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

It’s the middle of March and you’re busy walking around your Third Grade classroom evaluating the students’ work when the bell signally the end of school tolls.

“Yay!”, you hear the children cheer in unison.

“Alright class, have a good weekend!  But don’t forget your homework”, you chuckle to yourself as you watch them pack up their supplies and shuffle hurriedly to the door.

As you pack up your own bag, you feel someone pull on your shirt from behind lightly.  Turning around, you see three adorable boys from your class.

“For you, seon saeng nim”, one of them says as he holds a box out to you with both hands.

“A present?”, you smile as you take the box open it.  It’s full of chocolate.  You’re confused, but then it hits you: *OMO! It’s White Day!*  Exactly a month ago you had cloaked the classroom with pink, red and white heart shaped decorations, and prepared little boxes of chocolates for all of your students.  You’d never expected anything in return though.

“Aigoo!  You lot are so sweet.  What am I going to do with you?”, you giggle as you pinch each of their cheeks in turn.  They smile and wave at you in content as they leave the room; you had forgotten how cute your 8-9 year olds could be.  

Whilst you finish packing your bag, you pop one of the chocolates in your mouth and let it melt deliciously on your tongue.  *If only men were as good as chocolate*, you sigh as you pull on your jacket and head out the school grounds.  You turn left at the gates and walk towards the bubble tea shop that you visit every Friday – you frequent so often that the staff even have your usual waiting for you, something that you’re both ashamed and happy about.

With a smile to the employee, you take your matcha bubble tea and start wondering leisurely home.  You’ve only just rounded the corner towards the city when your phone rings.  Using your free hand you dig into your bag and pull out your iPhone.  The number on the screen does not belong to anyone in your phonebook, causing your heart to skip a beat.  *It could be Kris*, you clear your throat before answering.

“Yeoboseyo?”

“SKY!” , an energetic voice states.  

You sigh as your heart sinks.  Only people in England call you Sky, and you know this voice; it’s Min-Hye.

“Don’t be so disappointed to hear from me!”, she jokes.

“I’m not”, you deny whilst taking a sip of your bubble tea, “Its just been a long day”.

“So have you heard from him?”  You’ve got to give Min-Hye credit; she always manages to hit the nail on the head.

“Nope.  Just like I hadn’t when I talked to you last week.  But that’s just life, right?”, you question, hoping for a positive comment from your best friend.

“Right!  Plus, it’s his loss!  You’ll find better friends in no time”, she affirms, reminding you why you love her.

“Early start today?”

Min-Hye grumbles incoherent words before whining: “I want to sleeeeeeeeeeeeeep”.

“And I want to marry Lee Min-Ho, but we can’t all get what we want”, you giggle.

“Araso…”

“Now hurry up and get ready for work, sleepy head.  Otherwise, you’ll get fired”.

“Don’t wannaaaaaaa”, Min-Hye pouts.

 “What? You want to get fired?”

“I don’t care anymoreeeeeeeeeee”.  

You see this is going nowhere fast, so you play your ace card: “Getting fired means no money”.

Silence.

“No money means no visiting me”, you tease.

More silence, but you swear you can just about hear the cogs in Min-Hye’s brain processing the information.

“I’m leaving now”, she moans.

“Chop chop”, you giggle as the line goes dead.

*She’s such a handful at times, but I can’t imagine life without her*, you smile as you arrive at a busy pedestrian crossing.  Taking another sip of bubble tea, you half heartedly watch the various shopping adverts on the giant display screen opposite.  

Suddenly the screen goes jet black, causing you to pay more attention.  Strange symbols start to fly across the screen before giant silver writing pans across: “Introducing SM Entertainments’ newest group, EXO!”  The members start to appear one by one till six individuals form a whole.  The screen flashes “EXO-K” and turns jet black again.  *Not bad looking – I liked the one with the dark, y glare*.  You go to look away, but realise the advert has not finished.  More faces start appearing one by one on the screen.  

The sixth face causes you to drop your bubble tea.

It’s Kris.

            *    *    *

“It’s dark and I can’t see.  I put out my hands but only the wind clashes.  I don’t know why but this place is strange.  I’m getting used to this misery.  I live like a shadow”.

