Note from the author: To save confusion, everything said in ENGLISH will be in BOLD font.

“But why do I have to be up so early?”, Minhye whines nearly a week later as you pass her a large cup of tea with three sugars in her new favourite blue polka dot mug.

After taking a long sip of hazelnut coffee in your matching mint mug, you plonk yourself on the end of the bed and pull your feet up under you.

“It’s a surprise”, you smile, fully knowing that she is going to love today’s plans.

“But it’s only eight”, she objects tiredly as she has a fight with her duvet, “What surprise could possibly be worth waking up this early for?”

“I guess you’re just going to have to wait to find out.  Now, get in the bathroom and put on the clothes I’ve laid out for you!”

“Fiiiiiine”.

“And don’t forget to brush your teeth!”, you tease as you shoo her away flamboyantly.

“Yes, omma…”

“And sort out your face”.

“Araso….”, she trails off as she finally shuffles away, slopping tea on the floor as she goes.

Once Minhye is safely in the bathroom, you quickly get changed into a pair of black denim shorts with tartan pockets that hang below the hem, along with a white short oversized t-shirt with black skeleton hands across the front.  You take your hair out of the braids you had put in the night before and use the extra texture to create a huge top knot.  Taking another much needed large gulp of caffeine, you plod towards the bathroom door.

“You done yet?”, you sweetly call, hoping that she hates you a little less now.

“Just having a fight with all the buttons.  I hate these shorts, but they sure do make my look great!”

“That’s the spirit”, you beam moments later as she opens the door. 

You have always been jealous of Minhye’s petite yet tall frame, but you would be lying if you said she didn’t look stunning in her blue waist high shorts with four buttons down the front, paired with a black and white aztec patterned tight crop top.  *She’ll thank me later*, your mischievous mind takes over, *Oh ho, she’s going to freak so much when she finds out!*

“So then, what are we doing with your hair today?”

Minhye thinks about his for a second before pointing out: “You’re the one that knows what we’re doing…”

“That is correct”, you nod humorously before leading her to the closest chair and pushing her into it, “Welcome to my salon.  Hairstyles are fantastic, prices are extortionate”.

Without saying another word you begin to fishtail braid the right half of her hair, making sure to keep it neat, yet lose and messy at the same time.

A few minutes pass in silence before Minhye gathers the courage to pester you again: “So what is the plan for today?”

“You really want to know?”, you enquire as you tie off the end of the plait with an elastic.

“Pleeeease”.

“Alright, here’s the plan…”, you draw out the words playfully.

“Chingu-yaaa”.

“In the dead of night, you and I grab some provisions, hijack one of those… one of those looooong boats… and then, we… row back to Spain like there’s no mañana”.

It takes Minhye a second to process what just came out of your mouth, but instead of getting annoyed, she simply smiles and shakes her head in recognition: “Back to Spain, yeah?”

“Yeah!”

More silence.

“But seriously, what are we doing?”

“Not telling”, you stick your tongue out at her before starting the plait on the other half, “Now be quiet, I’m doing some of my best work here!”

By quarter to nine you are both dressed and caffeined adequately.  Minhye somehow bribed you into doing her makeup too, keeping it relatively simple with winged black eyeliner and a pop of turquoise on top.  Your own makeup is even more simple with just kohl tight lined eyes and your new favourite Better Than waterproof mascara.

“So what now?”, Minhye asks as she sprawls her legs out in front of her on the floor.

You join her on the ground with what must be your third cup of coffee: “Now we wait”.

“For who?”, she questions in an effort to break you, “Altivo?”

You place your cup beside you and fall back with a loud thud: “And why would we be waiting for a horse?”

Minhye ponders this for a moment before rolling backwards and stretching her legs in the air: “Why wouldn’t we be waiting for a horse?”

“You’re so strange sometimes, unnie”.

“I know… And that’s why I’m a single pringle…”

“YA!  I’m single too!”, you protest as you kick her lightly, “Are you calling me strange?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying”, she smirks as the two of you begin having a foot war in the air.

A loud knock on the kitchen window interrupts your fight.

