4.30PM Thursday, 2 March 2017

“Are you gonna miss us?”

My fellow educators held a small farewell party in the staff lounge as it was my last day with them. There was a lot of tears and I knew I would definitely miss my little ones from PK1 the most. Little Timmy and his pudgy face and blonde hair. Little Mayumi and Sora and their constant hugging of my thighs when they wanted a hug or to be carried. And most of all Little Kezia who never failed to greet me first thing she comes to class, with her trolley bag in hand. I hugged my colleagues who had became my friends and with promises to keep in touch and well wishes, I made my final exit from the school campus and got into the waiting cab. I needed to make a quick stop to drop my items at home before I proceeded to Gangnam to retrieve my work pass and meet Hyein and Jieun for dinner. Upon arriving in the building, Jieun stood up and flashed me an excited smile.

“Are you ready for tomorrow?”

I was to start my new job tomorrow and indeed I was excited. Excitement might even be an be an understatement.

“I guess so.” I tried to be nonchalant.

“Oh, don’t give me that. Hyein has told me that you adore one of the Super Junior members. Such a pity that he’s married.” Jieun sniggered as she whispered, “Your secret is safe with me.”

I was unable to respond as the same lady, Miran, who I first met in the interview room came out of the lifts and headed in our direction.

“Good evening, Miss Jung. I have your orientation files here. Give it a read through tonight and I’ll see you tomorrow here at noon with Manager Kim.” She passed me a plastic folder that bore the words “SMTOWN” and i felt myself begin to bubble with excitement yet again

Personalised work stationery was another of my weaknesses and this folder was just too pretty be used as a folder.

“Here’s your company pass.” She then handed me a plain grey card that bore my face and other details. “You have to have it on you at all times. You are free to choose if you want to have a lanyard or a clip but I will suggest the former because it’s more convenient.”

I the smooth surface of the card, beaming. “Wow. Jung Mina. SM Entertainment.”

“I’m happy to see you’re excited and we are glad to have you.” Miran then gathered her belongings and raised her hand towards me, “If you have no more questions, then I’ll get going. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Miran then left me and Jieun at the lobby while Jieun began preparing to pack her belongings.

“Hyein’s schedule with the boys ends at 6 so we have another…” Jieun glanced at her phone before looking up, “Half an hour.”

“Let’s head up to the cafeteria and wait for her. I could do with a drink.”

The incoming lift opened and men in suits stepped out, with a tall and lanky figure in the middle. He stood out because beneath his winter jacket was the edges of a military uniform, his cap covering his shaven head. I made a mental count of the male artists who were still serving their national duties and soon figured out who this man was. Turning his head, he spotted us and lowered his sunglasses to greet my friend next to me.

Jieun immediately turned crimson and started to bow in greeting and gestured me to do the same.

“Hello Jieun.”

“Hello Yunho Oppa, Have a safe journey home!” Jieun chortled, still red in the face.

I was beginning to suspect that I wasn’t the only employee here who had some sort of feelings for the artists SM Entertainment was churning out.

We then entered the lift and Jieun began fanning herself. Smirking at my friend, I looked at her and waited.

“Oh, yes. I am a Cassie and Jung Yunho is the Oppa who owns my heart. It wasn’t actually him in the first place but when I started working here….”

Her story was cut short as I found myself giggling at how flustered she was.

“Aish, stop it.” She then walked out of the lift and went straight to the vending machines next to a couple of benches.

She looked at the available drinks and began searching for coins in her purse.

“How could you remain so calm though? You recognized him right?” She implored as she slotted the coins into the machine.

I shrugged, “Because it’s not Super Junior?”

“It took me two weeks to get used to my surroundings and to stop breaking out in squeals each time I saw the Shinee members. And working at the reception just means I get to see everyone, I’m literally by the door.”

Jieun and I then sat by the benches and she shared some of the more interesting experiences she had working here for the past two years. One memory involved Taemin’s birthday celebration and a food fight of some sort happened right at the reception and Lee Soo Man personally came down to reprimand those responsible. Needless to say, such a spectacle never occurred again but Jieun was now careful to store all her belongings and stationery inside the cabinets and not on the desktop ever again.

We were both laughing at another of her memories when my phone suddenly rang. Her Royal Highness Kang Hyein

“Yah, where are the both of you?”

“Cafeteria. We’ll come down to the lobby now.”

The elevator made a stop on Level 2 and we heard boisterous laughter coming from outside. The elevator doors opened and there stood three members of Super Junior.