You nearly roll out of bed as Zico’s voice wakes you up.  You love this song, so you leave it playing as you pull your heavy, tired legs to the kitchen to make yourself a cup of coffee.  As you wait for the kettle to boil, you lean against the sink and gaze out the window.  After the original shock of your discovery had subsided, you had somehow managed to get to sleep, but not for long.  The kettle on the hob starts whistling, so you turn off the gas and carefully pour the steaming water into your mug.  Opening the fridge, you grab the milk and use up the dregs.  *I must buy more milk today*, you make a mental note to yourself as you pick up the mug and take a sip.

Rubbing your tired eyes, you dig into your leather satchel and pull out a new box of cigarettes.  After peeling the plastic off with one hand, you put the box to your mouth and pull a cigarette out with your teeth.  You grab your lighter, shove on your boots and step outside.  The air in March is different; there’s something sweet about it.  You light the cigarette and inhale deeply, watching the city come alive ahead of you.  You take another sip of your coffee and lean against the railings. *That would explain why he said ‘or something’ when I asked what he was rehearsing for… But how was I supposed to know he was a trainee for SM?*  You sigh as you take another toke of your cigarette and let the smoke cascade through the air.  “Oh well, that’s the end of that, I guess”, you exhale before letting your mind go blank as you finish the rest of your coffee and cigarette.

Stepping back inside, you pull off your boots, dump your mug on the side and trudge to the bathroom for a hot shower.  The water relaxes you and you let it wash away your tiredness, leaving you feeling rejuvenated and ready for the day.  You step out the shower and wrap a towel around you.  After pulling on some leggings and your old university hoodie, you blow dry your hair, your grandma’s voice in the back of your head: “You’ll get headaches when you’re older if you leave your hair wet!”  

Once it’s dry, you make yourself some toast with raspberry jam and sit at your desk.  You grab your red pen and start mulling over the stack of school work that you have to go over by Monday.  This week the children have been learning how to count to one hundred, colours and animals.  You take the work sheet off the top of the pile and start marking.  Under the picture of an elephant the child has adorably written ‘I do not know’, making you giggle: *At least it’s in English*.  An hour or so later you have finished marking the colourful worksheets.   You lean back in your chair and feel proud of the children who have all scored over 90% on the exercise.  

Walking over to the kitchen, you go to put the kettle on again but remember you have no milk.  You turn in your step and head for your wardrobe instead, selecting a turquoise dress, black tights and black jacket to replace your comfy home clothes.  Next you apply some make up and run a comb through your slightly curly hair.  When you feel you look presentable, you pull on your boots, grab your bag and leave your apartment.  

Seeing as you’re already dressed and out, you decide to do a little shopping.  You treat yourself to some new make up, shower necessities, a spring scented candle, cute decorated tights, loose shirts and a couple of dresses.  Feeling satisfied with your haul, you wonder towards the supermarket to buy milk but stop dead in your tracks outside a shoe store.  You didn’t know it was possible to fall in love with a pair of shoes, but you have.  Quickly you run inside and ask the clerk for them in your size.  Moments later you are strutting around the store wearing the most comfortable pair of wedge boots you have ever tried on in your life.  *Perfect*, you smile as you pay for your new found love and begin wondering to the supermarket again.

You walk past a CD store and casually look in the window.  You go to turn away, but something stops you.  In the corner of your eye you can see three distinct letters in a poster.  Backtracking, you look at the poster advertising EXO’s new release and decide that you owe it to yourself to at least hear their music.  Walking into the store, you head to the counter to require about the CD.

“Good afternoon”, you smile, “have you still got any EXO CDs?”  

Before the woman behind the counter has a chance to answer, an excited teenage girl has run up beside you.

“You’re looking for EXO?”, she squeaks.

You nod at her, a little confused by her appearance.  She lets out a high pitched squeal before grabbing your wrist and dragging you down one of the aisles.  She stops and points at the display of EXO CDs against the wall.

“Aren’t they gorgeous?”, she cries as she stares at the members faces’ in the advertisement.  “I can already name them all! That one’s Kai, and Sehun, and Chanyeol, and D.O., and Baekhyun, and their leader, Suho”, she points, apparently rather pleased with herself.  “They’re EXO-K, they sing in Korean”.

All the information she is spouting is going over your head, but she doesn’t notice and continues anyway.

“And this is EXO-M, they sing in Mandarin”, she looks at you in expectation, so you reply by sweetly smiling at her.  “That’s Lay, he’s their unicorn…”

*Their what?!*.  Okay, now you’re getting confused, but she does not stop talking.