“We should watch that film tonight, it’s been an age!”, you smile before waving at Kai, “Door’s open!”

“Morning”, Kai smiles sweetly as he pops his head inside, “Ready to go?”

“Just one sec”, Minhye chimes before turning to you, “Socks?”

“Bottom drawer.  Chuck me a pair?”

Instead of an answer, you can only hear the loud rustling of Minhye behind you.

“OMO!”, she declares just before something soft comes into contact with your back.

Straight away you recognise the socks.

“I forgot I had these!”, you chuckle as you pull chibi Onew onto your feet.

“Ta-daaaa”, Minhye arrives at your side adorning Taemin socks, “Now we’re ready!”

            *    *    *

Just over an hour later the three of you are lying on the floor of the dance studio as you wait for the final member to arrive.

“It’s so hot today”, Kai complains as he fans his t-shirt in an effort to cool down, flashing his deliciously toned abs ever so slightly.

It takes you a bit too long to reply, but you couldn’t help yourself from admiring the view: “Y- Yeah”.

The sound of the door opening pulls your attention away from Kai’s stomach.

“You’re late!”, Kai growls at a very red Taemin.

“I’m sorry”, he tries to catch his breath, “I just ran here.  Key was having a bad hair day… Hi Jae!”

“Hi”, you smile before helping Minhye to her feet, “This is that friend I was telling you about”.

“The one visiting from England?”

“Yup”, you beam before nudging her not so subtly in her side to pull her back to reality, *If this was a cartoon I would be picking her jaw up from the floor*.

Taemin takes a step towards a now slightly more conscious statue: “Minhye, was it?  I’ve heard so much about you”.

Instead of answering, Minhye just giggles nervously whilst staring blindly.

*Talk about being starstruck*, you chuckle before drawing attention away from her, “So what are we learning today?”

“We were thinking Maxstep”, Kai informs as he once more begins to fan himself with his t-shirt, “Any other suggestions?”

Your mind has gone completely blank, allowing your erted fan girl side to appear.  *If only he would just take the t-shirt off*, your mind wanders impurely, *There’s no harm in just looking*.

“Maxstep sounds perfect”, Minhye saves you with a smile, apparently now back to her senses, “Shot gun Henry!”

            *    *    *

“Getting tired?”, Kae smirks at you over the music as a small bead of sweat runs down your face.

The two of you have successfully learnt the basics of the dance, but there is still a long way to go.

“Not even a little bit!”, you retort as you try to channel your inner Eunhyuk, “You?”

“This is nothing”, he smiles smugly, but his sweaty forehead tells you different.

As the song comes to an end for what must be the hundredth time, the four of you retrieve your water bottles and down their contents.  The heat is really starting to get to you, so you kick your shoes off and let the slightly cool floor embrace your feet.

“I’ve got a better idea than that”, Minhye giggles as she kicks her shoes off too, “To the air con!”

Before you know it, you and Minhye are upside down on the dark brown couch with your legs stretched towards the sky.  *Why do air con units always have to be so high up*, you angrily wonder as the cool breeze merely catches the ends of your toes, *I wish I had longer legs…*

“You know, unnie…  I really worry about us sometimes”, you admit as your sway your legs from side to side.

“Only sometimes?”, Kai’s head suddenly appears over you, “Is this a sign of your defeat?”

Kicking yourself away from the wall, you do a  surprisingly elegant backwards roll off the sofa and get back on your feet: “Hell no!”

“Want to keep going?”, Taemin asks as he sticks a piece of tissue to his forehead, “Or is it ba-”.

Taemin laughs at something across the room.

“We have a visiter”, Kai affirms as he jogs towards the door and opens it, “What brings you here?”

“I thought we’d all go out for lunch”, a somewhat familiar voice states, “I brought you all some iced drinks”.

As Kai moves out of the way, you can’t believe your eyes.

“Jae!”

“Y- Yeah?”, you try to function naturally.

“You’re bias is here!”

