had brought us to. They stayed with us for the rest of our time there. They even drove us back home. It was nice to spend some more time with them since we wouldn’t see them very often.

In the car, I had remembered that we were supposed to watch Dae Guk Nam Ah perform sometime. Min Ah had wanted to come as well, but I think she may have changed her mind.

The five of us were speaking normally. When Yun Hee had finished her thought and no one replied back, I took the chance to ask about it. “Weren’t we supposed to see you guys perform?”

“Oh, yeah,” Injun turned around in his seat next to the driver, Hyunmin. “I forgot about that. Why don’t you come over after school on Monday or something?”

Jiyoung averted her gaze from the window to Injun. “We’ll have to ask first, but since it’s close by, I think out mother would say yes.”

And that’s how we made plans for Monday.

Sunday went by like usual. I went over Yun Hee and Jiyoung’s house with nothing particularly exciting happening. Monday’s school day went by normally, too. Dae Guk Nam Ah rode us straight to their house instead.

Yun Hee, Jiyoung, and I hopped out of the car with the others. Jay hurried to the front of the group so he could open the door to their home for us. “Welcome to our home,” he bowed and spread one arm out to showcase the living room. “You’ve never been here before, right?”

Jiyoung and I shook our heads, but Yun Hee voiced that she had. “I was here for a short while that one time. Remember?”

Injun showed recognition on his face. “Ah, yes, I remember. You were helping us with bringing the instruments and stuff in right? You were picking on Jang Boah, too.”

Yun Hee denied the last accusation. As if hearing her name, said dog came scampering in. This is the first time I had seen Jang Boah, but Yun Hee had told me about her. She wasn’t lying when she said this was probably one of the cutest dogs she had ever seen.

Jang Boah had silky, black fur on top with brown hair on her belly, paws, and snout. Her big, onyx eyes begged for attention. She was so small and petite that you couldn’t help resist the urge to scoop down and cuddle with her. Karam appeared from behind us and did exactly that.

On instinct, I reached out to pet her while she was still in Karam’s arms. She was so soft. Jiyoung’s hand Jang Boah’s left ear while Karam had her right. I scratched under her neck.

“Is someone being spoiled?” Yun Hee cooed to Jang Boah but didn’t reach to pet her.

Mika came in to stand next to Yun Hee. “It feels like every time someone comes to visit, they spend the whole time with Jang Boah.”

“Look at her!” Yun Hee exclaimed. “She’s too cute. You can’t look away from her.”

The two of them continued to talk, but I couldn’t hear it over Jay’s voice. “You really like dogs, huh, Kyou?”

“Why do you say that?”

“You look like a little kid whose face brightens up when they get ice cream.”

“What? No, I don’t.” I suddenly felt self-conscious of my facial expression. I turned back to Jang Boah. Jiyoung and Karam had stopped petting her to talk with Hyunmin, but he was still holding her.

Jay stepped closer to Karam. “Do you want to hold her?”

“No, it’s okay.” I didn’t hold dogs very often, so I didn’t want to drop her or anything.

Jay ignored me and grabbed Jang Boah anyway. “Here.”

I hesitated at first, and then took her. She was so cuddly. “She’s so cuddly,” I slightly squealed.

Jay started laughing at me. He has a cute face, I’ll admit that much, but just not to him.

“She is,” I muttered. I put my face on Jang Boah’s head after kissing it once. She closed her eyes in content. I smiled at her reaction.

“You’re cute.” I looked up to see Jay staring at me with a small smile. It made me feel self-conscious and embarrassed, so I said nothing and instead kissed Jang Boah again. Jay chuckled once more while rumpling my hair with one hand.

I was going to push him away from my head, but my hands were full of dog. “Hey! Stop that!” He retreated his assault and strolled into the other room where I guessed Injun had gone. “That was weird,” I said to Jang Boah.

I looked up to see that nearly everyone had disappeared. Karam and Jiyoung were the only ones remaining in the living room with me. Jang Boah jumped out of my arms and made her way in the next room. I followed after her since it didn’t look like Karam and Jiyoung wanted me to interrupt them.

The room was the dining room. There was an opened door to the right of the room that led to a wide set of wooden stairs. Hyunmin was blocking the way with his body to make sure that Yun Hee wouldn’t go down. They were playfully bickering.

I approached the pair while the puppy ran past Hyunmin’s legs and through the door. “Why can’t we go in?”

“We need to prepare it first,” he answered.

“Shouldn’t you guys have already done that?”

“We were practicing late last night and didn’t get a chance to clean up or anything.”

“We really don’t care if it’s clean down there or not.”

“Exactly,” Yun Hee agreed. “Just let us see what it looks like.”

Hyunmin looked like he was actually thinking of letting us pass, but then he changed the subject. “Are we missing people?”

“Karam and Jiyoung are in there,” I pointed.

“Someone go get them, and I’ll get out of the way,” he tried.

Yun Hee stomped into the living room and dragged the two back in a moment later. “Here they are.”

The two being manhandled watched the interaction confused without commenting on what just happened. Seeing Yun Hee accomplish his mission, he smirked and ran down the stairs. Yun Hee, Karam, Jiyoung, and I followed after him.

The basement was as big as the entire first floor. The floor was smooth wood that looked like they took good care of it. The front, right, and left walls were covered with mirrors. The back wall was a dirty off-white. There were towels, water bottles, and pieces of clothing kicked over to the corner next to an overfilled trashcan. An electronic music system was in the west corner of the mirrors. The screen was lighted up showing the track number but no sound was heard from it.

“What do you think?” Karam asked behind an ogling Jiyoung.

She was watching him through the mirror. “It’s awesome.”

Yun Hee walked closer to her reflection and began flailing her arms around.

Mika eyed her skeptically. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing. It’s just weird seeing a full body view of myself.”

Mika hummed in return and traipsed over to the music system.

“Are we starting already? Which song?” Hyunmin listed titles and switched to each song’s respective starting positions, as if he was showing off his musical knowledge.

“We should have prepared what we would do earlier,” Jay laughed.

Karam motioned to the east mirror. “Why don’t girls sit or stand here. That way you can see us from the front, and we can see ourselves in the mirror behind you if we need to.”

We nodded and complied with his instructions while Dae Guk Nam Ah gathered in the corner to decide what they would do. I wonder if they were nervous.

“I wish they would hurry. I want to see,” Yun Hee whined.

“Alright, calm down,” I ordered.

Jay suddenly shot up and announced that they were ready. I couldn’t help but smile to myself at his excited expression. His energy was contagious.

Well, for once I don't have much to say... Hmmm... First thing's first, next chapter will be the performance. I had actually planned on finishing it with this chapter, but I got carried away with Jay and Kyou. Unexpectedly, I think I like their relationship the most, even though Mika is my bias OTL This is my first time admitting that, but I realized this a few nights ago when I was thinking of what to write next. Sigh~ I think it's because I get nervous writing about Mika that I don't know how to write his and Yun Hee's parts... Is that weird? Anyway... I think that's it actually... So... I'll see you next week?