“And Tao, and Luhan…”, she points, “and Xiumin, and Chen.  They’re actually Korean…”

You feel like your head is going to explode from all the information the young girl is spouting.

“And my bias in EXO-M, their leader, Kris.  He’s Canadian and super manly”, she swoons, gently Kris’s face in the poster.

You blink at her a few times in both amazement and confusion.  *Wow, I hope this girl puts as much effort into school as she does EXO*.

“So which CD do you want?”, she asks, her face still being held near the poster.

“Um… Both?”

The young girl lets out another squeak and holds both albums towards you, “Eonnie, you’re amazing!”

“Um… Thanks?”  You really don’t know what to make of this situation anymore.

As you walk to the counter, the girl catches your attention again.

“Eonnie”, she yells after you, “Fighting!”

She pumps her fists at you, and you do the same in return, not knowing what else to do.

Once you have paid, you swiftly leave the store to avoid further contact with the young girl.  Whilst you have to give her credit for her dedication, it was a little overwhelming.  You let out a sigh and put the CDs in one of your shopping bags.  *At least I know who his eleven roommates are now*, you giggle, *though I can’t say I remember any of their names… Just that they have a unicorn, whatever that means*.  

After picking up some milk, you make your way back to your apartment.  Letting yourself in, you dump the bags on the floor and head straight for the kettle.  After practically downing two cups of caffeine, you feel like yourself again and start unloading today’s haul.  You slip on your new boots and strut around the room, checking your reflection in the mirror.  As you start pulling supermodel poses to the mirror, your phone goes off.  Happily, you skip over and retrieve your iPhone from the depths of your bag.

You unlock your phone and open the text message.  The number is unknown, so you assume it’s from Min-hye and start casually reading it whilst paying too much attention to your boots.  

Then you see it.  The name at the end of the message is not Min-hye.  With eyes wide open you read the message again.  

Short, but to the point. 

“Hey Jae, coffee at the same place tonight around 8? Kris”.

Taking a deep breath you reply: "Sure.  See you there", before collapsing on your bed.

You look at your clock, it’s only 3.  *What am I going to do for five hours?*, you sigh.  Rolling over on your bed, you pull your Rilakkuma plush close and shut your eyes.  *Five hours… I guess I could do some lesson planning for next week?  I owe my kids a special treat for doing so well on that worksheet.  Perhaps hangman?  They always love that game*.  You smile at the memory of watching the children get excited when they know the word and can’t keep from yelling it out anymore, much to the other teams’ dismay.

Rolling to the edge of your bed, you swing your feet to the floor and walk over to your desk.  After slumping in your chair, you turn your laptop on and wait for it to finish loading, signalled by Skype’s familiar sound.  Your background always makes you grin – it’s a screenshot from BTOB’s Second Confession PJ Version MV, by far your favourite video of theirs.  *I just can’t get enough of Minhyuk’s cute hairstyle and the little bow Sungjae’s wearing.  Oh, and not forgetting how adorable Ilhoon is in it*, you giggle as the video plays in your head.  Opening Microsoft Word, you start typing up the planned lessons for the week, remembering to keep time for a special hangman session on Monday afternoon.

                    *    *    *

“Finished!”, you announce to your Rilakkuma plush three hours later before heading to the kitchen.  “Hm… What shall I have for dinner?”, you ponder as you search through your cupboards.  Nothing seems appealing to you, so you open your snack cupboard.  A packet of kimchi ramen falls on the floor.  “I’ll take that as a hint”, you giggle as you retrieve the heavenly packet.  

You half fill up a pan with water and wait for it to boil before adding the noodles and soup powder.  Whilst the noodles are cooking, you pull some spring onions and an egg from the fridge.  You are just about to slice up the spring onions when it hits you.  “Wait!”, you gasp, “I can’t have spring onion breath tonight!  Babo!  What are you thinking?”  You sigh at your near failure and put them back in the fridge, *that was a close call*.  Heading back over to the stove, you prod the noodles with your chopsticks and decide they’re nearly done, so you add the egg.  

A minute later you are sat at your table about to dig in.  “Jalmukesumneda”, you joyfully say before taking your first bite.  Eating ramen never takes you long, and within five minutes you are back on your feet rinsing out the pan.  You turn around and look at your clock.  *Nearly half six, I better start getting ready*.