You can’t believe what Kai just said.  As your heart beat quickens dramatically, you feel yourself turn a whole new shade of burgundy.  Looking at Onew briefly, you see that he is just as embarrassed by the situation as you.  

“Come and meet him”, Kai smirks evilly, “You said he was your favourite”.

Not knowing what to do, you are glad when you hear Minhye clear .

“The stars are not in position for this tribute!”, she bellows loudly as she grabs your hand and begins to scurry across the room.

Her reference makes you giggle slightly, and you feel yourself becoming more human again: “Like he said!  Stars… Can’t do it… Not today!”

Once the two of you are successfully out of the room, you quickly make your way to the bathroom.  You turn the tap on and splash your face with cold water.

“I can’t believe he did that!”

Minhye passes you a hand towel before replying, “I think he was just poking fun, Jae”.

“But it wasn’t fun!  I’m so embarrassed!”

“I’m sure Onew hears things like that all the time”.

“But I’m not supposed to be…”, you take a deep breath to calm yourself before continuing, “You’re right”.

She smiles in recognition as she rubs your back gently.  You feel guilty for making fun of her reaction to Taemin earlier.

“I can’t let little things like that get to me”.

“I honestly don’t think he thought it through, you know?”, Minhye remarks as she passes you another hand towel.

You don’t answer, but instead wipe the smudged makeup from under your eyes.

“You know Kai wouldn’t purposefully do anything to upset you, Jae…”

Taking another deep breath, you look at your reflexion in the mirror.  You are no longer a beetroot.

“I know…”, you puff out your face in defeat, “Shall we head back in?”

Minhye opens the bathroom door and gestures to you, “After you, chingu-ya”.

“Thanks”, you smile before letting your eyes trail to the ground, “Ah…”

“What?”, she questions as she follows your gaze down to your Onew and Taemin socks, “Ah indeed…”

“I think we should put our shoes back on…”

“I think you’re right”, she happily giggles before linking arms with you and leading you back into the dance studio.

As the two of you quickly cover up your socks, Kai approaches sheepishly.

“I’m sorry, Jae.  I really didn’t think you’d get that embarrassed”.

You can hear the sincerity in his voice.

“It’s okay”, you reassure before lightly punching his shoulder, “Just don’t catch me off guard like that again please”.

“I won’t”, he smiles as he takes your hand and leads you to the sofa where the others are sat nonchalantly, “This is Jae”.

You bow politely.

“And that’s Minhye”, Taemin motions across the room.

“Pleasure to meet you both”, Onew smiles kindly, “Matcha latte?”

“Ooo, yes please”, you beam as you gratefully accept the ice cold drink, “Just what I needed”.

“Thank you very much”, Minhye asserts before taking a massive gulp of the delicious liquid, “This is perfect!”

Onew’s face lights up, obviously pleased with how happy the two of you are.

“So, lunch?”, he questions before standing up and falling over his own shoe lace flamboyantly, “Offt”.

His body gag makes the four of you laugh, making the somewhat awkward air in the room dissipate completely.

“Here”, you giggle as your offer the crumpled up Onew your hand, “Thanks again”.

He reaches up and gently uses you to pull himself off the ground: “No problem.  Shall we then?”

            *    *    *

Twenty minutes later the five of you are enjoying an extremely large portion of patbingsu in the nearby park.  The sun is scorching the back of your neck, but it feels amazing to be out of the stuffy studio.  Luckily, no one seems to be recognising Onew, Taemin or Kai because they are all wearing snap backs and sunglasses.

“Isn’t it tiring?”, you ask suddenly, not realising it was out loud.

Kai rolls onto his front and looks up at you: “What?”

“Having to be in disguise if you want to go out”.

Taemin ponders this as he practically inhales a huge spoonful of shaved ice before replying: “Well, it’s not all the time.  It’s just when we don’t want people to see us.  Like now”.

“But there’s no guarantee that someone somewhere won’t recognise you anyway”, Minhye inserts, showing you that she’s been thinking the same thing.

“Well, that’s true…”, Onew agrees from under his hat, “But we chose this life”.

Registering the silence, he removes his cap from his face and rolls onto his front.