I froze. I began to feel faint, my heart began beating faster than a jetplane as Heechul, Leeteuk and Kyuhyun entered the lift with us, only pausing from their conversation to greet Jieun.

Upon seeing me, all three men bowed while Heechul eyed me curiously.

“I’ve not seen you before. Are you new?”

“I..uh-” I knew I was turning red and all of a sudden, the lift began feeling like an oven.

“She starts tomorrow with you guys.”

Upon hearing this, Kyuhyun raised his eyebrows while Leeteuk nodded in understanding.

“Our English teacher?”

Jieun nudged me hard and that jolted me from my daze.

Bowing immediately, I introduced myself to Leeteuk and Heechul, trying to ignore the erratic beating of my heart.

As I turned to Kyuhyun, he brought his hand forward, as though offering a handshake.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Kyuhyun.” He said in his Korean Accented English that I used to hear only in concerts and shows.

‘Yah, you brat. Don’t try to impress the teacher and get brownie points!” His fellow members shoved his hand away and pushed him out of the elevator.

I then noticed that Jieun was giving me a smile that could rival the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland. In response, I squinted my eyes as threateningly as I could. That only made her laugh out loud and shake her head at me.

“Mina! Jieun!” Hyein called out from Jieun’s desk, her eyes growing wide as she saw the members around us.

After greeting the three Super Junior members, Hyein linked her arms through my arm and looked at Heechul while Leeteuk and and Jieun were engaged in their own conversation.

“This is my best friend. The one I was talking about.”

Hyein then turned to me, “Heechul Oppa will be the worst student out of the batch, so please give him extra homework.”

It amazed me at how comfortable my best friend was with these superstars and as she and Heechul continued their bantering, I realized that someone was being too quiet and turned to look at the youngest member.

I turned back just in time to catch his eyes flicker up and down my body. My breath catches. This gorgeous man is checking me out?  He seemed oblivious that I caught him and I quickly returned to observing Hyein and Heechul again.

He was not wearing anything fancy, in fact all three members looked as though they were heading home, and yet Kyuhyun looked good today. In my days as an ELF, I was faithful to my one and only K-pop bias, Lee Sungmin, and was not impressed with the fancy dancing or immaculately hot bodies or powerhouse vocals of the other members. This feeling was completely new and it was slowly creeping me out. I brushed it off as being starstruck and began berating myself in my head.

I had to teach them tomorrow, for goodness sake. I cannot be fangirling or I will lose this job before I even started. The internal conflict waged on and I began praying for a distraction of some sort so that I could focus on something else since my two friends were obviously not going to finish their respective conversations any time soon. The elevators reopened again and I said a silent thank you to the gods. That gratitude was short-lived as I realised that today simply was not my day.

Because once the elevator opened, out came no one other than Lee Sungmin.

Later that evening

“You should have seen your face when Sungmin Oppa came out.”

“Your eyes looked like they were gonna fall out and you squeezed my arm so hard I thought my blood circulation was going to get cut off.”

We were in the midst of having dinner and the girls have not stopped the teasing from the time we left the building till now. I gave up protesting and just focused on the fact that just a couple of hours ago, I met Lee Sungmin, the man whose face has been plastered on my walls and notebooks all throughout high school and college. He was the reason why I was moved to learn Korean, so that I could watch any programme he was on without needing any subtitles.When he was assigned to promote with Super Junior M, I was grateful for the Chinese lessons I had in school. I thought that adulthood would have made me outgrow the fangirl phase but the earlier episode has shown that I thought wrong.

Jieun and Hyein were still teasing me all throughout dessert and it was fine with me, I was the master of looking attentive but not listening so I was not fazed.

“But don’t worry about it. Everyone goes through a period of being starstruck when they are new. After a while, we get so used it we forget that these are celebrities. They’re all so down to earth, especially the f(x) girls and Shinee.” Hyein took a forkful of cake and pushed the plate towards me.

As I let the cheesecake melt in my mouth, I gave Hyein’s words a thought. “So I won’t be losing my job anytime soon?”

It was Jieun who replied, “Unless you do something super creepy and you’re a sasaeng, you’re gonna be fine. Just don’t lose your head every time Sungmin Oppa looks at you. You seemed fine with Heechul Oppa and Leeteuk Oppa. You really have it bad for Sungmin Oppa eh?”

It was my turn to grin, “Just like you have it bad for Yunho Oppa,” I then turned to Hyein, “and you for Hyukjae Oppa whom I hope to meet soon.”

My two friends rolled their eyes and we carried on eating our cakes, excitement bubbling inside of me as the night wore on, the silver flakes outside continued falling obliquely against the streetlights.