Walking back to your laptop, you go to YouTube and type in ‘VIXX Voodoo Doll MV’ and click on the video.  *I still need to buy this album*, you think as the slightly gruesome scenes begin, *I should have picked it up earlier*.

As Ravi’s low voice fills the room, you frolic over to your wardrobe to select a suitable outfit for tonight.  You swap your tights for a pair of black skinnies, and replace your dress with a cream shirt that is see-through at the back, showing off your black lace bra.  *Hm…*, you look at your reflection in the mirror, *perhaps a bit too much?*  Walking back to the wardrobe, you start again.

This time you trade your skinnies for some decorated black tights and your favourite black skater skirt.  You take off your shirt and put on a lace maroon strappy top, tucking it neatly into the skirt before adding a thin belt and a long antique gold necklace.  *That’s better*, you nod to yourself in the mirror.

“Do I go, do I stay, nobody knows”, you chant along with VIXX as you jump around your room.  Ravi’s rap comes on and you try to follow, but he’s just too good and you just too much.  You giggle at yourself and continue cavorting around the room.   You’ve seen this video a million times, so when the chorus comes on for the last time you dance the routine perfectly.  You had forgotten how much you love this song, and how much energy it gives you.

Feeling recharged, you head over to the mirror and turn your straighteners on.  Within seconds they beep at you and you set to work on your hair.  After ten minutes you have waved hair, which looks both girly and effortless.  Next you apply some subtle smoky make up, adding a bit of blush and finishing with some maroon lipgloss.  *Not bad, Jae.  Not bad at all*, you wink to your reflection.  After applying hairspray and perfume, you sit on your bed and pull on your new boots.

Looking at the clock you realise it’s time to go, so you pull on your black jacket and hang your bag over your shoulder.  After locking your door, you energetically hop down the flight of stairs and make your way into the city.  It takes you fifteen minutes to get to the café, allowing you a couple of minutes to compose yourself and smooth down your hair that lost its fight against the March wind.

Suddenly familiar red sneakers appear in front of you, causing your heart to skip a beat.  *Kris!*, you smile as you look up, *or at least I think it’s him… What’s up with the snapback and sunglasses?*  Whilst you’re evaluating his disguise, Kris casually takes it off and ruffles his hair with his free hand, creating a y bed head look.

“Hey Jae”, he smiles seductively.  “Shall we go in?”

*Great, there goes five minutes of my life.  That hair and smile should be illegal!*  “Sure, but be careful of glass walls this time”, you playfully chortle.

“I can’t make any promises”, Kris chuckles as he holds open the door for you and follows you in.  “Same as last time?”

You ponder for a couple of seconds, then reply: “I think I fancy a vanilla spice latte this time.  And that raspberry and white chocolate cookie looks amazing.  What about you?”

Kris looks at the menu, “I think I’ll have the same, but with a slice of chocolate fudge cake”.  He goes to get out his wallet, but you stop him.

“My treat this time”, you gracefully smile and step towards to counter.

Whilst placing your order it feels as if a hundred eyes are on you.  After paying, you casually turn around to access the situation.  *Yup, just as I had thought*, you smirk to yourself.  Most of the girls in the room are gawking at Kris, who seems completely oblivious to it.  You lightly giggle as Kris picks up the tray and leads you to a free table.

Kris sets the tray down and sits down opposite you.  “Sorry it took so long for me to get in touch with you”, he apologises. 

“That okay, you said you’d text me when you were free”, you sweetly smile and take a sip of your latte.  

A look of relief sweeps over Kris’s face as he takes a bite of his cake.  Minhye would slap you right now for acting so cool about it.  You know what she’d be saying: “Make him work for your acceptance, don’t just hand it over.  You’re too kind for your own good”.  *Mianhae, Minhye. That’s just how I am*.

You brake off a small chunk of your cookie and pop it in your mouth: “Delicious!”

Kris chuckles, “I see everything is still delicious to you”.

You blush in embarrassment whilst staring at the table.  *I really should stop saying that…*

“Here”, Kris affirms as he places a square parcel in front of you, “I have something for you”.

You look at the brown parcel and then at Kris, a little confused.

“A present?”, you query.

Kris smiles and pushes the parcel closer to you before having a sip of his latte: “To explain why I didn’t text you for a month”.