“We chose to be singers, so we’d be lying if we said we didn’t enjoy the attention”.

You think about this for a moment before recalling the night that Kai encountered the crazed fans, if you can even call them that.

“But they’re not all nice people”, Minhye argues, obviously on the same wavelength as you.

“But the majority of them are, and that’s what we have to remember”.

“Jinki’s right”, Kai warmly assures, “Only a handful of them are like those we met the other night.  I mean, some people only cry and scurry away when they see me… Not that I’ve ever understood that…”

“Or they just want a quick photo”, Taemin continues as he slurps the remaining icy liquid from the plastic bowl, “Or a hug”.

“I suppose…”, you ponder, still not completely understanding how they deal with it.

“Listen Jae”, Onew begins as he pushes himself into a sitting position and looks you in the eye, “If we were afraid of those few people who claim to be fans but overstep the boundaries, then we wouldn’t leave the house.  It’s easier to remember the times that someone freaks you out rather than the times that someone has done something positive for you, and that’s what we all have to remember”.

You had no idea Onew could be so serious, he is always shown as being the class clown on TV.

“I hadn’t really thought of it like that”, you confess, feeling slightly ashamed to have put people into the same box, “I’m sorry”.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about”, he warmly smiles, “I think it’s only natural after what happened the other night.  No one wants to experience things like that”.

You look at Onew flabbergasted, “How?”

“I know everything”, he jests before standing up quickly, “What shall we eat next?”

Everyone thinks about this for a moment.

“Hweori Gamja!”

“Ddeokggochi!”

“Hm… Boonguhppang!”

“Somsatang!”

“Waffles!”

“Ddeokbokki!”

“Hambu-”.

“I GET IT!”, Onew interrupts the frenzy loudly, making surrounding people look over, “I’ll be back in a bit”.

As he walks across the park, you can’t help but feel guilty still.  You didn’t mean to suggest that all fans were crazy, but it had somehow come out that way.  Suddenly the memory of the teenage girl you had met in the CD store comes to mind.  “Eonnie, fighting!”, she had sounded so sweet when her voice squeaked in excitement.  *Who was her bias again?*, you question yourself as the scene replays in your head, *Ah, yes.  It was Kris.  The leader of EXO-M who is Canadian and suuuper manly*.  The memory makes you chuckle to yourself.  So much time has passed since that day and you’ve been thrown into a world you had never intended to enter, yet you wouldn’t change it for anything.  The members of EXO are now your second family and you can’t imagine life without them.

Something heavy pressing down on your lap brings you back to reality.

“Let me use you as a pillow for a little bit, noona”, Kai sweetly coos with his eyes closed.  

Instead of answering, you take off his cap and gently his hair.  It is hard to explain why, but Kai feels like your cheeky, slightly obnoxious little brother, though he’s only three years younger than you.

“Mmm, feels nice”, he purrs as he shuffles his body closer to yours, “It’ll make me go to sleep”.

“And then it will be my victory”, you chuckle.

“You wish”, he breathes quietly, obviously on the edge of sleep.

Looking up you see that Minhye and Taemin are lying next to each other watching something on his phone.  There is barely any space between them.

*Ah, young love*, you muse affectionately before leaning back and looking towards the sky, *Coming to Seoul was the best thing I ever did.  I can’t wait for Minhye to move here*.

The heat of the sun has begun to die down, and the breeze has become slightly cooler.  You don’t even know what time it is, but you definitely don’t feel like going back to the stuffy dance studio anymore.

“Am I interrupting something?”, Onew’s voice cuts through the silence playfully, “Food’s here!”

At the mention of food, Kai jumps off of your lap and grabs the bag from Onew.

“Thank you!”, he beams as he merrily takes out a small box of fried chicken, “This one is mine!”

“YA!”, Onew protests urgently, “That’s mine!”

“But I’m the chicken maniac”, Kai teases as he motions to the first piece of chicken.

“I’ve been the chicken maniac much longer than you, puny alien”, Onew glares at Kai somewhat seriously, “And as your senior, I claim all the chicken”.