“Okay…”, you reply cautiously.

*How does a present explain something like that?*, you wonder as you undo the string and take off the parchment paper.

You recognise the CD’s straight away.  Kris has given you both versions of EXO’s album.  *OMO! I completely forgot to listen to these earlier!*, you panic.  You don’t know what to say – do you tell him you already bought them but haven’t listened to them, or play the ignorance card?  *It’s better to tell the truth*, you inwardly sigh.

“Kris…I…”, you begin, but he cuts you off.

“This is the reason I’ve been so busy”, he asserts, “We’ve just made our debut, so things are pretty hectic right now”.

“Kris…”, you say, “I know about EXO”.

He looks at you confused, but also like he was half expecting you to say that.

“How did you find out?”

“I saw an advert a couple of days ago.  Yours was the last face I saw”.

Kris giggles, “Were you shocked?”

“I dropped my bubble tea”, you pretend to be upset.

“Was it a delicious bubble tea?”, he teases, taking a bite of his cake.

Pouting, you reply, “It was my favourite”.

“That’s no good then!”, he smiles playfully, “I’ll have to buy you a replacement soon”

You laugh and take a sip of your latte.

“So…”, Kris moves his latte and cake before leaning towards you over the table.

You don’t move away, but instead take an additional long sip of your latte.  *Two can play the smooth game, y’know*.  “So?”, you innocently ask.

Leaning even closer still, Kris continues, “Are you my number one fan?”

“No”, you lightly brush off his question, “but I think I met her”.

Kris sits back in his chair and looks at you quizzically.  “You did?”

“Mhm”, you lean back in your own chair and lightly cross your arms over you stomach.  “I met an extremely avid fan of EXO’s in a record store”.

“Go on”, Kris taunts.

“She liked you the most”, you continue.  

A small smirk appears on Kris’s face.

“She thought you were super manly”, you mischievously confess.

The smirk on his face widens, “Oh, really?  And what about you?”

You look at Kris, taken back by his question.  *Play it cool, Jae.  Play it cool!*  “I’ve seen manlier”, you shrug his question off, making him laugh.

After taking another bite of his cake, Kris persists: “So what else did this fan of mine tell you?”

You look at the ceiling and furrow your brow, as if trying to recall the meeting.  “She told me that you were divided into two sub groups, but that some of the members in EXO-M are actually Korean”.

“That’s right”, he chuckles, “Anything else?”

You lean forward and cheekily take a fork full of the fudge icing on Kris’s cake.  “Something about you having a unicorn…”

“Not quite”, Kris chortles before noticing the fork full of fudge icing that you are about to eat.  He looks at his cake, then back at the fork.

You notice his gaze and giggle, “What?  It’s the best part!”  

Kris watches you savour the taste of the fudge and smiles.  Picking up his spoon, he carefully scrapes off the remaining icing and places it on your plate.

“You didn’t have to do that”, you state.

“I know I didn’t”, he affirms before grinning evilly, “but in return I’m commandeering half of your cookie!”

You laugh at his logic and push your untouched cookie towards him.  

Kris breaks off a section of the cookie and pushes it in his mouth.  “Have you listened to our music yet?”

“Not yet”, you confess, “but I actually already have the albums”. 

“You bought both?”

“Mhm, when I met the fan.  I was afraid she’d bite my arm off if I didn’t”, you titter.

Kris laughs before placing another chunk of cookie in his mouth: “Sounds horrible”.

“Oh, it really was”, you joke, “I felt like I was Little Red Riding Hood”.

Kris laughs even harder before concluding “But you survived the big bad wolf”.

“I guess I did”, you smile as you take a sip of your latte, break off a chunk of cookie and pop it in your mouth.

“You should keep these anyway”, Kris says as he slides the CDs closer to you.

You look down at them and see that Kris has written on both covers in silver marker.  You pick up the white album and read: ‘To the girl that can be easily bribed with pork BBQ or delicious coffee’.  You chuckle and nod in agreement.  Placing the album back on the table, you pick up the black version.  What Kris has written makes you heart instantly melt: ‘To the girl who I know will be with me and accept me when I make a fool out of myself’.

You put the album to your chest, “Kri–“.

Kris cuts you off, apparently embarrassed: “Just say thank you”.

“Thank you”, you gratefully smile as you hug the CD tighter.